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This paper aims to identify current challenges that hinder university–industry (U-I) collaboration in Pakistan and presents future opportunities for promoting such collaborations in developing countries.

This exploratory study presents new empirical evidence obtained from Pakistan via a questionnaire survey of 24 universities, 25 interviews with key stakeholders including industry managers and outputs from a high level workshop event.

Although there is limited evidence of U-I engagement in Pakistan, the findings show that a lack of coordination between government, universities and industrial firms has hindered knowledge transfer between universities and industry. Such steps as utilising intermediaries to help broker effective collaborations and building trust-based relationships can help in socialising these types of scientific activities.

Any overall conclusions drawn from this exploratory study can only be tentative, as the findings represent a snapshot of current U-I collaboration initiatives in Pakistan.

Less stringent policy interventions from government entities, as well as more universities willing to invite industry input on their board of studies might enable co-development of some university curriculums with industry partners. U-I collaborations could also help to boost innovation efforts in developing country firms.

This paper also offers awareness into benefits of teaching activity collaboration with industry partners, which has been an under explored area of past U-I collaboration studies. The findings should be of interest for both innovation policy and higher education policy researchers.

Work overload implies that there are excessive work demands that cannot be adequately fulfilled within the given deadlines. This research examines the effect of work overload on career outcomes, i.e. career satisfaction and occupational commitment through the mediating role of work frustration.

The data were collected from employees working in the schools of Punjab, Pakistan in three waves. Out of the total, 248 valid responses were analyzed by PROCESS model 4 using SPSS 24.

Based on affective event theory (AET) the results demonstrated that negative workplace events such as work overload create negative emotions like frustration at work and cause poor job outcomes (i.e. low satisfaction and commitment).

However, the outcomes should be interpreted in the light of single sector and time-lagged data tested on the mediation-only model.

The current study has implications for workload management in school staff to retain their career satisfaction and commitment.

This study has implications for society by offering to enhance the career outcomes of school staff that are prime institutions for socio-economic development.

This is one of the initial research studies that have examined the career-related outcomes of work overload based on AET via the mediating role of work frustration.

The study aims to underscore the initiatives taken by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in spearheading their drive towards creating “smart” cities.

The study uses a qualitative approach by invoking documentary analysis supplemented by responses provided by 13 interviewees from public and private sector.

All the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) are keen on building upon their infrastructure to push their “smart city” agenda which would go a long way in furthering the economic diversification objective of their region besides improving the quality of public services.

Hitherto, research has been focused on appreciating the “smart city” initiatives of developed countries; this study seeks to build upon the literature on “smart cities” by contextualizing the research setting in the developing countries. Second, the study shows that with the ongoing oil prices crisis in the GCC, the “smart city” initiatives of the countries are conceived as possible avenues of economic diversification and competitiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential economic impacts of China’s insect-resistant GM maize and provide new evidence for decision making concerning its commercialization.

This study uses data drawn from the production trials of insect-resistant GM maize and expert interviews to determine the impacts of commercializing GM maize at farm level under three scenarios with varying severity of insect pest attacks in maize production. Economic impacts are simulated using a modified Global Trade Analysis Project model.

In farm terms, insect-resistant GM maize increases crop yield and reduces both pesticide and labor inputs. In national terms, China can increase its GDP by USD8.6 billion and maize self-sufficiency by about 2 percent given normal insect pest attacks if China commercializes GM maize. Additional beneficiaries include consumers and the livestock industry. Non-maize crops can also benefit from land saving through GM maize commercialization. Chemical is a sector with the decrease in its output because demand for pesticides will fall.

Although China has announced a roadmap for commercializing GM crops for use as feed and in processing after nearly two decades of producing GM cotton, no clear timetable for producing GM maize as feed has been established due to several concerns, including the potential for economic gains from GM maize. This study is the first to assess the economic impacts of commercializing China’s GM maize. The findings should have significant policy implications for the development and commercialization of GM crops in general and GM maize in particular.

When the repercussions of COVID-19 were being absorbed by the world, the higher educational institutions (HEIs) were conceiving of strategies to run educational institutions on remote basis too, including the challenges linked with the teaching–learning as well as the management and other departmental needs. Leaning itself on the teaching–learning tectonic shifts amid the COVID-19 climes, the study reviews the status of “readiness” of the HEIs in Oman while bearing this in mind that the usage of information and communications technology (ICT) for distance learning and conventional learning has been considered as one of the parameters to judge the “quality” of the HEIs in Oman.

Documentary analysis alongside an in-depth reading of the quality audit reports sourced from the Oman Academic Accreditation Authority, which are publicly accessible are being referred for driving home the arguments in the study.

The study concludes that despite the case being in favor of distance learning from early on, the same doesn’t get reflected in the conclusions derived in the research conducted for assessing the teaching–learning mechanisms during the COVID-19 period. Therefore, the HEIs’ “readiness” in terms of ensuring the smooth transitioning to the remote learning pedagogical arrangements for meeting the challenges of the COVID-19 wasn’t efficacious.

The present study may be followed up with an understanding as to how the HEIs of Oman need to incorporate the perspectives of all the concerned stakeholders for the refurbishment of the teaching–learning process, especially in times of contingencies.

Apart from the policy-makers, the management of the HEIs of Oman needs to appreciate the need to be proactive and appreciative of the inclusion of ICT tools and techniques in the mainstream pedagogical settings.

Notwithstanding the emphasis upon the preparedness and readiness for tackling the challenges posed by the COVID-19 for the HEIs in Oman, no study has attempted to delve into the issue succinctly—the present study fills this gap.

We investigate how green transformational leadership (GTL) influences green innovative service behavior (GISB), particularly in the hospitality sector, which faces significant environmental challenges. Drawing from social identity theory (SIT), we introduce green organizational identity (GOI) as a mediating mechanism through which GTL fosters GISB. Furthermore, we propose a moderated mediation model whereby a green knowledge-sharing climate (GKSC) serves as a first-stage moderator to further understand how and when GTL fosters GISB through GOI.

We employed a multi-study design (i.e. two independent studies across China) to test the hypothesized relationships. Study 1 involved full-time employees from the service industry in China, including healthcare, telecommunication, and insurance sectors (N = 313). Study 2 employed a time-lagged dyadic design, collecting responses from employees and their managers at three different time points in the hospitality sector (N = 419).

In Study 1, the simple mediation results demonstrate that GTL positively influences GISB through the mediating role of GOI. Moreover, in Study 2, the moderating effect of GKSC was supported, showing that in organizations with strong green knowledge-sharing climate, the indirect effect of GTL on GISB via GOI is amplified.

In our work, we address a critical gap in the literature by identifying both the mechanisms and contextual factors that explain how GTL influences GISB. By introducing GOI as a mediator and GKSC as a first-stage moderator, the study advances understanding of how leadership, organizational identity, and a green-supportive climate interact to promote eco-friendly innovation in service organizations. This contributes both theoretically and practically to the development of effective strategies for advancing green initiatives in the service sector.

The purpose of this paper is to underline the significance of invoking Big Data and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in Omani Banks. Opportunities and challenges are also being discussed in the case study.

Four Omani banks representative of local, international, Islamic and specialized banks are being studied in terms of their social networking presence on Facebook and their e-banking facilities. Also, impetus is laid upon the aggregation of internal data and vast amounts of semi-structured external data from public sources, including social media.

The case study shows that Big Data analytics and IoT technologies may be utilized by the Omani banks for facilitating them in “forecasting” and “nowcasting”. Besides, customers may be better managed with better and efficient services. However, there are challenges in tapping these technologies such as security, infrastructure, regulatory norms, etc.

Banks in Oman need to appreciate the utility of Big Data and IoT technologies, and for this, a robust IT infrastructure should be institutionalized.

The case study is a major step in integrating Big Data and IoT technologies in Omani banks across four variants of national, international, Islamic and specialized banks. This is the first study where such integration has been emphasized in the Omani banking sector.

Research has shown that business model innovation can facilitate most ventures to innovate and remain competitive, yet there has been limited work on how digital leadership capabilities influence business model innovation. Building on the dynamic capabilities view, we address this gap by linking digital leadership capabilities with business model innovation via managerial decision-making through provision of grants received by new ventures.

The study is cross-sectional research. Data have been collected utilizing purposive sampling from 313 founding members of new ventures in high-velocity markets, i.e. from Pakistan. SPSS has been used to conduct the moderated mediation analysis.

Digital leadership capabilities foster the business model innovation of the new ventures because they enable new ventures to capitalize on digital technologies and create new ways of generating value for the customers and themselves. Moreover, managerial decision-making mediates digital leadership capabilities and business model innovation relationship, whereas, grants moderate the indirect positive effect of digital leadership capabilities on business model innovation via managerial decision-making. The study generates initial evidence on the impact of digital leadership capabilities on business model innovation via managerial decision-making for new ventures. We advance knowledge on new ventures’ business model innovation by deep-diving into dynamic capabilities view and emphasizing digital leadership capabilities as a significant driver for business model innovation.

With the help of dynamic capabilities theory, this study analyzes how new ventures make use of digital leadership capabilities to promote business model innovation.

Strategic human capital analytics (SHCA) has proven to be promising for improved organizational performance; however, research remains unclear about its influence on new venture performance. Building on the dynamic capabilities view (DCV), this study investigates the relationship between SHCA and new venture performance via generative capabilities with the moderating role of dual nationality founding members.

A quantitative research study has been carried out. Data was collected via a survey form from 313 founding members of new tech ventures and analyzed using Hayes process macro model.

Research results show that the generative capability mediates the linkages between SHCA and new venture performance. Whereas, the dual nationality of a founding member strengthens the linkages between SHCA and generative capability due to their diverse perspective, larger networks, cognitive flexibility, and resilience, which are important for generative capabilities and SHCA.

The originality of these results lies in the exploration of the linkages between dual nationality and generative capability, as well as the special elements, such as diverse perspectives, larger networks, cognitive flexibility, and resilience, which are highlighted as possible advantages of dual nationality in the context of SHCA and new venture performance.

The purpose of this paper is to measure the separate and interrelated effects of three aspects of intellectual capital (human, social and organizational capital) on innovation generation and adoption.

Data were collected from 318 respondents’ of chemical firms. This study used multiple regression analysis to analyze the influence of human, organizational and social capital on innovation generation and adoption.

Results suggest that organizational capital exerts significantly positive impact on innovation adoption. In the same vein, social capital exerts significantly positive impact on both innovation generation and adoption. Moreover, interaction of social capital further strengthens the influence of organizational capital on innovation adoption. Contrary to hypotheses, human capital does not exert significant influence on innovation generation. However, interaction of social capital further strengthens the impact of human capital on innovation generation.

Findings offer implications for modern managers to utilize the knowledge that resides in firm’s different locations. It also enhances managerial ability to identify and apply these knowledge resources to expedite innovation generation and adoption.

Innovation generation and adoption plays a critical role in firm’s acquiring success and competitive advantage, yet the influence of intellectual capital on innovation generation and adoption mostly remains as unexplained puzzle. This study contributes to knowledge-innovation literature by examining the missing link between different types of knowledge and innovation generation and adoption. It also helps to comprehend the enabling factors through which firms capitalize upon, and obtain, a sustainable competitive advantage.