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The purpose of this paper is to test and validate a modified Stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model with the bi-dimensional attitude toward counterfeit apparel products. The study examines the relationship of object and social psychological stimuli with utilitarian and hedonic attitude and intentions to purchase counterfeit apparel products.

The authors collected data from 331 systematically selected university students of the age bracket (18–30) years from Punjab, Pakistan (MLE) via self-administrated questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood estimation via AMOS 23 was used for data analysis.

The modified S-O-R model explained significant variance in counterfeit purchase intentions. Hedonic attitude proved to be a strong predictor of counterfeit apparel purchase intentions as compared to utilitarian attitude. All attributes of counterfeit apparel products proved to be the significant positive predictors of hedonic and utilitarian attitude except information susceptibility, which did not predict utilitarian attitude.

Data were collected from university students of the age bracket (18–30) years and apparel products were taken as a product category.

The retailers and manufacturers of original brands should emphasize humiliation and embarrassment that a consumer may have to face because of counterfeit purchasing. They can also educate consumers on the negative impacts of the counterfeit products not only on consumers but also on the economy as a whole.

S-O-R model was adapted to provide strong theoretical underpinnings to understand counterfeit consumption behavior. This study also incorporated two dimensions of attitude in counterfeit product consumption behavior and analyzed their relative influence on purchase intentions.

Servant leadership is a new follower-centric style of leadership. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the project leaders’ servant leadership style on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity within the project-based organizational context.

A total of 58 teams working in 3 project-based organizations participated in the survey study. Team members rated their project leaders’ servant leadership style, team goal clarity and team process clarity in the project, while leaders evaluated team effectiveness. Hypotheses were tested using multi-level structural equation modeling.

Results suggested that servant leadership had a positive and significant impact on project team effectiveness via team goal clarity and team process clarity.

The study examined the influence of servant leadership as a team leadership approach within a project context. As a multi-level design, the study also identified the team-specific mechanisms (team goal clarity and team process clarity), which could help accomplish team effectiveness.

Considering the economic dimension of sustainability, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the risk of bankruptcy in the Pakistani firms of the non-financial sector from years 1995 to 2017.

Three techniques were used which include multivariate discriminant analysis (MDA), logit regression and multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks. The accounting data of firms were selected one year before the bankruptcy.

Findings were obtained by comparing and analyzing the methods which show that neural networks model outperforms in the prediction of bankruptcy. They further conclude that profitability and leverage indicators have the power of discrimination in bankruptcy prediction and the best variables to predict financial distress are also found and indicated.

Practically, this study may help the firms to better anticipate the risks of getting bankrupt by choosing the right method and to make effective decision making for organizational sustainability.

Three different techniques were used in this research to predict the bankruptcy of non-financial sector in Pakistan to make an effective prediction.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the service quality and its relationship to customer satisfaction among the customers of conventional banks and Islamic banks. A modified SERVQUAL scale is utilized to ascertain the functional dimensions of service quality specific to the industry and service context under study. In addition, the study examines the differences in service quality satisfaction and its impact on the behavioral intentions of customers.

A field survey carried out with the help of a questionnaire constructed by using a modified SERVQUAL scale. Data were collected from 200 walk‐in customers conveniently drawn from three major conventional banks and three Islamic banks located in urban areas of Pakistan. Data were analyzed using the analytical hierarchy process to identify service quality and customer satisfaction‐related factors for Islamic and conventional banks.

By using factor analysis, 52 measurement items with a factor loading greater than (0.5) were identified to form five service quality dimensions namely empathy, service architecture, convenience service encounter, employee service criteria, customer focus and five customer satisfaction dimensions: responsiveness, competency, safe transaction, competitive services, knowledge for the overall banking industry explained 56 percent of the variance. Results from regression analysis of the relationship between multidimensional service quality dimensions and unidimensional customer satisfaction factors also validated the importance of service quality aspects for behavioral intentions (satisfaction, feelings) for customers from conventional banks and Islamic banks.

This study has practical significance for conventional and Islamic banking policy makers for understanding the behavioral intentions of their customers and using them for effectively positioning the service quality of their banks.

The presence and progression of stenosis disturb the normal circulation of blood through an artery and cause serious consequences. The proposed investigation is aimed to assess non-Newtonian characteristics of blood in an elliptical artery having stenosis. The blood is taken as Sutterby fluid flowing via a multi-stenosed elliptical cross-section artery.

The analytical solution of a mathematical model representing the considered problem is extracted in a non-dimensional form by utilizing the perturbation technique under the mild stenosis assumptions.

The graphical nature of these results is examined and discussed comprehensively for different physical parameters. The height and shape of stenosis are noted to have prominent effects on flow velocity. The wall shear stress and flow velocity attained high values in the stenotic portion of the artery. The non-uniform stenosis is observed to create higher resistance to the flow than the uniform stenosis. Further, a high disorder is noticed in the constricted region of the artery by streamlines analysis.

The manuscript completely comprehends the blood’s non-Newtonian flow in the arteries of elliptical shape having multiple stenoses. The present study is about the properties of non-Newtonian blood flow through an elliptical artery with many stenoses. The Sutterby fluid model is used to describe the blood’s non-Newtonian nature. By utilizing presumptions of mild stenosis, the mathematical model’s non-linearity is decreased, and the perturbation method is applied to generate the resulting equations.

The presence of stenosis can significantly impact the circulation of blood flow. When an artery becomes narrowed, it can create a constriction or obstruction in the flow path of blood, which can lead to several important fluid dynamics phenomena, i.e. increased velocity, shear stress, pressure drop, etc. The presence of stenosis can cause various damages and complications in the affected blood arteries and surrounding tissues, resulting in heart attacks or diseases like atherosclerosis.

The work presented in the manuscript was not published earlier in any form.

Consumers and businesses are becoming increasingly conscious of sustainable business practices and are often willing to pay a premium for responsibly sourced and manufactured products. Many countries and organizations have implemented regulations and standards for sustainability and companies face penalties or are barred from exporting for not meeting the requirements. Rooted in the resource-based view theory, this study aims to test a moderated mediation model to improve the sustainability performance of exporting firms.

Textile firms generating more than 25% of export revenues were targeted for this research. The data collected from 245 middle management-level employees were tested for reliability and validity. The structural equation modelling in AMOS 26 was used to test hypotheses.

Organizational readiness for green innovation (ORGI) has a direct positive effect on sustainability performance. The mediation analysis implies that ORGI translates into sustainability performance through improvement in green innovation performance. The moderating effect of knowledge integration highlights the importance of being prepared internally and actively seeking and incorporating external knowledge to improve green innovation performance.

The findings offer a solid foundation for informed decision-making, policy development and strategies to improve sustainability performance while aligning with the global nature of the textile industry and its inherent challenges. The proposed model and practical implications guide policymakers and managers of exporting firms to foster a culture of green innovation to leverage the effect of their readiness for green innovation on sustainability performance.

This study aims to model the important flow response quantities over a shrinking wedge with the help of response surface methodology (RSM) and an artificial neural network (ANN). An ANN simulation for optimal thermal transport of incompressible viscous fluid under the impact of the magnetic effect (MHD) over a shrinking wedge with sensitivity analysis and optimization with RSM has yet not been investigated. This effort is devoted to filling the gap in existing literature.

A statistical experimental design is a setup with RSM using a central composite design (CCD). This setup involves the combination of values of input parameters such as porosity, shrinking and magnetic effect. The responses of skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number are required against each parameter combination of the experimental design, which is computed by solving the simplified form of the governing equations using bvp4c (a built-in technique in MATLAB). An empirical model for Cf_x and Nu_x using RSM and ANN adopting the Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm based on trained neural networks (LMA-TNN) is attained. The empirical model for skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number using RSM has 99.96% and 99.99% coefficients of determination, respectively.

The values of these matrices show the goodness of fit for these quantities. The authors compared the results obtained from bvp4c, RSM and ANN and found them all to be in good agreement. A sensitivity analysis is performed, which shows that Cf_x as well as Nu_x are most affected by porosity. However, they are least affected by magnetic parameters.

This study aims to simulate ANN and sensitivity analysis for optimal thermal transport of magnetic viscous fluid over shrinking wedge.

This paper addresses the three-dimensional flow of viscous nanofluid bounded by two plates. The lower plate stretches while the upper plate remains stationary. The fluid is electrically conducting in the presence of an applied magnetic field. In addition, the Hall, ion slip and Joule heating effects are retained. Governing equations for the considered physical happening are modeled under the phenomenon of boundary layer analysis.

Both analytical and numerical solutions for the resulting nonlinear system are derived. Numerical solutions have been presented by using bvp4c and NDSolve techniques. The homotopy analysis method is utilized for the development of convergent analytical solutions. A comparative study for the presented solutions is made. An excellent agreement between analytical and numerical solutions is noticed.

The dimensionless velocities, temperature and concentration are examined physically by two-dimensional plots, stream plot and tabular values. It is observed that Hall and ion slip parameters reduce the velocity field and temperature profile increases for the mounting values of the Eckert number.

This manuscript contains the novel contents which comprise the Hall and ion slip effects for the transportation of heat and mass for the flow of viscous nanofluid.