Iqra Abdullah, Shazia Parveen and Saif Ul Haq
This study aims to assess the acceptability of online classes among university students of Pakistan through the extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the acceptability of online classes among university students of Pakistan through the extension of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model.
Design/methodology/approach
This study follows a quantitative research approach and data were collected from 662 university students of 10 different universities of Pakistan through a self-administrative Web survey. Structural equation modeling through SmartPLS was used to analyze the data.
Findings
Findings of the research show that performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence and facilitating conditions play a significant role in developing the intention to adopt online classes. Furthermore, facilitating conditions and intention to adopt online classes have further resulted in frequent use behavior. The authors also investigated the moderating role effect of active learning in relationship behavioral intention and use behavior. Findings show that active learning is an important component of online classes that interacts with the behavioral intention to develop the behavior of attending the online mode of learning by students. However, no significant moderation of uncertainty was found in the relationship between four components of acceptance of technology and behavioral intention to adopt the technology.
Originality/value
The authors have extended the UTUAT model by establishing the relationship between facilitating conditions and behavioral intention that supports e-learning. Furthermore, this study tests the moderating role of uncertainty and active learning on the UTUAT model.
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Junaid Akhtar and Iqra Abdullah
The aim of the case is to understand the performance management system of academic staff members in higher education institution. Furthermore, students would be able to compare…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The aim of the case is to understand the performance management system of academic staff members in higher education institution. Furthermore, students would be able to compare two performance appraisal policies and analyze which one could better serve the purpose considering the context of educational institution. The case would help students understand the performance dynamics of the academic staff and how the performance management system in place affect employees.
Case overview/synopsis
The case study presents a troubling situation faced by Asim Khan, a newly appointed director of the Midland University, regarding retention of the faculty. Upon joining Midland, Khan noticed a trend that faculty who was serving the university from many years are leaving the organization one after the other. He decided to revise the faculty policies that he believed was the root cause of faculty turnover in Midland. He formulated a committee to review the existing policies and revamp if required. The committee identified some flaws in the faculty appraisal policy in place at that time and formulated a new one with the consultation of top management. However, when the new appraisal policy was presented to the faculty, few faculty members raised their eyes over a few aspects of the proposed policy. As the new academic year was approaching, Khan had to make an important decision after critically analyzing the pros and cons of both policies that which of the two should be followed for the upcoming year’s appraisals.
Complexity academic level
The case can potentially be used in the post-graduate courses in MBA programs offering a major in human resource management.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 6: Human resource management.
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The learning outcomes are as follows:• demonstrate an understanding of the fruit farming process;• compare the pros and cons of farming different fruits;• understand the general…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows:• demonstrate an understanding of the fruit farming process;• compare the pros and cons of farming different fruits;• understand the general characteristics of entrepreneurs and identify the issues they face;• compare the risk and returns from two types of investments;• apply capital budgeting techniques to ascertain the best available investment option; and• perform sensitivity analysis based on different anticipated situations for a new business.
Case overview/synopsis
Since his birth, Mr Bashir Khan, a 45-year-old father of four, lived as a farmer in Kallar Kahar, Pakistan. He owned 15 acres of land which he used to cultivate wheat and millet. He decided to start fruit farming after harvesting wheat in April 2021 to satisfy his long-standing desire to own a garden. He recently met a friend who was earning well from grape farming, who suggested that Khan set up a vineyard farm which could become a profitable venture for him. At the same time, Khan learned that the government had declared the Potohar region of Pakistan an olive valley, and was giving massive subsidies on olive cultivation. Khan now had a choice of fruits to plant on his land. One of his relatives, Omar Khayam, was an accountant at a firm. Khayam offered to conduct a feasibility analysis for Khan, to provide the relevant data, and help Khan select a high profit-yielding fruit farm.
Complexity academic level
Introductory finance courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels as well as executive training courses focused on the agri-finance discipline.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.
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Xiaoyan Jiang, Jie Lin, Lixin Zhou and Chao Wang
Employees play an essential role in interactive innovation activities in Open Innovation Communities (OICs). Nevertheless, the factors influencing employees' innovation behavior…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees play an essential role in interactive innovation activities in Open Innovation Communities (OICs). Nevertheless, the factors influencing employees' innovation behavior in OICs have not been studied in depth. This study selects personality traits and social network characteristics to explain why and how these two factors affect employees' innovation behavior in OICs.
Design/methodology/approach
Three regression models were constructed to test the relationship between personality traits, social network characteristics, and interactive innovation behaviors. The authors examined how employees' personality traits (Big Five personality traits) influence employees' innovative behavior (initiating and supporting innovation) directly in OICs and explored whether social network characteristics (social group) mediate the relationship between employees' personality traits and employees' innovation behavior.
Findings
Using empirical data on 162 employees from Salesforce's IdeaExchange, the authors found that extraversion and openness to experience have significant positive effects on employees' interactive innovation behaviors, while conscientiousness has a significant negative effect on employees' interactive innovation behaviors in OICs. Furthermore, the mediation effect test results indicated that social network characteristics have a mediating effect on the relationship between extraversion and innovative behavior, and between openness and innovative behavior.
Originality/value
This study analyzes how personality traits influence innovation behavior in an open innovation environment, thus enriching research related to the factors influencing interactive innovation behavior. Meanwhile, the study integrates personality, social network, and innovative behavior research streams and clearly explains the relationship between the three variables. The research findings assist firms in selecting suitable employees to participate in interactive innovation behaviors in OICs.
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Alam Zeb Khattak, Sabir Zaman, Sajid Usman Shah, Fatima, Jannat Nazir and Mudassar Abdullah
Hashish consumption is one of the most widespread public health concerns due to its extensive use and high prevalence. This study aims to investigate the association between…
Abstract
Purpose
Hashish consumption is one of the most widespread public health concerns due to its extensive use and high prevalence. This study aims to investigate the association between illness perception and quality of life among hashish users, while also assessing the mediating role of coping strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Male hashish users’ with a mean age of 37.9 years (SD = 12.3) were screened from public and private addiction and rehabilitation centers in Districts Peshawar, Kohat and Karak. Data were collected through the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, the World Health Organization Quality of Life scale and the Brief Cope scale to assess illness perception, quality of life and coping strategies. Stepwise regression and mediation analysis were performed.
Findings
The findings suggest that illness perception has a significant reverse association with quality of life (r = −0.16, p < 0.01). However, coping strategies have a significantly positive association with quality of life (r = 0.51, p < 0.01) while subcategories, that is, problem-focused, emotion-focused and active avoidance coping were not significantly associated with quality of life.
Practical implications
Lower quality of life increases vulnerability to illness perception, and effective coping strategies improve quality of life. This study emphasizes the importance of addressing illness perception and enhancing coping strategies in interventions aimed at improving the quality of life for hashish users.
Originality/value
This novel view provide valuable insights for developing targeted interventions that enhance the well-being of hashish users by addressing both their psychological and behavioral aspects.
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Naveed Iqbal Chaudhry, Muhammad Azam Roomi and Iqra Aftab
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of financial, monitoring and experiential expertise of audit committee chair (ACC) and HR, monitoring and experiential…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of financial, monitoring and experiential expertise of audit committee chair (ACC) and HR, monitoring and experiential expertise of nomination committee chair (NCC) on the financial performance (FP) of the firm.
Design/methodology/approach
Quantitative approach was used in this study to collect data from 50 non-financial firms of Pakistan and to analyze the data through e-views for testing hypotheses.
Findings
The findings revealed that financial and monitoring expertise of ACC and experiential expertise of NCC positively influence return on assets, return on equity and the net profit margin of the firm. However, no significant influence of experiential expertise of ACC and monitoring and HR expertise of NCC on FP was found.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this study will help firms of Pakistan to understand what expertise of their ACC and NCC can contribute to the enhancement of their FP. However, the current study examined the non-financial firms of Pakistan only.
Originality/value
Past studies have never shown the particular focus on different types of expertise of “Chairs” of nomination and audit committees in a combined research to analyze their impact on FP of firms. The present study has abridged this gap in the field of expertise of chairs of board committees so, it will open new areas of discussion for future researchers in domains of “agency theory”, “human capital theory” and corporate governance.
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Zainab Shahzadi Javid, Zohra Nazeer, Rozina Sewani and Abdullah Laghari
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using mobile devices as an instructional tool on teachers' creativity and to promote their usage as instructional tools…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of using mobile devices as an instructional tool on teachers' creativity and to promote their usage as instructional tools in educational settings. The research also studies the perceptions of teachers on the effect of using mobile devices as an instructional tool on their creativity and what features of mobile devices are believed to help in terms of enhancing their creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative inquiry used an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) method for inspecting the professional capabilities of Pakistan's primary and secondary school teachers. Data were gathered from nine individuals through interviews. Three themes regarding creativity emerged from the study data.
Findings
It is found that the use of mobile devices as a teaching tool significantly increases teachers' creativity by enabling them to manifest their creativity and explore different pedagogical vistas in which they can use a wide variety of instructional resources and tools. Using mobile devices as a teaching tool improved three skills: motivation, self-confidence and communication skills. Mobile applications, cameras and portability of these devices are among the features that teachers considered to have encouraged their creativity.
Research limitations/implications
Finding the obstacles and difficulties teachers have while utilizing these tools to demonstrate their creativity may be valuable for future studies. First, because respondents were teachers from elementary and secondary classes, the population was not entirely homogenous, even though they had adequate help. Second, only semi-structured interviews were utilized for data gathering in this study. Further data collection methods, including observational research or participant-written reflective diaries, are thought to have been preferred.
Practical implications
For future research, it may be interesting to determine whether the results of this study can be applied to other demographic groups. Based on this study, it is also recommended to conduct a quantitative study to know teachers' perceptions of the impact of these devices on creativity, since these studies can have promising results for teachers.
Social implications
Through the use of various materials, tools and activities, these devices provide several distinctive teaching alternatives. Because of this, using it as a teaching tool gives teachers the ability to tailor courses to a range of learner types. Additionally, having easy access to a multitude of online resources and the capacity to interact with others helped in ideation. The teachers experienced feelings of motivation, self-confidence and a desire to impart information, all of which are traits of creative teachers. Based on the findings of this study, we may now think about using mobile devices in the classroom to encourage teachers' creativity.
Originality/value
The outcomes of this research indicated that teachers' creativity is strongly influenced by their use of mobile devices as instructional tools. This paper advances the understanding of teachers’ creativity by highlighting their lived experiences. This study is novel because it highlights how these devices have the potential to be used as instructional tools, which has not been highlighted by any study so far.
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Mahroo Khan, Arsalan Najmi, Waqar Ahmed and Ameenullah Aman
This paper aims to investigate the factors that motivate consumers to pay for halal logistics certification and consequently demand for its certification in Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the factors that motivate consumers to pay for halal logistics certification and consequently demand for its certification in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a sample of 302 respondents from the city of Karachi, Pakistan and used partial least square structural equation model. The study used consumers’ perception, concern and personal societal perspective to determine their willingness to pay and the demand of halal certification.
Findings
Results revealed that all of the aforementioned variables are significant and positive except perspective usefulness which has insignificant and negative relationship with consumer willingness.
Originality/value
Pakistan is an Islamic state and people living there are very cautious about the food items they eat and the procedures they follow. Therefore, this study contributes to evaluate such factors that influence consumer willingness to pay for halal logistics in Pakistan. Furthermore, this study suggests policymakers and 3rd party logistics service providers to educate their potential consumers about halal logistics and halal certification.
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Syed Ali Raza, Syed Tehseen Jawaid, Sahar Afshan and Mohd Zaini Abd Karim
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of foreign capital inflows and economic growth on stock market capitalization in Pakistan by using the annual time series…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of foreign capital inflows and economic growth on stock market capitalization in Pakistan by using the annual time series data from the period of 1976 to 2011.
Design/methodology/approach
The autoregressive distributed lag bound testing cointegration approach, the error correction model and the rolling window estimation procedures have been performed to analyze the long run, short run and behavior of coefficients, respectively.
Findings
Results indicate that foreign direct investment (FDI), workers’ remittances and economic growth have significant positive relationship with the stock market capitalization in long run as well as in short run. Results of the dynamic ordinary least square and the fully modified ordinary least square suggest that the initial results of long-run coefficients are robust. Results of variance decomposition test show the bidirectional causal relationship of FDI and economic growth with stock market capitalization. However, unidirectional causal relationship is found in between workers’ remittances and stock market capitalization.
Practical implications
It is suggested that in Pakistan, investors can make their investment decisions through keeping an eye on the direction of the considered foreign capital inflows and economic growth.
Originality/value
This paper makes a unique contribution to the literature with reference to Pakistan, being a pioneering attempt to investigate the effects of foreign capital inflows and economic growth on stock market by using long time series data and applying more rigorous techniques.