Raza Ali Zaidi, Muhammad Majid Khan, Rao Aamir Khan and Bahaudin G. Mujtaba
The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting startup development and the entrepreneurship ecosystem's contribution to it.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze the factors affecting startup development and the entrepreneurship ecosystem's contribution to it.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative methodology is used for data collection from different startup owners working across Pakistan. It is a cross-sectional descriptive study, which investigates the causal effect of variables at a definite point in time. Non-probability convenient sampling was used for selecting available startups from the incubation centers. The sampling framework consists of the founders of the startups that have been previously incubated at any of the selected incubation centers.
Findings
Regression analysis results from 165 responses of entrepreneurs and incubation centers demonstrate that the most important factors affecting startup development were financial access, government support, marketing challenges, education, technology and managerial skills in order of occurrence. Entrepreneurship ecosystem also proved to have a very positive impact on the relationship of these factors with startup development.
Practical implications
In this paper, the factors that affect the development of startup are analyzed and recommendations are provided.
Originality/value
This research is comprehensive, as we have collected data from actual entrepreneurs and incubation centers to explain how entrepreneurs initiate their startup business by considering their managerial skills. As such, this study is unique in that the data comes from newly developed incubations centers in one of South Asia's fastest-growing economies.
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Riffat Blouch, Khuda Bakhsh, Wajid Shakeel, Muhammad Majid Khan and Aiza Yasmeen
The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role network value of firm on the relationship between firm strategic initiatives on firm performance by managing the market…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role network value of firm on the relationship between firm strategic initiatives on firm performance by managing the market antecedents including user's expectations, user's coordination and user's compatibility.
Design/methodology/approach
The current study uses secondary date of telecom industry of Pakistan, India and China. The data obtained were later subjected to the analysis using CASUALMED procedures of statistical analysis software (SAS).
Findings
The findings from the study projected that strategic drivers played an important role in leveraging the firms' performance. The results also confirm that in order to increase the firm performance, the network value of firms' plays a very crucial role.
Research limitations/implications
Despite making novel contribution, the present study has few limitations, need researchers' attention to be explained in the future, which includes narrow population size, not being able to work on indirect network effects and the theoretical explanation of behavioral antecedents of network value.
Practical implications
The present research have potential applications for managers of telecom industry, which in turn would help them to develop the strategies that they could build to leverage their network value and firms' performance.
Originality/value
The current study has made a considerable contribution in the literature by proposing a model that adds to the theoretical foundation of strategic management of the firm. So, closely considering these insights would be helping for the firms to leverage its network value in mobile telecommunication industry.
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Abbas Khan, Muhammad Yar Khan, Abdul Qayyum Khan, Majid Jamal Khan and Zia Ur Rahman
By testing the weak form of efficient market hypothesis (EMH) this study aims to forecast the short-term stock prices of the US Dow and Jones environmental socially responsible…
Abstract
Purpose
By testing the weak form of efficient market hypothesis (EMH) this study aims to forecast the short-term stock prices of the US Dow and Jones environmental socially responsible index (SRI) and Shariah compliance index (SCI).
Design/methodology/approach
This study checks the validity of the weak form of EMH for both SCI and SRI prices by using different parametric and non-parametric tests, i.e. augmented Dickey-Fuller test, Philip-Perron test, runs test and variance ratio test. If the EMH is invalid, the research further forecasts short-term stock prices by applying autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model using daily price data from 2010 to 2018.
Findings
The research confirms that a weak form of EMH is not valid in the US SRI and SCI. The historical data can predict short-term future price movements by using technical ARIMA model.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides better guidance to risk-averse national and international investors to earn higher returns in the US SRI and SCI. This study can be extended to test the EMH of Islamic equity in the Middle East and North Africa region and other top Islamic indexes in the world.
Originality/value
This study is a new addition to the existing literature of equity investment and price forecasting by comparing and investigating the market efficiency of two interrelated US SRI and SCI.
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Majid Khan and Rahizah Binti Sulaiman
Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting highlights an increasing lack of transparency in the information reported along with concerns surrounding overall…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting highlights an increasing lack of transparency in the information reported along with concerns surrounding overall reporting practices. One area that needs exploration is how chief executive officers (CEOs) convey messages in relation to CSR. This paper aims to investigate the linkage between CEO’s statements (words and images) in relation to CSR and the performativity of such communication.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analysed CEOs statements from five Malaysian companies contained in 2016, 2017 and 2018 standalone sustainability and annual reports. The texts and visuals are analysed by using discourse analysis.
Findings
The findings uncover three main discourses (economic, environmental and social) along with other discourses (achievements and recognition and challenges). The texts and images are found to be lacking in clarity and consistency and in many ways leave the stakeholders to make their own conclusions about the reported information.
Originality/value
The research indicates that while the leaders can be more direct to their stakeholders, however, the opportunity is not always capitalised. Overall, the analysis suggests an increasing scientism in CEOs messaging in relation to CSR as a tool to enhance perceived accountability of the business. The study also suggests avenues for improvement. This paper contributes to the emergence of different types of discourses that are being upheld by CEOs in their statements on CSR in Malaysian context. The discourses identified provide interesting insights into how CSR is perceived by the leaders.
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Nguyen Minh, Majid Khan and Jo Bensemann
Whilst research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is reaching new territories, the extent to which such literature manifests itself in developing countries is yet to be…
Abstract
Purpose
Whilst research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) is reaching new territories, the extent to which such literature manifests itself in developing countries is yet to be fully understood. To that end, this study aims to investigate the understanding, evolution and practice of CSR in Vietnam.
Design/methodology/approach
A systematic review of the current literature in the recent past (2000–2020) has been embraced in this research. By analysing a total of 143 articles, the authors demonstrate that there has been visible growth in published articles related to CSR in Vietnam over the past 21 years.
Findings
The authors demonstrate that CSR research in Vietnam has significantly grown in the recent past. The results highlight the in-depth distribution of publications by year, journal, industry, nature and focus of CSR research in the country.
Originality/value
This study is not only the first to provide an enhanced overview of the current state of CSR knowledge in the country but also sets out directions within the CSR research agenda related to Vietnam and potentially other emerging and developing countries.
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Riffat Blouch and Muhammad Majid Khan
This study aims to advance and analyze the influence that firms’ diversification approach brings to the businesses’ performance via competitive advantage (CA) and access to…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to advance and analyze the influence that firms’ diversification approach brings to the businesses’ performance via competitive advantage (CA) and access to capital in a developing economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Using primary mode, the present study uses the sample of 104 diversified manufacturing firms to analyze the conditional indirect effect of firms’ diversification approach on efficient resource allocation using SAS process macros.
Findings
This study corroborates that in the era of uncertainty (when businesses are struggling to survive), a diversification approach can help the firms to build resilience against uncertainties to achieve resource allocation efficiency. Furthermore, findings also reveal that for successful strategic implementation firm’s access to capital (tangible and intellectual capital) play a critical role.
Research limitations/implications
Theoretically, this study has made a sizeable contribution to the resource-based theory of a firm’s literature with a new compositional-based theoretical perspective and also by providing an insight into the relationship between strategic approaches, access to capital and resource allocation efficiency. However, the current study’s ability to provide a deep understanding of the phenomenon was restricted by the lack of data availability and a self-reporting questionnaire approach.
Practical implications
Potential applications of the current research exist for manufacturing industry managers and policymakers to achieve efficiency and CA. This study provides evidence of the obstacles to diversification discounts while allocating resources. At the same time, it provides a crucial connotation for maintaining distinctive tangible and intangible capital for value addition.
Originality/value
The current study fills out by investigating the conditional indirect effect of access to capital in industrial era 4.0. Moreover, according to researchers’ knowledge, this study is the first to establish and empirically investigate a comprehensive model that involves a strategic approach, access to tangible and intellectual capital and performance outcome obtained through the integration of all these crucial factors.
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Shahab Ud Din, Muhammad Arshad Khan, Majid Jamal Khan and Muhammad Yar Khan
This study examines the impact of ownership structure on firm financial performance, for 146 manufacturing firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the period…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the impact of ownership structure on firm financial performance, for 146 manufacturing firms listed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) for the period 2003–2012.
Design/methodology/approach
The theoretical background of the present study is based on the agency theory. Ownership structure is measured by institutional shareholdings, insider shareholdings, foreign shareholders and government shareholdings, while return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), market-to-book ratio (MBR) and Tobin's Q (TQ) are used as proxies of corporate financial performance. The dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) method is employed to cater for the issue of endogeneity.
Findings
We find that institutional ownership exerts a significant positive impact on ROE and MBR, which suggests that institutional investors play a significant role in improving the financial performance of the sample Pakistani. Furthermore, the results reveal a significant positive relationship of insider ownership with ROA, ROE, MBR and TQ, which is consistent with the prediction of agency theory that concentration of insider ownership aligns the interest of shareholders with those of the managers and hence improves performance. A significant positive association of government shareholdings with ROA and ROE was also found. Therefore, policymakers may encourage government ownership in firms, which can help to improve corporate financial performance.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the existing literature on ownership structure and corporate financial performance in an emerging market like Pakistan. It is worth mentioning that the institutional setup and corporate governance structure in Pakistan is yet at an evolving stage. Findings of this study may provide useful insights to corporate managers and investors about the relationship between ownership structure and financial performance of firms from the manufacturing sector in Pakistan.
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Riffat Blouch and Muhammad Majid Khan
Drawing on the concept of superior resource, capability and processes of the resource-based theory of the firm, the purpose of the current study is to analyze the influence of…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the concept of superior resource, capability and processes of the resource-based theory of the firm, the purpose of the current study is to analyze the influence of firms’ winner-picking strategic approach on firm performance (FP) via a direct and indirect mechanism.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data of 104 diversified manufacturing firms, the current study analyzed the conditional indirect effect of firms’ strategic approach on efficient resource allocation with the help of Statistical Analysis Software (SAS) process macros.
Findings
The study found that firms’ choices of winner-picking approach can undermine the resource allocation efficiency when not perfectly blended with firms’ access to the resource. Furthermore, the effect of winner-picking strategy (WPS) on resource allocation efficiency via firms’ competitive advantage (CA) can be greater when both strategic choice and resources are employed adequately.
Research limitations/implications
Despite making a unique contribution, the present study has a few limitations requiring researchers’ attention to be tackled in the forthcoming. This includes a little amount of data, a self-reporting technique and failure to include all the possible reasons that could lead to inefficient resource allocation.
Practical implications
The present research has potential applications for managers of the manufacturing industry in a period of sheer uncertainty [coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)]. First, the study alerts managers about the challenges of underinvestment and overinvestment while allocating resources. At the same time, this study provides an important implication for managing the importance of firms’ access to capital (AC).
Originality/value
The current study has made a sizeable impression in the literature on internal resource allocation and resource-based theory of the firm by recommending a model that augments the theoretical foundation of strategic management of the firms. As there are only a handful of studies on this grave issue in the context of developing economies, thus, closely considering these insights would be helping for the firms for allocating resources efficiently in the manufacturing industry.
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Zeeshan Mahmood, Zlatinka N. Blaber and Majid Khan
This paper aims to investigate the role of field-configuring events (FCEs) and situational context in the institutionalisation of sustainability reporting (SR) in Pakistan.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of field-configuring events (FCEs) and situational context in the institutionalisation of sustainability reporting (SR) in Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses insights from the institutional logics perspective and qualitative research design to analyse the interplay of the institutional logics, FCEs, situational context and social actors’ agency for the institutionalisation of SR among leading corporations in Pakistan. A total of 28 semi-structured interviews were carried out and were supplemented by analysis of secondary data including reports, newspaper articles and books.
Findings
The emerging field of SR in Pakistan is shaped by societal institutions, where key social actors (regulators, enablers and reporters) were involved in the institutionalisation of SR through FCEs. FCEs provided space for agency and were intentionally designed by key social actors to promote SR in Pakistan. The situational context connected the case organisations with FCEs and field-level institutional logics that shaped their decision to initiate SR. Overall, intricate interplay of institutional logics, FCEs, situational context and social actors’ agency has contributed to the institutionalisation of SR in Pakistan. Corporate managers navigated institutional logics based on situational context and initiated SR that is aligned with corporate goals and stakeholder expectations.
Practical implications
For corporate managers, this paper highlights the role of active agency in navigating and integrating institutional logics and stakeholders’ expectations in their decision-making process. For practitioners and policymakers, this paper highlights the importance of FCEs and situational context in the emergence and institutionalisation of SR in developing countries. From a societal point of view, dominance of business actors in FCEs highlights the need for non-business actors to participate in FCEs to shape logics and practice of SR for wider societal benefits.
Social implications
From a societal point of view, dominance of business actors in FCEs highlights the need for non-business actors to participate in FCEs to shape logics and practice of SR for wider societal benefits.
Originality/value
This paper focuses on the role of FCEs and situational context as key social mechanisms for explaining the institutionalisation of SR.
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Riffat Blouch, Muhammad Majid Khan and Wajid Shakeel
Drawing on the concept of resource-based theory of the firm; the purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of firms’ strategic approaches on the firm performance via…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on the concept of resource-based theory of the firm; the purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of firms’ strategic approaches on the firm performance via indirect effect using a multilevel, bottom-up approach.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the survey method, the present study obtains data from 104 diversified manufacturing firms and analyzes the bottom-up effect of firms’ strategic approach on efficient resource allocation using Mplus.
Findings
Given the prevailing conditions, the study found that the motive of most firms is growth rather than risk mitigation or collaboration in the manufacturing sector of Pakistan. Furthermore, the study found that the bottom-level employees’ information asymmetry has a significant impact on the strategic resource allocation decision, which can lead to resource allocation inefficiency.
Research limitations/implications
Despite making a unique contribution, the present study has few limitations requiring researchers’ attention to in the forthcoming. These include a low amount of data, self-reporting technique and failure to include all the possible reason that could cause resource allocation inefficiency.
Practical implications
The present research has potential applications for managers of the manufacturing industry. First, the study alerts managers about the challenges of resource allocation. At the same time, this study provides critical implication for managing bottom-level employees.
Originality/value
The current study has made a sizable impression in the literature of resource-based theory of the firm by recommending a model that augments the theoretical foundation of strategic management of the firm. So, closely considering these insights would be helping for the firms for allocating resources efficiently in the manufacturing industry.