Nadia Butt, Nosheen Fatima Warraich and Muzammil Tahira
This paper aims to explore the emerging trends of e-government in Pakistan with an empirical investigation of the e-government websites and the services they provide to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the emerging trends of e-government in Pakistan with an empirical investigation of the e-government websites and the services they provide to the citizens of Pakistan. It also investigates the level of development of these e-government websites in the Punjab Web portal. The governments in Asian countries, including Pakistan, have been struggling to switch their services from traditional on-spot services to online services. Focal points of the study are development level of e-government websites, available e-services and quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The e-government Web portal of Punjab province with 38 websites is center of attention in present study. Website’s content analysis method is used to study e-government websites (N = 38) from the Punjab Web portal. It used the “Four-Stage Development Model” for the four stages, namely, “publishing”, “interacting”, “transacting” and “transforming”, to study the phenomena.
Findings
The findings showed that most of the websites on the Web portal were at the first (publishing) and second (interacting) stage of development. For the provision of effective online services, websites need to be on the third (transacting) and fourth (transforming) stage. Only a few websites in the Punjab Web portal were the on transacting and transforming stages providing a mature level of services. In total, 40 different types of services are identified in 38 websites of Punjab e-government Web portal.
Practical implications
E-government, Web portals are developed to give citizens a single, easy access point to several departments’ websites and their services. This baseline study recommends to update e-government websites periodically and put more focus on technological and contextual features to enhance the accessibility and usability of the websites.
Originality/value
This is first empirical study of e-government websites to explore their services and examine existing level of website development in this region.
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Nadia Butt and Nosheen Fatima Warraich
The multitasking phenomenon has been prevailing in the technology-driven information environment. People are engaged in multitasking to process information and deal with personal…
Abstract
Purpose
The multitasking phenomenon has been prevailing in the technology-driven information environment. People are engaged in multitasking to process information and deal with personal and professional information tasks. This study aims to explore the external predictors of multitasking information behavior (MIB) of library and information science (LIS) professionals from Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a quantitative study based on a questionnaire survey, and data was collected through Google Form; the link was shared via e-mail and WhatsApp to get maximum responses. The sampling includes the LIS professionals working in Higher Education Commission-recognized universities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), Pakistan. A total of 126 responses were received from 41 universities of KPK.
Findings
Pearson correlation and regression were applied by using SPSS for data analysis. The findings revealed that time pressure (TP) is a good predictor of multitasking because when professionals got tasks with deadlines, they try to perform multiple activities at a time. Therefore, TP is a predictor of human MIB. This study also revealed that the work environment is a less significant predictor of MIB, and the use of multiple information resources is a weak predictor of MIB. It is noted that individual covariates were not predictors of the multitasking information. However, TP was the most significant predictor among all the contextual and individual factors predicting MIB.
Research limitations/implications
This research line is significant because MIB is a new dimension of human information behavior among LIS professionals. The findings are beneficial for LIS professionals to increase their work productivity and performance by rationalizing the significant predictors.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no such study is available that highlighted the MIB among LIS professionals. Therefore, this study will highlight external factors’ effects on LIS professionals’ MIB. This study will contribute to the literature on libraries and information management as this study describes the LIS professionals’ behavior.
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Nadia Saad Noori and Christina Weber
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel approach to studying disaster management operations: the emergence of coordination-clusters in long-term rehabilitation projects…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a novel approach to studying disaster management operations: the emergence of coordination-clusters in long-term rehabilitation projects and innovation dynamics in coordination-clusters.
Design/methodology/approach
The problem addressed is examining the coordination dynamics in long-term rehabilitation operations. A mixed methods research approach was adopted where a combination of qualitative and quantitative techniques was used for data collection and analysis to study the phenomenon of the coordination evolution in long-term rehabilitation projects.
Findings
The results indicate resilience in the behavior of involved actors from different organizations as they re-organize into coordination-clusters and collectively work to overcome the unfolding challenges of long-term rehabilitation projects in areas affected by major disaster.
Research limitations/implications
The results provide some answers to the question of how to map and analyze the phenomenon of coordination-clusters and their consequent coordination dynamics, and thereby steps to redesign the approach to execute long-term rehabilitation projects in places affected by major disasters.
Practical implications
The combination of Actor-network theory and critical incident technique with social network analysis and community detection provides an integrated network-based view of coordination dynamics in long-term recovery operations. Such perspective would broaden the empirical basis for the planning and management of complex disaster management operations.
Originality/value
The results of the research offer a new approach to study coordination dynamics in disaster management operations. The proposed method provides a tool to examine the evolution of processes involved with the recovery phase of a disaster management cycle.
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Dania Al-Najjar, Hamzeh F. Assous, Hazem Al-Najjar and Nadia Al-Rousan
This study aims to investigate the Ramadan effect anomaly on the stock markets’ indices and estimate the movement of these indices in the light of the phenomenon.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the Ramadan effect anomaly on the stock markets’ indices and estimate the movement of these indices in the light of the phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
Stock market indices are used as financial indicators to show the Ramadan effect. To validate this effect, eight Arab countries, which comprises Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait and Egypt, are adopted. A linear regression with R2, error, F-value and p-value is considered to analyze and understand the effect of Ramadan on the aforementioned Arab countries.
Findings
Results found that Ramadan has a strong effect on estimating and predicting the performance of stock market indices in all studied Arab countries, except Kuwait. Results found that the majority of the Ramadan effect occurred after the second 10 days of Ramadan, where the direction of stock indices is opposite of Ramadan variables in all aforementioned cases.
Originality/value
This study is considered as an enrichment of the existing literature review with regard to the Ramadan effect. The study presents a new methodology that can be followed to improve the predictions of stock market indices by using a weight least square method with linear regression. This study presents the most affected periods of time that could decrease or increase the stock prices. Finally, the study proves the capability of the weight least square method in building a predictive model that takes the date into consideration in predicting stock market indices.
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Muhammad Mujtaba Asad, Nadia Hussain, Maria Wadho, Zahid Hussain Khand and Prathamesh P. Churi
The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become a major driving force in transforming education worldwide. Similarly, in the last ten years, the usage of…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has become a major driving force in transforming education worldwide. Similarly, in the last ten years, the usage of ICTs and e-learning in Pakistan has increased. Whereas the latest educational policy of the Government of Pakistan has focused on using ICTs and e-learning in schools and universities. The national professional standards for teachers have also suggested teachers to integrate ICTs in their classrooms and develop e-learning platforms for teaching and learning processes. However, in this study the effectiveness of information and communication and e-learning technologies integration in teaching and learning has been assessed. The context selected for this research study is a public university of Sindh, Pakistan. The research gap, which has been founded through the extensive literature review, indicated that most of the students are not able to utilize ICTs effectively. The first objective of this study is to enable students to gain wider range of knowledge and access Internet for developing a global outlook. Moreover, the second objective of this study is to develop students' capabilities of processing information more effectively and efficiently for teaching and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
By nature, this study is quantitative survey-based research study. For this purpose, data has been collected from students and teachers of English, Computer Science and Business Administration departments of targeted university, survey questionnaires have been adopted as a data collection tool. Whereas the random sampling technique is used for the collection of data by using Morgan table of sample size. Additionally, data has been collected from 100 participants, 80 of them were students and 20 were teachers, and data has been analyzed by using SPSS 22.0 software.
Findings
The findings of this study have indicated the student's level of interest toward the integration of ICTs and e-learning in science and social science courses. Similarly, the findings specify that through ICT and e-learning materials, students can learn more effectively, which can also facilitate teachers for their teaching process in this modern era of technology. Whereas the issue that has been specified through the findings is that the teachers are not encouraged by the management of the university to implement the ICT in their teaching and learning due to their concerns on the limited resources and lack of competencies.
Practical implications
For the practical implication, the findings of this study will facilitate the teachers and learners for integrating the ICTs and e-learning in their course curriculums and interactive teaching practices as per modern era of technology. Also, this study will help the provincial leader and policymakers by addressing the teachers’ concern to encourage the integration of ICT tools and develop capabilities for interactive classrooms for effective teaching and learning.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its nature that has been conducted in the Pakistani public university in rural setting, and the finding of this study will facilitate and help the institutional and government stakeholders to where and how they can effectively integrate ICTs and e-learning in classrooms for interactive teaching and learning processes in the rural Sindh.
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This chapter analyses the presence of Russian feminists and female LGBTIQ+ activists within US-American mainstream media. In the course of a multimedia discourse analysis, it…
Abstract
This chapter analyses the presence of Russian feminists and female LGBTIQ+ activists within US-American mainstream media. In the course of a multimedia discourse analysis, it briefly raises questions of who becomes featured and how, to argue that current debates marginalise Russian queer female, trans*gender and intersex voices, compared to those of male queers. One exception to this trend is the case of the journalist and activist Masha Gessen. Together with Nadya Tolokonnikova of the protest group Pussy Riot, Gessen seems to represent Russian queers and feminists within US media. Although marginal, compared to the presence of US feminisms, especially popular culture figures such as Beyoncé Knowles-Carter or Lady Gaga, the two women become frequently featured within US news media and beyond. Frequently, those articles, interviews and discussions of their work open up a debate, or rather comparisons, between US values and Russian values, questions of modernity, progress and civilisation. Equally often, the female Russian dissidents are pictured as ‘Putin’s victims’ – the female versions of David fighting against Goliath – by focussing especially on their physical vulnerability and their female bodies. In this vein, feminism is constructed as inherently ‘Western’, while the bodies that carry out such feminisms and most of all their country of origin is entirely ‘othered’. Comparing the (self-)representations to other voices of female Russian dissent within US media, the author critically discuss the Western gaze of US mainstream media, its victimising strategies and homonationalistic construction of US identity and US nation in rejection of a ‘backward’ homophobic Russia.
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Nadia Murtaza and Urooj Fatima
The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the broader characteristics of Pakistan’s public policies reflect Islamic law, how the financial crime rate has been affected by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the broader characteristics of Pakistan’s public policies reflect Islamic law, how the financial crime rate has been affected by policy rules, and if the policies do indeed reflect Islamic law, how do they help the process?
Methodology/approach
It is a qualitative exploratory study where structured interviews have been conducted with experts and practitioners in Islamic Ideological Council and Parliament.
Findings
The findings constitute a threadbare discussion of financial crimes which policy takes into account under Islamic law; along with the relevant ramifications and recommendations.
Research implications
It is suggested that the laws of Pakistan be studied taking Shariah density into consideration. Future research can focus on implementation of laws and policies as a factor improving governance.
Originality/value
This study is pertinent because financial crimes in light of Islamic law and public policy are not discussed in detail in previous research.
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Umar Farooq Sahibzada, Nadia Aslam, Muhammad Muavia, Muhammad Shujahat and Piyya Muhammad Rafi-ul-Shan
The rapid evolution of digital innovation has significantly revolutionized the business landscape for entrepreneurs. Embracing digital innovation is crucial for all stakeholders…
Abstract
Purpose
The rapid evolution of digital innovation has significantly revolutionized the business landscape for entrepreneurs. Embracing digital innovation is crucial for all stakeholders to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) and promote sustainability. However, there is little understanding of how entrepreneurial leadership in developing nations has proactively responded to the challenge of digital innovation. Based on Drucker’s productivity theory, this study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial leadership (EL), digital orientation (DO) and digital capability (DC) as predictors of digital innovation (DI). The proposed model aims to establish the causal connections between variables and elucidate the complex interplay between digital innovation and the resulting outcome of sustainable performance (SP).
Design/methodology/approach
Two research studies were carried out in the Chinese IT industry to assess the efficacy of the theoretical framework among IT workers. Study 1 utilized a three-week, two-week time-lagged design (N = 299), while Study 2 used a two-week, four-week survey design (N = 341). The study used Smart-PLS 4.0 for data analysis.
Findings
The results showed that entrepreneurial leadership significantly impacts employee digital orientation and digital capabilities, fostering digital innovation. Moreover, digital innovation has a significant impact on sustainable performance.
Originality/value
The study’s findings allow authors to contribute to the existing scholarship on employee digital orientation, digital capabilities, digital innovation and sustainable performance in an emerging economy.
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Hasan Oudah Abdullah, Nadia Atshan, Hadi Al-Abrrow, Alhamzah Alnoor, Marco Valeri and Gül Erkol Bayram
This study aims to understand the impact of leadership styles on the sustainability of organizational energy, using the mediator role of organizational ambidexterity in family…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the impact of leadership styles on the sustainability of organizational energy, using the mediator role of organizational ambidexterity in family firms in Malaysia. To this end, dual-stage Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were adopted to determine the leadership style of family firms in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory design (i.e. questionnaire) was used to collect data from 528 workers in the family firms in Malaysia.
Findings
According to the results, leadership styles and long-term organizational energy have a positive and significant relationship. Furthermore, organizational ambidexterity mediates the relationship between leadership styles and organizational energy sustainability. On the other hand, based on nonlinear and compensatory relationships, the ANN method predicted a bureaucratic leadership style typical in Malaysian family businesses. The results of this study indicate transformational, transactional and bureaucratic leadership styles affect sustainable organizational energy. Besides, organizational ambidexterity fully mediates the relationship between leadership styles and sustainable organizational energy. On the other hand, the results of non-compensatory relationships revealed organizational ambidexterity is the most determinant of sustainable organizational energy, followed by bureaucratic leadership. As a result, leadership styles encourage human resources to perform tasks with energy and vitality. In family businesses, bureaucratic leadership increases job immersion and positive motivations toward work challenges.
Research limitations/implications
From a practitioner's perspective, leaders and practitioners must encourage creativity and idea generation to give members sufficient strength to work and focus on goals that support building sustainable organizational energy. A family business is a type of capitalism that significantly impacts employees. The family-owned businesses surveyed by first-generation families lack subsidiaries and are ingrained in a paternalistic culture that offers employees greater security at a lower wage. Although there are few details, the study sample size is small and has limitations. This study suggests that understanding the leadership styles on sustainable organizational energy and using the mediator role of organizational ambidexterity in the family business has immense value. Characteristics such as transformational, transactional and bureaucratic leadership styles have a significant role in sustainable organizational energy. Also, organizational ambidexterity is the mediator for the relationship between leadership styles and sustainable organizational energy.
Originality/value
This study sheds light on the effect of leadership styles on sustainable organizational energy through organizational ambidexterity in family firms. In this context, the novelty of this study includes two perceptions. The first explored the impact of exploration and exploitation on sustainable organizational energy. The second investigates linear and nonlinear relationships to predict sustainable organizational energy determinants.
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Nadia Edmond, Yvonne Hillier and Mark Price
The purpose of this article is to explore how higher education (HE) institutions are responding to the workforce remodelling agenda of public services and the emergence of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to explore how higher education (HE) institutions are responding to the workforce remodelling agenda of public services and the emergence of “para‐professions” within traditionally low paid/low status employment.
Design/methodology/approach
With reference to recent research, the article reviews the authors' experience of foundation degrees (FDs) in education and explores tensions in managing the competing needs of the varying stakeholders.
Findings
A model of work‐based learning (WBL) results from the study, which includes consideration of the following key areas: employer engagement; CPD and professional bodies – external validation and professional recognition; progression into HE through the workforce; and pedagogy of WBL
Research limitations/implications
This article identifies a need for the systematic examination of the issues raised by the implementation of FDs as CPD for employed staff. The assumption that FD provision for employees results in more effective WBL is challenged. The importance of FDs in accreditation for a range of occupations in the Children's Workforce also suggests a need for research into the ”professionalisation” of these occupations.
Practical implications
The issue of employer engagement is fundamental and that paper argues that HE has a crucial role to play but that ensuring employer engagement requires responsiveness on the part of university structures, as well as the capacity to stimulate employer engagement and/or sanction lack of employer engagement at the level of individual programmes.
Originality/value
This article provides information about the new phenomenon of implementation of FDs to support workforce development.