Yasira Naeem Pasha, Shahla Adnan and Noman Ahmed
This paper aims to position the evidence in the history of architectural education, which has contributed to the development of architecture as a discipline. The paper focusses on…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to position the evidence in the history of architectural education, which has contributed to the development of architecture as a discipline. The paper focusses on the transformational stages of architectural education through history. It builds on considering its evolution from informal stages towards formal educational discipline and then standardization as a curriculum-based model in contemporary times.
Design/methodology/approach
The research adopts a qualitative approach focussing on epistemological interpretations through triangulation. The qualitative data includes two main categories; first, historical research and second, interviews and focussed group discussions. It then adopts the triangulation method for the analysis of data. The exploration positions historical pieces of evidence encompassing important factors involved in the process that directed the changes while suggesting the modes of training of architects. The interviews and focus groups provide a valuable addition to historical data for connecting it to contemporary times. Significant modes examined include master pupil, apprenticeship and curriculum-based model, in addition to several fundamental skill sets such as drawing, painting and sculptures that remained constant in this process.
Findings
The historical pieces of evidence inform that architectural education has been inclusive and considerate towards cultural concerns throughout its developmental stages untill the currently adopted curriculum-based model. It concludes that the development of architecture as a discipline in formal education has been influenced by methods of disseminating knowledge, contents incorporated for teaching architecture, deliberate inclusion of relevant knowledge areas such as arts and cultural integrations of societies.
Research limitations/implications
This research is limited to a structured study to explore and position pieces of evidence in the history of architectural education considering its methods and contents. While it signifies the role of culturally sensitive contents in the architectural curricula, the scope of this research is not to focus on the development of any new theory, model or postulate regarding the inclusion of some specific contents. The implications of this research aspire to the best use of methods and contents deeply rooted in the development of the discipline, of architectural curricula in the future. It suggests the negation of possible overlooking of such content in curricula.
Originality/value
The study signifies the core argument of the relevance of architectural education to social and cultural concerns as an important facet in the developmental stages in the history of the discipline. The exploration of pieces of evidence is significantly important to avoid the inadvertent overlooking of the culturally sensitive content in architectural education in the future development of architectural curricula that were included purposefully.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to test a studio pedagogy that originates from an experiment of a collaborative design studio held between two departments of Architecture, as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to test a studio pedagogy that originates from an experiment of a collaborative design studio held between two departments of Architecture, as a useful way for students to learn mutually. Meanwhile, it aims to capture the effectiveness, efficiency and impacts of this collaboration.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents a qualitative research study to observe the role of collaborative design studio in the pedagogical structure of architectural education. It combines the conventional studio with live projects as a unique pedagogy within the studio of Architectural Design-I (AD-I). Primary data collected using open-ended questionnaires from students and focal studio tutors at both architecture departments generated results.
Findings
Built on the analyses of the questionnaires, this paper answers the research questions based on the collaborative studio pedagogy for the course of AD-I and reports on lessons learnt from this collaborative experience. It proves that students can successfully work collaboratively and build confidence in their own abilities to solve a challenge and achieve a common goal through practical experience as well.
Research limitations/implications
This research used a qualitative approach to evaluate the perspectives of 81 students and 6 tutors within a specific pedagogical approach. Given the small sample size and delimitation of the one-course approach, findings from this study are not generalizable to a broader population. Furthermore, a longer duration is needed to address collaborative learning challenges. Nevertheless, it provides valuable data for future studies and also offers pedagogical options for other schools to consider implementing and studying.
Originality/value
The collaborative pedagogical approach experimented in this study was the first initiative of its kind in Karachi, between a younger institution, AED-SSUET and a more established one which was DAP-NED. A four-week collaborative design studio exercise of AD-I engaging third-semester students of AED-SSUET[1] and DAP-NED[2] was a hybrid approach that combined conventional design studio with live project to promote a novel and effective collaborative learning method. In the process, students were encouraged to interact competitively with peers, facilitated by rigorous engagement of focal design tutors from both Architecture departments. It also influenced the active participation of experts from the industry and Architecture community and was exclusively designed to eliminate the pairing up of a single tutor with one student each. The students at AED-SSUET were also able to build a 1:1 scale project with an allocated budget and time-frame constraints.
Details
Keywords
Varuna Kharbanda and Archana Singh
Corporate treasurers manage the currency risk of their organization by hedging through futures contracts. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of hedging by…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate treasurers manage the currency risk of their organization by hedging through futures contracts. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of hedging by US currency futures contracts by taking into account the efficiency of the currency market.
Design/methodology/approach
The static models for calculating hedge ratio are as popular as dynamic models. But the main disadvantage with the static models is that they do not consider important properties of time series like autocorrelation and heteroskedasticity of the residuals and also ignore the cointegration of the market variables which indicate short-run market disequilibrium. The present study, therefore, measures the hedging effectiveness in the US currency futures market using two dynamic models – constant conditional correlation multivariate generalized ARCH (CCC-MGARCH) and dynamic conditional correlation multivariate GARCH (DCC-MGARCH).
Findings
The study finds that both the dynamic models used in the study provide similar results. The relative comparison of CCC-MGARCH and DCC-MGARCH models shows that CCC-MGARCH provides better hedging effectiveness result, and thus, should be preferred over the other model.
Practical implications
The findings of the study are important for the company treasurers since the new updated Indian accounting standards (Ind-AS), applicable from the financial year 2016–2017, make it mandatory for the companies to evaluate the effectiveness of hedges. These standards do not specify a quantitative method of evaluation but provide the flexibility to the companies in choosing an appropriate method which justifies their risk management objective. These results are also useful for the policy makers as they can specify and list the appropriate methods for evaluating the hedge effectiveness in the currency market.
Originality/value
Majorly, the studies on Indian financial market limit themselves to either examining the efficiency of that market or to evaluate the effectiveness of the hedges undertaken. Moreover, most of such works focus on the stock market or the commodity market in India. This is one of the first studies which bring together the concepts of efficiency of the market and effectiveness of the hedges in the Indian currency futures market.
Details
Keywords
Noman Rafique, Gul Afshan and Farooque Ahmed
Considering the importance of employees' voice behavior (VB) and psychological capital (PC) amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this study highlights the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
Considering the importance of employees' voice behavior (VB) and psychological capital (PC) amidst the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), this study highlights the role of authentic leadership (AL) in building a psychologically strong workforce that can provide meaningful suggestions for the improvement of organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The study employed a questionnaire survey to collect the data and recruited 261 participants from the telecom sector Sindh, Pakistan. The data analysis was done using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The findings of the study supported the hypotheses suggesting that AL can directly influence employees' VB and indirectly via PC.
Originality/value
The study was conducted during the COVID-19 in the telecom sector of Sindh, Pakistan. This study contributes by providing useful insights into that AL is an important form of leadership that encourages employees' voluntary behavior and psychological strength during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Details
Keywords
Waqar Ahmed, Noman Islam and Hafsa Naeem Qureshi
Technological development has been a cornerstone of any emerging economy in the past few years. Blockchain has emerged as a promising technology in the past few years…
Abstract
Purpose
Technological development has been a cornerstone of any emerging economy in the past few years. Blockchain has emerged as a promising technology in the past few years, revolutionizing business dynamics. There is always a concern or hesitation during such novel technological innovation. This paper aims to investigate the blockchain technology (BCT) implementation and acceptance in the supply chain function domain.
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed model is based on the Technology Readiness Index (TRI) and extended theory of planned behavior (TPB). The responses were collected from information technology (IT) professionals working at management positions in various manufacturing industries. A total of 147 usable responses were collected for analyzing hypotheses using structural equation modeling.
Findings
As per the findings, perceived ease of use significantly impacts perceived usefulness and attitude toward technology acceptability. Perceived usefulness is significant to attitude toward use. Trust in technology has a significant impact on building up the attitude to use the technology.
Originality/value
The novelty of this work lies in gauging the acceptability of new ways and means of transacting among supply chain professionals and decision-makers. This study provides a broader perspective regarding reluctance and acceptance of the BCT in the developing country that may help the technologist to elucidate better for smooth adoption.
Details
Keywords
Waheed Ali Umrani, Noman Rafique, Yasir Kundi, Umair Ahmed and Reem Abi Abdallah
Employees’ creativity is a critical factor in today’s dynamic working conditions. This study investigates the impact of authentic leadership on the creative work behavior of…
Abstract
Purpose
Employees’ creativity is a critical factor in today’s dynamic working conditions. This study investigates the impact of authentic leadership on the creative work behavior of employees through psychological empowerment as a mediating mechanism. Moreover, the study also aims to examine the moderating role of organizational identification, drawing upon social identity theory. Specifically, organizational identification is expected to moderate the relationship between psychological empowerment and creative work behavior. Furthermore, it can also potentially moderate the indirect effect of authentic leadership on creative work behavior through psychological empowerment.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected a total of 314 valid responses from the employees working in private and public sector organizations within the telecommunications sector in Sindh, Pakistan.
Findings
We analyzed the data using Mplus 8.0. Our findings revealed that authentic leadership leverages creativity via psychological empowerment. Moreover, authentic leadership potentially acts as a moderator. Our results also found support for conditional indirect effects.
Originality/value
Leaders’ authenticity is an emerging concept. Its role in producing a creative workforce is still in the developmental stage. This study highlights that managers must be trained to develop the traits of authentic leadership and organizational identification so that they can raise employees’ psychological empowerment and creative work behavior.
Details
Keywords
Md. Noman Hossain and S.M. Zabed Ahmed
The purpose of this paper is to use scholarly communication and citation data to rank the universities in a developing country perspective in Bangladesh.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use scholarly communication and citation data to rank the universities in a developing country perspective in Bangladesh.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper used publication and citation data from Scopus to rank the universities in Bangladesh. The number of papers published in each year during 2008-2018 by the select 33 universities, faculty per capita, the two-year citations and the number cited articles were used to arrive at a yearly weighted score and overall score for each university. The overall score was used to produce the ranking of the universities in Bangladesh.
Findings
The findings indicate that the ranking system can be implemented at the national level as an annual exercise to rank the higher education institutions in developing country perspective.
Originality/value
This is the first time an effort has been made to rank the universities in Bangladesh using publication and citation data. The findings of this paper could help policymakers, administrators and academicians to understand how the universities are performing in terms of scholarly activities.
Details
Keywords
Miao Miao, Mansoora Ahmed, Noman Ahsan and Bushra Qamar
The study aims to investigate students' attitudes toward using technology for micro-credential programs (MCPs) and their behavioral intention toward using MCPs for learning and…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to investigate students' attitudes toward using technology for micro-credential programs (MCPs) and their behavioral intention toward using MCPs for learning and enhancing their skills. The study also intends to investigate the moderating influence of labor market conditions (LMC).
Design/methodology/approach
A closed-ended questionnaire is employed to collect data from 474 participants through a convenience sample, from the university students in Karachi. Two theoretical frameworks are used in the study: technology acceptance model (TAM) and self-determination theory (SDT). The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is used to analyze data.
Findings
Findings reveal significant and positive relationships between all variables, except controlled motivation (CM) and perceived challenges. Moreover, the moderation results ascertain that the labor market does not moderate the relationship between attitude toward using technology for MCPs and students' behavioral intention toward using MCPs for learning.
Originality/value
The study seeks to understand students' attitudes and behavioral intentions toward using technology for MCPs. Also, the moderating effect of LMC is highlighted in understanding the impact of the attitude to use technology (AT) for MCPs and behavioral intentions in higher educational institutions (HEIs) in Pakistan. The study highlights intuitive practical implications for students of HEIs, universities and digital credential program providers.
Details
Keywords
Noman Arshed and Rukhsana Kalim
This study aims to develop and estimate the Musharaka demand and supply model for full-fledged Islamic banks to explore patterns and stability of Musharaka equilibrium in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop and estimate the Musharaka demand and supply model for full-fledged Islamic banks to explore patterns and stability of Musharaka equilibrium in the market.
Design/methodology/approach
This quantitative study uses a deductive approach to explore financial statement-level data of 30 Islamic banks of six countries between 2012 and 2017.
Findings
The results show that the Musharaka market is stable when Musharaka demand is purchase price elastic and supply is sale price inelastic. It indicates that the current banking industry is unable to increase supply when there is an increase in Musharaka returns. In comparison, industry demand for Musharaka is increasing at a higher rate, corresponding to a decrease in Musharaka price.
Practical Implications
This study is fundamental in estimating the market stable market returns and market quantity of Musharaka financing. If market returns and quantity deviate, market forces will push it to equilibrium.
Originality/value
The theoretical and empirical studies worked on the application and suitability of Musharaka financing. However, they failed to explain demand and supply forces in determining the level of Musharaka financing in the economy using empirical data. Without an equilibrium model, policymakers would be unable to predict the movement of the Islamic stock market index (the price of Musharaka financing) and the incidence of Musharaka financing. Further, it is not possible to apply expansionary intervention by policymakers if the stability of the market is unknown.