FRANCHISEE’S SATISFACTION AND ITS IMPACT ON LOYALTY WITH THE FRANCHISE

Quratulain Itrat Baig

International Islamic University, Islamabad

Purpose: This paper attempts to predict the intentions of a franchisee to remain in a particular franchise system by taking into account the five dimensions of satisfaction. Further it attempts to measure the reliability of an already developed instrument to measure the franchisee’s satisfaction within an academic setting.
Design/methodology/approach: The survey instrument developed in an earlier research conducted in Malaysia for an academic setting is been adopted for this research. Regression Analysis was conducted to evaluate how well the franchisee satisfaction predicts Intention to remain in the network.        
Originality/value:  A contribution to the academic franchising literature by applying a 23-item instrument in undergraduate setting, specifically tailored for academic franchising.               
Findings: The results lead to the conclusion that there is a significantly positive relationship between Social Interaction, Financial Returns, Assurance and Competence of the franchisor with the franchisees’ loyalty level, however, Service Support of the franchisor is not found to have any significant relationship with the franchisees’ loyalty level.       
Keywords:  Franchising, Franchisee Satisfaction, Loyalty, Education, Pakistan

GENDER EQUITY IN EDUCATION, PAKISTAN

Purpose: The purpose of this research paper is to take the snapshot of the education in Pakistan. This research helps us understand the factors that help improve literacy in the country to be able to achieve Millennium Development Goals especially number 2 and 3.             
Design/methodology/approach: Based on literature review the analysis of secondary data was conducted. Percentage, Correlation and Gender Parity Index was used to interpret the present situation and arrive at results.
Findings:  Education opens up better opportunities for individuals in particular and for the society in general. Opening up of schools, construction of school buildings and employment of teachers do not give desired results in Pakistan because these are not proportionate to population growth and wishes and capabilities of the stakeholders. The unavailability of gender disaggregated data about the population at various levels results in the making of ineffective policies. In order to achieve the millennium development goals by 2015 serious efforts at the public and private levels and advocacy for awareness-raising are a must for the progress of our society. The discussion of equality and equity is meaningless when the masses are far behind literacy. There is a strong correlation between literacy rate and the percentage GNP spent on education.            
Research limitations/implications: The unavailability of gender disaggregated data and working in the absence of census based on projections does not give us the true picture.               
Practical implications:  This research paper is useful for the policy makers to be able to consider all necessary aspects to formulate right policies and strategies for the education and achieving Millennium Development Goals.
Originality/value:  This paper studies the relationship between the Percentage GNP spent on education and net enrolment rate.             
Keywords:  Literacy, Gender Parity, Education, Pakistan

General Attitude towards Advertising: Cultural Influence in Pakistan

Muhammad Usman

Faculty of Management Science International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan

Purpose: The objective of this research is to examine cultural influence on the general attitude of Pakistani people towards advertising. The study aims to analyze the cultural impact on attitude of people towards advertisements of brands according to product information, social integration and hedonism/pleasure, whereas power distance and masculinity as culture dimensions.
Methodology: Sample size includes 250 respondents which are involved directly in purchasing. It includes adults from all disciplines, house wives within the vicinity of Islamabad/ Rawalpindi and the people from different age groups and educational backgrounds. Regression is used to check the impact of product information, social integration and hedonism over public general attitude towards advertisement. And apply moderation to check the impact of culture as moderating variable.
Findings: Social integration, product information and hedonism have a significant impact on attitude towards advertisement. But product information has weak impact on attitude towards advertisement; whereas culture has a moderating effect which weakens the relationship of dependent and independent variable.
Limitations/Implications: The most important limitation was the time constraint. The time was limited due to which a huge sample size was impossible to manage. The responses were taken only from Islamabad and Rawalpindi cities which restrict the generalizability of the study.
Originality/Value: This study will help marketers to advertise there products according to the culture values and attitude of the people which reflects their personality. It will also help companies to segment their customers according to their behavior/attitude towards advertisement, which in turn will help companies to gain competitive advantage and increase profitability
Keywords: Advertising, Attitude, Social integration, Hedonism.

Green Marketing: A General Perception

Muhammad Ali Shahid

International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Purpose: This study seeks to explore the general perception about green marketing and green products among the people of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach: The structured questionnaire was distributed among 312 respondents using simple random sampling technique, in National and Provincial Capital regions of Pakistan. Descriptive analysis has been used to explore consumer’s general perception towards green products and marketing.
Findings: The results provide the information that people are aware and concerned to green issues and are not looking to place too much responsibility on government and corporations. But the role of government and corporations regarding environment protection is very critical.
Limitations and further research: This is a descriptive study and does not reflect customer’s change of perception overtime. It would be beneficial to investigate the influence of demographic and cultural influences on the perception formation of customers about environmentally safe products.
Practical implications: The research offers new insight into the issue of how firms might capture the green market segment without sacrificing their profits.
Originality/value: This paper serves as a pioneer study to explore the understanding of consumer’s green awareness in the Pakistan’s context. It offers practical guidelines to national green marketers planning to target the local as well as the Asian markets
Keywords: Green, Perception, Environment, Safe, Product, Price, Quality, Pakistan.

HOW VIRAL MARKETING SHAPES TARGET AUDIENCE PERCEPTION?

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to measure the impact of viral marketing campaigns' objectives on target audience's perception considering credibility of source and forms of viral marketing communications as moderators.
Design/methodology/approach: Data through closed-ended questionnaires were collected from 388 specific job holders working in service sectors in Islamabad, Pakistan. Respondents were asked to record their perceptions about viral marketing campaigns' objectives on 5-point Likert-scale.          
Findings: Results indicate that people have less concern for viral marketing objectives, however their interest for reach, awareness and knowledge observed. Also Credibility of source and forms of VMC on combine basis has moderating impact on the relationship of dependent (target audience perception) and independent (cognitive goals, behavioral goals and financial goals) variables.       
Research limitations/implications: The size of sample drawn for the research may not support generalization of results but the findings have hinted some flaws in viral marketing campaigns, which may be due to non-understanding of methods used for campaigns; and it necessarily requires further research to explore the phenomenon in more detail.    
Practical implications:  Model of the research can be used to enhance the effectiveness of viral marketing campaigns' objectives.          
Originality/value: This paper explores the target audience perception about viral marketing campaigns' objectives which was neither undertaken nor explored by researchers previously.    
Keywords: Audience perception, Marketing communication, Sales campaigns, Buzz marketing, Advertising

HR STRATEGIES’ ‘FIT’ WITH BUSINESS STRATEGIES

Qura-tul-aain Khair

International Islamic University, Islamabad

Purpose: This research is basically a literature review about selecting and implementing HR Strategies with respect to the organization’s business strategies in order to gain competitive edge. HR strategy’s effect on firm performance is always dependent on how well it fits with other factors.       
Design/methodology/approach: The literature which has been reviewed is concerning with Miles and Snow’s defender, prospector, analyzer business strategies and their appropriate fit with Carroll and Schuler’s HR strategies which are accumulator, utilizer and facilitators. The implementation of these HR strategies is through strategic HR choices, which are workflows, staffing, employee separation, performance appraisal training & development and compensation.
Findings: No one business strategy and no specific HR choices lead an organization to success but it is a match which is present between business strategy and HR strategies.              
Research limitations/implications: This paper has emphazised on the business level strategies; review can be extended by considering corporated level strategies along with different set of stratgic HR choices.
Originality/value: This paper has covered probably all important aspects of HR strategies with respect to business strategies. The adapted strategic HR choices of each HR choices can be readily used by business following any Miles and Snow’s business strategy.                 
Keywords: Miles and Snow’s business strategies, defender, prospector, analyzers, HR strategies, accumulator, utilizer, facilitators, strategic HR choices.

IMPACT OF AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP ON ORGANIZATION PERFORMANCE

Shahid Nawaz Khan

International Islamic University, Islamabad

IMPACT OF CRITICAL FACTORS ON ERP ACCEPTANCE A STUDY IN PUBLIC SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

Rashid Shafiq

International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of critical factors (ERP Awareness, Top Management Support, and Existing IT Infrastructure) on ERP system acceptance in public sector of Pakistan and to make contribution in existing literature.             
Design/Methodology/Approach: A Quantitative based research approach is used and focus of the study is to investigate the factors influencing ERP acceptance. In this study Instrument development through pilot study was conducted for data collection.       
Findings: lack of ERP Awareness, Top Management Support and absence of Existing IT infrastructure leads organization for rejecting ERP system.
Research Limitations/implications: The model is based on that presence of ERP Awareness, Top Management Support and Existing IT infrastructure are most relevant factors influence ERP Acceptance. And these factors are measured through a limited sample size that is (100).  
Originality/Value: The value of this paper is that it presents the factors that caused for acceptance of ERP system in Public sector of Pakistan. This study may help to improve the acceptance behavior of employees in public sector for ERP system.       
Keywords: ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning), Awareness, Top Management Support, Existing IT Infrastructure, ERP Acceptance, Public sector

IMPACT OF FIRM SPECIFIC FACTORS ON PROFITABILITY OF FIRMS IN FOOD SECTOR

Purpose: The aim of this study is to examine the impact of firm specific and macroeconomic determinants on profitability of food sector in Pakistan.               
Design/Methodology/Approach: This study explores the impact of firm on profitability of companies listed in food sector of Karachi stock market specific in the presence of food inflation by employing multivariate regression analysis in common effect setting for the period of 2002-2006. The firm specific factors include debt to equity, tangibility, growth and size and macroeconomic factor include food inflation
Findings: Findings of study reveal the presence of significant negative relationship between size and profitability. However, Tangibility, growth of the firm and food inflation are found insignificantly positively related to profitability. Similarly, an insignificant negative relationship is observed between debt to equity ratio of firm and its profitability.
Research Limitations: The major shortcoming of research is that it considers one macroeconomic factor i.e. food inflation. In future studies other macroeconomic factors will be researched to examine their impact on profitability of firm          
Practical Implications: The approach followed in this paper may well have considerable potential as a tool for exploring food sector profitability determinants with the purpose of suggesting optimal policies to food sector management. Firm can be profitable by adjusting these factors        
Originality/Value: The present study empirically investigates the impact of firm-specific along with macroeconomic determinants on the profitability of a firm.          
Keywords: Profitability, Firm-Specific factors, Macroeconomic factor.

IMPACT OF HR PRACTICES AS PERCEIVED ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE IN THE BANKING SECTOR OF PAKISTAN

Nida Zaigham

Riphah International University, Riphah School of Leadership, Islambad

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore the importance of HR practices in the Banking field.
Design/Methodology: Our research is a descriptive study with a non contrived study setting. The unit analysis is individual as the results in this research are taken from individual employees. The time horizon of this research includes cross-sectional studies. The type of investigation is co-relational study. Extent of researcher interference is minimal. The data was collected from 115 employees working in different banks of Pakistan. The questionnaire was adopted from Tessema & Soeters, 2006.              
Findings: Findings indicate that the variables such as Recruitment & Selection, Training & Development & Compensation are the factors strongly influencing Employee Performance. All these variables play crucial role in improving or enhancing the employee performance and productivity in the banking sector. Our finding suggests that all these variables have a positive, significant and direct relationship on our dependent variable i.e., perceived employee performance.          
Implications: We would recommend the banking sector to use appropriate recruitment & selection, training & development, and compensation plans or programs to improve performance, productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of their employees. Thus an appropriate recruitment & selection, training & development, and compensation can enhance employee productivity better & can help achieve excelling results.  And by improper or ignorance of any of these variables can be a cause of poor productivity & employee performance. Future researchers should explore more these variable & explore their importance in the Banking sector.

IMPACT OF MERGERS AND ACQUISITION (M&A) OF BANKS ON THEIR PROFITABILITY

Muhammad Amir

Baha-id-Din Zakaria University, Multan

Purpose: Merger and Acquisition (M&A) in financial industries is one of the important public policy issues all over the world. The financial industry especially banking sector in case of Pakistan is passing through such global changes. This paper carries the analysis by comparing bank’s profitability before and after M&A, whether the M&A leads to higher profit or not.               
Research Methodology: The method used to measure the profitability of banks by analyzing financial statements of merged and acquired banks one year before and after Merger & Acquisitions.            
Findings: The result obtained proved that the Mergers & Acquisitions have the positive impact on the profitability of banks.  
Originality/value: In Pakistan, because of the increased paid up capital requirements of banks to Rs one billion; M&A in this sector was imminent. It was urged that for the improvement of the competitiveness of the barriers ad to strengthen their financial base, mergers and acquisitions were indispensable. The study is intended to measure the performance of firms involved in M&A.

IMPACT OF PRIVATIZATION ON FIRM’S PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM PAKISTAN

Habib Ahmad

International Islamic University, Islamabad

Privatization of state owned enterprises has been taking place at an escalating rate over the past two decades both in Industrial and developing countries. It is argued that privatization incite private sector development, magnetize FDI, creates pressure to excel and hence improve the economy of a country. The main objective of the proposed research is to study the impact of privatization on Pakistani firms. Privatization is launched in Pakistan for the past decade and is considered to be an important factor to accelerate economic reform process. Like other developing countries, in Pakistan mostly the privatization process begins with selling non-controlling shares of firms. Since management control is not handed over to private owners it is argued that partial privatization has little impact on firm behavior. This paper also demonstrates that privatization has trivial impact on performance of Pakistani firms. Paper concludes that the insignificant impact is due to the partial privatization of the firms. The empirical research is based on a sample of 11 Pakistani firms which undergo privatization during the period 2001 to 2005. The performance of the privatized firms in pre and post privatization era is studied and then tested to check the impact of privatization on firm performance.

IMPACT OF PROMOTION ON STUDENTS’ ENROLLMENT: A CASE OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN PAKISTAN

Shahid Nawaz Khan

Purpose : This study is designed to explore the variables that had strong impact on students’ enrollment in private schools and by the optimal use of these promotional variables private schools attract students for enrollment.
Design/methodology/approach: The study was qualitative and exploratory in nature, since the aim was to explore the principals/administrators’ views and experiences about promotional variables within the Pakistan in education sector. Data were collected by carrying out in-depth qualitative interviews with school principals/administrators within 16 schools of two neighboring cities namely Islamabad and Rawalpindi (Pakistan). The qualitative data were analyzed and presented in a tabulated and descriptive form.     
Findings: The data analysis revealed four variables of promotion namely: school appearance, public relations, publicity, and advertisement (print and electronic media). These four variables have very strong impact on the students’ enrollment in private schools as these plays a crucial role in attracting students towards recruitment in school.
Research limitations/implication: The study focused on one sector, the Pakistan education sector, in order to enhance one’s understanding and knowledge regarding the promotional variables. This needs to be taken into consideration in generalizing the findings to other sectors and geographic markets.           
Practical implications: As it was not possible to conduct this study on provincial level due to the time shortage and further to extend these promotional variables’ effects on other service industry as well in Pakistani context.
Originality/value: How private schools attract and influence students for enrollment and what are the sources for that influences and attraction, is not an actively researched topic in Pakistan. The study would therefore contribute towards better understanding of promotional variables and designing of effective promotional strategies.
Keywords: Promotion, School Appearance, Public Relations, Advertisement, Publicity, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

IMPACT OF PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS ON PUBLIC

Nousheen Tariq Bhutta

International Islamic University, Islamabad

IMPACT OF RELIGIOUS OUTLOOK OF SALESPERSON ON CREDIBILITY: A PAKISTANI PERSPECTIVE

Rao Muhammad Khalid

International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between religious outlook (having beard) of a salesperson (with respect to Muslims) and credibility of his delivered information as perceived by the customers.
Design/Methodology/Approach: The author conducted survey research to determine the impact of outlook on perceived credibility of a salesperson. For this purpose, a questionnaire was developed to find liking about salespersons’ outlook of each category. Area sampling was used and the respondents were selected at random. The responses and results were analyzed by using Descriptive and Correlation Statistics. In total, 350 questionnaires were distributed to respondent out of which 223 questionnaire were received with complete responses (63.7%). Outlook has been taken as an independent variable whereas credibility of the salesperson has been taken as dependent variable.               
Findings: Religious outlook has a significant positive relationship with credibility.
Keywords: Religious Outlook, Beardedness, Credibility, Trust.

IMPACT OF SERVICE QUALITY ON STUDENT SATISFACTION

Saba Bashir

International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of service quality on student satisfaction in the higher educational institutes of Pakistan.               
Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper, based on secondary data. First literature review is done after that various determinants of service quality and student satisfaction in higher educational institutes are discussed like the use of TQM, motivational and behavioral theories and the role of marketing to enhance and encash these services.           
Findings: The finding suggests that the institutes are facing dilemmas in terms of their service quality and they are unable to meet the upcoming challenges, the continuous improvement in their services and the motivation to satisfy students is the ultimate solution.        
Research limitations: The limitation of the study is that it is not tested empirically so that to validate the concept introduced.
Practical implications: If higher educational institutes apply these concepts it will really make a big difference in their service standards and the outcome of this research will contribute to the educational institutes of Pakistan to improve their service standards with the aim of satisfying the primary customers (the students) as well as other stakeholders (Parents, Government).             
Originality/value: The use of motivational and behavioral theories were not discussed yet in the existing literature to improve the service quality of the higher educational institutes and to motivate the primary customers (students) that ultimately stand to build the nation superior among all nations.
Keywords: Service quality, Total quality management, Two factor theory, Equity theory, Expectancy theory.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF PAKISTANI BRANDS

Humayun Shaheen

Army Public College of Management Sciences

Purpose: This research aims to identify why Pakistani brands are not being recognized internationally. Three determinants have been kept in mind while completing this research, (Brand Perception, Product Quality & Product Innovation).
Design/methodology/approach: A preliminary model was developed from the existing literature. Data is collected through questionnaire from 130 students studying in different universities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. SPSS software is used to measure Correlation and Regression so that we can find out the direct impact of Brand Perception, Product Quality & Product Innovation on Product Recognition. 
Findings: The findings indicate that Brand Perception, Product Quality & Product Innovation has positive relation with Brand Recognition.                
Research limitations/implications: The data was gathered from universities situated in Rawalpindi and Islamabad only, hence future research could extend these findings to other cities in Pakistan to test their generalizability.
Practical implications: Quality of local products should be enhanced at the level of international standard to compete them. The findings also identify some tribulations which are the main causes for which Pakistani Brands are not being recognized internationally. 
Originality/value: The study contributes to cause related marketing literature by investigating the mediating role of brand recognition with Brand Perception, Product Quality & Product Innovation, which was ignored in previous studies. Similarly A scarcity of empirical research still exists in this field, particularly due to different attitude of customers in less developed countries such as Pakistan.               
Keywords: Brand Perception, Product Quality, Product Innovation. Brand Recognition Pakistan.

ISLAMIC BANKING: THE FAST SPREADING INDUSTRY IN WORLD

Dr Imamul Haque

Aligarh Muslim University, India

Islamic Banking is as old as Islam itself. Allah has prohibited pre-determined rate of interest and permitted profit and loss Sharing Banking. Which in other words mean, sharing risk is permitted but transferring it is prohibited. Conventional banking and Islamic banking are totally different as far as their basic principals are concerned. First modern Islamic bank was established in Egypt in 1963 and in year 2007 Islamic assets were in aggregate of USD 300 billion. The present study is taken to provide a chronological look about the evolution of Islamic banking especially from 1963 to 2007. The paper also suggests how to spread this banking to non-Islamic countries in general and Islamic countries in particular.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND COMPETENCY OF 1ST LINE MANAGERS

Hyder Ali Khawaja

Sukkur Institute of Science and Technology, Sukkur Sindh

Purpose: The purpose of this research is  to  investigate  the knowledge of 1^st line managers working in various organizations at Sukkur Division about the basic management concepts and theories.   
Design/methodology/approach: Data was gathered via questionnaire consisting of 20 questions and direct interviews were also conducted. A sample size of 100 was taken.       
Findings: The findings indicate that most of managers working at 1^st line management level lack in knowledge about the management functions, theories, concepts and terminology as well. They even have little bit knowledge about their roles and key skills as most of them are not business graduates. Most of them are applying autocratic leadership style, and they are internals according to them they can alone achieve the goals without relying on the group. 
Research limitations/implications:The data was gathered from organizations situated in Sukkur division only, hence future research could extend these findings to other cities in Pakistan to test their generalizability.         
Practical implications: The key implications of these findings for 1^st line managers include they can improve their knowledge and skills through training and educational programs which will enable them to work effectively as well as efficiently. Top management can realize the fact that their managers possess a little bit knowledge and they should be trained to improve the productivity.             
Originality/value: The study tells about the importance of knowledge, as knowledge is a key element in decision making and as most of managers lack in knowledge so they are not efficient because they are not making full utilization of available resources. If top management take some serious measures to improve the knowledge level of 1st line managers then there will be a positive impact not only on the organization but also on the country as well because value added by a single organization helps in country’s GDP.    
Keywords: Management functions, leadership, group, internal, efficiency, GDP.

LEARNING OUTCOMES OF BUSINESS EDUCATION AND EMPLOYABILITY

Jehanzeb Shah

Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science & Technology, Islamabad

Purpose: This study aims to explore the learning outcomes of business education in Pakistan. Business education plays a decisive role in supplementing better employability options and growing career advancement for business managers and scholars.    
Design/methodology/approach: An exploratory, survey research design using questionnaires as a tool developed by the researcher to identify, learning outcomes and benefits gained from business education and examine the relationship between them. Descriptive statistics, Factor Analysis and Multivariate Analysis were used for analysis of Data Collected.          
Findings: The study reveals that the focus towards Business Education appears to be greater than ever in perspectives of learning outcomes and other benefits associated with it. Also, certain managerial competencies and skills are developed by gaining business studies/degree.    
Research limitations/implications: The future research may focus on the impact of other educational disciplines degrees on employability and career advancement in Pakistan in order to have a clear comparison among business and non-business degree program.    
Originality/value: In this study, a sample of continuing business degree students has also been surveyed along with business alumni sample. With this, the legitimacy of this exploratory study has greatly improved as it compares the perceptions of business studies student and alumni at the same time by examining the attitudes of such a comparison group.
Keywords: Career advancement, Managerial Competencies, Business Studies, Employability.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION BY CELLULAR COMPANIES IN PAKISTAN AND ITS EFFECTS ON CULTURAL VALUES

Syed Imran Haider

International Islamic university Islamabad

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to measure the effects; the advertising campaign of Mobile Telecom Companies has on our culture.               
Design/methodology/approach: This article adopts theoretical framework from the work of David and Susan less variable of “heroes” from dependent variable and an instrument is developed to measure the variables of this model.
Findings: Male and female, younger and older ones, semiliterate to highly qualified people consider the recent advertising campaign by the cellular companies as a threat to their cultural value system and Hofstede’s cultural manifestation concept has been verified in the context of Pakistan.               
Practical Implications: This study contributes a great way in establishing the fact that advertising campaign by the mobile telecommunication company has resorted to tactics which has played negatively to our cultural values rather than reinforcing them. Also there is seizing impression that Telecom companies have failed to grasp the originality of our culture as evident in their marketing strategies.               
Originality/Value: This study attempts to evaluate the impact of advertising on local culture, it may help marketers to reinvent their marketing strategies in the light of findings of this study in order to make it more vigorous and effective in the context of Pakistan. This study utilizes Hofstede’s concept of cultural manifestation of values, heroes, rituals and symbols and this will bring better understanding for the marketers, the impact of the culture in multicultural environment like Pakistan.
Keywords: Culture, Marketing communication, Cellular companies.

MARKETING OF NEW TECHNOLOGY TRENDS: IMPACT ON AGRICULTURAL FIELD GROWTH

Mahwish W.Malik

International Islamic University, Islamabad

  Purpose: The purpose of this study is to demonstrate that at what extent marketing of new technology trends are contributing in the field of agriculture.      
Design/methodology/approach: Data is taken from different agricultural organizations in Pakistan. These organizations are working in the field of implementing and exploring new agriculture technology trends to gain more yield and profit.               
Findings: Results of the study are showing that after implementing the mutation breeding technology field growth is increased significantly. 24 new crop varieties were produced that is considerably impacting on farmer’s income and overall field growth.         
Research limitations/implications: The study chiefly draws on secondary sources but taken from reliable media. Practical implications: There is no doubts in data validation. There is need to implement the mutation breeding technology in other rural areas of Pakistan to gain more agricultural field growth. It will also give a strong back to country’s economy.            
Keywords: New agriculture technology, Mutation breeding, Agriculture growth, Farmer’s income.

MARKETING STRATEGIES IMPACT ON SMALL INDUSTRIES PERFORMANCE

Irfan Ali

International Islamic University Islamabad

Purpose: The purpose was to fin the relationship between to use marketing strategy and performance of the small industries in the past and present. 
Design/methodology/approach: This study was based on qualititative research methods and questionnaire which was done in different small companies as sample that firstly the view of the owner/manager about marketing concept.
Findings: The result shows that those firms use the marketing strategy properly in present, get the better result as compare to past small industries.            
Practical implication: Result of study can be used for those who do not pay the proper attention to the marketing strategy.  This study shows the performance of those small industries who use the marketing strategy and get the better result.
Originality/value: The study has unique importance for the small industries that do not pay the full attention on marketing strategy in Pakistan. The study provides the information about performance and how to increase the performance to use the proper marketing strategy.

MICROFINANCE- INNOVATION OF PRODUCTS NEEDED

Fayaz Ahmad Lone

Aligarh Muslim University UP, India

The concept of microfinance was pioneered by Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, who jointly with his bank won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for “their efforts to create economic and social development from below”. Muhammad Yunus, a professor of economics, learned about poverty and the importance of finance for the poor not from the economic theory but during the famine of 1974 in Bangladesh.  The new products are needed to be issued on profit and loss sharing basis so that to collect the profit margin as well as the invested amount from lenders,in addition to satisfy the basic needs of customer. The new products can be issued in participatory basis to customers and also try to provide them entrepreneurship skills, so that they can earn their living in addition to boost the economy of world and help in eradication of poverty.   Today, microfinance is widely accepted as a ‘miracle cure’ for eradication of poverty. There are more than 20,000 microfinance institutions (MFIs) operating in developing countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America. Even in some industrial countries MFIs are operating to provide credit to the poor. The number of borrowers throughout the world is estimated at 500 million. The paper provides a complete look about what new products should be introduced for poverty eradication and also which changes should be made to spread the microfinance to local and poor population of the world. This paper covers the poverty solution and suggests new products to be introduced.

ORGANIZATIONAL CITIZENSHIP BEHAVIOR IN RELATION TO DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP STYLES

The present research aimed to study Organizational citizenship behavior in relation to different leadership styles. The study also aimed to see the relationship of different socio-demographics with organizational citizenship behavior. A purposive sample of 129 individuals participated in the study from different branches of Educators school system in Rawalpindi. Among 129 individuals 120 were teachers while the rest 9 were the school heads. All school heads were females and out of 120, 104 teachers were females, and the rest 16 were males. Their age ranged from 21 to 36 years with a mean age of 26.52, SD= 4.85. Organizational Citizenship behavior and Multifactor leadership questionnaires used in this study have significantly high levels of alpha reliability coefficients. Correlation and ANOVA was conducted to see variations among the study variables. The results indicated that organizational citizenship behavior of employees is significantly related to leadership style under which they are operating. Transformational leadership style is found to be related with high citizenship behaviors than transactional and laissez-faire styles. Moreover, no positive correlations are found between age, monthly income, job tenure, and complete professional experience with organizational citizenship behaviors. Implications of the research its limitations, and suggestions for future studies have also been discussed. 

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS WITH REFERENCE TO EMPLOYEE'S PERFORMANCE AND MOTIVATION.

Composition of people which formulate independent business identity for some specific purpose is commonly known as organization and getting desired outcome within defined resources is treated as effectiveness. This paper provides an impact of employee's performance and employee's motivation toward organizational effectiveness. We will examine to what extent the role of employee's performance, their motivation and the environment of organization influence organizational effectiveness particularly in telecommunication and banking sector. The study is conducted in four cities of Pakistan: Islamabad, Lahore, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad. Sample size consists upon 103 respondents, who filled the questionnaire. The purpose of the study will be causal and researcher interference will be minimal.  Unit of analysis will be individuals and dyads.  Study setting will be noncontrived and time horizon will be cross-sectional. The validity of data is authenticated by the use of SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Sciences).  After analyzing the data, findings show that there is a significant relationship among all these factors i.e. employee's performance and motivation toward organizational effectiveness.  Results showed that increased employee's performance accelerate organizational effectiveness. As employees get self motivation, the organizational effectiveness moves in a positive way. Moreover this study indicates that the effective organizational environment promotes the effectiveness of the organization.  It will discuss the theoretical, managerial implications and dimensions of organizational effectiveness. Hence the topic is highly of research interest in current years. Thus the relationship among all variables is highly complex and should be subject to further research.  Organizational effectiveness should be realistic and measurable. Happy employees are more productive rather than productive employees are more happy.

ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING AND ITS IMPACT ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MARKET ORIENTATION AND NEW PRODUCT PERFORMANCE

Qura-tul-aain Khair

International Islamic University, Islamabad

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examining the strength of  association of responsive market orientation and proactive market orientation with new product performance and exploring the possible moderating role of organizational learning based on contingency theory.   Design/methodology/approach- Data for this study was collected from FMCG manufacturing industry and services industry, where customers are in contact frequently and responses are recorded on continuous basis. Sample was collected through convenience sampling. The data collected from different marketing department and sales personnel were analysed using SPSS 16 version.
Findings: The paper finds that responsive market orientation is more strongly associated with new product performance. The moderator, organizational learning, plays it significant role on the relationship between responsive market orientation and new product performance.
Research limitations/implications: this paper has taken sample from just FMCG industry and service industry, more work can be done regarding how different-markets require different market orientation behaviours
Originality/value: This paper will be useful for foreign business looking for investing and expanding in Pakistan, they can find opportunity to get sustained competitive advantage through exploring the proactive side of market orientation and importance of organizational learning.
Keywords: Organizational learning, proactive market orientation, responsive market orientation and new product performance.

OUTCOMES OF CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN HOTEL INDUSTRY. A STUDY OF HOTEL INDUSTRY IN PAKISTAN

Faryal Ghafoor, Raheela Malik

Army Public College Of Management And Sciences, Pakistan

Purpose: This paper was intended to investigate the outcome of customer satisfaction in hotel industry of contemporary world. Concurrently, standards of customer services in hotel industry of Pakistan were also thoroughly assessed in order to find out the benefits being accrued by our hotels through this proclamation.
Design/methodology/approach: A preliminary sculpt was developed from the available information world wide and the existing literature. The replica was then tested with data collected from staff and managers of various famous hotels of Pakistan. A thorough understanding of the interdependence of hotel industry over economic overtones was initially established while candidly considering the trends of our social bindings and culture besides the present day dangers / challenges being faced by our hotel industry. To achieve some meaningful results the techniques of Correlation Analysis and Regression Analyses were used.        
Findings: The Correlation Analysis finds two important things i.e. Strong and significant relationship between business strategy and customer satisfaction along side a strong and significant relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. This hence clearly manifests the fact that the customer satisfaction has direct positive impact on business strategy, employee satisfaction and profitability. However, as per the Regression Analysis, the values of customer satisfaction in business strategy, employee satisfaction and profitability stands at 48%, 29 % and 14% respectively ( leaving rest to various other smaller factors).  This clearly manifests that hotel Industry in Pakistan is improving despite the financial crises, law and order situation unemployment, and low annual growth rate in almost all economic fields, insignificant, support at government level and low growth of tourism industry.
Research limitations/implications: The data was gathered through interview questionnaire, feedback Performa’s  and objective analyses of the opinion shared by  employees and managers of various small and large hotels of Pakistan. Hotel management was found to be quite untoward and obstinate initially, however, it was only through a round of thorough motivation and scheme of promises to maintain secrecy that they provided with the desired input. 
Practical implications: The key implication of our findings was to have a direct interaction with the junior level employees of various renowned hotels. Our findings hence suggest that such interactions should be frequent and more systematic in nature. We opine that this interface is likely to boost the moral of such employees and they shall seek to learn more in this regard. This can not only help in enhancing the gains to our hotel industry in particular, rather shall help in advancing our desired economic errands in general.    
Originality/value: The study contributes barely to the overall texture of this proclamation in very general terms especially with regards to the developing trends of customer service in Hotel industry of Pakistan. It is thence expected that a need for an empirical research still exists in this field, and that with a little more focus and attention our hotel industry can further blossom and compete with any contemporary hotel industry.               
Keywords: Business Strategy, Customer Satisfaction, Employee Satisfaction, Profitability, Economic Interdependence and Customer Services Values in Hotel Industry of Pakistan.

PERFORMANCE OF INDIVIDUAL LIFE INSURANCE IN PAKISTAN’S ECONOMY

Shazia Iqbal Khalid

International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan

Purpose: The main objective of this paper is to investigate the factors involve in the performance of individual life insurance in Pakistan’s economy by conducting a selective literature review.  
Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on a broader conceptual approach by analyzing lliterature review and secondary data which shows that the performance of individual life insurance in Pakistan is affected by insurance buying behavior, country conditions, insurance institutions and other investment opportunities.
Findings: This study highlights the factors that can affect the individual life insurance performance in Pakistan. The factors include insurance buying behavior, country conditions, insurance institution and other investment opportunities. Further the study investigate the above mentioned factors in detail such as “insurance institution” includes cost of policy/investment, return of policy, money laundering threat, policy advertisement and insurance market. “Country Condition” includes economic condition, government support and terrorism threat. “Insurance Buying Behavior” includes income/saving, religion, marital status, dependency ratio, life expectancy & health conditions and “other investment opportunities” includes equity investment, risk free investment, mutual fund investment.
Research limitations/implications: The content of the paper is woven around behavioral, economical, financial and social disciplines and therefore, it is not possible to devise any statistical tools to empirically test the contribution of these factors in performance of individual life insurance.             
Originality/value: The paper provides a broader perspective about the performance of individual life insurance sector. Study figures out some serious economical, behavioral and social constraints that should be first sorted out to pave the way for any viable strategy to succeed in improvement of the existing system of life insurance. The findings of this paper may be useful for the policy makers, researchers, academicians, financial experts, regulators, Islamic financial institutions and insurance institutions who wish to improve the performance of individual life insurance.
Keywords: Performance, Individual Life Insurance, Pakistan

POST PURCHASE ANTECEDENTS: INTERPLAY BETWEEN BUYER REGRET, SOCIAL CLASSES AND PRODUCT TYPES

Afzaal Ali

International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan

Purpose: The objective of this paper was to investigate the regret of buyer’s in three categories of products i.e. specialty, shopping and convenience products on the basis of their income and the second objective was to find out that which profession’s people feel more or less regret in which product category after making their purchase decision.
Design/methodology/approach: The analysis was based on a survey of different locations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. And one-way ANOVA was used for the analysis. The researcher used the area sampling technique for collecting data and the sample size was of 100 people   
Findings: Results show that there were significant differences in the regret of specialty and convenience products but not for the shopping products among buyers on the basis of their income. On the other hand results shows that regret varies among different professional’s people in three categories of products            
Research limitations/implications: The researcher takes only three categories of product i.e. specialty, shopping and convenience products and didn’t take the unsought products (Insurance, Blood donation). Secondly the researcher takes only two products from each category of that product.        
Originality: In Pakistan marketers of different companies can use this information in enhancing their knowledge about the regret of different types of buyers in different categories of product. They can also use this information for effectively targeting people and making marketing campaign according to these findings.           
Keywords: Buyer regret, Product types, social classes and low-level occupations.

PRACTICE OF MORAL PHILOSOPHIES IN DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS OF PAKISTAN: EMPLOYEES POINT OF VIEW

Purpose: This research paper aims to discuss the practices of moral philosophies in the organizations that tend to influence individuals working behavior and satisfaction in the organization.
Methodology: In order to conduct this study we first studied the literature to find its key dimensions. Next we worked on the five major philosophies which tend to influence individual working environment, these moral philosophies includes Utilitarianism, Egoism, Deontology, Relativism, and Justice. The analysis of the questionnaire helped in answering the three aspects of the research that, how individual differ in giving importance to these moral philosophies, the unjust environment of the organizations and the last aspect is about the current practice of these moral philosophies in the organizations           .
Practical implications: These moral philosophies are the variables which are often overlooked in decision making practices that effect the overall employee’s satisfaction. And it provides practical thinking to the management of the organizations regarding the influence of these philosophies on the employees.       
Findings: We found that the individuals differ in giving importance to these moral practices in decision making while there is also a unjust environment in the organizations as the mean of the actual justice decision practice in 2.02, similarly employees are not happy with the current moral practices as the result shows a big difference in the mean of the actual and preferred practices of these five moral philosophies               
Originality/Value: This paper provides very useful information for those people who are holding the key positions for decision making within the organization. As Very less work has been done before on these practices and their influence on employees so this research not only help the researchers to think in this direction but also help the management of the organization to keep moral philosophies in mind while taking decisions within their organizations.

PREFERENCE TOWARDS STORE BRAND: IMPACT OF TRUST IN CUSTOMER-RETAILER RELATIONSHIPS

Purpose: To demonstrate how customer’s trust upon retailer effect their intentions to prefer a store brand purchase in the presence of a national brand. In literature, trust is helpful tool to reduce perceived risk of customers which is measured in this study by using two important variables named as communication and competence of retailer.
Design/methodology/approach: The research paper briefly summarizes the significance of trust on retailer and retailer’s competence and communication in the scenario of customer-retailer relationship. The study has two major parts. Firstly, to determine how trust on retail store effects in the purchase of store /private brand in the presence of national brands. Secondly, to determine that upto what extent competence and communication impact to build customers’ trust on the retailer. The target audience is customers of Gourmet Bakers. A well known retail chain in Pakistan. A sample of 267 students was chosen by simple random sampling technique. Data is analyzed through SPSS version 14 by using Regression, Correlation and Descriptive statistics.
Findings: Trust of customer on retailer has positive impact towards intentions of customers to prefer a store brand. Communication and competence of the retailer also proved as predictors of customer trust on the retailer.
Research limitations: The research study can not be generalized in all over the country. Because, there is still need to conduct it on large level in more cities of Pakistan. Practical implications – Results would be helpful for retail businesses to focus more in building customer trust on retail store that would result in acceptance and growth of store brands and will be helpful to achieve competitiveness in the market.
Originality/value: This paper extends findings of determining customer’s trust on retailer and its role to attract customers towards store brand. Trust, in result of which customers prefer to purchase a store brand in the presence of a national brand. Moreover, the competence & communication are measured to know their effect in building customer’s trust. Competence is measured to build customer retailer relationship that was previously measured in the context of supplier & buyer relationship.
Keywords: Trust, Store Brand, Perceived risk, Customer retailer relations, Communication, Competence, Pakistan

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURAL DIMENSIONS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS

Nishwa Iqbal

International Islamic University Islamabad, Pakistan

Purpose: The main premise of the research is to explore the relationship between cultural dimension and public relations.
Design/methodology/approach: Construct of culture is operational zed from Hofstede’s (1988) perspective while public relation is operationalized according to Grunig’s (1984) four models of public relations. The research builds and tests a model based on cultural approach to public relations practices. Structured questionnaires of the related constructs are used to collect data from different telecom and multimedia organizations of Islamabad, Gujranwala and Gujarat city. Study investigates culture impact on public relations.
Findings: Using two separate theories study empirically found relationship between long-term and short term cultural dimensions with public relations model. Combining both theories new relationship between long-term, short-term dimensions and public relations has been achieved and it has been found that they are related with two-way symmetrical model in Pakistan.
Research limitations: More in depth study provides a consistent understanding of relationship between culture and public relations. Future studies can check the impact of culture on public relation in more detail.
Practical Implications: Explicitly, the present study propose practitioners a research construct, helps the public relation practitioners in future to adopt the public relations strategy that best suits their organizations culture The framework suggests fruitful directions for further academic research.
Originality/value: This work is one of the ground-breaking efforts to study the relationship between cultural dimensions and public relation in Pakistan.
Keywords: Cultural dimensions, Public relations, Organization

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTRINSIC AND EXTRINSIC MOTIVATION IN RELATION TO TRANSFORMATIONAL, TRANSACTIONAL AND LAISSEZ FAIRE LEADERSHIP STYLES

Purpose: The Purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation in relation to Transformational, Transactional and Laissez faire Leadership Styles adopted by Small Businesses Entrepreneurs of Pakistan.
Research Design/ Methodology: initially Hypothesis generated on the basis of literature review and then it was tested on 75 different small enterprise entrepreneurs with the help of developed Questionnaires. A Work Preference Inventory was used to measure the intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire were used to measure the leadership styles. First the reliability of the scales was found out and then Frequency analysis performed on the demographics. Correlation analyses were also done to find out the relationship between the variables. Binary Logistic Regression analyses were done in term to predict the relationship.
Findings: The results suggested that there is a highly significant positive relationship between Intrinsic Motivation and Transformational leadership and Extrinsic Motivation with Transactional Leadership adopted by the small businesses entrepreneurs. The findings also indicated that there is negative relationship between types of motivation and Laissez faire leadership.
Research Limitations: There is a limited amount of literature on the relationship between full range theory of leadership and types of motivation and their application on entrepreneurship. Most of the theories on leadership and motivation originated from United States and western culture so there relevance in Pakistani society is questionable. The study was conducted in Rawalpindi and Islamabad so this limits the possibility of generalizing the results to the wider population as the sample is not representative of the general entrepreneurial population. The study only focused on motivation factors and leadership styles among entrepreneurs. It did not address other factors, such as unique social and environmental factors impinging on the environment in which the entrepreneur operates. Another limitation of this study is the questionnaire used in the research was in English. Majority of the entrepreneurs were less educated did not understand English.
Practical Implications and Recommendations: This study will be further applied on female entrepreneurs. There are limited studies done on the difference between the leadership qualities among male and female entrepreneurs.  More comparative studies should be done in order to determine the significant differences in motivation factors and leadership styles of females and male entrepreneurs.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION CLIMATE AND INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT MANAGEMENT
Bushra Hassan Malik

Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

The present study was designed to explore the relationship Between Organizational Communication Climate and Interpersonal Conflict Management. Communication Climate Inventory (CCI; Costigen & Schmiedler, 2001) was used to measure the organizational communication and Rahim organizational conflict inventory (ROCI-II; Rahim, 1983) was used to measure styles of handling interpersonal conflict. CCI has 36 items and measures two broad levels of organizational communication i.e., ‘Supportive Communication Climate’ (SCC) and ‘Defensive Communication Climate’ (DCC). SCC has six characteristics of communication i.e., Provisionalism, Empathy, Equality, Spontaneity, Problem Orientation and Description. The DCC describes six characteristics of defensive communication climate i.e., Evaluation, Control, Strategy, Neutrality, Superiority, and Certainty. ROCI-II has 28 items and measures the five styles of handing interpersonal conflict i.e., Integrating, Compromising, Obliging, Avoiding, and Dominating. The sample consisted of 160 subordinates both men and women from different banks of Rawlapindi & Islamabad. The results showed that the items of both inventories  have significant correlation with their respective scales. CCI has alpha reliability coefficient of (.79) and ROCI-II has alpha reliability of (.84). the study represented a positive correlation between organizational communication climate and interpersonal conflict. The results showed that integrating style of conflict management has significant positive correlation of .41 (p<.001) with supportive communication climate. Obliging style has significant positive correlation of .46 (p<.001) with supportive communication climate. Compromising style also significantly correlated with supportive communication climate. Dominating style of conflict management has significant positive correlation of .37 (p<.01) with defensive communication climate. The avoiding style of conflict management has significant positive correlation of .35 (p<. 01) with defensive communication climate. There is found no significant difference between men and women and high educated and less educate on communication climate and interpersonal conflict. Younger employees are found to be more supportive then old age employees.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, JOB CHARACTERISTICS AND JOB SATISFACTION

The study explored the relationship between organizational structure, job characteristics and job satisfaction. The sample consisted of 50 male workers selected from two organizations. The sample was representative of the two organizations identified as tall and flat organizations. Hackman and Oldham’s Scale for measuring the different structural properties was used. Job Diagnostic Survey and General Job Satisfaction Questionnaire were used to measure the perceived job characteristics and general satisfaction of workers. Overall  no significant difference was found between the job characteristics and satisfaction level of the workers . However, jobs in flat organization were rated significantly high on Skill Variety and Task Identity.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING AND TRAINING MOTIVATION

Wajiha Shaukat and Momna Anwar

Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan

The present study aimed at investigating the relationship of training motivation and perceived importance of training. Training Motivation scale (Noe & Wilk, 1993) and Training Benefits scale (Noe & Wilk, 1993) were used. In addition Training Familiarity scale (Wei-Chi & Wei-Tao, 2002) was also used. The sample comprised of 60 trainees. The age range was from 21-54 years and the work experience ranged from less than 1 year to 27 years. The findings revealed the satisfactory reliability for training motivation, training benefits, which are .53, .84 respectively. The results show a significant positive correlation of training benefits and training motivation. Male employees had higher training motivation as compared to female employees. Age and training motivation were found to be positively correlated. The correlation of age and job experience with training familiarity was found to be non-significant.

RELIGIOSITY AND NEW PRODUCT ADOPTION

Ateeq-ur-Rehaman

International Islamic University, Islamabad, Pakistan.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between religiosity and New Product Adoption (NPA).
Design/methodology/approach: A total of 293 questionnaires were distributed among University students. Religiosity was taken as an independent variable and measured by five dimensions; Ideological, Ritualistic, Intellectual, Consequential and Experimental Dimensions while NPA taken as dependent variable.
Findings: Religiosity has a positive relationship with new product adoption (NPA) and religion also has a significant impact on NPA. Further, Muslims are much committed with their beliefs which also reflected in relation with new product adoption.
Originality/values: Using five dimensions of religiosity in relation with new product adoption, the study investigates the relationship between religion and new product adoption.
Keywords: Religiosity, New Product Adoption, Islam, Pakistan