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Because of COVID-19 in the world, enterprises and consumers pay more and more attention to environmental protection, food safety and health issues. The purpose of this paper is to take China's food company as an example to study the impact of CSR on customer loyalty, mediating effects of company image and customer satisfaction, and moderating effects of COVID-19. The result shows that during COVID-19, company image and customer satisfaction have significant mediating effects, and COVID-19 positively moderate the impact of CSR on customer satisfaction.

Purpose: Aim of this study is to examine the factors (personality traits, Covid-19 crises) influencing the entrepreneurship readiness among the university students in Pakistan Design/Methodology/Approach: The study used online survey for collection from 396 students of different university of Pakistan. The date was collected during online classes in Covid-19 pandemic. Multiple regression analysis technique was applied for the analysis of the data. Findings: The findings of the study demonstrate that all three personality traits i.e. need for achievement, locus of control and self-efficacy is positively influencing entrepreneurial readiness. But this personality trait alone cannot do favor they need other personality traits and they require to have favorable circumstances. However, covid-19 crises have negative influence on student’s readiness of being entrepreneur. Implications/Originality/Value: The study postulate that hard and uncertain situation do have influence on student’s motivation of being entrepreneur.

Purpose The goal of this study is to investigate that how Employee Well-Being and Work-Life Balance affected Job Satisfaction in healthcare centers with the moderating role of Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Design/Methodology/Approach: Research was carried out in a quantitative approach. The healthcare centers of Multan region were chosen at random. Using a convenient sampling strategy, a questionnaire was created to collect data from different healthcare centers situated in Multan region. The Cronbach’s Alpha and Discriminant Validity were used to assess the questionnaire's reliability in the pilot phase. Descriptive and inferential statistical techniques (using Smart PLS) were used to assess quantitative data. Findings: Employee Well-being and Job satisfaction have a positive relationship, whereas Work-Life Balance and Job satisfaction have a negative relationship, according to the results of this study. Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) moderates Employee Well-being and Work Life Balance to Job satisfaction. Employee Well-Being is one of the major strengths for employee productivity, according to the findings of this research. When professionals practice Organizational Citizenship Behavior, employees' job satisfaction begins to rise in healthcare centers. Implications/Originality/Value: This study was a complete report on Multan's healthcare centers that will be highly beneficial and instructive for policymakers and administration staff of healthcare centers for employee’s development, and for researchers in the Multan region to alter programs and policies according to the requirement for achieving goals

Purpose: This study intends to explore the positive impact of perceived Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) on brand equity with respect to behaviors and emotions. The motive behind this study was to examine the sequential mediating role of emotion of brand admiration and customer advocacy behavior between perceived CSR and brand equity. Moderators of brand attitude and customer loyalty were also explored in this study. Design/Methodology/Approach: Quantitative research method has been adapted for this study. A questionnaire with 5-point likert scale was adopted from existing scholarly work to collect data from 364 customers of 5 food production companies placed in Pakistan. Collected data were analyzed with the help of SPSS and Smart PLS3 through Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) technique. Findings: Results show that brand admiration and customer advocacy behavior significantly mediate the relationship of perceived CSR and brand equity. Moreover, moderating role of brand attitude and customer loyalty was found positive and significant. This was the novelty of this research. Implications/Originality/Value: This research will be helpful for food production companies in Pakistan to formulate strong customer-brand relationships in order to strengthen their brand equity by effectively positioning their CSR practices into the minds of consumers.

Objective: The study at hand attempts to analyze the media framing of J&K conflict in the context of abrogation of Article 370 along with comprehending the extent to which ideals of peace journalism can be translated into journalistic practices. Methodology: Quantitative analysis of the news items published in Dawn and The Nation (Pakistani media); Times of India and The Hindu (Indian media) indicated that the media framing of Kashmir conflict by the all four selected English dailies from India and Pakistan was heavily dominated by war framing. Findings: Findings of the qualitative interviews conducted from the Indian and Pakistani journalists indicated that the ideals of peace journalism can be translated in to journalistic practices by not justifying human rights violations and by focusing on more in-depth coverage of less visible effects of conflict. A search for common grounds among key stake holders and refraining from becoming part of propaganda were among other key factors which can play a vital role in practicing peace journalism. Implications: Peace Journalism can be understood as a special form of responsible journalism as it has the potential to contribute in the peace process.

The objective of this study is to examine the long run and short run relationship between oil prices and stock market liquidity in Pakistan stock exchange. Design/Methodology/Approach: The sample spans 10 years from 2010 to 2019. We use auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL) to examine long-term and short-term relationships between oil prices, exchange rate, stock market index, market volatility and inflation and stock market liquidity. We use normality checks, serial correlation tests, heteroscedasticity tests, and CUSM models to assess model stability. Findings: Result shows that there exist a long-term negative association between exchange rate and inflation, but a positive relationship is revealed between oil prices, stock returns, and market volatility. These conclusions hold for three sectors i.e. automobile, cement and sugar. Implications/Originality/Value: This study extends the existing debate on the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market liquidity to the emerging equity market. For this, it uses three proxies for stock market liquidity: Amihud liquidity, average trading volume, and trading volume average.

Purpose: This research examines the effectiveness of foreign aid on Pakistan’s economic growth. The foreign aid efficiency is still under question. Some researches show positive affiliation of foreign aid with economic growth while some show negative affiliation. If foreign aid is not replacing or used as a substitute for domestic savings then foreign aid is useful for growth. To fill the two gaps of the economy the Two-Gap theory suggest that poor nations have to depend on overseas funds. Those two gaps are the Savings-Investment Gap and Import-Export Gap. There’re many kinds of international funds. Like foreign loans, development and non-development aid, FDI, and technological help. But underdeveloped nations like Pakistan have not a favorable speculation policy. Therefore, these nations are dependent on international aid and balance quite than foreign direct investment. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the analysis of this study the time era used is 1974 to 2016. The GDP is the dependent variable. Independent variables are population growth, foreign aid, inflation, foreign direct investment (FDI), and domestic savings. The annual data is collected from different sources. The technique for analysis is OLS and ARDL bound testing. Findings: Concluding remarks show that in Pakistan foreign aid affects economic growth negatively. Implications/Originality/Value: The current study was based on the least considered variables and the pioneer in testing the complex relationship through OLS and ARDL estimation.

Purpose: The study attempts to determine the role of the Islamic faith in fashioning out a management model as an option to other modern management tools in the enhancement of entrepreneurship through Islamic work ethics and organisational commitment. Is a research process that attempts to link Islam with entrepreneurship and management using empirical studies on entrepreneurship from an Islamic perspective (EIP). Design/Methodology/Approach: In this study, it was outlined how Islam shapes entrepreneurship, and indicated the possibility of considering Islam as entrepreneurial in its outlook. Islam allows and inspires business activity, and shapes the belief system that incorporates the scopes of belief in Allah, the Exalted, and in the Hereafter. Findings: This study is adding to knowledge that faith-based management model could be relevant as an alternative to other non-faith-based management tools to support the growth of entrepreneurship through the practice of Islamic work ethics and organisational commitment. Implications/Originality/Value: The research endeavour has major theoretical and applied effects and therefore suggested unique findings for the enhancement of entrepreneurship through Islamic work ethics and organisational commitment.

Purpose: This study attempts to contribute to a better understanding of the main constraints/ boosters for MSME growth in selected countries of the MENA region (Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Jordan). Design/Methodology/Approach: A multinomial logit model is used to investigate the impact of a three-fold classification of firm growth determinants (company characteristics, manager characteristics and business environment characteristics). The database is provided by the World Bank Enterprise Surveys (MENA ES). Findings: Results give statistically robust evidence that innovative firms are more likely to grow. Implications/Originality/Value: Therefore, the implementation of efficient and well-governed systems of innovation is a priority in the MENA region.

Purpose: The archipelago of the Maldives is the main source of attraction to many tourists worldwide, making tourism the largest sector of the country’s economy. However, global challenges have become increasingly visible and remote countries like Maldives is facing extreme challenges economically as well as environmentally. With the advancement of the technology, social media marketing being the worthwhile strategic positioning tool. This review article aimed to discuss global tourism industry, the practice of sustainable tourism in the Maldives, followed by the literature incorporates social media marketing in the context of tourism promotion in Maldives. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is a review paper on sustainable tourism in Maldives context, by focusing on global tourism industry, the practice of sustainable tourism in the Maldives, followed by social media marketing in the context of tourism promotion. Findings: The review of the sustainable tourism literature found that Maldives as an island are practicing and incorporated green and sustainable practices. Implications/ Originality/Value: The study provides a prodigious scope for marketing practitioners of tourism industry and provides insights on building a successful social media marketing strategy that may lead to enhance the green image and tourist’s intention to revisit.

In the ongoing debate on the relation of cultural differences and national innovativeness this research aims to find out which of the seven cultural dimensions of The Culture Map (communicating, evaluating, leading, deciding, trusting, disagreeing, scheduling) have a significant influence on a nation’s ability and capacity to innovate. The findings show that cultural aspects as described by The Culture Map clearly influence the innovativeness of a nation. Based on these findings, tentative recommendations for fruitful monocultural and multicultural teams respectively are given.

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to explore the teaching strategies employed by Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) teachers in Vocational Training Institutes (VTIs) established by Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC) Pakistan Design/Methodology/Approach: The population of the study was all 2423 teachers working in Vocational training Institutes (VTIs) of Punjab Vocational Training Council (PVTC). The sample of the study was 130 (males =69 and females= 61) teachers which were randomly selected from VTIs of PVTC. The instrument of the study was a self-developed and validated questionnaire, having the reliability of 0.87 (Cronbach Alpha). Data were collected personally and by post. Collected data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. ANOVA and Independent sample t-test were used to observe the differences in the responses of teachers related to their age, gender, experience, zones, professional qualification, and trainings. Findings: The results of the study indicated that teachers were facing a lot of problems during teaching to TVET students like overcrowded classrooms, unavailability of equipment, lack of trainings and insufficient staff. Implications/Originality/Value: The present study helps the authorities of TVET and Punjab Vocational Training Council by giving recommendations in the improvement and reformation of the current condition of TVET sector in Pakistan.

Purpose: Countries across the world have acknowledged that poverty alleviation has to be of critical importance among the objectives of economic development. This paper sheds light on the Multan division, as one of the important divisions of Southern Punjab, Pakistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: The primary data was collected through a household survey during the year 2019, using the Binomial Logit and Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression techniques. Findings: The study concluded that the occupation of the household head in the primary sector and large household size are significant and positively related to household poverty. However, the human capital of the household is found to be significant and negatively related to household poverty in the Multan division. Economic development or per capita income of the households are found to be significant and positively related to the human capital of the households. Implications/Originality/Value: The provision of job opportunities by the government would be helpful in poverty alleviation and the development of this region.

Purpose: The study aims to examine the organic food purchase intention of the consumer in the naïve organic market of Pakistan. Further, the study establishes the moderating role of price elasticity between TPB and consumer purchase intention. Design/Methodology/Approach: 440 responses were considered for data analysis. SEM (Structural Equation Modeling) is used to study the measurement and structural model. Findings: The organic attitude is a prime predictor of consumer purchase intention towards organic food products. In light of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) study helps to understand the primary perspectives of consumer purchase intention of the organic food in the Pakistani market that is price sensitive. Implications/Originality/Value: This study makes a theoretical contribution to the theory of planned behaviour and practical contribution to the policymakers to shift the farmer focus towards the organic farming practices due to lucrative profit margins and at the same time working on the primary health knowledge to enhance the health-related literacy.

Purpose: News media in third world countries remained under social, religious, political and military pressure. Developing countries in presence of pressure groups cannot enjoy the fruits of a democratic setup. So, the purpose of study is to explore factors of downsizing in traditional media organizations and their future in wake of pressure groups, which create hindrance in freedom of expression. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Qualitative approach was employed to explore the causes behind the undesired downsizing. Researchers chosen 15 respondents working on senior positions in different traditional media organization from different stations of Pakistan including Islamabad, Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur and Karachi based on purposive sampling. Findings: Results revealed the incumbent government changed its stance on freedom of expression and adopted each modus operandi to silence the voices from journalistic corners. The government promoted selective part of freedom of expression by highlighting the anchors speaking in favor of the party. Implications/ Originality/ Value: So, the study concluded traditional media organizations should be reorganized and government should extend its democratic support for protecting freedom of expression. The study recommended the government should remain impartial and provide space to traditional news organizations so that the citizens should be provided with right to know.

Purpose: It has been observed that social networking sites especially Facebook is affecting the performance of the students. The purpose of this paper is to explore and study the experiences of students with Facebook on their academic performance. Design/methodology/approach: Qualitative research methodology is used as it sheds light on the experiences of people involved and makes an attempt to understand the reasons behind certain behavioral change. The students of undergraduate program of various departments of different private and public academic institutions are taken in account for this research study. Based on the extensive review of literature, semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. Findings: Data gathered from the interviews have clearly indicated the adverse effect of Facebook on students’ academic performance which can be seen in the interview excerpts of different students. Review of literature also indicates that the overwhelming usage of Facebook is creating silo walls that isolate people from family, friends and society. Practical Implications: The study provides the guidance to teachers, academicians, educationists, researchers, regulators, parents and students for change in pattern of behavior and its consequences on students’ academic performance. Furthermore, the study brings awareness among undergraduate students about how Facebook affects their academic performance. Originality/Value: This study is among few studies that thoroughly explore and describe the devastating impact of overwhelm use of Facebook on students’ academic performance.

Purpose: The purpose of doing this research study is to explore the three important research objectives which explore the impact of fashion related behavioral outcomes of female university students, residing in Pakistan. The concept of this research study arises due to lack of academic inquiry about the influence of materialism on FC and SC particularly among female university students of Pakistan. Methodology: Building framework on these bases frame work is developed which shows materialism shows positive relationship with SC and FC. Reason is that Islam is most modernized religion and allows its followers to adopt all the new trends (of fashion or from any field). Findings: The findings suggests that the sample under study have religious thoughts, they full fills all the orders of Allah, say their prayers daily, but they also seem fashionable not vulgar. Everything that seems vulgar or comes in the category of extravagance is not allowed in Islam. Finding of this paper support previous work and tell that status and materially driven female students need to attain social attention so they use fashionable products to enhance their self-image. In similar concern, the relationship between other variables like fashion consciousness and its effect on self-image. Implications: In Pakistan, fashion consciousness is increasing rapidly. This study will be helpful for brands and policy makers to better under consumer need and serve them accordingly.

Purpose: This study has been initiated to measure the impact of fiscal decentralization in case of Balochistan province by using both revenue decentralization and expenditure decentralization to measure the impact of fiscal decentralization on provision of health, education, employment and poverty reduction. Design/Methodology/Approach: In measure, we have applied ARDL approach on the data spanning from 1975 to 2016. Findings: Our results point out that fiscal decentralization improves the social services delivery in case of Balochistan province. Moreover, it improves the provision of health and education facilities in Balochistan. Further, our findings indicate that fiscal decentralization leads to reduction in the poverty and unemployment. In addition, we found that expenditure decentralization is relatively effective in the provision of social services as compared to the revenue decentralization in case of Balochistan. Implications/Originality/Value: Our study findings suggest that to improve the social services delivery; we may opt for fiscal decentralization particularly expenditure decentralization in case of Balochistan.

Purpose: The present study aims to investigate the relationship between human resource management practices (recruitment and selection, training and development and performance appraisal) and employee’s performance. Further, this study examines the moderating role of Islamic Work Ethics in the direct link mentioned above in the banking sector of Pakistan. Design/Methodology/Approach: The data were collected from 256 employees working in the banking sector of Pakistan. To test the hypothesized relationships, multiple regression analysis was conducted. Findings: The findings indicated the significant impact of human resource management practices (recruitment and selection, training and development and performance appraisal) on employee performance. Moreover, the moderating role of Islamic Work Ethics was also supported. This study found the Islamic Work Ethics strengthens the relationship between human resource management practices (recruitment and selection, training and development and performance appraisal), employee’s performance. Implications/Originality/Value This concludes that human resource management practices are essential for every organization that enhance the Employee’s Performance. Further it is revealed Islamic Work Ethics moderates the relationship between human resource management practices and Employees Performance. Implications and future research for practice and directions are discussed.

This empirical study investigates the relationships between management control systems and social and environmental risks. Building on Simons’ Levers of Control conceptual framework, this study proposes that companies facing social and environmental risks will enhance the quality of their management control systems by integrating social and environmental elements into management control systems in order to manage the related risks. The study uses a longitudinal dataset of the 1179 largest listed Nordic companies for the period 2014–2018. The multivariate regression confirms a negative relationship between the social and environmental integration and social and environmental risks. The results indicate that the social and environmental integrated performance measurement system and strategy implementation are not congruent with the social and environmental risks that the companies face. Nordic companies have not adopted the social and environmental integrated measurement system and strategy in response to social and environmental risks. When the number of social and environmental incidents increase and companies meet high levels of social and environmental risks, their management control systems do not match the related risks. Such social and environmental integration should be improved in order to prevent wider negative implications of the incidents on the natural environment and society in large.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) becomes popular as big international firms gain more power than states and global issues engender concerns to people from all over the world. The pandemic of novel coronavirus is a current issue of global concern that threats humanity and global economy since the end of 2019. A lot of firms have announced urgent actions to support their employees and the local communities. The present study aims to examine whether the CSR activities of firms due to the pandemic could be categorized either as strategical or tactical CSR. The researcher recognizes the formation of a new kind of CSR called critical CSR as a hybrid between tactical and strategical CSR sharing characteristics from both. The examination of the case of Greece during the pandemic has provided a variety of examples of CSR activities from big Greek international firms that have been processed to support the validity of the reasoning. Finally, the paper delineates this new universal form of CSR born under the critical circumstances of the pandemic and the ensuing economic recession. That fact proves that this crisis could be transformed into a chance for corporations to realize their social role and improve their CSR footprint with the learnings of this pandemic by underlining possible advantages of these urgent CSR actions that could be incorporated into the usual CSR policy of the firms.

This paper aims to explore the motivations and challenges of engaging host communities in CSR practices within the context of Newmont Ahafo Mines (NAM), a subsidiary of a Multinational Mining Enterprise (MNE) operating in Ghana’s mining sector. This paper draws insights from stakeholder theory and interviews conducted with internal stakeholders (management and employees) and stakeholders in host communities (traditional rulers and community members). The findings indicate that effective decision-making, gaining legitimacy, cost savings, management of risks, and accountability are some of the perceived motivations of NAM’s stakeholder engagement in CSR. Nonetheless, the most critical challenges to NAM in improving stakeholder engagement in CSR practices are the lack of community members’ support in CSR projects, communities’ high expectations of NAM on development projects and over-dependency on NAM on the part of host communities. Therefore, it is reasonable for MNEs in emerging economies to attune engagement practices to the host community’s context. This will enable CSR practices and policies to fully exploit the latent benefits of CSR in the mining sector.

Purpose: The major purpose of current study was to explore the awareness regarding education for sustainable development (ESD) of the Pakistani prospective teachers. It is necessary to explore the understanding and awareness of prospective teachers for further implementation process of ESD in the Pakistan general education to achieve UNESCO’s aim of Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014). As future generation can shape society in a sustainable manner so it is necessary to investigate the comprehension of prospective teachers regarding ESD Methodology: Population of the study was all prospective teachers. Total 115 prospective teachers of a public university were taken as a sample of this study in Lahore. It was cross sectional study and quantitative in nature. The data was collected through standardized instrument questionnaire which was consisted on 19 statements (International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2009). Findings: Current study found that students have already much awareness about ESD before teaching the course of ESD thus there is not major difference of awareness about ESD among students before teaching and after teaching the ESD course. Implications: It is recommended that as students already have awareness about ESD without teaching ESD as a course thus awareness might be given through multimedia, advertisements in T.V, radio, banners and other colorful sources from early education. So such subjects should be included in elementary education.

Green concern is making a profound impact on building green competitive advantage (GCA) across the globe. Apparel sector of Bangladesh is at crossroads regarding sustainability of firms. Green initiatives are thus required for ensuring the survival of apparel sector. The current study attempts to examine the interplay among environmental corporate social responsibility (ECSR) dimensions, green corporate image (GCI), and green competitive advantage of firms. To address the research topic, structural equation modeling approach has been adopted. Based on prior research findings, five hypotheses have been devised and finally evaluated by collecting data from 53 apparel firms enlisted with Dhaka Stock Exchange, Bangladesh. The study findings reveal that the ECSR dimensions have critical role to play over building GCI and GCA at the firm level. The study attempted to integrate ECSR, GCI, and GCA and contributes to the holistic understanding of the green anxieties of the business world. Understanding the critical role of ECSR, this study calls for proactive managerial actions regarding organizational sustainability.

This study find the impact of demographic variables on economic growth in selected South Asian countries; Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka using panel data from 1976 to 2017. Fertility rate and life expectancy are used as demographic variables and GDP is used to indicate the economic growth. Panel unit root tests including Levin-Lin & Chu, Im-Pesaran & Shin, ADF-Fisher χ2, PP-Fisher χ2 are applied to check the stationary of variables. Pedroni and Kao Panel Co-integration are employed to test the co-integration among variables. Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) estimators are obtained for long run relationship. Results show that total fertility rate and life expectancy have significant impact on economic growth in these four South Asian countries. For example, one unit increase in total fertility rate depresses the economic growth by 0.106 units. However, economic growth is accelerated by 0.196 units due to one year increase in life expectancy.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the innovation capacity and relationship quality of micro-enterprises with its stakeholders. Design/Methodology/Approach: This is an exploratory and single-case study that uses an in-depth interview with the owner of one traditional food micro-enterprise (TFME) in Yogyakarta City (Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta Province, Indonesia). Findings: The results determined that there are four types of relationships between a TFME and its stakeholders: supplier, internal, customer, and lateral partnerships. We further identify antecedents of relationship quality: opportunistic behavior, reputation, customer orientation, relationship orientation, conflicts, product quality, and knowledge and skills. The research further found that conflicts, relationship quality, product quality, knowledge and skills, and owner’s age can affect the innovation capacity of a TFME. Implications/Originality/Value: Theoretically, the findings provide support for the development of relationship marketing theory. Practically, this study is valuable for TFMEs to build relationship quality with stakeholders and innovation capacity.

This article adds to the discussion of the long-term transformation of CSR, presenting a perspective on the interplay between CSR debate and public discourse on business responsibility. 50 years after Milton Friedman’s provoking claim that the only responsibility for business is to seek profit, a broader debate has emerged aligning CSR with an increasingly comprehensive concept of sustainability. We trace this evolution of the concept during the last three decades focusing on the intersection of economic, social, and environmental responsibility. Based on discourse analysis of news articles and opinion pieces in the largest public newspaper in Norway from 1990 until 2018, the study confirms that discussions on CSR, sustainability and the social model often approach the same challenges. We argue that sustainability has become the dominating term in popular usage for describing the relationship between business and society. Based on our analysis of the public debate, CSR has become amore comprehensive term,transformed from being a term mainly related to internal business affairs to part of a broader societal discussion about sustainability.