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This survey investigated the relationship and gap between students' expectations and perceptions of perceived service quality of education, emphasizing the least effective service quality dimension. The study was based on primary data, which turned out to be most significant. Data were collected from 349 of 405 students through a questionnaire (86.1% response rate). The research specified that there existed a gap (7.6% overall gap) between the expectations and perceptions of the students that was an indicator of improvement in quality of education being delivered by applying paired t-tests. Perceived reliability was the most important service quality dimension found in the current study (< 0.001) and tangibility, the fifth dimension of service quality, appears to be insignificant (< 0.778), and was never found negative by any of the past researchers, indicating a null effect of physical structure of the classroom on quality of education. The work attempted to develop an understanding of the comparative assessments of two mindsets of the receivers. The results provide valuable feedback that could be used for identifying and improving weak service quality dimensions among institutes in Pakistan. No such study was carried out before at this level in Pakistan.

The aim of the study is to empirically examine the applicability of Muncy & Vitell Scale in Pakistan and to identify its link with moral intensity and behavioural intention. A field survey research design targeting 410 general retail consumers of three major cities in Hazara region was adopted. Data analysis is carried out using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and exploratory factor analysis through SPSS 17.0 where Structural equation modelling is used for confirmatory factor analysis and model estimation through AMOS 20. The results of the study indicate that consumers in Pakistan consider only two types of ethical issues of merit consideration i.e. the issues that contain harmful outcomes and the issues with harmless outcomes. The role of moral intensity and gender is also found positively associated with consumer situations that result in harmful outcomes. Consumers high on education level showed sensitivity towards questionable behaviours even though they may seem to contain harmless outcomes. The size of the family negatively influences the harmless ethical beliefs of the consumers. The study is among few studies that has empirically examined the famous Muncy & Vitell Scale in Pakistan. The study also links Issue-contingent Model with Muncy & Vitell Scale in Pakistani context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research was to explore the impact and role of one of emerging techniques of customer relationship management in Pakistan. It was investigated that how the loyalty cards influence the loyalty of female consumers in the fashion retail-sector of Pakistan. Multi-item scales adopted from previous studies were used to measure affective and behavioural loyalty. The data were collected from 400 female customers of three branded outlets of Pakistan in three different regions of Pakistan by using convenience sampling method. The results showed that the card holders of a loyalty program had more favourable attitude towards retailer, higher level of trust in the retailer and retailer staff, commitment, and satisfaction than noncard holders. Compared to noncard holders, card holders also showed higher purchase behaviour in the retailer than its competitors. Overall, the findings showed that the loyalty card programs played an important role in building loyalty. These loyalty program are effective techniques and can be used by different companies to make long term relationships with the customers. However, the emotional bonding of customers is very necessary for any company to be successful, so the companies should focus a lot on affective loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is two folds: first, to analyze the long-run relationship between terrorism and key macroeconomic indicators (GDP growth, GDP per capita, inflation and unemployment) and second, to determine the direction of causality between these variables in Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach – The relationship between terrorism and various macroeconomic indicators is analyzed by applying Johansen cointegration analysis. Furthermore, the causality between terrorism and macroeconomic indicators is tested by applying Toda Yamamoto Granger causality test. Findings – The results show that there exists a long-run relationship between terrorism and key macroeconomic indicators. Furthermore, the results suggest that there exists a bi-directional causality between terrorism and inflation. The causality between GDP per capita, unemployment, GDP growth and terrorism is unidirectional. Originality/value – There is a lack of research work conducted to analyze the long-run relationship and direction of causation between terrorism and various macroeconomic indicators specifically for Pakistan. The current paper fills the gap in the literature by using sophisticated econometric techniques and recent data set to provide the evidence of the relationship between terrorism and various macroeconomic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the impact of FDI on the stock market development in Pakistan, both aggregate as well as sector wise, the reason being that no such work has been carried out in this context. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on secondary data for the period 1985-2011. Johansen co-integration approach is used for determining relationship among variables for aggregate stock market development in long run. Granger causality test is also applied to check the causal relation between the variables. Correlation analysis and regression analysis has been used for examining the relationship of sector wise development, FDI and economic growth in Pakistan. Findings – The results support the positive role of FDI in boosting the aggregate stock market development in long run. Bi-directional causality between FDI and economic growth has been found along with the uni-directional causality between aggregate stock market development and economic growth. For sector wise development the relationship of FDI is positive in the sectors where FDI concentration is high in recent years whereas and negative in other sectors. Originality/value – Co-integration coefficients showed a positive and statistically strong relationship between FDI and aggregate market capitalization thus reflecting the complementary role of FDI in the stock market development of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Pakistan the growing number of higher education institutions and the ever-increasing number of students, forces the institutions to build such an environment which completely satisfies these students' expectations. This paper uses a modified version of Keaveney and Young (1997) satisfaction model and tests on a sample of students of COMSATS Abbottabad, Pakistan. The study is based on primary data collected through questionnaires and analyzed using correlation, regression and Cronbach alpha. The results show that faculty, advisory staff and the classes have a very significant impact on the student's college experience. These positive student experiences lead to student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medicine is a high risk profession. Infectious diseases, dealing with difficult patients, accidents on the job, and other hazards have shortened the careers of many practitioners. The extent to which they experience stress turns into poor performance in terms of quality of patient care. Personality traits are often thought to affect the stress that a person perceives. Specific types of personalities seem to be more susceptible to the effects of stress than others. Job performance is associated with different levels of stress. The purpose of the present study was to investigate any effect of job stress on job performance and effect of personality type on the stress-performance relationship., Methods: All 55 house officers enrolled at Ayub Teaching Hospital at the time of study were included in the study. Primary data was gathered through questionnaire designed to address personality type and to gathered information about job stress and performance. Individual semi-structured interviews and observations were used to collect information in order to find out how the work patterns have been influenced by environmental factors. The data obtained through questionnaire was analysed using the statistical methods including descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation and multiple regression., Results: The results indicated that Type A individuals tend to experience more stress than Type B, however no major statistical differences were found. Type A individuals performed slightly better than Type B., Conclusion: Identification of house officers' personality traits will be helpful in assessing stress and designing different stress coping strategies to reduce their level of stress and improve their performance. The correlation between job stress and job performance among house officers with Type A personality characteristics is high.

Background: Doctors especially house officers are under a great deal of stress related to a variety of occupational stressors. Occupational stressors contribute to organizational inefficiency, high staff turnover, absenteeism due to sickness, decreased quality, and quantity of practice, increased costs of health care, and decreased job satisfaction. One of the organizational outcomes that affected by occupational stress is job performance. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of job stress on job performance., Methods: The universe of the study is District Abbottabad and the complete population of house officers was targeted which were present at that time were 55. The data obtained through questionnaire was analyzed using the statistical methods including descriptive statistics, Spearman's correlation and multiple regression., Results: The analysis showed strong support for the hypothesis that there is an inverse relationship between job stress and job performance indicating that there is high job stress in the house officers, resulting in low job performance., Conclusion: Correct stress management should start from improved health and good intrapersonal relationships. The prevention and management of workplace stress requires organizational level interventions, because it is the organization that creates the stress. Success in managing and preventing stress will depend on the culture in the organization. A culture of openness and understanding, rather than of criticism, is essential. Those house officers who had high level of job stress had low job performance. All the factors affected male house officers more than the female house officers.