Junaid Ansari

In an increasingly competitive and technology-driven environment, manufacturing SMEs are under pressure to integrate digital transformation strategies to remain sustainable. This study develops a conceptual model to examine the influence of intellectual capital (IC) – human, structural, and relational – on sustainable performance, with digital transformation as a mediating factor, drawing on the knowledge-based view and dynamic capabilities theory. A structured questionnaire survey was administered to manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan using purposive sampling. A total of 215 valid responses were obtained. Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed via SmartPLS 4.0 to assess the measurement model for reliability and validity, and to test the hypothesized relationships in the structural model. The results confirm that IC positively influences digital transformation, which in turn significantly enhances sustainable performance across economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Furthermore, digital transformation mediates the relationship between IC and sustainable performance, indicating its pivotal role in translating knowledge resources into long-term value creation. This study extends empirical evidence on the interrelationship between IC, digital transformation, and sustainability in the manufacturing SME context. The findings provide theoretical insights into leveraging IC for digital adoption and offer practical guidance for SME leaders and policymakers seeking to foster resilience, innovation, and sustainable growth.

The research indicates that women's entrepreneurship may enhance social inclusion and elevate gender equality. It may also promote creativity and innovation, stimulate economic progress, and can reduce poverty in society. Women's entrepreneurship may facilitate the attainment of sustainable development goals and enhance per capita income. Despite women's involvement in entrepreneurial endeavors being significantly low in Pakistan, it is hindered by several difficulties, including societal and cultural restraints, discrimination, gender inequities, and mobility challenges. Consequently, women are socially excluded and compelled to contend with gender inequity. Nonetheless, despite these obstacles, certain aspects facilitate the empowerment of women to establish own enterprises. This qualitative study employs purposive sampling, semi-structured interviews, using phenomenology to investigate the experiences of female entrepreneurs in Pakistan's service sector. The study's results highlight the need of instituting gender-inclusive policies in Pakistan to reduce gender inequities and provide an environment conducive to women's entrepreneurship. This research is advantageous for governmental entities, female entrepreneurs, policymakers, academics, and international organizations involved in promoting women's entrepreneurship.

Deceptive advertisement is a primary factor affecting customer loyalty because when people do not receive what they expect from advertisements, they tend to avoid using those brands. Although past researches have addressed the perceived deception in advertisements and its impact on customer loyalty, there is a lack of studies focusing on the mediating role of corporate trust, corporate image, and perceived deception in relation to customer loyalty. Household consumers were chosen as the target population due to their exposure to advertisements. A sample of 250 individuals participated in this study. Smart PLS was used for data analysis. This study confirms that perceived deception, corporate trust and corporate image play a significant mediating role in establishing customer loyalty. The findings of this study can assist marketers in developing new designs and strategies that do not mislead customers. It will also help marketers to identify the factors that should be considered when designing advertisements.

Aim of the Study: This study examined how one's attitude impacts fast food purchase intention. Also, the study explored whether attitude toward fast-food shopping (click-and-mortars) mediates the relationship between purchase intention and social commerce acceptance. Predictors are performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions, while attitude is the mediator and purchase intention is the outcome variable. The research has also taken SERVQUAL as a moderating variable between attitude towards fast-food and purchase meaning of fast food in Karachi. Methodology: A sample of 419 responses has participated in this research based on the non-probability purposive sampling method. A 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was created as a data collection instrument, and the responses were gathered using a survey approach. For data analysis, the researchers employed PLS-SEM using Smart PLS. Findings & Conclusion: Attitude positively mediates the relationship between performance expectancy and purchase intention. Attitude significantly positively moderates the relationship between effort expectancy and purchase intention. Attitude also substantially mediates the relationship between social influence and purchase intention. Attitude significantly wholly mediates the relationship between facilitating conditions and purchase intention. Lastly, SERVQUAL positively moderates the relationship between attitude and purchase intention. It is suggested that policymakers shape the customers' positive attitudes, and the government should establish policies that boost consumers' positive choices. As a result, it is recommended to managers that they should be involved in delivering clear information because it is crucial to consumer behavior.

This study aims to measure the religio-spiritual insights of consumers during religious festivals and compare the results considering the stimuli of two advertisements, i.e., religious and irritating advertisements. When the religio-spiritual insights of the consumers are neglected in the designing of a TV advertisement for a religious festival, in particular, it can lead to irritation and affect the consumers’ attitude toward advertising. Based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA), the mediating effect of religio-spiritual insights was measured between consumers’ attitude toward advertising and independent variables (irritation, credibility, information, good for the economy, and entertainment).

The paper proposes a model for quantitatively analyzing the link between Privacy, Usability, Government Support, Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Intention to Use and Commitment in the online banking context in Pakistan. In Pakistan (comparing to the size of bank accounts open), few people benefit from online banking and prefer the physical approach. This study analyzes how conventional banking users can be converted to online users, thus reducing the crowds at banks for menial tasks, giving banks more time to focus on corporate clients. For this purpose, an online survey was distributed via social messengers and websites. Out of the collected data, 310 normalized samples were analyzed using correlation and multiple linear regressions. The findings showed that except “Privacy”, “Usability” and “Government Support” had a relationship with “Perceived Ease of Use” where “Privacy” showed no significant impact. “Privacy” had a significant relationship with “Perceived Usefulness”, as did “Perceived Ease of Use”, and “Perceived Usefulness” and “Perceived Ease of Use” had a significant relationship with “Intention to Use”; “Intention” also had a significant relationship with “Commitment to Use Online Banking”. Thus, it is concluded that banks need to realize that bank customers require ease of access and use in order to successfully adapt to the use of online banking, despite the users not being very cautious about online privacy that banks require to ensure on their end, regardless of the user’s thought process.

Employee turnover is a significant factor that is of vital importance to the employees of the organization. The prerequisite to leave one’s job or organization is the intention to leave that can be referred as turnover intention. It is the thinking and planning of employees to leave their job and organization due to different reasons. Since turnover intention is not explicit; it is difficult to determine the factors, these lead to leave one’s job and organization. So, this conceptual paper tried to summarize different factors affecting turnover intention of employees which are identified by different scholars and researchers. The population of research is the private sector of Pakistan because this issue of turnover and organization performance is of major concern in private companies. The size of the sample of 251 respondent was selected. The main objective of this research is to study the relationship between (Abusive Supervision, Emotional Exhaustion, Organizational Politics, Psychological Contract Breach, Perceived organization support, Remuneration, Workplace Bullying, Work life imbalance) and mediating effect of turnover on organizational performance. for this research we have used PLS path modeling approach keeping in view the above literature review. For analyzing the data, we have used Smart PLS 3.0. After the results revealed all the hypothesis were accepted except workplace bullying, perceived organization support and work life imbalance. This research will help Organization that organizations have to work on the environment conditions with the support of developing career and value towards the promotional opportunities for employees that give them motivation to retain in organization.

Several studies have found adverse effects of abusive leadership on employees and organizations in the recent past. However, the cultural norms in Pakistan demand an abusive leadership approach. Pakistani culture is high in power distance, abuse of power is a norm, and people are accustomed to autocracy. Since most of the studies addressing the negative effects of abusive leadership were conducted in the west, it is necessary to examine whether abusive leadership is an effective leadership approach in the cultures that experience high power distance. There is a paucity of literature addressing the issue in question. In addition, existing literature does not explain how abusive leaders affect employees’ attitudes and behaviors with clarity. This research makes an ontological contribution and discusses the philosophical origins of abusive leadership theory. Furthermore, this research draws the inference using the groundings of conservation of resource theory, leader-member exchange theory, and aggression displaced theory to propose that abusive leaders deteriorate employees’ quality of working life experience. Employees with poor working-life experience are more likely to be involved in counterproductive work behavior, planning to leave the organization, and are less likely to show organizational citizenship behavior. Dyadic data were collected from 474 respondents based on purposive sampling technique from private sector organizations in Pakistan. Results of structural equation modeling using AMOS v23 supported all the proposed hypotheses. Results imply that the moral content of leadership requires special attention, and abusive leadership is not an appropriate leadership approach because of its adverse effects on employees’ attitudes and behaviors.

Background: Despite extensive research on employee turnover intention in the existing literature. Previous studies have paid rare attention to the role of workload (WL), nepotism (N), job satisfaction (JS), and organization politics (OP) on turnover intention, especially, mediating the effect of harassment between WL, N, JS and OP on turnover intention in the Pakistani context. This study is using Hobfoll’s conservation of resources (COR) theory. Methods: Data were collected from 189 female employees (doctors and nurses) working in public and private hospitals in the province of Sindh, Pakistan, by adopting a purposive sampling technique. SmartPLS and SPPS were used to analyze the data. Results: The results demonstrated that workload and job satisfaction are positively related to harassment. At the same time, harassment has a direct effect on turnover intention. More importantly, harassment partially mediated the effect between workload and job satisfaction on turnover intention. In contrast, nepotism and organizational politics did not observe any significant relationship with harassment. However, it also did not have any mediating impact of harassment between nepotism and organizational politics on turnover intention. Conclusion: There is a lack of research on the antecedents of turnover intention in the existing literature especially in the developing country context (Pakistan). Furthermore, this study examined the mediation mechanism of harassment on turnover intention. In this way, this is an original contribution to the body of knowledge. Finally, COR theory has been utilized to explain how antecedents of turnover intention play their role along with harassment at the workplace. This study also advances the existing literature on human resource management. The current study provides insightful guidelines to policymakers, managers, and HRM practitioners for devising employee-friendly policies at the workplace.