Syed Muhammad Salman

This study examines the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR), advertising effectiveness, product quality, and price perception on brand Image, alongside the moderating effects of brand loyalty and environmental concern. The study collected the data using the mall intercept method. The study documents that advertising effectiveness, product quality, and price perception have a significant impact on brand image. The study finds that CSR has an insignificant impact on brand image. We also found that environmental concern has an insignificant moderating effect on CSR and brand image. On the contrary, we found that brand loyalty significantly moderates price perception and brand image. One of the reasons for insignificant results on CSR and brand image is perhaps that in Pakistan, consumers have a perception that firms' CSR initiatives are symbolic only. Based on the findings, we suggest that firms seeking to enhance their brand image should prioritize strategies that emphasize fairness in pricing, reinforce product quality, and develop effective advertising campaigns. We also believe that CSR can play an effective role, provided firms target consumers who are highly concerned about the environment.

Managers in today's business world have an obligation to serve the organization and customers by inspiring employees to obey orders. To be successful under the challenging business climate, managers must implement effective leadership practices. In this research, three modern leadership styles - green leadership, servant leadership, and digital leadership - are explored and their influence on organizational performance is tested with leader distance as a moderator. Relying on the literature, a conceptual framework was formulated employing theories of AMO and RBV. Workers of the textile sector were included in the study and data analysis was done employing SPSS software. Findings indicated that there exists a positive effect of servant leadership and digital leadership on organizational performance and no such correlation was observed in the case of green leadership. Furthermore, leader distance is in a negative correlation with green and servant leadership styles' effectiveness. The article concludes by outlining implications, constraints, and research proposal suggestions in the future.

The factors impacting the technological efficiency of cash and staple crop production in South Asian countries are investigated in this study. With the worldwide food crisis and impending food inflation, the importance of agriculture and its impact on social welfare is highlighted. A meta-analysis of published research articles from 2000 to 2022 finds that the agricultural industry in South Asia has an overall technical efficiency of 76%. In descriptive analysis three models are used such as methodological model, crop-wise model and countries wise model. In empirical analysis first two models are estimated through OLS, Tobit and Truncated regression analysis. In this study 95 articles published on South Asian cropping sector i.e. wheat, rice, sugar-cane and cotton have been selected for meta-analysis. The meta-analysis findings suggest substantial untapped potential in South Asia's farm sector, highlighting a need for development. To maximize the efficiency of present growth programms, the government must carefully analyze and redirect them. By doing so, the agriculture sector may attain its maximum productivity while also contributing to the region's general agricultural development.

Online banking is a source of executing all banking operations on a virtual basis; that means there is no need to visit the bank physically for any transaction or payment against utilities. This research has explored the scope of online banking in Pakistan, focusing on how depositors' behaviors influence their adoption of online banking services. The present study, therefore, has attempted to give an idea about the factors responsible for the engagement of users and their satisfaction in digital banking platforms in this context. The data used in this paper is primary in nature and has been collected through a structured survey with questionnaires from 234 participants comprising a diverse sample of students, professionals, and ordinary citizens. The research findings revealed that Cyber Security was the most influencing factor upon customer satisfaction; there was also a high correlation between perceived security measures and good user experiences. This result gave the leading role of robust security protocols a great significance in gaining confidence and encouraging people to use online banking services. In contrast, the influence of Financial Literacy on the level of satisfaction with online banking was statistically insignificant; while financial education is very important, it is not as central in shaping the user experience, at least when questions of security dominate. The findings of this study revealed that financial institutions in Pakistan need to give consideration to the enhancement of security and addressing customer's data protection concerns in order to develop a better level of satisfaction and increase online banking adoption. The non-significant influence of Financial Literacy suggests that further research is required for a better understanding of how financial literacy interacts with other influences on online banking. Future research should give more attention to these relationships and also consider the possible indirect influences of financial literacy on user engagement in the services of digital banking.

Education is the pillar of national development, social cohesion, and economic progress. However, all nations' education systems are different in nature, quality, and cost. The research compares the education systems of Pakistan, India, and the Western world on the basis of a model of dialectic debate to see their similarity and dissimilarity. The research is of qualitative nature, consisting of semi-structured interviews with 30 educationists; ten from each of Pakistan, India, and Europe. Interview content analysis and critical review of 200 sources suggest that the bifurcation within the educational system in Pakistan further intensifies socio-economic divides but in a vain attempt fails to achieve its stated purpose. India's policy-driven model, on the other hand, has raised the lower and the middle class, boosting institutional development. Western models of education in Europe and North America prioritize empirical research, skill creation, and inclusivity, which have been the most important drivers of economic development as well as social mobility. Research points out that Pakistan's current four-layered education system consisting of government schools, madrassas, middle-class private English-medium schools, and elite schools are deepening disparity rather than working towards national integration. India's NEP 2020 demonstrates the effectiveness of systematic policy action in literacy rates and employability in labor markets, while Western nations focus on empirical research based, competence-based schooling to equip students for active labor markets. The respondents point out the strong imperative that Pakistan needs a National Unified Education Policy so that there is an integrated, integral system of schooling for all kids up to the secondary level. Otherwise, the large and ever-increasing number of people in Pakistan will continue to generate economic and security challenges within and outside Pakistan, with effects on labor markets, migrant flows, and geopolitical stability. The study concludes that an integrated education system in Pakistan based on India and the West has the capacity to propel institutional building, economic mobility, and social cohesiveness. Policy remedies are increased budgetary allocations towards education, teacher certification programs, curriculum reform, and e-learning to bridge the rural-urban divide. The research follows that if prompt action is not taken, Pakistan's ailing education system will not only hinder nation-building but also leave permanent marks on the security environment in the world and global economy.

This paper contributes to the volume of existing literature on online shopping behavior with a focus on apparel. Thereafter, it identifies the following key drivers of online purchases of clothing: brand engagement, perceived security, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and fashion trends. These factors are important in understanding how consumers would behave in an online purchase setting and thus form a significant part of the literature. Besides, the study investigates how trust and efficiency in terms of time and cost decrease the perceived value-a very important factor within information and communication technology research studies. The perceived value has been considered one of the major driving forces of e-commerce decisions, which involves online purchasing behavior. It also investigates the effect of trust in online transactions on consumers' purchase intentions; there is a need to understand those elements that build up trust, especially in the fashion industry.

This research examines the impact of critical factors, including GDP, population, internet, renewable power, human capital, and global link, on energy poverty in the New-11 nations, using a Panel ARDL technique. Energy poverty rises with GDP and population growth but is significantly reduced by internet access and renewable energy. Human resources and globalization present a mix of insignificant functions. Short-run illustrations depict initial movement in the long run, which abruptly stabilizes as renewable energy costs become apparent. The implications of the findings of energy poverty are the essential and inescapable policy calls for targeted investments in digitalization, sustainable energy, people, and intelligent globalization.

This study uses 62 years of data, from 1960 to 2021, including variables like deposits, interest rates, GDP, and inflation, to investigate the link between interest rates and deposit behavior in non-Islamic banks in Pakistan. The study finds that interest rates have a big influence on deposit behavior using time series analytic techniques as unit root testing, cointegration analysis, and Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). More specifically, people's decisions to deposit money in non-Islamic banks are observed to be influenced by interest rate variations. The results highlight the importance of interest rate changes in influencing deposit behavior, showing how people choose which non-Islamic institutions to deposit money with. These findings have significance for financial institutions, policymakers, and economists in general. They provide important new information about the ways in which monetary policy choices affect deposit mobilization and liquidity conditions in the banking industry. The report also proposes directions for further investigation, including the possible examination of differences in deposit behavior between demographic groupings or geographical areas. To further help understand the dynamics at work, it also suggests examining how interest rates affect deposits in various sample configurations. This research advances theoretical frameworks in the field by shedding light on the complex interactions between interest rates and deposit behavior. It also offers stakeholders practical guidance on how to deal with the effects of interest rate dynamics on deposit mobilization and banking sector liquidity.

The study focusses on historical perspective, contemporary historical perspective as well as futurologist perspective of Sino-India relations, economic development and bilateral trade. The economic growth has been examined with the interaction effect of Belt & Road Initiative. The purpose of this study is to find out the reasons of correlation between Sino-India economic growth patterns for last two thousand years as well as making recommendations for the optimal level of the relations in the region in the emerging century of East. The study further aims to examine the cross-country impact of infrastructure development on other countries. A total of thirty countries which are a part of Belt and Road Initiative were selected. The data is collected from World Bank Database from 1990 to 2019 (n=900). The data were analyzed using penal data regression models (fixed random effect regression models) to test the effect of macro-economic variables on economic growth, while hierarchical moderated regression analysis was used to determine the moderating effect of Belt and Road Initiative on the economic growth of participating economies. Belt & Road Initiative significantly moderate the relationship of economic growth with its factors. Therefore, we conclude that Belt & Road is pivotal for economic growth of region. In the century of Asia, China and India must understand that trade cooperation and congenial relations with in the region is beneficial for all the stakeholders in Asian Region while West and USA want to utilize India to halt the progress in the region and converting India a leading state to fight with China in the best interest of West. The only resolvable issues in Sino-India relations are border marketing in Tibrt, Arnachal Perdesh and Kashmir which are not only hampering the economic growth of these areas but also deviating the focus from economic growth towards militarization of the region. The limitations of this article is that the idea of Belt & Road was initiated in 2013 and different countries have joined BRI in different years. We have taken only those countries which have become a part of BRI till 2017. Another limitation is that we have selected few macroeconomic and social variables to test their effect on economic growth. We have selected those variables which are important for developing economies since majority of countries in BRI are developing. It is a unique study from the perspective, that it is using the available and estimated GDP of last two thousand years to find out the correlation between China’s and India’s economic growth and based on empirical analysis rather than theoretical one, suggesting the optimal level of relationship between China and India, why active participation of Betl & Road Initiative (BRI) by India is necessary for India’s growth.

Earning quality of organization depends upon the audit quality and could be achieved using auditors’ expertise and firm size and this aspect demands the emphasis of new researchers. Hence, the current article investigates the effects of auditors’ independence, audit firm size and auditors’ financial expertise on earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The article also explores the mediating role of audit quality among auditors’ independence, audit firm size, auditors’ financial expertise and earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The study gets the data from the audit department of Malaysian manufacturing companies. The article checks the nexus among variables using smart-PLS. The outcomes revealed that the auditors’ independence, audit firm size and auditors’ financial expertise have a positive association with earning quality. The outcomes also exposed that audit quality significantly mediates among auditors’ independence, audit firm size, auditors’ financial expertise and earning quality of the manufacturing industry in Malaysia. The regulators could get the guidelines to achieve high quality earnings and audits using auditors’ independence and financial expertise.