bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Utilização do Método AHP para a Priorização dos Critérios de Seleção de Lojistas em um Projeto de Marketplace Sustentável
Authors: Carvalho Yeda Alves , Siqueira Ricardo , Scafuto Isabel , Silva Luciano Ferreira
Published: May 2020

Um dos fatores mais importantes ao se criar uma lista com critérios de seleção de fornecedores é classificá-los em ordem de importância e, assim, descartar as alternativas menos relevantes e priorizar aquelas que agregam valor ao negócio. Nesse contexto, a utilização de um método inapropriado pode prejudicar sua correta identificação. Neste artigo tecnológico abordamos a utilização da ferramenta Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) como apoio à tomada de decisão. O AHP foi aplicado na etapa de priorização da lista de critérios de seleção de fornecedores de um site de comércio eletrônico que oferta produtos sustentáveis. Os dados foram obtidos através de entrevistas com as sócias do empreendimento e foram tratados utilizando-se o método AHP. O principal resultado indica que a utilização deste método trouxe benefícios para o processo por oferecer formas comprovadas de lidar com subjetividades e chegar a consensos.
A infância e a educação infantil no campo: como anda este diálogo?
Authors: Lima Costa Menezes Cláudia Celeste
Published: May 2020

A pesquisa intitulada A Infância e a Educação Infantil no Campo: como anda este diálogo? tem como objetivo central analisar como se encontra o diálogo entre a infância, os saberes e as práticas vivenciadas na Educação Infantil do Campo, partindo do seguinte questionamento: Existe uma relação efetiva e congruente entre a infância, os saberes e a prática pedagógica de Educação Infantil do Campo que assegure a qualidade do processo educativo e a formação do cidadão do campo? O estudo evidencia a infância, os marcos legais, destacando os percursos, os avanços e os entraves da legislação brasileira e das políticas públicas para a Educação Infantil do Campo revelando os percalços enfrentados para o desenvolvimento de uma prática pedagógica democrática e de qualidade que valorize a infância no campo. A pesquisa tem um caráter qualitativo, fundamentada na abordagem fenomenológica e no método etnográfico, tendo como opção metodológica o estudo de caso. Esta pesquisa teve como locus uma instituição educativa de um município baiano, situada no campo. Foram aplicados os instrumentos da observação, entrevista semi-estruturada e grupo focal. Os dados coletados foram analisados através da interpretação da análise do conteúdo, apresentando resultados significativos para o desenvolvimento da Educação Infantil do município e região. Os estudos e as reflexões realizadas possibilitaram afirmar que existe um diálogo tímido entre a infância, os saberes e as práticas pedagógicas, decorrentes da não implementação das políticas públicas, fator que compromete a qualidade e o desenvolvimento da Educação Infantil do Campo.
Cronologias da infância e disputas de representações em textos eclesiásticos e jurídicos no Brasil Império
Authors: Tuchinski dos Anjos Juarez José
Published: May 2020

Na medida em que a historiografia compreende a infância como uma construção social sobre um período da vida humana que informa as experiências concretas de ser criança na história (CUNNINGHAN, 1997), torna-se relevante estudar como, em determinados contextos, se procurou delimitar cronologicamente a sua duração e, de que maneira, diferentes instituições, ao produzirem sobre ela distintas representações (CHARTIER, 2002), disputaram para si esse tempo da vida. Assim, valendo-se da noção de lutas de representações (CHARTIER, 2002), o objetivo do artigo é identificar as representações sobre as cronologias da infância presentes em textos eclesiásticos e jurídicos em circulação no Brasil Império, evidenciando como disputavam entre si e eram postas a serviço dos interesses da Igreja e do Estado, formados, então, por três grupos distintos: os regalistas, os liberais e os ultramontanos. Utilizando-se a metodologia histórica, as fontes interrogadas são as Constituições Primeiras do Arcebispado da Bahia e o Abecedário Jurídico, de Carlos Antonio Cordeiro. As conclusões, num primeiro momento, apontam que as cronologias encontradas praticamente coincidem entre si, sendo a infância, para a Igreja e o Estado, o período da vida da criança que ia do nascimento aos doze/catorze anos (no caso de meninas/meninos). Todavia, um olhar aprofundado deixa entrever que a Igreja, por meio das cronologias que propunha, conseguia manter-se mais presente e influente na vida das famílias e das crianças, na medida em que através de uma série de subdivisões e responsabilidades, preenchia com inúmeras especificidades todo o tempo da vida da criança que procurava delimitar.
Apresentação Dossiê Representações da infância: discursos, narrativas e experiências educacionais
Authors: Borges de Almeida Cíntia
Published: May 2020

Com vistas a investigar representações sociais de infância, sob diferentes aspectos metodológicos relevantes para a construção de uma operação historiográfica da educação, o dossiê Representações de infância: discursos, narrativas e experiências educacionais convida a comunidade acadêmica e científica para a publicação de pesquisas nacionais e internacionais relacionadas à educação, à história, à cultura, às experiências que analisem a diversidade de propósitos educativos, em múltiplos espaços institucionalizados e não formais, que contribuíram para se pensar o debate de práticas de escolarização, de ideias pedagógicas, de formação e controle de conduta.

Tendo livros, jornais, revistas, legislações, estatutos e relatórios como fonte privilegiada de pesquisa, interessa dar luz ao debate e às experiências educacionais, promovidas em espaços plurais e disseminadas nos discursos e narrativas de agentes públicos e privados, em direção às representações de infância e aos projetos de educação pensados para cada uma delas.
Entrevista com Elizeu Clementino: Dimensões e desafios da Pesquisa (auto)biográfica no atual contexto brasileiro
Authors: Clementino de Souza Elizeu
Published: May 2020

Entrevista concedida em 30 de janeiro de 2020, por Elizeu Clementino de Souza (UNEB) a Ednardo Monteiro Gonzaga do Monti (PPGEd/ UFPI) e Alexandra Lima da Silva.
Debates sobre Jardins de Infância no Congresso de Instrução (Rio de Janeiro, 1883)
Authors: Monção Vinicius
Published: May 2020

Este trabalho tem como objetivo analisar as propostas de educação e escolarização de crianças com idade entre três e sete anos apresentadas para discussão no Congresso de Instrução, que seria realizado na cidade do Rio de Janeiro em 1883, contudo, por disputas políticas, o evento foi cancelado. Para fins de análise, selecionamos os pareceres que foram publicados pela Tipografia Nacional em 1884, que trataram e/ou abordaram a questão dos jardins de infância. Como aporte teórico e metodológico optamos seguir as proposições que levam em consideração os sujeitos como agentes da história, que pela experiência deram sentidos e significados para suas pautas de lutas e embates sociais. Por fim, embora o evento não tenha sido realizado, compreendemos que as discussões propostas para a educação e escolarização de crianças menores de sete anos pelo Congresso de Instrução é um marco da educação brasileira do século XIX, já que compõe a primeira discussão em escala nacional no qual os jardins de infância foram considerados como a primeira etapa da escolarização.
Expounding Dynamics of Tacit Knowledge Critical to Credit Decision Making: Juxtaposed Findings of GRA and RIDIT
Authors: Abdul Basit  , Tehmina Fiaz Qazi  , Abdul Aziz Khan Niazi
Published: May 2020

This study explores importance of Tacit Knowledge (TK) sharing for formal loan makers in Pakistan. Main objective of the study is to expound, conceptualize and hierarchicalize the factors of TK critical to credit decision making. The study follows positivist approach and overall research design consists of literature review, field survey and data analyses. Data was collected from credit officers of Pakistani banks. Following the triangulation approach for confirmation and comparison of results, multiple techniques viz EFA, GRA and RIDIT were employed. Results of EFA showed that there are eight major dynamics of TK. Findings of GRA revealed that TK about recovery of loans is the most important factor hence occupies the highest GRA rank, whereas, the TK about resources of borrowers occupies the lowest rank. RIDIT analysis showed that TK about multitude of business sectors is the most important factor hence occupies the highest RIDIT rank, whereas, TK about capacity to repay the loans occupies the lowest rank. Juxtaposition of results of GRA and RIDIT revealed that TK gained during recovery of loans is one of the most important factors. It is a seminal study in the area of knowledge management particularly in context of Pakistani banks based on original data collected in field setting. The study gives insight of critical factors of TK, which has high value for credit personnel in banks. The results are useful for decision makers in banks, academicians and researchers.
The Curve Of Cross Border Cartel Enforcement (Challenges and Remedies in Global Business Environment)
Authors: Shahzada Aamir Mushtaq  , Fraz Ashraf Khan
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this article stated that the global economic arena has taken new insights across the shore of nations.  THE new economic challenges are waiting for the anti-trust enforcers to make sure strict compliance with the antitrust laws and in addition this dissertational work highlights the incipient violations across the borders and suggests its possible legel outcoms in the near future in order to make the economic market a level playing field for any business entrants. It particularly shed light on the cross border cartels and their effects on the relevant market, additionally we have taken the global view of the legislative aspects along with their de jure appliances and improvements for the proper economic growth under the auspices of legal framework. The ramification of cross border cartel enforcement has surfaced astoundingly between 1998 to 2015, underlining the earnest and prompt action to strengthen and revisit the competition law enforcement tools and proficiency. The technological advancements and liberalization of trade has risen significant challenges which includes the enforcement of cross border cartels and mergers. The globalization of corporate activities and deregulation of business markets and numerous industrial sectors has endangered the theoretical foundation of domestic and international competition enforcement regime. The transnational anticompetitive practices like monopolization of markets, collusive price fixing, vertical restraints of trade and international cartels currently challenged the jurisdiction and policies of OECD, WTO, UNCTAD, and ICN. This frightening situation necessarily be regularized by establishing worldwide competition policy and globally admirable enforcement standard. The weaknesses of unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral compacts be re-examined in order to cope with the cross- border competition challenges efficaciously. The extraterritorial, jurisdictional, and investigative mechanisms could be enclosed with binding nature of legal structures to deter cross border antitrust violations for smooth economic growth. The EU and US actively pursuing to establish the unanimous international antitrust regime instead of discrepancies to integrate WTO and ICN being multilateral cooperation forum. Currently, US, CANADA, EU, JAPAN and CHINA across the globe become more engaged in international cartels evidence gathering and investigations. The developments in information sharing, private enforcement, follow on civil litigation, dawn raids, extraterritorial reach of enforcement watchdog is yet to be established.
Does Borrower’s Personality Affects the Repayment of the Loan? A Study of Banking Sector of Pakistan
Authors: Shahzadah Fahed Qureshi  , Rashid Ahmad  , Muhammad Saim Hashmi
Published: May 2020

The continuing global increase in economic activities is increasing the importance of the banking sector as the hub of such activities. The banking sector issue loans to individuals, firms, and government. Various factors influence the repayment of these loans. In this study, we argue that the personality of the borrower affects the repayment of the loan. We have selected a sample of 500 borrowers of five major banks in Pakistan by using a cluster sampling technique. We selected 250 (50%) regular borrower and 250 (50%) defaulters. We measured borrower personality through a 44-items big five inventory (BFI) questionnaire similar to John & Srivastava (1999). We analyzed data using one-way ANOVA and regression. The results show considerable significant differences between the personality of regular borrowers and defaulters on all five traits of personality, which reveals that the borrower’s personality affects the repayment of the loan. The defaulters were high on extroversion and neuroticism dimensions, while regular borrowers were high on agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience. The results also depict the strong effect of demographic characteristics such as income, education, and family size on loan repayment. The study suggests banks consider the personality traits of the borrower at the time of issuing of loan.
Activity Based Costing around the World: Adoption, Implementation, Outcomes and Criticism
Authors: Maha Faisal Alsayegh
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this article is to provide systematic and critical literature review of studies related to activity-based costing around the world. The literature review covers articles from developed and developing countries and is organised to provide insights on four major aspects of ABC adoption, implementation, outcomes and criticism.

The adoption of ABC is generally greater in developed countries as compared to developing countries. Among the key benefits of using ABC include better product costing that ultimately increases the profitability and competitiveness of a company. Using ABC results in greater transparency of costs which have implications for planning, controlling and decision making.

Successful implementation of ABC is to deal effectively with the specific behavioral, technical and organizational factors. Most of the problems found in the literature were related to the practical, technical and system difficulties of ABC. Due to cultural and organizational issues many companies fail as techniques need modification when used in different settings.
The Importance of Organizational Justice, Appraisal Purposes and Employee Satisfaction in Performance Appraisal System in Academic Sector of Pakistan
Authors: Khan Mohammad Hanif , Altaf Hussain  , Khan Muhammad Asad
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this article is to find out the importance of organizational justice and its types along with employee satisfaction in the performance appraisal system. Data were collected from a sample of 180 respondents who replied their opinions regarding the variables included in the study. This study used SPSS to analyze collected data. The findings of study found a linkage of three kinds of organizational justice with performance appraisal. Also a strong association of employee satisfaction was found with components of organizational justice. The core restriction is that this study provides information limited to only one source, i.e. employees. This paper has practical effects on human resource development as it gives human resource practitioners and also to managers acting as rater of their employees with different ideas and recommendations.  Such ideas and recommendations typify how to maximize the perceived justice of the performance appraisal system in higher education sector of Pakistan. This study will also add some extra knowledge to the stake holders in higher education sector to understand and pinpoint the role of performance appraisal in academic sector.
The Moderating Effect of OPEC and Non-OPEC on the Relationship Between Oil Price Volatility and Accrual Earnings Management in the Oil and Gas Industry
Authors: Sandrasigaran Viveksarati , Jalila Binti Johari  , Soh Wei Ni  , Bany-Ariffin A.N
Published: May 2020

This study is an empirical examination on the relationship between oil price volatility and earnings management in the oil and gas industry, moderated by price-setting abilities of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Nations) and price taking abilities of Non-OPEC countries. This study tests discretionary, income-decreasing, current and non-current accruals as a proxy of earnings management. A total sample of 209 firm-year observations from 2008 to 2018 of listed oil and gas firm is collected from the Thomson Datastream database. To incorporate the moderation effect, the samples were divided into two sub-groups, OPEC and Non-OPEC using reserve to production ratio.  Firm attributes are included in the analysis as the constant variable such as leverage, current ratio, EBITDA and Growth. The initial results show that, overall, the interaction effect between OPEC/Non-OPEC and oil price volatility is positive and significant to discretionary and income-decreasing accruals. Data samples are limited while comparing OPEC and Non-OPEC countries as not every oil and gas company in OPEC are listed companies and their information is heavily protected. This study contributes to extant earnings management literature regarding political cost, which remains a significant concern to oil and gas companies worldwide.
Relationship Between Physical Activity and Burnout Among University Faculty in Pakistan
Authors: Asif Ali  , Asif Naveed Ranjha  , Syed Mussawar Hussain Bukhari
Published: May 2020

Burnout can lead towards challenge in social interaction and physical ailments. This study sought to determine the relationship of physical activity with faculty burnout. A total of 254 faculty members were surveyed from three public sector universities of southern Punjab region of Pakistan. Physical activity and burnout were assessed using IPAQ short version and OLBI, respectively. Findings indicated a significantly negative relationship of total score of physical activity with disengagement, exhaustion, and total burnout score. Physical activity level (low, medium, high) was significantly negatively correlated with total burnout score and subscale of exhaustion. The negative relationship remained evident between total physical activity and burnout after controlling for age, gender, experience, and academic qualification in partial correlation analysis. In addition, it was observed that burnout increased and physical activity decreased with increased age and job experience. These findings suggest that the interventions dealing with faculty burnout may consider physical exercise as a priority to prevent faculty burnout. More priority needs to be given to the faculty members with higher age and job experience.
Exploring Association of Economic Ties and Social Interaction Between Minorities and Muslims in Pakistan
Authors: Azizullah Jan  , Khalil Ur Rehman  , Ihsan Ullah khan
Published: May 2020

Financial The socio-political adjustment and economic well-being of minority groups has been reported as one of the important issues in the recent time in Pakistan. The study was conducted to know the adjustment issues of Christians and Sikhs minorities in District Peshawar and Swat of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. More specifically, the aim of this study was to explore how Sikhs and Christian minorities in Pakistan are adjusted in the social fabric of Muslim majority areas and to what extent their economic ties with Muslims are strengthening their overall social interaction in the area. A total of 372 respondents from the targeted locales were selected through proportional allocation through Sekaran table and data was collected based on five-point Likert scale. The economic activities of the minorities were selected as independent variables while the level of social interaction was obtained as dependent variables. The collected data was analysed at uni-variate level through frequency distribution and Chi square test was performed at bi-variate level. It was found that minorities are fully enjoying participation in the economic activities which results in strong social ties and interaction in their daily lives with Muslim majority in the study area. However, it was also found that the minorities are still underprivileged in the area of economic and business activities in Pakistan.
Learning Styles and Employee Creative Behavior; An Exploration Through Cognitive Styles
Authors: Saima Yasmeen  , Iram Batool  , Ruqia Safdar Bajwa
Published: May 2020

Cognitive styles are the thinking patterns that greatly influence our day to day activities. People may adopt specific learning styles to the way they want to act. Creativity is an important aspect and a great requirement of now a day’s organization because competition is so enhanced that it is an important aspectto be a part of market. So there is a need to explore what types of learning styles and cognitive styles will help the employees to be creative. The key variables of this study were Cognitive styles (CS), Learning styles (LS) and Employee Creativity (EC). The main purpose was to study cognitive styles as a moderator in relationship of learning styles and employee creativity; and to explore these variables further. Descriptive research design was used and data was collected from 450 employees in different sectors(public and private) through convenient sampling from banks, insurance and telecommunication sectors of Multan. Participants responded to cognitive style inventory (CS; Ancona, Kochan, Scully, Van Maanen, and Westney, 1997), Learning Style Questionnaire (LS; O Brein 1985), and Employee Creativity Questionnaire (EC; Tierney et al. in 1999)in order to study the target variables. Descriptive statistics and reliability of scales was calculated. One way ANOVA, t-test was calculated by using SPSS. To check moderation, Partial least square structural Equation modeling (smart PLS) were used. Cognitive styles had significant moderating effect on learning styles and employee creativity. Limitations and suggestions are discussed.
Socio-economic and Socio-demographic Determinants of Women Empowerment: Empirical Evidence From the Districts of Ghizer and Gilgit, Northern Pakistan
Authors: Saranjam Baig  , Salma Nusrat  , Salma Bano
Published: May 2020

Women empowerment has remained the most deliberate subject and many social scientists have explored this subject in their respective fields. Women empowerment has assorted dimensions, however this study focuses only on two dimensions’ women decision making and women participation. Primarily, this study constructs two indices of women empowerment which are women decision making index and women participation index based on different components computed using principal component analysis. This research uses primary data, where the data is collected from households of the respective regions using two-stage cluster sampling technique. Secondly, this paper scrutinizes the socio-demographic and economic causes of women empowerment in Gilgit and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan using structural equation model. The scores of women empowerment indexes indicate that in terms of decision making, women of Ghizer district are more empowered as compared to Gilgit district whereas in terms of women participation women of Gilgit are more empowered. Amongst the socio-economic and demographic variables, education level shows significant and positive association with both indexes of empowerment. Correspondingly, standard of living of the household demonstrates a significant relationship with women decision making showing that the better the standard of living the more empowered will be the women. Moreover, household size shows a positive and significant relationship with women participation, having more people at home can augment the empowerment of women in terms of participation whereas asset index shows a negative association with women participation.
India's Military Procurement Programs & Economic Capacity: Compatibility & Pragmatism
Authors: Romana Fahmeed  , Shahid Hussain Bukhari  , Shakeel Ahmad
Published: May 2020

In a world of Realpolitik, each state in the world always looks for increasing its power; some for the purpose of their survival and some seek to fulfill their hegemonic ambitions. Having a huge population, territory, economy, and military, the states like India usually desire to establish their hegemony; therefore, it is not surprising that India wants to achieve a Great Power status in world politics. Although India has great numbers in each area of strategic significance it lacks qualitative capacity in terms of military strength where the advanced weapon systems are the backbone of a country’s military power. In order to fill this gap, the Indian government has announced very ambitious military modernization programs and is concluding various military procurement programs around the world bearing huge costs while the big arms-exporting countries are getting involved in such ambitious military modernization programs of India. Over the past few years, it has been observed that the Indian economy has not been able to fulfill the costs of military modernization programs and the gap between the estimated costs of military procurements and the budget allocation is continuously increasing. Therefore, this study hypothesized that Indian military procurement programs and Indian economic capacity are not compatible with each other, which shall have perilous effects for the countries involved in such projects. This study provides an analysis of Indian economic growth and its comparison with the costs of India’s military procurements and finds that the stated hypothesis is correct to the extent of compatibility difference between the Indian economic capacity and military procurement cost.
Declining Employee Engagement & Employee Performance: The Noxious Effects of Workplace Bullying
Authors: Muhammad Shaukat Malik  , Shahzadi Sattar
Published: May 2020

The rationale of this research study is to inspect about variations in employee performance and employee engagement in Pakistani context brought about by the workplace bullying. Another objective is to produce comprehensive empirical evidence of bullying in the specific Pakistani context. The purpose of paper is to examine whether emotional exhaustion plays a mediating role between workplace bullying, employee performance and employee engagement. Even most of the organizations are unaware about this critical issue to curtail down its effect.

A cross-sectional design is used in the research study, which focuses on emotional exhaustion that serves as a mediator between workplace bullying and employee performance and employee engagement. The paper is based upon cross-sectional and self-reported survey research design. Furthermore longitudinal research design is recommended for future investigation of the relationships among these constructs. Consolidated policies must be sought by the management to combat with the vicious prevalence of workplace bullying. This will not only encourage the conducive work environment but also ensure positive work climate among employees.
Pakistani High Performing and Low Performing Secondary School Science Students’ Beliefs About Ability to Learn Science
Authors: Rafaquat Ali  , Syed Zubair Haider  , Uzma Munawar
Published: May 2020

Beliefs of ability to learn are identified as a key dimension of students’ epistemological beliefs. These beliefs can range from the ability to learn is innate, unchanging to the ability to learn is not innate, changing and improvable. These beliefs are acknowledged as the principal predictor for students’ effort to learn, learning strategies and motivational behaviour in school learning. The current study discovered the nature of Pakistani science students’ beliefs about ability to learn. The qualitative approach was chosen and students were purposefully selected from two sections of 9th grade of a public secondary school for focus group interviews. These students were identified as above average and below average performing students. Students’ excerpts about their beliefs of ability to learn revealed noticeable differences in students’ beliefs of ability to learn with regard to their association with above average and below average performing students’ groups. The patterns visible in opinions of students from below average performing group were naive beliefs of ability to learn. The results are discussed in perspective of sampling characteristics and there are recommendations suggested to improve teaching learning situations in Pakistani schools.
Exploring Parents Involvement in University Students Education
Authors: Tahira Batool  , Jannat Raiz
Published: May 2020

Educationists has been focusing continuously on importance parental involvement in students’ education. This study was designed to find out parental involvement in curricular and co-curricular activities of university students. The population of this survey research was students studying in universities of Lahore Districts. Random sampling technique was used to collect data of three hundred students from different universities. The researcher constructed a questionnaire for finding out the opinions of students. After the collection of data, the quantitative data were entered in SPSS for analysis about involvement of their parents. The data was analyzed by using frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviations and correlations. Results revealed positive opinions and correlations regarding parental involvement.
Presentation of Pakistan’s Image: Thematic Analysis of Editorials of the Washington Post
Authors: Samia Manzoor  , Aasima Safdar  , Aqsa Iram Shahzadi
Published: May 2020

The present research aims to study the image of Pakistan through identifying the themes which are used by the editorials of The Washington Post. The population of the study comprised of editorials of The Washington Post that have the word Pakistan in title or in opening paragraph. A total of 116 editorials were analyzed with the help of NVIVO 10 that identified eight different themes. The thorough analysis of the data revealed that the newspapers mostly wrote about Pakistan through the following themes: Pakistan backing Taliban, negative image of President Musharraf, democracy in Pakistan, nuclear technology and Pakistan government, Pakistan’s operation against terrorism, Indian terrorist attacks, US military operation and Osama bin Laden, and social issues in Pakistan. It was also observed that Pakistan was presented in a very negative way. General Pervez Musharraf was very harshly criticized. Overall Pakistan was presented as a frail, threatening and monstrous country. Pakistan policy makers must develop counter strategies to combat this negative image building.
Effect of Medium of Instruction on Students’ Motivation Towards Learning at Secondary Level
Authors: Muhammad Anwer  , Ijaz Ahmad Tatla  , Butt Intzar Hussain
Published: May 2020

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of medium of instruction on students’ motivation towards learning at secondary level. It comprised of 1456 respondents as a sample of the study which were conveniently selected from public and private sector secondary schools from the district Kasur of Punjab province.Motivation scale towards learning by Sultana, (2014) having 20 Likert type items with a reliability coefficient value 0.85 was used for data collection.Findings of the study revealed that the medium of instruction had no significant effect on motivation level of students towards learning. On the basis of gender there was found no significant effect on motivation level. There was significant difference between English and Urdu mediums urban respondents’ motivation level as urban English medium students had significantly higher motivation level than urban Urdu medium students. There was significant difference between English and Urdu mediums rural respondents’ motivation level as rural Urdu medium students had significantly higher motivation level than rural English medium students. It was recommended that the findings of the study should be refined for further implications through further longitudinal studies with more data from other provinces of Pakistan.
The Moderating Effect of Employee Satisfaction on the Relationship of Goal-Setting and Purposes, Fairness and Rating Scale Format with Employee Job Performance
Authors: Muhammad Asad Khan  , Altaf Hussain  , Mohammad Hanif Khan
Published: May 2020

The aim of this article is to explore the moderating effect of employee satisfaction on the relationship of goal-setting and purposes, fairness and rating scale format with employee job performance in the academic setting. Data were collected through survey questionnaire from 300 employees working in six public sector universities of KP, Pakistan. Multiple regression analysis has been used to test the hypothesis. The dimensions of the performance appraisal were found to be significantly correlated to employee job performance and employee satisfaction played a crucial role in moderating this relationship. Potential reasons and suggestions for managers and employees are discussed. The paper adds to the current pool of knowledge on the links among goal-setting and purposes, fairness, rating scale format, employee satisfaction and employee job performance. Various facets of these constructs were analyzed, so as to give an extensive and more ample understanding of the determinants that influence employer and employees
The Impact of Reverse Culture Shock on Gulliver’s Family Life
Authors: Atteq ur Rahman  , Sayed Zahid Ali Shah  , Shakeel Khan
Published: May 2020

Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels has been one of the most fascinating works of English literature. It is its suggestive quality due to which it has been read in a variety of different perspectives. Twentieth century critics have read it in the light of different psychoanalytical approaches. This study focuses on an entirely different aspect i.e reverse culture shock. It analyzes the effects of reverse culture shock on Gulliver’s behavior and his interaction with his family through a close reading of the text of Gulliver’s Travels. Gulliver who suffers from an obvious identity crisis fails to cope with the readjustment problems at home after living among different hosts. After every subsequent re-entry, Gulliver’s behavior especially with his family members deteriorates. The imprints of his last hosts remain so deeply engraved on his mind that fails to live peacefully with his family members and has to live in isolation. This is where we can relate Gulliver to people who after living abroad fail to adjust with the people of their native society and family members.
A Study on the Effect of Emerging Technology on Students' Academic Achievements at Secondary Level
Authors: Shabnam Bibi  , Nawaz Muhammad Hameed
Published: May 2020

The rapid growth in the use of technology particularly the use of emerging technologies has provided an opportunity to educators around the world to investigate the most suitable learning environments and more effective related material that would cater students’ diverse learning styles and knowledge. Therefore, the aim of the present study was “a study on the effect of emerging technology on students’ academic achievements at secondary level”. The sampling population of the present study is all students of grade 10 who are studying in public high school in Punjab. Use of emerging technology and its experiment was delimited to Biology students of class 10th in Govt Girls High School No1 Fateh Jang (Attock) sessions 2016-17 and its experiments was delimited to four chapters of Biology textbook. This study sought to discover that learning through emerging technology improved student academic achievement. Two different methods of instruction were employed for this research study. The first method of instruction was the traditional lecture and whiteboard method. The second method of instruction was the use of technological instruction. Students of 10th class in subject Biology were studied. Two groups controlled and experimental was selected on the basis of pre test to equate the knowledge level for experiment. For item analysis, researcher used SPSS, Mean.  Overall the achievements of students were satisfactory.  After analysis of the data conclusions were drawn that there is major difference between the students of experimental post and control post. The mean score of experimental post students is greater than control post.  It is recommended that Teachers should use Emerging Technology based teaching aids like computer animations etc. to develop student’s interest in the subject for maximum teaching learning out-comes.
Unconditional Cash Transfers and Women Empowerment: The Case of Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in Pakistan
Authors: Tehmeena Iqbal  , Padda Ihtsham Ul Haq , Farooq Shujaat
Published: May 2020

This study has explored the welfare impact of Benazir Income Support Program’s (BISP) unconditional cash transfers on women empowerment. The program was initiated in 2011 by the government of Pakistan. The impact has been computed by using two follow up rounds i.e, 2011 & 2016 where baseline was carried out in 2011 and follow-up round was carried out in 2016. Regression Discontinuity Design approach was used to measure casual effects of the BISP cash transfers on women empowerment by selecting target and control groups based on proxy means test. The overtime impact have been estimated by employing Difference in Difference (DiD) model on panel households from 2011-2016. The study observed that BISP led to improve socio-economic wellbeing of the beneficiary women. It has brought improvement in women mobility and women participation in voting. The important contribution is an improvement in the aspect of socio-economic and political empowerment and women mobility across time and overtime. This showed continues support for longer period brought desired results.
SMEs Intention towards Use and Adoption of Digital Financial Services
Authors: Khan Muhammad Shahbaz , Siddiqui Sulaman Hafeez
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this study is to analyses the SMEs owners and managers intention towards use and adoption of digital financial services in South Punjab, Pakistsan. SMEs are considered key contributors to economic activity, as a key-source of employment, growth, and invention. SMEs perform significant role in the system of national financial regulation all over the world, Jobs creation, and contributing to modernization in the financial regulation are significant exertions to achieve ecological sustainability and more growth in access to finance. Access to finance in emerging countries is one of core issue in development of SME sector as well as obstacle in economic growth. Microfinance institutions are considered a good manifesto to enhance access to inclusive finance as well as stress-free access to finance and financial literacy for SMEs to support economic growth but in Pakistan, to obtain these finances not easy for SMEs sectors. SMEs are unfortunately still struggling due to lack of inclusive finance and financial literacy. Recently financial institution introduced digital financial services at micro level that provide access to financial services to each and every citizen in the country without any restriction. To accomplish the purpose of the research, the data was acquired from the SMEs owners and mangers with a sample of 232 chosen randomly of South Punjab, Pakistan. In this research study, merged two best theories; the theory of planned behavior and technology acceptance model was used to describe their behavior. Multiple statistical tests run to check the normality by using Shapiro-Wilk test, reliability and multicollinearity of the data to test the assumptions of regression and correlation. Finally, the results of this intended study revealed that there is a moderate significant but positive relationship between the SMEs owners and managers intention towards use and adoption of digital financial services. The Government of Pakistan should create finance related awareness program, training, technical institution and make a rules and regulation. Further this study suggests to researchers that focus on internal and as well as external factors of SMEs in Pakistan.
Credit Risk Oracle: The Bifocal Approach
Authors: Khan Areeba , Zubair Zulaiha A. , Fayyaz Erum , Hussain Iffat
Published: May 2020

This study aims to examine the macroeconomic and bank specific predictors of Credit Risk (NPL) and their relevant degree of impact on banks in Pakistan. For bank variables a sample of big 10 banks has been taken from 2009 to 2018. For macro-economic variables sample of 2009 to 2018 has been taken from the world bank. As financial institutions play their role to support industries and alleviate poverty in a country, this study checks the effect of banking variables as well as the economic variables on the credit risk of banks by taking industrial sector growth as a moderator. The study found that NPLs are negatively associated with Lending interest rate, Bank investment, Capital adequacy ratio, Domestic credit to private sector, Financial depth and GDP growth while positively associated with Lending capability, Return on equity, Interest spread and Liquidity Ratio. The moderation effect of Industrial sector growth on the relationship of Lending Capability and NPLs is found to be strengthening the relationship.
The Relationships between Attitudes, Subjective Norm and Hiring Intention - Does Age Make a Difference?
Authors: Claudia Lau  , Onn Choong Yuen , Meng Chan Ling , Chelliah Thamil Durai a/l
Published: May 2020

Objective: Malaysia is currently facing a phenomenon where a growing portion of its older population experiencing a decline in their employment participation rate. Simultaneously, most job vacancies are filled by foreign workers as a result of a labour shortage.  One of the ways to substitute foreign workers is to utilise skilfully and experienced older workers. However, such requires the willingness of business organizations to hire these workers. Therefore, the main objective of the present study is to predict the relationship of managers’ attitudes and subjective norm with their intention to hire older workers, with age as a moderating variable.

Methodology: The Theory of Planned Behaviour was identified to include the age of respondents as the moderator on the relationships between attitudes and hiring intention. Cross-sectional data were collected from managers of business organizations via personal administered quantitative surveys questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling (SEM-PLS).

Results: The response rate was 78% (n=468). The research model accounted for a moderate portion of the variance in overall hiring intention (R2=0.377) and future hiring intention (R2=0.392). The findings suggested that: (1) attitudes and subjective norm are related to overall hiring intention and future hiring intention; (2) age has a moderating effect on the relationship between attitudes and overall hiring intention, but there is no moderating effect on the relationship between attitudes and future hiring intention.

Implication: The empirical result has important implications for human resource strategists, academic researchers and public policymakers as it serves as an additional fuel to combat the nation's acute labour shortage by hiring able and willing older workers.
E-Money Challenge in Disruption Era: Uncovering the Dilemma Issues from Consumers’ Perspective
Authors: Setiawati Cut Irna , Falah Nurul
Published: May 2020

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine factors that drive e-money provider system named Link Aja (produced by Telkomsel, a telecommunication company in Indonesia) users to become less active in using Link Aja, especially users located in Bandung, by remembering some potential commerce and trading conducted in the city that have great potential benefits if all transaction are supported by e-money Link Aja.

Methodology: This study uses quantitative methods with descriptive and exploration research types. The technique of collecting data has spread the questionnaire to users in Bandung who have an account but less active in using Link Aja. Factoring Analysis as statistical tools were used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.

Results: There are six factors which determine the decreasing of Link Aja users activity in transaction, consist of (1) Security and limited discount, (2) Explicit fees, (3) Machine and update system unpredictable, (4) Networks, (5) Confuse term and condition, and (6) Disadvantage of time and popularity. 

Research Implication: This research presents update factors in terms of activity in using e-money from the opposite perspective (less active side), in completing factors of e-money motivation. The main limitation is the narrow scope, emphasizing only users located in Bandung city. This paper may involve more users further to present strong factors about e-money activity.

Practical Implication: This research presents determinant factors about less active in using e-money among users that may help Telecommunication Company by recovering these elements. This paper gives valuable references to e-money providers to consider factors founded in offering better service for users and improve the amount of super active Ling Aja users in daily transactions.

Originality/value: This study provides the determination of dominant factors that cased the less active activity and transaction among users of Link Aja and contributes to a better understanding of how to provide better service of e-money based on these factors for improvement further.
Alfabetização Científica, enfoque CTSA e questões sociocientíficas no ensino de ecologia: saberes e práticas de docentes da rede municipal de Lagarto – SE
Authors: Santos Tatiane da Silva , Landim Myrna Friederichs
Published: May 2020

Propostas de ensino que contemplem a interação entre a Ciência, Tecnologia, Sociedade e Ambiente (CTSA) através de discussões de Questões Sociocientíficas (QSC) vêm ganhando destaque diante da necessidade de uma educação voltada para a Alfabetização Científica (AC) dos estudantes. Na abordagem dos conteúdos de Ecologia, a implantação desses pressupostos auxilia no entendimento das inter-relações ambientais e de como as ações antrópicas interferem no meio que vivemos. Este trabalho objetiva investigar os saberes sobre a AC, o enfoque CTSA e as QSC, bem como a forma como o conteúdo de Ecologia é abordado nas aulas de professores de Ciências da rede municipal de ensino de Lagarto, região centro-sul de Sergipe. O instrumento de coleta de dados foi um questionário, respondido por 13 dos 22 professores de Ciências, os quais demonstraram ter certo conhecimento acerca da AC, do enfoque CTSA e das QSC. No entanto, a realidade local ainda parece ser pouco abordada nas suas aulas de Ecologia. Faz-se, portanto, necessário a realização de ações voltadas para a concretização de um ensino de Ciências contextualizado, a exemplo de uma sólida formação docente (inicial e continuada), capaz de estimular o posicionamento crítico dos estudantes diante de situações que exijam a tomada de decisões.