Purpose This paper aims to determine the impact of corporate governance practices on the financial outcomes of Fortune Global 500 Companies, thus covering impact of geographical differences (USA and non-USA) as well. Design/methodology/approach The study is a quantitative research based on a positivist paradigm using deductive reasoning and secondary data collection. Data collection has been done from secondary sources (annual reports, Edgar submissions and financial statistics from renowned financial databases such as yahoo.finance, Bloomberg, Ycharts statistics and Morningstar. Data were collected for 8 years (2005-2012). Findings The study found a strong positive relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. Smaller board sizes are found to generate better firm performance in Fortune Global 500 Companies. Frequency of board meetings have also been found to have inverse relationship with firm performance. The study supports board independence to improve transparency in board decision-making process. CEO compensation has been found to have inverse relationship with firm performance. The robustness of our results has been measured with the usage of three dependent variables, and we have found same results with varying significance level. Research limitations/implications Due to selection of globally broad sample set qualitative aspects of corporate governance could not be covered. Nevertheless, there is a need to go beyond the quantitative techniques (secondary data) of measuring corporate governance mechanisms. Practical implications The population set is unique combination of big players and global diversification. Hence, the corporate governance practices of these firms as understood from the results of this study can be bench-marked for emerging corporates of varying global context. Originality/value The research is original and unique as it significant and globally diverse population of Fortune Global 500 Companies over a period of 8 years for 11 variables of interest. Results are helpful in bench marking for the rest of market players.

Islamic banking has been in practice for long but started receiving due attention and high popularity since last decade. It has received a warm welcome from all over the world and these banks operating on Islamic principles have been able to get a sizeable business not only in Islamic countries but in non-Islamic countries too. Despite exemplary advancements and achievements, there remains number of controversies over various underlying concepts and practices. This paper basically explores and highlights all those controversies and challenges which are in minds of different school of thoughts and are needed to be addressed and overcome if Islamic banking continues flourishing the way it is at present. The authors have also tried to suggest suitable remedies to overcome these challenges where appropriate.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to understand the connection between the degree of religiosity and the product involvement level in determining the various constructs of consumer behavior. Design/methodology/approach -On the basis of a small survey, clothes were selected as a high involvement product, and snacks were selected as a low involvement product. A modified version of Sproles and Kendal's Customer Style Inventory scale was used to profile the behaviour of consumers, using confirmatory factor analysis approach. Worthington et al.'s Religious Commitment Inventory scale was used to measure the religiosity levels. Data were collected from students of five universities located in different regions of Pakistan. Findings -Consumer behaviour varies with the level of involvement and the degree of religiosity. In the case of high involvement product category, the highly religious group was found to be less recreational, fashion conscious and impulsive in their shopping orientations. It was also determined that the higher religious group was more socially influenced in making purchase decisions, more conscious about their lifestyle and less confused by information over choice, as compared to the less religious group. In the case of the low involvement product category, it was determined that religiosity negatively influenced the brand consciousness of consumers. The results indicated that higher religious consumers were less impulsive and did not give much consideration to advertisements in making purchase decisions; but it was opposite for the less religious consumers. Highly religious consumers in the low involvement product category were also found to be more socially influenced and not as confused by excessive information in making their purchase decisions. Overall, it was established that in order to better understand the intricacies of the behaviour of consumers, their purchasing habits should be studied in the context of varying levels of religiosity and product involvement.Research limitations/implications -This study focused on youth only, so results derived might not be generalized to the other segments of the population. Originality/value -The current study aims to understand how religiosity and involvement level complement each other in determining the behaviour of consumers and whether the level of religiosity equally determines the behaviour of consumers in the low involvement product category and high involvement product category or not. No previous study has been conducted to explore this dimension of consumer behaviour, and this paper categorically strives to fill this gap.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to establish the impact of human resource (HR) practices on organizational performance and moderating effect of Islamic principles on the impact in Pakistani business organizations. It aims at finding efficacy of HR practices as well as the role of Islamic teachings in business. Design/methodology/approach Five broad categories of HR practices: selection, training, compensation, performance appraisal and employee participation, have been taken as independent variables and their impact has been assessed on organizational performance: dependent variable, keeping the application of the Islamic principles as moderating variable. Data were collected from employees of mobile telecommunication service providers operating in Pakistan through a questionnaire based on a 5-point Likert scale and then analyzed in SPSS. Findings HR practices, including selection, training, compensation, performance appraisal and employee participation, have been found to be significantly and positively related to organizational performance. Moderation by the application of Islamic principles was observed to be positive. Its magnitude generally displayed decreasing trend with an increase in level of application. Research limitations/implications Measurement of Islamic work ethics and organizational performance has been unidirectional, gauged only on the basis of employees’ judgment. Inclusion of organizational and market data in future studies will add to the value of the outcome. Understudy business organizations grudgingly provided required information, in spite of personal connections and liaison, because of their organizational policies, commitments and limited concern with the research. Lists of employees were not shared with the researchers, which left only the option of convenient sampling. More reliable sampling techniques are recommended for future research on the subject. Moreover, the sampling frame was limited to the province of Punjab because of shortage of resources. Future research on the subject is suggested to have a broader base, including organizations interested to participate in the exercise of research. Practical implications Outcome of the study will provide useful guidelines to the business organizations by clarifying whether business is a religion-neutral affair or not. It is also expected to provide a line of thought for self-assessment and improvement. The concept of maximization of profit for a business organization can be evolved to a win–win arrangement by the maximization of benefit for all stakeholders. This is a logical and certain outcome once a business organization takes care of its employees, society, environment and, definitely, its shareholders. Originality/value A few studies exist on human resource management in Islamic as well as Pakistani context; however, the role of the religion and its contribution toward organizational performance has not been amply crystallized. This is just an endeavor in hitherto less frequented direction.

Brand Equity is an important concept in marketing academia and practice. It has long been studied but still there are gaps to be filled. The research aims to explain marketers of how brand extension strategy and brand personality can enhance brand equity. Co-branding and brand personality are the emerging development in market which attract scholars to explore for future implications. This research is conducted in the telecom sector of Pakistan. Based on the responses from 619 cellular users, the study explains the relationship between co-branding and brand personality with brand equity. The results are highly significant, co-branding and brand personality have strong relation with brand equity enhancement, and when they are observed together, their impact synergized to increase brand value. Hence, our findings indicate that users of the telecommunication brands do ascribe personality characteristics to the brands they use. The study also gives future directions to research on.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically impacts of organizational knowledge-sharing practices (KSP) on employees’ job satisfaction (JS), interpersonal adaptability (IA) and learning commitment (LC). Indirect effects of KSP on JS are also confirmed through mediating factors (LC and IA). Design/methodology/approach Self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Knowledge workers from service sector organizations were taken as population of study. Therefore, three types of institutes (banks, insurance and telecom companies) from services sector of Pakistan were selected for sampling purpose. A sample size of 435 employees, comprising 145 employees from each type of institute, was selected. Linear regression analysis and mediation analyses were performed for statistical analysis. Findings Organizational support for knowledge sharing fosters learning commitment (LC), and interpersonal adaptability (IA) among workforce that ultimately grounds employees’ job satisfaction. Therefore, in our findings, the mediating role of IA is greater than the mediating effect of LC. Research limitations/implications This study presents a firm reasoning to decision makers for implementation of KSP in the organizations. Findings of study offer several subjects for discussion in the field of KS by academics and research. Present research is limited to test the composite effect of KSP for some selected employee outcomes only. Originality/value This research attempts to provide empirical evidence about impacts of KSP on employee outcomes. Research work on such issues was lacking in Pakistani context. Therefore, this paper supplies ample of theoretical base for future research as well as management decision makers to maximize the benefits of implementing KSP at their organizations.

<p>The subject of liquidity-profitability interchange is well recognized in the literature. This study was conducted to inspect the trade-off between liquidity and profitability in private sector banks of Pakistan. The study was carried on twenty two private sector banks registered under State bank of Pakistan during the time period of 2009-2013. Three models were specified and estimated using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) technique. The empirical results revealed that there is a statistically significant relationship between bank liquidity measures and return on assets. However, when return on equity and return on investment was used as proxy for profitability, the relationship became statistically insignificant. It has been recommended that the banks should assess and restructure their strategies for managing liquidity. This will not only improve yields on shareholders equity but will also enhance the use of the assets of the bank.</p>

In developing economies like Pakistan, the rising trend of women's labor participation has become the core indicator of growth and development. In this respect, the MDGs (Millennium Development Goals) relates to efficiency and equity, especially elimination of gender disparities in education, improvement of maternal health, lessening mortality rate among children and women empowerment are desirable goals. But still the representation of women in wage as well as in the self-employment sector is very low. The present study investigates the factors which influence women's participation in self-employment. Primary source of data is used for empirical analysis. Logistic regression technique is employed to estimate the women self-employment model. The findings indicate that age and experience positively affects women's self-employment. Further, it is concluded that education, location and number of dependents significantly reduce the women's work participation as self-employed worker. It is suggested that the government provide technical and vocational education to the women, and also give old age benefits just to minimize the dependency burden.Keywords: Women Self-employment, Experience, Logistic regression, Dependency burden, Higher Education, Per Capita Income. IntroductionThe population of Pakistan indicates a double faced phenomenon. On the one side, population of the country is considered as an asset and performs an integral role in the growth and development process of the country. On the other hand, the high growth rate of population is a great hindrance in way of economic prosperity and development of the country. For examining the role of human capital in economic development, it is imperative to study both the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the population. At the time of independence in 1947, the total population of Pakistan was 32.5 million. By the year 2006-07, the population reached 156.77 million. The population of Pakistan has grown at an average rate of 2.6 percent per year. The changes in the labor force and employment level are affected by the population growth rate and its composition. This high growth rate of population shows that Pakistan will become the eighth most populous country in the world by the year 2010 (Govt. of Pakistan Economic Survey 2006-07). Employment generation, poverty reduction and human resource development are the main features of Pakistan development policy. The employment led growth rate captures a central place in attaining the sustained development. Table 1 highlights the labor force participation (LFPR) among the region and gender based on crude activity rates in the years 1996-97 to 2005-06. The labor force of Pakistan was estimated at 50.05 million on the basis of participation rate of 32.2 percent during the year 2005-06. During the two years, this rate has increased from 45.23 million to the present level by adding 4.82 million, both men and women. The present situation nevertheless is the information about a high dependency ratio. From the table 1, ...