Purpose Drawing upon conservation of theory, this study aims to extend the scant literature on the effect of leader-member exchange (LMX) on workplace deviance behaviour (WDB) and adaptive performance by investigating the role of Islamic work ethics as moderators. Design/methodology/approach A time-lagged and multi-source data of (269 paired responses) of employees working in Islamic banks were used for hypotheses testing. Findings Taken together, the findings revealed that Leader Member Exchange (LMX) has a positive and significant impact on adaptive performance and is negatively related to employees’ WDB. The results of the moderation effect showed the positive relationship of LMX with adaptive performance and the negative relationship with WDB is stronger for high Islamic work ethics (IWE). Practical implications This study provides practical insight that Islamic business ethics plays a significant role in fostering adaptive performance and reducing the deviance behaviour of employees. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examined the moderating role of IWE between LMX-adaptive performance and LMX-WDB. This study has also filled the gap of scant literature about the impact of LMX on adaptive performance and WDB.

Advertising in the Ramadan is at peak in Pakistan and other Muslim countries. It now resembles other festival theme based advertising. In view of the lack of the studies on the issue, this study has adopted the constructs commonly used in measuring attitude towards advertising. The adopted questionnaire was administered to a population of 320, and the valid sample size was 303. After ascertaining normality, validity and reliability, initially overall model was tested through multiple regressions. Subsequently hypotheses were tested separately through simple regression. The study found that entertainment, information, credibility and good for economy and irritation positively influences consumers' attitude towards advertising. The study has validated all the results, except irritation. This relationship is positive in this study but is inconsistent to earlier studies that found negative relationship between irritation and attitude. Media industry will benefit from the finding of this study in developing right communication strategy on Ramadan Theme advertising. This study has not explored the effects of demographic factors and moderating effect of different media, which could be incorporated in future research.

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.

One of the reasons affecting job satisfaction is the leadership style that engages the employees on a daily basis. Although perceived leadership has been studied well in the past, but there are fewer studies focusing on the mediating effect of employee empowerment. The key objective of this research is to study the relationship of perceived leadership, employee empowerment and job satisfaction of the employees, and also to study the mediating role of employee empowerment on the relationship between perceived leadership, and job satisfaction of the employee. A sample of 200 professionals from different banks was selected for the purpose of this study. Moreover, the Smart PLS 3.0 software was used to analyze whether the model was fit by referring to the PLS-SEM. The results of this study revealed that the independent variable (perceived Leadership) has a significant and positive influence on job satisfaction. All the hypotheses were accepted, and there were none that could be rejected after the results were revealed. The study proves that a partial mediating effect of employee empowerment exists between perceived leadership and job satisfaction. This study can help managers in designing the right strategies for retaining their employees by empowering them according to the boundaries set by their organizations. The results can help organizations to identify the potential reasons for job satisfaction, which will eventually lead to higher productivity and profitability.

This study attempted to gauge consumers’ behavioural analysis concerning online shopping and its determinants. The data was collected via survey using a purposive sampling technique targeting those involved in online shopping. The questionnaire was closed-ended and based on a five-point Likert scale. The data was received from 200 participants though 250 participants were approached, with a response rate of 80 per cent. Five determinants were considered including perceived benefits, perceived risks and disadvantages, hedonic motivations, psychological factors, and website design. Perceived benefits and website design had a positive impact and were significant at 1 per cent. Hedonic motivations and psychological factors had a positive impact and were significant at 5 per cent, whereas perceived risk and disadvantage were found insignificant. The study recommended the businesses in Pakistan to focus on the behaviours of consumers and try to eliminate factors like fear of the consumers by designing their marketing campaigns.