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ISSN : 2616-9908
Bahria UniversityDiscovering Knowledge
JOURNAL OF HUMANITIESAND SOCIAL SCIENCES
(BUJHSS)
BAHRIA UNIVERSITYVolume 1 Number 1 2018
JOURNAL OF HUMANITIESAND SOCIAL SCIENCES
(BUJHSS)
BAHRIA UNIVERSITY
Volume 1 Number 1 2018
JOURNAL OF HUMANITIESAND SOCIAL SCIENCES
Department of Humanities & Social Sciences
Bahria University, Karachi Campus
Discovering Knowledge
Editorial Board
Patron in Chief
Khawaja Ghazanfar Hussain
Director General, Bahria University, Karachi Campus, Pakistan
Patron
Commodore Arshad M Khan (SIM) (Rtd)
Director, Bahria University, Karachi Campus, Pakistan
Editor-in-Chief
Farooq-E-Azam Cheema
Dean Management and Social Sciences
Bahria University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Editor
Bashir Ahmad
Head of Department, Humanities and Social Sciences
Bahria University, Karachi Campus, Pakistan.
Associate-Editor
Shagufta Yasmeen
Senior Lecturer, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Bahria University, Karachi Campus, Pakistan.
Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (BUJHSS)
ADVISORY BOARD
Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (BUJHSS)
ISSN : 2616-9908Volume 1 Number 1 2018
Dr. Hammad AkbarSenior lecturer in Management, theUniversity of Liverpool Management SchoolUniversity of Liverpool (a Russell groupUniversity), Liverpool, United Kingdom,[email protected]
Dr. Muhammad ZubairAssociate Professorand Chairman Department of IslamicHistory Karachi University,Karachi [email protected]
Dr. Jamshed Ali KhanProfessor of PoliticalScience, Department of DistanceEducation, Punjab University,Patiala (Punjab) – Indiae-mail: [email protected]
Mr. Ahmed Saeed MinhasDirectorResearch and publications NdU,[email protected]
Dr. Sander SchroeversNetherland Lecturer,InternationalizationHomeschool van Amsterdam University ofApplied Sciences School of Economics andManagement Part-time Department Commercefraijlemaborg 133, Amsterdam zo,the Netherlands [email protected]
Dr. Iqbal A. PanhwarMeritorious Professor, ConsultantMehran University of Engineeringand [email protected]
Dr. Angela StanzelSenior Policy Fellow lAsia Programme European Council onForeign Relations Unter denLinden 17 10117 Berlin, [email protected]
Associate Prof Dr. Tayyaba ZareefShaheed Benazir Bhutto University,Benazir Abad, Sindh, Pakistan.’[email protected]
Prof. Dr Aneeq Ahmad KhanDepartmentof Psychology HendersonState University, [email protected]
Dr. Zafar AliDirector General StrategicExport Control, Ministry of ForeignAffairs, [email protected]
Prof Dr. Badar Alam IqbalProfessors’ Quarters, Medical Enclave,Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh – 202002,(UP) [email protected]
Volume 1 Number 1 2018
Prof.Syed Sayeed-ur-RahmanDepartment of English, University of [email protected]
Dr. Amin TarziInternational Relation,Security & Policy Issues and MiddleEast, Director Middle EastStudies,USA [email protected] [email protected] [email protected]
Dr. Amir ManzoorAssociate Professor, ManagementSciences, Bahria [email protected]
Editor
Bashir AhmadPublisher : Humanities and Social Sciences Department,
Bahria University Karachi.
Dr. Zafar AliDirector General StrategicExport Control, Ministry of ForeignAffairs, [email protected]
Contents
Impact Of Psychological Dysphagia On PatientCompliance In Public Hospitals Of Karachi(1) Mseele Zehra, (2) Dr Rafique Ahmed Khan(3)Dr Sidra Fahim
Russia Nexus: A Game Changer For Eurasian RegionDr Fareeha Majeed
A Strategic Perspective Of Human ResourceManagement In Telecom Sector Of PakistanZ.B Junaid
Role Of Emotional Intelligence In Marketing– A Theoretical Perspective(1) Safeena Yaseen (2) Muhammad Ibtesam Mazahir)
Benefiting From World Trade Organization:Pakistan A Case In Point(1) M Fiaz Ansari,(2) Dr. Bashir Ahmad
Impact Of E-Recruitment On Satisfaction OfJob Seekers Of A Public Sector University Pakistan(1) Afsheen Tanvir (2) Dr Rafique Ahmed Khan
Why Research Students in Pakistan ExperienceDisengagement from Studies: A Qualitative ResearchConducted in Karachi(1) Safeena Yaseen (2) Muhammad Hassan Khan(3) Muhammad Ibtesam Mazahir
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Editorial
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Research papers published in the journal have been checked throughplagiarism software. All views expressed in the journal are those of theauthors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or preferences ofBUJHSS or Bahria University.
Editor BUJHSS
Disclamier:
It is acceptable norm that the ‘Finest Research’ is produced whenResearchers and Communities work together. Knowledge generated inpartnership with the public and policymakers is more likely to be useful tosociety and should be encouraged. BUJHSS is a bi-annual research journalof Bahria University Karachi Campus, Humanities and Social SciencesDepartment. It is a multi-disciplinary journal. The multitude of challengeswhich are faced by Pakistan require such a broader scope. In the currentissue it has been ensured that any academic and corporate researchendeavor finds its due place in the journal. We are inviting authors to takea more active part in the assessment process: it will be an honor and privilegefor me and my team to help you make that work known by our distinguishedreadership. Academicians, researchers and managers value interdisciplinaryresearch because it challenges assumptions, interrogates as to whichquestions are most important, which methods are most appropriate, andwhat evidence should constrain the interpretation of any given researchfinding.
I would like to thank all members of the editorial board, reviewboard, contributors and all colleagues and staff members who have extendedtheir support to make the first edition of BUJHSS possible. We expect ourreaders to send us their valuable feedback at [email protected] that we can integrate value in order to further enhance the quality of thejournal.
Prof. Dr Bashir AhmadEditor
EDITORIAL
1
ABSTRACT
The aim of this paper was to find out the impact of psychologicaldysphagia on patients’ compliance in public sector hospitals of Karachi. Aneffort was made to find out the problems and difficulties experienced by thepatients while taking tablets and capsules. Adopting deductive approach,hypotheses were formulated after in-depth review of relevant literature.Primary quantitative data were collected via a structured questionnaire. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used and 565 questionnaireswere distributed to the patients of public sector hospitals of Karachi. Thedata analysis reveals that there is a significant impact of psychologicaldysphagia on patient acceptance of oral solid dosage forms. There is alsoa significant impact of psychological dysphagia on patient preferences ofinnovative new dosage forms. This research is likely to help the healthcareproviders to select appropriate dosage forms for the patients to improve theircompliance. This research is likely to help the pharmaceutical industry toemphasize on research and development of new innovative dosage formsto ease out the swallowing difficulties of patients.
Keywords: Psychological dysphagia, Patients’ compliance, Patientsacceptance, Patients preferences, Active pharmaceutical ingredient, Dosageforms.
1. INTRODUCTION
During the past 20 years, numerous advancements have been madein drug formulation and routes of administration. Enhanced understandingof drug transport across tissues has improved the patient adherence to thetreatment regimen and pharmacologic response. Various routes of drugadministration have been developed that deliver the benefit of beingcomparatively painless. In addition, the existence of potential for greaterflexibility in diversified clinical situations helps to focus on the pros and cons
Impact Of Psychological Dysphagia On Patient ComplianceIn Public Hospitals Of Karachi
1Mseele Zehra, 2Dr. Rafique Ahmed Khan, 3Dr. Sidra Fahim
1Student MBA (Health Mgt), MS Department, Bahria Univesity KarachiCampus mseel.zehra.com2Senior Associate Professor, MS Department, Bahria Univesity KarachiCampus (Correspondence Author)[email protected], Altamash Institute of Dental Medicines, [email protected]
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of alternative routes of drug administration. Verma P., A.S. Thakur, K.Deshmukh, Dr. A.K. Jha & S. Verma c(2010) illustrated the route of drugadministration as the passageway through which the dosage forms areadministered into patient’s body for the purpose of treatment and managementof numerous diseases and disorders. These routes of administration havea significant repercussion on the bioavailability of the active drug moiety inthe body. Robert A. Steiger, MD, David Write (2011) mentioned that capsulesand tablets are the most frequently prescribed because of their inexpensiveproduction. Their coating can alter the absorption characteristics and theyare generally appropriate for the patients, both for consumption andtransportation. This study examines the experiences of patients towardsintake of oral solid dosage forms and helps in focusing onthe deficiencies in the clinical practices to resolve potential problems regardingpsychological dysphagia. Following three public sector hospitals wereapproached for data collection:
· Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (J.P.M.C.), Karachi· Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (A.S.H.), Karachi· Sindh Government Hospital Saudabad, Karachi
1.1 Problem Statement
Researchers have observed that when it is a challenge to swallowa pill, a patient may not take medicine as regularly as prescribed. This caninfluence pain levels, general wellbeing, as well as capacity to exercise andparticipate in . Likewise, if patients are non-compliant, it could significantlyaffect the treatment results and could lead to clinical consequences, particularlywhen patients are receiving treatment for chronic illnesses (Jin, J., Sklar, G.E., Min Sen Oh, V., & Chuen Li, S., 2008). According to Wischke, C., Neffe,A. T., Steuer, S., & Lendlein, A. (2010), gulping pills is not only a problemfor children; grown-ups who can’t hold the pills down face the same mentalobstruction. So, psychological dysphagia should be recognized and addressed,because inconvenience in intake of tablets and capsules can put a personat liability for other complications. Through this study an effort was made tofind out impact of psychological dysphagia on patient compliance in publicsector hospitals of Karachi.
1.2 Research Objectives
Research objectives for the study are:
• To determine the impact of psychological dysphagia on patient acceptanceof oral solid dosage forms. • To examine the impact of psychological dysphagia on patient preferencesof innovative new dosage forms.
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2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Psychological Dysphagia
Swallowing is a complex sensory motor process that involvessequential excitation and inhibition at different levels of the central nervoussystem. The whole process comprises of three phases, i.e. oral, pharyngealand esophageal and all of them require coordination of the mouth, tongue,larynx, pharynx and esophagus. According to Frederick AD Kaona, MaryTuba, Seter Siziya and Lenganji Sikaona (2004), difficult swallowing i.e.dysphagia indicates taking extra time and exerting while food or liquidmovement from the mouth to the stomach. It can be caused by problemswith nerves or muscles. When food is swallowed, the airways are closedand breathing is stopped for a moment. According to Julia T. Schiele, RenateQuinzler, Hans-Dieter Klimm, Markus G. Pruszydlo and Walter E. Haefeli(2013), occasionally difficulty in swallowing occurs when one eats too fastor food is not chewed well enough, but continuous dysphagia may designatea serious medical condition that requires treatment. They also indicated thatswallowing difficulties may also be allied with pain and in some cases,swallowing may be impossible. Olle Ekberg, Shaheen Hamdy, VirginieWoisard, Anita Wuttge, Hann Primitivo Ortega (2002) identified the impactof dysphagia on the quality of the patient’s life and explored its relationshipwith a frequency and diagnosis of diseases.Venkata S. P. B. Durvasula(2014) noted that swallowing disorders can be diagnosed at all ages includingpaediatric patients. They further stated that it could be a risk factor leadingto near-fatal chocking episodes and death of elderly patients because ofaspiration and pneumonia.
2.2 Significance of Patient Compliance
DiMatteo, and Robin M. (2004) pointed out the significance of patientcompliance in medicine, as it outlines the degree to which a patient’s behavioraccurately coincide with the medical recommendations. Generally, it isattributed to medication compliance, but it is also applicable to other situationssuch as the use of the medical device, caring for oneself, self-supervisedexercises or sessional therapies. Rainer , & (2001) recognized compliancewith medical recommendations as a multifaceted dare since it was identifiedby Hippocrates approximately 2400 years back. Martje et (2005) studiedthat non-compliance with medications in heart failure (HF) patients leads toaggravation of symptoms and may result in hospitalization. Comparatively,patients with overall compliance had significantly acquired more benefits ofmedications. As a result, these compliant patients inclined to have fewerdepressive symptoms. Frederick AD Kaona et al. (2004) related thediscrimination at healthcare facilities with tuberculosis and AIDS patientcompliance. According to them, discrimination of these patients in t healthcarefacilities based on disease sometimes worsens problems with their compliance.Discriminatory behavior of health care providers at the clinics results in
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battling of the patients during the collection of their drug supplies (Wischke2010).
2.3 Oral Solid Dosage Forms
R.Dusing R. (2001) stated that with the overall evolution of thepharmaceutical industry, it is somewhat surprising that there is a greatadvancement in drug discovery and development. The discovery of noveldrugs and their modification into marketable products has taken place acrossthe comprehensive scope of the pharmaceutical industry. The most criticalfunction of packaging is to ensure the safety and packaging of thepharmaceutical product by protecting them from the destructive effects ofthe external environment such as air, moisture, or light. According to EdwardM. Rudnic and Joseph B. Schwartz (2005), drug substances are mostfrequently administered orally by means of the solid dosage form such astablets and capsules.
Stephen O. Majekodunmi (2015) described lozenges as one of thecommonly used solid dosage forms. These dosage forms contain medicamentand are intended to be placed in the mouth or pharynx. Due to the impracticalsize of sublingual lozenges, buccal lozenges have been formulated forplacement between the cheek and the gums. Zajicek A., (2013) stated thatlozenges have a dissolution time of about 30 minutes but it can fluctuatewith the patient. Regulation of the rate of dissolution and hence the rate ofabsorption can be achieved by sucking them until their complete dissolution.
2.4 Psychological Dysphagia Related to Oral Solid Dosage Forms
Godman H., (2017) argued that the expression “a hard pill to swallow”is not just a metaphor because swallowing pills can be a difficult and absolutelyunpleasant experience for the patients. It might cause gagging, vomiting orchocking in one in every three people. It can prevent the people from adheringto their medication routines, thus decreasing the patient compliance whichcan make them sicker. According to her, some people can easily swallowfood and liquid, but face difficulty while swallowing pills. Julia T. Schiele(2012) evaluated the commonness of swallowing difficulties related to oralsolid dosage forms in a universal population. Similarly, Zajicek A. et al. (2013)noted that even though it is fact that a substantial fraction of the inhabitants’face difficulty while swallowing tablets and capsules, these dosage formsare endured to be of the inadequate standard. The large size of the tabletor capsule, incorrect dosage strength and poor palatability result in failureof patients particularly children. This leads to patient non-compliance andtherapeutic failure.
F. Liu (2014) stated that the child age of acquiring expertise toswallow tablets and capsules safe and sound is a matter of debate. Previousliterature denotes 6 years as an ideal age for considering tablets and capsulesappropriate for children, but the current evidence shows that the ability to
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swallow tablets and capsules may be already acquired by the children at anearlier age, or may be learned by behavioral training interventions. MarquisJ. (2013) stated that the majority of the patients belonging to the age groupof 18 years and older, experience swallowing difficulties at each single doseof medication, with a single medication that may last for less than 12 months.These swallowing difficulties are independent of the number of the tabletstaken and impair the daily life of a number of patients. They observed thatsome old age people do not face difficulties when swallowing larger volumesof medicines as compared to other patients.
2.5 Patient Acceptance of Oral Solid Dosage Forms
Jeremy Fields, Jorge T. go and Konrand S. S.SSchulze (2015)stated that pills, including tablets and capsules are extensively used for theadministration of prescription drugs as well as for the intake ofsupplements such as vitamins. According to them, it is not well known thatto what degree hard-to-swallow pills might adversely affect the treatmentconsequences or interfere with compliance with prescribed medications orlead to clinical complications.Pierre Michel L lorea (2011) stated that severalpatients face discomfort while attempting to engulf tablets and capsules. Itis a common problem, but it is seldom conversed between patients andphysicians. It occurs due to the morphology of the oropharynx and esophagus,which are not sound for swallowing stiff items occupying small volumes.
K. Bin Liew, K. Khiang Peh and Y. Vonne Tze Fung Tan (2014) foundout that some of these patients have undergone choking while taking thesedosage forms due to the large size. These difficulties result in the patientnon-compliance to prescribed medications as they give up taking them. Mostof patients who are known to be non-compliant with the treatment belongto paediatric and geriatric population. Julie A.Mennella (2013) stated thatmany active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are aloof to both childrenand many adults due to their bitter taste. A research by Kirkevold and EngedalK. (2010) mapped out the degree to which medications are being crushedand mixed into the food and beverages before administration to the patients.Yady Juliana Manrique-Torres (2014) evaluated the release and dissolutionof crushed tablets mixed with foods and drinks and compared them with thewhole tablets.
2.6 Patient Preferences of Innovative New Dosage Forms
Diana Witticke (2012) discussed the results of earlier studies statingthat when patients were questioned to postulate their preferences regardingthe characteristics of appropriate medication regimen, they undoubtedlypointed out the regimens that have been allied with improved compliance.Monali Bhosle, Joshua S. Benner, Mitch DeKoven, Jeff Shelton (2009)highlighted that these user-friendly dosage forms are provided opportunitiesto the pharmaceutical industry for product line extension which improvesthe patient compliance.
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Theoretical Framework
PsychologicalDysphagia
PsychologicalDysphagia
Patient Acceptance of Oral SolidDosage Form
Patient Preference of Innovative NewDosage Forms
3. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
It is an explanatory and descriptive research as it was conductedto see the impact of independent variable, i.e. psychological dysphagia ondependent variables including patient acceptance of oral solid dosage formsand patient preferences of innovative new dosage forms. In this studypopulation includes the patients of three public hospitals of Karachi. Theseare: Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (J.P.M.C.), Abbasi Shaheed Hospital(A.S.H.) and Sindh Government Hospital Saudabad. The target populationof these three hospitals was 3330 patients. A total sample size of 565, bothmales and females, was selected from out-patient department of three publichospitals in Karachi, for data collection. Non-probability convenience samplingtechnique was adopted, and data were collected from those patients in thehospitals who had taken or were taking tablets, capsules and related oraldosage forms.
Primary data is used for this research and data is collected throughthe use of a questionnaire, adopted from the existing literature on previousstudies conducted by Jeremy Fields,Jorge P Go and Konrad S. Schulze(2015). Data were analyzed with the help of statistical tools including,Correlation and Regression.
Konapure (2011) discussed that oral drug delivery is presentlyconsidered the best merit in the pharmaceutical industry because it isharmless, most suitable and most cost-effective means of drug delivery thathave the highest patient compliance. Fang Liu (2014) regarded chewabletablets as a suitable dosage form for paediatric and geriatric patients whoface difficulties to swallow traditionally sized monolithic intact dosage forms.Hirani J. J., DA Rathod and KR Vadalia (2009) also defined orally disintegratingtablets (ODTs) as a preferred substitute to traditional tablets and capsulesdue to improved patient compliance.
2.7 Research Hypotheses
H1: There is significant impact of psychological dysphagia on patientacceptance of oral solid dosage forms.
H2: There is significant impact of psychological dysphagia on patientpreference of innovative new dosage forms.
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4. ANALYSIS
4.1 Test of Reliability
The reliability was tested through reliability coefficient Cronbach’sAlpha. The Cronbach’s Alpha values (table-4.1) for the research variables,being greater than .7, indicate that the constructs are reliable.
The data show that there is a positive relationship betweenpsychological dysphagia and patient acceptance of oral solid dosage formsand p value is .000 (<.01). Hence, H1 is accepted. Similarly, the correlationvalue r = 0.398 shows that relationship of psychological dysphagia withpatient preference of innovative new dosage forms is positive and it issignificant because p=.000. Hence, H2 is accepted.
4.2.2 Regression Analysis
Regression analysis predicts how the value of dependent variablevaries with change in the independent variable. This regression analysiscovers model summary, the ANOVA table and co-efficient table to indicatethe variance of the model.
4.2 Hypotheses Testing
4.2.1 Pearson’s Correlation Test:
The relationship of the variables was checked through Pearson’sCorrelation; the results in table 4.2 indicate that the relationship of thevariables (‘r’ value being 0.422 and .398) is positive, although the relationshipis not strong, but it is significant as value of p is .000 which is less than .01.
Table 4.2: Correlations
PD PA PP
PD
PA
PP
Pearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)N
1
565.422**.000565
.398**.000565
1
565.316**.000565
1
565**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 4.1: Reliability Statistics
Variable Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
Problems while Swallowing Tablets and CapsulesPatient Acceptance of Oral Solid Dosage FormsPatient Preferences of Innovative New Dosage Forms
.852
.768
.904
1285
a. Predictors: (Constant), PD
Table 4.3: Model Summary
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .422a .178 .177 .58341
As mentioned in table 4.3, R value is 0.422: it shows the correlation betweenthe observed and predicted values of the dependent variable. The value ofR-Square is 0.178 which explains 17.8% impact of independent variable(Psychological Dysphagia) on the dependent variable (Patient Acceptance
Psychological Dysphagia and Patient Acceptance of Oral SolidDosage Forms
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Table 4.4:
ANOVAA
41.514
191.629
233.143
1
563
564
41.514
.340
121.968 .000b
Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Regression
Residual
Total
1
a. Dependent Variable: PAb. Predictors: (Constant), PD
Table 4.5:
CoefficientsA
As per ANOVA results (table 4.4), the F value is 121.968 whichindicates that model as a whole has statistically significant predictive capability.The significant value is 0.000 (p < 0.05) which indicates that the model isa useful predictor of the dependent variable (Patient Acceptance).
a. Dependent Variable: PA
B1.856.435
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients
Model(Constant)PD
1 Std. Error.156.039
Beta
.422
T11.87311.044
Sig..000.000
The coefficients values are 1.856 and 0.435 whereas p = 0.000 whichindicates that there is positive impact of IV on DV and their relationship isquite significant. Hence, H1 is accepted.
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Psychological Dysphagia and Patient Preference of Innovative NewDosage Forms
Table 4.7: ANOVAA
Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
Regression
Residual
Total
1 34.342
182.907
217.250
1
563
564
34.342
.325
105.708 .000b
a. Dependent Variable: PPb. Predictors: (Constant), PD
The value of F displayed in table 4.7 is 105.708 which indicates thatthe model as a whole has statistically significant predictive capability. Thesignificant value p=0.000, which is < 0.05; hence, the model is statisticalsignificant i.e. it is good fit for the data. Hence, the model is a useful predictorof the dependent variable (Patient Preference).
Unstandardized Coefficients Standardized Coefficients
Model(Constant)PD
1 B2.550.396
Std. Error.156.039
Beta
.398
T16.69810.281
Sig..000.000
a. Predictors: (Constant), PD
As depicted in table 4.6, the R value is 0.398; value of the R-Squareis 0.158 which indicates that this model explains 15.8% impact of independentvariable (Psychological Dysphagia) on the dependent variable (PatientPreference). Similarly, the value of an adjusted R Square is 0.157 which isa modified version of R-square. A decline in adjusted R-squared shows thatthe predictors have improved the model by less than expected by chance.
Model R R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate
1 .398a .158 .157 .56998
Table 4.6:
Model Summary
Table 4.8 CoefficientsA
a. Dependent Variable: PP
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Table 4.8 shows the predictor variable and dependent variable; the coefficientsvalues (a = 2.550, b = 0.396 and p = 0.000) indicate that there is a positiveimpact of IV on DV. The value of p=.000 which is less than 0.05 indicatesthat the impact is significant. Hence, H2 is accepted.
5. DISCUSSION
5.1 Psychological Dysphagia and Patient Acceptance of Oral SolidDosage Forms
Psychological Dysphagia and Patient Acceptance of Oral SolidDosage Forms With reference to first variable, the results in table 4.2 indicatethat r value is 0.422 which shows a weak and positive relationship betweenpsychological dysphagia and patient acceptance of oral solid dosage forms.This relationship is significant as p value is 0.000 which is less than 0.05.The result of first hypothesis indicates that there is an impact of psychologicaldysphagia on patient acceptance of oral solid dosage forms. Fang Liu (2014)demonstrated that patient-related factors affect the capability of an individualto engulf tablets and capsules such as the body position of the patient hasan effect on their retention in the oesophagus.Jean S Tubbs, Camilla Hawand Geoff Dickens (2008) discussed that several old age patients experiencedifficulty while engulfing the tablets and capsules. In order to overcome thisissue, nurses crush the tablets or open the capsules before giving thesemedications to geriatrics. Gazala Akram and Alexander B. Mullen (2012)found out that mixing of medication with foodstuff is a prevalent practice andmost of the people are ignorant of issues related to potential stability anddegradation of the drug as well as the clinical consequences of such practices.Stubbs J. (2008) stated that many people have trouble while taking tabletswhich may be due to psychological factors apart from physical factors. Thetablet sticking once into the oesophagus experienced by the patient can linkit with the sense of discomfort. The rough surface of the tablet can scratchthe oesophagus while passing through it. In addition, patients might faceswallowing difficulty due to disagreeable taste and smell of the tablets. Theseall factors contribute to patient non-compliance.
5.2 Psychological Dysphagia and Patient Preference of Innovative NewDosage Forms
The result of second hypothesis testing shows that there is a positiveimpact of psychological dysphagia on patient preference of innovative newdosage forms. Correlation value of 0.398 shows a weak positive relationshipbetween these two variables. The significant value of 0.000 indicates thatthis relationship is significant. Diana Witticke (2012) stated that it is asignificant prerequisite to evaluate the self-determined attitudes of patientstowards medication-related features that are known to weaken the patientcompliance and to evaluate their prevalence among patients. It helps in
eliminating the problems related to characteristics of medications that areproblematic for patients and also aids in consideration of patient preferences.Fang Liu.(2014) found out that alternatives medications are every so oftenrequired when the medications are not preferred by patients such as dueto their bitter taste or unpleasant smell. It demands the formulation of moresophisticated dosage forms such as encapsulation of drug particles.
6. CONCLUSION
This study investigates the impact of psychological dysphagia onpatient compliance in public hospitals of Karachi. Dysphagia is a medicalterminology that indicates the symptoms of difficulty while swallowing. It isa secondary condition with other illnesses, but it can also be correlated withan array of causes such as fear, pain or other cognitive, anatomical orphysiological problems. However, the complexities of this condition are stillnot well-understood as this condition may be psychological in nature, occurringas a result of stress or anxiety. Similarly, distress and escaping from swallowingpills is one of the most common sources of anxiety for individuals. Thisconstant challenge for numerous individuals to swallow pills either resultsin delay in the intake of dose of the medication or skipping of the dosecompletely. This leads to non-compliance of patients with the regimensprescribed to them, leading to failure to achieve the desired clinical outcomesor worsening of the condition. In a nut shell, poor medication compliance isa crucial interference on battling the challenges of patients’ health in publicsector hospitals.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS
Following recommendations are proposed to improve patient compliance,based on weaknesses highlighted in the analysis:
• Patients should be permitted to express their clear preferences withrespect to medication-related characteristics and emphasized about thesignificance of adherence to the treatment in order to achieve desired clinicaloutcomes.
• Health care providers should prescribe, dispense and administersuitable oral dosage forms or modified dosage forms to dysphagic patientsthat are easy to swallow.
• Awareness programs should be arranged to address the problematicadministration of oral solid dosage forms among the patients and doctorsas well as within the pharmaceutical industry.
• Swallowability should be made an obligatory principle for the designingand licensing of oral medications by the industry and regulatory bodies.
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• Patient-centered drug products should be designed on the basis of the target patient group, their biological and physiological environment,disease or disorder, active pharmaceutical ingredients, routes of drugadministration and drug delivery technologies.
• Techniques to swallow pills should be taught to the children at anearlier age as they require comparatively less training than old age.
• Regulatory environment should develop a new set of guidelines forthe introduction of new innovative dosage forms as the present guidelineshave become less effective.
• Pharmaceutical companies should offer one-on-one coaching to thepatients and their caretakers with certified educators so that patients canreceive educational and therapeutic guidance.
8. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCHERS
The present study was done on the patients visiting outpatientdepartment. Hospitalized patients might take more number of tablets andcapsules and experience more difficulties while swallowing them as comparedto outpatients. So, another research can be conducted to see the impact ofpsychological dysphagia on the compliance of inpatients. A comparativestudy should be done on the impact of psychological dysphagia on patientcompliance in Private and public sector hospitals to study the differences.Future researchers may conduct research to determine the healthcaresystem factors that lead to patient non-compliance such as the relationshipof the patient with his healthcare provider and differences in means ofcommunicat ion between pat ient and heal thcare prov ider.
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Pakistan _ Russia Nexus: A Game Changer for EurasianRegion
Dr Fareeha Majeed
Area Study Centre Karachi University
AbstractCold war changed the political landscape of the world .It resulted
into the emergence of new countries and Disintegration of USSR. It endedup bipolarity from the world and brought new world order according to whichworld determined its direction. The changing Geopolitics of Eurasian regionis now reshaping the direction of world politics again and resulting into newemerging alliances. In current time frame Russia and Pakistan are creatingtheir nexus with an objective of challenging the status quo position of UnitedStates, or pushing for greater bipolarity in global affairs. The increasinginfluence of ISIS in the region and instability in Afghanistan is the majordriving force behind the establishment of Pak –Russia developing alliance.This emerging alliance has the potential to find out the political solution ofAfghan problem by minimizing the US influence from Afghanistan. Moreoverit seems that US is not interested in bringing peace and stability in Afghanistandue to its own strategic interests. By joining their hands together both Pakistanand Russia can preserve peace and stability in the region and theircollaboration with China can do wonders by accelerating the economicactivity in the region.Key Words:
Pakistan –Russia nexus, Eurasian region, Geo strategic importance of
Pakistan, Pakistan _Russia collaboration
Introduction
World political stature is in continuous transition and succeedinginto apex of transformation. New emerging nexus of Pakistan and Russiais not only significant for both the countries but also considered a potentialthreat for US to counter its polices in the Afghanistan. Since the independenceof Pakistan, Pakistan had cold relations with Russia or in other words bothwere cold war rivals .At the same time Russia had historic relations withIndia and acted as the traditional ally of India. The rapidly changing globalpolitics revealed that there is no permanent friend and no permanent enemyin the international political arena, the only permanent entity is national andeconomic interest of any country. In recent time frame a unique merger ofPakistan and Russia is likely to establish. The basic objective behind thismove is to bring greater bipolarity in the world affairs for challenging thehegemonic position of the US. India-Russian historical relations showed thatRussia was most reliable friend and largest defence partner of India during
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past four decades and supported India during Sino _Indian border war aswell. Indian army faced difficulties after the disintegration ofSoviet Union but India kept on receiving military equipment from its all-weather friend. Hence, Russia is taking interest in establishing friendlyrelations with Pakistan due to strategic compulsions for attaining moreopportunity for defining its role and for re-balancing its position in region.Russia can create a congenial political environment along with regionalactors to challenge US role to dislodge China as the major countervailingforce in the region. This Russian grand strategy is to devise a game planby increasing Russian influence in the region with the help of Pakistan toeliminate ISIS from the region. On the other hand, there is a great shift inIndian polices which are more involved in promoting US interest and enhancingcooperation in many fields like military, defence matters and nuclear armcollaboration. India also signed logistic exchange agreement against chinawith the collaboration of US. (Rizvi, 2002)
This Indian act created unrest in Russia and compelled Russia toreview its association with India. India took its traditional ally Russia forgranted for a longer period of time; Moscow observed the growing ties ofIndia with the US patiently. However, Russia supported US struggle to getIndia into the non-proliferation mainstream through the Nuclear SuppliersGroup (NSG) waiver and in the nuclear energy expansion (Haripur nuclearproject). On the other hand, Pakistan right from the day one preferredestablishing its diplomatic relations with US instead of USSR. United Statesalso considered the permanent feature of Pakistan’s foreign policy. Mostof the military and political leadership of Pakistan was pro American. Inrecent years military regime has shown their strength to fight againstsponsored terrorism and to some extent the pursuance of foreign policybased on mutual economic and political relations. Pakistan’s effort ofstrengthening relationship with Russia was not good news for US becauseRussia is still an obstacle for America in pursuance of its goal in Middle East.On the other hand Russia wants to develop its strategic partnership withPakistan across Eurasian region to challenge American supremacy in theregion. Furthermore, Russia can take maximum benefit from the access tothe Arabian Sea where China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is activelyfunctioning. For Pakistan, the current Indian military alliance with the UnitedStates is an opening of defense ties with Russia. A potential relationshipbetween Pakistan and a major power other than the United States also hasthe potential to enhance Pakistan’s weight in the international political arena.(Bacghi,2018)
Geostrategic Importance of Pakistan
During the first quarter of 20th century, Europe was known as thecenter of international politics but after two catastrophes European nationswere more involved in restructuring their shattered economies. In the secondhalf of twentieth century Eurasian region came in lime light due to its strategicand geopolitical significance. Pakistan is geo strategically considered a
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significant country of South Asian region and is located in such a regionwhich is considered the pivot or the heart land of the world. It is blessed withfour weather terrific terrains, rich minerals, natural resources, deep valleys,thick forests and rivers. Pakistan provided route for transportation duringwar of terrorism, and also acted as a front line state against geographicalsignificance. Its importance has further increased during the cold war whenPakistan became the front line state of the U.S policy of restraint of U.S.S.R.Similarly in post 9/11 time period Pakistan is considered the most significantcountry as far as the contemporary setting of the region are concerned. Itis directly connected with central Asian republics, Western China, Russia,and Afghanistan which makes it core region or high priority zone. This regionwitnessed the great activities of super powers for the past twenty years.Pakistan can have certain advantages or disadvantages due to its geography.This fertile land is combination of resource rich area in the North-West onother hand people rich in the North-East.it is also known as junction ofSouth Asia, West Asia and Central Asian region. Pakistan is having key geo-strategic position with most professional Armed Forces in the world. Pakistanalso holds Gwadar port which is the only deep seaport in the region. Moreover,China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which is a plan of One-Belt One Road(OBOR) project, could be a key game changer in the region. Other countrieslike Iran Afghanistan and Turkmenistan are giving positive signals to participatein the economic activity generated by CPEC (Ebrahim,2016).
The Russian-Pakistan relationship with great partnership andparticipation in political affairs of region along can help in preservation ofbalance of Power in the region. Putin era, has been shaping new contoursin international politics that could provide a favorable environment forimproving Russia’s overall relations with Pakistan. The current Pak-Russiamilitary exercise is showing great Russian interests in Pakistan and acceleratingthe pace of mutual relationship. Pakistan – Russia partnership started withan innovative military collaboration to further boost the mutual interests.
Pakistan Russia Relationship, Historical Perspective
In past years both Pakistan and Russia had fluctuating relations,from cold to normal relation this journey is going on. Due to changingdynamics, geopolitical circumstances allowed both the countries to normalizetheir relations. In international politics there are no permanent friends andno permanent foes. States do not establish their relationship on the basesof emotions but they form their mutual relationship on the shared interests.The nature of convergence and divergence of mutual interests decides thenature of relationship. Pakistan had cold relations with Russia right from theday one but in recent time frame the nature of relationship has changed. Inother words their partnership is moving from cold to warm (Shah,2012).
Russia is situated in the continent of Europe; Russia has 16,377,742square kilometers of land and 720,500 square kilometers of water, shapingit as the biggest country in the world with a total area of 17,098,242 square
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kilometers. Initially there was difference in the ideologies of both the countriesand Pakistan was not interested to develop relations with a communistcountry. It is a fact that a country cannot adopt its neighbors by its ownchoice. Initially Pakistan did not develop diplomatic relations with Russiacontrary to that Nehru sent his sister (Veji Lakshmi Pandit ) to Russia asrepresentative of India in Russia. Afterwards Pakistan realized that it isalmost impossible to ignore a regional power they started prompting theirtrade, educational and cultural exchange programs with Russia, besidesPakistan Steel Mills was also a joint venture of Pakistan and Russia. Inrecent Years Moscow showed great concern regarding the solution of theinternal political and economic problems that Pakistan is facing right now.Russia offered technical assistance to Pakistan in the expansion of Pakistansteel mill, in 2011, then-Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin appreciatedPakistan’s effort to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).Moscow also condemned NATO attack at Salala check post and theyviewed this attack as an infringement of sovereignty of Pakistan . Moscowalso offered technical support for the Guddu and Muzaffargarh power plants,and announced interest in Thar Coal Project. Both countries joint their handstogether in preventing production and control of drugs in the region. At thesame time Russia also lifted arm embargo from Pakistan but India is thebiggest opposition of Pakistan Russia defence deal. Recently, the defenseministers of both countries Pakistan and Russia signed a treaty to growdefense and military cooperation. These initiatives are not enough to normalizethe relationship between Pakistan and Russia. (Borthwick, 2006). Up till1954, Soviet Union sustained its policy of neutrality and a non-interference on Kashmir issue but their stance changed due to Pakistan entry intowestern alliance system and showed their tilt toward Indian policy. Pakistan’sentry into Western alliance system was not applauded by USSR (SEATOin 1954 and CENTO in 1955). US created Western alliance system to stopthe spread of communism and Pakistan at that time expected that US wouldintervene to solve Kashmir dispute but it actually did not happen. Pakistanalso anticipated that US would provide extensive economic and military aidto strengthen its defences against India, with which it had an unsettleddispute over Kashmir and fought a limited war in 1948. USSR took thisinitiative as the containment strategy of US .During that specific time periodUS assured Pakistan that Western alliance system would protect Pakistanagainst any aggression particularly from USSR and India. Soviet Unionaggravated against Western alliance system and two super powers stoodagainst each other which caused unrest in the whole world. On the otherfront USSR also had deteriorated relations with communist china. It providedgreat opportunity to India to get closer to USSR. In one of his speechesduring his visit to India, the Soviet prime minister stated that he viewedKashmir as the Northern part of India and the people of Kashmir as part ofthe Indian people .During the war of 1971 the reality of Pakistan_ US relationsexposed and Soviet Union strongly supported India and Bangladesh. As aresult of Russian support to India, Pakistan Russia relationship deterioratedwhen Soviet Union also advocated Indian stance on separation of East wingin international community and supported India in the United Nation as well.
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India signed a treaty of friendship with Soviet Union to collaborate with eachother with an objective of promoting association in military and economicfields. During cold war Pakistan had tensed relationship with USSR, USused Peshawar airbase to spy against USSR. In other world one superpower (US) used Pakistan against other super power (USSR).US foughtproxy war in Afghanistan with USSR. In 1988, the Soviet Union terminatedits nine-year damaging war in Afghanistan. Moreover, to weak Communistgovernment Gorbachev denied sending more military forces to defendsatellite states of the USSR. Iron curtain between East and West Berlindisappeared with the demolition of the Berlin Wall. This wall had greatsymbolic importance and destruction of this wall reunified Germany andappeared on the face of earth as Federal Republic of Germany. As resultof disintegration of USSR Russian Confederation emerged with new congress.It was the time when most of the Soviet republics were getting independenceand this political instability lasted till 1990. In August 1991 revolutionaryelements amongst the remaining Communist Party leaders confinedGorbachev to house arrest in his house which is known as the August Coup. (Khan,2013)
Boris Yeltsin flogged violent resistance in Moscow, blocking thecollaborators’ military vehicles. The USSR was dissolved and powerfulsocialist state republics USSR fell down. The disintegration of USSR resultedinto the emergence of fifteen sovereign states out of which nine were non-Muslims and six were Muslims states. In post-cold war era, world becameunipolar and new world order established which determined the worlddirection. In pre and post-cold war period Pakistan had tensed relations withRussia but in current time frame existing regional and international challengesprovided an opportunity to both the countries to maintain closer ties. Pak-Russia relationship will not only support in promoting peace and stability inthe region but it will also generate economic activity. For Russia, Pakistanis substantial in two ways. First, it serves as an important junction of theCentral Asian and the Kremlin. Secondly, strategic importance of Pakistanis an important factor in connecting the Central Asian region with the MiddleEast and Indian Ocean. Russia can access the international market to sellits goods in a very convenient manner through Pakistan. Pakistan can bea reasonable country in agricultural and textile goods for Russia .At the sametime Energy sector is also significant area where Pakistan can acquire hugeassistances by forming better connection with Russia. Both the countriesPakistan and Russia seem very passionate and optimistic to cope with theexisting challenges. For that reason, Russia is activating its strengths against the unipolar world controlled by United States for the past few years. Moscowneeds to emphasize its influence in the region, expecting the withdrawal ofU.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan and the subsequent expansions.Growing military and Defence formation between India and US is also adriving force behind joint military exercises and a defense pact betweenPakistan and Russia. Moscow has been fostering relations with India forlonger period of time and will not deteriorate this partnership easily, but tilttoward Pakistan will give a signal that Russia has other options in the regionother than India. (Farwa,2017). On the other hand, Pakistan has strategic
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depth which can help Pakistan in shifting geopolitics and changing dynamicsto meet regional challenges which India and Russia do not have. Formerand Current military leadership worked hard to enhance Pakistan positiveimage in the world and now Pakistan really wants respectful relationshipwith United States on an equal base. In other words Pakistan is not readyto fulfill usual demands of US to do more .Pakistan has given a clear-cutsignal to US that Pakistan needs a peaceful solution of Afghanistan withoutinvolvement of US and in this regard Russia can act as the natural ally ofPakistan. Moreover expected alliance of China, Russia and Pakistan canbe a win-win partnership for regional peace, stability, and trade endeavors. Geo-political relations are rapidly changing in South Asia, India and US arestrengthening their defense and trade ties due to growing influence of China’sin the region. In case of success of that emerging alliance between Pakistanand Russia there is a possibility that in projected timeframe Russia wouldaddress the Kashmir dispute and will play positive role between Pakistanand Afghanistan. Historical incidents such as USSR Support to Afghanistanon the issue of Pakhtunistan and Pakistan support to US during Afghan wardeteriorated relations between Islamabad and Moscow. On the other side,Islamabad and Washington, which were allies against the former SovietUnion and cooperated in the 1980s Afghan War, are drifting away and notrevering same level of relationship which they had in the past. (Salman,2011)
Pakistan _Russia Collaboration: Implications for Afghanistan
In recent years it has been observed an equally valuable partnershipbetween Russia and Pakistan is growing. In current time frame Russiaintended to enhance its political influence across Eurasian region, RussiaPakistan tandem can also challenge American supremacy in South Asianregion. Moreover, Russia can determine Pakistan’s key role against growinginfluence of ISIS. Additionally, Russia is also aware of Pakistan initiativesof CPEC and its benefits across Arabian Sea. For Pakistan, the currentIndian military partnership with the United States is considered an eyeopening and future challenges for Russia as w ell . On the other hand agrowing relationship between Pakistan and Russia also has the potential toincrease Pakistan’s weight in the international political stature. The growinginfluence of ISIS in Afghanistan is the source of tension for both Russia andPakistan. The increased penetration of ISIS not only compelled Russia andPakistan to pay attention but it also driven china to come across on thesame axis along with Russia and Pakistan. India is trying to convince Russiato not to collaborate along with Pakistan. As a matter of fact Russia realizedthe role and importance of Pakistan to eliminate and counter ISIS inAfghanistan. In present scenario China is sincerely putting its efforts tomaintain peace and stability in Afghanistan. ISIS is emerging as physicalthreat and expanding their influence and existence in the region and US isproviding strength in the expansion of ISIS. (Hussnain,2012)
In a nut shell Peaceful and Stable Afghanistan is essential for Pakistan
22and Russia for their politico economic stability.It would be only possible incase of US withdrawal from the region. To bring out the peaceful solutionof Afghan problems the genuine concerns of Taliban’s must address. Anotherfactor which is beneficial for both Pakistan and Russia is that US is losingits grip in Afghanistan and now they are using India by assigning a specificrole in Afghanistan which is an eye opener for Pakistan and Russia. WithISIS/Daesh presence in Afghanistan`s adjacent provinces with Pakistanand its operational terrorist activities within Afghanistan and Pakistan, theregional and neighboring nations looking towards Russia and China to fixthis upcoming threat of penetrating ISIS in Afghan region .In order tostrengthen its position US is trying to inject ISIS into this region for exploitationof Russian and Chinese weaknesses in Chechnya and Sinkiang .PakistanChina and Russia are taking joint initiatives to counter US game plane andfor that trilateral summits are initiated . Hence US, NATO and India areputting their efforts to shatter these initiatives. Iran is also giving a positivesignal to support this initiative of Pakistan and Russia. Pakistan realized that the role of regional stakeholders is the key to the long lasting sustainablepeace in the region and involvement of extra regional players is no moreacceptable. The Russia-Pakistan collaboration is a positive initiative or inother words a step towards prosperity and progress in the region. US andits partner are trying to convince international community against this newinitiative. For the first time in the military history of Pakistan Russia, both thecountries initiated vast scale joint military exercises with each other .Moreover,Russia also delivered four well equipped Mi-35M helicopters to Pakistan.These expansions reveal that as Russia disconnected itself from its pastrelationship with India, which immediately improved Pak _Russia relationship(Woods,2016)
There is emerging trend in Pakistan that Pakistan must restructureits diplomatic image in international community by convincing Pakistan’s roleas front line state in war against terrorism. In this regard it would be beneficialfor Pakistan to set up its strong military and economic links with Russia. ForPakistan, smooth relationships with Russia can improve its worth ininternational politics by sending strong message to the United States thata new, durable partnership is establishing. The emerging bilateral relationshipis strengthening in many fields including security, energy, and economiesand also indicating that strong bonding between the two states ended upthe animosity of the Cold War . It is mandatory for Pakistan to not only pursuea strong foreign policy to grip regional affairs but to continue positiverelationships with all the major powers and regional powers as well (Rahman,2007). Russia can get access to warm water through Pakistan and can alsosell its weapons to Pakistan. As a matter of fact Russia is also facingproblems in its major defense market (India), it could be the reason ofRussian detachment from India and its search for new markets. Russianeeded Pakistan due to its significant geopolitical location for stabilizingAfghanistan, whereas Pakistan considers that political strength of Afghanistanwill also improve Pakistan’s internal security conditions .In a nut shell, CPECprojects will boost up economic conditions of Pakistan .It will also support
23Pakistan’s political aims and objectives and opportunity for further expansionin trade, political and economic relations with Russia. CPEC will be a crucialfoundation of economic integration from the county to the global level andwill offer land-locked states like Russia to get an opportunity of entering inthe warm water of the Arabian Sea through Pakistan. It is also anticipatedthat Moscow and Islamabad will discuss the merger of CPEC with theEurasian Economic Union in projected timeframe.
Role of Russia in CPEC
To avoid global isolation, Pakistan invited Russia to contribute inthe China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) with an objective to supportPakistan and China within the region. The Pakistan-Russia Reconciliationand their shared vision and strong bonding with China is very beneficial inmany ways. As far as the economic condition of Pakistan is concerned itseems to be changed because Pakistan holds a key strategic position in theregion which is essential for all the leading powers in current scenario dueto CPEC. An Indian terrorist activity in Kashmir has exposed theso called secular image of India in front of international community and ithad a trickledown effect on Indo_ Russia relationship. Although internationalcommunity is not condemning Indian acts of violence openly but Russia haschanged its policy stance towards India, is now showing clear indicationsof getting into closer relationships with Pakistan. Russia’s joining in CPECwill be an opportunity for China, Russia and Pakistan to enhance cooperation.The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is considered as a leadingproject of the One Belt and One Road (OBOR) .It is a great deal of investmentand Pakistan has already approved Russian request for using the GwadarPort, for its exports . China and Russia have been a long time deliberatepartners primarily due to their ideological clashes with the United States,which developed as a common enemy to both the countries. The reasonthat the China-Russia-Pakistan triangle is emerging as a reality (along withRussia’s status as the chief weapon supplier to India) would not only resultin serving these states to fight the threat of extremism and terrorism but alsoto confront the United States’ growing influence in the region. As a matterof fact, this alliance of Pakistan, China and Russia appears to be a morethreatening force as all the three states are nuclear powers .The Russianparticipation in CPEC, and usage of the Gwadar Port, can increase Sino-Russian collaboration and is also beneficial for upcoming multinationalcooperation, in current time frame Russia and Pakistan are both cooperativetoward China. (Kasting ,2012).As far as Russia-Pakistan collaboration andRussia’s role in the CPEC is concerned, China considered them as majorstakeholders not only CPEC but also for the regional challenges in currentand projected time frame .In addition to above as result of increased militaryand economic ties between India and US Russia along with Pakistan istrying to maintain balance of power in the region to maximize its nationalinterests. The Gwadar Port is very beneficial for china and many countrieslike Iran and Turkmenistan for trade. India has intentions to abolish CPECto maintain its and its hegemony in the region and to destroy the emergingalliances. Due to globalization and regional integration Russia’s existence
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in the CPEC would help to stop the international community from givingundue attention to China and eliminate the avoidable suspicions over theso-called China factor. Russia’s participation in the CPEC is beneficial inmany ways for Pakistan to coup up its challenges of deteriorated economyand political settings. CPEC is not only China’s interest but it can integratethe whole region and increase economically and politically . China has gainedfirst-mover advantage, as well as capital and geographic advantages. IfRussia joins the project, it will be a stakeholder which shares economic risk,especially security risk, and has the same or similar goals. (Mateen,2015)
US Response on Pak -Russia Emerging Alliance
In current circumstances Afghanistan is acting as a proxy-zonebetween US and Russia. On the other hand Unstable Afghanistan is not inthe favor of Pakistan and Russia. Pakistan again became the most importantactor for a viable peaceful solution to the Afghan problem. CPEC is considereda regional connector and game changer for the region and will enhancestrategic, partnership among the member countries. In Past US had strongconnection with India but after CPEC U.S is focusing more on India tostrengthen its strategic connections to pledge growing China. China alwaysonsidered Pakistan as a counterbalance to Indian supremacy in the region.As Central Asia was also a part of former USSR till early nineties and evenafter disintegration of USSR Russia still has its strategic interest in theregion. In shifting geopolitics, strategically vital relations between Pakistanand Russia could support Afghanistan peace process with the help of china.
Russia and the U.S could again move near to a proxy-war inAfghanistan. US wants to pressurize Pakistan to not to support Russianalliance backed by China, Turkey, Iran, and Central Asian republics to protecttheir future interests in region. The emerging Pak –Russo nexus is not aserious threat for US but it will also challenge the role and hegemony ofNATO. Russia openly accepts its current contacts with Afghan Taliban withan objective to damage ISIS by intervening a negotiated settlement betweenKabul government and Taliban hence China also looking forward toaccommodate Taliban peacefully in the region. In November 2015, Chinatried to play the role of a mediator between Kabul and Taliban but notsucceeded. Pakistan and US have diversified strategic interests in the regionand after 2002 the priorities have been changed .Pakistan’s economic andmilitary connections with the US are at stake but it is understandable thatboth have diverse national interests in Afghanistan. Russia can act as animportant strategic counterbalance against US increased pressure. But onthe other hand Pakistan is not in the position to remain isolated in theinternational community by deteriorating its connections with the US. Tosettle the matter and to find a middle way Russia is the best option tosupport Pakistan against US. For the smooth functioning and success ofCPEC a peaceful Pakistan is required along with a politically stableAfghanistan also. With these changes in world politics New regional alliancesare also steadily developing and showing changes in regional policies and
25
interest. US-India and Turkey-Russia appear to be the new evolving strategicarrangements. Russia can also help Pakistan to minimize its economicdifficulties, energy crisis and can support it into its strategic interests. Russiacan safeguard more safety support to Pakistan to alleviate internal securitymatters and defense abilities. A stable Pakistan is in the strategic interestsof Russia, China to diminish and offset the US power in Afghanistan.Developing US-India relationships are the motivation for Pakistan's growingconnections with Russia. Pakistan is noticing adjustment in US diplomaticpolicy regarding Pakistan. Every action has a reaction, and Pakistan sensedthe necessity to improve close connections with Russia after PresidentObama’s two visits to India. US changed its policy towards India when Modielected as Indian Prime Minister for political purposes and as a result of thatUS-India nuclear deal completed against the law of non-proliferation ofnuclear weapon.(Peter,2009)
Conclusion
The Pakistan Russia emerging alliance is not only beneficial for boththe countries but it is crucial for the peace prosperity and economic upliftingof the region. On the other hand such developments in Russia-Pakistanrelations create major problems for India. Indians are not happy neitherabout the military drills between the two nations, nor the fact that Pakistanis purchasing weapons from their top military equipment importer. Duringthe Cold War period, India and Russia were particularly close to each otherbut in current time frame new Indian generation does not have a tilt towardsRussia as compared to Cold War generation. It is far more suitable and moreattractive for the new generation of India to move towards the United States.While , Russia is losing its grip in India even though Moscow continues tobe the country’s key supplier of weapons. But since Russian PresidentVladimir Putin is the master of long-term planning in global relations, heknows where this is al going. Russia chose Pakistan, which happens to beIndia’s biggest enemy and at the same time a close friend of China, whomRussia has been trifling with for the past few years. The rapidly changingpolitical situation of Eurasian region may result into a major transformation.Recently during his speech President Donald Trump’s warned to take actionagainst the influence of militant’s operative in Afghanistan. In response ofspeech Donald Trump both China and Russia strongly condemned his pointof view by saying that Pakistan was the worst sufferer of war against terrorismwith massive infrastructural and human losses. They also gave the massageto Washington that in current situation it will not easy to isolate Pakistan inthe region moreover the new assigned role to India will not acceptable forPakistan China and Russia. They also alleged that isolating Pakistan coulddisturb the U.S. relationship with Islamabad and will move it closer to Russia,Iran and China and destabilization of the region. In the nut shell it can beconcluded that Eurasian region is considered the most significant politicalnerve these days and to grip that particular region all the major stakeholdersincluding Russia and US must understand the crucial role of Pakistan. Inother words Pakistan is necessary to understand the politico social patternof this region. (Rafique,2015)
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A Strategic Perspective Of Human Resource Management In Telecom Sector Of Pakistan
Z.B. Junaid
AbstractThis study attempts to carry out a comparative analysis of the
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) practices being followedin the telecom sector of Pakistan. This research takes into account twomajor players of Pakistan’s telecom industry, which are Jazz and Ufone. TheStrategic perspective of Human Resource Management (HRM) is differentfrom the traditional concept HR as SHRM mainly arranges itself in accordancewith the business strategy and aligns its departmental strategy to achievethe business objectives. This study has carried out in-depth analysis of thetwo organizations to find out whether Strategic HRM adds significance tothe organization and helps to gain competitive advantage or otherwise. TheEvidences/ Indicators of Strategic Human Resource Management practicesin these organizations reveal that both organizations understand that thereis a dire need to re-position their HR departments to a strategic level.However, the findings of the study show that these organizations need toelicit clear indicator and evidences which provide a sort of checklist for themto follow. The study recommends that in order to meet the rapidly changingscenario of the business world, the HR departments of the organizationsneed to restructure their HR and devise the facilitating factors which allowthem to be more strategic in nature.
Key Words: Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM),Evidences/Indicators
1. INTRODUCTION
The telecom sector in Pakistan saw major growth in the past fewyears. Many public policies have made this growth possible for this industry.Some deregulation policies followed by the sector liberalization along withefficient and transparent processes provided foundation stones for thisgrowth. Study of the literature reveals that the telecom sector in Pakistanhas also contributed a major portion to the GDP growth rate of Pakistan andalso to the FDI and has strengthened the economy of Pakistan. (Awan, Khan& uz Zaman, 2011). In one of the study authors argue that this sector hasbrought major changes in the economic, social and fiscal aspects of thePakistani Society (Imtiaz, Khan & Shakir, 2015). From 2003 to 2012, Pakistan’sTelecom sector attracted more than USD 7.14 billion Foreign Direct Investment(FDI) making the total telecom investment equal to USD 15.14 billion(Authority, 2013).
Since the deregulations of Cellular companies in 2003, the telecom
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sector has evolved at a very fast pace, including advancement to 3G, 4Gand wide coverage across Pakistan. According to an estimate about 90%of the area of Pakistan gets cellular coverage from almost all the cellularcompanies operating in Pakistan.
The Competitive advantage of an organization is the key towardshigh revenues and this competitive edge does not only lie in differentiatinga product or service or in becoming the low-cost leader but also in themanipulation of the organization’s special skills or core competencies. Thiscompetitive advantage can only be achieved by the management byconsolidating technologies and production skills into competencies in orderto adapt rapidly to changing opportunities (Mosovsky, Dickinson & Morabito,2000). Study of the literature reveals that traditionally, the emphasis was onthe equipment of the organization that would give an organization a competitiveedge over competitors, but in the present era this competitive edge is gainedmore effectively by developing employee skills, distinctive organizationalcultures, management processes and systems (Barney & Wright, 1998).Competitive advantage can be obtained with a high-quality workforce thatenables organizations to compete on the basis of market responsiveness,product and service quality, differentiated products and technologicalinnovation. It is now widely agreed upon in the present times that humancapital is the most important asset of an organization and the most importantsource of competitive advantage (Grant, 1999). This is where from whichthe managers got the idea of aligning HR strategy with the business strategy.Managers are pursuing gaining the competitive advantage by efficientlyutilizing human resource through the ability to develop committed employeesby aligning individual and organizational values, quality of the leadership ofthe business, the ability to work in a way which avoids conflicts betweendifferent functions or departments, the ability to develop the capability ofemployees to acquire skills and work in new ways and the ability of theorganization to change and make changes stick. These are done throughadoption of different roles of the HR managers. HR should expand its rolefrom purely functional to a more strategic one, by becoming valued advisorsto the line by turning attention outside the business, by benchmarking againstcompetitors and by collecting and analyzing data related to competitors(Armstrong, 2011).
1.1 Purpose of the Study
The aim of this study is to carry out a comparative analysis of thestrategic human resource management practices being followed in thetelecom sector of Pakistan. In order to highlight the importance of everyaspect of strategic human resource management for the operations of anorganization, comparison of the strategic human resource managementpractices of Jazz and Ufone will be very much helpful. Such comparisonmakes it easier to analyze and compare the SHRM of both the companiesfollowed by recommendations which are based on literature and gives aclear insight into the importance of strategic human resource managementfor organizations.
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1.2 Scope of the Study
This research takes into account two major players of Pakistan’stelecom industry, which are namely, Jazz and Ufone. The scope of thisresearchstudy is to analyze the human resource management in both thecompanies and to inquire whether the human resource management isstrategic or otherwise in both the organizations. Furthermore, to find out thelevel of competence that has been achieved in making the organization'sHR strategically effective.
The basic premise for selecting only two organizations out of thewhole telecom sector is firstly, foreign vs local origin company and secondis the direct competition. Jazz is the largest Telecom service provider inPakistan which is a merger of Mobilink and Warid. The parent company offormer Mobilink is VEON, which is a based in Netherland while Warid isowned by the Abu Dhabi group. Hence, both of these companies which arenow called Jazz was foreign companies that came into Pakistan and broughtin their management style. On the other hand, Ufone's parent Company isPakistan Telecommunications Company limited which was owned by theGovernment of Pakistan and is of Pakistani origin. Although it was partiallyprivatized in 2006 but still today 62% of its shares are owned by Pakistan(Nawaz, 2018). Hence, being foreign vs only local company, Jazz and Ufonecan provide a better opportunity to analyze the Strategic HR practices of thisindustry as only Ufone is Pakistan based company. Secondly, after Jazzentered the Pakistani market, Ufone was the next and only company thatgave direct competition to Jazz. Hence this study considered these factorsto select only two companies for the analysis.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Business Strategies and Human Resource Implications
Business strategies of an organization vary between different firms.According to Krishnan (2005) corporate strategy refers to decisions such aswhat market to enter, what product to create, how to produce etc. It is thecomplete direction through which organization can meet its goals. There aretwo generic business strategies given by Porter, which include gainingcompetitive advantage by being the lowest cost producer or throughdifferentiation and a price premium. These business strategies shape theHR strategies of an organization. These strategies include prospectors,defenders, analyzers and reactors (Miles & Snow, 1978). Firms that areproactive (prospector) are highly competitive and innovative firms. For themnew product development, expanding to new markets and hiring valuable,competent, skilled and risk-taker employees are most important. Suchcompanies need a collaborative HR strategy. Reactors on the other hand,http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/corporate-strategy.html#ixzz2C8iBANi6
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are least risk takers. As the name suggests, they only take action whenneeded or when they are forced by the external environment. They do notuse a formal HR strategy.They have other ways to achieve their aim whichincludes selling at a low price or offering a few types of products and achievingeconomies of scale. They aim at achieving efficiency rather than effectiveness,which means that employees don’t need much to provide strategic value.Analyzers on the other hand, fall somewhere between prospectors anddefenders. They are not the first movers (less risk takers) but are usuallyfast movers. They usually expand product lines or increase market shareby expanding market, which helps them in gaining economies of scale andproductivity. They prefer workers that are already trained and skilled whichhelps in saving training costs and time. In this type of strategy, the role ofHR in strategy development is minimal, because HR will be focusing onhiring, paying competitive pay and improving employee performance.
2 .2 St ra teg ic Human Resource Management (SHRM)
HRM functions have been evolving for the past 100 years and nowHuman Resource Management has entered into a new era of StrategicHuman Resource Management. In the past, HR was mainly involved inadministrative tasks, but now HR has been repositioning itself as a “StrategicBusiness Partner” (Inyang, 2010). Researchers have differentiated bothtraditional HRM & Strategic HRM and argue that traditional HR was involvedin transactional and people management activities while Strategic HR hasplanned its functions in accordance with the business strategy and alignedits strategy to achieve business goals (Wei, 2006). Boxall and Purcell (2000)explain that Strategic HRM is different from traditional HR for two reasons;(1) Strategic HRM gauges the performance of an organization rather thanthe performance of an individual, (2) Strategic approach does not see thefunctions of an HR in isolation but as an answer to the business problem.Hence, Strategic HRM adds significance to the organization and helps togain competitive advantage (Inyang, 2010).
In the recent years there has been an emphasis on the strategicrole of HR and its effect on the performance of the company (Bencker &Gerhart, 1996). Huselid and Becker (1997) has empirically proven that HRhas a strategic impact on the firm’s performance. They further implied thatthis means that choice of HR systems chosen by the firm can have aneconomically significant and positive effect on firm's market value andperformance. Here it is important to note that this cannot be achieved withouttop managements trust, confidence and acceptance of HR’s strategic role.
2.3 Evidences/ Indicators of Strategic Human Resource Management
Studies have elicited various indicators and evidences which providea sort of checklist for understanding the nature of Human resourcedepartments. Following are few of the indicators which allow the researchersto identify the strategic orientation of HR departments.
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2.3.1 Organizational Human Capital
The main resource of any organizations are its assets, human, ITetc. A resource based view suggests that organizations gain sustainablecompetitive advantage when it has unique and different resources and whenit follows a strategy to take advantage of these resources (Wright, McMahan& McWilliams, 1993). From SHRM viewpoint employees are not just anyresource, but they are strategic resource which organization can use toachieve a strategic focus through their effective allocation and deployment.So, it is necessary to make such strategies that utilize this resource to gaincompetitive advantage. Organizations have to choose such strategies thattake maximum benefits from the distinctive capabilities of the human resource.This can be done when top management includes HR in strategy developmentand formulation rather than just for implementation. The Resource BasedView (RBV), one of the most important factors of competitive analysis witha focus on company resources, explains the importance of resources thatcannot be imitated. Human Resources are considered as one of the mainfactors which are source of competitive advantage. Hence, in order to bestrategic in nature, the HR departments need to focus on the quality of itsemployees which may allow it to become more strategic in nature (Wright,Dunford & Snell, 2001).
2.3.2 Long Term Focus
The Strategic Human Resource Management also demands a long-term focus, and this is one of the major indicators which endorse theimportance of HR in meeting its strategic level goals (Martell & Carroll, 1995).Having this long- term focus actually helps HR to keep itself aligned with theorganizational strategy. It should predict the future changing trends and keepan eye on the requirements that may arise and make their strategy accordingly.Because of the day to day involvement in need handling, HR gets lessertime to work on long term organizational plans, however, this practice shouldbe modified in order for HR to be more strategic (Barney & Wright, 1997).
2.3.3 HR Metrics
Study of the literature reveals that for HR to become strategic, it isnecessary that they communicate with management in financial terms.Metrics actually provide a very strong basis to the HR department where itcan show to the top management the ability and the importance it has interms of the contribution towards the strategic objectives of the company;that is, profit making (Weiss & Finn, 2005). It allows Human Resources (HR)to systematically align HR investments with organizational goals and makeHR the true strategic partner indeed. It is considered an evidence of thestrategic role being played by the HR department in the company (Gratton,Hailey, Stiles, & Truss, 1999).
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2.3.4 Perception of HR
Studies report that managers usually perceive HR personnel astraditional performers unless HR itself tries to rectify it by active participation(Skinner & Mabey, 1997). HR personnel need to achieve qualitative andquantitative results in all of its activities. The challenge is to keep pace withthe organization's speed by managing and achieving quality results byresource management and effective HR policing. This will ultimately clearthe perception of both top management as well as the line managers (Alsmadi,2011).
2.3.5 HR leadership/Top management support
According to Ulrich and Brockbank (2005), the role of the head ofdepartment of HR or HR leader is very important in aligning HR with theorganization's strategy. The leader being an effective member of anorganization should make such HR strategies that may help organizationsto achieve its goals and gain the support of the shareholders and improvecorporate image. Ulrich and Brockbank (2005) further argue that to makeHR strategic, the function needs to have proactive and skilled leadershipand HR must have support from the top management. The HR personnelshould align their roles, skills and objectives with the strategy of theorganization. It should be the focus of the company to develop HR leadersby incorporating leadership skills, communication skills and analytical skillsso that they can achieve a strategic HR function (Walker & Vosburgh, 2003).
2.3.6 Proactive/Transformational Role
Human Resource Management through the use of its moresophisticated and modernized structure and work systems has become moreproactive and strategically aligned organizational unit and it now performsmore transformational role. The transformation of HR role is influenced bydynamic business environment to a large extent. Contemporary HR systemsis incorporating more flexibility in their structures. The requisites for havingan effective HR system in place are analytical skills, interpersonal skills, topmanagement support and resilient leadership for leading a successful change(Khan, 2007).
2.4 Evolution of HR; A Strategic Orientation
Becker, Huselid, and Ulrich (2001) talk about the new perspectiveon HR, where HR is seen more than just an administrative function. HR isno more a cost center. Here the relationship between line management andHR professionals has to change and they both have to be collectivelyresponsible for the firm’s strategy implementation and execution. As firmsare now focusing more on innovation and flexibility both line managers andHR professionals need to come out of their functional perspective i.e. s
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administrative perspective and think about HR as a strategic asset. Theyshould take this changing scenario as an opportunity to be part of strategymaking (Becker, Huselid, & Ulrich, 2001).
Traditional HR is also viewed as a cost center when it solely performslegally mandated and administrative nature tasks. In order to contribute andadd some strategic value to the organization, HR sometimes need to performa business partner role as well. By thinking more on the lines of businessstrategy, HR can add value and this value addition can help HR departmentsto solidify its position in the organization like other organizational departments.HR business partner can add value by effective talent management, changemanagement and by giving an input into strategic decisions, this will alsoenhance the effectiveness of the organization and as well as the businesperformance (Lawler, 2005).
When it comes to the strategic role of HR we see that in most of theorganizations/ organization's importance of aligning HR with the organizationstrategy is ignored. The HR department or function is usually seen as afunction that helps in implementing the predetermined strategy and HR istotally alienated from strategy making (Williams, 2002). But in recent timesHR has gained attention owing to the fact that organizations have to implementthe strategies on human asset or human capital. So, HR has to be involvedin strategy making. Also, an organization’s ability to implement strategysuccessfully so that the desired result can be achieved greatly depends onhow much the strategy is aligned with the HR function (Huselid, 1995).Righeimer and Energy (2005) criticize organizations for ignoring the mostimportant resource of the organization i.e human resource. They believethat when HR is aligned with the strategy, it makes strategy implementationsuccessful and improve performance which leads to increase in profit.Organizations have to make sure that they have a strategic approach whichmeans that employees, their skills and capabilities helps in the achievementof the organization’s goal. They also believe that HR should not forget itstraditional role in their struggle to be more strategic. In-fact they should usethese administrative functions to expand to strategy building and focus onhow HR can support the organization in strategic planning and implementation.Researchers believe that organizations that link human resource managementto strategic decision making will have higher and better performance (Huselid,1995)
Bennett and Schultz (1998) argue that there is a positive relationbetween the degree to which top management view employees as a strategicasset and the level of integration between the HR department and strategicdecision making. According to them organizations in which top managementviewed HR as a strategic resource had more integration. During financialcrisis, HR's (training, recruitment, compensation) budgets are generallydecreased. SHRM can bring various benefits to an organization. SHRMhelps organization in achieving its goals and survival. It helps in implementingbusiness strategies and achieving competitive advantage. It improvesinnovation potential of
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human capital. It increases the possible strategic choices. It develops morecollaboration between the HRM department and line managers (Çaliskan,2010).
3. METHODOLOGY
Both primary and secondary sources have been utilized in collectingthe data for the study. Primary data were collected by visiting both theorganizations and conducting interviews in person. The interviews wereunstructured which helped in collecting information regarding every aspectof the respective department.
Secondary data was collected from two sources which are as follows.First, relevant literature, publications and studies were reviewed in order toget in-depth information on the effectiveness of strategic human resourcemanagement in various organizations. Second, in order to get further insightof the HR at Jazz and Ufone, internet in general and company websiteswere used in particular to collect data about the structure and functioningof HR in both the organizations. All the collected data was analyzed andprocessed to get results, on the basis of which analysis wasconducted.
4. INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPANIES
4.1 JAZZ
Jazz is the premier and biggest cellar service provider in Pakistan.It was initially launched by the name of Mobilink in 1994, however in November2015, Mobilink was merged with Warid and both companies have been re-launched with a brand name of Jazz.
4.1.1 Organizational Hierarchy and Structure
Jazz has eleven major divisions. Each division has a divisional headand further departments and sub-departments. Each department is headedby a director. Each divisional head directly reports to the CEO and directorreports directly to his/her respective divisional head.
4.1.2 HR Structure
Jazz has restructured its HR to meet the needs of changing marketdynamics. Jazz has taken the first step by changing their HR structure whichsupports the HR role to be more strategic. Jazz's HR have shifted to aBusiness Partner Model of HR. This change was brought in due to need feltby the VP HR in specific and overall HR department in general. The HR andadministrative division has the following departments.
www.jazz.com.pk
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4.1.2.1 Centre of Expertise:It has two sub departments:
a. Organizational development and talent management works forenhancing and developing the capabilities of employees. For this theyexecute trainings, etc. Talent management looks for individuals who showexceptional capabilities and leadership skills that can be future leaders orhead of departments of Jazz
b.Recruitment, Reward and Performance Management is responsiblefor hiring throughout the organization. They also are responsible for maintaininga compensation system that is aligned with market practices. They designand initiate the Performance Management System (PMS) too.
4.1.2.2 HR Business Partnership:
Business partners contact and are there for the line for all the HR relatedissues and requests. They are located in all regions.
4.1.2.3 Employees Service and Employees Engagement:
They are responsible for budgeting, day to day services, medicaland insurance etc of all employees.
4.2 UFONE
Ufone started its operation in Pakistan on 29th January, 2001 andis owned by PTCL. After the privatization of PTCL, Emirates TelecommunicationCorporation (Etisalat) took over the management of Ufone in 2006 andstarted running its operations but still 62% of its shares are owned by theGovernment of Pakistan.
4.2.1 Organizational Hierarchy and Structure
Overall, Divisional Structure is being followed at Ufone and thereare currently six divisions at Ufone. Divisions have further divided theiroperations into different regions and in regions Ufone follows FunctionalStructure.
4.2.2 HR Structure
Ufone has been restructuring its HR Structure. In existing Structure,there are three divisions namely, HR Services, HR Operations, Recruitment& Compensation. Then HR Services has further sub-divisions, namelyTraining and Development and Strategic Human Resource Planning. Allthree divisions are reporting to GM HR and he directly reports to the CEOof the Ufone. But in proposed new HR structure, GM Corporate Strategyhas been introduced and GM HR reports to him and under GM HR thereare two main divisions (1) HR Corporate team (2) HR Services. In HRCorporate
www.Ufone.com
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Team division OD, Compensation and Benefit and Recruitment sub-divisionfalls. Strategic Human Resource Planning division has been empowered tointegrate the working of HR Divisions and helps in making HR strategies.The whole purpose of designing a new HR structure is to make the role ofHR more strategic.
5. FINDINGS & ANALYSIS
5.1 Jazz: Indicators/Evidence:
As discussed earlier, Jazz has shifted to a business partner modelin an attempt to become more strategic. This study finds various evidencesand facilitators, which are aiding the HR department of Jazz to become morestrategic in nature. Therefore, this report is categorizing the HumanResource department as a strategically oriented HR function of the company.In that, human resource managers at Jazz are performing various tasks thathelp them to perform strategy-oriented work. Evidences provided in theensuing paragraphs substantiate the claim. Many studies have highlightedsome indicators which help the study to understand the nature of thedepartment at various organizations. Few of these indicators are mentionedbelow:
5.1.1 Long Term Focus
Jazz has a long-term focus. It is indicated by the fact that the HRat Jazz has representation at board meetings and has more of a policymaking role in the company. For example, when CTO asked for a technicalchange which was affecting HR costs in terms of training and new hiring, itwas pointed out by the VP HR who had foreseen the costs of hiring newpeople and their training as costlier than the actual benefit of the technology.The board considered a HR’s point of view and the idea was rejected by theboard unanimously. This shows that the HR department has a long termfocus and has a say in the strategy formulation.
5.1.2 Alignment of HR with Business Strategies
Jazz have a strategic meeting every Monday. In this meeting theCEO and Vice Presidents of all 11 divisions including VP HR initiate newideas, strategies and policies. In this meeting the VP HR is not just there asa formality, but the VP does have a say. The VP HR has also initiated variousstructural and strategic changes. The VP added business partners in thestructure of the organization. Business Partners were hired from within oroutside organization and were made part of a team. Similarly, the VP HRhas an equal say in a boardroom as other member. HR might not be drivingthe strategy, but it is still impacting strategy making. If we look at differentlevels of integration , Jazz HR has is somewhat between two-way linkageand integrative linkage with strategy. Not only is the VP HR part of the seniormanagement team that formulates new strategies, but VP HR initiates new
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strategy formulation and implementation. Also, many times strategies applyto all departments of Jazz.
The main strategy of Jazz is differentiation strategy. Being a serviceprovider facing tough competition, the Jazz’s main focus is to provide theservice and such packages that will help in gaining maximum market share.It wants customers to perceive that its products are different from competitors.For this type of strategy, it is important to hire employees with diversebackgrounds. Jazz hires creative and cooperative employees with a long-term focus. They encourage risk taking. Here it is important to note that itvaries from department to department. Their training and developmentprogram includes Jazz culture development, collaboration, andinterdepartmental collaboration. Jazz is going for the strategy that “best fit”its organization structure and strategy. It is doesn’t follow a trend just becauseother companies are following it. Introduction of Business partner is anexample. They found that there is a need to introduce business partner whowill deal with line and guide and help them, so business partners were addedto the structure.
5.1.3 HR Metrics
Literature suggests that when the human resource personnelcommunicate with the management in the financial terms and are able toquantify their efforts, eventually they are considered as active participantsin a business’strategic decisions. At JAZZ, when inquired about this fact,HR managers mentioned that they always try to quantify their efforts infinancial terms. The T & D manager mentioned that they always calculatethe financial effects & advantages of training activities in financial terms.They usually travel for outbound training activities that are costly than thein-house trainings, but JAZZ HR managers find that when the financialadvantages of the same are calculated,the end result is a positive sum. Thisgives a driving seat to HR managers in JAZZ and hence a more strategicorientation in the company.
5.1.4 Proactive Approach
This study finds that at Jazz, the HR resource department is proactivebecause of the fact that it foresees the company’s requirement and plansahead. In one of the case, HR department started head hunting and recruitingthe people who were experts in 3G technologies in the start of year 2008.At that time demand and cost of hiring 3G experts were low, hence it allowedthe company to recruit the best talent in the country at a lower cost. Therebyforeseeing the company’s strategy and making HR strategy in return helpedto achieve the strategic objectives of the company. Moreover, the talentmanagement department of the company allows to headhunt the talent inadvance which is a clear indication of HR being strategic in the company.
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5.1.5 Leadership
The HR department at Jazz is headed by a dynamic and cooperativeleader. He is people friendly and encourages input from all. There is a lotof impact of the leader’s personality on each of the departments. VP HRpromotes an open culture and encourages questioning from subordinatesas well. So much so that the employee can even disagree with what Hebelieves and can make new recommendations. HR is still working onimproving its image by conducting informal team building activities.
5.1.6 Perception of HR
At Jazz top management views HR as an important strategic source.HR has a representation in all top-level meetings, not only representationbut also the input of HR is considered important in every decision. Wheninquired about the fact, one of the managers mentioned that in a particularcase, Jazz was taking a decision to invest in new technology. All boardmembers were willing to invest in the technology and were looking positivelyto it. The VP HR on the other hand was against the option. The boardmembers then started discussing the issue and VP HR briefed about itslong-term implications. This totally changed the board's perception anddecision was taken back. The human resource managers on the other handperceive themselves as active participants in meeting the company’sobjectives. Hence considering them as an important resource.
5.1.7 Organizational Human Capital
As discussed in the literature review earlier, it has been observedthat companies which possess a greater amount of resources in terms ofquality and number of people are better able to perform strategic jobs. Thisis because of the flexibility an organization gets when a good number ofquality people give their best input in performing their duties. In the telecomindustry, Jazz is considered to be a lead hirer in terms of the hiring qualitypeople. This gives them flexibility to perform escalated tasks which are inconsistent with the overall company’s strategy.
5.2 Ufone: Indicators/Evidence:
Ufone is striving to transform into a complete strategic orientation,although Ufone is trying to be strategic by restructuring their Human Resourcedepartment, but by making Strategic Human Resource Planning a part oforganizational development, which is an unusual case, it seems that Ufoneneeds to think more about the status and reporting relationships of strategichuman resource planning department. In order to become more strategic,HR strategies must be formulated at a corporate HR level which directlyreports to the top management to ensure strategic alignment, whereas in
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Ufone, strategic human resource planning instead of having a direct reportingrelationship with the top management it has a dotted line in between whichshows a weak reporting link with top management.
5.2.1 Long Term Focus
HR at Ufone is not part of the policy formulation; the policy is madeby the parent company Etisilat. It is then forwarded to Ufone Head Office,which sends to the concerned departments for implementation. The HRdepartment is more of an implementer of policies rather than formulator. So,it can be inferred that the focus of the HR department is short term since itis only doing what it is told, and it does not take initiatives to prepare itselffor coming challenges. For instance, the interviews with the HR personal atUfone highlighted that Etisalat has mandated to implement the newlyestablished HR structure which has included the role of business partners.Ufone is now implementing this structure. The purpose of this initiative tointroduce business partner model is to make HR more strategic. Since thisstructure is in the planning phase, so, HR person was not in a position totell if it has helped in being long term focused and strategic.
5.2.2 Alignment of HR with Business Strategies
In Ufone the GM HR is a co-opted permanent member of the strategicteam. He is called as and when needed or required. In Ufone the linkageis more of a one-way linkage. Strategy is made at the strategic level andthen HR department is informed to implement the strategy. Ufone althoughis moving to a new structure. The aim of the structure would be to have atwo-way integration. So that HR department can give its input in the strategyformulation as well as implementation.
The strategies implemented in Ufone are usually because Etisalathas formed them for the whole organization and Ufone being a subsidiaryhas to implement them. We believe that Ufone goes for best practice, onthe basis that it doesn’t make the strategy itself, but it follows its parentcompany.
5.2.3 HR Metrics
One main indication of being strategic is that Human Resource mustquantify its contributions while presenting them to the top management. Thisnot only results in recognition of HR, but it is also an indication of humanresource department being more strategic by gauging organizationalinvestments in terms of increased performance and productivity. The researchanalyzes that Ufone quantifies its contributions in term of cost that is incurredon its human capital including training and compensation cost and thencomparing the output people can give in terms of achieving their goalseffectively through performance appraisals.
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5.2.4 Proactive
Evidence suggests that Ufone is more reactive to changing industryand market trends by responding after the major changes have been occurringinstead of anticipating upcoming changes in the markets that are likely totake place. This can also be inferred from the primary data gathered for theresearch Ufone that rather than proactively hiring the talent for the new 3Gtechnology, Ufone realized a need for hiring skilled and talented people afterthe announcement of 3G bidding process in Pakistan. Example quoted inan interview says that they had to hire four talented people ,but they endedup in hiring only two people outside Ufone because hiring such talentedworkforce in a situation when their demand is also high than the supply,actually forced Ufone to confront with the serious cost issue because recruitingpeople in this scenario was quite expensive so Ufone started training itsinternal employees for these changing trends showing their reactive approach.rather than planning for talent in advance.
5.2.5 Leadership
The leadership of HR departments at Ufone is fostering employeeengagement and managing peoples’ operations for while contributing to thestrategic business objectives. The leadership is trying to implement the bestpractices of the industry to make HR more strategic and collaborating withthe business strategy of the company.
5.2.6 Perception of HR
Top management perception regarding the role of human resourcemanagement in the business strategy is; very clear. Empirical evidencesuggests that top management of Ufone wants to be strategic; they believein giving discretion to HR in performing their work in their own way, but theyare trying to implement it companywide. Environment is a bit flexible andcongenial but there is not much discretion on the part of HR managers, theyhave to act upon the directives given to them as quoted by managers.
5.2.7 Organizational Human Capital
Literature suggests that the availability of effective resources suchas organizational resources and quality of human capital resources, includingskills, knowledge and competent employees will help the organization inachieving more strategic focus through effective allocation and deployment.Ufone has all these resources be it organizational or human resources andthey are trying to effectively utilize their resources. They have their learningmanagement system (LMS) through which people can prioritize the kind oftraining they need to get. The reporting relationship of HR is not directlylinked with top management, this suppresses HR role to some extent, inaddition to that they must focus on strategic training that will help employeesin achieving organizational strategy.
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7. CONCLUSION
Ufone and Jazz are two major players in the telecom industry ofPakistan. Ufone being a subsidiary of Etisalat has been implementingstrategies that are sent by Etisalat. The HR department in Ufone hastransformed a lot and is changing to good not very strategic. Ufone's HRhas some impact from its parent company Etisalat. The indicators of StrategicHR are present in Ufone but are less than that in Jazz. Ufone has alsobrought in a structural change in the directions of the parent company wherethey are introducing business partners, shared services and center ofexpertise. Jazz on the other hand enjoys a more strategic HR. The indicatorsof Strategic HR are much evident in Jazz. They business partners, sharedservices and center of expertise. There admin department is not part of theHR department. This means that Jazz top management is trying to makeHR department strategic by not involving them in admin work directly. TheVP HR is part of all strategic and executive meetings and the role of businesspartners was introduced because of the VPs initiative.
Table 1: SHRM Indicators
6. COMPARISON OF HR AT JAZZ & UFONE
Based on the review of literature and the data collected, this studypresents its comparative analysis of the SHRM indicators in both theorganizations. It is important to mention that all the views, ideas and analysisexpressed in the paper are not the official stance of the organizations (Jazzand Ufone). The expressed views are personal analysis of authors.Organizations stance may differ from the author. The comparative analysisof authors is presented in the following table:SHRM Indicators
Table 1 shows all the indicators of strategic HR and it also comparesUfone and Jazz, the degree of them is being strategic on the basis of theseindicators. This comparison of both the organizations shows that the degreeof Jazz HR being strategic is higher than that of Ufone. Ufone scored lowon these indicators while Jazz scored high on these and thus it can beconcluded that the HR in Jazz is more strategic than in Ufone.
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46
Role of Emotional Intelligence in Marketing – A TheoreticalPerspective
1Safeena Yaseen 2Muhammad Ibtesam Mazahir
ABSTRACTIn today’s highly competitive marketing environment, it has become
very challenging for the brands to get consumer attention. Marketers aretrying to move away from their traditional approach of connecting with theconsumers through rational and logical advertising and promotionalcommunication and emotions have become the most powerful tools topenetrate into the consumer set of consideration. Although, in the existingliterature, the importance of emotional intelligence in organizational studies,leadership and relationship management has been extensively analyzedand discussed in a greater detail (Reisel, 2016), its growing importance inthe field of marketing and consumer-centric studies have yet to be explored.Therefore, the purpose of the present article is to highlight the perspectivesavailable in the existing literature regarding the importance of emotionalintelligence in the marketing field. The paper explores the different dimensionsof consumer marketing research where the emotional intelligence has alreadybeen applied and the results that have been generated by it. This study isbased on the meta-analyses of almost 33 research articles which discussesthe role of emotional intelligence in marketing. The article assesses thepotential that emotional intelligence has to revolutionize the existing field ofmarketing and consumer connectivity with a particular brand or service. Asa result of this study, multiple themes have emerged, and on the bases ofthat further practical application of emotional intelligence in marketing hasbeen discussed with the limitations.
Keywords: Emotional Intelligence, Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Brands,Communication
1. INTRODUCTION
The scientific viability of the emotional intelligence (EI) is highlyopinionated. Different people have expressed this term differently as per itsapplicability in the relevant field. However, Goleman (2006) elaborated thisterm as more powerful “twice as much as IQ” for the survival of humanspecies. According to him, IQ is a genetic gift that has been given to thehuman species, and in consideration of our life experiences, as a human,we have a very less control over its modification. Goleman (2006) arguedthat emotional intelligence is a tool to motivate oneself. This ability encourageshumans to acquire self-control, zeal and persistence, further can be taughtto the upcoming generation to pursue best in their lives without being worriedabout the genetic lottery of intelligence quotient. Despite its growing importance,the emotional intelligence is also labeled as an elusive concept (Davies,Stankov, & Roberts,
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1998). According to some other researchers, the phenomenon of emotionalintelligence is resistant to adequate measurement (Becker, 2003). Contraryto that a considerable body of researchers suggested emotional intelligenceas a basic competency required for almost every job (Cherniss, 2000),however, for some others, it seems to be more myth than science (Zeidner,Roberts, & Matthews, 2002).
The emergence of diversified judgments on emotional intelligencecan be held responsible for the division of opinion in the field. Initially, thedivision on the concept of emotional intelligence has been brought to publicattention through the continuous publishing threads of articles in newspapersand magazines (Gibbs & Epperson, 1995).
In the context of this paper, the term emotional intelligence has beenconsidered important as described by Salovey and Mayer (2005) this is theability to reason about emotion and to apply it for enhancing emotionalthinking. It consists of an ability to precisely perceive, access and generateemotional insights to acquire knowledge about the emotions and to regulateand propagate its intellectual growth. In this research article, the meta-analysis of a number of papers has been synthesized on the basis of itsapplicability in the different fields. Moreover, the paper addresses the natureof emotional intelligence, its models and what has been done in the differentfields in terms of its applicability.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Emotional Intelligence Context and Concept
Our perception of the interaction between emotion and cognitionget influenced by a number of cultural factors. For instance, according tothe Greek Stoic idea the ability to rationalize or reason is greater than emotion(Sloman & Croucher, 1981). Contrary to that, the European Sentimentalistmovement holds an impression of the existence of innate, pure emotionalknowledge (Reddy, 2001). For Romantic Movement initiators, the emotionalknowledge can be expressed through art (Wager, Barrett, & Moreau, 2000).To understand the application of emotional intelligence in different fields thispaper discusses the concepts and their interconnection with the differentfield.
2.2 Intelligence
Intelligence is termed as a general ability to learn and equip as perthe environmental needs. It is actually the capacity to fulfill the abstractthought processes (Sternberg, 1982). Moreover, the types of intelligenceare distinguished with respect to the kinds of their operational information(Buckner & Carroll, 2007).
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2.3 Emotions
The philosophical evolutionary theory suggests that emotions aregoverned by the single and motivated response to the particular situation(Darwin & Prodger, 1998). Our emotions express an exclusive set ofrecognized emotional information, which may be communicated throughdistinguished cognitive, affective and proprioceptive communication channels(Izard, 1993).
2.4 Emotional Intelligence Domains
So far, plenty of models of emotional intelligence have beendeveloped, but Goleman's (2001) model is by far the most famous of all.The latest powerful definition of emotional intelligence encapsulates thismodel as: “the abilities to recognize and regulates emotions in ourselvesand in others” (Goleman, 2001). According to this definition, there are fourmajor domains of emotional intelligence, namely: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management. These fourdomains are the core components of the prime variations in emotionalintelligence theories. However, different researchers refer to them differently.For instance, self-awareness and self-management can be categorized as“Intra-personal Intelligence” (Davis, Christodoulou, Seider, & Gardner, 2011).And, socia l awareness and relat ionship management fa l lunder the definition of “Interpersonal Intelligence”. As discussed earlier inthis paper about the Goleman’s domains of emotional intelligence, the aspectof “self-awareness” has a strong association with leadership and managerialproficiencies. He further explains that humans with strong self-awarenesscan be regarded as realistic. These types of people are usually not as muchself-critical, instead of it, they are honest about themselves and others.
“Self-management” is the second domain of emotional intelligenceas defined by Goleman, which he has associated with “self-control,” “optimism,”“transparency” and “adaptability.” Those who have the ability to self-controlwill always be able to manage their disturbing emotions and impulsivedecisions. Even in the highly stressful situation, these people stay calm andclear-headed. Moreover, their optimistic and transparent nature make themgreat leaders and managers.
“Social awareness in the third domain. Its competencies include“empathy,” “organizational awareness” and “service orientation”. The leaderwho can empathize with the group can better understand the unspokenwords and unexpressed emotions. They develop a patience to calmly listenothers perspective on an issue. With the organizational awareness, theleaders can better manage their powerful relationship to foster organization.Moreover, high service orientation helps people to manage the customer-client relationship.
The last domain of Goleman’s model of emotional intelligence is
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“relationship management”. “Inspiration,” “influence” and “conflict management”are its core competencies. For the organizational management “influence”is the most important attribute that a leader should have. The organizationalleaders usually ask others to deliver what they themselves do. This givesrise to the culture of shared vision. Such leaders are the appropriate mentorsfor the staff and they believe in the goals their workforce want to achieveand cultivate their skills in achieving their goals.
2.5 Emotional Intelligence in Marketing
In marketing, emotion management skills are used to determinehow consumers’ responses can be stimulated. In this field, the consumersare usually get motivated through advertisements and promotional campaigns.For that, their responses are better gauged through emotional intelligence(Park, 2013).
2.6 Perceived Emotional Intelligence in Consumer Behavior
From the perspective of human psychology, the influencing natureof human emotions on their behavior has widely been discussed in theliterature (Zajonc, 1985). In a process of understanding the consumerbehavior, the emotional intelligence works as a bridge to compare, assessand motivate the stimuli to stimulate predictive responses.
This mechanism of enabling emotions to work as a motivator fortaking purchase decision is stronger than the traditional approaches thatconsidered consumers as a rational being and cognitive decision makers.From the perspective of emotional theories, the phenomenon of emotionalintelligence may be adopted to elaborate the consumer behavior in thecontext of marketing field (Ashkanasy & Daus, 2002).
2.7 Emotional Intelligence and Brands
As described by Wyer, Sherman, and Stroessner (2000), our memorynetwork has the capacity to store any type of information, ideas and concepts.This information can be in the form of verbal messages, visual images,abstract ideas and contextual processes. Keeping this thing in view, itis marketer’s job to make their brand communication engaging in a way thatit becomes the part of consumers existing set of knowledge and memory.
Due to its abstract nature and quality variance, depending on aparticular group of customers and employees involved in delivering andreceiving the expected service quality, the marketing itself has become anultimate challenge. Therefore, for the service industry in particular, a needfor strong branding has become more important and the emotional route toconnect with the consumer lasted long in their memory.
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2.8 Consumer Decisions through Emotional Intelligence
Despite the growing realization of the importance of emotionalinfluence in decision-making processes (Ruth, 2001), the researchers arestill unable to fully found out the use of emotional intelligence by consumersin their purchase decision making. Consumer emotional intelligence is termedas an individual’s ability to competently utilize emotional insights to obtaindesired consumer responses. It is based on an aptitude to identify a first-order emotional set of skills that assist consumers to identify the purposeof emotional arrangements that drive the decision-making process and tocome with the solutions of the problems based on this aptitude (Salovey,Brackett, & Mayer, 2004).
The irony is, this aptitude-centric conceptualization of emotionalintelligence is rarely found and largely ignored in the marketing researchliterature, however, few researched have been conducted to find out theways individuals use emotions to stimulate responses. In one research, itwas suggested that the existence of emotional information or benefits enabledthe categorical association of experiences with the knowledge, hence, thisemotional insight can be applied to the precise evaluation of the brand eitherin a favorable or unfavorable context (Ruth, 2001). On the other hand, Luce,Payne, and Bettman, (1999) suggested that for consumers, the ability ofemotional trade-off is important, and surely influence the consumer choicestrategy. Therefore, as per their trade-off difficulty model, consumer choicesare influenced by their ultimate objectives and emotional satisfaction. Theseresearchers endorse the role of emotional information in shaping the enhancedquality of consumer decision making.
However, there is a huge gap still exists to measure the level ofconsumer emotional processes. A clear knowledge of emotional insights canadd immense value in encompassing our existing knowledge of consumerbehavior, and how consumer purchase behavior can be influenced byemotional intelligence. Moreover, with the emerging knowledge of emotionalintelligence, we would soon be able to recognize the consumers’ decision-making pattern based on their quality. Based on which, the strategies canbe devised for improving the quality regarding the consumption decisions.
2.9 Emotional Intelligence Affects Consumers as Information
It is evident from the literature that visual and sensory processingof information significantly influences purchase intentions. Feelings areconsidered as a source of knowledge, hence it can be implemented in thedecision making processes (Schwarz, 2006). This is an important domainfor consumer emotional intelligence that is yet to be explored. It has beenobserved that people having a higher degree of emotional intelligence aremore capable of adopting available emotional intelligence, and they applyit more eagerly to their consumption situations.
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Emotional intelligence actually creates a buffer between the consumerbehavior and their ultimate desire to purchase a product. It possibly worksas an incidental tool to regulate consumer’s mood in a particular purchasingsituation. Therefore, the consumers with the better ability to manage andcomprehend their moods in a particular situation where consumption isrequired can become emotionally intelligent to evaluate the fact that theirmood is irrelevant to the current consumption situation, which will benefitthe marketers in the longer run (Pham, 1998).
2.10 Consumers Face Negative Emotions with Emotional Intelligence
In various contexts, the emotional intelligence has a significantimpact on consumer well-being. Further researches have to be done toidentify how improved emotional intelligence can positively influence consumerhealth behaviors. For instance, opting for medical tests for the early detectionof dangerous, but treatable diseases and peoples’ reaction to the detectionof life-threatening illnesses can be improved through propagating emotionalintelligence culture via marketing medical products through emotionaladvertising. Because it is widely believed that individuals having tendencyto overcome their fears may widely opt for these preventive measures. Thistarget a broad area for further research regarding individuals’ tendency tocope with negative emotions. In particular, when they make a decision andanticipate future outcomes (Dowling & Staelin, 1994).
To overcome negative emotion is related to an individual’s ability toeffectively enforce their emotion. Therefore, it is expected that further researchin this domain may examine consumers’ potential to process and useemotional insights which might significantly influence numerous characteristicsof emotional trade-off. Further, it could be further clarified through the researchthat people with higher emotional intelligence would be better aware of theirfeelings before and after making a certain decision, therefore, they wouldbe in a better position to regulate their emotions. As a result, the lessnegatively impacting emotions would definitely be felt toward the trade-off(Poropat, 2009).
Additionally, consumers having low emotional intelligence be likelyto choose or accept the existing situation, the way it is, to further avoid thesetrade-offs and they might go through a high level of negativity and stressfulemotions, because they would have the strong feeling about their inabilityof using emotional intelligence to make the situation better. Hence it cannotbe avoided that, emotional intelligence is the tool through which consumercan better handle their negative emotions.
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2.11 Emotional Intelligence and Consumers Purchase Decision
As confirmed in the literature available on marketing emotionalintelligence, consumers’ product choice is mostly influenced by the degreeof emotional intelligence a consumer possess and their perceiving direction,when it comes to the selection of a product belonging to a particular category(Bearden, Netemeyer, & Teel, 1989).
Nevertheless, a more in-depth investigation is required to furtherinvestigate the triggers that influence emotional intelligence of the consumerto take certain decision related to the product choice or purchase. There arecertain questions that need to be answered, for instance, is there any roleof high and low emotional intelligence in consumers? The consumers whoare unable to manage their emotion, what product attributes appeal to them?And how people with high emotional intelligence spend their money?
Future research may show us how the people with lower emotionalintelligence can overspend and over consume the product and what isutilitarian versus hedonic products are in their existing set of preference.Further research in future should also investigate the actual purchase processthey follow. Moreover, how people with higher emotional intelligence kepttheir loyalty to the brands or are they even loyal or not? However, previousresearchers suggest that consumers with low emotional intelligence tend tobe more loyal to the famous brand in comparison to those of having higheremotional intelligence. But here the main point is, are these consumers moreaware of the risk of any type and want to averse that by consuming a knownproduct or they are just unable to overcome their emotions associated withthe consuming, even though the attributes of the unknown brands are superiorthan the known. And what type of processes influence the brand loyalty ofthe people having high emotional intelligence.(Kidwell, Hardesty, & Childers,2008)
2.12. Emotionally Calibrated Decisions
Growing interest in the emotional perspective involved in consumerself-confidence has urged on the need to examine potential emotionalprejudices involved in consumer decision-making process and their impacton consumer responses. (Bearden, Hardesty, & Rose, 2001). Kidwell et al.,(2008) suggest that consumers’ judgments about the product and serviceare biased on daily basis, which includes several issues, for instance,inaccuracy in taking a decision. This unfortunate that such customers do notreceive feedback for their poor decisions, hence, it becomes their habit. In
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the same way, the consumers who mistakenly believe in their high emotionalprocessing abilities are more disillusioned, because they are unaware of thepotential resides in their emotions when it comes to decision-making process.(Schwarz, 2006) Emotionally attuned consumers have a high confidencelevel, which motives them. Moreover, they also have the ability to drive theemotional process objectively that is why they may be in a better positionof making a quality decision. Consumer biases, which involve emotionalmiscalibration have a strong impact on their responses.
4. METHODOLOGY
Through google scholar search, and accessing online libraries, theplenty of articles have been searched, keeping emotional intelligence andits role in marketing constant. The articles with these keywords were firstdownloaded. The further shortlisting of the articles was done, exclusively onthe basis of the content. The articles depicting any sort of relationshipbetween emotional intelligence and marketing particularly in the abstractwere kept intact. Here, it is important to mention that, to support the definitionand concepts of emotional intelligence a few books and articles withouthaving anything about marketing have also been included in this researchstudy. Approximately 33 articles were further shortlisted. The articles werestudied in a greater detail so that they can be put into a context for furtherdiscussion and elaboration. This study is based on an extensive paperreview, which gives the theoretical perspective on the role of emotionalintelligence in marketing.
6. Themes Emerged
Extensively discussed above, following themes have emerged fromthe article in the process of review:
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Perceived Emotional Intelligence inConsumer Behavior
Emotional Intelligence and Brands
Consumer Dicisions through EmotionalIntelligence
Emotional Intelligence Affects Consumer as
Consumer Face Negative Emotions withEmotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence and ConsumersPurchase Decision
Emotionally Calibrated Decisions
Em
otio
nal I
ntel
ligen
ce in
Mar
ketin
g
5. Discussion And Conclusion
It can be concluded as, the importance of emotional intelligence andits role in the field of marketing is growing with the passage of time (Lassk& Shepherd, 2013). With the advent of contemporary marketing techniques,to break the cluttered communication buzz, the marketers are consideringemotional intelligence as a tool to alter their communication strategy (GladsonNwokah & Ahiauzu, 2009). The themes identified in this study are relatedto perceived emotional intelligence in consumer behavior, role of emotionalintelligence in brand positioning, influence of emotional intelligence onconsumer decision making process, effect of emotional intelligence on theconsumer information, consumers’ ability to face negative emotions throughemotional intelligence, impact of emotional intelligence on consumers’decision-making process and emotionally calibrated decisions.
Emotional Intelligence Themes in Marketing
55
6. IMPLICATIONS
This study will help research scholars to further analyze the role ofemotional intelligence in marketing. The marketers can come up with moreengaging emotional content to connect their brand emotionally with theconsumers. This study will exclusively help marketing managers andadvertisers to understand how they can alter the way consumers think byincorporating emotionally intelligent messages in their brand communication.Further, this research will help them to devise different strategies for emotionallyintelligent and non-intelligent consumers.
7. LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH
This study is limited to the exposer of the few articles and books,due to the time limitation of the course requirement. In future, neuro-marketing,artificial intelligence in the context of emotional intelligence are highlysuggested to be explored.
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Benefiting from World Trade Organization: Pakistan a Casein Point
1Mr. M Fiaz Ansari 2Dr.Bashir Ahmad
Abstract
World Trade Organization (WTO) develops its policy guidelineskeeping in view the global environments whereby they could provide healthybusiness atmosphere to all communities. Since it is competitive businessworld which is working on joint ventures and collaborations, developedcountries have an edge. They enjoy latest knowledge, technologies andskills for pursuing their business. The developing societies like Pakistan feelhandicapped when come in stiff completion which is based on quality, price,packaging and conforming to international and global health standards. Thenwhat to do, abandon it or change the methodology?
This is the basic purpose of this research. Having gone through thepolicy guidelines under WTO and own environments, the paper suggestsrather to get advantage of tough competition and improve quality of ourproducts and services so as to achieve global standards. In the businessworld of today, it is only quality backed by knowledge how to make tradesucceeds. Therefore, instead of giving up or feeing discouraged, it isrecommended to continue improving knowledge and quality to compete andmake own place in the international market.
Keywords: Global Trade - Competitiveness - National Policies
Benefiting from World Trade Organization: Pakistan a Case in Point
Trade and World Trade Organization: What and Why?
Known history of trade by bartering livestock, food and tools datesback to 4000 BC. With the passage of time, increased trade volume resultedinto token system as first form of commodity money (Menger, 1976, Reprint2007). With advances in ship, rail, communication and industrialization,global trade became easier. Capital market emerged providing resourcesbeyond the capacity of an individual for businesses. Though advance ineconomic globalization was disrupted by World Wars, efforts continued byindustrialized world to enhance global trade. Contributions by multinationalcorporations and market oriented economic reforms accelerated economicglobalization by increasing the integration of resources and interdependenceof national, local and regional economies through cross-border free movementof services, goods and capital giving the concept of globalization (Carbaugh,2005). It has now turned out to be a set of processes concerning multiplenetworks of economic, political and cultural interchanges, what we refer toas globalization or world turning into a global entity or village (United Nations1. M. Fiaz Ansari, Air War College, Karachi, [email protected]. Prof. Dr. Bashir Ahmad , Head Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bahria University Karachi Campus, [email protected]
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Development Policy and Analysis, 2015).
This situation created a global competition whereby nations startedto protect their local industry through economic policies, trade barriers andimmigration caps thus slowing down global trade growth. The situationobliged the industrialized world to free global trade through bilateral andmulti-lateral trade agreements, deregulating rules and removing tariff barriers.It led to the emergence of global economic institutions like InternationalTrade Organization, General Agreement on Trade and Tariff and World TradeOrganization(WTO) to promote economic globalization by removing tradebarriers and integrating economies through trade and financial flows. It isonly through trade that societies have developed by sharing expertise,knowledge and commodities (Joshi, 2009).The present day fast pacedeconomic developments are the outcome of such efforts by theindustrializednations, though interrupted by vested interests and politicaladversities.
WTO: What and What for?
General Agreement on Trade and Tariff (GATT) was a multilateralagreement signed by 23 nations in Geneva in 1947 and took effect onJanuary 1, 1948. Its purpose was to reduce tariff, trade barriers and removepreferences by regulating international trade for mutual benefits of societies.Theoriginal GATT text is still in WTO framework subject to alterations of GATT1994 (britannica.com/topic/General-Agreement-On-Tariffs-and-Trade, 2015).GATT performed well but it was applicable only on goods excluding tradein services, intellectual property rights and agriculture products which werenegotiated amongst its members through various rounds of talks and settled.It was merely multilateral agreements with no institutional foundation anddispute resolution mechanism (Joshi, 2009). Contrarily, the requirement wasto have a permanent institutional base with secretariat and permanentcommitment. Therefore, creation of a new body became principal objectiveof GATT Round 1986 to 1994. A draft for WTO was approved at MinisterialConference held at Marrakech in July 1994. Under the terms of ‘Final Act,GATT was replaced by WTO on 1 January 1995 (World-Trade-Organization-WTO, 2015), with its main functions as given below in point form (Joshi,2009).
• WTO shall facilitate Multilateral Trade Agreements and shall alsoprovide frame-work for implementation, administration and operation ofmultifaceted trade agreements. • The organization shall provide a forum for negotiations amongstconcerning members for their multilateral trade relations under this Agreement.
• WTO shall govern understanding on rules and procedures leadingthe settlement of disputes. • It shall administer trade policy review mechanism. With a view toachieve greater consistency in global economic policy making, it shall .
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cooperate with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), International Bankfor Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and its agencies in affiliation
Fundamentally and wishfully, WTO aimed at improving living standardsof people of themember countries through increasing production and tradeof goods, ensuring optimum utilization of world resources, protecting globalenvironment, accepting sustainable development, promoting world trade ina manner that benefits every country and ensuring that developing countriessecure a better balance in the sharing of advantages resulting from expansionof international trade. It also included fostering economic growth, enhancingcompetitiveness among all trading partners, helping in global integration andincreasing productivity to improve level of employment in the world. Theagreement’s establishing WTO states that members should conduct theirtrade and economic relations with a view to improve living standard of thepeople (World-Trade-Organization-WTO, 2015). It is based in Geneva,Switzerland along with its Secretariat and headed by a Director General. Itstop level decision-making body is Ministerial Conference which is helped byGeneral Council comprising ambassadors / delegations from membercountries. Besides various councils, numerous specialized committees,working groups and parties deal with trade agreements (World TradeOrganization, Information and Media Relations Division, Geneva Switzerland,2003). WTO organizational chart and main bodies are attached asAppendageA. WTO has 161 members as on 26 January, 2016. GATT isWTO’s principal rule-book for trade in goods while ithas created new rulesfor trade in services, intellectual property, dispute settlement and trade policyreviews. WTO agreements bind members to reduce their tariffs as per ratesbefore 1994 through multilateral negotiations and not to increase them morethan bound rates (committed rate). All countries are to be given most favorednation status without discrimination.
The Uruguay Round of talks reduced agricultural trade distortionsby declaring agricultural products equal to industrial products and slashedall subsidies, quota restrictions and more tariffs which were permitted underGATT (Carbaugh, 2008). All tariffs were to be cut to 36% in 6 years fordeveloped countries and up to 24% in 10 years for developing countriescommencing in 1995. Insurance firms, banks, tour operators,telecommunication companies, transport companies and hotel chains werelooking to do business abroad can now appreciate the same principles offairer and freer trade that applied to trade in goods originally. These doctrinesappear in the new General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS). Membersof WTO have to make specific commitments identifying service sector,guarantees market access along with conditions or limitations if any. Theintellectual property agreement of WTO is a rule for investment trade/ increativity and ideas. The rules explain how trademarks, copyrights, ,geographical names ,patents used to identify, industrial designs, products,integrated circuit layout-designs and undisclosed information such as tradesecrets ‘intellectual property should be secured when trade is involved.
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Countries can bring disputes to WTO if their rights are infringed. Judgmentsby specially-appointed independent experts are based on interpretations ofagreements and individual countries’ commitments. It encourages countriesto settle their differences through consultation. Failing, they can follow acarefully mapped out, stage-by-stage procedure that includes possibility ofa ruling by a panel of experts and chance to appeal the ruling on legalgrounds.
Pakistan in WTO between Compliance and Constraints
Pakistan joined WTO on its inception in 1995. Subsequently, Pakistantookall possible steps as per its bindings and carried out structuralreformsincluding liberalization of trade and economy. By taking necessaryreform initiatives, Pakistan succeeded in growing economic activities in thecountry. WTO’s main clauses require all parties to sign accession agreementsand ratify them as binding for compliance. To fulfill this condition, Pakistancompleted the legal process through an act of the parliament and ratified itwithin three months. The confirmation was communicated to WTO Secretariatmaking Pakistan a full member.During WTO’s Bali Ministerial Conferenceof December 2013, 161 members concluded negotiations on Trade FreeAgreements (TFA). Pakistan became 51st member and first from South Asiato ratify TFA on 26 October 2015. Pakistan’s ambassador presented Pakistan’sinstrument of acceptance to Director-General WTO Roberto Azevedo on 27October 2015 (Government of Pakistan, Bureau of Statistics, May 2015).The TFA comes into practice once accepted by two-third of WTO members.Once fully materialized, it would increase exports up to 22%, creating 18million jobs in developing countries. It main provisions include expeditingthe movement, release and clearance of goods and cooperation on complianceissues. It further contains provisions for technical assistance and capacitybuilding in countries having inadequate expertise.
WTO agreements also required members’ central governmentstandardization bodies to accept and comply Code of Good Practices forpreparation, adoption and application of standards. Pakistan Standards andQuality Control Authority accepted this code and enquiry points have beennotified.It demanded removal of restrictions on foreign investment by year2000. Subsequently, Pakistan made requisite laws and complied withregulations within stipulated time frame. Resultantly, Patents Ordinance-2000 was formulated protecting products for 20 years. Intellectual PropertyOrganization of Pakistan (IPO-Pakistan) was established on 8th April2005under Cabinet Division for efficient intellectual property management.The Trade Marks Registry, Copyright Office and Patent & Design Office wereintegrated. Legislation of Trademark Ordinance-2001catered for domesticand international obligations protecting interest of trademark owners andprovidingthem legal framework.Pakistan has notified Ministry for Food,Agriculture and Livestock and their relevant departments accordingly(Economic Survey of Pakistan, 2014/2015). Pakistan has been followingpolicy of deregulation under WTO. Deregulation and liberalization of telecom
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sector has increased choicesat competitive and affordable rates. OverallPakistan has maintained an effective and well-defined regulatory regimeconsistent with international practices by deregulating various sectors ofeconomy.
Pakistan is an agrarian country. Its industrial setup, major exportsand foreign exchange earnings come from agricultural sector. One of themajor industries i.e. textile is also agriculture based and shares 20.9% toGDP generating 65% exports. Pakistan traditionally enjoys competitivenessin agriculture sector due to availability of raw material and cheap labor (Aziz,2009). Under WTO, Pakistanliberalized economy and reduced tariffs onimports which increased its quantum. On the contrary, envisaged benefitsin agriculture, textile and services sectors have not been observed asenvisaged. It is also worth mentioning that certain steps were required byPakistan to prepare local industry in line with global competition, transparency,improved management and standardization. This has not happened resultinginto overall low revenues vis-à-vis exports and ever expanding currentaccount deficit. Pakistan’s economy is under pressure compelling theGovernment to impose direct taxes to compensate revenue shortfalls furtherdeteriorating plight of capital.Itwas expected that by following WTO policies,in global trade Pakistan would face no restriction, quotasor barriers.Consequently, Pakistan’s major exports would receive a significant boost.Asthe tariffs were being applied twice by exporting and importing states, it wasexpected that tariffs would reduce both by importers as well as by exportersgiving a double benefit to trade.Accordingly,Pakistani exports will get anoverall advantage. Moreover, after Agreement on Textile and Clothing, it wascalculated that Pakistan’s textile exports will increase by 48.8 percent to EU,82 percent to US and 89.9 percent to Canada from 1995 to 2005 (Governmentof Pakistan, Bureau of Statistics, June 2015). In case of clothing, Pakistan’sexports were expected to grow up to 70.8 percent to EU, 87.7 percent toUS and 82.6 percent to Canada.However, none has been achieved in itsentirety.
The spirit of WTO regime was free trade without quotas, restrictionsand subsidies giving an edge in agriculture, textile, fabric and leather sectorsto developing countries like Pakistan. However, the developed countriesmade this edge ineffective by imposing additional taxes, subsidies, anti-dumping duties and various quotas. Though these restrictions are beinglitigated in Dispute Settlement Committees, but progress is slow. Both UnitedStates and European Union are giving annual farm subsidies up to US $ 20and €39 billion respectively at the cost of developing countries contrary toWTO regime by exploiting loopholes. Though Pakistani exports have increasedmoderately as indicated below but far less than expected. The textile exportsincreased to US $13.1, 14.5 and 13.476billion during 2012 to 2014-15respectively but far lower than expected (Economic Survey of Pakistan2014/2015). On the contrary, imports have increased exponentially duringthe same regime which has put the national economy under tremendouspressure.
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It is worth mentioning that WTO required standards in food, agriculturalproducts and plants which have been exploitable and acted as non-tariffbarriers for developing countries.The developed countries employpublicstandards to restrict agricultural and food imports to protect domestic farmersand food companies proving argument of ‘standards as protection in disguise’.On the other hand, compliance to quality standards under WTO requireshuge investments to upgrade infrastructure, institutional, technical andscientific capacity for food quality and safety management which is beyondthe financial capacity of developing countries like Pakistan. After phasingout of Multi FiberAgreement in 1995, textile trade increaseddue to removalof quota regime making Pakistan second-largest exporter of combed cottonyarn to United States. Seeing this scenario, United States imposed quotaagain on Pakistan. Then Pakistan sued the casein WTO dispute settlementmechanismand won it on 16 August 2001. Thoughrestrictions were removedin November 2001 after about 5 yearsbut Pakistan faced quotasrestrictionsduring litigation period.
Similarly, under WTO ‘PatentCertification’ of all products based onDNA testing and geographical indications is required which has becomeproblem for Pakistan. Inadequacies in analytical and human resource capacity,coupled with financial limitations, developing countries such as Pakistanface difficulties in meeting these requirements.WTO has no mechanism toenforce laws on member states ifrequired.It is a significant weakness in theorganization which is exploited by the developed world against interests ofdeveloping countries. Thedeveloped countries impose significant politicaland diplomatic influence over weaker states to get their votes in crucialnegotiations and get decisions in their favor.Despite the inflated claims bykey players since the inception of trade liberalization, trade distortions andrestrictions continue in one form or the other.Countriesseek ‘Free TradeAgreements’ to increase market access for exports and to enhancecompetitiveness. Pakistan Business Council’s analysis concludes thatPakistan has failed to negotiate favorable terms for its exports whilenegotiating‘Free Trade Agreement’ (FTAs) with China, Malaysia and Indonesia(Asian Development Bank, Pakistan Trade, 2015). Exponential increase in
Growth in Pakistan textile exports (US $ Millions)(http://globalfarmer.com.au/2014/06/farming-future-hands)
14,000
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
OthersCottonYarnLinensClothGarments
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
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Imports, Exports and Trade Balance in millions of $ US(Ministry of Finance Economic Survey available at )
http://tribune.com.pk/story/604636/rising-imports-stagnant-exports-sign-of-structurally-
weak-economy
This tremendous increase in trade deficit is being adjusted by heavy publicand foreign borrowings increasing public debt as shown below. Currentlythe highest liability of our national budget is foreign debt repayment puttingheavy toll on the national economy and resulting in inflation, unemployment,economic instability and public unrest.
Pakistan’s Foreign Debt in Millions of $ US(http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/07/17/business
/pakistans-trade-deficit-widens-to-22b-in-fy15)
imports versus modest increase in exports has resulted into ever increasingbudget deficit. The figure below reflects year wise imports, exports in horizontalline while amount in millions of US $ on vertical line. The gap betweenimports and exports represents the trade deficit which remained under controltill 2003-4, but has expanded dangerously afterwards post joining WTO.
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Pakistan’s Population on Poverty Line in Millions(http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/14-Jun-2014
/rising-poverty-in-pakistan)
Poverty is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan as every third Pakistanilives below or at poverty line, there are many reasons for that, trade difficultiesare the major contributors. Accordingly, to a study about 59 million populationof this country subsist below poverty line i.e. 2 US $ a day. According toWorld Bank report (World Development Indicators 2011), 21 percent Pakistanislive below $ 1.25 per day and a larger numbers live under two dollars a day.The reasons for lagging behind in development and fighting poverty areinternal and external economic challenges comprising less revenues, moreexpenditures, ever increasing public debt, high inflation and natural disasters.The main issue is limited exports and unchecked imports. This results intolow economic growth, wide spreadunemployment resulting in radicalism,intolerance and extremismin the society. Details of overall poverty situationin Pakistan over the years is shown below.
Then What to Do? Let us be Realistic
Need Based and Business Centered Compliance to WTO:
Pakistan has taken all necessary steps for compliance to WTO whichincludes putting in place regulations, liberalization process and smootheningup of trade policies. Yet she has not been able to reap the benefits of WTO’spolicies. The deteriorating situation warrants a reality check. The fact remainsthat powerful nations control WTO who have economic influence overdeveloping countries. Therefore, these states exploit the system in theirfavor and get favorable decisions and delay or expedite processes as pertheir requirements. You see this is part of world politics which is full ofregional, racial and religious prejudices. It has been part of human historyand no manmade mechanism can undo it. Every nation aspires for its ownbenefits and to gain the optimum for the people. Abiding by the human valuesand ethics is morality. Businesses do not recognize morality in trading; itopts for maximum profits. So what are options left to Pakistan with respect
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to WTO which is based on certain tangible laws and policies? Laws aremade on tangibles not based on spiritual and unquantifiable moralities.Pakistan cannot bring in new legislation into WTO. So the only option is tolook for enhancing trade to the optimum while remaining within the system.WTO’s compliance should be based on prior planning for economic gainsonly. As there are no fix rules in business, there should be no fixation incompliance to WTO. That is possible when Pakistan has its own businesspolicy based on a single factor i.e. market competitiveness. While turningto reality check, the first policy point, the Pakistan business must understandis getting rid of expectations from other nations. Businesses recognize onlythe language of profits and losses. We need to be selective towards complianceof WTO’s guidelines. The focal point of our trade policy should be maximizationof trade and within that compliance of WTO policies.
Make Economic Policy Pivotal to all other Policies:
Economy is always influenced by politics which remains the focalpoint of all human activities. Balanced political system and activities insidethe country provide internal cohesion, development of peaceful society andlaw abiding citizens. The kind of environments created therein encourageeconomic activities and businesses which reciprocate to strengthening peaceand further developments. Similarly, political posturing with the outside worldcreate business environments for mutual benefits. In Pakistan’s case thepolicies are standalone activities of various ministries developed throughthe syndrome of tunnel visions. Contrarily in the modern business world,economic policy is pivotal to all others. It is like your foreign policy, defensepolicy, media policy, ideology and diplomacy all should converge on economics.Pakistan with a strong defense posturing and sizeable market of about 200million people should develop policies converging on economics that wouldmake its place under WTO more sustainable. Lawand order situation prevalentin a country is byproduct of economic prosperity which is derivative ofbusinesses of goods and services.Therefore, convergence of national policieson economics is the fundamental requirement of prevailing environments inPakistan.
Manufacturing of Multi Quality Products:
No country can run a successful business without manufacturing.Multi quality products cover market diversity according to purchasing powerof the customers. This is what Chinese are doing in manufacturing; theyhave different standards for developed and developing countries. Pakistanneed to adopt an effective segmentation strategy for marketing such goodsand services. However, that is possible when we achieve uninterruptedpower supply assurance which is essential fuel for industries. Power outagesand breakdowns have negative impacts on manufacturing in Pakistan forthe last about a decade. According to a survey in 2011, out of 2000 factoriesin Punjab, 800 factories had been closedlosing 4.1 million jobs.Our cost ofproduction has soared too high to compete in the world. On the average,
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per unit electricity cost in Pakistan has increased from Rs. 12 in 2010 to Rs.18 in 2013 as shown in the table below exponentially increasing cost ofproduction. Interrupted power supply has two adverse impacts onmanufacturing. One, it negates diversity in manufacturing; you cannot thinkof experimenting for multi-quality products rather focus on essentials only.Secondly, when interruptions are less your productions increase so youcomplete the orders before time and then have idle time. When interruptionsare more, productions decrease, then you fall short of meeting timeline oforders; consequently, you at loss of market credibility
Year wise electricity cost in Pakistan(Doing Business 2016-Economy Profile-Pakistan available at
/Reports/Subnational-Reports/~/media/giawb/doing%20business/documents/profiles/country/PAK)
Legal Hiccups in Setting Business:
The extent of difficulty of doing business in Pakistan can be imaginedby the fact that 40 regulatory bodies have to be consulted to open businessin Pakistan and a businessman has to get ‘No Objection Certificate’ from 20different agencies. It takes many months or at times more than year tocomplete formalities, whereas in Singapore, you can start business within6 days through one window operation.As per‘Economist Intelligence Unit’inbusiness environment rankings,Pakistan ranked 74 out of 82 assessedcountries in 2014/2015. Business environment in Pakistan has gone extremelybad in last 10 years on the pretext of security dilemmas. Here investors whostart their business in less than eighteen months are considered lucky. Theyalso have to live up with administrative procedures taking up about fifteen
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per cent of their revenues. Therefore, the overall standing of Pakistan indoing business is not good. As per World Bank Report of 2016, Pakistan isranked 138 amongst 189 countries shown in the comparative graph below.
China (Rank 84)
India ( Rank 130)
Egypt, Arab Rep. (Bank 131)
Regional Average (South Asia)
Pakistan (Rank 138)
Bangladesh (Rank 174)
62.93
54.68
54.43
53.71
51.69
43.1
Overall Ranking in Doing Business in Pakistan
(Doing Business 2016-Economy Profile-Pakistanavailable at /Reports/Subnational-Reports/~/media/giawb/doing%
20business/documents/profiles/country/PAK)
Ranking in Starting Business in Pakistan(Doing Business 2016-Economy Profile-Pakistan available at
/Reports/Subnational-Reports/~/media/giawb/doing%20business/documents/profiles/country/PAK)
Business environment includes all internal and external factorsaffecting a company’s functions, employees, customers, supply and demand,sense of security, competition, technology, laws, market, social and trends.In nutshell, it means ease to do business. Pakistan definitely requires tosimplify business procedures, make long lasting rules, improve securitysituation and make fair taxation system to create conducive businessenvironment.
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Focusing on Strong Points:
Pakistan’s economy is predominantly based on agriculture andtextiles.Overall 66.7% population is directly or indirectly depending onagriculture sector which contributes 21.09% to GDP and employs 45% oflabor force. Agriculture being backward adversely affects the entire economy.There is a need to rejuvenate this sector and diversify industrial sector andexports and in turn the entire national economy. Pakistan is at 6th numberamongst most populous nations. This huge source of manpower needs skillto multiply the outputs starting from agriculture to industries. Lack of skillsturns large segment of the society into a source of deprivation, frustrationand radicalization which creates law and order situation.With multiplied skills,the society can achieve tremendous diversification in manufacturing andservices. This is possible when Trade Development Authority of Pakistanreduces the distance with corporate sector / business community.
Proposed Model of Trade for Pakistan
Keeping in view the preceding discussion, a proposed model fordeveloping trade is given on the next page below. It main focus is to reducethe gap between imports and exports and that is possible only when wehave balance trade. Other national policies especially the political alliancesand defense policy of the country should be developed with economics andtrade in view. This is one thinking process, there can be many variants tothat, the bottom line remains survival of developing nations within globalpolicies. Progress and development in isolation is not possible under thegiven environments. Instead of changing others, let us appraise to changeourselves in economics and trade. All our educational pursuits would requireto be aligned in the same direction.
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§ Long-term Marketing§ Joint Ventures§ Knowledge Sharing§ Communication Policy§ Research, Innovations Commercialization
§ Foreign Policy§ Defense Policy§ Political Alliances§ Industrial Relations§ Culture / Arts Policy§ Diplomacy
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Organizational Structure of WTO
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Refrences
Joshi, R. M. (2009). International business. OUP Catalogue.Menger, C. (2007). Principles of Economics,(trans.) James Dingwalland Bert F. Hoselitz. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
Carbaugh, R. (2005). International Economics, 10th. Edition, United Statesof Amerika, Thomson South-Western Harvard Business Reviews, 2015-2016.
World Trade Organization, World Trade Organization. Information, & MediaRelations Division. (1995). Trading Into the Future: WTO, the WorldTrade Organization. The Organization.
Fatima, M. (2001). Imperatives of Globalization: Implications for Pakistan. Area Study Centre for Europe, University of Karachi.The Pakistan Development Review, Part-II, 1998, Dr. Zafar Mahmood.
Doing Business 2016, Economy Profile 2016-Pakistan – A World Bank Group Flagship Report. Wall Street Journal dated 12 July, 2015.
Zaheer, F. (2013).Reaching highs: Textile exports rebound strongly in 2013.Retrieved From:http://tribune.com.pk/story/651963/reaching-highs-textile-exports- rebound-strongly-in-2013
Khan, Z. M. (2015).Value-added textile export rise to $4.5bn. Retrieved from http://www.dawn.com/news/1196773.
Staff Report. (2015). Pakistan’s trade deficit widens to $22b FY15. Retrievedfrom http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2015/07/17/business/pakistans-trade- deficit-widens-to-22b-in-fy15.
Haq, R.(2013). Pakistan must renegotiate IPP contacts to solve Electricity Crisis. Retrieved from http://southasiainvestor.blogspot.com/2013/05/pakistan-must- renegotiate-ipp-contracts.html.
Sartaz Aziz, Conference Papers, Agriculture Industry in Pakistan, NDU, Islamabad
1Afsheen Tanvir, 2Dr.Rafique Ahmed Khan
Impact Of E-Recruitment On Satisfaction OfJob Seekers Of A Public Sector University
ABSTRACTThe purpose of this research paper was to identify the impact of e-
recruitment on satisfaction of job seekers of a Public sector University atKarachi . As old recruitment methods are considered less effective due tohuge financial resources required for new hiring, both candidates andorganizations are availing Internet sources for the same. This paper evaluatesthe advantages of e-recruitment which ultimately attract job seekers to followthis latest technique. Deductive approach was adopted whereby hypotheseswere formulated followed by collection of primary quantitative data, with thehelp of adopted questionnaire, from a sample of 300 job holder students(both male & female) studying in the evening and weekend programsbelonging to the management sciences department of a Public sectorUniversity at Karachi. For analyzing data, Correlation and Regression testswere applied. The findings have shown that there is no significant impact ofefficiency on job seeker’s satisfaction, whereas easy access, availability ofwidespread information and process fairness have significant impact onsatisfaction of job seekers. The study is considered quite beneficial for thejob seekers belonging to other organizations for determining effectivenessof their e-recruitment facilities. Potential employers may also benefit fromthe findings of this paper.
Keywords: E-recruitment, Technology, Job seekers, Efficiency, User-friendliness, Benefits, Job seeker Satisfaction
1. INTRODUCTION
Gone are the days when e-recruitment was assumed as a specialfield of technology. In the present era characterized by fast paced innovationand cut-throat competition, e-recruitment has gained tremendous popularitybecause of which many organizations are adopting it (Tong and Sivanad,2005). Many employers and recruiters now depend on job portals as a mainsource of acquiring qualified candidates. There has been a standard shift inthe methods companies hire the workforce, pay thanks to the user-friendliness, efficiency and easy access of today's social networking sites andinternet diffusion levels when it moves toward professional movement andthe search for potential job seeker with the passion of growing regionaleconomies (Dhamija, 2012). E-recruitment can access a greater pool oftalented job seekers and simplify the selection procedure. The electronicadvancement of an organization is an appropriate location to work, with the
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1, Afsheen Tanvir, MBA Student at Bahria University, Karachi Campus([email protected]) 2,Dr Rafique Ahmed Khan, Senior AssociatePro fesso r, MS Depar tmen t , Bah r ia Un ive rs i t y, Ka rach iCampus([email protected])
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help of the corporate website. E-recruitment databases and structuresareaccessible as separate appl icat ions, product sets andservices.(Ramaabaanu & Saranya,2014) Online recruitment is the methodwherein the online employment websites such as Rozee, Brightspyre,Bayrozgar, Mustakbil, Monsters etc. are used for evaluating, meeting andrecruiting workforce . The internet has altered the perceptions of recruitersas well as job seekers & also has enhanced the pace of the recruitmentprocess. In the contemporary world, E-recruitment process is essential forboth job seekers as well as recruiters. Internet grabs a greater number ofpotential job seekers, responds them and provides quick feedback.. ElectronicRecruitment has made the job much easy for both the companies and thejob seekers and the entire credit goes to the Software developers, ITProfessionals, Internet providers, Computer manufacturers and many otherpeople who are working for the widespread use of digital gadgetry. E-Recruitment is an easiest and convincing way to hire people from any partof the world; it promotes opportunity and helps organizations in globalrecognition.(Jain & Goyal, 2014).
Today, both job seekers and recruiters are inclining towards WorldWide Webs and manual procedures are being replaced by computers. E-recruitment has brought fast advancement of websites where employers areable to publicize job vacancies and applicants can transmit the CVselectronically through e-mail. Recruiters have formed social networkingwebsites to stimulate their hiring process . Internet also offers a resource fordirect correspondence among job seekers and recruiters. With the help ofe-mail and electronic application databases, the requirement of old recruitmentmethods has reduced drastically(Ford,2012). As we have stepped in the 21stcentury, we need to cope up with the ongoing developments, if we want toexcel and progress in our career. Recruitment facilities are being utilizedonline for filtering and web-based recruiting purposes.. Indeed, the adventof the Internet and assessment instruments has fundamentally transformedthe job seeker selection procedure and will carry on this system in the futuretoo. E-recruitment can thus be perceived as an umbrella term coveringrecruitment activities performed using various electronic means and theInternet (Holm,2010).
Job seekers are facing problems in getting their jobs due to a manualrecruitment system in organizations as it takes more effort, space & time tokeep records of applicants’ CVs, to screen, sort, select and secure them.Dueto time shortage & rush of paper work mostly potential candidates are ignoredby recruiters. Moreover, manual recruitment systems pressurize people tobe authentic in all details of their work at all times. In manual systems thelevel of service is dependent on individuals and this puts a requirement onmanagement to keep employees motivated and to ensure they are followingthe correct procedures. The e-recruitment methods and systems have helpedto reduce much of the routine administrative tasks involved in traditionalrecruitment.(Dhamija,2012) Through this paper, an effort was made to findout the impact of e-recruitment on the satisfaction of a job seekers of BahriaUniversity Karachi Campus. Following objectives were set for this research
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· To determine the impact of easy access to job seeker satisfaction.· To identify the impact of efficiency on job seeker satisfaction.· To find the impact of availability of widespread information on job seeker satisfaction.· To examine the impact of process fairness on job seeker satisfaction.
2. Literature Review
Nearly all the successful organizations wish to retain a competitiveedge in the business with the help of their human resource. In the long run,retaining potential candidate is the desire of employers. Similarly, Jobseeker’s satisfaction at workplace is mandatory for fulfilling their obligations.Employee satisfaction is one of the core feature of Human ResourceManagement. Organizations have to prove that job seeker satisfaction istheir first priority as it is necessary for excellent output. Satisfied employeescan assist the organization in attaining its objectives. Many research studiesdepict that employee satisfaction emerges from employee motivation,employee goal achievement and positive employee morale in the workstation.Satisfied employees are considered much more dedicated who help inachieving the customer trust and learning new skills.(Sagheer, Rafat &Agarwal,2012)
Job contentment is influenced by these variables such as type ofjob, salary, promotion, office environment and organization’s culture. Employeesatisfaction is related to motivation, job participation, organizational socialresponsibility, organizational assurance, life happiness, psychological strengthand job performance (Sharma,2014. Organizational productivity and successis dependent on employee satisfaction and essential for worker’s physicaland socio-emotional desires. Besides, for employee contentment, it isnecessary to create a positive & social workplace environment whereemployee is provided autonomy, safety and mutual trust (Sagar,2012)
2.1. E-Recruitment
Today, internet has revolutionized the entire system of recruitment& made lives easier of both recruiter and job seeker. The E-recruitmentsystem has performed a significant role with the help of modern technologicalgadgets e.g. websites, e-mails, online interviews, online Ads and posts,online sending CVs. Currently, e-recruitment is being implemented by manyorganizations for creating an advanced & competitive organization with theassistance of potential employees (Jain & Goyal, 2014). Most of the candidatesfind their jobs on internet. Social media also assist job seekers in seekingjobs. Therefore, most organizations develop their own website to searchapplicants by e-recruitment as it’s not a time taking process.(Ahmad &Lodhi,2015) Furthermore, some company’s career websites facilitate jobseekers by allowing them to generate a personal account with the help ofan e-mail address and a password and provide appropriate information inan online application form, which would be helpful to the employers for
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inspection & scrutiny purposes (Chohan,2013).
Most scholars revealed that recruitment is a two-way procedure.Where employers concentrate on finding capable job seeker, and candidates try to identify the suitable job. The talent to fascinate and hold talentedapplicants can sustain competitive advantage for organizations.(Freed &Kinange,2016) Recruitment is recognized as an essential element for theorganizations as it helps in achieving a strategic goal of organization &emphasizes on induction of talented job seekers to sustain competitiveadvantage. If job seekers observe that an organization supports its staff,they indeed try to acquire that job and stay loyal to the organization oncethey are hired. Hiring applicants with the potential capabilities & skills helpsin encouraging organizational objectives.(Ghazzawei & Accounmeh,2014)
Effective utilization of IT assists to connect people and fill informationgaps in the labor market. E-recruitment could surely help by matching jobsoffered and jobs sought in a more efficient manner. At the same time,attracting & retaining talent has become one of the top priorities of HRManagers. Recruiting talent is one of the most important objectives in today’scompetitive employment environment. Companies are looking to hire high-quality people quickly and cost effectively. To be a successful in its industryand to maintain the position, recruitment of high caliber staff is fundamental.Many employers now aren't limited to attract candidates from their owncountry rather they can approach the qualified candidates all over the world.The same holds true for job seekers. The widespread use of the internettoday has meant that advertising for candidates has become cheaper whileat the same time appealing to the wider audience. This is the main causeof e-recruitment gaining popularity within a short time span.(Kaur,2015)
2.2 Role of Social Networking Sites/Social Media in E-recruitment
Social networking websites are also performing an important rolein the employment sector and also accommodating hiring process with thehelp of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and etc. Job publicizing is convenientand 24 hours accessible over the internet and now applicants use this postround the clock and do not wait for Sunday newspapers.This is a digital eraand the most widespread site for employers and job seekers is LinkedIn asjob seekers tell their details and also transmit their CV and company seeksthe suitable applicant. Youngsters have positive views about e-recruitment,so companies publicize the job openings over internet as it is easy for jobseeker to seek the employment with the help ofthe job portals. In this manner,talented applicant are hired by the companies on the basis of e-recruitment.The applicant can simply distinguish among jobs & organizations andemployers gets the potential & skilled applicant (Ahmad & Lodhi, 2015).
Communication with job seekersacross different cultures maybecome problematic for employers. As such social networking websitesassist employers in quick correspondence with applicants. If any problem
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arises so managers can communicate & transmit information with the helpof social networking websites to their employees for quick assistance(Chauhan,2013). It indicates that e-recruitment and use of social media isset to grow significantly in the coming years. The internet is being used foradvertising and facilitating the application process. The organization canalso use internet- based systems to track and manage candidate'sapplication,which provide significant benefits in terms of efficiency, cost and capabilityto monitor on recruitment activities (Sharma, 2014).
2.3 Trends in E - Recruitment
The most recent revolution is the resume scanner that many jobportals provide the companies to assist them in filtering and selecting theresumes of suitable applicants. There is clear proof that organizations tarequickly adopting the Internet and World Wide Web for hiring job seekers.Ramaabaanu & Saranya, (2014) conducted a study of around 50 organizationsutilizing e-recruitment procedures; they highlighted that following are thecauses for shift ing from old-style methods to e-recruitment.· Web presence and usage of the Internet to develop corporate
reputation· Reduces hiring costs· Minimizes paper work and organizational load.· Helps in quick identification of required talent.· Helps in adoption of social networking websites (Facebook, LinkedIn).
To fascinate jobseekers the recruiter must develop skills to accessjob seekers by developing profiles on social networking websites such asFacebook and LinkedIn and publicize job openings with the help of variouse-recruitment associations to acquire the talent (Alsultanny and Alotaibi,2015).
2.4 Components of E-Recruitment
After extensive review of various past research studies, followingcommon components of e-recruitment have emerged which are brieflydiscussed inensuing paragraphs (Jain & Goyal, 2014):
• Easy access (User-friendliness)• Efficiency• Availability of widespread information• Process Fairness
2.5. Easy Access
Easy access to relevant online portals & comfort in navigation is also asignificant factor that creates a greater impression on job seekers. Becausethey get tired quickly when websites are complex and unresponsive tonavigate therefore it ruins the image of organization and also influence job
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seekers’ behaviors. At present, there is no need for IT expert toperformrecruitment over the internet. In short, it is quite simple as comparedto old recruitment procedures. Moreover, to advertise job openings, applyfor a job openings and organize interviews with the help of internet hasbecome quite easier. A recruiter requires job description, internet connectionand the time to perform the recruitment process online. For applicants, manyjob boards are user friendly and helpful in searching through the job openingsads. Job seekers can now apply for job opening while sitting in their homesor offices with the help of a smartphone and results are quick.(Ahmad &Lodhi) The Internet makes access possible from all places & ceases allgeographical limits .This permits employers to fascinate potential job seekersglobally and does not limit job seekers from visiting job advertisements inother regions. The Internet also offers a resource of instant correspondencebetween job seekers and recruiters. By email and online application databases,the requirement for previous applications has practically terminated. Manyfiltration devices have been developed for effective filtration of job seekers.Responses to interview applications or rejection of the job seekers’ applicationcan be transmitted on the same day, removes the anxiety of theapplicants.(Warbrton,2016).
2.6 Efficiency
Efficiency is another main factor of job seekers’ contentment withthe help of e-recruitment. It provided instant feedback and does not hurtjob seekers’ contentment as compared to traditional hiring methods. Applicantstake advantage enormously from the widespread scope they acquire withthe help of social networking sites. By uploading CVs online they can beapproached by recruiters for further details. With the help of e-recruitmentjob seekers look for job openings 24/7 & they can attain jobs & recruiterson these available career sites. Moreover, applicants can posttheir CVs on social networking sites & their CV can be seen directly. Whilenewspaper process is time-taking & creates confusion due to misprinting.Hence e-recruitment performs & manages tasks quickly , systematically &economically and also saves both job seekers & recruiters from undesiredhassle.(Swan,2015)
One more advantage of using e-recruitment is that recruitingmanagers do not need to wait for a month to hire the right person for thevacancy. Employers can provide complete information on website whichassists them to attract applicants, collect applications online, conduct onlineinterview and recruit the suitable applicants for the job. Hence, e-recruitmenthas proven itself time efficient as the internet never naps and quicklyresponds .Various innovative e-recruitment tools assures that the efficiencyof this process will expand further. Various activities such as quizzes,assessment tests, talent-based appraisals and other techniques can beperformed for applicants on the Internet. In this manner, it will save employers’efforts and cost by executing the managerial part online with the help ofinternet (Stone, Lukaszewski, & Isenhour,2005).
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2.7 Availability of Widespread Information
The responses from job seekers towards e-recruitment indicatesthat job seekers who apply for a job opening through internet have positiveviews. The cause is that job seekers can have a look at the vast volume ofjob vacancies on social networking websites and it provides worthy information.Applicant can find various jobs on internet & look for best alternate for them.In this way, job seekers can identify those jobs which have not been publicizedbefore and then to apply for suitable ones without any delay or problem.Attaching CV online also provides opportunity to the recruiters who may belooking for specific talents.(Ramaabaanu & Saranya, 2014).
Now a days, both applicants and recruiters making good use ofWorld Wide Webs to economize on time and other resources. E-recruitmenthas brought fast advancement in websites that has made employers capableto publicize job vacancies and applicants can access them by attachingCVs. The Internet has become successful in proving itself the biggest &leading hiring source. The Internet has also offered a mean to employersin the form of fast and effective filtration criteria. Job seekers’ knowledge,skills, abilities and work history, all are noteworthy & demanded by the job.Employers can also demand reference in CV and other needed details fromthe job seeker to fulfill the formalities of the job.(Kerrin,2005)
2.8 Process Fairness
As far as fairness of e-recruitment is concerned, every applicantdeserves fair process, appropriate details & liberty to share their views withothers. In other words, fairness & justice are two significant elements of joboffers & have greater impact on perception of the applicant. From a jobseeker’s point of view, the Internet has also offered a means to sustain acompetitive edge in acquiring preferred jobs. Recruiters often utilize websites for endorsing their organization. Job seekers can understand company’sfacilities, mission & vision, values and culture on the website. This helps theemployer and the applicant by generating familiar and well-informed jobseekers. Followings four things are necessary to develop fair hiring method:(Fred & Kinange,2016).
• Job seekers need to be examined in the selection process that isassociated with the
employment throughout the hiring process
• Reliable supervision is significant as applicants desire fairness based valuations; aprocedure to confirm that all applicants for a position are tested byconducting a
normal objective test online.• Authentic, appropriate and timely response is necessary in developing
the job seeker’s positive perception and assists job seeker to think
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2.10 Research Hypothesis
H1: There is a significant impact of easy access on job seekers’ satisfaction.
H2: There is a significant impact of efficiency on job seekers’ satisfaction.H3: There is a significant impact on availability of widespread information
on job seekers’ satisfactionH4: There is a significant impact of process fairness on job seekers’
satisfaction
3. Research Methodology
Deductive approach was adopted for the current research wherehypotheses were established after reviewing relevant literature, followed byadoption of a research instrument. The cross sectional study is explanatory(causal), based on primary quantitative data which was collected with thehelp of an adopted well-structured questionnaire, by utilizing Likert scalehaving options of responses from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 ( StronglyAgree). Quantitative analysis is a technique to test hypotheses and therelationship among variables and Cross-sectional is conducted at one pointin time.(Broomfield, 2014)
To represent a population of 600 job holders, the data were collectedfrom 300 respondents (both males and females). Working students havingMaters and MS qualifications and belonging to the age group of 20 to 40+years were approached for their responses, following non-probabilityconvenience sampling technique. This type of non-probability
that is based on true processes.• Delivering appropriate response is economical but actually a real
way to develop an insight of fairness and a positive impression on the job seeker.• Strong and uninterrupted correspondence and feedback is essential
for job seekers to know that fairness is preferred here and they are treated fairly.
2.9 Theoretical Framework
On the basis of research variables, following theoretical frameworkwas developed:
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sampling is usually successful as it is based on easy availability andconvenience of respondents.(Etikan,2016)
The data was analyzed by using statistical tools Pearson’s Correlationand Regression with the help of SPSS, version 22 software, as these toolsare well known for finding the relationship among variables and testing theimpact of predictors on the dependent variable.(Kalla,2009)
4 Analysis
4.1 Test of Reliability
The reliability of each construct was separately calculated throughCronbach’s Alpha; the value of Cronbach’s alpha is greater than 0.7, asprojected in table 4.1, so the constructs are considered quite reliable
Pearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NPearson CorrelationSig. (2-tailed)NN
EA
Eff
AWI
PF
JS
EA Eff AWI PF JS
1
300.076.191300.037.524300
.371**.000300
.407**.000
1
300 .125**
.030300.059.309300.102.078
1
300-.043.461300
.136*.018
1
300.719**
.000300
1
300
4.2 Hypotheses Testing
For this research Correlation, Regression, Co-efficient analysiswere used to find relationshipamong the variables & to test the hypotheses by utilizing SPSS, version22 software.
Table 4.1
Case Processing Summary
Table 4.2: Correlation
VARIABLES CRONBACH'S ALPHA ITEMS
Easy Access (EA)Efficiency (Eff)
Availability of WidespreadInformation (AWI)
Process Fairness (PF)Job seekers’ satisfaction (JS)
544
55
.804
.805
.908
.800
.702
.906All Variables Reliability.90623 23
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*Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).**Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
The correlation test is used to determine the link between the twoor more variables. As depicted in table 4.2 the r value for first independentvariable (Easy Access) is 0.407 which means the relationship of Easy Accessand job seeker satisfaction is moderate; p value = 0.000(<.05)which showsthat the relationship is significant.
According to the second IV i.e.’ Efficiency’, r value is 0.102 whichmeans the relationship of Efficiency & Job seeker satisfaction is weak; pvalue = 0.078(>.05) which shows that relationship is not significant. As perthird IV, the r value is 0.136 which means the relationship of Availability ofwidespread information and job seekers’ satisfaction is weak; p value =0.018which shows that the relationship is significant, since p<.05. According tothe fourth independent variable i.e. ’Process Fairness’, the r value is 0.719which means the relationship of process fairness & job seekers’ satisfactionis strong, p value =0.000(<.05) which indicated a significant relationship.Besides, Correlation value ‘r’ of each IV indicates that one unit change ineach variable corresponds to the obtained value change in dependentvariable.
4.3 Regression Analysis
Regression analysis comprises of model summary, the ANOVA tableand co-efficient table to denote the variance of the model. The variablesEasy Access, Efficiency, Availability of Widespread Information, ProcessFairness and Job seeker’s Satisfaction (DV).
Table 4.3:
Model Summary
Model Summary provides the values of R, R Square, Adjusted RSquare and the standard error of the estimate. These values indicate howwell a regression model adjusts the data. The R shows the “multiple correlationco-efficient”. The value of R is 0.753 and it means that prediction level isgood. The value of R Square is 0.566 and this value denotes that this modelhas 56.6% variation of all independent variables in the dependent variable.The value of an adjusted R Square is 0.561 and the Std. error of the estimateis 0.41953 These values are quite favourable for the research.
a. Predictors: (Constant), PF, Eff, AWI, EA
Model R Square Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate1 .753 .561 .41953.566
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Table 4.4
A N O VA
a. Dependent Variable: JSb. Predictors: (Constant), PF, AWI, Eff, EA
ANOVA is utilized to match differences of means among more thantwo groups. The table indicates that the independent variables statisticallysignificant calculate the dependent variable, F = 96.340 at the significancelevel of 0.000; here p < 0.05, which indicates that the relationship is significant..
Dependent Variable: JS
In light of co-efficient table 4.5, beta values and their significancevalues indicate that the most important factor influencing job seekers’satisfaction at public sector university is Process Fairness (b=.570, p= .000).This factor contributes positively and significantly towards job seekers’satisfaction, While Easy Access (beta=0.131, p= 0.000) and Availability ofwidespread information (beta= 0.196, p =0.000) follow suit and also contributesignificantly as their p values are less than .05. However; efficiency(beta=0.038, p=0.418) is insignificant & shows that it has no or leastcontribution towards job seekers’ satisfaction.
Model Sum of Squares Df Mean Square F Sig.
RegressionResidual
Total
67.82551.921119.747
4295299
16.956.176
96.340 .000b
Table 4.5:
Co-efficient Test
.189
.131
.038
.196
.570
Model CollinearityStatistics
CollinearityStatistics
Sig.TStandardizedCoefficient
UnstandardizedCoefficients
Unstandardized
Coefficients
ConstantEAEffAWIPF
BetaB Std. Error
.315
.036
.047
.049
.035
.152
.031
.155
.668
.6003.667.812
4.00616.131
.549
.000
.418
.000
.000
.858
.978
.979
.858
1.1661.0231.0211.166
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5. DISCUSSION
5.1 Easy Access and Job seekers’ Satisfaction
According to Table 4.2, the value of the first variable is .407 whichreflects a moderate and positive relationship between Easy Access and Jobseekers’ Satisfaction and p value is .000 which is less than .05; hencerelationship is significant. This result is well-matched and supports theliterature review. Easy access to relevant online portals and comfort innavigation is also a significant factor that creates a greater impression onjob seekers. Moreover, advertisement of job openings, applying for a jobopenings and organizing interviews with the help of internet has becomequite easier. As far as impact of EA ob JS is concerned, beta value in table4.5 is 0.131 and p value is .000; it shows that impact of EA on JS is significant.Hence first hypothesis is accepted. The result is matching with resesrchof.(Ahmad & Lodhi,2015 and Warburton, 2016)
5.2 Efficiency and Job seekers’ Satisfaction
The r value of the second variable, as per table 4.2 is .102 whichportrays a very weak positive relationship between Efficiency and Jobseekers’ satisfaction but it is not significant as p value is .489 which is greaterthan .05. The result is matching with research of Swan (2015). To checkimpact of Efficiency on JS, Coefficients table 4.5 indicates that beta valueis .038 whereas p value is .418 which is >.05; it shows that impact of Eff onJS is not significant. It provided instant feedback and does not hurt jobseekers’ contentment as compared to traditional hiring methods. Applicantstake advantage enormously from the widespread scope they acquire withthe help of social networking sites. By uploading CVs online they can beapproached by recruiters for further details. With the help of e-recruitmentjob seekers look for job openings 24/7 & they can attain jobs & recruiterson these available career sites. Moreover, applicants can post their CVs onsocial networking sites & their CV can be seen directly. On the basis ofcoefficients table values, second hypothesis is rejected.
Table 4.6Summary of Result (Hypotheses Testing)
There is a significant impact of Process Fairness on Jobseekers’ satisfaction.
Statement Result
There is a significant impact of Easy Access on Job seekers’satisfaction.
H 1
H 2
H 3
H 4
Hypothesis
There is a significant impact of Availability of WidespreadInformation on Job seekers’ satisfaction.
There is no significant impact of Efficiency on Job seekers’satisfaction.
Accepted
Rejected
Accepted
Accepted
5.3 Availability of Widespread Information and Job seekers’ Satisfaction
According to Table 4.2, the r value of third variable is .136 whichshows a very weak and positive relationship between Availability of widespreadinformation and Job seekers’ Satisfaction and p value is 0.000 which is lessthan .05. It shows that relations between two variables is significant. Moreover,beta value (.196) and significance value (.ooo) in table 4.5 indicate that AWIhas significant positive impact on JS. Hence, H3 is accepted. This resultis well-matched to the literature review. The responses from job seekerstowards e-recruitment indicate that job seekers who apply for a job openingthrough internet have positive views. Applicants can find various jobs oninternet and look for best alternate for them. In this way, job seekers canidentify those jobs which have not been publicized before and then to applyfor suitable ones without any delay or problem. Attaching CV online alsoprovides opportunity to the recruiters who may be looking for specifictalents.(Ramaabaanu & Saranya, 2014)
5.4 Process Fairness and Job seekers’ Satisfaction
The r value of this variable is .719 which indicates a strong positiverelationship between Process Fairness and Job seekers’ satisfaction andp value is .000 which is less than .05, so relationship is significant too. Thebeta value of this IV in table 4.5 is .570 whereas sig value is .000. It showsthat impact of PF on JS is significant. Hence H4 is accepted. As far asfairness of e-recruitment is concerned, every applicant deserves fair process,appropriate details & liberty to share their views with others. In other words,fairness & justice are two significant elements of job offers & have greaterimpact on perception of applicants. From a job seeker’s point of view, theInternet has also offered a mean to sustain a competitive edge in acquiringpreferred jobs. Recruiters often utilize web sites for endorsing their organization.Job seekers can understand company’s facilities, mission & vision, valuesand culture on the website. This helps the employer and the applicant bygenerating familiar and well-informed job seekers. Therefore, the result ismatching with research of.(Fred & Kinange, 2016)
6. CONCLUSION
The study investigates the impact of e-recruitment system on jobseekers’ satisfaction at BUKC. Four components of e-recruitment were takenwhich include Easy Access, Efficiency, Availability of widespread informationand process fairness. Out of these, Efficiency has been found having nocontribution in job seekers satisfaction while remaining three factors havesignificant positive impact on job seekers satisfaction. Today, e-recruitmenthas become a mandatory part of many organizations for hiring purpose.Most of the job seekers seek their employments over internet. Social mediaalso helps job seekers in finding jobs. Therefore, mostly organizationsestablish their own website to search human resource & move towards
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online recruitment as it’s not a time taking process. E-recruitment in Pakistanis not so efficient because internet services are poor in Pakistan as comparedto other countries. Moreover, internet services are often discontinued in ourcountry for security reasons due to VVIP’S movements, religious or politicalprocessions, international matches etc. Prolonged load shedding spells inall the towns of country and frequent electric power interruptions are alsoprimary sources of malfunctioning of social media operations.
7. RECOMMENDATIONS
On the basis of weaknesses highlighted in an analysis, followingare the recommendations:
· The organizations should incorporate latest devices and circuits i.e.3G & 4G / Wi-Fi etc. to provide consistent speedy internetservices for efficient communications.
· Effective measures should be taken to enhance the electricpower generation throughout the country; it would result in providingendless internet services.
· Underground electric networks should be installed to get ridof frequent electric interruptions due to bad weather and floods.
· The university should educate passing out students onproper usage of latest IT equipment to facilitate in efficient explorationof jobs and uploading their CVs.
8. SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
This study was undertaken only in one public-sector University andonly students having MBA and higher degrees were approached for datacollection. In future, upcoming researchers may undertake a similar researchin other public and private sector universities. Data may also be collectedfrom the existing management staff of the organizations to determine theirlevel of satisfaction about existing e-recruitment process and technology.
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Ahmad, M., & Lodhi, S. (2015). Impact of Social Media on Job Search a case of Karachi. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 5(3), 628.
Alsultanny, Y.A., and Alotaibi, M.F., (2015). „Evaluating the Factors Affectingon Intension to Use of E-Recruitment?, American Journal of Information Science and Computer Engineering, 1(5), 324-331.
Broomfield, R. (2014). A nurses’ guide to Quantitative research. AustralianJournal of Advanced Nursing, 32(2), 32.
Chauhan, D. (2013). Efficacy of job portals and social media on organizationalbusiness. International Journal of Advanced Research in Managementand Social Sciences, 2, 170–181.
Dhamija, P. (2012). E-recruitment: a roadmap towards e-human resource management. Researchers World, 3(3), 33.
Etikan, I. (2016). Comparison of Convenience Sampling and Purposive Sampling. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1.
Ford,L. (2012). Technology and Recruiting- Advantages and Disadvantages.International Scientific Researchers, 3.
Ghazzawi, K., & Accoumeh, A. (2014). Critical Success Factors of the E-Recruitment System. Journal of Human Resources Management and Labor Studies, 2(2), 159–170.
Holm, A. (2010). The effect of e-recruitment on the recruitment process: Evidence from case studies of three Danish MNCs. In Proceedings of the 3rd European academic workshop on electronic human resource management (pp. 91–111).
Jain, A., & Goyal, A. (2014). E-Recruitment & E-Human Resource ManagementChallenges in the Flat World: A Case Study of Indian Banking Industry(With Special Reference to ICICI Bank, Jaipur). International Journalof Scientific and Research Publications, 4(1), 1–8.
Kaur, P. (2015). E-recruitment: A conceptual study. International Journal ofApplied Research, 1(8), 78–82.
Kerrin M. (2005), “E-Based Recruitment: New Challenges in the Applicationof Selection and Assessment”, Paper presented at the Division of Occupational Psychology Conference, Warwickshire, UK.
Ventura, M.G., & Bringula, R.P. (2013). Effectiveness of Online Job RecruitmentSystem: Evidence from the University of the East. International Journal of Computer Science, 10(4), 153-171.
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Chetana,N. (2016). E-Recruitment: The Changing Paradigm of Job Seekers’Perception; A National Seminar on “Emerging Trends in Management& Information Technology” (ETM&IT-2016) ISBN. 978-93-81692-07-2, Rourkela Institute of Management Studies, Rourkela,
Ramaabaanu, R., & Saranya, M. (2014). Importance and Problems of E- Recruitment. International Journal of Research,1, 445-450..
Sageer, A., Rafat, S., & Agarwal, P. (2012). Identification of variables affectingemployee satisfaction and their impact on the organization. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, 5(1), 32–39.
Sharma, N. (2014). Recruitment Strategies: A power of E-Recruiting and Social Media. International Journal of Core Engineering & Management (IJCEM), 1(5), 15–35.
Stone, D. L., Lukaszewski, K., & Isenhour, L. C. (2005), “e-Recruiting: Online Strategies for Attracting Talent”, In H. Gueutal & D. L. Stone (Eds.),The Brave New World of EHR: Human Resourcesin the Digital Age(pp. 22-53). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
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Why Research Students in Pakistan ExperienceDisengagement from Studies: A Qualitative Research
Conducted in Karachi1Safeena Yaseen 2Muhammad Hassan Khan 3Ibtesam Mazahir
AbstractDue to their unique set of skills and strong academic background,
the research students (term interchangeably used in this paper for MPhiland PhD students) are considered as a highly selective group of students.For them, pursuing the research degree itself is a very uncertain andchallenging task. The available literature addressing the issue suggests thatfor some students this journey is rewarding, but for others, it is full of challenge.This qualitative study explores the MPhil and doctoral or higher educationresearch student’s experiences of disengagement from their studies. Thesemi-structured interviews have been conducted from 14 MPhil and PhDstudents who have prolonged or discontinued their MPhil and PhD studies.The research study explores the different categories, reasons and inabilityto overcome the disengagement experience from studies among MPhil andPhD or higher education research students. Work pressure, financial reasons,health issue, poor supervision, family restrictions, better alternatives, andchange in priorities are found to be the few reasons of disengagementexperienced by research students in Pakistan. Moreover, students’ personaland environmental inabilities to overcome the reasons for disengagementthat leads to prolongment and discontinuation of their MPhil and PhD studieshave also been discussed, followed by potential recommendations by thisresearcher to overcome the disengagement experiences. The research isbeneficial for the academic institutions coping with disinterest anddisengagement of students at MPhil and PhD level.
Keywords: Disengagement, MPhil Students, PhD Students, Education
1 Introduction
Pursuing a research degree is considered as an inspiring, yetchallenging task by the major segment of the society. The research studiesconducted earlier on the MPhil and doctoral students’ experiences reflectingthe fact that, the perception of the resulted degree in relation to thecompromises it demands is different for the people as per their priority. Formajority of the students, the MPhil and PhD process is rewarding, but forthe few others it is challenging, because it demands them to face the problemsrelated to personal sacrifices, uncertain life experience, inter andintradepartmental issues, funds lacking and support, completion of thedissertation (Appel & Dahlgren, 2003; Jairam & H. Kahl Jr., 2012; S. Spaulding& Rockinson-Szapkiw, 2012).
Lee (2009) has found that the students who were enrolled in thenursing program considered issues related to responsibility, financial stability,student-faculty or student-advisor relationship, academic discipline and
1 Faculty Member at Department of Management Sciences, PAF-KIET [email protected] PhD Scholar at Institute of Business Management, Karachi3 Senior Lecturer at Department of Media Studies, Bahria University Karachi Campus [email protected]
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academic self-perception as the distracting factors in their doctoral process.However, in order to get higher degrees, the students face challenges, whichare not always negative. The students also feel challenged, when they areexpected to solve complex and ill-defined research problems in order tocreate or improve the new or existing body of knowledge. This actually keepsstudents motivated to progress their MPhil and PhD process. Contrary tothat, the students might experience more stress if the adequate support willnot be provided to them. And, this could be resulted in prolonging and evendropping of the MPhil and PhD programs. Few other research studiesrevealed that the issue arises due to the strained student-supervisorrelationship and students’ disengagement with the scholarly community.Pyhältö and Keskinen (2012) has confirmed that this information leads tothe conclusion that rigorous research process itself is not the only reasonwhy MPhil and PhD students discontinue their studies.
Moreover, the available literature suggested that students withdrawfrom their higher degree programs when they did not get acceptance fromsupervisors and fellow researchers. The mismatch betweenstudents’ and research communities’ acceptance further aggravate thesituation (Golde, 2005; McAlpine & Norton, 2006).
In addition to this, it is evident that MPhil and PhD students oftenexperience growing health issues, due to which around 30 to 50% studentsaround the globe in different context decide to discontinue their studies .In the studies, conducted earlier, the determinants linked with students’determination, time constraints and diminishing interest have been discussedin detail . Furthermore, there is an extensive amount of literature is availableon disengagement among students pursuing their undergraduate studies .However, limited research studies are available on the disengagement issueexists among MPhil and PhD students and a serious need of systemizedresearch on the topic is needed.
In the studies, conducted earlier, the determinants linked withstudents’ determination, time constraints and diminishing interest have beendiscussed in detail(Golde, 1998; O. Wao & J. Onwuegbuzie, 2011).Furthermore, there is an extensive amount of literature is available ondisengagement among students pursuing their undergraduate studies(Pekrun,Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, & Perry, 2011; Schmitt, Oswald, Friede, Imus, &Merritt, 2008). However, limited research studies are available on thedisengagement issue exists among MPhil and PhD students and a seriousneed of systemized research on the topic is needed.
Moreover, in the context of Pakistan, to the knowledge of theresearchers, no research has been done earlier to find out the categoriesand reasons of disengagement among MPhil and PhD or research students.That is why after identifying the gap, this systemized research has beenconducted. According to the news reports frequently published, Pakistan’sMPhil and PhD dropout ratio is very high, which is a serious concern forHigher Education Commission and academicians. In the Pakistani educationenvironment, there is a strong need to understand, evaluate and assess the
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nature of issues MPhil and PhD students experience while pursuing theirstudies so that the right efforts can be done to reduce the risk of prolongingand disengagement from their studies. This qualitative study explores theresearch students’ experiences of disengagement from their studies. Thesemi-structured interviews have been conducted for MPhil and PhD studentswho have prolonged or discontinued their MPhil and PhD studies.
This qualitative study explores the research students’ experiencesof disengagement from their studies. The semi-structured interviews havebeen conducted for MPhil and PhD students who have prolonged ordiscontinued their MPhil and PhD studies. The research study explores thedifferent categories, reasons and inability to overcome the disengagementexperience from studies among MPhil and PhD students. A number of intrinsicand extrinsic reasons of disengagement have also been identified. Moreover,students’ personal and environmental inabilities to overcome the reasonsfor disengagement that leads to prolongment and discontinuation of theirMPhil and PhD studies have also been discussed.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
In Pakistan, as per Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) website,every year, MPhil and PhD students’ enrollments are gradually increasing.The HEC is a constitutionally established, independently working, autonomouseducational body regulating, managing and accrediting the efforts regardingthe spread of higher education in Pakistan. During the last decade, the highereducation sector in Pakistan has been witnessed a tremendous change. Anumber of competitive institutes have been established and their enrolmentsare also increasing. In mutual collaboration with local and internationalinstitutes and HEC, the government has provided various incentives to theMPhil and PhD students and faculty members. The HEC encourages studentsto equip themselves with higher education by providing sophisticatedassistance and facilities to the universities. Its educational reforms havealready established the competitive environment within the higher educationsector in Pakistan.
Butt and Reman (2010) has argued that despite its positive contributionin developing the demand of qualified individuals in Pakistan by producingmore MPhil and doctoral students, HEC is still not successful in controllingor regulating a dropout ratio of research students enrolled in differentuniversities across Pakistan. In case of subsidized education and scholarshipcases, this dropout ratio and increased duration of completing researchstudies incur a serious loss to HEC.
In the available literature, disengagement is defined as student’sreluctance and distance from the assignment and activity, he or she issupposed to do and experiencing negative emotions while performingit(Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon, & Barch,
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2004). As perceived by higher education, research students, disengagementfrom study means the withdrawal and passiveness of learning opportunitiescoming in the way offered by scholarly communities, further categorized asa low energy level, low involvement and experience inefficiency(Schaufeli& Bakker, 2004). Previous studies on the topic suggested that disengagementfrom studies lead to several consequences which include decreasingcommitment and disinterest in achievement(Carini, Kuh, & Klein, 2006),therefore, the disengagement from studies stop research students fromgetting involved in academically sound activities.
Gardner (2007) argued research students and the scholarlycommunity serves as a primary learning resource for higher education.Research students work in groups, they become the members of theprofessional communities, hence, work in close collaboration with the scholarlycommunity. This leads to the conclusion that research students do not justget influenced by the scholarly community, but they also actively choosetheir area of participation and they can adapt or adopt the communitypractices. Moreover, if they found community practices not aligned with theirgoals they may leave that feel frustrated(Pyhältö, Vekkaila, & Keskinen,2012).
Further, pursuing higher education, research studies leading to familycompromises and financial crises which affects the students’ study processesnegatively(Appel & Dahlgren, 2003; Gardner, 2007). According to the studyconducted by Zhao and Kuh (2004) on the enrolled and former researchstudent, it has been found that if MPhil and PhD student experience negativeconnection with the faculty and fellow research students they find themselvesdemotivated in achieving their higher studies objectives and starts questioningthemselves about continuing their research studies. Similarly,(Golde,2005)found that the higher education research students see a disconnectbetween their targeted goals and desired expectations, and departmentaldiscrepancies and mismanagement further adds to their frustration.
The researcher further added that the inconsistency betweensupervisor and research student’s communication, thinking and workingstyle is the main reason for disengagement. These research studies leadto another dimension of research students’ environment interaction, whichsuggest that the disparaging resistance between the environment andresearch learners such as working practices, required environmental workingperception and lack of control and support system usually result in the misfitand perceived misfit leads to disengagement from the studies(Hakanen,Bakker, & Schaufeli, 2006; Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004).
Other research articles such as few written by Pyhältö& Keskinen(2012) and Stubb, Pyhältö, & Lonka (2011), while exploring the disengagementdeterminants suggested that mental and physical stress among researchstudents is also a reason why they prolong and discontinue their studies.
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FinancialReasons
Heallth Issue
Disengagement Experience
Work LifeBalance
SupervisoryProblems
FamilyReasons
Stress andother
Psychologicalissue
Figure . Factors of disengagement as identified in literature review.
2.2 Research Objective
The objective of this research is to explore the reasons why highereducation research students prolong or discontinue their education and, thefactors influencing their disengagement from the studies. For that, thefollowing research question has been devised:
What are the reasons for disengagement among MPhil and doctoral students?
Anxiety, stress sometimes leads to physical illness as well. Since most ofthe research students work as well, so they experience work-life imbalance,which is a major factor influencing their decision to discontinue researcheducation communities(Pyhältö& Keskinen, 2012; Stubb, Pyhältö, & Lonka,2011).
Based on the literature discussed above, this qualitative studyexplores the MPhil and doctoral students’ experiences of disengagementfrom their studies through semi-structured interviews conducted for studentswho have prolonged or discontinued their MPhil and PhD studies. Followingare the research questions devised to explore the different categories,reasons, and explanations about the inability to overcome the disengagementexperience from studies among MPhil and PhD students. A number of intrinsicand extrinsic reasons of disengagement have also been identified. Moreover,students’ personal and environmental inabilities to overcome the reasonsfor disengagement that leads to prolongment and discontinuation of theirMPhil and PhD studies have also been discussed.
2.1 Disengagement Factors Identified in the Literature:
After conducting an extensive literature review, the following are thefactors that have been identified in the previous research studies:
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3.1 Higher Education Research or MPhil and PhD Students in PakistaniContext
Higher education research studies conducted in Pakistan focus onboth coursework and thesis. Here the process includes seminars, courseworkand proposal defense of the thesis. The minimum duration for the completionof a research degree is 4 years and the maximum duration suggested byHEC is 8 years. Students enrolled in the programs are supposed to followthe durational limits. There are two parallel systems of postgraduate studiesis
3. METHODOLOGY
In this study, a qualitative approach has been applied to explore thereasons why higher education research students experience disengagementfrom their studies. Denzin et al. (2005) has referred the term qualitative tothe characteristics associated with entities and processes that are beyondthe scope of experimental examination and quantifiable measurements.Qualitative research scholars emphasize on the socially constructed natureof reality, the intimate relationship between the researcher and what isstudied, and the situational constraints that shape inquiry. The similarapproach, inspired by which allows participants to open up of new insights.This method highlights the social constructionism paradigm which assertsreality is socially constructed.
Figure 2. A summarized overview of methodological process.
Qualitative Methodology
Phemomenology
Semi-structed Interview
Theme Analysis
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functional in Pakistan, one is with the research track and other is followedwith a professional track. Students get enrolled in PhD after 18 years ofeducation. Those who have done their MBA have to take equivalence fromthe HEC to be eligible for admission in the PhD program.Moreover, the students are supposed to clear their GAT General Test andGAT Subject Test to get enrolled in MPhil/MS and PhD programs respectively.The students are also expected to follow the terms and conditions imposedby universities they are enrolled in. The university has the right to ask youto do the prerequisite courses, the interview panel usually suggests thecourse limit. If the student had already cleared the GAT General or GATSubject test, then he/she will be exempted from the internal test conductedby the university. In addition to that, the university has all the right to consideryou eligible or ineligible for the admission irrespective of getting equivalenceor not. Those who avail HEC scholarship have different obligations to follow,which is beyond the scope of this research.
The HEC has recently closed the MPhil to leading PhD program toensure quality education. The MPhil and PhD students are also supposedto clear their comprehensive exam after the completion of their coursework.Further, they have to conduct a proposal defense and after getting approvalfrom BSAR they finally get eligibility to proceed with their thesis. About thesupervisor’s selection there are different policies frequently get updated byHEC, which is beyond the limit of this research, but again create unrestamong students.
3.2 Participant Selection
The study participants were selected through a referral system. The participantswere those who had discontinued or prolonged their MPhil and PhD process.Initially, first five participants were identified through personal contact thenthe others were contacted as referred by the initial contacts. Our presumptionwas that the discontinuation and prolonging could be the result ofdisengagement from the studies.
In total 14 students were interviewed, among which eight were malesand the others were females. The four participants were management sciencestudents; three were pure science students; four were social and behavioralscience students while others were language students. All the participantswere once enrolled or currently enrolled in the MPhil and PhD or higherresearch degree programs. There were eight participants who havediscontinued their MPhil and PhD programs and six have prolonged theirstudies, and uncertain that whether they will be able to complete theirstudiesor not. The students participated in this research with their consensus.
3.3 Interviews
The reasons for disengagement or withdrawal from studies wereidentified through semi-structured interviews (Kvale, 2006).The in-depth
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understanding of students’ experience and their perspective with respect todisengagement was gauged through the semi-structured interviews, whichhelped us to learn more from their experiences. The interview-structure wassynthesized in a way that captured the positive and negative events studentsface during their MPhil and PhD or higher research studies(Vekkaila, Pyhältö,Hakkarainen, Keskinen, & Lonka, 2012). The focus of the study was on thenegat ive exper ience explained by the research students.
Before conducting the interviews for the research, in the pilot phase,the questions were tested on five higher education research students anda course instructor and modified as per the feedback. At the beginning ofthe interview, the students who have participated were asked to visualizeand draw their higher education research education i.e., research processon a piece of paper. The student drew them in the form of timelines androadmaps. Figure 3 is the real example of such visualizations.
After the completion of drawing part, the participants were askedto identify and highlight the positive and negative episodes in their visualizedjourney. The positive episodes were regarded as the motivators for thestudents to complete their research studies, on the other hand, negativeepisodes were considered as de-motivators. In traditional interview setup,it was assumed that a true reflection of experiences could have beencompromised, therefore visualization-based interviews were preferred to getthe better understanding of the life event experienced by the participants(Rose Caspar, 2007). ‘
Every participant individually asked to explain their episodicexperiences clearly in detail. Elaboration on their part was further requiredfor the events they had highlighted. Following probing questions were askedfor elaboration “Why does this particular episode (positive or negative) inyour life occur? When and where these particular episodes we are talkingabout occur? How you react to that particular episode and what was yourthinking? After that particular episode, what happened? Other people involvedin that particular incident or not? Before conducting the interview, theparticipants were informed about the interview pattern and objective. Theinterviews were recorded and their duration varies between 20 to 30 minutes.The interviews were transcribed by researchers.
4. ANALYSIS
In the current research, first of all, the data recorded through interviewswas made familiar by reading the responses over and over again. Data werethen transcribed for further analysis. Initially, twenty codes were createdbased on the transcribed responses. During every step of data analysisprocess, the researchers go through the data again and again, so that onthe basis of theory the data in line with the observation can be categorizedaccordingly. On the basis of the differences participants experienced, thecategories of the phenomena were formulated. (Brew, 2001).
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The codes, after further reading, were modified. Not only the semanticmeanings were studied, but the latent factors were also identified. Afterthorough analysis theme is searched following the steps of thematic analysis. The final thematic which was created after the analysis is given as under:
Figure 3. Categorization of disengagement with respect to reasonsand inability to overcome it.
Figure 2 A thematic chart elaborating responses from male and femalestudents followed by demographics, factors/reasons, decision and post-decision feel of either postponing or withdrawing postgraduate studies.
In the study, the data related to participants’ inability to overcomethe disengagement or withdrawal processes have been coded with respectto their life experiences. Considering the differences and similarities amongparticipants’ life experiences, the data has been analyzed and coded, andby doing that, different categories, reasons and inabilities to overcomedisengagement have emerged.
DisengagementCategories
• Procrastination• Left Study
• Extrinsic Reasons• Intrinsic Reason
• Personal Inability• Situational Inability
MPhill PhD Incomplete
DisengagementFrom Studies
DisengagementReason
Inability toOvercome
Disengagement
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In the above chart themes which were created on the basis of theresponses received from the interviewees are positioned in such a way thatthe flow to the ultimate decision of either postponing or withdrawing theeducation is evident. The gender, employment status, marital status etc. arelabeled under Demographics whereas the further generated eight themeswere classified as factors or reasons that cause disengagement from research.The decision then is bifurcated as the decision to postpone or delay studiesand the decision to withdraw from studies.
From the Figure 4, it is evident that male students who were single& full time students made the decision to postpone or withdraw the researchhaving been influenced by the following factors: Financial Reasons, HealthIssues, Poor Research Culture, Poor Supervision, Better Alternatives, Changein Priorities while single female full-time students had one more additionalfactor which caused them to take the decision of postponing or withdrawingfrom research and it was family restrictions. When it came to students whowere single & were employed during studies the factors that influence theirdecision were mainly Work Pressure, Health Issues, Poor Research Culture,Poor Supervision, Better Alternatives and Change in Priorities.
Those students who were employed before studies and single wereinfluenced by the factors such as Health Issues, Poor Research Culture,Poor Supervision, Family Restrictions, Better Alternatives, and Change inPriorities regardless of the gender. Same were the factors highlighted bythose who were married and employed before studies. However, thosestudents who were employed and got married during the studies wereinfluenced by factors including Work Pressure, Financial Reasons, HealthIssues, Poor Research Culture, Poor Supervision, and Family Restrictions& Change in Priorities. Overall the responses received from the intervieweeswere emphasizing the influence of two factors as mainstream factors whichare Poor Supervision and Poor Research Culture. The other factors havealso emerged as substantial ones, but as compared to the two mentionedbefore their effects were lesser
5 RESULTS
Results indicated that there are variations in the experiences of individualsdepending on their gender, age, marital status, financial position, level ofmotivation, opportunities available etc.
5.1 Theme 1: Work Pressure
Those individuals, both male and female who are single and getemployed during studies, mostly find it difficult to manage both ends meetand consequently end up either withdrawing or postponing research. As oneof the respondents said,
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“I was going on well with my research and then I got employed. Thework pressure got the better of me. Ultimately I had to quit.”
Another respondent said,
“My boss never understood what I was going through. He kept onputting pressure on me. I was stressed. I decided to postpone mystudies.”
5.2. Theme 2: Financial Reasons
Those researchers who are dependent on others for the finance forinstance: pupils who are jobless and their guardians are not well off, theytend to struggle to do research flawlessly due to financial reasons. One ofthe respondents stated,
“It’s very difficult to carry on studying when you lack financial resources.It feels really bad to be dependent on others”
For some researchers who are not financially stable after getting married,it becomes difficult to manage both the things together.
5.3. Theme 3: Health Issues
Some researchers fall severely ill or have an accident during studies.
Consequently, they find themselves at their wit's end and compromiseon their studies for the time being. For a female student who is marriedexpecting a baby can also be a medical reason to postpone studies.one ofthe respondents mentioned,“I had an accident in which I got seriously injured which resulted in meleaving my research studiesfor good.”A female student stated,
“I got pregnant during research studies and I had to prolong my studiesbecause of that.”
5.4. Theme 4: Poor Research Culture
One of the most common reasons which are highlighted by most ofthe researchers is poor research culture prevalent at the university. Onerespondent said,“Research needs full consideration and concentration without any pressurefrom any side whether it’s personal or professional. You have to have thesupport of your colleagues. The culture does influence the quality of research.Research is a full-time job. You have to burn your midnight oil to achievethe goal.”
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5.5 Theme 5: Poor Supervision
The most common reason for researchers to withdraw/ postponeresearch is poor supervision, most of the researchers complain about thequality of supervision they are provided and blame their supervisors for theirfailure. One respondent said,
“My supervisor never allowed me to ask questions. He never listenedto me. He forced me to do research on the topic of his choice.”
5.6 Theme 6: Family restrictions
Most of the female students stated their personal life and familyrestriction as a reason for the delay or withdrawal from education. One ofthe female students mentioned:
“I got married during my research studies. Consequently, it took memore time to complete my research as my husband asked to take abreak from studies for at least a year.”
Another female student stated:
“After my father died I had to quit my research studies because my brotherwas conservative and didn’t allow me to go out and do research.”
5.7 Theme 7: Better Alternatives
One student described experiences of exhaustion. When he did, itwas in terms of feeling overstrained and having no energy to continue.Sometimes the students were fully exhausted or even depressed, andconsequently had
distanced themselves from their research work and postponed it. While onestudent said:One respondent highlighted:“I had an opportunity to go abroad and I didn’t want to let that gobegging. I quit my research studies for I thought I had a betteralternative.”
5.8. Theme 8: Change in Priorities
When it comes to those students who either get promotedprofessionally or start finding pleasure in doing other things as their prioritieschange they end up discontinuing their studies.Variation was also expressed in the situations and activities that the researchstudents identified as contributing to these disengaging experiences. Onefemale student respondent responded,
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“After getting married I decided to give time to my family and becamea housewife. I lost my interest in doing research.”
“No regrets at all. My family was and is my priority. The compromiseI made proved to be fruitful.”
The contrasting response was gotten from another interviewee:
“I have always regretted my decision of withdrawing from researchstudies for I could have achieved much more as an academician.”
The result of the responses showed few subtle and few substantialvariations in the experiences of research students.
After generating the thematic chart from the codes generated onthe basis of the responses gathered from the interviewees the result producedconcluded that those who postponed or withdrew their studies due to thereasons other than the change in priorities and professional growth hadnothing but to repent and consequently were unhappy with what happenedand vice versa.
6. Discussion And Conclusion
The factors that add to disengagement or withdrawal from the researchstudies and processes are infrequently studied in education. The presentresearch was completed inside the setting of delayed research studies orwithdrawal from it and, in this way, gives knowledge into the marvel byrevealing insight into research students’ different withdrawing experiencesand the progression between them and their workplace amid theseexperiences. Comparative experiences have been ordinarily studied inbusiness-related settings (Hakenan, at el, 2006, salanova, schaufeli, Martiniz& Breso, 2010) Our discoveries propose that leading research work doesnot mean just taking courses, examining the space, and directing research;it is additionally particularly scholastic work inside an academic group thatresearchers as beginner researchers are engaged in. Further, our examinationrecommends that despite the fact that the settings of the separatingexperiences and the nature of the ruinous progression differed, theunderstudies regularly observed the issue as coming about because of anexcessively controlling or estranging academic group. Specifically, ouroutcomes are in accordance with past investigations on research educationwhich demonstrate that apparent mavericks between researches and theirinsightful groups are probably going to add to negative experiences anddebilitate their determination.(Golde, 2005 According to Spaulding andSzapkiw (2012), there is confirmation of damaging grating in researchinsightful group cooperation and in addition feeling outside the groupdiminishing researches’ certain and fulfilling experience and in addition
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perseverance in their examination. Further, our outcomes recommend thatdisengagement from the research is additionally conceivable while matchinginterests, concerning vocations or families, engross them more than theirproposed work, despite the fact that they may see that finishing theirproposition is conceivable. Our outcomes suggest that what is the natureof research studies' disengagement contrasts, and henceforth the methodsand practices to encourage research studies' commitment to their researchadditionally should be more various. Besides, the outcomes show that thenature of the transaction amongst research and the scholarly group matters.What's more, research studies and programs may require bolster in translatingthe insightful world and its requirements.
In the present investigation, we could give knowledge of behavioralsciences doctoral understudies' experiences of disengagement from theirproposal process. In any case, disengagement isn't an experience that existsin a vacuum or which is separated from commitment. Stubb et al. (2011)have argued the conditions of research work additionally give assets tocommitment and creating a positive drive. Be that as it may, commitmentitself was not the focal point of the present examination, and further researchon commitment in research work is required. Thus, in future research studies,we intend to take a gander at commitment to research studies that lead theireducation inside the best level research group.
It is obvious from the discussion so far that there is wide a dissimilarityof accessible information inside the advanced education division on whyresearchers pull back from their picked course. The recommendationsemerging from the discoveries of this research will be isolated into threeclasses: the individual foundation reac tion; approach suggestions for theHEI area all in all; the potential part of the National Forum in advancingresearch and best practice in expanding maintenance of researchers inadvanced education. While the recommendations have been classified alongthese lines, obviously the unpredictability of the issue requires a community-oriented approach between the majorities of the partners to address itsuccessfully.
6.1 Decreasing Disengagement
As per our discoveries, matters relating to the course and course decisionwere by a wide margin the most well-known purpose of researchers to pullback from their advanced education thinks about. The student voice, asenunciated through the subjective information gathered, gives understandinginto such issues in the segment all in all, and in addition separating betweenthe components that make up the part. Notwithstanding, as expressed above,there is a significant dissimilarity between what, on the off chance thatanything, is gathered by the individual organizations to acquire top to thebottom comprehension of why and how a student chooses it was to theirgreatest advantage to leave, regardless of the sentiments of disappointmentit can induce. This demonstrates the requirement for the accompanying
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Recommendation 1: Systematic and institutionalized subjectiveinformation ought to be assembled as per normal procedure by all advancededucation organizations from researchers who pull back from their course.
Recommendation 2: Development of a typical leave shape thatincorporates open finished inquiries looking to clarify why such a choice hasbeen achieved; what, in the event that anything, may have helped them tostay; and regardless of whether the student intends to re-enter advancededucation in the quick future.
From the approach area of this examination, it will be obvious thatextensive exertion must be consumed in getting to data about existinginformation from the taking interest establishments. Also, it was discoveredthat a few establishments were presently drawn in, or had been locked inas of late, in research extends on student withdrawal. It is imperative thatsuch profitable information is used in its most extreme and duplication ofexertion inside and crosswise over establishments be maintained a strategicdistance from by building correspondence in the research procedure.Subsequently, we prescribe that:
Recommendation 3: A suitable individual ought to be the assignedcontact for Teaching and Learning research in each HEI and this individualought to be clear about their part in helping the National Forum with respectto progressing research ventures.
Recommendation 4: Pakistan’s advanced education foundationsought to be completely educated of all continuous research extends andmade mindful of the additional estimation of such research, with the goalthat any help required will be given to expandingeffect.
Results from the information ordered by our investigation indicateissues identified with the course to be by a long shot the most widelyrecognized purpose behind researchers pulling back from their examinations.Promote cross-examination of this information uncovers the unpredictabilityof this reason and why various methodologies are expected to address it.The Wrong course decision is a repeating subject, requiring different waysto deal with a guarantee that second level researchers are best arrangedfor settling on educated choices while finishing their CAO Application Form.Adjusted to this, is the issue of the enrollment/showcasing methodology ofthe foundations when attempting to draw in potential researchers. The inquiryemerges with reference to whether the data gave clarifies the coursesubstance and requests, and whether the base prerequisites in a specificsubject (e.g. maths) are pitched at an adequately abnormal state to guaranteethat those on the edge will have the capacity to adapt. For courses with largeamounts of student withdrawal, the accompanying recommendations warrantthought:
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Recommendation 5: Review of the showcasing procedure and its"fit" with course substance and scholarly requests.
Recommendation 6: Review of passage necessities in connectionwith researchers' second level subject decisions and Leaving Certificatebrings about zones of specific importance.
Recommendation 7: Review of evaluation input and scholastic bolsterstructures with a specific spotlight on the initial three months of a program,along these lines making a "scholastic early cautioning framework".
Recommendation 8: Reviews of inner exchange components andbackings to guarantee that such open doors are boosted for researcherswho may some way or another pullback.
Recommendation 9: Audit of the scholastic and managerial backingsexpected to distinguish and exhort researchers who have turned out to bedisillusioned with their picked course.
Recommendation 10: More spotlight on general learning abilities athigher instruction in the early long stretches of the first year, and in additionbuilding educational program intercessions that advance student commitmentand student strength in their advanced education examines.
Recommendation 11: Identifying researchers from admission insightswho may be especially defenseless against poor social incorporation eitherin light of the fact that they are the just a single going to form a specificsecond level school, or whose house is a significant separation away.
6.2 Decreasing non-consummation
Obviously, the choice to pull back isn't a simple one from the student'spoint of view given the sentiments of disappointment, lament and a worryabout conceivable family responses. On the institutional side, it speaks tolost income which can be sizeable and a missed open door for anotherimminent student. Its scale makes it a vital approach issue of advancededucation training all in all and by division, as far as problematic utilizationof important assets. Unmistakably the arrangement can't become the methodsfor a solitary change, but instead requires a multi-layered approach thatincludes second and in addition advanced education instructive strategy andpractice. The initial step is to analyze how the issue is characterized. Theway that a significant high extent of researchers demonstrated that theywere wanting to move to an elective course/establishment by means of theCAO, proposes that:
Recommendation 12: Student non-consummation ought to be seenin an unexpected way, not as a disappointment or issue, yet rather a markerof the requirement for more noteworthy simplicity of student versatility insidethe advanced education segment, in this manner empowering a student tomake their own "vocation design".
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6.3 IMPLICATIONS
The research is useful for the policymakers who design and makechanges in the programs of research. It is equally important for the institutionsto keep a check on how they are performing in supporting and promotingresearch culture in the society. Moreover, it also explains how researchstudents can be motivated with the help of proper supervision. The mostimportant aspect of the study is that it highlights how an individual can betterdevise his strategy as a research student. It can also guide a student whetherto get enrolled in research is a good option for him or not by making an in-depth analysis of the factors mentioned in the study.
6.4 LIMITATIONS & FUTURE RESEARCH
Since this study is mainly focused on research students, studentsat other levels or pursuing an education in different faculty are not consideredin the research. Moreover, for the analysis thematic analysis approach wasused which certainly has many advantages yet there is an issue with itspertaining to the limitations of options available for interpretation which opensthe door for other approaches such as narratives and biographies for futureresearch. Furthermore, research horizon can be expanded from city-basedon country-based and then to continent based so as to bring about standardconclusions which can then be objectified with the help of quantitativeresearch. Ultimately, these intermittent steps if taken slowly but surely canlead resulting in the improved education system worldwide.
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Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (BUJHSS)
Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (BUJHSS)
Welcome to BUJHSSBUJHSS
Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences
ISSN: 2616-9908
Bahria UniversityDiscovering Knowledge
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Bahria University, Karachi Campus
Guidelines for Authors
Submission
Articles submitted to ‘BUJHSS’ can be in all areas of Humanitiesand SocialGuidelines for Authors
Submission
Articles submitted to ‘BUJHSS’ can be in all areas of Humanitiesand Social Sciences (given under call for papers) both theoretical, appliedmanuscripts in English and should be electronically submitted [email protected]
Manuscripts should be submitted as a single ‘Word File’ includingall materials. The opinions expressed in articles are only those of authorsand not?those of the editors or publisher. Authors are personally responsibleto obtain permission for reprint of previously published material in?othersources. Further details related to call for papers and previous issues ofjournal are available at Bahria university Website BUJHSS under BahriaUniversity Karachi Campus.
Article Structure
Text types and Subdivision- Numbered sections
The main text; type font size:
Paper Title – Arial 12 Bold, 1.5 line-spacing
Headings – Arial 10 Bold, 1.5 line-spacing numbered as 1, 2, 3;
Subheadings – Arial 10 pts Bold, numbered as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3;
General Style:
The suggested limit for the paper is 4000 to 8000 words. Figuresand tables should be captioned and numbered clearly. Font style and sizeshould be
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Arial 10. Please be sure that your paper is 1.5 line-spacing including referencesand uses 1-inch margins on all sides. Your text including title of sectionsmust be justified, start a new paragraph by indenting it from the left margin;for the figures and tables, use Arial 9 bold with single line spacing. Someflexibility of the presentation will be allowed but?authors are urged to arrangethe subject matter clearly under such headings as: Introduction, Purposeand Scope, Literature Review, Research Methodology, Data Collection, DataAnalysis, Discussions, Conclusions and Recommendations.
Illustrations must be placed as close as possible to where they are mentionedin the main text. They must be numbered consecutively (e.g. Fig.1. Fig.2….)Bold, centered with caption on top and source should be placed below figure.
Tables must be numbered consecutively (e.g. Table. 1). Table headingsshould be placed above the table.
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections.Subsections should be numbered 1.1 (then 1.1.1, 1.1.2, …), 1.2, etc. (theabstract is not included in section numbering). Use this numbering also forinternal cross-referencing: do not just refer to ‘the text’. Any subsection maybe given a brief heading. Each heading should appear on its own separateline.
A typical article might include the following: -
Abstract
A concise and factual abstract is required consisting 150-200 words.The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principalresults and major conclusions. An abstract is often presented separatelyfrom the article so it must be able to stand alone. Also, non-standard oruncommon abbreviations should be avoided, but if essential they must bedefined at their first mention in the abstract itself.
Keywords
Immediately after the abstract, provide a minimum of 5 keywords,using American spelling and avoiding general and plural terms and multipleconcepts (avoid, for example, ‘and’, ‘of’). Be sparing with abbreviations: onlyabbreviations firmly established in the field may be eligible. These keywordswill be used for indexing purposes.
Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background,avoiding a detailed literature survey or summary of the results. The introductionshould also justify why the topic of the paper is important and that the contentis original. The summary of results should have been dealt with in theabstract.
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Literature Review, Conceptual Framework etc.
This section should extend (but not repeat) the background to thearticle already dealt with in the introduction and lay the foundation for thework being reported. It should identify the most relevant previous literatureon the topic (but not in excessive detail) in order to position the paper anddemonstrate how it will make a significant contribution. It (or a separatesection) should set out (and justify) the theoretical or conceptual frameworkadopted in the paper. It may identify a number of hypotheses to be testedor research questions to be explored. In short, this section (or sections)should explain what the motivation for the paper is and why its contributionis original and significant.
Materials and Methods Pertaining to Data Collection Analysis etc
Provide sufficient detail to allow the work to be reproduced. Methodsalready published should be indicated by a reference: only relevantmodifications should be described.
The reader needs to know that the empirical data and/or othermaterial are relevant, reliable and capable of supporting robust conclusions,and that the methodology is appropriate, systematic and rigorous.
Results
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
This should explore the significance of the results of the work, notrepeat them. A combined Results and Discussions section is often appropriate.Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The main conclusions of the study be presented in a short Conclusionssection, which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion orResults and Discussion section.
This section should also may make clear what is the originalcontribution of the paper, discuss the policy or management implications ofthe findings, provide a critical assessment of the limitations of study, andoutline possible fruitful lines for further research.
Article length
BUJHSS has a strong preference for the articles to be no more8,000 words including references.
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Essential Title Page Information
• Title. Concise and informative. Titles are often used in information- retrieval systems. Avoid abbreviations and formulae where possible.
• Author names and affiliations. Where the family name may be ambiguous (e.g., a double name), please indicate this clearly. Present the authors’ affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript letter immediately after the author’s name and in front of the appropriate address. Provide the full postal address of each affiliation, including the country name and, the e-mail address of each other.
• Corresponding author. Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. Ensure that contact number and fax numbers (with country and area code) are provided in addition to the e-mail address and the complete postal address. Contact details must be kept up to date by the corresponding author.
• Present/permanent address. If an author has moved since the work described in the article was done, or was visiting at the time, a ‘Present address’ (or ‘Permanent address’) may be indicated as a footnote to that author’s name. The address at which the author actually did the work must retain as the main, affiliation address. Superscript Arabic numerals are used for such footnotes.
• Maximum number of authors for a paper is three.
Abbreviations
Any word or words to be abbreviated should be written in full whenfirst mentioned followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis.
Tables and Supplementary Material
Data must be kept to a minimum. Tables should be numbered andheaded with short titles. As with illustrations, they should not be inserted inthe manuscript but supplied either after the main body of the text or uploadedas separate files.
References
References to the literature should be mentioned in the main textby writing the author and year in brackets. List these at the very end of yourpaper (under the heading ‘References’); the references should follow theAPA- style?also you can find details in the?Publication Manual of theAmerican Psychological Association)
Copyright
Submission of a paper to BUJHSS will be taken to imply that itpresents original unpublished work in any form, not under considerationelsewhere. Authors are themselves responsible for obtaining permission toreproduce copyright material from other sources. Authors are responsibleto ensures academic integrity Sciences (given under call for papers) boththeoretical, applied manuscripts in?English and should be electronicallysubmitted at [email protected]
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Call for Papers
ISSN: 2616-9908
First Half Yearly Issue(July Every Year)
Paper Submission
Review Process
Acceptance/Rejection
Notification to Authors
Publication
1st January- 28th February
March to April
May
July
Second Half Yearly Issue(December Every Year)
1st July – 30th August
September to October
November
December
Humanities and Social Sciences DimensionsPhilosophy and Proceedings of Philosophical DiscoursesSocial, Political and Economic Aspects of OrganizationsSocial Research Providing Solutions to Organizational IssuesChallenges of Peace and Harmony to The Contemporary WorldNational and International Harmony and CoexistenceGlobal Human Resource Issues and ResolvesContemporary Research in E-Learning.Ethics & Global Cultural Issues.Leadership and Conflict Management of Social OrderInformation Systems & Security.Social Media: Impacts and ImplicationsSociological Paradigms of Human BehaviorsMathematical Models Providing Solutions to Societal IssuesApplied Linguistics
•••••••••••••••
You are invited to submit a research paper/research article for possibleinclusion in a new launch journal BUJHSS (Bahria University Journal ofHumanities and Social Sciences): This Journal is housed in the Departmentof Humanities and Social Sciences, Bahria University, Karachi Campus.The journal welcomes Research Articles/Research Papers in keeping witheditorial policy, for its first publication.
This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for researchers and practitionersto present new research and developments in the area. Areas of interest forthis special journal issue include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
Professor Dr. Bashir AhmadEditor
Bahria University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (BUJHSS)Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Bahria University, Karachi campus, PakistanTelephone: 922199240002, 03355012727
All manuscripts should be proof read as per guidelines for authors. Thejournal reserves the right to amend or modify the paper as per reviewers’report. The Editorial Board reserves the right to accept or reject the paper.
Authors will email manuscripts to editor at [email protected] withthe undertaking that they are original, unpublished works not being submittedelsewhere.
Published by:BAHRIA UNIVERSITY-KARACHI CAMPUS
13,National Stadium Road, Karachi-75260, PakistanTel: +922199240002-6Fax: +922199240351
UAN: 0092-21-111-111-028Email: [email protected]
Web: http://bahria.edu.pk/bukc/
University Head Office:BAHRIA UNIVERSITY-ISLAMABAD
Shangrilla Road, Sector E-8, Islamabad, PakistanTel: +92-51-9260002Fax: +92-51-9260885
Email: [email protected]: http://bahria.edu.pk/
BUJHSS Editor:Faculty of Social Sciences
BAHRIA UNIVERSITY-KARACHI CAMPUSEmail: [email protected]
Web: https://bahria.edu.pk/bujhss/
