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The major regional players in Mideast, including Iran and Saudi Arabia always intervened in politics of neighbouring countries with different political strategies. This study is to explore those major factors which have played key role in changing their strategies towards the regional politics. The research is helpful to know the dynamics of the Iranian and Saudi relations by keeping in view the US factor. From the perspective of the current scenario of the region, the research is helpful in assessing certain political objectives of both countries. This paper tries to examine the recent gulf between the status of both countries in relation with the hindrances and possibilities that lies between them. Keeping in view the growing relations of these countries, their foreign policies and political situation is leading towards a greater change in Mideast region. The growing relations of the countries and their foreign policies have certain objectives and due to globalisation, no country can live in isolation. By keeping all in view, this research provides a clear picture of recent gulf political situation which is leading toward a great change in scenario. Having different ideologies, the two important countries of Middle East have completely different priorities and objectives for the regional peace and stability. Therefore, this qualitative study is helpful in determining the objectives of both states towards resolving the political unrest and security issues in the Middle East.

The major regional players in Mideast, including Iran and Saudi Arabia always intervened in politics of neighbouring countries with different political strategies. This study is to explore those major factors which have played key role in changing their strategies towards the regional politics. The research is helpful to know the dynamics of the Iranian and Saudi relations by keeping in view the US factor. From the perspective of the current scenario of the region, the research is helpful in assessing certain political objectives of both countries. This paper tries to examine the recent gulf between the status of both countries in relation with the hindrances and possibilities that lies between them. Keeping in view the growing relations of these countries, their foreign policies and political situation is leading towards a greater change in Mideast region. The growing relations of the countries and their foreign policies have certain objectives and due to globalisation, no country can live in isolation. By keeping all in view, this research provides a clear picture of recent gulf political situation which is leading toward a great change in scenario. Having different ideologies, the two important countries of Middle East have completely different priorities and objectives for the regional peace and stability. Therefore, this qualitative study is helpful in determining the objectives of both states towards resolving the political unrest and security issues in the Middle East.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between organizational justice (procedural, interpersonal & distributive) perceived organizational politic and turnover intentions of employees at a workplace. Furthermore the research study exposed that organizational justice mitigates negative effects of perceived organizational politics can and turnover intentions of employees. Sample size of 100 was selected via random probability sampling out of 320 employees from main head office and all branches of bank of Khyber Peshawar KPK Pakistan. The conclusion drawn from the research study that organizational justice (procedural, interpersonal & distributive) has significantly related with perceived organizational politics and turnover intentions of employees at workplace. So managing organizational politics is a very sensitive and critical issue, therefore the study will facilitate human resource managers to cope up with organizational politics and their negative outcomes. To manage the negative outcomes of organizational politics the HR managers should realize the sensitivity of political environment inside organization. The future studies may include all dimensions of justice and other job outcomes with a bigger sample size in order to increase the generalizability of results.

The partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947 was a historic event surrounded by many controversies and issues. Some of those ended up with the passage of time while others were kept alive and orchestrated. Besides numerous problems for the newly born state of Pakistan, one such controversy was about the Muhajirs (immigrants) who were settled in Karachi. The paper analyses the factors that brought the relation between the native Sindhis and Muhajirs to such an impasse which resulted in the growth of conspiracy theories, division among Sindhis; subsequently to the demand of Muhajir Suba (Province); target killings, extortion; and eventually to military clean-up operation in Karachi. The paper also throws light on the twin simmering problems of native Sindhis and Muhajirs. Besides, the paper attempts to answer the question as to why the immigrants could not merge in the native Sindhis despite living together for so long and why the native Sindhis remained backward and deprived. Finally, the paper aims at bringing to limelight the role of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The relation between Muhajirs and native Sindhis has not been smooth since the former's settlement in Karachi. However, relations between the nationalists and Muhajirs aggravated more during undemocratic regimes.

The partition of Indian sub-continent in 1947 was a historic event surrounded by many controversies and issues. Some of those ended up with the passage of time while others were kept alive and orchestrated. Besides numerous problems for the newly born state of Pakistan, one such controversy was about the Muhajirs (immigrants) who were settled in Karachi. The paper analyses the factors that brought the relation between the native Sindhis and Muhajirs to such an impasse which resulted in the growth of conspiracy theories, division among Sindhis; subsequently to the demand of Muhajir Suba (Province); target killings, extortion; and eventually to military clean-up operation in Karachi. The paper also throws light on the twin simmering problems of native Sindhis and Muhajirs. Besides, the paper attempts to answer the question as to why the immigrants could not merge in the native Sindhis despite living together for so long and why the native Sindhis remained backward and deprived. Finally, the paper aims at bringing to limelight the role of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM). The relation between Muhajirs and native Sindhis has not been smooth since the former's settlement in Karachi. However, relations between the nationalists and Muhajirs aggravated more during undemocratic regimes.

In Pakistan, women face economic and social vulnerability, which keeps them underpaid even without social barriers. Government micro and macroeconomic policies are aimed at income generation rather than making women part of the economic mainstream. The cash transfer program is an essential component of social protection policy in the developing world, with one of its key objectives of raising women's financial autonomy. This research investigates the impact of Pakistan's first and largest cash transfer program, named Benazir Income Support Program (BISP), on women's vulnerable employment. BISP was initiated by identifying poor households based on poverty score cutoff, thereby exploiting Regression Discontinuity Design. The findings revealed that this program reduced vulnerable employment in the initial years of its inception. However, it does not impact the later follow-up years. Policymakers should take necessary measures so that women's non-vulnerable employment may improve.

PurposeOrganizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) is vital for manufacturing firms' ability to improve their triple bottom line (TBL) performance. This study's objective was to examine the direct relationship between three OCBE key dimensions, i.e. eco-initiatives (EIs), eco-civic-initiatives and eco-helping (EH) and TBL performance, i.e. economic (ECOP), social (SOP) and environmental (ENP).Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative design was used based on the positivist approach. A sample of 350 manufacturing firms was targeted using random probability sampling via a survey questionnaire. The data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique employing AMOS 24 software.FindingsResearch findings confirmed a significant direct positive relationship between components of OCBE, i.e. EIs, eco-civic- initiatives and EH and TBL performance within ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms.Research limitations/implicationsThis research presents vital implications for both managers and organizations. The findings revealed that the three OCBE key dimensions, i.e. (EIs, eco-civic-initiatives and EH) are essential for enhancing TBL performance (ECOP, SOP and ENP), respectively. Manufacturing firms should modify the traditional OCB toward pro-environmental OCBE to improve TBL performance.Originality/valueThis research focuses on the impact of OCBE key types, i.e. EIs, eco-civic-initiatives and EH on TBL performance (ECOP, ENP and SOP) dimensions among ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms.

This research aims to assess the household and individual-level factors, specifically education, that affect the probability of women being engaged in decent work activities in the labor market. The study utilized the most recent labor force survey data from Pakistan with a sample size of 64,009 women. The research exploits the multinomial logit model (MNL) for data analysis. Several studies exist on the causes of female labor force participation nationally—in Pakistan—and internationally. However, there is a lack of research exploring the link between women's access to decent work and various household and individual-level characteristics. This study intends to fill this literature gap by exploiting the largest nationwide labor force survey and exploring how household and individual-level factors, specifically focusing on women's education level, relate to women's employment status categories. The study's findings reveal that education plays an essential role in uplifting women for better employment opportunities, i.e., educated women are more likely to be engaged in decent labor market activities such as paid employees and employers. The findings of the study propose some significant policy implications. E.g., (i) since education is the key to open better and decent work opportunities, it is crucial for women and their household heads to invest in education and vocational training; (ii) there is a dire need to have a policy shift in providing women access to at least a higher secondary (HS) level of education in Pakistan. The rationale is that less educated and illiterate women are concentrated in vulnerable employment; and (iii) at a micro level, there is a need to bring awareness among male household heads, specifically in rural areas, to realize that working women should not be considered a social stigma for the household.

PurposeEntrepreneurship is a vital source of job creation and a key driver in promoting economic growth. The Malaysian government encourages higher educational institutions (HEIs) to develop more competitive and innovative graduates for the economy so that Malaysia achieves high-income nation status by 2025. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of attitude toward entrepreneurship (ATE) in the relationship between key psychological factors, that is, subjective norm (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), big-five (BF) personality traits, entrepreneurial motivation (EM) and educational factors (EFs) with entrepreneurial intention (EI) among Malaysian university students.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a quantitative design based on a positivist approach. The adopted questionnaire was used as the survey instrument. The primary data were collected from a sample of 251 final-year students in the management field who were enrolled in research-intensive Malaysian universities. Data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique using AMOS 24 software.FindingsFindings confirmed that the BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, ATE and EFs were positively related to EI. Furthermore, ATE mediated the relationship between BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, EF, and EI among Malaysian university students.Research limitations/implicationsThis research provides critical insights into the key antecedents, for example, psychological and EFs, in explaining the EI of university students and future graduates. However, results can only be generalized to research-intensive Malaysian universities.Originality/valueThis study investigated the relationship between psychological factors, that is, BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN and EFs in predicting EI of Malaysian university students. ATE mediated the relationship between BF personality traits, EM, PBC, SN, EF and EI among these students.

PurposeOrganizations worldwide are integrating sustainability into their operations to reduce the damage they do to the environment and to earn a better reputation in society. Scholars have acknowledged the role of environmental transformational leadership (ETL) in creating pro-environmental behaviors (PEBs). The manufacturing sector has shown interest in accepting an environmental management system (EMS) and fostering a mechanism for what is called perceived support organizational support for the environment (POSE). Voluntary PEBs taking the form of organizational citizenship behavior toward the environment (OCBE) increasingly interests researchers because it is important for the success of the EMS in the manufacturing sector. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of the EMS and POSE in the relationship between ETL and OCBE within ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative design was used based on a positivist approach. The data of 216 manufacturing firms were targeted using random probability sampling via a survey questionnaire. Later, the data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) method using the SmartPLS 3.3.3 software.FindingsResearch findings confirmed a significant direct positive relationship between ETL and OCBE. Also, they confirmed the mediating role of the EMS and POSE in the relationship between ETL and OCBE among ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms.Research limitations/implicationsThis research has vital ramifications for both managers and organizations. Manufacturing firms should modify the traditional OCB towards pro-environmental OCBE using key antecedents, e.g. ETL, EMS and POSE.Originality/valueThe study analyzed the impact of ETL on OCBE through the mediating role of PSOE and the EMS. Here the focus is on the impact of OCBE key antecedents, i.e. ETL, EMS and POSE in predicting OCBE among ISO14001-certified Malaysian manufacturing firms.

This study examined the effect of high-performance work systems on developing incremental and radical innovation capabilities. Drawing on resource-based and knowledge-based theories, the mediating effects of human capital, social capital, and organizational capital were tested. Data were collected from 233 middle-to-senior level managers working in the banking sector of Pakistan, and hypotheses were tested through partial least squares structural equation modeling using Smart PLS 4.0. The findings showed that all components of intellectual capital mediated the relationship to develop both types of innovation capabilities. In terms of the strength of the relationship, social capital was found to be a more effective mediator, and next to this were human capital and organizational capital, respectively. Our findings contribute to the existing literature by explaining the relationship between HPWS and innovation capabilities, which is also referred to as the black box through the mediation of intellectual capital. Decision makers should recognize the importance of this relationship because it develops innovation capabilities that enhance organizational performance by giving them a competitive advantage.

Globally, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought significant implications to the workplace and highly impacted employee performance in every organization. In contemporary research, the scholars agree that leadership is one of the critical antecedents to predict employee performance in organizations. However, research is needed to investigate the mediating role of integral factors such as benevolence values (BV) and self-efficacy (SE) in predicting employee performance in the workplace. This study aimed to investigate the impact of key antecedents on employee performance in the banking industry. The findings reveal that the key antecedents, e.g., servant leadership (SL), self-efficacy (SE), and benevolence values (BV), have a direct positive relationship with employee performance (EP). Moreover, multiple indirect paths were tested, including serial mediation. This study used a quantitative methodology based on the positivist paradigm. A sample of 560 employees was randomly chosen. A survey questionnaire was distributed among them, and 400 were returned with a response rate of 70%, and the clean data of 400 employees was used for data analysis. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was employed using Smart PLS 3.3.3 software. The results confirmed that both SE and BV mediate the relationship between SL and EP. Likewise, BV mediates the relationship between SE and EP, and SE mediates the relationship between SL and BV. Finally, in serial mediation, the relationship between SL and EP is also established via SE and BV together as mediators.