Developing English Speaking Skills: Enforcing Testing Criteria
Language is product of four skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking. English language learning and examination has been reduced to reading and writing in Pakistan, at the University level. However, English Speaking Skills (ESS) are in high demand in professional life. ESS require testing and grading like English writing skills. This study is based on developing ESS through testing criteria. A survey of university freshmen was used to collect data. Using Kim's (2010) testing scales, the freshmen's ESS progress was gauged through their speaking performances. As a case study, this research used a longitudinal approach (two academic semesters) with a mixed methods approach. University English Language Teachers' (UELTs) and University Administrators /Management's (UANM) interviews were analyzed textually. A criterion as a yardstick helped the learners to fit in to the optimum.
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Testing Scales, Developing Oral Skills, Recorded Speaking Performances, Pakistan
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(1) Nailah Riaz
PhD Scholar, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Sham Haidar
Assistant Professor, Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(3) Riaz Hassan
Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences,Air University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Oil Price Fluctuations and Volatility of Firm Risk
Prior literature reports that macro-economic factors of a country affect stock exchange performance and thus firm performance. Recent strands of literature and the fluctuations in currency have a substantive effect on countries' economies. These fluctuations are also a cause of price fluctuations of imports and exports. One such factor which directly affects firm performance is the oil price fluctuations. Thus, this thesis empirically investigates the effect of oil price fluctuations on firm risk for the firms listed on PSX for the period 2012-2017. Secondary data is taken from SBP, Balance Sheet Analysis Database, Pakistan Stock Exchange and the company's website in some cases. Using Panel data, results show that oil prices increase firm risk (beta), which indicates that market participants react to change in oil prices and thus increases risks. The study indicates that policymakers need to control oil prices to keep firm risk in control and thus manage the market towards a better investment environment.
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Macroeconomic Factors, Oil Price Fluctuations, Firm Performance, Firm Risk
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(1) Asif Rahman
MS Scholar, Institute of Business Studies & Leadership, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Faizan Malik
Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Studies & Leadership, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Shehzad Khan
Assistant Professor, Institute of Business Studies & Leadership, Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan, KP, Pakistan.
Corporate Social Responsibility Performance, State Ownership and Executive Compensation: Empirical Evidence from China
This analysis focus corporate social responsibility and executive compensation in China and also tests the relationship between state possession and executive compensation in presence of CSR. The estimated results confirm our hypotheses true in the selected sample of 2011 to 2014 of China. The firms with high CSR performances positively moderate the previously negative or no relationship between state-ownership and executive compensation. Application of 2SLS and GMM guaranteed the robustness of the results to potential endogeneities.
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CSR Performance; Executive Compensation; StateOwnership; Agency Theory; China
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(1) Abdur Rauf
Assistant Professor,Department of Economics,Abbottabad University of Science and Technology, Abbottabad, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Kashif Amin
Assistant Professor,Department of Management Sciences,Qurtuba University, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Zafar Saleem
Assistant Professor, Mohi-ud-Din Islamic University, AJK, Pakistan.
Effect of Working Capital Management on Firm Performance: The Role of Ownership Structure
Current study investigates the effect of working capital management on firm performance with the moderating role of ownership structure. A random sample of 77 firms for the period 2011-2015 was selected. By using fixed effect model the study demonstrated statistically significant negative relationship of leverage, average collection period and quick ratio on firm performance, while current ratio, account payable and inventory turnover found with positive significant effect on Firm Performance. Further, the effect of working capital on firm performance was positively affected by Institutional ownership and negatively affected by Managerial ownership. Thus, the results suggest that the owner/manager needs to manage their limited resources efficiently for the improvement of profitability. It is also advised that investor and shareholder pay attention to the level of institutional and managerial ownership at the time of investment..
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Working Capital Management, Firm Performance, Ownership Structure
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(1) Shams ur Rahman
Assistant Professor, IBMS, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(2) Khurshed Iqbal
Assistant Professor,Department of Business Administration, Iqra National University, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
(3) Aamir Nadeem
Assistant Professor,Department of Management Sciences, City University of Science and Information Technology, Peshawar, KP, Pakistan.
Digital Literacy Effect on the Academic Performance of Students at Higher Education Level in Pakistan
The purpose of current study was to explore the effect of digital literacy on academic performance of the students at higher education level. The study was mixed method and data were gathered with a questionnaire and semistructured interviews. The validity and reliability of the scales were ensured through experts' opinion, pilot testing and Croanbach Alpha score. The population comprised the students of M.S/M.Phil and Ph.D. A sample of 800 students was selected randomly from 10 Universities. The statistical tests like mean, standard deviation and correlation were used. Results revealed that digital literacy had significant effects on communication skills, research skills and confidence of the students and insignificant effect on students' CGPA.
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Digital Literacy, Academic Performance, Higher Education Level
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(1) Qaisar Abbas
PhD Scholar,Department of Education, GC University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Shafqat Hussain
Associate Professor, Department of Education,GC University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Shafqat Rasool
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, GC University Faisalabad, Punjab, Pakistan.
Servant Leadership and Enhancement of Organizational Performance
The Servant Leader Model is a theory that advances administration, supports trust, coordinates effort, future-arranges and utilizes moral capacity to engage others, focusing on good ethical practices. This study inspects the faculty of public and private universities in Peshawar for elements of servant leader behavior (wisdom, emotional healing and persuasive mapping) and effect on performance. Drawing on information from 95 teaching faculty members from different universities, we discovered help for the immediate impact of the all elements of servant leader behavior administration on universities performance. The findings add to servant leadership practices, in like manner to values-based administration, which conceivably may include novel literature regarding the relationship between servant leadership and performance of universities teachers. Implications form the last part of the paper.
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Organizational performance, servant leadership, universities and Peshawar
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(1) Muhammad Hashim
PhD Scholar, Preston University, Islamabad Campus, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Azizullah Khan
Assistant Professor, Preston University, Islamabad Campus, Pakistan.
(3) Saqib Adnan
MS Scholar, IBMS, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, KPK, Pakistan.
Assessing the Impact of Usage of Social Networking Sites (SNSs) on Job Performance: Mediating Role of Information Overload
Social Networking Sites (SNSs) have been playing a crucial role in influencing the overall performance of an organization and the job performance of employees. It leads to information overload that is a significant barrier for the general effectiveness of a business model. Thus, the study evaluates the role of SNSs in job performance of employees by the mediating effects of information overload in the context of telecom sector of Pakistan. The Sample of 522 was used for statistical analysis of questionnaires. The findings of the study reveal strong relationship between the usage of SNSs and job performance of employees while information overload play a mediating role. Managerial implications, limitations and directions for future studies are also discussed..
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Information overload, Usage of SNSs, Job Performance
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(1) Muhammad Riaz
Research Scholar, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Muzaffar Ali Qureshi
Advisor, National Defence University, Islamabad, Pakistan.
Reciprocal Peer Tutoring and Innovation of Initial Teacher Education in Pakistan: Looking Through an Experimental Lens
The current quasi-experimental pre-test post-test study involved master level students enrolled in a teacher education program. The Learning performance test was administered together with survey instruments on intrinsic motivation, metacognitive awareness, and self-efficacy beliefs. Analysis of covariance of results points at a positive significant differential effect of reciprocal peer tutoring on student teachers’ learning performance. However, no interaction effect was observed in mediating variables. Post-reciprocal peer tutoring interviews were organized to analyze students and teachers’ reflections about reciprocal peer tutoring. Implications are presented to educational psychologists, teacher educators, and educational policymakers with recommendations to model collaborative learning approaches; such as reciprocal peer tutoring.
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Collaborative Learning, Peer Tutoring; Teacher Preparation; Learning Performance
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(1) Abid Shahzad
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.
(2) Rafaquat Ali
Assistant Professor, Department of Education, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur, Punjab, Pakistan.
(3) Muqaddas Butt
Assistant Professor, Department of Education,University of Education, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Effects of Principals' Leadership Styles on Teachers' Performance at Secondary Schools in Dera Ismail Khan
This learning was directed acts discover the effect of Principals leadership strategies on teachers act of secondary school in D.I.Khan. The research was cross sectional and parametric in nature. The record was collected by both from principals and teachers of secondary school located in the district. The outcomes were fascinatingly opposing to the assumed statements i.e in this broadsheet the impact of transactional and transformational guidance style has been found contrary on teachers enactment. The reason for such phenomena has been deliberated in this broadsheet. The study concluded that both leadership styles i.e transformational and transactional styles of principles of the school understudy have been found not supporting in improvement in teachers performance
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Transformational Leadership, Transactional Leadership, Teachers Performance. Secondary School
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(1) Farhat Yasmin
Ph.D. Scholar, Depart of Management Sciences,Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology. D.I.Khan KP. Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Imran
Assistant Professor,Depart of Management Sciences, Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology. D.I.Khan KP. Pakistan.
(3) Maria Sultana
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences,Leads University, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
Relationship between Earning Multiples, Corporate Governance and Earnings Management Practices: An Empirical View with a Mediation Analysis
This paper investigated the effect of corporate governance in improving the earnings multiple and reducing the discretionary accruals. This study developed four econometrics models. Random effect model employed for examining the first three econometric models, while for the fourth econometric model study used Andrew F. Hayes mediation process. Results suggest that BOD size, BOD meetings and audit committee size has a significant positive impact on earnings multiples, while earnings multiples have a negative impact on dictionary accrual. Moreover, BOD size and audit committee size has a significant negative impact on dictionary accrual, whereas BOD meetings and employee ownership has a significant positive impact on dictionary accrual. The results further revealed the novel link that earnings multiples partially mediate the relationship between corporate governance variables and dictionary accrual. The new findings provide important insights for all the stakeholders like government, practitioners, academia, researchers, banks, Bursa Malaysia, security commission and public listed companies.
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Corporate Governance Variables, Earnings Multiples (Firm's Financial Performance), Discretionary Accruals (Earnings Management), Mediation
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(1) Syeda Faiza Urooj
Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce, Federal Urdu University of Arts Science & Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan.
(2) Muhammad Anees Khan
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Studies, Bahria University Islamabad Campus, Pakistan.
(3) Muzammal Ilyas Sindhu
Lecturer, Department of commerce, Federal Urdu University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan