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The purpose of this study was to overcome discomfort associated with it, a resin finish was applied in conjunction with hydrophilic polyurethane.

The process variables included concentrations of polyurethane and resin finishes, and pH under central composite design (CCD). The fabric specimens were assessed for crease recovery angle (CRA), tensile strength and moisture management properties.

Some models were developed for prediction of CRA and overall moisture management capability (OMMC) of treated fabric. It was observed that polyurethane concentration showed a parabolic relationship with CRA and a direct relationship with OMMC, whereas resin concentration showed a parabolic relationship with CRA and an inverse relationship with OMMC. Increase in pH from acidic to alkaline resulted in a decrease in CRA but an increase in OMMC. The untreated specimen had the highest tensile strength, whereas the specimen treated with polyurethane showed the least tensile strength loss, and the one treated with resin showed the highest loss in tensile strength.

As the polyurethane-based finish is soft and hydrophilic, so it was expected that it would overcome the uncomfortable feature of durable press finish, and with its flexibility, the strength losses might reduce.

This is the first report about the investigation of effects of increasing flexibility of the cross-link by incorporating polyurethane compounds into a typical dimethylol dihydroxy ethylene urea durable press resin formulation.

This study aims to investigate the effect of the copresence of ferrous (Fe²⁺) ions and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) on the activity of an amylase enzyme during the desizing of greige viscose fabric for potential industrial applications. The removal of starches is an essential step before processing the fabric for dyeing and finishing operations. The authors tend to accomplish it in eco-friendly and sustainable ways.

The experiments were designed under the Taguchi approach, and the results were analyzed using grey relational analysis to optimize the process. The textile properties of absorbency, reducing sugars, bending length, weight loss, Tegawa rating and tensile strength were assessed using the standard protocols. The control and optimized viscose specimens were investigated for certain surface chemical properties using advanced analytical techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).

The results demonstrate that the Fe²⁺ concentration and process time were the main influencing factors in the amylolytic desizing of viscose fabric. The optimized process conditions were found to be 0.1 mm Fe²⁺ ions, 3 mm SDS, 80°C, 7 pH and 30 min process time. The copresence of Fe²⁺ ions and SDS promoted the biodesizing of viscose fabric. The SEM, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, XRD and TGA results demonstrated that the sizing agent has efficiently been removed from the fabric surface.

The amylase desizing of viscose fabric in the presence of certain metal ions and surfactants is a significant subject as the enzyme may face them due to their prevalence in the water systems. This could also support the biodesizing and bioscouring operations to be done in one bath, thus making the textile pretreatment process both economical and environmentally sustainable.

The authors found no report on the biodesizing of viscose fabric in the copresence of Fe²⁺ ions and the SDS surfactant under statistical multiresponse optimization. The biodesized viscose fabric has been investigated using both conventional and analytical approaches.

There is extensive research where consumer emotions of brand love and brand hate are investigated. However, the studies where a transition in consumer-brand emotions is explored are scant. This paper aims to investigate the mediating effect of brand jealousy in the relationship between brand love and brand hate among luxury fashion brand consumers. Also how value expressiveness moderates the relationship between brand hate and negative word of mouth (NWOM) is examined.

The study is based on a cross-sectional survey conducted among 273 luxury fashion consumers from Pakistan. The structural equation modeling (SEM) technique is employed to test the proposed hypotheses.

All the proposed hypotheses are supported. Brand jealousy mediates the relationship between brand love and brand hate. Furthermore, value expressiveness buffers the relationship between brand hate and NWOM.

The luxury fashion marketers should focus on strengthening the symbolic identity of a luxury fashion brand via advocating its visual elements. Moreover, there is a need to advertise luxury fashion brands as exclusive to individual customers. Finally, some rewards can be offered to consumers to generate positive word of mouth (WOM) about luxury fashion brands.

The study of an emotional transition among luxury brand customers via a mediating role of brand jealousy is a unique theoretical contribution. Moreover, the moderating role of the value-expressiveness function examining the hate-to-NWOM path is also unique to this study.

This study aims to deal with the dyeing of nylon-/cotton-blended fabric in one bath using direct and acid dyes.

The cellulose in cotton/nylon-blended fabric was chemically modified using 3-chloro-2-hydroxypropyl tri-methyl ammonium chloride (CHPTAC) as cationizing agent to impart positive charge on the cellulose. The modified and unmodified blended fabrics were dyed in a single bath with direct and acid dyes under various concentrations of 0.5, 1, 2, 4 and 6 per cent on the weight of fabric by exhaust method. The dyeing of modified and unmodified fabrics was characterized through the properties such as K/S and colorfastness to washing, rubbing and light.

The modified fabric exhibited higher color yield, comparable rubbing fastness and good washing fastness.

The dye uptake was maximum in a single-bath dyeing process of nylon-/cotton-blended fabrics without electrolyte addition, which minimizes the impact of dyes on environment.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of brand identification (BI), brand knowledge (BK) and brand psychological ownership (BPO) to predict brand citizenship behaviours (BCB) in a mediating role of brand pride.

Using survey data collected from 372 front line employees (FLEs), employed in different banks in Pakistan, the path analysis through structural equation modelling procedures is used to perform data analysis.

The results show that BI, BK and BPO strongly predict BCB in a mediating role of brand pride.

The results have pragmatic value to guide managers and marketing policymakers to develop a brand culture where the company as a brand is internally owned by its employees. The supervisors should offer FLEs with opportunities to speak up and must socialize with them so that communication touch points can be established and strengthened. Furthermore, delegation of authority and positive enforcement are important tools to trigger psychological ownership among FLEs.

Three antecedents (i.e. BI, BK and BPO) to advocate and channelize brand-oriented citizenship behaviours are unique to this study. Furthermore, the mediating role of brand pride is yet another unique contribution.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of services quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image on customer perceived value in the banking sector of Pakistan.

A model is developed to show the relationship between dependent and independent variables taken from the existing literature. The data are collected from 200 respondents taken from the five major cities of Pakistan using structured questionnaire. Correlation and regression are applied to estimate the relationship between variables and find out the extent to which the independent variables have impact on the dependent variable.

Results show that there is a positive relation between the service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image. It is also analyzed by the results that service quality and customer satisfaction have high impact on the customer perceived value where corporate image also effect the customer perceived value.

This paper identified the impact of service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image on the customer perceived value that helps the services sector especially banks how they can improve the customer perceived value through improving their service quality, customer satisfaction and corporate image.

With governance networks as the critical emerging feature of public administration, this article examines the structure, governance and challenges of networks in the public sector. Using complexity theory, this article explains that control-based relations do not hold much relevance to govern the complex systems of networks.

Case study research design is employed taking the power network in Pakistan as the unit of analysis. Data were collected through eleven semi-structured interviews, companies' websites, government policy reports and other companies' reports. The structure of the power network was examined through the technique of social network analysis using UCINET. Thematic analysis of interviews was conducted with the help of NVivo 13 to identify the mode of governance and challenges.

The study found that five central public sector actors have a high degree centrality and betweenness centrality. Thematic analysis further revealed that these actors are controlling most of the decisions in the network in a hierarchical mode of governance. Other actors face multiple challenges including lack of autonomy, overlapping authorities, conflicting rules and complex decision processes.

The findings imply that instead of top-down and control-based relations, networks require self-governance mechanisms where actors independently participate and interact with other actors to generate common solutions to problems.

The authorities should use network management strategies, participatory approaches and consensus-building methods to reach decisions.

The study explores the network structure and network governance challenges in the context of a developing country that is barely addressed in the public management literature.

Although this chapter situates all violence against women as a human rights issue, it emphasises ‘culturalised’ forms of this violence, such as honour-based violence/abuse, forced marriage and female genital mutilation. The authors draw upon their respective research to highlight how these forms of gendered violence have been subjected to a process of culturalisation. The chapter shows that while this process has raised awareness of previously under-researched forms of abuse and highlighted some of the contextual differences between women’s experiences of violence more broadly, its overemphasis on culture and cultural pathology has resulted in policy and legislative responses that do not always benefit victims. Ultimately, this chapter aims to problematise ‘culturalised’ understandings of violence in diverse communities and to show how current policy, legislative and support responses fail to adequately address the intersectional needs of black and minority ethnic victims/survivors.¹

The breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments all over the globe to bring radical changes to all walks of life. Strict lockdowns are not only adversely affecting the social, economic, and psychological wellbeing of individuals but also questioning the sustainability of most businesses. In wake of the current scenario, this study is aimed at exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing the sustainability of entrepreneurship particularly from a female perspective and further providing insights into the role of Islamic financial institutions in the sustainability of businesses during COVID-19.

This is a qualitative study that takes social constructivism approach to study the underlying phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect primary data. Secondary data are also utilized in this study to theoretically define various concepts relating to entrepreneurial sustainability. The application of thematic analysis revealed various risks associated with sustainability. The interviews reveal the ground realities and tell us about the hardships being faced by the entrepreneurs due to ongoing crises. The participants of the study also shed light on the role of Islamic financial institutions during the pandemic.

The study results revealed that it may look impossible for women entrepreneurs to halt or avoid the adverse consequences of the pandemic; however, a few female entrepreneurs strived to guard their existing portfolios with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. Whereas, several women, especially those running home-based businesses, lost their income streams. Despite these rapid challenges, most female entrepreneurs are working on inventive online systems to sustain their business activities during the crisis. Finally, guidelines are suggested which can help achieve sustainability of the entrepreneurial startups.

The outcomes of this study are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and Islamic financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during severe disasters like COVID-19. Moreover, the study is a helpful tool for women entrepreneurs to avert the worst impact of the pandemic with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. The themes of this study help generate realistic information to appraise the strategies to create facilitating business environments that drive the women to carry out the entrepreneurial activity during any crisis like the COVID-19.

The results of this study provide evidence that crisis can be anticipated up to some extent if entrepreneurs become able to take proactive decisions in case of expected or identifiable threats. The study may also help the women entrepreneurs to comprehend the serious consequences of the pandemic by shifting their mode of financing to Islamic finance. Although this pandemic is a cause of physical discomfort instead this research may encourage the female entrepreneurs not to lose heart, just find the potential opportunities for their home-based and small businesses and manage funding from the Islamic microfinance institutions.

The study adds to the existing literature on entrepreneurial sustainability with a particular focus on the role of Islamic microfinance institutions for women entrepreneurs' sustainability in Pakistan. Secondly, the study employs the entrepreneurial sustainability model (ESM) that, according to the best of our knowledge, has not been used by the researchers earlier to study the given research phenomenon. Thirdly, the study findings are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during disasters like COVID-19.

This study examines the direct and indirect effects of social capital on supply chain performance via supply chain quality integration (SCQI), which refers to integrating supply chain partners from the perspective of quality management. It also examines the moderating role of environmental uncertainty in the link between social capital and SCQI and determines the conditional indirect effect of social capital on supply chain performance via SCQI.

Data were collected using a time-lagged research design through a self-administered survey of supply chain professionals in manufacturing firms in Pakistan. Hayes’ PROCESS Macro was used to test the hypotheses.

The results show a positive relationship between social capital and supply chain performance. SCQI partially mediates the relationship between social capital and supply chain performance. Environmental uncertainty significantly moderates that relationship in such a way that firms that operate under high environmental uncertainty are more likely to use their social capital to develop SCQI than firms that operate under low environmental uncertainty.

The study has practical implications for managers who seek to implement SCQI practices using social capital. Leveraging social capital across the supply chain fosters strong connections and a quality-oriented approach across the supply chain, and improves overall performance. Managers can use the power of social capital to navigate environmental uncertainty.

This study’s originality lies in its drawing on the dynamic capability theory and contingency theory and integrating the dispersed scholarly work on social capital, SCQI, and supply chain performance under the boundary condition of environmental uncertainty.