Search results

To understand how the external culture of an organization affects the internal decisions; to explore how employment stereotypes are used in recruitment; to grasp the general understanding of how line managers give more value to the bottom line than “non-discrimination statement”; to understand the challenges while managing a diverse workforce; and to critically analyze hiring decision and recommend practical solution.

Asma Malik was hired as a management trainee around five years ago. After successful completion of her one year as a management trainee, she was placed in the finance department. She outperformed all of her targets and received multiple rewards of a star performer. However, Malik was passionate and eager to work in the field and to work with the sales team. It was her dream to be an outstanding salesgirl. Based on the company’s policy of equal opportunity employer, she quickly got herself promoted to the position of wholesale manager and she was the first one to be provided such a challenging position. However, the market dynamics and market acceptability in a country like Pakistan were quite thought-provoking for a girl to be a wholesale manager. And it was observed that sales were constantly declining, as she had assigned this role. Now Country Manager (CM) had to make a decision, whether to transfer her to any other position or to retain her in the same position.

Bachelor of Business Administration and MBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 1: Accounting and Finance.

Business Intelligence has gained a significant attraction in the recent past and facilitates managers for efficient business decision-making. Over the years, the attraction toward the cryptocurrency (CC) market has increased. Since the CC market is highly volatile, it is extremely sensitive to shocks and web data related to large events happening around the globe.

This research study provides a business intelligence model to predict five top-performing CCs. In this study, deep learning, linear regression and support vector regression (SVR) are used to predict CC prices. The sentiment of some mega-events is also used to enhance the performance of these models.

The results show that models of business intelligence such as deep learning and SVR provide better results. Moreover, the results show that the incorporation of social media sentiment data significantly improves the performance of the proposed models. The overall accuracy of the model improves approximately twofold when multiple event sentiments were incorporated.

The use of social media sentiment of global and local events for different countries along with deep learning for CC forecasting.

The learning outcomes are as follows: to understand the strategic importance of location selection within the organization and how it influences other’s performance; to understand the impact of supply chain drivers on sales performance and to understand the role of other stakeholders in location selection strategy; to analyze the constraints in decision-making for selection of warehouse location and its remedies; to analyze the alternative options for warehouse in the light of top level management’s instruction or organizational strategies; to select the best possible alternate for long-term sustainability of warehouse location.

Ishaq Bashir, who has recently joined Super Distribution Services as Facility Manager, is indecisive in selecting a rental location for its offices and warehouse, either SDS had to move back to the old location or continue with existing warehouse facility. This existing location was selected by Ex Facility Manager around six months ago because SDS had to vacate their old location due to graving concern the owner of the premises. SDS had to search for a new facility and vacate the older premises within three months’ time as per “evacuation notice” received from the owner, and finally, the company shifted to the new location by 28 February 2017. After six months in September 2017, sales team realized a serious dip in sales by 1 per cent, and they claimed that this had happened due to wrong selection of the location of the warehouse which was far from the city. Now Bashir had to decide either to continue with the existing facility or move to the previous one or search for any third feasible location.

BBA and MBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

The learning outcomes are as follows: what tasks are to be done by medical representatives in pharmaceutical industry? This study also highlights various competencies required to do effective selling in this industry; analyzes and discusses different unethical practices going on in the market; explains why ethical norms are necessary in sales context when sales targets are already achievable with unethical means; and develops and comments on strategies Flori Pharmaceutical can make to overcome on these unethical issues. What should be the response of Dahar to the email of Naveed khan? What course of action should be taken by Dahar in the deceitful reporting case of Mohsin Ali?

Flori is considered a leading and growing multinational organization in the highly competitive environment of Pakistan pharmaceutical industry with over 40 years of experience. The company aims to command a leading position in developing new health-care products as it offers a wide range of diabetic, cardiovascular, respiratory and vitamin products based on quality as a result of high research and examination. Recently, an email to Bilal Dahar on March 2017 from Flori’s star sales person Naveed Khan has forced management to take some strong decisions regarding ethical norms and values to be adopted by medical representatives of Flori pharmaceuticals. The email highlighted the issues related to sales pressure which are leading toward unethical sales practices. Dahar just not have to maintain Flori’s ethical code of conduct but he and his team also has to work hard to achieve more than 26% growth rate in sales revenue as compared to last year. Dahar knew that the highly competitive environment of pharmaceutical industry has led most of the stake holders to indulge in unethical behavior to achieve their individual targets. He knew that this is dangerous in long term for the multinational organizations such as Flori pharmaceuticals as if the similar behavior continues, the sales culture and values of the organization would be on stake. He also has to decide what decision to be taken against deceitful reporting issue of one of the top-performer territory managers, who was key person in helping Flori to close the sales year 2016 with the revenue of Rs. 6.4bn, a 26% growth over the last year. The case is rich enough to provide a platform regarding management of several ethical challenges in pharmaceutical selling and developing strategies based on them.

BBA, MBA final year.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The learning outcomes of this paper are as follows: understanding the complexities of persuading a distributor to increase investments in the Pakistani fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) context. Understanding the data handled by an area sales manager (ASM) for effective territory management, along with the path taken for a focused approach to territory growth. Comparing the distinct perspectives of a company and an intermediary (e.g. distributor) who are pursuing similar business goals. Experiencing hands-on calculations of return on investment (ROI) for a distributor, in a straightforward situation.

In June 2015, Shah Mir, an ASM at PurePack Pakistan, was face-to-face with an irate distributor named Amir Kazmi, who ran Kazmi Agency in Sukkur, Sindh. PurePack Pakistan, a multinational organization dealing with FMCG products, had a turnover of approximately PKR 7.5bn¹ and was a fully owned subsidiary of PurePack Limited, UAE. Shah’s predecessor, Noor Azam, had managed the central Sindh territory very well and had recorded phenomenal growth. The retail outlet coverage had increased during Noor’s time, along with Amir’s investment in the territory. Knowing he was up against an outstanding past achievement, Shah had studied the data of the area and Kazmi Agency’s performance for the past two years and had concluded that there was still greater potential in the area. Amir Kazmi, owner of Kazmi Agency, was an astute businessman who visited his Sukkur market regularly. He knew the distribution business well and had benefitted from it. He was fully aware of the importance of working on relationships with his retailers in the FMCG industry because competition was high and loyalties needed to be nurtured. Like any businessperson, he was concerned about the growth and profitability of his business. Kazmi’s business had increased quite rapidly from a turnover of around PKR 8.7m in 2008 to one of around PKR 54m in 2014, indicating the potential in the Sukkur district. Shah, who was new to the territory and early in his career, was still grappling with the fact that the growth in central Sindh had been phenomenal and that expectations were high for him. He had gotten working on the territory while keeping in mind advice from his boss, Nabeel Asad, who had told him to identify one area at a time so that he could go about achieving his growth targets in a focused manner. This case brings out the challenges that young ASMs face while in the field, when they have to deal with experienced distributors in the Pakistani retail trade, especially in the smaller towns where relationships can greatly affect business. Students will gain an understanding of the key performance indicators required to focus on developmental issues in a territory. It will enable students to appreciate financial considerations as a major tool in dealing with intermediaries (distributors, in this case) and get hands-on experience in a method of convincing a distributor of his past investments and profitability and paving the way for further investment for retail expansion.

This case is designed for use at the postgraduate level in sales management, channel management and strategic marketing courses, as well as in executive management programs. It can be used at later stages of a course and show a link between a company’s requirements and a distributor’s goals. The students should have field experience or aspire to get into roles dealing with intermediaries, such as distributors. The case gives students a practical, hands-on experience in working on simple profitability calculations and pushes them to challenge the assumptions that need to be made. The case attempts to trigger a discussion on distributor management and its challenges in Pakistan, where managing relationships while keeping in mind the business perspective is imperative. Identifying the right geographical territories to focus on and working on the financials of the distributor are the key learning deliverables. The case is accompanied by a spreadsheet with calculations. This spreadsheet is for the instructor’s use and is for demonstrating calculations as the class progresses. By using the spreadsheet, the instructor can practically demonstrate the effects that changes in investments, expenses, etc. have on the distributor’s profits. It can even be used to build a far more complex situation than the one given in the case (advice for which is provided in this teaching note).

CSS 8: Marketing.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

The prime objective of this study is to offer fruitful implications about allocation and directing foreign direct investment (FDI) to gain maximum economic advantage. The study offers innovative findings by contributing to a new angle.

The study used the annual data of 24 countries, for the period of 1995–2016 and employed quantile regression and GMM as main estimation techniques. For robustness of empirical findings and to check income effect, the study divided the countries as high income, low-income panels.

Overall, the findings reported very interesting and surprising results as regional analysis. The results show the sensitivity of FDI for Middle East and high-income group of countries, inferring that there might several other factors due to which FDI is adversely affecting growth and these countries need to reform institutional quality.

The paper is restricted for 24 countries of Asia and Middle East, based on the data availability.

The high-income countries should put more efforts to attract funds. The Asian and Middle East countries countries can update trade regulations to encourage entrepreneurs and reduce trade tariffs.

The present study investigated the role of FDI for economic growth in the context of Belt and Road Initiative countries of Middle East and Asian regions. The paper reviewed the past literature and identified regional analysis as a research gap to focus on Belt and Road Initiative in Asia and Middle East region.

This study aims to identify if an integration between knowledge strategy and knowledge management (KM) processes leads to organizational creativity and performance.

Quantitative strategy and cross-sectional survey method were used to collect data. In all, 219 randomly selected respondents from 173 listed companies provided feedback through self-administered questionnaire. Factor analysis and multiple regression techniques were used to test multiple hypotheses.

Results revealed the significant positive impact of system-oriented KM systems strategy on KM process capabilities, creativity and organizational performance. No significant impact has been found of human-oriented KM strategy on different KM processes and organizational performance. However, it interestingly has a significant negative relationship with organizational creativity. KM processes have significant impact on organizational creativity and performance. Organizational creativity has also been identified as having a strong significant impact on organizational performance.

This paper fills the knowledge gap by undertaking a study which has not been conducted before.

As a result, the current study attempted to investigate the impact of green human resource (GHR) practices on long-term performance, and the path has been explained through organizational identification, which is supported by social identity theory.

To achieve the present study's primary goal, data were obtained from manufacturing businesses and analyzed using partial least square (Smart PLS) on the data of 284 Pakistani small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) registered with the small and medium-sized enterprises development authority (SMEDA).

As a result, the findings show that organizational identification explains the indirect relationship between sustainable performance and green human resource management (GHRM).

To limit the limited negative effect on the environment and society, the findings provide several suggestions for the government authorities and policymakers to adopt green practices and policies.

Green practices are essential for a company to limit its negative environmental effect. Environmental critical problems among shareholders put pressure on the firm to implement GHR practices and organizational identification with long-term success.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the synergy of corporate governance (CG) with intellectual capital (IC) and to assess the moderating effect of profitability indicator on the aforementioned synergy using agency theory, resource-based view theory and theory of financial ratios as conceptual frameworks.

The sample includes 72 companies with a six-year data set drawn from the KSE 100 Index companies of Pakistan. In addition, the study adopts Pulic’s model to compute the efficiency of IC. The research uses fixed-effect panel regression for analysis and two-stage least squares regression (2SLS) to address endogeneity issues in the estimation process.

The results showcased that chief executive officer duality possesses negligible impact on IC efficiency (ICE), while independent directors, audit committees and board size tend to attain a strong association with IC. Moreover, it postulates that the moderation of return on equity strengthens the path between all governance components and ICE significantly.

The research uses a 2SLS regression analysis to explore how CG practices take hold on the effectiveness of IC in Pakistan while taking into account the moderating impact of profitability. The findings add to the body of knowledge on the value that strong governance practices have on businesses and society.

The modern day has seen an increase in the prevalence of the improvement of high-performance thermal systems for the enhancement of heat transmission. Numerous studies and research projects have been carried out to acquire an understanding of heat transport performance for their functional application to heat conveyance augmentation. The idea of this study is to inspect the entropy production in Darcy-Forchheimer Ree-Eyring nanofluid containing bioconvection flow toward a stretching surface is the topic of discussion in this paper. It is also important to take into account the influence of gravitational forces, double stratification, heat source–sink and thermal radiation. In light of the second rule of thermodynamics, a model of the generation of total entropy is presented.

Incorporating boundary layer assumptions allows one to derive the governing system of partial differential equations. The dimensional flow model is transformed into a non-dimensional representation by applying the appropriate transformations. To deal with dimensionless flow expressions, the built-in shooting method and the BVP4c code in the Matlab software are used. Graphical analysis is performed on the data to investigate the variation in velocity, temperature, concentration, motile microorganisms, Bejan number and entropy production concerning the involved parameters.

The authors have analytically assessed the impact of Darcy Forchheimer's flow of nanofluid due to a spinning disc with slip conditions and microorganisms. The modeled equations are reset into the non-dimensional form of ordinary differential equations. Which are further solved through the BVP4c approach. The results are presented in the form of tables and figures for velocity, mass, energy and motile microbe profiles. The key conclusions are: The rate of skin friction incessantly reduces with the variation of the Weissenberg number, porosity parameter and Forchheimer number. The rising values of the Prandtl number reduce the energy transmission rate while accelerating the mass transfer rate. Similarly, the effect of Nb (Brownian motion) enhances the energy and mass transfer rates. The rate of augments with the flourishing values of bioconvection Lewis and Peclet number. The factor of concentration of microorganisms is reported to have a diminishing effect on the profile. The velocity, energy and entropy generation enhance with the rising values of the Weissenberg number.

According to the findings of the study, a slip flow of Ree-Eyring nanofluid was observed in the presence of entropy production and heat sources/sinks. There are features when the implementations of Darcy–Forchheimer come into play. In addition to that, double stratification with chemical reaction characteristics is presented as a new feature. The flow was caused by the stretching sheet. It has been brought to people's attention that although there are some investigations accessible on the flow of Ree-Eyring nanofluid with double stratification, they are not presented. This research draws attention to a previously unexplored topic and demonstrates a successful attempt to construct a model with distinctive characteristics.