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1 – 10 of 108Ishfaq Ahmed, Ahmad Usman, Waqas Farooq and Muhammad Usman
With the advent of technology and internet banking, the role and value of bank’s websites have increased. Additionally, the Islamic banking boom has also increased the role of…
Abstract
Purpose
With the advent of technology and internet banking, the role and value of bank’s websites have increased. Additionally, the Islamic banking boom has also increased the role of Shariah-based banking in the market. But neither web-based information nor Shariah board members have been investigated for their possible effects on the branding of Islamic banks. Against this backdrop, this study aims to explore web-based information and Shariah board as a source of branding of Islamic financial institutions (IFIs).
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivism-based thematic inquiry is carried out through semi-structured interviews of 22 customers of Islamic banks.
Findings
The findings of the study highlighted the fact that customers’ perceived web-based information is in line with the Shariah objectives but showed low level of trust on that information. They assumed that the practices are not consistent with this information. Moreover, the Shariah board members were considered as brand ambassadors, and customers valued board members more than the Shariah board and Islamic bank itself. Findings further highlight the more knowledge customers have about the Shariah board members (experience, qualification, achievements, etc.) the greater is the impact on the branding of the IFIs.
Originality/value
This study offers a novel perspective by considering the value of web-based information and Shariah board on branding of Islamic banks. As there is no such study available in literature, up to the best of researchers' knowledge, the qualitative inquiry may suffice the study objectives and research questions.
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Talat Islam, Ishfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Ali and Tahreem Sadiq
Although the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an inspiring catch all in the eyes of researchers and practitioners, little from its psychological and…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an inspiring catch all in the eyes of researchers and practitioners, little from its psychological and behavioural consequences has been focused. This study aims to examine the relationship between CSR and organizational citizenship behaviour and the underlying mechanism between this relation using organizational identification and organizational commitment as mediating variables.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire-based survey was given to 486 Malaysian employees of the hotel industry.
Findings
First, instruments were checked regarding its unidimensionality by applying confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and then, structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to test the model. SEM confirms that organizational commitment (OC) mediate the relationship between CSR and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB), while organizational identification (OI) mediate the relationship between CSR and OC.
Research limitations/implications
The study selected sample from Malaysia hotel industry, the results might be different if samples are taken from a geographically different area.
Practical implications
The study has theoretical and practical implications for hotel managers to enhance employees’ identification, commitment and extra-role behaviour.
Originality/value
The study revealed underlying mechanism between CSR and OCB by incorporating OC and OI as mediating variables.
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Talat Islam, Ghulam Ali and Ishfaq Ahmed
Nursing profession is facing the problem of turnover across the globe. The purpose of this paper is to identify the mechanism through which organizational support helps nurses to…
Abstract
Purpose
Nursing profession is facing the problem of turnover across the globe. The purpose of this paper is to identify the mechanism through which organizational support helps nurses to reduce their turnover intention (TI).
Design/methodology/approach
Data from 324 nurses were collected using a questionnaire-based survey on the basis of a convenience sampling technique.
Findings
The results generated using structural equation modeling have confirmed the mediating role of organizational commitment and citizenship behavior between perceived organizational support (POS) and TI. In addition, psychological contract (PC) breach was found to weaken the positive association between POS and citizenship behavior.
Originality/value
This study adds to the previous studies by incorporating organizational citizenship behavior as a mediator between POS and TI and PC breach as a moderator between POS and citizenship behavior using social exchange and job-demand-resource theories.
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Ishfaq Ahmed, Talat Islam and Ahmad Usman
Entrepreneurial activities are the outcome of various individual dispositional and environmental factors. Taking both internal and external factors as the basic premise of…
Abstract
Purpose
Entrepreneurial activities are the outcome of various individual dispositional and environmental factors. Taking both internal and external factors as the basic premise of venturing, this study aims to investigate the impact of entrepreneurial self-efficacy on intentions through the mediating role of regret and moderation of family support.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was collected through a questionnaire from 435 students of three large public sector universities at two points of time with an interval of four months.
Findings
Self-efficacy influences entrepreneurial intentions through regret, while the absence of family support increases regret. As the family support is often perceived to be absent in the Pakistani entrepreneurial culture, the outcomes are distinctive.
Originality/value
These findings add value in the existing literature by linking family support, self-efficacy and regret association, and their ultimate influence on entrepreneurial intentions.
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Advancement and disruptions in technologies have attracted cyberentrepreneurs globally, but what factors influence their intentions is an area that requires in-depth…
Abstract
Purpose
Advancement and disruptions in technologies have attracted cyberentrepreneurs globally, but what factors influence their intentions is an area that requires in-depth investigation. In order to dig down the phenomenon of cyberentrepreneurial intentions (CEIs), this study entails investigation of both direct and indirect effects (through cyberentrepreneurial self-efficacy; CESE) of the dark personality traits (e.g. Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy). It also aims to investigate the moderating role of positive thinking (PT) on the association between CESE and CEIs.
Design/methodology/approach
Data are collected, using personally administrated questionnaires, from students enrolled in business and information technology (IT) programs in large public sector universities in three waves to tackle common method bias. A total of 641 useful responses were considered for analysis purposes.
Findings
The results reveal that not all dark triad dimensions influence CEIs and CESE. Narcissism is the only positive predictor of both the outcome variables (CESE and CEIs). Specifically, psychopathy positively influences CEIs, while its effects on CESE are negative; whereas Machiavellianism does not predict CESE, however, it negatively influences CEIs. In addition, CESE mediates the association between narcissism and CEIs; however, PT strengthens the relationship between CESE and CEIs.
Research limitations/implications
The study collected data from a country with low entrepreneurs; therefore, results may vary for countries with a large number of entrepreneurs. The findings of the study offer both theoretical and practical implications, while it highlights the role of dark personality traits and their link with the CESE and CEIs.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of literature on CEIs, which this study extends through the dark personality traits (Machiavellianism, narcissism and psychopathy). This study also explored the mediating mechanism of CESE and the conditional role of PT between dark personality traits and CEIs.
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Ishfaq Ahmed and Zafir Khan Mohamed Makhbul
Knowledge is the source of competitive advantage, but when shared at all levels. Unfortunately, there is a universal unruly present in the form of knowledge hiding at employees’…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge is the source of competitive advantage, but when shared at all levels. Unfortunately, there is a universal unruly present in the form of knowledge hiding at employees’ level, but the causes and remedies are still vague as past studies have rarely investigated the causes of daily knowledge hiding behavior. Against this backdrop, this study aims to entail a daily diary method investigation of the role of daily abusive supervision in daily employees’ knowledge hiding through the mediation of dehumanization and moderation of psychological capital.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study is collected using a daily diary method approach, which estimates the daily workplace events and their continuous influence on employees’ feelings (i.e. dehumanization) and actions (knowledge hiding). The daily responses of 279 respondents were considered useful for analysis purposes.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that the daily events of abusive supervision have both direct and indirect (through dehumanization) influence on employees’ daily knowledge hiding behavior. Moreover, psychosocial capital has a significant conditional influence in the relationships of negative workplace treatments (abusive supervision and dehumanization) and their outcomes (i.e. knowledge hiding).
Research limitations/implications
The study provides some theoretical and practical insights by providing the explanatory and coping mechanism between continuous abusive supervision and daily knowledge hiding behavior.
Originality/value
There is a dearth of literature that has focused on daily episodes of abusive supervision, dehumanization and knowledge hiding behavior. Furthermore, the moderating role of psychological capital has also been rarely investigated.
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Ishfaq Ahmed, Haroon Iqbal and Tabassum Riaz
Humans are largely influenced by the environment in which they work, and the positive environment offers positive outcomes. Building on these lines, this study aims to propose and…
Abstract
Purpose
Humans are largely influenced by the environment in which they work, and the positive environment offers positive outcomes. Building on these lines, this study aims to propose and empirically investigate the relationship of fun on employees’ knowledge sharing behavior. The study also proposes and empirically tests the mediation mechanism of psychological empowerment and boundary condition of person–environment fit.
Design/methodology/approach
Considering the nature of the study, the data is collected from employees working in information technology firms at two points of time. At first point of time 600 questionnaire were distributed while at the end of second point of time all in all 313 useful responses were available for data analysis purpose.
Findings
The statistical analysis reveals that fun improves the psychological state of individual and in turn they share more knowledge. The findings also highlight that person–environment fit strengthens the relationship.
Originality/value
Based on the findings the study highlights some important theoretical and practical implications. The future direction is also provided based on these lines.
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Talat Islam, Ishfaq Ahmed and Omar Hamdan Mohammad Alkharabsheh
Knowledge is an important resource that becomes obsolete if not shared in time. Therefore, this study aims to examine how employees’ perceived fun at work affects their…
Abstract
Purpose
Knowledge is an important resource that becomes obsolete if not shared in time. Therefore, this study aims to examine how employees’ perceived fun at work affects their psychological empowerment to evoke knowledge-sharing behavior. The study further explored the conditional role of inclusive leadership between the same.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the time lag approach, the data for the current study was collected from 355 employees working in IT firms. The study used convenience sampling, and structural equation modeling was used for hypotheses testing.
Findings
The results showed that perceptions of fun have a favorable impact on employees' knowledge sharing behavior and psychological empowerment mediate this relationship. Furthermore, there was no empirical evidence of the conditional role of inclusive leadership between fun and psychological empowerment. However, the results of the alternative model indicated that inclusive leadership moderates the relationship between psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing.
Research limitations/implications
The findings reveal that management should nurture fun at work as it can lead to psychological empowerment and knowledge sharing. The study also reveals that the role of leadership is important for empowerment and knowledge sharing relationships.
Originality/value
Based on the conservation of resources and self-determination perspectives, this study proposes and empirically investigates the mechanism of psychological empowerment and inclusive leadership which has largely been an unattended area of research in knowledge sharing literature.
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Ishfaq Ahmed, Muhammad Musarrat Nawaz, Rizwan Qaisar Danish, Ahmad Usman and Muhammad Zeeshan Shaukat
It is believed that the core aim of Islamic institution is idiosyncratic from conventional business entities. Considering this presumption, this study aims to reveal the…
Abstract
Purpose
It is believed that the core aim of Islamic institution is idiosyncratic from conventional business entities. Considering this presumption, this study aims to reveal the understandings of various stakeholders about objectives of Islamic banks.
Design/methodology/approach
The research endeavor is based on the findings of two distinctive studies, where Study 1 was aimed at investigating the communication of objectives through mission statements of Islamic banks and conventional banks with window operations. Here, mission statements were analyzed using content analysis and readability and understandability tests. Study 2, on the other hand, was aimed at investigating the understandings of various stakeholders, both internal (employees) and external (Muslim and non-Muslim customers of both Islamic and conventional banks, employees and management of conventional banks and business students). In total, 370 responses were received and analyzed in this study.
Findings
The findings (Study 1) unveil, the fact, that the mission statements of Islamic banks working in Pakistan are not good at communicating the corporate goals clearly. Out of ten banks investigated for Study 1, it is evident that only one bank (HBL, with window operations) was at par with readability threshold standards. Thus, it was imperative to share that mission statements of Islamic banks are difficult to read and comprehend. Study 2 adds further by revealing that most of the stakeholders are not clear about the objectives of these banks, while customers of conventional banks do not value the distinctive objectives of Islamic banks.
Research limitations/implications
This study leaves a valuable message for the policy makers and top management of Islamic banks by focusing on the unattended part on their end, i.e. quality of mission statements and stakeholders’ perception about the objectives of their organization, thus highlighting the needs of greater emphasis on the communication flow to stakeholders, as the clarity of business purpose may change the way customers react toward the business and opt for banking – customer relation in future.
Originality/value
This study covers a multi-dimensional investigation of the understanding and communication of objectives of Islamic banks. There is dearth of literature focusing on the aspects of content analysis, mission statement readability and understandability and investigation of stakeholders’ perception in tandem.
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Keywords
It is believed that Islamic banks are aimed at the welfare of its stakeholders (Dusuki, 2008). The major stakeholders consist of customers, employees, competitors and management…
Abstract
Purpose
It is believed that Islamic banks are aimed at the welfare of its stakeholders (Dusuki, 2008). The major stakeholders consist of customers, employees, competitors and management. But whether the Islamic banks are really able to communicate and convey their mission to their stakeholders is an area which has not be given due importance. This paper aims to attempt to unveil this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
This study comprised two distinctive methodological stances, where mission statements of selected (five) Islamic banks were analyzed using content analysis, readability and understandability in first instance. In second step, various stakeholders responded for their perception of objectives of stakeholders through personally administrated questionnaires. In all, 370 respondents recorded their responses in this stage.
Findings
Findings of the study show that Islamic banks are not well in communication to their objectives through their missions statements. Moreover, most of the stakeholders are not clear about the objectives of Islamic banks.
Originality/value
This study is first of its type which covers content analysis, mission statement readability and understandability and perception of stakeholders in one study.
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