Search results

The purpose of this paper is to explore fieldwork dilemmas for a Pakhtun researcher, educated in the West, to research family or domestic violence in the unstable, hostile environment of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan.

A gender studies approach is here combined with masculinities studies, and a critical qualitative research methodology is used in this study.

The paper argues that unstable regions dominated by certain forms of masculinity require specific research approaches when conducting research and addressing a topic that is culturally taboo.

The paper suggests how the insider–outsider dynamic plays out for researchers who come from a particular field and return to it under changed circumstances. It also indicates how a taboo topic in a context where direct questioning is not possible might be approached through the use of vignettes.

The paper suggests how the contradictory position of a masculinity, simultaneously bearing traces of the hegemonic and of marginalization, may be negotiated in the field.

Social research on the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan is rarely conducted and reported due to the unrest in this region. The paper thus contributes original insights from fieldwork carried out there. It also contributes to the limited but growing literature on conducting fieldwork in hostile environments.

The purpose of this research is to determine a comprehensive coursework for teaching quality management in the universities of developing countries i.e. Pakistan pertinent to the construction industry. Additionally, a framework was also developed based on the results.

Factors and course contents of quality management are extracted through a content analysis of the published literature. Further, a questionnaire survey is conducted involving 150 professionals to assess the requirements of the industry and academic professionals of the construction industry for effective quality management. Finally, for getting a more objective perspective, using quality function deployment (QFD) matrix a framework is developed.

The results show the level of importance of each design requirement. We can identify the design requirements through which we can fulfill the needs and demands of the stakeholders. Contents like benchmarking, supply chain management, six sigma and other data analysis methods, costing and auditing of quality, customer satisfaction analysis, TQM: theory and practices and ISO certification processes and procedures should be included in any course program related to quality management pertinent to the construction industry. Along with these contents, workshops and seminars must be arranged to address the user requirement for increased leadership and communication skills.

There is a lack of literature available on course content for quality management in the universities for the construction sector, therefore, a huge scope of future research in the field of quality management in the construction industry needs to be investigated. This research highlights the most significant quality management factors and course contents as per the requirement of industry professionals. Therefore, this study adds to the existing body of knowledge by developing a robust framework that will help decision-makers and top management to develop constructive quality management course work at university level that will help in producing qualified and trained quality professionals to the construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate the social information processing theory, which is extended by the (1) effect of whistleblowing education on whistleblowing intentions, (2) simultaneous examination of the indirect relationship between whistleblowing education and whistleblowing intentions via moral identity and (3) relativism in influencing this mediation.

Multi-wave data collected at three internals from bank employees (n = 294) were analyzed to test the proposed model.

Results of the study demonstrate that whistleblowing education favorably influences whistleblowing intentions directly as well as through moral identity. Relativism serves as the buffer in the indirect effects of whistleblowing education on whistleblowing intentions through moral identity attenuating these indirect effects in individuals with dominant relativism level.

This study strives to extend the whistleblowing education and whistleblowing intentions literature by unpacking a moral identity mechanism through which whistleblowing education kindles whistleblowing intention and relativism as boundary condition to attenuate such motivation.

This paper aims to examine the determinants that influence bank users’ acceptance for Islamic financial technology (FinTech) services by extending the technology acceptance model (TAM) in the Malaysian context.

The survey was conducted using convenience sampling. Moreover, 205 responses were gathered from users of the Islamic bank. On the same note, the literature on determinants of Islamic FinTech acceptance and TAM was reviewed as well in a bid to contribute to the factors that are instrumental in determining the acceptance of FinTech services.

Findings of the study reveal that Islamic FinTech’s services acceptance is determined by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and also by another variable, which is consumer innovativeness (CI). On the contrary other factors, self-efficacy and subjective norms are found not to be influential in determining Islamic FinTech’s acceptance by Islamic banking users.

TAM is extended in the context of Islamic FinTech. A new variable, namely, CI is tested using TAM. CI is yet to be tested, therefore, this paper will be a useful reference for the policymakers, academicians and future researchers.

The aim of the current study is to empirically assess the effects of organizational flexibility on project portfolio (PP) performance, with the mediating role of innovation and moderating effects of environmental dynamism (ED) and absorptive capability (AC).

Data were collected from 173 manufacturing firms and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) with the help of a partial least squares (PLS) approach.

Results show that innovation partially mediates the relationship between organizational flexibility and PP performance. Furthermore, the moderating effect of ED between organizational flexibility and innovation was analyzed. Additionally, AC also observed as a moderator between innovation and PP performance.

Based on the resource-based view, this study contributes to the literature by addressing the roles of innovation, ED and AC in the relationship between organizational flexibility and PP performance. Implications for managers also discussed in the end; for example, to be more competitive, they should incorporate flexibility into the firm to encourage innovation. It also emphasizes to select new innovative opportunities that correspondingly have effects on the PP performance.

The main purpose of this article is to characterize a novel neutrosophic hypersoft set hybrid called possibility single-valued neutrosophic hypersoft set (psv-NHSS) for evaluation of investment projects by using its aggregation operations and decision-support system.

Two approaches are employed in this article: set-theoretic approach and algorithmic approach. The former one is used to characterize the novel notion of psv-NHSS and its aggregations. The later one is used to construct a decision-support system by using the aggregations like core matrix, maximum-valued decision, minimum-valued decision and scoring-valued decision of psv-NHSS. The adopted algorithm is implemented in real-world scenario of hydroelectric power station project evaluation for investment purpose.

The proposed model is more flexible and reliable as it addresses the limitations of literature on neutrosophic set, neutrosophic soft set and other fuzzy set-like models by considering possibility degree, hypersoft setting and neutrosophic setting collectively.

It has limitations for decision-making situations where selection of parameters is of uncertain nature.

The scope of this study may cover a wide range of applications in many fields of mathematical sciences like artificial intelligence, optimization, multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM), theoretical computer science, soft computing, mathematical statistics, etc.

The proposed model bears the characteristics of most of the relevant existing models collectively and fulfills their insufficiencies by introducing a novel approximate mapping.

In this article, the elementary notions and aggregation operations of single-valued neutrosophic parameterized complex fuzzy hypersoft set (sv-NPCFHSS) are characterized initially. Then by using matrix version of sv-NPCFHSS, a decision-support system is constructed for the evaluation of real estate residential projects by observing various risk factors.

Two approaches are utilized in this research: set-theoretic approach and algorithmic approach. The first approach is used to investigate the notions of sv-NPCFHSS and its some aggregations whereas the second approach is used to propose an algorithm for designing its decision-support system by using the aggregation operations like reduced fuzzy matrix, decision matrix, etc. of sv-NPCFHSS. The adopted algorithm is validated in real estate scenario for the selection of residential project by observing various risk factors to avoid any expected investment loss.

The proposed approach is more flexible and reliable as it copes with the shortcomings of literature on sv-neutrosophic set, sv-neutrosophic soft set and other fuzzy soft set-like structures by considering hypersoft setting, complex setting and neutrosophic setting collectively.

It has limitations for complex intuitionistic fuzzy hypersoft set, complex neutrosophic hypersoft set and other complex neutrosophic hypersoft set-like models.

The scope of this research may cover a wide range of applications in several fields of mathematical sciences like artificial intelligence, optimization, MCDM, theoretical computer science, soft computing, mathematical statistics etc.

The proposed model bears the characteristics of most of the relevant existing fuzzy soft set-like models collectively and fulfills their limitations.

This study aims to explore how transformational leaders enhance public service employees’ growth satisfaction in the job and mitigate job stress and burnout, incorporating follower interpersonal communication satisfaction with the leader (IPCSL) as a mediator.

On the basis of the survey data collected from the Indian public service employees, regression analysis, bootstrapping and SOBEL test are used to test the proposed research model.

The findings highlighted a partial mediation of follower interpersonal communication satisfaction with leader between transformational leadership (TL) and public service employees’ growth satisfaction in the job. Although there was no significant direct effect of TL on job stress and burnout, the results underlined a significant indirect effect of follower IPCSL.

By examining the important role of follower IPCSL, this study unravels the precise intervening mechanism between TL and follower affective outcomes like growth satisfaction in job, job stress and burnout among public service employees.

The study aims to examine the role of health-care supply chain management during the COVID-19 pandemic in a cross-section of 42 selected sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries.

The study used cross-sectional robust least square regression for parameter estimates.

The results confirmed the N-shaped relationship between the health-care logistics performance index (HLPI) and COVID-19 cases. It implies that initially HLPI increases along with an increase in COVID-19 cases. Later down, it decreases COVID-19 cases by providing continued access to medical devices and personal protective equipment. Again, it increases due to resuming economic activities across countries.

The continuing health-care supply chain is crucial to minimize COVID-19 cases. The international support from the developed world in providing health-care equipment, debt resettlement and resolving regional conflicts is deemed desirable to escape the SSA countries from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The importance of the health-care supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic is evident in the forecasting estimates, which shows that from August 2021 to April 2022, increasing the health-care supply chain at their third-degree level would reduce coronavirus registered cases. The results conclude that SSA countries required more efforts to contain coronavirus cases by thrice increasing their health-care logistics supply chain.

The study aims to analyze the role of coronavirus testing capacity to possibly reduce the case fatality ratio (CFR) in a large cross-section of countries. The study controlled health-care expenditures, logistics performance index (LPI), carbon damages, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) to understand the nature of causation between the CFR and stated factors.

The study used a cross-sectional regression apparatus for coefficient estimates and variance decomposition analysis (VDA) for forecasting relationships between the variables over time.

The results confirmed the W-shaped relationship between CFR and case-to-test ratio (CTR) in the presence of a LPI that exacerbates the CFR cases across countries. The VDA estimates suggest that carbon damages, logistics activities, and CSR are likely to influence CFR over time.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the study is believed to be the first study that assesses the W-shaped relationship between the CFR and CTR in the presence of dynamic variables, which helps to formulate long-term sustainable health-care policies worldwide.