Search results

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, it assesses communicated (information disclosed in annual reports and websites) ethical values of Islamic banks (IBs) by using an index based on Islamic precept. Second, this research paper analyzes the perception of employees working in IBs of Pakistan regarding previously mentioned dimensions constructed in the form of index. Third, it explores the difference (if any) between communicated and perceived ethical values of IBs in Pakistan.

This study incorporated two research methods, namely, content analysis (qualitative method) and descriptive analysis (quantitative method) to assess communicated and perceived ethical values. A checklist was designed that includes total six dimensions with 106 items or constructs. For perceived ethics, survey method is used to explore how far in practice IBs are operating in line with Islamic finance ethics in Pakistan by distributing questionnaires among employees.

This research study revealed overall satisfactory communicated and perceived ethical values in IBs of Pakistan. It is generally concluded that Meezan Bank is doing well in all dimensions as compare to other three banks in Pakistan. Some banks such as Dubai Islamic Bank and Albaraka Islamic bank lack proper format of annual reports. It recommended proper training and development of employees particularly about Islamic banking products and procedure. Moreover, it is recommended to take initiative of attracting female segment of the society and environment protection related campaigns.

Because of data and time constraints, an extended beneficiary analysis could not be materialized in this study. Therefore, for future research, it is recommended to expand the stakeholders’ analysis beyond employees of IBs.

This study may be helpful for policymakers and other stakeholders to improve the image and for further growth of IBs in Pakistan.

This study is the part of corporate social responsibility, so it will add value to social norms of banking sector and provide different dimensions and constructs based on Islamic ethical and moral system. It highlights banker’s responsibilities toward society.

This paper supports the phenomena of Islamic banking and finance in emerging markets and shows its potential growth for the economy.

Wheat, which is one of the major staple food grain crops in India, continues to depict occasional fluctuation in the prices though Union government has adopted administered price policy for wheat by intervening in its procurement at assured prices and distribution. Such fluctuations in prices are usually attributed to inefficient functioning of the agricultural markets. Since spatially separated markets also play an important role to determine efficiency of the agricultural markets, the study has used market integration as one of the tools to analyze the price transmission across the spatially separated markets to identify causes of price fluctuations and suggest ways to stabilize wheat prices.

The study utilizes monthly wholesale prices for January, 2006 to May, 2016 for dara wheat. First, the study employs augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF), Phillips and Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) tests to check stationarity in wheat prices. Second, Johansen's cointegration test is applied to assess the integration of wholesale prices between selected pairs of wheat markets to determine long-run relationship among them. Third, Granger casualty test is used to find the direction of causality between the wheat market pairs. Finally, threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) and likelihood ratio (LR) tests are employed to examine long-run adjustment of prices towards the equilibrium in selected wheat markets.

Since wheat wholesale prices for the selected markets are found to be integrated of the order one, that is [I(1)], Johansen's test of cointegration is employed and its findings reveal that the selected wheat market pairs exhibit cointegration and show a long-run price association among themselves. There exists a bi-directional causality among the wheat market pairs. Since LR test is in favor of threshold model (except for Etawah–Delhi pair), one and two threshold models were also performed accordingly. Findings show that wholesale prices of wheat in Delhi markets remain higher than the prices of all other regional markets as regional markets are found to adjust their prices towards Delhi market. Distance of the wheat markets from each other is directly associated with threshold parameters, which are analogous to the transaction costs. Geographically dispersed wheat markets incorporate high transaction and vice versa.

The study argues that there is need to improve rural infrastructure and connectivity of the agricultural markets and remove market asymmetries through unified market regulating mechanisms across the states. This will enable price adjustment process from primary wholesale markets (in production regions) to the secondary wholesale markets (in scarcity regions) quickly.

The contribution of the study in the existing literature lies in the fact that there are no empirical evidences in the context of India that use price transmission as a tool of market integration among spatially separated wheat markets using TVCEM as this model examines role of transaction costs in efficient functioning of the agricultural markets.

“The Persistence Project” – an ambitious new research project led by two Deloitte Consulting veterans, consultant Mumtaz Ahmed and noted author Michael Raynor – seeks to advance the art of “success study.”. This paper aims to investigate this issue.

Starting in 2007, Mumtaz Ahmed and Michael Raynor worked on developing a rigorous statistical method for identifying exceptional performers with Professor Andrew D. Henderson of the University of Texas at Austin. The paper looks at the method by way of an interview.

The paper finds that their preliminary efforts so far have revealed that the benchmarks for greatness are much higher than generally perceived.

There are a number of critical elements of research design that set this study apart. First, the authors have taken a unique approach to identifying companies that have achieved exceptional results. Typically, research of this type sets benchmarks – e.g., 3× the market for 15 years – and claims that firms that exceed such a mark are good enough to merit closer study. This study first characterizes the nature of the larger system within which all firms operate, controls for key confounding variables such as year and industry effects, and then assesses which firms, conditional on their life spans, have actually delivered results so unlikely that firm specific effects, such as uniquely skilled management, are plausible contributors to their performance. It is this aspect of the work that won a Best Paper award at the Academy of Management this year, and will also be published in the Annals of Applied Statistics.

The authors have built into their study design the opportunity to predict outcomes, and so depending on the results of those predictions, their theories will be validated, or not.

The research is attempting to gain useful insight into the causes of sustained, truly superior corporate performance.

This case example looks at how Deloitte Consulting applies the Three Rules synthesized by Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed based on their large-scale research project that identified patterns in the way exceptional companies think.

The Three Rules concept is a key piece of Deloitte Consulting’s thought leadership program. So how are the three rules helping the organization perform? Now that research has shown how exceptional companies think, CEO Jim Moffatt could address the question, “Does Deloitte think like an exceptional company?”

Deloitte has had success with an approach that promotes a bias towards non-price value over price and revenue over costs.

It’s critical that all decision makers in an organization understand how decisions that are consistent with the three rules have contributed to past success as well as how they can apply the rules to difficult challenges they face today.

This is the first case study written from a CEO’s perspective that looks at how the Three Rules approach of Michael Raynor and Mumtaz Ahmed can foster a firm’s growth and exceptional performance.

After many years of researching data for thousands of companies the authors identified a population of 377 exceptional companies in two categories: 199 Miracle Workers, or the best of the best, and 178 Long Runners – still exceptional, but at a lower level. This paper aims to examine these two categories.

With the flaws of previous searches for the secret to exceptional corporate performance in mind, the authors began theirs with a radical premise: that what constitutes stand‐out performance is not obvious. It is not enough simply to set up a performance benchmark, no matter how demanding it might seem, and see who clears it.

By studying how exceptional companies thought about decisions they made the authors derived three rules that were key to outstanding performance.

The methodology behind the research is complex and deserves careful study. It is discussed in several chapters of the authors' new book Three Rules: How Exceptional Companies Beat the Odds.

The authors' research suggests that the most profitable course of action is to devote resources to tackling the hard problem of creating anew the non‐price value customers will pay for, not the hard problem of how to remain profitable at lower prices.

These three rules apply to almost every decision within the purview of senior management. When applying them, the authors conclude that the most profitable course of action is to devote company resources to tackling the hard problem of creating anew the non‐price value customers will pay for, not the hard problem of how to remain profitable at lower prices.

The main purpose of this paper is to study the changing consumer behavior toward broiler meat and apprise its consequences toward food insecurity.

This is a sequential exploratory mixed-method study in which qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 38) by snowball sampling. The quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire survey (n = 975) by convenience sampling. The qualitative data were analyzed through NVivo 10 software by using thematic analysis, i.e. the qualitative content analysis (QCA). The theory of consumer alienation provides the theoretical underpinning for a quantitative study. The established scales were adopted and adapted. The quantitative data was analyzed through AMOS 24 software by using structural equation modeling (SEM).

It was found that people have many reservations regarding broiler meat. Thus, consumer alienation negatively (ß = −0.10) and the subjective norm positively (ß = 0.82) affects the intention to buy broiler meat.

The ongoing consumer alienation toward broiler will force them to avoid using this cheapest protein and ultimately will lead to food insecurity in developing countries. It is recommended that people must be adequately educated about the real broiler business and its operations to counter their ongoing misperceptions.

It is the original empirical Research Work.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of pricing mechanism on initial public offerings (IPOs) oversubscription in Pakistan.

This study used cross-sectional data to analyse 85 listed IPOs on the Pakistan stock exchange during the period of 2000-2017 to assess hypotheses related to influential determinants of IPO oversubscription. Accordingly, ordinary least square, robust regression and quantile regression approaches were applied in this study to evaluate the factors that influenced oversubscription.

The outcome displayed pricing mechanism is negatively significant with an oversubscription of IPOs. This indicates firms using the fixed-price mechanism signalled higher information asymmetry and uncertainty in their value. Thus, investors are aware that they will be offset with underpricing, and it is expected the demand will be higher for the particular IPOs.

This study is entirely focused on the available information of prospectus that should not be ignored by potential investors at the time of subscription of IPO. Therefore, the study contributes to extending the available literature in signalling theory whereby issuers should consider using the book-building pricing mechanism in enhancing the efficiency of the IPO offer price during the listing.

This paper provides evidence for the determinants of the IPO oversubscription.