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The purpose of this paper is to explore the salient factors in adoption of innovations in university libraries of Pakistan. The topic is important because academic libraries need to be innovative for meeting the new vision/mission of higher education. A previous study conducted by the same researchers concluded an inappreciable state of a large majority of university libraries in Pakistan (Awais and Ameen, 2018). It is, therefore, necessary to examine and investigate the ground realities and important factors influencing in the local context.

Qualitative design is used to explore the important influencing factors. Data are collected through conducting a series of semi-structured interviews from 15 academic library leaders belonging to traditional and 15 with a better status of innovations.

Major factors like behavioral issues of library staff, lack of trainings, lack of budget and leadership skills are causing hindrance in leading to adopt new trends and innovations. Vision of higher authorities, library team with new skillsets, funding by the Higher Education Commission, etc. favor adoption of innovations. All leaders of the academic libraries need to have a positive strong attitude, vision and planning to overcome the barriers in the path of adoption of innovations to survive and thrive.

The study is conducted in local context of Pakistan. Only viewpoints of librarians at top level are taken. Viewpoints of higher authorities, library staff and users are not taken for this study. Similarly, viewpoints of only 30 library leaders are taken, which is also a limitation of this study.

Traditional-type library leaders can overcome the barriers by going through the findings and conclusion. They can get ideas from the discussion of innovative-type library leaders.

University libraries can be improved by the help of policy makers and higher authorities. Eventually, users would get better learning, teaching and social environment.

The study is conducted in a local context of Pakistan. It may provide a guideline for some future planning and development of university libraries. The research will be also useful in creating awareness among professionals of other developing countries.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current status of innovations in the university libraries of Pakistan because desire for reshaping the university libraries is now the necessity for full filling the mission of higher education, i.e. to be competitive and compatible in international market.

Quantitative method is adopted for measuring the occurrence of innovations. The content is based on the literature, the researchers’ 20 years’ experience and the websites of all the 183 universities of Pakistan have been reviewed for this purpose. A checklist of 40 innovation used in ACRL libraries and prepared by a researcher, Jantz (2013) is used as a yard stick.

The findings indicate that a large majority (85%) of university libraries, have not adopted these innovations. Only 15 percent of university libraries all over Pakistan are relatively better on the innovation adoption scale.

The aspects discussed in the context of Pakistan may catch the attentions for improvement of university libraries, and growth of respective professional. It is assumed that the situation is similar to other type of libraries (college and public) and also in neighboring developing countries. So, the work will raise the awareness among professionals of other countries as well.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the current status of innovations in the university libraries of Pakistan because the desire for reshaping the university libraries is now necessary to fulfill the mission of higher education, i.e. to be competitive and compatible in the international market.

The content is based on the literature. For this purpose, the researchers’ 20 years’ experience and the websites of all the 183 universities of Pakistan have been reviewed. A checklist of 40 innovations (Jantz, 2013), used in ACRL libraries and prepared by the researcher, is used as a yardstick to measure the innovation status of university libraries.

The findings indicate that a large majority of university libraries, ranging from 70 to 100 percent, have not adopted these innovations. Only 15 percent of university libraries all over Pakistan are relatively better on the innovation adoption scale.

The data are explored by reviewing the websites of university libraries of Pakistan. Viewpoint of librarian and administrators of university librarian is not taken at this stage.

It will be helpful for the practitioner community to brain think on serious grounds for future improvements by having a clear picture of current status.

By analyzing the standings of university libraries of Pakistan vs developed countries, the professionals would get awareness and they might be take initiatives for extending the services suitable and compatible with the present and future needs of users. Ultimately, profession and users satisfaction could be obtained.

The aspects discussed in the context of Pakistan may catch the attention of policy makers for the sake of improvement of university libraries, and growth of their professionals. It is further assumed that this situation is similar to the other neighboring developing countries. So, the work will raise the awareness among professionals of other countries too.

In a modern business scenario, firms have implemented customer-centric approaches to enable customer relationship management (CRM) to trigger business excellence. Business strategies are modernizing business marketing operations that mainly focused on the retention of profitable customers. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the impact of marketing strategies (MS), information technology support (IT-S) and knowledge sharing (KS) in the effect of CRM in the pharmaceutical sector of Punjab, Pakistan.

Data were collected from the field force of national and international pharmaceuticals companies (N = 263) through a convenience sampling technique. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to examine data in SmartPLS 3.2.6.

The results indicated that IT-S and KS mediate the relationship between MS and CRM. More specifically, MS positively develops CRM through IT-S and KS.

This research contributes to the existing literature of pharmaceuticals by disclosing the field-force (medical representatives) specific role in developing CRM performance between pharmaceuticals firms and health-care physicians that are mainly based on knowledge advancement and influence these firms to adopt customer-centric business approaches to gain a competitive advantage to drive firm profitability.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the degree to which Islamic banks in Pakistan use risk management practices (RMPs) and techniques in dealing with different types of risk.

A standardized questionnaire is used which covers six aspects: understanding risk and risk management (URM), risk assessment and analysis (RAA), risk identification (RI), risk monitoring (RM), credit risk analysis (CRA) and RMPs.

This study found that the Islamic banks are somewhat reasonably efficient in managing risk where URM, RM and CRM are the most influencing variables in RMPs.

The paper's findings are limited to the RMPs of Islamic banks in Pakistan.

This paper explores the RMPs of the Islamic banks in Pakistan. The results can be used as a valuable feedback for improvement of RMPs in the Islamic banks in Pakistan and will be of value to those people who are interested in the Islamic banking system.

This study examines different types of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices across the industries in Pakistan along with their effectiveness. The main aim of this study is to research the CSR practices and growing trends of CSR in developing countries like Pakistan. Companies adopting CSR as a vital part of their company have frequently been encouraged across the industry and by the governments of their respective countries. A total of 120 individuals from public and private sector institutions participated in this research. The findings suggest that CSR is very effective across the industry. Furthermore, the practices of CSR will result in better social welfare of society. CSR practices have worked a great deal in increasing a company’s goodwill and raising its brand name. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings have been discussed in this chapter. Lastly, this research concludes with details of top effective practices adopted by different companies within same industry as well as across different industries.

The study adopts an intersectional approach to identify the key dimension(s) that reproduce inequalities in women's subsistence entrepreneurship within urban-poor settings in the global south.

The in-depth case study is based on 44 semi-structured interviews and four focus-group discussions with women entrepreneurs based within urban-poor dwellings in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

The authors contribute to the literature by identifying how intersecting socio-class and socioeconomic inequalities, and patriarchal norms of izzat (meaning: honour, respect) and purdah (or veil), perpetuate disadvantage for women entrepreneurs producing and/or selling business goods and services.

The findings challenge the view of entrepreneurship as a meritocratic and neutral activity for social emancipation. The authors argue that multiple social hierarchies and inequalities operate simultaneously, but how these are understood, exercised and reproduce disadvantage for women entrepreneurs, depends on their social class. The authors propose a triple bind of domestic, market and societal inequalities as a heuristic framework for understanding intersecting inequalities, patriarchy and subsistence entrepreneurship in Pakistan, specifically the global south.

To understand: – the demand and supply side challenges in launching a new product in sports. – Factors, which go into the making of a successful “new” sport. – The role of planning in sport management.

In July 2017, on the eve of Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 5, kabaddi had emerged as one of India’s most important non-cricketing sport. PKL was India’s first men’s professional kabaddi league, introduced by Mashal Sports and Star India in 2014. Kabaddi was an indigenous sport, and India had an unbeaten international track record as world champions. Yet, the sport and its players had never received their due in India. In 2017, while kabaddi’s popularity had increased, leading to sponsorship opportunities, huge player bids, prize money and television viewership, all was not quite hunky-dory. A women’s kabaddi league introduced only the previous year had not been continued, despite an extended format in 2017. The audience profile also did not match that envisaged by Star. As a unique creator of sports content, Star was in an enviable position in India; and so was Kabaddi as a sport. How had Star created a new property around an indigenous sport with rural and rustic associations, transforming it into a snazzy, up-market sport within just three years, even while leagues involving other popular sports failed to create a mark? Could Star sustain this interest? How could kabaddi retain its “star” position within Star’s stable?

In an undergraduate or a postgraduate programme in business administration.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.