31 research outputs found
Antecedents and precedents of employee conflict among academics of higher education institutions in Pakistan
No full textHigher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Pakistan are consistently witnessing an increased level of conflicts among employees. This increase impacts significantly the culture of the institutions. Furthermore, literature has indicated the importance of organizational culture in reshaping employees’ work practices and empowerment, specifically, in relation to the three types of conflicts such as task, process and relationship. However, the relationship of each conflict type with employees’ performance is unclear and there have been limited studies to identify antecedents of the conflicts in organizations. Thus, the objectives of this study are to examine the interrelationship of organizational culture, employee empowerment and employee conflict, and its impact on employee performance with moderating role of conflict management. A proportionate random sample of 240 academic staff from HEIs in Pakistan was respondents for the study. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the empirical relationship. Results indicated that HEIs’ culture has a negative relationship with employee conflict, and this conflict has a negative relationship with employee’s performance. The findings showed that employee empowerment mediates the relationship between organizational culture and employee conflict, whilst conflict management moderates the relationship of employee conflict and employee performance. Besides, the study also found that relationship conflict has a negative relationship with employee performance while task conflict has a positive relationship. However, the study did not find any evidence of a relationship between process conflict and employee performance. The results of the current study are helpful for HEIs’ management to develop strategies to reduce relationship conflicts by empowering their employees
Person–job fit, person–organization fit and innovative work behavior: The mediating role of innovation trust
No full textPsychometric analysis of role conflict and ambiguity scales in academia
No full textA comprehensive Psychometric Analysis of Rizzo et al.'s (1970) Role Conflict & Ambiguity (RCA) scales were performed after its distribution among 600 academic staff working in six universities of Pakistan. The reliability analysis includes calculation of Cronbach Alpha Coefficients and Inter-Items statistics, whereas validity was determined by running Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses. The reliability analysis revealed that RCA scales possessed sufficient internal consistencies, i.e. (Σα= 0.85 & r= 0.61). On the other side, Factor Analysis revealed that mean factor loadings for all items ranged up to 0.85, which resulted in three-factor model fit for role conflict and two-factor model fit for role ambiguity. The overall results confirm that RCA scales possess good psychometric properties, thus it could used for assessment of role conflict and ambiguity among academic staff in Pakistan
Embedding high capacity covert channels in short message service (sms)
No full textCovert channels constitute an important security threat because they are used to ex-filtrate sensitive information, to disseminate malicious code, and, more alarmingly, to transfer instructions to a criminal (or terrorist). This work presents zero day vulnerabilities and weak-nesses, that we discovered, in the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol, that allow the embedding of high capacity covert channels. We show that an intruder, by exploiting these SMS vulnerabilities, can bypass the existing security infrastructure (including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, content filters) of a sensitive organization and the primitive content filtering software at an SMS Center (SMSC). We found that the SMS itself, along with its value added services (like picture SMS, ring tone SMS), appears to be much more susceptible to security vulnerabilities than other services in IP-based networks. To demonstrate the effectiveness of covert channels in SMS, we have used our tool GeheimSMS that practically embeds data bytes (not only secret, but also hidden) by composing the SMS in Protocol Description Unit (PDU) mode and transmitting it from a mobile device using a serial or Bluetooth link. The contents of the overt (benign) message are not corrupted; hence the secret communication remains unsuspicious during the transmission and reception of SMS. Our experiments on active cellular networks show that 1 KB of a secret message can be transmitted in less than 3 minutes by sending 26 SMS without raising an alarm over suspicious activity.status: Publishe
The Significance of Digital Marketing in Shaping Ecotourism Behaviour through Destination Image
No full textEcotourism is the most encompassing alternative approach, and it is usually regarded as a panacea capable of combining economic development, environmental protection, and community well-being. Pakistan’s ecotourism industry is relatively new and has significant growth potential, with approximately 6 million domestic and international tourists visiting various northern destinations in 2018. However, as the number of tourists grows, so do the difficulties or obstacles associated with visitor/tourist behaviour, such as pollution, forest cutting, wildlife turmoil, filthy waste/garbage, and forest fire. These potential hazards have become natural environment-harming concerns that occur daily. Prior studies and government policies have emphasised the increasing knowledge and responsibility of ecotourism behaviour among tourists to address the issues. Digital marketing is known as a flashy way to connect with tourists by providing them with diverse tour information and destination images; however, reviews show that a smaller number of previous research in the tourism industry has been involved with digital marketing strategies. They use a quantitative design and Structural Equation Model testing. The guaranteed validity and reliability is an adaptive questionnaire created and tested in pilot research. For data gathering, a multistage sampling method is utilised. This research included 384 tourist respondents from three regions that used digital marketing for their travelling. It was chosen using a random and purposeful sampling process. The study found that destination image is positively connected to ecotourism. The current study employs the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) as a theoretical contribution. The study’s findings suggest that visitors, the government, the tourism industry, and the community may use digital marketing strategies to encourage ecotourism behaviour
Post-COVID 19 Tourism: Will Digital Tourism Replace Mass Tourism?
No full textRecently, nations are struggling to mitigate the impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 outbreak on their economy. Many countries have imposed traveling restrictions to reduce people’s movement in order to avoid infection transmission. Traveling restrictions have jeopardized the tourism industry around the globe. If the situation persists, it will become challenging for the nations to open tourism. For this reason, the digitalization of tourism is a viable solution for this situation. However, it is essential to map whether digital technologies can provide alternative solutions to the situation and whether digital tourism can replace conventional tourism? With that backdrop, this study has two objectives: (a) to find the future of digital tourism development beyond the COVID-19 pandemic situation, and (b) to find collaborative research work among nations to develop digital tourism after the current pandemic crisis. To achieve these objectives, we conducted a systematic literature review of past research on the development of digital tourism from 2016–2020. The study applies the PRISMA-2015 statement to select and synthesize 60 articles from Scopus and ‘Web of Science’ databases. Content analysis was performed to analyze the underlying clusters of research on digital tourism and, later, bibliometric analysis was conducted to examine collaborative research between different countries. The findings highlighted three major research clusters namely; virtual reality tourism, virtual tourism, and augmented reality. In addition, the research finding shows that virtual tourism is a practical and valuable option for mass tourism during the COVID-19 outbreak and can replace mass tourism after the pandemic. Although virtual tourism does not feel like a visit to a natural destination, it is still getting attention from tourists. Virtual spaces must develop more features and value additions to achieve tourist satisfaction in the future
The Hybrid Work Paradox: Reimagining Organizational Culture, Employee Engagement, and Leadership Effectiveness in Distributed Workforces
No full textThis paper looks into the paradoxical impact of the hybrid arrangement type of work on organizational culture, employee engagement, and leadership effectiveness in distributed work forces. It has been found that most of the organizations are experiencing some unintended outcomes such as proximity bias, culture dilution, and engagement fragmentation. This study used a concurrent mixed-methods study design to review data on 203 organizational leaders (HR directors, team managers, executives) and 417 employees in 95 multinational organizations. By using the previously validated Hybrid Work Environment Index it was found that organizations with a Hybrid Maturity Level 4 exhibited 61% greater cultural cohesion and a 47% increased level of employee engagement than before. While situation with immature hybrid implementations was an increase in turnover intentions by 43% and leadership trust erosion by 38 percent. They came up with five important design principles, which included deliberate presence architecture, proximity protocol that is driven by equity, cultural bridging rituals, development of distributed leadership, and feedback loops in which people engage. The article presents a proven diagnostic tool and implementation guide to designing hybrid work systems that will maintain organizational integrity but will allow flexibility. Much-needed practical recommendations focus on the reshaping of performance measures, developing digital-cultural fluency, and proximity equity audit. Future studies ought to examine the longitudinal effects on innovation and cross-generational workforce
Leadership Styles in Relation to Employees’ Trust and Organizational Change Capacity
No full textThis article intends to examine the role of leadership styles (transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire) and employees’ trust toward organizational change capacity (OCC). Data were collected from a convenient sample of managers, coordinators, officers, community facilitators, social organizers, and activists through questionnaires. A total of 250 respondents were sent questionnaire, usable questionnaires were 204. Results revealed positive and significant relationship between transformational leadership and employees’ trust. Moreover, an insignificant relationship was found between transactional leadership and employees’ trust, whereas laissez-faire and employees’ trust were found to be negatively associated. Findings of the study also depicted a positive and significant relationship of transformational leadership and transactional leadership with OCC. However, laissez-faire was negatively associated with OCC. Results also revealed that employees’ trust mediates the relationship between leadership styles (transformational and laissez-faire) and OCC. However, employees’ trust did not mediate the relationship between transactional leadership and OCC. Finally, implications and suggestions for future research are provided
Job rotation, job performance, organizational commitment: an empirical study on bank employees
No full textThe aim of the study is to investigate the relationship and effect of job variables rotation, job performance and organizational commitment among the employees working in banking sector in Pakistan. Self-administrated questionnaire was distributed by selecting a convenient sampling the data collected were 435 from the employees in the banks. The data were analyzed with the help of Statistical Package of Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings of the study revealed that a positive relationship was found between job rotation, job performance and organizational commitment among the employees, whereas negative relationship was found between job performance and organizational commitment. The study results are useful for the bankers, employees' and managers. The study also provided the limitations and recommendations for future research
