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This study aims to examine the role of Pakistan’s banking industry in the transition toward a circular economy (CE) and the implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs).

This study uses a qualitative content analysis technique on 75 annual reports of 25 Pakistani banks. Data has been collected from websites and annual reports of concerned banks incorporating CE practices and SDGs in their annual reports. In addition, the data collected from the annual reports of concern sample is based on three dimensions of sustainable development (environmental, social and governance) along with the leading practices of CE to reduce, reuse, recycle, redesign, restructure, and recover.

The findings show that most firms have reported CE and SDGs. Also, the study explores the level and linkage of CE and SDGs practices among the sample firms.

This study provides important insights for the regulators, policymakers, State Bank of Pakistan, commercial banks and stakeholders in Pakistan’s banking industry. It adds significant value to the CE and SDGs, especially in developing economies like Pakistan.

The study has explored and examined the ever-investigated dimensions of SDGs and CE in the banking industry of Pakistan.

This paper aims to examine the impact of women directors on corporate performance (CP) and the mediating role of board monitoring in their relationship.

The ordinary least squares with panel corrected standard errors are used as a primary estimator along with three other estimators to check the robustness of the estimations and address the potential endogeneity in a stratified random sample of 320 non-financial Malaysian companies listed on Bursa Malaysia (Stock Exchange) between 2010 and 2014.

It is found that women directors on the board not only improve firms’ return on assets but also reduce the volatility of their stocks. However, these findings are more applicable in small firms as compared to large firms. Besides, it is also noted the board monitoring significantly mediates the relationship between women directors and CP.

As the monitoring role of women directors improves CP, substantial efforts may be put in to increase their meritorious representation on the boards. The regulators could pay equal attention to the small firms. Additionally, the number of board meetings may also be increased for strengthening the monitoring abilities of the board to improve CP.

The study contributes to the existing literature, as little attention has been paid to the mediation of board monitoring in the nexus of women directors and CP in the past.

Literature shows that the antecedents of eWoM have received limited attention and the present scales used for measuring eWoM in the hospitality and tourism industry are outdated. Therefore, this study aims to construct a new scale for the generation of positive eWoM in the hospitality and tourism industry.

This study developed a novel scale on eWoM based on the four dimensions of the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology.

The exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirms the factorial structure of the new scale. The exploratory factor analysis shows that “performance expectancy” has the highest impact on the constitution of positive eWoM with 8 items, followed by “social influence” and “facilitation condition” with 5 items each. The factor “effort expectancy” is found to have the lowest impact on the constitution of positive eWoM in the hospitality and tourism industry with 3 items. The confirmatory factor analysis in terms of the construct reliability, average variance extracted and maximum shared variance tests confirmed the model validity of the new scale.

This study ensures measuring eWoM with the latest norms that will assist in prudent policy formulation. These results insights into policymakers from the hospitality and tourism industry for the generation of positive eWoM towards their business which will help them achieve better customer loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation of corporate governance (CG) attributes, such as separate leadership (SL) structure, independent chair (IC) of the board, and the proportion of independent directors on the board (Bind) recommended by the new Malaysian Code on Corporate Governance (2012), with firms’ market performance measured by share market price.

The paper uses a randomly selected sample of 150 non-financial Malaysian listed companies. To find the distinct impact of the code, the paper explicitly divides the sample into two-year pre-context (2010-2011) and two-year post-context (2013-2014) of the code. Besides descriptive statistics, the study also employs correlation and multiple regression estimators.

By comparing the pre-context and post-context of the code, the study found that SL and Bind have a significant positive relation while IC of the board has a significant negative relation with share market price after enactment of the code.

The paper has a limitation of using only two years of data due to its non-availability particularly after enactment of the code. The findings show that the new code slightly improved compliance to the CG attributes investigated. Based on findings, the study also recommends further improvement in compliance to CG codes and other voluntary regulations in Malaysia.

Besides contributing to the limited and incongruent literature in pre-context and post-context of CG regulations, the paper also provides important insights for regulators and policy makers of the emerging markets like Malaysia.

The integration of sustainability is more matured in the corporate sector. However, the topic received less attention in higher education institutions (HEIs). Therefore, this study aims to conceptualize an integration framework and proposes sustainability integration and implementation index in the HEIs.

The index was developed from previous literature. For the implementation of the index, three universities were selected. The required data collected from websites, internal documents and interviews with the high officials of these universities.

Sample universities have somehow inclination toward the broad agenda of sustainable development, but still, they lack integration, implementation and reporting of their sustainable practices. Moreover, the departments have positive and practical intent toward sustainability especially regarding the environment, designing curriculum, teaching, research activities and volunteerism. However, in assessment, the social and economic contributions of these universities revealed to be somewhat mild. The findings also evidenced heterogeneity among the sample institutions to follow the said agenda which reflects a lack of awareness and policy or a centralized or regulatory push from the top.

The study is limited to three universities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Hence, in the future, the framework and index may be tested in other universities of the country or region. Nevertheless, the study carries theoretical significance in the literature of sustainability.

The study has practical implications for academia, regulatory bodies and universities to integrate, implement and report sustainability in HEIs.

The study proposes and validates the sustainability integration and implementation index in HEIs. The index is unique and has originality or value particularly for HEIs of the developing countries.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Firms can improve corporate performance by increasing the number of female representation in the boardroom. Potential exists for smaller firms to maximize their impact by holding more frequent board meetings to help enhance the monitoring process and safeguard against conflicts of interest arising.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of the revised Code of Corporate Governance 2017 (CCG-2017) clauses pertaining to board independence, mandatory inclusion of female directors, audit committee (AC) chair independence and directors’ expertise on earnings manipulation.

Using an unbalanced panel of 323 listed companies from 2015 to 2019, this study uses panel data regression models with a robust methodology called difference-in-differences to tackle the potential endogeneity.

This study’s findings show that, as compared to the pre-CCG-2017 period, board- and AC-related variables increased significantly in the post-CCG-2017 period. Furthermore, financial experts on the board and board independence have a negative effect on discretionary accruals (DAs), whereas female directors and DAs are positively related, as is real activity manipulation. The AC-related variables, such as AC independence, expertise in AC, and AC chair independence, are significantly different from the preperiod to the postperiod, whereas their relationship is not according to the hypotheses of the study. Moreover, these results are robust to additional analysis of the alternative proxies for female directorship and the endogeneity problem.

The findings of this study have implications for regulators and practitioners who are concerned with the functions of the board of directors (BOD). The findings of this research study show that earnings management (EM) may be reduced by independent and expert directors. However, board gender diversity is not reducing the EM. Therefore, the decision to appoint female directors to the board should be based on their business and professional attributes rather than simply filling quotas or blindly adhering to regulations. Moreover, the findings of this research may assist the regulator in encouraging listed firms to enhance board governance via independence, diversity and competency, which are useful for effective monitoring.

This study fills a gap in the literature by providing the first evidence of country-specific regulation (CCG-2017), concerning the BOD and AC-related clauses on EM in Pakistan, which is missing in the relevant literature general and in Pakistan in particular.

This case study has been written to illustrate the basic difference between goods and services, the difficulties of customer education in a developing county and the transition from goods to goods-cum-services for a company.

This is an ideal case to be taught in the second class of service marketing at the BBA level and will highlight the differences between goods and services in the same company.

Haseen Habib is a company selling a combination of products and services in Pakistan. It is involved in the supply of fire protection equipment together with the provision of training and other facilities to enable organizations to take a proactive approach to disasters caused by fire and the appropriate response in case of a fire related disaster. This dimension of business is still in the infancy stage in Pakistan, and few people actually realize the need for fire protection services. Safety, risk management and risk prevention are often matters which take a backseat in the corporate, industrial, residential and commercial spheres. The emphasis is on dealing with the aftermath of events rather than to prepare them in advance. The company has a very clear vision and mindset which aims at taking a proactive approach toward managing and preventing risk. They are the pioneers of the safety industry in Pakistan and hold a strong work ethic. The company imports its equipment from the USA, China and Europe. Their target market mainly includes high risk sectors including oil and gas, chemicals, textiles, paint, nuclear and defense. The product portfolio included firefighting equipment like fire extinguishers, safety items which included head-to-toe safety attire for industrial workers and fire alarm systems including smoke detectors. The company also provides different levels and kinds of training and has experienced staff trained abroad in state-of-the-art techniques. However, in Pakistan, investment in risk management is often considered unnecessary, and in such a situation, imparting knowledge is a considerable challenge. The case can be used to study a number of topics. It can be used in a services marketing class to highlight the ways in which services marketing differs from conventional marketing of goods. It can also be used in disaster management courses or to reflect the status and position of developing countries, such as Pakistan, in dealing with unexpected disasters and catastrophes.

Following are the expected learning outcomes: to appreciate the difference between goods and services; to understand the issues in moving from a goods-oriented to a service-oriented company; to understand the challenges facing Haseen Habib in the context of customer education, keeping in mind it is functioning in an emerging marketing with a particular socio-cultural context; and to propose a way forward for Haseen Habib.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The purpose of this research is to examine the validity of the agriculture-induced environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis with evidence from an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach with a structural break including real income and energy consumption in the model for Ghana over the period 1980–2014.

The ARDL approach with a structural break was used to analyze the agriculture-induced EKC model which has not been studied in Ghana. The dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), canonical cointegration regression (CCR) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) econometric methods were further used to validate the robustness of the estimates, and the direction of the relationship between the study variables was also clarified using the Toda–Yamamoto Granger causality test.

The ARDL results revealed that GDP, energy consumption and agricultural value added have significant positive effects on CO₂ emissions, while GDP² reduces CO₂ emissions. The Toda-Yamamoto causality test results show a bidirectional causality running from GDP and energy consumption to CO₂ emissions whereas a unidirectional long-term causality runs from GDP² and agriculture value-added to CO₂ emissions.

This finding validated the presence of the agriculture-induced EKC hypothesis in Ghana in both the short run and long run, and the important role of agriculture and energy consumption in economic growth was confirmed by the respective bidirectional and unidirectional causal relationships between the two variables and GDP. Thus, a reduction in unsustainable agricultural practices is recommended through specific policies to strengthen institutional quality in Ghana for a paradigm shift from rudimentary technology to modern sustainable agrarian technologies.

This study is novel in the EKC literature in Ghana, as no study has yet been done on agriculture-induced EKC in Ghana, and the other EKC studies also failed to account for structural breaks which have been done by this study. This study further includes a causality analysis to examine the direction of the relationship which the few EKC studies in Ghana failed to address. Finally, dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), canonical cointegration regression (CCR) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) methods are used for robustness check, unlike other studies with single methodologies.

Carbon dioxide emission is one of the key causes of global warming and climate change. This study investigates the effects of domestic credit and manufacturing indicators on the emission of carbon dioxide in South Africa.

The paper relied on time series data from 1975 to 2014 and employed regression and variance decomposition methods to analyze the data.

In the long run, manufacturing output increases total carbon emissions and emissions from solid fuel; manufactures trade reduces carbon emissions and domestic credit reduces emissions from the manufacturing industries and construction. The long-run effect of the changing technical characteristics of the manufacturing sector is sensitive to the estimation technique used. In the short run, however, changing technical characteristics of the manufacturing sector affect the level of carbon emissions. Income increases emissions from manufacturing industries and construction and urbanization increases total carbon emissions.

Policymakers have to initiate effective policies to promote energy-efficient technologies among manufacturing firms.

The paper examines the effect of manufacturing on carbon dioxide emissions in South Africa. It also examines the possible effect of manufactures trade on carbon emissions. Moreover, the possible effect of the changing characteristics of the manufacturing sector on carbon emissions is investigated.