Does war destroy business? A review of empirical publications

The study investigates the economic dimensions of war. It considers empirical literature through structure review to explore the different effects of war on businesses. The scope of the study covers all geographical areas and studies dealing with any respective event in the 20^th and 21^st centuries. However, the study caters for quality, relevance, and recentness in publications. Hence, publications in 4*, 4, and 3 stars journals that are placed in Association of Business Schools of UK Guidelines in 2015 are reviewed. The study with its extant literature presents an important realization that against the stereo-typed opinion about war being devastating to businesses indicates that war affects in various dimensions, that is, positive, negative, or even no effects depending on the nature and place of business. Whereas businesses, in general, may be negatively affected in wartime, businesses critical to war may get an unprecedented boost. The study also indicates a dire need of developing a framework for investigating this important relationship on sound footings.     

Effects of representative bureaucracy on perceived performance and fairness: Experimental evidence from South Asia

This study explores the relationship between gender representation in bureaucracy and perceived performance and fairness. It uses data from a survey experiment that was part of a national representative survey conducted in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. In the experiment, respondents were informed about a hypothetical 10-member committee responsible for controlling violence against women and that it processes around 150 cases per year. The committee composition was then manipulated based on gender representation to capture whether women's representation in the committee mattered for respondents' evaluation of its performance and fairness. The study finds that in a “no representation” scenario, respondents reported the lowest perceived performance and fairness, while in scenarios such as “equal representation” or “over representation” of women, they reported higher perceived performance and fairness. Furthermore, variations in perceived performance are found to be associated with changing expectations of fair treatment generated by the different representations of women.     

Stress and performance: Investigating relationship between occupational stress,career satisfaction,and job performance of police employees

The purpose of this research is to explore the impact of occupational stress on job performance of police employees. We theorized and tested the role of career satisfaction in the relationship between occupational stress and job performance as an underlying psychological mechanism. Primary data have been collected from 271 police employees working at AJ&K Pakistan. Results of this research study have shown that occupational stress is negatively related to career satisfaction, in‐role performance, and extra‐role performance of police employees. Moreover, career satisfaction mediates the relationships between occupational stress and in‐role and extra‐role performance of police employees. This research study has called researchers' and policy makers' attention towards an important issue of occupational stress in the police profession. The research will play an important role in compelling the top management, authorities, policy makers, and government officials of police to ponder over the issues of occupational stress aimed at enhancing the job performance including in‐role and extra‐role performance of police employees.     

The corporate political strategy and its integration with market strategy in transitional China

• The paper provides an integrated strategy framework of political and market strategy aiming to respond to the external environment including political issues: (1) In strategic analysis stage, firm should incorporate non‐market issue analysis, selection and evaluation mechanism; (2) In strategic choice stage, firm should expand its strategic choice scope into political fields. The paper actually explores the taxonomy of CPS in transitional China; (3) Firm should pay attention to the integration between political strategy and market strategy. Finally, some theoretical and practicing implications are provided.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Attitudes toward suicide bombing in Pakistan

Although suicide bombing is a historical phenomenon, there has been a recent upsurge in such incidents. In Pakistan, over the last year, more than 1,000 people have been killed in suicide bombing incidents. Assessing the attitudes and perceptions of people toward suicide bombing can help understand some of the root causes of this phenomenon. In this pilot study, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of people (N = 215) in Karachi, Pakistan, to assess their attitudes and perceptions toward suicide bombing. The majority of the respondents condemned suicide bombing and disagreed with the notion that Islam or any other religion supports it. Belonging to the Sunni Muslim sect and strong adherence to religion predicted support for suicide bombing. The majority believed suicide bombing to be a result of religious fundamentalism. Opinion was divided as to whether suicide bombers have an underlying psychiatric illness. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed to determine the attitudes and perceptions of the Pakistani population regarding this important issue.     

E-Government with Big Data Enabled through Smartphone for Public Services: Possibilities and Challenges

Big data shows great promise in public services to personalized e-government service delivery. Big data is a new generation of extracting value from a large volume of data sources with enabling high-velocity capture, analysis, and discovery for forecasting and better decision making. This article discusses the potential of big data application in e-government based on survey findings from smartphone habit as part of big data source. Data produced from smartphones usage is one of the main sources of big data. Online services can easily be accessed using smartphones, which support continuous engagement with citizens using e-government services. This study deployed quantitative survey findings from the smartphone habit of users in Brunei Darussalam. It presents an interpretative model that examines the important factors to consider big data in public services and discusses general challenges for integrating e-government services facing a big data era.