Linking public leadership with project management effectiveness: Mediating role of goal clarity and moderating role of top management support.

Objective: Grounding on social learning theory (SLT), this study examines the effect of public leadership on project management effectiveness (PME). Further, this study examines the mediating role of goal clarity and moderating role of top management support. Methodology: Hierarchical linear regressions were used to investigate the relationships. PROCESS Hayes (2003) Model 7 was used for the moderation and mediation analysis. The data was collected from 322 Pakistani public sector developmental project employees. Findings: The results show that public leadership positively affects goal clarity (ß = 0.049, p < 0.001) and project management effectiveness (0.032, p < 0.001). In addition, goal clarity mediates the association between public leadership and project management effectiveness (0.36, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the strength of the mediated relationship between public leadership and project management effectiveness (via goal clarity) depends on top management support. The indirect effect of public leadership on project management effectiveness is high when top management support is high (compared to low). Conclusion: The role of public leadership contributes significantly to the project's success. The project leader recognises, enlists, and promotes the organisation's core competencies, identifies, corrects, and controls key rigidities, places a high value on goal clarity, and continually lines up procedures with the project's overarching goals. Implications: Public leadership is crucial in project management effectiveness, especially in the public sector, where projects often involve multiple stakeholders, limited resources, and complex regulatory requirements. Effective public leadership ensures that projects are aligned with the organization's mission and goals and carried out efficiently, on time, and within budget.

Shame: Does It Fit in the Workplace? Examining Supervisor Negative Feedback Effect on Task Performance.

Purpose: One of the most exciting aspects of organisational psychology is the study of shame and the factors that lead up to it. The purpose of this study was to examine the relation between supervisor negative feedback and task performance. Further, we examined the mediating role of shame between supervisor negative feedback and task performance and the moderating role of self-esteem. Methods: Employees working full-time in educational institutions across Pakistan were selected to collect data from the respondents. By using a convenience sampling technique, 258 employees participated in the study. The data were collected in three phases to reduce the problem of the common variance bias. Direct paths were tested by using simple linear regression (SPSS V.25). Hayes (2017) PROCESS macro model 4 was used for mediation and model 1 for moderation. Results: The findings revealed that negative feedback from supervisors is linked positively with employees' task performance. Further, shame partially mediates the relation between supervisor negative feedback and tas performance. When self-esteem is high, negative feedback and task performance were more strongly associated than low. Discussion: This study has theoretical and practical implications and is based on the well-known theory of psychology ie affective events theory (AET), which states that workplace events cause emotions, influencing work attitudes and actions. This study fills the gap which is unknown to the scholars and practitioners in understanding that supervisor negative feedback is helpful to enhance employee task performance via feeling shame.

Online Customer Experience Leads to Loyalty via Customer Engagement: Moderating Role of Value Co-creation.

With the increasing growth of online shopping, businesses are intertwining to establish new shopping antecedents. Customer experience has steadily become the most important source of retailers' long-term competitive advantage via difference. To preserve long-term and sustained consumer loyalty, retailers must continually improve the customer experiences. This study presents a framework for online retailing in a digital environment called the Online Customer Experience-Engagement Context model in the presence of value co-creation (VCC). Data was gathered from 189 people who purchased products online. For additional analysis, testing the hypothesis, and model construction, SPSS 26 and Smart-PLS were used. The data was then evaluated further using descriptive statistics, path analysis, measurement, and structural model. The findings show that the online customer experience (measured as shopping environment, shopping procedure, staff service experience, and product experience) substantially influenced customer engagement, which improved customer loyalty. The VCC strengthened the link between online customer experience and customer engagement. It suggests that including consumers in co-creating a delightful online customer experience from time to time may be a valuable strategy for online retailers to increase customer engagement and loyalty. To create an overarching outcome, information integration theory (IIT), multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT), and the attitude-behavior-context theory (ABC) theories are converged to explain the proposed model in the study.

Gastronomic Tourism and Tourist Motivation: Exploring Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Gastronomic tourism is becoming an essential consideration among tourists when choosing a tourist destination. One of the main reasons for visiting a specific destination for almost 15% of tourists is "gastronomy". This has led to the development of a new kind of tourism called "Gastronomic Tourism". However, there has been minimal research on gastronomy tourism, specifically in Pakistan. The primary purpose of this study is to measure the level of satisfaction in a tourist destination and furthermore consider gastronomy as a component of visitor motivation. A survey of 307 tourists who had recently visited Pakistan's northern areas was undertaken to conduct the study. This has enabled us to better understand the variables that influence the behaviors and attitudes of tourists toward this popular tourist attraction. Gastronomy motivation impacts tourism location selection, and gastronomic experience influences satisfaction, according to the research. Specifically, tourists show a keen interest in gastronomic experiences after feeling satisfied with the destination and local foods, developing loyalty toward the destination.

The Impact of Customer Experience and Customer Engagement on Behavioral Intentions: Does Competitive Choices Matters?

The study aims to analyze behavioral intentions influenced by customer engagement, experience, and identification moderated by competitive choices in the granite sector of Pakistan. The study has been carried out through primary data analysis of cross-sectional approach in the transition to a sustainable economy. In total, 400 questionnaires were distributed, for which only 216 were filled and usable with a response rate of 54%-collected data from the production managers and units. In contrast, missed mine holders and labor analyzed the data in SPSS and AMOS to run various tests, i.e., reliability, correlation analysis, regression, moderation regression, and confirmatory factor analysis. The study findings indicate a positive and significant relationship and effect among the variables. The reviews might contain some biases. Therefore, this study recommended adopting a probability sampling technique for future studies. The study results in a positive manner indicating customer service involvement as a significant factor in behavioral intention despite competitive options.

Servant Leadership Behavior at Workplace and Knowledge Hoarding: A Moderation Mediation Examination.

Servant leadership practice honesty, stewardship, and high moral standards while prioritizing the needs of subordinates. The moral concern of a servant leadership is to support others and put the needs of others first. We investigated the relationship between servant leadership, psychological safety, and knowledge hoarding in accordance with social learning theory in a survey of 347 workers across 56 teams. The results of this study illustrate that servant leadership is negatively associated with knowledge hoarding and positively associated with psychological safety. We also found that a mastery climate moderated the relationship between servant leadership and knowledge hoarding. This study highlights the theoretical and practical implications that contribute to the body of knowledge. It helps organizations that the presence of servant leadership may discourage knowledge hoarding by providing a psychologically safe mastery climate.

How Classy Servant Leader at Workplace? Linking Servant Leadership and Task Performance During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Moderation and Mediation Approach.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a record global crisis, particularly and extremely, for the service sectors. Due to extensive security measures, many service sector employees have to work remotely to maintain services. Drawing upon the conservation of resources theory, this research investigates the impact of servant leadership on the task performance of employees in virtual working environments during the COVID-19 crisis. Our theoretical model was tested using data collected from 335 individual employees in the education sector of Pakistan. SPSS version 26.0 was applied to find the hypothesized relationship between the study variables. To find the indirect mediating effect, we applied Model 4; for moderation, we applied Model 1; and for the moderation and mediation effect, we applied Model 7 of the Process Macro model of Hayes. The results of the study revealed that servant leadership is positively related to task performance in a virtual environment during crises. Furthermore, psychological empowerment partially mediates the relationship between servant leadership and task performance. Perceived supervisor support positively moderates the relationship between servant leadership and task performance. Moreover, the indirect effect of servant leadership on task performance via psychological empowerment is moderated by perceived supervisor support. The results provided guidance to the educational sector on how to lead effectively in times of crisis when service sector employees work predominantly in virtual environments. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Does Servant Leadership Control Psychological Distress in Crisis? Moderation and Mediation Mechanism.

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the impact of servant leadership on the psychological distress of healthcare staff during the Covid-19 crisis. The authors propose that work engagement mediates and mindfulness moderates the direct relationship between servant leadership and psychological distress. Methods: Time-lagged data were collected from 277 healthcare staff working at different hospitals in Pakistan. Process Macro version 3.1 on SPSS 23 was used for statistical analysis. For model fitness, we used AMOS V 22. Results: The results show that servant leadership is negatively related to psychological distress. Furthermore, work engagement mediates the relationship between servant leadership and psychological distress. Moreover, mindfulness is anticipated to moderate the direct relationship between servant leadership and psychological distress, drawing on the social exchange and conservation of resources theory. Discussion: This study finds that servant leadership is vital for the mental health of healthcare staff. Thus, it extends the utility of the concept of servant leadership to the psychology and crisis management literature.

Linking Ethical Leadership to Followers' Knowledge Sharing: Mediating Role of Psychological Ownership and Moderating Role of Professional Commitment.

This study examined (1) the influence of ethical leadership on knowledge sharing, (2) the mediating role of psychological ownership, and (3) the moderating effect of professional commitment between ethical leadership (EL) and knowledge sharing (KS). Data were collected from 307 public listed Pakistani companies' employees. Statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS Version 25 and AMOS version 22. The findings indicate a positive relationship between EL and KS behavior. Additionally, the impact of EL on KS was partially mediated by psychological ownership. Furthermore, professional commitment buffers the link between EL and KS. This study contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of leadership by confirming the role of ethics. The results show that ethical leaders develop employee attitudes (i.e., psychological ownership and professional commitment) that contribute to employee KS behavior. Ethical leaders create and encourage a learning culture to enhance organizational performance. This study adds to the little data on the positive impact of EL on listed company's employees and addresses the gaps in previous studies on the role of EL in changing environments. In addition, professional commitment as a moderator has not been previously investigated with ethical leadership antecedents.

Brand Love: Role of Online Customer Experience, Value Co-creation, and Relationship Quality.

Customer experience is a source of retailers' long-term competitive advantage. This study has examined the relationship between online customer experience and brand love through the mechanism of relationship quality in the context of online shopping in Pakistan. The moderating effect of value co-creation on the relationship of online customer experience with relationship quality and brand love has also been examined. Data were collected from a purposive sampling of 189 online customers in an online survey. Results showed that online customer experience significantly impacts customer relationship quality, which leads to brand love. The relationship between online customer experience and relationship quality is found more robust at high levels of value co-creation. However, we observed a significant negative moderating effect of value co-creation on the direct relationship between online customer experience and brand love. It suggests that including customers in the value co-creation process and affording them a pleasurable online shopping experience may be an excellent way to enhance customer relationship quality and brand love. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Health Is Wealth: Study on Consumer Preferences and the Willingness to Pay for Ecological Agricultural Product Traceability Technology: Evidence from Jiangxi Province China.

The application of traceability technology is an important way to solve food safety problems. Different traceability technologies bring different effects to consumers. Existing studies have not explored consumers' preferences in regards to product traceability technology applications, and they have not analyzed their willingness to pay. Therefore, this study focused on organic rice, an ecological agricultural product. The study was based on a survey from Jiangxi Province, China. It used a selective experiment method in order to analyze consumer preferences and the willingness to pay for ecological agricultural product traceability technology. The results show that consumer preferences are as follows: blockchain technology application attributes, traditional traceability-technology-application attributes, high credit-supervision attributes, and international-certification attributes. In terms of willingness to pay, consumers have the highest willingness to pay for the application of blockchain technology, which they are willing to pay CNY 21.902 more per kg for this attribute. At the same time, consumers are also willing to make additional payments for traditional traceability-technology-application attributes, high credit-supervision attributes, and international-certification attributes. Their willingness to pay is CNY 20.426, CNY 17.115 yuan, and CNY 11.049, respectively.

Study of depression in university students in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of depression among university students in Pakistan. METHODS: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from October 1, 2017, to February25, 2018, at Agriculture University, Faisalabad, Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, PirMehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, University of Peshawar and Qurtuba University, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan. Data was collected using a pre-tested, structured questionnaire, and was analysed using SPSS 19. RESULTS: Of the 1159 subjects, 367(31.6%) were males and 792(68.3%) were females. The overall age range was 19-45 years. Of all the subjects, 986(85%) had some degree of depression, while 173(15%) were normal. Depression in females was significantly higher than males (p<0.05). Depression also had a significant association with academic grades (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: Depression was found to be common among university students in Pakistani.