Suchergebnisse

This study provides a critical review on the provision of Chinese Language education for non-Chinese speaking students (NCSS) in traditional high-concentration designated secondary schools in Hong Kong. NCSS are equipped with L2 Chinese literacy but are asked to survive with the main stream society who sought for L1 Chinese literacy. This has been a thorny issue since 2008 where the good efforts of various stakeholders including the EDB have not yielded any positive outcomes in enhancing the Chinese literacy of the NCSS. On one hand the NGOs strongly advocate for an alternative Chinese curriculum framework for NCSS while on the other, the EDB justifies the existing provision of Chinese education such as the central Chinese curriculum framework (CCCF) and the supplementary Chinese curriculum guide (SCG) as adequate. Their entanglements have ended up as political fights and bring further disarray to schools, teachers and the NCSS. Despite the absence of literature and few research studies, the issue of providing Chinese Language education for NCSS is pursued in this study within a theoretical framework derived from three related areas of research: Language policy in Hong Kong for government and subsidized schools, the Chinese Language curriculum for NCSS in Hong Kong and NCSS' language acquisition and Chinese language learning. The main aim of the study is to achieve a better understanding of the Chinese literacy of the NCSS, the manner in which the school-based NCSS Chinese curriculums are adopted from the CCCF and SCG and implemented. Last, the different views of the stakeholders and their entanglements are depicted. This study employed an eclectic approach where both quantitative (test administration and survey) and qualitative (observations, documentary review and in-depth interview) methods were administered to collect the data for the study. The essence of critical ethnography was employed in the qualitative method where in-depth interviews in a semi-structured manner and my experience and educational upbringing as an NCSS helps shed additional light and explanation to the issue which allows the issue to be holistically depicted. The findings reveal that, despite the NCSS attaining satisfactory examination results in the international Chinese examination (GCSE); their Chinese literacy is far beyond the benchmark of the societal expectations. Second, regardless of the amount of work that the EDB has put in place concerning the implementation of the NCSS Chinese curriculum, there is a weak negotiation between the different levels of curriculum planning, namely the strategic, tactical and operational. In addition, at the operational level of planning, teachers' inadequate LTC and LTEC in notional and operational curriculums warrant our concern. Last, the entanglements between different stakeholders arise due to their relative differences on the degree of accountability and practicality concerns towards the issue. The study seeks to contribute to empirical and conceptual knowledge on international studies and re-conception on language education policy for linguistics minorities at the political level and fills the literature gaps on language pedagogy, LTEC and LTC at school level. Finally, it becomes a unique literature in explaining the un-imparted multilingual NCSS' language acquisition which is absence in the field of applied linguistics. ; published_or_final_version ; Education ; Doctoral ; Doctor of Philosophy

Rivers are vital freshwater system that are necessary for the continuation of life. The goal of present research was to analyze spatial dissimilarities in water quality of river Jhelum flowing through Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Overall, eleven water samples were collected during month of June 2014 and were examined for some physio-chemical parameters namely pH, Temperature, EC, TDS, Turbidity, flow rate, T. Hardness, Alkalinity and Salinity. The obtained results were compared with the guiding principle laid by World Health Organization (WHO) for river water quality. Only at one site "Sharda" significant amount of turbidity recorded while rest of the parameters pH, temperature, EC, TDS, T. Hardness and Alkalinity were recorded within the range of WHO guidelines.

The failure ratio of new ventures across the globe pushes researchers towards finding solutions, but the response is not effective. This research project surveyed 297 new manufacturing enterprises from China to find factors that significantly contribute to the success of new ventures. The results indicated that intellectual capital significantly sustains performance and sustainable competitive advantage in new ventures. The relationship between intellectual capital and new venture performance is partially mediated by a sustainable competitive advantage. Information technology capabilities do not positively impact new venture performance and competitiveness. Entrepreneurial orientation has a significant influence on differentiation strategy and new venture performance. Sustainable competitive advantage does not mediate the path between entrepreneurial orientation and new venture performance, but it fully mediates the association between market orientation and new venture performance. This study recommends that new enterprises focus on intellectual capital, entrepreneurial orientation, and market orientation to acquire a sustainable position in the competitive market. New ventures should also evaluate their technological capabilities to understand why they do not play a vital role. Further implications have been stated.

AbstractThe high failure ratio in newly born ventures across the globe has been raised a challenging question. Numerous strategies have been introduced to enhance the survival of new ventures in the long run, but the results are fragmented. The research model examined the influence of entrepreneurial finance on new venture success. The model also considered a moderating role of government support while predicting ventures success. This area is under‐researched particularly in the context of Pakistan; therefore, this research may contribute to the existing body of knowledge to appraise the industry in Pakistan. Data were collected from 182 new ventures operating in an emerging economy in Pakistan and analyzed by SmartPLS. The results indicate that entrepreneurial finance and government support have a significant influence on new venture success. Moderation analysis demonstrates that government support strengthens the relationship between entrepreneurial finance and new venture success. The findings suggest implications for policymakers to initiate effective policies and programs for newly started ventures regarding financial and nonfinancial support; in this backdrop, the incubation services are important.

AbstractRecognition of useful opportunities is very crucial for small and medium‐sized enterprises' (SMEs') survival and growth in the competitive environment. However, the majority of SMEs cannot easily recognize new opportunities in the turbulent markets due to a lack of managerial competencies and knowledge. Several studies have been carried out to unleash the determinants of opportunity recognition that configure SMEs' success, but the results are disjointed. In particular, the mediating role of opportunity recognition between business experience, financial literacy, and SME performance has been missed. This study aims to test if either financially literate or experienced managers can recognize new opportunities that result in high performance. For testing the hypotheses, we surveyed 232 Pakistani SMEs from the manufacturing, trading, and service sectors. After performing the structural equation modeling, we found that financial literacy and business experience are the substantial prognosticators of opportunity recognition and SMEs' performance. Opportunity recognition shows a partial mediating role between financial literacy and SMEs performance as well as between business experience and SMEs performance. However, this research endorses that business experience is more vital for high performance as compared to financial literacy whereas in terms of opportunity recognition financial literacy is more crucial as compared to experience. This study recommends the enterprises to hire the financially literate and experienced managers as both display a prominent role in the identification of opportunities and high performance. Further implications are discussed.

Purpose
Grounded in upper echelon (UE) theory, this study aims to examine the role of managerial competencies (business experience, financial literacy and digital literacy) in sustainable development strategy, with resource management as a mediator.

Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data collection is conducted through a survey completed by 297 top management teams of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Pakistan. Structural equation modelling in Smart PLS is used to substantiate the hypotheses.

Findings
The findings reveal that financially and digitally literate managers significantly contribute to the sustainable development strategies of SMEs. However, experienced managers do not focus significantly on sustainable development strategies. Resource management partially mediates the nexus between financial literacy and sustainable development strategy, as well as between digital literacy and sustainable development strategy. In contrast, resource management does not mediate the nexus between business experience and sustainable development strategy.

Research limitations/implications
This study recommends that SMEs should prioritize managers with digital and financial literacy over those with experience. SMEs led by a management team with digital and financial literacy are more effective in resource management for sustainable development practices, whereas experienced managers may not significantly prioritize managing resources for sustainability.

Originality/value
While research based on the UE theory significantly contributes to the body of knowledge on sustainable development, the role of managerial competencies, particularly business experience, financial literacy and digital literacy, in sustainable development strategy via resource management is neglected. This research fills this gap in the context of UE theory and thereby enriches the literature.

Present study was designed to obtain estimation about ground water quality of Bhimber, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Pakistan. A total of 12 water samples were collected from different localities of study area to analyze for various physicochemical and biological parameters i.e. namely temperature, pH, turbidity, color, odor, taste, electric conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS), total hardness (Calcium + Magnesium), chloride, arsenic, phosphate, lead, ammonium ion, nitrite, Fecal coliform and Escherichia coli. Results exposed that all ground water samples of study area were grossly contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms like E. coli and Fecal coliform except one water sample that was obtained from community filter plant Samahni Chowk site. Besides it, values of some physicochemical water quality determining parameters also deviated from recommended limits of World Health Organization (WHO). Chloride ion concentration was little below the prescribed limits in almost all water samples. It has been proven that consumption of un-safe drinking water is one of the major cause of prevalence of water borne diseases like diarrhea, gastroenteritis, typhoid fever and malaria etc. in study area. Community water supply and sanitation projects should be encouraged; government should provide filter plants in all regions of the country so that people could have easy approach to safe drinking water.

PurposeWith a foundation in the conservation of resource theory, this paper aims to examine the validity of a conceptual model that explains the mechanism connecting perceived threat of terrorism to production deviance. The link between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance was examined via emotional exhaustion. Notably, the study evaluated whether the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance is mediated by emotional exhaustion and moderated by levels of emotional intelligence.Design/methodology/approachThe study is cross-sectional in nature and data were collected from 432 pharmaceutical sales representatives who operate outdoors in the high-risk region. Two-step approach consisting confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling was used for analysis. To examine conditional direct and indirect effects, the authors used model 8 in PROCESS.FindingsResults were consistent with prediction made from the conceptual model in that emotional exhaustion partially mediated the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. This was particularly the case when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high. Likewise, perceived threat of terrorism exerted a direct effect on production deviance when emotional intelligence was low, but not when high.Originality/valueThe study is the first to examine the relationship between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Moreover, no study to date has examined the mediating role of emotional exhaustion between perceived threat of terrorism and production deviance. Finally, up till now, it is unknown that emotional intelligence moderates the relationship of perceived threat of terrorism with emotional exhaustion and production deviance.