Effat University Institutional Repository

• Howl’s Moving Castle: Loneliness – A Psychoanalytic Observation of Sophie and Howl

  Maloul, Linda; Al-Rawi, Ghaydaa; English & Translation
• Capturing the healing journey of medical and spiritualtourism: a systematic literature review

  Vashu, Deeparechigi; Subramaniam, Thanam; Khan, Rizwan Ullah; External Collaboration; NA; 0; 0; Entrepreneurship; 0; Vashu, Deeparechigi (Routledge taylor & francis group, 2024-12-10)

  Spiritual tourism has emerged as a unique and growing area of interest for tourism research. This paper presents a systematic literature review of academic literature related to spiritual tourism to identify key trends, influential authors, and major research themes. We identified 2076 papers published after 2019 using a systematic manual search method and selected 22 articles for an in-depth review that matched the predefined criteria for inclusion. The extracted data were based on spiritual tourism, medicine, healing, destination, experience, well-being, and healing. The results of a systematic literature review confirmed that research on spiritual tourism in relation to destination selection, experience, healing, and well-being is still in its infancy. Most articles focus on medical recovery from chronic illness, anxiety, and loneliness rather than health improvement and healing. By applying systematic literature review methods, this study elucidates the renewed focus and development of holistic health, encompassing facets of medicine and healing, within the context of post-pandemic recovery. This could potentially pave the way for individuals, particularly tourists, who visit specific destinations for emotional, physical, and spiritual rejuvenation.
• Entrepreneurial Orientation and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises’ Performance; Does ‘Access to Finance’ Moderate the Relation in Emerging Economies?

  Khan, Rizwan Ullah; Salamzadeh, Yashar; Kawamorita, Hiroko; Rethi, Gabor; External Collaboration; Environmental Students and Entrepreneurship Sustainability Studies Unit; 0; 0; Entrepreneurship; 0; et al. (SAGE Publications, 2021-10-21)

  The main objective of the underline study is to examine the influence of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on financial and non-financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the moderating role of access to finance. Because SMEs—due to fair reasons such as lack of resources and lack of managerial skill—are often unable to succeed in their mission, the managers look for much less risky and convenience factors to compete in the market. A variety of factors has been tested but the role of finance in this perspective has received minor attention. Hence, the underline study tested finance as a moderator between firm resources and their performance. To test the model, a structured questionnaire is used to collect data from 326 Pakistani SMEs. Structural equation modelling in AMOS is used to test the hypotheses. Our finding suggests that EO significantly enhances SME’s financial and non-financial performance in emerging economies. On the other hand, access to finance significantly moderates the relationship between EO and SME’s financial performance, while it is not significantly moderating between EO and non-financial performance. This research recommends policymakers and practitioners to focus on accessing adequate finance while the Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Development Authority encourages banks and financial institutions to facilitate SMEs. Furthermore, the possible implications have been discussed.
• Does government support enhance the relation between networking structure and sustainable competitive performance among SMEs?

  Alkahtani, Asem; Nordin, Norfarah; Khan, Rizwan Ullah; External Collaboration; NA; 0; 0; Entrepreneurship; 0; Khan, Rizwan Ullah (Springer, 2020-08-23)

  Purpose: The underlining study’s main objective is to examine how networking structure (density and centrality) affects sustainable competitive performance in Pakistan’s SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: Hence, small enterprises a significant source of economic development, employment, and value creation. Therefore, on the base of previous literature, we developed hypothesis related government financial support and network structure, and data collected through structured questionnaires from top management of SMEs. Findings: The results indicate that density has a positive and significant effect on sustainable competitive performance, while centrality has an insignificant impact on SCP. Furthermore, government financial support strongly and significantly supports the relation between networking structure and SCP in Pakistan. Practical implications: This research has several recommendations for the government to adequately support small enterprises because owners have a networking system at the local and international level but have a lack of environment. Originality/value: Government plays a crucial role in small- and medium-sized enterprises boost performance and economic growth because it creates employment opportunities, poverty reduction, and economic development. Nevertheless, from the last decades, due to some organizational policies and environmental flexibility, SMEs face a lot of challenges which became a barrier such as lack of government subsidies, incentives, and taxes in emerging economies. To bridge the above challenges of SMEs, the current study is conducted because before this there was no such literature who underline the current challenges in emerging economies.
• Factors affecting women entrepreneurs’ success: a study of small- and medium-sized enterprises in emerging market of Pakistan

  Khan, Rizwan Ullah; Salamzadeh, Yashar; Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali; Hussain, Mazhar; External Collaboration; NA; 0; 0; Entrepreneurship; 0; et al. (Springer, 2021-03-03)

  In the present era, women are recognized as successful entrepreneurs through their strong desire, qualities, and capabilities for robust economic development. Due to such an important contribution of women in economic development, we propose to investigate the factors which affect women entrepreneur’s success in Pakistan. Data were collected through structured questionnaires from 181 registered SMEs operating in Pakistan. A conceptual model is developed, while SPSS and AMOS software’s are used for analysis. The results indicate that the internal factors including the need for achievements, risk-taking, and self-confidence and external factors including economic factors and socio-cultural factors have a positive and significant influence on the success of women-owned enterprises. This research recommends Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), policymakers, and practitioners to encourage women entrepreneurs to run their businesses for the long term by providing a variety of incentives and supports related to those internal and external factors. Numerous studies have been conducted to test the different factors’ effects on women’s entrepreneurial success, but our study investigated some psychological, cultural, and religious factors that are still almost untouched especially in Pakistan. The current study also contributes to the existing literature through empirical shreds of evidence.

View more