Journal of Contemporary Business and Islamic Finance (JCBIF)

Apprehensions and Reservations of Stakeholders Regarding Islamic Banking in Pakistan

Muhammad Aqib Ali — 2023-06-28

Islamic banking has gradually and steadily progressed in Pakistan over the last two decades but the stakeholders including customers, bankers and general public have their doubts and misgivings about various Islamic banking aspects. The paper assesses the apprehensions of stakeholders about Islamic banking in Pakistan. The study evaluates the reservations of four important stakeholder groups including Islamic banking customers, conventional banking customers, Islamic bankers and conventional bankers. The study is based on a survey conducted using a structured questionnaire for data collection from the research participants. In the past, much research has been done on the aspect of Islamic banking perceptions but there is a scarcity of studies analyzing the apprehensions of masses regarding Islamic banking. This paper attempts to address this gap by specifically analyzing the Islamic banking apprehensions and reservations of stakeholders. The research findings and the results of the study reflect that although there is generally a favorable stance of respondents towards Islamic banking but they have their doubts and suspicions regarding Islamic banking being truly Shariah-compliant in letter and spirit; the respondents also perceived that Islamic banking offerings are somewhat an imitation of conventional banking products. Therefore, there is a greater need to enhance the levels of understanding and awareness among the stakeholders regarding Islamic banking in order to dispel the suspicions and apprehensions regarding Islamic banking products and practices.

E-Commerce Transactions and Return Policy:The Islamic Law Options

Mohd Jamiu Ayinla-Edun — 2023-06-28

Technology had permeated into every aspect of human endeavor; it had brought about ease in distant commercial transactions in that cross border transaction is now done with ease within the corners of the parties’ rooms, shops and workplace by virtue of the E-commerce through the advancement in internet facilities. Parties now do business and engage in buying and selling without the need for physical meeting and presence. One major drawback factor of E-commerce is the inability to assess the subject matter of the transaction especially by the buyer and its susceptibility to manipulations, these challenge had overtime led to the promulgation and design of return policies majorly to protect the buyer from being cheated as well as to ensure good customer service by the seller especially those who operates E-Commerce in order to ensure further patronage. The modern return policies are often fashioned in a conventional way, this paper however, adopts the doctrinal methodology to explore the Islamic law options of return policies and their applicability in the modern E-Commerce. The paper finds that some conventional return policies are similar and accommodated by the Islamic option of Khiyarat, though, there exist some contradistinctions of the conventional return policy with the Islamic concept of Khiyarat. The paper suggested that operators of conventional return policy should take a clue from the already elaborated concept of Khiyarat to expand the scope of the policy, trader and online Markets operator should also follow suit, the paper equally recommended that traders should ensure conformity of their return policy with the Shariah business and commercial principles as espoused in the concept of Khiyarat in order to ensure the inclusion of their consumers who are inclined to ensuring their commercial activities are Shariah compliant.

Impact of Terrorism on International tourism demand

Ali Raza — 2023-06-28

Tourists seek safe and secure destinations and avoid that of overwhelmed with terrorism. This study quantifies the relationship between terrorism and international tourism demand in 200 destination countries and regions for the period of 1995 to 2020. To achieve the objective, the study implied two-dimensional analyses by using the gravity model through Pooled ordinary least square estimator to pay special attention towards demand distribution. Our empirical results depict that, terrorism and terrorism in a destination country has a statistically insignificant relationship on international tourism demand, more specifically, here radical decline in GDP was observed in the sub-period 2006 – 2020 due to the global financial crisis and its aftershocks which badly affects tourist’s attraction to destination countries. This study pinpoints new insights for national tourism policymakers and business purposes.

An Empirical Study of Free Cash Flows and Firm's Profitability In Listed Companies of the Pakistan Stock Exchange

Ain Bemisal — 2023-06-28

Every organization sets its goal to increase productivity, managers in corporate organizations, therefore, do every possible effort to enhance their performance and profitability. This study aims to determine how free cash flows affected Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)'s profitability while taking into account a variety of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan's non-financial sectors. The existing literature has advanced the free cash flow hypothesis as one of the factors affecting corporate performance. This study is descriptive in nature. Secondary data from 2011-2022 gave enough data which was used in the analysis. The study's population included 84 companies from Pakistan's different 5 sectors, and 58 non-financial enterprises were selected to create a predictive model of how cash flow affects profitability. Panel regression showed 72% variations in ROA and 25% variations in ROE. FCF positively affects ROA (β= 0.04, p= 0.05). FCF negatively affects ROE (β=-0.26, p= 0.04), hence this study discovered significant and applicable insights for the users.

Nexus of Block Chain Alignment, Supply Chain Agility, Supply Chain Performance and their Impact on Firm’s Environmental Performance: A Developing Country Perspective

Shahid Yaqub — 2023-06-28

Blockchain technology has significant potential for improving the environmental performance of businesses and supply chains. One of the key benefits of blockchain is its ability to provide greater transparency and traceability in supply chains. This can enable companies to better monitor and manage their environmental impacts, such as carbon emissions and waste production, throughout their supply chain. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the use of blockchain technology in improving supply chain alignment (SCA), supply chain agility (SCAG), and supply chain performance (SCP), and their influence on the environmental performance (EP) of firms. Additionally, the study aimed to identify the moderating effect of innovative climate (IC) on the relationship between SCA, SCAG, SCP, and EP. The researchers employed a quantitative research paradigm and collected data through a survey questionnaire. The sample was collected using the probability cluster sampling method and consisted of 350 personnel in executive and middle management positions. The results indicated that SCA, SCAG, and SCP positively impact the EP of businesses, and this relationship is moderated by IC. The study's findings have several theoretical and practical implications, including the potential for blockchain technology to improve supply chain sustainability and the importance of fostering an innovative climate to enhance the positive effects of SCA, SCAG, and SCP on EP.

A Servant Leadership: A Phenomenological Study Of The Teachings and Practices of The Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)

Mustapha Williams — 2023-06-28

Effective leadership is required to achieve sustainable development. Over the years, both industrialized and developing nations have seen leadership as a crucial issue and recognized its significance, resulting in an abundance of research on various styles of leadership. Recent interest in servant leadership has increased due to its influence and impact. Literature on servant leadership is replete with examples of historical servant leaders, but there have been few attempts to highlight the servant leadership attributes of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). This study reveals that the Holy Prophet (PBUH)’s servant leadership style fits the requirements for excellent leadership and has the potential to be very effective in addressing the difficulties of both developed and developing nations. This research employed qualitative methods. The phenomenological approach was utilized to describe the significance of the Holy Prophet (PBUH)'s servant leadership style through six primary themes: empowerment, humility, acceptance of people, direct provision, authenticity, and exemplary stewardship. The study concludes that Almighty Allah appointed the leadership of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s servant leadership to divert humanity from the path of darkness to the path of light therefore; Muslims in positions of authority should emulate the Prophet (PBUH)’s behavior by adopting his servant-leadership style in managing their various institutions.

Impact of Financial Performance of Islamic and Conventional Microfinance Institutions on their Outreach

Amat-ul Mateen Noor — 2023-06-28

The purpose of this research was to examine the impact of the financial performance of Islamic and conventional microfinance institutions (CMFIs) on their outreach. Further, the study also checked the moderating role of institution size in this relationship. This study used unbalanced panel data from 350 microfinance institutions (including 300 CMFIs and 50 IMFIs) for the period 2015–21 by applying the fixed effect method. Financial performance (FP) was measured through return on assets (ROA) and portfolio yield (PFY) as independent variables, while Average loan size per borrower to gross national income (ALSBNI) represented the dependent variable (outreach). Other variables, such as gross domestic product (GDP), consumer price index (CPI), and regulatory quality (RQ), were used as control variables, while institution size (IS) was used as a moderator. Both ROA and PFY showed a negative relationship with the ALSBNI of IMFIs and CMFIs. IS positively impacted the ALSBNI of IMFIs, whereas it negatively impacted the ALSBNI of CMFIs. The two control variables, namely GDP and CPI, had a negative relationship with the ALSBNI of both institutions. The third control variable, i.e., RQ, however, showed a positive relationship with the ALSBNI of IMFIs and a negative relationship with CMFIs. The moderator (IS) further strengthened the negative relationship of ROA and PFY with the ALSBNI of IMFIs. It had a similar effect on the negative relationship of ROA with ALSBNI of CMFIs while converting their PFY’s negative relationship with ALSBNI into a positive one. The results indicate negative impact of the financial performance of CMFIs and IMFIs on their outreach, therefore these institutions need to focus on social performance to enhance their outreach.