The Business Review

School of Business Studies

University of Kashmir

ISSN: 0972-8384

The service sector has emerged as a key driver of economic growth in developing economies. There is a dearth of empirical studies on service sector in developing economies. This study analyses the impact of service exports along with other macroeconomic determinants in a cross-country perspective over the time period of 1990-2023. This study employs Fixed Effects with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to ensure robustness and addresses the major concerns such as autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity and cross-sectional dependence. The results reveal that service exports and labour force contributes significantly and positively to economic growth while Trade Openness and FDI shows negative and insignificant impact on growth of developing economies respectively. The findings highlight the importance of macroeconomic factors in boosting sustainable growth in developing economies.

Energy is one of the Central Asia’s crucial resources and the region intends to accelerate and harness this potential, assigning it top priority in the developmental planning. The development of energy sector is expected to usher in enormous economic benefits, attract huge investments and strengthen bilateral and multilateral trade with improving regional cooperation. With the increase in renewable as well as non-renewable energy potential in Central Asian republics, the region aims not only to provide domestic energy at affordable cost, but also turn into net energy exporters in the near future which would have a positive impact on the global energy demand. In this backdrop, the present research paper has been buildup with the main aim to highlight that how and to what extent these republics can transform their economies with the proper management of their available resources particularly renewable and non-renewables. Moreover, the paper also examines the demand-supply mechanism which can help in regional integration and the benefits accrued thereof.

In today’s competitive market, service recovery has become a strategic imperative for organizations seeking to restore customer satisfaction and foster long-term loyalty. Recognizing the importance of fairness perceptions in this process, the present study examines how different dimensions of justice influence repurchase intentions in the online context. Drawing on justice theory and consumer behaviour literature, a research model was developed and tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) with data collected from 509 respondents. The results reveal that perceived justice in service recovery positively affects customers repurchase intentions. Among the three dimensions, procedural justice exerts the strongest influence, followed by interactional justice and distributive justice. These findings underscore the distinct role each justice dimension plays in shaping customer responses after service recovery. Practical implications are offered for e-commerce companies aiming to strengthen customer retention and loyalty

This study seeks to analyze the influence of employee perceptions regarding job characteristics dimensions, including skill variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback, on job satisfaction within two prominent private sector banks in J&K. Data were gathered from 250 employees of the selected banks utilizing a convenience sampling method. We used the Job Diagnostic Survey created by Hackman and Oldham (1975, 1980) to find out how employees feel about their jobs and the Short Index of Job Satisfaction created by Brayfield and Rothe (1951) to find out how satisfied they are with their jobs. Employing Smart-PLS-3 versions, the study's results indicated that among the five job characteristic dimensions, only skill variety and feedback exerted a significantly positive influence on job satisfaction, while the others demonstrated a negative impact. We have talked about the results of this study in light of what has already been written.

The conventional concept of workaholism identifies it with mental health and work-life conflict and imbalances. Incidentally, it is also considered to be indispensable. Research indicates women are more prone to workaholism. But hardly any studies have been undertaken to understand the underlying mechanism through which a work-life harmony can be attained by woman workaholics. This empirical study based on women, aims to contest the complex concept of workaholism and understand whether adequate supervisory and family support will help women reestablish career-family equilibrium. A parallel mediation technique is adopted for analyzing the conceptual framework developed for the study. The study has 551 women faculty members of the Indian higher education sector as respondents from whom data was collected using a structured questionnaire. Workaholism with a global issue, this study will help to throw light on the dual mediation effect of family and organisational support that will help workaholic women in bringing a balance to work and life. For the individual organization, this may be the initial step towards a noteworthy perspective transformation. Workaholic women can also analyze their workaholic attitudinal component and ensure that their workaholism is restricted to mere job involvement. The study’s novelty strengthens from the fact that not much exploration has been initiated to study the nuances of workaholism – work-life harmony.

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 in higher educational ecosystem is viewed as a transformative policy document for imparting quality education and research aimed at revisiting and restructuring Indian higher education system with focus on key pillars of equity, access, quality, affordability and accountability. The NEP 2020 is envisioned in creating institutions of excellence and meeting global competitiveness while upholding Indian traditions and value systems. Further, the policy strives to increase the Gross Enrolment Ratio to 50% by 2035 and key policy changes towards teaching and research in terms of establishing multi-disciplinary higher education systems, creating National Research Foundation (NRF) and promoting Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) opens up new pathways in streamlining higher education dynamics. Moreover, the policy caters in facilitating governance and regulations reforms through Higher Education Commission of India (HECI). Nevertheless, the implementation of NEP 2020 has key challenges and issues before academic leaders and policy makers in terms of faculty shortage, inadequate funding, digital divide, fragmented governance norms and accreditations loopholes. Further, issues like institutional autonomy, internationalization and commercialization of higher education, and inclusive policy for SEDGs needs to be addressed. Keeping this in view, the present paper on the basis of reviewing past literature is an attempt to examine the nature and role of national education policy 2020, identify and examine the issues and challenges in implementation of NEP 2020 and to provide suggestions and policy measures for future research directions towards effective and equitable realization of NEP 2020’s objectives

Higher Education Institutions are no different from corporates. There is a relentless pressure to perform and improvise from all facades of stake-holders. Elimination and management of non-value-added activities might be of aid in developing a lean system for the said purpose. The present study provides a systematic literature review to explore the pervasiveness of Lean management and its principles in Higher Education Institutions. Prisma framework has been used for the present systematic study. Ebsco database has been used for the purpose of conducting the study on 9 published research papers during 2014-2024 after systematic inclusion and exclusion of 29,552 records initially retrieved using the key words “lean”, “higher education”, “college”, “University”, “Higher Education Institutions” using Boolean operator AND and OR appropriately. A descriptive analysis on the 9 papers was done to assess details of the works studied and the contribution to the body of knowledge and literature. The study revealed a positive impact of lean management in Higher Educations Institutions in management of waste and its elimination. The study also highlights limitations and directions for future research

This study investigates both the long-run and short-run influences of agricultural productivity, economic growth, and population growth on India’s foreign trade during the post-reform era spanning 1990 to 2020.Using a symmetric Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach, the analysis captures both dynamic adjustments and long-run equilibrium relationships among the variables. The bounds testing procedure confirms the existence of co-integration. Empirical findings reveal that agricultural productivity and economic growth significantly enhance foreign trade in both the short run and long run, while population growth exerts a relatively modest influence. The error correction mechanism indicates rapid adjustment towards equilibrium after short-term shocks. The results highlight the importance of agriculture-led growth and demographic management in strengthening India’s trade performance

This study examines Islamic management as a holistic ethical paradigm by exploring its conceptual foundations, core principles, and contemporary relevance. Rooted in the Qur’an and the Sunnah, Islamic management offers a value-oriented framework that integrates spiritual, ethical, and functional dimensions of organizational life. Unlike conventional management theories, which are often grounded in secular and utilitarian assumptions, Islamic management situates organizational practices within a moral and metaphysical context, emphasizing accountability to Allah alongside responsibility to society. The paper adopts a descriptive and analytical methodology, drawing upon primary Islamic sources and contemporary scholarly literature to articulate the theoretical underpinnings of Islamic management. It highlights key principles such as Tawḥīd (unity of God), ‘Adl (justice), Amānah (trust), Shūrā (consultation), Iḥsān (excellence), and Musāwah (equality), demonstrating their role in shaping ethical leadership and organizational behavior. The study also provides a comparative perspective, examining the limitations of dominant Western management models and proposing an integrative framework that combines technical efficiency with ethical responsibility. The findings suggest that Islamic management presents a viable and sustainable alternative paradigm capable of addressing contemporary organizational challenges, including ethical crises and socio-economic inequalities. The study concludes that further research is needed to operationalize Islamic management principles within modern institutional contexts, thereby contributing to the development of a more balanced and ethically grounded global management discourse.

This study investigates the relationship between Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and economic growth in India and China over the period 1981–2023, using time series data and a combination of econometric techniques including Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), the Johansen Vector Autoregression (VAR) framework, and the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). Our analysis reveals differing dynamics between the two countries. In India, a significant long-run relationship between FDI inflows and GDP growth is observed, with GDP growth adjusting to deviations from equilibrium, although no Granger causality is found between the two variables. In contrast, China shows no long-run relationship between FDI and GDP growth, supporting the "neutrality hypothesis" where FDI does not appear to drive economic growth. The results highlight structural differences between the two countries, with India's growth being influenced by FDI, while China's rapid economic development appears to be driven by other factors, such as technology, domestic savings, and investment. These findings provide valuable insights into the varying roles of FDI in emerging economies and emphasize the need to consider country-specific factors when assessing the FDI-growth relationship

This study examines the long-term dynamics of village-level potable water supply coverage in Jammu and Kashmir using an annual time-series dataset spanning 1990 to 2023–24, compiled from official administrative sources. Moving beyond static assessments, the study adopts a multi-layered analytical framework integrating trend analysis, compound growth estimation, stationarity testing. The findings reveal a distinctly non-linear trajectory characterized by three phases: a prolonged period of stagnation (1990–2005), a phase of rapid policy-driven expansion (2006–2018), and a recent phase of volatility and adjustment (post-2019). Growth analysis indicates negligible expansion during the initial phase, followed by substantial acceleration, and subsequent instability marked by sharp fluctuations. Unit root tests confirm the non-stationary nature of the series. The study contributes to the literature by providing a rare long-term, village-level perspective and demonstrates that water supply expansion is shaped by institutional and policy dynamics rather than linear progression. The findings underscore the need for sustainable service delivery, consistent data systems, and adaptive governance in rural water management.