Gomal University Journal of Research

DIGITAL FINANCIAL LITERACY AND FINTECH ACCESS DRIVING SUSTAINABLE SMEs PERFORMANCE THROUGH GREEN INNOVATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL AGILITY

2025-06-30T14:08:41Pakistan Standard Time

This study investigates the impact of digital financial literacy and access to FinTech services on the sustainable performance of SMEs in Pakistan, with a particular focus on the mediating roles of entrepreneurial agility and green innovation. Thus, drawing on resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, the research proposes and tests a dual-mediator model using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) on data collected from 350 SMEs through a structured survey. The findings reveal that both digital financial literacy & access to FinTech services significantly boost sustainable performance, with entrepreneurial agility and green innovation acting as partial mediators. Notably, digital financial literacy demonstrates a stronger and more consistent indirect effect compared to FinTech access, emphasizing the critical role of human capital in leveraging digital tools for sustainability outcomes. The results offer important theoretical contributions by bridging gaps in the FinTech and sustainable entrepreneurship literature and provide practical implications for SME policymakers, digital finance providers, and sustainability advocates aiming to build resilient & future-ready enterprises in emerging economies.

THE DIGITAL LEARNING PARADOX: ENHANCING THE ENGAGEMENT WITHOUT REPLACING EDUCATORS

2025-06-30T14:08:42Pakistan Standard Time

The integration of digital tools in higher education has transformed teaching and learning, enhancing students’ engagement while posing challenges for faculty. This study examines that how faculty incorporate digital tools while balancing traditional teaching roles. Using qualitative research, data from the semi-structured interviews with university faculty revealed that Learning Management Systems (LMS), gamification, virtual office hours foster student participation and personalized learning. Still, faculty faced barriers such as increased workload, limited institutional support, student resistance, and inadequate training in digital pedagogy. Blended learning, combining digital & face-to-face instruction, was preferred. LMS platforms provided flexibility, while interactive tools like Kahoot! and Mentimeter improved engagement. The faculty struggled with designing the content, troubleshooting issues, and managing tasks, leading to burnout. Institutional constraints, including lack of technical support & inconsistent policies hindered digital integration. The student resistance, particularly from those with limited digital literacy and resources, created disparities in engagement. To support faculty, institutions must streamline administrative tasks, invest in IT infrastructure, and provide structured training programs.

THE INFLUENCE OF TRANSPORT MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ON CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN FAST-FOOD SECTOR: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTH-WESTERN NIGERIA

2025-06-30T14:08:42Pakistan Standard Time

The fast-food business over the years have been experiencing issues arising from the inefficient transport management practices (TMP), such as delays in delivery, high costs and variable service quality. Such issues negatively affect customer satisfaction (CS) and overall business performance as evidence from the literature. This research examines impact of TMP on customer satisfaction in fast-food sector of Nigeria. The data were sourced from primary source. A structured questionnaire was directed to 400 participants who are customers of fast-food industries from all the six states in south-west Nigeria. Moreover, data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The SEM and EFA were used to evaluate relationship amid TMP and CS. The results show high load factors (TMP: 0.884–0.978; CS: 0.846–0.983) and excellent fit criteria for the model (CMIN/DF = 1.20523, RMSEA = 0.029, GFI = 0.951), indicating critical role of TMP in service speed, dependability, and product quality. The research concludes that efficient TMP results in higher customer satisfaction and suggests the use of the GPS-based route planning, computerized delivery systems to curtail delays and inefficiency in operations. It is recommended that the fast-food companies should adopt the real-time order tracking and also regularly train their delivery workforce so as to satisfy their customer as much as possible.

PARENTAL BONDING & FAMILY COMMUNICATION AS PROTECTIVE FACTOR FOR ATTITUDE TOWARDS DRUG ABUSE IN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

2025-06-30T14:08:43Pakistan Standard Time

The students who enter university first time often have adjustment issues and sometimes to overcome their fear regarding attachment to new environment, they use negative sources. The drug use is becoming common practice now a days. Furthermore, taking drugs not only affect their health but also weaken their relationship with family, friends and peers. Thus, the purpose of this study was to find relationship amid parental bonding, family communication and attitude towards drug use in university students. Correlational research design used in study and through survey method 160 students participated with age range 18-28 (M = 25.3, SD = 2.5) from both private and government universities. The finding of the study showed that in parental bonding father overprotection significantly negatively linked with attitude toward drug use and family communication negatively associated with attitude toward drug use. Family communication predicted attitude toward drug use in students. Moreover, students in public universities prefer to use drugs as compared to students in private universities. This study will provide guidance for parents and institutes to develop strong relationship and resolving trust issues and what are root causes of drug use. It also helps to improve communication by using findings that elaborated negative contributing factors associated with bad communication.

THE ANALYSIS OF RELEVANCY OF SECONDARY SCHOOL (SSC) CURRICULUM WITH BLOOM'S TAXONOMY IN KPK

2025-06-30T14:08:43Pakistan Standard Time

The study aimed to examine the impact of analysis of relevancy of secondary school curriculum with Bloom's Taxonomy in KPK. The study investigated This study investigates the relevance of the Secondary School curriculum in KP with Bloom's Taxonomy, a widely recognized framework for categorizing educational objectives across cognitive domains. Through inclusive review of curriculum content and teaching methodologies, study identifies significant gaps in the integration of higher-order cognitive skills within the curriculum in APS PMA Kakul and Burn hall school of Abbottabad. The population of the study includes all the teachers of APS PMA Kakul and Burn hall school of Abbottabad. The mean academic achievement score of teacher was calculated and compared with the teachers interaction score after making a data matrix. The data was analysed and study found that collaborative approach with the relevance of SSC science curriculum in KPK to Bloom's Taxonomy is a critical factor in shaping future of science education in the region. Addressing these gaps over curriculum reform and teacher training, as vital to ensure students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills necessary for success in higher education and beyond.

BIBLIOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PUBLISHED ARTICLES IN PAKISTAN ARMED FORCES MEDICAL JOURNAL (PAFMJ)

2025-06-30T14:08:43Pakistan Standard Time

The introduction of bibliometrics was first documented to Prichard in 1969. It can be defined as the systematic organization, arrangement, and quantitative assessment of journal patterns within both macro and micro-scale structures, including an analysis of authorship through the mathematical and statistical methods. The retrospective study was conducted at AFIC/NIHD, Rawalpindi, the data spanning from 2018 to 2022. Total number of research papers from 2018 to 2022 was 2475, including of 2332 original articles, 36 review articles and 107 case reports. The annual number of publications ranged from 343 to 633. The xaximum number of publications 633, (25.58 %) were in year 2021. Highest number of original articles 168, (7.20%) was published with issue no: 72(5) in year 2022. The yearly issue numbers for PAFMJ have gradually risen over the years. In this regard, the primary form of research paper published in the PAFMJ consists of original articles. The present study comprehensively analyzed publication pattern, citation patterns and national and international citation patterns on the issue number and yearly basis. In this connection, the PAFMJ revealed that the international citations are higher than the national citations.

HOW GAPS BETWEEN FORMAL POLICIES AND ACTUAL PRACTICES AFFECTS EMPLOYEES COMMITMENT IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

2025-06-30T14:08:43Pakistan Standard Time

This study investigates the effects on employees commitment in relations to difference between institutional rules and practices at college level .the study is aimed to achieve the objectives. To Examine the effects of institutional rules and practices upon employee commitment at the college level. To explore the challanges faced by the employees in attendance rules. This study primarily focused upon analysis, while qualitative data was collected over open-ended questions to enhance sympathetic of participants' perceptions of institutional practices, employees commitment. The participants were 15 faculty members from 3 colleges of district multan. The qualitative data were analyzed over thematic analysis using NVIVO software.Coding Procedures: The data were transcribed and coded to extract recurring themes and patterns. Coding was commenced to discern fundamentals of the rules and practices, and academic challenges. General themes about participants' experiences were discerned from codes. The process resulted in identification of similarities, differences in how teachers associated rules and practices with their EC. The quantitative results concerning the final themes were analyzed in relation to the factors affecting EC and to enhance comprehension of relationships identified in the statistical analysis.

EFFECTS OF TWELVE-WEEK KETTLEBELL TRAINING PROGRAM UPON HEART RATE RECOVERY IN AMATEUR PLAYERS: A RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

2025-06-30T14:08:44Pakistan Standard Time

The resistance training demonstrated numerous benefits including increased strength, power, and endurance. The resistance training has been used since ancient times to increase functional abilities, strength, power, and endurance. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of kettlebell training upon heart rate recovery (HRR) in the amateur male athletes aged 18–30 years. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 40 participants from various sports. The participants were divided into an experimental group (kettlebell training) and the control group, each with 20 athletes. The training program lasted 12 weeks, and HRR was measured pre- and post-intervention using Harvard Step Test. The experimental group showed significant improvement in HRR post-training (MD = 9.10, p = 0.014, Cohen’s d = 0.62), whereas control group showed no significant change (p = 0.213). The experimental group confirmed a 10.82% improvement in HRR, compared to only 0.42% in the control group. The results provide significant information in reaching the conclusion as the structured kettlebell training program significantly improves the heart rate recovery in the amateur athletes, suggesting its efficacy as the cardiovascular conditioning modality.

FROM ISLAMOPHOBIA TO NEO-ISLAMOPHOBIA: A STORY OF THE ENEMY IMAGE OF MUSLIMS

2025-06-30T14:08:44Pakistan Standard Time

The Islamophobia is more often considered a new label for an old concept -Orientalism, which was later called Neo-Orientalism since it portrayed the Islam as a threat to Western civilization. Orientalism refers to Eurocentric hatred for the Arabo-Muslim population, which has now grown to hatred for all Muslims, transforming the socio-political order into an Islamophobic one. Primarily, this transformation has constructed image of Muslims as enemies of the West with rampant change in its patterns of manifestation, challenging the recent research findings aimed at exploring the antecedents and nature of Islamophobia. This study peeps through history to evaluate Muslims’ enemy image and attempts to map its impact on contemporary anti-Muslim state. The findings showed three Islam/Muslim-related phobias: religious, political, and civilizational, which resulted in enemy image of Muslims and justified wars against them. The study concludes that Islam/Muslim-related phobia and the ensuing global war on terror, combined with media influences, have transformed this image into arch-enemy, altering old notion of Islamophobia into neo-Islamophobia. Neo-Islamophobia become a globalized phenomenon and has transformed the prevailing social and political order of Western societies into an Islamophobic one. Based on this notion, a 'new world order' is in the making.

INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL SCREEN TIME ON STUDY HABITS & BEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

2025-06-30T14:08:44Pakistan Standard Time

In today’s digital age, many parents spend excessive time on screens, which affects their interaction with children. This leads to children feeling lonely and struggling with consistent study habits. This research finds the influence of parental screen time on the study habits and behavioral development of children in early childhood, focusing on children aged 3 to 8 years Using a quantitative survey research design, data was collected from a sample of 200 parents across Punjab, Pakistan, through a non-random sampling technique. A structured questionnaire was employed. The instrument’s reliability was confirmed over appropriate statistical procedures. Data were analyzed using SPSS. Key findings reveal moderate & significant correlation amid parental screen time and children's independent study habits suggesting that children tend to imitate their parents' screen behavior, which can disrupt their study routines. A similar correlation was found amid parents' work-related screen use and academic attitudes. The study recommends that enhancing parental awareness, implementing screen-time rules and promoting screen-free family interactions to support healthier academic and behavioral development in the children.