An Analysis of Sociocultural Barriers on Social Empowerment of Women in Sahiwal Division

The paper sets out to discuss impact of socio-cultural barriers on social empowerment of rural women in term of decision making related to their personal as well as social life in Sahiwal division. Pakistan is a patriarchal society characterized by patri-local residence and exclusion of women from the right of inheritance and succession, which pave ways for male-headed society. In addition, socio-cultural factors strongly favour male-dominance and an inferior status of females in all walks of life. A quantitative approach was adopted for carrying out current study. A survey instrument was designed and employed for data collection from 384 respondents from rural areas of Sahiwal division. The findings of the study revealed that less than one third (31.25%) of the respondents were consulted in decision-making about domestic matters. Likewise, more than half (51.8%) of the respondents were not independent in moving out of home for meeting any social need. Similarly, more than one third (41.4%) of the respondents were not free to visit their friends in the neighborhood. The study concludes that women in the rural areas are less empowered and still suffering socially, economically and psychologically in their day to day life. The study provides an insight for professional social workers, policy makers and stakeholders in public and private sectors for influencing policy-making and planning for revisiting and redesigning existing policies and plans intended for empowerment of rural women in Pakistan

Impact of Service Quality & Customer Satisfaction on Firms Competitive Advantage: Empirical Evidence from Pakistan Hotel Industry

The study aim was to evaluate customer perception/expectation of quality service in hotel industry of Pakistan and to examine the influence of attributes of quality services on satisfaction of customer and performance of business. Moreover, to compare the mean score difference about the customer views of diverse hotels located in Pakistan.This study was positivism (quantitative) in nature and the universe of the study was hotels and restaurants of Pakistan. The population was comprised of customers of hotels and restaurants located in diverse location of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab province and Islamabad, Pakistan. The data was collected from hotel customers, general managers and sales managers. Amid customers total 1600 questionnaires were circulated, amid general managers and sales managers total 80 and 178 questionnaires were distributed by using stratified random sample technique. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS and LISREL software.Research study found that service quality attributes i.e. actual and expected (empathy, tangibility, assurance, responsiveness and reliability) has significant constructive predictor of customer satisfaction and business performance and customer satisfaction was also found significant constructive predictor of business performance. Moreover, the significant difference was found amongst the mean of Islamabad, KP and Punjab consumers on attributes of quality service. Study subsidizes tentatively and kinesthetically to industry of hotel and satisfaction of consumer in Pakistan that is sustained and reinforced by the experiential proof and study could assist the hotels of Pakistan’s to enhance performance of hotel businesses via enlightening their quality service attributes including (empathy, tangibility, assurance, responsiveness and reliability) for their customer satisfaction that ultimately effects on business performance. The study emphasize on the importance of service quality attributes to ensure the availability of substantial number of customers for the enhancement of hotel business performance in Pakistan.