Financial Misgivings of Married Working Women in Lahore

In Pakistan, the financial issues of married working women are rarely discussed. There is an absence of literature on the subject. Nevertheless, the social sciences literature has been debating financial aspect of gender, either from the perspective of employer or employee; ignoring the working women’s reservations regarding their financial contribution in their marital life, particularly with reference to spouse and in-laws expectations. This issue becomes more acute when it comes to patriarchal conservative developing societies. This study is a delicate attempt to understand the magnitude of financial support of Pakistani married working women for spouse and in-laws, in the city of Lahore. In routine, the husband as well as the in-laws expect that a working wife should surrender her income, in entirety or partially towards the household budget, thus taking the financial responsibility of her spouse along with his extended family. Such financial misgivings create tensions and pressure for the already burdened woman having a disadvantaged status. In certain cases, the contribution is by free will of the wife, as well. This research will make an attempt through a survey with 50 married working women of different social classes, residing in Lahore. The purpose is to understand the rationale of approval or disapproval of this practice. Refusal for cooperation often create problems for the earning woman, even at the risk of separation or divorce, or at the least, tensions in the married life. At the end, the study will debate over possible adjustments and compromises, which could reduce tense situation for the married working woman, and at the same time maintaining her financial independence.

The Impact of Bureaucracy on Creativity and Innovation in the Advertising Agencies of Pakistan

In the present era characterized by uncertain market conditions, mounting competition, spiraling diversity and mobility of workers, and increasing customer power, organizations should strive for achieving a lasting competitive advantage. It is believed that unless organizations focus on creativity and innovation, they cannot compete effectively and earn economic returns. The dynamic organizations like advertising agencies are especially required to be creative and innovative in order to lead, grow and compete. These organizations have mostly implemented bureaucratic control practices, such as formalization and centralization, to regulate and control the behaviors of workers. Prior research indicates that these bureaucratic practices stifle creativity and innovation. The paradox between bureaucracy, creativity and innovation has created a challenging situation for the managers in advertising agencies. The main objective of the study was to empirically investigate the impact of organizational bureaucracy on employee creativity and organizational innovation in the advertising agencies of Pakistan. Data for this study was collected through surveys distributed to a sample of 455 employees from the advertising agencies of Pakistan. Various techniques were applied to statistically analyze the data and test the hypotheses. Findings from statistical analyses indicate that organizational bureaucracy and its components, formalization and centralization; have a negative impact on employee creativity and organizational innovation. Also, creativity has a positive impact on innovation. Besides, the results of the indirect hypotheses support the postulation that creativity mediates the relationship between bureaucracy and organizational innovation in the context of advertising agencies of Pakistan. The study not only makes important theoretical contributions, but also presents valuable insights to the managers of the advertising agencies of Pakistan. Findings strengthen the nature of control-creativity paradox indicating that excessive bureaucratic control in organizations leads to reduced creativity and innovation. In addition, findings suggest that managers and policy makers should take into account the flexibility in administrative controls to encourage creativity and innovation in order to gain a competitive edge in the turbulent environment.