The study undertaken was designed to determine the direct and indirect effects of perceived authentic leadership on creative work behavior through work related flow and psychological capital of employees working in tall (banks) and flat (software houses) organizations. Measures of Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio, Gardner, & Walumbwa, 2007), Psychological Capital Questionnaire (Luthans, Youssef, & Avolio, 2007), Work Related Flow Scale (Bakker, 2008), Creativity Scale (Zhou & George, 2001), and Social Desirability Scale-17 (Stober, 2001) were used to assess the constructs of the study. The overall research design comprised of three studies. Study I constituted indigenous exploration of the study constructs which was executed in two separate phases. In phase I, a series of four focus group discussions were conducted to capture the indigenous understanding of the major constructs of the study. Phase II of study I was further comprised of three parts. In part I, appropriate instruments were selected on the basis of the themes emerged in focus group discussions. In part II, instruments were tried on an independent sample (N = 25) of employees (software houses and banks) to identify the realistic concerns of the respondents while attempting the instruments. In part III, measures were evaluated by subject experts (N = 6) and feedback received by them was incorporated through committee approach. Study II consisted of empirical estimation of psychometric indices of all the measures and confirmation of measurement models on an independent sample (N = 277) of employees. Results showed that all the measures were reliable instruments for the related constructs of the study. Confirmatory Factor Analysis 17 yielded factor structures of psychological capital, work related flow, creative work behavior, and social desirability in accordance to the theoretical models. However, model of authentic leadership exhibited variations in few items which resulted in modification in the final model of the said construct. Work related outcomes of perceived authentic leadership in the context of organizational structures were determined in study III through hypotheses and model testing on a convenient purposive sample (N =1180) of employees. Results showed that perceived authentic leadership, psychological capital, and work-related flow positively predicted creative work behavior. Work-related flow and psychological capital has shown parallel mediation between perceived authentic leadership and creative work behavior for employees working in software houses and banks. Findings also revealed that organizational structures significantly moderated the relationship of perceived authentic leadership, psychological capital, and work related flow with creative work behavior. Results showed significant group differences in terms of gender, education, job experience, job period in the current organization, and type of organization across both organizational structures. Additional findings indicated moderating role of gender in predicting creative work behavior from perceived authentic leadership and psychological capital among employees of software houses and banks. Moreover, combined effect of gender and organizational structure was also determined on all the study variables. In the end, path models were generated which distinctively highlighted the similarities as well as differences in the interactions of major constructs which function jointly in the context of tall (banks) and flat (software houses) organizations. Theoretical and practical implications of the present study for employees and future recommendations were also discussed.
يعد التوحيد سلطاناً على القلوب والنفوس ولا يكاد يدانيه في سلطانه وتأثيره شيء اخر الذي يجعل النفس الانسانية رقيباً على سلوك صاحبها، فان التوحيد هو أساس دعوة الأنبياء -عليهم السلام - التي انطلقوا منها في الدعوة إلى عبادة الله وتوحيده، فان الاعتقاد بهذا الاصل هو على رأس جميع الاعتقادات، ونجد حوارات جميع الانبياء بالدعوة إلى التوحيد امتازت بالوضوح وبالأسلوب المناسب لعقول المدعوين، وبالدلائل الواقعية، وسلاحهم في ذلك هو الكلمة التي تعبر عن الفكرة المأخوذة من واقعهم، المقرونة بإيقاظ الخوالج والوجدان التي عبر عنها الانبياء فكانت النبوات التي قادت هذا الإنسان ووجهته نحو التوحيد الذي به خلاص الفرد من كل ما يؤدي به إلى الصراع الداخلي ، والصراع الخارجي مع غيره، والمنقذ له من الحيرة والقلق، ولنقلهم من واقع لم يحقق إنسانيتهم إلى واقع يرفعهم إلى مستوى الإنسانية.
Present research was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of psyllium husk as a therapeutic agent in normal and hypercholesterolemic subjects. For the purpose, dietetic cookies were prepared by replacing straight grade flour with psyllium husk in different combinations @ 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25%. Psyllium husk was analysed for chemical composition, dietary fiber through enzymatic method and functional component arabinoxylan (AX) using GC-MS. Characterization results indicated psyllium husk as a rich source of dietary fiber and arabinoxylan. The treatments of prepared cookies were analysed for physical, chemical and sensory attributes with special reference to dietary fiber, arabinoxylan, gross energy, hardness and color tonality. Physical characteristics showed decline in diameter and spread factor whilst, increase in thickness of treated cookies. Chemical assay revealed higher protein in control cookies whereas moisture, ash, crude fiber & NFE along with dietary fiber and arabinoxylan contents were higher in psyllium based cookies. Softer cookies with low gross energy and better color tone were formed using psyllium husk. Sensory panel explicated cookies quite acceptable however decrease in sensory score was recorded during storage. Considering the results of characterization, dietary fiber and sensory response, one best treatment namely T4 (20% replacement of psyllium husk) was selected along with control for two months efficacy study in human subjects during two consecutive years i.e. 2009-10 (Trial-I) & 2010-11 (Trial-II) for validity of the results. Bio-evaluation trial was carried out in normal subjects following same module in hypercholesterolemics by providing five cookies twice a day to each subject. Results indicated non-significant differences in serum lipid profile and glycemic indices (glucose and HbA1c) of normal subjects after consuming dietetic cookies (T4). Nevertheless, psyllium husk based cookies had positive impact to attenuate the lipid profile of hypercholesterolemic subjects. In this context, elevated base line values of total cholesterol 231.50±6.46, LDL 158.78±8.91, VLDL 35.92±1.36, LDL/HDL 4.99±0.25 and glucose 103.10±7.90mg/dL, were significantly reduced to 202.90±7.26, 134.60±8.13, 30.40±1.05, 4.09±0.17 and 92.07±4.11mg/dL, respectively in the Trial-I. Likewise, significant declining trend was observed in respective traits due to treatment T4 in Trial-II. The percent reduction in total cholesterol was 12.35 & 11.26%, LDL 15.22 & 14.10%, VLDL 13.48 & 12.08% and glucose 10.70 & 12.19%, respectively in Trial-I &II for hypercholestrolemic subjects due to dietetic cookies (T4). However, HDL concentration increased non-momentously during the study period. Likewise, triglycerides level was also affected non-significantly however, a slight decline was recorded. Safety evaluation of dietetic cookies was also carried out simultaneously in both categories of subjects and no sign of abnormality was observed in liver (ALT & AST) and kidney functions (urea & creatinine). It has been observed that high base line value for urea was non-significantly declined after administration of test diet in hypercholesterolemic subjects. Furthermore results for hematological tests depicted safe range in allied parameters i.e. platelets count, ESR, red blood cells and white blood cells indices. It is interesting to mention that the ESR of hypercholestrolemic subjects was momentously affected by using therapeutic diet (T4) as it was reduced to 5.61 and 6.98% in Trial-I & II, respectively. It has been observed that psyllium husk is friendly to the normal subjects nonetheless supportive for the hypercholesterolemic subjects. From the current explorations it is concluded that psyllium husk based cookies (supplemented with 20% psyllium husk) have potential to be used as a functional ingredient against the menace of hypercholestolemia and allied discrepancies in vulnerable segments of the population.