4. Al-Nisa’/The Women
I/We begin by the Blessed Name of Allah
The Immensely Merciful to all, The Infinitely Compassionate to everyone.
04:01
O The People!
Be mindful of your Rabb - The Lord WHO created you from a single soul,
and out of it created its spouse, and then out of the two of them, WE scattered countless males and females throughout the world.
Be mindful of Allah through WHOM you ask of one another and be mindful of the bond of family relationships.
Indeed, Allah watches over you.
04:02
And return to the orphans their possessions, and
do not exchange your inferior things with their superior valuables, and
do not consume their possessions by co-mingling with your possessions and using them as yours.
Surely that would be an outrageous crime.
04:03
However, in case you fear that you might not be fair towards the orphan girls in your care, or misuse their persons, then,
you may marry the women from amongst the widows or their daughters, whom you see fit
for marriageable age, up to two, or three, or four of them.
But if you apprehend that in your marital obligations, you might not be able to deal with them justly at a time and all the time, then marry only one;
or, marry someone from amongst those whom your right hand possesses in qital/battle.
Thus it will help keep you away from committing injustice.
04:04
And give your wives in marriage their bridal money happily as a free gift.
However, if they willingly offer you a part of it, you may, then, accept it wholeheartedly
and with pleasure.
04:05
And do not entrust those...
This research is conducted, in order to analyze the students’ academic performance at secondary school level in Pakistan. This is a case study conducted in Hyderabad Division of Sindh Province in Pakistan. The study was focused to the students who have passed matriculation class (Class-X), equivalent to secondary level in Pakistan(10 years of education). Sample size of 1097 higher Secondary level students were randomly selected from various colleges and schools in a way that around 150 students should take part in the survey from each institute. The sample selection was further divided on gender (Male = 448, Female = 648) and locale (Urban=455, Rural=641) basis. A data collection questionnaire was developed by the researchers and implemented for data collection. After collection of the data from desired population, the statistical analysis based on Pearson’s Chi-square and Correlation models were carried out in SPSS. The conclusion inferred from the data analysis of the study, strongly revealed that the students’ academic achievement at high school secondary level was highly associated to their parent’s educational level and socio-economic background. Therefore, it is strongly recommended financial condition of the population must be enhanced by taking appropriate measures. In order to coup tough financial conditions at their homes, deprived students should be provided adequate scholarships. Free stationary and books should also be provided at schools.
How can sales force be motivated for superior sales productivity? This question has consistently been asked by sales management since long. While sales quota based compensation are frequently used to improve performance, critics highlight potential dark side of such schemes resulting into extrinsic motivation of poor quality as it would not be sustainable and bring counter-productive work behaviors. Numerous practicing managers and academics recite now-familiar motivational mantra that motivation comes from the self, not from desire for money. Although intrinsic motivation has long been theorized as strong predictor of performance particularly for the jobs requiring creativity, yet empirical evidence does not seem to converge. Moreover, knowledge is strikingly limited of how informal controls intrinsically motivate sales force to perform their job in creative fashion to be star performers. It provides strong stimulus to address the research question of how sales force intrinsic motivation is influenced by largely ignored informal sales force controls (antecedents) such as optimistic sub cultural control (workgroup level context) and spirit at work based control (job level context) which, in turn, drive sales performance directly and indirectly by sales force creativity (consequences). Moreover, it is advocated that if indeed different selling situations exist, then there will be high likelihood that each type of sales force, for example trade (Fast Moving Consumer Goods; hereinafter FMCG) and missionary (Pharmaceutical) sales force of this study, may respond differently to contextual factors, such as informal sales force controls of this study, resulting into differential influence on motivation, behavior and performance. Surprisingly, knowledge regarding the effect of the type of sales force selling situations for critical sales force outcomes is limited at best. This issue provided thrust for this study to address important research question of whether or not effectiveness of newly introduced informal sales force controls is contingent upon selling situations of trade (FMCG) and missionary (Pharmaceutical) sales force. An integrated conceptual model is proposed by uniquely merging complementary insights from conceptual logic of informal controls, componential theory of creativity and self-determination theory. Mixed method sequential explanatory research design is used to empirically test the proposed model by employing structural equation model. In focal quantitative phase, data is collected by structured survey questionnaire from 1065 frontline field sales force, both sales persons and sales managers, of 60 sales organizations of FMCG and Pharmaceutical industries in Pakistan. In follow-up qualitative phase, eleven semi-structured interviews of the survey respondents are used to interpret and corroborate key quantitative findings. Findings indicate that intrinsic motivation does not automatically translate into improved sales performance. Actually, sales force intrinsic motivation first stimulates their creative performance of selling job which, in turn, improves their sales performance. Analysis clarifies the role of intrinsic motivation that it is contextually influenced attitudinal state cultivated by both informal sales force controls. Spirit at work based control has important role in nurturing sales force creativity, which consequently improves their sales performance, over and above that is mediated by intrinsic motivation. Whereas optimistic sub cultural control stimulates sales force creativity, by cultivating intrinsic motivation, which results into their improved sales performance. Interestingly, these relationships do not differ significantly across selling situations of trade and missionary sales force disconfirming the assumption of heterogeneity of such selling situations. This thesis provides potential aid to theoreticians and practitioners to appreciate and understand complex mechanism of effectively designing informal sales force control levers by highlighting the importance of intermediary markers of sales force intrinsic motivation and creativity for developing high performing sales force operative in highly competitive FMCG and Pharmaceutical industries, characterized by cut-throat competition, challenging sales quotas and escalating customer demands, in the context of developing country of Pakistan. From practical stand point, this thesis enriches sales management understanding that trade and missionary selling situations are not sufficiently diverse to cause differential perceptions of informal sales force controls. Key Words: Sale Force Control, Informal Control, Workplace Spirituality, Islamic Work Ethics, Organization Sub Culture, Intrinsic Motivation, Creativity, Sales Performance, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Pharmaceutical Industry, Sales Person, Sales Manager, Developing Country, Pakistan.