An Existential Anthropological Study of Selfhood, Uncertainty and Resilience Among Youth of Tando Ghulam Ali, Sindh

This study combines three orientations, namely existential thought about the meaning of ‘being’ and ‘existence, ’ phenomenological insights into ‘lived experience, ’ and anthropological endeavor at what it means to be human. It attempts to focus on the human conditions by directly engaging with human beings. Specifically guiding itself with the questions such as how young people engage in the meaning-making of their lived experiences in their life course’s ever-changing process. Taking its theoretical insights and inspiration from existential and phenomenological anthropology, by zooming in on lived experiences, the research was conducted using life story interviews to collect the narratives to gain understandings into the life-worlds as it is lived and made sense of by young people of Tando Ghulam Ali, a rural town of District Badin, Sindh. Based on the ethnographic data and observations, it is argued that the meaning-making of lived experiences was different among research participants with a strong presence of selfhood and self-consciousness temporally and affectively; the difference in orientation towards life is entangled with personal history as well. This research went beyond the horizons of culture and society to put existence, life, and being, which are silhouetted at meta-level, at the heart of anthropological focus. This research is an experimental research project in anthropology, which has attempted to step its foot into the human condition's terra incognita, which calls for anthropologists’ further exploration.

Determinants of Corporate Social Resposibility for Sustainable Development

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a phenomenon that has received considerable attention not only from academicians & from researchers but also from corporate sector since it has multidimensional effects on their performance. It is imperative to note that companies may use CSR as a tool to manage many types of stakeholders, including stakeholders outside of the organization and outcomes that go beyond financial result. This notion will lead the companies towards new era mostly stated as sustainability, where companies act responsibly towards social, environmental and societal issues at large. The current study seeks to model and empirically test the relationship amongst determinants and outcomes (i.e. psychological and performance) of corporate social responsibility, specifically this study probe into relationship between ethical leadership, corporate social responsibility, trust and performance variables (organizational citizenship behavior, task performance behavior & counterproductive work behavior). Furthermore, this study also examines the role of ethical climate between the relationships of ethical leadership and CSR (ethical climate acts as a moderator). The current study has used mix methods approach i.e. quantitative and qualitative research design. The population of the study is scheduled and listed commercial banks in Pakistan. The study has used both simple random probability sampling technique and purposive sampling technique. Data was collected using mix methods from the sampled individuals for quantitative analysis. 500 responses were received back from the employees of banks from major cities (i.e. Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Peshawar) however, only 420 were useable. Fifteen top executives were interviewed out of the thirty-five listed commercial banks for qualitative analysis in respect to sustainable development. Data was analyzed using Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Furthermore, necessary tests were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. Findings indicate that ethical leadership has positive impact on CSR and significantly contributes towards defining the underlying processes of CSR. Results confirmed that ethical climate acts as a moderator between the relationship of ethical leadership & CSR. The CSR activities are project based and identified through an internal mechanism sometimes based on need and philanthropic prospective. The integrated conceptual framework of the current study will be helpful in decision making as to determine the impact of CSR on performance variables. Similarly, the current study will help corporate sector in devising strategies and policies of sustainability for competitive advantages. The researcher contends that this is one of the few studies in Pakistani context to understand the underlying processes linking ethical leadership with CSR along with the performance outcomes and ethical climate as moderator. This will certainly provide a comprehensive overview of CSR and sustainability prospective in Pakistan.