A note from the editor

A note from the editor

The third of issue for 2016-2017 combines five papers for a special issue and five papers for a regular issue. Over the last six years, SAJBS has published research focussed on a range of phenomena observed in South Asia such as the emergence of entrepreneurship, prevailing leadership practices in the developing world, financial and economic factors affecting South Asian economies and antecedents that drive client and customer satisfaction. While the five special issue papers focus on gender, diversity and leadership issues in South Asia, the regular issue papers address themes like salesperson performance, workplace bullying, the role of trade openness on economic growth, a vendor’s perspective on outsourcing and an in-depth understanding of the eco-conscious green consumers.

Businesses are driven by sales and client satisfaction. There is a fair amount of research being done in these areas to explore perspectives of different stakeholders like management, vendors and clients. The first paper, entitled “A view from the vendor’s side: factors that determine satisfaction”, discusses business satisfaction from a vendor’s perspective in outsourcing relationships. The authors of this paper explain why the vendor perspective is important in client-vendor relationships. The second paper, entitled “A multipath model of salesperson performance in the financial services industry”, discusses the significance of the salesperson’s customer orientation within the financial services industry. According to the authors, customer orientation plays a distinct role due to the complexity of products in this industry. Taking the customer-centric approach a little further, the third paper, entitled “Niche level segmentation of green consumers: a key for psychographic or demographic predicament”, studies green consumer behavior and examines niche segmentation of such consumers based on psychographic and demographic factors. This research helps manufacturers and marketers of green products better understand their customer preferences.

With a shift in the level of focus, the next two papers focus on the organizational and economic aspects. The fourth paper, entitled “Exploring the process of workplace bullying in Indian organizations: a grounded theory approach”, investigates employee sense-making of bullying in the Indian context and the subsequent coping mechanisms that emerge. The authors discuss the role of cultural differences in the coping process between the east and the west. The final paper, entitled “Trade openness, financial liberalization and economic growth: the case of Pakistan and India”, is a comparative study of the policies and the economic structure of the two economies – India and Pakistan. The authors further compare the short-term and long-term impact of trade openness and financial liberalization on economic growth on both the countries.

Overall, the ten papers in the final issue when combined with the previous two issues provide an expansive view of business issues in South Asia. The countries of South Asia adapt business practices from the west while simultaneously encountering challenges that are distinct and unique. This encourages the emergence of new behavior, new practices and emergent business processes SAJBS aims to advance knowledge, management practice and strategy of South Asia, hence this issue continues to provide a basis for a better understanding of the varied business phenomena of the region.