Introduction

The Management Advancement Research Centre (MARC) was established at FAST_NUCES Islamabad to conduct leading edge research in management sciences with the aim to enhance knowledge and find solutions for industry challenges. Various Special Interest Groups (SIGs) work under MARC, all committed to taking up projects which contribute to the body of knowledge, yet at the same time provide a bridge between academia and practice. The Leadership and Management SIG has carried out various projects on leadership, cross-cultural HRM and performance management over the past few years. International projects and partnerships include work with the Cross-Cultural Management Network (CCMN) under which the main past project covered trust and leadership across cultures, while the current project is based on leadership behaviours, trust and job embeddedness across cultures covering data from 25 countries. Another landmark project of the SIG includes collection of data on the GLOBE 2020 project for comparison of cultural dimension in Pakistan with 100 plus countries in collaboration with Simon Frasier University, Canada; the Director MARC also conducted the GLOBE study in Pakistan in the past. The lead researcher has also been involved in various projects on performance management to improve industry practices, and has a special interest in using data to improve HR practices.

The Project Management and the Organizational Behaviour SIGs expand the scope of MARC. The team's expertise include behavioural decision making in project management, justice, creativity, organizational politics, workplace stressors and psychological stressors. The SIG researchers have various publications in the above mentioned areas and are interested in working with industry to improve organizational practices.

Vision and Mission of MARC

• Vision: Aspiring to impact management theory and practice through creative and ethical research.
• Mission: To conduct high quality research, following highest standards of ethics, to provide useful solutions for management, businesses and society, keeping a balance between points of convergence and divergence in an increasingly global business world.

Research Values of MARC

• Creativity: Using imaginative and original ideas to create something new.
• Excellence: Embracing high standards and continuously creating better ways of doing things.
• Impact: Improving understanding of complex business issues, to impact human and institutional functioning.

The MARC Team

The MARC team is led by the Director MARC, Dr. Sadia Nadeem and Deputy Director Dr. Muhammad Abbas. The core team includes Qaiser Shafi, Sarah Khan, and Hamnah Rahat. Other faculty members, researchers, and students join the MARC team on a project-by-project basis. The team is committed to taking on projects which contribute to the body of knowledge, yet at the same time provide a bridge between academia and practice. Businesses interested in initiating projects under MARC are welcome to contact the MARC team.

Contact email for projects in various areas are:

Leadership, gender diversity, Cross-Cultural HRM, performance management, and HR systems: Dr. Sadia Nadeem at sadia.nadeem@nu.edu.pk. Justice, Islamic work ethics, organizational politics, workplace stressors, and generative artificial intelligence: Dr. Muhammad Abbas at muhammad.abbas@nu.edu.pk.

Current Projects

1. Nation Building through Supporting Females (NSF). Project Code NRPU 15351
2. Muhammad Abbas's FRSG project-2/2024
3. GLOBE 2020: Collaboration with Simon Frasier University, Canada in an international project to understand Pakistani culture and leadership behavior.
4. Job embeddedness and trustworthy behavior, Collaboration with IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain.
5. Colonial Mindset Discrimination and its Impact on HR Practices.
6. Women at Work: Women Leadership and Women in STEM and Finance.
7. Diversity climate and work-group inclusion, in collaboration with Dr. Farhat Saba (City University of New York, USA).
8. The bright and dark sides of using generative AI in academia.

Projects Completed

1. Pakistanis in Chinese Organizations (PiCO). Project Code 10188
2. The Management Advancement and Planning Study (MAPS). Project Code NRPU 3457
3. Impact of Business Education on Students’ Values. Project Code NRPU 4812.
4. Management in Pakistani Culture (MiPC). Project Code TRGP-III/954
5. The Trust, OBC, and Leadership Project, Collaboration with IESE Business School, Barcelona.
6. GLOBE in Pakistan, Collaboration with Thunderbird Business School, USA.
7. Job Insecurity among Hospitality Employees amid COVID-19 Pandemic: with collaborators from Griffith University, Southport, Australia, and BZU Multan.
8. Challenge-Hindrance Stressors at the workplace with collaborators from Brock University, Canada.
9. A Meta-Analytic Review on leadership styles with collaborators from BZU, Multan.