Mazhar Abbas

Bio: Mazhar Abbas is an academic researcher from College of Business Administration. The author has contributed to research in topics: Population & Knowledge sharing. The author has an hindex of 11, co-authored 39 publications receiving 323 citations. Previous affiliations of Mazhar Abbas include COMSATS Institute of Information Technology.

Trends of electronic waste pollution and its impact on the global environment and ecosystem.

Abstract: Electronic waste (e-waste) is used for all electronic/electrical devices which are no more used. Conventionally, waste management policies are desfighandle the traditional waste. Although e-waste contains toxic materials, however, its management is rarely focused by policy makers; therefore, its negative impact on the global environment, ecosystem, and human health is aggravated. The review outlines the categories of e-waste materials, major pollutants including ferrous/non-ferrous metals, plastics, glass, printed circuit boards, cement, ceramic, and rubber beside, some valuable metals (such as copper, silver, gold, platinum). Toxic elements from e-waste materials, released in the air, water, and soil, include arsenic, cadmium, chromium, mercury, and lead, causing pollution. Although their roles in biological systems are poorly identified, however, they possess significant toxic and carcinogenic potential. It is therefore critical to monitor footprint and device strategies to address e-waste-linked issues from manufacturing, exportation, to ultimate dumping, including technology transmissions for its recycling. This review traces a plausible link among e-waste condition at a worldwide dimension, as far as settlement procedures to keep it secure and carefully monitored when traded. Their fate in the three spheres of the earth, i.e., water, soil, and air, impacts human health. The strategies and regulation to handle e-waste generation at the global level have been discussed. Graphical abstract .

Usage of social media, student engagement, and creativity: The role of knowledge sharing behavior and cyberbullying

Abstract: Despite the increasing use of social media, very little is known about its consequences for students of graduate research training. The purpose of this study is to look into the outcomes of social media usage while answering when and how the use of social media may lead to students' creativity and engagement. Primary data were collected from 383 research students studying in different universities in eastern China. Findings reveal that students’ use of social media is related to their creativity and engagement in graduate research training through knowledge sharing behavior. In addition, cyberbullying was found to play the role of boundary condition such that the mediated relationships are weak for the students facing more cyberbullying. Limitations and future directions, as well as implications for research and practice, are discussed.

Green Marketing Approaches and Their Impact on Consumer Behavior towards the Environment—A Study from the UAE

Abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyze the main green marketing approaches and their impact on consumer behavior towards the environment in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). We reviewed the current consumption patterns of green products using a questionnaire approach. For this study, 359 consumers that used any type of green product were selected in various shopping malls in the UAE. For the assessment of questionnaire responses, measurement models, such as confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM) approaches were applied. The findings of the study suggest interesting inferences regarding eco-labeling (EL), green packaging and branding (GPB), green products, premium, and pricing (GPPP), and the environmental concerns and beliefs (ECB) of consumers that affect their perceptions of the environment. Factor analysis provided a goodness of fit for the selected items. It was found that key factors of green marketing, such as EL and GPPP, have a significant positive influence on consumer beliefs towards the environment (CBTE). In addition, environmental concerns and beliefs (ECB) also have a significant and positive influence on CBTE in the UAE. The practical significance of this study is that it will help the progress of the integration of green marketing and consumer behavior theories about the environment. The managerial implications of this study include the provision of significant findings for both domestic and international firms for the promotion of green products through focusing on consumer behavior towards the environment. This study provides important guidelines to boost positive attitudes in society towards green marketing and helps companies develop effective strategies to promote their green products.

Out of the Crisis

Abstract: According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

The Social Psychology of Groups

Abstract: The Social Psychology of Groups. J. W Thibaut & H. H. Kelley. New York: alley, 1959. The team of Thibaut and Kelley goes back to 1946 when, after serving in different units of the armed services psychology program, the authors joined the Research Center for Group Dynamics, first at M.LT and then at the University of Michigan. Their continued association eventuated in appointments as fellows at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, 19561957. It is during these years that their collaboration resulted in the publication of The Social Psychology of Groups. The book was designed to "bring order and coherence to present-day research in interpersonal relations and group functioning." To accomplish this aim, the authors introduced, defined, and illustrated basic concepts in an effort to explain the simplest of social phenomena, the two-person relationship. These basic principles and concepts were then employed to illuminate larger problems and more complex social relationships and to examine the significance of such concepts as roles, norm, power, group cohesiveness, and status. The lasting legacy of this book is derived from the fact that the concepts and principles discussed therein serve as a foundation for one of the dominant conceptual frameworks in the field of family studies today-the social exchange framework. Specifically, much of our contemporary thinking about the process of interpersonal attraction and about how individuals evaluate their close relationships has been influenced by the theory and concepts introduced in The Social Psychology of Groups. Today, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley, we think of interpersonal attraction as resulting from the unique valence of driving and restraining forces, rewards and costs, subjectively thought to be available from a specific relationship and its competing alternatives. We understand, as well, that relationships are evaluated through complex and subjectively based comparative processes. As a result, when we think about assessing the degree to which individuals are satisfied with their relationships, we take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the importance they attribute to different aspects of a relationship (e.g., financial security, sexual fulfillment, companionship). We also take into consideration the fact that individuals differ in terms of the levels of rewards and costs that they believe are realistically obtainable and deserved from a relationship. In addition, as a result of Thibaut and Kelley's theoretical focus on the concept of dependence and the interrelationship between attraction and dependence, there has evolved within the field of family studies a deeper appreciation for the complexities and variability found within relationships. Individuals are dependent on their relationships, according to Thibaut and Kelley, when the outcomes derived from the existing relationship exceed those perceived to be available in competing alternatives. Individuals who are highly dependent on their relationships are less likely to act to end their relationships. This dependence and the stability it engenders may or may not be voluntary, depending on the degree to which individuals are attracted to and satisfied with their relationships. When individuals are both attracted to and dependent on their relationships, they can be thought of as voluntarily participating in their relationship. That is, they are likely to commit themselves to the partner and relationship and actively work for its continuance. Thibaut and Kelley termed those relationships characterized by low levels of satisfaction and high levels of dependence "nonvoluntary relationships. …

Cyber bullying: An old problem in a new guise?

Abstract: Although technology provides numerous benefits to young people, it also has a ’ dark side ’, as it can be used for harm, not only by some adults but also by the young people themselves. Email, texting, chat rooms, mobile phones, mobile phone cameras and web sites can and are being used by young people to bully peers. It is now a global problem with many incidents reported in the United States, Canada, Japan, Scandinavia and the United Kingdom, as well as in Australia and New Zealand. This growing problem has as yet not received the attention it deserves and remains virtually absent from the research literature. This article explores definitional issues, the incidence and potential consequences of cyber bullying, as well as discussing possible prevention and intervention strategies.

Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education: Faculty Inventory. Institutional Inventory.

Abstract: Arthur Chickering is Distinguished Professor of Higher Education at Memphis State University. On leave from the Directorship of the Center for the Study of Higher Education at Memphis State, he is Visiting Professor at George Mason University. Zelda Gamson is a sociologist who holds appointments at the John W. McCormack Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan.