Pakistani Lecturer Wins Prestigious International Research Award in Business and Management

Muhammad Zubair Tariq, a marketing lecturer at Malak Malik Firoz Khan Noon Business School, University of Sargodha, has been awarded the 2025 Outstanding Academic Research Paper Award by the School of International Education at Southwest Jiaotong University in Chengdu, China. Tariq was the sole recipient in the Business and Management category, recognized for producing the highest-impact paper among international scholars. The Pakistan Institute of China Studies at UoS congratulated him on this significant achievement.

His award-winning paper, published in the Service Industries Journal (SSCI, Q1; impact factor 9.4; CiteScore 16.1), is titled “Transforming retail with humanoid service robots: exploring the impact of customer mindsets on value co-creation via perceived robot anthropomorphism and the moderating roles of robotic service proactivity and customer emotional intelligence.” The study investigates how customer psychology influences interactions with humanoid service robots in retail settings. Drawing on implicit mindset theory and service-dominant logic, the research emphasizes the role of customer mindsets as critical resources shaping perceptions, engagement, and value co-creation in AI-enabled service ecosystems.

Officials from PICS highlighted that Tariq’s recognition not only underscores Pakistan’s growing presence in global research networks but also reflects the strengthening academic collaboration between the University of Sargodha and leading Chinese institutions. His paper is currently showcased at SWJTU among other high-impact publications by international scholars.