Technological Solutions for Sustainable Business Practice in Asia

Generating meaningful employment has become a major concern for countries across the globe to break the vicious circle of poverty. Employment creation becomes more intricate in a developing economy like India where the population is at an incessant rise, without a simultaneous increase in the employment generation. In the event of situations of mounting unemployment, micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) being largely labour-intensive have been claimed as a significant contributor in an economy’s development to induce employment generation. The study at hand is an attempt to gauge the overall contributions of MSMEs in employment creation in Assam, a developing region of the Indian sub-continent. However, most importantly, the purpose of this paper is to determine if men and women are differently employed in the sample MSMEs and if the pattern of employment creation is different across male and female-owned sample MSMEs.,The study is based on a uniquely large sample of 320 MSME entrepreneurs with an equal representation of 160 each from male and female entrepreneurs. Secondary data sources were also consulted. Study areas comprising Kamrup-Metropolitan and Kamrup-Rural, depicting both urban and rural Assam, respectively. The choice of activities undertaken by the entrepreneurs includes a wide variety of 12 activities pertaining to all the MSME entrepreneurs in general and certain gender-specific in particular. The two hypotheses (H01 and H02) formulated were tested using the Chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Furthermore, the growth rate of employment generation in Assam along with the growth rate of the number of MSMEs established and investment made by the MSMEs were computed.,The calculated growth rate of employment creation, capital investment and MSMEs established were found to be positive. Based on the results of the Chi-Square test and Cramer’s V test, this paper establishes a strong association between the MSMEs and the total employment generation by the sample entrepreneurs (H01). The primary data suggested that 320 MSMEs are Employing 2,766 people in the study area with an average of 8 people per unit. Employment in the service sector is higher than the manufacturing units with an average of 4 people per unit. Another vital finding of the study professed that the women-owned MSMEs have a relatively lesser number of people (32.2%) employed than their male counterparts (67.8%). The mean rank of male entrepreneurs is considerably higher (211.49) testifying a higher employment creation by the male-owned MSMEs than the women-owned (H02). Moreover, women (33.4%) are thinly employed than men (66.5%). Women entrepreneurs were seen to have mostly limited themselves in micro-units followed by small-units. In terms of the nature of employment, full-time employees (81.8%) supersede part-time employees (6.6%). The pattern of self-employment is equal (5.8%) across both male and women entrepreneurs. MSMEs have been well identified as an impeccable answer to mitigate the problem of mounting unemployment.,The novelty of the study lies in its meticulous and explicit understanding of the employment scenario in Assam by the MSMEs. Empirical works on employment creation by the MSMEs in Assam were fundamentally based on secondary data sources. The study fills in the gap by providing a holistic picture of employment creation based on both primary and secondary data, but prominently on the primary. The study accounts details about the nature of MSME employment, the gender of the MSME employees, employment creation by male and female MSME entrepreneurs, the growth rate of MSME employment and self-employment to name a few

Can unemployment be answered by Micro Small and Medium Enterprises? Evidences from Assam

Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on increasing the risks of children’s addiction to electronic games from a social work perspective.

This paper delineates how stockbrokers in Mumbai negotiate (contest, reconcile and appropriate) global finance. In recent years, the social studies of finance have grown profoundly, enhancing our understanding of finance across disciplinary boundaries. However, the way in which global finance is practised by local stockbrokers in non-western financial markets has received minor attention. Even though the Mumbai financial market is comparatively small, it is an instructive case due to a transition of financial practices over the previous two decades. Despite these rapid changes, the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the oldest exchange in India, and its ‘traditional’ brokers remain active and relatively influential. Drawing on present-day experiences as well as historical recollections of BSE stockbrokers, this article shows that global finance is not an unambiguous or predictable force, but instead negotiated and thus actively shaped by local stockbrokers.

Negotiating Global Finance: Trading on Dalal Street, Mumbai

Green logistics driven circular practices adoption in industry 4.0 Era: A moderating effect of institution pressure and supply chain flexibility

The MSME sector occupies a position of strategic significance in the Indian economic structure. This sector contributes nearly eight per cent to country’s GDP, employing over 80 million people in nearly 36 million widely-dispersed enterprises across the country; accounting for 45 per cent of manufactured output, 40 per cent of the country’s total export, and producing more than 8000 valueadded products ranging from traditional to high-tech. Furthermore, these enterprises are the nurseries for innovation and entrepreneurship, which will be key to the future growth of India. It is also an acknowledged fact that this sector can help realise the target of the proposed National Manufacturing Policy to enhance the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25 per cent and to create 100 million jobs by the end of 2022, as well as to foster growth and take India from its present two trillion dollar economy to a 20 trillion dollar economy. Despite the sector’s high enthusiasm and inherent capabilities to grow, its growth story still faces a number of challenges. In this light, the present paper examines the role of Indian MSMEs in India’s economic growth and explores various problems faced by the sector. The paper also attempts to discuss various policy measures undertaken by the Government to strengthen Indian MSMEs. Finally, the paper proposes strategies aimed at strengthening the sector to enable it to unleash its growth potential and help make India a 20 trillion dollar economy.

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Unleashing The Growth Potential Of Indian MSME Sector

PurposeThis study aims to identify how ICT appeared as an emergent business strategy and to investigate the impact of ICT adoption factors on the perceived benefits of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).Design/methodology/approachA total of 393 responses from Indian small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) were collected for the final analysis. The study presents the partial least-squares structural equation modeling with the Chi-square test and descriptive analysis as a methodology based on numerous independent variables and one dependent variable.FindingsThe findings indicate that ICT adoption during and following the COVID-19 pandemic is constant in nature of the enterprise. Moreover, the results indicate that different adoption of ICT factors influence on perceived benefits of organizational performance of Indian MSMEs that lent good support except for the regulatory framework.Research limitations/implicationsThe implications of the current research help Indian MSMEs to take investment decisions in various technologies that help the organization. Furthermore, managers and practitioners help the organization in deciding which technology adoption factors are more critical to the betterment of the organization.Originality/valueThe study found certain ICT adoption factors that have a significant role in organizational performance in Indian MSMEs. Moreover, during COVID-19, investigate ICTs' role as a business strategy.

Adoption of ICTs as an emergent business strategy during and following COVID-19 crisis: evidence from Indian MSMEs

As intellectual property IP has become an integral part of business strategy, the valuation of these assets has become more and more critical. Consequently, the strategic decisions of Indian SMEs also increasingly depend on understanding the economics affecting the value of these assets and most crucially appraising the approximate value of their IP. In this light, the paper reviews the principal approaches and methods used to evaluate an IP asset and proposes a framework to help the Indian SMEs to select an appropriate approach for effective valuation of their IP. In the background, paper discusses various scenarios where IP valuation is required and needed for SMEs and also explores some problems and issues generally faced/reported by the Indian SMEs in IP valuation. Further, the paper examines the broadening set of channels through which SMEs can exploit their IP. The paper provides five constructive building blocks descriptions of IP assets, valuation purpose, influencing factors, valuation premise and Standardizing IP valuation for Indian SMEs to choose a viable approach. The paper concludes that the selection of an appropriate method depends upon the circumstances surrounding the valuation, including the type of IP being valued, the purpose of valuation, the basis of valuation and most importantly the availability of information. The clear understanding of the underlying assumptions and theories behind the various valuation methodologies will assist the Indian SMEs greatly in negotiations for the sales or licensing of their intellectual property.

Exploring a Sense of Intellectual Property Valuation for Indian SMEs

While the volatility associated with portfolio capital flows is well known, there is also a concern that foreign institutional investors might introduce distortions in the host country markets due to the pressure on them to secure capital gains. In this context, present chapter attempts to find out the direction of causality between foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and performance of Indian stock market. To facilitate a better understanding of the causal linkage between FII flows and contemporaneous stock market returns (BSE National Index), a period of nineteen consecutive financial years ranging from January 1992 to December 2010 is selected. Granger Causality Test has been applied to test the direction of causality.

FIIs and Indian Stock Market: A Causality Investigation

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the association between Entrepreneurial Education (EE) and Entrepreneurial Intention (EI) and the multiple mediation model of Creativity and Entrepreneurial Motivation (EM).Design/methodology/approachThe study employed a sample of 300 students who have studied entrepreneurial development courses (short-term and vocational courses) from higher educational institutes located in four States of Northern India. The data were analyzed by employing the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe investigation revealed that EE has a significant association with EM and EI but not with creativity. It is also seen that EM facilitates the affiliation between EE and EI, but creativity does not.Practical implicationsThe investigation results help the Institution, Policymakers, Government, to include entrepreneurial activities in their programs.Originality/valueEE primary objective is to develop skills and knowledge that can propel them into a journey of EI and entrepreneurship. Although EE and EI have studied at large, there is hardly any study that talks about motivation, creativity and practicality in their program.

Minakshi Paliwal

Papers

Unleashing The Growth Potential Of Indian MSME Sector

Adoption of ICTs as an emergent business strategy during and following COVID-19 crisis: evidence from Indian MSMEs

Exploring a Sense of Intellectual Property Valuation for Indian SMEs

FIIs and Indian Stock Market: A Causality Investigation

Assessing the role of creativity and motivation to measure entrepreneurial education and entrepreneurial intention