Narain Gupta

Bio: Narain Gupta is an academic researcher from Management Development Institute. The author has contributed to research in topics: Supply chain & Decision support system. The author has an hindex of 8, co-authored 24 publications receiving 209 citations. Previous affiliations of Narain Gupta include Maersk.

Innovation and Culture as a Dynamic Capability for Firm Performance: A Study from Emerging Markets

Abstract: The research aimed to assess the influence of multiple dimensions of innovation on performance. The research is motivated from the possible impact of the internal organizational factors on the firm performance. We investigate the effect of dynamic capabilities such as product innovation, process innovation, and innovation culture on the firm performance. We collect a sample of 115 respondents and unique primary data from the executives of Indian firms. Established scales were used to design the survey instrument. A measurement model was developed in AMOS to conduct the confirmatory factor analysis and validate the scale again. A path model was developed to test the hypotheses. We find support for process innovation but not for product innovation and innovation culture. We extend the analysis further to understand whether the size of the firms has differences in the results. We find further support for innovation culture in large-size firms. We discuss the results in the Indian context to substantiate our hypotheses.

An empirical investigation of the antecedents of value co-creation in B2B IT services outsourcing

Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to conduct empirical investigation of value co-creation phenomena in IT services outsourcing. This survey based research enabled to identify antecedents of value co-creation and their impact on value outcomes. , – This empirical study identifies 25 drivers of value co-creation in IT outsourcing services. These drivers were identified from reported literature and by studying IT project reports. The data were collected from client and supplier organizations followed by verification of the drivers (using PCA and CFA methodologies) that contribute significantly to value co-creation in the IT services outsourcing domain. Furthermore, using SEM and linear regression, the authors have verified the strength of their relationships with value co-creation. , – This research is subjected to exploratory factor analysis, which resulted in six antecedents of value co-creation in IT services outsourcing. These antecedents include alliance relationship, strategic intent, service actualization, intrapreneurship, collective capabilities, and resource management. The alliance relationship, strategic intent, service actualization, and intrapreneurship are found to be significant for value co-creation. While collective capabilities as a standalone was not significant, the relationship of collective capabilities to value co-creation has achieved significance under the influence of alliance relationship, strategic intent, and other antecedents – when tested and hypothesized through the SEM path model. , – The research has the following limitations. The antecedents identified are contextual. The potential illustrative, but not exhaustive reasons, for the change of the context may be due to contract duration, age of the project, relationship maturity, expected value outcome from both the parties, etc. The drivers identified in this research are applicable only to IT services (IT and ITES outsourcing). They cannot be generalized to other B2B outsourcing relationship. The authors propose the conducting of separate research to identify the priorities of these antecedents for different types of outsourcing as well different types of value outcomes. , – This study has added to the knowledge on value co-creation in IT services outsourcing relationships through empirical modeling. From the perspective practitioners of IT industry, this work brings rich information of what are the drivers to value co-creation and their significance on value outcomes in IT services outsourcing. It can provide guidelines to both clients and service providers of similar industry to assess their current practices for value co-creation and re-prioritize their activities and budgets based on the significance of value based benefits. Moreover, practitioners in the IT services industry can use these value drivers and understand the antecedents for value co-creation. As this work is from a dual perspective, both clients and suppliers can assess the applicability of these drivers and antecedents and adopt them to realize mutual value. , – In the past, researchers have focussed on value after it was created and shared among the respective relationship partners, and very few emphasized the need for proactive identification of the antecedents of value co-creation. Researchers have emphasized on the need for an empirical approach, because most of the published studies are theoretical and conceptual in nature. Hence, the significant contribution of this empirical study is to validate the value co-creation drivers identified from literature and qualitative study (case studies) with IT industry practitioners (no. 256) across the globe and the relevance of antecedents to B2B IT services outsourcing body of knowledge.

The theory of planned behaviour: Self identity, social identity, and group norms

Abstract: The aim of the present study was to examine further the role that self-identity plays in the theory of planned behaviour and, more specifically, to: (1) examine the combined effects of self-identity and social identity constructs on intention and behaviour, and (2) examine the effects of self-identity as a function of past experience of performing the behaviour. The study was concerned with the prediction of intention to engage in household recycling and reported recycling behaviour. A sample of 143 community residents participated in the study. It was prospective in design: measures of the predictors and intention were obtained at the first wave of data collection, whereas behaviour was assessed two weeks later. Selfidentity significantly predicted behavioural intention, a relationship that was not dependent on the extent to which the behaviour had been performed in the past. As expected, there was also evidence that the perceived norm of a behaviourally relevant reference group was related to behavioural intention, but only for participants who identified strongly with the group, whereas the relationship between perceived behavioural control (a personal factor) and intention was strongest for low identifiers.

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality

Abstract: Numerous studies on prayer have demonstrated the benefits of prayer on relationships, physical and mental health, and overall well-being Given the practical benefits of prayer, understanding how laypersons conceive of prayer could supply valuable information to practicing clinicians and researchers seeking to establish a more nuanced understanding on what qualities of prayer contribute to its benefits Utilizing a prototype approach, this study sought to understand how laypersons perceive the conceptual elements of prayer by identifying central and peripheral characteristics associated with prayer To effectively assess laypersons' perspectives on the concept of prayer, the researchers utilized a prototype approach to determine what features (eg thanking God, listening, comfort) are most commonly attributed to the concept of prayer The researchers conducted four studies that built on one another The participants in the four studies (Study 1: N = 73; Study 2: N = 57; Study 3: N = 245; Study 4: N = 48) were all undergraduate students from a large, public university in the Southeastern United States The median age of the samples was 19, and approximately 78% of the samples were female In Study 1, participants were asked to generate a list of characteristics and attributes they "think of when they think of the word prayer" (p 57) The list of all features generated by the participants were compiled, organized, and distilled into attribute categories of prayer Three research assistants were assigned to code the attributes in such a way to maintain unique characteristics associated with prayer, while eliminating redundant words or phrases with similar meanings The coding procedure extracted 232 prayer characteristics, of which 158 were eliminated due to being listed by two or less participants, leaving 74 prayer attributes Next, Study 2 presented the previously gathered prayer attributes to participants and asked them to rate the attributes on their centrality to prayer (ie how important each attribute is related to the concept of prayer) Participants rated the attributes centrality to prayer on an 8-point scale (1 = least central to 8 = most central) The participants also used an 8-point scale to rate how positive or negative an attribute was (1 = very negative to 8 = very positive) The mean centrality ratings were computed using descriptive statistics and listed in order of strength of centrality Some examples of the attributes with the highest centrality include God, Can be done at anytime, and Thanking God Additionally, the prayer attributes were generally rated positively (M = 554, SD =71), with 81% of the attributes receiving an average rating of 5 (out of 8) Some examples of highly positive items include, God, family, and love Study 3 assessed whether "participants perceived behaviors described in a scenario as better characterizing prayer when central, as opposed to peripheral, [attributes] were used in the description" (p …

Big data analytics and organizational culture as complements to swift trust and collaborative performance in the humanitarian supply chain

Abstract: The main objective of the study is to understand how big data analytics capability (BDAC) as an organizational culture can enhance trust and collaborative performance between civil and military organizations engaged in disaster relief operations. The theoretical framework is grounded in organizational information processing theory (OIPT). We have conceptualized an original theoretical model to show, using the competing value model (CVM), how BDAC, under a moderating influence of organizational culture, affects swift trust (ST) and collaborative performance (CP). We used WarpPLS 6.0 to test the proposed research hypotheses using multi-respondent data gathered through an email questionnaire sent to managers working in 373 organizations, including the military forces of different countries, government aid agencies, UN specialized agencies, international non-government organizations (NGOs), service providers, and contractors. The results offer four important implications. First, BDAC has a positive, significant effect on ST and CP. Second, flexible orientation (FO) and controlled orientation (CO) have no significant influence on building ST. Third, FO has a positive and significant moderating effect on the path joining BDAC and CP. Finally, CO has negative and significant moderating effect on the path joining BDAC and CP. The control variables: temporal orientation (TO) and interdependency (I) have significant effects on ST and CP. These results extend OIPT to create a better understanding of the application of information processing capabilities to build swift trust and improve collaborative performance. Furthermore, managers can derive multiple insights from this theoretically-grounded study to understand how BDAC can be exploited to gain insights in contexts of different management styles and cultures. We have also outlined the study limitations and provided numerous future research directions. (This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)