R. K. Mudgal

Bio: R. K. Mudgal is an academic researcher from Teerthanker Mahaveer University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Supply chain & Globalization. The author has an hindex of 3, co-authored 9 publications receiving 394 citations. Previous affiliations of R. K. Mudgal include Aligarh Muslim University.

Modelling the barriers of green supply chain practices: an Indian perspective

Abstract: Owing to ever-increasing scarcity of natural resources and mounting concern in the market for 'green' products and processes, environmental issues are fast emerging as one of the most important subject of management's decisions in manufacturing organisations. Green business practices are not easy to adopt and implement, due to the presence of many barriers. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyse these barriers. A questionnaire based survey was conducted to rank these barriers. The results of this survey and Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) approach have been used to model and analyse key barriers and drive managerial insights.

Greening the supply chain practices: an Indian perspective of enablers' relationships

Abstract: This paper aims at identifying enablers for greening the supply chain of manufacturing organisations. It also seeks to understand their inter-relationships. A questionnaire based survey was conducted to rank these enablers. Using results of this survey and the interpretive structural modelling (ISM), the paper presents a hierarchy based model and the contextual relationships among these enablers. The study indicates that there exists a group of enablers having low dependence and high driving power and are of strategic importance. The proposed model may help top management determine the key variables which they should focus in order to green their supply chains.

Applications of Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use: A Review

Abstract: Information Technology (IT) is the buzzword and important topic nowadays, and it is going to be more important with each passing day As per Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), IT is liked or rejected by people because of two determining variables, Perceived Usefulness (PU) and Perceived Ease of Use (PEOU) TAM is adopted from theory of reasoned action, which affirmed that beliefs, attitudes, intentions and behavior form causal chain among them PU and PEOU helps in predicting the attitudes of the users towards the technology and computer usage, which further influence their intentions to use and imbibe that technology This paper carried out a systematic review of the TAM factors ie PU and PEOU which influence the consumers' attitude and intentions toward adoption of IT in various applications like online shopping, internet marketing, software, social media advertising, e-banking, education, healthcare etc This paper highlights the prominence of PU and PEOU in various fields and will establish a strong base for future research based on these factors in adoption of upcoming technologies

Historical Evolution of Social Media: An Overview

Abstract: Social media has become the buzz word of marketing nowadays. Today it is difficult to visualise the effectiveness of promotion mix of any company without social media. Starting from basic means of exchanging information, it grew to development of means of communication whose purpose was manifold. With the advent of social media customers and businesses have become well connected with each other. Business to business, business to customer, and customer to customer communication has been great facilitated by social media. Various types of social media platforms have evolved over a period of time, which have become more sophisticated in terms of technology, more effective in terms of capability to influence the customers and more efficient in terms of reaching the customers in optimum time. All these developments took place over many years and have passed through several stages. The aim of this paper is to capture the historical developments of social media over a period of time.

Trade Union Participation in Leather Industry in Kolkata

Abstract: Introduction The Kolkata leather industry has been divided in to different sub-sectors such as tannery units (medium and small scale), export oriented leather goods manufacturing units, fabricator of leather goods and units catering to indigenous market, fabricator of industrial gloves, small, medium and large scale footwear manufacturers, house-hold manufacturing units and merchant exporters etc. The available data shows that the trends in the employment creation by these subsectors are not uniform. The lack of uniformity seems to be natural as the number of units in each type of sub-sectors widely varies across leather industry in Kolkata. For example, the number of micro-enterprises across sub-sectors of Kolkata leather industry has been maximum creating highest number of employment whereas the number of large scale units in the leather industry has been very limited. Table 1 shows the trend in employment creation in the sub-sectors over the years. During 2007-2009 period employment in Kolkata leather industry has increased at a very moderate rate of about 4.6%. The growth rate is relatively higher in fabricator and house hold manufacturing units, export oriented leather goods manufacturing units etc. However, the only large scale footwear manufacturing unit in the Kolkata leather cluster has witnessed reduction in the number of workers. Except a few major leather and leather products manufacturing units, in majority of the units across different subsectors of the Kolkata leather cluster, the working conditions are not only appalling but there is also scant regard for workers' safety or health. Though, the traditional leather units of Kolkata is dominated by low caste and Muslim migrant workers from neighboring states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Eastern Uttar Pradesh, the entry of people from different backgrounds are growingly visible in the sector. About 70% of the workers engaged in the industry are traditionally employed as temporary workers. Most of them join the industry as workers with very low or no skill and they acquire required skills simply by observation at the initial stages. Very often these low skilled new entrants to the sector acquire skill under the guidance of their relatives or somebody else from their place of origin, also employed as worker in a leather unit in Kolkata. They are the people who actually bring these very cheap workers from their villages to enable them to learn the required skills at the place of their employment. However, the labor market is flexible and intensively competitive and mostly they are paid on a piece rate basis. Abundant supply of labor together with the absence of unit level strong labor unions has pushed down the wages to the reservation level. Minimum wages are not followed in most cases and the workers are also not in the position of demanding higher wage rates as the supply of labor is in abundant. According to a recent government order, the minimum wage rate for unskilled /low skilled workers in tanneries and leather manufacturing units in KMDA area should be Rs. 162.33, Rs. 178.46 for semi-skilled workers and for the highly skilled workers it should be Rs. 196. 31. In reality very few units comply with these minimum wage rates. In most of the manufacturing units, specially in the leather footwear and accessories manufacturing units, work is based on almost putting out system and during peak season the workers work for 16 to 18 hours per day and during the slack season the daily working hour comes down to 6 to 7 hours per day only causing loss of employment to many low skilled or unskilled workers. However, the limited number of workers under the regular pay-roll remains with their jobs. In tanneries and fabricating units the machine operators and highly skilled workers are offered regular employment and in leather product manufacturing units the high skilled workers, specially the solemen and uppermen are kept as fixed workers. …

Barriers to implement green supply chain management in automobile industry using interpretive structural modeling technique: An Indian perspective

Abstract: Purpose : Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM) has received growing attention in the last few years. Most of the automobile industries are setting up their own manufacturing plants in competitive Indian market. Due to public awareness, economic, environmental or legislative reasons, the requirement of GSCM has increased. In this context, this study aims to develop a structural model of the barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry. Design/methodology/approach: We have identified various barriers and contextual relationships among the identified barriers. Classification of barriers has been carried out based upon dependence and driving power with the help of MICMAC analysis. In addition to this, a structural model of barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry has also been put forward using Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) technique. Findings: Eleven numbers of relevant barriers have been identified from literature and subsequent discussions with experts from academia and industry. Out of which, five numbers of barriers have been identified as dependent variables; three number of barriers have been identified as the driver variables and three number of barriers have been identified as the linkage variables. No barrier has been identified as autonomous variable. Four barriers have been identified as top level barriers and one bottom level barrier. Removal of these barriers has also been discussed. Research limitations/implications: A hypothetical model of these barriers has been developed based upon experts’ opinions. The conclusions so drawn may be further modified to apply in real situation problem. Practical implications: Clear understanding of these barriers will help organizations to prioritize better and manage their resources in an efficient and effective way. Originality/value: Through this paper we contribute to identify the barriers to implement GSCM in Indian automobile industry and to prioritize them. The structured model developed will help to understand interdependence of the barriers. This paper also suggests the removal of these barriers.

Intuitionistic fuzzy based DEMATEL method for developing green practices and performances in a green supply chain

Abstract: Proposed a intuitionistic fuzzy based DEMATEL method for developing green practices.A case study from automotive industry is used for validation.Sensitivity analysis is performed to check the robustness of the method. Environmental topics have gained much consideration in corporate green operations. Globalization, stakeholder pressures, and stricter environmental regulations have made organizations develop environmental practices. Thus, green supply chain management (GSCM) is now a proactive approach for organizations to enhance their environmental performance and achieve competitive advantages. This study pioneers using the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method with intuitionistic fuzzy sets to handle the important and causal relationships between GSCM practices and performances. DEMATEL evaluates GSCM practices to find the main practices to improve both environmental and economic performances. This study uses intuitionistic fuzzy set theory to handle the linguistic imprecision and the ambiguity of human being's judgment. A case study from the automotive industry is presented to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed method. The results reveal "internal management support", "green purchasing" and "ISO 14001 certification" are the most significant GSCM practices. The practical results of this study offer useful insights for managers to become more environmentally responsible, while improving their economic and environmental performance goals. Further, a sensitivity analysis of results, managerial implications, conclusions, limitations and future research opportunities are provided.