Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad published in 1998"

Competitiveness of Indian Manufacturing Findings of the 1997 Manufacturing Futures Survey

Abstract: This paper by Pankaj Chandra and Trilochan Sastry reports the findings of a survey to study the competitiveness of Indian manufacturing sector. The paper identifies the priorities of Indian manufac...

Land degradation, agricultural productivity and common property: evidence from Côte d'Ivoire

Abstract: This study provides evidence on the effectiveness of community controls in regulating the use of common agricultural land in Cote d'Ivoire and tests for factors such as group size, ethnic and income heterogeneity of the group, income and resource stock levels, in explaining the variation in effectiveness across communities. The results indicate significant deterioration in community controls. These results point towards the need for a comprehensive policy framework towards agriculture in general and land tenure in particular. The study also finds that smaller and ethnically homogenous communities are better able to coordinate their actions, thereby internalizing a higher proportion of the value of land as a factor of agricultural production than their large ethnically heterogenous counterparts. No evidence is, however, found in favour of income heterogeneity hindering or facilitating collective action.

Structure, organizational behavior, and technical efficiency: The case of an Indian industry

Abstract: The differences in certain aspects of organizational behavior across large and small firms could be explained as a response mechanism to structural conditions like capital market imperfections and high market transaction costs. This, in turn, could explain the relative production efficiency of large and small firms. This paper examines the issue on the basis of firm-level survey data for an Indian industry.

Modelling of uncertainties and price elastic demands in energy-environment planning for India

Abstract: This paper describes two variants of the Indian MARKAL model: a long-term technology oriented optimisation model for energy-environment planning for India. The first variant uses stochastic programming to include future uncertainties in the analysis. Details of model formulation, results and sensitivity analysis are described here. The second variant uses an innovative approach to simulate price sensitive demands within a linear formulation. The analysis incorporating future uncertainties suggests that it is prudent to reduce carbon emission in anticipation of a global regime in future. Modelling with price elastic demands estimates up to 10% reduction in carbon emission due to reduced demands, under a severe carbon tax.

Managing Knowledge Workers: Benchmarking Indian IT Organisations

Abstract: Knowledge based industries such as information technologies, financial services and consultancy are increasingly becoming more important for developed as well as developing economies. In India, IT industry has grown at the rate of about fifty percent in domestic as well as export market for the last five years. The domestic software industry had a turn over of rupees 40 billion in 1997-98 and is expected to touch rupees 125 billion by the year 2000 AD. The software export from India in 1997-98 had exceeded US $1 billion and is expected to reach a level of US $ 4 billion by the year 2000 AD (NASSCOM,1997). This phenomenal growth of IT industry in India has been possible due to availability of highly competent and cost competitive IT professionals. These unique advantages have led to Indian IT industries becoming suppliers of software to a large number of fortune 500 companies. In turn Indian IT professionals have been getting opportunities to work on site with number of these fortune 500 companies. By working with best of the companies in different part of the world, Indian IT professionals have learnt a lot and are on par in terms of professional capabilities with IT professionals anywhere in the world. This has led to creating employment opportunities abroad for Indian IT professionals and has made the task of managing and retaining IT professionals in India very complex and demanding.

Reducing a Multi Stage Vector Optimization Problem to a Single Stage Vector Optimization Problem

Abstract: In this paper we study the problem of universally reducing a multistage vector optimization problem to a one-stage vector optimization problem. This paper draws heavily and modifies on results obtained in Aixerman and Malishevski [1986]. Given the importance of such problems as mathematical representations of real world phenomena, particularly in economics and the management sciences, the results reported here hae great interest. Our analysis is restricted to the case of finite sets of alternatives, and thus has independent appeal from the stand point of finite/discrete mathematics as well.

Adaptive Strategies in the Indian Pharmaceutical Industry

Abstract: How do firms react when an industry faces increased competitive pressures due to trade liberalization? Firms are believed to bring about changes in their technology, marketing and organization by reorganization and redeployment of resources, often through exit process (Buffie and Spiller 1986, Ross 1988). Pavitt's (1990) analysis of technological opportunity and innovations, Ettlie and Bridges's (1982) analysis of environmental uncertainty and its impact on technological performance seem to support this. Many research results have observed that environment can affect firms' strategies (Jemison 1981, McArthur and Nystrom 1991), and under conditions of increased uncertainty firms employ innovative strategies (Paine and Anderson 1977). However, evaluations are not so clear in a science-based industry such as Pharmaceuticals, especially if it is an oligopolistic domestic industry and imports are only imperfect substitutes for local production. Innovations are endogenous to the science-based industries and the form's have high technological options: one of diversifying into horizontal related products or altering the basic technological platforms themselves (Pavitt, 1990). This paper looks at adaptive behavior of the Indian pharmaceutical firms during the period of trade liberalization.

Business Negotiations on Web: Experiences at IIMB

Abstract: Both policy makers and managers in developing countries are passing through new challenges in many a fields: labor management, international affairs, business relationships and environmental regulations. Government, Judiciary and public are learning new grounds in decisions related to environment, ecology and policy making (Zartman, 1994). Negotiation and bargaining are one of the most common forms of making decisions and resolving conflicts at every organizational level, between countries and small and large organizations and between individuals. It is well known to every culture but the negotiation processes significantly vary among cultures. The old colonialist tradition was that it was up to the nobles, and representatives of the rich and well educated to interact and negotiate (Mumford, 1996). This tradition was based on the naive and short sided assumption that blue blooded and nears were more competent to negotiate and furthermore, it wrongly assumed that the North (or West) knew more or was superior in specific areas. The results of this tradition were also visible in negotiation, or rather, the assumptions that there is no need for any negotiations because one side knew what is good for the other. Second half of the 20th' century clearly showed how naive this approach was and how wrong were its underlying assumptions. It also showed that the past divisions are inadequate and the business, educational, and other links are now going across all directions and not from West to South and back.

The Budget, Government Style and the Sustainability of Economic Reform in India

Abstract: The sustainability of liberal market reforms under successive regimes is a key issue in several countries. This paper examines the significance of the Indian 1998 Budget (a major signal for the direction of economic policy, and the first one to be presented by the new government) for reform sustainability. It argues that this Budget embodies an important shift in institutional approach, which constitutes a reversal of the neo-liberal reform agenda. Its main significance lies in the attempt to change the 'government style', i.e., the manner of engagement between the government and economic actors in industry and trade. The paper also discusses briefly the relationship between government style and the effectiveness of policies. Why did the liberal rule-based reform falter to make way for relation-based revisionism? The paper seeks to answer this question through a diagrammatic model, which analyzes the interaction of political and economic determinants of sustainability. It argues in favor of strengthening the institutional capacity of the state to implement even liberal market reforms. The model shows that in a democratic context: (1) Institutional mechanisms for consensus formation in support of reforms can play a pivotal role in sustaining reform (2) The greater the gap between expected and actual response of domestic and foreign private investment to liberalization, the greater the role of institutional capacity in assuring reform sustainability. The paper concludes that a country such as India cannot afford to neglect strengthening institutional capacity in order to sustain reform.

'Darshini': Emergence of 'Focused' Service Design in Indian Restaurant Industry

Abstract: The recent decades have seen a rapid growth of service sector in the world economy. Jobs in this sector have increased tremendously (Kano, 1996) and organizations offering financial services, healthcare, communication and food, hospitality, transportation have proliferated. Many organizations in this sector have encountered rapid changes in regulations, technologies and customer preferences. These changes have forced service industries to identify ways in which to remain competitive. Firms are forced to increase their focus on customer satisfaction, quality of service at affordable cost of service (Schemenner, 1986). Traditional service sectors have seen emergence of new design, with increased customer focus and reduced cost of services. Focus in service organizations is the differentiation and selection of market segments, and the adjustments of the process and infrastructure parameters of the service delivery system to meet the needs of customer's (Mclaughlin et.al., 1995). The literature on focus in services is sparse, yet the examples are quite interesting (Heskett 1983, Yang, et.al, 1992). Focusing in services is not just marketing related, but involves obtaining strategic fit between the service delivery system and competitive strategy. Designing a service delivery systems involves issues such as facility design and layout for effective customer and work flow, procedures and job definitions for service providers, measures of quality, extent of customer involvement, technology/equipment selection and service capacity.

Measures of Effectiveness: The Impact of External & Organizational Beliefs, Values, and Interests

Abstract: Organizations usually consist of multiple internal constituencies and are dependent on numerous external constituencies. Each constituency tries to produce, promote and institutionalize measures of effectiveness that conform to its values and beliefs, and also meet its interests. The measures of effectiveness that are accepted and institutionalized in the organization reflect most closely the values, beliefs and interests of a dominant coalition, which consists of representatives from powerful internal and external constituencies. The study described examined the complex relationship among the values, beliefs and interests and the measures of effectiveness used in hospitals in a province in Canada. It reaffirms the notion that measures of effectiveness are outcomes of a process of negotiation among various internal and external constituencies of an organization, and that the measures reflect the values and beliefs of the dominant coalition and serve its interests. The results indicate the need to integrate the arguments of resource dependence and institutional theories in order to provide a more comprehensive explanation of organizational actions, and suggest that there is a need for more research to examine processes of institutionalization and deinstitutionalization in organizations.

Market Entry and Sustenance Strategies of Korean Firms in Indian Consumer Electronics Market: An Exploratory Study

Abstract: With globalization of markets and competition, foreign markets have become increasingly viable and natural opportunities for growth oriented firms In international marketing, an important decision concerns that of foreign market entry its mode, contents and implementation In this study, we make an attempt to analyze the market entry of Korean firms into the Indian consumer electronics market and its related dynamics Specifically, the focus of the study is to understand the entry behavior of Korean firms, focus of strategy product feature based or cost based, defensive strategies of Indian incumbent firms and forecast likely competitive events that may unfold in future Results based on a sample survey of 21 senior executives reveals that Korean firms do not have any substantive entry advantage Korean firms, currently pursuing product-centered strategies, are perceived to switch over to price-centered strategies tike their Indian counterparts.