Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Management Calcutta published in 2002"

Performance benchmarking and strategic homogeneity of Indian banks

Abstract: Explores the linkage between performance benchmarking and strategic homogeneity of Indian commercial banks. Devises a method of benchmarking performance of Indian commercial banks using their published financial information. Defines performance by how a bank is able to utilize its resources to generate business transactions and is measured by their ratio, which is then called the efficiency. The concept of efficiency is critical from a marketing perspective. Methodologically, in order to overcome some of the shortcomings of simple efficiencies obtained through self‐appraisal of individual banks, a more “democratic” concept of cross‐efficiency evaluated with the process of peer‐appraisal has been brought in to benchmark the banks. Clusters banks based on similarity in business policy which offers a framework for competitive positioning in the target market and serves as a basis for long‐term strategic focus. Finds that the public sector banks generally outperform the private and foreign banks in this rapidly evolving and liberalizing sector.

Uniformity in Fractional Factorials

Abstract: The issue of uniformity is crucial in quasi-Monte Carlo methods and in the design of computer experiments. In this paper we study the role of uniformity in fractional factorial designs. For fractions of two- or three-level factorials, we derive results connecting orthogonality, aberration and uniformity and show that these criteria agree quite well. This provides further justification for the criteria of orthogonality or minimum aberration in terms of uniformity. Our results refer to several natural measures of uniformity and we consider both regular and nonregular fractions. The theory developed here has the potential of significantly reducing the complexity of computation for searching for minimum aberration designs.

Multipath Routing in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks with Omni Directional and Directional Antenna: A Comparative Study

Abstract: Several routing schemes have been proposed in the context of mobile ad hoc network. Some of them use multiple paths simultaneously by splitting the information among multitude of paths, as it may help to reduce end-to-end delay and perform load balancing. Multipath routing also diminishes the effects of unreliable wireless links in the constantly changing topology of ad hoc networks to a large extent. Route coupling, caused by the interference during the simultaneous communication through multiple paths between a pair of source and destination, severely limits the performance gained by multipath routing. Using node disjoint multiple paths to avoid coupling is not at all sufficient to improve the routing performance in this context. Route coupling may be reduced to a great extent if zone disjoint or even partially zone disjoint paths are used for data communication. Two paths are said to be zone disjoint if data communication through one path does not interfere with other paths. Large path length (number of hops) also contributes to the performance degradation resulting in high end to end delay. So zone disjoint shortest multipath is the best choice under high traffic condition. However, it is difficult to get zone disjoint or even partially zone disjoint multiple routes using omni-directional antenna. This difficulty may be overcome if directional antenna is used with each mobile node. In this paper, we have done a comparative study on the performance of multipath routing using omni-directional and directional antenna. The result of the simulation study clearly shows that directional antenna improves the performance of multipath routing significantly as compared to that with omni-directional antenna.

On an exact probability matching property of right‐invariant priors

Abstract: SUMMARY The paper considers priors which are right invariant with respect to the Haar measure. It is shown that the posterior coverage probabilities of certain invariant Bayesian predictive regions exactly match the corresponding frequentist probabilities. Several examples are given to illustrate the main result.

Relevant condition‐parameter strategy for an effective condition‐based maintenance

Abstract: The great need for an optimum preventive maintenance strategy coupled with the fast‐developing condition‐monitoring techniques has given rise to the invention of relevant condition predictor (RCP)‐based maintenance approach. The main purpose of this approach is to prevent the failures due to gradual deterioration of mechanical items in order to improve system reliability and availability. This is done by monitoring relevant condition predictors of constituent maintenance significant items of the system, taking into account the availability and cost‐effectiveness of the monitoring techniques. A comprehensive review of all constituent items is carried out and a systematic approach is used to decide an optimum maintenance policy for each corresponding group of items. An optimum time to the examination of relevant condition predictors is derived mathematically with required reliability as the optimisation criterion in order to implement the RCP‐based maintenance activities.

Multipath Routing in Ad Hoc Wireless Networks with Directional Antenna

Abstract: Multipath routing protocols are distinguished from single-path routing by the fact that they look for and use several routes from a source to destination. Several routing schemes have been proposed in the context of mobile ad hoc networks that uses multiple paths simultaneously by splitting the information among the multitude of paths. However, the effect of route coupling in this environment can severely limit the gain offered by multipath routing strategies. Route coupling is a phenomenon of wireless medium and occurs when multiple routes are located physically close enough to interfere with each other during data communication. In this paper, we investigate the effect of directional antenna on multipath routing. We have shown that the effect of route coupling across multiple paths with directional antenna is much less compared to that with omni-directional antenna. As a result, the routing performance using multiple paths improves substantially with directional antenna compared to that with omni-directional antenna.

Evolution of the Use of IT for e-Business at Century Financial Services:

Abstract: The case is based on one of the largest and oldest financial services companies in India, referred to as Century Financial Services. It explores the evolution of the use of information technology (IT) over time, from the use of basic efficiency enhancing systems to the development of advanced B2B and B2C E-Commerce systems. At each stage of the evolution, it describes the external drivers in terms of environmental changes, industry developments, customer demands and competitive pressures. It also presents the organizational factors influencing the evolution, in terms of leadership attitudes, the role of IS professionals, and aspects of organization culture. The case aims to give a comprehensive explanation of how internal and external factors together combined to change the focus of the company towards IT and influenced the adoption of E-Business. The case data was collected between April and August of 2000. Sources of data included past organizational documents, interviews, industry sources and d...

Developing an Intranet-based Knowledge Management Framework in a Consulting Firm : A Conceptual Model and its Implementation

Abstract: Management consulting firms are considered typical examples of highly knowledge-intensive companies since they depend heavily on the expertise of their people and the nature of their assignments is knowledge-based. Hence, consulting firms have been in the forefront of thinking about how to manage knowledge However, one of the major knowledge management challenges in any organization is to develop a conceptual model to represent organizational knowledge and to use information technology for its effective implementation that would enhance right information access at right time. This paper reports our experiences in designing and developing a knowledge management framework in Management Consulting Services (MCS) of PricewaterhouseCoopers Ltd. in India (PwC India). This framework is based on a conceptual model where various knowledge sources at the content level interact to realize an integrated knowledge structure. Information technology is used here to realize an Intra-net-based framework that captures organizational structure and procedures and establishes semantic linkages among all the documents. Moreover, the framework supports sharing of informal or tacit knowledge that flows in the organization 1.

Monotone bipartitioning problem in a planar point set with applications to VLSI

Abstract: A new problem called monotone bipartitioning of a planar point set is identified which is found to be useful in VLSI layout design. Let F denote a rectangular floor containing a set A of n points. The portion of a straight line formed by two points from the set A is called a line segment. A monotone increasing path (MP) in F is a connected and ordered sequence of line segments from the bottom-left corner of F to its top-right corner, such that the slope of each line segment is nonnegative, and each pair of consecutive line segments share a common point of A. An MP is said to be maximal (MMP) if no other point in A can be included in it preserving monotonicity. Let AL denote the subset of A corresponding to the end points of the line segments in an MMP, L. The path L partitions the set of points A\AL into two subsets lying on its two sides. The objective of monotone bipartitioning is to find an MMP L, such that the difference in the number of points in these two subsets is minimum. This problem can be formulated as finding a path between two designated vertices of an edge-weighted digraph (the weight of an edge being an integer lying in the range [-n, n]), for which the absolute value of the algebraic sum of weights is minimized. An O(n× e) time algorithm is proposed for this problem, where e denotes the number of edges of the graph determined from the geometry of the point set. The monotone bipartitioning problem has various applications to image processing, facility location, and plant layout problems. A related problem arises while partitioning a VLSI floorplan. Given a floorplan with n rectangular blocks, the goal is to find a monotone staircase channel from one corner of the floor to its diagonally opposite corner such that the difference in the numbers of blocks lying on its two sides is minimum. The problem is referred to as the staircase bipartitioning problem. The proposed algorithm for a point set can be directly used to solve this problem in O(n2) time. However, an improved O(n) time algorithm is reported for this special case. This leads to an O(n log n) time algorithm for hierarchical decomposition of a floorplan with a sequence of staircase channels. Staircase bipartitioning has many applications to channel and global routing.

On the positive definiteness of the information matrix under the binary and poisson mixed models

Abstract: Binary and Poisson generalized linear mixed models are used to analyse over/under-dispersed proportion and count data, respectively. As the positive definiteness of the information matrix is a required property for valid inference about the fixed regression vector and the variance components of the random effects, this paper derives the relevant necessary and sufficient conditions under both these models. It is found that the conditions for the positive definiteness are not identical for these two nonlinear mixed models and that a mere analogy with the usual linear mixed model does not dictate these conditions.

The evolution and structure of the two-wheeler industry in india*

Abstract: The Indian industrial sector has undergone profound regulatory changes as a consequence of economic reforms in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This paper analyzes the impact that economic reforms have had on the market structure of the Indian two-wheeler industry and related implications for the design of an appropriate regulatory mechanism in response. The evolution of the two-wheeler (motorcycles, mopeds and scooters) industry structure is traced using Kendall's index of rank concordance and the Evans-Karras test of convergence. This analysis indicates that the industry seems to be characterized by oligopoly, with the onset of economic reforms making little difference to industrial structure, although the degree of concentration has declined. Non-price competition appears to be the norm for this industry, due to broad banding. Declining firms have introduced more, although similar, brands, and this leads to highly fractured markets and persistent oligopolistic tendencies.

Design of 1-FT Communication Network under Budget Constraint

Abstract: This paper considers the design of reliable backbone networks under certain real-life constraints of cost and fault tolerance. The constraints are: keeping the cost of the links with in a predefined budget; and keeping the topology 1-FT (fault-tolerant) to 1-link failure. A network topology is said to be 1-FT iff every pair of nodes is reachable from all other nodes for 1 link failure. i.e., the graph remains connected. Formally, a graph G is 1-FT iff all the graphs, which have one less link than graph G, are connected. That is, 1-FT network can survive 1-link failure in the network. Therefore, the problem is to find a reliable network topology for a set of nodes whose total link cost is minimized subject to constraints that the backbone network can accommodate a 1-link failure under a given budget. The problem is NP-hard i.e. there exists no polynomial time algorithm to solve this problem. In this paper we have proposed an efficient method based on genetic algorithm to solve the problem. In our method we have represented a backbone layout by means of an upper triangular matrix by concatenating a row with its previous rows. The genetic operators iteratively attempt to find a more cost-effective and reliable network layout. Through the extensive simulation we show that our proposed genetic algorithmic approach can efficiently find a sub-optimal solution for most of the cases.

Positive Action: Cultural Insights into Motivation

Abstract: The motivational theories are all partially true, and explain the behaviour of certain people at certain times. The search for a generalized theory of motivation at work appears to be a vain quest. There are certain concepts in ancient Indian cultural tradition which guided and motivated people to achieve outstanding results in various fields, including business. One such concept is the welfare of all human beings (lokasamgraha) which insist upon man's positive participation in various activities of the world of actuality. When leaders adopt lokasamgraha as the mission for their enterprises and make it the pillar of their management philosophy then they are able to provide incomparably dynamic and effective leadership besides inspiring their followers for positive action. Re-examining this concept along with other related concepts for our learning is the main objective of this article.

Design of Optimal LA in Personal Communication Services Network Using Simulated Annealing Technique

Abstract: In this work we have addressed the issue of inherent trade-off between location update cost and paging cost for proper location area (LA) planning and have attempted to find out an optimal LA size such that the total cost comprising of location update and paging can be minimized. We have formulated a constrained cost optimization problem under the known patterns of call arrival and terminal mobility. The present work is divided into two parts. First, we have tried to validate the model itself; next we have proposed an algorithm based on simulated annealing technique as a solution methodology for the hard constrained optimization problem.

An average-case analysis of graph search

Abstract: Many problems in real-world applications require searching graphs. Understanding the performance of search algorithms has been one of the eminent tasks of heuristic search research. Despite the importance of graph search algorithms, the research of analyzing their performance is limited, and most work on search algorithm analysis has been focused on tree search algorithms. One of the major obstacles to analyzing graph search is that no single graph is an appropriate representative of graph search problems. In this paper, we propose one possible approach to analyzing graph search: Analyzing the performance of graph search algorithms on a representative graph of a cluster of problems. We specifically consider job-sequencing problems in which a set of jobs must be sequenced on a machine such that a penalty function is minimized. We analyze the performance of A* graph search algorithm on an abstract model that closely represents job sequencing problems. It is an extension to a model widely used previously for analyzing tree search. One of the main results of our analysis is the existence of a gap of computational cost between two classes of job sequencing problems, one with exponential and the other with polynomial complexity. We provide experimental results showing that real job sequencing problems indeed have a huge difference on computational costs under different conditions.

Optimal design of backbone topology for a communication network under cost constraint

Abstract: In this paper, we present an efficient algorithm based on genetic algorithm to design an optimal backbone network topology, which incorporates some real life constraints of cost and reliability. A network topology is a 1-FT topology if it can survive a single link failure. The problem is to find a reliable network topology for a set of nodes whose total link cost is to minimize, subject to the constraints that the backbone network can tolerate a 1-link failure and total link cost of the whole network within the budget. The problem is NP-hard i.e. there exist no polynomial time algorithms to solve this problem. The proposed algorithm is a one where the optimization problem is modeled and solved by using the approach of genetic algorithm. In this algorithm we used a binary string to represent a solution point, and the time complexity of the algorithm is O (N2). As the encoding of solution points require time in the order of O (N2), hence the subsequent part of the algorithm also have the same time complexity. The algorithm is tested for a wide range of node set, and the optimizing (i.e. how a optimum solution can obtained) and timing efficiency (i.e. time require to converge the solution points to an optimal one) are studied through extensive simulation and compared with the existing optimizing algorithm (based on Genetic Algorithm) proposed by Cheng [1]. We find that our proposed algorithm can converge to an optimum much faster than the existing algorithm. And it also finds out a better search region at the iteration, we also show that our proposed algorithm could efficiently find an optimal (or sub-optimal in some cases) for most of the cases.

Internet Diffusion In Developing Countries

Abstract: Whinston and Kalakota have proposed a layered architecture for E-commerce, analogous to the 7-layer OSI model. Some of its components are purely technical while others involve social and political elements. It explicitly recognizes that E-commerce is a socio-technical activity and suggests certain building blocks with which to structure the same. In this article we report initial efforts to develop a model, which takes a systems view to analyze how social and technical drivers are likely to interact and drive Internet diffusion in developing countries. These countries, in particular, need to understand the complex mechanics of this diffusion process in order to realize their potential for growth in the new world of E-Commerce based trade and business. The systems dynamics methodology is used to develop the model allowing for simulation of different growth scenarios and policy alternatives.

Performance Benchmarking and Strategic Homogeneity of Indian Banks

Abstract: This paper explores the linkage between performance benchmarking and strategic homogeneity of Indian commercial banks. It devises a method of benchmarking performance of Indian commercial banks using their published financial information. Performance is defined by how a bank is able to utilise its resources to generate business transactions and is measured by their ratio, which we call the efficiency. The concept of efficiency is critical from a marketing perspective, as it stresses upon the need to be cost-competitive as a basis for effective competition. Methodologically, in order to overcome some of the shortcomings of simple efficiencies obtained through self-appraisal of individual banks, a more ‘democratic’ concept of cross-efficiency evaluated with the process of peer-appraisal has been brought in to benchmark the banks. Even this democratization process unrealistically may underestimate the efficiency of banks with superior core competence and positioning in the banking industry and also may overestimate the efficiency of the laggards, so a new set of efficiency estimate is defined for ranking their performance. Clustering of banks based on similarity in business policy is done which offers a framework for competitive positioning in the target market and serves as a basis for long-term strategic focus. It is found that the public sector banks generally outperform the private and foreign banks in this rapidly evolving and liberalizing sector.

Service Level Relationships in Multi-stage Systems under the Base Stock Policy

Abstract: In a multi-stage production/inventory system, customer service level is a function of the service levels at individual stages. The objective of a multi-stage system can be defined in terms of determining the stage-specific service levels, which minimize the total cost of the system subject to achieving a desired customer service level. The literature available so far discusses the service level perspective of multi-stage systems under the continuous review and periodic review policy. In this paper, we consider systems operating under the base stock policy, and derive service level relationships in multi-stage serial and assembly systems. First, we develop models for a two-stage serial system, and illustrate the models with the help of a numerical example. Finally, we propose an extension of the models for multi-stage serial and assembly systems.

Dalip Singh, Emotional Intelligence At Work: A Professional Guide. New Delhi: Response Books, 2001, 200 pp. Rs 195.:

Abstract: of confidence and least hesitation that the book has plenty of heat. The language is simple, direct and yet very powerful. The choice of words or vocabulary is impeccable. The fire and passion with which the author says what he wants to say are genuine, sincere and have a direct appeal to the heart. Interspersed with wits, humour, anecdotes, references and real-life apt simple examples, the text elevates the heat aspect to a level of near perfection. And this is perhaps the most important reason of the book’s success-shall we “say a ‘box-office’ hit like the Hindi blockbuster Sholay that the author himself has taken as the benchmark or ‘role model’ (p. xii). But when we come to the meat part of the book, we are sadly disappointed. Ifwe define the target audience groups as corporate executives and management students or aspiring managers, we find there is hardly anything tangible the target groups can take home. Let us simulate a situation. A group of top-level executives are assembled in a brainstorming session or fireside chat. The agenda could be leadership or organizational restructuring or strategic planning. During the initial warming up time some of the members might refer to Chaudhuri’s book and the highly appealing catch phrases included .there. The members will enjoy this and may have a hearty laugh. Then somebody might say, ‘Let’s us get down to business now.’ An almost similar situation could be visualized for a few management students who have assembled to work on a group project on ledership behaviour or managerial appraisal system as a part oftheir course curriculum. They may talk about Chaudhuri’s book and enjoy it for sometime and then they would have to get down to their serious project work. The only important ‘take home’ in my view is how to market a management book. The strategic marketing model outlined in the first three pages of the book is interesting. Perhaps very few authors of management books in India adopt such methods for marketing and sales promotion purpose, starting the efforts well before the book is actually sent for printing. These should be useful to those authors who bemoan that their efforts in writing a book is hardly rewarding from financial point of view. Thanks to Chaudhuri for this service to his fraternity! Another important ‘take home’, of course, as mentioned earlier, is the written communication skill or ‘talk-while-you-write’ style, demonstrated in this book. Some writers on management in India who have a tendency to present serious subjects in an ‘extra-serious’ style and extraordinary vocabulary might do well to emulate this.