Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Management Calcutta published in 2011"

Information sharing and coordination mechanisms for managing uncertainty in supply chains: a simulation study

Abstract: The study aims to investigate the effectiveness of information sharing and coordination mechanisms in reducing uncertainty. Supply chains are constantly subject to unpredictable events that can adversely influence its ability to achieve performance objectives. This paper primarily aims at managing uncertainties originating from unexpectedly large demand spikes. The supply chain literature is full of effective supply chain uncertainty management practices. This paper reviews the different practices for improving management of uncertainty and proposes several combinations of information sharing and coordination mechanism for reducing the uncertainty in supply chains. Next, the proposed combinations are tested on the make-to-stock supply chain of a paper tissue manufacturer using an agent-based simulation approach to show how the use of different levels of information sharing and coordination can be effective in managing uncertainty under daily operations facing a huge mismatch of actual and forecast demand....

Operations strategy for the effective delivery of integrated industrial product‐service offerings

Abstract: Purpose – As enterprises focus on offering integrated product/service bundles, performance‐based contracts become ever so important in ensuring effective delivery. Performance‐based contracts fall under the result‐oriented category of industrial product service systems (PSSs). The paper aims to present a conceptual framework for operations strategy in performance‐based industrial PSSs that will help manufacturing companies configure their operations to support effective delivery of integrated product/service offering.Design/methodology/approach – This paper first develops a conceptual framework for operations strategy in performance‐based contracts by identifying the key elements after a detailed systematic review of literature. A major shift in support and maintenance logistics for complex engineering systems over the past few years has been observed in the defence and aerospace industries. Availability contracting, a special type of performance‐based contracts, is replacing traditional service procureme...

Road traffic congestion monitoring and measurement using active RFID and GSM technology

Abstract: In this paper, we present an intelligent Traffic Congestion Monitoring & Measurement System called TrafficMonitor to monitor and measure the road traffic congestions using probe vehicle. The concept of probe vehicle has come up in recent times for collecting real time traffic data. Our system provides an easy platform to analyze the traffic movement and congestion pattern. TrafficMonitor is a rapidly deployable, cost-effective and easily maintainable traffic congestion monitoring & measurement system that combines active RFID (based on IEEE 802.15.4 protocol, 2.4 GHz ISM band) and GSM technologies. The congestion detection algorithm is based upon calculation of vehicular speed over a stretch of road and the average waiting time of vehicles at road-crossing. Besides providing a complete description of our system and the concepts developed, the paper also provides a comprehensive description of on-road test results to support our concepts. We also provide a detailed description of all the field trials conducted, various traffic data gathered and finally the conclusions derived from such data. Government agencies, especially traffic control department, may use this system for realtime congestion monitoring by installing the system with probe vehicles. Road research organizations and NGOs may use this for studying and analyzing traffic mobility and congestion patterns.

Strategic Information Revelation When Experts Compete to Influence

Abstract: We consider a persuasion game where multiple experts with potentially conflicting self-interests attempt to persuade a decision-maker, or, a judge. The judge prefers to take an action that is most appropriate given the true state of the world but the experts' preferences over the actions (i.e., "agenda") are independent of the state. The judge has no commitment power and takes his best action given the experts' reports. Experts have private types: an informed expert observes the state but an uninformed expert does not. An expert cannot lie but an informed expert may conceal information by pretending to be uninformed. We offer a general characterization of the equilibrium. We show that an increase in the quality of an expert (i.e., his prior likelihood of being informed) can reduce the judge's ex-ante expected payoff. Moreover, the judge's expected payoff may be maximized when the experts have identical (but extreme) agenda rather than conflicting self-interest.

Can NGOs Regulate Medicines Markets? Social Enterprise in Wholesaling, and Access to Essential Medicines.

Abstract: Citizens of high income countries rely on highly regulated medicines markets. However low income countries' impoverished populations generally struggle for access to essential medicines through out-of-pocket purchase on poorly regulated markets; results include ill health, drug resistance and further impoverishment. While the role of health facilities owned by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in low income countries is well documented, national and international wholesaling of essential medicines by NGOs is largely unstudied. This article describes and assesses the activity of NGOs and social enterprise in essential medicines wholesaling. The article is based on a set of interviews conducted in 2006-8 with trading NGOs and social enterprises operating in Europe, India and Tanzania. The analysis applies socio-legal and economic perspectives on social enterprise and market regulation. Trading NGOs can resist the perverse incentives inherent in medicines wholesaling and improve access to essential medicines; they can also, in definable circumstances, exercise a broader regulatory influence over their markets by influencing the behaviour of competitors. We explore reasons for success and failure of social enterprise in essential medicines wholesaling, including commercial manufacturers' market response; social enterprise traders' own market strategies; and patterns of market advantage, market segmentation and subsidy generated by donors. We conclude that, in the absence of effective governmental activity and regulation, social enterprise wholesaling can improve access to good quality essential medicines. This role should be valued and where appropriate supported in international health policy design. NGO regulatory impact can complement but should not replace state action.

Applying real options theory to HRM: an empirical study of IT software firms in India

Abstract: Environmental uncertainties can impact the market value of a firm's human assets both positively and negatively, and make return on human assets uncertain over time. However, the strategic human resource management (SHRM) literature has so far focused almost exclusively only on the upside value of human assets of a firm. Real options theory can provide the process heuristics as well as the economic logic for guiding investments in human assets to create sustainable market value for firms operating in uncertain environments. In spite of the growth in popularity of the real options approach, no meaningful progress, however, has been made towards application of this approach to HRM. This study, using data from 108 IT software development firms in India, seeks to address this gap and make three important contributions to the SHRM literature: (1) operationalise the concept of HR options by identifying the HR practices that possess option value; (2) investigate how use of HR options affects firm-level performan...

Measuring the Performance of Teams in the Indian Premier League

Abstract: In this paper, using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), we have measured the technical efficiency of cricket teams in the Indian Premier League. Taking the data for the 2009 season, the input used by the teams is approached by the total expenses which include players’ wage bill and wage of the support staff and other miscellaneous expenses. Output is measured by the points awarded, net run rate, profit and revenues. Efficiency scores are highly correlated with the performance in the league with a few exception, and when decomposing inefficiency into technical inefficiency and scale inefficiency it can be shown that the largest part of inefficiency can be explained by suboptimal scale of production and ineffficient transformation of inputs into outputs.

Configurations of outsourcing firms and organizational performance: A study of outsourcing industry in India

Abstract: Purpose – There is an increasing recognition of outsourcing firms as new organizational forms with unique systems and practices. This paper seeks to use a configurational approach to integrate learning from outsourcing literature, organization and management theory, strategic management and strategic human resource management in order to understand similarities and differences between outsourcing firms and their performance. It aims to examine if certain combinations of work designs, strategic orientations, client relations and contexts could lead to better organizational performance within a sample of outsourcing firms.Design/methodology/approach – A combination of descriptive and exploratory research design has been used to collect data from 60 outsourcing firms across India. Using survey and semi‐structured interviews, data have been collected from the top management team and non‐managerial employees in each organization (n=836 respondents). Principal components factor analysis, Ward's minimum variance...

Managerial insights into sachet marketing strategies and popularity in the Philippines

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide managerial insights into how consumer goods companies adopt the traditional mini‐sized retail modalities and adjust their strategies to market sachets successfully in the PhilippinesDesign/methodology/approach – The study uses case studies through semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with marketing managers from major multinational and regional companies that have used sachets as part of their marketing strategyFindings – The findings suggest that companies use sachet marketing to facilitate trials of new products and to deliver value across the market by making products more affordable and accessible The extensive network of corner stores provides the distribution system needed to reach the farthest and remotest markets To be successful, the brands must be popular and priced in a manner compatible with the coinage system in a marketOriginality/value – There has been little analysis of consumer goods companies' strategies that cause quick acceptance of

Individualism-collectivism and business context as predictors of behaviors in cross-national work settings: Incidence and outcomes

Abstract: Brief descriptions of cross-national problem events by 1349 organizational employees from many nations were content analyzed. Contrasts between individualistic and collectivistic behaviors were much more strongly predicted by variations in business context (e.g., language spoken and hierarchical relations between the parties involved) than by a measure of nation-level in-group collectivism practices. Respondents from individualist nations emphasized performance goals and task focus, whereas those from collectivist nations emphasized personal aspects of work relations more strongly. Task-focused behavioral responses to problems were uniformly associated with positive outcome, whereas the outcome of emotional responses interacted significantly with individualism–collectivism practices. The results are interpreted in terms of collectivists’ greater attention to context.

Managing human resources in dynamic environments to create value: role of HR options

Abstract: HR options as firm investments in human assets in uncertain environments to create the capability to flexibly respond to future contingent events have been recognised as valuable. However, the black box of causal interlinkages between environmental uncertainties, HR options and firm performance is yet to be explored in strategic HRM literature. Based on the data obtained from 108 IT software firms in India, this study empirically explores these linkages using a multi-level causal model. The results suggest that the use of HR options positively mediates the effects of environmental uncertainties on firm performance. The mediating influences of different types of HR options, used by the firms to manage various types of uncertainties affecting their human assets, on the operational and the financial performance of the firms are found to be different. Implications of findings of the study for managing investments in human assets under uncertainty have been discussed.

Service Uncertainty and Cost for Product Service Systems

Abstract: Service orientation in the defence and aerospace industries through availability contracts is creating challenges in cost estimation due to uncertainties. The chapter initially presents the topic of uncertainty in service delivery, which subsequently leads to a classification of uncertainties. Then, the current uncertainty-based service cost estimation processes are explained. By identifying the existing challenges, an improved framework to estimate costs is highlighted. This firstly involves enhanced understanding of the influence of uncertainties and cost estimation capabilities through the analytical hierarchy process and the Numeral, Unit, Spread, Assessment and Pedigree (NUSAP) Matrix approach. Secondly, it involves using agent-based modelling to represent the dynamism in service cost estimates. The chapter ends with a case study application of the approach.

The 2008 Survey of Indian Third-Party Logistics (3PL) Service Providers: Comparisons with the 2004 Survey of Indian 3PLs and 2006 Survey of North American 3PLs

Abstract: This paper presents a survey of Indian third-party logistics (3PL) providers and compares the state of the industry with that in 2004 based on an earlier survey. The 3PL industries of India and North America are also compared. The survey finds that the Indian 3PL industry lags behind North America in terms of global reach and breadth of service. Indian 3PL providers also underperform in key variables that determine performance levels. Other problems identified by the survey are the lack of awareness among Indian shippers, shortage of management talent, inadequate infrastructure, complex documentations, and multiple tax systems. Despite these limitations, the Indian 3PL industry is growing. Many global players are entering the Indian market through direct investments, acquisitions, and alliances. The Indian government is also improving the infrastructure, reducing paperwork, simplifying taxation systems, and implementing economic policies conducive to growth. This paper provides significant insights for logistics managers, government, and other stakeholders.

Supply chain flexibility: a risk management approach

Abstract: The variety of disturbances and risks in a supply chain (SC) made it more dynamic and unstable, and imposed a number of constraints achieving business excellence. An interruption if occurred at a SC partner may have impact on others and the influence may propagate across the chain. The propagated influence leads to inefficient processing and non-value adding activities across the chain. In this study, a hierarchical relationship model of SC stimuli (disruptions, problems, uncertainties or changes) has been developed evolving the relationship dynamics among them. The study also addresses how to reduce vulnerability of stimuli and their risks to SC by deploying flexibility in SC.

Explaining Sophistication in Collaborative Technology Use: A Context—Technology Fit Perspective

Abstract: Organizations are increasingly attempting to leverage their IT infrastructures and gain better benefits from them. Collaborative technology is one such IT-based infrastructural application which enables organizations to increase operational efficiencies and effectiveness of organizational decision making. It is important to identify potential challenges and barriers to collaborative technology adoption and use and therefore create means and mechanisms for anticipating challenges, facing them and removing barriers. Motivated by differences in extent of use of collaborative technology by groups in organizations, this paper uses exploratory cases to analyse IT-supported collaborative decision task situations to understand the factors influencing sophistication of use of collaborative technology. Preliminary qualitative analysis suggests that level of sophistication is fit between three constructs including users’ drive to use technology, the need for technology support and the group’s cultural orientation towards collaboration. Potential group contexts are discussed using the cases as samples. Further development of an integrative framework to understand use of collaborative technology is essential for suggesting more precise and fundamental prescriptive mechanisms.

Community Dependence on Protected Forest Areas: A Study on Valuation of Non-Wood Forest Products in a Region of India

Abstract: With the increasing demand for non-wood forest products for medicinal purposes and due to its high scope for value addition, these products are increasingly extracted by local communities not only for subsistence use but also to generate cash income. This study explores the factors determining the dependence of local people on a protected forest area for commercial purposes, from a case study in India. The findings go along with that of similar studies that alternative income sources would greatly reduce the dependence on the forest. This paper computes present value of NTFP using the data from a household survey. The projected value for the population, which gives the opportunity cost of prohibiting the use of forest by the local people, would serve as a good indicator for the policy decision on compensation to be paid to the local people for relocating them from the forest area. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/sjae.v5i0.3479 SJAE 2003; 5(1): 97-122

Applying a transformative consumer research lens to understanding and alleviating poverty

Abstract: Increasing attention to global poverty and the development of market-based solutions for poverty alleviation continues to motivate a broad array of academicians and practitioners to better understand the lives of the poor. Yet, the robust perspectives residing within consumer research remain to a large degree under-utilized in these pursuits. This paper articulates how applying a transformative consumer research (TCR) lens to poverty and its alleviation can generate productive insights with potential to positively transform the well-being of poor consumers.

Service Quality and WOM (Word-of-Mouth): A Study of the Indian Banking Sector

Abstract: The Indian banking industry is going through turbulent times. In this era of mature and intense competitive pressures, it is imperative that banks maintain a loyal customer base. To achieve this objective and improve their market and profit positions, many retail banks are directing their strategies toward increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty through improved service quality. In the present context, characterised by rapid change and sophisticated customers, it is important that banks in India determine service quality factors, which are pertinent to the customers’ selection process, as well as the dimensionality of customer-perceived service quality. If service quality dimensions are identified, service managers can improve the delivery of customer perceived quality during the service process and have greater control over the outcome. The author suggests that customers distinguish four dimensions of service quality in the retail banking industry in India. These dimensions of customer-perceived service quality are customer-orientedness, competence, tangibles, and convenience. The results of this study offer strong support for the intuitive notion that improving service quality increases favourable behavioural intentions, namely WOM (Word-of-Mouth) communications. Kangis and Voukelatos (1997) had suggested that in the future, the blurring of identity between banks, insurance companies, and of other possible competitors that will enter in the market, will accelerate, and that customers will shop around more than ever and profitability will come under pressure. The result of this “shopping around” culture, according to Kangis and Voukelatos (1997), will be a higher mobility among customers buying financial products. The authors went on to say that differentiation would continue to lead the marketing strategy of banks, but it would be centred neither on products, as they would be about the same, nor on price, as price differentials would be minimal. DOI: 10.4018/jcrmm.2011040105 64 International Journal of Customer Relationship Marketing and Management, 2(2), 63-87, April-June 2011 Copyright © 2011, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. It is within this rapidly changing environment as foreseen by Kangis and Voukelatos (1997) that service quality issues are compelling the attention of all banking institutions, and retail banks are striving towards increasing customer satisfaction through improved service quality. This is because it is a well-known fact that high quality service stimulates WOM (wordof-mouth) communications by current customers, enhances customers’ perception of value, boosts the morale and loyalty of employees and customers alike and lends credibility to advertising and the field sales force (Berry & Parasuraman, 1991). Financial Sector Liberalisation in India and Service Quality The structural reforms initiated in the real sector of the Indian economy in 1991-1992, had a corollary in the reform of the financial sector. It was felt that a robust banking sector is essential for achieving the objectives of growth and development. A liberalised economy will not be adequately served if the banking sector remains highly regulated. In short, there was a need for banking reforms in the wake of economic reforms, as efficiency in both the mobilisation and the allocation of resources was required. The financial sector reform in India was designed to infuse “greater competitive vitality in the system”. To achieve this objective, the Narasimhan committee, among other things, recommended the liberalisation of entry norms and suggested that new banks be permitted in the private sector provided they conformed to the minimum startup capital and other requirements. The committee recommended too, a liberal policy towards allowing foreign banks to open offices in India. It was believed that the entry of foreign banks would have a beneficial impact from the point of view of improving the competitive efficiency of the Indian banking system as well as upgrading the technology. The committee also suggested that banks be encouraged to go in for term lending which was earlier considered the exclusive preserve of term lending institutions, and term lending institutions were to be permitted to provide working capital too. Since the implementation of many of the recommendations, many new private sector banks have been set up, many foreign banks too have set up shop and many more are waiting in queue to get permission from the Reserve Bank of India. Since the reforms started, the interest rate structure has been deregulated to a great extent and banks have been given a great degree of freedom in determining their rate structure for deposits and advances, as well as their product range. Phenomenal growth in the capital market has also taken place since 1985. Non-banking finance companies have mushroomed, and have encroached upon the turf exclusively reserved for the commercial banks. Banking has also become more competitive in respect of the pricing of bank products and the location of points of sale, that is, the branch network. The end result is that market power is getting shifted from banks to their customers. The freedom of choice which bank customers did not have earlier because of standardised products and regimented interest rates has been given to the customers as a result of the changes taking place (Subramanian & Velayudham, 1997). Another interesting trend that is being observed in the Indian banking scenario today is the rush into retail banking. Shrinking margins coupled with increasing risks in corporate banking are driving this retail rush. Foreign banks and private sector banks are trying to outdo each other so as to establish themselves in the retail market, with increasingly more and more retail products, like a variety of deposit products, credit cards, debit cards, housing and personal loans, flooding the scene, aiming to satisfy the consumer in every possible way. In a nutshell, banks are functioning increasingly under competitive pressures emanating from within the banking system as well as from non-banking institutions. The consequent increase in competition has made service quality a key differentiating factor for banks attempting to improve their market and profit positions. In fact, studies have shown that there is a positive service quality-profitability 23 more pages are available in the full version of this document, which may be purchased using the \"Add to Cart\" button on the product's webpage: www.igi-global.com/article/service-quality-wom-wordmouth/54033?camid=4v1 This title is available in InfoSci-Journals, InfoSci-Journal Disciplines Business, Administration, and Management, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Select, InfoSci-Digital Marketing, EBusiness, and E-Services eJournal Collection, InfoSciSelect. Recommend this product to your librarian: www.igi-global.com/e-resources/libraryrecommendation/?id=2

SALCUSTOR: A Multidimensional Scale for Salespersons’ Customer Orientation and Implications for Customer-Oriented Selling: Empirical Evidence From India

Abstract: Recent studies have highlighted the limitations in the applicability of the selling-versus-customer orientation scale as a measure of a salesperson's customer orientation. Therefore, few scholars call for new research on identifying the underlying dimensions of customer-oriented selling and for developing a new scale. This study provides a new conceptualization of a salesperson's customer orientation and develops and validates a multidimensional scale to measure it. This scale, SALCUSTOR, uses multiple samples of data from salespersons from India. SALCUSTOR assesses the degree to which a salesperson (a) provides relevant and correct information to his/her customers, (b) understands and learns the underlying needs of the customers, and (c) maintains relationships with customers and thinks about their long-term benefits. We establish the reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity of SALCUSTOR. Managers can use SALCUSTOR to identify specific gaps in the three dimensions of custo...

Whither Human Capital? The Woeful Tale of Transition to Tertiary Education in India

Abstract: In this paper we examine the issue of high dropout rates in India which has adverse implications for human capital formation, and hence for the country’s long term growth potential. Using the 2004-05 National Sample Survey employment-unemployment survey data, we estimate transition probabilities of moving from a number of different educational levels to higher educational levels using a sequential logit model. Our results suggest that the overall probability of reaching tertiary education is very low. Further, even by the woeful overall standards, women are significantly worse-off, particularly in rural areas.

Impact of information arrival on volatility of intraday stock returns

Abstract: In this empirical study we have considered the impact of information flow on the volatility of a particular stock using high frequency return and news data on the Eu- rostoxx 50 market. In addition to using volume as a proxy for information flow, we have included company specific announcements, to the conditional variance of the Gen- eralized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic model (GARCH). For this purpose we have constructed five measures of the impact of public information flow in the mar- ket transforming commonly available news scores through dierent techniques such as linear and exponential decreasing weight, impact function etc. We have analyzed the behaviour of volatility, estimated by squared returns for the next 4 hours after arrival of a non overlapping news, having a significant impact on the firm's stock return. A signif- icant impact of the information flow accessed by the news score coecient is observed for majority of in our analysis. Furthermore, the inclusion of the news scores variable improves the overall model in the sense that it increases the likelihood value of the model. However we do not observe any significant change in the volatility persistence due to inclusion of our news variable.

Obstacle aware routing in 3d integrated circuits

Abstract: Progressive scaling of technology node has serious impacts on the performance of VLSI circuits. A major influencing factor is the dominance of interconnect delay, and its associated effects such as excessive power consumption, signal integrity issues, and so on. 3D architectures were proposed as an alternative to the classical 2D architectures with certain specific advantages such as reduced interconnect lengths, and hence the delay. However, negative issues like through-silicon vias (TSVs), excessive heating effects etc also come into play. Routing problem in 3D ICs becomes even more complicated in presence of obstacles across the routing layers. In this paper, in an attempt to gain a better insight of the use of interconnects in 3D architectures,we propose a method for routing of nets in the 3D architecture with the presence of obstacles across the routing layers, and perform empirical study in terms of total interconnection lengths across the layers as well as the inter-layer cost involved in TSV.

Near-optimal Y-routed delay trees in nanometric interconnect design

Abstract: Performance-driven routing tree construction has immense research scope in today's VLSI circuit design In this study, the authors focuss on delay efficient routing tree construction Our current work encompasses two aspects of research On the one hand, the authors consider the construction of cost-effective global routing trees with the recently introduced Y-interconnects, and on the other hand, we utilise this framework for verifying the supremacy of the two-pole and Elmore delay estimate for its high fidelity The authors also incorporated fidelity measure for two-pole delay estimate In order to ensure accurate computation of fidelity, (i) the authors propose new statistically proven formulae for the fidelity metric, and (ii) compute the fidelity values based on delay estimates for optimal and near-optimal trees Our experiments on several randomly generated problem instances and benchmarks confirm once again the supremacy of fidelity of two-pole and Elmore delay estimates over that of linear delay The two-pole delay estimate is also observed to exhibit higher fidelity compared to Elmore delay in most of the cases

Build-in-Self-Test of FPGA for diagnosis of delay fault

Abstract: The recent trend of reconfigurable hardware and convergence of hardware platform in embedded system have enhanced the application of FPGAs. Although the capability and performance of FPGA have advanced, the testing of FPGAs both online and off-line (manufacturer oriented testing) poses a major challenge. Importance of delay testing has grown especially for high-speed circuits. Even presence of small delay fault may cause any critical path to fail. As delay testing, using automatic test equipment is found to be quite expensive; BIST (Built-In-Self-Test) can significantly reduce the cost of delay fault detection without using extra hardware. We have presented a BIST structure to test delay fault of various resources and interconnects of FPGA. The proposed scheme can be implemented for both online as well as off-line testing. We have also proposed a new 3-diagnosable BISTer structure that improves the testing efficiency of our BISTer. The proposed technique can detect the presence of fault, even if all the three units ( TPG, ORA, BUT) in a BIST are faulty. We have simulated our method in Xilinx Vertex-II FPGA, using ISE tool Jbits3.0 API and XHWI (Xilinx Hardware Interface) provided by Xilinx and MATLAB7.0.