Showing papers by "Indian Institute of Management Calcutta published in 2020"

Leveraging ICT to Overcome Complementary Institutional Voids: Insights from Institutional Work by a Social Enterprise to Help Marginalized

Abstract: There is, in general, a dearth of empirical inquiries on how institutional voids are filled through institutional work in marginalized communities. Extant studies have focussed on institutional work that addresses solitary institutional void, mostly in formal settings. In this paper, we inquire the case of a social entrepreneurial venture in India that identified two complementary institutional voids (productive ageing void of the urban elderly and rural education void of children) and attempted to simultaneously address the two voids. The issue of physical distance between the two groups was overcome by enacting an ICT platform. We also show how the institutional challenges associated with the ICT implementation led them to pursue different kinds of institutional works in their context. We then identify different theoretical dimensions of institutional works that could be used in marginalized contexts. Finally, we show how the ‘complementary voids’ approach has implications for both theory and practice.

Exploring the role of deep neural networks for post-disaster decision support

Abstract: Disaster management operations are information intensive activities due to high uncertainty and complex information needs. Emergency response planners need to effectively plan response activities with limited resources and assign rescue teams to specific disaster sites with high probability of survivors swiftly. Decision making becomes tougher since the limited information available is heterogenous, untimely and often fragmented. We address the problem of lack of insightful information of the disaster sites by utilizing image data obtained from smart infrastructures. We collect geo-tagged images from earthquake-hit regions and apply deep learning method for classification of these images to identify survivors in debris. We find that deep learning method is able to classify the images with significantly higher accuracy than the conventionally used machine learning methods for image classification and utilizes significantly lesser time and computational resources. The novel application of image analytics and the resultant findings from our models have valuable implications for effective disaster response operations, especially in smart urban settlements.

S-commerce: Influence of Facebook likes on purchases and recommendations on a linked e-commerce site

Abstract: Social networking site (SNS) driven e-commerce, the latest social commerce (s-commerce) phenomenon, gains prominence with the introduction of the call-to-action feature. The call-to-action feature on any sponsored post or advertisement on SNS redirects the user to a linked e-commerce website that offers the product. Information cues available on the SNS are expected to influence user decision making on the linked e-commerce site. Set in the context of Facebook driven e-commerce, this study explores how likes on Facebook influence user's purchase and recommendation decisions on a linked e-commerce website. Using controlled experiments we find that a higher volume of likes on Facebook leads to a higher likelihood of purchasing and recommending a product on the linked e-commerce site. This effect is found to be mediated by the user's initial product attitude formed on Facebook. An additional analysis examining the strength of the influence reveals that the mere presence of likes is not sufficient to impact the user's decision making. In fact, a low volume of likes elicits user behavior similar to absence of likes. The influence is effective only if the number of likes is substantially high. The findings of the study add to the s-commerce literature by establishing the inter-site influence of Facebook likes on user's purchase and post-purchase decisions and providing empirical evidence of the efficacy of SNS-driven e-commerce.

Manufacturer driven strategic coordination as a response to “showrooming”

Abstract: “Showrooming”, a practice where consumers visit a brick-and-mortar store to examine and research a product before buying it online, is being increasingly observed in recent times. This not only adversely affects the physical store but also the manufacturer in the long run. Showrooming leads to reduced sales efforts on the part of the brick-and-mortar retailer which leads to a decline in showcasing of the product to consumers. This affects the overall demand for the product in the market. In this paper, we analyze the effect of wholesale prices set by the manufacturer on the retail prices of the products in a multi-channel environment affected by showrooming. To combat the adverse impact of showrooming, we further investigate the feasibility of a manufacturer-driven alliance with the brick-and-mortar retailer so that it expends adequate sales effort that leads to higher demand and a dedicated consumer base. We derive a three-parameter contract that can coordinate the channel and arrive at a win-win situation for the manufacturer and the brick-and-mortar retailer. Our analysis shows that the contract is more beneficial for a brick-and-mortar retailer with lower relative market potential. Additionally, we find that the contract brings down the retail price of the product which benefits the end consumers.

Temporal Effects of Repeated Recognition and Lack of Recognition on Online Community Contributions

Abstract: A reason for online communities to confer recognition (e.g., badges) on members is to acknowledge and encourage contributions. Yet, it is unclear whether such recognition or lack of it changes memb...

Being (more) Human in a Digitized World.

Abstract: As we write this guest editorial for this special issue, the world is confronted with the enormous challenge of combating an unprecedented never-before-in-history crisis of Covid19, the magnitude of its impact far from known. Yet, optimists as most of us are, we believe the world will tide over it in due course despite the damage that it may cause to the socioeconomic aspects of our everyday life. What we do know is that we have retreated more and more into the digitized world. As information systems academics taking bird’s eye view, taking a step back to observe the world in its response to the crisis, two aspects seem to be stark in their undisputed role. First, the manner in which the world has drawn upon the “cumulative culture” to meander through potential, albeit temporary solutions, rejecting some, experimenting with some others and readily adopting few others; second, the sudden spike in our already growing dependence on information technology to aid undisturbed continuance, to the extent possible, in our everyday living. Both these, in many ways are related to the theme of the special issue “Being (more) human in a digitized world” – “cumulative culture” being a core distinguishing feature of humanness and the increasing dependence on information technology and its many avatars symbolizing the digitized world. In the context of an increasingly digitized world, the human species’ cumulative cultural evolution embodies the quintessential spirit (Shakespeare’s ‘dust’) of humanness reflected in the accumulated toolkit of practices, socially learned behaviors, sophisticated technologies and complex institutions (Boyd and Richerson 1996; Shipton and Nielsen 2015; Tomasello 1999). The very process of social cognition that required humans to understand each other as “intentional agents like the self” coupled with the process of social-cultural learning (Tomasello 1999) has catalyzed the evolution of a cumulative culture. The social cognition is also reflected in our emotional connect and our creative pursuits. The intensely digital social environments of the day reinforce the cumulative culture through their affordances for cultural learning, social referencing as well as for conformist transmission (Henrich 2015), behaviors that have traditionally been observed in anthropological studies. The innate characteristics of information technology especially in strengthening the two dimensions of human intelligence – working memory and cognitive capabilities, have merely facilitated this reinforcement. While business benefits from information technology and systems are no longer a matter of dispute in information systems research, ethical and social implications arising from the use of information technology devices, applications and platforms continue to occupy center stage in contemporary debates surrounding technology. Contemporary digital technologies have allowed significant changes to the way social interactions are effected both as individuals in organizational boundaries but also as individuals in larger social contexts. Our use of these digital technologies has enabled a culture whose uniqueness arises from the transformation in how we seek, perceive and consume information itself. This * Priya Seetharaman priyas@iimcal.ac.in

Ownership concentration and stock returns: Evidence from family firms in India

Abstract: Public family firms in India represent an interesting case of relatively high ownership concentration combined with high growth opportunities, less competitive product markets and less developed capital markets. Investigating the relationship between ownership concentration and stock market performance, our initial analysis indicates insignificant average abnormal stock returns at low levels of family holdings but weak positive performance at high levels of ownership in the full sample of family and non-family firms and the family subsample. These aggregate results appear robust to alternative metrics of abnormal performance, controls for founder, descendant, and outside CEOs. Further analysis of subsamples of less and more competitive product markets indicates that while the vast majority of family firms enjoying high growth opportunities in less competitive market environments exhibit poor performance at lower ownership levels, those firms with higher family holdings are associated with significantly positive abnormal returns. However, the relation between family ownership and firm valuation under high growth prospects becomes insignificant for a much smaller fraction of firms facing high product market competition. Overall, our results are consistent with the hypothesis that positive alignment of interest effects offset family entrenchment effects on firm performance at high levels of ownership concentration common in India where most firms face high growth opportunities and less product market competition. These results challenge the evidence in western developed economies marked by relatively weaker growth rates and stronger product market rivalry that the performance of family firms tends to decline at high ownership concentration due to entrenchment.

An innovative super-efficiency data envelopment analysis, semi-variance, and Shannon-entropy-based methodology for player selection: evidence from cricket

Abstract: The increasing interest in club cricket and online fantasy cricket league games raises the importance of player selection from the perspective of financial and sports performance. Most previous studies focus only on player efficiency and ignore consistency and the player’s importance in a team strategy. This scenario motivates us to design a holistic player selection method based on a player’s efficiency, consistency, and importance in a team strategy. For efficiency measurement, we apply a modified data envelopment analysis (DEA) method, namely, the non-increasing return-to-scale ‘super-efficiency DEA model,’ that provides improved results compared with the conventional Banker, Charnes, and Cooper DEA model in the presence of a higher number of efficient players. We design a modified consistency index based on the semi-variance approach. Unlike the existing methods that apply a player-specific reference frame to capture variability, we use a common reference frame that calculates the consistency in a more effective manner. We aggregate different consistency indices into a single consistency index using Shannon’s entropy concept and introduce a novel ‘value index’ to determine player importance, which can also be used as an indirect measure of the player’s fitness level. Finally, we design a player performance index by aggregating the efficiency and consistency scores using the Shannon-entropy method and incorporating the value index. We perform a rigorous numerical analysis to determine the all-time best one-day international Cricket XI team for the time span of January 5, 1971 to March 29, 2015. Next, we explain the advantages as well as rationale behind the improvement in the proposed measures compared with the existing methods and highlight the key insights. Finally, we perform a comparative analysis of the proposed team, the team announced by the ICC in 2011, and the team announced by the BBC in 2015.

Containing a pandemic with public actions and public trust: the Kerala story.

Abstract: We study the Covid pandemic in the Indian state of Kerala, and document the state's remarkable success in containing the pandemic's first wave. By identifying Kerala's initial conditions when it was hit by the pandemic, and different components of the state's Covid policy, we conclude: While being subject to resource constraints faced by an Indian state located in a federal structure, Kerala contained its first Covid wave by preemptively formulating a comprehensive set of public actions-government actions that were supported and complemented by the state's citizens. This was achieved by leveraging and reinforcing the citizen's public trust in the state. Specifically, the state's pandemic response contained supportive measures to ensure that poor lives were not pitted against rich lives; rather, the aim was to protect all lives and livelihoods.

A Utility Driven Post Disaster Emergency Resource Allocation System Using DTN

Abstract: Two of the most dominant challenges in post disaster emergency resource allocation are: 1) understanding the exact utility, i.e., exigency, of emergency resources and 2) collecting and transmitting the need for these resources to the control station from where resources are allocated. Measuring the utility of resources with precision becomes tricky in a dynamic post disaster scenario, where demands are constantly evolving and supplies trickle in at an uncertain rate. Moreover, collection and transmission of resource needs of far-flung areas are easier said than done owing to the post disaster disruption of communication infrastructure. These result in the ad-hoc allocation of emergency resources to the shelters. In this paper, we first derive a utility function for dynamically enumerating the shelter specific utility of each emergency resource. Subsequently, we propose an opportunistic knowledge sharing scheme for gathering and disseminating resource needs to the control station using a smartphone-based delay tolerant network. Finally, based on these opportunistically transmitted needs, we formulate a utility driven optimal resource allocation model which minimizes overall resource deficit and total resource deployment time. The proposed system optimally assigns constrained emergency resources to different shelters, so that high-utility resources are deployed fast. The effectiveness of the proposed system is evaluated using ONE simulator and LINGO optimization modeling tool. Exhaustive simulation is done to evaluate the comparative performance of our system with a number of competing schemes. Results show that our system outperforms all these schemes in a fully connected scenario. It is also observed that even in an intermittently connected environment, the performance of our system is almost at par with the competing schemes.

A game theoretic approach to optimize multi-stakeholder utilities for land acquisition negotiations with informality

Abstract: To combat the critical stresses of rising urbanization, the government acquires land from private owners using the power of eminent domain. This land assembly causes negative externalities such as increasing social tension and injustice that may impose a long-term threat to stability and sustainable development. Therefore, there is a need to make the land acquisition process more transparent and just. Considering the unique Indian context where informality has a strong presence, we propose an approach based on game theory that models the bargain through a three-stage Nash equilibrium game. Four agents – the government, the private developer, the landowner, and the free rider – are considered. We provide conditional solutions for the generalizable Case and proceed to model different stakeholder behavior patterns through two utility functional forms – linear and exponential. In the linear case, we find that the free rider obtains half of the revenue of the project, whereas the landowner gains between one-fourth and one-half of the revenue. Thus, we highlight the undeniably crucial role free riders play in land acquisition negotiations. However, closed form solutions cannot be obtained for the exponential form, due to which we use simulations to demonstrate a solution procedure. We conclude by stating that the proposed model can be useful in formulating future land policies in a sustainable and inclusive manner, with optimal utility derivations for all concerned stakeholders. Our model can also be extended to other spatial contexts where informality features heavily in the land market, especially in the Global South.

A Literature Review of the Emerging Field of IoT Using RFID and Its Applications in Supply Chain Management

Abstract: The Internet of Things (IoT) envisions an ecosystem where smart and interconnected objects can sense surrounding changes, communicate with each other, process information and take active roles in decision making. Optimizing supply chain performance is a primary concern of manufacturing and logistics organizations. Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is helping organizations to build automated and interconnected smart environment by object identification and tracking, motivating the first step towards an IoT-enabled world. This chapter attempts to understand extant literature studying applications of RFID in implementing the IoT in supply chain management. We categorize extant literature, firstly, based on research methodology and secondly, based on supply chain processes. We find that presently academic activity is around conceptualizing the usability of RFID in the IoT with limited analytical and empirical evidence. Supply chain processes such as demand planning, procurement, retail shelf space management and product returns are prospective areas for interesting future research. A Literature Review of the Emerging Field of IoT Using RFID and Its Applications in Supply Chain Management

Reading Institutional Logics of CSR in India from a Post-colonial Location

Abstract: The paper goes beyond critique to read institutional approaches, specifically institutional logics of CSR in India and their management by Indian firms, from a post-colonial location, to explore decolonising possibilities. Drawing on post-colonial approach of catachrestic reading, it reads institutional logics of CSR literature to argue against a linear hierarchical travel of western CSR logic into India, which is then adapted/adopted/translated or decoupled, along with the secondary status this implies for India; and suggests that Indian and western CSR logics are competing logics. It argues that these competing logics are non-core, but significant and need to be managed by Indian firms. An exploratory survey supports this argument. It also suggests a few testable propositions for CSR institutional logics using “deferment of routine development” and “strategic ambiguity in meanings” as mechanisms. In addition, it shows that decolonising purpose can also be realised by having cross-paradigmatic engagements with mainstream management and organisation studies scholarship such as institutional approaches.

Exploring thematic composition of online reviews: A topic modeling approach

Abstract: Online reviews are a critical component of the retail business ecosystem today. They help consumers share feedback and readers make informed choices. As such, it is important to understand the mechanism driving the creation of reviews and identify factors which make them useful for readers. Extant work in this field has largely ignored the distribution of thematic content in reviews and its role in review diagnosticity. This article attempts to bridge the gap. A novel approach is proposed to explore the distribution of thematic content in reviews, in terms of underlying topics, and test its impact on influence of reviews. The approach is illustrated through a case study using data from Yelp. Implications of the study for theory and practice are discussed.

Uber’s entrepreneurship discourse and its neoliberal appeal: analysis of coverage in English-language dailies in India

Abstract: This study examines how the top two English-language newspapers in India constructed the entrepreneurship discourse used by online cab aggregator firm, Uber Technology Inc., in India, its second-la...

Preference-Based Privacy Markets

Abstract: In the modern era of the mobile apps (the era of surveillance capitalism - as termed by Shoshana Zuboff) huge quantities of surveillance data about consumers and their activities offer a wave of opportunities for economic and societal value creation. ln-app advertising - a multi-billion dollar industry, is an essential part of the current digital ecosystem driven by free mobile applications, where the ecosystem entities usually comprise consumer apps, their clients (consumers), ad-networks, and advertisers. Sensitive consumer information is often being sold downstream in this ecosystem without the knowledge of consumers, and in many cases to their annoyance. While this practice, in cases, may result in long-term benefits for the consumers, it can result in serious information privacy breaches of very significant impact (e.g., breach of genetic data) in the short term. The question we raise through this paper is: Is it economically feasible to trade consumer personal information with their formal consent (permission) and in return provide them incentives (monetary or otherwise)?. In view of (a) the behavioral assumption that humans are `compromising' beings and have privacy preferences, (b) privacy as a good not having strict boundaries, and (c) the practical inevitability of inappropriate data leakage by data holders downstream in the data-release supply-chain, we propose a design of regulated efficient/bounded inefficient economic mechanisms for oligopoly data trading markets using a novel preference function bidding approach on a simplified sellers-broker market. Our methodology preserves the heterogeneous privacy preservation constraints (at a grouped consumer, i.e., app, level) upto certain compromise levels, and at the same time satisfies information demand (via the broker) of agencies (e.g., advertising organizations) that collect client data for the purpose of targeted behavioral advertising.

Theory of constraints based mafia offer for supply chains of deteriorating products

Abstract: Mafia offer is an unbelievably good offer that a company makes to its customers; the attractiveness of the offer makes it impossible for the customers to decline the offer and difficult for the com...