Indian Institute of Management Calcutta

About: Indian Institute of Management Calcutta is a education organization based out in Kolkata, India. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Supply chain & Context (language use). The organization has 415 authors who have published 1354 publications receiving 21725 citations. The organization is also known as: IIMC & IIM Calcutta.

International Search Behavior of Business Group Affiliated Firms: Scope of Institutional Changes and Intragroup Heterogeneity

Abstract: This paper investigates whether and when affiliation to business groups enables or constrains firms' international search behavior during institutional transitions. We theorize that given the unique structure and complex form of business group organizations, the search behavior of affiliated firms is influenced by the degree of misalignment in outlook at the group and affiliate levels of management. We identify the scope of institutional changes, business group attributes, and affiliate characteristics as sources of such misalignment. The results from panel data on 298 firms from the Indian pharmaceutical industry for the 1992-2007 period show that the constraining effects of business group affiliation are observed only when institutional changes are specific to the affiliates' industry and not when broad institutional changes affect the business group as a whole. Moreover, we observe heterogeneity in the search behavior of group affiliated firms. First, the degree of misalignment is greater in the case of affiliates belonging to older business groups and those that are more distant in terms of age and industry since the group's founding. Second, by contrast and suggesting an alignment in outlook, we find that affiliated firms that occupy a prominent position within a group or industry are able to bargain for and receive attention and support from the business group to undertake international search. Our findings have implications for research on the role of business groups in a changing institutional context and for the strategic adaptation of firms embedded in complex organizational and institutional settings.

Weaving a web: subaltern consumers, rising consumer culture, and television

Abstract: Cultivation analysis suggests that television influences local cultures through its complex repertoire of images and narratives, which constitute a representation. Through a discursive analysis of ...

Service quality and word of mouth: a study of the banking sector

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the influence of the dimensions of service quality on customers’ word-of-mouth (WOM) in the context of the retail banking industry. Design/methodology/approach – A modified SERVQUAL instrument was used to capture customers’ perceptions of service quality followed by exploratory factor analysis to study the dimensionality of service quality in retail banking. Multiple regression was used to probe the influence of the dimensions of service quality on WOM. Findings – The study revealed four dimensions of service quality in retail banking, namely, attitude, competence, tangibles and convenience and showed that the service quality factor attitude is most important in influencing WOM. Research limitations/implications – Continued refinement of the scale for measuring service quality in retail banking, proposed in this study, is certainly possible based on further research and trends in retail banking. Further research may also incorporate multiple measures of th...