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.

Economic models of price competition between traditional and online retailing under showrooming

Abstract: Showrooming is a phenomenon when a customer views a product at a physical store, but buys it online from the same store’s website or from a competitor’s website. In this paper, we develop economic models of price competition between a traditional retailer and an online retailer under customer showrooming behaviour. Our results indicate that showrooming hurts the traditional retailer and benefits the online retailer in terms of sales volumes and profits. The combined offline and online market expands under showrooming. We consider two strategies—effort/investment made and online entry by the traditional retailer—to counter showrooming. Either strategy makes the traditional retailer better off, and the online retailer worse off, in terms of sales volumes and profits; also, the overall market, including offline and online sales, contracts. Moreover, when the traditional retailer makes an online entry, although its offline sales decrease, its total offline and online sales increase; also, although the overall market contracts, total online sales and the online price increase. We consider two scenarios of simultaneous and sequential moves made by the retailers to set their prices. We observe that both the retailers benefit under sequential moves than in the simultaneous move; however, the overall market demand is lower in sequential moves than in the simultaneous move. We have also conducted sensitivity analyses to check for robustness of the results. We conclude the paper by highlighting the managerial implications of this research and providing possible directions for future research.

An Intelligent Biochip System for Diagnostic Process Flow Based Integration of Combined Detection Analyzer

Abstract: Digital micro fluidic biochip (DMFB) has received a major attention as a second generation Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) device in the area of biomedical and biochemical applications and analysis. Optical detection and analysis in DMFBs is of major importance nowadays as it provides the major diagnostic conclusions or final analysis results that may lead to future course of medication or procedure for next level of analysis. In this paper, we have used a combined dual mode automated detection based analyzer to design a multilevel intelligent system based on a predefined diagnostic process flow. The analyzer in the system automatically analyzes the results and decides next level of action for execution of a predefined bioassay protocol on a DMFB connected for analysis at the next level and the process is continued for all the following levels in a similar manner. The system works for any given predefined process flow with optimized number of analyzers and DMFBs (in case of selection of any test that may be incorporated in different levels).The tests has been carried out for determination of different metabolite parameters in human blood. The design is implemented in FPGA platform and the simulation as well as detection results are found to be encouraging.

Aadhaar and Financial Inclusion: A Proposed Framework to Provide Basic Financial Services in Unbanked Rural India

Abstract: Over the past two decades, the government of India in coordination with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has taken up many initiatives to achieve the objective of financial inclusion. Yet, basic financial services still remain an unrealized dream for millions of people, especially for citizens in rural and remote areas for several reasons (Microfinance India, State of the Sector Report – 2009. Sage, Delhi/London. http://www.accessdev.org/downloads/State_of_the_Sector_Report_2009.pdf). Widespread realization that financial inclusion is critical for poverty alleviation, balanced economic growth and economic stability has resulted in inclusive financial system, becoming an issue of global priority. In this regard, cellular mobile technology can be leveraged to offer a viable solution to achieve the objective of financial inclusion. This opens up new avenues for nonbank players, such as mobile network operators or banking agents, to get involved in the value chain of financial services by providing these services through mobile telephones. In wake of these emerging new opportunities, this chapter presents a framework based on Aadhaar (unique identity – UID)-led banking model leveraging ICT through mobile phone technology.

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.