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.

Human capital and professional network effects on women’s odds of corporate board directorships

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the importance of human capital and professional networks for women’s and men’s appointment to the boards of directors of public companies. The study provides an in-depth analysis of how human capital and professional networks contribute to women’s as compared with men’s odds of corporate board membership. Design/methodology/approach – The study analyzes the human capital and professional networks of 494 male and female corporate outside (non-executive) directors appointed between 2005 and 2010 to the boards of US public companies listed in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index. Human capital was measured as director age, education and professional experience (function and role). Professional network variables measured included composition of professional network, network centrality, constraint and cohesion. Findings – The study’s findings reveal that the characteristics that impact the appointment of women as outside directors to public company boards differ fr...

Resource mapping during a natural disaster: A case study on the 2015 Nepal earthquake

Abstract: Any major natural disaster, such as an earthquake, is accompanied by an urgent need for various types of resources in the disaster-affected region, which primarily includes medical resources, human resources, and infrastructural resources How quickly this need for resources can be satisfied might critically determine the extent of damage and human casualties in the aftermath of the disaster Hence, knowledge about what type of resources are usually needed in the aftermath of a disaster is important for responding organizations for planning formative solutions, to be better prepared to mitigate any upcoming disaster The goal of this study is to curate the resource needs during a major disaster – the earthquake in Nepal and parts of India in April 2015 This work has been carried out in association with Doctors For You (DFY), a humanitarian organization of medical professionals who work in various disasters-affected regions A large set of WhatsApp messages exchanged among DFY members who were working in the disaster-affected areas of Nepal was collected and analyzed to identify the different resource requirements and the corresponding delay in the mobilization of such resources The study revealed detailed phase-wise requirement of various types of resources and also suggested that for several resources, there was a significant delay between the requirement and the actual availability of the resources The acumens from this study will not only help disaster risk management in Nepal but also help in preparedness planning in other earthquake-prone regions of the world

Identifying Post-Disaster Resource Needs and Availabilities from Microblogs

Abstract: Microblogging sites like Twitter are increasingly being used for aiding post-disaster relief operations. In such situations, identifying needs and availabilities of various types of resources is critical for effective coordination of the relief operations. We focus on the problem of automatically identifying tweets that inform about needs and availabilities of resources, termed as need-tweets and availability-tweets respectively. Traditionally, pattern matching techniques are adopted to identify such tweets. In this work, we present novel retrieval methodologies, based on word embeddings, for automatically identifying need-tweets and availability-tweets. Experiments over tweets posted during two recent disaster events show that the proposed methodologies outperform prior pattern-matching techniques.

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.