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Working Papers | 2016

Exploring Lin Kernighan neighborhoods for the indexing problem

Diptesh Ghosh

The indexing problem in automated machining environments aims to arrange tools in tool slots of a tool magazine for faster processing of jobs. This problem is called the indexing problem and has been widely studied in the literature. We present heuristics using Lin Kernighan neighborhood structures to solve the indexing problem. Two of the heuristics are local search heuristics and one is a tabu search heuristic. To the best of our knowledge this is one of the first implementations of tabu search on a Lin
Kernighan neighborhood structure.

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Working Papers | 2016

Uncertainty Modelling with Information and Probabilistic Information Granules

Manish Aggarwal

Linguistic representations by human brain are often characterized with an intertwined combination of imprecision (due to incomplete knowledge), vagueness or uncertainty. A powerful framework of information and probabilistic information granules is proposed to model this combination of different facets of uncertainty in natural representations without distortion of the underlying meaning. The proposed notions are deployed in formulation of a comprehensive approach to model complex uncertain situations involving imprecise/inexact probabilities of fuzzy events. The concepts are based upon the principle of information granulation that can be viewed as a human way of achieving data compression. The proposed approach closely resembles the implementation of the strategy of divide-and-conquer which brings it close to human problem-solving thought process. The study also makes an attempt to minimize distortion of information in its representation by fuzzy logic.

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Working Papers | 2016

Contrasting Models of Incubation for Enterprise Creation: Exploring Lessons for Efficacy and Sustainability from Higher Education Institutions in India and the United Kingdom

Rakesh Basant and Sarah Cooper

Encouraging the establishment and growth of technology-based ventures continues to be the focus of attention from policy-makers globally, linked to enhanced levels of innovation, economic activity and wealth/employment creation. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are prominent among the public, private and not-for-profit organisations supporting the commercialisation of scientific outputs. Modes and vehicles adopted include spin-outs, science parks, intellectual property exploitation and different forms of incubation activity. Some HEIs in the United Kingdom have significant experience of commercialisation and technology transfer activities and have developed markedly different approaches. Meanwhile, HEIs in India are broadening their attention from their teaching-research focus to wider engagement in supporting venture creation. While approaches differ between HEIs all face issues of efficacy and sustainability. Set within the wider context of the HEI commercialisation agenda this paper focuses on incubation models, with particular attention to efficacy and sustainability dimensions. Using six case studies (three each from UK and India), we identify contrasting ways in which incubation was undertaken. Findings raise questions regarding whether and if so how HEIs should be involved in the business of incubation to enhance efficacy and provide a more broadly-based and robust platform for underpinning sustainability.

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Working Papers | 2016

Allocating tools to index positions in tool magazines using tabu search

Diptesh Ghosh

The arrangement of tools in tool slots of a tool magazine is an important problem in automated
machining environments. This problem is called the indexing problem and has been
widely studied in the literature. In this paper we propose a tabu search algorithm to solve the
indexing problem. We perform computational experiments on instances which are of reasonable
sizes.

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Working Papers | 2016

Fitting Talent Management Strategy into National Culture

Promila Agarwal

In the face of globalization, organizations are concerned with how to design the talent management strategy that fits the national context. Based on an extensive literature review, the paper presents a systematic review of the literature on the role of talent management stagey, and Hofstede's cultural dimensions in creative sense of justice among employees. The paper examines the effectiveness of inclusive and exclusive talent management strategy using the Hofstede's cultural dimensions theory. The paper investigates the association between organizational justice and talent management strategy in different cultural conditions.

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Working Papers | 2016

Earnings Management Strategies during Financial Distress

Neerav Nagar and Kaustav Sen

We examine whether financial distress and its severity have a role to play in managers' decisions with respect to the choice of earnings management strategies. Our results suggests that firms in initial stages of distress engage in real earnings management through a reduction in the spending on selling, general and administrative expenses, and engage in classification shifting to increase profitability and liquidity. When distress becomes severe, firms cut-back on production, engage in income-increasing accruals management, and increase their spending on selling, general and administrative expenses. Initial under-spending on selling, general and administrative expenses is opportunistic with an intention to show improved performance. In extreme distress, increase on such spending is a sound economic decision. Our findings provide insights into how managers of distressed firms trade-off between liquidity, profitability and solvency in both short-run and long-run.
JEL Codes: M41; G33.

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Working Papers | 2016

Does Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Result in Greater Access to Essential Medicines? Study of the impact of drug price control order on sales volume of drugs in India

Arvind Sahay and Saravana Jaikumar

In this paper, we empirically examine whether price regulation of generic essential drugs in India results in social welfare (in terms of increase in sales volume post regulation). In 2013, the Indian government enacted the Drug Price Control (DPCO) which regulated the prices of essential medicines. Using historical monthly sales volume data, we identify the best fitting SARIMA (seasonal auto regressive integrated moving average) model for each of the 105 oral solid molecules included in DPCO 2013. Using these models and following the event study approach we statistically compare the baseline against the actual volume during event window. We find that while DPCO resulted in an increase in sales volume for few molecules, overall the regulation has resulted in a reduction in sales volume. On further analysis, we find that increasing the detailing efforts for molecules with high percentage sales in urban and semi-urban cities may likely result in positive DPCO impact. Our findings have significant policy and marketing implications.

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Working Papers | 2016

Effect of Overlapping Price Ranges on Price Perception: Revisiting the Range Theory of Price Perception

Saravana Jaikumar and Arvind Sahay

The context in which a product is seen has an impact on the behavior of consumers. Specifically the impact of the context provided by the most and least extreme values, i.e., the range of stimuli presented has been well documented. In the price context, the range theory posits that an individuals evaluation of a products price depends on the range of prices observed. Prior research on range theory has demonstrated the effect of a single price distribution (by varying the range and frequency of values within the distribution) on consumer product and price evaluations. In this research, we examine a more realistic situation in which a consumer has to evaluate a products price in the presence of two or more price distributions whose anchors (end points) may overlap. A consumer has to take into account two or more end points simultaneously to make judgments. Based on the tenets of regret theory, we develop the overlapping ranges hypotheses and design a series of experiments to p;rovide empirical evidence. We propose using the eye-tracking method as a tool to illustrate the cognitive process in evaluating the overlapping price ranges. We develop a boundary condition for the overlapping ranges hypotheses and argue that goal-directed behavior will inhibit the consumer from considering multiple ranges simultaneously. Finally, we consider multiple attributes of a product and take into account attribute tradeoffs across price ranges. Across four studies we provide consistent experimental evidence supporting our hypotheses.

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Working Papers | 2016

The Surrogacy Law Conundrum

Akhileshwar Pathak

India has emerged as an international centre of 'surrogacy industry'. The practice raises complex ethical, moral and legal questions. With reference to the Baby M Case, the paper explores the legal validity of surrogacy contract and themes surrounding it. The paper also reviews the existing law on the subject.

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Working Papers | 2016

Effect of Tariff Regulation in Major Port Container Terminals: The Case of Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust

G. Raghuram and Prashanth D. Udayakumar

Tariff at India's centrally-administered major ports, including privately operated terminals therein, are regulated and prescribed by the Tariff Authority for Major Ports (TAMP). TAMP was set up under an amendment of the Major Port Trusts Act 1963 in 1997. This paper analyses the evolution of TAMP's tariff policy against the growth of container terminals at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port. This major port, and India's largest container port, is run by the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT), an autonomous body constituted under the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963. Various regulatory issues related to cost-plus approach to tariff setting, unsustainable royalty payments, regulatory capture, regulating performance, varying tariffs across CTs, and market assessment and capacity utilisation have been discussed.

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