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3721 items in total found

Journal Articles | 2018

Promoting health in rural India: Enhancing job performance of health activists

Jatin Pandey, Manjari Singh, Biju Varkkey, and Dileep Mavalankar

Academy of Management Proceedings

The health of people in a nation is a potential indicator of its development. Over and above that, the job performance of people involved in the delivery and facilitation of health care services within a nation reflects the actual health conditions in it. In developing countries, where a large chunk of the population lives in rural areas, the job performance of grass-roots health care workers gains significant importance in order to ensure effective and efficient delivery of health care services to the masses and marginalized communities. The present study takes the case of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in difficult rural areas of India to identify factors that affect their job performance and suggests interventions through which it could be enhanced. Fifty-five ASHAs were interviewed and five focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Additionally, triangulation was done by interviewing other stakeholders, while studying relevant documents. Through content analysis of these interviews and documents, this study identifies the demands, resources and stressors that affect the job performance of these important intermediaries in the health care supply chain (in the Indian context). The study also suggests policy-level decisions that could help in enhancing job performance of ASHAs by managing demands, increasing resources and reducing stressors.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Racial/ethnic parity in disciplinary consequences using student threat assessment

Dewey Cornell, Jennifer Maeng, Francis Huang, Kathan Shukla, and Timothy Konold

School Psychology Review

School psychologists are frequently called upon to assess students who have made verbal or behavioral threats of violence against others, a practice commonly known as threat assessment. One critical issue is whether the outcomes of a threat assessment generate the kind of racial disparities widely observed in school disciplinary practices. In 2013, Virginia became the first state to mandate threat assessment teams in all public schools. This study examined the disciplinary consequences for 1,836 students who received a threat assessment in 779 Virginia elementary, middle, and high schools during the 2014–2015 school year. Multilevel logistic regression models found no disparities among Black, Hispanic, and White students in out-of-school suspensions, school transfers, or legal actions. The most consistent predictors of disciplinary consequences were the student's possession of a weapon and the team classification of the threat as serious. We discuss possible explanations for the absence of racial/ethnic disparities in threat assessment outcomes and cautiously suggest that the threat assessment process may reflect a generalizable pathway for achieving parity in school discipline.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Workplace bullying across the globe: A cross-cultural comparison

Denise Salin, Renee Cowan, Oluwakemi Adewumi, Eleni Apospori, Jaime Bochantin, and Premilla D'Cruz

Personnel Review

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze cross-national and cross-cultural similarities and differences in perceptions and conceptualizations of workplace bullying among human resource professionals (HRPs). Particular emphasis was given to what kind of behaviors are considered as bullying in different countries and what criteria interviewees use to decide whether a particular behavior is bullying or not.

Design/methodology/approach

HRPs in 13 different countries/regions (n=199), spanning all continents and all GLOBE cultural clusters (House et al., 2004), were interviewed and a qualitative content analysis was carried out.

Findings

Whereas interviewees across the different countries largely saw personal harassment and physical intimidation as bullying, work-related negative acts and social exclusion were construed very differently in the different countries. Repetition, negative effects on the target, intention to harm, and lack of a business case were decision criteria typically used by interviewees across the globe – other criteria varied by country.

Practical implications

The results help HRPs working in multinational organizations understand different perceptions of negative acts.

Originality/value

The findings point to the importance of cultural factors, such as power distance and performance orientation, and other contextual factors, such as economy and legislation for understanding varying conceptualizations of bullying.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Prevention of and interventions in workplace bullying: A global study of human resource professionals' reflections on preferred action

Denise Salin, Renee Cowan, Oluwakemi Adewumi, Eleni Apospori, Jaime Bochantin, and Premilla D'Cruz

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

The aim of this study was to analyze Human Resource Professionals’ reflections on the prevention of and intervention in workplace bullying across different countries. More specifically, the study sought to identify what actions were, in the experience of human resource professionals, best to prevent and intervene in bullying and uncover organizations’ motives for engaging in such work. The study was conducted through semi-structured interviews (n = 214) in 14 different countries/regions, representing all continents and all GLOBE cultural clusters. Qualitative content analysis was performed to analyze the material. The findings indicate that bullying was largely conceptualized as a productivity and cost issue, and that was largely driving efforts to counter bullying. Training and policies were highlighted as preferred means to prevent bullying across countries. In contrast, there were large national differences in terms of preferences for either disciplinary or reconciliatory approaches to intervene in bullying. This study advances our understanding of what human resource professionals consider preferred ways of managing workplace bullying, and adds to our understanding of cross-national differences and similarities in views of this phenomenon. As such, the results are of relevance to both practitioners and scholars.

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Journal Articles | 2018

An extensive evaluation of CONWIP-card controlled and scheduled start time based production system designs

Debjit Roy and Vasudha Ravikumaran

Journal of Manufacturing Systems

Order release policies such as a card-controlled CONWIP policy aim to improve system responsiveness and minimize system-wide inventory levels. It is not clear if order release policies (without card control) can be equally effective under certain settings of the production system design parameters. In this research, we study the performance of alternate order release (material control policies) such as CONWIP and scheduled start time policy under a variety of design parameter settings such as number of stations, station service time characteristics, availability of raw material, and the location of the bottleneck station using queuing network models. Using an exhaustive numerical study, we observe that throughput times in CONWIP systems are about 2–50% less compared to open control systems; however, for a balanced system, the Deterministic scheduled start time policy performs equally well for a large set of production system designs. We further identify that the number of stations and the location of the bottleneck station affect the choice of the order release policy. Additionally, we also analyze the system for a variety of demand inter-arrival times and check its effect on the expected number of backlogs and system-wide expected waiting times.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Stochastic modeling of unloading and loading operations at a container terminal using automated lifting vehicles

Debjit Roy and Rene De Koster

European Journal of Operational Research

With the growing worldwide trade, container terminals have grown in number and size. To increase operational efficiency, many new terminals are now automated. The key focus is on improving seaside processes, where a distinction can be made between single quay crane operations (all quay cranes are either loading or unloading containers) and overlapping quay crane operations (some quay cranes are loading while others are unloading containers). Using a network of open and semi-open queues, we develop a new integrated stochastic model for analyzing the performance of overlapping loading and unloading operations that capture the complex stochastic interactions among quayside, vehicle, and stackside processes. The analytical model is solved using an iterative algorithm based on the parametric decomposition approximation approach. The system performance is tested at varying container traffic levels. We find that the percent absolute errors in throughput times compared to simulation are less than 10% for all cases. Using these integrated models, we are able to generate design insights and also rapidly analyze what-if scenarios. For example, we show that the best yard layout configurations for single (either loading or unloading) operations and the best for overlapping (both loading and unloading) operations largely overlap. The best configurations have relatively few stack blocks and many rows per block. The model is generic and amenable to obtain other design and operational performance insights.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Robot-storage zone assignment strategies in mobile fulfillment systems

Debjit Roy, Shobhit Nigam, Rene de Koster, I.J.B.F. Adan, and J.A.C. Resing

Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review

The robotic mobile fulfillment system (MFS) is widely used for automating storage pick and pack activities in e-commerce distribution centers. In this system, the items are stored on movable storage shelves, also known as inventory pods, and brought to the order pick stations by robotic drive units. We develop stylized performance evaluation models to analyze both order picking and replenishment processes in a mobile fulfillment system storage zone, based on multi-class closed queueing network models. To analyze robot assignment strategies for multiple storage zones, we develop a two-stage stochastic model. For a single storage zone, we compare dedicated and pooled robot systems for pod retrieval and replenishment. For multiple storage zones, we also analyze the effect of assigning robots to least congested zones on system throughput in comparison to random zone assignment. The models are validated using detailed simulations. For single zones, the expected throughput time for order picking reduces to one-third of its initial value by using pooled robots instead of dedicated robots; however, the expected replenishment time estimate increases up to three times. For multiple zones, we find that robots that are assigned to storage zones with dedicated and shortest queues provide a greater throughput than robots assigned at random to the zones.

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Journal Articles | 2018

From bazaar to Big Bazaar: Environmental influences and service innovation in the evolution of retailing in India, c. 1850-2015

Chinmay Tumbe and Shashank Krishnakumar

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the factors affecting the evolution of retailing in India since the mid-nineteenth century.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper compares the trajectories of four distinct retail stores in India – Spencer’s pan-Indian retailing empire since 1863, Akbarallys’ department store chain in Mumbai since 1897, Apna Bazar’s consumer cooperative chain in Mumbai since 1948 and the Future Group’s pan-Indian retailing chain since the 1980s. Historical sources include firm biographies and newspaper archives.

Findings

This paper proposes a systems theory linking environmental influences and service innovation, to explain the evolution of retailing in India since the mid-nineteenth century. The key environmental influence on retailing has been state patronage – colonialism and high-end department stores until the 1940s, socialism and cooperative stores until the 1980s and liberalisation with restricted foreign direct investment in retailing until 2015 associated with indigenous corporate large retail format stores. Service innovation in terms of home delivery and recreation of the bazaar atmosphere due to norms on gender and community have also interacted to shape individual success in modern retailing and the dominance of small shop retailing over the long run.

Research limitations/implications

This paper questions standard accounts of retailing history in India that began with the late-twentieth century by showing the scale of a pan-Indian retailing chain in the early-twentieth century. It also provides an account of retailers that is missing in the current literature on the history of consumption in India.

Practical implications

Findings of this study will be useful to marketing professionals and teachers who wish to learn more about the history of retailing in India. It also shows how retailers navigated changes in the regulatory and business environment.

Originality/value

Through a comparative study, this paper outlines the environmental influences on retail formats and service innovation strategies that are required to serve the Indian market. It also brings to fore the significance of retailing chains in colonial India.

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Journal Articles | 2018

The four eras of "marketing" in twentieth century India

Chinmay Tumbe and Isha Ralli

Journal of Historical Research in Marketing

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to understand the evolution of “marketing” in the public and corporate discourse of twentieth-century India.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws its inferences from an analysis of the digital Times of India and Financial Times historical newspaper databases, the corporate archives of two leading Mumbai-based firms – Godrej in consumer goods and Cipla in pharmaceuticals and oral histories of marketing managers.

Findings

The paper identifies four eras of “marketing” in twentieth-century India. Era I (1910-1940) saw the emergence of agricultural “marketing boards” and “marketing officers” in the public sector and the growth of Indian and multinational advertising agencies. Era II (1940-1970) witnessed the formation of management and advertising associations and business schools with close involvement of American players. In Era III (1970-1990), there was a paradigm shift as “marketing” grew in corporate discourse and firms began to employ “marketing managers” in “marketing departments”. Era IV (1990-till date) witnessed the explosion of “marketing” in public and corporate discourse alongside the consumption boom in India. The paper shows how “marketing” evolved separately in the public and private sectors and in different phases as compared to that in the West.

Research limitations/implications

This paper overturns conventional wisdom on marketing history in India, which has so far discounted its significance before 1960 or accorded primary significance to the 1990s’ economic liberalisation programme.

Practical implications

Findings of this study will be useful to marketing professionals and teachers who wish to learn more about the history of marketing in India.

Originality/value

The paper uses unexplored archival material and provides the first account on the evolution of “marketing” in public and corporate discourse in twentieth-century India.

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Journal Articles | 2018

Changes in the executive bonus payment patterns in India between 2008-16: Some evidences

Biju Varkkey, Rupa Korde, and Sunny Wadhwaniya

Compensation and Benefits Review

This article provides a brief overview of the trends in bonus payment to executives in India. Using data from the voluntary web based survey of Paycheck India, which is a part of WageIndicator Foundation, this article analyzes the trends in five types of bonuses, viz., performance, end-of-year, festival, profit-share and others, from 2008 to 2016, across public and private sectors and four types of industries, viz., manufacturing and construction; trade, transport and hospitality; commercial services; and public sector, health care and education. The results suggest that performance bonus is the most popular type of bonus, while profit-share is the least popular. However, from 2008 to 2016, the shares of all types of bonuses in both sectors (Public and Private) and all industries have been declining, and in most of the large industries and firms, bonuses in terms of cash payments are now restricted to fewer executives.

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IIMA