This paper aims to critically analyze one of the most impactful events reported from the Indian corporate scenario in recent years, from the premise of its aesthetic underpinnings. Our focus is on the ambitious 2008 all cash cross-border acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover businesses by Tata Motors Limited from Ford Motor Company, US. This move not only added stature to the already reputed brand but was also instrumental in positioning India in the global automotive arena. Using the Natyasastra, an ancient Sanskrit scripture on Indian dramaturgy, as an aesthetic tool, we attempt to unravel the emotional performance depicted by various stakeholders partaking in the theatrics of the Jaguar Land Rover acquisition event. In the backdrop of theatrical performance, we examine the dialogical exchange between three distinct sets of actors, the firm, media, and equity market, to identify and elucidate the emotions they predominantly depict in the Jaguar Land Rover acquisition. This paper’s over-arching goal is to shift the preoccupation with metrics of organizational performance to focus instead on the emotional performance manifested through organizational activities, using an aesthetic and essentially Indian performative perspective. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG part of Springer Nature.

Financial attitude influences the financial behavior of retail investors. Although the extant research has acknowledged and examined this relationship, the measures of financial attitude and behavior still vary widely and are generally posed as a series of questions rather than statements. In addition to this, there is insufficient knowledge regarding retail investors' behavior in the face of a health crisis, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic. This study addresses these gaps in the prior literature by examining the relative influence of six dimensions of financial attitude, namely, financial anxiety, optimism, financial security, deliberative thinking, interest in financial issues, and needs for precautionary savings, on the trading activity of retail investors during the pandemic. Data were collected from 404 respondents and analyzed using the artificial neural network (ANN) method. The results revealed that all six dimensions had a positive influence on trading activity, with interest in financial issues exerting the strongest influence, followed by deliberative thinking. The study thus contributes important inferences for researchers and managers. © 2020 The Author(s)

Multiple tasks arrive in the distributed systems that can be executed in either parallel or sequential manner. Before the execution, tasks are scheduled prioritywise with the help of scheduling algorithms to their respective processors. For task assignment, every scheduling algorithm follows different protocols like upper bound of CPU utilization, assigning priorities, etc. In this paper, author has worked on such scheduling algorithms. Previously, the author evaluated the performance of algorithms on the basis of transactions (group of tasks). In this paper, the author re-evaluates joint EDF–RM scheduling algorithm, where its performance is calculated on the execution of individual task basis. For comparative analysis, similar algorithms are considered, i.e., joint EDF–RMS, earliest deadline first (EDF) and rate monotonic scheduling (RMS). These mentioned algorithms are simulated and analyzed with the help of statistical analysis, and turnaround time of periodic tasks is evaluated. Additionally, migration distribution and CPU utilization on the basis of scheduling algorithms' upper bounds are also calculated. © 2020, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

Companies collect customer information in marketing research to understand customers and generate customer insights. Various public policy and ethical issues are associated with the process. The issues include intrusions on consumer privacy; misuse, misinterpretation, and misrepresentation of research findings; ethical and social dilemma in the collection of customer information; and ethical dilemma in generating customer insights through neuromarketing and its applications. In this digital age, it is easier to invade consumer privacy. Companies abide by the various laws and regulations enforced to protect customers and adopt a number of initiatives to convince their customers. Understanding of the various public policy and ethical issues and addressing such issues by adopting proper initiatives will help companies convince customers, build effective customer relationships, and achieve business excellence. The understanding might also help policymakers to appreciate the customer requirements and devise policies, rules, and regulations accordingly. © 2021 IGI Global. All rights reserved.

Maintaining customer–company relationship is very important from the perspective of business. It helps to gain new customers as well as retain existing customers, even the dissatisfied ones, through SIoT based informal and humble counseling. Full form of SIoT is social internet of things where smart objects communicate via social networks to extract required information and propagate suitable ones to identify potential customers and counsel them online. These objects are equipped with machine intelligence so that they can make friends in social networks, collaborate with each other to achieve a common goal, update relationship status and level of trustworthiness between them. Using social network connectivity different groups can be created, where satisfied and brand sincere customers can support company-engaged smart objects to convince or persuade prospective buyers. Convincing also includes the provision of humble and honest apologizing for poor quality customer service which the concerned person might have experienced earlier from company of the object. This may be difficult for a human being because of his underlying nature or characteristics like ego, anger etc. but becomes extremely easy for smart objects because they are devoid of human emotions and enabled by machine intelligence only. Research has proved that behavioral optimization techniques are capable of significantly improving a company’s sales record. Therefore, we can emphatically say that SIoT can be of great help to increase sales of a company. In this article, we propose: a complete model of communication for SIoT-CRM, design the company object as a finite automaton, mathematical models of persuasion with and without support of brand sincere customers. © 2020, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to provide a broad understanding of the pre-completion stage and subsequent abandonment of mergers and acquisitions (M&As). Design/methodology/approach: A total of 117 peer-reviewed, English language articles published in scholarly journals were considered in the review. The approach includes a descriptive evaluation of the literature, coupled with content analysis. The paper uses both positivist and constructivist approaches to qualitative research. The analysis is conducted with the help of R programming and Gephi visualization software. The authors organize the work around the event of outcome/closure of deal proposal. Findings: It is found that earlier studies sampled on domestic M&As in developed economies (DEs). However, the interest of scholars has increased in cross-border deals and emerging economies (EEs) in the last decade. Various factors interact and facilitate the completion/abandonment of good and bad deals. The authors find that complex non-linear relationships exist, and there is a need for studies with other classification techniques focusing on predictive accuracy. Research limitations/implications: The literature review is limited to articles available to the researcher using search terms related to M&A completion/termination. The databases accessed were: ProQuest, Scopus and Web of Science. However, backward snowballing was performed to avoid the omission of relevant articles. Originality/value: The findings and subsequent discussions familiarize researchers and practitioners with an overview of research undertaken in the field of M&A abandonment. The authors find voids within the literature and suggest future research agendas. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Companies need to innovate and differentiate themselves to sustain in the competition. Services marketing gain in importance because it is difficult to innovate and differentiate physical products. It is difficult to imitate differentiation and innovation incorporated in services. The paper discusses the strategic initiatives companies need to adopt for achieving excellence in services marketing. The initiatives include a strategic orientation, commitment from the top management, maintaining high standards, having profit tiers, monitoring service performance and prompt action on customer complaints. The paper also discusses the roles of differentiation and innovation in achieving excellence. The paper focuses on those companies which excel in providing services to customers and analyses the strategies followed by them. Proper implementation and execution of strategies provides a direction for service companies to excel, delight their customers and build relationships with their customers. Copyright © 2020 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Organ donation and transplantation services portray a sub-system of modern healthcare organizations, which is a complex adaptive system. Across the world, there is a marked gap between the numbers of available organs for transplant and potential recipients in the waitlist. To date, researchers have struggled to comprehend the reasons for these disparities, yet the subject received relatively little attention from the system’s perspective. The outcome of organ transplantation requires the coordinated effort of many actors like donors, recipients, families, physicians, transplant coordinators and other hospital staff. They may belong to cross-functional departments and institutions, often operating with different motivations and objectives. In this study, we use Situation-Actor-Process (SAP) and Learning-Action-Performance (LAP) inquiry model, to systematically inquire the organ donation in India. With SAP-LAP, we attempt to understand the complexities and interactions among the current situation, involved actors and processes affecting organ donation at the macro- and micro-level of policy formation. The SAP part brings an insight into the present condition of the organ donation system in India. A model representing flexible interaction among situation, actors and processes is developed for a better systemic understanding. Then, LAP fetches the learning followed by the suggested actions that need to be taken for improving the performance of the organ donation system. Through a case study conducted in an Indian hospital, we explore the reasons for operational inefficiencies at the micro-level. The study identified non-value-adding activities like waiting, excess motion, inappropriate processing and defects; and value-adding activities like training intensivist, training transplant coordinator, raising awareness among family members, excess inventory and use of information and communication technology. The research brings up multiple, self-adjusting, unpredictable and interacting pathways that lead from a potential organ donor to an organ receiver, thus targeting process improvement through a holistic approach. © 2020, Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management.

The integration of knowledge sharing is significant for software process improvement (SPI). However, very few empirical studies have evaluated how and to what extent knowledge sharing affects the different aspects of SPI. Drawing upon the resource-based view and the knowledge-based view of software development organizations, we have explored the antecedents and consequences of knowledge sharing for SPI success. This study develops and empirically validates a model presenting how knowledge sharing impacts SPI success, how organizational factors (leadership and trust) and an individual factor (motivation) affect knowledge sharing and how the use of information technology facilitates explicitly the relation between knowledge sharing and SPI success. The empirical testing of the model has been carried out using the statistical technique of structural equation modelling (SEM) by analysing the dataset of 556 respondents collected from Indian software development organizations. The outcomes reveal that knowledge sharing enhances SPI in terms of design effectiveness, lesser fault density and improved software development competence. Also, the results show that the use of information technology moderates the relation of knowledge sharing and SPI. The conclusions also contribute to improving our knowledge about how leadership, trust and motivation drive efficient knowledge sharing on the path to SPI success. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Retailing has undergone transformation since the last decade. There has been lot of closure of retail stores which had been successful in the past. The closure of the stores are related to low footfalls in the stores. This is due to the change in the consumer behavior in the present day. Consumers have a choice to shop in any retail store as the number of stores started to multiply. It is a matter of concern to keep the consumers loyal to a store. It is important to understand consumer behavior to design proper strategies and make crucial decisions. Understanding customer behavior and psychology helps segment the customers into segments based on their attitudes and buying behavior. Segmentation helps design proper segments for better policies for the target customers. The researcher here uses psychographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation variables to segment customers of a retail store. Attitudes of customer towards the store assortment, instore service, value added service, store environment, satisfaction level, store patronage and loyalty are used to segment the customers. Cluster analysis was used to segment the customers based on their responses. © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed

Purpose: The study aims to understand how various channels of financial sector development affect the income inequality across Indian states and whether the inequality widening or narrowing hypothesis of financial development may be confirmed at a sub-national level. Design/methodology/approach: Using state-wise annual data for the period from 1999-2000 to 2011-2012, a panel data analysis using generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator is conducted for a sample of 15 major Indian states. Findings: The results confirm the inequality widening hypothesis of financial sector development in India. While each channel affects different section of the population in a different way, their overall effect on the income inequality remains unfavourable. Originality/value: This paper is the first ever study to provide a comparative empirical evidence for the effect of each channel of financial development on the income inequality in India. The results provide significant insights to the policymakers, practitioners and academia in the financial sector with respect to the efficiency of each channel of financial development in bridging the gap between the poor and rich. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

The North East has historically suffered from poor transport connectivity within and between the seven states as well as with the rest of India and neighbouring countries. This has not only impeded everyday life and livelihoods but also regional development and national security. As China builds and consolidates its hold in its own border regions as well as neighbouring countries through highways across Asia and also Europe, India is lagging behind even in the homestead. The strategic location of the North East and the recent geopolitical developments in the region necessitate the creation of robust infrastructure and multimodal connectivity. © 2020 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.

Purpose: The purpose of the current study is to examine decent work (DW) as a critical antecedent of work–family enrichment (WFE). Further, it also focuses on understanding the underlying mechanisms that facilitate the linkage of employees' perceptions of DW and WFE by investigating about the mediating role of knowledge workers' experience of meaning at work and their work engagement levels. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a quantitative cross-sectional research design using survey administration among faculty members employed in public and private universities of North India. Findings: Results depicted that in addition to direct relationship between DW and WFE, both meaning at work and work engagement partially mediate the relationship between access to DW and WFE indirectly. These findings showed that the provision of access to DW by organizations will help facilitate WFE via employees' experience of meaning at work and their levels of engagement with their work. Practical implications: The study findings would be useful for organizational practitioners and policymakers to design sustainable human resource development (HRD) policies and practices for enriching the WFE of employees as well as in driving talent retention and engagement. Originality/value: It is one of the few studies that captures perceptions of employees about access to DW policies and practices and its role in enhancing WFE in the South Asian context. Further, it also advances our knowledge on antecedents and consequences of WFE. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

A company’s rank vis-à-vis that of its competitors is an important metric in understanding its position in the market. For a company, being ranked below its competitors indicates that customers are dissatisfied with its products, signalling the need for a review of its strategies. Existing state-of-the-art methods for ascertaining a company’s rank do not utilise the valuable data available on social media or most smart technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence. This study develops a new method to estimate a company’s rank using company-deployed intelligent software agents and social IoT(SIoT) objects. The company objects collect real-time feedback about one or more of the company products from social networks for storage and analysis. These company objects are equipped with questionnaires with important metrics such as the Customer Happiness Index, opinion on features of competitive products, expectations in upcoming models of the product. Then neutrosophic numbers have been used to determine truthiness, falsity and indeterminacy of each opinion and based on such opinions, rank of a company is determined. © Operational Research Society 2020.

Today many manufacturing firms expect a significant impact of ‘Industry 4.0’ on their supply chains, operations, and business models. However, its complex characteristics are yet to be fully comprehended by most of them. As a result, there are several apprehensions pertaining to its structure, techno-organisational capabilities, and methodologies for shaping the vision of Industry 4.0. We propose an Industry 4.0 maturity model, which is empirically grounded and technology-focussed for assessing the maturity level of Indian manufacturing organisations. The model comprises of 7 dimensions and 38 maturity items. Further, the model is validated in an auto-component manufacturing company to reinforce the learning from the model. The results reveal that the company is in ‘Digital Novice’ maturity level with a maturity score of 2.88 against the highest maturity score of 5. The study demonstrates that the model is validated in a real-life environment and is easy for self-assessment. © 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

The Southeast Asia Region continues to battle tuberculosis (TB) as one of its most severe health and development challenges. Unless there is a substantial increase in investments for TB prevention, diagnosis, care and treatment, there will be catastrophic effects for the region. The uncontrolled TB burden impacts socioeconomic development and increase of drug resistance in the region. Based on epidemiological inputs from a mathematical model, a costing analysis estimates that the desired targets of ending TB are achievable with additional interventions, and critical thresholds require an increase in spending by almost double the current levels. The data source for financial allocation to TB programmes is the report submitted by countries to WHO, while projections are based on modelling. The model accounts for funding needs for all strategies based on published data and accounts for programme and patient costs. This paper delineates the resource needs, availability and gaps of ending TB in the region. It is estimated that close to US billion per year are needed in the region for TB-related activities for a meaningful bending of the incidence curve towards ending TB. © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Marketing is an important activity forthe survival and growth of start-ups, but a start-up-usually with limited budget, moderate capital, and with no concrete customer base-finds it difficult to compete against the industry giants and big players. They can achieve this by converting their weakness into strengths as they can be more flexible in marketing strategies than their competitors in the market. The purpose of this paper was to explore the marketing strategies of start-up companies in India with reference to entrepreneurial marketing. The research is based on a sample of 67 start-up companies operating in India using the mixed research method. Data collection were done using a semi-structured questionnaire comprising of quantitative and open-ended questions. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22.0 and AQUAD 7.0. The findings indicated that start-up companies see marketing as a vital function for their growth and sustainability. Companies are ready to adopt entrepreneurial marketing, and they were already using few of the entrepreneurial marketing techniques. We explored the marketing environment of start-ups in its extant form. The entrepreneurial practitioners as well as the owners of start-up companies may note that this research provides meaningful insights into the significance of their marketing-related activities. The study offers three distinct contributions pertaining to the marketing practices in start-ups: (a) Identifies the research gap within the existing research literature; (b) explains the marketing strategies by start-up companies; (c) compares and maps the marketing strategies with entrepreneurial marketing. © 2020, Associated Management Consultants Pvt. Ltd.. All rights reserved.

The affluent markets of developed countries have become very competitive. Therefore, companies are trying to explore market opportunities at the segment of low-income people termed as “Bottom of the Pyramid” (BOP). With the proliferation in popularity and reduction in the price of smartphones, there is a potential market opportunity for smartphone producing companies at the BOP segment. The companies need to identify the factors influencing smartphone adoption at the BOP in order to explore this market opportunity. The current study extends the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) with “Perceived Monetary Value” to investigate the antecedents of smartphone adoption at the BOP. Empirical analysis has shown that “Performance Expectancy” (PE), “Effort Expectancy” (EE), “Social Influence” (SI), and “Perceived Monetary Value” (PMV) predict the “Behavioral Intention” (BI), and BI and “Facilitating Conditions” (FC) predict the “Use Behavior” (UB). Findings from this study can be used by the managers of the companies targeting the BOP segment in pricing, marketing, and product-specific decision-making process. The policymakers can also analyze the results of this study for successful implementation and delivery of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based services for the BOP segment. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd

The usage of smartphones is increasing with each passing day. The growth of wireless subscription in India in the last 5 years is very high. However, the penetration rate of smartphones among low-income people is significantly low. Looking at the near saturation and high competition of markets at the higher side of the economic pyramid, companies are trying to explore the segment of low-income people termed ‘Bottom of the Pyramid’ (BOP). In order to explore the BOP market for smartphones, one needs to realize the factors influencing the adoption of smartphones at the BOP. Our study explores these factors with reference to the existing literature of technology adoption. A theoretical framework is proposed and tested with 266 valid data points. Structural equation modelling (SEM) is used to test the proposed framework. The empirical analysis revealed that ‘performance expectancy’, ‘effort expectancy’ and ‘perceived monetary value’ have a positive impact on the ‘behavioural intention’ of using smartphones at BOP. ‘Smartphone anxiety’ and ‘smartphone self-efficacy’ are found to have an impact on ‘effort expectancy’. © 2019 International Management Institute, New Delhi.

Governance issues, here interpreted as the provisions of adequate policy frameworks characterized by reliability and accountability, coupled with resources to support their implementation, are known to be the basis for the implementation of sustainable development measures. This paper discusses the influence of governance in the ways sustainability is perceived and practiced in a higher education context. Apart from due considerations to the role of governance as the basis for regulation and institutional actions and management decisions, this paper reports on an empirical study undertaken in a sample of higher education institutions. This study entailed an analysis of sustainable development policies, certification, organizational structure, budget, reports, team for sustainability, staff training, and challenges for the integration of sustainability and governance. The results suggest that even though there are different opinions and attitudes on the role of governance, it is regarded as an important component in supporting efforts by higher education institutions to include considerations on sustainable development as part of their strategies. © 2020, Springer Nature B.V.