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This study investigates organizations' non-adoption intention towards the enterprise metaverse. The innovation resistance theory (IRT) is used as an underpinning theory to examine the impact of various risks on non-adoption intention towards the enterprise metaverse.

A total of 294 responses were collected to examine the proposed hypotheses. A structural equation modelling technique was used to investigate the hypotheses using SPSS AMOS and PROCESS MACRO.

The results of this study reveal that performance, security and psychological risks are significantly associated with non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse. Further, distrust significantly meditates the association between performance risk, social risk, technological dependence risk, security risk and psychological risk and non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse. Moreover, the results of moderated-mediation hypotheses indicate that the mediating effect of distrust on the association among performance risk, social risk, psychological risk and non-adoption intention towards enterprise metaverse is higher for individuals having high technostress compared to individuals having low technostress.

The study's findings will enrich the metaverse literature. Further, it provides a deeper understanding of enterprise metaverse adoption from a B2B perspective using the underpinnings of IRT. The study helps organizations understand the risks associated with the adoption of the enterprise metaverse.

Strategic marketing is linked to marketing management. The process is presented by a model, the framework of which can be used for understanding the interrelationships between strategic and practice/implementation considerations within marketing. An attempt is made to synthesise existing knowledge on strategic and practice/implementation linkages with a view to identifying fruitful areas for additional research.

The case will familiarize students to TEARS model and No TEARS approach for brand endorser selection. It will enable the students to understand the extent of influencer impact on the brand. It will make students to realistically assess the pros and cons of ambassador marketing using celebrities. It will also enable the student to devise brand strategies to mitigate the risk associated with ambassador-based marketing.

The case explains the strategic challenge the brand faces in ambassador marketing due to the uncontrollable personal crisis of the celebrity. Brand ambassador is an integral element of the brand persona and is appointed to boost the brand’s unique proposition and sales. The selection of the brand ambassador is a strategic decision with direct implication on the brand equity. A strong celebrity–brand congruence is ideal to establish credibility, but it can backfire if anything negative occurs on either side. This case evaluates the crisis faced by Fortune oil which has been positioned as “the heart healthy oil” when its celebrity ambassador suffers heart attack. In the backdrop of the case, the students can analyse brand strategies with respect to ambassador marketing, TEARS model with No TEARS approach for endorser selection and endorser-related credibility risk management.

MBA BBA PG/Graduation in Marketing/Advertising.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The estimation of market value of intangible benefits of afforestation has always been a challenging task, and the contingent valuation method is a popular method used in environmental assessment. The NTPC set up a coal-based power plant in Korba, India and planted 1.6 million trees on 19% of the project area.

The individual's mean and median willingness to pay (WTP) for four intangible benefits, namely, pollution control (PC), improvement in underground water level (IUGWL), soil conservation and remediation (SCR) in addition to total WTP from the afforestation program of NTPC were estimated using a customized procedure for logit model based upon respondent's age, education, occupation, income and bid amount asked to pay. Stratified multistage random sampling has been used to select the respondents.

The procedure increases the number of respondents who are willing to pay as compared to conventional CVM. The finding of the study shows that the highest WTP was observed for PC (Rs. 462.84 per month per household) followed by SCR and IUGWL, whereas for total WTP it was Rs. 972.60.

The proposed customized procedure and the results thereof would be useful in improving the WTP estimates for other similar studies in order to conserve the environment.

The purpose of this study is to understand the different types of risks affecting the demand for the automotive sector in India. The study is further trying to illustrate an approach for analyzing the relative intensities of these risks in the present uncertain business environment.

Risk on the overall demand is assessed by a combined Bayesian – multi-criteria decision-making approach. Data related to the different factors, affecting their product demand is collected from major automobile firms. Then, weights for these factors are evaluated by applying the analytic hierarchy process approach. Further, these weights are used in the Bayesian analysis network to evaluate the risk intensity for different subgroups, namely, political, economic, social, technological and environmental.

From the literature and experts’ opinion, total 16 risk factors have been finalized and these are further grouped into 5 categories i.e. political, economic, social, technological and environmental. It is observed that the demand for organizations functioning in the automotive sector is more vulnerable to economic risk as compared to other risks considered in the study.

Managers and decision makers of associated organizations can use the proposed framework to assess the demand risks so as to pre-evaluate their demand corresponding to future changes. Factors can be added or removed and importance could be assigned to different risk factors according to the prevailing business environment for an organization or sector. This will also help the organizations to conduct a more effective risk management in an uncertain business environment.

The study will help in better understanding of the various demand risks prevalent in the Indian auto sector. The methodology used, provides a novel approach for assessing the macroeconomic demand risks and can be used by the firms working in the automotive sector. The proposed methodology could be used for assessing supply chain risk or any other business initiative risk. The suggested approach will help managers in devising flexible management techniques so as to mitigate the risk.

The increase in automobile usage across the world has fortified the opportunities of maintenance service garages. However, there are significant numbers of challenges in front of maintenance service providers at all stages of the business. This paper identifies, analyzes and prioritizes various challenges associated with the establishment and survival of garages specific to Indian context.

In this paper, challenges for automotive service garage are identified through expert opinion, garage survey and literature. A structural hierarchical framework of the identified challenges is established through structural models, including interpretive structural modeling and analytic hierarchy process.

This paper has identified nine challenges, namely proliferation of new models and variants; technological advancements in automobile systems; demand of better service quality; space and ambience requirements; labor requirements; requirement of modern support equipments, tools and spares; safety requirements and prevention of occupational hazards; environmental norms and concerns; proper documentation requirements. The drivers and dependent variables have been identified. A hierarchical framework of challenges has been established.

This paper provides a comprehensive list of challenges and their priority in establishing an automobile maintenance garage business in Indian context. This will help the budding entrepreneurs and existing maintenance organizations to focus on the challenges that necessitate immediate attention and corrective actions.

This paper provides a significant contribution in the literature of garage maintenance services, which is established on the viewpoint of different collaborators associated with this business. This study will be a foundation to investigate further in this domain.

The study aims to evaluate and compare the mergers and acquisitions (M&As) performance utilising a sample of deals originating from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS). In addition to nation-wise performance analysis, a further sub-sample analysis is conducted based on the target location (domestic and cross-border), development status (developed and emerging) and the acquired ownership stakes (majority and minority).

The final sample of the study includes 7,105 deals announced between 2000 and 2019. M&A performance is proxied by the abnormal returns earned over the select event windows. Multiple parametric and non-parametric tests are employed for testing the robustness.

The results indicate significant performance differences across BRICS markets, with the highest and lowest abnormal returns reported for Chinese and Russian acquirers, respectively. The disaggregated analysis also affirms the performance differences for the select sub-samples.

The study highlights the need for acknowledging and expounding the differences in M&As across emerging markets. Further, the results of the study provide a possible explanation of the disagreement over the M&A performance results reported in the previous literature.

Acknowledging and understanding the potential performance differences based on location, ownership strategies and development status can aid executives in sharpening decision-making and also help general investors.

The study contributes by examining a comprehensive sample of deals across five major emerging economies, as against the majority of previous studies which have their results based on either single nation samples or have utilised only a sub-sample of domestic or foreign acquisitions.

The helical spring lock washer (HSLW) is a part of nut bolt joint assembly used in different industries like automobile, aerospace, mechanical, chemical, electrical, electronics, etc. It works as a part of temporary joint and plays important role in loosening behavior of assembly under dynamic (vibrations) conditions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of HSLW under different controlled operating conditions in order to satisfy its functional requirement.

In the present investigation, a novel test rig is designed and developed to determine the load-deflection characteristics of HSLWs. The test rig facilitates the controlled linear displacement of the HSLW with predetermined angular rotation of the handle gives the corresponding reaction load on the display. Additionally, the repeatability and reproducibility of the test rig was carried out.

The newly designed and developed test rig is capable enough to differentiate the load-deflection characteristics during compressive loading and unloading of HSLWs. Additionally, the loss of strain energy can be determined from the load-deflection characteristics of HSLW.

The present test rig is designed and developed to investigate the load-deflection characteristics under compressive loading and unloading of HSLW. The test rig has least count of 0.4905 N for load measurement and 0.01389 mm for linear displacement.

This paper aims to understand how organizations can apply the Blue Ocean Shift process to achieve profitable growth and make competition irrelevant.

This paper uses a case study approach. Based on interaction with the senior management of an organization and secondary sources, this paper presents an application of the Blue Ocean Shift process on a strategic move by an organization to achieve value innovation.

This paper presents a case of how Tata Motors Ltd. applied Blue Ocean Shift process to come up with the product Tata Ace, which achieved value innovation while making competition irrelevant. From assessing the current state of play to forming a motivated team, working with suppliers and fulfilling the needs of the non-customers and unhappy existing users, they were able to create a strong position for themselves.

Blue Ocean Strategy, through a process defined as Blue Ocean Shift, can be applied by organizations to achieve value innovation, change market boundaries and achieve profitable growth through their strategic offerings. It can help them get out of “red oceans” which may be a way to view the existing hypercompetitive world.

This paper contributes to the application of the Blue Ocean Shift process in the Indian context while studying a strategic move of an Indian firm. It showcases an example of how large Indian organizations can successfully apply the process to achieve value innovation.

This study aims to examine the impact of home–host country distance on the cross-border mergers and acquisitions performance.

The results of this study are based on a final sample of 483 completed cross-border deals involving BRICS nation acquirers and targets spread across a set of 27 nations. While controlling for prior experience, among other factors, the impact of nine institutional distance dimensions on deal performance is examined. Cumulative abnormal returns calculated over the select event windows are used as a measure of deal performance.

The results of this study validate the explanatory power of cross-country distance and exhibit that financial and cultural distance exert a negative influence on deal performance, whereas political and global connectedness distance positively impacts performance. Interestingly, geographic distance is not found to be related to performance outcomes.

The results of this study caution against possible aggregation of the cross-country distance measure and point towards the need to acknowledge and analyse the multi-dimensional nature of distance.

The results of this study are expected to aid managers in devising internationalisation strategies and target selection, maximising their performance and shareholder wealth.

This study contributes to the knowledge of internationalisation and cross-country distance. It presents as one of the first to investigate the impact of institutional distance on deal performance using a substantially large multi-country emerging market data set.

The purpose of this study is to select the appropriate forecasting model at the retail stage for selected vegetables on the basis of performance analysis.

Various forecasting models such as the Box–Jenkins-based auto-regressive integrated moving average model and machine learning-based algorithms such as long short-term memory (LSTM) networks, support vector regression (SVR), random forest regression, gradient boosting regression (GBR) and extreme GBR (XGBoost/XGBR) were proposed and applied (i.e. modeling, training, testing and predicting) at the retail stage for selected vegetables to forecast demand. The performance analysis (i.e. forecasting error analysis) was carried out to select the appropriate forecasting model at the retail stage for selected vegetables.

From the obtained results for a case environment, it was observed that the machine learning algorithms, namely LSTM and SVR, produced the better results in comparison with other different demand forecasting models.

The results obtained from the case environment cannot be generalized. However, it may be used for forecasting of different agriculture produces at the retail stage, capturing their demand environment.

The implementation of LSTM and SVR for the case situation at the retail stage will reduce the forecast error, daily retail inventory and fresh produce wastage and will increase the daily revenue.

The demand forecasting model selection for agriculture produce at the retail stage on the basis of performance analysis is a unique study where both traditional and non-traditional models were analyzed and compared.

Regardless of the diverse research on big data analytics (BDA) across different supply chains, little attention has been paid to exploit this information across service supply chains. The healthcare supply chains, where supply chain operations consume the second highest expenditures, have not completely attained the potential gains from data analytics. So, this paper explores the challenges of BDA at various levels of healthcare supply chains.

Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), this research explores the various challenges of big data at organizational and operational level of different nodes in healthcare supply chains. To demonstrate the links among supply chain nodes, the authors have used a supplier-input-process-output-customer (SIPOC) chart to list healthcare suppliers, inputs (such as employees) supplied and used by the main healthcare processes, outputs (products and services) of these processes, and customers (patients and community).

Using thematic analysis, the authors were able to identify numerous challenges and commonalities among these challenges for the case of healthcare supply chains across United Arab Emirates (UAE). An applicable exploration on organizational (Socio-technical) and operational challenges to BDA can enable healthcare managers to acclimate efficient and effective strategies.

The identified common socio-technical and operational challenges could be verified, and their impacts on the sustainable performance of various supply chains should be explored using formal research methods.

This research advances the body of literature on BDA in healthcare supply chains in that (1) it presents a structured approach for exploring the challenges from various stakeholders of healthcare chain; (2) it presents the most common challenges of big data across the chain and finally (3) it uses the context of UAE where government is focusing on medical tourism in the coming years.

Originality of this work stems from the fact that most of the previous academic research in this area has focused on technology perspectives, a clear understanding of the managerial and strategic implications and challenges of big data is still missing in the literature.

Individuals generate plenty of waste that is affecting the life while consumption of air and water at the base. The increasing industrialization, population and waste generation without proper measures of waste management are leading to major challenges to environmental sustainability. Considering these challenges, the present study focuses on the types and sources of waste generation and waste reduction by encouraging the reduction, recycling and reuse of waste products. The study aims to provide a well-functioning sustainable waste management system, that incorporates feedback loops, focuses on processes, embodies adaptability and diverts waste from disposal.

The university under study is situated at the central location of Pune City in India. The university has diverse units like academic and admin buildings, canteens and mess, hostels, a clinic, workshops and gardens. To fulfil the objective of this study a qualitative case study approach of research was adopted. A total of thirty-three representatives and waste management personnel from various units of the university were interviewed. The interviews were semi-structured and the duration of it was around 25–55 min. The interview transcripts were coded, and qualitative analysis was conducted.

This study proposes a strategic sustainable waste management model for environmental sustainability that brings circularity by closing the loops and focusing on sustainable development goals.

The findings of this research can guide universities to manage the waste generated through various sources and attain sustainable development goals and environmental sustainability at large by closing the loops. The study provides insights into waste management and environmental sustainability. The universities can make their resources more circular by following the strategies of reducing, reusing and recycling (3R). This study recommends customization according to the needs of specific universities and institutions. Researchers can take this study further by testing and customizing it as per requirement. Also, an effort can be extended to implement the model in other related areas.

This research is a unique attempt to advance knowledge of waste management practices for sustainable development by exploring different techniques opted by for individual entities from the university campus to understand the environmental impact.

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the interrelationships among the dimensions of sport event experience, event satisfaction and event behavioral intentions.

The sample was comprised of 186 individuals who actively participated in a mass participation sport event. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the relationships among the latent constructs.

The results indicated that the dimensions of sport event experience predicted 55% of the variance of event satisfaction and 63% of the variance of event behavioral intentions was predicted by sport event experience dimensions and event satisfaction. Specifically, the sensory, affective and relational dimensions of experience sought to have a statistically significant and positive association with event satisfaction, while event satisfaction and the relational dimension of experience were found to have a statistically significant and positive correlation with event behavioral intentions. In addition, event satisfaction was found to mediate the relationships between sensory, affective and relational experiences and event behavioral intentions.

The present study is one of the first that explores the relationships among sport event experience’s dimensions, event satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions in the context of sport event participation.

The aim of this paper is to assess the service quality of a small airline, Air Mauritius, using the SERVQUAL model and to determine the relative importance attributed to service quality dimensions by international tourists.

A sample of 140 international airline passengers travelling essentially for a leisure trip was administered the SERVQUAL instrument to determine their expectations and perceptions of service. A combination of in‐flight and mail surveys was used for data collection leading to an overall response rate of 20.2 per cent.

The paper finds that service quality structural dimensions are context‐ and culture‐specific. Four factors are perceived as influencing perceptions of service, service efficiency and affect being the most important, service personalisation, reliability and tangibles the least important. Empathy as a service dimension is valued more than assurance. Customer satisfaction and willingness to recommend the airline is primarily dependent on service efficiency and affect.

The sample size is relatively small and biased towards South African passengers, but the study is exploratory in nature. The starting‐point for service improvements at Air Mauritius is better management of service reliability. The company is able to create high perceptions of service using tangible cues.

The generation of a vision of excellence supported by contact employees' empowerment should improve perceptions of service. There is potentially a link between expectations of service levels at destination and tourists' expectations from the flag carrier.

Often smaller airline companies have to resort to strategic alliances and service differentiation to survive in this globally integrated industry. The paper fulfils the gap in the existing literature on service quality management in small airlines.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the dimensions of customer expectations and study the moderating role of demographics in the context of fresh food retail.

A structured questionnaire was designed using extant literature review followed by expert opinions. The survey was conducted among the customers in the twin cities of Maharashtra in India. The factors of customer expectations were identified using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and further confirmed using confirmatory factor analysis in SPSS and AMOS, respectively. The significance of the customer expectations on customer satisfaction was studied using structural equation modeling. Subsequently, the role of demographics was studied using two-step cluster analysis and multigroup moderation.

During EFA three factors emerged, namely, product-related features, in-store quality and store support services. Structural model evaluation found product-related features and in-store quality significantly influencing the customer satisfaction, while store support services were found as a non-significant factor in the region studied. Further, using cluster analysis customers were segregated into three groups, namely, traditional, autonomous and premium customers, where the premium customers were found to prefer the store support services on a higher scale, and similar results were obtained using multigroup moderation. Demographics, namely, gender, age, respondents’ income and marital status moderated for product-related features and in-store quality. Interestingly, respondents’ income also moderated for the store support services.

The findings provide directions for store managers of the fresh food category to align supply chain decisions with the unique requirements of customers considering their socio-economic characteristics.

On the basis of social exchange theory, the authors found that in a mutually beneficial relationship, concerning the value proposition, retailers need to address the requirement of the different income group customers for store support services.

The purpose of this paper is to give a brief introduction of helical spring locked washer along with extensive literatures survey on role of helical spring locked washer in bolted joint analysis. It is very small component of bolted joint assembly, but it play vital role in holding the assembly components together. Helical shape of it produces spring effect in the assembly which is used for keeping the assembly in tension and that is lock the assembly under dynamic loading due to vibrations to avoid the accident.

The critical literatures survey identifies role of helical spring locked washer in different areas such as design optimization, mechanism of loosening-resistant components, bolted joint analysis, finite element-based modeling, analysis and simulation. The related literatures show contribution of helical spring washers in evaluation of anti-loosening performance of assemblies as compare to other types of washers.

It proposed that design optimization of helical spring locked washer is needed as it improves the performance in the form of load-deflection characteristics, load bearing capacity and provides the best locking force for optimize functionality.

The originality or value of this paper is to finding research gaps in literatures by dividing literatures into seven different research areas and concentrating the only on role of helical spring locked washer in bolted joint analysis.

The paper aims to explore the relationship between customer mindsets and customer citizenship behavior. This study used the cognitive-affective-behavioral model to examine how customer mindsets relate to customer citizenship behavior. In addition, it investigated the mediating effect of customer brand engagement and moderating role of brand trust.

The study used a self-administered online survey from 412 respondents using cellular mobile operating brands. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to analyze the collected data.

The results revealed that growth-mindset customers directly and significantly influence customer citizenship behavior. The impact of a fixed mindset on customer citizenship behavior is indirect through customer brand engagement. The moderating findings revealed that the effect of brand trust on the relationship between customer brand engagement and customer citizenship behavior is higher than that between the fixed mindset and customer brand engagement.

The findings provide valuable insights for marketing and brand managers to design marketing campaigns considering different mindsets to generate customer citizenship behavior among customers.

This study provides new avenues in consumer psychology and behavior by unfolding the underlying mechanism through which mindsets lead to customer citizenship behavior, contributing to existing knowledge by extending the cognitive-affective-behavioral model.

Waste can be converted to a high-value asset if treated properly with smart solutions. The purpose of this research is to identify critical barriers hindering smart waste management (SWM) implementation in developing economies using comparative analysis and a mixed-method approach. The objective of this work is to provide exhaustive insight including the smart cities projects to discuss the deferring parameters toward IoT-enabled waste management systems.

To accomplish the objective, the present study followed mixed-method approach consisting of two phases: In the first qualitative phase, barriers in the adoption of IoT (Internet of Things) for SWM were identified using extensive literature review and discussion with selected experts. In the second phase, the quantitative analysis using the Fuzzy DEMATEL (Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) method was performed on the selected barriers. The fuzzy DEMATEL methodology helps in prioritizing the most significant causal barrier by separating them into the cause-effect group. The comparative analysis was used to understand two different perceptions. To provide more detailed insight on the problems faced while implementing SWM in developing economies.

The results disclose that “Lack of government strict regulatory policies,” “Lack of proper financial planning” and “Lack of benchmarking processes” are the most critical causal barriers toward IoT-enabled SWM implementation that are hindering the vision of efficient and effective waste management system. Also, “Difficulty in implementing innovative technologies” and “Absence of Dynamic Scheduling and Routing” fall under the potential causal category. The effect barriers include “Lack of awareness among the community,” “Lack of source segregation and recycling commitment” and “Lack of service provider” as concluded in results considering the comparative analysis. The results can aid the policy-makers and stakeholders to identify the significant barriers toward a sustainable circular economy and mitigate them when implementing IoT-enable waste practices. Also, it assists to proactively build programs, policies, campaigns and other measures to attain a zero-waste economy.

The research is focused on the context of India but it provides new details which can be helpful for other developing economies to relate. The research addresses the call for studies from public-sector and citizen’s perspectives to understand the acknowledgment of SWM systems and critical success factors using qualitative and exploratory method analysis.

The practical implications of the study include strict regulatory policies and guidelines for SWM acceptance, proper financial administration and benchmarking waste-recycling practices (prominent causal barriers). The practical implication of the results includes assistance in smart city projects in handling barriers proactively. The “Lack of Benchmarking processes” provides a critical application to standardized recycling practices in developing economies to improve the quality of the recyclable material/product. The comparative analysis also provides in-depth reflection toward the causal barriers from both the perspective which can help the government and stakeholders to work in a unified manner and establish an efficient waste management system. The results also conclude the need for targeted training programs and workshops for field implementation of innovative technologies to overcome the causal barrier. Moreover, policy-makers should focus to improve source segregation and recycling practices and ensure dedicated communication campaigns like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan to change the behavioral functioning of the community regarding waste. Lastly, developing economies struggle with the adequacy of resources to establish SWM systems, hence the authors conclude that proper financial planning is required at the ground level for smart city projects to overcome the spillover effects.

The social implications of the study include a reduction in pollution and efficient handling of waste resulting in a healthier and cleaner environment using IoT technology. Also, the results assist decision-makers in developing economies like India to establish smart city projects initiatives effectively to improve the quality of life. It proposes to establish standardized recycling processes for the better quality of recyclables and help in attaining a sustainable circular economy.

The research is novel as it provides comprehensive and comparative information regarding the barriers deferring SWM including the field barriers. To our consideration, the present study serves the first to address the comparative analysis of barriers in IoT-enabled waste systems and establish the relationship from both the perspective in middle-lower income economies. The study also suggests that the effect barriers can be overcome automatically by mitigating the causal barriers in the long run.

Corporate governance is the system by which companies are directed and controlled. Boards of directors are responsible for the governance of their companies. The shareholders' role in governance is to appoint the directors and the auditors and to satisfy themselves that an appropriate governance structure is in place. The responsibilities of the board include setting the company's strategic aims, providing the leadership to put them into effect, supervising the management of the business and reporting to shareholders on their stewardship. The board's actions are subject to laws, regulations and scrutiny by the shareholders in general meeting.

The circular economy concepts are useful for resource conservation, eliminating waste and enhancing the efficiency of production to improve the sustainability of the system. The application of CE in Indian manufacturing industry is in nascent stage. India’s manufacturing sector significantly contributes to the economic development of the nation; therefore, this study aims to identify and analyze the sustainability related challenges faced during the implementation of the circularity concept.

Comprehensive survey of literature and the use of Pareto analysis yield ten significant challenges which are further analyzed using fuzzy-Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory approach.

Findings revealed that noncompliance of environmental laws, revenue generation, design issues owing to technological limitations and less preference to refurbished and reused product are some of the major challenges to the CE practices in the manufacturing industry.

The results will help the researchers and practitioners in strategic decision-making for the improved application of circularity in the production process.

This paper contributes to the identification and prioritization of sustainability-related challenges faced during the implementation of a novel concept by a developing economy.

The case focuses on the importance of the brand-building process, which takes place in B2B companies. Commodity companies focus a lot on the sales and distribution aspect of their marketing strategies but do not emphasize the importance of developing their brands. At the end of the discussion, the participants would be able: to examine the steps involved in conceptualizing the brand identity for an existing product in a highly competitive B2B market, as per Kapferer’s Brand Identity Matrix. To understand the steps involved in the journey of internal and external brand-building processes in B2B. To analyze the various challenges and issues faced by large organizations dealing in the metals and commodity business.

The case discusses a marketing challenge faced by Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) in launching a new brand of thermomechanical treatment (TMT) products in the market. Traditionally, the company had focused on the sales and distribution aspect of their marketing strategies but did not emphasize the importance of developing their brands. This case is based upon the challenges faced in the creation of a new brand identity for JSPL’s TMT products by the protagonist, Mr Paras Sharma (who is the brand custodian and manager in this case).

Postgraduate/Masters in Business Administration (MBA), Masters in Management Studies, Executive MBA.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to assess the seismic vulnerability of the built environment in the Himalayan township of Mussoorie in the state of Uttarakhand (India), paying specific attention to hospitals. Also an attempt is made to assess the magnitude of minimum economic losses, so as to design and undertake measures for reducing human misery in the event of a major disaster.

Seismic vulnerability of the building stock is evaluated using FEMA technique rapid visual screening and the likely earthquake induced damage is depicted as a function of the damage grades of the European Macroseismic Scale (EMS‐98). In total, 3,344 buildings, including 14 hospitals, are surveyed. In the field the structures are mapped using IKONOS satellite imagery while the collected data are analysed under geographic information system environment.

It was found that 18 percent of surveyed structures fall in high probability of Grade 5 damage and very high probability of Grade 4 damage class. This is estimated to result in economic loss of US$52.47 million. Almost, 80 percent of the hospitals of Mussoorie are thus likely to be non‐functional in the post‐earthquake phase due to varying degrees of structural and non‐structural damage.

The study does not account for the cost of demolition or ground clearance cost for reconstruction, or losses likely to be incurred by public infrastructure. Thus, it is implied that retrofitting and replacement of vulnerable healthcare infrastructure should be facilitated on a priority basis along with development of suitable plans for mitigating losses in an earthquake event.

The study brings forth the importance of corrective actions (retrofitting/replacement) and detailed vulnerability assessment of all lifeline structures on priority basis.

The results are intended to reduce seismic vulnerability and human toll in the event of any earthquake in the area.

The work is based upon the original data generated by the authors through rigorous fieldwork in the area and the results are totally based on these.

The empirical studies of the options market efficiency have reported contradictory results, which sometimes confuse practitioners and academicians. The aim of this study was to clarify several aspects of options market efficiency by exploring the answers to two main questions: Under what conditions is the options market more efficient? Are the discrepancies in the estimated efficiency due to the reality of efficiency or mismeasurement?

Using a meta-analysis approach, 54 studies have been analyzed, which included 1,315 tests. The sum of the observations for all of the tests is 3.7 m observation sets. The effect size (type r) has been used to compare the different statistics in different studies. The cumulative effect size and its diversification have been calculated by the random effects model and Q statistic, respectively.

The most interesting finding of the study was that the options market, in all circumstances, is significantly inefficient. Another important finding was that the heterogeneity of options market efficiency is due to the complexity of pricing relations, test time, violation index and price type. To overcome this heterogeneity and accuracy, future studies should test the no-arbitrage options pricing relations at different times and by different price types, using complex and simple pricing relations and either mean violation or violation ratio efficiency measures.

Public disagreement about the options market efficiency in past studies means that this variable is heterogeneous in different conditions. As a significant contribution, this study develops the literature by proposing the causes of options market efficiency heterogeneity.

The study aimed at analyzing operations managers’ perception of the use of electric vehicles (EVs) in business processes and its impact on overall business process cost (BPC) and sustainable development (SD).

The present study adopts the triangulation approach which is a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. The data was collected using structured and scientifically tested questionnaires from the industrial managers working in the industries in the Mysore region of Karnataka. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and structural equation models were employed to analyze and interpret the data.

The findings revealed that the usage of EVs in Business Processes significantly impacts the BPC (b = 0.851, t = 8.037, p < 0.01) and it is also the usage of EVs in business processes can significantly impact SD (b = 0.889, t = 7.923, p < 0.01). Thus, the adoption of EVs in the business process offers many benefits to business organizations such as minimized operational costs, an eco-friendly business model, more tax incentives, less BPCs, a low-emission footprint and a contribution towards SD at large.

Many business organizations operating in the present time show interest in employing EVs in their business processes. Hence, before introducing EVs in industries on a large scale, it becomes imperative to obtain the perception of industrial managers who have already experienced its impact. This study may help industrial organizations to understand the impact of EV on various aspects of the business and to design a business model which would help in achieving SD goals.

The use of EVs in the daily life of human beings and business activities is gaining importance because of the various positive impacts. Therefore, it is necessary to understand industrial managers’ opinions regarding the use of EV in business activities.

The study delves into the influence of wear cycles on these parameters. The purpose of this paper is to identify characteristic patterns of σ_RS and ε_PEEQ that discern varying wear situations, thereby contributing to the enrichment of wear theory. Furthermore, the findings serve as a foundational basis for nondestructive and in situ wear detection methodologies, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, known for its sensitivity to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

This paper elucidates the wear mechanism through the lens of residual stress (σ_RS) and plastic deformation within distinct fretting regimes, using a two-dimensional cylindrical/flat contact model. It specifically explores the impact of the displacement amplitude and cycles on the distribution of residual stress and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ) in both gross slip regime and partial slip regimes.

Therefore, when surface observation of wear is challenging, detecting the σ_RS trend at the center/edge, region width and ε_PEEQ distribution, as well as the maximum σ_RS distribution along the depth, proves effective in distinguishing wear situations (partial or gross slip regimes). However, discerning wear situations based on ε_PEEQ along the depth direction remains challenging. Moreover, in the gross slip regime, using σ_RS distribution or ε_PEEQ along the width direction rather than the depth direction can effectively provide feedback on cycles and wear range.

This work introduces a novel perspective for investigating wear theory through the distribution of residual stress (σ_RS) and equivalent plastic strain (ε_PEEQ). It presents a feasible detection theory for wear situations using nondestructive and in situ methods, such as nonlinear ultrasonic detection, which is sensitive to σ_RS and ε_PEEQ.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-01-2024-0005/

The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale for the measurement of service quality at the manufacturer–doctor interface of the pharmaceutical supply chain and to study the impact of service quality on doctor’s satisfaction and doctor’s prescribing behavior. Doctors from two major states of South India were selected for the study. A doctor perceived service quality scale with three dimensions having eight items was developed through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) in the pharmaceutical context. Structural equation modeling (SEM) technique was used to show the relationship between service quality, satisfaction and prescribing behavior. The critical factors of service quality were identified, and a model was developed showing the relationship between service quality, doctor’s satisfaction and doctor’s prescribing behavior which has not been explored in any research. This model will be helpful in further development of new concepts and for analyzing the reasons for the failure of doctors in providing quality service. 

A total of 200 doctors from three major cities of South India were selected. A doctor perceived service quality scale with three dimensions having eight items was developed through CFA using Parasuraman Service quality scale (Parasuraman, 1985, 1986, 1988) as the basis in the pharmaceutical context after focus group discussions with company experts, retailers, doctors and academicians. SEM technique was used to examine the impact of service quality on doctor’s satisfaction and prescribing behavior.

There is no universal set of dimensions and items that determine service quality in manufacturing industries, especially at the manufacturer–doctor interface of the pharmaceutical supply chain though service quality plays a very important role in affecting the performance of manufacturing industries. The critical factors affecting the quality of service for a pharmaceutical company at the manufacturer–doctor interface of the supply chain were identified, and its impact on doctor’s satisfaction and their prescribing behavior were studied.

This research contributes to the development of service quality scale for measuring service quality in pharmaceutical manufacturing company, especially with reference to manufacturer–doctor interface of the supply chain which was not thoroughly explored earlier. A model was developed showing the positive relationship between service quality and doctor’s satisfaction and doctor’s prescribing behavior in pharmaceutical supply chain which is a new concept not proved experimentally.

The study is very useful for the pharmaceutical manufacturing companies to identify the service quality factors affecting doctor’s satisfaction and their prescribing behavior thereby leading to development of new measures for improving the performance of the pharmaceutical supply chain. This study can lead to identification of problems involved in pharmaceutical supply chain and also leads to generation of new ideas and development of new concepts for influencing doctor’s satisfaction and doctor’s prescribing behavior which in turn can help in providing better health.

This study actually has a direct impact on the society. If factors affecting doctor’s satisfaction and prescribing behavior are identified automatically, the end consumer, i.e. patient, can be satisfied in a better way, and better medical care can be provided. If doctor’s problems are identified, then better solutions can be provided to patients; this in turn has a lot of positive impact on the pharmaceutical company and society in general.

This research will act as a base for generating ideas relating to how quality service provided by a company will have an impact on doctor’s satisfaction and his prescribing behavior in pharmaceutical supply chain .To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind of the conceptual aspects of service quality, satisfaction and loyalty explained in terms of pharmaceutical supply chain as service quality, doctor’s satisfaction and doctor’s prescribing behavior and proved experimentally.

This study synthesizes the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation in systematic literature reviews (SLRs), focusing in particular on efficiency, methodological quality and human–machine collaboration.

A systematic review methodology was applied, analyzing studies from Scopus and Web of Science databases to explore the use of AI and automation in SLRs. A final sample of 28 articles was selected through a rigorous and interdisciplinary screening process.

Our analysis leads to seven themes: human and machine collaboration; efficiency and time savings with AI; methodological quality; analytical methods used in SLRs; analytical tools used in SLRs; SLR stages AI is utilized for and living systematic reviews. These themes highlight AI’s role in enhancing SLR efficiency and quality while emphasizing the critical role of human oversight.

The rapid advancement of AI technologies presents a challenge in capturing the current state of research, suggesting the need for ongoing evaluation and theory development on human–machine collaboration.

The findings suggest the importance of continuously updating AI applications for SLRs and advocating for living systematic reviews to ensure relevance and utility in fast-evolving fields.

Integrating AI and automation in SLRs could democratize access to up-to-date research syntheses, informing policy and practice across various disciplines and redefining the researcher’s role in the digital age.

This review offers a unique synthesis of AI and automation contributions to SLRs, proposing a conceptual model emphasizing the synergy between human expertise and machine efficiency to improve methodological quality.

This paper aims to present a hybrid approach to measure the efficiency of virtual contact centers (VCCs) started during the pandemic and benchmark them for service performance. The results are used to plot the VCC's efficiency score (performance) and customer perception (Importance) to propose appropriate strategies.

Using the survey method, 854 responses were collected from customers who used VCC services during the pandemic. This data was then employed to assess the performance of VCCs using SERVPERF and DEA methods, followed by the development of the model for performance analysis.

Results reveal the ranking of different VCCs started during the pandemic for the telecom company using SERVPERF and DEA methods. Further, the performance analysis model highlighted the strategies appropriate for each VCCs.

The findings add to the body of knowledge on how multiple service units of a large organization can assess service efficiency utilizing a combination of SERVPERF-DEA. The present work also contributes to the performance analysis field by proposing a model to assess the service centers and provide improvement guidelines.

The work is one of the first to assess the service efficiency of the VCCs started during the pandemic by using a unique hybrid approach of SERVPERF and DEA. This approach provides a direction to whom to benchmark and to what degree service quality should be improved. Further, the study proposes a unique performance analysis model based on performance scores and customer perception.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the traditional practices in the modern banking system (MBS) and examine the effects of these on employee response, customer reactions and customer loyalty, in the context of public sector banks in India. The study also investigates the effects on customers of employees’ use of traditional banking practices in the MBS.

A total of 460 usable responses were gathered from customers of seven public sector banks in Bhopal (MP), India. The study scales were refined and validated by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

The results indicated that the MBS utilising traditional practices (MBSTP) significantly influences unfavourable employee responses, customer reactions and loyalty. In addition, employee responses in MBSTP motivate and generate unfavourable reactions of customers, which further influence their loyalty adversely towards public sector banks.

The identified traditional practices with MBS are expected to bring clarity to the issue of employee response, customer reaction and loyalty. This would help the management of banks.

The results of the analysis indicated that public sector banking services are facing the internal challenges by its own service processes and employees’ behavioural intentions.

The purpose of this study is to provide that porous media and viscous dissipation are crucial considerations when working with hybrid nanofluids in various applications.Recent years have witnessed significant progress in optimizing these fluids for enhanced heat transfer within porous (Darcy–Forchheimer) structures, offering promising solutions for various industries seeking improved thermalmanagement and energy efficiency.

The first step is to transform the original partial differential equations into a system of first-order ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The fourth-order Runge–Kutta method is chosen for its accuracy in solving ODEs. The present study investigates the free convective boundary layer flow of hybrid nanofluids over a moving thin inclined needle with the slip flow brought about by inclined Lorentz force and Darcy–Forchheimer porous matrix, viscous dissipation.

It is found that slip conditions (velocity and Thermal) exist for a range of the natural convection boundary layer flow. In the hybrid nanofluid flow, which consists of Al₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄ are nanoparticles, H₂O − C₂H₆O₂ (50:50) are considered as the base fluid. The consequence of the governing parameter on the momentum and temperature profile distribution is graphically depicted. The range of the variables is 1 ≤ M ≤ 4, 1 ≤ d ≤ 2.5, 1 ≤ δ ≤ 4, 1 ≤ Fr ≤ 7, 1 ≤ Kr ≤ 7 and 0.5≤λ ≤ 3.5. The Nusselt number and skin friction factors are used to calculate the numerical values of various parameters, which are displayed in Table 4. These analyses elucidate that upsurges in the value of the Fr noticeably diminish the momentum and temperature. It is investigated to see if the contemporary results are in outstanding promise with the outcomes reported in earlier works.

The results can be very helpful to improve the energy efficiency of thermal systems.

The hybrid nanofluids in heat transfer have the potential to improve the energy efficiency and performance of a wide range of systems.

This study proposes that in the combined effects of hybrid nanofluid properties, the inclined Lorentz force, the Darcy–Forchheimer model for porous media and viscous dissipation on the boundary layer flow of a conducting fluid over a moving thin inclined needle. Assessing the potential practical applications of the hybrid nanofluids in inclined needles, this could involve areas such as biomedical engineering, drug delivery systems or microfluidic devices. In future should explore the benefits and limitations of using hybrid nanofluids in these applications.

This paper tests and validates a conceptual model linking the attachment points, team identification, attitude towards the team sponsors and the behavioural intentions in the context of Indian Premier League (IPL), while testing for the moderating effects of age and gender.

Data were collected from 1,053 participants through both online and offline survey and then analyzed using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM).

Attachment points influence the formation of team identification, which, in turn, affect the attitude towards the team sponsors. Attitude towards the team sponsors influence the behavioural intentions. Player attachment influences team identification the most. Age and gender have a moderating effect on the constructs of the study. Team identification in females is stronger because of attachment to sports, whereas males have stronger team identification based on player attachment. Males have a stronger intention to spread positive word of mouth (WOM) about sponsor products as compared to the female respondents. The younger age group of less than 21 years has more intention to spread positive WOM compared to the other age groups considered in the study.

This study contributes towards sports sponsorship research and the paradigms of social identity and attachment theories. Moreover, it will also help the marketers (sponsors) in IPL to strategically market their brands.

This is the first study to investigate the impact of attachment points on sponsorship outcomes in the context of IPL. Further, it is also the first to investigate the purchase intentions and WOM for the team sponsors in IPL. The multi-group analysis results will provide insights into marketers to better understand IPL viewers' segments and their behaviour.

The case explores information technology (IT) company Mindtree’s journey of 20 years from the time it was founded in 1999 to be different from others, and how it became a target for acquisition by an Indian diversified conglomerate in 2019. It offers insights into developing organizational culture and values in an organization, threats faced by a company when promoters dilute their shareholding, and the strategies followed by the acquirer and the target firm. It also deals with the challenges in the acquisition of a knowledge service digital firm. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to: identify the circumstances under which a company can become a target for hostile takeover; describe motivations of the acquirer firm in an acquisition; distinguish between acquisition and hostile takeover, and discuss salient features of Securities and Exchange Board of India (substantial acquisition of shares and takeover) regulations, 2011; list the defenses a target firm can adopt to ward off hostile acquirer; explore strategies followed by acquirer and target firms; analyze important ingredients of organization culture, and importance of cultural congruence in an acquisition; and discuss challenges faced by an acquirer in India, namely, legal, retention of clients and key people in the target firm particularly in hostile environment.

The case explores how ten IT professionals founded mid-tier IT services company Mindtree in 1999 in Bengaluru, India (home to Infosys and Wipro) to be different from others – by inserting themselves at a higher level in the value chain, being philanthropic as a part of broader business strategy to attract a certain kind of employee and customer. It developed a culture of equality, consideration and respect. Its attrition rate of 12 to 13 per cent was significantly lower than the Industries. Mindtree crossed annual revenue of US$1bn for FY 2019 and was growing at twice the industry’s growth rate. The most attractive part was that its proportion of revenue from digital services was about 50 per cent as compared to 25-35 per cent of other services vendors. With time, the share of promoters/founders declined and increased one investor’s shareholding of V. G. Siddhartha and his related entities. In early March 2019, the promoters’ stake was 13.32 per cent while Siddhartha had 20.32 per cent. Larsen and Toubro (L&T) one of India’s conglomerate entered into a share purchase agreement on March 18, 2019 with Siddhartha to acquire his 20.32 per cent stake. Immediately, L&T asked its broker to purchase up to 15 per cent of share capital of Mindtree at a price not exceeding INR 980 per share (each share of face value INR 10). This would trigger an open offer by L&T to purchase additional 31 per cent shares of Mindtree. The action of hostile takeover bid by L&T evoked emotional criticism from Mindtree founders. Mindtree efforts to defend itself could not materialize. L&T’s stake crossed 26 per cent on May 16, 2019. After Indian regulator SEBI’s approval, L&T’s open offer to buy shares from Mindtree shareholders commenced on June 17, 2019. The case examines motivation of the acquirer firm particularly when it is a conglomerate, and how a well-performing company became a target for hostile takeover. It looks at vulnerabilities of a target firm, and defensive steps a firm can take to fence itself against such takeover. The case also explores how organizational culture is built in a people-oriented business, namely, digital services, and what role it plays in a merger of two firms.

The case is suited for postgraduate students of management, as well as those undergoing executive courses in management.

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CSS 11: Strategy.

This paper aims to investigate the non-homogeneity in the speed of adjustment (SoA) of the capital structure of manufacturing companies. It also attempts to study the key determinants that accelerate the speed of adjustment towards the target leverage level.

Using the dynamic panel fraction (DPF) estimator on the partial adjustment model, the study captures the heterogeneous SoA of 2,866 firms across eight prominent sectors of the Indian manufacturing industry from 2009 to 2020. To ensure robustness, the empirical inferences of DPF are cross-verified with the estimates of panel-corrected standard errors (PCSE).

The authors find a combination of the capital structure's slow, moderate and rapid adjustment speed along with the relevance of trade-off theory. Interestingly, the lowest and fastest SoA is recorded by the dwindling textile sector and expanding food and agro sector, respectively. Profitability, firm size, asset tangibility and non-debt tax shields are the key firm-specific parameters that impact the SoA towards the target.

Availing the rarely employed estimator ‘DPF’ and the objective of documenting diverse and non-uniform adjustment speeds across the Indian manufacturing sectors marks a novel addition to capital structure literature.

The extant literature underlines the inadequacies of legal and policy frameworks addressing the safety and health concerns of sandstone mineworkers in India. Notably, Rajasthan, a state renowned for its extractive industries, mirrors these concerns. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to critically evaluate the relevant legal and policy landscape, with an emphasis on the recent central statute: the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code of 2020 (OSHWCC). Given that the Code subsumes the key legislation pertaining to the safety and health of mineworkers, an in-depth critical analysis is essential to forge suitable policy interventions to address continued gross violations of human rights.

The critical analysis of legal and policy frameworks on silicosis in sandstone mineworkers is based on a comprehensive reading of existing literature. The literature includes relevant laws, case law, reports of the Rajasthan State Human Rights Commission and National Human Rights Commission, publicly available data and key scholarly contributions in the field.

Although the OSHWCC has made some changes to the existing regulatory architecture of mines in India, it has failed to safeguard the safety and health of mineworkers. Notably, the vast majority of mines in India – constituting approximately 90%, which are informal, seasonal and small-scale – remain beyond the jurisdiction of this Code. In Rajasthan, there are specific policies on silicosis, but these policies are poorly implemented. There is a serious shortage of doctors to diagnose silicosis cases, leading to under-diagnosis. The compensation for silicosis victims is insufficient; the distribution mechanism is complex and often delayed.

The central and many state governments have not established the regulatory institutions envisaged under the OSHWCC 2020; therefore, the working of the regulatory institutions could not be critically examined.

The paper critically evaluates laws and policies pertaining to silicosis in sandstone mineworkers, with a special emphasis on the state of Rajasthan. It offers a comprehensive critique of the OSHWCC of 2020, which has not received much attention from previous studies.

The learning objectives are intended to stimulate the students’ comprehension of the various challenges faced by Indian startups in the digital ecosystem. With the changing working dynamics in organizations around the globe, managers are expected to explore unconventional business models to facilitate operational growth. The case study is a valuable resource for graduate students to enhance and evolve their critical thinking and solution-oriented skills as forthcoming managers of digital businesses. Students should be able to analyze the case, respond to the questions and evaluate the consequences of workplace flexibility, moonlighting and its applicability in an organizational context. With the Indian Government introducing schemes such as the Digital India initiative and Startup India, it is predicted that numerous startups will opt for digital business standards and a remote work approach. The case bridges classroom theories and a real-life digital company to help students connect with emerging market scenarios.

During the digital era, India witnessed a shift in companies’ work culture, which amplified when COVID-19 hit the country. Organizations started to work remotely and experienced the numerous benefits it brought. The comfort of working from home was greater for digital businesses whose significant operations could be performed online. However, is it really that productive for digital companies to telecommute? The case illustrates how a digital company, Career Pandit, formed in 2018, unfurls and expands its business and further highlights the challenges the pandemic raised concerning people management. In addition to the discussion, the purpose of the case is to determine the implication of workplace flexibility and moonlighting and how Indian startups cope with the uncertain future challenges it brings.

Under graduate and postgraduate students.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human Resource Management.

This study aims to explore how engagement with AI mediates the relationship between AI adoption in tourism and the resulting smart experiences, which ultimately foster both smart tourism love and perceived happiness among tourists.

Data were collected from 622 domestic Thai tourists aged 19 and above who visited Khon Kaen Province within the past three months and used AI-powered tools for tourism. The hypothesised model was tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) through a two-step approach.

The study reveals that the successful integration of AI in tourism largely depends on the depth of tourists’ engagement with these technologies. Greater engagement fosters enriched smart experiences and stronger emotional bonds.

This study utilises the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to examine the impact of AI adoption on tourist behaviour, making substantial theoretical contributions to the expanding body of literature on AI in tourism.

Tourism operators and policymakers should prioritise fostering meaningful engagement with AI technologies to enhance tourist experiences and strengthen emotional connections to destinations, aligning with Thailand’s digital transformation initiatives.

This study emphasises the crucial role of engagement with AI – rather than mere adoption – in shaping smart tourism experiences and emotional outcomes, thereby contributing to the literature on AI in tourism.

This study uses the pleasure–arousal–dominance (PAD) theory to explore how users’ emotional engagement with ChatGPT drives their continued adoption of ChatGPT and word-of-mouth (WOM) behaviour in the context of travel-related service.

This study obtained reliable data from 428 Chinese respondents who used ChatGPT for travel-related purposes. Structural equation modelling was used to test a series of hypotheses based on the PAD framework.

This study identifies three key features of human–artificial intelligence (AI) interaction, namely, service ubiquity, entertainment and anthropomorphism, which significantly influence users’ emotional responses, including pleasure, arousal and dominance. Dominance and pleasure are found to enhance emotional experiences, driving continued adoption and positive WOM recommendations for ChatGPT, whereas arousal influences WOM but does not affect continued adoption. The results also confirm that users’ perceived pleasure from interacting with ChatGPT has the strongest effect. These findings advance theoretical understanding by clarifying the emotional mechanisms underlying human–AI interactions in the tourism context.

This study examines the emerging trend of tourists’ continuous adoption of ChatGPT for travel-related services. The results highlight how different emotions in human–AI interaction influence long-term use of AI-powered tool for travel-related services.

本研究基于愉悦-兴奋-支配（PAD）理论, 探讨在旅行相关服务中, 用户对 ChatGPT 的情感投入如何推动其持续使用该技术, 并激发口碑行为。

本研究基于428名使用过ChatGPT进行旅游相关服务的中国受访者所提供的可靠数据, 运用结构方程模型（SEM）, 结合PAD框架, 对一系列假设进行了验证。

本研究确定了用户与人工智能互动的三个关键特征：服务无处不在、娱乐性和拟人化, 这些特征对用户的情感反应（包括愉悦感、兴奋感和主导感）产生了显著影响。研究发现, 主导性和愉悦感增强了用户的情感体验, 推动了对ChatGPT的持续采用和积极的口碑推荐（WOM）, 而兴奋感仅影响口碑推荐, 但不影响持续采用。研究结果还证实, 用户在与ChatGPT互动中感知到的愉悦感具有最强的影响力。这些发现阐明了旅游业中人与人工智能互动的情感机制, 推动了相关理论的深入理解。

本研究探讨了游客持续采用ChatGPT进行旅游相关服务的这一新兴趋势。研究结果突显了在人机交互中, 不同情感如何影响游客对人工智能驱动工具在旅游服务中的长期使用。

Propósito: El estudio emplea la teoría del placer-despertar-dominio (PAD) para explorar cómo el compromiso emocional de los usuarios con ChatGPT impulsa su adopción continuada de ChatGPT y el comportamiento boca a boca en el contexto de un servicio relacionado con los viajes.

Este estudio recopiló datos fiables de 428 participantes chinos que utilizaron ChatGPT para fines relacionados con viajes. Se empleó el modelado de ecuaciones estructurales para evaluar una serie de hipótesis fundamentadas en el marco PAD.

Este estudio identifica tres características clave de la interacción entre humanos e IA: la ubicuidad del servicio, el entretenimiento y el antropomorfismo, que influyen significativamente en las respuestas emocionales de los usuarios, como el placer, la excitación y la dominación. La dominación y el placer mejoran las experiencias emocionales, impulsando la adopción continuada y las recomendaciones boca a boca positivas de ChatGPT, mientras que la excitación solo influye en las recomendaciones boca a boca, sin afectar la adopción continuada. Los resultados también confirman que el placer percibido por los usuarios al interactuar con ChatGPT es el factor con mayor impacto. Estos hallazgos contribuyen a la comprensión teórica al esclarecer los mecanismos emocionales que subyacen en las interacciones entre humanos e IA en el contexto del turismo.

Este estudio analiza la tendencia emergente de la adopción sostenida de ChatGPT por parte de los turistas en el ámbito de los servicios de viaje. Los resultados subrayan cómo las diversas emociones generadas en la interacción humano-IA inciden en el uso prolongado de herramientas basadas en IA para servicios turísticos.

This paper aims to synthesize the evolving research of human–robot interaction (HRI) in the hospitality and tourism industry, identifying gaps and setting directions for future research.

Using a mixed-method approach, the study combines inductive co-citation analysis with deductive theory-context-characteristics-methodology analysis.

The findings trace the progression of HRI knowledge from initial feasibility and acceptance studies to advanced post-adoption experience management. The analysis identifies prevalent theories such as anthropomorphism theory, specific contexts like hotel environments, diverse robot types (e.g. embodied robots), outcome measures (e.g. use intention) and methodologies predominantly comprising survey-based analyses and experimental approaches. The analysis not only illuminates areas of research attention but also uncovers under-explored topics, offering a roadmap for future inquiry in tourism and HRI research.

The paper contributes to the literature by providing a structured framework that not only maps the intellectual structure of HRI research in tourism but also proposes a cohesive integration of disparate theories and methodologies, addressing both practical and academic gaps.

本研究旨在综合分析和综述酒店和旅游行业中的人机交互 (HRI) 研究现状, 以识别当前的知识空白并为未来研究指明方向。

本文采用了结合归纳推理的共引分析和演绎推理的理论-背景-特征-方法论 (TCCM) 框架的混合方法进行分析。

研究结果追踪了人机交互研究从初步的可行性和接受性分析到高级的采纳后体验管理的知识发展历程。本文识别并分析了广泛被应用的各个学科理论（例如拟人化理论等）、被研究的具体应用场景（例如酒店环境等）、各类机器人（例如具身化机器人等）、多种结果变量（例如使用意图等）以及被使用的方法论（例如基于调查的分析和实验法等）。本研究不仅揭示了当前研究的重点领域, 而且还指出了尚未被充分探索的主题, 从而为未来的旅游人机交互 (HRI) 研究提供了清晰的研究路线。

通过提供结构化的研究框架, 本文不仅描绘了旅游领域中人机交互研究的知识结构, 还提出了一个整合不同视觉的新研究框架, 以弥合实践与学术之间的差距。

Este artículo tiene como objetivo sintetizar la investigación en evolución sobre la interacción humano-robot (HRI) en la industria de la hospitalidad y el turismo, identificando lagunas y estableciendo direcciones para futuras investigaciones.

Empleando un enfoque de método mixto, el estudio combina un análisis de cocitación inductivo con un análisis deductivo de Teoría-Contexto-Características-Metodología (TCCM).

Los hallazgos rastrean la progresión del conocimiento sobre HRI desde estudios iniciales de factibilidad y aceptación hasta la gestión avanzada de experiencias posadopción. El análisis identifica teorías prevalentes como la teoría del antropomorfismo, contextos específicos como los entornos hoteleros, tipos diversos de robots (p. ej., robots encarnados), medidas de resultado (p. ej., intención de uso) y metodologías que comprenden predominantemente análisis basados en encuestas y enfoques experimentales. El análisis no solo ilumina áreas de atención investigativa, sino que también descubre temas poco explorados, ofreciendo una hoja de ruta para futuras investigaciones en turismo e HRI.

El artículo contribuye a la literatura al proporcionar un marco estructurado que no solo mapea la estructura intelectual de la investigación de HRI en turismo, sino que también propone una integración cohesiva de teorías y metodologías dispares, abordando tanto las brechas prácticas como académicas.

The ‘CSIR-Tech: Facilitating lab to market journeys’ case is designed to teach students the strategic intricacies of an organizational network. The case also throws light on the formation and design of a collaborative inter-organizational network. CSIR, a premier R&D organization in India, was plagued with challenges in the commercialization of technologies developed in its constituent laboratories. CSIR-Tech was established as a private-limited company to catalyse the technology development and commercialization process. The case analyses formation of CSIR-CSIR-Tech alliance and discusses how the alliance can help in overcoming challenges associated with commercialization of technologies being developed at CSIR.

Rendering digital services have taken centerstage in the current ICT for development discourse. E-Government services are mostly under this discourse with the aim to provide citizen centric services in the public domain. Business and development organizations alike are also investing in developing their own digital infrastructure for rendering services to its stakeholders. This case describes scenario in which a cooperative organization wishes to use digital infrastructure and provide digital services to its farmer members. The cooperative continued investing in ICT since the last couple of decades and constantly upgraded it to ease the transaction and bring efficiency and reduce information asymmetry. This had greatly benefitted the members. However, the cooperative is aware that its communication network built on the wireless medium has its own limitations in introducing new services and integrating its databases and applications. The cooperative took note of “Digital India (DI)” initiatives to provide digital services to rural areas and build an ecosystem to empower the citizens in its governance set up. This DI policy has implicit provisions of better networking protocols with improved bandwidth. The organization has a dilemma to continue with investing its own resources or explore possibility of piggybacking on the DI initiative. The cooperative wished to examine the total cost of ownership in either case and assess the feasibility of converging with the infrastructure created by the government.

The Government Information Technology Policies are increasingly favouring citizens and in favour of shared infrastructure and services. It is worth the examination to evaluate strategies to deploy IT infrastructure and services with optimized cost and better returns in an enterprise. This is far more important for a social enterprise like AMALSAD cooperative (user-owned firm) that has deployed its own IT infrastructure and ITeS. AMALSAD cooperative deployed its IT assets long back and in the meanwhile, the Government policy is in favour of providing services over the internet.

The case serves to help students to understand the theoretical concept of Enterprise information systems infrastructure and services. It brings to the students understanding: the drivers of IT infrastructure to provide digital services; challenges that would make the social enterprise (in this case user-owned firm) to understand the opportunities and challenges of deploying the right digital infrastructure and get services on demand. The case presents the scenarios for the students to deliberate and find answers to the right approach for estimating the total cost of ownership (TCO).

The case situation presents a scenario for digital government services. Most of the customer-facing enterprises including social enterprises are also providing digital services. It is important that such services converge at an optimized TCO.

Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Information Systems.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

The purpose of the study is to heighten intrinsic advantages, dis-advantages, being enjoyed by emerging country firms and the motivational factors that influence multinational enterprises (MNEs) to establish long-lasting relationship with emerging economies. The study also highlights the steps initiated by India by executing reform friendly foreign direct investment policy to attract foreign investments.

The study is descriptive in nature, based on secondary data, sourced from various reports of India Government and the Central Bank of India.

The Indian economy has undergone profound and substantial liberalization and made sweeping reforms in most of its sectors besides adopting internationalization policy agendas to upkeep their domestic firms in “going global”. However, India needs to amend the existing restrictive labour and land laws besides providing efficient employable workforce. India further needs a less cash economy, which ultimately marches into digitized credit system to build India as one of the best attractive countries in the eyes of global investors.

As the study is based on secondary data, it may be general, in explicit and may not be perfect in concluding decision.

MNEs play a major force in driving globalization of the world economy. However, MNEs face a variety of complex and multiple challenges in establishing strategic control over emerging economies. In spite of all odds, MNEs generate and capture value to host country firms by applying unique business models besides combining with or buying a foreign business.

Investment flows to India for the past 15 years (2005-2019) are critically analysed to justify research questions. Further, in the literature “Preparedness of India”, a lot of new interesting insights, incorporated.