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The purpose of this paper is to reengineer the process of cost management in large projects.

Considering the fact most large projects overrun their budgets because of the long time period needed to completion, it was decided to reengineer the cost management. Accordingly costs allocated to packages were reviewed and changed on a dynamic basis. Different types of contingencies were provided. Concepts of package contingency and project contingency were introduced. These were based on the project buffer and feeding buffer concepts popularised by Eliyahu Goldratt.

The re-engineered method of cost control worked well and yielded better than expected results, leading to the setting up of a new world record in the completion time for setting up a million tonnes per annum continuous, tandem cold rolling mill to roll steel sheets.

In view of the total success of the reengineered approach, which was tested out on a large project over three years, it is felt that other projects could also try out this technique, especially since it is along the lines proposed by Eliyahu Goldratt who is an authority on project management. However the success can be better understood if the results of the testing become available. To that extent the contents of the present paper have limitations.

Large projects can deploy the methodology and complete their projects on time and under budget.

The reengineering of the cost management was done primarily with a view to complete projects under budget. Since many governments spend many billions of dollars on publicly funded projects for the welfare of citizens, the use of this technique could have a salutary effect on the cost.

The method was innovated in the company by the author’s team and deployed in a live project over four years for the first time to achieve world-class results.

The practice of lean management (LM) principles has given firms, from a variety of sectors, quantum jumps in productivity and performance. India is at the cusp of a major leap in economic growth, and adoption of LM is a must for ramping up the rate of growth of the GDP speedily, if the government is really intent on achieving its objective of becoming the third or fourth largest economy soon. This paper aims to study the status of implementation of LM in the LM Leaders (LML’s) in the Indian industry, to understand if they are ready to accept the challenges ahead.

This is an exploratory research study. To study the level of maturity of LM in Indian industry, the authors selected the LM Leaders in the Indian industry (LMLII). By using a well-known survey instrument – the Lean Self -Assessment Tool (LESAT), Version 2.0 – designed and developed by MIT, the authors conducted a longitudinal survey over the period 2013 to 2016, a four-year duration. Surveys were conducted every year.

Survey results show an improvement in the overall average of “current state” scores between the years 2013 and 2016, indicating that LMLII’s have improved upon their LM adoption during these years. However, there is a striking gap between “where the industry wants to be” and “where it currently is”. This could drive future improvements. Based on the survey results, this paper draws lessons and proposes action points on how to improve the adoption and diffusion of LM principles and practices in the LMLII. Factors which need to be addressed to reinvigorate the practice of LM have been identified and classified as urgent, immediate and short term.

While many “snapshot” studies have been done to study LM in Indian industry, a longitudinal study has not been done. Moreover, previous studies administer questionnaires to one company (case study method) or a group of companies in a sector of the industry. Thus, there was a research gap. A longitudinal study will help us take a holistic approach. In addition, studying LMLII will provide data from the most serious adopters of LM. Both these will add value to the current research on LM in Indian industry. The results will also help the LMLII’s to further improve the practice of LM in a systematic and rigorous way. However, as the study is limited to the LMLII, it would not be possible to apply the knowledge to the Indian industry as a whole. For doing so, one would need a larger, more representative sample.

Using this paper, LMLII’s can develop practices which will improve customer satisfaction and reduce waste in manufacturing. They can ramp up LM intensity to make further quantum jumps in performance.

LM, in addition to improving the output/input ratio (producing more for less), also emphasises waste reduction, customer satisfaction and efficient operations. All these three factors are essential for sustainable and happy society.

The work is original. This is the first longitudinal survey of lean practices in the Indian industry to study cross-sectional practices, and the results will propel the Indian industry to intensify the practice of LM.

This paper investigates the extent to which country risk ratings influence the inflow of foreign direct investment (FDI). Using International Monetary Fund (IMF) data from over 100 countries and Euromoney’s country risk ratings over a ten‐year period, this study finds that country risk ratings have a significant influence on FDI. This effect is stronger for US FDI. We also analyze the relative importance of the individual components of the country risk index.

Globally, corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a voluntary practice, but faced serious limitations in its institutionalization. Resultantly, India, through the Companies Act, 2013, mandates corporates to change voluntary and ad hoc CSR practices into strategic and systematic projects. This paper aims to explore the changes brought in CSR practices by corporates under the influence of CSR law. The goal is to fill the literature gap on qualitative changes brought in CSR practices by the mandate.

This qualitative study used purposive sampling and conducted in-depth interviews of corporate officials, nongovernmental organization (NGO) officials and academicians. The findings are discussed with the theoretical framework of institutional isomorphism.

This paper presents changes in CSR practices in six themes: ad hoc to project-mode program designing and planning, stricter due diligence of NGOs, multi-stakeholder implementation of impact-driven projects, strict monitoring mechanisms, higher funding and rigorous reporting. These changes contribute to an understanding of the shift from voluntary to mandatory CSR in India, institutionalized through a mix of normative, coercive and mimetic pressures.

Indian corporates can adopt the systematic practices in their CSR programmatic cycle, as presented in this study. NGOs would gain insights into newer requirements of corporates to design effective collaborations. Future studies can be conducted to describe the extent of institutionalization of CSR practices in India.

This paper creates knowledge for multiple stakeholders of CSR in India and other developing countries by presenting changes brought in CSR practices by a legal mandate in comparison to voluntary CSR.

This paper aims to explore the effects of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on firm survival and examine whether founder chief executive officers (CEOs) are more effective than other types of managers at utilizing entrepreneurial orientation at initial public offerings (IPOs).

Using survival analysis the authors investigate the effects of EO on firm survival as well as the moderating role of founder CEOs.

The results suggest that EO increases post‐IPO survival. Further, founder‐CEOs moderate the EO‐survival relationship.

The paper shows that entrepreneurial orientation enhances long‐term survival in IPO firms. Survival is an important, though generally overlooked consideration in EO research. The paper also concludes that firms with founder CEOs are more likely to value and implement EO. Finally, the paper addresses calls for greater use of secondary measures of EO.

The global textile-fashion industry is resource inefficient thus requiring higher product-service systems (PSS) intervention. Further, insight of how PSS extends corporate responsibility is rather limited; knowledge of which may contribute towards increased PSS viability. The purpose of this paper is to explore how companies operating with used-clothing PSS extend their responsibilities through servitization.

An exploratory study of seven companies operating with various used-clothing PSS is conducted through semi-structured interviews and supplementary document studies.

Six dominant ways through which servitization drives responsibility in used-clothing PSS are identified. These are through: value-adding services, product leverage, collaborative partnership, information transparency, awareness and platform-enabled networking. Two trade-offs exist in terms of their focus on physical process or digitalization, and developed by honing core competency or collaborative partnership. Further three differentiating attributes underlie these mechanisms for: raising awareness and/or improving transparency, collaboration in value creation and/or in promoting consumption, and product ownership and/or leverage.

A wide range of used-clothing PSS exists each in its own way extending responsibility. In-depth studies are required to investigate the relationship between servitization and extended responsibility for diverse PSS-types and on type of responsibilities they address.

By identifying the key mechanisms or ways and their underlying characteristics companies can identify new servitization forms and ways to extend their responsibility, identify best practices and establish viability beyond the traditional measures, e.g. financial.

So far no studies have investigated the role of servitization in PSS and how it extends corporate responsibility, especially in industries like textile-fashion, where both resource efficiency and responsibility is low.

The purpose of this paper is to report a study of microbiological influenced corrosion (MIC) of copper due to bacteria strains isolated from potable water pipes and oxidation lagoons using electrochemical noise (EN) analysis and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Bacteria strains isolated from copper surfaces of potable water pipes and from oxidation lagoons were identified, based on the 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Corrosion studies were undertaken over a period of six weeks, placing copper electrodes inside an LB culture media with and without bacteria. The corrosion resistance was obtained using EN analysis. In all the cases, the corrosion type was identified. SEM images of the copper electrodes were taken to evaluate the surface condition.

The bacteria strains identified were: Pantoea agglomerans, Alcaligenes faecalis, Bacillus cereus, Brucellaceae bacterium, Enterobacter cloacae, Delftia tsuruhatensis, and Pseudochrobactrum asaccharolyticum. EN analysis gave noise resistance values in the range 1,036‐5,040 Ωcm² for the control samples and in the range of 2,336‐22,573 Ωcm² for samples that had been inoculated with bacteria. It was found that a decrease in the rate of corrosion took place due to the development of a biofilm by the microorganisms on the copper surface. SEM images corroborated the presence of the biofilm on the copper electrodes.

The isolated bacteria strain reduced the rate of corrosion on the copper electrodes, as shown by the SEM images and EN analysis results, due to the formation of a biofilm that can act as an anticorrosive coating.

Even though MIC is a known phenomenon, it has not been reported that isolated bacteria strains can reduce corrosion on the surface of copper potable water pipes and in oxidation lagoons.

The purpose of this paper is to present issues and challenges faced during a firm’s facility relocation decision aimed at improving both cost and service performance in an innovative service context.

The reader is given background of the decision-making process behind single service facility relocation decision using a detailed case study. Key financial, operational and business data of the firm are collected, compiled and analysed. The solution methodology uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative analyses to choose the best among the three possible discrete location choices. For propriety reasons, some information has been disguised, and some data have been sanitized.

The factors that significantly influence relocation decision are proximity to high transaction customers, infrastructure and other input costs, customer service level requirements and extant regulations. Transportation has a direct impact on cost as well as service level. Most of the findings are in line with literature, but some of them differ too.

The approach is focused on a single case study of a pooling container firm in the Indian context and thereby limits the ability to generalize the findings. Nevertheless, this study may serve as a significant starting point for future research.

Firms can create a rational, efficient and even-handed approach for relocation of facilities applying a mix of qualitative and quantitative models judiciously. It provides managers better understanding and insights and actions needed for single service facility relocation.

This work is perhaps the first on facility relocation in emerging economies covering actual interventions and experiences. It gives new insights to a limited literature of relocating single service facility reflecting both theoretical imperatives and practitioner requirements.

Research on mentorship has been dominated by the West and little is known about the cultural variations of the mentoring phenomenon in Asian countries. A richer understanding of the cultural context that is more attuned to mentoring experience in Asia can help to improve workplace experience, in general, for those working in and for those who intend to work in the region. This chapter captures the important theoretical lenses in the mentoring literature, and also provides a clear demarcation between negative mentoring and dysfunctional mentoring. This is followed by contextualizing mentoring as per four of Hofstede's six cultural dimensions by dwelling on mentoring experience in countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. It is hoped that this chapter will pave the way for further research, which may be a precursor for theory development.