Ankit Agarwal and Peter John Sandiford
This paper proposes a dialogical approach for analyzing and presenting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) data in organizational research.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper proposes a dialogical approach for analyzing and presenting Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) data in organizational research.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper explores the story behind a story, showing how qualitative research can be fictionalized and reflexively framed in contemporary organizational settings, illustrated by IPA research conducted by the authors, into selection interviewing in Australia. Drawing from researchers' narrative notes that reflexively interpret interview data in narrative form, the data were re-interpreted in fictionalized dialogical form, enabling findings to be analyzed and presented more interactively.
Findings
The application of new interpretative techniques, like fictionalized dialogue, contributes to a richer interpretation of phenomena in qualitative organizational and management research, not limited to IPA studies.
Originality/value
Fictionalized dialogue brings to the surface an additional level of analysis that contributes to thematic analysis in a novel manner, also serving as a communicative tool.
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Every year, tonnes of flower waste from religious places is dumped into India’s holiest river Ganges, polluting it to virtual death. Pesticides and insecticides used in growing…
Abstract
Every year, tonnes of flower waste from religious places is dumped into India’s holiest river Ganges, polluting it to virtual death. Pesticides and insecticides used in growing these flowers mix with the water, affecting millions of lives through water-borne diseases. Most others may just lament these facts, Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, childhood friends from Kanpur, used them as inspiration to innovate. Two years of relentless experimentation led to a brilliant idea; that of recycling the flower waste. They founded HelpUsGreen® in 2014 to convert the waste into bio-fertilisers and lifestyle products. Widely appreciated and heavily awarded now, success has not come easy for this well-educated duo. HelpUsGreen® processes hundreds of kilos of flower waste, creating employment for hundreds of underprivileged women. An entirely bootstrapped project with no carbon foot print, the venture hopes to revive the Ganges through Flowercycling®. Currently at 8.5 tonnes per day and at the tipping point of scaling, HelpUsGreen® hopes to process over 50 tonnes of flower waste per day by 2020. Apart from the environmental impact, HelpUsGreen® has achieved huge societal impact, employing over a thousand women who did not previously have formal employment. What also makes the social entrepreneurs stand apart is their entrepreneurial market savviness. They have positioned their products not at the sympathy market but at the high-end premium market. Their products sell under the name ‘Phool’. HelpUsGreen® has set its eyes firmly on spreading operations across 2,000 kilometres along the Ganges and creating over 25,000 jobs for women.
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Neha Tiwari, Vibhuti Gupta and Sheetal Sharma
After completion of the case study, students will be able to decipher key concepts underpinning sustainable entrepreneurship and its application in the recognition and…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
After completion of the case study, students will be able to decipher key concepts underpinning sustainable entrepreneurship and its application in the recognition and exploitation of sustainable business opportunities, decipher the application of circular economy business models, understand the pivots to achieve the billion-dollar valuation and analyse the strategies for value creation during the pivoting journey of a startup.
Case overview/synopsis
The case study traces the journey of Phool.Co, a sustainable biomaterial startup based in a Tier II city of Kanpur located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India, by Ankit Agarwal in 2017. Agarwal started with the vision of providing solution to the effects of water pollution and environmental damage. Ganga is not just a river, rather it is the symbol of cultural and religious faith in India. Although the river Ganga is considered a deity in India, it is one of the most polluted rivers. Every year 8,000,000 metric tonnes of waste flowers are dumped into the sacred river to pollute it further. The pollution poses grave dangers to the health and livelihood of millions of Indians. Phool.Co is a sustainable enterprise that has pioneered flower cycling technology. The dumped flowers are recycled to produce organic incense sticks, Florafoam, and “Fleather – the organic alternative to leather”. The case study traces the genesis of Phool.Co and its approach towards sustainability in the context of the circular economy. The case study primarily explores the pivot points for a startup to enter the unicorn club in the present context. To achieve the desired valuation, Agarwal must decide to rethink its business model. Will franchise model work for Phool.Co? Should Agarwal scale up with commercialization of Florafoam to capitalize the opportunity in packaging industry? Vegan leather is a nascent market and how will the consumers respond to Fleather is a pertinent question. The case study attempts to explore the challenges encountered in augmenting the valuation of sustainable enterprises.
Complexity academic level
This case study is suitable for graduate and postgraduate students enrolled in courses related to entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. The case study is of intermediate-level difficulty. There are no specific prerequisites to understand the case.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
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Deepika Upadhyay, Pallavi Tyagi, Simon Grima and Balamurugan Balusamy
Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water…
Abstract
Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water bodies. The present case revolves around an innovative social enterprise – PHOOL, which deals with the recycling of flowers offered by devotees at temples. Thus, preventing thousands of kilograms of floral waste from being dumped into rivers daily and polluting them. The idea was conceived to save the most revered river – the Ganges. These flowers are mostly loaded with pesticides and insecticides, which further merge with river water making it even more toxic, endangering marine lives. PHOOL collects flowers from various places of worship and recycles them into handcrafted incense sticks and biodegradable Styrofoam. This unique venture has also been patented for its process and technology of floral waste recycling. Their mission is to save and preserve the river Ganges and empower marginalised women by providing employment opportunities while at the same time giving a livelihood and a future to Indian child and the generations to come. The child could now afford schooling, in hopes of a better economic future in a healthier environment while maintaining all societal traditions. It is essentially a case of social entrepreneurship that aims to help readers understand the intricacies of starting and surviving a social enterprise and ensuring continual sustainability. To create the case, an interview was carried out with Ms Ekta Jain (Associate, Marketing and Communications, PHOOL), as well as a literature review and data were collected on the social enterprise and significant events that take place in the Indian social entrepreneurship ecosystem. PHOOL is a case on ensuring a balanced approach between the economy, environment and society. It aims at protecting and creating a balance between the environment, the economy and the society, generating a new inflow to the economy, providing a purpose in life for those most in need of it and a livelihood free from pollution and deprivation, and making the world a better place to live in. It is creating a balance between societal needs, the environment that requires protection, the economy and ensuring continuity.
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Veena Bansal and Ankit Agarwal
The purpose of this paper is to establish that there are causal relationships among critical success factors (CSFs) associated with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish that there are causal relationships among critical success factors (CSFs) associated with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) project. The authors prove that: H1 – Vendor (VN) is positively related to Enterprise System Selection Process (ES). H1a – Enterprise System Selection process (ES) mediates the relationship between vendor (VN) and Success (SS). H2 – Project Management (PM) is positively related to Implementation Strategy (IS). H2a – Implementation Strategy (IS) mediates the relationship between Project Management (PM) and Success (SS). H3 – Support of Top Management (TM) is positively related to Project Team Competence (PT). H3a – Project Team Competence (PT) mediates the relationship between Support of Top Management (TM) and Success (SS).
Design/methodology/approach
To test the proposed hypotheses, the authors conducted a survey using a questionnaire. The research questionnaire was floated to 450 respondents; the authors received 168 responses. The authors had to discard 62 responses as their organization had greater than 250 employee and did not qualify to be an Indian SME. The authors were left with 106 responses. The respondents were managers (5.6 percent), consultants (39.6 percent), engineers (50 percent) and the remaining (4.8 percent) did not specify their job. The authors then do regression analysis and path analysis including all other required analysis.
Findings
The authors found that all hypotheses are supported. The management may use these findings to understand relationships among CSFs and use this knowledge to mitigate and manage CSFs.
Originality/value
There are no systematic studies to study relationships among CSFs. The work establishes relationships among CSFs through data collected from organizations that have implemented ERP.
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Aman Kumar, Amit Shankar, Ankit Mehrotra, Muhammad Zafar Yaqub and Ebtesam Abdullah A. Alzeiby
Metaverse is one of the decade’s most exciting and transformative technological innovations. While the metaverse holds immense promise, it has potential risks and dark sides. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Metaverse is one of the decade’s most exciting and transformative technological innovations. While the metaverse holds immense promise, it has potential risks and dark sides. This research aims to investigate and identify the crucial dark dimensions associated with the metaverse platforms.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing a qualitative phenomenological methodology, the authors interviewed 45 metaverse users to unravel dark dimensions related to the metaverse. Analyzing the themes extracted from the participants' insights revealed an alignment with the underpinnings of the Technology Threat Avoidance (TTA) theory.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed seven major dark dimensions: addiction and dependency, isolation and loneliness, mental health issues, privacy and security, cyberbullying and harassment, digital identity theft and financial exploitation.
Practical implications
The study helps organizations and metaverse platforms understand the crucial dark dimensions of the metaverse. This study concludes by synthesizing prevalent themes and proposing propositions, offering insights for practical application and policy considerations.
Originality/value
This study provides a deeper understanding of the dark side of the metaverse environment from a user perspective using the underpinnings of TTA theory.
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Kirti Goyal, Satish Kumar, Purnima Rao, Sisira Colombage and Ankit Sharma
This study aims to explore the impact of the containment measures during COVID-19 on individuals’ finances, financial resilience during such distress and identifying the most…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of the containment measures during COVID-19 on individuals’ finances, financial resilience during such distress and identifying the most financially vulnerable among them. Tracing such impact during the pandemic has been challenging due to a lack of representative data. This paper addresses this gap in the present study.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey has been conducted using a structured questionnaire containing various items that portray the impact on income, spending, saving, investment, borrowing, insurance and retirement. The sample consists of 699 respondents and purposive and snowball sampling has been used for data collection. The results are presented and analyzed using infographics and frequency distributions. This study conducts an analysis of variance and Chi-square tests for significance.
Findings
This paper finds a fall in income and limited ability to cope with the current economic conditions. The survey highlights inadequate savings and insurance, weak retirement planning, outstanding loans and under-diversified investments inhibiting financial resilience even among the higher-income group. Particularly, lower-income strata, women and not much educated are most financially vulnerable. Further, no substantial financial benefits have been received from the government and people rely on their usual income sources.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that measures the pandemic’s impact on personal finances, especially in connection with a developing economy like India. Policy interventions are critical to the millions for whom financial literacy is required now more than ever.
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Mohammad Rishad Faridi and Saloni Sinha
Appendix 1: Comic Frames A At the end of the case study discussion, students will able to as follows: Explain various growth strategies as a potential unicorn with the exponential…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
Appendix 1: Comic Frames A At the end of the case study discussion, students will able to as follows: Explain various growth strategies as a potential unicorn with the exponential growth mindset rather than linear growth mindset through adaptation of Massive Transformative Purpose (MTP) and Moonshot Thinking (MT). Demonstrate innovative and creative plans and ideas, with the ability to scale up in the circular economy. Review and summarize the power of Collaborative Innovation (CI). Compare and contrast different ways in dealing with Hedgehog and Fox style of leadership into the business. Appendix 2: Comic Frames B At the end of the case study discussion, students will able to as follows: Act with a growth strategy as a potential unicorn with the exponential growth mindset rather than linear growth mindset through adaptation of MTP and MT. Simulate innovative and creative plans and ideas, with the ability to scale up in the circular economy. Assess and leverage the power of CI. Decide and differentiate in dealing with Hedgehog and Fox style of leadership into the business.
Case overview/synopsis
Ankit Tripathi, was a compassionate 22-year-old, the typical lad from New Delhi, India, who seemed driven to change the world. His elder brother Atul Tripathi, a young, creative 25-year-old, was sat there next to him, beaming with pride and gratitude. Both brothers, being mechanical engineering graduates, had experienced the advancement of technology at the cost of Mother Earth. It pained them no end. It was the reason that Atul had refused to serve as an engineer in a government institution after graduating. The parents were shocked when Ankit followed suit. The brothers were poles apart in their personality and temperament, and it was rare to see them agree on anything in this way. Yet, they agreed to disagree with their parents and ventured into becoming entrepreneurs with a purpose and passion to salvage the environment. They had a vision, but without a proper roadmap, it would certainly be a tough game. Nevertheless, they boldly embarked upon their journey and established their start-up “Uneako” in 2019. “Uneako” was a calculated risk, taking into account family resistance (parents’ attitude/perception), personal conflicts (psychological), financial limitations (resources), shallow expertise (professionalism), social concern acceptability and low awareness (environment), government regulations (legalities/approvals), conflicts between brothers (personality issues), etc. Being from a nonbusiness family, the brothers had defied the wave of obstacles and challenges in daring to start their own business, putting at stake the hard-earned money of their father, Satendra Tripathi. Amidst so much social mockery, would Atul and Ankit succumb and become a laughing stock or would they find something that they could live and die for?
Complexity Academic Level
Appendix 1: Comic Frames A: This case has been particularly focused on undergraduate level students pursuing business or commerce programs. Especially those studying core courses, for example, entrepreneurial and strategic management. Appendix 2: Comic Frames B: This case has been particularly focused postgraduate-early stage or higher level students pursuing business or commerce programs. Particularly those specializing in entrepreneurial and strategic management courses. Also, can be taught in the entrepreneurial or start-up workshops.
Supplementary materials
www.pewresearch.org/topics/generation-z/ Paulynice. J.P., (2019) “From Idea to Reality: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Meaningful Business Growth” Paulynice Consulting Group. Hardy.D., (2015) “The Entrepreneur Roller Coaster: It’s Your Turn to Join The Ride” Success Publishers. Wadhwa.V., Amla.I., Salkever.A., (2020) “From Incremental to Exponential” Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Sustainable Entrepreneurship: Business Success through Sustainability edited by Christina Weidinger, Franz Fischler, René Schmidpeter, Springer 2014. Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
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Tariq Aziz, Valeed Ahmad Ansari and Mahfooz Alam
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stock market performance of companies featured in the survey “Best Companies to Work For” as a proxy for corporate culture.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the stock market performance of companies featured in the survey “Best Companies to Work For” as a proxy for corporate culture.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employed the portfolio formation and event study methods from finance to examine the linkage between corporate culture and future stocks returns. The lists of India’s best place to work for by Great Place to Work® Institute and Business Today (BT), India’s leading business magazine, form the primary surrogate for a great corporate culture. The authors compared the stock market performance of the culture portfolio vis-à-vis market index, in addition to using Carhart’s (1997) four-factor model.
Findings
A portfolio of Indian firms that featured in the “Best Companies to Work For” by Great Place to Work© Institute and BT magazine provides a higher return than the market index Sensex both on an ordinary return and on a risk-adjusted basis. The four-factor αs of the value-weighted culture portfolios are significant, implying that these portfolios have provided abnormal returns during the sample period. Moreover, the findings suggest a positive drift in the abnormal returns after inclusion in the “Best Companies to Work For” list.
Research limitations/implications
The results are largely in conformity with the prediction of the theory that states that corporate culture is an economic asset for a firm that increases its value.
Practical implications
From an investor’s point of view, the study indicates that investment in “Best Companies to Work For” is a better alternative than passive index investing.
Originality/value
This study fills the empirical void in the relationship between corporate culture and stock market performance in the Indian context.