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The learning outcomes are as follows: to decipher the role of technology in the supply chain management (SCM); to understand the importance of supply chain integration with various stakeholders in the supply chain in increasing efficiency and effectiveness; and to comprehend the challenges in the implementation of technology in SCM.

This case study presents Haryana’s challenges in implementing the digitization of the supply of food grains to the public. Mr Srinivas, a consultant to the Department of Food and Public Distribution, is required to suggest the future roadmap while accounting for the challenges faced in the digitization of the distribution of grains to the public in the state of Haryana. The students are expected to use the information given in the case and exhibits to discuss and critically think about the various stakeholders involved when change initiatives are implemented on an organizational level and recommend solutions based on the voices of various internal stakeholders.

Postgraduate/Masters in Business Administration/Masters in Management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

This paper aims to examine and compare extant literature on the application of multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques in humanitarian operations (HOs) and humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). It identifies the status of existing research in the field and suggests a roadmap for academicians to undertake further research in HOs and HSCs using MCDM techniques.

The paper systematically reviews the research on MCDM applications in HO and HSC domains from 2011 to 2022, as the field gained traction post-2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami phenomena. In the first step, an exhaustive search for journal articles is conducted using 48 keyword searches. To ensure quality, only those articles published in journals featuring in the first quartile of the Scimago Journal Ranking were selected. A total of 103 peer-reviewed articles were selected for the review and then segregated into different categories for analysis.

The paper highlights insufficient high-quality research in HOs that utilizes MCDM methods. It proposes a roadmap for scholars to enhance the research outcomes by advocating adopting mixed methods. The analysis of various studies revealed a notable absence of contextual reference. A contextual mind map specific to HOs has been developed to assist future research endeavors. This resource can guide researchers in determining the appropriate contextual framework for their studies.

This paper will help practitioners understand the research carried out in the field. The aspiring researchers will identify the gap in the extant research and work on future research directions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first literature review on applying MCDM in HOs and HSCs. It summarises the current status and proposes future research directions.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of fairness concerns of the retailer on the pricing policies of the supply chain partners, their individual profits, and the overall performance of a dual-channel supply chain composed of one manufacturer and one retailer. First, the authors model the dual-channel supply chain under retailer’s fairness concern. Second, the authors derive the optimal pricing policies of the channel members. Third, the authors analyze the effects of retailer’s fairness and bargaining power on the pricing strategies and profit functions of the dual-channel supply chain system.

The authors adopt the manufacturer-led Stackelberg game theoretic framework, where the dominant manufacturer’s pricing decisions are based on the retailer’s pricing decision. The paper considers Nash bargaining solution as the fairness reference point to formulate the utility function of the fair-retailer. The paper uses this approach because it endogenously accounts for the competitive power and cooperative contribution of the channel members when they interact.

The authors find that the retailer’s fairness concerns are not always beneficial for its better performance. If the retailer is moderately sensitive towards its fairness, it will positively influence its performance. However, if the fairness concern becomes too high then it will negatively impact the retailer’s performance because it results in customers’ migration towards direct online channel for buying the products. In addition, if the retailer’s fairness concerns are mild, the manufacturer’s prices will decrease in retailer’s bargaining power, which is opposite otherwise.

The authors use Nash bargaining solution model as the fairness reference in the context of dual-channel supply chain, which is comparatively a recent approach and has been used independently from dual-channel supply chain system.

The purpose of this paper is to identify various dimensions of green quality. It integrates the existing carbon footprinting technique with the eight dimensions of quality proposed by Garvin (1984, 1987). Apart from extending these concepts, it also proposes two new dimensions – traceability and standardization which are not explicitly considered by the above two.

Conceptual theory building is used to develop a framework consisting of three interrelated propositions which explain the underlying dimensions of green quality and provide a better understanding of the same.

Similar to the eight dimensions of quality proposed by Garvin, the authors propose various dimensions of green quality and develop three propositions around these dimensions. This conceptual framework is developed by integrating the works of traditional quality (specifically Garvin’s eight dimensions), emergent literature on green products and their attributes, carbon footprinting from environmental economics discipline by summarizing their common elements and contrasting their differences.

This research is one of the first studies that explore the dimensions of green quality of a product. Apart from discovering and exploring inherent greenness in Garvin’s eight dimensions of quality, the authors also discuss about two new dimensions – traceability and standardization.

Conventionally, consumers perceive luxury products as a means of displaying their wealth and prosperity. Consumption of luxury products has usually been considered the prerogative of the Western world. Although there are a number of studies capturing the pre-purchase and purchase behaviour of consumers, there is a dearth of quality studies that have been conducted in this field to understand the post-purchase behaviour of consumers towards luxury brands, especially in the context of young shoppers in an emerging market context. Studying the post-purchase behaviour of shoppers is important to understand their experience with the brand. A negative experience could lead to a post-purchase dissonance, which in turn could lead to an unbalanced or distorted attitude towards the brand and other marketing stimuli. Keeping this in consideration, the purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and attitudes of young shoppers in India towards luxury consumption.

The study captured responses from young shoppers of Chandigarh and its satellite cities located in the relatively prosperous northwest region of India. The data were collected from 200 participants through a structured questionnaire that was based on an adapted “Attitude towards the concept of luxury” scale by Dubois and Laurent (1994) and “Brand Experience” Scale by Brakus et al. (2009). The structural equation modeling technique was applied to test the proposed model.

The empirical results indicate that sensory, intellectual, behavioural and affective experience play a significant role in building the attitude of consumers towards luxury brands.

The study selected university students from Chandigarh (India) Tricity region as target respondents, which may limit the generalisability of the results to other target respondents in different regions of India or other countries.

The study is useful for researchers, academicians, marketers and retailers of luxury brands, as it gives fresh insights into understanding the consumer behaviour of a young segment towards the consumption of luxury brands in the post-purchase scenario, especially in the context of an emerging market.

The uniqueness of the study lies in the fact that it examines the post-purchase behaviour of a segment consisting of young, educated and aspirational individuals in one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.

Data science industry is a multidisciplinary field that deals with a large amount of data and derives useful information for taking routine and strategic business decisions. The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between pricing models, engagement models, and firm performance (FP). This study also aims at uncovering the most effective pricing model and engagement model for improving FP.

Indian data scientists were the respondents of the study. A total of 213 responses were carefully chosen. The data were analyzed using structural equations on Statistical Package for Social Sciences-Analysis of Moment Structures (SPSS-AMOS) version 25 software.

The findings of the study suggested the positive and significant impact of pricing models and engagement models on FP. Value-based pricing strategies have the maximum impact on FP. On the other hand, managed services have a higher influence on FP.

By developing a multi-faceted framework, this study is a novel contribution to the field of business strategy, especially for the data science industry.

This paper aims to epistemologically extend and explore the present theories from prior research conducted in the area of responsiveness. Furthermore, it determines to benchmark the prominent theories, characteristics, context and methodologies (TCCM) used in the domain since its inception to advance the science and practice of marketing and logistics discipline.

A seven-step methodology (SSM) has been introduced to create a comprehensive dataset. Based upon the selection criteria of high-ranked journals and language, the research studies have been retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, Business Source Complete and journal homepage to avoid the error of exclusion. Moreover, the dataset has been compiled using manual and electronic searches without any limitation of time.

The search for a suitable dataset retrieved 642 documents by identifying “1969” as the beginning year of research in the subject domain. The analysis found that responsiveness has been prominently studied in the manufacturing industry. The results also advocate responsiveness as the vital antecedent to performance and satisfaction. Frameworks have been proposed with significant propositions for future empirical testing and theory inventiveness by researchers.

The study pioneers its utility for retailers to recognize the firms' inherent abilities and strengths, which can be promoted to create responsiveness more than ever. The analysis results can act as the compelling force to understand the driving power of various factors influencing responsiveness.

Earlier, the consumption of products was based mainly on their utilitarian benefits, but at present, the love for nature has driven consumers towards products not harming the environment and society. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the influence of consumers' attitudes towards organic personal care products on brand love, brand trust, altruism and sustainable consumption behaviour. Furthermore, the study further examines the impact of sustainable consumption behaviour on continuous purchase intention using health consciousness as a moderator. Finally, the study validates Behavioural Reasoning Theory and the emotional affinity towards nature to understand the proposed claims.

The data were collected from 364 respondents from India. Only those respondents were included in the survey who had prior experience of using organic personal care products. This study used the structural equation modelling approach to test the conceptual model.

Results of the study confirmed the positive influence of consumer attitude on brand love, brand trust and altruism. Brand love and altruism had a significant impact on sustainable consumption behaviour. Health consciousness also emerged as a moderating variable between sustainable consumption behaviour and continuous intention. Interestingly, the brand trust had no impact on sustainable consumption behaviour. Furthermore, sustainable consumption behaviour had a significant impact on continuous intention.

The study is helpful to organic product companies, practitioners, academicians, environment protection agencies and market regulatory authorities as it gives fresh insight into the new collective relationship of consumer attitude with brand love, brand trust, altruism and sustainable consumption behaviour in case of organic personal care products.

The status of women in India has long been paradoxical. They have had access to professions such as medicine, teaching and politics and have the right to own property. Among some social classes, women are extremely powerful. Yet, there is a long history of women being oppressed by men – delegated to playing subordinate roles. India’s workforce is changing. Social values and mores, and the increased global focus on women’s issues have changed the woman’s role impacting the career progression of women. This paper examines the impact of social, organisational and personal biases on the progression of professional women in India. Women managers in India have been generally successful in rising to the executive suite in Indian organisations, despite a culture that might suggest otherwise. These women were successful because of the interplay of organisational and familial support, coupled with the individual drive for success each woman demonstrated.

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.