Punyaslok Dhall, Jaydeep Mukherjee and Kalyan K. Guin
Marketing.
Abstract
Subject area
Marketing.
Study level/applicability
The case should ideally be discussed in an advanced second year MBA course or towards the end of a first year course where the students are already exposed to the basics of marketing. The case works well in courses on destination marketing, strategic marketing, campaign management, entrepreneurship. It also works well with executives, the case discussion affording the instructor an opportunity to illuminate the complexity of designing and implementing marketing strategy.
Case overview
Two young MBAs, each with a marketing specialization working in a bank, left their jobs and started their own company by buying a rubber plantation business from another businessman. The businessman was one of the co-owners of the “Ocean World Water Park” theme park (amusement park) close to Bhubaneswar-Cuttack twin city. The amusement park had good potential as it was located in an area with exponential growth of young executives having high disposable incomes. But the business performed poorly because of management ineffectiveness. The case explores the possibility of a turnaround.
Expected learning outcomes
The case: sensitizes students about the commercial implications of their marketing decisions by giving them adequate data to work on evaluating the revenue and profit impact of marketing initiatives on business; and helps them to understand that promotional variables are not independent in nature and hence separating the impact of one promotion when a large number of initiatives are operational, is not very dependable. Though the case provides a particular way of attempting to solve the problem, it does not lead to unique solutions.
Supplementary materials
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The purpose of this study is to seek answers to how receiving his PhD at the University of Alabama influenced the author’s ongoing academic discourse socialization as an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to seek answers to how receiving his PhD at the University of Alabama influenced the author’s ongoing academic discourse socialization as an international graduate student coming from Turkey. To that end, the author incorporates second language and academic discourse socialization theories with the concept of “desire” in TESOL.
Design/methodology/approach
In this autoethnographic paper, the author discusses his academic discourse socialization as an international graduate student in the form of an evocative autoethnography of socialization. The author uses data gathered through his personal memory in the form of self-reflections. Using Chang’s “chronicling the past strategy” (2008, p. 72), the author prepared a data chart, which included information regarding the data source, its mode, time, venue and stories gleaned. The author used this data chart as a self-generated document to guide him through the selection process of his personal memories in an organized way while writing mystory.
Findings
The findings show that his academic discourse socialization was mainly influenced by the attitudes of local US citizens’ and existing members of international communities in both on- and off-campus settings. Over time, his academic discourse socialization turned out to be a complex process where the author oftentimes found himself struggling to find an entry point in extracurricular conversations and interactions.
Research limitations/implications
The author recommends further research to focus on the inner worlds of both old(er) timers and newcomers to understand the challenges, emotions and nuances that are at play in both L2 socialization and academic discourse socialization of international students.
Originality/value
In this autoethnographic study, the author offers a unique example of an international PhD student’s transnational socialization experiences. Future international students, higher education administrators, faculty members and local graduate students may learn from his autoethnography and approach their future academic relationships in a more informed way.
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Paul Hanselman, Jeffrey Grigg, Sarah K. Bruch and Adam Gamoran
Staff turnover may have important consequences for the development of collective social resources based on trust, shared norms, and support among school professionals. We outline…
Abstract
Staff turnover may have important consequences for the development of collective social resources based on trust, shared norms, and support among school professionals. We outline the theoretical role-specific consequences of principal and teacher turnover for features of principal leadership and teacher community, and we test these ideas in repeated teacher survey data from a sample of 73 Los Angeles elementary schools. We find evidence that principal turnover fundamentally disrupts but does not systematically decrease relational qualities of principal leadership; negative changes for initially high social resource schools offset positive changes for initially low social resource schools, suggesting that relational instability “resets” the resources that develop in the relationships between leadership and teachers. Greater consistency in measures of teacher community in the face of teacher turnover implies that the social resources inhering in the relationships among teachers are more robust to instability.
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Samira Salehi Heidari, Mohammad Khanbabaei and Majid Sabzehparvar
One of the most important issues in supply chain (SC) management is the identification and management of the risk involved in it. The purpose of this paper is to propose a…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the most important issues in supply chain (SC) management is the identification and management of the risk involved in it. The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive model of supply chain risk management (SCRM) in the product life cycle (PLC) and the operational process cycle (OPC). To decrease the risks in a fuzzy environment, the model considers the organizational performance factors (OPF) and the risk operational practices (ROP).
Design/methodology/approach
Fuzzy analytic hierarchy process is used to determine the weights of the relationships between the PLC, OPC and OPF in the hierarchical structure of the decision problem. In addition, the fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution is employed to recognize the priority of ROPs in dealing with the performance factors. The integrated framework is evaluated using the case study of an automotive company in Iran.
Findings
The results demonstrated that the proposed model can be used to formulate an appropriate method for prioritizing defined alternatives to decrease risk and improve the organizational performance in SCRM under fuzzy conditions.
Research limitations/implications
A major limitation of the study is that a few of the selected criteria for risk assessment are focused only on economic factors. Another limitation of the current study is related to the PLC, OPC and OPF being based on the work of Xia and Chen (2011).
Practical implications
The current study identified the more important stage in the PLC. More significant process in each stage of the PLC and weightier risk factors in each process of the OPC were determined. Some strategies for reducing risk in each stage of the PLC were presented. The best alternatives for reducing risks in SC were indicated.
Originality/value
It is worth mentioning that previous studies have not applied multiple criteria and alternatives to decrease the risks involved in the PLC and OPC parts of the SC under fuzzy conditions. However, it should be stated that some academics have used these techniques separately, in other specialized areas of the SC.
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Three types of industrial buyer-seller relational process models are available: joining theory, stage theory, and state theory. However, historically, these models have developed…
Abstract
Three types of industrial buyer-seller relational process models are available: joining theory, stage theory, and state theory. However, historically, these models have developed based on the knowledge and cultural context of the Western world. Several researchers note that national culture may have an impact on international industrial buyer-seller relationships. Including culture in the models is highly important, especially as the business environment is increasingly more global and different countries have different business cultures. The goal of this paper is to define the most suitable industrial buyer-seller relational process models for describing relationships in various contexts. The paper includes a through literature review and a single case study in order to reach this objective. A new state theory model evolved during the research. It consists of two beginning states: searching and starting; four purely middles states: constant/static, decline, growth, and troubled; and a purely end state: termination. The state of dormant/inert is both a middle state and an end state, that is, when the relational actors are not in contact does not mean that the relationship has ended, but instead, for example, new legislation may have been implemented, which requires the actors to evaluate their relationship and its future. A relationship goes through the two beginning states in the order mentioned above, but after that, any state may occur.
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Akshya K. Guin, M. Bhadu, Mahua Sinhababu, Ankita Mundhara, T.K. Rout and G. Udayabhanu
– The aim of this work was to study the effect of La(NO
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this work was to study the effect of La(NO
3
)
3
on the corrosion behavior of sol-gel coating prepared by hydrolysis of 3-glycidoxypropyl)methyldiethoxysilane and 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane. Generally, galvanized steel is subjected to a hexavalent chromium passivation treatment. Hexavalent chromium passivation is not an environment friendly product and researchers are looking for a suitable alternative for chromium passivation treatment. Some of the potential alternatives are silicate conversion coating or the use of silane-based coatings. In this context, sol-gel coating was investigated as a potential replacement for hazardous hexavalent chromium passivation treatment.
Design/methodology/approach
The sol-gel film was deposited on galvanized steel sheet by the dip coating method. The molecular vibration and chemical properties of sol-gel solution and coated films were obtained by infrared spectroscopy. Images from a scanning electron microscope were obtained to characterize the morphology of the film. The corrosion resistance of the coated samples was evaluated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), potentiodynamic polarization curves and salt spray tests.
Findings
The results indicated that La(NO
3
)
3
-doped coatings were more resistance to corrosion than undoped coating. The coating doped with 0.5 per cent La(NO
3
)
3
offered improved corrosion protection due to the inhibitive action of the La3+ ion.
Originality/value
This result can provide a reference for the development of chromium-free passivation for galvanized sheeting.