Saroj Kumar, Dayal R. Parhi, Manoj Kumar Muni and Krishna Kant Pandey
This paper aims to incorporate a hybridized advanced sine-cosine algorithm (ASCA) and advanced ant colony optimization (AACO) technique for optimal path search with control over…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to incorporate a hybridized advanced sine-cosine algorithm (ASCA) and advanced ant colony optimization (AACO) technique for optimal path search with control over multiple mobile robots in static and dynamic unknown environments.
Design/methodology/approach
The controller for ASCA and AACO is designed and implemented through MATLAB simulation coupled with real-time experiments in various environments. Whenever the sensors detect obstacles, ASCA is applied to find their global best positions within the sensing range, following which AACO is activated to choose the next stand-point. This is how the robot travels to the specified target point.
Findings
Navigational analysis is carried out by implementing the technique developed here using single and multiple mobile robots. Its efficiency is authenticated through the comparison between simulation and experimental results. Further, the proposed technique is found to be more efficient when compared with existing methodologies. Significant improvements of about 10.21 per cent in path length are achieved along with better control over these.
Originality/value
Systematic presentation of the proposed technique attracts a wide readership among researchers where AI technique is the application criteria.
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The learning outcomes of this case are in understanding core concepts of brand management and brand dilution. Assessment of macro-economic risks and proper positioning strategies…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes of this case are in understanding core concepts of brand management and brand dilution. Assessment of macro-economic risks and proper positioning strategies are the key take-away from this case. The case gives an understanding of how brands are built and positioned, and the pitfalls of poor brand planning and assessment that could lead to brand dilution. The case is useful for highlighting the importance of brand management and the challenges of re-positioning. The discussions would shed light on why it is important to plan and manage spending on marketing for brand building activities, and why brands would suffer when spending is reduced. This case is a teaching case and not a research case. It will help participants assimilate available information in combination with existing academic theories and publications to help develop an accurate assessment and prognosis of the events leading until the point of slicing the case.
Case overview/synopsis
Reid & Taylor in 2015 had been reduced to a discounter brand offering extended end-of-season sales when most other competitors have ended their promotions. In the 17 years since its big-budget launch in the Indian market in one of the most memorable brand introductions, Reid & Taylor changed its ambassador twice and repositioned itself thrice. The case would allow participants to delve deeper into aspects of marketing spending, brand management, positioning and advertising effectiveness. The case brings to the fore discussions on marketing, specifically on branding, positioning and its related advertising in the textile sector for a brand that has not been studied in academic literature until the present time. The discussion allows for novelty, involving both forward- and backward-looking assessments and evaluations to help participants better imbibe learnings in brand management and positioning.
Complexity academic level
The case is suitable for a graduate-level (Master’s level) course in marketing and brand management. This case is suitable for elective courses that discuss positioning and brands.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 8: Marketing
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Ideas regarding the basic character of humanity assume importance wherever people interact with one another — from the family to the political state, to the business enterprise…
Abstract
Ideas regarding the basic character of humanity assume importance wherever people interact with one another — from the family to the political state, to the business enterprise. These conceptions, ranging from pessimism to optimism, from notions that evil, predatory competition on the one hand to goodness, co‐ operation and virtue on the other characterise the intrinsic disposition of people, derive from the culture to which the individual belongs, moulding his values and conditioning his behaviour. They not only affect the quality of human relations present in any collectivity, but exercise critical influence on the theories and practices of social control. The understanding of a range of social parameters is considerably enhanced when viewed from the perspective of prevailing cultural ideas about human nature itself.
Namrata Gupta and Henry Etzkowitz
This study aims to understand the socio-cultural context of Indian women's high-tech entrepreneurial experience. Despite a small proportion of women entrepreneurs, and the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the socio-cultural context of Indian women's high-tech entrepreneurial experience. Despite a small proportion of women entrepreneurs, and the traditional gender dynamics among the educated middle-classes that appears to be antithetical to female entrepreneurship; women-led high-tech start-ups are on the rise.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with women founders at an academic incubator in an elite Indian Institute of Technology. The study was based on the post-structural feminist approach that women entrepreneurs are embedded in their socio-cultural and institutional context. During data collection, the Coronavirus lockdown provided a natural experiment, highlighting entrepreneurial response to unforeseen obstacles.
Findings
It finds that the context is significant in constructing opportunity, and in navigating challenges of gender and entrepreneurship. Further, in the process of construction of an entrepreneurial identity, women innovators not only reproduce, but also modify their context. Also, the experiences with academic incubator indicate positive results both for gender dynamics and enhancing an emergent entrepreneurial culture.
Practical implications
The study highlights that women's high-tech entrepreneurship has considerable potential for enhancing women's status in society through the support of academic incubator. This has certain implications for policy.
Originality/value
It provides an insight in to the hitherto neglected issue of women's high-tech entrepreneurship in India, and argues that a study of “social embeddedness” not only highlights constraints for women entrepreneurs unique to that context, but also the potential of women's entrepreneurship in advancing women's agency and gender equality.
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Deepika Sharma, Justin Paul, Sanjay Dhir and Rashi Taggar
The ease and convenience of online shopping are shifting the customers to e-tailers. This has prompted offline retailers to re-examine behavioural patterns along with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The ease and convenience of online shopping are shifting the customers to e-tailers. This has prompted offline retailers to re-examine behavioural patterns along with a reconfiguration for a responsive retail model. The paper investigates the influence of responsiveness on customer satisfaction, cross-buying behaviour, revisit intention and referral behaviour.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via a survey answered by 793 fashion customers from India, and for data analysis, partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed. Path analysis was used to determine the interrelationships amongst the constructs used in the study.
Findings
The standardized path coefficients depict competitive responsiveness as the highest contributor of retailers' responsiveness followed by service responsiveness, employee responsiveness and customer responsiveness. The findings suggest that customer satisfaction acts as the biggest contributor to referral behaviour followed by cross-buying behaviour and revisit intentions.
Originality/value
This study has made a substantial contribution to fashion apparel retailing. The findings revealed that responsive retailing influences the customers' post-purchase behaviour as they engage in more cross-buying, revisiting and referral behaviour. The retailers are encouraged to carefully monitor their preparedness to deliver a combination of sensory, emotional, cognitive and social experience to their customers.
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Surya Prakash, Satish Kumar, Gunjan Soni, Raj V. Mahto and Nitesh Pandey
This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to present an overview of leading research trends in the lean six sigma domain published in the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma (IJLSS) since its inception.
Design/methodology/approach
The study analyses articles published between 2010 and 2019 in IJLSS using the bibliometric technique. The results of data analysis identify the most prolific authors, their affiliation, citation trends and highly cited articles from the journal. Further, a graphical analysis involving bibliographic coupling and co-citation analysis of the corpus enriches the investigation.
Findings
The results of the bibliometric analysis suggest that the number of IJLSS’s publications and citations grew markedly over time (from 4 citations in 2010 to nearly 1,324 in 2019). The organizational diversity and collaboration among authors publishing in IJLSS are trending upwards. Case study and focus group are the two most common research designs in publications. In the study, three major themes emerged: implementation of lean on business, integration of lean and six sigma and the effects of lean six sigma on businesses.
Practical implications
The study finding informs and educates practitioners and scholars about various qualitative research tools, applications and methods of implementing lean six sigma tools in different industry sectors.
Originality/value
The study uses bibliometric analysis to propose a novel categorization of research published in IJLSS and to report on the utilization of various lean tools in the journal. The study provides guidance for new future research besides offering a thorough introspection of the lean and six sigma domains.
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Anand S. Patel and Kaushik M. Patel
India liberalized its economy in 1991, which resulted in intense global competition, quality-conscious and demanding customers. Additionally, significant technological…
Abstract
Purpose
India liberalized its economy in 1991, which resulted in intense global competition, quality-conscious and demanding customers. Additionally, significant technological advancements lead to enhancements in products and processes. These forced Indian organizations to adopt innovative business strategies in the past 30 years. Meanwhile, the Lean Six Sigma methodology has significantly grown with vast applicability during the past 30 years. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop the learning on Lean Six Sigma methodology in the Indian context through investigation of literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-stage systematic literature review approach was adopted to investigate the literature during the present study. In total, 187 articles published in 62 journals/conference proceedings from 2005 to 2022 (18 years) were shortlisted. The first part of the article summarizes the significant milestones towards the quality journey in the Indian context, along with the evolution of the Lean Six Sigma methodology. The second part examines the shortlisted papers on Lean Six Sigma frameworks, their applicability in industrial sectors, performance metrics, outcomes realized, publication trends, authorship patterns and leading researchers from the Indian perspective.
Findings
Lean Six Sigma has emerged as a highly acclaimed and structured business improvement strategy worldwide. The Indian economy has seen remarkable growth in the past decade and is one of the fastest-growing economies in the 21st century. Lean Six Sigma implementation in India has significantly increased from 2014 onward. The study revealed that researchers have proposed several different frameworks for Lean Six Sigma implementation, the majority of which are conceptual. Furthermore, the balanced applicability of Lean Six Sigma in manufacturing and service sectors was observed with the highest implementation in the health-care sector. Additionally, the widely adopted tools, techniques along with performance metrics exploring case studies were reported along with a summary of eminent and leading researchers in the Indian context.
Research limitations/implications
This study is confined to reviewed papers as per the research criteria with a significant focus on the Indian context and might have missed some papers due to the adopted papers selection strategy.
Originality/value
The present study is one of the initial attempts to investigate the literature published on Lean Six Sigma in the Indian context, including perspective on the Indian quality movement. Therefore, the present study will provide an understanding of Lean Six Sigma methodology in the Indian context to graduating students in engineering and management and entry-level executives. The analysis and findings on Lean Six Sigma frameworks, research approach, publications details, etc., will be helpful to potential research scholars and academia. Additionally, analysis of case studies on Lean Six Sigma implementation by Indian industries will assist the managers and professionals in decision making.
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Rajeev Rathi, Mahender Singh Kaswan, Jiju Antony, Jennifer Cross, Jose Arturo Garza-Reyes and Sandra L. Furterer
Green lean six sigma (GLSS) is a sustainable development approach that leads to improved patient care with improved safety and quality of service to patients. This study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
Green lean six sigma (GLSS) is a sustainable development approach that leads to improved patient care with improved safety and quality of service to patients. This study aims to identify, study, model and analyze GLSS success factors for the Indian health-care facility.
Design/methodology/approach
Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Impact Matrix Cross-Reference Multiplication Applied to a Classification analyses have been used to understand the hierarchical structure among the GLSS success factors. This enabled the development of dependency relationships between success factors, in particular, which factors support the development of other factors.
Findings
Specifically, this study found that the success factors “commitment of management” and “financial availability” are the most critical to GLSS implementation success, as they support the development of all other success factors. Meanwhile “embedding sustainable measures at each stage of the service”; “the capability and effectiveness of real-time data collection”; and “feedback and corrective actions” most directly support the GLSS implementation in the health-care facility and serve as the final indicators of implementation progress.
Research limitations/implications
The major implication of this research work lies in suggesting a direction for practitioners to execute the GLSS approach through a systematic understanding of classification and structural relationships among different enablers. This study also facilitates health-care managers to explore different GL wastes in hospitals and challenges to sustainability pursuits in health-care that assist in an organization’s efforts toward sustainable development.
Originality/value
This research work is the first of its kind that deals with the identification and analysis of the prominent factors that foster the inclusive implementation of GLSS within the health-care facility.
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Avinash Chopra, Gokulananda Patel and Chandan Kumar Sahoo
One of the most decisive objectives of human resource management (HRM), essential for business performance, is to attract, maintain and engage a qualified workforce. This study…
Abstract
Purpose
One of the most decisive objectives of human resource management (HRM), essential for business performance, is to attract, maintain and engage a qualified workforce. This study aims to identify and prioritize the antecedents of employer branding, which are considered extremely important by potential applicants when they choose to join a particular employer.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have adopted a popular multicriteria decision-making technique fuzzy analytical hierarchy process, to prioritize the identified antecedents. The modified Delphi techniques with the 22 experts have been conducted to validate the identified antecedents. Structured questionnaires were discussed, and their reliability was assessed using the expert’s opinion.
Findings
Results of this study indicate that potential applicants consider career advancement opportunities as the most important enabler that persuades them to join a particular employer. Future employees are also motivated to join if they are offered attractive compensation packages, which are distinct from competitors. Furthermore, corporate social responsibility is evolving as an antecedent of employer branding as potential candidates are attracted to employers who are socially responsible.
Practical implications
Employer branding can serve as a strategic HRM technique for any business seeking to attract, recruit, retain and involve outstanding employees, as the success of the organization is determined by how its image is built, communicated and promoted. This study provides insights for HR managers and practitioners who can think of developing an effective employer brand communication that offers a distinct and in-imitable image and reputation as an employer of choice.
Originality/value
This study is unique, as it offers meaningful visions to HR practitioners and experts for designing employer branding strategies for attracting potential applicants to join their organizations.
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G. Citybabu and S. Yamini
The purpose of this work is to gain insights about Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Indian context by reviewing the related literature for one decade based on various perspectives…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this work is to gain insights about Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in the Indian context by reviewing the related literature for one decade based on various perspectives, such as author profile, year of publication, type of firm, type of methodology used, type of industry for which the research work is carried out and the key findings from the research.
Design/methodology/approach
This study reviews the research related to LSS from the articles published in the reputed journals. The literature used for reviewing is derived from the sources, including Science direct, Google scholar, IEEE, Taylor and Francis Group, Emerald Insight, Springer, Inderscience and Elsevier during the period between 2010 and 2021. Totally, the authors have included 141 LSS-related research articles that are published in the Indian context. The keywords used are Lean Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma in the Indian context, Lean Sigma and LSS to identify and consolidate the research papers published during this timeframe.
Findings
The research papers collected from various reputed journals, including Scopus and non- Scopus enlisted, are classified and grouped under various categories to identify the class of author who publishes more in this field, research trend over the years, the type of firm which implements LSS, the research methodology which is commonly used in LSS and related research and also the key takeaway from these articles are highlighted. Further, the authors have also identified the major contributions of researchers in various sectors during this period in India.
Originality/value
This classification framework and the systematic review help in identifying the research gap and in giving directions for future researchers. It will be useful for researchers and practitioners working on the area of LSS, rural and urban entrepreneurs, start-up managers, professionals working in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and executives of the Make in India Project to make India as Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Further, the clear direction of progress over the current decade in manufacturing industries, service sectors and processing industries can help the professionals working in these sectors.