Premaratne Samaranayake, Krishnamurthy Ramanathan and Weerabahu Mudiyanselage Samanthi Kumari Weerabahu
The main purpose of this research is to (1) prioritise key determinants of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) readiness assessment and (2) evaluate causal relationships among those determinants…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this research is to (1) prioritise key determinants of Industry 4.0 (I4.0) readiness assessment and (2) evaluate causal relationships among those determinants and associated sub-criteria based on inputs from industry experts.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology involved two phases: (1) an MCDM approach for determining causal relationships among determinants and (2) empirical validation of findings from the first phase using industry experts' inputs.
Findings
It was found that while the choice of I4.0 technologies is important, organisational factors are also critical, as evidenced by the ranking of the “Strategy and Organisation” determinant as the highest rank prominent determinant. Also, the ranking of the sub-criteria within each determinant shows the importance of several organisational influencing and resulting sub-criteria.
Research limitations/implications
This research extends the existing literature on I4.0 by demonstrating the prioritisation of determinants and delineating causal relationships among them and associated sub-criteria as a basis for developing I4.0 adoption guidelines. This research is limited to the specific scope of determinants selected/considered and experts' inputs from the Sri Lankan manufacturing sector. Future studies could consider extending this research into a broader global manufacturing context.
Practical implications
Prioritisation and causal relationships of I4.0 readiness assessment determinants, supported with inputs from functional managers and industry experts, could be used to guide practitioners in developing guidelines for I4.0 adoption in a phased manner.
Originality/value
This research provides a re-evaluation and validation of a selected I4.0 readiness assessment framework from the perspectives of interdependencies and casual relationships among its determinants and sub-criteria, based on inputs from industry experts as a basis for developing guidelines for I4.0 adoption.
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Krishnamurthy Ramanathan and Premaratne Samaranayake
The purpose of this paper is to present an Industry 4.0 Readiness Assessment Framework (I4.0RAF) and demonstrate its applicability and practical relevance through a case study of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an Industry 4.0 Readiness Assessment Framework (I4.0RAF) and demonstrate its applicability and practical relevance through a case study of a large manufacturing firm in an emerging economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The research firstly involved a synthesis of recent literature for the identification of important determinants, and their constituent criteria, for assessing the readiness of a manufacturing firm to transition to an Industry 4.0 setting and structuring them into a readiness assessment framework that can be used as a self-diagnostic tool. The framework was illustrated through a case study. The empirical findings of readiness assessment are validated using semi-structured interviews of senior management of the organization.
Findings
The proposed I4.0RAF was found to be a practically applicable self-diagnostic tool that can be used to assess a firm's readiness to transition to an Industry 4.0 setting with respect to eight important determinants. Cross-functional participation in the assessment helped the organization to determine priorities and interdependencies among the determinants.
Research limitations/implications
The determinants and their constituent criteria can be further streamlined using inputs from practitioners, consultants and academics.
Practical implications
The findings demonstrate the interdependencies between the determinants, help to delineate interventions that can lead to synergistic outcomes and enabls planning to achieve higher levels of Industry 4.0 maturity.
Originality/value
A self-diagnostic tool as a basis for an informed discussion on transitioning to an Industry 4.0 setting is presented and illustrated through a case study in an emerging economy.
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Dilupa Nakandala, Premaratne Samaranayake, Henry Lau and Krishnamurthy Ramanathan
Despite much research on supply chain (SC) integration and the growing emphasis on recent information technology advancements as an enabler of improved performance, there has been…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite much research on supply chain (SC) integration and the growing emphasis on recent information technology advancements as an enabler of improved performance, there has been limited research focussed specifically on information integration in supply chains (SCs). The purpose of this paper is to systematically review the literature on information integration in the fresh food supply chain (FFSC) from a holistic perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review is done by systematically collecting and analysing the recent literature to identify various participant entities of the FFSC information network and their specific information needs.
Findings
The information needs of FFSC entities are diverse but the needs are common across multiple entities.
Research limitations/implications
This study only reviewed the FFSC-related literature; an extended study of the food industry may reveal a more comprehensive view.
Practical implications
These findings are useful for practitioners in understanding the participant entities in the information network and their information needs and for policymakers in formulating FFSC development initiatives.
Originality/value
The authors are not aware of another study that investigates the FFSC in a holistic approach, one that identifies the actors, their interactions and information needs.
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Nagarajan Krishnamurthy, Biswanath Swain and Jayasankar Ramanathan
Can industrial marketers afford to choose unethical strategies? To answer this question, this study aims to use game theory to analyze whether an industrial marketer choosing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Can industrial marketers afford to choose unethical strategies? To answer this question, this study aims to use game theory to analyze whether an industrial marketer choosing and implementing an unethical strategy is successful in maximizing her market share across her strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The competition between two industrial marketers is modeled as a strategic game for the market share of a product that is identical in all attributes except the production process. Each industrial marketer’s objective is to choose to implement either the ethical or the unethical production process to maximize her market share.
Findings
The study finds that both industrial marketers choosing to implement ethical strategies is the unique Nash equilibrium of the game. That is, an industrial marketer choosing to implement an unethical strategy in the production process will be unsuccessful in maximizing her market share when both the industrial marketers are rational.
Research limitations/implications
The study contributes to the literature on industrial marketing ethics, particularly that on product ethics, by showing that industrial marketers gain market share if they choose ethical strategies.
Practical implications
The study has implications for industrial marketing executives, as organizational consumers are increasingly aware of the strategies of industrial marketers. Failure to implement ethical strategies will cause industrial marketers to forgo their best possible market shares.
Originality/value
This study’s novelty lies in using a game theoretic approach to demonstrate the positive implications of ethical strategies for industrial marketers.
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Vijayshankar Krishnamurthy and M.R. Suresh
The learning outcomes are as follows: develop an understanding of challenges faced by organizations regarding strategic planning; examine the strategies formulated by…
Abstract
Learning outcomes
The learning outcomes are as follows: develop an understanding of challenges faced by organizations regarding strategic planning; examine the strategies formulated by organizations that can enable wider adoption of a service offering; analyse service quality gaps that will provide new insights; and evaluate the strategic choices that would impact the growth of the organization.
Case overview/synopsis
Peter Bushwash International (PBI) was an organization that managed 60 tennis centres in 25 countries. With a staff of 100 tennis coaches worldwide, over 3 million students participated in PBI’s tennis programs. Cesar Morales was appointed the Technical Director on a two-year contract for the PBI’s new tennis centre in Bangalore (India). Morales had to decide if a decentralized strategy (hub-and-spoke model) would create broader growth for the PBI tennis program instead of operating as a premium hub with fewer students.
Complexity academic level
The case was written for organizational strategy, marketing and service quality courses for undergraduate business students (BBA).
Supplementary material
Teaching notes are available for educators only.
Subject code
CSS 7: Management Science.
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Seongsoo Jang, Hwang Kim and Vithala R. Rao
Firms can benefit from designing sales promotion based on the analysis of consumers' physical exercise and purchase data. This study aims to study mobile exercise app data to…
Abstract
Purpose
Firms can benefit from designing sales promotion based on the analysis of consumers' physical exercise and purchase data. This study aims to study mobile exercise app data to explore how purchasing a promoted or nonpromoted product affects exercisers’ subsequent exercise and purchase behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing from the theoretical framework of overjustification effect, this study empirically examines the effects of the purchase of promoted – monetary and nonmonetary – or nonpromoted products on relationships (1) between past and subsequent exercise behaviors and (2) between past exercise and subsequent purchase behaviors. Novel data of one million exercise activities and purchase transactions created by 7,517 mobile exercise app users were collected.
Findings
The results reveal that monetary and nonmonetary promotions have a negative effect on overall consumers’ amount of physical exercise but increase heavy exercisers’ exercise amount. In addition, nonmonetary (monetary) promotion has a positive (negative) effect on consumers’ purchase expenditure but has no moderating effect on the exercise–expenditure relationship.
Originality/value
This study provides a theoretical framework explaining how to mitigate the dark side of sales promotions while targeting right exercise consumer segments with the right promotion campaigns.
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Tejinderpal Singh, Raj Kumar and Prateek Kalia
This chapter presents the e-marketing practices followed by the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India. It explored the owner-managers perceptions of MSMEs regarding…
Abstract
This chapter presents the e-marketing practices followed by the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India. It explored the owner-managers perceptions of MSMEs regarding their average expenditures, budget allocations, management, policy, sources of information, return on investment and their desire for formal training on e-marketing activities in future. Data were collected from 253 MSME owner-managers through an e-questionnaire. The researchers found that the majority of the MSME owner-managers allocate a monthly budget for e-marketing initiatives, and they have increased it over the past few years. However, the total expenditure on e-marketing activities is between 1% and 10% of their total marketing budget. These businesses are partly or fully outsourcing search engine optimization (SEO), display advertising and referral marketing, whereas other e-marketing activities are managed in-house. Generally, these MSMEs are not measuring the success of their digital marketing efforts. If they do it, they are not doing it in a professional manner. MSMEs were found to be slow in posting content and engaging their followers on social media. Surprisingly, two-third of the MSMEs that participated in this study did not show any desire to pursue courses in digital marketing. In conclusion, this study puts forward key implications to practitioners as well as to the government agencies that are involved in the promotion of information technology among MSMEs.
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Unnati Narang and Venkatesh Shankar
Mobile marketing, the two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, platform, or technology, has made…
Abstract
Mobile marketing, the two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using a mobile medium, device, platform, or technology, has made rapid strides in the past several years. Mobile marketing has entered its second phase or Mobile Marketing 2.0. The surpassing of desktop by mobile devices in digital media consumption, diffusion of wearable devices among customers, and an overall integration and interconnectedness of devices characterize this phase. Against this backdrop, we present a synthesis of the most recent literature in mobile marketing. We discuss three key advances in mobile marketing research relating to mobile targeting, personalization, and mobile-led cross-channel effects. We outline emerging industry trends in mobile marketing, including mobile app monetization, augmented reality, data and privacy, wearable devices, driverless vehicles, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. Within each extant and emerging area, we delineate the future research opportunities in mobile marketing. Finally, we discuss the impact of mobile marketing on customer, firm, and societal outcomes.
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James M. Kurtenbach and Robin W. Roberts
Accounting researchers have performed many studies related to public sector budgeting and financial management. Public sector accounting research seeks to explain the role of…
Abstract
Accounting researchers have performed many studies related to public sector budgeting and financial management. Public sector accounting research seeks to explain the role of accounting and auditing in the public sector. For example, researchers examine issues such as (1) the use of accounting information by elected officials, (2) the demand for auditing, and (3) the determination of bond ratings. This review of the public sector accounting literature describes some of the theoretical foundations utilized in public sector accounting research and reviews a sample of selected empirical studies.
K. Chandrasekar and R.R. Krishnamurthy
History has taught us that every aspect of the world around us is changing. Right from its formation, the earth has been evolving climatically, edaphically, and biotically to its…
Abstract
History has taught us that every aspect of the world around us is changing. Right from its formation, the earth has been evolving climatically, edaphically, and biotically to its present state. The forcing for all these changes in the past was natural, and human activities had least influence till the industrial revolution. Since the beginning of the 18th century, human activities associated with the industrial revolution have changed the composition of the atmosphere and thereby having a greater influence on the earth's climate. The use of fossil fuels like coal and oil coupled with deforestation has increased the concentration of heat-trapping “greenhouse gases,” which prevent the heat from the earth escaping to space. Because of this, the very greenhouse gases, which helped sustain life on the earth under normal circumstances, have become detrimental due to its higher concentration. Several models have predicted that the rising concentrations of greenhouse gases produce an increase in the average surface temperature of the earth over time. Rising temperatures may, in turn, produce changes in precipitation patterns, storm severity, and sea level, commonly referred to as “climate change.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines climate change broadly as “any change in climate over time whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity.” The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defines climate change as “a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity, that alters the composition of the global atmosphere, and that is in addition to natural climate variability over comparable time periods.”