Neelam Yadav, Devinder Kaur, Ritika Malaviya, Pinki Saini and Saba Anjum
Iron deficiency anaemia and zinc deficiency are major public health problems across the globe. Cereals and pulses are important vegetarian source of minerals like zinc (Zn) and…
Abstract
Purpose
Iron deficiency anaemia and zinc deficiency are major public health problems across the globe. Cereals and pulses are important vegetarian source of minerals like zinc (Zn) and iron (Fe), however, poor digestibility impairs proper availability of micro minerals in the body. Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) were selected for study as they are important pulse crops consumed worldwide. Therefore, in order to remove antinutrients and enhance bioavailability of nutrients in chickpea and cowpea, extrusion cooking was selected as a technology and its impact was studied by an in vitro method. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Four chickpea cultivars, two desi (K 850 and PUSA 362) and two kabuli (PUSA 1108 and PUSA 1053) and one cowpea (Gomati) cultivars were selected for the study. Pulses were processed in a laboratory using a single screw food extruder. Raw and extruded pulses were analysed for antinutrients content, micronutrients content (Fe, Zn) and their bioavailability.
Findings
Extrusion cooking significantly decreased phytate in all cultivars of chick pea and cowpea with highest reduction (72.92 per cent) in PUSA 362; similarly, tannin and trypsin inhibitor decreased by 87.5 and 71.54 per cent, respectively, in Gomati cultivar of cowpea. All cultivars showed significant increase in protein digestibility. Iron bioavailability in all samples enhanced significantly; however, only 50 per cent cultivars (K 850, PUSA 362 and PUSA 1108) showed improvement in Zn bioavailability.
Originality/value
The present research therefore brought the outcome as an enhanced in vitro protein digestibility and bioavailability of micro mineral and protein in certain pulses having minimized antinutrients. Therefore, it is concluded that extrusion cooking is an effective tool in enhancing protein and micro mineral bioavailability.
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Neelam Rani, Surendra S. Yadav and Naliniprava Tripathy
The purpose of this paper is to examine the capital structure determinants and speed of adjustment (SOA) toward the target capital structure of firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the capital structure determinants and speed of adjustment (SOA) toward the target capital structure of firms.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has used the generalized method of moments (GMM) model and two-stage least squares (TSLS) to the panel data of 3,310 Indian firms, from January 2000 to March 2018, to determine the adjustment speed toward target capital structure. Further, the study employed a fully modified ordinary least square technique to shed light on the dynamic nature of the adjustment process.
Findings
The results of the GMM estimations indicate that Indian firms are adjusting their capital structure toward the target rate of 10.38 percent per year. Similarly, the findings of TSLS estimate specify a SOA of 15.49 percent per year. The low adjustment speed suggests the prevalence of higher adjustment costs of Indian firms.
Research limitations/implications
Future research can be undertaken by including certain macroeconomic factors such as GDP, inflation and the interest rate, which also affect the SOA since firms are pretentious by market conditions while designing capital structure for firms.
Practical implications
In the current financial and regulatory set-up when there are frequent perturbations in the capital market, the study will be valuable for regulators, firms and academicians. The work would enable the concerned stakeholders to manage their scare resources and capital effectively by a better way to make informed decisions. It will facilitate managers of young companies to identify and regulate the factors that are more pertinent for them to make flexible financial decisions concerning the capital structure.
Originality/value
The study amplifies on previous studies and provides new insights on the speed of the adjustment process of Indian firms, helping to modify and refine their capital structures toward the optimum capital structure. This will not only enhance the financial flexibility in the capital structure of Indian corporates but also be of great value to the policymakers and other stakeholders.
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Neelam Rani, Surendra S Yadav and P K Jain
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M & A) on corporate performance. It addresses the major question related to the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M & A) on corporate performance. It addresses the major question related to the long-term performance of the acquiring firm.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses the long-term pre- and post-merger financial data to investigate the long-term performance. It compares performance of the acquiring firms before and after M & A. The present work conducts a comprehensive ratio analysis of 14 major ratios related to profitability, efficiency, leverage and liquidity. To ascertain the sources of the better long-term post-M & A returns, the present work decomposes the measure of operating performance into its constituents in terms of Du Pont analysis.
Findings
Taking a sample of 305 M & As during the period of January 2003 to December 2008, it has been observed that there is significant improvement in the profitability of the acquiring companies involved in M & A. The results pertaining to profitability, efficiency (in terms of utilization of fixed assets), expense and liquidity ratios show that there is an improvement in performance of the acquiring firms in the post-M & A period. The analysis in terms of Du Pont shows improvement in the long-term operating profit margin of the acquiring firms. This means higher profit is generated per unit net sales by the acquiring firms after the M & A. The higher profits (profit before interest and taxes and non-operating income) are generated primarily due to the better operating margins. The improved operating cash flows are on account of the improvement in the post-M & A operating margins of the acquirers, not due to the efficient utilization of the assets turnover to generate higher sales.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the existing literature by comparing operating performance and profitability of acquirers before and after M & A using a comprehensive set of 14 ratios for a substantially large sample.
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Darshan Punia, Manju Gupta, Shashi Kala Yadav and Neelam Khetarpaul
This study aims to analyze iodine content in various foods and water.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze iodine content in various foods and water.
Design/methodology/approach
Food and water samples were collected from rural and urban areas of different agroclimatic zones of Haryana State, India, and analyzed for iodine content by a standard method.
Findings
A wide variation was observed in the iodine content of cereals, pulses, vegetables, fruits and milk. The iodine content in water samples varied from source to source and from zone to zone.
Research limitations/implications
The investigators could not obtain sufficient samples of pulses and fruits for analysis from rural areas as they are not grown by farmers in their fields.
Originality/value
The study is original and innovative. The values of iodine for various foods are not available in the literature, and thus data of the present study will be useful to researchers, nutritionists, food scientists and dieticians.
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Anshu Bhatia and Neelam Khetarpaul
Some of the indigenous fermented foods of India seem to be very nutritious but not scientifically proved. Moreover, due to urbanisation and changing food habits and lifestyles…
Abstract
Purpose
Some of the indigenous fermented foods of India seem to be very nutritious but not scientifically proved. Moreover, due to urbanisation and changing food habits and lifestyles, people are abandoning such nutritious recipes. This paper aims to collect such indigenous technical knowledge, standardise it under laboratory conditions and analyse it organoleptically and for various nutrients.
Design/methodology/approach
Doli ki roti – an indigenous nutritional fermented bread popular among Indian Punjabis migrated from Pakistan – is a wheat‐based product. Natural fermentation is carried out in an earthen pot called doli in vernacular language. The final product was a stuffed puri‐like preparation (a puri is a fried small fermented wheat bread stuffed with spice‐cooked chickpeas). Its preparation was learned from rural households and standardised under laboratory conditions. The product prepared was improved further to make it rich in micronutrients and protein. It was analysed for proximate nutrients, phytic acid and in vitro digestibility of starch and protein using standard AOAC methods.
Findings
The unfermented bread had 632.3 mg phytic acid per 100 g but this reduced significantly to an extent of 5‐18 per cent due to fermentation at 35°C and for both time periods, i.e. 18 h and 24 h. This significant reduction in the phytic acid content culminated in a marked improvement in protein (28‐50 per cent) and starch (57‐88 per cent) digestibility. The higher the temperature and the longer the period of fermentation, the more significant (p<0.05) were the changes seen in the phytic acid content, and a significant and negative correlation between the two further strengthened the findings.
Research limitations/implications
Such a product can be further improved nutritionally by making it rich in beta‐carotene. Instead of frying, it can be baked in the oven for health‐conscious people suffering from hypercholesterolemia.
Practical implications
On the basis of the findings of the present study, people should be encouraged not to abandon healthy eating practices but continue with their traditional healthy food habits. They should be motivated to prepare and eat fermented foods having the right combination of cereals, pulses and leafy vegetables.
Originality/value
This is an original paper based on an original idea. It is based on the research findings of the MSc thesis of the first author, who worked under the guidance of the second author.
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This study aims to perform a detailed bibliometric analysis of digital payment adoption and map the trends and growth in this field by examining seminal works, conceptual…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to perform a detailed bibliometric analysis of digital payment adoption and map the trends and growth in this field by examining seminal works, conceptual foundations and intellectual networks.
Design/methodology/approach
The Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) technique was applied to retrieve 1,016 journal articles from Scopus and Web of Science (2003–2023). Diverse performance analyses and science mapping methods were performed using the Biblioshiny package in R to gain a comprehensive understanding of the field’s knowledge base.
Findings
The findings reveal a significant increase in scholarly interest, marked by a surge in publications and citations in recent years. Co-citation and factorial analysis identified distinct research clusters, delineating core themes and suggesting future research avenues relevant to theoretical exploration in digital payment technologies.
Originality/value
This study is a groundbreaking effort to explore the adoption of digital payment through bibliometric analysis. It uniquely addresses key domains for science mapping, including intellectual and conceptual structures. These innovative findings provide valuable insights for future practitioners, academics and aspiring researchers in the field.
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Abhishek Behl, Manish Gupta, Angappa Gunasekaran and Zongwei Luo
Mohsen Shafie Nikabadi and Delshad Hoseini
The production of a good or service requires that the supplier performs a wide range of activities. Many companies are trying to fit outsourcing with the dimensions of their…
Abstract
Purpose
The production of a good or service requires that the supplier performs a wide range of activities. Many companies are trying to fit outsourcing with the dimensions of their organization. Outsourcing is increasingly being used among Iranian companies in the field of the electric power industry. Human resources are among the factors that consider outsourcing as an obstacle for their growth because staffs declare that the development of outsourcing is a serious threat for unemployment of them and ultimately expulsion from work. Thus, this study surveys the dynamic effects of human resources and work experience on outsourcing decisions. This paper aims to propose a model for dynamic strategic outsourcing focusing on human resource and work experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Presenting a model for strategic outsourcing can help organizations to resolve their outsourcing problems. The data needed for examining the dynamic impact of human resources and work experience on outsourcing have been compiled using library and field studies. The method used in this study is an integrated approach, so the model could consider the general effects of manpower and present a systematic view. After interviewing with experts in power industry, the causal relationships of the variables were determined, and a dynamic model based on the applications of the dynamic system was developed in VENSIM software. The research model will be completed in a three-year period (2016-2019) in the power industry of Iran.
Findings
For completing projects in an organization, cooperation between internal employees and external contractors is needed; thus, results based on both external contractors and internal staff have shown that outsourcing through working of a number of contractors will be more effective than frequent use of one contractor. On the other hand, improving the quality of projects could be done by training new employees using skilled and expert employees.
Originality/value
Existence of one-dimensional models (only with qualitative factors or only with quantitative factors) in the context of outsourcing in the past studies has prompted to study different types of factors together as a dynamic model. This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative model in the field of strategic outsourcing with emphasis on human resources and work experience. In the past studies, there was no way to formulate the qualitative factors, and they simply used the data from the organization, and the only formulation in their works was based on quantitative factors. But in this study, both factors with dynamic modeling have been formulated.
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Neelam Singh, Suresh Jain and Prateek Sharma
The purpose of this paper is to understand whether the adoption of environmental management practices and firm characteristics influence the environmental benchmarking in Indian…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand whether the adoption of environmental management practices and firm characteristics influence the environmental benchmarking in Indian firms. It further looks into the impact of environmental benchmarking practices on firms’ environmental performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study conducts a research survey to obtain the practitioner’s responses on the different aspects of environmental benchmarking. The survey data of 104 firms provide an empirical basis to investigate different research hypotheses using statistical techniques.
Findings
The results indicate that the firms which implement environmental management practices are more likely to adopt environmental benchmarking in one or more areas of their operations. The findings signify that firms which benchmarks for environmental purposes are more likely to have better environmental performance. The study confirms that large firms have significant chances of having environmental benchmarking compared to small and medium sized firms. The firms in different sectors have different relative preference to eight different areas of environmental benchmarking. However, all these preferences are not significant at 95 per cent confidence level.
Research limitations/implications
The research use only qualitative responses on environment management aspects and could be further extended by incorporating the quantitative (emission) data of different industries.
Practical implications
The study provides an insight into the environmental benchmarking practices of Indian firms for better management of environmental performance of the firms.
Originality/value
The study investigates the experience and attitude of Indian firms to environmental benchmarking based on an empirical research. It adds to the knowledge in the field of environmental benchmarking in developing countries with specific focus on India.