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The purpose of this paper is to explore and identify the contextual quality management practices (QMP) and to empirically examine their underlying dimensions and its direct influence or association with performance in context to Indian IT enabled service small- and mid-size enterprises (SMEs).

The methodology adopted in this study is sequential exploratory mixed method approach. This study adopts two stage processes of capturing data, first identifying critical QMP/indicators as obtained from review of literature, followed by in-depth interview based on semi-structured questionnaire from sample of 20 select service SMEs. Based on comprehensive compilation of literature as well as through in-depth interview 21 QMP have been identified. Structured instrument has been developed taking measures as identified. The QMP relevant to SMEs have been derived from Kaynak (2003), Samat et al. (2006), Salaheldin (2009), Kim et al. (2012) and Talib et al. (2013b). The research instrument developed was customised and adapted to the background of Indian IT enabled service SMEs. Similarly for measuring quality performance five items have been identified from previous literature. Five-point Likert scale ranging from “5=strongly agree” to “1=strongly disagree” is used to show the agreement of the respondents. Exploratory factor analysis has been deployed to identify underlying dimensions of QMP. Thereafter, linear regression modelling has been done to better understand the relationships between QMP and quality performance.

A three-factor solution has been obtained and the individual practices could be reconfigured into three dimensions, namely, organisational management, capacity management and quality documentation and security management (QDSM). The findings reflect that strength of Indian IT enabled service SMEs pertaining to quality implementation lie with customer focus, training and service-level management (SLM). Regression analysis shows that all three factor dimensions are positively influencing quality performance. The predictor score of three factor dimensions clearly reflects that Indian SMEs in service sectors have been focusing more on organisational culture and QDSM. The overall findings resemble very interesting insights which gives indication of unstructured pattern of approach. Keeping in view the pattern of practices it can be predicted that Indian digital SMEs are not practicing continuous improvement. It could be inferred that Indian IT enabled service SMEs approach is non-continuous in nature.

Further analysis may be needed to measure the construct using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The research paper is limited by including only six service sub-sectors which may not be adequate to generalise the results for the entire IT enabled/digital service SMEs within India. The same study can be extended by incorporating more quality management (QM) variables and other contextual factors within the organisation and by involving other service sector SMEs. Future research could be done by incorporating multi-contingency framework and moreover researchers may deploy other sophisticated tools and techniques to investigate how individual QMP are interrelated and its influence on performance by means of linkage research. The conceptual model developed can be validated by incorporating other service sector SMEs by deploying CFA and structural modelling.

This study could be beneficial to entrepreneurs and managers of start-ups and other service industries towards understanding improvement and changing their implementation approach. The theoretically grounded conceptual framework developed could provide entrepreneurial insights to new service managers and entrepreneurs who can better allocate their scarce resources to build quality and scalability effectively.

This study adds to the literature in identifying and showing importance of QMP in Indian IT enabled service SMEs. This choice is appropriate for this study as no prior research has been found to be conducted on this particular sector from Indian context, especially from service SMEs point of view. This research contributes in identifying new QMP (i.e. service reporting; content management; SLM and information and security management). Overall, the results of this study contribute towards advancing the understanding of the dimensionality of QM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first study being undertaken in context to Indian IT enabled service SMEs and is believed that the study provides valuable knowledge from the perspective of QM issues pertaining to Indian service firms.

Software reliability models in the past few years attracted researchers to build an accurate model in the software engineering. Testing is an important factor in the software development cycle.

As testing improves quality and reliability of the application by identifying the bugs in it. Also, it defines the behavior and state of the product based on the defined principles and mechanisms. Conventional reliability models use statistical distributions to attain realistic features.

The ability to predict the bugs in the application during development phase itself is a proper testing practice which saves the time and increases the efficiency of the application. Efficient management and timely release of the product is based on this reliability testing and ant colony optimization (ACO)-based testing is an important optimization model which is available for testing the application.

Conventional ant colony optimization used test case generation as its common approach for testing the reliability of the application. ACO uses pheromone activity and it is related in testing of application and provides a simple positive mechanism by identifying the inactivity and precociousness.

This paper attempts to empirically model and analyse interrelationships of quality management (QM), information technology (IT) and entrepreneurial culture (EC) with its impact on performance of Indian IT enabled service small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). More specifically, this paper aims to investigate the proposed model which is validated by analysing both direct and indirect paths by deploying higher order structural modelling.

A quantitative approach has been followed by deploying cross-sectional research design. Structured questionnaires were distributed personally and by e-mail to around 1,380 service SMEs. The approach follows empirical testing and analyses of hypothesized paths of the proposed research model which is validated with confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using maximum likelihood estimation. This study also identifies and tests the mediation effect of higher order constructs.

The findings demonstrate poor manifestation of entrepreneurial and market-oriented activities and confirm the mediation effect of IT and QM in the relationships of QM→EC along with IT→performance paths, respectively. Results indicate that IT and QM are complementary resource factors which signifies symbiotic relationships between them. Analyses highlights the significance of QM as a mediator in enhancing performance outcome through IT benefits and the effect of inculcation of EC by enterprises on their performance in today's vibrant and uncertain environment.

This study highlights major key areas of the decision-making process for SMEs’ owner and operations manager to overcome identified challenges like instituting collaboration with external business firms for learning, sharing risks and diversifying innovation capacity for managing capabilities of firms to earn sustainable profit margins. The outcome of this study would help operations manager, decision makers and entrepreneurs to redesign their business processes and entrepreneurial strategies by deploying operational intelligence in order to ensure agility and smooth flow within the firms. This would facilitate and help SMEs to cut down costs and redundancies in the process which would improve productivity and performance excellence.

The novelty of this study is based on development and empirical validation of the proposed research model which depicts how service SMEs could generate value with influence/effect of contextual factors on the QM–performance relationship. Findings of this study make significant contribution to the body of knowledge with new insights by highlighting the niche area in terms of interlinkages pertaining to quality management, IT and EC explicitly in Indian SMEs’ context.

With the continuing increases in computer processing and storage capabilities, the barriers to and benefits of electronic access to more information content are becoming serious issues in information science research. The experiments described in this article, which address the value of content‐enriched access, are important to continued progress in information retrieval. Well‐selected content components and full‐text materials in electronic systems must be linked with improved search methodologies, better computer interfaces, and greater understanding of the structure and use of knowledge. Content‐enriched records, augmented by these other developments, will enhance the probability of users identifying the information they require.

Policing is associated with a pronounced occupational subculture. Policing is also known for physical and mental stressors that are, arguably, more than other professions. The purpose of this paper is to hypothesize that those police officers who perceive themselves as not a part of the subculture (i.e. “out-group”) would experience more occupational stress in comparison to those who perceive themselves as a part of it (i.e. “in-group”).

The authors use data from the Work and Family Services for Law Enforcement Personnel in the US survey (Delprino, 1997) and OLS regression to assess the direct association between officers’ perceptions of policing subculture membership and occupational stress.

Results support the hypothesis, with in-group officers reporting significantly less occupational stress than out-group officers. This finding holds, with slight variations, when demographic and experiential variables are introduced as controls.

Findings are from an earlier survey and based on responses from 1,632 officers in 51 agencies. They are geographically limited.

The importance of the protective function of subculture needs to be taken into account when attempting to deal with police stress.

This study provides ideas on how departments can utilize occupational subcultures to deal with the stress experienced by members.

The relationship between police subculture and stress has not been examined empirically before. This study documents the positive impact of police subculture in terms of helping members deal with stress.

[Editor's note: this contribution is a presentation given by the author at the International Federation for Information and Documentation Education and Training Pre‐Conference held in Jaipur, India, 12–13 October, 1998. The complete paper in the FID/ET Proceedings was co‐authored by Dr. S.P. Sood and Smt. Prabha Krishnan. The matrix showing the knowledge base and the required computer and information literacy skills is recommended for use as a checklist by all institutions involved in education for library and information science].

In the Indian manufacturing SMEs context, supply chains have a complex structure having multiple echelons, multiple partners and multiple locations. Due to these complexities, most of the Indian manufacturing SMEs face several types of supply chain risks. This paper aims to identify the dominant risk variables and to develop the interrelationship among these risk variables.

Based on the literature review and experts’ opinion, nine dominant risk variables faced by an Indian manufacturing SMEs have been identified. An interpretive structural modelling (ISM) approach has been adopted to establish the interrelationship among the risk variables. These risk variables have been classified by using MICMAC analysis. Based on ISM-MICMAC approach, a case study on three Indian manufacturing SMEs has been carried out.

This study would help the supply chain managers to understand and prioritize the significant risk variables. Nine significant risks variables of Indian manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been studied. External risk, information technology risk and financial risk have identified as most influencing risk variables, while delay risk and market risk have emerged as the most dependent risk variables. These results will provide a guideline to supply chain managers for implementation of supply chain risk management (SCRM).

In this study, an ISM-based model is developed based on the opinion of experts from a group of Indian manufacturing SMEs; as such, this model may be biased and limited to a selected company. This framework can be extended further by adding more risk variables and sub-risk variables from the other sectors/organizations.

Many SCRM models are available in past literature, but no model has been proposed for the Indian Manufacturing SMEs. This research finding can be useful for managers to understand the characteristics and interrelationships among the risk variables for building a robust supply chain. These results will also help the supply chain managers in making proactive plans for SCRM, especially in the Indian SMEs context.

This literature review examines women’s significant workplace challenges and explores mental toughness, a distinct non-cognitive ability associated with peak athletic performance. This study aims to understand this concept and its potential for women professionals facing similar challenges in an organisational context.

Based on a systematic literature review, this exploratory paper is an integrative literature review synthesising pre-existing knowledge using secondary scientific databases. This literature analysis will pave the way for comprehension of the existing body of research, identification of research gaps, and opportunities for further studies. Different typologies of mental toughness (MT) have been identified, and a new typology will emerge from this research study.

The study analyses over 100 articles based on MT typology and complex gender dynamics at work, especially the “broken rung” concept of trapping women in lower or mid-level roles in an organisation. This content analyses the recent emergence of the MT typology in academic research, with articles published after 2019 and a few earlier key works that shaped the concept of MT. In addition to contributing a comprehensive typology of MT and its impact on women professionals, this paper also provides recommendations for future research and individual-level development of MT to help women overcome workplace barriers globally.

Understanding MT’s impact on women’s ability to overcome workplace barriers has HR implications, including hiring, retention, career advancement, training and closing gender gaps. This research may help individual women professionals adopt MT as a psychological resource to navigate work environment challenges. Further research is needed for practical insights, given this discussion is based on a literature review.

The practical implications of this study have a profound impact on human resource management practices within organisations, highlighting the multifaceted approach required to tackle gender disparity. A more inclusive and supportive work environment can be created by ensuring MT training is accessible to all employees. A comprehensive career development plan for women professionals, including but not limited to mentoring, executive sponsorship, skill-building training or stretched assignments, leadership coaching, networking opportunities, and increased visibility in the organisation are critical for career advancement and retention.

This study is a novel attempt to examine whether MT, which has proven effective in helping athletes achieve their goals, can be applied in a workplace environment. It is also a new endeavour to investigate whether women could use MT as a psychological tool to help them overcome obstacles in a diverse professional setting.

“The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on service innovation during the past two decades and provide an analysis of sources of publication, citations and authorship using bibliometric analysis techniques (VOSviewer).” This paper aims to assesses the important trends, enhance the academic debate, identify research gaps and propose future directions and a research agenda.

This paper examines 176 articles in English language published from 2002 to 2022 from the Scopus database by adopting the bibliometric technique using VOSviewer software. This paper analyzes the different levels and boundaries of service innovation using bibliometric analysis of “service innovation research” using VOSviewer software. The methodology analyzes the number of citations, co-citations, keywords, authors, journals and countries.

The review of the past 20 years indicates a substantial growth in the number of good research publications on service innovation. The UK, the USA, Sweden and Australia dominate this research area with the most articles published to date under the subject area of “Business management.” The review highlighted that most of the studies on service innovation focused on products, companies and processes in the services industry. The most critical factors behind service innovation failure are improper management and lack of knowledge. The citation analysis revealed various research implications and directions for the future.

This study focuses only on service innovation and excludes research on performance management and control. Thus, future studies may explore this area of research in future studies. Only research articles were analyzed; conference papers, reports, manuals and white papers from practice were excluded. Research implications indicate that future studies on service innovation would be essential for organizational excellence, not process excellence.

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current status and essential trends of research on service innovation. This study identifies the research gaps and provides a clear research agenda for understanding the various elements of service innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the gas flow characteristics in near wall region and the velocity slip phenomenon on the wall in nano-channels based on the molecular dynamics simulation.

An external gravity force was employed to drive the flow. The density and velocity profiles across the channel, and the velocity slip on the wall were studied, considering different gas temperatures and gas-solid interaction strengths.

The simulation results demonstrate that a single layer of gas molecules is adsorbed on wall surface. The density of adsorption layer increases with the decrease of gas temperature and with increase of interaction strength. The near wall region extents several molecular diameters away from the wall. The density profile is flatter at higher temperature and the velocity profile has the traditional parabolic shape. The velocity slip on the wall increases with the increase of temperature and with decrease of interaction strength linearly. The average velocity decreases with the increase of gas-solid interaction strength.

This research presents gas flow characteristics in near wall region and the velocity slip phenomenon on the wall in nano-channels. Some interesting results in nano-scale channels are obtained.