Prabir Kumar Bandyopadhyay and Bowon Kim
In the present study, the authors have explored the research questions, “How do companies in the engineering and automobile manufacturing sector in India determine the…
Abstract
Purpose
In the present study, the authors have explored the research questions, “How do companies in the engineering and automobile manufacturing sector in India determine the coordination strategy with their suppliers?” and “Can we develop a framework which helps the company adopt a particular coordination strategy?” The authors also aimed for developing a generalizable theory of supply chain coordination (SCC) strategy.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have studied upstream SCC practices at eight Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the Indian engineering manufacturing and automobile sector and identified 11 types of SCC in three categories of suppliers, namely large, medium and small. Each SCC is characterized by the category of items as the authors found the OEMs follow different strategies for different types of items. Initially, the authors started the study with the objective of strategy discovery, and later on, they prescribed a strategic framework based on the consolidated knowledge that they gathered at the discovery phase. The authors propose a SCC strategy framework consisting of four dimensions, i.e. time horizon, the formality of engagement, price and volume for the upstream supply chain. With the framework, the authors have identified the driving factors for choosing a particular strategy. The authors have found both OEMs and suppliers in India prefer to have a long-term relationship for building trust, which helps both the OEMs and the suppliers to go the extra mile when needed. Apart from large suppliers supplying technology and proprietary items, OEMs prefer to have an informal relationship so that they enjoy flexibility and attain agility. The price and volume dimensions are dependent on who enjoys more bargaining power.
Findings
The authors propose a SCC strategy framework consisting of four dimensions, i.e. time horizon, formality of engagement, price and volume for the upstream supply chain. With the framework, the authors have identified the driving factors for choosing a particular strategy. The authors have found that both OEMs and suppliers in India prefer to have a long-term relationship for building trust, which helps both the OEMs and the suppliers to go the extra mile when needed. Apart from large suppliers supplying technology and proprietary items, OEMs prefer to have an informal relationship so that they enjoy flexibility and attain agility. The price and volume dimensions are dependent on who enjoys more bargaining power.
Originality/value
This study made a substantial contribution to the literature by presenting a SCC strategy framework, ISCM (Indian Supply Chain Coordination Model). To the best of the authors’ knowledge, in the literature, there was no concrete framework for analyzing the coordination strategy specific to the Indian situation. The framework proposed has been derived based on empirical findings; hence, it is not a conceptual one. The authors also developed a supply chain typology. This study made a substantial contribution to the literature by presenting a SCC strategy framework, ISCM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, in the literature, there was no concrete framework for analyzing the coordination strategy specific to the Indian situation. The framework proposed has been derived based on empirical findings; hence, it is not a conceptual one. The authors also developed a supply chain typology.
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Bhavna Pandey, Prabir Bandyopadhyay and Alain Guiette
According to the published report by the National Sample Survey 2014 the data says that the incidence of indebtedness among households in the rural areas of Maharashtra, India, is…
Abstract
Purpose
According to the published report by the National Sample Survey 2014 the data says that the incidence of indebtedness among households in the rural areas of Maharashtra, India, is almost twice that of other rural places in India. Around 64 percent of rural households are indebted in Maharashtra as against 31 percent other households in India. The purpose of this paper is to examine which source of credit is creating more distress among the farmers. Further the researchers also wanted to find out the reasons why the farmers choose private moneylender over the formal financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve the objective, the authors used the mixed method methodology. The qualitative study was done using the ethnography approach .In depth interviews were conducted and coded accordingly to find out the themes. The interviews conducted were semi structured and had open ended questions in it, followed by a structured questionnaire. Different statistical tests were also applied on the responses obtained from the questionnaire to check the reliability and validity of the interviews. This methodology gave a robustness to the findings of the study.
Findings
The results show that sources of loan play a major role in causing farmer distress in Maharashtra. The findings also show major reasons like grapevine bureaucracy, lengthy documentation, etc. as the major reasons for choosing private lenders over the formal financial institutions. The most interesting finding of the study was a phenomena observed during the field study. The borrowers first borrow from financial institutions for their credit needs, when they fail to repay the debt borrowed they again borrow money from the private money lenders and with this borrowed money they try repaying a part of the old existing loan in order to make themselves eligible for the next loan cycle.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of the study is that due to time constraint only two districts with high number of farmer suicide could be visited. Given more time and fund a comparative study can be done among different states of India.
Practical implications
This study will help the policy makers in identifying the real cause of farmer distress. The motive behind the policies made by the government is very noble but the implementation of these policies is inadequate and without a strong research base. The paper will be able to highlight how much the state intervention is required at multiple levels in order to ensure that the benefits reaches to those who deserve it.
Social implications
It is imperative that we have yet not realized the gravity of the situation where people belonging from a community which is so essential to the economy are killing themselves because of lack of money. This is not just about the fact that the people who give us food are unable to access food themselves.
Originality/value
The paper contains significant information with regard to indebtedness. It focuses on the issue troubling the authorities the most. It provides the ground realities of the incidence of indebtedness in Maharashtra, one of the most distressed states of India. Lot of studies have been done in the past but very few studies have used mixed methodology to study this incidence of debt among the farmers of Maharashtra. This study also unveils a new phenomena of borrowing happening among the farmers of Maharashtra.
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Gawon Yun, Maling Ebrahimpour, Prabir Bandyopadhyay and Barbara Withers
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of a corporate ethical policy, such as a code of ethics, on the unethical behavior of internal and vendor employees in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of a corporate ethical policy, such as a code of ethics, on the unethical behavior of internal and vendor employees in the supply chain in India. It also aims to find whether International Standards Organization (ISO) certification of vendors affects the result and any significant relationship between management commitment and unethical behavior can be supported by the findings as well.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical analyses were conducted on a survey consisting of 43 questions comprising 181 valid responses. Multiple regression analysis that includes four independent variables – code of ethics, management commitment, supply chain principles and personal values taking unethical behavior as dependent variable – was used to find the significance of the relationship.
Findings
The implementation of a code of ethics, management commitment, supply chain principles and personal values all have a negative association with unethical behavior. Personal values, measuring a firm’s financial aspects for non-compliance to ethical behavior, have a positive association with unethical behavior. The relationships of top management commitment, personal values with internal employees’ unethical behavior are significant. The significant relationship between management commitment and unethical behavior can be supported by the findings as well. It was also found that ISO certificates and firm size as the control variables did not have any effect on the relationship between the independent variables and unethical behavior. The analysis also shows that ISO 26000 certificate, the international standard for socially responsible operations, does not impact this relationship.
Research limitations/implications
Measuring substantial managerial effort for corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices by asking questions like, “how committed employees think top management is to social responsibility,” may not fully measure substantial managerial effort for CSR practices. To improve the results of the current study, future research can use the CSR index or disclosure as a measure to better reflect management commitment and practice for social responsibility. Second, the current study is limited to measuring how many occurrences of unethical behavior are witnessed by employees instead of what specific unethical behavior is more often witnessed. Considering India has the second largest population in the world, 181 responses may not represent the true practices in the business environment in India for generalization.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that management should put more of an emphasis on improving the commitment of upper-level managers to decrease the overall unethical practices of their employees. The study finds that employees’ personal values influence their ethical behavior. Therefore, communications and training of employees at all levels should emphasis on improving personal values.
Social implications
Businesses should influence academics to incorporate personal value building in course curricula. The Indian CSR law should incorporate the holistic view of CSR taking care of needs of all stakeholders under the provision of the regulation. In 2015, India became the first country in the world to legislate CSR practices in corporations but it misses the opportunity to sensitize the management and employees on ethical practices as it mainly identified philanthropic expenses as mandatory CSR spending and silent on ethical business practices.
Originality/value
The present study contributes to the literature by bringing supply chain context to the effect of different factors on unethical behaviors and interaction of internal and vendor firms in terms of ethical practices. There are several studies on business ethics in different countries including China, but in the case of India similar studies are not much. The present study fills the gap.
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Bhavna Pandey, Prabir Bandyopadhyay, Sanjeev Kadam and Manju Singh
The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative analysis of the extant literature on farmer distress resulting from agricultural credit and identify research gaps.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative analysis of the extant literature on farmer distress resulting from agricultural credit and identify research gaps.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used the citation analysis which is based on the citation graph. For the current study, the authors have used SCOPUS database.
Findings
The study reveals that the farmer distress is one of the social sustainability issues which have attracted major attentions from academia. Most of the studies in recent years are from South Asian perspectives and the extant literature focusing on some of the important issues like farmer challenges and pesticide poisoning. Most of the studies provide anecdotal evidences. Hence, the empirical research is scant.
Originality/value
The study is an attempt to provide an in-depth analysis, so that future research directions can be formulated.