Rohit Singh, Shwetank Avikal, Rashmi Rashmi and Mangey Ram
In today's era of a digital world, mobile phones have now become an essential part in everyday life. The selection of the best mobile phone among the available alternatives is a…
Abstract
Purpose
In today's era of a digital world, mobile phones have now become an essential part in everyday life. The selection of the best mobile phone among the available alternatives is a complex decision making it a problem for the customers. Mobile phone manufactures are facing a lot of problems for launching/introducing a mobile phone according to the requirement of customers and it depends on a number of criteria/attributes such as: technical specifications, price, brand etc.
Design/methodology/approach
In the presented work, the above-discussed problem has been considered as a Multi-Criteria Decision Making MCDM problem and an approach based on Kano model with Fuzzy AHP and TOPSIS has been proposed to solve the problem. The Kano model has been used for identifying the different Kano categories of all the features through a customer survey. Fuzzy AHP has been applied to achieve the weights of each feature in order to introduce a best mobile phone for the customers. TOPSIS has been used for ranking of alternatives.
Findings
main features with different other sub-features have been selected for the study. Different features have been considered as categories and their Kano categories have been found out. The importance of these features has also been calculated by Fuzzy-AHP in terms of their evaluated weights. Different mobile phones have been ranked by TOPSIS according to their features calculated by Fuzzy-AHP. The proposed approach seems effective for identifying/classifying different attributes/features of mobile phones according to customer's requirements.
Originality/value
Here, different features of a mobile phone have been considered for designing a suitable mobile phone. Thus, this work can help a designer to design and select a suitable feature for a customer-oriented mobile phone.
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Gambhir Shrestha, Rashmi Mulmi, Deepak Kumar Yadav, Dharanidhar Baral, Birendra Kumar Yadav, Avaniendra Chakravartty, Paras Kumar Pokharel and Nidesh Sapkota
The purpose of this paper is to assess the health status and risky behaviours of inmates in Nepal.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the health status and risky behaviours of inmates in Nepal.
Design/methodology/approach
This cross-sectional study was conducted in Jhumka Regional Prison, the largest male prison in eastern Nepal from September 2014 to August 2015. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews from 434 randomly selected incarcerated participants using semi-structured questionnaires.
Findings
The mean age of 434 participants was 35.7 years (SD 13.3). The majority (84 per cent) had at least one current health problem, of which the commonest were respiratory (50 per cent), skin (38 per cent) and digestive (26 per cent). Alcohol (73 per cent) and cigarettes (71 per cent) were the most commonly used substances prior to imprisonment. Approximately, 27 and 11 per cent reported illicit drug use and injectable drug use prior to incarceration, respectively. A total of 204 inmates reported having intercourse with sex workers. Of these, 49 per cent did not use a condom in their last intercourse with a sex worker.
Research limitations/implications
This paper illustrates that a wide range of physical and mental health problems exist among incarcerated people in Nepal. The study may lack generalisability, however, as it was conducted in a single male prison.
Practical implications
The paper suggests a need for medical, psychiatric and substance abuse care in correctional settings to improve the health status of the prison population. It is also important to develop screening policies for blood-borne viral and other infectious diseases in the prison.
Originality/value
This is the first study of its kind drawn from prisons in Nepal.
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This study aims to investigate an initial understanding about the different factors that are inducing and stemming the monotony of different social networking sites (SNSs)…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate an initial understanding about the different factors that are inducing and stemming the monotony of different social networking sites (SNSs). Specifically, the study provides an initial understanding for the liking/disliking of different SNSs, factors affecting users’ monotony and its impact on the success and effectiveness of different marketing activities.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey questionnaire was adopted from previously developed and validated scales. The questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students enrolled in different universities in India. We have used regression analysis, bootstrapping technique, Sobel test and ANOVA to address the research questions and hence to test the hypotheses.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed that gender does not have any impact on the monotony of SNSs. Both genders are experiencing boredom for SNSs and spend less time on such sites. Moreover, SNS boredom negatively impacts users’ attitudes toward different SNSs such as Facebook, twitter, etc., which in turn develop negative attitudes toward the different advertisement on these sites. This study revealed the marketers’ necessity of studying the phenomenon of SNS boredom. One of the most important finding of this study is that users’ age decides the level of monotony/boredom with the social sites; older users report significantly lower levels of social sites boredom as compared to younger users.
Research limitations/implications
To capture the opinion of SNS users, this study used a sample of students from different universities. The study findings are primarily based on studies utilizing millennial population.
Originality/value
This is the first study which empirically examines the phenomenon of social networking boredom among millennial by linking the theories of monotony, i.e. gratification theory. The findings of the study added a chapter in the literature by identifying the underlying mechanism through which monotony of SNS impacts effectiveness of the social media marketing activities. The findings shed more light on the consequences of SNS monotony for the digital marketers and revealed that age is an important factor in it.
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Aakanksha Kataria, Kumari Rashmi and Mansi Rastogi
This study aims to investigate how workplace resourcefulness (positive psychological climate), as well as personal resources (psychological capital [PsyCap]), influence work…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate how workplace resourcefulness (positive psychological climate), as well as personal resources (psychological capital [PsyCap]), influence work engagement to promote change-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (Ch-OCBs) among Indian information technology (IT) personnel.
Design/methodology/approach
The social exchange theory and job demands-resources model are used to provide rationale for proposing a comprehensive mechanism including antecedents, moderators as well as mediators enabling Ch-OCBs among IT personnel. Structured questionnaires were administered targeting IT professionals and their supervisors to test the proposed relationships. The obtained data from 30 supervisors and 240 subordinates were tested using confirmatory factor analysis, SEM and moderated path analysis technique.
Findings
Psychological climate, PsyCap and work engagement positively relate to Ch-OCBs; PsyCap moderated the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement. Specifically, the relationship between psychological climate and work engagement has come out stronger for employees with high PsyCap. Work engagement fully mediated the relationship between psychological climate and Ch-OCBs.
Practical implications
The findings can be critical in promoting voluntary change-focused behaviors among Indian IT personnel, for Indian and foreign (non-Indian) multi-national corporations that are interested in reaping profits by availing change-driven extra-role services of their efficient and the most preferred Indian IT employees of the world.
Originality/value
This study addresses to the call for more research on change-focused promotive part of OCB and advances the literature by providing evidence on the proposed set of associations from fast-pacing Indian economy.
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Rashmi Mishra, Abhishek Mishra, Veenus Tiwari and Rajendra Kumar Jain
The purpose of this paper is to examine the education service quality factors, for online education context, that drive the brand equity of a higher education institute. In the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the education service quality factors, for online education context, that drive the brand equity of a higher education institute. In the times of emerging online education programmes by otherwise traditional institutes, assessing the service quality of educational institutions and its effect on the institute’s brand represents an extant research gap.
Design/methodology/approach
This study addresses the gap by empirically measuring higher education institution (HEI) service quality and explores its impact on student engagement, satisfaction and brand equity. This research analyses structured data from 250 students, through partial least squares-based structural equation modelling, to test the proposed hypotheses.
Findings
Within the overall service quality of an HEI, all components of institutional service quality are found to affect student engagement strongly; however, only some dimensions of learning management system service quality do. Student engagement is found to positively impact student satisfaction which, in turn, strongly affects all elements of HEI brand equity.
Originality/value
This study adds value to the extant research in higher education service quality by adding a layer of online platform service quality and offers actionable insights for HEI administrators.
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Neha Singh, Rajeshwari Panigrahi, Rashmi Ranjan Panigrahi and Jamini Ranjan Meher
Blockchain technology can potentially address the challenges of information storage, sharing and management and improve them further in an organization and sector as a whole. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Blockchain technology can potentially address the challenges of information storage, sharing and management and improve them further in an organization and sector as a whole. This study aims to investigate the effects of technology, organization and environment on the behavioral intention of employees to adopt blockchain in the Indian insurance sector and the mediating role of knowledge management practices.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured questionnaire was used to collect a sample size of 390 responses based on convenience sampling. Partial least square structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.
Findings
The findings highlighted that organizational factors, followed by technological factors, significantly impact employees' behavioral intentions. The results established that the impact of environmental factors is insignificant on blockchain adoption intention. Knowledge management practices significantly mediate the relationship between organizational factors, technological factors and behavioral intention.
Practical implications
The results indicate that organizations must prioritize organizational factors (technological competence, top management support and financial readiness) and knowledge management practices (knowledge creation, sharing and retention) to positively impact employees' behavioral intentions and ensure successful and effective technology adoption.
Originality/value
Using the Technology-Organization-Environment framework, the study tests the conceptual model, showing the relationship between technological, organizational and environmental factors, behavioral intention and knowledge management practices. The role of knowledge management practices in technology adoption within organizations has been scarcely explored. This study adds significant and novel contributions in this area.
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Rama Charan Tripathi, Vaibhav Dwivedi and Rashmi Kumar
This study aims to understand factors that explain the use of revenge and forgiveness by Hindu and Muslim group members in reaction to the rival group’s negative reciprocal…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand factors that explain the use of revenge and forgiveness by Hindu and Muslim group members in reaction to the rival group’s negative reciprocal behaviour based on norms of negative reciprocity.
Design/methodology/approach
Participants from Hindu (n = 175) and Muslim (n = 134) groups in India were presented with two norm-violating situations. Situation 1 involved an intergroup episode and Situation 2 involved an inter-community episode. Their own group members had engaged in the violation of the norms of the other group to which the rival group members had responded negatively. Participants anticipated the likelihood of their group members using revenge or forgiveness in response to the other group’s negative reaction. These reactions were predicted by religious, political and cultural identities, fraternalistic relative deprivation (FRD), relative power, anger and hate, and perception of the appropriateness of their reaction.
Findings
Social identities predicted intergroup revenge and forgiveness differently for the two groups in the two situations. The stronger religious identity of Muslims, not of Hindus, reduced the likelihood of their using revenge but increased it for forgiveness in both situations. Political identity associated positively with forgiveness in Situation 2 for both groups. Cultural identity predicted the likelihood of Muslims opting for forgiveness in both situations. FRD was not a significant predictor of revenge or forgiveness for Muslims. In the case of Hindus, it reduced the likelihood of their engaging in forgiveness in Situation 2. Relative power associated positively with the likelihood of Muslims, not Hindus, using revenge in both situations. Anger increased the possibility of Hindus reacting in revenge, as well as, forgiveness in the two situations. Anger did not predict revenge for Muslims but it related negatively with forgiveness in the two situations. Stronger hate was associated with revenge for Muslims. The choice of using revenge or forgiveness by own group members was positively predicted by the norms of negative reciprocity for both Hindus and Muslims.
Research limitations/implications
The study used a convenience sample of young people which reduces the generalizability of the findings.
Social implications
The findings of this study have implications for designing interventions for resolving intergroup conflicts in various social settings.
Originality/value
The paper adds to the norm violation theory of intergroup relations by focusing on counter-reactions and the understanding of the dynamics of intergroup conflicts.
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Rashmi Ranjan Panigrahi, Avinash K. Shrivastava and Sai Sudhakar Nudurupati
Effective inventory management is crucial for SMEs due to limited resources and higher risks like cash flow, storage space, and stockouts. Hence, the aim is to explore how…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective inventory management is crucial for SMEs due to limited resources and higher risks like cash flow, storage space, and stockouts. Hence, the aim is to explore how technology and know-how can be integrated with inventory practices and impact operational performance.
Design/methodology/approach
The basis of the analysis was collecting papers from a wide range of databases, which included Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. In the first phase of the process, a search string with as many as nine related keywords was used to obtain 175 papers. It further filtered them based on their titles and abstracts to retain 95 papers that were included for thorough analysis.
Findings
The study introduced innovative methods of measuring inventory practices by exploring the impact of know-how. It is the first of its kind to identify and demonstrate how technical, technological, and behavioral know-how can influence inventory management practices and ultimately impact the performance of emerging SMEs. This study stands out for its comprehensive approach, which covers traditional and modern inventory management technologies in a single study.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides valuable insights into the interplay between technical, technological, and behavioral know-how in inventory management practices and their effects on the performance of emerging SMEs in Industry 5.0 in the light of RBV theory.
Originality/value
The RBV theory and the Industry 5.0 paradigm are used in this study to explore how developing SMEs' inventory management practices influence their performance. This study investigates the effects of traditional and modern inventory management systems on business performance. Incorporating RBV theory with the Industry 5.0 framework investigates firm-specific resources and technological advances in the current industrial revolution. This unique technique advances the literature on inventory management and has industry implications.
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Rashmi Kumari, Aruna Divya Tatavarthy and Arvind Sahay
Given the growing acceptance of cashback offers (e.g. $10 PayPal cashback within 24 hours of the transaction) among retailers, this paper aims to understand how consumers evaluate…
Abstract
Purpose
Given the growing acceptance of cashback offers (e.g. $10 PayPal cashback within 24 hours of the transaction) among retailers, this paper aims to understand how consumers evaluate them vis-à-vis traditional price-discounts and their subsequent impact on retailers’ promotional strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
Six experimental studies examine if and when consumers can discern differences in the time-of-reward-accrual (i.e. the waiting time associated with receiving promotional savings) of cashbacks and price-discounts. Building on evaluability theory, we propose that the time-of-reward-accrual of promotion is hard-to-evaluate. Put simply, consumers find it hard to assess the duration of waiting time associated with receiving promotions. Consequently, consumers’ perceptions of cashbacks vis-à-vis price-discounts can be influenced by whether they evaluate both promotions simultaneously [joint-evaluation (JE) mode] or independently [single-evaluation (SE) mode].
Findings
The initial four studies show that the time-of-reward-accrual of promotions is hard-to-evaluate. Cashbacks appear just as appealing as price-discounts when consumers evaluate them independently (SE-mode) but lose their appeal when consumers view them alongside price-discounts (JE-mode). The next two studies further enhance the generalizability of our findings by replicating the observed effects for different purchase types (hedonic vs utilitarian) and varying promotional benefit levels (high vs low).
Originality/value
By shedding light on evaluations of time-of-reward-accrual of promotion, this paper adds a new dimension to research on promotions. The paper also extends the application of evaluability theory beyond domains such as hiring, fairness judgments and product bundle assessments. The paper presents evaluation mode as a boundary condition to explain contradictory predictions from prior research for consumers’ preferences for delayed vs immediate promotions.
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Rashmi Dewangan and Manoj Verghese
This study aims to explore the impact of organizational climates on constructive workplace deviance by examining staff attitudes to four dimensions of institutional climate…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of organizational climates on constructive workplace deviance by examining staff attitudes to four dimensions of institutional climate: academic; administrative; developmental; and financial. Though carried out with exclusively academic staff working in university environments, it has considerable potential as a pilot for adaptation to the needs of managers and carers working with intellectually challenged offenders and their families.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a purposive (non-probability) sample of 357 academicians used in technical education in public or private organizations were collected electronically using a Likert-type questionnaire. Analytic techniques used in this study include measurement model assessment and structural equation modeling.
Findings
Respondents indicated that institutional climate significantly influences employees in how they exhibit constructive deviance in their workplace behavior. Practices such as whistle blowing, prosocial rule-breaking and openly expressing their concerns are common symptoms exhibited in constructive deviant behavior. An employee who is positively influenced by the organization’s climate would stand up against any policy or activity that could disrupt or harm the company’s operations and reputation. Results imply that, of the four climate variables analysed, financial climate has the most influence on positive deviance, followed by developmental and administrative climates, with academic climate having the least influence.
Practical implications
The current study’s target population is the academicians working as faculty members in the field of technical education, having multiple implications for the management of institutions. The findings of the study emphasize the significance of their workplace policies and ethics. Given the indication that financial climate appeared to be the most influential of the dimensions under study, this would emphasize the need to develop an environment where there is no irrelevant discrimination in pay based solely on gender, caste or creed.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to understand and describe its four key elements together as contributory factors to constructive deviance in an organization.