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In globalized market, organizations of all sizes are having huge opportunities for growth. However, due to various resource constraints, it has become challenging for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) of growing economies to survive in this global competition. Effective supply chain management (SCM) can be a major driving factor for success of Indian SMEs in dynamic world economy. SMEs face many operational challenges while implementing effective SCM. The purpose of this paper is to study different strategic issues for successful implementation of SCM in Indian SMEs.

A survey has been conducted in Indian SMEs of different sectors. Major constructs of survey instrument are motivations, hindrances, investment priorities, supply chain practices and performance. In total, 1,500 Indian SMEs have been approached for collecting response through survey instrument. 257 complete responses were finalized. Statistical analysis of data acquired from survey is performed by using SPSS software.

It is observed that managing customers, organization resources, and inventory are main SCM practices. Major investment areas are systems for developing quick response and quality management. Currently, human resource and knowledge management have been found to be less priority areas for SMEs. The major focus of Indian SMEs is on cost and lead time reduction by having effective SCM.

Novelty of this study is that strategic issues for effective SCM in context to Indian SMEs have been analyzed. The findings of the study will help Indian SMEs in doing strategic planning for being competitive in the global market.

Digital platforms (DP) are transforming service delivery and affecting associated actors. The position of DPs is impacted by the regulations. However, emerging economies often lack the regulatory environment to support DPs. This paper aims to explore the regulatory developments for DPs using the multi-level perspective (MLP).

The paper explores regulatory developments of ride-hailing platforms (RHPs) in India and their impacts. This study uses qualitative interview data from platform representatives, bureaucrats, drivers, experts and policy documents.

Regulatory developments in the ride-hailing space cannot be explained as a linear progression. The static institutional assumptions, especially without considering the multi-actors and multi-levels in policy formulation, do not serve associated actors adequately in different times and spaces. The RHPs regulations must consider the perspective of new RHPs and the support available to them. Non-consideration of short- and long-term perspectives of RHPs may have unequal outcomes for established and new RHPs.

This research has implications for the digital economy regulatory ecosystem, DPs and implications for policymakers. Though the data from legal documents and qualitative interviews is adequate, transactional data from the RHPs and interviews with judiciary actors would have been insightful.

The study provides insights into critical aspects of regulatory evolution, governance and regulatory impact on the DPs’ ecosystem. The right balance of regulations according to the business models of DPs allows DPs to have space for growth and development of the platform ecosystem.

This research shows the interactions in the digital space and how regulations can impact various actors. A balanced policy can guide the paths of DPs to have equal opportunities.

DP regulations have a complex structure. The paper studies regulatory developments of DPs and the impacts of governance and controls on associated players and platform ecosystems.

In the present context of a health-concious society, management of pharmaceutical supply chains has become more complex because it involves the life-saving interest of human being and requires the participation of different stakeholders such as pharmaceutical manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, customers, information service providers and regulatory agencies. Limited research is available in the area of pharmaceutical supply chains. This paper aims to find the gaps in the literature by reviewing research papers on different strategic issues of supply chain management in the pharmaceutical sector.

In total, 136 research papers, mainly from refereed international journals, were reviewed to identify the issues of supply chain management (SCM) in the pharmaceutical supply chain. On the basis of a review, gaps are identified and research agenda is proposed.

It is observed from review that the pharmaceutical sector is not widely researched in developing countries because of many complexities in this supply chain. The share of pharmaceutical firms in the global market is also not very significant. Based on an extensive review of pharmaceutical supply chains, research gaps are identified in different areas such as inventory management, new product development, process development, capacity planning, network design, plant design, pipeline and development management, outsourcing logistics activities, reverse logistics, Lean manufacturing, green SCM and implementation of E-business processes and performance management. These strategic issues have been further classified into three broad categories, i.e. resources, processes and performance.

This paper explores major strategic areas of pharmaceutical supply chains for research. Findings of the paper will be highly useful for researchers to decide direction of future research.

Globalization and liberalization of the world economy have leveled the field for all competitors across the globe. To face global competition successfully, SMEs have to break their isolation in the value chain. To overcome the dynamic challenges of the market, supply chain management can be an important tool for SMEs. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize different issues related to the coordination and responsiveness of supply chain management in SMEs, through a review of the literature.

In all, 116 research papers, mainly from referred international journals, are reviewed to identify the thrust areas of research. On the basis of the review, gaps are identified and a research agenda is proposed.

It is observed from the review that SMEs have not been very proactive in implementing supply chain management. These organizations face a lot of problems in coordinating their operations with other members of the supply chain. They are localized in functioning. On export fronts SMEs face many constraints due to lack of resources and poor innovative capabilities. To face the challenges of open global market, SMEs have to manage their problems and supply chain risks effectively. Research gaps are identified in different areas of the supply chain such as coordination and responsiveness issues, service quality issues, and performance benchmarking for future directions of research.

This paper explores the major areas for research on coordination and responsiveness of SME supply chains. The findings of the paper will be highly useful for the researchers to decide the direction of their research.

In the modern digital age technologies like Industry 4.0 has revolutionized the manufacturing sector. There are many economic and technological advantages of digitalization. Along with economic benefits, manufacturing enterprises especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs) need to take advantage of digitalization in strengthening their social performance. Observing the importance of social performance of Indian SMEs and availability of limited research in this direction, the current study has done a holistic analysis of social performance enablers.

A systematic literature review with a series of personal interviews of experts has been conducted to identify the enablers of social performance and supportive digital technologies. A fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) approach has been applied to find the degree of influence and interrelation between enablers. Sensitivity analysis is also performed to validate the results obtained.

Authors observed that policies of corporate and social responsibility, support by top management, awareness of social performance issues, and ethical practices and collaboration amongst supply chain members are leading causing enablers of social performance. Preparedness for the uncertainty of pandemics, improved work conditions and ergonomics, green practices, improvement in global business and improved living standards of employees and their families are leading the effect group of enablers. Further authors also observed that social media, information and communication technologies (ICT), websites, smart surveillance, e-mails and cloud computing are few supportive digital technologies of social performance issues.

SMEs all over the globe are passing through a transition due to digitalization and influence of pandemics. The finding of current study highlights the importance of strategic management of social performance enablers. Since the research is very limited in the social performance area, especially in Indian SMEs, this study makes a notable contribution to the literature too.

Novelty of this study is that social performance enablers of Indian SMEs in the digital era have been analysed holistically. The content of this research is the original work of the authors and has not been submitted for any other publication.

The purpose of this methodology is to categorise the challenges into cause and effect group. The modern scenario of customization, personalization and multi-restrictive working because of pandemics has affected the operations of manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In the new normal, the digitalization of manufacturing SMEs can be the path breaker. Modern digitalization includes a mix of technologies such as the industrial internet of things (IIoT), the internet of things, cyber-physical system and big data analytics. This digitalization can help in achieving new design changes, efficient production scheduling, smart manufacturing and unrestricted on-time delivery of quality products. This research paper aims to recognize and analyze the challenges faced while implementing IIoT technologies in manufacturing SMEs and tries to find the possibility of mitigating challenges by blockchain technology.

There were ten challenges of IIoT implementation identified from the literature review and experts’ opinions. To collect information from Indian manufacturing SMEs, a survey tool was formed in the form of a questionnaire. On the fundament of responses received from industrial experts, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique has been used for categorizing these challenges into cause and effect groups. Further, the authors tried to mitigate observed challenges with the help of blockchain technology.

With the implementation of IIoT technologies, the manufacturing processes become conciliatory, effective and traceable in real time. Observation of the current study states that the top effect group challenges such as the security of data and reliability of technologies can be mitigated by enabling blockchain technologies. The authors conclude that blockchain-enabled IIoT technologies will be highly beneficial for the Indian SMEs strategically and practically in the current scenario.

Methodology of DEMATEL focuses on responses received from experts. The broader approach of survey from manufacturing organizations is compromised due to small sample size in this methodology. Experts approached for survey were from manufacturing SMEs of Delhi National Capital Region only. Broader survey-based techniques may be applied covering different sectors of SMEs in future work.

Technologies such as blockchain can facilitate advanced security in the application of IIoT and other such practices. While dealing with significant issues and challenges of new technologies, blockchain gives an edge of balance in the current scenario. Its properties of fixity, temper evident and circumvent fraud make this technology ideal for the digitalization of the manufacturing systems in SMEs.

Digitalization of manufacturing facilities is the need of the hour. Pandemic challenges have highlighted the urgency of it. This research will motivate and guide the manufacturing SMEs in planning strategies and long-term policies in implementing modern technologies and coping up with the pandemic challenges.

The paper addresses various cyber threats and their effects on the internet. A review of the literature on intrusion detection systems (IDSs) as a means of mitigating internet attacks is presented, and gaps in the research are identified. The purpose of this paper is to identify the limitations of the current research and presents future directions for intrusion/malware detection research.

The paper presents a review of the research literature on IDSs, prior to identifying research gaps and limitations and suggesting future directions.

The popularity of the internet makes it vulnerable against various cyber-attacks. Ongoing research on intrusion detection methods aims to overcome the limitations of earlier approaches to internet security. However, findings from the literature review indicate a number of different limitations of existing techniques: poor accuracy, high detection time, and low flexibility in detecting zero-day attacks.

This paper provides a review of major issues in intrusion detection approaches. On the basis of a systematic and detailed review of the literature, various research limitations are discovered. Clear and concise directions for future research are provided.

Manufacturing excellence is critical to our nation’s economy. Indian Government’s National Manufacturing Policy, drafted in 2011, is being revamped to include the aspects of Industry 4.0. Initiatives, both led and assisted by government and industries, are being launched to catalyze and transform India’s manufacturing competencies. This paper aims to study the functional areas which can potentially leverage Industry 4.0 technologies and help India’s manufacturing establishments to transform. It does so in context of the aspirations of India’s small and medium discrete manufacturing establishments (SMME) towards adopting digital technologies for the identified functional areas. The study draws its context from the relevant literature review intended to examine the academic articles published until the end of September 2018, followed by a maturity assessment survey of Indian SMMEs to establish priority areas

The literature survey has been complemented with a maturity survey of more than 250 of Indian SMMEs to establish adoption gaps by comparing proficiency and sophistication of their present status and proposed adoption aspirations by 2020. The assessment of the organizational aspirations and gap areas identified is expected to indicate which of the Industry 4.0 elements can be adopted by them.

The maturity survey undertaken throws up several insights – Indian SMME community’s self-assessment indicates operational measurements followed by manufacturing and design interventions as the aspired transformation cycle. The survey indicates that manufacturers would like to make changes to their design and manufacturing strategies based on performance metrics; therefore, they need to first capture real-time machine data, analyze and then incorporate the resulting improvements in manufacturing and design decisions in that order.

The maturity assessment method itself is in evolution stage, and future correlations with benefits will strengthen observations. Industry 4.0 being relatively new initiative for India, availability of country-specific academic literature is limited. The maturity assessment survey undertaken across organizations of North, West and South India therefore carries the risk of not reflecting the views of a wider population. The current maturity, or the lack of it, of proficiency and readiness of India’s SMMEs with respect to digital technologies may also be a barrier to self-examine.

This research is expected to provide insight into priorities to be adopted for digital-centric transformation by Indian SMMEs. It is expected to facilitate policymakers and influencers from government and industry to help frame policies that facilitate the adoption of digital technologies by Indian SMMEs and facilitate India’s technical education community to adopt skill development programs to support industry. It is expected to provide guidance to India’s academic institutions to rejig their curriculums to help bridge the critical skills gap that exists between newly inducted engineering professionals and industry.

Digitalization is expected to foster lean and therefore support sustainability initiatives. Digitalization is expected to help create new, alternative sources of employment which are more relevant to emerging times and foster unlearning the past and relearning of new skills. This emerging diversity of engineering applications resulting from digitalization is expected to also support the larger and poorer agricultural community of India and help the sector to become more efficient and productive, which in turn will reduce economic alienation of a large section of Indian society.

Industry 4.0 has been identified as the transformational initiative for India’s manufacturing competitiveness. Indian manufacturing sector needs to urgently implement the digital technologies and improve their performance and remain relevant in this dynamic market. This research will help guide them to frame their respective digital strategies and be successful. This research will help government and industry influencers to plan and execute their interventions.

This experimental study aims to deal with the improvement of process performance of electric discharge drilling (EDD) for fabricating true blind holes in titanium alloy Ti6Al4V. Micro EDD was performed on Ti6Al4V and blind holes were drilled into the workpiece.

The effects of input parameters (i.e. voltage, capacitance and spindle speed) on responses (i.e. material removal rate, tool wear rate and surface roughness [SR]) were evaluated through response surface methodology. The data was analyzed using analysis of variance and multi-optimization was performed for the optimized set of parameters. The optimized process parameters were then used to drill deeper blind holes.

Blind holes have few characteristics such as SR, taper angle and corner radius. The value of corner radius reflects the quality of the hole produced as well as the amount of tool roundness. The optimized process parameters suggested by the current experimental study lower down the response values (i.e. SR, taper angle and corner radius). The process is found very effective in producing finished blind holes.

This experimental study establishes EDD as a feasible process for the fabrication of truly blind holes in Ti6Al4V.

Human Resource Management (HRM), Industrial Relations, Labor Law (Indian business context), Organizational Behavior, Trade Union and Employer-Employee Relationship.

Academic students (MBA and BBA), management trainees, HR managers and top management of organizations interested in understanding the importance HRM practices.

This case describes an Industrial Relations situation in an automobile company in India. It begins with the mention of Maruti Suzuki India Limited's (MSIL) brush with an unprecedented labor violence that rocked its Manesar facility on July 18, 2012, eventually leading to the lock out of the same on July 21, 2012. Further, it describes the background of the company, employer-employee relationship, a series of strikes experienced by the company, incidents that led to the violence, incidents that happened on the day of violence and finally actions taken after the violence by the company, the government and the union. With such details, the case raises questions on the prolonged people management issues afflicting MSIL. It endeavors to educate the discussants on the specifics of an industrial relations system and the role of each actor toward maintaining industrial peace.

Understanding the role of actors of industrial relations toward effective HRM in the organization. Analyzing the compliance of the actors under the existing labor laws as applicable to the organization. Comprehending the attitude of employees, employers and industry toward each other and also toward the job. To understand the nuances of people management function and its contribution toward the violence that eventually resulted in lockout. To comprehend various organizational behavior concepts that shall help synergize the employees' objectives and employer's goal. To analyze the complete incident with relevant organizational and industrial relations (IR) theories.

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