Arun Kumar Gopalaswamy and Saji K. Mathew
Entrepreneurship, finance, technology and innovation, general management.
Abstract
Subject area
Entrepreneurship, finance, technology and innovation, general management.
Study level/applicability
This case is suitable for students in finance, entrepreneurship and general management. The case seeks to understand the challenges of funding in technology startups and how they vary from product to service areas.
Case overview
Availability of capital, short term and long term, is a major constraint faced by entrepreneurs. In India, in the technology sector, services companies have been able to innovate and grow whereas product-based companies that survived the challenges of funding have been scarce. Aluru Karthik Prasanth is presented in the case as a young entrepreneur with passion and drive to pursue the commercialization of an idea he developed during his undergraduate studies in engineering. Leaving behind the beaten paths ofMTech and employment, he decides to pursue MS entrepreneurship at IIT Madras. As he starts with his program, he analyses the challenges faced by previous technology start ups, Karthik has a dilemma – deciding whether to follow a product idea or change his plans to a technology service.
Expected learning outcomes
A detailed analysis of the case would help students address the following questions in entrepreneurial decision making: should an entrepreneur in technology in India pursue a product idea or service idea?. What are the pros and cons of each choice in financing? How can an entrepreneur pursue a product idea and minimize his/her risks? How does an entrepreneur's personal attributes influence his/her course? (e.g. family background, need for control) What are the challenges and opportunities in each kind of funding: debt, venture, angel, etc. in the Indian context?
Supplementary materials
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Saji K. Mathew and Thillai Rajan
This case provides useful material for discussion on topics such as sustainability, business continuity, corporate social responsibility and green IT.
Abstract
Subject area
This case provides useful material for discussion on topics such as sustainability, business continuity, corporate social responsibility and green IT.
Study level/applicability
The case could be used in different areas of business management such as general management, information systems and business strategy.
Case overview
The case presents the progressive evolution of Infosys Limited from its beginnings through different stages of innovation and consolidation in the IT services industry. Senior executives at Infosys believe that the sustainability initiative at Infosys is not a new movement, but a logical extension of the company's long standing commitment to society and environment. Sustainability was a key agenda at Infosys and it was deeply ingrained in the company's ethos and the way in which it operated. The case also articulates the company's commitment to sustainability as evidenced by the involvement of the top management in providing leadership. From an academic standpoint the case provides pointers to look at how the IT services industry has responded to sustainability practices and how sustainability practices are different or similar across various firms.
Expected learning outcomes
The case can help students to answer the following questions: How is sustainability different from corporate social responsibility? What is the context in which Infosys' attention turned towards sustainability? How is top management involved in Infosys' sustainability initiative? What are the elements of Infosys' sustainability strategy? How does it build on its core strengths? What are the structural mechanisms the company has provided to implement its sustainability strategy? What internal challenges to change while implementing green solutions were foreseen and overcome by Infosys? How competitive is Infosys' sustainability practices with respect to its competitors? How does it help the company in competing in the market?
Supplementary materials
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Deepak Dahiya and Saji K. Mathew
Although governments are hugely investing in information technology (IT) infrastructure, eGovernment performance has reported variations in performance. The relationship between…
Abstract
Purpose
Although governments are hugely investing in information technology (IT) infrastructure, eGovernment performance has reported variations in performance. The relationship between IT infrastructure investments and eGovernment performance remains unexplored in academic research. This study aims to explain how investments in IT assets lead to infrastructure capability and eGovernment system performance. The work conceptualizes technical performance of IT infrastructure as a consequent of thoughtful investments in IT assets, which help generate IT infrastructure capability. The findings have important implications for eGovernment theory and practice in developing understanding about eGovernment IT infrastructure and supporting decision-making on the choice of infrastructure components.
Design/methodology/approach
This study showcases quantitative analysis based on survey method-based research using a questionnaire for testing the hypotheses formulated.
Findings
The analysis of the work showed that IT infrastructure performance is a significant mediator between investments in IT assets and IT infrastructure capability.
Research limitations/implications
Owing to constraints of data collection, probability sampling was not followed, which is a prerequisite for statistical generalization.
Practical implications
The study provides insights for governments on investing in technologies that meet requisite performance standards. IT infrastructure performance is an antecedent of IT infrastructure capability, which directly determines how an eGovernment system performs.
Social implications
The study shows that delay in implementing new service models such as cloud potentially result in relatively lower performance of the IT infrastructure for the investments made in the given assets.
Originality/value
This paper builds on the existing literature on IT assets, IT infrastructure performance and IT infrastructure capability and applies it to the eGovernment domain.
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Deepak Dahiya and Saji K. Mathew
Although government investments in IT is growing, it is unclear how and what kind of IT investments lead to desirable E-Government performance. Several studies pertaining to the…
Abstract
Purpose
Although government investments in IT is growing, it is unclear how and what kind of IT investments lead to desirable E-Government performance. Several studies pertaining to the business value of IT have developed and tested frameworks for IT infrastructure, IT capability and business performance. However, E-Government-related IT investment outcomes cannot be measured by profits and hence requires a separate investigation. E-Government research using theoretical approach has been reported as very scarce in previous studies. This research aims to bridge the gap by developing a model to study IT infrastructure capability and E-Government performance in the emerging context of new IT service delivery models.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows a case study method in this research with a priori conceptual framework. The data were collected following an interview method used for deductive theory building.
Findings
The results identified a positive relationship between IT assets and IT infrastructure performance in the presence of service delivery channels and an anticipation of a positive influence of infrastructure performance variables on IT capability which in turn shows positive effect on E-Government performance.
Research limitations/implications
Because the study followed a qualitative approach, the findings from this study are not useful for statistical generalization. However, the analytical framework provides sufficient ground to test E-Government performance.
Practical implications
The study provides insights in the choice of IT infrastructure elements fitting an E-Government strategy.
Social implications
This study provides an integrated framework for measuring E-Government performance, thereby making deployment of IT infrastructure accountable both in terms of IT performance and IT capability. This in turn will lead to improvement in citizen services.
Originality/value
This paper builds on the existing literature on IT assets, IT infrastructure performance, IT infrastructure capability and applies to the E-Government domain.
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Although risks and client‐vendor relationships in IT outsourcing have been studied in prior research, there is a paucity of studies providing insights on the mitigation of client…
Abstract
Purpose
Although risks and client‐vendor relationships in IT outsourcing have been studied in prior research, there is a paucity of studies providing insights on the mitigation of client risks through the relationship. This research aims to focus on mitigation of the ex post risks of firms engaged in offshore software development (OSD). Client risks due to service provider behavior are identified first. Further, this work seeks to identify relationship variables that could reduce the impact of determinants of risk on a risk category.
Design/methodology/approach
This research followed a multiple case study method aiming to build insights and directions that would facilitate further research. The paper's goal of sampling was to choose cases which were likely to extend the emergent theory pertaining to risks and their mitigation through relationships.
Findings
Findings from this study show that shirking, loss of control over information assets, and service provider lock‐in are the three categories of ex post risks. A relationship management strategy ensuring reasonable profits to the vendor could mitigate shirking risk. Trustworthiness of vendors established through credibility and benevolence in prior engagements could mitigate the risk of loss of control over information assets. Further, dependence balancing through a multi‐vendor offshoring strategy and joint investments in relationship‐specific assets could mitigate the risk of service provider lock‐in.
Practical implications
The findings from this research provide useful insights in vendor selection and management process.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the growing body of literature in offshore IT outsourcing and makes two significant contributions: identification and categorization of risks due to vendor behavior and their determinants in OSD; and understanding the role of relationship dimension in mitigating such risks in OSD.
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Vinodh Krishnaraju and Saji K. Mathew
Web personalization has been studied in different streams of research such as Marketing, Human Computer Interaction and Computer Science. However, an information systems…
Abstract
Purpose
Web personalization has been studied in different streams of research such as Marketing, Human Computer Interaction and Computer Science. However, an information systems perspective of web personalization research is very scarcely visible in this body of knowledge. This research review seeks to address two important questions: how has web personalization evolved as an integrative discipline? How has web personalization been treated in IS literature and where should researchers focus next?
Design/methodology/approach
The paper intently follows an information systems perspective in its thematic classification of web personalization research which is consistent with the early conceptualization of information systems by logically mapping IS categories into web personalization research streams. Articles from 100+ journals were analyzed and important concepts related to web personalization were classified from an information systems perspective.
Findings
Surrounding the theme of web personalization two parallel streams of research evolved. First stream consisted of internet business models, computer science algorithms and web mining. Second stream focussed on human computer Interaction studies, user modelling and targeted marketing. Future information systems researchers in web personalization must focus on four important areas of social media, web development methodologies, emerging Internet accessing gadgets and domains other than e‐Commerce.
Originality/value
Web personalization has been studied previously in separate research streams. But no integrated view from different research streams exists. Although research interest in web mining has been growing as evidenced by growing number of publications an information systems perspective of web personalization research is very scarcely visible in the body of knowledge. The authors intently follow an information systems perspective in their thematic classification of web personalization research which is consistent with the early conceptualization of information systems by logically mapping IS categories into web personalization research streams. This thematic segregation of different research streams into IS framework makes our study distinct from other early reviews. They also identify four important areas where future IS researchers should focus on.
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Saji K. Mathew and Robert Jones
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cross‐cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the cross‐cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a case study approach using data obtained from 30 personal interviews, field notes, observations, and internet media sources.
Findings
The paper reports how Toyotism shares three common features with Brahminism – renunciation, performance, and perfection – and how antipathy towards the manner in which these features were implemented in India caused significant resistance amongst the production workforce.
Research limitations/implications
The paper has implications for academics and practitioners in helping to understand how employee relations, unrest and antagonism towards lean manufacturing practices are closely related to cross‐cultural issues prevalent in host countries.
Originality/value
The concept of Brahmanism in Indian employee relations is under‐researched in comparison with other aspects of Indian culture and antipathy towards the concept as a source of resistance to the implementation of lean systems needs to be better understood.
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Saji K. Mathew and Robert Jones
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of non‐violent protest (satyagraha) in a multinational automobile plant in India that has suffered from considerable employee…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the role of non‐violent protest (satyagraha) in a multinational automobile plant in India that has suffered from considerable employee relations problems.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper employs a case study of a Japanese‐owned company using data obtained from 30 personal interviews and from internet media sources.
Findings
It is found that workers initially pursued their protests through satyagraha‐style methods before taking on a more violent posture when company management refused to accept any notion of jointly seeking a new harmony. The reasons for these developments are explored.
Practical implications
The paper has implications for the manner in which scholars and practitioners view the respective roles, significance, and management of satyagraha and non‐satyagraha protest in Indian companies.
Originality/value
The importance of satyagraha in Indian employee relations is under‐researched in comparison with other factors, and is especially significant for culturally‐unaware multinational companies in successfully understanding and managing protest in the workplace context.
Details
Keywords
– The paper aims to analyze the cross-cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in India.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to analyze the cross-cultural reasons underlying the extreme industrial unrest experienced during the first seven years of Toyota’s operations in India.
Design/methodology/approach
It draws on information obtained from 30 personal interviews, field notes, observations and Internet media sources.
Findings
It reports how Toyotism shares three common features with Brahminism – renunciation, performance and perfection – and how antipathy toward the manner in which these features were implemented in India caused significant resistance among the production workforce.
Practical implications
It suggests that management seeking to implement lean manufacturing in India should concentrate on minimizing the antipathy by production workers.
Social implications
It helps to show how employee relations, unrest and antagonism toward lean-manufacturing practices are closely related to cross-cultural issues prevalent in host countries.
Originality/value
It considers that the concept of Brahmanism in Indian employee relations is under-researched in comparison with other aspects of Indian culture, and antipathy toward the concept as a source of resistance to the implementation of lean systems needs to be better understood.
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While numerous mathematical models of production‐inventory systems have been developed and are in operation there is no commonly accepted approach to guide the professional in…
Abstract
While numerous mathematical models of production‐inventory systems have been developed and are in operation there is no commonly accepted approach to guide the professional in managing the system effectively and comprehensively. A higher proportion of these models are not readily acceptable as they are strictly technical and canonical in form and content. This article attempts to develop a hybridised information system while recognising the existing operational problems and planning for the accommodation of change. The attempt here has been specifically to derive some factual premises to facilitate professionals to develop meaningful insights into the solution process.