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Article
Publication date: 27 March 2019

Rahul Nilakantan, Deepak Iyengar and Shashank Rao

Financial inclusion remains one of the most promising avenues to bring about development for the poorest segments of society. A substantial body of work has looked into financial…

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Abstract

Purpose

Financial inclusion remains one of the most promising avenues to bring about development for the poorest segments of society. A substantial body of work has looked into financial inclusion, especially in terms of microfinance, but much of it has been anecdotal and case-based. There is little scholarship that broadly investigates how microfinance-funded businesses choose to use the loans, especially given the ever-present competition for resources that such businesses face regarding which investment priority to pursue. In addition, the efficacy of these investments in terms of subsequent profitability remains unexplored, and so too does the influence of the entrepreneur’s embeddedness in the local community. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

This study reports the results from a field investigation of 927 women entrepreneurs who received a microfinance loan from a leading Indian microfinance institution. Logit and OLS regression models are employed in a moderation analysis by way of hierarchical regression.

Findings

Results indicate that access to microfinance increases the likelihood that the enterprise invests in marketing infrastructure and operational scale. In addition, structural embeddedness has a weakening effect on this relationship for operational scale while having a strengthening effect on the relationship for marketing infrastructure. Finally, operational scale is related to enterprise profitability, while marketing infrastructure is not. These findings suggest that embeddedness in the community is associated with the entrepreneur making sub-optimal choices regarding microfinance utilization.

Originality/value

To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the simultaneous marketing and operational impacts of microfinance access. It is also the first study to relate these measures to the profitability of the enterprise, especially in the context of structural embeddedness in the network.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 49 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

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Article
Publication date: 8 August 2016

Rafay Ishfaq, Uzma Raja and Shashank Rao

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interaction between inventory availability (scarcity) and pricing levels (price-leadership (PL)), and its effect on product returns in…

2168

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interaction between inventory availability (scarcity) and pricing levels (price-leadership (PL)), and its effect on product returns in the internet retail supply chain. Specifically, this paper investigates how supply chain managers can use inventory (seller-induced scarcity) and pricing (PL) levers to control product returns.

Design/methodology/approach

Empirical data of sales and product returns from an internet retailer is analyzed to identify the scale of the effect that product scarcity and PL has on product returns. These factors are considered in developing a sales-return process model which is used with empirical data in a simulation study. The study evaluates changes in product returns for different policy settings related to PL and inventory levels. Findings of the simulation study are validated using statistical analysis of empirical data.

Findings

PL and seller-induced product scarcity affect the rate of product returns; however, the scale of this effect depends on inventory and pricing decisions. The results identify an inflection boundary based on scarcity and PL levels which reverses this effect. This reversal is explained by underlying principles at play regarding buyers’ valuation of the sale and corresponding product attributes.

Practical implications

Supply chain managers in internet retail can leverage lower inventory under the seller-induced scarcity approach to improve revenues. However, reducing inventory levels beyond a threshold is counterproductive, due to an associated increase in product returns. Similarly, setting market competitive prices (PL) can help reduce product returns. Under the seller-induced scarcity condition, this effect is reversed for inventory levels below a threshold. Retailers can implement the methodology developed in this paper to identify the inventory-price threshold that can help increase revenues while keeping the rate of product returns at a manageable level.

Originality/value

This research extends prior work regarding the role of product scarcity and pricing on product returns and develops a deeper understanding of how these factors can be managed to control product returns in the internet retail setting.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

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Article
Publication date: 22 May 2009

Shashank Rao and Thomas J. Goldsby

The purpose of this paper is to review the growing literature examining supply chain risk management (SCRM) and to develop a typology of risks in the supply chain.

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to review the growing literature examining supply chain risk management (SCRM) and to develop a typology of risks in the supply chain.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws its insights and conclusions from a review of the literature on supply chain risk, and a synthesis of the broader domain of risk management.

Findings

While the literature on SCRM is growing, the literature lacks an organized structure for the sources of supply chain risk. The current paper bridges this gap by synthesizing the diverse literature into a typology of risk sources, consisting of environmental factors, industry factors, organizational factors, problem‐specific factors, and decision‐maker related factors.

Practical implications

The paper devises a typology that can be used by managers to measure and assess the vulnerabilities of their company and supply chain. The typology also provides avenues for future research that further guides practitioners in the management of their supply chain risk portfolio.

Originality/value

SCRM is rapidly developing into a favored research area for academicians as well as practitioners, especially after the attacks of September 11 and the recent array of natural disasters. This paper develops a methodology for structuring academic inquiry in this important research area.

Details

The International Journal of Logistics Management, vol. 20 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0957-4093

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Article
Publication date: 4 November 2013

Shashank Rao, Deepak Iyengar and Thomas J. Goldsby

Scholarly interest in carrying out impactful research continues to remain high. Yet, given that citations of scholarly work can never decrease with time, traditional measures of…

956

Abstract

Purpose

Scholarly interest in carrying out impactful research continues to remain high. Yet, given that citations of scholarly work can never decrease with time, traditional measures of research impact (such as raw counts of citations) unwittingly discriminate against early career researchers and also make it hard to identify future high impact scholars. In the current study, the paper compares several commonly used measures of research impact to identify one that best normalizes for the effect of career stage. The measure thus applies equally across most career stages, providing a usable impact benchmark for logistics scholars irrespective of seniority level. The paper also aims to present benchmarks on that metric to help logistics scholars identify their research impact vis-à-vis their peers.

Design/methodology/approach

Bibliometric data on the research of 702 logistics scholars were collected and analyzed by dividing the scholars into different cohorts based on seniority. Comparisons of different citation metrics were then made.

Findings

The h-rate provides the most appropriate basis for comparing research impact across logistics scholars of various career stages. Benchmark h-rates are provided for scholars to identify their research impact.

Originality/value

The authors are unaware of any other work in the logistics field that measures the research impact of logistics scholars in this manner.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 43 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

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Article
Publication date: 13 March 2009

Shashank Rao, Thomas J. Goldsby and Deepak Iyengar

The purpose of this study is to investigate key differences between web‐only and multi‐channel retailers in terms of five different measures of web activity and three different…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate key differences between web‐only and multi‐channel retailers in terms of five different measures of web activity and three different forms of outsourcing behavior. Specifically, the research examines the marketing and logistics efficacy between business‐to‐consumer (B2C) retailers who sell exclusively via the web and retailers for whom the web offers one additional channel for sales. Finally, it is suggested that how this study may give rise to future research in this area.

Design/methodology/approach

This empirical study using the lens of transaction cost economics (TCE) to examine hypotheses regarding customer buying behavior and the retailers' proclivity to outsource is conducted. Secondary data sources provide key metrics for the more than 250 companies found in the sample.

Findings

Several key differences exist between the efficacy of web‐only and multi‐channel retailers, which can be explained with the TCE framework. Both web‐only and multi‐channel retailers are found to exhibit respective advantages. Multi‐channel retailers enjoy more web traffic and offer more items for the consumer, yet are disadvantaged in terms of ease of search and conversion rate (percentage of shoppers who actually buy). In addition, web‐only retailers are more likely to outsource the functions of logistics, marketing, and customer support.

Practical implications

This study has value to researchers and practitioners in that it illustrates how two of the most common types of retailing alternatives differ from each other. Multi‐channel retailers are challenged with the broad scope and immense collection of goods they offer and, therefore, struggle to convert shoppers into buyers. Web‐only retailers, on the other hand, enjoy less web traffic, but prove more effective in conversion rates, perhaps related to their more extensive use of outsourced expertise in logistics, marketing, and customer support services.

Originality/value

In the decade since internet retailing (e‐tailing) began to be accepted as a new sales channel, e‐tailing has grown to a market size of over $160 billion within the USA alone. However, empirical examination of the functioning and performance of this sales channel is only now commencing.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 39 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

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Article
Publication date: 2 January 2018

Shashank Rebelli and Bheema Rao Nistala

This paper aims to model the coupled on-chip Copper (Cu) interconnects by using the multiresolution time-domain (MRTD) method.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to model the coupled on-chip Copper (Cu) interconnects by using the multiresolution time-domain (MRTD) method.

Design/methodology/approach

The proposed model is a wavelet-based numerical method for analyzing signal integrity and propagation delay of coupled on-chip interconnects. Moreover, the dependency of crosstalk noise and delay on coupling parasitics (L12, C12) are analyzed.

Findings

The proposed MRTD method captures the behaviour of propagation delay and peak crosstalk noise on victim line against coupling parasitics, which is in close agreement with that of H simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis (HSPICE). The average error for the proposed model is less than 1 per cent with respect to HSPICE for the estimation of peak crosstalk noise voltage.

Practical implications

Simulations are performed using HSPICE and compared with those performed using the proposed MRTD method for global interconnect length with 130-nm technology, where the computations of the proposed model are carried out using Matlab.

Originality/value

The MRTD method with its unique features is tailored for modelling interconnects. To build further credence to this and its profound existence in the latest state-of-art works, simulations of crosstalk noise and propagation delay, for coupled Cu interconnect lines, using MRTD and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) are executed. The results illustrated the dominance of MRTD method over FDTD in terms of accuracy.

Details

COMPEL - The international journal for computation and mathematics in electrical and electronic engineering, vol. 37 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0332-1649

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Article
Publication date: 15 February 2018

Erdem Galipoglu, Herbert Kotzab, Christoph Teller, Isik Özge Yumurtaci Hüseyinoglu and Jens Pöppelbuß

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify, evaluate and structure the research that focusses on omni-channel retailing from the perspective of logistics and supply chain…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is twofold: to identify, evaluate and structure the research that focusses on omni-channel retailing from the perspective of logistics and supply chain management; and to reveal the intellectual foundation of omni-channel retailing research.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper applies a multi-method approach by conducting a content-analysis-based literature review of 70 academic papers. Based on the reference lists of these papers, the authors performed a citation and co-citation analysis based on the 34 most frequently cited papers. This analysis included multidimensional scaling, a cluster analysis and factor analysis.

Findings

The study reveals the limited consideration of logistics and supply chain management literature in the foundation of the omni-channel retailing research. Further, the authors see a dominance of empirical research as compared to conceptual and analytical research. Overall, there is a focus on the Western retail context in this research field. The intellectual foundation is embedded in the marketing discipline and can be characterised as lacking a robust theoretical foundation.

Originality/value

The contribution of this research is identifying, evaluating and structuring the literature of omni-channel research and providing an overview of the state of the art of this research area considering its interdisciplinary nature. This paper thus supports researchers looking to holistically comprehend, prioritise and use the underpinning literature central to the phenomena of omni-channel retailing. For practitioners and academics alike, the findings can trigger and support future research and an evolving understanding of omni-channel retailing.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, vol. 48 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0960-0035

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Article
Publication date: 3 May 2022

Jitesh J. Thakkar, Shashank Thanki and Sunita Guru

The present situation of COVID-19 pandemic has put the health-care systems under tremendous stress and stringent tests for their ability to offer expected quality of health-care…

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Abstract

Purpose

The present situation of COVID-19 pandemic has put the health-care systems under tremendous stress and stringent tests for their ability to offer expected quality of health-care services, as it decides the sustainability and growth of health-care service providers. This study aims to deliver a quantitative framework for service quality assessment in the health-care industry by classifying the health-care service quality parameters into four balanced scorecard (BSC) perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

To determine the service quality for the Indian health-care system, decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory and analytical network process are integrated in a fuzzy environment to contemplate the interaction among BSC perspectives and respective performance measures.

Findings

The results indicate “internal processes” perspective assumes the key role within BSC perspectives, while performance measures “nursing staff turnover” and “staff training” play the key roles. The results also signify that “patient satisfaction” is the most vital issue and can be strongly influenced by measures belonging to the “learning and growth” perspective. In “learning and growth” perspective, “staff training” is the most decisive criteria, very highly influencing “patient satisfaction”, highly influencing “profitability,” “change of cost per patient (both in and out patients)” and “outpatient waiting time” while moderately influencing “staff satisfaction,” “bed occupancy” and “nursing staff turnover”. Moreover, “staff training” criteria have a positive influence on “nursing staff turnover.”

Originality/value

The contributions of this study are in two folds in the domain of quantification of service quality for the health-care system. First, it delivers an assessment framework for Indian health-care service quality. Second, it demonstrates an application of the framework for a case situation and validates the proposed framework.

Details

Journal of Modelling in Management, vol. 18 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5664

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Article
Publication date: 1 April 2011

Shashank Shekhar Tiwari and Pranav N. Desai

The present paper is an attempt to explore the emerging stem cell innovation system in India. It is contended that the social capital in terms of linkages of various sorts can no…

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Abstract

The present paper is an attempt to explore the emerging stem cell innovation system in India. It is contended that the social capital in terms of linkages of various sorts can no longer be ignored to strengthen the innovation system and that the coevolution of technology and institutions is yet to emerge. It seems that given the nature of complex technologies involved, there is a greater need felt for R&D and training collaboration and hence linkages of various types are taking place. For shaping futures for a balanced growth of this sector, the institutions in India will have to be geared towards greater coordination, promotion of greater knowledge flows at national as well international levels. This paper also analyses the strengths and barriers in the development of rapidly growing stem cell research in India along with future challenges.

Details

World Journal of Science, Technology and Sustainable Development, vol. 8 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2042-5945

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Article
Publication date: 27 January 2025

Anne-Françoise Audrain-Pontevia, Reine Fortunée Alohomin Gantoli and Julien François

Although well documented for physical stores, consumer motives for buying apparel online have been poorly investigated. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), the authors…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although well documented for physical stores, consumer motives for buying apparel online have been poorly investigated. Drawing on the social exchange theory (SET), the authors tested a framework that relates time savings, effort savings and money savings to satisfaction, e-loyalty and e-word-of-mouth (e-WOM).

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional, web-based survey was conducted in Canada during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Data were collected from 247 participants who made online clothing purchases and analysed using partial least-squares structural equation modelling. The reliability and validity of the measurement model were assessed, and the path coefficients of the structural model were estimated.

Findings

Money savings have a strong effect on e-satisfaction, which in turn determines e-loyalty and e-WOM. Time savings have also been found to influence e-satisfaction, whereas effort savings have no influence. Finally, the results indicate that e-satisfaction competitively mediates the relationship between money savings and both e-loyalty and e-WOM.

Originality/value

Utilising the SET, this study contributes to deepening the knowledge of online clothing purchase in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors provide a comprehensive view of the mechanisms through which time savings and money savings are the strongest drivers of customer satisfaction, which in turn influence customer loyalty and e-WOM when buying clothes online.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

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