Vikram Singh, Nirbhay Sharma and Somesh Kumar Sharma
Every company or manufacturing system is vulnerable to breakdowns. This research aims to analyze the role of Multi-Agent Technology (MAT) in minimizing breakdown probabilities in…
Abstract
Purpose
Every company or manufacturing system is vulnerable to breakdowns. This research aims to analyze the role of Multi-Agent Technology (MAT) in minimizing breakdown probabilities in Manufacturing Industries.
Design/methodology/approach
This study formulated a framework of six factors and twenty-eight variables (explored in the literature). A hybrid approach of Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Technique (MCDM) was employed in the framework to prioritize, rank and establish interrelationships between factors and variables grouped under them.
Findings
The research findings reveal that the “Manufacturing Process” is the most essential factor, while “Integration Manufacturing with Maintenance” is highly impactful on the other factors to eliminate the flaws that may cause system breakdown. The findings of this study also provide a ranking order for variables to increase the performance of factors that will assist manufacturers in reducing maintenance efforts and enhancing process efficiency.
Practical implications
The ranking order developed in this study may assist manufacturers in reducing maintenance efforts and enhancing process efficiency. From the manufacturer’s perspective, this research presented MAT as a key aspect in dealing with the complexity of manufacturing operations in manufacturing organizations. This research may assist industrial management with insights into how they can lower the probability of breakdown, which will decrease expenditures, boost productivity and enhance overall efficiency.
Originality/value
This study is an original contribution to advancing MAT’s theory and empirical applications in manufacturing organizations to decrease breakdown probability.
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Vedant Singh, S. Vaibhav and Somesh Kr. Sharma
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the dimensions of sustainable competitive advantages in the Indian low cost airlines.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between the dimensions of sustainable competitive advantages in the Indian low cost airlines.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used structural equation modelling methods to identify the factors that significantly affect the sustainable competitive advantages enjoyed by Indian low-cost carriers (LCCs). Specifically, this study is based on the data from 208 airline experts that populate multiple structural equation models.
Findings
Results indicate that indigenous efficiency, the LCCs perceptions of threat, dexterity, strategic persuasion and the LCC adopting an enabling role positively affect LCCs’ competitive advantages. These five factors were all correlated with each other. The results also show that relative to an LCC’s dexterity, indigenous efficiency is a stronger predictor of an LCC’s competitive advantages.
Originality/value
This study provides low-cost airlines with valuable information for designing effective strategies for obtaining competitive advantages in the LCC sector. To conclude the paper, the authors offer practical recommendations for managers and suggest some avenues for future research in this area.
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Vikas Thakur and Somesh Sharma
The day-by-day escalating quantity of healthcare waste (HCW), has made waste handling and management a challenging issue for ensuring environmental quality. Developing nations…
Abstract
Purpose
The day-by-day escalating quantity of healthcare waste (HCW), has made waste handling and management a challenging issue for ensuring environmental quality. Developing nations like India face huge difficulties in handling healthcare solid wastes (HCSW) because of the extra population burden. Hence, the present study seeks to evaluate the role of various stakeholders, under the following four performance areas: “collection and segregation of HCSW,” “storage and transportation of HCSW,” “special measures for handling HCSW” and ‘awareness among the various stakeholders of handling and managing the HCSW.”
Design/methodology/approach
The study targets the primary data from 323 stakeholders across 35 hospitals in Himachal Pradesh, India, to assess the environmental awareness level among various stakeholders. Data were analyzed using preliminary descriptive statistics, and further statistical testing was done using one-way ANOVA in SPSS version 20.0.
Findings
Results highlight that most hospitals lack the following areas: segregation of HCSW, marking of zones and bags carrying infectious HCSWs, inadequate transportation facilities, bad handling and storage practices and recycling without chemical disinfection.
Practical implications
The study's findings will help the hospitals' administration and State Pollution Control Board to design training programs for all the stakeholders involved in managing HCSW. The proper recycling of the HCSW will reduce the adverse environmental impact and ensure the environmental quality within the hospitals and surroundings. The preparation of appropriate policy for the collection, storage and transportation of HCSW from the hospitals to the treatment centers will ensure the cleaner delivery of healthcare services to society.
Originality/value
The present study is the first of its kind, where the primary data were collected from the various stakeholders involved in the handling of HCSW at various healthcare establishments (HCEs) in Himachal Pradesh, India.
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Manmohan Bansal, Mohnish Kumar, Somesh Sharma and Anam Afzal
This study aims to investigate and understand the purchasing intentions and behaviors of Indian Muslim consumers toward halal products. Specifically, it seeks to explore how…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate and understand the purchasing intentions and behaviors of Indian Muslim consumers toward halal products. Specifically, it seeks to explore how consumer awareness, perceptions and attitudes influence the purchasing intentions of Indian Muslim consumers regarding halal items.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected via a self-questionnaire from consumers of halal products in India, with a sample of 550 consumers. This study used a structural equation model technique to analyze these data.
Findings
The descriptive analysis demonstrated high religious awareness, positive perceptions, favorable attitudes, strong intentions to purchase and corresponding buying behavior among respondents. Structural equation modeling validated the proposed model, with goodness-of-fit indices falling within acceptable ranges. Significant relationships were found between religious awareness, attitude and purchase intention. There was no apparent connection between perception and purchase intention.
Practical implications
The study contributes insights for businesses and policymakers striving to accommodate distinct requirements and inclinations of Muslim consumers in India, emphasizing the importance of targeted marketing and educational initiatives.
Originality/value
This study may be the first to examine consumers’ purchasing habits for halal products in India’s retail market. The study’s conclusions are significant for Islamic and halal product marketing.
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Somesh Kumar Sharma and R. Srinivasan
The purpose of this paper is to identify facts of effective positioning mechanism for Indian market and develop a model that integrates three essential aspects of international…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify facts of effective positioning mechanism for Indian market and develop a model that integrates three essential aspects of international trade, which have not been addressed combined yet.
Design/methodology/approach
The article develops the information framework for Indian market positioning. The information mentioned in the framework is validated using statistical tools with R Software and refined using Principal Component Analysis and Factor Analysis. The outcome of analysis develops the model for effective positioning mechanism for Indian market.
Findings
The study explores three statistically significant steps for effective Indian market positioning, which are finally summarized into 18 influencing variables in contrast to 91 variables available in literature.
Research implications
The 18 variables explored in this study should be considered as initial set of information, only for Indian market positioning. It should not be taken as standard paradigm to be followed in all cases. Research needs to be made to valuate such implications.
Practical implications
The model developed in this paper will be useful to both mature and ambitious international executives, in identifying the variables that can be considered for strategy formulation at different stages of Indian market positioning process.
Originality/value
This article offers a model that addresses research on Indian market positioning. It attempts to establish a relationship among the three components of international business, which can bring potential benefits to the foreign players.
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Sudhir Rana and Somesh Kr. Sharma
This study examines the conceptual domain of international marketing following substantial growth in its development. With the objective to investigate recent patterns and…
Abstract
This study examines the conceptual domain of international marketing following substantial growth in its development. With the objective to investigate recent patterns and development in the literature this study evaluates 1,816 research articles on international marketing published between 1990 and 2012. The classification of conceptual domain has yielded 57 configurational contents under seven prime research streams. Simple meta-analysis on international marketing literature created a clear depiction of attention of contributors toward research streams and the number of contributors, and worthy sources of literature. Several directions for advancement of knowledge in international marketing, identified fields, and their implications for future research are discussed.
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The purpose of this paper is to radically redesign the methodology of plant maintenance and develop a three phase framework. A framework for effective and continuous maintenance…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to radically redesign the methodology of plant maintenance and develop a three phase framework. A framework for effective and continuous maintenance improvement is presented.
Design/methodology/approach
The first phase determines the key performance area, the second phase makes decision about the appropriate policy selection and third phase aims to generate capability in an organization to compete at world level. A case is presented here, of the implementation of a “maintenance reengineering framework”, developed with the aid of certain maintenance components.
Findings
The maintenance reengineering framework, when implemented, proved successful with a more than 90 per cent rise in production rate.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes some guidelines which can be helpful in making decision about the selection of maintenance policy and for the achievement of world‐class effectiveness.
Practical implications
Maintenance reengineering (MR) framework includes the core concepts of preventive maintenance practices, total maintenance management and system perspectives of maintenance. Its implementation goes through three phases from identification of key performance area, via suitable maintenance policy selection to generating the capability for world‐class effectiveness. The experience of this pilot implementation in a cement company in India suggested the feasibility of this framework in elevating the performance of maintenance management.
Originality/value
This article offers a framework that addresses research on maintenance reengineering. It attempts to establish a relationship among the components of maintenance, which can bring potential benefits to the corporations of similar operations and nature.
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Somesh Agarwal, Mohit Tyagi and Rajiv Kumar Garg
The catastrophic state of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has seized off all the operations along with the globe. It has not only distressed the socio-economic structure of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The catastrophic state of the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has seized off all the operations along with the globe. It has not only distressed the socio-economic structure of the world but also mounted enormous pressure on the governmental bodies to save the lives of the people. Despite this, severe impacts of the same have been observed on the small and medium manufacturing enterprises (SMME) practices, resulting in the economic downturn. The purpose of this study is to facilitate the SMME’s with circular economy (CE) practices to overcome the negative impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak on their supply chain (SC) operations.
Design/methodology/approach
The presented work identified seven critical impacts as criteria of the novel COVID-19 pandemic on the Indian SMME and seeks to identify the relief measures in the CE paradigm by identifying 13 prominent enablers to CE as alternatives. Experts’ opinions have been engaged to detect CE enablers’ proficiency to overpower the pandemic impact through a questionnaire-based survey. The obtained data have been clustered and analyzed through a hybrid approach of entropy weight method and grey relational analysis to find an organized ranking of the enablers.
Findings
Current work spotlights the SMME’s losses due to SC disruptions and declined consumption patterns. The waste augmentation during the pandemic era has also been grouped in this study, primarily associating with the SC’s waste generation. The result of the performed analysis shows that the CE enabler “waste reduction and its transformation into a resource (E1)” have achieved the highest rank among all the considered enablers, governing a higher demand toward reusing waste for better handling the post COVID era state of affairs.
Originality/value
The presented study aimed to suppress the pandemic impact and generate anticipation of the CE concept, which might help the managers and policymakers identify its urgent need to achieve a stable and resilient SC system in a post COVID period. Presented work is peculiar, aiming to accelerate the CE adaption with green material usage in the industrial sector to suppress the present miserable condition and to achieve industrial and social sustainability for a better-foreseen future.
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Somesh Agarwal, Mohit Tyagi and Rajiv Kumar Garg
The purpose of this study is to present Industry 4.0 technologies for advancing the circular economy (CE) adaption in manufacturing industry’s supply chain (SC) network. To pursue…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to present Industry 4.0 technologies for advancing the circular economy (CE) adaption in manufacturing industry’s supply chain (SC) network. To pursue the same, Industry 4.0 technological aspects were recognized as solution measures to overcome the challenges for CE implementation in SC.
Design methodology approach
A new hierarchical framework containing 13 leading CE challenges and eight promising Industry 4.0 technological aspects had been proposed, representing their mutual relationship. The proposed framework was analysed using a hybrid approach of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and combinative distance-based assessment (CODAS) under interval-valued intuitionistic fuzzy (IVIF) environment. The IVIF-AHP was used to acquire the priority weights of the CE challenges, whereas the IVIF-CODAS was used to attain the preference order of the proposed technological aspects.
Findings
The key findings of the present work indicate that “Information disruptions among the SC members due to multiple channels” and “Manpower inability to handle the toxic materials” are the two most critical challenges hindering the adoption of CE practices in SC. Along with, the results also demonstrate that to overcome these challenges, “Smarter equipment to empower flexibility and mass customization” and “Big data driven decision-making system” are the two most significant Industry 4.0 technological solutions, adoption of which might encourage the organizations to align their operations with CE philosophies.
Research limitations implications
The sample size of the experts engaged in work was limited; however, big data studies could be conducted in future to capture more insights of the stated topic. In addition to this, to understand the implication of CE on Industry 4.0-based manufacturing, a separate study can be synthesised in future.
Originality value
The proposed work facilitates a new framework consolidating various perspectives associated with CE implementation into a manufacturing industry considering the scenario of Indian rubber industry. This study enables the decision-makers to recognize the challenging factors for CE implementation into their organizations and up-taking the proposed Industry 4.0 practices as technological measures for improving the organization overall performance.