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The purpose of this paper is to model an inspection maintenance strategy that is superior to existing strategies and which incorporates the inspection factor.

An appropriate inspection maintenance strategy can help prevent breakdown failure and reduce breakdown and repair costs. However, every inspection also incurs costs. The optimal model for an inspection maintenance strategy would be such that the inspection frequency closely follows the hazard rate of the equipment over its lifetime.

A model with a three‐layered structure needs to be developed. Over time, equipment can be expected to demonstrate a hazard rate that is decreasing, constant or increasing with time. In the first stage a model for inspection frequency is developed that is time‐dependent and can address this requirement. Second, the hazard rate has a dynamic relationship with the inspection frequency, i.e. as the inspection frequency increases, the hazard rate is known to decrease. In the second stage this is incorporated into the model, using the inspection factor. In the last stage a model for costing is superimposed for cost optimization.

The model developed in this paper provides maintenance managers with a powerful practical tool for determining the optimal inspection frequency for equipment over its lifetime.

Random shocks are a leading cause of equipment failure. The shocks arise because of large variations in parameters like operating load, voltage, pressure, thermal load, hardness, contamination, tolerances on clearances and alignments, among other factors. Frequent inspections can help detect deterioration at an early stage and prevent failure. However, inspection is also expensive. The challenge is to develop a model that keeps inspection costs to a minimum while ensuring that the equipment down time is prevented or minimised. This paper first develops a model based on failure due to random shock loads, and then follows it up with a strategy for preventing or minimising such failure at optimum cost.

Maintenance management is expected to plan for all maintenance activities for the life of the equipment. It must be able to forecast and plan the future maintenance requirements of spares, man‐hours and total costs. As equipment ages and enters the wear‐out stage, with increasing failure rates, this forecasting becomes difficult. Maintenance management is faced with the dilemma of either resorting to high inventories, over‐planning and inflated budgets or of suffering stockouts, lengthy delays in repair and budget blowouts. A model for an optimal inspection frequency can help correct this. For an inspection frequency to be optimal, it must exactly match the failure rate of the equipment. Hence, with the use of a cost rate factor, the optimal inspection frequency can also be used as a tool for planning and forecasting maintenance costs. This paper develops an optimal model, ensuring that the inspection frequency is capable of matching the varying failure rates throughout the life of the equipment. It also demonstrates how this optimal inspection frequency can then be used to plan and forecast maintenance costs.

In recent years, fire accidents in engineering structures have often been reported worldwide, leading to a severe risk to life and property safety. The present study is carried out to evaluate the performance of Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (GGBS) and fly ash–blended laterized mortars at elevated temperatures.

This test program includes the replacement of natural river sand with lateritic fine aggregates (lateritic FA) in terms of 0, 50 and 100%. Also, the ordinary Portland cement (OPC) was replaced with fly ash and GGBS in terms of 10, 20, 30% and 20, 40 and 60%, respectively, for producing blended mortars.

This paper presents results related to the determination of residual compressive strengths of lateritic fine aggregates-based cement mortars with part replacement of cement by fly ash and GGBS exposed to elevated temperatures. The effect of elevated temperatures on the physical and mechanical properties was evaluated with the help of microstructure studies and the quantification of hydration products.

A sustainable cement mortar was produced by replacing natural river sand with lateritic fine aggregates. The thermal strength deterioration features were assessed by exposing the control specimens and lateritic fine aggregates-based cement mortars to elevated temperatures. Changes in the mechanical properties were evaluated through a quantitative microstructure study using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The phase change of hydration products after exposure to elevated temperatures was qualitatively analyzed by greyscale thresholding of SEM images using Image J software.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the application of vendor rationalization strategy for streamlining the supplies and manufacturing cycle time reduction in an Indian engineer-to-order (ETO) company. ETO firms are known for a large number of vendors, co-ordination hassles, rework problems and its impact on cycle time and operational excellence.

The research demonstrates the case-based application of Kraljic’s matrix for supply and leverages items, on-the-job observations, field visits, discussions and analysis of supplies reports.

The study guides on the rationalization of supplies and the necessary strategic alignments that can significantly reduce supply risk, costs, manufacturing and delivery cycle time along with co-ordination hassles. The study depicts the challenges of ETO environment with respect to supplies, and demonstrates the effectiveness of vendor rationalization application for the case company and weaknesses of commonly practiced vendor management approaches.

To be competitive, companies should rationalize supply items and vendors based on the nature of items and their subsequent usage by applying Kraljic’s matrix-based classification. The immediate implication of vendor rationalization is misunderstood as reducing supply base, but it does much more and includes review of supplies, nature of items and strategic alignments, leading to win-win situation for company and suppliers.

For the rationalization of supplies, while procuring and dealing with vendors, executives should envisage engineering nature of components, considering cross-functional requirements and integration of components in context to ETO products/projects environments. There is a dearth of studies focusing on vendor rationalization aspects in ETO setups in fast-developing country context.

The aim of this study is to analyze the existing literature available on corporate strategy and capital structure with the help of a bibliometric analysis.

A total of 133 studies indexed in the Scopus database over the period from 1979 to 2024 are included and analyzed using the Biblioshiny package in RStudio along with VOSviewer for network visualization. Additionally, this study used biblioMagika and OpenRefine to harmonize and clean the data.

This study identified the leading contributors in terms of countries, authors, sources, and documents and used various analysis techniques. The USA, Canada, and the UK exhibited the most significant level of contribution. Furthermore, Bradford’s Law is applicable to the results of this study. The bibliographic coupling resulted in the five clusters indicating emerging themes in the field.

The study’s findings will contribute to the academic landscape by providing an exhaustive examination of the concerned research field and will guide potential researchers for future research avenues. This study will also highlight the need for managers and policymakers to factor in diverse corporate strategies when shaping an organization’s capital structures.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first attempt to map the landscape of this field through the presentation of insights derived from bibliometric analysis.

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.

The paper employs a case study of a Japanese‐owned company using data obtained from 30 personal interviews and from internet media sources.

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.

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.

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.

This study aims to examine the adoption and efficacy level of progressive human resource management (HRM) practices in various organizations operating in India.

Primary data based on 615 respondents from 103 domestic firms and 116 foreign multinational corporations (MNCs) operating in India were gathered and analyzed using statistical techniques like t-test, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

The results reveal that the adoption of progressive HRM practices in form of self-managed teams, flexibility to work flexible hours, use of online mediums to invite applicants, selection of candidates using assessment center and integrity test, performance based incentives, flexible benefits, facility of e-learning and innovative management development programs is positively related to firm performance in Indian context. Using institutional and cultural perspective, the findings have also demonstrated that their exist differences in adoption of progressive HRM practices between foreign MNCs and domestic firms.

Domestic firms in India are needed to learn some important managerial lessons from the foreign MNCs, especially when their adoption of progressive practices results in more increase in firm performance. These are suggested to implement a broad range of innovative HR practices like MNCs to improve growth potential, instead of focusing on two or three practices.

By exploring the differences between domestic and foreign MNCs, this study has offered some key insights on the extent of adoption and operationalization of progressive HRM in current Indian business environment.

Migrants have been posed with less familiarity in their new environment during COVID times, faced with various social, psychological and emotional traumas. Research indicates that they may have been originating from apprehension of being abandoned by their neighbours. Most of them were precarious with little wages, competing for their basic need fulfilment, putting them under more mental stress. Looking forward to the ancient principle, ‘Athithi Devo Bhavah’ (Visitors are Gods), and immediate response, measures were taken to promote community shelters and kitchens, maintaining social distancing and ensuring physical safety. The governments of different countries took proactive initiatives to study and assess their needs. The study here includes the cases being evaluated regarding migrants' need for surveillance and psycho-social support given by the government and non-profit associations during the pandemic at the global level. Remarkably, certain countries proved the working of their sustainable poverty reduction model by evaluating various factors. The study started by introducing who migrants were, diagnosing their problems faced during the pandemic, how Sustainable Development Goals can be implemented and various measures taken at government and institutional levels to protect the migrant workforce.

Current study was carried to detect the presence of pathogenic bacteria including the drug-resistant ones from milk and milk products. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Twenty-six raw milk samples from ten different areas, 28 pasteurized milk samples from 12 different companies and 26 yogurt samples from ten different sources in Dhaka city were microbiologically analyzed through cultural and biochemical identification of the isolates. Drug resistance trait was also determined by the Kirby-Bauer method on Muller-Hinton agar.

Out of 80 samples studied, 74 were found to harbor pathogens within a range of 102-104 cfu/ml, including Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Staphylococcus aureus, and Vibrio spp. The study of antibiogram revealed that most of the isolates were resistant against most of the commonly used antibiotics.

Employment of only cultural/ biochemical tests excluding the molecular detection of virulence and/or antibiotic resistance genes might stand as a shortfall of the study. Nevertheless, such basic approach of microbiology can make this type of study replicable in the resource poor settings in the other developing countries.

Routine detection of drug-resistant bacteria can further unveil the complications in chemotherapy during the endemic food borne diseases.

The study outcome/knowledge would aid to a better public health management especially in the developing countries.

The presence of drug-resistant pathogenic bacteria in most of the tested milk samples poses a great public health threat, especially to the children. Therefore, the study revealed the necessity of maintaining proper hygienic practice and care in handling and processing of milk and milk products.