Suhas Suresh Ambekar, Umesh Deshmukh and Manoj Hudnurkar
The study aims to establish an impact of supplier relationship and information and communication technology through purchasing practices on firm performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to establish an impact of supplier relationship and information and communication technology through purchasing practices on firm performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Review of relevant literature resulted in constructs, namely, supplier relationships, information and communication technology, purchasing practices and firm performance. A survey of 179 manufacturing companies through structured questionnaire was conducted. The responses were analysed through structural equation modelling using the partial least squares method.
Findings
It is observed that the firm performance is directly influenced by purchasing practices and indirectly by supplier relationships and information technology. The use of information technology in materials management affects supplier relationships and purchasing practices both.
Practical implications
The study provides a model for purchasing practitioners by highlighting the importance of supplier relationship management. Though the firms are running after improving technology, it can only affect firm performance through proper purchasing practices.
Originality/value
The study provides empirical evidence to the practical notions that exist in purchasing practitioners.
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Sachin Tripathi, Manoj Hudnurkar and Suhas Suresh Ambekar
The purpose of this research paper is to understand the major factors considered before choosing the mode of transportation for the freight movement in India by different…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research paper is to understand the major factors considered before choosing the mode of transportation for the freight movement in India by different stakeholders and look into the future prospects on each of these sectors, i.e. railways, roadways and inland waterways.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper collected the primary data from the various stakeholders in the transportation sector and the secondary data through websites and various ministries of each of the sectors. The various factors are then determined by thoroughly analysing the responses by performing factor analysis in SPSS.
Findings
Earlier railways were the preferred medium of transportation, but the dynamics shifted during the 90’s to roadways, and now, it is responsible for nearly 60% of the freight traffic with waterways slowing increasing its share of the pie. Also, there are a lot of factors which stakeholders consider, but the major factors that came out are cost, sustainability, timing, government initiatives, visibility and performance.
Practical implications
The result of this study implies that sectors should create a robust network for easy reach of the customers and try working in conjunction to create an efficient, affordable and highly connected network. This study will also help in taking vital decisions regarding the future planning of transportation sector.
Originality/value
The findings help in improving the transportation network and help in better decision-making by various stakeholders while choosing the mode of transportation.
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Manoj Hudnurkar and Suhas Suresh Ambekar
The purpose of this paper is to design, develop, implement and validate a multi-criteria decision model for measuring supplier satisfaction through a case study.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to design, develop, implement and validate a multi-criteria decision model for measuring supplier satisfaction through a case study.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-stage methodology was used to develop a framework to measure supplier satisfaction. The framework involved factors and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) from literature and exploratory study. Further, using the framework, a multi-dimensional decision model to calculate Supplier Satisfaction Index was developed. The proposed decision framework was implemented as a real-world case study in an Indian manufacturing organization.
Findings
The study makes two major contributions: first, it develops a framework to measure supplier satisfaction using factors and KPIs suitable to the buyer organization; second, the model developed to calculate supplier satisfaction helps in understanding overall satisfaction of suppliers along with the level of satisfaction of each supplier. The model can also be used to suggest improvements to buyer organizations on specific factors and KPIs under each factor.
Research limitations/implications
Supplier satisfaction plays an important role in multinational companies (MNCs), so the sample of practitioners considered in this study is relevant. However, it is likely that the small sample size of only suppliers and companies selected solely from the Indian manufacturing MNCs may have introduced some bias.
Practical implications
A comprehensive framework for enhancing the relationship with suppliers will be instrumental in deciding, managing and improving the level of supplier satisfaction.
Originality/value
This approach provides purchase managers with the flexibility of selecting factors and KPIs at every level of analysis and also a single index to establish supplier’s satisfaction with a buyer company.
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Suraj Kulkarni, Suhas Suresh Ambekar and Manoj Hudnurkar
Increasing health-care costs are a major concern, especially in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to predict the hospital charges of a patient before being admitted. This will…
Abstract
Purpose
Increasing health-care costs are a major concern, especially in the USA. The purpose of this paper is to predict the hospital charges of a patient before being admitted. This will help a patient who is getting admitted: “electively” can plan his/her finance. Also, this can be used as a tool by payers (insurance companies) to better forecast the amount that a patient might claim.
Design/methodology/approach
This research method involves secondary data collected from New York state’s patient discharges of 2017. A stratified sampling technique is used to sample the data from the population, feature engineering is done on categorical variables. Different regression techniques are being used to predict the target value “total charges.”
Findings
Total cost varies linearly with the length of stay. Among all the machine learning algorithms considered, namely, random forest, stochastic gradient descent (SGD) regressor, K nearest neighbors regressor, extreme gradient boosting regressor and gradient boosting regressor, random forest regressor had the best accuracy with R2 value 0.7753. “Age group” was the most important predictor among all the features.
Practical implications
This model can be helpful for patients who want to compare the cost at different hospitals and can plan their finances accordingly in case of “elective” admission. Insurance companies can predict how much a patient with a particular medical condition might claim by getting admitted to the hospital.
Originality/value
Health care can be a costly affair if not planned properly. This research gives patients and insurance companies a better prediction of the total cost that they might incur.
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Kushalkumar Thakkar, Suhas Suresh Ambekar and Manoj Hudnurkar
Longitudinal facial cracks (LFC) are one of the major defects occurring in the continuous-casting stage of thin slab caster using funnel molds. Longitudinal cracks occur mainly…
Abstract
Purpose
Longitudinal facial cracks (LFC) are one of the major defects occurring in the continuous-casting stage of thin slab caster using funnel molds. Longitudinal cracks occur mainly owing to non-uniform cooling, varying thermal conductivity along mold length and use of high superheat during casting, improper casting powder characteristics. These defects are difficult to capture and are visible only in the final stages of a process or even at the customer end. Besides, there is a seasonality associated with this defect where defect intensity increases during the winter season. To address the issue, a model-based on data analytics is developed.
Design/methodology/approach
Around six-month data of steel manufacturing process is taken and around 60 data collection point is analyzed. The model uses different classification machine learning algorithms such as logistic regression, decision tree, ensemble methods of a decision tree, support vector machine and Naïve Bays (for different cut off level) to investigate data.
Findings
Proposed research framework shows that most of models give good results between cut off level 0.6–0.8 and random forest, gradient boosting for decision trees and support vector machine model performs better compared to other model.
Practical implications
Based on predictions of model steel manufacturing companies can identify the optimal operating range where this defect can be reduced.
Originality/value
An analytical approach to identify LFC defects provides objective models for reduction of LFC defects. By reducing LFC defects, quality of steel can be improved.
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Shiva Koul, Suhas Suresh Ambekar and Manoj Hudnurkar
The purpose of this paper is to determine, rank and form composite relational factors that impact the millennial consumer’s mind-set when they opt for an access-based subscription…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine, rank and form composite relational factors that impact the millennial consumer’s mind-set when they opt for an access-based subscription of an over-the-top (OTT) platform service. In the competitive rising Indian market of OTT platforms, there is a need to understand what factors drive the subscription of a service for a company strategizing to build up on their customer base or for a company seeking to retain its customers.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach includes determining factors that impact the buying behavior of the consumer and have them ranked by the survey participants in order of their importance as a factor in considering a subscription of an OTT platform service. Questionnaire as a method is used for primary data collection in this research. Using “purposive sampling,” participants of the survey were determined based on their age group and current or historic consumption of at least one OTT platform service. The survey was conducted for the millennial viewership from Tier I and Tier II cities that have good internet connectivity over their mobile phones.
Findings
The result of this research is a ranking of factors based on their importance as perceived by the millennial consumers and then form composite factors, which have similarities in responses.
Practical implications
This research enables the consumers of the information to dwell on the factors that prove to be of comparative importance to the consumer and plan/forecast their strategies and further research studies accordingly.
Originality/value
A research along similar lines has been conducted for US-based OTT platforms. However, this research is specific for Indian consumers and platforms and holds significance because of growth in the Indian OTT market.
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Suhas Ambekar and Manoj Hudnurkar
The purpose of this paper is to identify the latent constructs of various barriers affecting Six Sigma implementation in Indian industries.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the latent constructs of various barriers affecting Six Sigma implementation in Indian industries.
Design/methodology/approach
Literature review resulted in 15 frequently reported barriers in Six Sigma implementation. An empirical survey of 168 Six Sigma practitioners including green belts, black belts (BB), and master BB from 40 Indian companies was conducted with the help of a structured questionnaire. The responses were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis which resulted into five constructs.
Findings
The study proposes five constructs, namely “role of top management,” “cultural change,” “expected attitude,” “availability of resources,” and “level of quality maturity.” The focused approach by organizations to overcome barriers in Six Sigma can be oriented using these constructs.
Practical implications
Six Sigma implementation needs elimination of barriers in projects. Top management support in planning and resource allocation supplemented by favorable employee attitude in bringing cultural change can develop quality maturity to implement Six Sigma successfully.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap in the literature by studying critical success factors, critical failure factors, and barriers together. This study is one of its kinds in the Indian context which captures the views of Six Sigma certified professionals from the organizations which are implementing Six Sigma.
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Manoj Hudnurkar, Suhas Suresh Ambekar, Sonali Bhattacharya, V.G. Venkatesh and Yangyan Shi
The study aims to understand the influence of supplier development (SD) activities on supplier satisfaction through the lens of social capital theory (SCT) and to understand the…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to understand the influence of supplier development (SD) activities on supplier satisfaction through the lens of social capital theory (SCT) and to understand the mediating role of the buyer–supplier relationship (BSR) in improving supplier satisfaction (SS).
Design/methodology/approach
The research is based on survey of 110 key informants belonging to 50 medium to small supplier companies in the Indian automotive sector. We employed the PLS variance-based modelling technique for the data analysis.
Findings
The investigation resulted in a comprehensive framework for SD activities influencing SS. Further findings recognize a positive influence of SD activities such as payment terms and BSR, which are components of structural social capital on the SS. SD activities such as quality management and delivery, which are indicators of relational capital, affect SS through the mediation of BSR.
Originality/value
The study confirms the role of BSR in SS. The deliberations can help the managers of buyer and supplier firms and researchers to classify and strategize SD activities to improve performance and BSR to become preferred customers through SS.
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Manoj Hudnurkar, Suhas Ambekar and Sonali Bhattacharya
The purpose of this paper is to understand the deficiencies in Six Sigma project capability and empirically validating its impact on project success.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the deficiencies in Six Sigma project capability and empirically validating its impact on project success.
Design/methodology/approach
Deficiencies are identified from literature focusing on Six Sigma challenges or barriers. The study used a survey approach by circulating questionnaires to 400 Six Sigma professionals from 40 multinational organisations. The conceptual model is composed of 16 items measuring five constructs for hypothesis testing. Furthermore, structural equation modelling was used to identify the relationship between Six Sigma project capability deficiency and project success.
Findings
The findings of the study suggest that inadequate top management support, inadequate resources and change management and inadequate quality maturity form Six Sigma project capability deficiency and affect project success.
Research limitations/implications
The study uses resource-based view to understand the deficiencies in Six Sigma project capability and their impact on project success. The study confirms that organisational capabilities in implementing Six Sigma affect the success of the projects.
Practical implications
The results of this study reveal that inadequate top management support, inadequate quality maturity of the organisation and inadequate resources and change management result into a deficiency in Six Sigma project capability. Quality managers in manufacturing and service organisations should attempt to improve these capabilities to achieve competitive advantage.
Originality/value
The study contributes to the literature by exploring the capability outlook of Six Sigma. The study attempts to fill the gap in Six Sigma literature by providing a structural model for understanding Six Sigma project capability deficiency and its impact on Six Sigma project success.
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Manoj Hudnurkar, Suhas Ambekar, Sonali Bhattacharya and Pratima Amol Sheorey
This study attempts to find the structural relationship between Total Quality Management (TQM) and Corporate Sustainability (CS) by analyzing the role of Innovation Capability…
Abstract
Purpose
This study attempts to find the structural relationship between Total Quality Management (TQM) and Corporate Sustainability (CS) by analyzing the role of Innovation Capability (IC).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted the study in the context of manufacturing industries in the Indian Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. In the process, The authors attempt to throw light on the significance of TQM and IC in bringing out sustainable practices in organizations. The authors used Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS to study the relationship between TQM and CS.
Findings
The authors measured TQM through product control management, process control, vendor quality management and customer relationship improvement. We did find a direct relationship between TQM and CS, along with its three dimensions: environmental sustainability, economic sustainability and social sustainability. TQM was found to be antecedent to IC. IC, measured through product innovation, process innovation and managerial innovation, did not mediate the relation between TQM and CS. However, the link between TQM and social and environmental sustainability partially mediates through IC at the dimension level.
Practical implications
TQM can provide a holistic means of nurturing participation and satisfaction of stakeholders for achieving corporate sustainability and in the process, can create an innovative culture for stimulating a circular social economy.
Originality/value
This study fills the gap in the literature by providing a structural model that explains the relationship between TQM and corporate sustainability and highlights the role of innovation capability in achieving it.