Subhodeep Mukherjee, Ramji Nagariya, Manish Mohan Baral, Bharat Singh Patel, Venkataiah Chittipaka, K. Srinivasa Rao and U.V. Adinarayana Rao
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that encourages people to share, lease, reuse, repair, refurbish and recycle existing materials and products for as long…
Abstract
Purpose
The circular economy is a production and consumption model that encourages people to share, lease, reuse, repair, refurbish and recycle existing materials and products for as long as possible. The blockchain-based circular economy is being used in many industries worldwide, but Indian electronic MSMEs face many problems in adopting a blockchain-based circular economy. The research aims to discover the barriers the electronic MSMEs face in adopting a blockchain-based circular economy and pull back from achieving environmental sustainability in their operations.
Design/methodology/approach
Fifteen barriers are identified from the literature review and finalized with experts' opinions. These barriers are evaluated by using interpretive structural modeling (ISM), MICMAC analysis and fuzzy TOPSIS method.
Findings
Lack of support from distribution channels, lack of traceability mechanism and customer attitudes toward purchasing remanufactured goods are identified as the most critical barriers.
Practical implications
The study will benchmark the electronic MSMEs in achieving environmental sustainability in the blockchain-based circular economy.
Originality/value
It is a study that not only establishes a hierarchical relationship among the barriers of blockchain adoption in Indian electronic MSMEs but also verifies the results with fuzzy TOPSIS method.
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Ankit Singh, Meenal Kulkarni and Avinash Poojari
This case is based on a project carried out in a tertiary care hospital of the Northeastern region of India for a period of eight months and is written by Dr Ankit Singh, Dr…
Abstract
Research methodology
This case is based on a project carried out in a tertiary care hospital of the Northeastern region of India for a period of eight months and is written by Dr Ankit Singh, Dr Meenal Kulkarni and Mr Avinash Poojari. The case was developed with the help of the hospital’s management team, disguised on request as Mr Raghugopal Ramalinga (Chief Hospital Administrator), Mr Suresh Kumar (Chief Engineer), Ms Linney Krubah (Chief Nursing Superintendent), Dr Premanand Ale (Chief Medical Superintendent) and Mr Srikrishna Shukla (Chief Finance Officer).
Case overview/synopsis
This case is about Trident Hospital, which faces issues pertaining to oxygen supply. Oxygen supply at Trident Hospitals is through three options as highlighted in the case, but due to the lack of preventive maintenance and no risk assessment done for the crucial medical oxygen, interruptions and additional work for the staff became a common phenomenon. The existing situation can lead to patient harm or death and can attract medico-negligence suit against the hospital, threatening the overall existence of the hospital. The hospital administrator is currently viewing the problem from only the cost perspective, which is a high-risk and a short-term approach.
Complexity academic level
Students pursuing full time/part time/diploma programme in health-care management, hospital administration/hospital operations; and undergraduate and post-graduate level students.
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Ali Shafiee Bafti, Ali Akbar Farjadian and Zahra Mirmohammadzade Noudehi
Supply of food from the early stages of societies was one of the most important needs of humans. Sustainable supply of food is a demand in modern societies. The agri-food market…
Abstract
Supply of food from the early stages of societies was one of the most important needs of humans. Sustainable supply of food is a demand in modern societies. The agri-food market grows as the population rises every year. The increase in the demand side of the market is more than the growth of the supply side. The rate of using technology in the supply side is increasing rapidly. By using technology in some parts, the efficiency of production improved and caused more production while resources are the same. Availability of resources in different areas causes different ways of production and nurturing innovative technologies to maintain food security. Water, soil, climate change, and growth of population are drivers of using technology in food security. To depict the role of different technologies in the food industry, the authors have reviewed the role of the most important technologies in this field. Knowing the trends of changes in the industry will help to focus on the most important questions and solutions. Having a share in the global food market requires the major use of technology in production processes. In this chapter, the authors will review the most important trends of technology absorption in the food industry.
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Ana Carolina Ferreira Costa, Fernando Capelo Neto, Maximilian Espuny, Aglaé Baptista Torres da Rocha and Otávio José de Oliveira
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental to the socioeconomic development of a country or region. They directly contribute to increasing employment generation and…
Abstract
Purpose
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are fundamental to the socioeconomic development of a country or region. They directly contribute to increasing employment generation and improving income distribution. Despite the importance of SMEs, there are still opportunities for developing works that support and guide SMEs to use digital technologies, especially to digitalize their customer service. Therefore, this work aims to propose drivers containing recommendations for developing and improving the digitalization of customer service in SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
This work uses a qualitative approach to systematize the main SMEs' characteristics and identify the boosting elements of the digitalization of customer service in the scientific literature. To this end, the authors conducted a content analysis of the most influential empirical and theoretical articles on the theme published from 2016 to 2021 in the Scopus database.
Findings
This work identified 38 boosting elements of the digitalization of customer service based on the scientific literature. These elements were grouped into six drivers for developing and improving the digitalization of customer service. The drivers contain recommendations that were adapted for SMEs according to their characteristics and based on the experience of the authors of this work.
Originality/value
This work contributes to promoting socioeconomic development, providing important solutions for managers and owners of SMEs to improve their customer service. The proposed drivers support and encourage the use of digital technologies for developing and improving customer service, overcoming the challenges of digitalization in these companies. Thus, SMEs will be able to increase the satisfaction of their customers and improve their competitiveness.