Ravindra Ojha and Umashankar Venkatesh
The paper aims at fulfilling two purposes: (1) to enrich young production shop floor managers to understand and appreciate the different dimensions of manufacturing excellence and…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims at fulfilling two purposes: (1) to enrich young production shop floor managers to understand and appreciate the different dimensions of manufacturing excellence and (2) to provide a comprehensive industry-based case study to a faculty involved in the teaching-learning process of Lean systems to the Business school management students.
Design/methodology/approach
Imparting learnings through a real-life case study from a manufacturing industry, which successfully doubled its delivery capacity using the project management and Lean systems approach. Value flow techniques have been utilised in the production shop floor.
Findings
Effective implementation of lean thinking can significantly facilitate enhancing plant capacity within the original shop floor area and without hindering the delivery to the customers with growing demand. Outcomes of the plant transformation re-emphasised that effective leadership, a well-constituted project team, project management tools, applied knowledge of lean enablers and its metrics and management's engagement are the critical success factors.
Research limitations/implications
The case has been automotive industry driven.
Practical implications
This real life industry case study is expected to enrich not only the management graduates who would be industry leaders tomorrow but also the practising young shop floor managers who aspire to achieve manufacturing excellence through lean enablers and metrics.
Originality/value
Useful real-life industry-based Lean manufacturing case study to be utilised by the business school faculty members in their class to enrich students/young practising managers.
Details
Keywords
Umashankar Venkatesh, Jones Mathew, Ravindra Ojha and Alpana Agarwal
The decision to select one amongst many choices of higher education institutions (HEIs) is a complex process. At a theory-building level, this study investigates the determinants…
Abstract
Purpose
The decision to select one amongst many choices of higher education institutions (HEIs) is a complex process. At a theory-building level, this study investigates the determinants of students' decisions as they consider investing in a long-term credence service higher education (HE) contract in pre- and in-pandemic and the implications for education managers. The second aspect is how disruptive global events influence such choice-making.
Design/methodology/approach
The study hypothesized that there would be significant differences in the driving factors and their weight in students' decisions seeking admission into B-schools (Business schools). Structural equation modeling (SEM) and t-test validate the determinants and test hypothesized differences.
Findings
Results reveal that core faculty quality, industry exposure, institutional brand name, placement offered, return on investment and specializations offered are the preferred choice criteria. The results reveal that choice criteria in the pre-and in-pandemic differ significantly.
Originality/value
The application of the SEM approach on a large primary database of students during the pre and in-pandemic periods to understand the changes in the choice of B-school for admission is the original aspect of the paper. Insights from the four hypotheses which got rejected provide value to stakeholders. As the pandemic is rearing its head once again across the globe, this study would be able to inform admissions managers on how to navigate for admissions success.
Details
Keywords
Kirti Dutta, Umashankar Venkatesh and H.G. Parsa
The purpose of this research is to explore the reasons for service failure in restaurants. The paper aims to give insights into customers' perceptions and response regarding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to explore the reasons for service failure in restaurants. The paper aims to give insights into customers' perceptions and response regarding service failure and recovery and to try to draw a parallel between consumers in a developing economy like India and the same in a developed society, such as USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is empirical and involves data from 200 respondents from India and the USA. The sampling unit is individual restaurant customers and the data collection instrument is a structured, non‐disguised questionnaire. The questionnaires have been administered through personal interviews.
Findings
The study found conclusive results on the reasons for service failure in the restaurant business in the context of developed and developing economies. It also sheds light on the behavioral aspects of customers' perception towards these failures and their responses to the same. The paper further looked into the recovery strategy employed by restaurants and the customers' perception towards the recovery strategies.
Practical implications
The study has important managerial implications as it facilitates the understanding of where and how the failure‐points occur and how customers perceive and react to them. The paper is also helpful in designing policies and procedures to proactively weed‐out such failure‐points and, in case of their occurrence, design responses to the same.
Originality/value
The paper is valuable as very little has been done in the Indian context. It also creates a comparative perspective as to service failure in the restaurant sector between a developed and a developing country.
Details
Keywords
Mridula Dwivedi, T.P. Shibu and Umashankar Venkatesh
The aim of this paper is to gain insight into the implications of the proliferation of social software like blogs, message boards and consumer review sites, etc. and its…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to gain insight into the implications of the proliferation of social software like blogs, message boards and consumer review sites, etc. and its consequences for the hotel industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper draws on literature from journals, periodicals and other relevant literature for theoretical underpinnings and links it up with data gathered from online sources like blogs, message‐boards and consumer review sites.
Findings
The findings indicate that, with proliferation of blogs, message boards, and other such sites, hotels are increasingly losing control over what gets written about them online. It is important to be aware of the trend and have strategies in place to deal with the fast emerging medium of information sharing.
Practical implications
The phenomenon of social software is explained with its implications for business and suggestions about how to deal with it.
Originality/value
The paper brings into focus the nascent trends of social software and the changes in the way consumers may access information. The paper tries to bring forth a systematic overview of this emerging area.
Details
Keywords
Venkatesh Umashankar and Kirti Dutta
The paper aims to look at the balanced scorecard (BSC) concept and discuss in what way it should be applied to higher education programs/institutions in the Indian context.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to look at the balanced scorecard (BSC) concept and discuss in what way it should be applied to higher education programs/institutions in the Indian context.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on extant literature on the balanced scorecard concept per se, as well as applications of BSC in higher education as reported by other researchers.
Findings
The BSC approach offers an institution the opportunity to formulate a cascade of measures to translate the mission of knowledge creation, sharing and utilization into a comprehensive, coherent, communicable and mobilizing framework – for external stakeholders and for one another.
Research limitations/implications
In the absence of any specific Indian case study, the possible impact could only be conjectured or deduced.
Practical implications
A useful model is proposed that can be adapted with appropriate modifications to the management of tertiary institutions of education in India, whether it be a university, affiliate college, autonomous institution or private educational institution.
Originality/value
In the absence of evidence of the application of BSC to the educational institutional domain in India, the current paper may be a starting‐point for a debate and possible strategies to implement BSC methodology in this area.
Details
Keywords
Richa Malhotra and Umashankar Venkatesh
The aim of this exploratory paper is to highlight for hospitality and tourism, the importance of an effective contingency plan – in case the worst happens. The paper critically…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this exploratory paper is to highlight for hospitality and tourism, the importance of an effective contingency plan – in case the worst happens. The paper critically evaluates and suggests guidelines for preparing a crisis management plan in the pre‐crisis period. This could have a significant impact on the growth of the firm as well as the industry and economy.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the review of crisis management literature, key issues have been identified, lack of pre‐crisis planning has been witnessed and subsequently an existing model has been adapted to be used in generic format for preparing a contingency plan.
Findings
The paper analyzes various issues relating to readiness to address crises, different types and stages of crisis, the relative impact of these negative events on the hospitality and tourism industry, gaps found in the crisis management strategies and the lessons learnt from them.
Originality/value
This paper should prove useful to managers considering the development of a crisis management plan so that they are prepared for the unexpected in a strategic manner.
Details
Keywords
Raife Meltem Yetkin Özbük, Duygu Aydin Ünal and Büşra Oktay
There have been significant developments in the field of retailing with digitalization. One of these developments is the emergence of omnichannel retailing. Although this has…
Abstract
There have been significant developments in the field of retailing with digitalization. One of these developments is the emergence of omnichannel retailing. Although this has affected both firms and consumers considerably, the literature is dominated by the studies dealing with omnichannel retailing from the firms’ perspectives. The studies dealing with omnichannel retailing from the consumers’ perspectives have recently begun to attract the attention of researchers. For this reason, this study conducted a literature review to examine various consumer behaviors mentioned in the studies aimed at explaining consumer behaviors in the omnichannel retailing context. The distribution of these studies according to years and journals, research methods used, theories adopted, and the related five-stage consumer decision-making stages are summarized. Additionally, this review addresses future research avenues.
Details
Keywords
Muhammad Tahir Jan and Kalthom Abdullah
– The purpose of this paper is to identify and test technology-related critical success factors (CSFs) and its impact on trust and customer satisfaction.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and test technology-related critical success factors (CSFs) and its impact on trust and customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyses the causal relationship that exists between technology CSFs and customer satisfaction. It also investigates the mediating role of trust between these two. For this purpose data were collected quantitatively from 349 employees working in different banks, through self-administered questionnaire. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS and AMOS software. Factor analysis was performed to extract and decide on the number of factors underlying the measured variables of interest. Structural equation modelling was then used to examine the variables and the fitness of proposed model.
Findings
The result revealed that technology CSFs positively affect customer satisfaction. Also, trust partially mediates the relationship between technology CSFs and customer satisfaction. A significant positive impact of technology CSFs on trust, and trust on customer satisfaction have also been obtained.
Practical implications
The significant influence that technology CSFs have on customer satisfaction and trust shows that technology-related CSFs are inevitable for the success of customer relationship management (CRM) in financial services industry, particularly banks. Policy makers of service industry in general and financial service industry in particular may benefit from the findings of this study.
Originality/value
Despite the plethora of research on CSFs for CRM, very limited attention has been given to testing and validating the identified CSFs. Negligible research has been conducted to investigate trust as a mediating variable in the relationship between technology CSFs and customer satisfaction. This paper, therefore, offers valuable insight into technology-related CSFs and trust with their impact on customer satisfaction.