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The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the assessment of service quality of bus fleet services based on the service quality influencing factors. The paper also tries to evolve a quantitative measure for fleet service quality in the form of a fleet service quality index.

A graph theoretical approach is employed in this paper for bus fleet service quality assessment. Modelling of fleet service quality factors and their interrelations with due attention towards their structure is achieved through graph theory. A directed graph (digraph) of the service quality is developed, where its nodes represent factors influencing the quality while its edges show the degree of interrelationships. A matrix, which is equivalent to the digraph, is established that will generate a service quality function that will result in the development of a fleet service quality index (FSQI).

Attaining customer satisfaction through assurance of quality is the cornerstone of the existence and survival of any business organization, and bus fleet services are no exception to this. Several influential factors are there for the bus fleet service quality. This research paper has identified factors such as fleet management practices, operational characteristics, safety and reliability features, travel comfort, bus maintenance and environmental concerns that affect fleet service quality. Every factor is composed of distinct sub-factors. Furthermore, these factors are linked with one another. A higher value of the fleet service quality index indicates the adequate performance of the bus fleet service organization.

The methodology is useful for not only evaluating but also for comparison of service quality of different fleet agencies or organizations. The perceptions would be useful to the fleet service managers to create procedures and arrangements for improving the service quality.

The paper identifies various service quality factors of the bus fleet and an evaluation scheme for those factors has been developed. Based on these, a framework had been developed for the assessment of the service quality of different fleet service providers.

In this paper, a graph theory-based maturity model to comprehensively assess the Industry 4.0 maturity level by means of a multidimensional Industry 4.0 maturity score (MIMS) is proposed.

The proposed maturity assessment model is based on (1) the identification of the maturity dimensions and assessment parameters from existing literature and expert opinion and (2) the development of the assessment model based on graph theory and matrix-based approach. The illustrative application of the developed model in two case enterprises is also included.

The model is configured to include six dimensions having 30 constituent attributes. Unlike the case with many of the previously published models, the proposed model does not evaluate the progress in specific Industry 4.0 enabling technologies, rather the assessment parameters are associated with the functional areas.

While the configuration of the proposed model enables a comprehensive maturity assessment, it facilitates the identification of contextual dimensional attributes and assists the enterprises in developing the roadmap for Industry 4.0 implementation aligning to the diverse organizational strategies.

Distinctively, the proposed model apprehends the interdependency between the maturity assessment dimensions and their constituent attributes. Also, the maturity model incorporates the assessment of the maturity in the dimension of inbound and outbound integration. While these two dimensions are crucial in the Industry 4.0 ecosystem, to the best of our knowledge, these are not considered by any of the assessment models published so far.

Green entrepreneurship (GE) is a novel concept in business and enhances environmentally friendly production and operation activities for “sustainable development” (SD). The aim of this study is to determine the drivers that contribute to the growth and success of “micro, small, and medium enterprises” (MSMEs) in the manufacturing sector in India. The study also examines the mutual and cause-and-effect relationships among these identified drivers.

The study used integrated research methodology and identified nine key drivers of GE (GEDs) through extensive literature reviews, theoretical perspectives (i.e. “resource-based view” (RBV), “natural resource-based view” (NRBV) and “critical success factor theory” (CSFT)), and expert opinions. Further, “total interpretive structural modeling” (TISM) and “matrice d'impacts croisés multiplication appliquée á un classment” (MICMAC) analysis are used here to develop a hierarchical model and cluster the drivers, and fuzzy “decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory” (fuzzy-DEMATEL) is used to develop causal relationships among the drivers. Further, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to ensure the robustness of the results.

Results indicated that green manufacturing and operation capability development, green business process management and attitudes toward developing sustainable business models significantly impacted GE and SD. The findings of this study help managers, policymakers, and practitioners gain an in-depth understanding of the drivers of GE.

The study considers a limited number of drivers and is specific to Indian manufacturing MSMEs only. Further, a limited number of experts from different enterprises are considered for data analysis. This study is also based on interrelationships and their relative importance based on multicriteria decision-making techniques. This study aids government decision-making, policy formulation and strategic decision-making for manufacturing businesses in achieving SD goals. In addition, this research also encourages green entrepreneurs to start eco-driven companies and facilitate the use of environmentally friendly goods to offset environmental challenges and accomplish sustainable development goals.

This study proposes an integrated methodology that will benefit managers, practitioners and others in developing strategies and innovations to improve and develop green practices. This study further helps with responsive, sustainable business development in various manufacturing MSMEs.

Implementing enterprise risk management (ERM) systems in construction firms of developing countries like India is critical for targeting strong risk management strategies that support their growth. It requires such firms to holistically understand the major barriers in terms of their definitions, relationships with one another and interdependencies. Thus, this study aims to identify, model and analyze the barriers to implementing ERM in construction firms using interpretive structural modeling (ISM).

This study used a Delphi process to identify barriers to the implementation of ERM in Indian construction firms, ISM to model them and Matrice d’Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) to analyze their interrelationships.

The study’s results revealed that individual-level factors are the most important among the barriers present at the lowest level in the hierarchical model, whereas organizational commitment with the highest dependence power is present at the highest level in the hierarchical model.

Since the usage of ERM in the construction industry is highly culture-dependent and may have regional nuances, the data on ERM usage might accurately reflect the Indian construction industry but may not apply to other regions.

This study can be used to develop effective strategies to improve the implementation of ERM in construction firms in developing countries like India.

ERM is crucial for managing risks in Indian construction firms due to the high degree of complexity and uncertainty associated with construction projects coming from changes due to technological advancement, regulatory changes, changes in consumer preferences, global competition and other socioeconomic and political factors.

The study’s results will help researchers and practitioners working in the construction industry of developing countries like India to identify the challenges in adopting ERM systems. It will guide construction firms to appropriately develop risk management strategies for managing the inevitable risks in their complex project environments. This will help improve their contribution to the country’s economic development.

The paper aims to determine how intellectual capital development mediators aid in the development of the company. Intellectual capital management (ICM) enhancers are difficult to measure, yet there is enough information available to assess how they affect the development of an organization.

The following queries have been covered in this paper: What are the essential components that make up a firm's development? What part do ICM facilitators play in the development of the company? A methodical analysis of the literature was used to determine the ICM facilitators that propel the growth of the organization. To determine the crucial components of ICM effectiveness, a survey-based questionnaire was sent to a variety of employees in the public and private sectors of Indian organizations.

The interpretive structural modeling (ISM) provides information on the degree of involvement and illustrates how facilitators impact one another. In this paper, the ICM strategy is described in general terms and how businesses can use it for the development of the firms that boosts productivity and efficiency. The significance of human, structural and relational capital (RC) in Indian enterprises is examined in this paper. In addition to human capital, structural capital and relational capital, organizational culture, innovation and learning are all essential for putting ICM practices into practice. Specifically, these elements directly affect a business's ability to gain a competitive advantage, grow and improve organizational performance and ultimately the development of the firms.

The profiles of the respondents and the organizations to which they belong must be taken into consideration when interpreting the research's conclusions and findings. The respondents are limited to Indian organizations only.

ICM facilitators can reduce the number of complaints from customers and increase their satisfaction with the goods and services provided by Indian firms. ICM efforts may also be redirected into innovation to raise the quality of goods and services.

To improve firm development, experts who develop and implement ICM systems and processes in their respective fields might find this study useful in identifying the facilitators and developing a suitable plan for the methodical growth of intellectual capital that makes use of ISM.

In recent times, digital transformation (DT) has witnessed a surge in popularity, not only within large enterprises (LEs) but also among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Various sectors, including manufacturing, have shown a keen interest in embracing DT for their operational and supply chain needs. Beyond delivering benefits such as improved product quality, revenue growth, enhanced customer service and heightened safety measures, DT offers a range of advantages, including heightened productivity, risk mitigation and environmental protection. However, in developing countries like India, manufacturing SMEs encounter significant challenges when attempting to embrace DT. Therefore, this study aims to identify and model the obstacles that impede DT adoption within the context of Indian manufacturing SMEs.

The literature review was used to pinpoint the barriers to adopting DT. Subsequently, these identified barriers underwent validation within the specific context of Indian manufacturing SMEs through the assessment of an expert team. The expert team proceeded to model these barriers using the interpretive structural modeling approach.

This study shows that high investment, return on investment and multiskilled workforces are the most crucial barriers to DT adoption. The proposed study aids policy and decision-makers in identifying the connections and dependencies between the barriers.

It provides a guideline for practitioners to deal with DT adoption barriers in the Indian manufacturing SMEs.

The concept of productive entrepreneurship has been recognised as a strategic approach to address the various challenges economies face, such as high unemployment, low economic growth and limited diversification. However, studies on the productive entrepreneurship’s critical success factors (CSFs) are rare and fragmented. Hence, this paper aims to identify the CSFs of productive entrepreneurship and determine their relationship among to offer a meaningful framework for enhancing the result of entrepreneurial activities in the emerging economy.

The authors conducted an extensive literature review and consulted experts to identify 14 CSFs for productive entrepreneurship. The technique of interpretive structural modelling (ISM) was used to determine the relationships and interconnectedness between these factors. In addition, this study used matrix of cross-impacts applied to a classification (MICMAC) analysis to determine the significance of CSFs in relation to the productive entrepreneurship.

The results indicate that the regulatory environment, incubators and accelerators and mentorship were the most influential factors for productive entrepreneurship in the Indian context. In contrast, social mobility and resilience were found to be the least influential factor.

The study's findings can enable researchers, policymakers and entrepreneurs to make informed decisions and develop effective strategies to enhance the productive entrepreneurship.

The unique approach of research (ISM and MICMAC analysis) expands the frameworks of the entrepreneurship ecosystem with a comprehensive and dynamic emergent investigation into the foundation of productive entrepreneurship.

Given the rising complexities around organizational resilience, this study identifies and explains the critical enablers of developing organizational resilience (OR). It offers logical reasoning into the interactions and interdependencies among the identified elements with the help of a hierarchical model of the antecedents of OR.

This paper deployed a mixed methodology research design. Firstly, critical enablers of OR are identified from the literature review. Second, contextual relationships and interactions between the enablers are examined using modified total interpretive structural modeling to derive a hierarchical model among the antecedents that characterize OR. Lastly, a survey study including industry experts is used to statistically verify the model links.

Developing resilience lies at the intersection of organization science and strategic management, involving the interaction of factors within an organization’s strategic behaviors, organizational practices, and people processes. The study identifies twelve antecedents of OR. The resultant interpretive hierarchical model helped decipher internal relationships among the antecedents. The proposed model helps determine how organizations move through different phases (before, during, and after) of turbulences and how organizational resilience helps overcome negative spirals.

This research is original and refreshing in its attempt to necessitate resilience as a processual characteristic needed to survive, thrive, and transform amidst business tensions. The hierarchical model of antecedents garners a better understanding of how their interactions and interdependencies help organizations enhance their capacity to adapt and build resilience in organizational systems and processes. It answers questions of “what,” “how,” and “why” relevant to theory building in OR.

The digital evolution of production and logistics systems requires seamless integration of various functions. Cyber-physical systems (CPS) can streamline operations, reduce costs and optimise freight transport dynamics. Therefore, CPS adoption is essential to transform existing logistics infrastructure by connecting logistical equipment to cyberspace. This research addresses the critical issue of low CPS adoption in logistics. By analysing the barriers, the study proposes effective strategies to increase CPS integration significantly.

This study used the technology-organisation-environment (TOE) framework and identified 18 barriers to CPS adoption in freight logistics. The barriers were then analysed using the fuzzy data-driven multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method, i.e. fuzzy-based decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (Fuzzy-DEMATEL).

The computational analysis of the proposed framework shows that “the complexity of CPS and lagged data-driven logistics infrastructure” (T₁) is a major technological inhibitor to CPS adoption. The “high cost of CPS technology” (O₈) and a “lack of top management support” (O₃) are the top causal inhibitors at the organisational level. “Lack of data governance and regulatory framework” (E₂) is the main environmental inhibitor.

The causal mapping of the TOE-based barriers helps policymakers and logisticians to develop strategies or follow recommended adoption strategies to improve CPS adoption in logistics.

This study is a pioneering effort to unveil the adoption barriers of CPS in the freight logistics industry and suggest strategies for fostering adoption. This research could provide valuable insights for logistics organisations to support CPS-driven logistics modernisation.

The purpose of this article is to investigate and analyze the interactions between economic and sustainable development elements in the context of remanufacturing in India.

To comprehend the hierarchical and contextual link among factors impacting remanufacturing in India, the study used interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) methodologies.

The integrated ISM-DEMATEL approach identifies optimal utilization of the resources as the most crucial factor influencing remanufacturing in India, followed by reducing landfills, conserving energy and low cost. The study also reveals that optimal utilization of resources, reduction of landfills, conservation of energy and incorporated advanced technology impacts most of the factors but get affected by a few factors.

Industry practitioners and policymakers should consider the remanufacturing process to achieve sustainable and economic development. The government and other stakeholders can use the ISM framework and cause-and-effect diagram to classify the impact factors and their impact on the Indian economy and environment.

This study supports the process to save the landfills and curbing pollution, conserve energy and optimize utilization of the resources, generate employment and supporting the development of the economy. Remanufacturing will undoubtedly contribute to the development of an environment and economy in India that benefits both.

ISM and DEMATELs strategy offers a tiered model and a cause-and-effect relationship between the variables affecting remanufacturing in India.