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11 – 20 of 30Kasun Gomis, Mandeep Saini, Chaminda Pathirage and Mohammed Arif
This study aims to assess “learning opportunities” provided to undergraduate students, from level three to six, in higher education (HE). A knowledge gap was identified within the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess “learning opportunities” provided to undergraduate students, from level three to six, in higher education (HE). A knowledge gap was identified within the current practice relating to learning opportunities for built environment (BE) students in HE. The study focussed on the themes under section two of the national student survey (NSS): how students explore ideas or concepts in-depth, bring information and ideas together from different topics and apply the learned content in a real-life context. The study aimed to provide recommendations for enhancing “learning opportunities” to the BE students within HE.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection focussed on section two of NSS “learning opportunities” and documentary analysis, and a qualitative survey were adopted for this study. A documental analysis of 334 mid-module reviews was carried out. The qualitative data was collected from level three to level six students and academics from architecture, construction management, civil engineering and quantity surveying disciplines representing BE context. A sample of 40 students and 15 academics, including a Head of school, a Principal lecturer, Subject leads and lecturers, participated in interviews as part of a qualitative survey. In total, 12 drivers were developed using the data obtained through literature, documental analysis and interviews. These drivers were analysed using manual content analysis to identify their influence on the specified themes under NSS section two and circulated amongst academics to be ranked by identifying its influence to promote learning opportunities to BE students in HE.
Findings
This study highlighted 12 drivers which promote learning opportunities in HE within BE curriculum. Findings established that topics should be explained with more real-life or industry-orientated concepts such as simplification integrated into module delivery. Contrary to the literature, the use of physical materials (i.e. handouts and whiteboard) in addition to a virtual learning environment for detailed explanations were considered effective in exploring concepts. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, context-based learning needs to be promoted by integrating videos of practical implementation for better understanding. The study recognised that lab, fieldwork and tutorials were essential to apply what students have learned in BE curricula to a real-life context.
Originality/value
This study identified current learning approaches and provided recommendations to improve the BE students learning experience in HE. They identified 12 drivers that would significantly help academics and academic institutions to understand how learning opportunities should be facilitated in the BE curriculum to enhance student performances in HE.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the capabilities of social entrepreneurship (SE) firms and how they achieve competitive advantage while engaging in social value…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the capabilities of social entrepreneurship (SE) firms and how they achieve competitive advantage while engaging in social value creation. The authors employ a business model perspective to understand the (self-) sustaining mechanism for social good.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors carry out an in-depth investigation of three SE ventures. The authors analyse the history of these ventures to determine how they achieved competitive advantage. The cases are analysed based on the internal development in the context of environmental support.
Findings
The authors find that SE ventures, like all other organisations, achieve competitive advantage based on available resources such as reputation and network of the founder, managerial experience and other corporate resources within the firm. The authors also find that the competitive advantage often comes from innovate usage – a practice that is reinforced by the support from institutional environment.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the case study approach, the research is aimed at theoretical development within the social business literature. The approach makes it difficult for the findings to be universally generalisable. The authors therefore envisage future researchers to test the theoretical propositions.
Practical implications
Based on the analysis, the authors conclude that distinct capabilities of social businesses help them achieve competitive advantage, and that policy makers should institutionally support these ventures. The findings stress the importance of resources in sustainability and effectiveness of emerging market SE.
Originality/value
The application of a business model perspective in SE is unique, and advances the understanding of social businesses from a strategic management perspective.
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Nafis Alam and Amit Gupta
The purpose of this paper is to examine if the hedging strategy of the firm adds value to the firm, and if so, is the source of the benefit consistent with the hedging theory?
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine if the hedging strategy of the firm adds value to the firm, and if so, is the source of the benefit consistent with the hedging theory?
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used data from 129 top non-financial Indian companies spanning a period of 2008-2015 and analyzed using the ordinary least squares regression technique.
Findings
The study finds that firms engaged in hedging compared to non-hedgers have less volatility in the firm’s value. The use of hedging during the financial crisis is found to be value enhancing for the hedgers. The results also found that some firms do not disclose the notional value of derivatives clearly, which highlights the need of clear regulation for derivative declaration in the annual reports.
Research limitations/implications
Research implications of this study are to gain an insight into the hedging effectiveness in the highly volatile Indian market as compared to developed countries. High volatility in the exchange rate of Indian rupee further makes it one of the most relevant markets to study the effect of hedging on the firm’s value.
Practical implications
Mostly hedging is done purely for risk management, and if managers try to time the market by selective hedging, it can bring a negative impact for the firm. Findings show that managers should manage their hedging strategy based on changing the economic environment and not purely on the firms’ financial value.
Originality/value
To the authors’ best knowledge, this is the first study to extract the dollar value of derivative usage of sample firms and analyze its effectiveness in enhancing firm value in the presence of other financial parameters. This will be an advancement of previous studies, which used hedging as a dummy variable only. Most studies on this topic are carried out in developed countries; there is a limited research on developing markets such as India, and past studies have been more generic one like determinants of hedging and overall derivative scenario.
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Kumar Mukul and Gordhan K. Saini
The purpose of this paper is to explore the talent acquisition practices adopted by startups and understand how small entrepreneurs leverage social capital to address the talent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the talent acquisition practices adopted by startups and understand how small entrepreneurs leverage social capital to address the talent acquisition challenges faced by them, and; identify some of the unique parameters adopted by startups in talent acquisition.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a multiple case study method to explore the talent acquisition practices in startups in India. The study included six case studies on startups in Hubli city of North Karnataka in India.
Findings
This paper finds that startups (especially in smaller cities) face challenges such as lower quality of talent pool, absence of a brand name, inability to provide competitive salary and other benefits as per industry standards and locational disadvantages in talent acquisition. Thus, entrepreneurs leverage their social capital for talent acquisition by handpicking talent on the basis of familiarity or credible networks and recommendations. Incubation centres provide institutionalized sources of social capital to help them attract good talent. This study finds that employee-culture fit and trust play important role in acquiring talent in startups.
Practical implications
The study has implications for startup entrepreneurs, recruitment service providers, incubation centres, trainers, policymakers, etc. The study provides useful insights to the startups with regard to their recruitment practices.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature in the domains of talent acquisition, startups and social capital by describing hiring challenges faced by startups and exploring the mechanisms used by them in overcoming such challenges.
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Amit Rana, Sandeep Deshwal, Rajesh and Naveen Hooda
The weld joint mechanical properties of friction stir welding (FSW) are majorly reliant on different input parameters of the FSW machine. The study and optmization of these…
Abstract
Purpose
The weld joint mechanical properties of friction stir welding (FSW) are majorly reliant on different input parameters of the FSW machine. The study and optmization of these parameters is uttermost requirement and aim of this study to increase the suitability of FSW in different manufacturing industries. Hence, the input parameters are optimized through different soft computing methods to increase the considered objective in this study.
Design/methodology/approach
In this research, ultimate tensile strength (UTS), yield strength (YS) and elongation (EL) of FSW prepared butt joints of AA6061 and AA5083 Aluminium alloys materials are investigated as per American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM E8-M04) standard. The FSW joints were prepared by changing the three input process parameters. To develop experimental run order design matrix, rotatable central composite design strategy was used. Furthermore, genetic algorithm (GA) in combination (Hybrid) with response surface methodology (RSM), artificial neural network (ANN), i.e. RSM-GA, ANN-GA, is exercised to optimize the considered process parameters.
Findings
The maximum value of UTS, YS and EL of test specimens on universal testing machine was measured as 264 MPa, 204 MPa and 14.41%, respectively. The most optimized results (UTS = 269.544 MPa, YS = 211.121 MPa and EL = 17.127%) are obtained with ANN-GA for the considered objectives.
Originality/value
The optimization of input parameters to increase the output objective values using hybrid soft computing techniques is unique in this research paper. The outcomes of this study will help the FSW using manufacturing industries to choose the best optimized parameters set for FSW prepared butt joint with improved mechanical properties.
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Jaya Priyadarshini and Amit Kumar Gupta
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) helps improve the system’s performance, thus increasing its overall competitiveness. FMS is an essential component of Industry 4.0 (I4.0)…
Abstract
Purpose
A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) helps improve the system’s performance, thus increasing its overall competitiveness. FMS is an essential component of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), which has revolutionized the way firms manufacture their products. This study aims to investigate the diverse focus of the research being published over the years and the direction of scholarly work in applying FMSs in business and management.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 1,096 bibliometric data were extracted from the Scopus database from the years 2001 to 2021. A systematic review and bibliometric analysis were performed on the data and related articles for performance measurement and scientific mapping on the FMS themes.
Findings
Based on co-keyword, the study reveals four major themes in the FMS field: mathematical models and quantitative techniques, scheduling and optimization techniques, cellular manufacturing and decision-making in FMSs. Based on bibliometric coupling on 2018–2021 bibliometric data, four themes emerged for future research: scheduling problems in FMS, manufacturing cell formation problem, interplay of FMS with other latest technologies and I4.0 and FMS.
Originality/value
The originality lies in answering the following research questions: What are the most highlighting themes in FMS, and how have they evolved over the past 20 years (2001–2021)? What topics have been at the forefront of research in FMS in the past five years (2016–2021)? What are the promising avenues of research in FMS?
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Rimantas Gatautis†, Egle Vaiciukynaite and Asta Tarute
Business model innovations (BMIs), their drivers and outcomes are attracting increasing attention in academic literature. However, previous studies have mainly focused on large…
Abstract
Purpose
Business model innovations (BMIs), their drivers and outcomes are attracting increasing attention in academic literature. However, previous studies have mainly focused on large companies, while knowledge of BMI in small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is limited. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to add new insights into how related BMI drivers, practices and outcomes are in relation to SMEs.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive review of the existing literature was performed. Consequently, the relationships between BMI drivers, BMI practices and outcomes of BMI were developed as a conceptual framework. An empirical study was carried out. A structural equation modeling (SEM) procedure was used to empirically test the model using a quantitative data set of Lithuanian SMEs (n=73).
Findings
The study provides insights into the relations between BMI drivers, BMI practices and outcomes of BMI in SMEs. The findings of SEM, four drivers (innovation activities, strategic orientation, market and technology turbulence, respectively) are indicated to contribute to BMI of SMEs. In addition, the results proved that the implementation of BMI practices leads to strategic and architectural changes in firms and has a positive impact on SMEs performance and innovativeness.
Research limitations/implications
Empirical research is focused on a limited number of internal and external BMI drivers, which have an influence on BMI in SMEs from one geographical region. Consequently, there are many external and internal BMI drivers which also may have an influence on BMI in SMEs, such as industry life cycle, organizational inertia and leadership. Meanwhile, SMEs possess multiple characteristics, i.e. a phase of maturity, gender of CEO, firm size and industry; therefore, the aforesaid aspects are considered to be significant limitations. In addition, the importance of SMEs characteristics as mediators for the effects on a firm’s performance and innovativeness should be considered in future research avenues.
Practical implications
Findings of this research can be used by SME managers to better understand how firms might actively engage in BMI practices, what drivers lead to BMI and, in turn, affect their firm’s performance and innovativeness. SME managers should be encouraged to pay attention to strategic and architectural changes of BM that can contribute to enterprise performance and innovativeness.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the stream of BMI research by empirically exploring drivers and outcomes of BMI in SMEs. In addition, this paper fulfills research gaps proposed by Bouwman et al. (2018), Foss and Saebi (2017), Heikkilä, Bouwman and Heikkilä (2018) and Lambert and Davidson (2013), and enhances the current overall understanding of BMIs.
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Shweta Tiwari and Gunjan M. Sanjeev
This concluding article summarizes the main findings in response to the theme issue strategic question: How are hospitality and tourism businesses in India responding to the…
Abstract
Purpose
This concluding article summarizes the main findings in response to the theme issue strategic question: How are hospitality and tourism businesses in India responding to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Design/methodology/approach
The conclusion identifies some contemporary and relevant areas for development in the post-pandemic era. To summarize, this paper draws out the key findings of the theme issue articles and presents the main recommendations for industry action.
Findings
This conclusion highlights emerging issues for Indian hospitality and tourism businesses and includes specific recommendations for industry professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders in relation to strategies that could be adopted to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Practical implications
Given the wide impact of the pandemic across industries, this issue will be of interest to practitioners, higher education leaders, policymakers and other stakeholders as it draws on industry-focused research to explore the challenges and possible solutions to current and pending challenges. This issue also provides insights for further collaborative research.
Originality/value
This article provides insights from practitioners and academics relating to the current and on-going impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and developmental steps that the hospitality and tourism industry in India is taking in response.
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Gunjan M. Sanjeev and Shweta Tiwari
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a paradigm shift in all businesses, and given the restrictions that followed, hospitality and tourism has been significantly affected. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered a paradigm shift in all businesses, and given the restrictions that followed, hospitality and tourism has been significantly affected. This article identifies some emerging issues and trends in hospitality and tourism businesses related to this, and in so doing, it introduces the theme issue.
Design/methodology/approach
The article draws on recent reports and articles and on several rounds of discussion between academics, practitioners and other stakeholders to identify the issues arising, which are then explored in the articles featured in this theme issue.
Findings
The study findings reveal that the pandemic response has prompted advances in technology, profit management, training, service blueprinting and online education, coupled with industry integration, sustainability practices, housekeeping services, medical tourism and virtual tourism among others.
Originality/value
The theme issue sought to address the real-life issues that are impacting hospitality and tourism in India and some of the wider implications. This exploratory work is based on inputs from industry professionals, policymakers and other stakeholders in relation to the emerging issues and the formulation of strategies to mitigate the impact of the pandemic on hospitality and tourism businesses in India.
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