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The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of work engagement on job crafting and innovativeness in the Indian information technology (IT) industry. The authors also theorized and examined the moderating effect of perceived supervisory support (PSS) and openness-to-experience (OTE) in aforementioned relationships respectively.

The authors base their arguments on the job-demands and resource (JDR) theoretical model and broaden-and-build theory. Field data from 377 working IT professionals were collected using the survey method. The model was tested using partial least squares (PLS) technique.

Results support the main effects hypothesis. The authors find a significant and positive relationship between work engagement and job crafting behavior and innovativeness.

The study makes a reasonable contribution to existing knowledge on work engagement and its outcomes. However, the use of cross-sectional data may constrain causal inferences.

Innovativeness and job crafting behaviors are valuable to most organizations, but more critical in IT organizations. As illustrated in this paper, work-engaged employees display higher levels of innovativeness and job-crafting behavior. These results suggest that IT organizations should focus on work-engagement for better productivity and faster growth.

This study is an attempt towards a better understanding of work engagement and its micro level individual outcomes which have not been examined earlier.

The purpose of this study is to explore the dimensions of technology on which information technology (IT) professionals assess and evaluate a given technology. The authors believe that these dimensions influence their career outcomes and hold the potential to explain the intent to leave among IT professionals.

This study hypothesizes that the likelihood of a given technology being assessed favorably depends on various technology features perceived by IT professionals. These features influence their career prospects, thus influencing work outcomes like turnover intention. This study uses a survey-based quantitative technique to test the proposed research model. Data has been recorded from 312 IT professionals working in different service-based IT firms.

The findings of this study indicate that the technology IT professionals work with impacts their work and career-related outcomes. IT professionals evaluate and understand technology to assess the favorability of these technologies. Individual preferences to work with a specific technology are driven by that technology's possible influence on career outcomes such as the availability of job opportunities.

This study proposes that assigned technology influences career outcomes among IT professionals and has a potential to explain their turnover intentions. The authors have found that technologies fulfilling their career expectations, such as better work opportunities and job security, might be favorable for IT professionals. Unmet expectations with the assigned technology affect the turnover intention among IT professionals. Though this study examines turnover intention as an outcome, future studies can explore the attributes of technology relevant to IT professionals and their impact on other significant consequences such as work exhaustion and job satisfaction.

With a growing attrition rate and significant demand for skilled IT professionals, the importance of studying their behavior has become essential for both academia and the industry. Despite ample research, there is still a gap between theory and practice. This study on IT professionals proposes that understanding technology and how it is perceived, understood and evaluated by IT professionals might provide significant insights into their work behavior.

This study contributes to the literature by describing the unexplored phenomenon of the impact of technology assignment on IT professionals' work outcomes. This study is valuable in exploring a new dimension to explain turnover intention.

Quality communication is a big challenge in mobile ad hoc networks because of a restricted environment for mobile devices, bandwidth-constrained radio connections, random mobility of connected devices, etc. High-quality communication through wireless links mainly depends on available bandwidth, link stability, energy of nodes, etc. Many researchers proposed stability and link quality methods to improve these issues, but they still require optimization. This study aims to contribute towards better quality communication in temporarily formed networks. The authors propose the stable and bandwidth aware dynamic routing (SBADR) protocol with the aim to provide an efficient, stable path with sufficient bandwidth and enough energy hold nodes for all types of quality of service (QoS) data communication.

The proposal made in this work used received signal strength from the media access control (MAC) layer to estimate the stability of the radio connection. The proposed path stability model combines the stability of the individual link to compute path stability. The amount of bandwidth available for communication at a specific time on a link is defined as the available link bandwidth that is understood as the maximum throughput of that link. Bandwidth as a QoS parameter ensures high-quality communication for every application in such a network. One other improvement, towards quality data transmission, is made by incorporating residual energies of communicating and receiving nodes in the calculation of available link bandwidth.

Communication quality in mobile ad hoc network (MANET) does not depend on a single parameter such as bandwidth, energy, path stability, etc. To address and enhance quality communication, this paper focused on high impact factors, such as path stability, available link bandwidth and energy of nodes. The performance of SBADR is evaluated on the network simulator and compared with that of other routing protocols, i.e. route stability based QoS routing (RSQR), route stability based ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (RSAODV) and Ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV). Experimental outcomes show that SBADR significantly enhanced network performance in terms of throughput, packet delivery ratio (PDR) and normalized control overhead (NCO). Performance shows that SBADR is suitable for any application of MANET having random and high mobility.

QoS in MANET is a challenging task. To achieve high-quality communication, the authors worked on multiple network parameters, i.e. path stability, available link bandwidth and energy of mobile nodes. The performance of the proposed routing protocol named SBADR is evaluated by a network simulator and compared with that of other routing protocols. Statistical analysis done on results proves significant enhancement in network performance. SBADR is suitable for applications of MANET having random and high mobility. It is also efficient for applications having a requirement of high throughput.

SBADR shows a significant enhancement in received data bytes, which are 1,709, 788 and 326 more in comparison of AODV, RSAODV and RSQR, respectively. PDR increased by 21.27%, 12.1%, 4.15%, and NCO decreased by 9.67%, 5.93%, 2.8% in comparison of AODV, RSAODV and RSQR, respectively.

Outcomes show SBADR will perform better with applications of MANET such as disaster recovery, city tours, university or hospital networks, etc. SBADR is suitable for every application of MANET having random and high mobility.

This is to certify that the reported work in the paper entitled “SBADR: stable and bandwidth aware dynamic routing protocol for mobile ad hoc network” is an original one and has not been submitted for publication elsewhere. The authors further certify that proper citations to the previously reported work have been given and no data/tables/figures have been quoted verbatim from the other publications without giving due acknowledgment and without permission of the author(s).

The case helps to introduce some of the elements of strategic management process, which are vital for competitive advantage, particularly for the public utility services such as MSWM. It intends to achieve the following objectives: analyse the external environment for MSWM industry in India; analyse the internal organizational environment for a firm’s strategic competitiveness; introduce the concept of value and value chain understand the role of Stakeholder groups; understand the concept of public–private partnerships (PPP); and understand the role of technology in sustaining a competitive advantages.

This case focuses on entrepreneurial venture of Gaurav Sharma and his team who intend to transform the landscape of Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) industry in the country. THANKYOU (letsthankyou.com) is a Jaipur, India-based enterprise offering waste management solutions across different verticals. It was founded in 2016, following an opportunity in the waste management industry unleashed by the Government of India’s (GOI) new MSWM 2016 rules making it mandatory for the waste generators to manage (segregate, process, transport and disposal) their own waste. After initial examination of MSWM service scenario in the country, Gaurav and his two team members realize that a lack of integration among the multiple entities of waste management value chain is the root cause of the current poor state of affairs. So, they come up with an online marketplace, which offers a one-stop solution for the waste management of general households, residential settings and corporate. With initial projects implemented in the decentralized mode offering unit-level services such as door-to-door waste collection, on-demand waste pick-up and waste audits for corporate, the company has eventually got an opportunity of working on a centralized MSWM project for a leading hotel. Indeed, the company has the first mover advantage of entering the government controlled MSWM industry. However, to move forward, the THANKYOU team must address some fundamental issues in the industry: How to integrate the informal and formal sectors involved in waste management to achieve economies of scale? How to make land-filling the least preferred option of waste management? How to use technology to enhance the efficiency of MSWM value chain?

The case can add value to a course on strategic management at the post-graduate level. It highlights the role of external and internal environment analyses in the formulation of business strategy, ultimately leading to a firm’s strategic competitiveness. In a strategic management course, the case can be used to discuss introductory topics such as the analysis of internal and external environment; value creation by leveraging internal resources and capabilities; analysis of a firm’s dependence on its stakeholder groups; ascertainment of the profitability driver for a firm’s business model; and the concept of PPP.

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CSS 11: Strategy

Adopting sustainable practices is highly required in hotels. This study aims to assess consumer behaviour towards adopting sustainable practices in hotels. In addition, mediating role of consumer attitude (CAtt) is assessed between consumer awareness (CA) and willingness to pay.

An empirical study was carried out to analyse the integrative research model of CA, CAtt and willingness to pay premium price (WTPPP) for sustainable practices adoption in five-star hotels in emerging economies. Responses from 447 respondents were collected and analysed. Structural equation modelling was performed using SPSS 21.0.

The research outcomes indicate the partial mediation of CAtt between CA and WTPPP. Furthermore, consumer satisfaction has been found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between CAtt and willingness to pay a premium price.

The research results add to the literature by analysing prominent factors affecting willingness to pay premium for adopting sustainable practices in five-star hotels.

The world is experiencing technological disruptions due to the dynamic business environment, technological advancements, customer preferences, increasing competitive pressure, globalization of supply chains, and environmental disruptions. Industry 4.0 technologies are paving the way for increased production efficiency and worker safety while optimizing resource utilization and improving sustainability. Industry 4.0 technologies find their applications in almost all sectors, but few studies explore industry 4.0 technologies in agriculture. The agri-food sector has experienced an upward trend in digitalization projects. The digital agri-food supply chains will help in the autonomous decision-making process, leading to enhanced visibility in the agri-food supply chains through real-time traceability solutions, thereby leading to improved food quality. It is anticipated that industry 4.0 technologies in the agri-food supply chains will impact climate change disruptions and improve the unequal distribution of resources in the agricultural sector. The present study highlights various industry 4.0 technologies and their applications in the agri-food supply chains. Based on the findings from a literature review, the study establishes 10 key performance indicators that will benefit decision-making in a digital, data-centered environment.

The purpose of this article is to explore the phenomena of board gender diversity and its consequences for sustainability performance, as measured by the environment, social and governance (ESG) disclosure score, in the Indian context.

The positivist paradigm influenced the research design for this study. The relationship between firm's ESG performance and female participation on the corporate boards was explored using panel data regression with a fixed effect approach. A total of 712 data points covering the Nifty 100 companies of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) were included in the data set. To add robustness to the findings and to overcome endogeneity bias, authors employed the Dynamic Generalized Method of Moments (GMM).

The results showed that, a relatively small, percentage of women directors has little impact on ESG performance, but when at least three women directors are in place, these relationships become more favourable. Despite the fact that Indian firms trail behind many developed and developing countries in promoting board gender equality, authors conclude that critical mass theory partially applies in the Indian context.

This study contributes to the field of corporate governance in the twenty-first century by investigating the subject of women's participation on boards in the context of a rising market and its potential influence on sustainability performance. The use of critical mass theory adds a fresh perspective to the literature.

This paper aims to analyze the present status of customer support services (CSS) and advocate the re-positioning of support services from an administrative cost center to a strategic profit center. Authors demonstrate how customer support or after sales services can be a source of competitive advantage and revenue generation for firms.

The study adopts a conceptual approach grounded in theoretical foundations of service dominant logic, customer loyalty and customer centricity along with practical illustrations from the industry.

Following the tenets of theory, review of existing research and analysis of the industry practices, the authors propose a new framework to enable the repositioning of customer service function. The key propositions include establishing customer support as separate business unit and insights center, introducing a new role of a C-level chief customer support officer to lead the customer support unit, adopting a customer-centric culture and process, enabling frontline IT support and investing in frontline employee skills development.

Academics should examine the potential of customer support, where the strategic importance is low at present, leading to customer dissatisfaction. The new approach and positioning of customer support calls for a new direction for research in this area focusing on enablers, challenges and further implications. To succeed in this competitive era, firms should be conscious of the value of customer service and undertake concrete actions to generate value for all stakeholders.

Industry can use the new framework and re-position CSS of the organizations. The CSS unit can be different from other business units in the organizations. The CSS would evolve and emerge from the live customer insights. CSS unit can be managed by the C level chief CSS officer. Customer-centric culture would be developed and front line processes can be made customer-oriented by the officer. Thus, this paper and framework would provide new customer-centric directions to the organizations for effective functioning.

This is the original piece that has emerged from the experience and expertise of the authors.