Search results

This paper aims to extend the conceptualization of well-being as a staged social responsibility process by undertaking further conceptual development of these ideas as well as exploratory, small-scale international testing.

The sample comprised 117 leaders from Alaska, India and Norway. Cluster analysis was used to determine systematic differences in the way leaders think about societal well-being (well-being action logics), and regression analysis was used to test positive and significant relationships between well-being action logics and stages of consciousness.

Cluster analysis confirmed the three theoretically derived well-being action logics of top managers: compensatory, integral and hybrid. The authors found preliminary empirical support for a systematic relationship between well-being action logics and stages of consciousness as per constructive-developmental theory.

Better adoption of societal well-being as a normative ethic hinges on building the capacity of top managers to process more complex understandings of the range of components of societal well-being and how these components interact, conflict and synergize.

Being asked to embrace more complex views about societal well-being can be overwhelming, leading top managers to retreat into defensiveness. The result is resistance to change, preferring instead to stay with familiar yet outmoded conceptions. Societal well-being can thus suffer.

This paper opens the black box to find systematic differences in the way managers think about societal well-being. Further, the research has uncovered that these differences follow a staged developmental process of greater complexity.

This paper aims to examine the Cu-Al2O3/water hybrid nanofluid flow over a shrinking sheet in the presence of the magnetic field and dust particles.

The governing partial differential equations for the two-phase flow of the hybrid nanofluid and the dust particles are reduced to ordinary differential equations using a similarity transformation. Then, these equations are solved using bvp4c in MATLAB software. The bvp4c solver is a finite-difference code that implements the three-stage Lobatto IIIa formula. The numerical results are gained for several values of the physical parameters. The effects of these parameters on the flow and the thermal characteristics of the hybrid nanofluid and the dust particles are analyzed and discussed. Later, the temporal stability analysis is used to determine the stability of the dual solutions obtained as time evolves.

The outcome shows that the flow is unlikely to exist unless satisfactory suction strength is imposed on the shrinking sheet. Besides, the heat transfer rate on the shrinking sheet decreases with the increase of . However, the increase in and lead to enhance the heat transfer rate. Two solutions are found, where the domain of the solutions is expanded with the rising of, and. Consequently, the boundary layer separation on the surface is delayed in the presence of these parameters. Implementing the temporal stability analysis, it is found that only one of the solutions is stable as time evolves.

The dusty fluid problem has been widely studied for the flow over a stretching sheet, but only limited findings can be found for the shrinking counterpart. Therefore, this study considers the problem of the dusty fluid flow over a shrinking sheet containing Cu-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid with the effect of the magnetic field. In fact, this is the first study to discover the dual solutions of the dusty hybrid nanofluid flow over a shrinking sheet. Also, further analysis shows that only one of the solutions is stable as time evolves.

This study aims to know whether board composition is effective in improving firm performance and particularly to determine whether this relationship varies across different levels of performance, that is, companies with very low performance, low performance, moderate performance, high performance and very high performance.

The authors use a data set covering 213 Indian companies registered on S&P Bombay Stock Exchange 500 Index over the period 2001 to 2019 by using Tobin's Q as a performance parameter. The study applies the quantile regression technique and compares the results with fixed effect generalized least squares (GLS) regression.

The findings reveal that board size positively affects the company's performance across all quantiles. Independent directors negatively impact the performance of companies across all quantiles. However, the strength of these relationships increases with increase in performance, thereby supporting agency theory and stewardship theory, respectively. The effect of executive directors on the performance of the companies varies across quantiles. The effect is adverse at moderate and high quantiles only.

The findings provide some grounds for regulators to exercise caution while designing board composition guidelines, keeping in mind the unique internal environment of each company which ultimately affects their performance levels. Similarly, Indian companies are also suggested to compose their boards keeping in mind their performance levels.

The study contributes towards the debate on the board composition and firm performance relationship by adding to the agency theory and stewardship theory that all the companies cannot have the similar board composition. Rather its composition depends upon the performance levels of the companies.

The purpose of this paper is to measure the effectiveness of the hedging with futures currency contracts. Measuring the effectiveness of hedging has become mandatory for Indian companies as the new Indian accounting standards, Ind-AS, specify that the effectiveness of hedges taken by the companies should be evaluated using quantitative methods but leaves it to the company to choose a method of evaluation.

The paper compares three models for evaluating the effectiveness of hedge – ordinary least square (OLS), vector error correction model (VECM) and dynamic conditional correlation multivariate GARCH (DCC-MGARCH) model. The OLS and VECM are the static models, whereas DCC-MGARCH is a dynamic model.

The overall results of the study show that dynamic model (DCC-MGARCH) is a better model for calculating the hedge effectiveness as it outperforms OLS and VECM models.

The new Indian accounting standards (Ind-AS) mandates the calculation of hedge effectiveness. The results of this study are useful for the treasurers in identifying appropriate method for evaluation of hedge effectiveness. Similarly, policymakers and auditors are benefitted as the study provides clarity on different methods of evaluation of hedging effectiveness.

Many previous studies have evaluated the efficiency of the Indian currency futures market, but with rising importance of hedging in the Indian companies, Reserve Bank of India’s initiatives and encouragement for the use of futures for hedging the currency risk and now the mandatory accounting requirement for measuring hedging effectiveness, it has become more relevant to evaluate the effectiveness of hedge. To the authors’ best knowledge, this is one of the first few papers which evaluate the effectiveness of the currency future hedging.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of organizational image in engaging employees and improving their performance. The study has explored the role of employee’s perception about the organizational image, and its linkage with the investment of employee’s energies into their work roles resulting in employee engagement (EE) and hence performance.

Adopting a model that was built on the basis of research conducted in the form of surveys. By using cross-sectional data and following a quantitative research method, the study collected data from 701 managers in India holding various positions, in different industries. The study has used “Component-Based Structural Equation Modeling” by Smart PLS.

The key findings of the study help employees as well as employers to have a thorough, comprehensive understanding to improve EE and their performance by creating a positive and consistent organizational image.

This study will be very useful for employers and policymakers to understand the value of organizational image in engaging the workforce effectively. Aligning with the organizational behaviors theoretical support, this study yields some important and useful suggestions for managers to engage and retain their workforce in the present dynamic work environment.

The paper tries to focus on one’s perceptions of the organization and its linkage between EE and performance. The positive perception of employees reflects that they identify themselves and feel connected with the overall vision of the organization.

This study aims to investigate the attributes of the online programme that are considered and compute their relative importance in the purchase decision. This study aims to identify the most lucrative bundling of these attributes and their levels that can be used by online education companies to craft their product design strategy to attract customers with the most attractive offering.

This research paper endeavours to identify the attributes of online education, which customers consider for making a purchase decision. Exploratory factor analysis followed by confirmatory factor analysis was used to identify the key attributes of online education programmes. This paper uses the conjoint analysis technique to identify the most preferred bundling of attributes, which online education companies can package to attract customers.

Based on various attributes and their respective levels, it is evident the most lucrative design for attracting customers to buy online education programmes is to provide certification from a reputed international university, which requires an investment to the tune of 3,000–5,000. The duration of four weeks with asynchronous pedagogy and access to course material vial uniform resource locator (URL) is a preferred feature. Access via a mobile application is more preferred over Web access. A phone application is known to be optimised, and most people are using mobile phones to access the internet. Online certification or degrees that are considered as valid employment qualifications were most preferred over other reasons.

There is a dearth of studies on massive open online courses (MOOCs) from a product design perspective. There is a gap in the context of the features to be included in the MOOCs package so that the customer can find more value in it, and the companies can benefit by expanding their customer base. The research question which this study endeavours to explore is what attributes consumers of MOOCs consider when making a purchase decision. This study will also find the relative importance of these attributes.

The study aims to assess healthcare workers' needle‐stick injury (NSI) knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP).

A cross‐sectional study was conducted in a 600‐bedded hospital throughout six months. The data were collected using an anonymous, self‐reporting questionnaire. Participants were various healthcare workers (HCW) drawn through stratified random sampling and their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding NSI were assessed.

There is significant difference in the mean knowledge, attitude and practice scores among healthcare workers. Even though scores are better for doctors and nurses, practice scores were better for technical staff. Healthcare workers, who had better practice scores, had suffered fewer NSIs. Since this study is a cross‐sectional, the population's NSI incidence could not be calculated.

This study emphasizes that applying knowledge to practice is required to prevent NSIs. Various recommendations to help prevent and deal with NSIs are made.

This study analyses healthcare workers' NSI knowledge, attitude and practices, and also assesses their correlation with NSI incidence, which has not been done previously.

Measuring patient satisfaction plays an increasingly important role in the growing push toward healthcare provider accountability. This study seeks to evaluate G.B. Pant Hospital (a North Indian tertiary care centre) patient satisfaction with clinical laboratory services.

A total of 100 out‐ and in‐patients were randomly selected and interviewed about microbiological services using a standard format, a method which can be easily used to compare patient satisfaction with laboratory services elsewhere.

Patients represented all age groups: females and males were balanced. Few were from poor socio‐economic backgrounds. Patients do not have problems getting tests done, but the laboratory's inconvenient location caused dissatisfaction. Patients do not have problems communicating with staff, but medical terms are not understood by patients. Hospital cleanliness needs improving, especially toilets, which causes the most patient dissatisfaction. Hospital staff were deemed highly competent and judged to give excellent technical help to patients. The questionnaire's financial subscale shows 100 per cent satisfaction because all tests in the microbiology department are free. The overall satisfaction with services stood at 83 per cent. Satisfaction scores for G.B. Pant Hospital appear to be satisfactory.

This study does not compare patient satisfaction in two or more hospitals and findings may not be generalisable.

Patient satisfaction surveys are the best way to identify deficiencies and improve hospital services. Repeating studies at six monthly intervals is a useful managerial intervention aimed at delivering and maintaining quality healthcare.

This laboratory satisfaction survey is the first of its kind for government hospitals in India. The survey revealed a positive feedback and helped to identify the areas of concern along with estimating the patient satisfaction scores. This is the best way to identify the areas of deficiencies and improving the services provided by the hospital. The authors feel that repeating such studies at a regular interval of six months would be a useful guide for the managerial interventions.

After analysing this case study, students will be able to understand the relationship between compensation, reward management and gig workers’ behaviour; apply the theory of organizational behaviour related to compensation management to address the motivational issues; analyse the challenges in managing the gig workers’ expectations related to compensation; and design innovative ways of retaining gig workers, especially delivery partners among the gig workers.

In April 2022, Riya, who worked as a business development manager at a newly established food delivery app company named “Our Kitchen” (located in Hyderabad, India), attended a meeting where the chief executive officer expressed concern about the difficulty in retaining their delivery partners. The company provided food delivery services to the customers by procuring ordered food from partner restaurants in select Indian cities. The delivery partners of the company worked part-time and received a commission for the hours they worked. With the rising fuel cost, minimal career growth and negligible social security benefits, it was hard for them to continue in their jobs. As a result, there were high attrition rates in the food delivery company. This case study is about the attrition issue being faced by the company and explores various strategies through which Riya could think of retaining the delivery partners so that there was a win-win situation for both parties. The dilemma given in the case study would help in understanding the motivational theories and factors that encouraged delivery partners to work for these jobs.

The case study is ideally suited for discussing human resources concepts, especially problems related to the retention of delivery partners without reducing the profit of the organization. It will help in understanding the motivational factors leading to job satisfaction and how that will help in the retention of delivery partners. The case study can also be used to teach the executives in a management development programme. This will help them to understand the gig workers’ motivational factors and the causes of their attrition.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.