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Purpose of this paper is highlight the importance of adopting FinTech innovations to improve Customer Retention

Authors viewpoint and give a macro perspective of FinTech-Customer Retention linkages.

Adoption of FinTech innovations is essential for customer retention.

Many large B2C players are moving strongly ahead with adopting FinTech driven payment solutions. Competitors which ignore this trend, stand to lose customers in the long run.

FinTech is a new and developing industry. There has been limited research into its usage by non-financial corporates and impact on customer retention.

In a volatile agricultural postharvest market, producers require more personalized information about market dynamics for informed decisions on the marketed surplus. However, this adaptive strategy fails to benefit them if the selection of a computational price predictive model to disseminate information on the market outlook is not efficient, and the associated risk of perishability, and storage cost factor are not assumed against the seemingly favourable market behaviour. Consequently, the decision of whether to store or sell at the time of crop harvest is a perennial dilemma to solve. With the intent of addressing this challenge for agricultural producers, the study is focused on designing an agricultural decision support system (ADSS) to suggest a favourable marketing strategy to crop producers.

The present study is guided by an eclectic theoretical perspective from supply chain literature that included agency theory, transaction cost theory, organizational information processing theory and opportunity cost theory in revenue risk management. The paper models a structured iterative algorithmic framework that leverages the forecasting capacity of different time series and machine learning models, considering the effect of influencing factors on agricultural price movement for better forecasting predictability against market variability or dynamics. It also attempts to formulate an integrated risk management framework for effective sales planning decisions that factors in the associated costs of storage, rental and physical loss until the surplus is held for expected returns.

Empirical demonstration of the model was simulated on the dynamic markets of tomatoes, onions and potatoes in a north Indian region. The study results endorse that farmer-centric post-harvest information intelligence assists crop producers in the strategic sales planning of their produce, and also vigorously promotes that the effectiveness of decision making is contingent upon the selection of the best predictive model for every future market event.

As a policy implication, the proposed ADSS addresses the pressing need for a robust marketing support system for the socio-economic welfare of farming communities grappling with distress sales, and low remunerative returns.

Based on the extant literature studied, there is no such study that pays personalized attention to agricultural producers, enabling them to make a profitable sales decision against the volatile post-harvest market scenario. The present research is an attempt to fill that gap with the scope of addressing crop producer's ubiquitous dilemma of whether to sell or store at the time of harvesting. Besides, an eclectic and iterative style of predictive modelling has also a limited implication in the agricultural supply chain based on the literature; however, it is found to be a more efficient practice to function in a dynamic market outlook.

The study aims to present demand chain management (DCM) modeling of Indian apparel retailers. This will result in a structured model presenting contextual interrelationship among DCM variables so that retailers can proactively manage their demand chain.

The research follows an exploratory research design. It initially involves identification and analysis of influential factors of the implementation of DCM practices through the review of literature. Then, these variables were analyzed using total interpretive structural modeling or TISM followed by a statistical verification and case-based validation of the model.

The major findings of the paper are: top-management commitment and support, information management and supply chain agility in supply chain are the most significant enablers with the highest driving power. The other apparel retail specific significant variables are assortment planning, category management and marketing orientation. The model also indicates that the firms that implement customer-centric DCM practices do well in terms of organizational performance and thereby achieve differential advantage over their competitors.

Because the literature on DCM is still in nascent stage, the study bases itself on interpretive method; that is, TISM of analysis with a limited number of experts. Future studies may consider larger sample with more advanced statistical tools such as structural equation modeling for further validation of the findings.

The novelty of the paper lies in the study of an emerging supply chain philosophy; that is, DCM and its key practices per se. It has rarely been studied from the theory building perspective hitherto. Moreover, TISM-based approach is applied for the first time to study the DCM practices and its drivers vis-à-vis dependents.

This study aims to examine the role of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) in attracting higher foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the major emerging economies namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) from the source developed, developing and other emerging economies over a period of 18 years from 2001 to 2018.

To estimate the results, panel data regression on a gravity-knowledge capital model has been used. To account for the problem of endogeneity we have used the two-step difference Generalised Method of Moments estimator proposed by Arellano and Bond (1991).

We find that contradictory to theory and expectations, BITs result in a fall in FDI inflows in BRICS economies. BITs ratified by BRICS economies are not able to provide a sound and secure investment environment to foreign investors, thereby discouraging FDI in these economies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of BITs on FDI inflows into the emerging BRICS economies. Further, the impact of BITs on FDI flows among developed nations, i.e. north-north FDI and from developed to developing countries, i.e. north-south FDI has already been studied by many researchers. But so far, no study has examined this impact on FDI among developing and emerging economies (south-south FDI), despite an increase in FDI flows among these economies. Therefore, this study seeks to overcome the limitations of previous studies and tries to find out the impact of BITs on FDI inflows in BRICS economies not only from source developed but also from source developing and other emerging economies.

The purpose of this paper is to design and manufacture an intelligent 3D printed sensor to monitor the re-occurrence of diaphragmatic hernia (DH; after surgery) in bovines as an Internet of Things (IOT)-based solution.

The approach used in this study is based on a bibliographic analysis for the re-occurrence of DH in the bovine after surgery. Using SolidWorks and ANSYS, the computer-aided design model of the implant was 3D printed based on literature and discussions on surgical techniques with a veterinarian. To ensure the error-proof design, load test and strain–stress rate analyses with boundary distortion have been carried out for the implant sub-assembly.

An innovative IOT-based additive manufacturing solution has been presented for the construction of a mesh-type sensor (for the health monitoring of bovine after surgery).

An innovative mesh-type sensor has been fabricated by integration of metal and polymer 3D printing (comprising 17–4 precipitate hardened stainless steel and polyvinylidene fluoride-hydroxyapatite-chitosan) without sacrificing strength and specific absorption ratio value.

The manufacturing industry is presently experiencing technological disruption on a global scale. Consequently, to tackle such disruption, firms are identifying a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) scenario and seeking ways to counter it. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the employee performance through assessing organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among the shop floor employees of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry where a high-performance work system (HPWS) has been implemented.

A descriptive research design was used in the study, and 395 shop floor employees working in leading multinational firms, with a minimum global turnover of US$1bn, were interviewed. These manufacturing firms were located in three industrial clusters in the northern part of India.

The results indicate that HPWS influences OCB. Most of the dimensions of HPWS and OCB were found to be positively associated. The findings also disprove the labour process theory in the context of the study.

The findings report a broad view of the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the Indian manufacturing context. The study offers the practical insights that HPWS is a universally accepted framework and that organizations should focus on the effective implementation of HPWS in a VUCA scenario, which is in line with past studies. The study also provides future directions for research.

This paper has established the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the manufacturing sector, especially for shop floor employees.

This paper aims to present the design of a compact vertically polarized four-element UWB antenna suitable for MIMO communications.

The unit cell antenna is constructed using a square ring radiator excited through a stepped impedance feed. The proposed antenna covers the Ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum ranging from 2.2 to 12.3 GHz. The isolation between the unit cell antennas in the array is enhanced using a simple microstrip line resonator. The decoupling element is connected to the ground through a via.

The proposed scheme offers at least 16 dB improvement in the port-to-port coupling. Furthermore, the four-element antenna array is constructed using a specific interlocking scheme. The proposed antenna array’s Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) performance metrics are analyzed.

By suitably selecting the excitation port, directional radiation patterns can be realized. The combined radiation pattern covers 360 degrees. A prototype antenna array is fabricated, and the simulation results are verified using real-time experiments. The proposed antenna is a suitable candidate for shark fin housing in automotive communications.

Food loss and wastage is an issue of global concern and the household sector is one of the biggest contributors to this. Solar drying has been explored by many eminent researchers as a solution to this problem but there have been concerns about the lack in designs, higher cost, lower performance, and consumer acceptability. The present research aims to design a small-scale domestic solar dryer by using computer software.

Response surface methodology (RSM) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) are used to design the domestic solar dryer. Initially, design variables (inlet and outlet vent height) are identified and a design of experiments has been created using RSM for set of experimental runs. The experimental runs suggested by RSM were carried out using CFD simulation in COMSOL Multiphysics software and the results were used for optimization of response variables (outlet velocity and drying chamber temperature) in RSM.

Outlet vent height was found to be most significantly affecting parameter to both the responses. The optimum values of inlet and outlet vent heights were 0.5 and 2.5 cm, respectively with the overall desirability of 0.728. The model accuracy was tested by conducting a confirmation test as post processing in design expert software.

Designing a solar dryer is a complex, costly and time consuming process, this study presents an easy, economic and fast method to design a new solar dryer. It would help researchers to design and develop new domestic as well as large size industrial solar dryer.