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Today the mobile apps are helping customers in every means of their life by exploring information related to electronic items and even for food items also. Therefore, the main aim of this study is to examine the influencing role of psychological and technological attributes on customer conversion to use food ordering apps.

Convenience sampling method was used to collect responses from the customer's age between 18 and 35 years to get more representation of society. 374 customer's data has been used for structural equation model analysis with the help of SmartPLS 3.0 and SPSS-20 software.

Findings showed that customer conversions are positively influenced by perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, perceived incentives, perceived information, customer relationship management and order management system. In contrast, the perceived price and visual design show insignificant influence.

Research outcome provides some valuable insights to provide direction to all online food aggregators to design their apps according to customers need. Thus, the authentic customer reviews and the facility of providing feedbacks are very fruitful for attracting new user while using and placing orders through theses apps.

Study suggested that observing satisfaction and dissatisfaction levels of the customer helps in enhancing the facilities of food ordering apps, so that the customer would enjoy the whole order process seamlessly, which automatically leads to customer conversions.

Major contribution of this study is the empirical analysis of psychological and technological attributes on customer's conversion towards food ordering app.

Amid the COVID-19 contamination, people are bound to use contactless FinTech payment services. Because of restrictions on physical movement and avoidance of touching physical money, people willingly choose mobile payment, resulting in enormous growth in FinTech payment service industries. Because of this, this study aims to examine the effect of factors affecting Gen X and Millennials users to use FinTech payment services.

The authors used 328 responses collected through convenience sampling of Indian users aged between 26 and 57 years in the Delhi-NCR region who are users of FinTech payment services.

The authors’ findings verified that in India, perceived COVID-19 risk, perceived severity for COVID, individual mobility, subjective norms, perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness have statistically significant impacts on FinTech payment services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Structural equation modelling was used to study the proposed research model. Overall, the model predicted 76.9 % of the variation in intention to use FinTech payment services by the abovesaid variables by Indian users during a pandemic.

This study will provide valuable insight to all FinTech service providers and stakeholders in planning and designing the concerned policy. It will be able to draw the attention of users more.

This research added a valuable theory to the existing technology adoption model (TAM) theory. It demonstrated the utility of the above variables in adopting and using FinTech payment services, which will help service providers to develop future strategies because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is to attempt to generate a better, systematic and scientific understanding of the basic reasons behind slope instability to help in developing the basic principles of landslide hazard zonation, monitoring and forecasting of landslide hazards for better and more effective landslide hazard mitigation and management.

The study is based on extensive field observations and intensive reviews of literature from secondary sources.

Mass movements especially landslides as they are known to common man are a recurring natural phenomenon and are an integral part of any geological/geomorphological circle of landform development through sequential development of slopes in any elevated region and especially in young fold mountain chains.

The paper presents a valuable insight into the basic reasons behind a landslide to spread awareness, to educate and sensitize people towards better and effective landslide hazard mitigation and thereby ensure people's participation in disaster management. It also aims to initiate and encourage research in the field of landslide management.

Landslides occur frequently and without any appreciable warning as such causing havoc and often insurmountable damage to life and property but despite their uncertainty, their causative factors and indicators of slope instability are very well known to an extent that the magnitude of these events, susceptible areas, the timing of such events and their potential impact can be studied, analyzed and evaluated on the basis of past occurrences and existing knowledge to mitigate their impact. The real value of the present study is to minimize losses due to landslides through better knowledge and enhanced levels of understanding of the phenomenon and its management by simply avoiding those particular reasons that could lead to slope instability problems.

Mass movements, especially landslides, are a recurring natural phenomenon and are an integral part of any geological/geomorphological cycle of landform development through sequential development of slopes in any elevated region and especially in young fold mountain chains. The purpose of this paper is to develop and evolve cheap, affordable, environment friendly and ecologically sustainable techniques of landslide disaster management and prevention.

The study is based on extensive research and field observations of various landslide management projects over the past decade and includes an intensive review of literature from secondary sources.

Landslide management aims to facilitate, and as far as possible accelerate the ongoing process of development on a sustainable basis, by preventing (reducing) the loss of lives and property by applying modern science and technology and taking appropriate measures and safety precautions at the right place at the right time. Landslide management, even in the most developed countries, has suffered from lack of adequate financial resources. Bioengineering offers an environment friendly and highly cost and time effective solution to the slope instability problems in mountainous and hilly areas.

The paper aims to initiate and encourage research in the field of landslide management with the viewpoint that green technology is a clean and affordable technology (both financially and ecologically).

The paper shows that bioengineering is highly cost effective and has very high cost‐benefit ratio. Bioengineering techniques when used in combination with civil and social engineering measures reduce the overall cost of landslide mitigation considerably which is the key factor for developing nations. Bioengineering has a very high success rate and is much more sustainable, eco‐friendly and affordable than other available options.

This paper aims to promote sustainable development through disaster management.

The study is based on extensive field observations and intensive review of literature from secondary sources.

In recent times landslides have increased both in frequency and intensity and have assumed catastrophic and disastrous proportions, causing extensive damage to life and property and posing great problems and serious challenges to man and his development process. This increase has been triggered by a combination of several attributes (geological, morphometric, climatic and anthropogenetic) that directly or indirectly cause slope instability, most of which (if not all) are either man‐made or man‐accelerated. Thus, most of the disasters are natural events aggravated by undue human intervention. Man, through his intervention, has accelerated this natural process and his encroachment on the relatively unsafe areas has turned them into disasters. The effect of man on natural processes can be judged from the fact that the frequency of natural disasters/hazards has recorded more than a fivefold increase just in the last two decades, despite all the hue and cry that has been going on all round the world. The economic losses on account of such happenings have shot up by over 3.5 times, and the rise in total insured losses is about six times and, with the present trends (particularly of ignorance, carelessness, lack of will and finances, greed, increasing population and also human demands) and situations, it can safely be predicted that the worst is still to come.

Landslides are a natural phenomenon and every year hundreds of major and minor landslides occur in the hills, though only a few major ones are reported by the print and electronic media, and still fewer are studied and/or analyzed in some detail. The present paper presents a valuable insight into various aspects of landslide management to spread awareness, to educate and sensitize people towards better and effective landslide hazard mitigation and thereby ensure people's participation in disaster management. It also aims to initiate and encourage research in the field of landslide management.

The paper hopes to minimize losses due to landslides through better knowledge and enhanced levels of understanding of the phenomenon and its management.

This case study attempts to sensitize the impact of restructuring on the organization’s employer brand. The students shall learn to appreciate the criticality of maintaining a balance between being an employee-centric organization and building a sustainable business model, to analyze the alternative people management strategies in emerging start-ups.

This case study illustrates the innovative human resource (HR) policies adopted by the start-up Meesho. Meesho was started as “Fashnear” by two Indian Institute of Technology graduates Sanjeev Barnwal and Vidit Aatrey in the year 2015, with the headquarters located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It was a social commerce platform wherein the local apparel sellers or manufacturers could register themselves on the app and sell their products online to nearby consumers and the product would be delivered to their homes. Later, it was renamed Meesho (Meri E-Shop) with an improved business model. The innovative people-centric policies got Meesho recognition as one of the most employee-friendly start-ups and an innovative employer. However, later as part of the restructuring exercise, it had to lay off employees, which had a counter impact on its reputation and image as a desirable employer. This case study captures the dilemma faced by start-ups like Meesho who were in the process of sustaining their growth and optimizing their workforce and, at the same time, have to manage their employer brand in the process.

This case study can be used at the postgraduate level of management and in executive management programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS6: Human resource management.

Students will have the opportunity to learn about differentiation strategy, business plans, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis. The primary objective is to allow students to evaluate Abhishek Singh’s decisions. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to: understand the competitive landscapes in the Indian insurance broking market. Differentiate between selling and marketing. Understand the importance and application of differentiation strategy in the Indian insurance broking market. Emphasize the importance of value proposition in developing a competitive advantage for insurance broking organization. Critically analyze the internal strength and weaknesses of an insurance broking company.

RHIBPL, one of India’s largest insurance broking companies, operating for more than 12 years and has had a strong presence in eight major cities of India. RHIBPL had been known for life insurance, non-life insurance like cars, two-wheelers, Mediclaim and health. RHIBPL’s unique selling proposition was the best fit for each product and service after understanding the customer’s need. On October 16, 2020, Abhishek Singh, CDO at RHIBPL, was preparing for an upcoming management meeting on the company’s vision “to be the largest insurance provider in the country and to reach US$ 140 million by 2025,” which was communicated by the Ajay Bansal, founder and chief executive officer of RHIBPL. Singh had to prepare an action plan to achieve the RHIBPL’s vision. He had to develop and implement a differentiation strategy to achieve the RHIBPL’s vision from the available resources. How can he create a competitive advantage for RHIBPL in the highly competitive insurance broking market?

The case delineates the challenges facing an insurance broker company to achieve its new corporate vision. This case can be discussed in undergraduate and postgraduate courses (at the introductory level) in the business management discipline to understand the importance and application of differentiation strategy and competitive advantage. This case can also be significant for insurance-related courses for postgraduates and executives working in the insurance industry. The case can be useful for the courses on services marketing, strategic management, strategic marketing management and marketing management.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

The International Journal of Organizational Analysis (IJOA) is a leading journal that has published high-quality research focused on various facets of organizational analysis since 1993. This paper aims to conduct a retrospective analysis of the IJOA journey from 2005 to 2020.

The data used in this study was extracted using the Scopus database. The bibliometric analysis, using several indicators, is adopted to reveal the major trends and themes of the journal. The mapping of bibliographic data is carried using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny.

The study findings indicate that IJOA has grown for publications and citations since its inception. Five significant research directions emerged, i.e. organizational diagnostics, organization citizenship behaviour, organizational commitment to employee retention, psychological capital and firm performance, based on cluster analysis of IJOA’s publications.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to conduct a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of IJOA. The study presents the key themes and trends emerging from a leading journal, considered a high-quality journal, for researching various facets of organizational functioning by academicians, scholars and practitioners.

This paper aims to evaluate the construction supply chain (CSC) by examining its relationships with various key areas and its development, identifying gaps and outlining potential future research directions that affect the implementation of CSC standards during the timeframe of the United Nations’ “Decade of Action” plans in the past two decades.

This paper reports on a systematic literature review with bibliometric analysis that investigates publications from around the world on various aspects of CSC. These aspects include research methodology/data collection technique, inquiry mode, country-specific research, focused areas of study, the research aims and publication periods.

The findings of the study reveal that information technology, information sharing, collaboration, performance measurement and CSC configuration have received considerable attention and analysis. However, financial management, supply chain resilience, logistics, vendor managed inventory and rural CSC have been identified as significant areas that require further investigation since limited attention has been given to them in the existing literature.

CSC is a very dominant topic in the current study, but there are some limitations to it. Scopus and Web of Science databases were used to conduct the study. A future study can therefore consider papers related to other databases. As the focus was specifically dedicated to construction material SC only, the papers associated with SCs of labours and equipment have been eradicated.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first structured and systematic literature review that identifies the issues related to the CSC during the timeframe of the United Nations’ “Decade of Action” plans and proposes future research directions to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of CSC.

Although the role of self-leadership is important, it remains understudied in business-to-business (B2B) selling context. This study aims to provide insights into the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership tested through a sample working in pharmaceutical sales in an emerging economy. In accord, the authors investigate the relationships between self-efficacy, behavioral self-leadership, adaptive selling and ultimately sales performance. This study also investigates the moderating role of technical knowledge.

Data were gathered from 208 salespeople working in pharmaceutical industry. AMOS 21.0 and SmartPLS3.0 were utilized to test the conceptual framework.

The study finds that self-efficacy is positively related to behavioral self-leadership that in turn is positively related to adaptive selling and sales performance. In addition, counter intuitive findings were uncovered related to salesperson’s technical knowledge. Those with high technical knowledge exhibited weaker relationship between self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership, behavioral self-leadership and adaptive selling and that between behavioral self-leadership and sales performance than their counterparts with low technical knowledge.

This study extends work on self-leadership by exploring the effect of self-efficacy and behavioral self-leadership on sales performance. This study also extends the theory on salesperson’s knowledge by proposing the counter-intuitive effect of knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership on adaptive selling and sales performance.

Sales managers should consider that not all employees indulging in behavioral self-leadership would reap benefits from the same. As such, sales managers should assess the level of technical knowledge of the salesforce and when determining their training programs that develop such self-leadership skills.

The study is one of the first to consider the drivers and outcomes of behavioral self-leadership and technical knowledge in a B2B sales context. By focusing on the interplay between knowledge and self-efficacy and knowledge and behavioral self-leadership, this study provides greater understanding of the effects of behavioral self-leadership than previously expected by sales researchers.