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This case study aims to understand the criticalities of hiring in a knowledge-based start-up; the various ways of retaining talent in a knowledge-based start-up; the competency requirements of human resource professionals in start-up organizations; the trade-off between business profitability and the R&D drive of the company; and the various organizational structures available for a knowledge-based start-up.

Ayush Jain, a first-generation entrepreneur, is facing a challenge with his start-up, TechShlok. TechShlok is an IT solution provider with its headquarters in Jaipur, India. The company is doing very well and is able to achieve many accolades. As the company grows in business and employee strength, it is facing talent acquisition and retention challenges. Ayush is in a fix to solve the talent issue and retain the key talent of the organization.

The case can be taught in a Human Resource Management course, including “talent management” and “human resource planning”. The case may be taught at upper undergraduate levels. It can also be taught in courses of entrepreneurship and knowledge-based start-ups.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This paper aims to study the sliding wear and coefficient of friction (COF) using “ball on disc” tribometer. Discs of bearing steel were subjected to different tribological parameters such as heat treatment (through hardening and case hardening), sliding speed, sliding distance and micro-geometry of the functional ball and disc point contact. Results obtained from tribometer were correlated with the preload loss in tapered roller bearing. Preload loss is subjected to wear rate pattern with respect to the internal geometry and micro-geometry of functional surfaces of the tapered roller bearing, caused by internal resistance between roller large ends sliding against cone supporting face. This confirms the optimum geometry and physical/mechanical property of the tapered roller bearing, which makes the use of these bearings under the demanding application in the automotive industry such as differential gears and installation of pinions of differential gears in power transmissions or wheels.

The paper opted for an exploratory study using the design of experiments with full factorial method. The approach was to do ball on disc sliding wear test and correlate that sliding wear with preload loss in tapered roller bearing.

The paper provides the limit of preload loss in tapered roller bearing.

Because of the chosen research approach, the research lacks the effect of environmental conditions such as temperature and relative humidity and lube film thickness effect on wear test. It also lacks the validation part with actual preload loss on tapered roller bearings. Above work is included in future scope of work.

This paper includes the recommendation for surface parameters which can increase the bearing life by reducing the preload loss in tapered roller bearing.

This paper includes the recommendation for surface parameters for bearing manufacturing industries.

This paper provides the relation between sliding wear and preload loss in tapered roller bearing.

Nanofluids exhibit enhanced heat transfer characteristics and are expected to be the future heat transfer fluids particularly the lubricants and transmission fluids used in heavy machinery. For studying the heat transfer behaviour of the nanofluids, precise values of their thermal conductivity are required. For predicting the correct value of thermal conductivity of a nanofluid, mathematical models are necessary. In this paper, the effective thermal conductivity of various nanofluids has been reported by using both experimental and mathematical modelling. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Hamilton and Crosser equation was used for predicting the thermal conductivities of nanofluids, and the obtained values were compared with the experimental findings. Nanofluid studied in this paper are Al₂O₃ in base fluid water, Al₂O₃ in base fluid ethylene glycol, CuO in base fluid water, CuO in base fluid ethylene glycol, TiO₂ in base fluid ethylene glycol. In addition, studies have been made on nanofluids with CuO and Al₂O₃ in base fluid SAE 30 particularly for heavy machinery applications.

The study shows that increase in thermal conductivity of the nanofluid with particle concentration is in good agreement with that predicted by Hamilton and Crosser at typical lower concentrations.

It has been observed that deviation between experimental and theoretical results increases as the volume concentration of nanoparticles increases. Therefore, the mathematical model cannot be used for predicting thermal conductivity at high concentration values.

Studies on nanoparticles with a standard mineral oil as base fluid have not been considered extensively as per the previous literatures available.

In December 2015, 196 countries will meet in Paris to reach a new global climate change agreement. This case looks at the climate negotiation process from the eyes of India's environment minister Mr Prakash Javadekar. In India's context, the energy sector has a big role to play in emission reduction as it is the largest emitter of the GHGs. When compared to US and China, India's per-capita emissions are miniscule but they are expected to rise substantially as the GoI is investing heavily in the infrastructure sector which has a substantial carbon footprint. The case discusses the mandatory emission cuts that India will announce considering the fulfillment of sustainable development goals. The case also points out, the government's promise of providing 24*7 electricity by 2019 which it feels can be an impediment in setting an aggressive emission cut target. The case questions if changes in the portfolio mix can be a part of the solution.

A detailed description will be provided of all the classification algorithms that have been widely used in the domain of medical science. The foundation will be laid by giving a comprehensive overview pertaining to the background and history of the classification algorithms. This will be followed by an extensive discussion regarding various techniques of classification algorithm in machine learning (ML) hence concluding with their relevant applications in data analysis in medical science and health care. To begin with, the initials of this chapter will deal with the basic fundamentals required for a profound understanding of the classification techniques in ML which will comprise of the underlying differences between Unsupervised and Supervised Learning followed by the basic terminologies of classification and its history. Further, it will include the types of classification algorithms ranging from linear classifiers like Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes to Nearest Neighbour, Support Vector Machine, Tree-based Classifiers, and Neural Networks, and their respective mathematics. Ensemble algorithms such as Majority Voting, Boosting, Bagging, Stacking will also be discussed at great length along with their relevant applications. Furthermore, this chapter will also incorporate comprehensive elucidation regarding the areas of application of such classification algorithms in the field of biomedicine and health care and their contribution to decision-making systems and predictive analysis. To conclude, this chapter will devote highly in the field of research and development as it will provide a thorough insight to the classification algorithms and their relevant applications used in the cases of the healthcare development sector.

Strategy.

MBA.

On 20 May 2016, the Management team at Patanjali Ayurved Limited (PAL), an Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, had assembled in their Haridwar office, India, to discuss their future growth plans. The team was in a celebratory mood, as their internal reports suggested the annual revenue forecasts for the year 2016-2017 to be INR 10bn, an increase of 100 per cent as compared to the previous fiscal year 2015-2016 that recorded annual revenues of INR 5bn. PAL incorporated in 2006 and co-founded by Acharya Balkrishna operated in four business segments of foods, personal care, home care and Ayurved products. The products sold under the brand name Patanjali were single-handedly promoted by Swami Ramdev (hereafter referred as Ramdev), a popular Yoga practitioner and preacher amongst the Indian masses, as well as PAL’s co-founder. Ramdev recommended PAL’s products in his yoga sessions on television and yoga shibirs which had led to huge positive “word-of-mouth” publicity for their brand Patanjali. Their fast-paced growth in less than a decade had generated a disruption in the Indian FMCG sector, resulting in a negative impact on the sales of established multinational corporations (MNCs) such as Colgate-Palmolive, Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL), ITC Limited (ITC), besides the domestic players such as Dabur India Ltd. and Emami Ltd. This had led their FMCG competitors to launch plans to strengthen their product portfolios so as to provide a tough competition to PAL. The management team at PAL, though confident of achieving their annual revenue targets, were apprehensive of this new competition from the big players of the FMCG sector. Were they capable of continuing their success story? Going forward what strategic steps would ensure them a sustainable growth and a market leader position? The mood turned reflective as the team pondered on some of these questions.

The case is structured to enable discussion on: conducting and understanding a general environment analysis and industry and competitive analysis and critically evaluating the firm’s strategic positioning and scope in a competitive environment.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 11: Strategy.

This chapter outlines current developments in Indian libraries, information services and cultural sector collectively highlighting recent trends and developments as India increasingly takes centre stage in the area of libraries and information literacy development. The chapter also provides a critical analysis of library and information science education in India and highlights the need for government strategies and policies related to public libraries. Some 17 federal states and union territories in the Republic of India have no public library legislation and therefore low literacy rates. India needs public awareness campaigns, civic engagement and community developments including the grass-roots empowerment of public libraries. Financial reforms, modernization and federal funding strategies for public libraries are also required to energize cultural organizations and national libraries. A recent major development is the establishment of a National Commission on Libraries following recommendations by the National Knowledge Commission. However, Indian public libraries do not cater sufficiently for the growing youth population or other strata's of Indian society. The growing Indian higher education sector also necessitates information policies for open access, digital preservation and repositories development.

The study aims to compare India's public health expenditure at the international and state levels. The paper also empirically examines the regional disparities in NRHM spending across the 21 selected states of India.

The tools of absolute β-and σ-convergence are used in the analysis to test the regional convergence. The average annual growth rate across the states is the dependent variable for β-convergence, and time is the second dependent variable but is used for s-convergence. In contrast, the initial value of NRHM expenditure and the coefficient of variation of NRHM expenditure are used as independent variables, respectively. Descriptive statistics are also used for the study. The data are annual and cover the panel from 2007 to 2020.

The study attests to the hypothesis of β-and σ-convergence for the selected states in the period mentioned. The observed convergence in NRHM expenditure is due to the shift in the government's attention from the non-high focus high focus states to high states through the national rural health mission policy. The coefficient of variation across the states also shows a declining trend and provides the robustness of the σ-convergence.

As far as the literature is concerned, none of the existing studies examines the convergence of a public health expenditure scheme like the National Rural Health Mission across the Indian states by applying the techniques of β-and σ-convergence. The novelty of the study is using the newly updated dataset and validating the convergence hypotheses in the National Rural Health Mission expenditure case.

Tourism is one of the upcoming service industry in India with high potentials for future growth, particularly in rural areas. Many potential barriers are affecting the growth of tourism in rural India. Therefore, it is essential to explore and prioritize the barriers to tourism growth in rural India.

Qualitative and quantitative responses from “16” experts related to tourism and hospitality management from central India are collected for this study. An integrated Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) based framework is adopted to identify and relate significant barriers to tourism growth in India.

The result of the study identified many significant barriers and their importance to tourism growth in rural India.

The findings of this study add to the knowledge base of tourism research in line with the previous literature. This study offers an in-depth understanding of barriers focusing on rural tourism growth and devising both the plan of action and the suggestive measures in dealing with rural tourism.

The study provides a robust framework by integrating Interpretive Structural Modelling(ISM) and Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) to explore and prioritizing the critical barriers to rural tourism growth in India. The results of this study can help the decision-maker to fundamentally improve the economy of India through the growth of rural tourism.