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This paper suggests a standard format for creating hypermedia software. Teachers and students of literature have taken up the use of hypermedia technology enthusiastically and so we are rapidly arriving at a situation where a mushrooming of software for language and literature teaching will be faced. We will arrive much sooner at a situation where searching for an appropriate software would be as difficult as finding an appropriate article today. Technology is expected to optimise information to maximise knowledge: the confusion created by Gutenburg's invention is because duplication cannot be avoided. The suggested format is based on the major pillars of literary criticism — author centred, text centred and reader centred—and develops from the word to the work level. The findings have been demonstrated in the form of Technocriticism, a hypermedia program created on HyperCard.

This paper argues that simpler techniques explaining visual symbols (the referents) such as illustrations, annotation of texts with commentaries, explanations, word meanings, maps and pictures are not sufficient for conveying the message in culturally displaced (i.e. foreign language) texts. The definition of technology in relation to the teaching of literature would go beyond the machine‐tool definition and into the hermeneutic sciences, which say that the message of the literary text lies above the lexical and syntactic levels in the creative unconscious of the gifted individuals. The transfer of the message has not been successfully achieved even with the combination of different media. Literary texts create an overall impression with the help of pieces of information, and hypertext seems to promise a medium for providing explanations which would help convey the ‘essence’ of the texts.

After a successful discussion and analysis of the case, the participants will be able to distinguish and appreciate the situations of conflict of interest (COI), whistle-blowing, etc. Initiate appropriate methods to avoid/minimize the impact of COI and ensure justice and fair-play to all stake-holders. Identify and appreciate the work-context of each executive-position and initiate standard operating procedures to protect the interests of the enterprise and all its stakeholders. Appreciate the relevance of whistle-blowing and to initiate appropriate methods to ensure justice and fair-play to all stake-holders.

In the context of the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI)-bank, the systemic inadequacies seemed to have failed in preventing the incidences of COI. The organization was too centralized to be able to respond proactively to the allegations. The case lays bare the inadequacy of professionalism among the media in responding promptly to such instances. The case generalizes that, with increasing globalization, such incidences have global ramifications and the organizations face much greater risks than ever. The case concludes that to emerge as a mature and leading organization in the global market, ICICI-bank needed to strengthen various aspects of corporate governance; similarly to emerge as a developed economy, India needed to develop independent watchdogs to monitor the activities of corporations continuously. Media needed to be independent and mature to fulfil its duty of continuous and transparent communication to the public.

The case can be understood and analysed by management students in the post-graduate level or by working executives with at least four to five years of experience in the corporate sector.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The non-executive Chairman, Chaturvedi, must lead the Board of Directors of ICICI Bank as it deals with the adverse findings by a former Supreme Court judge against Ms. Chanda Kochhar, the former Chief Executive of the Bank. She had not disclosed a conflict of interest regarding a loan to a corporate group that had business dealings with her husband. Months earlier, the Board had exonerated her and also allowed her to retire from the Bank. Could and should the Board now reclassify Kochhar's retirement as ‘Termination for Cause’ and claw back her past bonuses?

The study aims to identify and understand the underlying behavioral tendencies and motivations influencing investor sentiments and examines the relationship between these underlying factors and investment decisions during the COVID-19-induced financial risks.

The study uses the primary data and information collected from 300 Indian retail equity investors using a nonprobability sampling technique, specifically purposive and snowball sampling. This research uses the insights from Phuoc Luong and Thi Thu Ha (2011) and Shefrin (2002) to delineate behavioral factors influencing investment decisions. Structural equation modeling estimates the causal relationship between underlying behavioral factors and investment decisions during the COVID-19-induced financial risks.

The study establishes that the “Regret Aversion,” “Gambler’s Fallacy” and “Greed” significantly influence investment decisions, and provide a comprehensive understanding of how psychological motivations shape investor behavior. Notably, “Mental Accounting” and “Conservatism” exhibit insignificance, possibly influenced by the unique socioeconomic context of the pandemic. The research contributes to 35% of variance understanding and prompts the researchers and policymakers to tailor investment strategies aligned to these behavioral tendencies.

The findings hold policy implications for investors and policymakers and provide tailored recommendations including investor education programs and regulatory measures to ensure a resilient and informed investment community in the context of India's evolving financial landscapes.

Theoretically, behavior tendencies and motivations have been strongly linked to investment decisions in the stock market. Yet, empirical evidence on this relationship is limited in developing countries where investors focus on risk management. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to document the influence of underlying behavioral tendencies and motivation factors on investment decisions regarding retail equity in a developing country.

This paper aims to depict the erosion performance of two HVOF-coated micron layers (Colmonoy-88 and Stellite-6) on pump impeller steel (SS-410) by using Taguchi's method. Taguchi's array (L16) was used to optimize the erosion wear (in terms of weight loss) by using four influencing parameters such as rotational speed, solid concentration, average particle size and time which were varied at four different levels.

The experiments were carried out by using a Ducom slurry tester with rotational speed in the range of 750-1,500 rpm, solid concentration of 35-65 per cent by weight, time period of 75-210 min and average particle sizes in the range of < 53 to 250 µm. Bottom Ash with a nominal size range of < 53 to 250 µm was used as erodent. The process parameters were optimized by using Taguchi's method. The ANOVA method was used to validate the results given by Taguchi's method.

The results revealed that the presence of both carbides and borides and the additional presence of Cr in Colmonoy-88 coating enhancing the slurry erosion resistance of Colmonoy-88 coating. Moreover, the chromium and tungsten carbide particles help in increasing the bond strength between the coating and the substrate material. Further, it was also found that the time was the most dominant factor as compared to other factors.

The very less work has been reported on optimization of erosion wear response of Colmonoy-88 and Stellite-6 coatings by using different design of experiment techniques. Further, the erosion wear mechanism of both coatings has been studied by using image j analysis software.

Technological developments have made it possible for organizations to use enterprise resource planning (ERP) services without indulging in heavy investments like IT infrastructure, trained manpower for implementation and maintenance and updating the systems regularly to maintain business competitiveness. Plug and play model offered by cloud ERP has led to a constant creation of large data sets which are structured, semi-structured and unstructured by nature. Thus, there has been a need to analyze such complex data sets and the purpose of this paper is to focus on how cloud ERP and big data predictive analytics (BDPA) will impact the performance of a firm.

A dynamic capability view (DCV) theory-based model was developed and the authors have collected data by using an online questionnaire from India. Thereafter, the authors have analyzed it by employing structural equation modeling.

SEM analysis of 231 respondents showcases that the use of DCV theory to define the relationships of cloud ERP and BDPA has been the right move. Out of the 13 hypotheses empirically tested, only 7 hypotheses were supported by the data.

The study showcases cross-sectional data from India. It would be interesting for this study to see if the country-level differences would influence these relationships between cloud ERP and financial performance, BDPA and financial performance and cloud ERP and BDPA.

This study empirically tests the relationship of cloud ERP and BDPA through a model based on DCV theory.

The prime objective of this paper is to design a green supply chain management (GSCM) framework to evaluate the performance of environmental-conscious suppliers using multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach.

The literature survey reveals critical factors for implementing GSCM, adopted methodologies and the result obtained by several researchers. Data have been collected by conducting surveys and interviews with strategic-level personnel of five esteemed organizations in automobile manufacturing sectors. A GSCM framework is developed in which a mathematical tool entropy–the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) has been used to analyze the six parameters of automobile manufacturing unit. Initially, entropy is used to find the weights of each of the parameters that influence the decision matrix of the TOPSIS method. Secondly, the proposed GSCM framework ranks the supplier. Finally, sensitivity analysis of the model satisfies the GSCM framework and benchmarked the supplier.

The result shows that “Total CO₂ emission” has an influential role for GSCM sustainability, and hence, firms should put more effort to reduce emissions to improve overall performance. Again, the parameters like investment in R&D and total waste generation may be ignored in the selection process. The result reveals the benchmarked supplier and its strategies for effective sourcing, which would have an indirect effect on organizations' overall sustainability.

This research entirely focuses on sustainability within supply chain considering economic, social and environmental paradigms. The mathematical modeling of the proposed work considers many influential parameters and provides an easy and comprehensive decision-making technique.

The methods may be adopted by the industries for sustainable supply chain management. This study benchmarks the supplier organizations and explores the adopted policies by benchmarked organizations. Other organizations should follow the policies followed by benchmarked organization for enhancing environmental, social and economic performance. Organizations striving for sustainable development can adopt this framework for evaluation of supplier performance and benchmark with better accuracy.

The design of the GSCM framework explores both the qualitative and quantitative data based on environmental, social and economic parameters simultaneously in the evaluation of environmentally conscious suppliers. The research also investigates the constraints of the system to implement the GSCM in automobile manufacturing unit. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis justifies the benchmarked supplier and the adopted strategies to be followed by other manufacturing unit.

The study aims to establish the effect of personal resourcefulness and marital adjustment on job satisfaction and life satisfaction of working women in India.

A total of 300 women are studied – 100 each in the working women, home‐based working women, and homemakers categories – using the following scales: socio economic status scale, general health questionnaire, self‐esteem inventory, life satisfaction scale, perceived stress scale, marital adjustment scale, the self‐control schedule, and job satisfaction questionnaire.

It is found that the home‐based working women are the least stressed, most well adjusted, and the most satisfied with their careers among the groups studied. Their ways of perceiving and handling stress are found to be more effective than those used by women in the other two groups.

The study implicates women friendly work policies – like flexible job hours and home office – as well as a cooperative home environment and assistance for housework. Stress relief programmes, yoga and an overall change of attitude towards housework, female employees and sex roles are needed.

The study shows that a positive attitude towards their work in the family and adoption of practical family‐friendly policies by organizations is likely to enhance productivity for the female workforce. Various need‐based interventions are suggested.

The effectiveness of independent directors in making autonomous decisions for better corporate governance in organizations has often been questioned. This paper aims to investigate their role in company’s decision making in India and the reasons behind their ineffectiveness.

This paper examines the regulatory environment and ongoing reforms in which independent directors operate. It identifies crucial factors such as ownership patterns, the appointment and selection process that affect their autonomy. The analysis draws from newspaper articles, blogs, India’s regulatory requirements, The Companies Act and relevant related literature.

The findings reveal that the independence of directors remains largely in form but not in function. This paper recommends a fair and more robust selection through an independent authority, and disclosure of the resignations of independent directors. Independent directors should be given more powers and their risk-reward scheme should be analyzed.

The paper emphasizes the need for independent directors to be truly independent from the senior management, promoters, and other existing directors. It calls for tighter and more transparent appointment procedures to ensure that independent directors are not influenced by senior management and can bring objectivity to the company board.