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Marketing, distribution channels and servicing, product portfolios.

This case is suitable for students of business schools specialising in marketing. It is appropriate for students of marketing management and marketing strategy, distribution management and other related subjects.

The case focuses on the debacle of Fiat in India after its recent joint venture pertaining to dealership and servicing ended. The future is unclear and is the topic for debate.

The case will help students to understand the reasons for the failure of Fiat in India and to be able to connect the case with the marketing concepts, especially those pertaining to distribution channels.

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

The purpose of this paper is to identify features of online content that create engagement amongst consumers by exploring online customer feedback from the world’s leading tourist website (s). This paper also attempts to unveil the factors based on customer reviews, which will be vital for the tourism industry professionals to promote and position India’s tourist destinations.

This paper involves an analysis of customer feedback from TripAdvisor.com. The approach to research is exploratory and attempts to uncover critical factors arising out of rising visitor experience in the digital media sphere.

Key factors are nuanced around service quality of the destination image. Identified factors that need the attention of the policymakers, site management and service professionals at large are fairness of price, distractions/irritants and varied expectations of the international and national tourists.

The findings will have substantial implications for the policymakers, the site management and service professionals. Research outcomes are based on the analysis of real customer reviews hence makes this study vital for decision-makers as well as for academic researchers working in this area.

This study used the real tourist’s data from TripAdvisor.com. The customer’s postings on the website are those of verified visitors. This paper should help in developing a thoughtful discussion around positioning India as a preferred destination in the online arena aiming at future tourists.

The political and economic environment of business.

The case is suitable for students of MBA and equivalent courses; courses on the international business environment, international marketing and related subjects.

The case focuses on cross border acquisitions in the sub-Saharan economy of Zimbabwe. It discusses Essar Steel's attempt to acquire a stake in Zimbabwe Iron & Steel Company (ZISCO) with long term goals. However, recent political developments have led to the situation hanging by a thread. The case attempts to provide an overview of the complex business environment in Zimbabwe.

Students are expected to highlight the economic and political factors during the analysis of any country's business environment.

Teaching notes are available; please contact your librarian for access.

The purpose of this paper is to quantify the benefits of contract farming (CF) on farmers’ income and adoption of food safety measures (FSMs) at the farm level. The paper also investigates the determinants of participation in CF.

The study is based on a survey of 600 tomato farmers from Nepal. Descriptive statistics, regression analysis (using instrumental variable) and propensity score matching have been used to accomplish the objectives of the study.

The study found that the CF ensures higher returns to farmers as well as higher adoption of FSMs at the farm level. The contract farmers earned about 38 per cent higher net returns and had 38 per cent higher adoption of FSM as compared to independent farmers. Caste, occupation, farm size and cropping intensity significantly affected farmers’ participation in CF.

The analysis based on cross-section data has limitations to consider unobserved farmer-level individual heterogeneity.

This study will provide an empirical base to promote CF in Nepal. The study will also contribute to bridge the gap in literature on the drivers of CF and its impact on smallholders’ income and compliance with FSM in Nepal.

New varieties of paddy are constantly being developed in India in order to sustain yield gains in the face of biotic and abiotic stresses. In this study, the authors attempt to identify the drivers for adoption of new varieties of paddy in India; the authors also estimate the impact on yield of the adoption of new paddy varieties.

Survey data consisted of the reported information from approximately 20,000 paddy farmers in India. The study employs Cragg's double-hurdle model to study the probability and intensity of adoption of new varieties; we use regression discontinuity design to estimate the change in yield due to adoption of new varieties.

The authors’ findings indicate that the adoption of new varieties of paddy in India varies significantly within and between regions; further, the adoption of new varieties is affected by a number of socioeconomic and demographic factors; the authors also find that the adoption of new varieties increases yield significantly.

These are observational data and not based on the experiments. The authors relied on farmers' memory to recall the information.

The authors suggest the formulation of strategic policies that can cater to the needs of regions and states that are lagging behind in the adoption of new paddy varieties.

This paper aims at understanding the causes of low adoption of hybrid rice technology. The paper also assesses the impact of adoption of hybrids and modern varieties on crop yield, vis-à-vis the old or traditional varieties.

Using unit-level data from a large-scale survey of farm households (19,877 paddy cultivators), the authors applied multi-nomial regression method to understand the factors for adoption of hybrid rice and instrumental variable method of regression to estimate its impact.

The findings demonstrate that in India, hybrid rice is often grown on relatively poor soils, resulting in greater irrigation costs and for other inputs, such as fertilizers. Further, farmers' poor access to information on the traits of hybrid rice and the associated agronomic practices, as well as poor access to financial resources, hampers efforts to scale up its adoption. More importantly, the findings reveal that the relative yield advantage of hybrids over open-pollinated modern varieties is not large enough to incentivize the rapid adoption of hybrid rice technology.

Given the higher cost of hybrids than the inbred varieties, enhancing paddy cultivators' access to financial resources can accelerate the adoption of hybrid rice in India.

The study is based on unit level data from a large-scale, nationally representative survey of farm households, comprising a sample of 19,877 paddy cultivators, spread across states in India.

The main aim of this paper is to assess the relevance of caste-based social networks in the dissemination of technologies and innovations in the Indian agriculture.

Using the unit-level data from a large-scale farm survey, this paper constructs a multidimensional index of social networks encompassing households' castes and information sources within the administrative boundaries of a district and subsequently assesses its association with the adoption of modern seeds of staple food crops.

There is a strong effect of caste-based networks on the adoption of modern seeds of different crops, but the effect is linked to the stage of technological change, i.e. the network effect is stronger for the crop that has experienced late technological change. Further, the behavior of network members is found to have a bigger impact on the individuals' technology adoption decisions as compared to the characteristics of individuals in the network.

Given likely, increases in demand for diverse information and limited outreach of public extension systems, the findings suggest that in a socially heterogeneous society the caste-based social networks can serve as an important channel for the dissemination of information and innovations.

What is unique in this paper is that it constructs a multidimensional index of social networks embedding the farm households' castes and information sources within the administratively defined boundaries of a geographical region.

This study investigates the impact of contract farming in onion, okra and pomegranate production on profits of smallholder farmers in India. It also investigates the determinants of farmers’ participation in contract farming. The study is based on a survey of 1,131 farmers from Maharashtra, India engaged in the cultivation of these three crops.

This study uses instrumental variable regressions and quasi-experimental methods to decipher the impact of contract farming.

The study reveals that contract farming ensures higher returns for smallholders, enables their access to high-end markets and brings in risk-sharing with protection during price fluctuations. Farm size and farmers’ risk perceptions are significantly associated with their participation in contract farming.

The study is based on cross-sectional data, which presents limitations on considering unobserved farmer-level individual heterogeneity.

The study shows that contracts highlight the functioning of the contractor/integrator on both the input and output sides of the market. By providing better-quality inputs on credit and at discounted prices and by providing training, the integrator helps small farmers meet international food safety and quality standards, a historically difficult challenge for smallholders in India.

Operations management.

Logistics, Warehousing, India.

Joy Banerjee and Gaurav Tripathi have recently joined as Managers in the Planning Department at All India Warehousing Private Limited (AIWPL). Their on-job training is completed. They have met with almost all the officials at the warehouse, have interacted with labour to understand the company and its functions, and are planning to meet Kamlesh Patel, their Managing Director, to discuss the challenges and opportunities and to suggest strategies. Will they be able to make a satisfactory presentation to Kamlesh Patel on the company performance and the parameters that are going to be crucial to AIWPL's continued success? This case study may prove useful to practicing managers and management students on understanding the working of a family run private warehouse, business environment in the warehousing sector, use of technology and organizational capability to manage multi-product, multi-location warehouses.

To illustrate typical organizational responsibility structure at a private warehousing site. To illustrate the planning and administrative control mechanism in implementing strategy at a warehousing site. Offer students opportunity to understand and take view of a typical operational (project) structure. Opportunity for students to speculate adaptations in the wake of ever-changing business and company environment. Opportunity to introduce Logistic Scenario in India, warehousing technology and relate with the case in context.

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

The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors that could contribute towards the enhancement of the tourist experience at the Golden Temple site in Amritsar. The paper also seeks to explore if there is any difference in the above mentioned factors based on the religion and the nationality of the respondents.

The paper uses an exploratory research design. Data were collected using structured questionnaires with open‐ended and close‐ended questions administered to the various tourist groups visiting the Golden Temple.

Significant differences between the factors contributing to the enhancement of the experience of the various tourist groups are expected.

The research findings will help the tourism industry to identify the factors that are important for various groups of tourists. This will help to improve the customer experience and thereby attract more tourists.

The study will add to better understanding of the factors contributing to enhancement of the tourist experience at religious sites.