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The Employee Provident Fund Organization (EPFO), established by the Government of India is one of the World's Largest Social Security Organizations. The purpose of EPFO is to ensure social security for Industrial workers and their dependents. EPFO maintains more than 15 crore accounts of its members. Traditionally EPFO had been functioning as a legacy organization, administered and managed by Indian bureaucracy. Operational processes were riddled with over emphasis on rules and regulations, but were weak on transparency, accountability, effectiveness and efficiency. The 120 EPFO offices established all over the country operated in silos. Consequently, the very purpose of social security and welfare of the industrial employees suffered, while all other stake holders enjoyed significant controlling power. Recent interventions at EPFO were focused on process reengineering and ICT enablement to make EPFO more customer-centric. The case documents the transformation of EPFO from a bureaucratic, opaque organization to a customer centric, stakeholder friendly, transparent and accountable organization through IT enabled operations.

Jarsh Safety received an order of 500 units of its Model S helmet. However, the order must be delivered within 15 days. Jarsh Safety was founded by three engineering college peers, who conceptualized air-conditioned, industrial safety helmets. This innovative revolutionary product offered industrial workers not only safety but aesthetics and comfort. The founders hoped that the product could change the perception of safety helmets from mandatory wear to desired wear. The case details the production process, staffing, raw material required and procurement lead time.

The case documents the evolution of an eye care hospital promoted by a not-for profit organization located in Mandvi, Surat, close to the tribal community of Gujarat state, India. In a short span of five years (as of 2016), the trust has evolved as a community hospital. The value proposition of the trust is a portfolio of activities, which includes awareness by education, prevention of eye care diseases through eye screening camps, treatment, and rehabilitation on need basis and addressing direct and indirect healthcare needs of the community. The managerial challenge before the board of trustees is to carefully balance (a) The purpose for which the trust was created, (b) the gap between the ground realities and the need in the relevant tribal community (c) the accomplishments of the eye hospital so far.

The case presents a customer's experience during the purchase of a pair of shoes in an upmarket retail outlet of Bharat Footwear Limited (BFL), in Ahmedabad, wherein he was offered a discount coupon meant for shareholders, at a shared consideration of 60 (buyer) and 40 (agent). The customer needs to decide on the acceptance or otherwise of the deal. Adequate data is provided to discuss this central issue in a business context along with an estimate of the secondary market of discount coupons. The analysis of the case leads to a debate on whether the discount policy should be continued or otherwise. While several sharing arrangements for the discount amount are considered, the key to the situation is not such arrangements but a robust system in dispensing these coupons.

The purpose of this paper is the coupled nonlinear fractal Schrödinger system is defined by using fractal derivative, and its variational principle is constructed by the fractal semi-inverse method. The approximate analytical solution of the coupled nonlinear fractal Schrödinger system is obtained by the fractal variational iteration transform method based on the proposed variational theory and fractal two-scales transform method. Finally, an example illustrates the proposed method is efficient to deal with complex nonlinear fractal systems.

The coupled nonlinear fractal Schrödinger system is described by using the fractal derivative, and its fractal variational principle is obtained by the fractal semi-inverse method. A novel approach is proposed to solve the fractal model based on the variational theory.

The fractal variational iteration transform method is an excellent method to solve the fractal differential equation system.

The author first presents the fractal variational iteration transform method to find the approximate analytical solution for fractal differential equation system. The example illustrates the accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach.

This chapter discusses key training challenges that organizations need to confront with the objective of building a robust human resource management system. Given the dynamics of the current business environment, training and development has become an indispensable function in global organizations. Building an effective human capital that contributes to continual organizational growth has become the established norm to survive in a competitive business landscape. However, the training and development function is often rendered ineffective, on account of various bottlenecks existing in the organization. Addressing these bottlenecks is quintessential in ensuring the creation of a performance-driven human capital. The goal of this chapter is to draw attention to the training impediments that hinder organizational growth and to diagnose the underlying causes for the same. This chapter concludes with recommendations that organizational decision-makers can leverage in their quest to strengthen the human capital, by utilizing their training and development infrastructure optimally.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present two examples based on real life experiences where the Bullwhip effect (BWE) in supply chain is considerably reduced. Both examples relate to the consumer durables industry in India. Design/methodology/approach: The first example uses enterprise resource planning and vendor managed inventory as tools to reduce the BWE. The second example uses a modification of the classical inventory control policies to eliminate BWE. Research limitations/implications: This paper could initiate research in an area which would help supply chain researchers and managers to understand why some companies are able to contain BWE and others are not. Findings: Based on these two empirical case studies, the paper argues that managing BWE is a strategic initiative by organization and the best approach is a combination of several tactical initiatives. Originality/value: This paper briefly summarizes the managerial approaches to tame BWE in two different contexts. The two examples have some similarities, differences and offer unique insights related to managing BWE.

Computation have been made of the three‐dimensional flow field development, chemical reaction and combustion processes in a typical afterburner system under both isothermal and reacting flow conditions. The calculations are based upon a numerical solution of the time‐averaged transport equations for mass, momentum, turbulence kinetic energy, dissipation rate, enthalpy and species concentrations using a finite‐volume formulation. The physical models include the k—ε turbulence model, the eddy break‐up model, a two‐step reaction model, a droplet vaporization and combustion model and six‐flux radiation model. The mean flow structures are presented in important longitudinal and cross‐sectional planes which show certain striking similarities and contrasting differences for isothermal and reacting flows. The flame stabilizer flow is shown to be dominated by a complex combination of recirculation and vortex patterns. Combustion alters convergence and mixing flow patterns downstream of the flame stabilizer, thus influencing the selection of the fuel injection system. The predicted reacting flow parameters identify a number of design parameters such as fuel injector location, high degree reaction zone, nozzle opening area and the corresponding fuel flow rate.

Sulphur dioxide, a dangerous atmospheric pollutant, is a major concern with the increasing use of coal as a combustion fuel in thermal power plants. Numerous efforts were made through these years to minimize the emission of sulphur dioxide and one such effort is the desulphurization of the flue gas generated during combustion, commonly termed as flue gas desulphurization (FGD). However, the materials of construction used for FGD systems, usually of type 316L stainless steel were reported to be failed due to the localized corrosion attack by the aggressiveness of the environment, mainly of chloride, fluoride, acidity and temperature encountered during the scrubbing of SO2.

The emission of sulphur dioxide, a dangerous atmospheric pollutant, is the major problem with the increasing use of coal as a fuel in various industries. A variety of methods in minimizing the sulphur dioxide emission have been reported, among which the desulphurization of the flue gas generated by combustion of the coal receives much attention and it is termed as flue gas desulphurization (FGD).