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1 – 6 of 6Michael Sony and Nandakumar Mekoth
There is an unresolved paradox concerning electricity energy-saving behaviour. On one hand, there are many studies on energy-saving behaviours and on the other hand, recent…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an unresolved paradox concerning electricity energy-saving behaviour. On one hand, there are many studies on energy-saving behaviours and on the other hand, recent research stresses that there exists large amount untapped potential in terms electricity energy-saving behaviours. Therefore, it becomes pertinent to revisit the construct of electricity energy-saving behaviours qualitatively to enlarge the spectrum of understanding. The purpose of this paper is to answer the research question why do not customers care about electricity energy-saving behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study is undertaken in Western India using grounded theory methodology. The basic steps in the analysis of qualitative data consist of coding the data, combining the codes into broader categories and themes, and interpreting the results.
Findings
The study identifies seven categories of determinants of electricity energy-saving behaviours. Policy implications and limitations of the study are discussed along with areas of future research directions.
Originality/value
This is the first study to unearth the dimensions of electricity energy-saving behaviour.
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Vidya Dalvi and Nandakumar Mekoth
While interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has been used in health psychology research, it has so far not been applied to seek deeper insights into the patients’…
Abstract
Purpose
While interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) has been used in health psychology research, it has so far not been applied to seek deeper insights into the patients’ experiences about treatment. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap by using IPA to understand patient non-adherence.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 18 patients with chronic conditions seeking healthcare services in Goa and Karnataka, India, were selected by using the snowball sampling method. In-depth interviews were conducted face to face. A semi-structured questionnaire developed by the researchers was used to collect the data. IPA was used to explore the themes to predict patient non-adherence.
Findings
The study results indicate that economic factors, health system related factors, social factors and psychological factors impact patient non-adherence. Patient non-adherence includes medication non-adherence and lifestyle modification non-adherence.
Research limitations/implications
Being cross sectional in design, the results may not be as appropriate as the results derived from a longitudinal study given that non-adherence occurs over time.
Practical implications
Patient non-adherence is a global health issue. Multidisciplinary approach to enhance patient adherence to treatment should form part of public healthcare policy.
Social implications
Exploring the factors influencing patient non-adherence will help the health-care industry stakeholders to reduce healthcare cost and improve patient’s quality of life.
Originality/value
Although there is extensive quantitative research on the prevalence of non-adherence, qualitative research is limited. This paper addresses this gap by using IPA to understand patient non-adherence and its factors and dimensions.
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Michael Sony and Nandakumar Mekoth
An adaptable frontline employee (FLE) would be an asset for the organization, customer and to other constituents, external to the organization. Previous research by the same…
Abstract
Purpose
An adaptable frontline employee (FLE) would be an asset for the organization, customer and to other constituents, external to the organization. Previous research by the same authors conceptualizes FLE adaptability in the power sector, using grounded theory as a multidimensional construct (Sony and Nandakumar, 2014). The purpose of this study is to explore this concept by developing a new scale to measure the FLE adaptability.
Design/methodology/approach
The research is conducted in various phases to build up a new 41-item self-reported scale to measure adaptability of FLEs using structural equation modelling on data obtained from FLE ' s working in the power sector in India.
Findings
The finding of the paper is a valid FLEADAPT scale which can be used for measuring adaptability of FLEs.
Research limitations/implications
Although this study has provided relevant and interesting insights into the understanding of FLE adaptability, it is important to recognize its limitations. First, data in this study were obtained from firms in Western India. Although it can be said that the two samples represent a cross-section of a large number of businesses, it would be useful to obtain a broader and wider sampling frame from other countries. Because respondents’ perceptions, attitudes and behaviour are influenced by their cultures, it would be useful to test whether the existing FLE adaptability scale can be generalized to situations in other countries.
Practical implications
FLE adaptability is identified as a key process in job performance, and hence, the scale will become an important managerial assessment tool.
Social implications
This scale has a dimension to measure the social aspect of frontline adaptability, thus giving organizations a new tool to measure adaptability among the front lines.
Originality/value
Despite the increasing research attention paid to the concept of FLEs, to date, there has been no valid and comprehensive operational measure of FLE adaptability. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound and operationally valid measure of an FLE’s adaptability.
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Michael Sony and Nandakumar Mekoth
The power sector needs frontline employees (FLEs) who are adaptable to the dynamic and complex business environments. There is yet to be a study that defines FLE adaptability as a…
Abstract
Purpose
The power sector needs frontline employees (FLEs) who are adaptable to the dynamic and complex business environments. There is yet to be a study that defines FLE adaptability as a lived in experience. The main purpose of this study is to explore the dimensions of FLE adaptability in power sector.
Design/methodology/approach
FLE adaptability being multifaceted and context based, the research is conducted as a qualitative research in an attempt to identify FLE adaptability dimensions. FLE's working in three power utilities in Western, India participated through purposeful sampling frame. Data were collected using interviews, group discussions and open-ended questionnaire and analyzed in line with grounded theory.
Findings
The analysis revealed seven dimensions of FLE adaptability. The dimensions being interpersonal aspect of adaptability, service offering aspect adaptability, political aspects of adaptability, social aspects of adaptability, physical aspects of adaptability, group aspect of adaptability and organizational aspect of adaptability.
Research limitations/implications
Given the authors' exploratory qualitative approach and small sample size, these findings should be interpreted with caution until they have been replicated in a variety of settings and with multiple methodologies. Participants in this study were drawn from power sector organizations located in Western, India. This may delimit generalizations. Substantial research needs to be carried out in order to fully develop a complete understanding of this important FLE adaptability construct.
Social implications
Power sector is one of the major parameters for the development of country. FLEs are one of the main cogs in the efficient management of power sector. This research stresses the need for FLE for adapting to the social fabric of society especially for services which are essential in nature. The new term coined by the researchers is social consciousness which depicts employee social orientation.
Originality/value
There is academic scarcity on research that defines FLE adaptability as a lived in experience. In the previous research on employee adaptability, there was a consistent divide between the setting (laboratory vs field), construct dimensionality (uni- vs multidimensional), assessment format (objective task scores vs subjective ratings), and sample (military vs non-military setting). Thus, the previous research on adaptability could not be generalized on the adaptability spectrum of FLEs; hence, this study revisits the attributes of FLE adaptability.
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Nattuvathuckal Barnabas and Nandakumar Mekoth
This paper aims to find out whether superior autonomy at boundary spanning levels in service organizations results in better market orientation and performance and whether…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to find out whether superior autonomy at boundary spanning levels in service organizations results in better market orientation and performance and whether autonomy and decentralization, though conceptually different, have similar practical implications. Researchers developed a theoretical model and tested it in the post‐liberalized Indian retail banking context to address these concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
Bank branches constituted the unit of analysis. Further to getting initial insights on market orientation in retail banking through interviews researchers conducted a survey among branch managers. A total of 305 branch managers were contacted of which 122 cooperated.
Findings
Regression results suggest that superior personnel related and goal setting autonomy at boundary spanning levels have positive market orientation as well as performance implications. Marketing autonomy did not have significant impact on market orientation. Autonomy and decentralization though conceptually different displayed similar implications on market orientation and performance. Formalization while negatively impacting market orientation did not directly impact performance.
Practical implications
As firm performance is dependent on subunit performance, managers should naturally be interested in factors that enhance performance at subunit level. Current research finds evidence for superior personnel and goal setting autonomy as well as less rigid rules facilitating market orientation and performance at the subunit level.
Originality/value
This is the first effort to study market orientation at the boundary spanning levels in service organizations. Besides providing evidences from the Indian retail banking context about the impact of autonomy on market orientation and performance the paper also presents primary evidence for clarifying the similarities and differences between autonomy and decentralization.
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Anil Kumar Goswami, Anamika Sinha, Meghna Goswami and Prashant Kumar
This study aims to extend and explore patterns and trends of research in the linkage of big data and knowledge management (KM) by identifying growth in terms of numbers of papers…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to extend and explore patterns and trends of research in the linkage of big data and knowledge management (KM) by identifying growth in terms of numbers of papers and current and emerging themes and to propose areas of future research.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by systematically extracting, analysing and synthesizing the literature related to linkage between big data and KM published in top-tier journals in Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus databases by exploiting bibliometric techniques along with theory, context, characteristics, methodology (TCCM) analysis.
Findings
The study unfolds four major themes of linkage between big data and KM research, namely (1) conceptual understanding of big data as an enabler for KM, (2) big data–based models and frameworks for KM, (3) big data as a predictor variable in KM context and (4) big data applications and capabilities. It also highlights TCCM of big data and KM research through which it integrates a few previously reported themes and suggests some new themes.
Research limitations/implications
This study extends advances in the previous reviews by adding a new time line, identifying new themes and helping in the understanding of complex and emerging field of linkage between big data and KM. The study outlines a holistic view of the research area and suggests future directions for flourishing in this research area.
Practical implications
This study highlights the role of big data in KM context resulting in enhancement of organizational performance and efficiency. A summary of existing literature and future avenues in this direction will help, guide and motivate managers to think beyond traditional data and incorporate big data into organizational knowledge infrastructure in order to get competitive advantage.
Originality/value
To the best of authors’ knowledge, the present study is the first study to go deeper into understanding of big data and KM research using bibliometric and TCCM analysis and thus adds a new theoretical perspective to existing literature.
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