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Presents the analysis of a two‐unit cold standby system in which the standby unit takes a random amount of time for operation whenever the operative unit fails. Each unit is first repaired by the assistant repairman and is then taken up for post‐repair if necessary. The failure and repair times of each unit are assumed to be correlated and their joint density is taken as bivariate exponential. Uses regenerative point technique to obtain various reliability characteristics of interest. Studies the behaviour of steady‐state availability through graphs. Verifies earlier results.

This research examines the linkage between commitment (organizational and job), motivation (intrinsic and extrinsic), and work outcomes (effort and propensity to leave) using the Korean sample. With its focus on the relative impact of loyalty‐based commitment and incentive‐based motivation on work outcome behavior, this study highlights Confucian culture and expectancy theory. Using survey data, support was found for all the hypotheses except the paths from job involvement to effort. In particular, organizational commitment was found to have the highest influence on effort and propensity to leave, presenting empirical support for the eminence of loyalty as a motivational tool in a collectivistic work culture. Managerial implications and future research are discussed.

The Electric Vehicles Initiative (EVI) is a multi-government policy forum devoted to speed up the introduction and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide. EVI key themes for sustainable development include energy-efficient transportation with e-mobility (drive-by science and technology), reduced greenhouse gas emissions, decreased oil dependence and improved local air quality. India's transport sector contributes around 142 million tons of CO₂ every year, with road transport contributing 123 million tons.

Review methodology forms a basis for knowledge development, creating guidelines for policy and practice. Quality assessment of review articles is by using mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT).

The research trends on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) technological and social aspects highlight the critical role of technology in economic and social development, emphasising infrastructure development and communication of government policy and rewards for awareness and end-user acceptance.

The scenario brings a school of thought if it is equally important to address a social perspective to improve India's perception and acceptance of technology-enabled EVs.

While rapid increase in demand for foods but limited availability of croplands has forced to adopt input-intensive farming practices to increase yield, there are serious long-term ecological implications including degradation of biodiversity. It is increasingly recognised that ensuring agricultural sustainability under the changing climatic conditions requires a change in the production system along with necessary policies and institutional arrangements. In this context, this chapter examines if climate-smart agriculture (CSA) can facilitate adaptation and mitigation practices by improving resource utilisation efficiency in India. Such an attempt has special significance as the existing studies have very limited discussions on three main aspects, viz., resource productivity, adaptation practices and mitigation strategies in a comprehensive manner. Based on insights from the existing studies, this chapter points out that CSA can potentially make significant contribution to enhancing resource productivity, adaptation practices, mitigation strategies and food security, especially among the land-constrained farmers who are highly prone to environmental shocks. In this connection, staggered trench irrigation structure has facilitated rainwater harvesting, local irrigation and livelihood generation in West Bengal. However, it is necessary to revisit the existing approaches to promotion of CSA and dissemination of information on the design of local adaptation strategies. This chapter also proposes a change in the food system from climate-sensitive to CSA through integration of technologies, institutions and policies.

The authors explore turnover tendencies among expatriate employees in Saudi Arabia They: (1) discuss the novelty of expatriates in Saudi Arabia; (2) review the literature on employee turnover tendency and its correlates—job satisfaction and employee characteristics; (3) hypothesize a negative relationship between extrinsic job satisfaction and expatriate turnover tendencies, a negative relationship between general job satisfaction and expatriate turnover tendencies, no relationship between intrinsic job satisfaction and expatriate turnover tendencies, and no relationship between expatriate characteristics and expatriate turnover tendencies, and (4) empirically lest the hypotheses with a sample of expatriate employees. Results provide strong support for most of the hypotheses except “pay,” one of the extrinsic job satisfaction variables, and “job feedback,” one of the intrinsic job satisfaction variables.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate differences in characteristics, job outcome experiences and attitudes of maximiser and satisficer decision-making style groups working in the retail trade.

A survey of 140 participants who have accepted a job offer in the retail trade in the past six months in the USA was conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk. The survey examined participants’ opinions and attitudes towards their present job and established which job information source(s) they had used to search for retail trade job-related information.

The results show that compared to satisficers, maximisers exert more effort when searching job information, have higher uncertainty avoidance and need for cognition, and experience more post-decisional regret. In this sample, any significant differences between maximisers and satisficers in relation to job satisfaction, company commitment, and intention to quit their present job are restricted to certain groups. For recruitment information sources, while satisficers rely on their families and friends for information, maximisers are more likely to obtain job-related information from other sources such as online discussion forums.

Even though some studies suggest that maximisers are unhappy with their choices, this research recommends that retail trade companies should not exclude maximisers from their recruitment pools. Retailers should enhance their candidate pools with both maximisers and satisficers by managing different recruitment information sources.

Research of decision-making style in recruitment is relatively limited. This research illustrates the differences of attitudes between maximisers and satisficers towards their present retail job, and also demonstrates the preferences of maximisers and satisficers in recruitment information sources.

Organizational climate is an essential dynamic to leverage in salesforce performance. This study aims to develop a model that explores the determinants of independent manufacturers’ representatives’ (i.e. IMRs’) intentions to comply with their principals’ requests for additional tasking. Using agency theory, the authors explore the application of behavior and outcome-based controls upon dyadic manufacturer-IMR relationships for these additional performance/task requests.

Data from over 1,000 US-based IMRs were used to test two constructs; inter-organizational climate and perceptions of mutual satisfaction within the agency-principal dyad. Compliance behaviors tested were IMRs’ intentions to engage in non-selling-related tasks and intentions to allocate additional selling time to principals’ products. The following four exogenous controls were tested: perceived goal congruence between IMRs and principals; IMRs’ perceptions of principals’ expertise; mutual communications between IMRs and principals in the supply chain dyad; resources and sales support programs provided by principals to IMRs; and IMRs’ perceptions of the adequacy and fairness of the principals’ compensation plans.

Two constructs – inter-organizational climate and perceptions of mutual satisfaction with the agency-principal dyad – mediated the effects of exogenous sales controls on two compliance behaviors. The model’s data were analyzed using Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). A marker variable was deployed to check for common method variance also supported using the Partial least squares (PLS) factor solution. Most variables demonstrated significant direct and mediated effects on each compliance behavior. Variables that emphasized behavioral-based controls dominated intentions for IMRs to engage in non-selling tasks. The principal commission structure, the only sales outcome-based control in the study, most influenced IMRs’ intentions to commit additional sales time to their principals’ products.

This study only examined the intentions of IMRs to engage in additional selling activities and their intention to engage in non-selling tasks. Principals may desire longer-term commitments from IMRs. The model developed here can be modified to capture additional behavioral and attitudinal outcomes including, for example, the exit intentions of IMRs.

Principals are well-advised to foster a positive inter-organizational climate that fuels perceptions of mutually satisfying working relationships with their IMRs. These mutually satisfying working relationships can, by themselves, positively influence IMRs to acquiesce to reasonable requests made by principals. This advice appears to be particularly crucial when asking IMRs to engage in additional non-selling tasks. The total pattern of path estimates points to the conclusion that capable sales control plays an important role in fostering positive inter-organizational climates. The inter-organizational climate – mutual satisfaction link proved crucial as a mediator of the impact of sales controls on IMRs’ behavioral compliance intentions.

Knowing the impact of sales controls on IMR’s affords businesses the ability to use these controls for behavioral compliance intentions on non-selling tasks.

Boxing Not so Clever In this first issue of what will be a regular review of the world's marketing literature, it is a challenge to an editor to extricate a theme from such an abundance of riches.

Reports the results of a study that examined industrial salespeople′s perceptions of organizational fairness (a measure of perceived equity) across the United States, Japan and Korea. Prior research has found that employees′ perceived equity is associated with several job‐related responses, such as worker job satisfaction, absenteeism and turnover. Preliminary evidence suggests that perceived equity may be culturally based. Findings of the investigation indicate that salesperson perceptions vary across the three countries. Discusses the implications of the findings.