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This paper aims to discuss the changes in the new 2011-12 base year series of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) to determine whether the new series has improved the understanding of the growth in the manufacturing sector.

This paper develops a simple framework to separately estimate the contribution of value- and volume-based commodities in the growth of the manufacturing index. The authors present a case study by analysing the growth performance of IIP drugs and pharmaceuticals sector by comparing it with real net sales of a common sample of firms in this segment.

The authors find that growth in value-based commodities contributes significantly in moving the index in either direction, and that high growth in value-based commodities coincides with periods of low inflation. On comparability, using real net sales as an alternate indicator of industrial output for the pharmaceuticals sector, the authors find that IIP and real net sales show contrasting trends, thereby raising issues of reliability. The authors also find that the IIP shows a disconnect with growth rates from Annual Survey of Industries for several industries.

The divergence between two measures of industrial activity raises crucial questions on the representativeness of the IIP.

The study builds a framework to separately estimate the contribution of value- and volume-based commodities in the growth of the manufacturing index.

The present research work aims to study the effect of average beam power (laser process parameters) on the overlapping factor, depth of penetration (DOP), weld bead width, fusion zone and heat affected zone (HAZ) in laser welding of 304L and st37 steel. Back side and top surface morphology of the welded joints have also been studied for varying average beam power.

Laser welding of austenitic stainless steel (304L) and carbon steel (st37) was carried out using Nd:YAG laser integrated with ABB IRB 1410 robot in pulse mode. The selection of laser process parameters was based on the specification of available laser welding machine. Dissimilar laser welding of 304L and st37 carbon steel for full depth of penetration have been performed, with varying average beam power (225-510W) and constant welding speed (5mm/s) and pulse width (5ms).

Recrystallized coarse grains were observed adjacent to the fusion zone and nucleated grains were seen away from the fusion zone towards carbon steel. Overlapping factor and HAZ width st37 side increases with increase in average beam power whereas top weld bead width increases first, attains maximum value and then subsequently decreases. Bottom weld bead width increases with increase in average beam power. The mechanical properties namely microhardness and tensile strength of the welded joints have been investigated with varying average beam power.

In the recent development of the automobile, power generation and petrochemical industries the application of dissimilar laser welding of austenitic stainless steel (304L) and carbon steel (st37) are gaining importance. Very limited work have been reported in pulsed Nd:YAG dissimilar laser welding of austenitic stainless steel (304L) and carbon steel (st37) for investigating the effect of laser process parameters on weld bead geometry, microstructural characterization and mechanical properties of the welded joint.

Introduction: Cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance are essential for new-age firms to survive and succeed in the VUCA market environment. This study examines how automobile corporations have improved cost competitiveness, productivity, and product quality.

Purpose: This study examines the importance of cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance for the long-term survival of organisations in VUCA markets, looking at the practical efforts made by automobile corporations to enhance cost competitiveness, productivity, and quality.

Methodology: The study utilises a comprehensive analysis of the strategies and initiatives implemented by the selected automobile companies. It involves a review of relevant literature, case studies, financial data analysis, and interviews with key industry experts, providing a holistic understanding of the actions taken by these organisations to achieve their goals.

Findings: The study reveals that cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance are critical factors for the long-term survival and success of organisations in the automotive industry. The analysed automobile companies have undertaken practical efforts to improve cost competitiveness, enhance productivity, and ensure high-quality products, enabling them to navigate the challenges and maintain a competitive edge.

Significance: The findings of this study contribute to a deeper understanding of the importance of cost competitiveness, customer focus, and sustainability compliance in the automotive industry. It highlights the need for organisations to constantly monitor both qualitative and quantitative profit to avoid complacency and ensure long-term efficiency. The study’s insights are relevant to businesses operating in other sectors, as they face similar challenges in the VUCA market environment.

There is a growing trend of brand resurrections that are driven by consumer power. Millennials play a critical role in initiating most of these brand resurrection movements using social media. This study aims to explore the factors that drive consumers’ participation in brand resurrection movements – an outcome of brand cocreation.

Data were collected using self-administered survey. This study uses the partial least squares-structural equation modeling to empirically examine the factors that motivate consumers to participate in brand resurrection movements.

The results indicate that consumers’ beliefs about the functional and value-expressive utilities, and their judgments of the perceived brand superiority of the defunct brand are significantly associated with brand resurrection movements. Nostalgia moderates the relationship between social-adjustive utility and brand resurrection movement, which shows that consumers’ social-adjustive utility becomes relevant when triggered with a strong sense of the past.

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to literature on reviving defunct brands. This study also identifies additional factors that determine the success of brands that are being relaunched.

From a managerial perspective, the study provides insights into when and how organizations can consider bringing back defunct brands. Future studies should introduce additional variables to the model such as product category involvement that may be associated with consumers’ willingness to bring back defunct brands.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind that empirically examines the motivations behind consumer participation in bringing back defunct brands. The importance of this study is highlighted in the fact that several defunct brands are being revived by organizations due to consumer-brand co-creation movements.

The purpose of this study is to examine the extent to which an organization’s pursuit of radical and disruptive innovations and refinement of existing processes and incremental innovations influence the brand management capability, and subsequently, the brand performance in business-to-business firms.

The key informant approach is used for data collection. Panel data are obtained using the services of a reputable research firm. Existing scales are used to measure all the focal constructs. Partial least squares based structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses.

The results of this study indicate positive associations of both exploitative and exploratory innovation types with brand management processes. These findings signify the need for organizations to balance both these innovation types to maximize their performance.

This study prescribes an insight into the complex relationship that exists between organizational ambidexterity, brand management processes and brand performance, providing a framework that reconciles the seemingly conflicting goals of relevance and consistency in the development of brand management capability.

Given that very few firms can achieve ambidexterity, this study provides a means to maximize the potential of this organizational process.

This study borrows from the existing research on brand management to argue that organizations are required to balance both exploitative and exploratory innovation types to maximize their performance.

Young consumers are recognized as an important and lucrative segment for the businesses across the globe. While initial steps have been taken to understand them, majority of the existing works consider both Millennials and Generation Z as a single and homogeneous market segment. The purpose of this study is to explore the consumer decision-making styles which are prevalent among Indian Millennials and Generation Z e-shoppers, and how significantly they differ from one another on each of those decision-making attributes.

This exploratory study used the generational cohort theory (GCT) as a framework. The psychographic statements (Questionnaire items) employed were adopted from several past researches on store orientation and catalog orientation, and they were rephrased to suit to the context of Indian online shopping. The principal components factor analysis with promax rotation has been used to unearth the underlying decision-styles among 503 survey participants. Subsequently, the ANOVA model was run to examine the mean differences between the cohorts.

The factor analysis has revealed that frugality (Price), convenience (Home) and social desirableness are the most dominant shopping orientations (decision-styles) that prevail among Indian (Millennials and Generation Z) online shoppers though in varying degrees. The probing of ANOVA results suggested that, though both the cohorts favor e-shopping, Generation Z are more enthusiastic about online shopping than their Millennial counterparts do.

Though Generation Z and Millennials share few characteristics between them, they exhibit different consumer behaviors. Marketers need to customize their value offerings and marketing communications that resonate well with each generational cohort.

Almost all the existing research works that have been conducted so far on generational cohorts are from Western and European countries and one could confidently say that those findings cannot be applied for the developing nations such as India which is a complex and diverse country in terms of its language, custom, religion and practices with troublesome pasts. Moreover, this is the first empirical work to be conducted to unearth the generational differences that exist between Generation Z and Millennials to the best of authors' knowledge.

This paper aims to analyze the impact of the introduction of anti-money laundering (AML) regulations on bank stock valuations in the USA. Regulations can have a negative impact on financial returns as a result of increased operational costs, potentially driving down stock valuations and loss of profitability. However, regulations can also have a positive impact on valuations because of greater oversight and increased investor confidence. Findings are useful for assessing the market impact of future regulations.

Event studies and cross-sectional regression analysis are used to determine the impact on bank stock valuations together with specific characteristics of bank size and geographic headquarter location of the bank for identified AML regulations. Hypothesis related to the impact of the introduction of AML regulations are empirically tested based on the statistical significance of cumulative abnormal returns of markets.

AML regulations introduced in 1998 had a positive impact on bank stock valuations, while the USA PATRIOT Act legislation of 2001 had a negative impact. These findings suggest that recent AML regulation is a cost compliance burden for banks, where the costs of operations outweigh the benefits of improved processes. Larger banks see a more negative impact on their bank stock valuations compared to smaller banks, suggesting the market perceives greater cost and less profit for larger banks. Results also show that the location of bank’s headquarters does not significantly impact bank stock valuations.

This paper specifically focuses on the impact of AML regulations on the US banking sector, providing investors, academics and regulators additional insight on the market dynamics of regulations. Identifying whether the introduction of regulations has a significant impact on a bank’s performance will provide both banks and regulators clarity as to the net benefits associated with the current and future AML legislation.

The ability of a business to outperform its rivals is known as its competitive edge, and it presents special difficulties in the context of the “digital revolution,” or the fourth industrial revolution. To obtain a competitive edge in the startup operations 4.0 era, this study aims to examine the organizational, technological and competence-related challenges presented by Industry 4.0. It does this by concentrating on the tools, competencies, methods, approaches, tools and strategies that are crucial. Using the Total Interpretive Structural Modeling (TISM) technique, the goal is to find, analyze and classify enablers for startup operations 4.0.

A closed-ended questionnaire and planned interviews were used in the data collection process. In startup operations 4.0, the cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification method is used to rank and categorize competitive advantage factors, whereas the TISM technique is used to analyze how components interact.

The study highlights the critical significance of the “Internet of Things (IoT),” “information technologies,” “technological platforms,” “employee empowerment,” “augmented reality (AR)” and “operational technologies” in its identification of 12 enablers for startup operations 4.0.

The main focus of the study is on the variables that affect startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage.

Academics and important stakeholders can better understand the factors influencing competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 with the help of this research.

Large businesses have been profoundly impacted by Industry 4.0 principles; however, startup operations 4.0’s competitive advantage has not received as much attention. This paper offers a fresh take on the concept of competitive advantage in startup operations 4.0 research.

This paper hypothesized that perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility would have a positive effect on merchants' intention to accept payments via P2P mobile payment services, while perceived financial risks and perceived costs would have a negative effect. The study also explored the differences in gender, age and experience.

The proposed model is based on the valence framework, where positive utility is represented by relative advantage and perceived compatibility, while negative utility is represented by perceived risks and perceived costs. The data for this study were collected from small business owners (merchants) at the largest public market in the Center Department of Mirebalais, Haiti, using a purposive sampling method.

The results of a structural equation modeling on a sample of 339 merchants only confirmed the effect of both perceived comparative advantage and perceived compatibility. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis revealed that the perceived comparative advantage is stronger for female merchants, older age groups and merchants who frequently used P2P m-payment for the transfer of remittances. Perceived compatibility is stronger for male merchants, younger age groups and merchants who occasionally used P2P m-payment for the transfer of remittances.

This study was conducted in the economic context of Haiti, where P2P m-payments are commonly used for transferring remittances. Since there are limited studies that examine P2P m-payment acceptance from the perspective of merchants, this study offers valuable insights.