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This case study exposes students to conflicts with distributors, escalated scenarios of a trade association and the possible repercussions of such a scenario. Upon completion of this case study, the students will be able to understand the critical success factors for a distribution setup and alignment of channels for driving growth; understand and manage the power dynamics with a stakeholder, like trade associations, distribution reach, fallacies in managing the distributors and identifying the gaps; critically evaluate negotiation opportunities when a trade association is not directly related to the principal organization.

This case study showcased a conflict between the distributor and Universal Heater Industries (UHI), a leading player in the water heater business in India. In 2015, the global leadership of UHI identified India as an emerging market and undertook a complete management overhaul to implement a new growth plan. Several measures were put in place that leveraged the global product portfolio and new people were appointed to push the agenda. Manish Singhal, the national sales head of UHI, selected Kerala as the pilot state to implement the new plan. However, the projects failed, as the distributor escalated the treatment meted out by UHI to the Electrical Trade Association (ETA). Trade associations have had a history of playing truant with players like UHI, and because of this, business came to a complete halt. The UHI and ETA teams met once; however, the suggested closure by ETA needed to be aligned with UHI’s interests. Singhal’s dilemma deepened, and they had to decide the next steps.

This case study is suitable for a postgraduate marketing course in a segment on managing channels, intermediaries, distribution management and channel conflicts. The uniqueness of this case is in the dimension of the trade association and managing the stakeholders.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS8: Marketing.

This study empirically examines the impact of announcements on supply chain strategic collaboration (SCSC) on companies' shareholder value.

This study analyzes changes in shareholder value of companies listed in China based on data of 208 SCSC announcements. The signaling theory is applied to determine correlation among SCSC announcements and the market. An event study is used to estimate the stock market reaction to SCSC announcements. The common market model estimates stock abnormal returns after the event. The least squares method and regression model calculate the model parameter value.

There is a positive and statistically significant relationship between SCSC announcement and shareholder value. Market reaction to product development collaboration is significantly higher than to technology-sharing collaboration, market collaboration, and other SCSC types. The market reacts more positively to suppliers and companies with greater supply chain control power than to buyers and companies with lower control power. Announcements from the service supply chain can lead to stronger market reactions than those from manufacturing supply chains.

The findings provide a systematic assessment of how SCSC announcements contribute to firms' shareholder value. The result provides a benchmark of value promotion that can be expected from SCSC announcements.

This study fills the research gap that using secondary data to assess changes in companies’ shareholder value caused by SCSC announcements and firstly examines these changes by constructing the signaler–signal–receiver progress based on signaling theory. The research results provide a new reference and inspiration for deeper understanding of the impact mechanism of SCSC. Furthermore, this study contributes to the development of the signaling theory using an empirical study in an emerging market, China.

The purpose of this paper is to describe two‐ and three‐dimensional numerical modelling of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) by employing an accurate and stable fully matrix inversion free finite element algorithm.

A general and detailed mathematical model has been developed for the description of the coupled complex phenomena occurring in fuel cells. A fully matrix inversion free algorithm, based on the artificial compressibility (AC) version of the characteristic‐based split (CBS) scheme and single domain approach have been successfully employed for the accurate and efficient simulation of high temperature SOFCs.

For the first time, a stable fully explicit algorithm has been applied to detailed multi‐dimensional simulation transport phenomena, coupled to chemical and electrochemical reactions, in fluid, porous and solid parts of a SOFC. The accuracy of the present results has been verified via comparison with experimental and numerical data available in the literature.

For the first time, thanks to a stabilization analysis conducted, the AC‐CBS algorithm has been successfully used to numerically solve the generalized model, applied in this paper to describe transport phenomena through free fluid channels and porous electrodes of SOFCs, without the need of further conditions at the fluid‐electrode interface.

The purpose of this paper is to address the gender digital divide through the adoption of information and communication technologies (ICTs) by reviewing existing knowledge within the field. This paper explores the characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide. To bridge the gender digital divide, it is important to understand the factors behind gender differences in ICT access and use.

In this study, the systematic literature review was conducted in accordance with the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach. In total, 24 articles were selected and analysed with using PRISMA steps.

Despite a significant increase in usage of the internet and other ICTs around the world, women, especially in developing countries, tend to be on the wrong side of the digital divide. The results indicate that while there are still gender differences in access to ICT in developing countries, second-level digital divide issues are more of a concern in developed countries. In the literature, several important factors have been identified as being associated with the gender digital divide. The results highlight the importance of implementable policies to bridge the gender digital divide, as well as how sociocultural factors play an important role in explaining the gender digital divide phenomenon.

By identifying the gender digital divide studies’ characteristics and factors contributing to the gender digital divide, the authors provide an overview of the existing research, allowing us to discuss future research needs within the field. The authors argue that more research is needed to understand how to better address the sociocultural factors affecting the gender digital divide, to understand why equal access seems not to result in equal use and, to understand the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the gender digital divide.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a robust mathematical model and finite element‐based numerical approach to solve solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) problems.

A robust mathematical model is constructed by studying pros and cons of different SOFC and other fuel cell models. The finite element‐based numerical approach presented is a unified approach to solve multi‐disciplinary aspects arising from SOFC problems. The characteristic‐based split approach employed here is an efficient way of solving various flow, heat and mass transfer regimes in SOFCs.

The results presented show that both the model and numerical algorithm proposed are robust. Furthermore, the approaches proposed are general and can be easily extended to other similar problems of practical interest.

The model proposed is the first of this kind and the unified approach for solving flow, heat and mass transfer within a fuel cell is also novel.

A paradigm shift was observed a couple of decades back when the relationship marketing took over the transactional marketing. Concepts such as customer lifetime value came into existence. Customer lifetime value is nothing but the aggregate income which an organisation can expect from a customer as long as the customer remains a client. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) took the centre stage as the organisations are transformed into customer-centric organisations. The implementation of CRM earmarked the collection of customer data that enabled the personalisation of products. Business use cases emerged with differential pricing models and loyalty programs contributing to the profitability of the organisations. The different types of CRM, i.e. Strategic CRM, Operational CRM, Analytical CRM and Collaborative CRM, contributed further to the organisation to generate value for the customers as well as for the organisation. Innovations in the digital technologies supported the business use cases with the help of real-time data. The usage of real-time analytics delivered unmatched customer experience resulting in a higher degree of customer satisfaction and customer retention. Customer retention as we know is directly related to the longevity of an organisation, while customer acquisition is expensive. Researchers in this chapter have attempted to unleash the importance of CRM simultaneously presenting the impact of digital technologies on CRM. Readers could be greatly benefitted from this research as practical use cases are discussed, while academicians can cascade this information further.

Contemporary organisations are data-driven with sophisticated and strong Information Technology (IT) supporting the Business Intelligence (BI) systems. Due to the Industrial Revolution 4.0, businesses are subjected to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). The accuracy and agility of decision making (DM) play a key role in the success of contemporary organisations. Traditional methods of DM, i.e. based on tacit knowledge, are no longer relevant in the constantly altering business scenarios. Innovations in the IT domain have accomplished systems to gather and process business data at an exponential speed. Context-driven analytics along with computation capability and performance-driven visualisation have become an implicit need for businesses. BI systems offer the capabilities of data-driven DM simultaneously allowing organisations to predict the future business scenarios. Qualitative research is conducted in this chapter. In the research, interviews, questionnaires, and secondary data from previous research are used as data source. Case studies are discussed to clarify the business use cases of BI systems and their impact on managerial DM. Theoretical foundations are stated basis a thorough literature review of the available body of knowledge. The current environment demands data-driven DM in an organisation at all levels, i.e. strategic, tactical, and operational. Heterogeneous data sources add unlimited value to the decision support systems (DSSs). The BI systems have become an integral part of the technology landscape and an essential element in managerial DM. Contemporary businesses have deployed BI systems in all the functions.

The plant experience shows that the oil even after completion of a number of hours of recommended operation has some residual life. It is desirable to maximize its use to conserve this scarce resource but avoid failures. At present, continuation or change of the oil is decided, based on the manufacturer's recommendation and experience in the plant. The suggested oil change period is conservative and results in non‐efficient usage of oil. This practice needs refinement to include all possible properties/attributes of oil and use of appropriate procedure to assess its realistic performance degradation and determine the remaining useful life (RUL) of lube oil.

Analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multi criteria decision‐making method, in conjunction with vector projection approach is applied to assess the remaining useful life of lube oil.

Physical and chemical properties related to degradation of the lube oil are considered as lubricant attributes and their weights for given application is assigned, using AHP. The value of these attributes from time to time, obtained by testing samples drawn from the system, are analyzed through vector projection approach. In this approach, module, cosine of angle and projection are defined and evaluated at different time intervals. The projection is related to module and cosine of angle and is related to RUL of the lubricant. The suggested procedure is illustrated by means of an example.

The suggested procedure will be helpful for the maintenance personnel in planned oil replacement, with maximum usage of the lube oil but avoiding failures.