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The purpose of this paper is to identify, analyze and discuss floor finishes used in health-care facilities and their selection criteria in the form of advantages and disadvantages. The authors also identify the top three health-care floor finishes and selection criteria based on the literature review results. Although flooring materials have a considerable impact on the life-cycle cost and indoor environment of health-care facilities, what criteria may be used for such flooring choices is not thoroughly studied.

The authors performed a systematic review of the literature on certain flooring systems currently used in health-care facilities and the criteria applied for their selection. Peer-reviewed studies and articles published after Year 2000 consistent with the research design were included.

Sixteen different selection criteria that influence the choice of floor finishes in health-care facilities were determined and discussed. The results show that the top three-floor finish materials preferred in health-care facilities are sheet vinyl, rubber and carpet, and the top three selection criteria for floor finishes are indoor air quality, patient safety and infection control.

The results of this study will assist building owners, architects and interior designers with implementing an informed design decision-making process, particularly in relation to floor finish selection. The findings will also provide guidance to floor finish manufacturers to improve their products based on facility managers’ preferences.

The purpose of this study is to create a knowledge base for decision-making in healthcare design by seeking, analyzing and discussing the preferences of facility managers of healthcare facilities regarding floor finishes and their selection criteria. The goal is to enable a simplified and holistic selection of floor finishes based on multiple criteria. The authors studied floor finish selection in three healthcare units: emergency, surgery and in-patient units.

The authors completed a literature review to identify types of floor finishes currently used in healthcare facilities and the criteria applied for their selection. Using the literature survey results, a questionnaire was designed and administered to healthcare facility managers. The descriptive statistical analysis and the Friedman and Wilcoxon signed-ranks tests were used for reporting and analyzing the survey data.

The top five floor finishes used in the healthcare sector were identified as vinyl flooring, vinyl composite tile (VCT), rubber, linoleum and ceramic flooring. The top five selection criteria for floor finishes were durability, infection control, ease of maintenance, maintenance cost and user safety. The non-parametric test results show that the floor finish rankings and selection criteria were similar in the three healthcare units under study.

The most significant contribution of this research is to the design decision-making process of healthcare facilities. These results offer an understanding of what floor finishes are preferred by healthcare facility managers and why. This knowledge is crucial for designers and facility managers to make informed choices and floor finish manufacturers to keep their product line relevant to the industry.

Organizational behavior, Organizational leadership, Organizational transformation.

First year management students in the course Organizational Behavior (OB). Final year management students in the elective course on leadership and change management. Middle level managers who are working in industry, in the management development program related to change leadership and change management.

This case deals with the transformation of the public distribution system (PDS) under the leadership of Dr Raman Singh. The PDS system was an inefficient system and the food grain supply intended for the poor was diverted by intermediaries before reaching the intended beneficiaries. Having experiences in central government ministries as a cabinet minister, Dr Raman Singh decided to transform the PDS. The challenges faced were primarily from that of the reticent bureaucracy and dealing with them requires patience and the skills of a transformational and motivational leader which Dr Raman Singh possessed.

This case intends to develop understanding of various dimensions related to transformational and motivational styles of leadership. Further, it intends to develop understanding of crucial institutional and organizational changes and how leaders bring about these changes in sync with technological and process changes.

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CSS: 6: Human Resource Management.

Innovation, information technology, e-marketing and sales, strategy and entrepreneurship.

The case is intended for use in advanced graduate and executive education level management and technical programs of study. The case is high inter-disciplinary appropriate for all courses dealing in use of innovation, information technology, entrepreneurship, marketing and sales and strategy.

Practo Technologies Pvt Ltd is a company established in 2008 by entrepreneurs Shashank, N.D. along with Abhinav Lal. At Practo Technologies engineers practice to create technology that supports healthcare industry. In India, there is not enough assistance given to the patients in terms of searching for appropriate doctors and fixing an appointment with them easily. The patient's data lie scattered in reports and the patient's medical history goes unrecorded. Practo provides a robust platform for doctors and patients to collaborate together under one umbrella. It provides patients with open basket of doctor profiles and special search based on doctor's specialty. The case showcases the journey of transformation healthcare sector in India has gone through. The change was resisted, it never came that easy! The case explores issues in implementing information technology for clinics and hospitals in India. This case illustrates interesting facts Indian healthcare and the preparation they need to equip with to manage global technology tide.

The case can be used for teaching service innovation. Managing innovative practices and low-cost online business models is illustrated. In particular, it deals with how the early start up employs innovation to set up new working ideas. The case is designed to stimulate discussions of broad array of issues regarding deployment of IT services specifically in the hospitals and clinics across India. Evaluate the advantages and liabilities of expanding globally at a very early start up stage. The case focuses on Practo early development with only concept in hand and transforming it into a profit generating business. Evaluate the advantages and challenges of innovation, technology development, deployment and training of manpower to use it. The case offers students opportunity to understand and take view of strategically building early start up and management of concerns with no prior experience. To identify business opportunities and explore various possibilities of expansion into IT healthcare business. The students are given base to explore sales and marketing strategies for online model. The students get overview of cutting edge business offerings and surviving the dynamic competition in the era of globalization.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

This study aims to examine a dual-pathway model that recognizes two distinct (formal and informal) but complementary mechanisms of knowledge exchanges – knowledge sharing and knowledge helping. It also investigates how team members use their limited human and psychosocial capital for prosocial knowledge effectiveness.

A survey-based approach was used to examine the hypotheses of the study. A moderated-mediation model was proposed and tested using bootstrap approach.

Knowledge sharing and knowledge helping were found to be the significant links through which human capital (capability) and psychosocial capital (motivation and efficacy) significantly predict prosocial knowledge effectiveness. Post hoc analysis suggests that human capital through knowledge sharing influences team learning, whereas the psychosocial capital through knowledge helping influences team leadership.

The present study found two distinct but complementary and yet necessary mechanisms of knowledge exchanges to be linked as the important outlay for the human and psychosocial capital to be effective in the prosocial knowledge behaviours.

Differences in institutional environment and governance structures pave the way for heterogeneous nature of different businesses; this, in turn, shapes the way various sections of society act toward each other enacting their responsibilities. Taking into account the unique institutional environment and governance structures of firms in developing economies, this paper aims to build on the “stakeholder theory” to address the issue of the implementation of corporate social responsibilities (CSR) practices in these economies, particularly India. This paper also aims to uncover the saliency (legitimacy and power) of different stakeholder groups on different aspects of a firm’s CSR activities. Further, as most of the firms in developing economies are family-run firms, the paper examines role of organizational leadership in shaping firms’ CSR strategies.

Integrating literature on “stakeholder theory” and CSR, this paper examines the implementation of different CSR practices by family-run firms in India. This paper uses survey research to collect data from 80 privately held family firms operating in apparel and textiles industry in India. The data have been collected from respondents holding top leadership positions in the sample firms.

The findings indicate that pressure from primary stakeholders (i.e. customers, employees and shareholders) and CSR-oriented leadership belief significantly influence organizational implementation of CSR practices, whereas pressure from secondary stakeholder (i.e. community groups and non-governmental organizations) was found to be insignificant. Further, CSR-oriented leadership belief moderated the relationship between primary stakeholder pressure and organizational implementation of CSR practices. The findings equally highlighted lower saliency of secondary stakeholder’s legitimacy and power because of weak institutional mechanisms, while on the other hand, the primary stakeholders exert considerable power because of the direct nature of transactional legitimacy, further accentuated by the governance structure in family firms.

This paper is among the very few studies that address the issue of CSR among family-run businesses in developing economies. Existing frameworks on analyzing firm’s implementation of CSR practices does not recognize the inherent heterogeneity among different stakeholder groups. Recognizing that different stakeholders have different levels of influence over firms, this paper categorized the stakeholders’ groups into primary and secondary to analyze their differential impact over firms. Additionally, given the critical role of leadership belief in the implementation of CSR practices, this paper analyzed the moderated effect of CSR-oriented leadership belief toward developing a more robust model of CSR implementation.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce learners to a successful Agri-start-up where they can explore the existing challenges and critical strategic decisions for the firm’s growth.

Shashank, the CEO and co-founder of an agriculture-based Indian start-up Green Agrevolution Pvt Ltd (GAPL), is planning to reach out to more than one million farmers by 2021-2022, which is more than 20 times of the present volume. His team is presently serving around 42,000 farmers with a home-grown technological platform DeHaat which provides end–to-end services right from seed to the market. Micro-entrepreneurs are selected and groomed to act as local touchpoints for farmers in the respective catchment areas ranging from 3 to 5 km. Shashank has been a recipient of multiple accolades and recognition and is now firmly seated to drive his start-up to the next level of growth and pan-India market penetration. The venture also requires an understanding of segment-specific needs, cropping pattern, using local resources and channelizing the advisory services to occupy a central role in the value chain. There are other impending issues such as low smartphone adoption, low internet access and lack of entrepreneurial mindset among the rural youth. Similar issues were relatively backward states of India with little or no provision of app-based services. Will he be successful to expand on such a high pace in other States with the existing resources and capabilities?

Senior undergraduate and Master's level business students

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CSS 11: Strategy

This study aims to explore tourist perceptions and behaviors toward electric vehicles (EVs) in the Delhi National Capital Region using the technology continuance theory.

An online survey involving 226 respondents uses structural equation modeling to analyze correlations among factors, including perceived enjoyment, facilitating conditions, ease of use, satisfaction, cost, image and performance.

This study reveals that enhancing perceived enjoyment and facilitating conditions can improve the user-friendliness of EVs. Additionally, reducing perceived cost, enhancing image and improving perceived performance can increase the perceived usefulness of EVs. Perceived ease of use strongly influences user satisfaction, while perceived usefulness and satisfaction positively impact users’ attitudes and intentions to use EVs. Although factors such as experience, environmental consciousness, age and gender influence perceptions, focusing on enjoyment, facilitating conditions, cost, image and performance can significantly enhance user satisfaction and intention to use EVs.

The findings underscore several actionable recommendations for businesses and policymakers to boost EV adoption at tourist destinations. The potential benefits of EV adoption, such as improved environmental sustainability, enhanced technological image and increased tourist satisfaction, can serve as a source of inspiration and motivation. Enhancing user experience by prioritizing comfort and convenience in EV design is crucial. Addressing cost concerns through incentives and cost-effective pricing strategies can make EVs more appealing. Marketing campaigns highlighting environmental benefits and technological advancements can improve EV image and performance perception. Prioritizing tourists’ satisfaction and support services is essential, along with educational campaigns to increase awareness. Infrastructure development, including expanding charging networks, and supportive policies like tax incentives, can further encourage EVs adoption, accelerating the transition to sustainable transportation.

This research contributes to understanding tourist perspectives on EV adoption within the context of sustainable tourism and technology adoption.

India’s manufacturing sector employs about 12% of the labour force and contributes to about 17% of the nation’s GDP. The Indian government intends to implement several initiatives under the “Make in India” and Atma Nirbhar Bharat banners to increase the manufacturing sector’s share of the nation’s GDP to 25% by 2025. Applying lean manufacturing, green manufacturing and Six Sigma is crucial to ensure that India’s manufacturing sectors grow sustainably in international markets. This study aims to identify sustainability indicators and ascertain their respective weights to evaluate the sustainability performance of the Indian manufacturing industry.

This research identifies 25 sustainability indicators and classifies them into the triple bottom line of sustainability based on an evaluative literature review and expert opinion. The Best Worst Method was utilised to determine the weights of the sustainability indicators. The sustainability index was developed to evaluate economic, social and environmental sustainability.

The sustainability performance of a foundry in a significant Western Indian State city was assessed by applying the developed sustainability index. After the adoption of integrated lean, green and Six Sigma (LG&SS) strategies and related practices in the foundry, there has been a notable improvement of 68.03% in the economic index, 61.62% in the social index and 13.24% in the environmental index.

The proposed sustainability index is applied and evaluated specifically for assessing the sustainability performance of Indian manufacturing SMEs. It can be used to substantiate firm’s sustainability performance and also to assess the improvement in firm’s performance in economic, environmental and social dimensions after implementing various operational excellence practices. However, it cannot serve as a benchmark tool across similar companies or organisations.

The developed sustainable index can be used to analyse the company or organisation’s sustainability performance and see how various strategies have improved things. Practitioners can use this index to assess social, economic and environmental performance and focus on areas that need improvement.

The proposed sustainability index serves as a vital tool for monitoring a firm’s progress in triple bottom line (TBL) dimensions of sustainability, tracking a diverse range of indicators and encouraging sustainable organisational practices.

This study attempts to assess the economic, social and environmental performance of Indian Manufacturing SMEs by proposing a sustainability index.

Improved performance in operational (lean) and environmental (green) dimensions has been extremely critical to the global competitiveness of organizations. As the performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is influenced by various external and internal factors, the purpose of this paper is to analyze the lean–green performance of Indian manufacturing SMEs by investigating the influential relationships of various factors along with the set of lean and green practices adopted by the firms.

The study employs a holistic approach by integrating multiple case study and data envelopment analysis (DEA) in eight manufacturing SMEs to verify a set of five propositions relating issues such as organizational factors, quality and environmental management certifications, implementation of lean and green practices with operational and environmental performance in Indian SMEs. Within-case analysis and cross-case analysis are used for a qualitative investigation of cases while DEA with four input variables, two desirable output variables and one undesirable output variable, is used for quantitative investigation with returns to scale (RTS) and damages to scale (DTS) analysis.

The RTS/DTS results suggest that Indian SMEs exhibit decreasing RTS and increasing DTS, implying that they need to decrease their operational sizes in order to improve the operational and environmental performance. The possible alternative and more practical strategy could be to introduce new technology innovation and holistic adoption of manufacturing excellence initiatives such as lean and green.

The research findings provide insights into the lean and green performance enhancement approach in the context of SMEs. The study extends key managerial implications and policy-related guidelines.