Global Business Review recent issues

General Disregard for Details of GRI Human Rights Reporting by Large Corporations

Morhardt, J. E. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

This article examines the web-based social responsibility reporting of the 100 largest companies in six broad industrial sectors to determine the extent to which the reporting follows the specific guidance of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Human Rights Performance Indicators (HR1–HR9). Ninety-seven of these companies have some sort of social information on their websites, and 95 of them have formal corporate responsibility reports. Seventy-one of these companies indicate that their reports were based on the G3 guidelines, and 66 of these provide a detailed index to them. The nine G3 HR guidelines can be subdivided into 17 specific items; six of them can be interpreted as requiring only that actions or measures taken be described, and these are widely followed, primarily in the form of policy statements. The remaining items, reported much less frequently, are quantitative, requiring total numbers or percentages of specific actions or incidents, or identification of operations in which such incidents are at significant risk. Thus, although the G3 guidelines for human rights reporting contemplate quantitative statements of performance, most of the reports examined for this article do not provide any, nor, for the most part, indicate why not. I argue that the reporting likely would be more informative if the guidelines were rewritten to request the nature of the processes and procedures the company is implementing for achieving the desired human rights outcomes, and the degree to which they are in place.

Modern Knowledge Management and Computer-based Technology: The Inseparable Phenomenon

Jain, S. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

This article makes the case that modern knowledge management (KM) is inseparable from a consideration of technology. While recognizing that there are many non-technological facets to knowledge management research and practice, it takes issue with the perspective proposed by some that knowledge management has little or nothing to do with technology. Similarly, the perspective that equates knowledge management with information management is challenged. The research involves an analysis of the contrasting perspectives to show that each has blind spots that obscure a clear vision of the relationship between computer-based technology and knowledge management. The KM perspective introduced here neither dismisses technology nor identifies with it. From this perspective, this paper develops the contention that modern KM has been tremendously enriched by advances in computer-based technology (CBT), discussing several specific examples. Moreover, this article concludes that CBT needs to be grounded in a clear, deep consideration of knowledge management. Moreover, several implications for business computing systems researchers are outlined. The new perspective offers students and practitioners a middle-ground between two extremes for framing their understanding and observation of KM and CBT phenomena. The article furnishes a fresh, inclusive conception of the relationship between KM and CBT.

HR Determinants of Organizational Success amongst Small and Medium Enterprises in the Indian Automobile Sector

Akhouri, N. N., Sharma, R. R. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the auto sector have emerged in response to the growing off-shore requirements of the auto industry. The growth has been so rapid that it has remained elusive to researchers and the present study is an attempt to bridge this knowledge gap. Three scales (Engaging Leadership both from the perspectives of the leaders and the subordinates, and Employee Engagement) were developed by the researchers for the purpose of the study. Two existing scales viz., Cultural Intelligence and Positive and Negative Affectivity were also used in the study. The results show statistically significant results between professionals of high performing and low performing SMEs on Engaging Leadership, Employee Engagement, Cultural Intelligence and Positivity and Negativity.

Efficiency and Futures Trading-Price Nexus in Indian Commodity Futures Markets

Sahoo, P., Kumar, R. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

Trading in commodity derivatives on exchange platforms is an instrument to achieve price discovery, better price risk management, besides helping macroeconomy with better resource allocation. Though the volume of commodity futures trade increased exponentially after the withdrawal of prohibition in 2003, the functioning of futures markets came under scrutiny during 2006–07 due to price rise and the government has proposed to impose transaction tax by 0.017 per cent on trading volume in the 2008–09 budget. In this context, we examine the efficiency and futures trading-price nexus for five top selected commodities namely gold, copper, petroleum crude, soya oil, and chana (chickpea) in commodity futures markets in India. Our results suggest that the commodity futures market is efficient for all five commodities. Further, we do not have sufficient evidence to support that futures market leads to higher inflation.

Innovation in Organizations: A Review of the Role of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management

Dasgupta, M., Gupta, R.K. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

This article reviews the role of organizational learning and knowledge management in innovation. An extensive review of past literature hints that knowledge, although a very strategic resource, is not easy to manage. Explicit knowledge can be stored in databases or documents but implicit knowledge resides in peoples’, brains. It is the management of this knowledge which poses a bigger challenge for most organizations. Past research mentions that implicit knowledge can be managed indirectly by managing various factors which contribute to an organization's culture, structure, technology, and leadership. A preliminary model has been proposed highlighting the role of organizational learning and knowledge management in innovation. The model high-lights the importance of a flexible and adaptive organization structure, a culture of trust and knowledge sharing, a strong technological network and a committed leadership to promote knowledge development and learning in the organization which is a prerequisite for innovation and creation of new knowledge. The article in addition to providing a detailed narrative of literature highlighting the importance of the various factors identified in the model, also gives practical implications and directions for future research in the area.

Factors Influencing Bank Profitability in a Developing Economy: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia

Sufian, F. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

The present article examines the determinants of bank profitability in a developing economy. Specifically working within the Malaysian financial sector, the analysis is confined to the universe of the domestic and foreign commercial banks operating in the Malaysian financial sector during the period 2000–04. The empirical findings suggest that Malaysian banks with a higher credit risk and a higher loan concentration exhibit lower profitability level. On the other hand, banks that have a higher level of capitalization, a higher proportion of income from non-interest sources, and high operational expenses tend to exhibit higher profitability level. The results suggest that economic growth has a negative effect on Malaysian banks’ profitability, while a higher inflation rate has a positive impact on Malaysian banks’ profitability.

Multi-spillover Effects of Multinational Corporations on Host Countries: A Review of Literature

Dusanjh, H., Sidhu, A.S. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

The debate on the mushrooming growth of MNCs (multinational corporations) across the globe is drawing the attention of researchers as well as policy makers worldwide. This debate concerns the self-seeking motives of the entry of these MNCs in the host nations. Arguments differ on whether the MNCs operate in the new nations for their own motives only, thereby ignoring the interest of the host countries and their domestic firms. Several studies conducted in the past have attempted to measure the effects of the entry of the MNCs in the host nations. Unlike the direct effects, the indirect effects of these multinationals are quite difficult to enunciate due to the imprecise and disparate nature of the definition of these spillovers. The present paper contributes to this research by investigating the findings of past empirical researches carried out on spillover effects generated by these MNCs in the host nations. The study concludes that existence of both positive as well as negative spillovers is not the sole outcome of an ‘MNC entry’ into a host nation as posed by its critics but an array of other factors, thereby calling for a wider research to explore these factors.

Productivity and Financial Structure: Evidence from Indian High-tech Firms

Ghosh, S. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

The article utilizes data on high-tech Indian firms for 1996–2007 to explain the association between leverage and productivity. Accordingly, firm-level productivity measures are regressed on a set of control variables, which includes leverage among the regressors. The findings suggest that low leveraged firms tend to be more productive, on average. Robustness tests support the results.

Dimensions of Non-performing Assets in Urban Cooperative Banks in Tamil Nadu

Ramu, N. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

The Urban Cooperative Banking (UCB) system has come a long way since 1904 when the first UCB was started at Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu. UCBs remain not-for-profit, owned and controlled by the members who use their services. They are unit banks of the American model rather than branch banks of the British model. With the tightening of prudential norms, the banking sector has been consistently conforming to and adopting international prudential norms and accounting practices. Such strengthening of prudential norms have resulted in increased levels of Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) for the Urban Cooperative Banking Sector. As per CAMELS rating model, the highest weight is given to asset quality components. Today, UCBs are compelled to maintain superior asset quality in the competitive market for their survival. In the wake of large scale defaults of UCBs in India, this study is an attempt to analyze the asset quality in select UCBs in Tamil Nadu. This paper also traces the Non-Performing Assets of financial cooperatives in other countries. A comparison of UCBs with financial cooperatives abroad is also done.

Case Study of an Industry-Academia Interface: The FITT Story

Sengupta, A. K. — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

Developing a close interactive relationship with the external world, particularly the industry at large, is a necessary imperative for a technical university, in order to ensure the relevance of the academic curricula and research as well as to generate internal resources for undertaking R&D programmes in new and advanced high technology areas, upgradating infrastructure, and inducting, retaining, and reward high quality members of the faculty. In this regard, the role of the autonomous industry interface institutions and Technology Transfer Organizations (TTO) is of great importance. In this article the evolution of an Indian TTO has been described on the basis of its activities and performances during the first ten years of its existence in the form of a case study. Later, the concept of the transformation of a technical university into a technology enterprise has been briefly elaborated, and the potential role of the TTO in this transformation process discussed. Finally, a number of alternate courses of action that may be required in the changing scenario of the future have been highlighted.

Book Reviews

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:46 PDT

Transferability of Management Innovation to Africa: A Study of Two Multinational Companies' Performance Management System in Nigeria

Mamman, A., Baydoun, N., Adeoye, B. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

Horwitz et al. (2006: 807) have argued that ‘the debate regarding convergence/divergence perspectives in the cross-cultural diffusion of human resource management (HRM) practices is a somewhat simplistic one.’ The authors are of the view that because convergent similarity of HRM practice exists at a nominal level, the notions of hybridization and crossvergence are better in explaining HRM practices and their diffusion across countries. While the authors focused on exploring explanations of the differences in HRM practices, the article provocatively challenges researchers and experts to explore the question of whether Multinational Companies (MNCs) should adapt Human Resource Management Innovation (HRMI) and if so, why? And how?

The main aim of this article is to investigate the following questions: (a) Given that MNCs transfer HRMI to developing countries, which policy should guide the transfer (polycentric or ethnocentric?); and (b) Given that host-country nationals (HCNs) are not passive recipients of HRMI, what are the implications of the policy (polycentric or ethnocentric) for MNCs? The result of our investigation and the review of literature suggest that the MNCs’ performance management (PM) policies are partially ethnocentric, but the practice, as perceived by some HCNs (employees), is polycentric. For example, some HCNs perceive some degree of nepotism and patronage in the system. Also, many felt that their line managers were biased against them. Similarly, a significant number of HCNs felt that their views are not taken into account during PM review and they do not receive feedback from their managers. The implications of the findings are then discussed.

Do All Advertising Appeals Influence Consumer Purchase Decision: An Exploratory Study

Verma, S. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

No communication is complete without feedback or reaction. The intent behind advertising is to persuade consumers to purchase and repurchase the product over and over again, but does the consumer respond to all communications sent by the advertisers? The human brain has a limited processing capacity and consumers have the tendency to process the most useful and appealing information first. Advertisers use different types of appeals and demonstrations to attract and retain customers, but the literature review shows very less work on evaluating the differential impact of various types of appeals on consumer purchase decisions. This study empirically tests the differential influence various advertising appeals create on consumer purchase decisions.

Enablers of Sustaining Competitiveness: A Case of Growth Strategies of Top International Construction Companies

Bhattacharya, S., Momaya, K., Iyer, K.C. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

International competitiveness is becoming important, even for industries that were once considered very domestic. Top international construction companies seem to be going through major strategic transformations to sustain competitiveness. Some have achieved remarkably high international competitiveness. Strategic management can play a crucial role in achieving competitiveness. An attempt has been made in this research to understand the differences in strategies being evolved by the top firms. The dynamics of strategies has been captured using the concept of strategic enablers. Several important enablers were identified from literature review to develop constructs. Then, the strategies of the selected firms were analyzed in terms of enablers, to identify patterns and draw implication .

Exploring the Meanings of Globalization in Beijing

Mamman, A., Baydoun, N., Liu, K. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

The purpose of this article is to investigate the meaning of globalization from the Chinese point of view. Managerial and organizational cognition literature suggests that the decisions of individuals (for example, managers) are the basis for understanding organizational strategy and behaviour. Therefore, the concept of meaning is vital to the understanding of why and how managers, policymakers and policy influencers react to a phenomenon such as globalization. In other words, it might be possible, within reason, to predict managers’, policymakers’ and policy implementers’ decisions and actions by understanding the meaning they attach to globalization rather than explain their decisions or actions afterwards. Our investigation of the meaning of globalization using a sample of Chinese professionals, managers and business people is an attempt to explore this possibility.

Trust and Learning as Moderators in Achieving Global Supply-Chain Competitiveness: Evidence from the Chinese and Indian Auto-Component Sectors

Chatterjee, S. R. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

Trust and learning are emerging as the two most critical competitive elements in a range of global industries. Rapid global growth as well as the building of indigenous capabilities through investments, alliances, innovations, human capital development and learning characterize these industries. This article outlines some of the recent developments in the automobile component manufacturing industry in India and China as illustrations of this trend. The auto-component sectors in China and India show the emergence of a large number of dynamic local and global players with breathtaking competitive agility. This dynamism is a stark contrast to the picture of a moribund industry during the protective and regulatory regime only a decade and half ago. The auto-component manufacturing sector has successfully shifted away from the era of ‘contract’ and ‘catalogue’ mindset to ‘network’ and ‘innovation’ mindset and could be a good model for others to follow.

As China and India adopt very different ‘strategic intent’ in developing their auto industries, similarity in their emphasis on acquiring competitive agility through trust and learning provides unmistakable evidence of convergence. This article argues that the strategies underpinning the success have been built more upon the strategic thinking in soft areas of supply chain relationships. The roles of transnational assemblers and component suppliers as well as indigenous manufacturers and component suppliers have been redefined in a way very different from the standardized and typical strategies of multi-domestic ‘localization’ and ‘glocalization’.

Labour-Management Partnership: How to Make It Work?

Ramaswamy, E.A. — Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

Book Reviews

Tue, 05 May 2009 07:34:44 PDT

Corporate Social Disclosure Practices of Top Software Firms in India

Murthy, V. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

This study examines the corporate social disclosure practices of the top 16 software firms in India. The 2003–2004 annual reports were analysed using content analysis to examine the attributes reported relating to human resource, community development activities, products and services activities and environmental activities. The human resources category was the most frequently reported followed by community development activities and the environmental activities was the least reported. Most of the information was qualitative and was disclosed in the ‘other’ sections of the annual report. Some firms had separate sections for each category while many others disclosed their social practices in the introductory pages of the annual report. The results indicate that firms had different motives/reasons for reporting the different attributes. The shortage of skilled labour in the software sector seems to have shaped the corporate social disclosure (CSD) practices in the human resources category. Firms seem to engage in community development activities without expecting changes to their economic performance and the CSD of community activities seem to be shaped by the expectations of the society. The nature of global competition in the software sector seems to have shaped the CSD practices in the product and services contribution category.

Does Customer Relationship Management Activity Affect Firm Performance?

Soch, H., Sandhu, H.S. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

The focus of this study is to find out the impact of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) on the financial performance of firms in India. The study identifies four CRM constructs – customer need sensing, communication, intermediaries, and the internal environment of firms. A CRM scale is developed, refined and validated and confirmatory factor analysis is used to examine the model fit. Firm data on profitability and growth is used as performance indicators for estimating the regression model. Using a large sample of 171 firms from eight different industry types, results suggest that there is a positive influence of CRM on firm performance but that this impact is insignificant.

Corporate Mergers and Acquisitions in India: Discriminating between Bidders and Targets

Basu, D., Dastidar, S. G., Chawla, D. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

This article estimates two models for the takeover selection process in India by identifying discriminating variables that help delineate bidder and target firms. Both discriminant analysis and logit regression have been used for the purpose of developing the appropriate frameworks based on sample data of companies involved in a merger, acquisition or takeover during the period 2002 to 2005. Variables tested were measures of leverage, size, liquidity, profitability, growth, operating efficiency, retention, return on equity and risk. Both the techniques identified liquidity, profitability, size, risk and growth as the most significant discriminating variables. Results indicated that targets have higher liquidity, growth and size on one hand and lower risk, leverage, profitability and operating efficiency on the other. These results appear rational and support the theory that takeovers are a market share enhancing mechanism. Synergy gains through economies of scale or scope, reducing cost of capital or increasing debt capacity could be other driving factors. The discriminant model correctly classifies bidder and target firms to the tune of 64.8 per cent and has been applied to holdout sample for the year 2006 for verifying its predictive power. The logit model appears to be a better fit for bidders with a prediction accuracy of 99.1 per cent, which increases to 100 per cent for the holdout set. In case of targets, prediction accuracy increases from 8.9 per cent to more than 23 per cent over the two data sets. Both models yield similar results as both formulations display the same relationships for the independent variables with the dependent and also find current ratio as being the most important variable. Owing to the moderate degree of success of the model, it is recommended that any of the models could be used for screening companies for takeovers while other tools and methodologies could be developed to facilitate further research and enable decision-making.

Discipline and Negotiation: Power in Learning Organizations

Akella, D. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

This article examines issues of power and control in learning organizations. The emphasis is on understanding the working environments of learning organizations, taking into consideration the intricacies of power and control. It focuses on the relationship between management and employees and its overall implications in the effective governance of these organizational forms. The paper critically analyses 42 in-depth interviews undertaken at a multinational situated in Botswana to deconstruct the democratic and participative models of learning organizations.

Through the Eye of a Child: A Meta-analytic Study of Children's Understanding of Advertising Intent

Mostafa, M. M. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

Meta-analysis is a statistical technique that allows one to combine the results from multiple studies to glean inferences on the overall importance of a certain phenomenon. This study employs a substantive meta-analysis approach to quantitatively summarize the results of empirical studies of the direct impact of age on children's understanding of advertising intent. When all the available estimates are combined and averaged, there seems to be a genuine and positive effect of age on children's understanding of advertising (average effect size = 0.367, aggregate N = 9307). The findings of this study significantly refine the body of knowledge concerning the impact of age on children's understanding of advertising intent, and thereby offer an improved conceptual framework for marketers and policy makers.

Public Transportation and Customer Satisfaction: The Case of Indian Railways

Agarwal, R. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

In today's competitive market scenario, organizations increasingly understand the importance of building and effectively managing the relationship with its customers. For building and maintaining a healthy relationship with the customer, organizations need to understand and meet the expectations of its customer. The organizations today should aim not only at satisfying the customer but should also focus on delighting him. Thus it has become imperative for organizations to identify parameters that cause customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction and consciously measure them so as to try and bring about the necessary changes on the basis of customer perceptions. The present study has been undertaken to find the factors related to Indian Railway services that have an impact on customer satisfaction. The study was conducted using the survey method. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 500. Factor and regression analysis was used to analyse the data and identify the effect of customers’ perception about the quality of performance of various factors on customer satisfaction. The major findings of the study depict that out of the various factors considered, employee behaviour has the maximum effect on satisfaction level of customers with Indian Railways as a whole.

A New Marketing Strategy for E-Commerce: The Gulf Region Experience

Alrawi, K. W., Ekbia, H. R., Jaber, K. H. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

The purpose of this exploratory study is to address e-commerce issues, such as marketing and logistical problems, and create viable recommendations for the Gulf environments based on the views of managers of industrial firms registered in the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce in the United Arab Emirates.

The issues that e-commerce faces will be examined through the marketing mix. It is believed that the four concepts of the marketing mix (product, place, price, and promotion) play an equally critical part in the success of e-commerce. Therefore, concentrating on these concepts will prove to be of utmost importance to an e-commerce provider for the Gulf firms.

To date, despite the fact that e-commerce is likely to have far-reaching implications for international marketing, only a handful of studies have explored marketing and e-commerce in the Gulf region in an international context. This study shows that there is a great potential for e-commerce in the Gulf region in particular.

Challenges of Implementing Economic Value Added: A Case Study of Godrej Consumer Products Limited

Mittal, R.K., Sinha, N., Singh, A. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

In this case we present the process of implementation of an economic value added (EVA) framework in Godrej Consumer Products Limited (GCPL), a leading fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company in India, and the challenges faced by the company. It covers in detail the reasons for implementing the EVA framework in GCPL and the benefits derived by the company from it in the form of the SWOT analysis. It is shown that there is a positive link between the implementation of an EVA framework and improvement in the financial performance of a company. It ends with a debate on the effectiveness of EVA.

Case Study: The Letter War

Singh, J. — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

This caselet is a description of differences between two individuals in an academic institute. The problem(s) it addresses have a bearing on relations between academic and administrative people, organization culture, systems and processes and traditional and modern e-mail communications. The case situation is not to be used as an illustration of correct or incorrect way of addressing the issues. It can be used for teaching purpose.

Book Reviews

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:26:18 PST

Ethical Management Practice in Australia

Batten, J. A., Hettihewa, S., Mellor, R. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

This article replicates an earlier study on Australian ethical management practice by Batten et al. (1997) using an identical set of variables and methodology. While differences in the samples of the two studies limit the generalizability of the new findings this study confirms the presence of significant cross-sectional variation in ethical management practice. Overall, much still needs to be done in order for firms to comply with recent industry best practice recommendations.

Turkey's FDI Policy and Chinese Foreign Direct Investments in Turkey: Some Economic and Management Implications

Yilmaz, N. K., Cooke, F. L., Dellios, R. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

The Republic of Turkey and the People's Republic of China are two countries with emerging market economies on the eastern and western borders of Eurasia. Turkey, with its notable economic improvement after the 2001 banking crisis and China, with entrenched economic reforms that have promoted the opening of its market to the world, have become attractive for international investors. Both states’ economic liberalization processes led to considerable increase in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) although the amount of FDI is much higher for China. China, in turn, is likely to become a major investor in the coming years rather than just being an FDI magnet. This article analyses the FDI environment and recent developments in Turkey as well as indications of Chinese investments which are taking place in Turkey. The rapid expansion of the trade volume between Turkey and China, China's increasing foreign exchange reserves and its desire to enter world markets including the European market are all signalling an increase of its investments in Turkey. The implications of Chinese investments for Turkey are also discussed.

Conceptualizations to Advance Born Global Definition: A Research Note

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

The ‘Born Globals’ (BGs) have now been studied for over a decade and yet the conceptualizations and theory development are at an initial phase. This article was written to clarify the definition of a BG firm, and focus on its characteristics. BGs deviate considerably when contrasted with traditional internationalizing Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs). Most importantly their vision is global, they have global products which are of unique and specialized nature, and they have accelerated internationalization capability from inception.

Drivers of Organizational Commitment among Managers of Industrial Organizations: A Case Study

Mohapatra, M., Sharma, B. R. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

On the basis of an in-depth analysis of the responses of managers of two organizations from the same industry, one from the public sector and the other from the private sector, the authors identified the determinants of managerial organizational commitment. Thereafter, a comparison has been made of the factors thus identified with those found through other studies on the subject to demonstrate the relevance, nature and extent of the relationship between organizational commitment and its drivers. As a departure from the conventional approach, the authors have attempted to develop an unbiased model for testing the relationship between variables as would emerge from the data suo motto. In the present day dynamic scenario of increased mobility, high employee turnover and a volatile talent market, the authors contend that it is necessary to identify organization-specific drivers of organizational commitment and to formulate commitment-inducing HR policies and practices.

Spirituality in Management: A Review of Contemporary and Traditional Thoughts and Agenda for Research

Pandey, A., Gupta, R. K — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

This article presents a literature review and agenda for research in the field of spirituality in management. To understand the conceptual underpinning of spiritual aspects of the human self, this article covers the contemporary thoughts of humanistic psychology, human wellness and traditional thoughts from ancient Indian wisdom. In the later part, the mainstream ‘spirituality at workplace’ literature is reviewed and a conceptual convergence is identified in the form of three strands; harmony with self, harmony in work environment and experience or belief in transcendence. Potential contribution of the study is in conceptualizing spirituality in business organizations based on synthesis of both traditional and contemporary thoughts and a detailed agenda for research in this field.

Human Obsolescence: A Wake-up Call to Avert a Crisis

Chauhan, S.P., Chauhan, D. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

With the revolutionary growth of information, rapid technological change and tremendous growth of knowledge, the subject of ‘human obsolescence’ is becoming increasingly important for organizations as well as society. As a result of the expansion of new knowledge and the potential deterioration of previously held expertise, learning does not stop for managers and professionals after their education/training is completed. It is after that point that they become dependent on their own self-education strategies for updating, which are unlikely to be as systematic or comprehensive as those in the formal setting they left. A two-pronged approach needs to be adopted to tackle human obsolescence: one at the individual level and the other at the organizational level. At the individual level employees need to take the onus for their self-development and professional growth and take initiatives for self-renewal on a regular basis. Organizations too have a role to play if employees are to expend the necessary energy to remain competent and contribute towards organizational objectives. Continuing professional development of the employees must be an integral part of the organizational culture at every level of the hierarchy. In this article we have suggested that organizations need to adopt different approaches to deal with employees who are at the three different stages of awareness, intention and behaviour in relation to updating themselves.

Trust and Distrust in Salesperson-Supervisor Dyadic Relationship and Its Impact on Sales Performance: Few Propositions

Singh, R. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

Interpersonal trust, one of the key elements in the foundation of social relationships, occupies a central position in the formation of socio-economic dyadic relationships. Yet, the impact of interpersonal trust in the marketing context on individual performance is rarely treated with any qualifying riders. This may probably be due to trust's assumed normative bias and its high intuitive appeal. Confusion prevails in literature on whether trust and distrust are distinct constructs or flip sides of the same construct of trust (low trust and high distrust assumed to be same), have been addressed in this article. Moreover, studies on the role of distrust in dyadic relationships are largely absent in marketing literature and very few, if any, studies have been carried out on the impact of interpersonal distrust on (sales) performance. In this article, the parallel (and simultaneous) roles of trust and distrust on supervisee's sales performance in the salesperson–supervisor relationship context, within an organization are explored. The extant relevant literature on the role of dyadic trust in the context of sales management (e.g., supervisee–supervisor relationship), and how it can be viewed as contingent on various factors is reviewed here. The role of trust and distrust, and the moderating influence of sales control, supervisory behaviour and supervisory feedback have also been explored in detail in the article, through a series of propositions.

An Analysis of Efficiency-Profitability Relationship in Indian Public Sector Banks

Kumar, S. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

Based on cross-sectional data for 27 banks, this article has endeavoured to explore the relationship between Technical Efficiency (TE) and profitability in the Indian public sector banking industry. The technique of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been utilized to compute the TE score for each bank in the year 2005. The mean level of TE for the industry is found to be 88.5 per cent. This implies that public sector banks can produce 1.13 times as much output from the same inputs, if they operate at ‘efficiency frontier’. In 20 inefficient banks, the technical inefficiency ranges from 2.6 per cent to 36.8 per cent. Also, the banks affiliated with ‘State Bank of India Group’ outperform the banks belonging to the ‘Nationalized Banks Group’ in terms of operating efficiency. An analysis of efficiency–profitability matrix based on the efficiency scores and Return on Assets (ROA) reveals that 13 banks that fall in the ‘lucky’ and ‘underdog’ quadrants have the TE score below the industry average. The resource utilization process in these banks features the presence of considerable wastage of resources. The ‘ace’ quadrant contains 9 banks which are flagship units in the industry in terms of both efficiency and profitability. Both Andhra Bank and Corporation Bank appear as an ideal benchmark for the laggards on the efficiency and profitability dimensions of performance evaluation.

Doing Emotional Labour: The Experiences of Indian Call Centre Agents

D'Cruz, P., Noronha, E. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

A qualitative study undertaken in Bangalore and Mumbai, India, on subjective work experiences of call centre agents, uncovered four major themes addressing agents’ perceptions of and responses to emotional labour demands. These include reorienting self, balancing expectations, neutralizing stress and humouring irate customers. The findings further our understanding by highlighting the presence of normative control, the relevance of dispositional factors, the implications of coping mechanisms and the complexities introduced by global outsourcing.

Transformation of an Emerging Economy to a Knowledge-based Economy: Korean Case

Kim, R. B. — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT

As the world economy is increasingly adopting innovative technology, public policies for technology implementation play a significant role in economic growth and international competitiveness for a country. This article presents a Korean case to assess the importance and effectiveness of government technology-innovation policy for economic growth and development. The article explores historical aspects of the Korean government's economic policy that entailed measures to establish a technology support system; strategic changes in Korean public policy for innovative technology and the Korean government's promotion of a knowledge-based economy in recent years; and specific policy measures related to this objective. The article also addresses a few major challenges in the Korean knowledge-based economy.

Book Reviews

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 02:31:59 PDT