This study attempts to examine the conditions of construction workers and problems faced by them in Gandhinagar city. From the analysis, it is clear that economic condition of the workers has slightly improved, but demographic–social and working–living situations of the workers are extremely pathetic and vulnerable till now. The demand and supply of migrant workers is managed through the contract system. Contractors and sub-contractors play a crucial role in providing facilities and obtaining desired employment within a short time span. From the employment point of view, the industry is totally male dominant and preponderant and female workers are unskilled and remain unskilled during their entire life. Of the many theories of migration, the Harris–Todaro model of migration is partially applicable in the rural-to-urban migration process. Unlike government employees, a construction worker has no social security, no earned leave, no sick leave and no pension or gratuity. Finally, it is clear that the objective of decent work for migrant workers will remain a major challenge for years to come.
Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an essential element in the world of modern business. Corporate social responsibility has been made mandatory by the Government of India under an amendment of the Companies Act, 2013. Now, it is a dilemma whether CSR will be just restricted to the performance of government norms or it will contribute to the improvement of the corporate brand image. The present study is a thoughtful attempt to explore the relationship between CSR, social development, social trust and brand–society association through an analysis using structural equation modelling. The tested model of the current study also focuses on strategic CSR linkage to create a sustainable corporate brand value.
Of late, financial inclusion has assumed a development policy priority in many countries. To consider the importance of the same, this study attempts to compute a comprehensive, cross-country index of financial inclusion (IFI), and use it to measure progress of financial inclusion in 68 countries from 2004 through 2008, to 2012. With the mean IFI value upgrading from 0.292 (low inclusion level) in 2004 to 0.332 (medium inclusion level) in 2012, the article exhibits a general improvement in the extent of financial inclusion for the period. Indicated by a diminution in the coefficient of variation (CV) of IFI from 0.853 in 2004 to 0.703 in 2012, the results also evidence convergence in IFI values. Seeking to measure the relationship between financial inclusion and human development, the article finds a strong and significant correlation between the two. Additionally, not only the Human Development Index (HDI) but also the income level of countries seems to show a movement, in tandem with the extent of financial inclusion evidenced by them. As an all-inclusive measure of socio-economic development, an IFI-incorporated HDI (modified HDI) has additionally been computed for the year 2012. The same has been employed to compare the extent of socio-economic development of the countries, as shown by HDI alone, and also by the proposed measure. Modified HDI, by capturing the vitality of ‘financial availability and access by all’, has been noted as an improved measure of socio-economic development over HDI. In addition, the study suggests removal of the stumbling blocks of financial illiteracy and technological backwardness to extend financial services to the unbanked masses. Financial inclusion is therefore a road that countries need to transverse to become global harbingers of development and prosperity.
This article attempts to investigate policies, guidelines and rules concerning E-waste management in India in last few years. It also critically reviews the existing E-waste legislations on E-waste management, that is, E-waste (Management & Handling) Rules, 2011, which were notified in 2012 by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and Draft of E-waste (Management) Rules, 2015 which are yet to be notified. This article also highlights the E-waste scenario and recommendations for better E-waste management in the country.
In the present study, an attempt is made to identify some of the determinants of disputes in Indian manufacturing industries at a two-digit level. The study covers data on 22 industries for a period of 25 years (1981–2006) at a two-digit level. The dependent variable is the man-days lost in disputes per worker and the independent variables are the degree of trade unionization, real wages and salaries per worker, average factory size and the dummies for historic textile strike and economic reforms. The study is further divided into pre- (1981–1991) and post-reform (1992–2006) period so as to identify any significant change that has taken place in the relationship of the dependent and the independent variables in the pre- and post-reform period. The econometric investigation reveals significant insights into the problem of disputes in manufacturing industries. The study reveals that the independent variables have significantly affected disputes during the time period of the analysis.
This article aims to investigate the relationship between working capital management and firm performance in an emerging market. The analysis is done over a long window spanning across 2000–2014 by using ordinary least square (OLS), fixed- and random-effects model and generalized method of moments (GMM) on 2,327 firm-year observations, a panel data of 179 companies listed on the S&P BSE 500 Index of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). For robustness, in addition to accounting performance, market-based performance measure has also been employed to measure firm performance. This study based on India finds a negative relationship between the working capital management and firm performance, necessitating the need to efficiently manage the working capital for enhanced profitability.
The study attempts to explore the relationship between job satisfaction of veterinarians and their level of professional commitment and job involvement. The universe of the study has been confined to veterinary doctors working on a permanent basis in government institutions in the state of Punjab. A sample of 322 veterinary doctors was collected to represent the universe. The analysis reveals that professional commitment and job involvement have positive relationship with and have explanatory power for job satisfaction. Taking into consideration the significance of animal husbandry to the growth of Indian economy and specifically to the Punjab economy, the government should take consistent and steadfast measures to improve the level of job involvement, professional commitment and, hence, job satisfaction of veterinarians. Such measures will definitely benefit the veterinarians, the government itself and the nation as a whole.
A pair of mixed integer linear programming model is developed for manufacturers to formulate e-waste collection outsourcing strategy in India. The pair consists of single and multi-period decision models for manufacturer to choose from based on their requirement.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that waste is continually generated in the course of production and consumption of products and materials. While augmented recycling and recovery initiatives are being undertaken to combat the ecological impact of skyrocketing municipal waste volumes, individuals must also be parallelly responsive towards the overwhelming environmental concerns sparked by the rapidly increasing volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) in the opted city of Kolkata, India. E-waste is a hazardous concoction of heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, mercury, barium or arsenic, in addition to other halogenated compounds; its unconscionable disposal can adversely trigger soil and groundwater pollution, while taking its toll on human health as well as multifarious flora and fauna. In an attempt to remedy the problem in hand, the present study purports to investigate the attitudes, knowledge and behaviour of Kolkata’s populace, in light of e-waste management and recycling behaviour. With the aid of a structured questionnaire, an aggregate of 242 respondents have been surveyed, so as to gain cognizance of their voices and concerns towards e-waste management. The results have been scrutinized in order to prescribe diagnostic explications to policy-makers and general masses alike, such that appropriate measures may be undertaken to endorse recycling behaviour across all Indian households.
The technical advancement and changing lifestyle have given rise to a new waste stream—‘electronic waste’ or ‘e-waste’ which is different from conventional municipal waste. The growing volume and complex composition of these items along with the absence of proper disposal mechanisms is a major area of concern today. Personal computer (PC) is one of the most widely used electronic products with limited life cycle. The present paper deals with qualitative and semi-quantitative estimation of major elements (mainly toxic and hazardous elements) in one of the key components of desktop computer viz. the motherboard. Wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) spectroscopy and laser ablation inductively couples plasma mass spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) techniques have been used to find out the elemental composition of obsolete motherboards. By performing composition analysis, a noticeable change has been found in concentrations of some major elements as a function of technology. With the advancement of technology, concentrations of Al and Cu have increased whereas Pb concentration is found to decrease. The distribution of various elements in the motherboard based on different technologies will enable us to monitor the changing trends of hazardous elements and may also provide better insights into waste segregation and disposal methods.
E-waste is looming as a gigantic global problem that is an increasing threat to ecology, biology and sustainability. Most of e-waste management solutions, legislations and enforcements thus far are post-factum (after the e-waste stream or damage has occurred) band aids or quick-fixes that become mutated problems of tomorrow. In exploring ethics of e-waste management, we offer an integrated before– during–after approach of inputs, processes and outputs. We first characterize the e-waste enterprise in its antecedent inputs of design and production, in its process of distribution and marketing, and in its consequent outputs of e-consumption, e-disposal and e-waste. Several ethical theories are invoked and applied and their potential for resolving the e-waste problem explored.
This article proposes a model for managing e-waste in India using systems thinking approach. The plot of the article begins by the idea of reducing the environmental pollution caused by e-waste in the hands of the informal sector. This can be done by formalizing the disposal stage of the electronic products. The idea can reap results when the registered e-waste agencies be a part of the supply chain activities and thereby ensures reverse logistics model of handling e-waste. Currently, the amount of e-waste generated in the country is higher than the total capacity of the registered recyclers in the country. Even then, most of the recyclers are not functioning at full capacity, which is counter intutive. The government norms are not commanding which leads this waste becoming hazardous to human health. The article uses system dynamics approach proposing one solution to reduce this menace. The causal loop diagram gives a holistic picture of the problem in hand and the stock and flow diagram validates the integrated model of e-waste management system.
Analysis of social media data like tweet feeds can reveal market sentiments. So, researchers are trying to forecast the stock market behaviour through social media analytics. However, the extant research broadly focused on a longer time horizon and attempted to forecast mostly stock market level indicators. On the contrary, we employ social media analytics to forecast stock market’s spontaneous behaviour as a reaction to a macroeconomic event, that is, Indian Budget announcement on 28 February 2015. We captured stock market reactions through company-level Cumulative Abnormal Returns (CAR). We collected around 0.37 million budget related tweets during our three-day event window. Our empirical evidence, of 190 firms from 8 different industries, confirms that industry tweet volume and sentiment can be an indicator of company-level share price movements. This article contributes to the extant literature of information science research as well as behavioural finance by demonstrating the applicability of social media analytics for event study methodology.
This article examines the role of various economic, socio-psychological and sociological factors that influence a salesperson’s intention to share knowledge with other salespersons. The research framework is based on the original theory of reasoned action developed by Fishbein and Ajzen in 1975. Data were gathered through questionnaires involving 164 respondents across sectors. Measure validation and model testing were conducted using Partial Least Square (PLS) Graph Version 3.0. Results indicate that subjective norm (SN) followed by attitude towards knowledge sharing (KS) has the strongest influence on intention of salespeople to share knowledge. Among factors that affect attitude towards KS, perceived reputation enhancement has the strongest impact followed by other salient variables, such as perceived loss of knowledge power, organizational commitment and anticipated reciprocal benefits. This testifies that before engaging in KS, employees carefully weigh in the benefits and costs involved in the process. Negative and insignificant relationship is found between perceived organizational incentives and attitude towards KS. SN in context of KS is strongly influenced by factors, such as sense of self-worth followed by organizational climate.
In call centres, the advantage of recruiting multi-skilled workforce over specialized workforce is considered to be a useful strategy to cope with call volume uncertainty. Many researchers have developed models to identify optimal resource requirement, using queuing theory. In this article, we address the issue by exploring the resource planning problem as a variant of the classical newsboy problem. We consider a call centre with two service lines, where call volume in each line follows independent and normally distributed (IND) demand. The call centre can consider either proactive or reactive resource allocation policy. The optimal resource requirement is shown as a function of a critical ratio, similar to the classical newsboy critical ratio. Furthermore, this critical ratio determines whether optimal resource will increase or decrease with the increase in the variance in call volume. In case of multi-skilled resource, optimal resource depends on the critical ratio of less contributing service line. As the profit expression for multi-skilled resource is analytically intractable, sample based optimization is used to find the optimal expected profit. Finally, we compare the results from sample based optimization with analytical results.
Based on role theory, the present study examines theoretically meaningful, yet infrequently studied relationship between organization identification, autonomy orientation and competence mobilization in predicting role breadth and role performance. Data collected from employees (n = 178) and supervisors (n = 67) working in a large information technology (IT) company based in India was analyzed using hierarchical regression to test the hypotheses. Results show that organization identification, autonomy orientation and competence mobilization were positively related to role breadth. Specifically, role breadth mediates the relationship between organization identification, autonomy orientation and competence mobilization and role performance. Discussion shows insights into theoretical and practical perspectives.
This case study aims at unravelling the characteristics and the challenges faced by a small professional service firm (PSF) in becoming a learning organization (LO). For case study, both qualitative and quantitative data were collected independently and simultaneously. The Watkins and Marsick (1996) framework of LO was followed in conjunction with the interviews and observations to achieve the study objective. Overall, the status of learning orientation in the consultancy firm is fairly high. The findings reflect that an organization is in a process of expansion and with changing times, there is a need for change in some important areas. Unique Indian cultural aspects are found to be significant in enhancing learning orientation in the studied PSF. Nurturant task (NT) of leadership and a familial culture have been instrumental in creating tacit knowledge in the organization. Study on LO in small PSFs is an under-researched domain. Empirical material offers insights into learning orientation in Indian firms, with a focus on the unique Indian culture.
The present study seeks to assess the extent and level of sustainability reporting among Chinese companies. For this purpose, an Index developed under global reporting initiative (GRI) guidelines is used. A total of 19 companies from Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) 50 (China) producing sustainability reports within the time period 2006–2007 to 2010–2011 comprise the sample set. Content analysis is applied as a data collection tool. Descriptives are used to examine the concrete content of these sustainability reports at three levels: company-wise, industry-wise and category-wise. The company-wise disclosure analysis reveals that Baosteel has the highest disclosure score of 66.46 per cent followed by China Shenhua Energy (65.82 per cent) and then by Air China with 63.29 per cent score. Industry-wise analysis shows Automobiles & Transport industry has the highest disclosure score of 50 per cent. However, the Finance sector has the least disclosure score of just 22.26 per cent. Category-wise analysis shows that economic parameters are reported the most. Further, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) is applied for category-wise analysis and significant difference is found. Kruskal–Wallis test is applied for industry-wise analysis but no significant difference is found. This study attempts to provide an insight to corporate managers in China so that they can make rational policies for sustenance. However, since this article is confined to China only, future research involving other countries is recommended.
We evaluate India’s Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS). Using data from extensive primary surveys of MGNREGS beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries in Chitradurga district of Karnataka, we find that women tended to benefit more from the programme. This is a major MGNREGS contribution because women have always been paid less than men in farms and construction sites. The wages NREGS beneficiaries got were well below their asking wages (which was 207 a day), being only 98 a day on an average. The estimation of reservation wages shows that higher current wages increase reservation wages. The elasticity of reservation wage with respect to work experience is negative.
We use a two-step regression model to understand the determinants of participation in the programme and of NREGS wages. We conclude that the programme has had a favourable impact on reducing rural poverty.
Global warming is an important concern nowadays. Government and non-government organizations are trying to build awareness among the people to contain this problem. A study was done to understand the concern for global warming among the working class of urban India. A sample of 1,220 respondents representing a cross section of Indian urban working class were interviewed to check their awareness of global warming and activities undertaken by them and other agencies to reduce the global warming. The study found that around two-thirds of the urban working class is aware of global warming, but their actions were confined only to activities which benefited them monetarily. The respondents felt that their organizations are contributing towards protecting the environment; however, they felt that the government and international bodies need to do more. The study also supports the earlier studies which found that demographic variables are not good variables to differentiate environmental behaviour.
Workplace accident and disease prevention have been the focus of law-making activity in European Union (EU) since the creation of the common market. In more than half a century, the EU occupational health and safety (OHS) law grew from nothing into the present legal system, experiencing stages of development through the introduction of important European Community (EC) treaties, for example, the Rome Treaty, Paris Treaty, Maastricht Treaty, Lisbon Treaty and other European-wide legal documents such as the European Social Charter 1961, and seven rounds of EU enlargements for the accession of new member states. With these developments, the approaches adopted in EU OHS law are also involving. In the first few decades, a prescriptive approach was dominant until the introduction of the Framework Directive 89/391, which marked the shift towards a goal-oriented approach. In the later development, the evolution in approach also presents a shift towards the social dialogue approach.
The present study measures the training effectiveness in public sector, private sector and foreign banks operating in India. Employee training was assessed through managerial perceptions with respect to five dimensions, namely commitment to training participation, access to training opportunities, relevance of training, benefits of training and satisfaction with training. The results of the study revealed that overall employee training (ET) and its individual dimensions exist at a moderate level in the selected banks and there is no significant difference regarding the effectiveness of ET among the three banking sectors. Correlation analysis reflects that all the five dimensions of ET were found to be positively and significantly correlated with each other. Further, no significant variation was found to exist regarding ET perceptions between male and female managers as well as among the managers of various cadres.