Interpretive structural modeling-based framework for mass customisation enablers: an Indian footwear case

Abstract

In the epoch of open economy and with the emergence of availability of individualised products over the Internet, Indian manufacturing industries are facing an enormous pressure to become more flexible and responsive, to accomplish customer’s varied and increasing demands. Mass customisation (MC) is about developing a customised product on demand for a particular customer after reception of a real order and producing it with the similar operational efficiency as one would anticipate from a mass-produced product. MC takes into account the merits of both the earlier systems of production, i.e. mass production and craft production. The craft production satisfies the personalised demands of customers and the mass production produces a limited variety of products at lower cost. Industries in developing countries such as India confront pressure from several perspectives to adopt MC. This study has been presented in the context of Indian manufacturing industries, and particularly for footwear industries to examine the enablers of MC. Achieving MC, however, require certain enabling technologies and processes in place. Several such enablers have been identified from the research literature. The objective of this study it to key out significantly important enablers for MC using interpretive structural modelling (ISM), and develop a hierarchy of these enablers for the Indian footwear units. ISM results show that modularity-based practices, digital manufacturing practices and supply chain integration are the most important MC enablers. Enhanced flexibility and responsiveness in the footwear production system can be achieved through modular and reconfigurable production system.     

Poverty and population: a study of reproductive ideals and attitude towards family planning among the rural poor in Uttar Pradesh

Data for this study were obtained between September 1986 and May 1987 from a sample of 506 rural poor male heads of household aged 20-50 years who lived in four developed and four underdeveloped villages in Kanpur and Varanasi districts in Uttar Pradesh, India. Poor households were identified as those headed by adult males with earnings under Rs 55/month and as those with less than 2 acres of land. Only persons who considered themselves poor were included. Findings reveal that over 80% of respondents reported that poverty was due to external factors such as fate. 18.77% attributed poverty to their own actions. 16.80% attributed poverty to personal factors. Reasons did not vary by the development level of villages. Only 12.5% reported living in good living conditions. Ideal family size was stated as 2 sons and 1 daughter. 6.3% indicated disapproval of family planning. About 70% had knowledge of at least one method. Almost all respondents were aware of sterilization, and about 50% knew about condoms. High fertility was attributed by respondents to carelessness, lack of planning, religiosity, illiteracy, ignorance, and lack of knowledge of family planning methods. Family planning acceptance among the study population was low. The interpretation of findings is that the rural poor are insecure and alienated and that the locus of control is external. The suggestion is made that Malthusian pressure from population size and density may be more effective in reducing family size in the future. Poor acceptance of family planning is attributed to a lack of social security.     

Men are real, Women are 'made up': beauty therapy and the construction of femininity

Beauty therapy as an industry is multi-faceted; as a set of practices it is complex. The beauty industry has been the subject of much critique but comparatively little empirical study. Based upon research with beauty therapists themselves, this article investigates the complex relationship between femininity and beauty. The beauty industry is located within debates about the body and leisure. The growth in the beauty industry is also linked to the commodification of body practices. Despite remaining critical of the role of beauty in the lives of women, we also emphasise the fact that women are not 'cultural dopes' (Davis, 1991). The actual experiences of beauty treatments and the testimonies of women involved in the industry paint a picture of competing discourses and contradictory outcomes. This is not least because both clients and therapists deny being concerned with beauty, but rather aim to provide 'pampering', 'treatment' or 'grooming'. The beauty salon may be seen as the site of both compliance with, and escape from, a feminine ideal. The role of class, ethnicity and age in breaking down the monolithical concept of beauty and in fragmenting the experiences of beauty practices are also discussed.     

Perspective on succession planning in multiple MNCs: interview with Aparna Sharma

?Organizations are often confronted with the challenges of developing a continuous flow of functional leaders who can operate effectively in different cultural contexts. To maintain a sustainable leadership structure across different functional units, organizations need to put in place an efficient succession plan to meet any unexpected leadership void. The existing scholar practitioner literature offers limited information regarding evidence-based practices adopted by organizations for creating an effective succession planning strategy. The interview presented here is an attempt to highlight different approaches and strategies of effective succession management for ensuring leadership continuity and harnessing talent from within the organizations.     

Exploitation Strategy and Performance of Contract Manufacturing Exporters: The Mediating Roles of Exploration Strategy and Marketing Capability

Contract manufacturing exporters (CMEs) receive a meagre share of global value chain returns, primarily because of the mundane and exploitative nature of the activities they perform in their dependency relationships with lead firms. We posit that CMEs can enhance their performance by capitalizing on their exploitation strategy. Exploitation strategy triggers exploration strategy which requires building marketing capabilities for enhanced performance. Based on data from 154 Vietnamese CMEs, we find significant indirect only mediation effects of: 1) exploration strategy between exploitation strategy and export performance; and 2) marketing capability between exploration strategy and export performance. Further, we find significant indirect only serial mediation of exploration strategy and marketing capability between exploitation strategy and export performance. The findings are also supported and contextualized based on illustrative quotes from face to face semi-structured interviews with senior managers of 10 Vietnamese CMEs. The findings suggest that CMEs' that consciously capitalize on the exploitation strategy by seeking exploration opportunities while building their marketing capability exhibit enhanced performance.     

DOES THE VAT TAX EXPORTS?

While a VAT should in principle be neutral with respect to international trade, it may in practice function as a tax on exporters' input purchases if firms receive incomplete VAT refunds. Using data for over 100 countries that span the majority of historical VAT adoption episodes, this paper finds that—consistent with this hypothesis—the VAT reduces the exports of an industry with a 10 percentage point higher intermediate goods share of output by over 8% relative to an industry with a lower share. This effect is driven by developing countries and is absent for high-income countries. (JEL F13, F14, H25, H87, O11)     

Kernel density estimation on grouped data: the case of poverty assessment

Grouped data have been widely used to analyze the global income distribution because individual records from nationally representative household surveys are often unavailable. In this paper we evaluate the performance of nonparametric density smoothing techniques, in particular kernel density estimation, in estimating poverty from grouped data. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we show that kernel density estimation gives rise to nontrivial biases in estimated poverty levels that depend on the bandwidth, kernel, poverty indicator, size of the dataset, and data generating process. Furthermore, the empirical bias in the poverty headcount ratio critically depends on the poverty line. We also undertake a sensitivity analysis of global poverty estimates to changes in the bandwidth and show that they vary widely with it. A comparison of kernel density estimation with parametric estimation of the Lorenz curve, also applied to grouped data, suggests that the latter fares better and should be the preferred approach.     

“One should follow the wind”: Individualized filial piety and support exchanges in Indian immigrant families in the United States

Within the context of social and demographic transformation, including trend toward globalization, changing patterns of longevity and immigration, this study examines the informal support exchanges between older parents and their adult children in Indian (South Asian) multi-generational families in the United States. Guided by symbolic interactionist thought and a life course perspective, this paper draws on qualitative data from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 10 older adults in Atlanta, Georgia to study their expectations of and experiences with family support and the principles of Grounded Theory Methods informed our analysis. Filial piety, known as seva in the Indian culture, was used as a framework by the participants to make sense of support exchanges and intergenerational relationships within their own families. Participants' accounts of support exchanges with their parents in India do not always match with the support exchanged with their children in the U.S. The similarities and differences participants speak of as they compare themselves to the traditional practices surrounding seva suggest “individualized” practices of intergenerational relationships/familial support and the influence of and interplay between individual, familial, and wider societal forces. Our findings have implications for policy and practice with older immigrant adults and their families, and shed light on the experiences of growing old in a foreign land.     

Ergonomic evaluation of conventional and improved methods of aonla pricking with women workers

Conventional and improved methods of aonla pricking were evaluated ergonomically on an experiment conducted for 20 minute with women workers. The working heart rate, energy expenditure rate, total cardiac cost of work and physiological cost of work with conventional tools varied from 93-102 beats.min-1, 6-7.5 kJ.min-1, 285-470 beats, 14 -23 beats.min-1 while with machine varied from 96-105 beats.min-1, 6.5-8 kJ.min-1 , 336-540 beats, 16-27 beats.min-1 respectively. OWAS score for conventional method was 2 indicating corrective measures in near future while with machine was 1 indicating no corrective measures. Result of Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire revealed that subjects complaint of pain in back, neck, right shoulder and right hand due to unnatural body posture and repetitive movement with hand tool. Moreover pricking was carried out in improper lighting conditions (200-300 lux) resulting into finger injuries from sharp edges of hand tool, whereas with machine no such problems were observed. Output with machine increased thrice than hand pricking in a given time. Machine was found useful in terms of saving time, increased productivity, enhanced safety and comfort as involved improved posture, was easy to handle and operate, thus increasing efficiency of the worker leading to better quality of life.