Vol. 1(1) April 2008
Youth Aspirations for Retail Environment in India:
An Exploratory Study
Chaudhuri Ranjan and Verma Sanjeev
Standing on the threshold of a retail revolution and
witnessing a fast changing retail landscape, India is all set to usher in the phenomenon
of experiential retail marketing. A vibrant economy, India tops A T Kearney's list
of emerging markets for global retailers. With escalating consumerism, unprecedented
awareness, and a youth – heavy consumer base, India is the “Promised Land” for National
and International retailers. This paper, through a questionnaire survey focuses
on the major determinants of youth aspirations for retail environment in Indian
metropolises. Factor analysis and perceptual differences between young male and
female shoppers towards determinants of customer satisfaction for retail outlets
were also carried out. We conclude by proposing that, retailers need to see youth
segment in India as possessing real market potential and will have to consider the
psyche of youth segment in India, satisfying the youth segment as well as reaching
them to expand the retail horizon in India.
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Factors in HR (Human Resources) Outsourcing
Mishra Jitendra M. and Mishra Ram
While outsourcing is a powerful tool to cut costs, improve
performance and refocus on core competencies, outsourcing initiatives often fall
short of management’s expectations. What factors should HR manager in the Health
organization or other business organization consider before contracting with a vendor
to perform an activity previously performed by the organization? Organizations usually
decide to outsource HR activities based on three reasons: cost, service, and expertise.
An organization may decide to outsource a function because it would reduce costs
to the organization, but should this be the only criteria for outsourcing? The purpose
of this paper is to analyze and discuss factors in Human Resource outsourcing.
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Optimal Quota/Bonus Plans with Explicit Consideration
of the Trade-off Between Salesperson Effort and Leisure Time
Hanna Richard C.1, Collins Cathleen M.2, Berger Paul D.3 and Weinberg Bruce D.4
There have been several analyses of optimal sales-force
compensation plans. Most of these have focused on commission rates, others have
focused on quotas and a few have touched on both methods of a company’s optimizing
compensation plans. A mainstay of many of these optimization plans has been that
the salesperson chooses to maximize his/her income (or “expected income” or “certainty
equivalent of income,” depending on assumptions about the roles of uncertainty and
attitude toward risk) over a single-period or multi-period setting. However, numerous
studies have found that most salespeople do not choose solely to maximize income.
Instead, they prefer to trade-off leisure time against work time. In this study,
we develop a model to optimize from a firm’s perspective what a firm should offer
a salesperson in terms of a bonus, and the quota that needs to be met to receive
the bonus, which explicitly captures (and, in a sense, “overcomes”) the value of
leisure time to the salesperson and the role it plays in the salesperson’s time
allocation decision. An illustrative real-world example and sensitivity analysis
are included
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Spirituality and Work Motivation
Biswas Saswata Narayan
In this research, the multidimensionality of spirituality
and its relationship with dimensions of intrinsic motivation (e.g. competence, autonomy)
among service sector managers in India was investigated. The survey included 150
managers drawn from service sector organizations like banking, insurance and transport
sectors. They were administered a questionnaire containing measures of spirituality,
competence, autonomy. Apart from this demographic in formation on age, salary level,
level in the organization and years of work experience were also collected from
the participants. The multidimensionality of spirituality was confirmed through
factor analysis, which resulted in four clear and meaningful factors, such as; faith
in God, meditation, belief that life is full of suffering and pain and belief in
Good Karma. Belief in Good Karma and suffering & pain emerged as significant predictors
of autonomy and competence respectively.
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The Role of Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of
Use, Security and Privacy and Customer Attitude to engender Customer Adaptation
in the Context of Electronic Banking
Jahangir Nadim and Begum Noorjahan
This research intends to propose a conceptual framework
that will investigate the effects of perceived usefulness, ease of use and security
and privacy on customer adaptation mediated through customer attitude in the context
of e-banking. To test the framework, structural equation modeling techniques have
been applied to data collected from 227 customers of private commercial banks in
Bangladesh. Primarily this study aims to test the theoretical models to measure
the causality whether perceived usefulness, ease of use, security and privacy, and
customer attitude can foster customer adaptation. The initial results of the study
indicate that perceived usefulness, ease of use, security and privacy and customer
attitude are significantly and positively related to customer adaptation. Implications
for practicing managers and for future research are discussed.
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Newly Proposed Scheme for Scientific Project Management
based on Input/Output Assessment and Check List Methodology
Al -Salem S.
In this article, a scientific project management scheme
that can be used in research oriented sectors is shown and is discussed based on
case studies and real life trails. The scheme is based on project assessment as
an initial step whilst evaluating project input and expected output. A check list
was developed and used on a number of current and finalized scientific projects.
This method was applied on different types of projects ranging from scientific projects
based on contacts and literature reviews to applied research in the mainstream of
R&D. Successful results were obtained and an increase in efficiency of the staff
work was noticed over the course of this study.
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Wal-Mart: Some Questionable Practices
Augsburger Jillian and Mishra Jitendra
Wal-Mart„s trademark slogan “Always low prices, Always”,
has made it the largest retailer and the second largest corporation. Wal-Mart was
founded by Sam Walton in 1962. Wal-Mart has been greatly criticized for its effects
on the following: labor, economics, employee benefits and environment. The paper
discusses the use of illegal immigrants, child labor violations, employee benefits,
environment and makes some recommendations.
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