Vol. 5(1) January 2012
Research Articles:
Good Knowledge Management System, Bad Shared Knowledge: What happens to trust
when experts share erroneous knowledge with novice KMS USERS?
Morrison Rodger
Expert locator systems are specialized forms of knowledge management systems used
to create a social relationship between novice and expert users for the purpose
of knowledge location, transfer and utilization. Ranging from simple directories
of experts to complex systems that record entire conversations in a multimedia environment,
they allow organizations to better capitalize on knowledge assets throughout their
enterprise. These systems are especially useful in large organizations that utilize
obsolete technologies, but have limited knowledge resources with which to maintain
them. A key component of any successful system implementation project is user trust,
which develops quickest in systems that provide routinely usable information. In
this study, a research proposition is presented that the factuality of information
provided by expert users to novice users has an effect on trust levels that novice
users develop toward the expertise locator system itself.
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The Impact of Social Media Usage on Consumer Buying Behavior
Mathur Pooja, Black Jennifer E., Cao Jiangmei, Berger Paul D.* and Weinberg
Bruce D.
The use of social media is growing rapidly. For marketing professionals, social
media is a new outlet that can potentially be used to help increase the interest
in a product or service. In this paper, we report, analyze and interpret the results
of a survey that asked several questions concerning the relationship between social
media use and the overall impact social-media marketing has on purchase behavior.
In addition to demographics, key questions included the membership status in several
social-media sites and the frequency of visit to these sites as well as the frequency
with which selected opinions were expressed during these visits. Our analysis provides
preliminary statistical evidence to help evaluate the impact of social-media usage
on customer purchase. This has implications for customer lifetime value (CLV) considerations,
as well as related interest for advertisers deciding whether investments in social-media
are cost effective and if so, which ones?
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Employer Brand in India: A Strategic HR Tool for Competitive Advantage
Das Tulasi V. and Rao Hanumantha P.
Employer brand is about capturing the essence of an organization in a way that engages
current and prospective talent. It expresses an organization’s ‘value
proposition’ the entirety of its culture, systems, attitudes and employee
relationships, providing a new focal point for the company. Today, an effective
employer brand is essential for competitive advantage.
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Outsourcing Practices in the Indian Banking Sector:
Benefits and Risks
Mohapatra Suryanarayan
Outsourcing of activities and processes are the key outcomes of the large scale
technology adoption in the banking sector during 1990s. The study found that majority
of the banks in India are conservative in their approach towards outsourcing their
business process and getting access to technology benefits is the main driver for
outsourcing.
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Case Study:
Gap Analysis of Service Quality at a Curbside Restaurant: Case of Aunty’s Café,
Jaipur
Sharma Smita and Sharma Shweta
This paper is based on the case study of a small curbside fast food joint called
Aunty’s Café that has sustained tough times only because of its quality driven approach
and the sheer dedication of its owner and women entrepreneur. Researchers attempt
to explore in depth what makes the services different from others and the secret
behind this place. Unlike the prescribed service models this fast food joint has
been highly appreciated by its customers. This study attempts to analyze the service
leadership and different practices of its owners. This case study based research
is an attempt to understand the best practices of this small initiative taken by
a women entrepreneur. This study reveals that though the restaurant does not follow
any prescribed service models yet it has emerged and survived the test of times.
Service quality is the prime factor the café has cling to and has successfully positioned
itself in the minds of the customers as a quality driven place.
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Marketing Co-operatives and Attitude of Coconut Growers:
A Case Study in Kerala State in India
Ayoob C. P., Mohammed Usman and Suresh A.
Kerala state is the largest producer of coconut in India, even then marketing of
this produce is not regulated in the state. Marketing co-operatives registered under
the state government could channalise a meager amount of marketable surplus. In
light of these circumstances, a research study was undertaken to examine the attitude
of coconut growers towards the marketing co-operatives in Kerala. The study was
conducted region-wise and affiliation-wise. 150 coconut growers from each region
who are members of co-operative coconut marketing societies were selected based
on proportionate random sampling procedure. Ranking Judgment, Chi-square test and
Attitude index were used for the study and analyses. Findings of the study revealed
that the attitude of growers towards the co-operative societies among the affiliations
is significantly different. The attitude index showed that nine out of fourteen
variables have not reached up to the level of positive attitude expected by the
respondents.
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Forecasting Financial Ratios for Credit Lending in Banks using Artificial Neural
Networks: A Case-study of HDFC Bank
Pradhan Roli
In times of economic and financial stresses, the need for effective failure prediction
model to act as an early warning system for the corporate has always been looked
upon. It first estimates the financial ratio for a firm from 2001-2008 to the train
the BPNN and uses the estimates of the year 2009 and 2010 values in the validation
process. Finally it dwells to draw predictions for the period 2011-2015 and emphasizes
the growing role of BPNN application based prediction models for banking sector
with a case study of HDFC bank. We conclude that integrating BNPP models can be
used as a communication tool between credit risk analyst and policy makers and serve
in credit risk policy decision context.
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Ethical Theories and the Incidence of Occupational Fraud
Saksena P.N.
The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) has conducted studies on occupational
fraud for over a decade. These reports cover various aspects of occupational fraud.
The ACFE defines occupational fraud as, “[T]he use of one’s occupation
for personal enrichment through the deliberate misuse of or misapplication of the
employing organization’s resources or assets.” The purpose of this article
is to discuss how occupational fraud has been committed in the past. A further purpose
is to discuss various ethical principles and theories and to discuss how they can
be used to help minimize fraudulent behavior.
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General Article:
Practical Approaches to Embedding Emotional Intelligence Training in the Curriculum
of Professional Studies
Manjunath Suma
The work conducted in most organizations has changed dramatically in the last 20
years. Of course, there are now fewer levels of management and management styles
are less autocratic. Naturally, the criteria for success at work are changing too.
Staff is now judged by new yardsticks: not just by how smart they are, or by their
training and expertise, but also by how well they handle themselves and one another.
And that is strongly influenced by personal qualities such as perseverance, self-control
and skill in getting along with others. Emotional intelligence may be the (long-sought)
missing link that unites conventional “can do” ability. Those with strong
emotional intelligence (EQ) have more productivity, creativity, self esteem and
self confidence and make more effective business leaders but a problem with our
current education system is over emphasis on IQ. It is important to realize that
only academic excellence is not enough to do well. It is not only IQ that is important
but the synergistic development of IQ, EQ and SQ is important If emotional intelligence
is considered vital for success, it should be taught in schools.
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Luxury Marketing
Pughazhendi A. and Sudharani Ravindran D.
The world is developing significantly with huge industrialization all around and
leaving behind a curse to the nature. People all around the globe are now aware
about the environmental depletion which the industrialists have been serving along
with the bundle of utilities. Newspapers, magazines and all media are also now a
days enhancing consumer’s attention towards the environmental effects a product
may have. This problem, thus, being not of a nation but of the whole globe, has
increased the need of the marketer to focus upon. In order to survive in such an
aware market, every marketer has to imperatively focus upon the green marketing.
There is nothing new in the green product and green marketing but it only cares
for the environment. Environment friendly products/raw mate-rials are the demand
for both real consumers as well as the industrial buyers. Green marketing is a global
concern and it is going to have a better future ahead. It can most profitably be
used as a growth opportunity if the lag behinds are eliminated. The most important
factor is to understand the consumer’s perception about the environment and to develop
a better sense of moral obligation in every citizen.
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