Vol. 5(5) May 2012
Research Articles:
Retailing and Innovation: A Study in today’s Global Retail Market
Shukla Yupal and Gadhavi Dharmesh
In recent years, the combination of economic growth and population growth in emerging
markets and less developed markets has accelerated the progression of globalization
of retailing and globalization by retailers. The challenges faced by global and
globali-zing retailers (retailers who currently have or intend to establish a market
presence in mature markets, emerg-ing markets and less developed markets) can be
more daunting compared to those faced by firms in other industries such as automobiles,
steel and computers. Retailing innovations that are responsive to the characteristics
of distinctive national markets and broader aggregations of markets such as mature,
emerging and less developed markets are critical to the success of global and globalizing
retailers. Against this backdrop, this paper focuses on retailing innovations in
the context of a globalizing retail market.
Full Text
Why do Mergers and Acquisitions quite often Fail?
Chakravorty Jayesh N.
Corporate mergers and acquisitions (M & As) have become popular across the globe
during the last two decades; thanks to globalization, liberalization, technological
developments and intensely competitive business environment. The synergistic gains
from M & As may result from more efficient management, economies of scale, more
profitable use of assets, exploitation of market power, the use of complementary
resources etc. Interestingly, the results of many empirical studies show that M
& As fail to create value for the shareholders of acquirers. In this backdrop,
the paper discusses the causes for the failure of M & As by drawing the results
of the extant research. .
Full Text
A Decade of Changes in Financial Reporting
Doug Barney
The past decade (the first of the 21st century) has seen many dramatic changes in
financial reporting. Dramatic events include the rapid acceptance of International
Financial Reporting Standards by the international community, demise of some of
the world’s largest corporations (many of whom were making fraudulent financial
reports), demise of one of the world’s largest CPA firms, an economic collapse that
put national economies at risk and passage of significant legislation intended to
protect investors. This article gives an overview of these events in a manner designed
to show the significance of these events in the business environment and provide
sources to learn more about the events.
Full Text
Case Study:
A Study on Customer Value of Shampoo in Tiruchirappalli District
Dhevika V. P. T. and Subramani N.
In today’s highly competitive markets, business is more challenged to increase,
or even maintain market share. With the globalization and continual technology innovations,
consumers have greater access and more purchase alternatives and opportunities to
be less store and product loyal. As a result, customer value becomes paramount to
being competitive in the market place. Customer Value is a topic of growing interest
to managers and researchers in business marketing. Traditionally, research on value
in business markets has been oriented towards the assessment of how suppliers create
value for their customers and how customers perceive superior value in a suppliers
offering compared to competition.1, 11 In recent years both academics and managers
have increasingly emphasized the need to consider customers as a key asset of the
firm.8 Only few studies are focused on products. The purpose of this article is
to introduce the reader on customer value of shampoo.
Full Text
Interpersonal Competencies of Employees in Hospitality Industries - A Comparative
Study
Patil Sunil Subhash
HRD is recognized as an important tool for corporate strategy, integrating conceptual
values with human values. One of the most important functions of HRD is to develop
various types of competencies that relate to several areas like Technical Competence.
People require necessary technical skills that contribute to their competency. A
person who joins an organization say in the area of marketing or production needs
to enhance his competency in these areas, same ways in the areas like Managerial
Competence, Interpersonal Competencies and Business Competen-cies, Intellectual
Competencies etc. Focus on competen-cies acts as a developmental tool for employees.
It helps employees understand organizational needs and develop individual skills
to meet the competency gap. Competency is also a great tool for retention. It is
a great source of motivation as high performers tend to get rewarded over time.
The hotel business is an employee-intensive and quality-driven service industry.
The competitiveness and productivity of the industry depend primarily on the skill
levels and professionalism of its employees. Consequently, the constituents within
the hotels sector recognize that education, vocational training and human resource
development are necessary to ensure their future. The present paper focuses on the
interpersonal competencies of employees in hotel industry in Goa.
Full Text
Uttarakhand as a Spiritual Tourist Destination: An Emerging Research
Phukan Himadri
Tourism is the largest service industry globally in terms of gross revenue as well
as foreign exchange earnings. In India, Uttarakhand state is famed for its heritage
tourism because of its most famous shrines at Haridwar and Rishikesh in the plains
and the Char Dhams (Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri) in the hills.
It also has a large forest area, famous for wildlife sanctuaries and well-known
hill stations. Tourism research has been traditionally focused on the demand side
of tourist motivation and behavioral patterns to discover why tourists visit particular
destinations.
This paper presents a strategic management approach by which those responsible for
marketing destinations can develop holistic and coordinated strategies for Uttarakhand
state of India which will be helpful for making destination decision by potential
travelers. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to develop an improved understanding
of the key factors that likely to influence the choice of destination. Two important
heritage sites of the state namely– Haridwar and Rishikesh were targeted for the
discussion. The study focuses on the effectiveness of different attributes that
motivate tourists to visit Uttarakhand.
Full Text
A Study of Promotion and Distribution Strategy of Dairy Industry in Kolhapur
District
Ingavale Deepa
India remained the largest milk producing country in 2007-08 with a share close
to 15 percent of world milk production. However, a combination of factors, led by
high GDP growth in particular has led to a rapid increase in the domestic demand
for milk. Producer prices for milk continued to increase leading to a corresponding
rise in consumer prices. Not only increasing urbanization means greater consumerism,
but with the rapid spread of the modern communication systems like television in
the rural areas and ever increasing emphasis on advertisements, the consumption
pattern for dairy products is rapidly changing all over the country. India is positioning
first in the production of milk. Milk processing organizations in India have tremendous
potential in dairy industry sector. Dairy sector has ample potential to create opportunities
in the field of export of milk products, production of milk and milk products. In
light of this the study is conducted in Kolhapur District, one of the districts
in which Operation Flood Programme was implemented. The dairy units in Kolhapur
are involved in processing and packaging of the buffalo milk and producing the milk
products as Shrikhand, Milk Powder, Ghee, Paneer, Cheese etc.
Full Text
Social Support among Industrial Employees
Narayanan R.
The present study aims to find out the social support among industrial employees.
100 employees were selected on the basis of using stratified random sampling method.
The results revealed that industrial employees differ in their social support.
Full Text
General Article:
A Conceptual Framework for Demographic Diversity and Performance
Park Michael Hyung-Jin and Overby John D.
Much research on the effects of diversity in group composition on group performance
has been conducted. We review the previous research, find the enablers to make diverse
group effective and propose a conceptual framework that explicates how groups can
maximize the benefits of diversity and minimize the costs and finally improve the
performance in demographically diverse settings. Our conceptual framework suggests
that (1) flow of diverse knowledge is positively related to performance, (2) demographic
diversity is not necessarily positively related to the flow of diverse knowledge,
(3) stock of diverse knowledge is positively related to the flow of diverse knowledge
when behavioral integration is high and (4) demographic diversity is positively
related to behavioral integration, when there is a mechanism to facilitate behavioral
integration.
Full Text