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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate physicians' perceptions of e-consultation adoption, which has the potential to bridge existing gaps in the current health-care system, using the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) framework. Design/methodology/approach: The judgemental sampling method was embraced to collect primary data from 337 physicians from Delhi-National Capital Region who had experience with e-consultation. A number of hypotheses was developed and tested using structural equation model based on UTAUT2. Findings: The study's findings revealed an affirmative and significant relation between a physician's intention to embrace e-consultation and facilitating conditions, effort expectancy, social influence and performance expectancy; however, habit and experience are not significantly linked to it. Originality/value: This study will not only add to the existing body of knowledge about e-consultation adoption, but it will also assist electronic health service providers in devising strategies to encourage the usage of e-consultation services in emerging economies such as India where people are deprived of the right to access better health care due to lack of physical infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study examines changes in customer service encounter patterns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic during stays at hotels. The study re-visits the hotel services delivery process and examines how the hotel service blueprint has been re-framed. Design/methodology/approach: The study implemented an exploratory and qualitative research design to identify changes in customer service encounters and the hotel service delivery process. The research applied a cross-sectional survey-based design, which involved open-ended and closed interview questions with hoteliers in the Delhi/NCR region. Findings: The study identified an increase in contactless service during the service delivery process and in customer service encounters while staying at hotels. In so doing, the various service touchpoints in hotels need to transition from personalized service to contactless service encounters such as at check-in and payment, contactless room key access with available and accessible hand sanitizers, masks, room purifiers, automated room cleaning machines and the deployment of other smart artificial intelligence-based technologies. Practical implications: This paper profiles a revised service blueprint model for hotels, which could assist hotel service managers to address potential sources of customer dissatisfaction and service failure during the COVID-19 pandemic. Originality/value: The paper explores ongoing changes in the hotel service delivery process during the COVID-19 situation and reveals ways in which the service blueprint has been re-framed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to examine new housekeeping procedures introduced in response to COVID-19. The pandemic has required hotels to reassess their standard operating procedures, especially in housekeeping to retain the confidence of guests in the hotel/brand via high standards of sanitization, hygiene and the maintenance of social distancing. Design/methodology/approach: The article draws on publications and announcements made by major brands and associations about their updated standards of cleaning, hygiene and sanitisation, social distancing and workplace protocols arising from the pandemic. Further, a survey was used to determine the impact of new processes on housekeeping teams and their perceptions of its effect on service quality, guests and employee safety. Findings: Some key new processes are: keeping the hotel room vacant for several hours after departure, the sanitisation of every room, cleaning and sanitisation of high touch points, linen and waste management and low frequency or complete avoidance of the cleaning of occupied rooms. The survey questionnaire establishes that housekeepers value their new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and agree that "clinically clean" is the new normal and essential to avoid cross-contamination and keep guests and employees safe. Research limitations/implications: As the pandemic is a current phenomenon, the guidelines and protocols are rapidly evolving. Hotels are innovating and looking for new processes to manage infection control. This study has mainly focused on cleanliness and hygiene protocols and procedures prevalent in the industry. Currently, future work could be useful to evaluate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the new processes and procedures that have been deployed. Practical implications: In order to recover from the pandemic, the Indian hotel industry faces a colossal task. Even when the virus peaks have passed and hotels can safely reopen, the fear of infection will continue and so guest trust and confidence is essential. Given this, the paper should be of interest to hoteliers and policymakers seeking to implement the best possible post COVID-19 housekeeping practices. Originality/value: This paper identifies and analyses best practice in hotel housekeeping in response to COVID-19. The new standards that are being adopted aim to assure hotel guests and employees about the hygiene and safety measures and standards that have been adopted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to determine the socio-economic factors related to household solid waste generation and its type based on field surveys in South Delhi Municipal Corporation area in Delhi, India. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a framework to systematically identify the socio-economic factors related to household waste generation and its type. The framework uses both primary and secondary data. The primary data are collected through the instruments of questionnaire and interviews, and the secondary data are collected from the literature available in public domain. Multinomial logistic models are developed. The models are analyzed using the SPSS software version 22.0. Findings: The study reports that socio-economic parameters like monthly income of the family, number of family members, occupation, education are statistically significant predictors. Further, detailed disaggregated models reveal more insights that are not apparent otherwise, such as the number of females can also be a significant factor for a targeted socio-economic group. Practical implications: The results can help in forecasting the resource requirement for waste collection, establishment of processing facilities and other policy planning measures for effective waste management, as summarized in the discussion. Originality/value: A systematic process to determine resource requirement according to socio-economic (and consequently spatial) group constitute an important component of the novelty of this study. Further, it provides new insights on the role of various socio-economic factors in determining the quantity and composition of household waste, e.g. quantity and type of waste can also be affected by male and female qualification within a socio-economic category. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Employee turnover, a reality that Indian retail organizations cannot ignore, is the central theme of this paper. The authors have aimed to empirically establish corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSRI) and transformational leadership (TL) as rather unconventional predictors that can potentially influence retail employees' intention to stay (ITS) through sequential mediation by employer branding (EB) and organizational identification (OI). Design/methodology/approach: Data collected using a structured questionnaire from three hundred and five frontline employees working with twenty-nine Indian retail outlets in the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR) region was tested using structural equation modelling. Findings: Findings confirmed the impact of both CSRI and TL on ITS, with sequential mediation by EB and OI. While OI partially mediated the effect of EB on ITS, TL exerted more influence than CSRI in enhancing EB. Originality/value: This study enhances retail literature by empirically testing a unique fusion of organization and individual-level predictors that influence ITS as an individual-level outcome. Having TL and a firm corporate philosophy of CSR spending can enhance a retailer's image as a preferred employer brand and generate OI to successfully address employee turnover [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to study the perception of school students towards online classes via virtual meeting applications and to unravel the teachers' preparedness and students' preparedness for running synchronous online classes and its impact on student's engagement and their satisfaction during the period of lockdown due to COVID-19. Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of focused group discussions with teachers and students of top 10 private CBSE affiliated schools (National capital Region, Delhi, India), survey instrument was constructed. Further, 489 valid responses were finally analysed through partial least square (PLS) method and structural model was tested. Findings: All the six independent variables such as teachers' structured approach, teachers' technical readiness, teachers' self-efficacy, students' technical readiness, students' autonomy and students' self-efficacy influenced students' engagement and satisfaction towards synchronous online classes significantly. The result of the structural model also reveals that students' engagement is a significant predictor of students' satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The paper outlines the scope for future research in ascertaining more critical success factors other than satisfaction and engagement. Scope of this research suggests inclusion of not only schools but framework is also important for college and university level educational bodies. Data collection was confined to students only whereas viewpoint of teachers and parents may also be included. Originality/value: This study devised a collaborative form of learning where both the parties learnt while making continuous interactions and also co-created value in terms of new skills. Provision of autonomy given to students can't be overlooked as an important indicator for his/her preparedness. As a result, students feel motivated to get engaged in the whole process which makes them satisfied and will be able to identify the learning outcomes equal to or greater than in physical classroom settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Nowadays, various hotels and third party websites allow guests to express their stay experience in the form of textual content and ratings termed as user-generated content (UGC). This study aims to explore the influence of UGC along with the financial aspect on the sales of the hotel. This will help them in making efficient business decisions and revenue generation by realizing the requirements of the guests. The proposed model provides an insight into the theoretical and practical significance of the concerned explanatory variables to the hoteliers. Design/methodology/approach: This paper considers the number of rooms, six aspect ratings (room, cleanliness, location, service, value and sleep quality), review length and readability as the independent variables. Revenue per available room is taken as the dependent variable. Log-linear regression analysis is performed on a data set of 78 hotels situated in Delhi National Capital Region to validate the relationships. Moreover, the differential impact of hotel type on these exploratory variables is studied. Findings: Research findings show that along with the financial aspect, the UGC components also play a key role in generating sales for the hotels. It was further observed that the two hotel categories, i.e. luxury and budget have different natures and also the characteristics of luxury hotels overshadow those of budget. Originality/value: This study uses the textual content of the reviews along with the numerical ratings. This is a unique combination for studying sales of hotels according to the knowledge of authors, where earlier studies focused only on the financial aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify student clusters based on patterns of behavioural, cognitive, emotional, collaborative and social engagement in virtual classrooms, within the context of higher education. The study also attempts to explore the differences amongst the student clusters with respect to various motivating and demotivating teaching behaviours. Design/methodology/approach: The study relies on the self-determination theory to describe the dynamics related to various motivating and demotivating teaching behaviours and five different dimensions of student engagement in virtual classrooms. The data were collected from a convenience sample of 831 students from higher educational institutions in the Delhi – National Capital Region of India. Cluster analysis was performed to classify students into mutually exclusive groups based on five student engagement dimensions. Findings: The findings revealed three student clusters: 'fully-engaged', 'externally-engaged' and 'individually-engaged' students. The findings also provided insights into varied correlations between specific dimensions of motivating/demotivating teaching behaviours and student engagement. Originality/value: Considering the multi-dimensionality of student engagement as well as teaching behaviours, the study adopts a person-centred approach to understand different clusters of students in virtual classrooms and investigate the relationship between teaching behaviours and student engagement dimensions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the determinants of organic food buying behaviour in an emerging economy like India, where organic food yet has low market share in spite of its potential. Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as the underlying basis, it attempts to explain the effect of attitude, subjective norms and the perceived behaviour control (PBC) on buying intention towards organic food among respondents in Delhi-National capital region, India. Additionally, it attempts to discriminate functional and constructive attitudes. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative questionnaire survey approach was used on 306 respondents and multiple linear regression was used to validate the research model. Findings: Attitudes and PBC have a significant positive impact on the intention to purchase organic food. This paper found subjective norms to be weak and barely significant to intention. The results conclude that health motives, past purchase behaviour, knowledge, affordability and trust in organic certification label are the main facilitators in organic food purchase. Primarily, the respondents see buying organic food regularly as being of value and enjoyable to them. A more favourable appearance vs conventional food was negatively related to behavioural intention. Originality/value: This research could aid all stakeholders in the organic food sector, particularly emerging economies like India where the organic market is still nascent. It could be an essential driver to improve customer involvement and thus aid them in the decision-making process to choose organic food over conventional food. It also attempts to establish the usability of TPB in assessing functional attitudes based on constructive attitudes for organic food purchase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between electronic customer relationship management (E-CRM) and customer satisfaction through the mediating role of customer experience in the banking industry. Design/methodology/approach: The data were collected from customers of 10 banks (5 public and 5 private sector banks) of Delhi, India. In total, 836 useable structured questionnaires were filled, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) through AMOS. Findings: The results revealed that customer experience mediated the relationship between E-CRM and customer satisfaction confirming well with the hypothesized model. Research limitations/implications: The model was tested in the domain of banking industry; future results may be conducted in different domains for improving generalizability. A comparative study between public and private sector banks in terms of E-CRM, customer experience and customer satisfaction could also be conducted. Originality/value: The study was the first to unequivocally analyze the influence of the E-CRM on customer satisfaction through customer experience in the banking industry. The study also introduced stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model as a theoretical support to associate E-CRM to customer satisfaction through customer experience. Thus, this study will enhance the current knowledge base and will also aid E-CRM managers amid decision-making process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to illustrate practical approaches to addressing issues of risk reduction and disaster prevention in urban areas. In addition to exposure to natural hazards, urban areas represent complex risks and vulnerabilities together with complicated governance structures.Design/methodology/approach To address the challenge, SEEDS mobilised a "Disaster Watch Forum" – a citizens' platform that brought citizens together to proactively engage with the local government. With hand-holding support from SEEDS, training by domain experts, internal team building and the forum has become a credible people-based institution addressing issues of risk reduction and prevention.Findings Urban risk reduction has remained a challenging issue with solutions often sought in high investment structural interventions. These have limited impact on the urban poor living in informal areas. This paper reveals "bottom-up" people-based approach that is able to engage with the "system" from "outside". It reveals how people relate to day-to-day risks that affect their lives, making it the stepping stone to address higher order societal risks. Finally, the immense power and energy of youth and children work as local "agents of change". Overall, the work aligns with priorities of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.Research limitations/implications There are three principal implications for further research: with half the world now urbanized, urgent solutions are needed for improving disaster risk governance in cities; taking a "whole of society" approach in addressing a wider canvas of risks; and redirecting investments in urban areas towards managing risks, rather than managing disasters.Practical implications The model illustrated is replicable in urban areas facing risk. It worked well in a population catchment of 50,000 residents; to achieve scale would require enabling a federated structure of several localised forums.Originality/value The paper presents a hands-on experience in building an alternative approach to urban risk reduction. It has required authors to move from "government to governance" model making citizens active stakeholders in proactively addressing their own underlying vulnerabilities that lead to creation of and exacerbation of risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to discuss students' assessment of quality related issues in engineering education in India. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses primary survey data of 1,178 undergraduate engineering students in Delhi, India, in 2009-2010. Students' experience and views of four important aspects such as teaching methods used in the classroom, evaluation pattern, skills acquired by students during the course and the involvement of students in different activities other than classroom teaching are discussed using descriptive statistics and correlation to examine the quality issues. Findings: The study finds that the lecture method is still dominant in the teaching and learning of engineering institutions compared to technical demonstration and laboratory work. Around half of the engineering students reported that they had never gone through any field work or industrial visits during their entire program of study. Involvement of students in the activities other than classroom teaching (e.g. working on research projects, attending engineering internships, studying a foreign language and opting for interdisciplinary courses) is more prevalent in government institutions compared to private institutions. The findings suggest that engineering institutions (particularly private colleges) should change their focus from traditional methods of teaching and evaluation of students to interactive methods of learning to improve the quality of technical education in India. Originality/value: The literature reveals that the quality assessment of engineering and technical education in India is largely based on the information collected from stakeholders other than students. Therefore, this study contributes a new dimension to the existing literature by considering students' assessment of the quality of engineering education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the presence the behavioral biases in Indian investors specifically, overconfidence, excessive optimism (pessimism), herd behavior and the disposition effect. It further investigates the role of demographics and investor sophistication in influencing the biases. Finally, it reveals which bias is most prevalent in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach – For this purpose, a survey has been conducted on the investors of the Delhi/NCR area. The data have been collected with the help of a structured questionnaire that is analyzed with the help of relevant statistical tools. Findings – The survey evidence shows that behavioral biases are dependent on investors’ demographics and their trading sophistication with highest influencing factors being age, profession and trading frequency. Each bias corresponds to a specific set of investor characteristics and overconfidence comes out to be the most important bias in the Indian context. Research limitations/implications – The potential limitations of the present survey can be ascribed to socially desirable responses and their difference with actual market behavior. Further, due to time and resource constraint, the data set is limited to investors of only Delhi/NCR. Practical implications – This study is most relevant for financial advisors, as it facilitates them in gaining a better understanding of their clients’ psychology. It can aid them in developing behaviorally modified portfolio, which best suits their clients’ predisposition. Originality/value – The paper gives a unique insight on the investors’ profile corresponding to each bias under consideration. It not only updates the evidence on behavioral biases but also highlights which bias is the most influential in the Indian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the satisfaction level of customers using third party logistics (3PL) services in the Indian capital region and its surrounding areas. The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) model is used as a framework to identify the major drivers of satisfaction and areas requiring immediate attention for provision of better services.Design/methodology/approach Present study includes an exhaustive review of literature for the identification of enablers for this model. Through iterative and structured discussions, variables related to process, service information and user’s expectations are identified, which are subsequently grouped into four dimensions. A survey method is used to get the primary data for this research from 3PL service users’ organizations in the Delhi and adjoining capital region. ACSI is used to prioritize the most preferred driver of satisfaction.Findings Enablers related to process involving order processing, order picking, order fulfillment and final decision making stand out as the winners and also other critical areas have been identified.Practical implications There is a gap between the services obtained and services expected and information-related complications which lead to unsatisfied customers. The 3PL service providers need to focus on these areas for better business performance and healthy and long-lasting business relationships.Originality/value The paper is an attempt to implement a satisfaction model for the 3PL sector from user’s perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The past decade has seen a proliferation of research on service quality in education. However, little attempt has been made to understand the impact of student perceived service quality on sustainability practices of the university or the effect of such practices on student satisfaction. To bridge this gap, this paper aims to propose a conceptual framework to examine the relationships between service quality, sustainable practices and student satisfaction from the perspective of students. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative methodology was employed, and data were collected through an online structured questionnaire. Responses were gathered from undergraduate students (n = 419) studying in four colleges affiliated to a university in Delhi, India. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to validate the instruments. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the associations between the constructs. Findings: The research revealed that student perceived service quality in education has a significant effect on their perception of sustainable practices of the university and student satisfaction. Further, sustainable practices predict student satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: The findings may guide the key decision-makers in the education industry to incorporate service quality and sustainable practices in their strategy and thereby enhance student satisfaction. Originality/value: This research is the first of its kind to examine the impact of service quality as perceived by students on the perception of sustainability practices of the university. Further, it empirically tests the effect of perceived sustainability practices on student satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the dimensions of predisposition towards foreign brands (PTFB) for Indian consumers and examine their impact on materialism/materialist value (MAT). The study further conducts an in-depth analysis of these constructs for possible variations across consumer demographics.Design/methodology/approach Using a structured questionnaire, primary data were collected from 487 respondents in the city of Delhi and National Capital Region (NCR). While a modified scale was developed to operationalize PTFB, the measurement instrument for MAT was adapted on the basis of an extensive literature review. Statistical techniques such as Exploratory factor analysis, Confirmatory factor analysis, t-test, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression analysis were used to test various hypotheses of the study.Findings The study identified five dimensions of PTFB, namely, “Reputation”, “Preference”, “Country of Origin”, “Accessibility” and “Quality”, through confirmatory factor analysis in structural equation modelling. Except for “Preference” and “Accessibility”, all remaining dimensions were found to be exerting a significant impact on MAT. The results further indicate that consumers’ PTFB as well as their MAT differs across demographics such as age, income, gender, occupation and qualification.Practical implications The paper brings to the fore useful insights for marketers of foreign brands. The findings can be effectively used for developing a more focused marketing strategy for Indian consumers by helping in identifying demographic segments that are more responsive and susceptible to the entry of foreign brands in Indian markets.Originality/value The paper attempts to develop a more robust instrument for measurement of consumers’ PTFB and provides dimensions constituting the construct for consumers of emerging markets such as India. The current research also indicates that there exists a significant variation in PTFB and MAT for different demographic segments of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The idea is to propagate the concept of climate resilience in India beyond international mandates and bold statements, enabled through utilization of open data. The research underscores need for climate responsive planning for megacities in India with an example of National Capital Territory of Delhi, the capital of India whose trends and policies often form a blueprint for others to follow. Design/methodology/approach: The research was conducted in six distinct, yet inter-related stages: literature review, data collection, data analysis at four levels – city, zonal, planning division and flood plains inhabited by climate vulnerable population with least adaptive capacity, formulating alternative scenarios of future development, evaluation of scenarios, conclusions and recommendations. Findings: India has approximately 8,000 urban centres. Less than 2% of these centres have a planning document. Less than 1% of these documents acknowledge climate change as a phenomenon let alone a challenge to urban future. It is therefore a priority to address the challenge from a planning perspective for India. Research limitations/implications: Methodologies for evaluating the multiplier effect are still in their pre-final stage and there exist uncertainties and margin of error. Practical implications: Aligned with pre-tested methodologies, the research through extensive empirical and spatial-temporal analysis indicates severity and irreversibility of socio-economic and environmental losses. Originality/value: Risks and vulnerabilities to climate change and climate induced disasters exhibit multiplier effect that varies spatially across a region's demography. Quantitative analysis of multiplier effect on the secondary environment is rarely explored in climate studies. The paper addresses this lacuna by examining climate risks to Indian megacities with a case example of Delhi. The findings suggest that urbanization, climate risks and natural environment are interlinked, where an impact of one generates ripples across other two and their secondary environment plus sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present research work is intended to investigate the work passion and job satisfaction relationship of social workers in Delhi/NCR and examine the influence of belongingness and psychological empowerment on the association. The study has used self-determination theory to support the relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the standardized instruments to assess the relationship. Statistical tools such as SEM, convergent and discriminant validity, reliability, and moderated regression analysis were used to analyze the data. Findings: The study found that psychological empowerment and belonging moderated the association between passion and job satisfaction. Practical implications: HR managers and practitioners should promote a culture of openness, empowerment, collectivism, and meaningful work to ensure the fulfillment of psychological needs of the social workers. Social implications: The fulfillment of psychological needs can become a significant motivator for the social workers as due to political and administrative constraints, giving financial incentives or introducing variable financial pay would not be possible. Originality/value: The authors were not able to locate any paper exploring the relationship between work passion and job satisfaction of social workers. The present research work proposes that there are certain psychological needs, which can be fulfilled other than monetary needs in order to motivate social workers for their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The omni-channel strategy provides a holistic experience during shopping by integrating online and offline channel services. In this digitalized realm, customers are more dependent on online elements for shopping. However, physical stores are still their first choice for apparel shopping. The introduction of interactive technology is one of the key elements to provide an online experience in the physical store. The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact of interactive technologies on purchase intention and its role. Design/methodology/approach: This study has been conducted in Delhi using 573 customers who are using interactive technologies for shopping. A self-developed questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data was analysed using structural equation modelling through smart partial least square 3. Findings: The results show that 46% change in purchase intention was due to mobile point of sale/digital wallet, tablet/i-pad/digital signage, smartphone and click and collect/ship from store technology. However, there was no impact of the smart mirror and in-store Wi-Fi technology on purchase intention. Originality/value: This study focuses on various technologies which provide online experience at physical stores. This study offers new insights for the theoretical and business framework of omni-channel brands. These technologies could be used as key performance indicators of omni-channel retailing in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how organizational workers improve their perceived mobile user experience (UX) locus of control affected through organizational ambidexterity when using enterprise mobile systems (EMS). This study investigates the mediation role of business process customizability in the relationship between habitual use of EMS by individuals and organizational ambidexterity.Design/methodology/approach Over 150 possible respondent mobile phone users across 40 organizations in metropolitan National Capital Region (NCR) of Delhi with approximately were given the questionnaire. The data of a total of 121 NCR valid respondents aged between 22 and 49, after scrutinizing all collected questionnaires and removing those that had too many missing values or had the same answer to all questions, were used for analysis. The respondents were sampled from a research panel directory of a set of firms of the research firm hired for this survey.Findings The study finds complete mediation between the habitual use of EMS and organizational ambidexterity. Importantly, the empirical findings provide the research community with a deeper understanding of how EMS usage impacts organizational ambidexterity and individual’s UX locus of control.Originality/value It draws some newer areas of research with respect to interactions between enterprise mobile systems, business process customization due to enterprise mobile systems and organizational ambidexterity, which were hitherto unexplored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Wheat, which is one of the major staple food grain crops in India, continues to depict occasional fluctuation in the prices though Union government has adopted administered price policy for wheat by intervening in its procurement at assured prices and distribution. Such fluctuations in prices are usually attributed to inefficient functioning of the agricultural markets. Since spatially separated markets also play an important role to determine efficiency of the agricultural markets, the study has used market integration as one of the tools to analyze the price transmission across the spatially separated markets to identify causes of price fluctuations and suggest ways to stabilize wheat prices. Design/methodology/approach: The study utilizes monthly wholesale prices for January, 2006 to May, 2016 for dara wheat. First, the study employs augmented Dickey and Fuller (ADF), Phillips and Perron (PP) and Kwiatkowski, Phillips, Schmidt and Shin (KPSS) tests to check stationarity in wheat prices. Second, Johansen's cointegration test is applied to assess the integration of wholesale prices between selected pairs of wheat markets to determine long-run relationship among them. Third, Granger casualty test is used to find the direction of causality between the wheat market pairs. Finally, threshold vector error correction model (TVECM) and likelihood ratio (LR) tests are employed to examine long-run adjustment of prices towards the equilibrium in selected wheat markets. Findings: Since wheat wholesale prices for the selected markets are found to be integrated of the order one, that is [I(1)], Johansen's test of cointegration is employed and its findings reveal that the selected wheat market pairs exhibit cointegration and show a long-run price association among themselves. There exists a bi-directional causality among the wheat market pairs. Since LR test is in favor of threshold model (except for Etawah–Delhi pair), one and two threshold models were also performed accordingly. Findings show that wholesale prices of wheat in Delhi markets remain higher than the prices of all other regional markets as regional markets are found to adjust their prices towards Delhi market. Distance of the wheat markets from each other is directly associated with threshold parameters, which are analogous to the transaction costs. Geographically dispersed wheat markets incorporate high transaction and vice versa. Research limitations/implications: The study argues that there is need to improve rural infrastructure and connectivity of the agricultural markets and remove market asymmetries through unified market regulating mechanisms across the states. This will enable price adjustment process from primary wholesale markets (in production regions) to the secondary wholesale markets (in scarcity regions) quickly. Originality/value: The contribution of the study in the existing literature lies in the fact that there are no empirical evidences in the context of India that use price transmission as a tool of market integration among spatially separated wheat markets using TVCEM as this model examines role of transaction costs in efficient functioning of the agricultural markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Building on the social cognitive theory, a mediation model was examined to understand the role of teacher self-efficacy as the underlying mechanism for the relationship between instructional leadership and teacher job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: The study tests a mediation model between instructional leadership, teacher self-efficacy and job satisfaction. The data were collected via online survey from primary school teachers (N = 320) working for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MDC) in India. The mediation model was tested using the AMOS 22.0 after establishing the reliability and validity of measures. Findings: Regression analyses using the bootstrapping method indicated that teacher self-efficacy mediates the relationship between instructional leadership and teacher job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications: This is a cross-sectional study. The scope for causal inferences is, thus, limited. Practical implications: In the Indian setting, the study examines the association between instructional leadership and job satisfaction. The results show that the instructional leadership of the school principal is strongly related to teachers' self-efficacy, which, in turn is positively associated with teacher's job satisfaction. Further, the findings confirm that instructional leadership, emphasizing instructional improvement, improves teachers' self-efficacy and job satisfaction. Originality/value: The study explains the underlying process through which a school principal's instructional leadership is related to teacher job satisfaction. This study is perhaps the first to focus on an Indian or a non-Western context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - To deal with highly energetic younger generation patiently, need academicians who can spread happiness while teaching/mentoring are needed. This is possible when an academician himself is a happy person. This paper aims to explore the factors that generate happiness among academicians, studies the impact of demographic variables on academicians' happiness and examines the relationship between academicians' happiness and their performance. Design/methodology/approach - Convenience purposive sampling method was used to obtain data through self-administered survey questionnaire based on a five-point Likert scale, delineating the research purpose and assurance of confidentiality. For data analysis, statistical techniques like mean, percentage method, Levene's test, t-test and analysis of variance were used. To study the relationship between performance and happiness, the attitude, motivation and outcome theory was applied and happiness index was developed. Findings - After analyzing the various factors impacting academicians' happiness, this study found that except for work-life balance, research activities and working environment, all other factors are available to academicians according to their ranked importance assigned to them. This study also obtained a happiness index using matrix and has developed an equation which can be applied to find out the relationship between happiness and performance in future. Research limitations/implications - This study has certain limitations, first, this study has been conducted on academicians working in higher education institutes situated in Delhi/NCR and thus entails a specific socio-cultural environment that may limit the potential level of generalization. Practical implications - The results of this research might help institutes/higher education bodies to make rules and policies which may further augment academicians' happiness to accomplish their desired goals. Social implications - An academician who is happy, satisfied and motivated can easily deal with today's enthusiastic younger generation and can spread happiness amongst them. so it is very much necessary for an academician to be happy and energetic all the time. Originality/value - This study found the factors impacting higher education academicians' happiness and its impact on their teaching performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to empirically examine the factors that affect mobile loyalty (m-loyalty) and its influence on customer reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging services. This study identified measurement items to assess the business users and individual users reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging services and test the relationship in the conceptual model. This study bridges a literature gap focusing on m-loyalty and its impact on customer reuse intention, which has not received attention previously. Design/methodology/approach: To evaluate the influence of the factors, this study identified and extracted the items from past literature to develop the survey instrument. This study surveyed 600 respondents including business users and individual users from the Delhi-National Capital Region of India and applied the structural equation modelling to test the conceptual model. Findings: The results revealed that satisfaction and m-loyalty have a direct effect on the business users and individual users' reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services. This study found that satisfaction, usability, perceived value, commitment, trust and m-loyalty influence on business users reuse intention. This study indicate that enjoyment has an insignificant relationship on m-loyalty for business users followed by usability and enjoyment has an insignificant relationship on m-loyalty for individual users. Further, female gender does not moderate the relationship between satisfaction and business users reuse intention. The cognitive absorption and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) theories supported evaluating the association between the factors in the context of business and individual users reuse intention of mobile instant messaging service. Research limitations/implications: The empirical findings imply that all the factors except enjoyment have directly influenced the business users reuse intention of mobile instant messaging. The significant influence of usability factor on the business users reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging is the major variation between the validated models of business and individual samples. The results of influencing factors of m-loyalty and its impact on customer reuse intention are associated with cognitive absorption and the UTAUT theories. Practical implications: Focus on these factors can be beneficial for the business users, managers, mobile instant messaging service providers and application developers to increase customer loyalty and reuse intention for the mobile instant messaging services. This research will facilitate mobile instant messaging service providers to keep their services market relevant and focus on user satisfaction in building applications for loyalty. Originality/value: This research identified measurement items from earlier literature to identify, analyze and verify the relevance of these factors in m-loyalty and customer reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services and fill the gap in customer reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The financial technology (FinTech) era has brought a revolutionary change in the financial sector's customer experiences at the national and global levels. The importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of FinTech services for enriching customer experiences has become a new norm in this modern era of technological advancement. So, it becomes crucial to understand the customer's perspective. The current research ranks the factors and sub-factors influencing customers' perceptions of AI-based FinTech services. Design/methodology/approach: The sample size for this study was decided to be 970 respondents from four Indian cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The Fuzzy-AHP technique was used to identify the primary factors and sub-factors influencing customers' experiences with AI-enabled finance services. The factors considered in the study were service quality, trust commitment, personalization, perceived convenience, relationship commitment, perceived sacrifice, subjective norms, perceived usefulness, attitude and vulnerability. The current research is both empirical and descriptive. Findings: The study's three top factors are service quality, perceived usefulness and perceived convenience, all of which have a significant impact on customers' experience with AI-enabled FinTech services discussing sub-criteria three primary criteria for customers' experience for FinTech services include: "Using FinTech would increase my effectiveness in managing a portfolio (A2)", "My peer groups and friends have an impact on using FinTech services (SN3)" and "Using FinTech would increase my efficacy in administering portfolio (PU2)". Research limitations/implications: The current study is limited to four Indian cities, with 10 factors to understand customers' preferences in FinTech. Further research can focus on other dimensions like perceived ease of use, familiarity, etc. Future studies can have a broader view of different geographical locations and consider new tech to understand customer perceptions better. Practical implications: The study's findings will significantly assist businesses in determining the primary aspects influencing customers' experiences with AI-enabled financial services. As a result, they will develop strategies and policies to entice clients to use AI-powered FinTech services. Originality/value: Existing AI research investigated several vital topics in the context of FinTech services. On the other hand, the current study ranked the criteria in understanding customer experiences. The research will substantially assist marketers, business houses, academicians and practitioners in understanding essential facets influencing customer experience and contribute significantly to the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to analyse the perception of employees towards training and also examine the mediation effect of employee engagement between training and task performance. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated model has been developed highlighting the relationship of the motivation for training and support for training and their implications on task performance through the mediating role of employee engagement. Using the sample of 397, structural equation modelling has been used with the help of SPSS and AMOS to validate the hypothesized relationship and evaluate the responses of employees working in travel agencies operating in Delhi (capital), India. Findings: The findings of this study demonstrated a positively significant relationship between training and task performance of employees in the tourism and hospitality industry. Simultaneously, employee engagement positively mediates the relationship between training and task performance directly and indirectly. This study goes over the ramifications of the findings and offers some suggestions for practical implementations. Practical implications: The findings of this study can be used by managers and HR professionals to organize exclusive training programs for improving employees' performance based on the dimensions used in this study. This study also suggests that training program enhances employee engagement in organizational activities which leads to build up team work and overall organizational as well as individual performance. Originality/value: This study also introduces a conceptual model and theoretical framework that provide a significant contribution to the training and task performance of employees. This study provides a strong theoretical foundation by incorporating the social exchange theory to confirm the role of employee engagement in performance. Further, this novel piece of research explores the relationship between training and task performance with employee engagement as a mediator, especially in the Indian tourism and hospitality industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to see the impact of increased out-of-pocket expenditure oh health care exerting budget pressure on households, which leads to change in dietary consumption. Design/methodology/approach: It was a hospital-based cross-sectional study comprising 414 patients with a chronic or major illness attending a large tertiary care public hospital at Delhi, India. Each patient represented a household with total number of family members of 2,550 in the study. Questionnaire was used to gather data on factors responsible for changes in consumption of 12 major food items. Findings: Moderate decrease in food consumption of a household after major illness is associated with: rural residence (p < 0.001), decrease in savings (p < 0.001), more number of household items sold (p < 0.001), education of the children affected (p < 0.001), upper socio-economic status (SES) (p < 0.001) and children started working after illness in family (p = 0.043). In addition to decrease in food items, there was also deterioration in quality of food preparation. More than 80% of the families did not change the intake of cereals (rice and wheat), pulses and sugar. Food items that were decreased by most families were fruits, followed by milk and its products, vegetables, meat and egg, oils and ghee. Research limitations/implications: This study is a subset of other two studies previously published. The authors had not been able to cover this aspect fully in those two studies but understood the importance of impact of expenditure on illness on food consumption. The authors studied change in food consumption pattern (not amount) in subjects after illness. The impact of weather changes in food consumption on the impacted nutritional status of family has not been studied. The authors only collected cross-sectional, observational data and recall bias cannot be completely ruled out and corrected. With such data, only associations could be concluded, not causality. The illness condition of a household was measured by presence of chronic disease and inpatient treatment. Such measures did not take into account the types of illness and number of episodes. Data of this study cannot capture whether food intake of family prior to illness was sufficient/in excess/deficient. The Kuppuswamy scale, mostly used in urban and peri-urban settings, was also used for rural subjects in the study, which might have resulted in impaired capture of rural SES. The authors did not assess whether families were allocated food grains by schemes like public distribution system, which might have resulted in biased decrease in food consumption. Questionnaire used was not validated. Practical implications: This study demonstrates the various factors that act as barriers to proper food consumption, including non-financial factors. The policy of user fee in government is hitting poorer section, and equity and access to health are compromised. Health expenditure should be increased by public sector policies to implement uniform healthcare. There is need for more studies to identify measures that could be put in place when designing policies and interventions for the uniform distribution of benefits. Social implications: The policy of user fee in government is hitting poorer section, and equity and access to health are compromised. Health expenditure should be increased by public-sector policies to implement uniform healthcare. Originality/value: Major or chronic illness affects money acquisition and priorities of expenditure, resulting in deterioration in quality of food consumption and by a household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to evaluate the dynamics between healthcare resource capacity expansion and disease spread. Further, the study estimates the resources required to respond to a pandemic appropriately. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a system dynamics simulation and scenario analysis to experiment with the modification of the susceptible exposed infected and recovered (SEIR) model. The experiments evaluate diagnostic capacity expansion to identify suitable expansion plans and timelines. Afterwards, two popularly used forecasting tools, artificial neural network (ANN) and auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), are used to estimate the requirement of beds for a period when infection data became available. Findings: The results from the study reflect that aggressive testing with isolation and integration of quarantine can be effective strategies to prevent disease outbreaks. The findings demonstrate that decision-makers must rapidly expand the diagnostic capacity during the first two weeks of the outbreak to support aggressive testing and isolation. Further, results confirm a healthcare resource deficit of at least two months for Delhi in the absence of these strategies. Also, the study findings highlight the importance of capacity expansion timelines by simulating a range of contact rates and disease infectivity in the early phase of the outbreak when various parameters are unknown. Further, it has been reflected that forecasting tools can effectively estimate healthcare resource requirements when pandemic data is available. Practical implications: The models developed in the present study can be utilised by policymakers to suitably design the response plan. The decisions regarding how much diagnostics capacity is needed and when to expand capacity to minimise infection spread have been demonstrated for Delhi city. Also, the study proposed a decision support system (DSS) to assist the decision-maker in short- and long-term planning during the disease outbreak. Originality/value: The study estimated the resources required for adopting an aggressive testing strategy. Several experiments were performed to successfully validate the robustness of the simulation model. The modification of SEIR model with diagnostic capacity increment, quarantine and testing block has been attempted to provide a distinct perspective on the testing strategy. The prevention of outbreaks has been addressed systematically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research is to investigate the factors influencing the adoption of digital payments by the semi-rural women in India. Design/methodology/approach: The study extended the factors of unified theory of acceptance and use of technology UTAUT-2, with perceived credibility and self-determination theory to understand the use behaviour of the rural Indian women. The study checked the mediating role of some constructs besides testing the direct relationship. The study was conducted in the rural parts of the adjoining areas of Delhi, where the women from different states, education and financial background live. The research model was empirically tested on 568 respondents using structural equation modelling (SEM) technique. Findings: The research model was able to explain 72.6% variance in the user behaviour variable. Effort expectancy, habit, facilitating conditions as well as perceived competence emerged out to be significant determinants of use behaviour. Besides these direct relationships, two constructs, habit as well as facilitating conditions were found to partially mediate the relationship between behavioural intention and behaviour. Originality/value: This study provides some very critical clues for the companies providing digital payment services, by highlighting the significant factors explaining the technology adoption by semi-rural women. The companies must devise suitable marketing strategies to inculcate trust in mind of perspective customers towards their companies as well as the service provided by them. The role of simple digital platform, that is easy to learn and use, is also an important element in determining the technology adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study investigates the influence of five personality traits based on the Big Five model, i.e. extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience and personal innovativeness on learners' intention to complete MOOCs. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed model was empirically tested using cross-sectional design. The primary data were gathered through a survey of 515 students at five higher educational institutions in the National Capital Region of Delhi, India. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships in the proposed model. Findings: The study has found significant associations between the personality traits, personal innovativeness and MOOC completion intention. The findings indicate that extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, openness to experience and personal innovativeness have significant positive effects whereas neuroticism has no significant effect on MOOCs continuance intention. Personal innovativeness has been found to mediate the relationships between all the personality traits and MOOCs completion intention of learners. Practical implications: Our findings can potentially address the issue of drop-out rates of MOOCs in developing countries such as India. The findings of the study are helpful for MOOCs providers and other stakeholders. The MOOC developers should develop courses with wide scope so as to accommodate learners with different personality profiles. Additionally, during the enrolment process, MOOC providers can identify the students' attributes through personality tests. This will help in customizing the study material and teaching pedagogy as per the needs of the students. Originality/value: The study contributes to the growing area of research in MOOCs usage by exploring the influence of personality traits on learners' behaviour towards completing MOOCs. Since the learners' intention to complete MOOCs is a major concern for MOOC developers, hence the present study makes a worthwhile contribution as it is a relatively under-researched area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study intends to explore the underlying mechanism of the effect of personal growth initiative on employee engagement and intention to leave, in the presence of openness to experience and neuroticism as mediating variables. Support from conservation of resource theory and action regulation theory were taken to study the variables. Design/methodology/approach: A time span of four months was taken to collect data from 382 employees belonging to hotel industry of Delhi NCR region of India. Structure equation model and mediation analysis were used in the present study. Findings: A positive association was found between personal growth initiative, engagement and openness to experience and a negative association was found between personal growth initiative, engagement, neuroticism and intention to leave. Openness to experience and neuroticism acted as partial mediators. Research limitations/implications: The researchers have collected the data only from service sector organizations. Hence, there is scope for a cross sectional, longitudinal and experimental intervention–based study to generalize the findings of the study. We also suggest to check the mediating effect of other constructs on the different aspects of well-being of employees at the workplace. Apart from it, if personal growth initiative among employees has a causal role to play for different outcomes, a meta-analysis based on the antecedents and consequences of personal growth initiative would be beneficial. It would further reveal many more insights and possible research themes. Practical implications: Our results present significant practical implication for professionals engaged in day-to-day corporate affairs. As the managers at the workplace around the globe get heavily involved in decision making, and they are prone to observe negative information than the positive set of information, in the presence of both. Social implications: With the help of the study, society can be better conscious of literature related to personality, PGI and its outcome. This way, prospective professionals can understand the significance of personality along with PGI and harness their character accordingly. This would further contribute to prepare young professionals and also fill the supply demand skill gap in the industry and society at large. Any type of imbalance would harm the sustainability of the employment cycle in society. Originality/value: Due to limited literature available in management research on the topic, the researchers of the presented study selected personal initiative as the foundation of personal growth initiative. It has been seen that despite extensive work and interest of researchers, there is a difference in the concept and practice of employee turnover intentions. It is believed that research on human physiology and psychology affect the understanding about organizational research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Sustainable mobility will be the key to the survival of mankind in the 21st century. Cities with debt-ridden and poorly managed transport systems have to change to the ever-growing demands of the public transport system. The low cost of transport has been a key factor in sustainable development for any city. This study is trying to propose a framework for the selection of sustainable transport in context to an Indian case of NCR Delhi, India. Design/methodology/approach: The present study has identified eight criteria for the selection of a sustainable transport system. Criteria for selection of sustainable transport are CO2 emissions, cost of fuel, energy efficiency, cost of maintenance, number of accidents, congestion, number of injuries and road noise. Three alternatives of transport considered for this study are state-run bus, pooled car and Shuttl (App-based buses). The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) is used to prioritize the criteria. The study has further illustrated a framework for the selection of sustainable transport based on these criteria. Findings: It is observed that CO2 emissions are the most important criterion for a sustainable transport system. It is followed by a reduction in congestion and the number of injuries. Three alternatives of transport considered for this study are state-run bus, pooled car and Shuttl (a service provider). Shuttl has been found to be the most sustainable transport system. Research limitations/implications: AHP is not able to capture the vagueness in decision-making. Therefore, fuzzy AHP can be considered for further detailed analysis as future scope of study in a different context of a sustainable transportation system. Major implications for policymakers and stakeholders are that development of public transport in cities should be done after considering different dimensions of sustainable operations. Originality/value: The study has proposed a unique framework for the selection of a sustainable transport system by the public based on sustainability criteria. Findings will help policymakers in formulating strategies for developing sustainable transport system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]