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PurposeOrganizations try to appoint individuals who fit in with their values and goals. Employees who do not fit in with the organization's core values and goals prefer not to stay on for a longer period of time. The present study is an attempt to explore the impact of person–job (P–J) fit on organizational commitment through job involvement and career commitment with an application of a serial multiple mediation model.Design/methodology/approachData have been collected through a structured questionnaire. The population comprised the teachers, working in the higher education sector. The different constructs used have been duly validated with the help of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Further data reliability and scale validity have been checked too. In order to test the serial multiple mediation model, the authors adopted a regression-based approach and bootstrapping method suggested by Hayes (2012; 2013). Accordingly, PROCESS developed by Hayes (2012) has been used.FindingsThe results revealed that job involvement and career commitment mediate the relationship between P–J fit and organizational commitment individually as well as together.Research limitations/implicationsThe present study is confined to government degree colleges only. The element of subjectivity might not have been checked completely as teachers have responded on the basis of their own experience and perceptions regarding the items in the questionnaire. The study is cross sectional in nature.Practical implicationsThe paper addresses the interest of wide spectrum of stakeholders including the management, organizations and employees. So, the authors have extended general implications, which are for all those organizations that want to improve person–organization (P–O) fit and commitment of their employees. These implications will help organizations to take specific initiatives to improve the P–J fit of their employees, which will subsequently enhance their commitment level.Originality/valueThe findings of the present study will help the stakeholders in the higher education sector to identify best employees and undertake the initiatives to generate better job involvement and commitment, which will be a win–win strategy for both (employees as well as the organizations).

The concept of employer branding (EB) has been emerged in the 1990s. Since then, it has become the most popular human resource (HR) term, which is widely adopted by managements at global level (Little, 2010). It helps to gain a strong position in the competitive labor market by creating a clear and reputed image of the organization, which helps to attract high-potential employees for vacant position and to motivate, engage, and retain its current employees (Priyadarshi, 2011; Mandhanya & Shah, 2010; Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2010). In this context, EB is a new dimension in the field of modern human resource management, which is aligned with branding principles for attraction, identification, retention, and engagement of talented employees to run the organizations smoothly, effectively, and efficiently (Lockwood, 2010; Priyadarshi, 2011; Srivastava & Bhatnagar, 2010; Mihalcea, 2017; Botha et al., 2011). It has also been labeled as “talent branding,” which acts as a keystone for an efficient long-term retention and recruitment strategy (Wilden et al., 2010). Despitegaining extensive popularity in modern HR literature, empirical research is still relatively limited in this field (Davies, 2008). Furthermore, most of the studies have focused only on one or two practices of talent management, such as talent attraction and talent retention. Research gap also revealed that there is a need to validate EB scale, especially in the banking sector.

Machining is the process of removal of excess material from a work piece. Due to a huge change in scenario of manufacturing industries the applications of optimization techniques is one of the challenging tasks. To fulfil the demand the manufacturing process the role of optimization plays a vital role. The main aim of this study is to know the effect of process parameter on surface roughness and MRR and to correlate the process parameter viz. Speed, feed and depth of cut with output parameter through Taguchi optimization technique. Finally nine experiment was conducted signal to noise ratio was predicted.

One of the major responsibilities of a teacher is to develop the human resources (HR) of the society. So a teacher also needs culture that assists him in successful completion of his duties. In this context, the human resource practices leverage teacher’s capabilities to achieve the main goal of the school education. The main objective is to investigate the impact of human resource management practices on teachers’ performance through HR analytics in rural schools of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Further, based on the existing literature, only four human resource practices (training and development, performance management, performance appraisal and empowerment) have been used in the present study. Data have been collected through convenience sampling from 245 teachers. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM) statistical techniques have been used to analyse the data. Further, reliability and validity tests have also been conducted before analysing the data. Finding of this study revealed that HR practices, that is, training and development, performance management, performance appraisal and empowerment positively affect the teachers’ performance. The study is cross-sectional in nature and focused on teachers’ performance only. For future research, students’ academic performance and schools’ performance need to be evaluated too. This study is highly beneficial for teachers and school administrations as well as the researchers for guidelines and policies implementations.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the high performance work system through ability, motivation and opportunity model (Jianget al., 2013) and its impact on organisational performance. Further, the mediating role of knowledge management between high performance work system and organisational performance has also been evaluated.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire technique has been used to collect the data from managers (n=58) and employees (n=246) working in telecommunication organisations in Jammu and Kashmir (North India). Data collected have been validated using the exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Hypotheses have been tested through structural equation modelling with the help of AMOS and SmartPLS3 softwares. Further, theoretical, managerial and socio-economic implications have also been discussed.FindingsThe study indicates that high performance work system positively affects organisational performance. Further, knowledge management act as a mediator between high performance work system and organisational performance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study has been conducted only in the private telecommunication sector (Airtel, Aircel, Tata Indicom, Idea, Reliance, Vodafone). Further, the study being limited to telecommunication sector can be extended in other sectors also.Practical implicationsIn order to create superior work system, management should focus on ability-enhancing initiatives such as extensive job training, computer-based training, etc. on regular basis. Employees should be rewarded extrinsically as well as intrinsically to keep them motivated to achieve higher levels of performance. Further, management should empower the employees through decentralisation of authority, participative decision making, etc. Besides this, management should also instil the knowledge culture in the organisation in order to enhance the knowledge capability of the employees.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the literature by identifying the black box using knowledge management to understand the relationship between high performance work system and organisational performance in the telecommunication sector.

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of the organizational learning (OL) and innovation as mediators between high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) and business performance (BP) in telecommunication sector. Census method has been used for data collection from employees working in telecommunication organizations in Jammu and Kashmir (North India). Reliability and validity have been proven with the help of confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modelling has been used for hypotheses testing. The results indicate that OL mediates the relationship between HPHRPs and innovation, whereas innovation does not mediate but moderates the relationship between OL and BP. So the final model evaluated the mediated-moderation effect of OL and innovation in between HPHRPs and BP. The theoretical and managerial implications have also been discussed.

Orb webs absorb the impact energy of prey and transmit vibratory information to the spider with minimal structural damage. The structural properties of the web and the arrangement of threads within the web affect transmission time during the prey impact. The objective of the present study is to determine damping, stiffness, and transmissibility of healthy and damaged spider webs. Experimental results show that stiffness and transmissibility diminish from the inner to outer spiral threads and gradient variation in the structural properties of spiral threads enhances signal transmission capability toward the centre regardless of the position of prey impact within the healthy web. Spiral threads exhibit excellent prey retention properties due to their stretching capability. Kinetic energy produced by prey is absorbed in the threads, which help the spider to analyse the prey retention properties and also determine the response time. The minor damage (up to 25%) does not alter the basic characteristics of the web due to self-adjustment of tension within the web. Damping, natural frequency, stiffness and transmissibility decrease with the increase in the percentage of damaged web. The present study addresses the structural sustainability of the spider web irrespective of minor damages and also provides guidance in designing the structures under impact.This article is part of the theme issue ‘Bioinspired materials and surfaces for green science and technology’.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the multi-layer effect of transformational leadership (TL) on employee-related outcomes, i.e. relational identification (RI) and satisfaction with leader (SWL). Further, role of leader member exchange (LMX) and the association period in between TL and RI as well as SWL shall also be examined. So, the present paper attempts to evaluate the moderated-mediated effect of TL on RI and SWL. Design/methodology/approach – The model has been tested in the higher education sector. Information regarding TL, LMX, SWL and RI has been procured from teachers. The data have been duly validated with the help of confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability has been assessed through Cronbach’s α and composite reliability. Structural equation modelling has been used for testing the hypotheses. Moderation has been checked through multi-group analysis. Findings – The results indicate that association period moderates the TL and LMX relationship. LMX mediates the TL and RI and SWL relationship. Finally, moderated- mediated impact of TL on RI and SWL have been found. Managerial, practical, social, economic implications and scope for future research have also been discussed. Research limitations/implications – This study represents a cross-sectional investigations as responses were gathered from respondents at a particular point of time. Moreover, the study is confined to government degree colleges operating in Jammu district only. In future longitudinal study can be conducted. Comparative study between private and public colleges can be undertaken in future. Practical implications – Leaders should focus on creating positive environment, where personal work goals of the subordinates are linked with organisational goals, with the help of role-person integration. Leaders should make their decisions more transparent by exhibiting consistency in their logic and reasoning. Remaining impartial in decision making will help leaders to instil trust and respect in the minds of subordinates. Trust among the followers can be increased through commitments and achievement of goals. Leaders should create more enthusiasm and optimism amongst the employees. Social implications – Leaders in education institutes should create social and emotional learning environment in the colleges. This can be done by arranging informal meetings, some kinds of fares, painting competitions and festive celebrations at collaborative level. This strategic action will help to provide an opportunity to all employees’ to come forward in an informal friendly environment, which will help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression; and improve the quality of relationship and ultimately enhance satisfaction among followers’ with respect to their leaders. The followers work for the achievement of departmental as well as the organisational goals in collaboration with their leaders. Originality/value – The paper has evaluated the moderation of association period between TL and LMX relationship in higher education sector which has not been explored earlier in leadership studies. Many studies have evaluated the direct impact but moderated-mediated impact of TL on RI and SWL has not been evaluated earlier, which will contribute equally to academic as well as business world.

The primary purpose of this study is to examine the effect of perceived high-performance human resource (HR) practices, that is, extensive training, performance management, performance appraisal, performance-based compensation, empowerment and competency development, on business performance of employees in telecommunication sector. Further, the role of the organizational learning as a mediator between high-performance HR practices and business performance has also been explored. Census method has been used for data collection from employees working in telecommunication sector in Jammu and Kashmir (North India). Reliability and validity have been proved with the help of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Structural equation modelling (SEM) has been used for hypotheses testing. Results indicate that high-performance HR practices positively affect business performance. Further, organizational learning act as a mediating variable between high-performance HR practices and business performance. The managerial implications have also been discussed.

The present study examines the impact of mentoring functions, namely, protection, coaching, counselling, role modelling, exposure, acceptance and friendship, on job satisfaction of Indian call centre employees. Furthermore, it also explores two variables which strengthen this relationship, namely, mentoring culture and mentoring structure. Employees working in call centres in India have been selected for data collection. Reliability and validity have been proved with the help of confirmatory factor analysis. Path analysis has been used for hypotheses testing. Results revealed that mentoring functions have direct impact on (except protection) job satisfaction of call centre employees. Furthermore, mentoring culture and mentoring structure act as moderators between mentoring functions and job satisfaction. The data collected is self-report in nature, and the study is limited to service sector only.

The word business analytics has become a buzzword in the present era of experience economy. Primarily, the proliferation of the Internet and information technology has made business analytics a robust application area. On the other hand, it is equally impossible to deny its significant impact on the fields of information technology, quantitative methods and the decision sciences (Cegielski and Jones-Farmer 2016). Both industry and academia seek to hire talent in these areas with the hope of developing organizational competencies to sustain competitive advantage. Hopkins et al. (2007) and Hair et al. (2003) assert that adequate knowledge on business analytics techniques enables the analysts—practitioners, managers, etc—with capabilities that enable them to take quick and smart decisions and provide stable leadership to the organization to compete in the market effectively. On the other hand, it provides a platform for the researchers and academicians to lay down path for the theory development. However, Hawley (2016) pointed that business analytics focuses more on understanding the organizational culture than mere technology. Thus, for successful implementation and harnessing the benefits of business analytics the knowledge of an organization’s motivation, strengths and weaknesses is necessary (Hawley 2016).

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion (EE) in between bundled high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) and intention to leave (ITL) in the education sector. Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire method was used to collect data from a sample of 514 teachers working in different professional colleges in Jammu and Kashmir (North India). Data were validated with CFA and SEM was used to test hypothesised relations. Findings – The results show that bundled HPHRPs have greater impact on EE and ITL as compared to individual HPHRPs. Further, the study also confirmed that EE partially mediates the bundled HPHRPs and ITL relationship. Research limitations/implications – Future research need to explore same relationships in different sectors with longitudinal data at the multi-level approach. Practical implications – Educational administration should focus on the bundled HPHRPs, which will benefit not only the teachers, but the students too. It should adopt relaxation techniques like mindfulness training approach, yoga and meditation. Further, to reduce their career-related confusions management should organise career awareness programmes. Originality/value – The results from this study explored new and untested mechanism, i.e. EE as mediator between bundled HPHRPs and ITL relationship in the professional degree colleges in India, has not been previously researched.

Background: Sepsis incidence which related with morbidity and mortality is globally increasing. Sepsis occurs because of severe infections. Sepsis has lifethreatening potential with organ dysfunction complication, septic shock, and death. Alteration of resistance pattern always changes at certain period. The aim of the study is to investigate the bacteria pattern and its resistance from adult sepsis patient at Dr. Moewardi General Hospital. Methods: Isolated bacteria from adult sepsis patient’s blood at Dr. Moewardi General Hospital. 7 bacteria isolates were taken from blood of adult sepsis patient (September - October 2014) and 46 bacteria isolates of secondary data (January - March 2014) at Dr. Moewardi General Hospital. Bacteria isolation was performed based on standard Laboratory of Microbiology of Dr. Moewardi General Hospital. 7 bacteria isolates were tested by using disc diffusion antibiotic on Mueller Hinton and coupled by 46 secondary data. Results: The bacteria pattern from adult sepsis patients were Staphylococcus haemolyticus (15.09%), Staphylococcus hominis (15.09%), Escherichia coli (13.21%), and Acinetobacter baumannii (11.32%). Resistance pattern of bacteria on adult sepsis with level of resistant more than 50% as Staphylococcus haemolyticus (ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin, and gentamicin), Escherichia coli (gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin), and Acinetobacter baumannii (gentamicin, ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, and ceftazidime) Conclusions: Based on this research, revealed that sepsis tended to be caused by Gram-positive than Grampositive, 54.71% and 45.29% respectively.

The success of any outsourced activity depends on the selection of right vendor and its relationship with the firm ( Arshad et al., 2008 ). The selection of the right vendor is the most difficult challenge for the outsourcing firm. The study examines the client–vendor relationship of outsourcing firm and its affect on the firm’s financial performance. The study is primarily based on first-hand information gathered from managers of medium-scale firms. The data has been collected through schedule. Based on theoretical considerations, a model has been proposed linking the client–vendor relation and the cost and quality of the product with the firm’s financial performance. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis empirically tested and validated the underlying scales, namely, client–vendor relationship scale and financial performance scale. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the model. Data analysis revealed that there is significant impact of client–vendor relationship on firm’s financial performance as well as on cost and quality of the product. Further, direct and indirect effect of client–vendor relation, cost and quality on financial performance has been discovered.

Natural dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) are one of the most promising devices for the solar energy conversion due to their low production cost and low environmental impact. The synthesis and performance study of Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods based DSSC is reported in the present paper. ZnO nanorods were fabricated using sol-gel spin coating process and different types of DSSCs were fabricated using two different classes of natural dyes, xanthenes, anthocyanins and a mixed-dye with equal proportion mixture of xanthenes and anthocyanins. The ultravioletvisible (UV-Vis.) absorbance spectra were compared with performances of the cells. Efficiency of fabricated cells and cell characteristics were found to be related with absorption spectra of dyes. Nepal Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 13, No. 1 (2012) 179-185 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/njst.v13i1.7457

The present paper reports the synthesis and performance study of ZnO based Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). ZnO nanorods were fabricated by sol-gel technique using. Three types of DSSCs were fabricated by two different classes of organic dyes using, namely xanthenes, anthocyanins and a mixed-dye with equal proportion mixture of xanthenes and anthocyanins. The absorbance spectra of dyes were compared with performances of the cells. The parasitic resistances of the cells were determined from the I–V characteristics of the cells and various parameters of DSSCs like Ideality factor, Fill factor and Energy conversion efficiency were determined. Among the three kinds of dyes tested, the efficiency of cell with mixed dye was intermediate but its value was found to be higher than the average efficiency of cells with two individual dyes. This is due to the improvement in ideality factor of the cell.

Knowledge management is a process that enables organizations to learn, create, develop and apply necessary knowledge which makes organizations more profitable and innovative. The purpose of this article is to investigate the impact of knowledge management on the innovative capacity of an organization. Questionnaire method has been used to collect data from employees working in private telecommunication organizations. Extensive review of literature has been done to frame the dimensions of knowledge management and innovative capacity. Both scales have been duly purified and validated before the data analysis. Structural equation modelling has been done to investigate the relationship between knowledge management and innovation. The results revealed a significant relationship between knowledge management and innovation. Further, knowledge approach, knowledge protection and knowledge utilization processes of knowledge management affect technical as well as non-technical innovation.

In this information age, the economic value of knowledge is more than the value of physical product (Demarest 1997; Alipour et al. 2010) as it is the foundation for stable development and acts as a source for achieving competitive advantage for the organisation (Ruggles 1998), which is full of uncertainties. There are competitions among organisations that develop new knowledge, share and convert it into services and products. Thus, knowledge gives the organisations the ability to find out their weaknesses, solve problems and gain new opportunities (Alipour et al. 2010). In the other words, knowledge management is serving as one of the intervening mechanisms, which influences organisational effectiveness (Zheng et al. 2010). Hence, the concept of KM has added in the list of modern HRM practices and gets equal attention like other practices such as performance appraisal, TQM and talent management.

The present study focuses on the role of leader–member exchange and relational identification (RI) between transformational leadership and job performance relationship. The model has been tested in higher education sector. All the permanent teachers working in higher education sector were contacted. The data have been duly validated with the help of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Reliability has been assessed through Cronbach’s alpha and composite reliability. Structural equation modeling (SEM) has been used for hypotheses testing, and hierarchical regression has been used to test the moderating effect of RI. The results indicated that leader–member exchange acts as a mediator and RI acts as a moderator instead of mediator. The managerial implications and future scope have been discussed.

Talent management (TM) has received lots of attention of academics, practitioners, researchers, scholars, and competitive firms in recent years, but there are many gaps left for further theoretical and empirical development. One of gap is lack of clarity of definition of TM, and the ongoing debate about whether it is merely repackaging of already existing human resource management (HRM) practices or a new concept. In this context, this paper concludes that TM practices are distinct from the traditional HRM practices. The authors have consolidated the existing literature on TM for designing an integrated model of TM including its antecedents and consequences. The study calls future research to empirically test the derived propositions. The paper includes various theoretical, economic, managerial, and future research implications.

In the present era, the women-owned businesses in the form of women entrepreneurs are one of the fastest growing entrepreneurial populations in the India. The objective of the paper is to study the factors that affect women entrepreneurial orientation and their satisfaction. In this regard, the paper explores the affecting variables and their impact on orientation and satisfaction. The proposed model and hypotheses were tested by using the data collected from boutiques, beauty parlors, carpet making units, and general stores in Jammu and Kashmir (India). Univariate, bi-variate, and multi-variate techniques were used for data analysis. In SEM, 13 paths were created for evaluating the cause and effect relationship between different factors viz., social, psychological, financial, push, pull factors, problems, and entrepreneurial orientation and satisfaction. Out of 13 paths eight relationships are significant while five relationships are insignificant in this structural equation. The key finding of the paper is that all factors affect orientation highly as compared to satisfaction. The implications of research findings for researchers and practitioners are discussed and the suggestions have also been provided. Keywords: women entrepreneurship; entrepreneurial orientation; satisfaction; rural India; psychological factors (Published: 12 July 2011) Citation: Annals of Innovation & Entrepreneurship 2011, 2 : 5813 - DOI: 10.3402/aie.v2i1.5813