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The increased complexity in the current business environment connected with the globalisation of economies and rapid technological developments makes firms depend on innovation and, in the process, develop dense networks of relationships, making collaboration an essential requisite for innovation. Thus, collaboration develops based on complex social networks from which innovation emerges. From this perspective, collaboration takes a systematic approach, where social relationships are crucial. This article describes the innovation behaviour of firms operating in India and introduces collaboration as a system drawing from the systems theory and triple helix innovation model. The results of the mixed methods study conducted pointed toward a fragile collaboration framework. Triangulation was employed to provide a deeper understanding. Furthermore, limited understanding of collaboration as a social system has constrained social interactions, leading to limited knowledge production, application, and knowledge sharing, with technological development and innovation delays. The article lists crucial factors from the perspectives of industry and academia to foster a collaboration framework.

This article aims to explore the dynamics of employment relations (ER) in the Indian information technology (IT) industry in the context of an ongoing technological revolution. The study utilises the grounded theory approach to draw insights from 32 professionals including project/product managers, senior management representatives and employees from junior to mid-career level currently working in the IT industry. Findings indicate that the following four forces drive the ER in the Indian IT industry: (1) labour laws, (2) compensation and HR, (3) unions and organisations, and (4) health and workplace security. Labour laws need to be updated to suit the requirements of knowledge-based professions. Compensation and HR management styles vary widely due to the disparity and heterogeneity of work. There is scope for a non-politicised union in the industry. The health and security of IT professionals need attention. Findings suggest the changing concepts of workspaces in IT, dilution of HR in IT due to increased outsourcing and the rise of independent workers in future. This article makes theoretical and conceptual contributions to the ER literature. It captures the driving forces of ER in the Indian IT industry. The article also contributes to decent work, convergence–divergence paradigm and outsourcing in Human Resource Management.

The labour market is complex to systematise into a well-behaved structure. Here, we attempt to understand the synergy between actors and institutions in the Indian labour market and to reveal the implications for the future of work and sustainability. Combining aggregated and micro-level data from multiple sources, we examine the indicators regarding the macro economy, production and engagement in firms, and changes in the occupational structure of workers. While the familiar narrative of technology–labour acrimony emerges, it is weak. In contrast, the tie between economy and technology is a favourable representation of the proximity between human capital and technology. Inadequate human capital implies chances of non-absorption in employment, especially in the future, even for a labour-abundant country such as India. While labour market flexibility through tripartite contact work does not directly relate to labour productivity, high-wage blue-collar work is a more promising factor that aligns with productivity. On the sustainability front, upgrading environmental standards results in more cohesion between labour and capital. The conventional logic of substitutability between capital and labour is invalid when firms adopt environmental standards. From a policy vantage, the scenarios of sustainability transition to cleaner technologies and decent work require complementarity between capital and labour. Considering the dimension of upgrading in order to transition towards sustainability is an essential factor for understanding the future of work.

Purpose Interdependence on the global economy and rapid technological changes raised the degree of uncertainty and complexity, leading to innovation challenges. Innovation depends on knowledge, and the solution might rest on how sound firms manage it, particularly in emerging markets such as India. The purpose of this paper is to examine how firms implement knowledge management (KM) in highly innovation-oriented firms (biotechnology and pharmaceuticals) and the factors affecting its implementation by examining knowledge interactions between individuals. Design/methodology/approach This study consists of a systematic literature review, a case study with embedded units and the use of grounded theory to analyse the data. The factors emerging from the results were examined from an individual and organisational lens. Next, complexity theory (CT) was used to understand the impact of these factors in KM by facilitating its incorporation as a system. Findings The findings of this paper suggest that constant technology adoption increases human-to-technology interaction, higher circulation of existing knowledge and more controlled environments, discouraging individuals from learning or sharing knowledge. From a system perspective, results of this paper suggest that firms self-organise around technology, indicating that innovation decreases as knowledge creation and sharing tend to reduce with lesser social interactions. This study shows the usefulness of using CT in analysing KM for innovation. The performance of the system is analysed based on its constituents and interactions. Originality/value This study contributes to advancing CT in KM in the context of innovation in highly knowledge-intensive firms, as few studies were found in the literature.

This study investigates human resource management (HRM) practices in higher education institutions (HEIs) based on a comparative analysis of India and the US. Although higher education in India has grown over the decades, its quality, in general, has not kept up with global standards. On the other hand, many US universities have performed consistently well in international university rankings. Based on qualitative research collected from principal stakeholders of HEIs in India and the US, HRM practices and policies followed by them are presented and discussed. Data collection for the research study was through web interviews during the period August–October 2020. The study reveals that Indian public HEIs do not have professional HRM teams. Also, they are in a formative stage in autonomous and private institutions. On the other hand, many HEIs in the US have developed mature HRM systems. This difference resonates in attributes such as structure of HRM, recruitment and selection processes, training and development programmes, performance management, career progression and talent retention.

COVID-19 has disrupted the Indian economy. Government-enforced lockdown to restrict the spread of infection has impacted the household economy in particular. We combine aggregates from national income accounts and estimates from the microdata of a labour force survey covering more than 0.1 million households and 0.4 million individuals. The aggregate daily loss to households is USD 2.42 billion. While loss to earnings accounts for 72% of the total, the rest 28% is wage loss. Service-based activities account for two thirds of wage loss, and natural resource-based activities are responsible for most of the earning loss. The dominance of informal job contracts and job switching in labour markets intensifies this, with the most vulnerable group consisting of 57.8 million in casual engagement, who have a high degree of transition from one stream of employment to another on a daily basis. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41027-021-00352-8.

Using the recently released microdata covering input use in Indian agriculture, this study analyzes the relation between value and fertilizer consumption along with four layers of explanation. These layers include factors of production, knowledge capital, social identity, and human capital for both agricultural seasons. Subsequently, the study also examines the propensity to use diverse channels of information. This study uses both regression and machine learning methods for analysis. The main finding of the study is that fertilizer use is directly associated with the value of production. However, the propensity to use fertilizer is the highest for the lowest quantile. Moreover, fertilizer use is a positive covariant of select information sources. Further, similar to tangible resources, the study observes that information plays a crucial role in fertilizer use. Information channels such as extension services have a pivotal role in promoting sustainable farming, especially among marginal farms.

Based on a systematic literature review, this article analyses the issue of gender diversity in higher education institutions (HEIs) and explores the role of strategic human resource management practices in its management. Results indicate that HEIs do not deal with gender diversity and challenges in achieving sustainable development goal-5 (SDG-5) proactively but manage them with compliance and some affirmative actions. The study finds that the number of women holding top leadership positions is substantially low, indicating the need for gender diversity in leadership. The glass ceiling for women is still intact in HEIs, presenting internal and external barriers that limit the career growth of women employees, especially in leadership roles. The research outlines the importance of gender-focused HRM policies and practices in HEIs. The review also confirms that the UN target to address challenges in achieving SDG-5 by 2030 needs reassessment.

India’s leather industry is an interesting case for a value chain (VC) that has unorganised and organised firms. To understand VC’s upstream, we examine a recent database on unorganised enterprises in the leather industry. First, we assess the determinants of two outcomes: value added and surplus. Second, we gauge if technology impacts employment. We use a multi-database and multi-method approach. Our analysis is based on National Sample Survey’s (NSS) 73rd Round on unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises. To understand the downstream of value-added value chain functions, capacity utilisation, last-mile delivery, product and process innovation, and orientation towards export, we use the World Bank Enterprise survey (2014). While confirming the stylised fact of the direct relationship between the firm’s resources and performance, the study emphasises the pivotal role of human capital in a firm’s performance, valid for both VC streams.

Attempting to learn dignity standing in an era manifested by easy confrontations of human rights with ‘justified’ arguments has been my prime challenge as a researcher. The broad contour of an individual's concept of dignity seems to have been drawn from the underlying socio-cultural-political milieu which influences to condition thought processes. The meaning-making journey of the actor in an organization begins within his bounds in rationality and extends to the structures which construct or de-mystify dignity. The paper explores key concerns on dignity raised by social theorists and the answers which meaningful work, knowledge, cooperation and engagement render. The exchanges within the organization, the capabilities that get built in the process and the continuous interactions with his environment model stances on what constitutes dignity. The case ecosystem of ABC House* exemplifies layers of such exchanges and how they fittingly reply some concerns. As dignity translates to an actor's self worth through knowledge and meaningful work, the broad canvass of the organization recognises human capabilities in contributing and making sense of the diverse functionings. The embedded design of this Case Study attempts to decipher engagement within the structure through the insights of the critical actors who exemplify agency.

During last two decades, consumer electronic industry in India appears to have been treading through a nonlinear path that has been shaped by changes in trade policies, globalisation of disruptive technologies, strands of product and process innovations, location of investments and the dynamics of consumption. This industry faces an interesting conundrum. On the one hand, the market for consumer electronics in India has been growing exponentially over the years, thanks to discernably lower penetration rates compared to that of developed countries. On the other, despite the growth in market being a regular phenomenon and ensuing business interest shown by prominent multinational enterprises, domestic production system appears to have been inheriting a gene of not so evolved technological capabilities, thus capital accumulation not translating into gains in productivity. We unravel this dilemma by analysing the unit records of Annual Survey of Industries, covering the data from 2000–2001 to 2013–2014. We use descriptive and inferential methods to unravel the data, while being complemented by the meta-content made of media coverage on consumer electronics in India. In our empirical exploration, we resort to both single and simultaneous equation models for gauging the link between the productivity and the technology. We conclude that while the market has been expanding in India, this growth has not translated to technological capabilities for the domestic industry.

Before the Novel Coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19), an open distance learning system was prevalent in India. Only a few institutions delivered education through digital or hybrid modes. However, with the onset of COVID-19, the digital mode of education has gained popularity, and its prevalence is now commonplace. There is no easy substitute for the digital mode of education and its adoption involves multilevel changes. This paper examines adoption of the digital mode of imparting education by Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in India. Web interviews were undertaken with principal stakeholders hailing from diverse sets of India’s higher education institutions with the aim to understand in-depth, digital practices during COVID-19. Qualitative tools were used to analyse the data. The institutions found to be using heterogeneous ways to disseminate learning. While some of them practice a basic form of digitalisation, some had developed their own best practices. As a behavioural pattern, the development and prevalence of the digital mode may continue even post COVID-19. However, education through digital mode will persist to be plagued with challenges like digital divide.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the factors that determine the performance of small business units using a field survey conducted in a small jewellery cluster in Mangalore district of Karnataka state (India). Design/methodology/approach The estimates of the median-based quantile regression model are used to analyse how a change in small firm output is determined by seven key factors such as year of establishment, the source of finance, the source of design, lack of demand, design done by the staff, the number of skilled workers, and constraints. Findings The study finds that the factors such as sources of finance, design, customer relation and skilled manpower are the major determinants of the growth of jewellery business. Based on the findings, the study suggests that the invigoration of business performance by high degree of competitiveness, coupled with technological advancement and hiring of skilled labour, is essential for the sustainability of jewellery units. Originality/value The study pinpoints the problems and prospects of traditional business units located in an industrial cluster. Further, it suggests the different ways of strengthening the performance of small business units in India.

If the proposition of Williamson that “highly standardized transactions are not apt to require a specialized governance structure” (1979, p. 248) is to be accepted, then a discrete transaction mark...

Auto component industry is an interesting variant of business that is located in the context of dynamic value chain. While one end of the value chain is the sophisticated-oligopolistic original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), the other end has suppliers who are small and medium enterprises. In the whole length and breadth of this value chain, suppliers include small, medium, and large enterprises. Broadly, these enterprises are of two types: organised and unorganised. Unlike in the case of large multinational enterprises, auto component suppliers, in particular small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are not so well endowed to invest in research development and exhaustive capability building endeavours. However, as elucidated in the extant literature on SMEs, a prudent option for these enterprises is to build and foster absorptive capacities that synergise labour, information technology, and knowledge management. To gauge these themes, we analyse four types of data. First, we examine recent time series of select variables that delineate the basic dynamics of performance and resources of organised auto component industry in India. Second, we lay focus on cross-sectional enterprise data drawn from 2012 to 2013 Annual Survey of Industries. Third, we analyse 67th round, for the year 2009–2010, of National Sample Survey, to examine unorganised auto component industry in India. Fourth, we use field data, collected in 2016, to discuss multidimensional aspects of knowledge management, technology, learning, labour, and outcomes, based on a survey conducted in Pune, Maharashtra, India. We conclude that auto component manufacturers seem to rely more on labour, information technology, and attainments like ISO to perform well in the business. While automation appears to be a catching up trend in the value chain, use of information technology seems to be the game-changer as far as value added is concerned. Drawing cues from patterns and inferences presented in our paper, for enterprises in the auto component value chain, be they are in the organised and unorganised sector, whether they are small or medium, it is important to create synergies between human resources and information and communication technologies to scale up a sustained higher order performance.

This research attempts to capture social conversation and social gestures in an interaction between buyers and suppliers. These buyers operate within a small business context. Using qualitative probing methods, twenty five respondents from a small city, Udupi in Karnataka, India have been interviewed. Findings of the study plainly demonstrate the existence of personal specific and socially relevant content in a conversation between buyer and supplier. To develop this view we deployed economic sociology perspective as transactional cost theory in its purview does not include social relevance of small business. The research broadly contributes to the domain of economic sociology as it build on the work of Uzzi, 1996 , Uzzi, 1997 by critically assessing the extant literature in the field of transactional cost economics and economic sociology.

Although the ‘Kerala Model’ is often viewed as a rare combination of higherorder human development and not so discernible patterns of consistent exponential economic growth, it appears that in recent times the health system in Kerala has been facing the emerging crisis in public health. This paper assesses the determinants of morbidity and hospitalisation here using NSSO 71 st round data. While we compare the results with the extant literature, drawing cues from the results, we explore public policy options that are appropriate to the context of Kerala. Moreover, the paper also examines the disease profile of hospitalized households.

This paper brings out how the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI), one of the top performing Indian public sector companies, organizes Corporate Social Responsibility activities, in particular selecting the panel of civil society organizations, funding, and monitoring of their activities. Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), has been a partner in this process, involved in different phases of CSR such as vision setting, network building, monitoring of projects and impact assessment. Here, we discuss interesting interventions by Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), supported by SCI's CSR in M-East Ward of Mumbai Municipal Corporation. This ward of Mumbai Corporation is the poorest, showing the least human development index (HDI) and the highest infant mortality rate according to Mumbai Human Development Report (2009). Interestingly, these interventions aim to generate a critical push, which may improve human development profile of this region. More importantly, this initiative is in the process of building a network of organizations which would substantially contribute to the sustenance of interventions.

The article explores salient features of the link between labour market and urban agglomeration, using National Sample Survey unit level data and field data. To capture the role of labour market in urban agglomeration, the authors present a case study of Peenya Industrial Estate of Bangalore, India considered to be the largest industrial estate in South Asia. An interesting pattern that emerges is that the odds in favour of participating in the formal work are much higher for persons with technical education in global cities in India. The nature of the labour market for highly skilled occupations is distinct from the labour market for low-skilled occupations, showing different flexibility conditions. While firms tend to use simple ways for lower occupations, strategies like referrals are applied to source persons for higher occupations. Obtaining job information through informal sources like social contact does not turn out to be the significant determinant of odds in favour of on-the-job-search. As shown by the results, on-the-job search is rather driven by basic demographic variables like age, showing a discernibly inverse relation. Moreover, this inference is limited to the group of workers.

This paper examines the socio-economy of mobile phone ownership in India by plotting patterns that have been drawn from National Sample Survey (NSS) 66th round consumption data for 2009–2010. While we use the secondary data from Census 2011 and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the crux of this paper is built around the NSS data, juxtaposing mobile ownership with place of residence, social category, religion, having Internet connection, educational attainment, age, and the state. Moreover, we regress owning mobile phone on the socio-economic characteristics to plot the determinants of mobile phone ownership. The assumption that permeates throughout the paper is that mobile phone is a network good with the convergent technology embedded in it and generates multiple streams of pay-offs and spillovers.

This paper examines two important aspects of knowledge output: the degree of concentration in knowledge output and the nature of social network, taking the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), a known scholarly periodical in the social sciences, as a case. We analyse the author data, looking at the frequency distribution of authors against the number of papers published and the social network of authors during the period 1996–2005. While the degree of concentration is assessed using a power law, namely Lotka’s law, the co-author data is transformed to a symmetric sociogram. The study covers 1,803 authors who published research articles in the EPW, including contributions by social scientists, policy professionals and scientists. It appears the progress in Indian social science has an apparent link with the history of EPW, accounting for a significant part of intellectual output and scholarly discourses in Indian social science. Taking cues from scholarly lineages, which investigate knowledge as a social phenomenon including the sociology of science, economics of knowledge and social network theory, we examine an important question: What is the degree of concentration prevailing in the EPW, during 1996–2005? Does the social network of authors, captured from the data, provide explanations for the degree of concentration? Our analysis shows that a high degree of the concentration of the authors and a relatively organised social network of authors coexist, indicating that the concentration in knowledge output, perhaps, is inherently linked to the structure.

We explore emerging contexts of social entrepreneurship in India. Social entrepreneurship is emerging as an important option in poverty reduction and social change wherein organizing societal responses to scenarios like entrenched deprivation, cumulative disadvantages, long extant institutional lock-in, and vulnerabilities enmeshed in social stratification, hiatus emanating from segmentation of labour market and inadequate coverage of social protection form the core of strategies/collectives/organisation. In this paper, first, drawing cues from the literature, we outline basic typology of social entrepreneurship while delineating pivotal role technology and collaboration play in social entrepreneurship. Second, we provide a glimpse of not profit organisations in India, based on the secondary data. We juxtapose select patterns from the data on non profit organisations with human development. Third, we discuss select cases of social entrepreneurship that diverge in characteristics and contexts, in particular how these initiatives work towards poverty reduction and social development.

Journals moderate knowledge activity in economics. The activity of publishing article in professional journal forms significant part of knowledge output. Output of economics articles has been growing over the time. We examine an important question: Is there any case of institutional or location concentration in knowledge production? This paper analyses concentration indicators specific to economics journals and explores link between publication process and concentration. The analysis of various concentration measures present evidence for institutional-geographic-area-author concentration in Knowledge production in Economics. High concentration levels indicate possibility of institutional lock-in. The literature provides evidence for myopic refereeing, editorial favouritism and the presence of ‘lock-in’ effect. The achievement in journal publication is influenced by factors like institutional affiliation, propitious circumstances etc. Discussion carried out in this paper hints the possibility of causal link between unfair process and unfair outcome.

This study examines the circumstances that prompt individuals to become small business owners. Using qualitative research, grounded theory approach, and with the help of narratives, this study builds on Elster's (1998) characteristics of emotions, namely, cognitive antecedents, intentional objects, physiological arousals, valence, and action tendencies. The findings of this study suggest that an individual becomes a small business owner because of the various emotional experiences in his/her childhood caused by interaction with family members.

National Innovation System is a departure from viewing entrepreneurship as individual-agent based phenomenon. Viewing economy as a network system gives a perspective to make interventions for innovation at systemic level. In this paper, by identifying the network properties of the Indian economy, using input-output data sets, we provide evidence for co-movement of economic growth, employment and betweenness of the sectors in input-output network of Indian economy. We argue that by structurally repositioning the sectors of economy (by generating new ties or strengthening existing but weak ties), it is possible to create opportunities for innovation, which will have multiplier effects through chains of economy. By examining the structure of the networked Indian economic system, we identify integration of services particularly that of transportation services to be the primary challenge for growth and innovation.