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887 items in total found

Journal Articles | 2025

GASP: A Graph Augmentation-Based Approach for Sign Prediction of Ties in Social Networks

Mukul Gupta, Samrat Gupta, Giri Kumar Tayi

This paper proposes a method for the sign prediction of ties in social networks using a design science research process. The proposed method is grounded in social network analysis and leverages the tenets of graph augmentation and a graph regularized framework for information diffusion. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that develops a sign prediction method for social networks based on the principles of design science research. This study makes several contributions. We demonstrate the utility and applicability of the proposed method for predicting trust/distrust on a user-user network created from the IMDb platform, which represents ties between reviewers based on their movie evaluation preferences. We describe and discuss the novel aspects of graph augmentation, symmetric normalization of the affinity matrix, and graph regularized label propagation, and discuss their synergistic use to predict the signs of network ties. We also establish the effectiveness of the proposed method by comparing its performance with two different metrics for balanced networks and two metrics for unbalanced networks using four state-of-the-art methods. The benchmarking networks used for experiments originate from online platforms such as Slashdot, Epinions, Wikipedia, and the Yeast Genetic Interaction Network from the biology domain. Experiments show that the proposed method provides significant performance improvements in the sign prediction of ties in social networks. This study provides valuable insights for social media platform owners seeking to improve their platforms by building new features and business leaders seeking to target advertisements and personalized content to users. We also discuss the theoretical, practical, and societal implications of this research.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Vehicle routing problem with time windows—New valid inequalities from polar duality

"Yogesh Kumar Agarwal, Prahalad Venkateshan"

The vehicle routing problem with time windows is a well-researched problem in literature. We study the 2-index flow formulation for the problem and propose a relatively little-used approach of polar duality/local cuts to compute new general valid inequalities for the problem. Our method of applying polar duality is quite distinct from and complimentary to an earlier attempt of applying the same idea to this problem and produces significantly better results on instances with tight time windows. On almost all 25-customer Solomon instances with tight time windows, our approach is capable of producing very strong lower bounds that are close to 100% of the optimal solution within reasonable computing time. On larger instances too the lower bounds are significantly better than those reported in the literature. We also present a new version of the previously proposed -path inequalities that are easy to compute as well as effective. These inequalities also lead to a substantial improvement in lower bounds and solution times for some classes of instances. Computational tests performed on benchmark instances indicate significant improvement in computing time and decrease in the number of nodes in the branch-and-bound tree as compared to extant methods that employ the flow formulation for the problem.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Public sector motivation: Construct definition, measurement, and validation

"Samet Kuril, Vishal Gupta, Shiva Kakkar, Rajneesh Gupta"

An individual’s decision to pursue a career in the public sector is likely to be influenced by a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors. While the widely studied concept of Public Service Motivation (PSM) emphasizes altruistic and prosocial values, it does not fully capture the diverse motivations that may influence entry into, and performance within the public sector—particularly in developing country contexts where economic constraints, political dynamics, and cultural hierarchies are prominent. The present study addresses this limitation by conceptualizing and validating a novel instrument to measure Public Sector Motivation (PSecM) which encompasses both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions of motivation specific to a public sector employment. Through three studies involving diverse samples from the Indian civil services, this research conceptualizes PSecM as a construct having three key dimensions: power to bring change, job security, and social respect, thereby highlighting that PSecM in India is driven by mixed motives, combining intrinsic aspirations for societal impact and extrinsic incentives tied to the unique characteristics of public sector jobs. Next, through a sequence of rigorous psychometric analysis, the study presents a valid measure of PSecM scale that has adequate psychometric properties as well as predictive validity. By providing a conceptual understanding of PSecM and developing a valid instrument to measure it, this study contributes to the broader discourse on public sector management and national development in resource-constrained environments.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Navigating “AI-powered immersiveness” in healthcare delivery: A case of Indian doctors

"Ritu Raj, Rajesh Chandwani"

AI-powered immersive technologies integrate into physical and digital workspaces, disrupting traditional professional roles. We address two research questions. First, what factors specific to immersive technology usage impact healthcare professionals' perceptions, leading to its adoption? Second, how does this adoption impact the professional identity of healthcare professionals? Through a qualitative study of 84 doctors, our study identifies key factors related to ICT, individuals, and organizations associated with AI-powered immersive technologies that influence adoption. ICT factors include enhanced surgical planning, real-time data integration, training, and ethical and privacy concerns. Individual factors include the perception of self and social presence within virtual environments. Organizational factors comprise how institutions design collaborative ecosystems, define accountability structures, and promote skill expansion. Based on the adoption of these technologies, we highlight four identities of adopters: Risk-Averse Adopters, Pragmatic Adopters, Informed Enthusiasts, and Technology Champions. Our study contributes to Immersive technology adoption literature by highlighting how different factors impact perceptions that drive doctors' adoption of these technologies. We also contribute to the literature on IS and Professional identity by highlighting that these technologies redefine professional identities. Our study offers practical insights for designing targeted training programs, inclusive adoption strategies, accountability frameworks, and data governance policies.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Internet of things in intralogistics: Applications and emerging research

"René de Koster, Debjit Roy, Yun Fong Lim, Subodha Kumar"

Managing the performance of intralogistics operations, that is logistics operations within facilities such as manufacturing plants, order fulfillment warehouses, ports and terminals, and retail stores, is critical in fulfilling customer expectations. Traditional decision-making for intralogistics operations is based on historical data, typically collected over long-range intervals with significant processing delays. However, nowadays, Internet of Things (IoT) applications are used to gather detailed real-time data to make dynamic decisions. These new data sources provide challenges and opportunities for operations management. We provide an overview of prominent IoT technologies in four domains: Manufacturing, warehousing, ports and terminals, retail, and other emerging areas. We discuss four prominent research questions (cutting across multiple application domains) that can be addressed using new data sources, along with the methodological approach and managerial insights that may result. In particular, IoT can improve the tracking and tracing of objects, equipment, and humans and provide rapid alerts, allowing managers to make real-time decisions and improve asset use, uptime, and profitability.

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Journal Articles | 2025

An identification-based understanding of team engagement in Global virtual Teams (GVTs)

"Farheen Fathima Shaik, Upam Pushpak Makhecha, Biju Varkkey, Sirish Kumar Gouda"

Because of globalization and technological advancements, organizations have adopted virtual work arrangements, specifically Global Virtual Teams (GVTs). This study conducted a 16-month ethnographic inquiry in a multinational enterprise to explore team engagement in GVTs. The findings indicate that GVT members often handle multiple roles across various teams and organizations and identify with these entities separately, thus displaying different levels of identification with roles, teams, and organizations. These three identification cascades affect other members' engagement and overall team engagement. Higher levels of identification with roles, teams, and organizations trigger a positive engagement contagion across the GVT, whereas a lower level of identification triggers a negative engagement contagion. We also identify four distinct configurations of GVT members, illustrating the complex nature of engagement dynamics in GVT settings. This identification-based understanding of engagement in GVTs contributes to the literature on team engagement and IS by highlighting the significance of understanding the sensitive dependence of GVT team engagement on members’ identification with their roles, teams, and organizations and subsequent engagement contagion.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Affirmative action and educational attainment of disadvantaged religious minorities: Evidence from India

"Mitul Surana, Rajnish Rai"

We examine whether affirmative action incentivizes a disadvantaged religious minority group in India to obtain additional years of education. We study the implementation of quotas in government hiring and university admissions for backward-class Muslims in 2007 in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Using a difference-in-differences approach that uses variation in exposure to the policy by age-cohort and social group, we find that these quotas increase educational attainment of the targeted population. Investigating the effects by gender, we find statistically significant and robust positive effects on the educational attainment of male members of the targeted Muslim groups, but not females.

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Journal Articles | 2025

The environmental value of an owned agile power source

"Sriram Sankaranarayanan, Felipe Feijoo, Saral Mukherjee"

As power systems transition towards low-carbon generation, the reliance on variable renewable energy sources introduces uncertainty in supply. To maintain reliability, flexible technologies capable of rapid ramp-up, referred to as agile technologies, are increasingly important. This study explores the economic and environmental implications of integrating such technologies into the portfolio of a profit-maximising renewable energy producer. A stylised model in which the producer commits to a supply contract before observing renewable output is developed. After production is realised, any supply shortfall is covered using agile technology or procured from expensive short-term markets. However, while agile technologies offer operational flexibility, they may be associated with significant greenhouse gas emissions, particularly when life-cycle impacts from material extraction or disposal are considered. Using a range of realistic scenarios, the results show that the expected total emissions could be smaller if the focal producer owns a smartly chosen portfolio of renewable and agile technology compared to when they own no agile technology. More importantly, it is shown that, even if such an agile technology has a higher emission rate than every other plant in the system, it could still be environmentally prudent for a renewable producer to own that agile technology. The findings suggest that renewable-agile portfolios can offer both economic and environmental gains, encouraging policymakers to adopt this approach even when LCA or some level of direct emissions exist.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Upward-tilted logos cue perceptions of unhealthiness

"Tanvi Gupta, Henrik Hagtvedt"

Logos are central to brand identity and image, and logo features such as spatial orientation can encourage desirable or undesirable perceptions of a company’s products. This research demonstrates that upward-tilted logos give rise to perceptions of unhealthiness—in food and other products—because of consumers’ learned associations between such logos and unhealthy products and brands, although the effect is eliminated for products taxonomically categorized as healthy. The investigation additionally rules out alternative mechanisms of safety and hedonic appeal. Two implicit association tests, a brand imagery dataset, and three experiments (as well as four studies in Supplemental Materials) provide supportive evidence. While contributing to literature on visual design, this research also provides practical insights for marketers seeking to incorporate health cues in their logos.

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Journal Articles | 2025

COVID-19 disruption and maternal and child health services: Evidence from India

"Ambrish Dongre, Mitul Surana"

To analyze the impact of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdowns on maternal and child health services in India and investigate whether certain population groups that are disadvantaged along social, economic and geographical dimensions experienced differential impacts.

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