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2769 items in total found

Working Papers | 1976

Effectiveness of Varying Sales Style on Consumer Orientations

T. V. Rao and Misra Sasi B

Using the role-play technique, the effect of four different sales orientations on customers with four different need patterns was examined. In a factorial design, product centred, company-centred, customer-centred, and self-centred salespersons interacted with strong need, marginal need, no need, and negative need consumers. Each salesperson-customer pair interacted for a period of ten minutes during which the salesperson attempted to sell a radio set to the customer. Neither the salesperson nor the customer was aware of the other's orientation. The study was conducted separately on two different samples; three groups of salesmen and three groups of students with eight persons in each group. Data obtained from both samples were quite similar. Results indicated that product-centred salespersons made more positive impact on consumers followed by customer-centred and the company-centred. Self-centred salespersons had relatively low impact. Furthermore, product-centred salespersons made relatively more impact on low-need customers while company-centred salespersons were better off with high-need customers. Customer-centred salespersons showed more consistency in the impact they made than the other three types, indicating that they are likely to be consistently effective irrespective of the need patterns of customers.

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Working Papers | 1976

Higher Education in India: Trends and Bibliography

Rao M L and T. V. Rao

Here an attempt is made to examine critically the existing literature on higher education in India and to explore the missing gaps for further research. A classification of these researches is done into eighteen areas. An annotated bibliography of more than three hundred references is also given.

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Working Papers | 1976

Properties of Competing Organizations

Khandwalla P N

Competition between organizations is a pervasive feature of many societies. It is structurally present when the pay-off relations between alternative uses of resources and/or alternative suppliers are zero sum or variable sum. Competition affects the structure and functioning of competing organizations by making multiple and often contradictory demands on them, such as for quick adaptation to the moves of rivals, for creative actions to outride rivals, for efficiency, for insulating the organization from future attacks, etc. Although the intensity of competition depends partly on structural factors like the number and size distribution of rivals and the sophistication of their rivals, it also is a decision variable and depends upon the ideological and other choices the managements of competing organizations make. Competitive conduct takes several forms. What form it takes depends upon a host of structural factors as well as upon the preferences of the managements of the competing organizations. Both the form and the intensity of competitive conduct has important administrative consequences.

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Working Papers | 1976

Patterns of MRTP Judgements (Relating To Restrictive Trade Practices) - A Preliminary Analysis

Khurana Rakesh and Dholakia Nikhilesh

In this paper judgements of Monopoly and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission relating to Restrictive Trade Practices are analysed. This paper reports the analysis of these cases (29) on a number of indicators like nature of applicants and respondents, nature of allegations and distribution of allegations by nature of Restrictive Trade Practices and by product classification, nature of MRTPC orders etc. Even though, the number of cases decided so far and available to us are not sufficient to make any definite assessment regarding the pattern of MRTP judgements, ti is possible to discern certain interesting trends. Firstly, all the cases pertain to relationships between manufacturers and dealers or marketers and their contractual producers. The overall trends of these 29 judgments seem to indicate that the control exercised by the manufacturers on dealers through legal agreements has somewhat relaxed. It would, however, be of interest to investigate whether the actual relationships in the market place have undergone any change as a result of the orders passed. It is too early to say what impact this apparent transfer of power from manufacturers to distributors would have on the market structure, conduct and performance. This paper has made a beginning in the direction of analysing patterns of MRTPC decisions by the creation of an Information System, for coding, storing and retrieving the pertinent data regarding applicants, respondents, nature of allegations, nature of decisions and other useful information. We hope to gain several useful insights regarding the impact of the MRTP Act on market structure and marketing practices as the data base for this information system expands.

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Working Papers | 1976

Corporate Investment in 1976: A Forecast

C Rangarajan

Investment in the corporate sector showed a substantial decline during 1975. However, the prospects for 1976 appear to be better even though corporate investment in 1976 may not exceed the level attained in 1974. The study entailed an analysis of all the projects sanctioned by the all India Term Lending institutions. Capital expenditures incurred on all projects sanctioned by those institutions during 1974 amounted to Rs 681 crores. But during 1975 these expenditures came down to Rs 487 crores, thus indicting a steep fall in corporate investment in 1975. As of now the capital expenditure during 1976 would be of the order of Rs 444 crores. If we add to this the expenditure that are likely to be incurred on products to be approved during 1976 itself, one can hope for the corporate investment in 1976 to reach at best the level attained in 1974.

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Working Papers | 1976

Elicitation of Subjective Probabilities in the Context of Decision-Making

Sarin R K

In this paper a framework is developed to seek information from the decision-maker about uncertain events, and to use this information for identifying a preferred alternative. Existing methods are examined critically to determine the best strategy for eliciting subjective probabilities int he context of decision-making. It is shown how a preferred alternative can be identified with less than perfect knowledge of the probabilities.

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Working Papers | 1976

A Village in South Gujarat

Girja Sharan

The note contains impressions of visit to a rural area with a view to prepare a lecture on role of science and technology in rural development.

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Working Papers | 1976

Scope of Agricultural Economics and Role of Agricultural Economics

George P S

The paper presents the view that the scope of agricultural economics should cover the problems of the rural people and the institutions needed to solve their problems. This broader definition of the scope implies that emphasis should be placed on multi-disciplinary activities. It is also argued that training programmes in agricultural economics should be problem-oriented so that the relevance of various concepts can be appreciated by the students. The paper also reviews the role of agricultural economists as teachers, researchers and policy analysts and suggests some measures for performing these roles effectively.

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Working Papers | 1976

Corporate Planning in the Context of National Planning

C Rangarajan

The concept of a mixed economy, as practised in India, by its very definition limits the area of operations of the private sector. But the national plan, viewing the economy as a whole both from the short run and the long run point of view indicates the appropriate fields of development for the firms in the private sector as well. Depending on the vigour with which the policy instruments are sued, these indications can become much more than mere expectations. However, the targets set in any plan for the various industries and sectors must be treated with some circumspection. This caution applies as much to industries in the public sector as they are to those in private sector. First of all the targets set for various industry groupings are highly aggregative and therefore must be broken into productwise demand. Second, the implications of the physical targets laid down in the plan need to be translated into economic and financial terms to determine the profitability or otherwise of entering a particular field. Finally, the targets set for the various industries are highly interdependent and shortfalls in the output of some of the crucial sectors can completely upset the targets set for most of the industries. Our past plan experience quite clearly warns us to be on the guard on this score. It is only legitimate that a corporate planner should treat the national plan as given and make his own schemes of expansion in that context. But at the same time, it is important for him to understand the strategy and assumptions underlying the national plan because that will enable him to quickly reassess the segment of the plan he is interested in, if some of the underlying assumptions go wrong. In this he might be even a few steps ahead of the national planners, if he is perceptive enough Without doubt, the plan provides the broad framework within which the corporate planner can draw his own plans. But in so doing he cannot escape from making his own judgment on the key assumptions of the plan.

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Working Papers | 1975

Production Function in Indian Sugar Industry

Gupta G S and Patel Kirit

The purpose of the study is to (a) examine the degree of substitutability between labour and capital, (b) estimate returns to scale, (c) compute the factors' marginal productivities and relative contribution to output and to (d) test the predictive ability of the estimated relationship. These objectives are pursued with the aid of annual time series data for the period 1946 to 1966. Both inter-regional and inter-temporal comparisons have been attempted. The multiple regression technique is applied to various forms of the production functions. It is found that the elasticity of factor substitution is unity in the Indian Sugar Industry. It has experienced increasing returns to scale. Labour as a factor of production is more important both in terms of marginal productivity and contribution to the output and it is more efficient in all-India than in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and more in Bihar than in Uttar Pradesh. All these findings imply that there is a good scope for employment of more labour and the expansion of sugar industry in India. The paper suggests that the output of a manufacturing industry can reasonably be forecasted through the multiple regression technique.

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