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3890 items in total found

Journal Articles | 2025

Picking the best bot: Collaboration strategies for humans and bots in order pick systems with traveling salesman problem routing

"Mahdi Ghorashi Khalilabadi, Debjit Roy, René de Koster"

The rapid growth of e-commerce has increased the demand for efficient order picking systems in large warehouses. To improve throughput performance, many facilities deploy autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) to assist human pickers. Warehouse throughput critically depends on the choice of human-robot collaboration policy. This study focuses on two popular policies: the swarm policy, in which pickers switch between AMRs while picking, and the system-directed policy, in which a picker completes an order with a single AMR. An analytical framework is developed to evaluate these policies. We model the swarm policy as a closed queuing network with a synchronization station, and we derive closed-form expressions for its steady-state probabilities and throughput given load-dependent service rates. The service rates of the network nodes are estimated by Monte Carlo simulation, accounting for stochastic travel times, varying order sizes, item allocation strategies, matching rules, and warehouse layouts. The analytical predictions are validated against detailed discrete-event simulations, with average relative errors below 2% in 12,000 instances. The results indicate that the swarm policy generally provides higher throughput than the system-directed policy, with gains increasing in the AMR-to-picker count and speed ratios. The system-directed policy is more effective when AMR and picker speeds are similar, the orders are large, and there is a limited number of AMRs. Managerial insights are provided to guide policy choice.

Funding: This research is part of the Sharehouse Project, which was cofinanced and supported by the Dutch Research Council NWO, the Dutch Ministry of I&W, the Taskforce for Applied Research SIA, the Dutch Topsector Logistics, and TKI Dinalog [Project 439.18.452].

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Journal Articles | 2025

Consumption and borrowing: Land-holding inequality and the effects of cash transfers

"Abhishek Shaw, Sawan Rathi, Anindya S. Chakrabarti"

A rich literature shows that in developed countries, cash windfalls increase consumption and are often used to pay off debt. Does inequality influence how cash transfers affect consumption and borrowing, in developing countries? In this paper, we study an unconditional cash transfer program for agricultural landowners in India in a quasi-natural experiment set up. In aggregate, cash transfers led to an increase in consumption alongside increase in borrowings on the extensive margin. Farmers with large land holdings increased only bank borrowings, whereas small and marginal farmers increased both consumption and borrowing from banks – with heterogeneous effects across quartiles. There are no effects on landless agricultural laborers. These effects appear after cash disbursement and not when the announcement was made. Our results suggest that as landholding size increases, households tend to respond more through formal borrowing than consumption.

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Working Papers | 2025

Non-Disclosure Agreements and Confidentiality Clauses

M P Ram Mohan, Siddhartha Shukla, Julie Farley and Prem Vinod Parwani

This note aims to provide an overview of Non-Disclosure Agreements and Confidentiality clauses contrasting Indian law with key issues under English law. It examines the doctrinal framework protecting confidential information, which is a “patchwork of remedies” derived from contract law, intellectual property law, and common law. It defines and distinguishes the different forms of obligations to protect confidential information, outlines the remedies for breach and sets out some practical drafting considerations that are peculiar to the considerations of business parties in NDAs.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Mental health consumption: Tracing the past and preparing for the future in a digital age

"Rajeev Kumar Ray, Ishita Vyas, Rajesh Chandwani, Mayank Kumar"

In an era where digital platforms are reshaping healthcare delivery, we have also seen the rise of online platforms for mental health consumption. While the literature on consumer behaviour in an online context is rich, mental health consumption presents a unique context requiring attention to personal health-related dynamics alongside the larger aspect of online consumption. This motivates the current study to conduct a multi-method study for understanding the phenomenon of online mental health consumption. We combine a systematic review of 105 articles (2014–2024) with topic modelling of 168,040 user reviews from mental health applications. We theorise how the logic of choice and care are at work in online mental health consumption. Our findings reveal a complex and dynamic interplay of ‘choice’-related enablers and ‘care’-related inhibitors, shaping online mental health consumption behaviour. While online platforms offer ‘choice’ for consuming mental health services by overcoming traditional barriers related to stigma and accessibility, their uptake at the same time is challenged by the emerging care-related factors such as trust and privacy concerns. An analysis of user reviews further reveals that consumer experiences focus on the service delivery quality, personalised user interfaces and technical platform reliability, which collectively demonstrate how users navigate between autonomous choice making and professional care expectations. This apparent tension between the ‘logics’ in mental health consumption online also informs the larger online consumption behaviour literature about attending to the constantly evolving, often competing logic in online platforms.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Frontline workers in India’s tuberculosis (TB) elimination efforts: A street-level bureaucracy perspective

"Vanita Singh, Rajesh Chandwani, Viswanath Pingali, Alpa Dalal"

Background

India’s fight against Tuberculosis (TB) has evolved from the National Tuberculosis (TB) Control Program (NTCP) in 1962 to the current National TB Elimination Program (NTEP), guided by the National Strategic Plan (2020–2025). Despite ambitious goals, TB incidence remains high at 199 cases per lakh, with only a 3% annual reduction, far from the 15% target. Systemic issues, especially in human resources, hamper effective policy implementation. Frontline workers (FWs), crucial to the program, face heavy workloads, inadequate upgradation of training, and limited support, yet their voices are rarely heard. This study uses Lipsky’s Street-Level Bureaucracy (SLB) theory to explore FWs’ challenges under NTEP and offers insights to strengthen India’s TB elimination efforts.

Method

Twenty-three in-depth interviews were conducted with frontline workers (FWs) in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, a TB hotspot. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and thematically coded using a deductive approach informed by Lipsky’s Street-Level Bureaucracy (SLB) theory.

Results

Three key themes emerged: (1) TB program-specific contextual challenges, (2) human resource constraints, and (3) leadership support. Consistent with street-level bureaucracy theory, frontline workers, despite the formal constraints of their contractual employment, exercised practical discretion to manage high workloads, adverse working conditions, and limited resources.. Supervisory leadership style influenced worker attitudes, transformational leadership fostered motivation and greater engagement with program activities , whereas transactional leadership was linked to dissatisfaction and program alienation.

Conclusion

Difficult working conditions coupled with resource deficits hinder effective program implementation. However, supervisory leadership significantly shapes FWs’ engagement with program objectives, highlighting its critical role in advancing TB elimination efforts. We recommend improving working conditions for TB health workers by addressing staff shortages, offering risk-based incentives such as paid leave, medical insurance, and nutritional support, and ensuring safer workplaces. Additionally, effective leadership training for District TB Officers, City TB Officers, and Medical Officers, along with recognition and capacity-building for frontline workers such as TB Health Visitors (TBHVs), is crucial.

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Journal Articles | 2025

From Buzz to Burnout and beyond: The journey from Engagement to Workholism and the quest for Balanced Employee Engagement (BEE)

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

In this paper, we trace the evolution of engagement from personal ‘engagement’ to the modern concept of employee engagement. Through our archeological and genealogical evaluation of different conceptualizations of engagement, we illustrate the discursive processes that allow initially emancipatory concepts to be gradually absorbed and co-opted by profit-maximizing interests, with potential for dysfunctional consequences and its implications on Human Resource Development. Our findings suggest that over time, the boundaries of workaholism have blurred due to the normalization of engagement as a driver of organizational success, which has led to the commodification of employees and the socialization of capitalism in organizations. We propose “Balanced Employee Engagement” (BEE), a balanced approach toward engagement by being both employee and organization-centric and accommodating periodic disengagement as a part of being engaged. This would require HRD professionals to evaluate employee engagement tools critically and develop strategies that allow for periods of disengagement and psychological detachment from work.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Does carlessness degrade older adults’ quality of life?Insights from India and takeaways for transportation equity

"Sandip Chakrabarti, Jayanth Kumar Narsim"

The rapid aging of the global population warrants multidisciplinary research on factors influencing the quality of life of older adults, with the goal of creating old-age-friendly cities and communities. We investigate whether lack of car ownership or “carlessness” is associated with reduced life satisfaction and increased depression – and hence degraded quality of life – among older adults and analyze whether depression mediates the carlessness-life satisfaction relationship. We use nationally representative data comprising more than 31,000 persons aged 60 years or more from India, a country experiencing rapid population aging as well as car adoption. We employ OLS regression along with mediation analysis using Structural Equation Modeling techniques (SEM and GSEM) to analyze the associations and mechanisms. We find that carlessness is associated with lower life satisfaction (measured using the SWLS) and higher levels of depression (measured using the CES-D scale) and that depression partially mediates the carlessness-life satisfaction relationship. Carlessness-related life satisfaction degradation is greatest among the oldest age cohort and women. Women are most vulnerable to carlessness-induced depression. Depression amplifies life dissatisfaction the most among relatively younger cohorts, men, and urban residents. Our study underscores the need for policy action to delink the car ownership and accessibility advantage connection for simultaneously addressing life satisfaction declines and mental health disorders among carless older adults. Since structural transformations in land use and transportation systems take time, policymakers should urgently recognize and address carlessness-induced depressive symptoms using medical or social support interventions to enable carless older adults to lead relatively more satisfying lives. Preventing transportation-related degradations in older adults’ quality of life is imperative for promoting transportation equity.

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Journal Articles | 2025

Analysis of the spatial range advantage of vehicle owners and its implications on vehicle ownership aspirations: Insights from India and takeaways for transportation equity

"Sandip Chakrabarti, Muskan Verma"

The existence, causes, and consequences of the accessibility advantage offered by personal motorized vehicles relative to alternative modes have been explored in the literature. We use data from a relatively understudied geographical context to estimate the magnitude and analyze the implications of the disparity in spatial range, specifically the 60-min travel range – i.e., the maximum distance that can be covered, on average, via the multimodal transportation network – between personal motorized vehicle owners and non-owners. A higher travel range within a specified time window may indicate greater accessibility to opportunities. We use nationally representative survey data comprising over 178,000 households across India to first examine whether and to what extent household vehicle ownership is associated with a relative 60-min travel range advantage. Using an experience- and perception-based measure of household-level travel range, we find that the 60-min travel range of vehicle-owning households is at least 10 % more than vehicle-less households. This travel range advantage is relatively greater in rural and low-density areas and locations with limited public transit services. Next, we analyze whether the 60-min travel range determines the aspiration of owning a household vehicle. In urban areas, a one-km lower 60-min travel range is associated with about 5 % higher odds of aspiring to own a car. Our analysis highlights that existing vehicle owners in India enjoy a potential spatial travel range advantage relative to non-owners, and that this advantage promotes latent demand for vehicle ownership in urban areas. Closing the gap can ensure equity in accessibility and reduce personal vehicle dependence.

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Journal Articles | 2025

The Proustian predicament in trademark law: Charting the legal recognition of olfactory marks

"M P Ram Mohan, Pratishtha Agarwal"

Journal Articles | 2025

Reaping IT externality benefits across business units in multibusiness firms

Taha Havakhor, Mohammad Saifur Rahman, Pankaj Setia

The indirect productivity gains related to information technology (IT), known as IT externalities, in inter-firm contexts have been extensively studied. However, the impact of IT investments within a business unit (BU) of a multibusiness firm on the productivity of other BUs remains unclear. Additionally, the conditions that facilitate such intra-firm externalities are not well understood. Research on resource externalities within multibusiness firms typically focuses on capacity-sharing benefits, where unused capacity in one unit can be utilized by another. IT resources, however, often lack capacity-sharing potential due to their full utilization or contractual limitations. Despite this, IT resources can generate non-rivalrous intangibles, such as internally developed applications, expertise, and consulting know-how, which can be shared within the firm to create externalities. This study investigates whether IT centralization (ITC), as a vertical coordination mechanism, is effective in harnessing IT externality potential arising from IT portfolio similarities (ITPSs), a form of horizontal coordination, across BUs. Utilizing data from 8,374 unique units within 866 firms from 2005 to 2020, we find that BUs must meet two conditions—higher ITPS and higher levels of ITC—to realize greater intra-firm IT externality benefits. Furthermore, these benefits accrue from IT investments made by units with a sufficient number of IT employees. Interestingly, BUs with limited access to IT employees gain more from pooled IT investments. Our findings suggest that concurrent vertical and horizontal coordination, along with access to human talent for creating knowledge, code, and expertise from digital resources, are crucial for maximizing digital resource externalities.

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IIMA