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3819 items in total found

Journal Articles | 2019

Attitudinal choice models with applications in human decision making

Manish Aggarwal

International Journal of Intelligent Systems

A new family of attitudinal discrete choice models is proposed by considering the attitudinal character and the weight vector, both of which are specific to a decision maker (DM). Given the attribute values of different alternatives, the proposed models give varying choice probabilities, as per the DM's-specific attitudinal character and the weight vector. It is also shown that the conventional discrete choice models are the special cases of the proposed attitudinal models. The proposed choice models are also generalized through an additional parameter to add to their capabilities. An application on real data is included to demonstrate their usefulness in the real world.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Strategizing in small informal retailers in India: Home delivery as a strategic practice

Atul Arun Pathak and George Kandathil

Asia Pacific Journal of Management

Small informally organized family-owned grocery retailers—kiranas—are ubiquitous in India and have retained market dominance while facing increasing competition from large formally organized retailers (FORs). Yet, strategy literature has under-explored such informal businesses. We explore kiranas’ distinct strategic practices that give them competitive advantage over FORs, generating kiranas’ sustained market dominance. To explore kiranas’ informal strategizing, grounded theoretic analysis of our multi-year case study suggested the employment of strategy as practice (SAP) framework, enriched with the social exchange theory (SET) concepts of trust and reciprocity. We find that the kiranas’ sustained enactment of strategic practice such as free-of-charge home-delivery significantly depends on contextually rich, reciprocity-based social exchange relationships with customers which evolve through praxes involving continuous exchange of trust. The practice enactment and exchange relationships constitute strategy-practitioner’s emerging dual-identity, which in turn reinforces the practices, generating a self-reinforcing cycle of practice enhancement. Within this cyclic relationship, an inimitable enactment of a strategic practice can be a key source of competitive advantage for informally organized small retail retailers over large FORs. By linking two unconnected prominent approaches to understanding patterns of workplace interactions, namely SAP and SET, the study opens theoretical avenues for exploring strategizing of informal businesses.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Non-optimality of state by state monopoly pricing with demand uncertainty: An example

James Peck and Jeevant Rampal

Economics Letters

This paper considers a monopoly’s profit maximizing problem, where there is a continuum of consumers with unit demand, and valuations are given by one of two possible demand distributions/states. The firm’s problem is to maximize profits by choosing an optimal mechanism among direct revelation mechanisms that satisfy interim incentive compatibility and ex-post individual rationality. We show that setting the monopoly price in each demand state may not be optimal.

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Journal Articles | 2019

An examination of factors driving big 4 audit fee premiums: Evidence from India's audit market

Joshy Jacob, Naman Desai, and Sobhesh Kumar Agarwalla

Accounting Horizons

This study examines fee premiums earned by Big 4 auditors in India and identifies the primary reason for such fee premiums. There are three primary drivers of Big 4 fee premiums. Big 4 auditors charge a fee premium for their reputation, for providing a superior quality of audit, and for indemnifying losses for a company's stakeholders. Since the risk of auditor litigation in India is relatively low, Big 4 premiums in India would not be driven by the need for auditors to indemnify losses. The results indicate that Big 4 auditors earn significantly higher fees in India and also that their clients enjoy significantly higher earnings response coefficients compared to non-Big 4 clients. However, there is no difference in the quality of audit provided by Big 4 and non-Big 4 auditors as measured by the magnitude of reported discretionary accruals.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Trust in humanitarian operations: a content analytic approach for an Indian NGO

Prakash Awasthy, K.V. Gopakumar, Sirish Kumar Gouda, and Tanushree Haldar

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PRODUCTION RESEARCH

Trust between partners, a key element enabling coordination across supply chains, has recently started gaining attention in humanitarian operations literature. Yet, empirical examination of this concept is scant. Borrowing from extant literature on trust within organisational behaviour stream, this paper aims to empirically verify trust formation types: companion, competence and commitment, in a disaster relief supply chain using primary and secondary data from an Indian Humanitarian relief organisation (HRO). Further, we identify variations in trust formation during disaster relief activities and developmental programmes, and between upstream and downstream partners of a humanitarian relief organisation. Based on the results of our content analysis, we contend that while companion based trust is significantly more prevalent during developmental programmes, competence based trust is important during both disaster periods and otherwise. We also find that there are significant differences in the trust formation between upstream and downstream partners and the HRO. This study has significant theoretical and practical implications on identifying the role of trust in humanitarian operations.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Can subordinate voice prevail with abusive supervision? A conceptual model using conservation of resources perspective

K.V. Gopakumar and Sweta Singh

Management Research Review

Purpose

Drawing from conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to explain why certain voice types prevail while other voice types are inhibited in the presence of abusive supervision.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper surveys extant literature on abusive supervision, employee voice and COR theory and provides propositions linking abusive supervision and types of voice behaviours.

Findings

The paper develops a conceptual model linking abusive supervision and three types of subordinate voice behaviours – prosocial, defensive and acquiescent voices. It identifies psychological distress as a mediator and locus of control as a moderator to this relationship.

Originality/value

This paper deepens our present understanding of abusive supervision and voice relationship by explaining why only certain voice types prevail with abusive supervision while others do not. While extant literature concluded abusive supervision only as an inhibitor of voice behaviours, the present study identifies how abusive supervision could both inhibit and motivate different voice behaviours. Further, it links abusive supervision to multiple voice types, diverting from extant literature linking abusive supervision to only constructive voice. Lastly, this study contributes to resource acquisition strategies within COR theory.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Improving the measurement of school climate using item response theory

Sarah Lindstrom Johnson, Ray E. Reichenberg, Kathan Shukla, Tracy E. Waasdorp, and Catherine P. Bradshaw

Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice

The U.S. government has become increasingly focused on school climate, as recently evidenced by its inclusion as an accountability indicator in the Every Student Succeeds Act. Yet, there remains considerable variability in both conceptualizing and measuring school climate. To better inform the research and practice related to school climate and its measurement, we leveraged item response theory (IRT), a commonly used psychometric approach for the design of achievement assessments, to create a parsimonious measure of school climate that operates across varying individual characteristics. Students (n = 69,513) in 111 secondary schools completed a school climate assessment focused on three domains of climate (i.e., safety, engagement, and environment), as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. Item and test characteristics were estimated using the mirt package in R using unidimensional IRT. Analyses revealed measurement difficulties that resulted in a greater ability to assess less favorable perspectives on school climate. Differential item functioning analyses indicated measurement differences based on student academic success. These findings support the development of a broad measure of school climate but also highlight the importance of work to ensure precision in measuring school climate, particularly when considering use as an accountability measure.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Grade configuration is associated with school-level standardized test pass rates for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-grade students

Marisa Malone, Dewey G Cornell, and Kathan Shukla

School Effectiveness and School Improvement

Educators and researchers have long debated the best grade configuration grouping for middle grade students. This study examined school-level differences in reading and mathematics standardized test pass rates for students placed in middle schools versus alternative grade configurations. Latent growth modeling was conducted separately for 6th, 7th, and 8th grades across a 3-year sampling period. Sixth-grade pass rates were significantly higher in elementary schools (e.g., Kindergarten–7th grade) than in middle schools for reading (78.9% vs. 72.0%) and mathematics (82.5% vs. 76.3%). Seventh-grade pass rates in elementary schools were also significantly higher than in middle schools for reading (78.5% vs. 75.9%) and mathematics (83.1% vs. 69.2%). Eighth-grade pass rates were significantly higher in middle schools than in high schools (e.g., 8th–12th grade) for both subjects (74.7% vs. 70.0% for reading, 63.3% vs. 52.0% for mathematics). These findings suggest that students benefit from remaining in elementary school through at least 7th grade.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Medical negligence and law application of the Bolam and Bolitho rules in India

M P Ram Mohan and Vishakha Raj

Economic and Political Weekly

India has adopted the Bolam rule from the United Kingdom and has been using it to adjudicate cases of medical negligence. The evolution of the Bolam rule in the UK as well as the way the rule is applied in India by the Supreme Court reflects a balance between judicial intervention and deference to medical expertise. Although it is settled that it is the courts and not medical experts who must finally decide on whether the conduct of a doctor is negligent, the standards to be used when evaluating expert evidence and the extent to which such cases must be deferred to are evolving. The Supreme Court has not clearly stated the judicial standard against which it will test these differing opinions of medical experts and has not been consistent in its willingness to do so. Therefore, the application of the Bolam rule in India has been inconsistent and this is likely to have an impact on the decisions made by medical practitioners.

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Journal Articles | 2019

Nuclear energy safety, regulatory independence, and judicial deference: The case of the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board of India

M P Ram Mohan, K V Gopakumar, and Tyson Smith

Administration & Society

Research examining regulatory independence has either suggested de jure independence to be a predictor of de facto independence or suggested that the presence of de jure may not always indicate de facto independence. We study the Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to emphasize how AERB has enjoyed de facto independence, even in the absence of de jure independence. Using “judicial deference” principle, and through a mapping of substantive court cases, the article demonstrates Indian judiciary has consistently applied deference to AERB’s decision-making process, thereby showing confidence in the nuclear regulatory regime sustained as its inception.

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