IIM Indore seeks to be a contextually-relevant business school with world-class academic standards that develops socially-conscious managers, leaders and entrepreneurs. IIM Indore is committed to: Excellence in management education, research, and training, Use of contemporary participant-centric pedagogies and teaching methods, A presence in emerging segments of management education.

IIM Indore

Operation Management and Quantitative Techniques

Cloud computing and big data are the two important technology innovations which have the potential to restructure the value chain of telecom service providers. Apart from total cost saving, there are many operational and business objectives while adopting cloud computing technology into the telecom domain. Telecom service providers typically have terabytes of operational data available. When effectively analyzed, this information can help them to maintain consistent and appropriate service delivery across the seasonal peaks and valleys. Big data analytics offer telecom operators a real opportunity to gain a broad image of their day to day operations, customers, and more over organizations and innovative efforts to be taken. In this research paper we identify and list the key factors affecting the operational performance of a telecom contact center and the potential role of big data analytics and provenance in overcoming the performance bottlenecks. We present a case study evaluating how telecom companies can employ big data analytics in inbound and outbound contact centers for enhancement of operational performance. Results indicate that, despite of many challenges including lack of well-defined big data processing strategies, potential security threats and the need for workforce re-skilling, the use of opportunities of Big Data analytics in telecom domain is unprecedented.

TENCON 2017 - 2017 IEEE Region 10 Conference

Big data provenance and analytics in telecom contact centers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse interventions of various forms of organisations operating with the objective of connecting subsistence entrepreneurs (SEs) with the formal economy. This work also attempts to understand and analyse the transformational role played by these organisations. Finally, the paper aims to arrive at a conceptual framework for organisations interested in playing a transformational role.Design/methodology/approachThe paper deals with subsistence entrepreneurship and business models for subsistence economies. It draws from case studies of six organisations operating with the objective to connect subsistence entrepreneurs with formal economy. Each case chosen is unique with respect to the organisational form it takes to achieve the objective. However, a lot of similarity can be seen in the components of the business model adopted by these organisations.FindingsOrganisations which emerge keeping the context of rural producers in mind survive and support SEs in the long run. SEs need not always get converted into transformational entrepreneurs. However, with the help of organisations which collectivise SEs, they can interact with formal economy. Such organisations help large numbers of SEs to sustain and possibly move out of subsistence status over a period of time. These organisations have to fill the voids left by government or market institutions so as to create enabling conditions for SEs to thrive. Despite the efforts of the organisations, it is not possible for all SEs to move out of their subsistence status and existence in informal markets. However, it is possible in case of some SEs at least, as the institutional support gives them more certainty in incomes.Research limitations/ implicationsThe paper does not take a business model adopted by government institution for the purpose of analysis.Practical implicationsThe paper offers practical suggestions for organisations interested in collectivising SEs with the aim to improve their returns from market transactions.Originality/valueThe paper offers a conceptual framework to enrich the understanding of role played by organisations working towards collectivising SEs. It adds to the debate of subsistence entrepreneurship and transformational entrepreneurship. It elaborates the elements of social capital created by these organisations at the meso level. Finally, it re-emphasises the strengths of informal economy to support the customer value proposition for formal markets.

Marketing

Fulltext

Society and Business Review

Business models sustaining subsistence economies: Evidence from India

This paper addresses the fleet deployment problem and in particular the treatment of inventory in the maritime case. A new model based on time-continuous formulation for the combined maritime fleet deployment and inventory management problem in Roll-on Roll-off shipping is presented. Tests based on realistic data from the Ro-Ro business show that the model yields good solutions to the combined problem within reasonable time.

World University root node

International Conference on Computational Logistics

A new formulation for the combined maritime fleet deployment and inventory management problem

Kundu and Gupta [Analysis of hybrid life-tests in presence of competing risks. Metrica. 2007;65:159–170] provided the analysis of Type-I hybrid censored competing risks data, when the lifetime distributions of the competing cause of failures follows exponential distribution. In this paper, we consider the analysis of Type-II hybrid censored competing risks data. It is assumed that latent lifetime distributions of the competing causes of failures follow independent exponential distributions with different scale parameters. It is observed that the maximum likelihood estimators of the unknown parameters do not always exist. We propose the modified estimators of the scale parameters, which coincide with the corresponding maximum likelihood estimators when they exist, and asymptotically they are equivalent. We obtain the exact distribution of the proposed estimators. Using the exact distributions of the proposed estimators, associated confidence intervals are obtained. The asymptotic and bootstrap confidence intervals of the unknown parameters are also provided. Further, Bayesian inference of some unknown parametric functions under a very flexible Beta-Gamma prior is considered. Bayes estimators and associated credible intervals of the unknown parameters are obtained using the Monte Carlo method. Extensive Monte Carlo simulations are performed to see the effectiveness of the proposed estimators and one real data set has been analysed for the illustrative purposes. It is observed that the proposed model and the method work quite well for this data set.

Statistics

<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02331888.2017.1358271">Analysis of Type-II hybrid censored competing risks data</a>

The role of supply chain agility (SCA) and its effect on supply chain performance (SCP) is poorly recognised in the operations management literature. As the nature of supply chain is inclining towards high flexibility, the SCA becomes value enhancing, indicating its effective nature. This paper proposes a model linking supply chain orientation (SCO) and SCA with SCP. Cross sectional survey of 122 Indian manufacturers was carried out. The result indicates that SCO and SCA are directly and significantly related with SCP. The main contribution of the study is uncovering the mediation effect of SCA on the SCO–SCP link. The theoretical as well as managerial implications along with scope for future research and limitations of the study are also discussed.

Journal of Decision Systems

The mediation role of supply chain agility on supply chain orientation-supply chain performance link

PurposeDue to the ever increasing concern toward sustainability, suppliers nowadays are evaluated on the basis of environmental performances. The data on supplier’s performance are not always available in quantitative form and evaluating supplier on the basis of qualitative data is a challenging task. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for the selection of suppliers by evaluating them on the basis of both quantitative and qualitative data.Design/methodology/approachLiterature on sustainability, green supply chain and lean practices related to supplier selection is critically reviewed. Based on this, a two phase fuzzy goal programming approach integrating hyperbolic membership function is proposed to solve the complex supplier selection problem.FindingsResults obtained through the proposed approach are compared to the traditional models (Jadidi et al., 2014; Ozkok and Tiryaki, 2011; Zimmermann, 1978) of supplier selection and were found to be optimal as it achieves higher aspiration level.Practical implicationsThe proposed model is adaptive to solve real world problems of supplier selection as all criteria do not possess the same weights, so the managers can change the criteria and their weights according to their requirement.Originality/valueThis paper provides the decision makers a robust framework to evaluate and select sustainable supplier based on both quantitative and qualitative data. The results obtained through the proposed model achieve greater satisfaction level as compared to those achieved by traditional methods.

Benchmarking

A fuzzy goal programming approach for selecting sustainable suppliers

In this article, we consider the statistical inference of the unknown parameter of an exponential distribution based on the time truncated data. The time truncated data occurs quite often in reliability analysis for type-I or hybrid censoring cases. All results available today are based on the conditional argument that at least one failure occurs during the experiment. In this article, we provide some inferential results based on the unconditional argument. We extend the results for some two-parameter distributions.

American Journal of Mathematical and Management Sciences

<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01966324.2017.1302847">Interval estimation of the unknown exponential parameter based on time truncated data</a>

We study the posterior convergence behaviour of a precision matrix corresponding to a Gaussian graphical model in the high‐dimensional set‐up under sparsity assumptions. Recent works include studying posterior convergence rates of precision matrices assuming an approximate banding structure, and extension of such result to arbitrary decomposable graphical models using a transformation to Cholesky factor of the precision matrices. In this paper, we study the same for the wider class of arbitrary decomposable graphical models under similar sparsity assumptions using a G‐Wishart prior, but without the complications of using a Cholesky factor, and arrive at identical posterior convergence rates. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Stat

Posterior convergence rates for high-dimensional precision matrix estimation using G-Wishart priors

<h3>Purpose</h3>The purpose of this paper is to understand the dimensions of the e-fulfillment process and its influence on customers in pure e-tailing; to classify the pertinent literature that has evolved over time addressing relevant managerial issues; and to identify the gaps between the practices prevalent in the e-fulfillment and those suggested by academicians to develop insights for future research.<h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3>A critical systemic literature review approach was used for the study with quantitative and qualitative analysis.<h3>Findings</h3>The authors identified seven dimensions of e-fulfillment in the literature on pure e-tailing: e-business quality, product quality, pricing, availability, timeliness, condition and ease of return and explored its linkages with shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention of customers in e-tailing.<h3>Research limitations/implications</h3>The study was skewed toward an empirical approach. The study does not include many of the analytical models in this space.<h3>Practical implications</h3>This study helps e-tailers, academicians and practitioners understand critical dimensions of e-fulfillment and its influence on customers in the pure e-tailing setting in order to design customer-centric e-fulfillment architecture.<h3>Originality/value</h3>The study identified seven dimensions of e-fulfillment in the literature and explored its influence on shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention of customers in pure e-tailing. This is the first compilation of standalone/isolated studies available in the literature to provide e-tailers and academicians meaningful insights into e-fulfillment in the pure e-tailing setting.

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

E-fulfillment dimensions and its influence on customers in e-tailing: a critical review

Purpose This study aims to assist the project manager in minimising the material logistics cost of road project by planning the optimal movement of aggregate across three stages of supply chain: sourcing, processing and distribution. Design/methodology/approach The paper conceptualises the raw material consumption in a road project as a logistics network distribution problem. A linear programming (LP) formulation is constructed with appropriate decision variables by integrating the three stages of material movement. The series of LP scenarios are solved using an LP solver to decide the optimal movement of the aggregate to be consumed in different layers of road segments. Findings The results obtained from the model show that planning material logistics of an entire road project using optimisation provides substantial saving in logistics costs than using common sense. Further, the magnitude of cost saving improves as the complexity of the model increases in term of enormous feasible options. Practical implications The model shown in this paper may serve as a basis for planning the logistics of raw materials consumed in the road projects. The small improvement in material flows by optimising supply chain shows sensible cost benefit to the project manager and hence control and monitor the overall cost and activities of the project. The output of the model is also expected to help the project team as an input in the decision-making processes such as appropriate material sourcing contract, capacity assessment of material processing facility and transportation planning. Originality/value While the optimisation models are widely used and popular among the many industrial applications, this research shows distinct application of such a model in managing the logistics of the road construction project.