Arshinder Kaur

The rising construction output in India and its future potential, fuelled by rapid economic growth and socio-economic transitions, has necessitated sustainability integration into lifecycles of construction projects. The imperatives and implications of this integration transcend India's boundaries by influencing the global efforts in mitigating climate change and realizing the sustainable development goals. Yet, there is lack of studies that synthesize and critically evaluate the available literature to provide an overview of the current state of sustainable construction (SC) research in India and provide directions for future research. To this end, a systematic literature review (SLR) has been undertaken here using deductive content analysis. It reveals that the current SC research endeavours are predominantly oriented towards the macro-industry level, the environmental dimension and the internal stakeholders. Additionally, more emphasis has been provided on the final project deliverable compared to the project processes. Overall, this study makes three specific contributions: i) the current thrust areas of SC research in India have been identified while pointing out the imbalance in this academic pursuit; ii) a deductive content analysis framework has been developed that provides a generic template for conducting similar SLRs in the context of other countries; and iii) multiple research gaps have been identified and suggestions to design future studies are proposed based on extant SC literature, especially from similar developing economies. Therefore, despite its Indian focus, this review allows implications for other developing economies set for a similar socio-economic transition and growth in construction output.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to establish the importance of human resource (HR) practices in achieving high levels of supply chain (SC) integration through a conceptual framework (depicting the moderation effect of HR practices on the relationship between information sharing and SC integration) and validating the framework empirically to establish the proposed relationships. Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual framework is proposed based on gaps in extant literature. Data from 60 automobile component manufacturing organizations in India are used to analyse the relationship between the study variables. Regression analysis is used to find the relative impact of predictor variable (Information sharing) on SC integration and the moderation effect of HR practices (training, collaborative performance systems and reward alignment) on this relationship. FindingsThe results indicate that information sharing has a significant effect on SC integration, and the relationship between these two variables is found to be positively moderated by “training” and “reward alignment”, while “collaborative performance systems” does not emerge as a significant moderator in the proposed relationships. Research limitations/implicationsIt is expected that this study will contribute to both academics and practice. Along with extending the scope of research at the academic level, it is also expected to help practising managers to understand the importance of HR in SC, and to identify various HR practices which can be focused on to improve SC integration. Originality/valueThe framework and analysis presented in this paper help to provide an understanding of how HR practices of organizations can help in improving the relationship between information sharing and SC integration.

This study explores different perishable fresh fruit and vegetable (F&V) supply chain models and seeks to understand the issues and challenges that exist within the supply chains. A case study approach using qualitative methods was used to analyse the perishable F&V supply chains in a typical Indian metropolitan city. This study found that supply chain agents set their margins arbitrarily resulting in double marginalisation at each interface of the supply chains. Thus, double marginalisation and inefficiency in the domestic F&V supply chains results in massive wastage. F&V supply chains are impacted unequally and include food perishability, food quality and food safety based on the responsiveness of the supply chains. Insights found in this study will be useful, not only for F&V supply chain stakeholders, but also for policymakers to develop more efficient and responsive supply chain model in India and elsewhere with similar economic settings.

Extant project management literature suggests that project benefits management (PBM) can facilitate social sustainability (SS) through benefits formulation for a wider set of project stakeholders. However, empirical evidence regarding the actual extent of SS considerations in benefits formulation is lacking, especially from large developing economies like India. To fill this gap, a SS-centric analysis of PBM plans of 80 construction projects has been conducted using content analysis to identify the benefits targeted at the internal and external stakeholders, viz., workers and project-affected community. The analysis reveals much higher occurrences of benefits for the affected community compared to those relating to the workers. The project proponents have highlighted the social relevance of projects mostly through ‘trickle down benefits’ – that may possibly accrue to the affected communities due to project investment – as compared to ‘co-created benefits’ – that empower the affected communities but require a deeper understanding of their needs and aspirations. ‘Local employment’ and ‘local business and economic growth’ are the most common benefits across projects. Three areas of improvement have been suggested in the benefits formulation process from a SS perspective – mandating worker-specific benefits, more focus on co-created benefits and specifying numeric measures of benefits along with timelines, to facilitate assessment of actual benefits realization during project implementation and operation phases. This study contributes to research literature on sustainable project management. Its findings offer useful implications for researchers, policymakers and project proponent organizations.

Wastage in the perishable fresh produce fruits and vegetables supply chain from harvesting stage till it reaches the consumer is very high in emerging markets like India. Studies are inadequate in analysing the causal factors of food losses in this context. This study intends to identify the causes of food wastage, as well as the driving power and dependence of these causes and to analyse the interactions among them. This work proposes to use fuzzy MICMAC and total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) based approach which is a novel effort in this sector, to study the interactions. Based on review of literature and brainstorming among experts in the food industry and academia, this study identified 16 variables as the super-set of causal factors of food wastage which can represent all other causes within them. It is found that the lack of scientific methods in harvesting and a large number of intermediaries in the chain have high driving power and can be considered as the root causes of the food losses. This work categorises the causes into several levels that give an idea regarding the cause which needs more attention than others. Thereby it provides practical insights into how to improve efficiency, competitiveness, and profitability of the food supply chains. For a developing country like India, in addition to the economy, it can have greater implications on food security and conservation of environment resources. This work can be utilized by supply chain designers, managers, and policy makers.