Ganesh L S

Purpose: This paper aims to examine how knowledge transfer between individuals influences performance in product development (PD) organizations and whether this influence is contingent to the degree of novelty in the PD work. Design/methodology/approach: A set of hypotheses describing the relationships between knowledge transfer by codification (KTC), knowledge transfer by personalization (KTP) and performance is developed. It is hypothesized that performance decreases when KTC interacts with novelty, but improves when KTP and novelty interact. Survey-based data were collected from 287 knowledge workers across 19 PD units of Indian manufacturing companies, and multiple regression analyses were performed to test the hypotheses. Findings: Of the eight hypotheses stated, only one was supported by the data. KTP significantly influences the efficiency of PD work, highlighting the relative importance of personalized, as compared to repository-based, knowledge transfer to performance. No significant interaction effects of KTC/KTP with novelty were detected. Practical implications: The findings strongly suggest that PD work can benefit from interpersonal relationships and knowledge exchange, something that requires diligent cultural interventions. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, the contingent effects of novelty on the productivity of inter-individual knowledge transfer have received little, if any, attention to date. This study helps improve understanding of the nature of knowledge transfer that is best suited where the nature of work involves creativity. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

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.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand technology diffusion in the banking sector in India by analyzing ATM (automatic teller machine) technology and its replacement of the teller (labor). ATMs are fast emerging as an important IT investment for a bank in India. Hence, in this paper the authors use the ATM as a proxy for capital and the teller as a proxy for labor. Design/methodology/approach: The debate on the "IT paradox" is the motivation for this paper. The constant elasticity of substitution (CES) model is used, as the degree of substitution can be estimated. The degree of substitutability of one form of input for another namely, ATM (capital) for teller (labor), is discussed by developing an appropriate model to understand the same. Findings: The rapid diffusion of the ATM was clearly large from 1998, nine years after it was first adopted. This was also a time when the number of tellers was falling and the wage bill for tellers increasing. The CES production function model used in this paper is clearly a good predictor of the data compared with the other cases. The estimate shows that the degree of substitutability of the teller by the ATM is high. However, the ATM is not a perfect substitute. By running counterfactual experiments, it can be concluded that both a fall in the price of ATMs and an increase in the wage bill for tellers contributed to the diffusion of the ATM. Practical implications: The excess labor in public sector banks needs to be redeployed rapidly, or staff need to be trained in other functions as do private banks, so that they do not become redundant as technology diffuses. Originality/value: The paper is original in its data, its model building and testing in the banking sector. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand the influence of technology change in the banking sector by employing data envelopment analysis (DEA) and also to determine the change in total factor productivity (TFP) and its components, namely technical change and technical efficiency change. Design/methodology/approachThe DEA method has been used to assess the efficiency of the entire banking sector and the bank groups. The purpose has been to investigate TFP change and its components' (obtained using Malmquist index) influence on the growth in the banking sector as well as in the four bank groups. In doing so, for each bank group the levels of technical efficiency, technical efficiency change, efficiency change and TFP change have been estimated. Further investigation has been done to determine if significant differences in these exist between the different bank groups in terms of size, time period and ownership. The determinants of productivity have been assessed. FindingsThe TFP growth over the entire period (1995‐2006) was driven by technical change as compared to efficiency change, showing that technology and innovation had a greater impact than efficiency change, or the catch‐up effect. The fixed effects estimates of the determinants of TFP change and its components show that size, ownership and time period exert significant effect on technical change. Practical implicationsThe results of the analysis presented in this paper suggest that policies that result in efficiency change are likely to have little impact on the future prospects of the banking sector relative to policies that foster the adoption of the latest technologies. This has exactly been the focus of Reserve Bank of India and though some banks may consider it as an imposition of technology, the result of this requirement appears to be positive as is apparent from this paper's analysis. Originality/valueThe value of this paper comes from the empirical testing that in the Indian banking sector growth in the more recent period came from technology change or frontier shifts as compared to efficiency change. Also, growth is larger due to frontier shifts than due to efficiency change. This endorses Lucas' findings regarding the focus on the positive impacts of deregulation and competition in the Indian banking sector.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical factors (CFs) of ISO 14000; to determine if ISO 14000 certification results in improved organizational performance; and to analyze the levels of and changes in these CFs and levels of and changes in the indicators of organizational performance (IOPs) in relation to firm attributes considered in the present study. Design/methodology/approach - The study employs questionnaire-survey approach to obtain the practitioners' perceptions of ISO 14000 certification, levels of presence of CFs and changes in CFs due to certification, levels of presence of IOPs and changes in IOPs due to certification. The data collected have been analyzed by using statistical techniques. Findings - The firms regard the preparation for emergencies as an integral part of environmental management system (EMS), and they seem to initially struggle to identify environmental issues that are to be given higher importance. Further, the certified firms find it difficult to continuously improve their environmental management processes. There are significant changes in all the CFs and IOPs due to ISO 14000 certification. Furthermore, more-experienced firms have higher mean values of levels of all CFs, in comparison with less-experienced firms. In the course of time, these firms appear to understand the EMS and effectively implement it in order to realize long-term benefits. Research limitations/implications - Results of the study are dependent on the nature and number of respondents, i.e. on the perceptions of the top management responsible for quality certification, and the sample size (number of respondents in the current study is 36 due to limited response rate and other operational constraints). Practical implications - The present study would enable the practitioners to benchmark their organizations (in respect of levels of presence of CFs and levels of presence of IOPs) with those of their competitors, with the best-in-class, and also with the industry's mean level. The study also enables one to compare different categories of firms (e.g. firms with low, medium and high levels of turnover; national and international firms; etc.). Since, there is a significant improvement in the organizational performance due to certification, the study provides a strong empirical justification for non-certified firms to go in for ISO 14000 certification. Originality/value - The study conceptualizes ISO 14000 as a seven dimensional framework. Further, it has also identified several IOP related to ISO 14000 certified firms. A questionnaire has been developed to obtain the perceptions of top management about the ISO 14000 certification and related factors and indicators; the proposed instrument can be used for several purposes such as functional benchmarking. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Access to affordable, reliable and sustainable clean energy is vital to economic growth, environmental sustainability and ending extreme poverty in a country. Climate change also presents enormous challenges and opportunities for development, making it essential that energy and climate challenges be tackled in an integrated way. Cleaner energy has become essential for humanity now. The issue of clean energy in India requires to be studied through holistic review and analysis of current energy scenario including energy policies considering India's vast coal resources and renewable energy potential. This exploratory study draws upon comprehensive review of volumes of documents published by Government of India, Central Statistics Office, Central Electricity Authority and others. Based on the data from reputed and reliable sources, a synthesis of the Indian energy scenario is done. A careful analysis of several availability, production and consumption data of energy sources extends key insights on the drivers and some of the best practices followed. The analysis shows that India is still a fossil fuel driven economy while the efforts of policymakers for increasing renewable energy have only started to show green shoots. Some of the key drivers and best practices towards achieving the same emerge from the comprehensive review. Electric grid infrastructure, automation, availability and location of energy resources, changing social behaviour, economic prosperity, balancing of load and supply and the like are important issues to consider. The thrust for decentralised generation could prove to be a game changer for India.

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.