Papers by Padmakumar Nair
Building Trust to Develop a Sustainable Sharing Economy Model: A Case Study of a Social Enterprise
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2024
On the efficacy of teaching materials science to managers
Institutionalizing Sustainability Mindset amongst Stakeholders: Case of Interface Carpet
Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2017
Reframing has been widely seen as a communication, negotiation and decision making tool for leade... more Reframing has been widely seen as a communication, negotiation and decision making tool for leaders and managers but it is seldom seen as a tool for instilling sustainability mindset. By using grounded theory approach, we explored the use of reframing, by its founder, Ray Anderson, in institutionalizing a sustainability mindset among the various stakeholders of the biggest carpet tiles manufacturer in the world, Interface Inc. This case was chosen because Interface is one of the very few successful examples of a traditional energy intensive manufacturing company moving to one with a focus on sustainability. Back in 1994, very few businesses understood the importance of adopting sustainable business practices. Our study discovered that the leader effectively used stakeholder specific reframing based on the role expected from the various stakeholders of his firm to develop a sustainability mindset across the value chain while surpassing all economic downturns and maintaining the position of Interface as a m...
Metastability and pore-structure stability in nanostructured oxides
Journal of Physical Chemistry A, Sep 1, 1998
An effective one-electron quantum chemical method was applied to enumerate the conformers of unbr... more An effective one-electron quantum chemical method was applied to enumerate the conformers of unbranched aliphatic alkanes. The results obtained for butane, pentane, hexane, and heptane were utilized to derive four rules with which the number and sequences of the existing conformers up to undecane could be reproduced. The validity of the rules was confirmed at Hartree-Fock and second-order Moeller-Plesset levels too. Full ab initio conformational analyses were performed for the butane, pentane, hexane, heptane, and octane molecules. The rules demonstrate that the most important factors governing the conformational behavior of unbranched aliphatic alkanes are the nonbonded repulsive-attractive (van der Waals) interactions between the hydrogen atoms attached to the carbon atoms at positions 1,4; 1,5; 1,6; and 1,7. The calculated gasphase standard heats of formation of the unbranched aliphatic alkanes closely matched the experimental values.
Aiche Journal, 1997
Parameters and/or processes responsible for the stability of catalyst supports and ceramic membra... more Parameters and/or processes responsible for the stability of catalyst supports and ceramic membranes are discussed. Two major parameters/processes were identified which are responsible for the stabiliv of sol-gel derived nanostmctured oxides at elevated temperatures. They are metastable-to-stable phase transformation and structure and packing of primary particles within the aggregate. Based on these obseruatwns, strategies to develop thermostable nanostmctured oxides for high-temperature membrane and catalyst applications are discussed by taking titania and titania-alumina nanocomposites as examples.
Materials Research Bulletin, 1999
An effective technique for obtaining near-theoretical density niobium oxide by utilizing the crit... more An effective technique for obtaining near-theoretical density niobium oxide by utilizing the critical nuclei size effect is reported. Dense nanostructured niobium oxide with more than 99% of the theoretical maximum and an average grain size of less than 90 nm was produced by sintering during a metastable-to-stable phase transformation at 650°C. The tendency of the particulate system to reach the critical nuclei size by reducing the surface energy through the replacement of solid-gas interface by solid-solid interface (densification process) is one of the main reasons for this excellent sintering behavior.
Influence of solid-state transformation time on the nucleation and growth of silicalite 1 prepared from layered silicate
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 1998
The nucleation and crystal growth of silicalite 1 precursors synthesized by solid-state transform... more The nucleation and crystal growth of silicalite 1 precursors synthesized by solid-state transformation were studied using X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, 29Si and 13C NMR and electron microscopy. Silicalite 1 was obtained after 16 h at 130°C in a closed glass ...
Microstructure and phase transformation behavior of doped nanostructured titania
Materials Research Bulletin, Oct 1, 1999
Microstructure and phase transformation behavior of doped nanostructured titania has been studied... more Microstructure and phase transformation behavior of doped nanostructured titania has been studied with a view to understanding the microstructural development for possible applications in the areas of catalysis and electronic ceramics. Sol-gel derived anatase titania gel was used as the precursor. Anatase-to-rutile transformation was studied using differential thermal analysis (DTA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The nanostructural development was monitored using
Materials Research Innovations, Oct 1, 1998
Factors, both physical and chemical, influencing the pore-structure stability of high temperature... more Factors, both physical and chemical, influencing the pore-structure stability of high temperature catalysts and/or catalyst supports were discussed with a view to formulate strategies to design and develop high temperature catalyst supports. Factors influencing the sintering behavior and techniques to manipulate them are discussed. Chemical ways of modifying porosity reduction behavior can lead to changes in catalytic behavior. Therefore several
Management Learning, Jun 10, 2009
In this article, we argue that a focus on the debunking of consulting knowledge has led to a disc... more In this article, we argue that a focus on the debunking of consulting knowledge has led to a disconnect between the research and the practice of management consulting. A renewed focus on consulting practice, that is, the doing of consultancy itself, affords an opportunity for bringing clients, practitioners and researchers of consulting closer together. We sketch an outline of an alternative approach to consulting practice, based not on knowledge, but on knowing, the socially situated activity whereby knowledge is applied and created. Borrowing from the practice-based theories of organizational knowledge and knowing, we explore how key aspects of consulting practice-problem solving, participation and knowledge transfer-might be handled differently when we give primacy to practice. We discuss the viability of this alternative approach, and argue that despite established relations of power and politics, the dynamic and indeterminate nature of practice environments does afford some space for this and other alternative forms of consulting practice to take hold.
Situated Knowledge as the Basis for an Alternative Model for Management Consulting
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 1997
More client-centered consulting as a new vision of management consulting in the 21st century
Abstracts of Articles published in Materials Research Innovations Vol. 1, No. 3
Materials Technology, 1997
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 1993
Two approaches were postulated for improving the stability of porous texture of titania membranes... more Two approaches were postulated for improving the stability of porous texture of titania membranes: (1) retarding the phase transformation and grain growth; (2) avoiding the phase transformation. Based on the second approach, rutile membranes were made directly from a rutile sol, prepared by the precipitation of titania on SnO, nuclei. The rutile membranes were stable up to 800 "C, with a porosity of ca. 40%, whereas normal titania membranes (starting with anatase) show very little porosity above 600 "C. Alumina substitution retards grain growth and pore growth at 850 "C for unsupported as well as supported membranes.
Influence of solid-state transformation time on the nucleation and growth of silicalite 1 prepared from layered silicate
Journal of Materials Chemistry, 1998
The nucleation and crystal growth of silicalite 1 precursors synthesized by solid-state transform... more The nucleation and crystal growth of silicalite 1 precursors synthesized by solid-state transformation were studied using X-ray diffraction, thermal analysis, IR spectroscopy, 29Si and 13C NMR and electron microscopy. Silicalite 1 was obtained after 16 h at 130°C in a closed glass ...
Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 2011
We report the effects of the thermal annealing and dopant concentration on the optical properties... more We report the effects of the thermal annealing and dopant concentration on the optical properties of Se or S-doped hydrogenated amorphous silicon thin films. The Se and S-doped a-Si:H (a-Si,Se:H and a-Si,S:H) thin films were prepared by glow discharge plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (GD-PECVD) on 7059 corning glass. The films were subsequently annealed in vacuum in the temperature range from 100 to 500 • C. Influence of doping and annealing was examined by means of optical transmission spectroscopy of the films in the wavelength range of 300-1100 nm taken at room temperature. The absorption coefficients and refractive indices decreased as the annealing temperature increased from 100 to 300 • C and then increased again as the annealing temperature further increased to 500 • C, while the highest bandgap was observed at 300 • C for all of the samples. For a given dopant concentration bandgap was observed to be higher in a-Si,S:H than a-Si,Se:H thin films.
Preparation and characterisation of lanthanum nickel strontium oxides by combined coprecipitation and molten salt reactions
Ceramics International, 2000
ABSTRACT
Porous nanocomposites in the Al 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 system were studied with a view to understand the se... more Porous nanocomposites in the Al 2 O 3 -ZrO 2 system were studied with a view to understand the selection rules for developing high temperature stable porous oxide systems. The results were also compared with TiO 2 -Al 2 O 3 nanocomposite systems. The pore structure and phase evolution of these composites were studied using TG/DTA, XRD and nitrogen adsorption/desorption techniques. Al 2 O 3 was found to be a good second phase stabiliser for stabilising ZrO 2 and TiO 2 matrix phases.
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Papers by Padmakumar Nair