Thapar School of Management

The present study examines existence of service recovery paradox in Indian banking industry. The study is taken up in the tri-city of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. The respondents are categorised into failure and no-failure groups on the basis of their service experience. Failure group constitutes those respondents who have experienced service recovery, and has been further divided into five sub-groups ranging from service recovery++ (service recovery better than expected) to service recovery- - (service recovery worse than expected). Service recovery paradox is examined by comparing service recovery++ group with no-failure group. The study shows evidence for existence of service recovery paradox in relation to satisfaction. It has been concluded that for service recovery paradox to exist, recovery effort has to be exceptionally good and much better than expectation level of the customer. The study suggests that service managers should take service failure as an opportunity to appease customers by providing a much better than expected recovery experience. However, organisations should not plan to create service failure situations because if they falter on imparting the recovery, customer satisfaction may be influenced negatively.
Keywords: Banking, Service failure, Customer satisfaction, Recommendation intention, Service recovery, recovery paradox

The term “green products” is used commonly to describe the products that seek to protect or enhance the environment during production, use, or disposal by conserving resources and minimizing the use of toxic agents, pollution, and waste. Hence, green products offer potential benefits to the environment and human health. Therefore, environmentally conscious consumers have shown an enhanced inclination for them. Consumer preferences, environmental activism, and stringent regulations have forced sustainability-oriented firms to shift their focus to producing green products. The present study uses bibliometric tools and various indicators to discern research progress in the field of green products over the period 1964–2019. Further, VOSviewer software is applied to map the main trends. A total of 1619 publications during the study period were extracted from the SCOPUS database using different keywords related to the green products. The data analysis indicates that the field of green pro...

In the COVID-19 pandemic situation, the need to adopt cloud computing (CC) applications by education institutions, in general, and higher education (HE) institutions, in particular, has especially increased to engage students in an online mode and remotely carrying out research. The adoption of CC across various sectors, including HE, has been picking momentum in the developing countries in the last few years. In the Indian context, the CC adaptation in the HE sector (HES) remains a less thoroughly explored sector, and no comprehensive study is reported in the literature. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to overcome this research vacuum and examine the factors that impact the CC adoption (CCA) by HE institutions (HEIs) in India. The scope of the study is limited to public universities (PUs) in India. There are, in total, 465 Indian PUs and among these 304 PUs, (i.e., 65% PUs) are surveyed using questionnaire-based research. The study has put forth a novel integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE), and Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) in the context of the HES. This integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework is utilized in the study to analyze eleven hypotheses concerning factors of CCA that have been tested using structural equation modelling (SEM) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The findings reveal that competitive advantage (CA), technology compatibility (TC), technology readiness (TR), senior leadership support, security concerns, government support, and vendor support are the significant contributing factors of CCA by Indian PUs. The study contends that whereas the rest of the factors positively affect the PUs' intention towards CCA, security concerns are a significant reason for the reluctance of these universities against adopting CC. The findings demonstrated the application of an integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework to assess determining factors of CCA in Indian PUs. Further, the study has given useful insights into the successful CCA by Indian PUs, which will facilitate eLearning and remote working during COVID-19 or similar outbreak.

The present study examines the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure to the firms in the mandatory regime in India. The paper has its theoretical basis from the instrumental aspect of the Stakeholder theory, which assumes a positive influence of CSR over financial performance. Therefore, the study hypothesizes that the firms which fulfil the CSR expenditure requirement will exhibit higher stock returns and lower systematic risk. Since India mandated CSR in the year 2014, the data of four years (2016-2019) for the sample of 426 National Stock Exchange (NSE) listed Indian firms are taken to employ the OLS regression method. The CSR expenditure in the mandatory regime was not found to be relevant to the firms because of an insignificant positive impact of mandatory CSR expenditure on stock returns. Thus, the instrumental aspect is not supported by the findings. However, the findings indicate a decrease in the systematic risk of the firms. Only a few studies in ...

In recent times, organizations are increasingly adopting blockchain technology in their supply chains due to various advantages such as cost optimization, effective and verified record-keeping, transparency, and route tracking. This paper aims to examine the factors influencing the intention of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India to adopt blockchain technology in their supply chains. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from 216 SMEs in the northern states of India. The study has considered an integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), and Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE). Using this integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework, the study has proposed eleven hypotheses related to factors of blockchain technology adoption. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used to test the hypotheses. The results show that relative advantage, techn...

In recent times, organizations are increasingly adopting blockchain technology in their supply chains due to various advantages such as cost optimization, effective and verified record-keeping, transparency, and route tracking. is paper aims to examine the factors influencing the intention of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India to adopt blockchain technology in their supply chains. A questionnaire-based survey was used to collect data from 216 SMEs in the northern states of India. e study has considered an integrated technology adoption framework consisting of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Diffusion of Innovation (DOI), and Technology-Organization-Environment (TOE). Using this integrated TAM-TOE-DOI framework, the study has proposed eleven hypotheses related to factors of blockchain technology adoption. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) have been used to test the hypotheses. e results show that relative advantage, technology compatibility, technology readiness, top management support, perceived usefulness, and vendor support have a positive influence on the intention of Indian SMEs to adopt blockchain technology in their supply chains. e complexity of technology and cost concerns act as inhibitors to the technology adoption by SMEs. Furthermore, the three factors, namely, security concerns, perceived ease of use, and regulatory support, do not influence the intention to adopt the technology. e study contributes to filling a significant gap in the academic literature since only a few studies have endeavored to ascertain the technology adoption factors by supply chains of SMEs in a developing country like India. e study has also proposed a novel integrated technology adoption framework that can be employed by future studies. e findings are expected to enable SMEs to understand important factors to be considered for adopting blockchain technology in their supply chains. Furthermore, the study may benefit the blockchain technology developers and suppliers as they can offer customized solutions based on the findings.

This paper investigates and compares acceptability, perceptions, initiatives and obstacles perceived by public and private manufacturing concerns in India in respect of green marketing. The sample of companies was selected from Delhi and northwestern region of India. The study reveals that both public-sector and private-sector companies are concerned for environment and believe that green marketing is relevant for sustainable development. It is also perceived as a promotional tool to build customer trust. Obstacles concerning adoption of green marketing by Indian industry are highlighted. The study calls for business firms to adopt environmentalism as a market opportunity rather than merely as compliance to increasing environmental pressures and legislations. Green marketing should become a norm in a developing country like India rather than an exception as it has the potential to contribute substantially in saving the world from environmental pollution and contribute to sustainable development.

The present study examines the relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure to the firms in the mandatory regime in India. The paper has its theoretical basis from the instrumental aspect of the Stakeholder theory, which assumes a positive influence of CSR over financial performance. Therefore, the study hypothesizes that the firms which fulfill the CSR expenditure requirement will exhibit higher stock returns and lower systematic risk. Since India mandated CSR in the year 2014, the data of four years (2016-2019) for the sample of 426 National Stock Exchange (NSE) listed Indian firms are taken to employ the OLS regression method. The CSR expenditure in the mandatory regime was not found to be relevant to the firms because of an insignificant positive impact of mandatory CSR expenditure on stock returns. Thus, the instrumental aspect is not supported by the findings. However, the findings indicate a decrease in the systematic risk of the firms. Only a few studies in...

23 C ustomer feels dissatisfied in a service setting when the service on offer fails. A service failure is defined as "any service-related mishaps or problems (real and/or perceived) that occur during a consumer's experience with the firm" (Maxham, 2001). The customer may categorize a service as failed service if the perceived quality of service after service delivery does not match the expected service. The perceptions regarding quality of services delivered depends upon outcome and output of the service , process of service delivery, time taken to deliver the service, conduct of service personnel, etc., and failure on any of the dimensions of service delivery may be responsible for categorizing a service as failed service. No matter how much effort the firm puts into ensuring service quality, it is not possible to entirely eliminate service errors and failures. This is largely due to simultaneous production and consumption characteristic of services. Customers experience several negative emotions in the event of a service ServiCe reCovery PArAdox iN iNdiAN BANkiNg iNduSTry An empirical investigation The present study examines existence of service recovery paradox in Indian banking industry. The study is taken up in the tri-city of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. The respondents are categorized into failure and no-failure groups on the basis of their service experience. Failure group constitutes those respondents who have experienced service recovery, and has been further divided into five subgroups ranging from service recovery++ (service recovery better than expected) to service recovery-(service recovery worse than expected). Service recovery paradox is examined by comparing service recovery++ group with no-failure group. The study shows evidence for existence of service recovery paradox in relation to satisfaction. It has been concluded that for service recovery paradox to exist, recovery effort has to be exceptionally good and much better than expectation level of the customer. The study suggests that service managers should take service failure as an opportunity to appease customers by providing a much better than expected recovery experience. However, organizations should not plan to create service failure situations because if they falter on imparting the recovery, customer satisfaction may be influenced negatively.

Since a portion of patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) do not benefit much from current standard treatments, it is still needed to discover new therapeutic drugs to improve the prognosis of the patients. Considering that Chinese traditional medicine plays a role in inhibiting tumor progression, in this study, we aimed to investigate whether a Chinese herbal formula, Qing Yan Li Ge Tang (QYLGT), has the anticancer activity in NPC cells and explore the underlying mechanism as well. MTT assay, colony formation assay, immunoblotting assay, and DNA laddering assay were performed to assess cell viability, cell colony formation, protein expression, and DNA fragmentation, respectively. Results show that QYLGT was able to inhibit the cell viability and decrease colony formation ability in NPC cells. QYLGT could also increase the formation of intracellular vacuoles and induce the autophagy-related protein expressions, including Atg3, Atg6, and Atg12-Atg5 conjugate in NPC cells. Treat...

The purpose of this paper is to examine the adoption of information system in healthcare services in India. The use of information system in the public health sector is limited. Information system in healthcare is a relatively novel concept in public health in India. Hospital Management Information System (HMIS) is a comprehensive, integrated information System for monitoring control over the functioning of hospitals by using decision support indicators, to assist doctors and medical staff to improve health services with readily reference patient records and a work flow enabled less paper process and to provide efficient and timely treatment to patients through automatic alerts during patient treatment cycle, such hot issues seeks much attention of researchers in this field. GOI-MOH&FW has initiated towards the implementation of Hospital Management Information System in public healthcare organizations of India. This paper provides relevant aspects of the HMIS like its structure, fun...

The introduction of the National Rural Health Mission has increased the demand for micro-level data on population and health for use in monitoring, planning and programme implementation. This calls for the introduction of a Health Management Information System (HMIS). The launching of a national portal-based HMIS by Government of India in 2008 was a bold and innovative step. However, there are several challenges that must be overcome to develop HMIS as an effective tool for planning and monitoring. In particular, without training and motivating grass-root functionaries to report HMIS data in an accurate, timely manner and monitor its quality, HMIS data cannot be used for health sector planning. The study analyzed HMIS portal data in details in order to evaluate the quality of HMIS in Punjab, a high focus state with a good quality HMIS. It also documents challenges to improve HMIS based on observations performed at selected healthcare centres in the state.

This paper examines the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) expenditure compliance on firm value in the context of the Indian firms by applying instrumental approach of the stakeholder theory and the P/B-ROE valuation model. The study hypothesizes that CSR expenditure compliance will positively affect the firm value. Price-to-book (P/B) ratio of the firm is used as a proxy of the firm value. The sample of firms is selected from NSE-500 Index companies for the period of five years from 2014-15 to 2018-19 and the method adopted is a portfolio grouping approach to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model. The results reveal that CSR expenditure compliance negatively influences firm value. Thus, instrumental approach which hypothesizes that CSR initiatives improve firm performance is not supported. However, to form a cross-sectional portfolio regression model by using portfolio grouping approach is found to be more appropriate than the individual cross-sectional reg...