Empirical investigation regarding ethical decision making: a stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA)

Purpose The purpose of this research was to study senior and middle-level executive perspectives on ethical decision-making exploring stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA). Given the complexities of business today, stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences have become very important. Various philosophical approaches raised questions than responses to these problems. There was a clear need to find ways through which the worldview of agents could be assimilated and understood. Design/methodology/approach This study used the original hypothetical short case and brought in middle and senior executive reflections of Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) managers. Reflections of ten senior and 178 middle-level Indian FMCG managers were presented, exploring ethical dilemmas using short hypothetical case. These reflections have been analysed using the SCIA framework. The paired t-test was performed to compare the reflections of senior and middle-level executives. Findings The study results indicated that differences emerged regarding stakeholder identification, prioritisation and reciprocal stakeholder influences between Indian middle and senior FMCG executives. Hence, this study paved a reflective space for SCIA. The findings were in line with the tenets of agents’ dilemmas depicted in agency theory. Research limitations/implications This study made contribution to theory by integrating the perspective of ethical dilemma confronted by organisational decision-making units (DMUs) with respect to stakeholder influence and prioritisation. Specifically, theoretical contribution was made towards SCIA. Practical implications This study would help middle and senior executives to better understand the needs and complexities of stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was one of the first studies from an emerging market context country like India that applied SCIA in the FMCG sector. Organisational DMUs while facing ethical dilemma undertook stakeholder influence vis-a-vis stakeholder prioritisation.

Implementation of Lean Management in a Multi-Specialist Hospital in Poland and the Analysis of Waste

At the beginning of the 21st century, Lean Management (LM) tools were introduced into the healthcare sector around the world. In Poland, there are still few LM implementations, and they are not of a comprehensive nature. The aim of this article is to present the application of the LM concept in a hospital in Poland as a tool for the identification and analysis of waste and its impact on the process of organizing the provision of medical services on the example of improvements in the process of patient admission. In the period from 1 July 2019 to 31 December 2019, a project of LM implementation was carried out at the Provincial Specialist Hospital in Wroclaw. The project was based on the method of value-stream mapping and 5Why. Standardized interviews (before and after the project) were conducted with people from the hospital management and middle-level managers. The implementation of LM tools resulted in the identification of a number of wastes, which have been divided into groups. The most important waste was paper medical documentation. Its change to an electronic form allowed for a better use of human capital resources; savings included 2.3 nursing positions and 1.09 medical staff positions.

Odisha Craft – crafting the right expansion strategy

Learning outcomes Familiarize with the retail operations of handicrafts, facility location problem, apply multi-criteria decision through the goal programming approach and solving the same with MS Excel. Case overview / synopsis The case portrays a dilemma in the context of retail operations of a small-scale handicraft company known as Odisha Craft. Located in Odisha, Susanta Mohanty, the owner, was finding it a challenge to decide on the most promising location for his new retail outlet in the neighbouring city of Kolkata. He had five choices for the locations. Odisha craft was established by his father-in-law in 2009 with an objective to preserve and promote the rich culture of the handicrafts designed by the local artisans and ensure sustainable rural livelihood. The company had been facing numerous challenges and the pandemic has given a very formidable blow to the monthly revenues. The case brings out the multi-faceted dilemma of deciding on the facility location in 2020, involving a set of conflicting criteria. The case unfolds a systematic solution approach resolving the dilemma using MS Excel. Complexity academic level Courses such as operations research, operations management, service operations and retail operations for MBA students and trainings for junior-middle level executives. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 09: Operations and Logistics

Behaviour of recurving cyclonic storms in Arabian Sea as a response to atmospheric interactions

During the year 1998, Arabian sea witnessed two distinct and unusual cyc\onic systems. The very severe cyclonic storm of June 1998 was the most severe storm since last fifteen years as far as Arabian Sea systems are concerned; while October 1998 system was unique for, Its unusual and sudden easterly track after almost touching Saudi Arabia coast, (ii) Very high speed of movement and (iii) Interaction and merger with another vortex present in Arabian Sea off Saurashtra coast. This study is an attempt to understand the peculiar behaviour of the systems in Arabian sea which do not intensify beyond cyclone stage or even show a tendency to weaken before crossing coast as a response to atmospheric interactions. All the cyclonic systems in Arabian Sea since 1975 (Satellite era) have been examined in detail and the main findings of the study are : (i) Interaction between cyclonic disturbances of different intensities simultaneously present, appears to be the key factor in determining the further intensification or not of the systems. (ii) Track prediction for the systems upto marginal cyclone stage appears to be governed mainly by middle level atmospheric forcing. (iii) Upper level wind steering is found to be important for movement of systems from severe cyclonic storm stage onwards. The above results have direct relevance to operational cyclone forecasting.

Extending Uppsala Model with Springboard Perspective in Emerging Multinational’s Sequential Internationalisation—Evidence from a Construction Company’s Expansion in Africa

The Uppsala model explains the traditional internationalisation process of multinational enterprises (MNEs), which gradually begin to internationalise from countries with smaller psychic distances. However, in the turbulent global economy, an increasing number of MNEs from emerging markets (EMNEs) adopts a more radical and aggressive approach, strategically using international expansion as a springboard to enter an overseas market and radiate surrounding countries and regions. By combining the springboard perspective and the Uppsala model, we analyse a series of processes from EMNE’s first entry into an overseas market to the successful localisation and expansion of international business. This radical model of international expansion has not been thoroughly studied. This empirical study aims to address this research gap by using a qualitative method and an in-depth case study. This paper conducted a semi-structured interview with 16 expatriates, executives, and middle-level managers from the case company in 2016. As one of the few single case studies that systematically studies the internationalisation process of EMNEs and provides first-hand empirical evidence, it contributes to practice and provides a contextual reference for EMNEs.

Professional Role Functions of Women in Social Service: Results of a Sociological Survey in Moscow

Introduction. Women predominate among the employees in the social service sector, they occupy various positions and perform relevant functions, but the specifics and problems of their work have not been sufficiently studied. Based on the materials of the conducted sociological survey, the article analyzes how social workers perform the main work tasks, how well they manage to combine professional role functions with family ones, which contributes to their satisfaction with their work. Materials and Methods. The applied research, conducted by the author in the autumn of 2020 in Moscow, used official documents, statistical data, her own sociological survey, and a comparative analysis of the results of secondary empirical studies. 107 employees of state social service organizations took part in the survey, almost equally representing the management staff, specialists, and ordinary employees. This made it possible not only to generalize various status and gender positions regarding the role of women in the implementation of social service in the relevant institutions, but also, based on the results of the analysis, to suggest possible ways to improve the professional qualifications of female employees for more effective implementation of their work functions. Results. A comparison of the responses of representatives of different status and gender groups showed that the range of professional functions of the object of this research is quite wide: from the head to the service personnel, from working with documents to providing specific social services to various groups of people in need or in a difficult life situation. At all the levels, women are represented in accordance with their professional and personal qualities. However, according to the self-assessment, combining professional and family responsibilities is most difficult for a female senior or middle-level manager. Discussion and Conclusion. The author proposes to create conditions for optimizing the workload, for preventing physical fatigue and emotional burnout of women providing social services, as well as for effective combining their professional roles with family ones, and for professional development. The article will be useful to employees providing social services, those who specialize in the field of gender issues of employment, senior personnel of the social protection system of the population at the regional level, teachers engaged in further vocational education.

Lens Application of Social Construction Theory and Social Influence Theory to Examine the Factors of WhatsApp Usage as an Organizational Communication Medium

Social Construction Theory assumes that the development of communication technology in the organization causes the organization's staff to share meanings and actions responding to the technology. Meanwhile, the Theory of Social Influence explains the impact of new technology applications such as social media usage affects the environment. These theories emphasise that social media such as WhatsApp has taken over traditional communication and become one of the primary communication channels in the organization. Accordingly, based on the assumptions found in both theories, this study was conducted to identify the determinants of WhatsApp acceptance as a medium of interaction between staff in an organization. Specifically, this study applies a qualitative method to examine WhatsApp usage as a medium of interaction. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with the middle-level management staff at a public university. All informants were the staff members who have served the university for more than five years and have used WhatsApp for work-related matters. The interview transcription was analysed using the thematic analysis based on the assumptions of both theories. The research finding shows that the combination of both theories were able to explain the factor of WhatsApp usage and its implications among the staff in the organization. Therefore, this study has contributed towards the strengthening of the assumptions found in the Theory of Social Construction that is interpretive flexibility, tolerance, socio-cultural and stability, and also in the Theory of Social Influence which is compliance, identification, and internalization. In addition, this study has also contributed to studies related to communication technology usage and strengthening the theories related to these aspects. Keywords: Social media, WhatsApp, qualitative study, social construction theory, social influence theory.

THE WORKS OF SPIRIDON MIKHAILOV (YANDUSH) IN THE ASPECT OF SOME HISTORICAL ETHNOLOGY PROBLEMS

S.M. Mikhailov (Yandush) distinguished two ethnographic groups and two dialects of the Chuvash ethnos. The scientist attributed the population of Kozmodemyansky and the northern part of Yadrinsky uyezds to the upper (Virjal) Chuvash, and that of Tsivisky and Cheboksary uyezds of Kazan province – to the lower (Anatri) ones. Starting with the works of G.I. Komissarov, a third (middle-level) group began to be allocated from the lower group. According to the scientist, the Chuvash, being a separate community of Turkic-speaking peoples, used to live in Zakamye, where they had migrated from Siberia. He developed the Turkic-Bulgarian theory of the Chuvash language origin and the main ethnographic groups (middle lower and lower) of the Chuvash ethnos. He considered the upper dialect to be a mixed group, in whose culture, in addition to Turkic-Bulgar elements he found many elements of the Finno-Ugrians (the mountain Mari and the Mordvins-Erzya), and partly Kazan Tatars. Prior to annexation of the Chuvash Region to the Moscow state, two ethnographic groups of the mountain Chuvash functioned on the right bank of the Volga – the upper and the middle lower. After settling the southern steppe regions, in the process of cultural dialogue with the Mishar Tatars, a third ethnographic group was formed, known to the middle lower Chuvash as the khirti “steppe”. In Modern times, the geographical location of the ethnographic groups of the Chuvash ethnos contributed to penetration of the ideas of the European-Russian Enlightenment in the Chuvash Region (from the western territories to the eastern and southern ones). In the 1950s of the XX century the ideas of the Chuvash enlightenment were first formulated by S.M. Mikhailov, and later they began to spread in the academic circles of the entire Volga region. His works remain a valuable source for identifying the adaptive scheme of the ethnos, which the Chuvash built by localizing the “evil” principle outside of themselves, their society, ethnos.