Validating the Measurement Constructs Affecting the Technology Adoption in Indian Mobile Banking Industry

Mobile phones have undeniably brought a paradigm shift, affecting both the lives of people and the business environment. Today, mobile phone has permeated the lives of billions of people around the world, becoming for many an indispensable device. Moreover, adoption of mobile banking has significant impact on reducing costs and enabling change in retail banking. Factors influencing the intention to use or adopt mobile banking are very important and will play a vital role for mobile banking service providers. The proposed study focuses on a comprehensive set of potential factors that influence the adoption of mobile banking. The research model identifies appropriate factors and captures dependency relationships among these factors in the form of a number of hypotheses to be tested in this research. This paper aims to design a scale with a high degree of reliability, validity, and dimensionality which helps to determine the appropriate technology adoption model based on the identified constructs, viz. Optimism (OPTI), Innovativeness (INNO), Insecurity (INSC), Discomfort (DISC), Perceived Usefulness (PU), Perceived Ease of Use (PEU), Perceived Risk (PR), Subjective Norms (SN), Attitude (ATTI), Behavioural Control (BC) and Behavioural Intention (BI). The data were collected through questionnaire survey from 201 respondents comprising software engineers, bank employees, professors, entrepreneurs. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the validity of the proposed measurement scale for all the identified constructs. This instrument helps bankers to determine and design there applications which will contribute to the knowledge of predicting customer intention.

Responding to Social Responsibilities and Ethics - A Study of Refractory Industry in Odisha

Businesses work in a wide social environment in which they have a responsibility to a range of stakeholders including the community. The term Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) refers to the responsibility that modern business organizations have to creating a healthy and prosperous society. Ethical practices in refractory marketing help marketers distinguish between right and wrong behavior. Adherence to ethics is essential in industrial markets as mutual trust among buyers and sellers is the key to long-term success. Marketing has evolved from a production-centric approach to a societal marketing approach that lays greater emphasis on the ethical issues in marketing. With the advent of globalization, corporations continue to evolve, grow in power, and influence the process of consolidation. Corporations are in positions of power that allow them to do greater damage to others when they act unethically or socially in an irresponsible manner. The rights theory encompasses a variety of ethical philosophies holding that certain human rights are fundamental and must be respected by other humans. The economic theories of the firm cannot be segregated of ethical considerations as they have crucial impact on how the firm concentrates on economic power, formulate the rules of law. Profit maximisation has always been the driving force and an undercurrent behind the development of corporate. But profit is not made in vacuum, it always has an associated cost, some of which is always externalized (Rhee, 2008). Corporate law has an ethical foundation and the debate on values necessarily revolves round the activities of the firm. This research paper on the basis of secondary sources of data collected from reports, research papers and Internet, focuses on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of TATA Group with reference to Tata Krosaki Refractories Ltd, Bajoria Group with reference to IFGL Refractories Ltd (Odisha), OCL Refractories Ltd, Sarvesh Refractories, and Manishree Refractories (Odisha). The study intends to understand the scope of corporate social responsibility and get an insight in CSR and ethical practices in the light of the case study of the refractory industries in Odisha.

Why do Females Shop? Dimensions of Females Shopping Experience

Shopping is an enjoyable moment in the life of a female shopper. It has a special meaning and status for females. It is often said that shopping and females are complementary to each other. Females assign a variety of reasons for shopping. With the changing role and status of female in the society, the reasons to shop are also increasing. The present study has tried to find an answer to a very important question, why do females shop? Literature suggests that joy of shopping is the most important motive for a female shopper. A survey of 321 Indian females suggested that the reasons could be described in terms of five dimensions of shopping experience namely special, enjoyment, delight, leisure and recreation. These dimensions collectively describe the sources of joy for Indian female shoppers. The study presents insights for practitioners and researchers.

The Impact of Organisational Communication Satisfaction on Employee Productivity

An employees perception about various aspects of organisational communication is very important as it directly affects his performance. The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational communication satisfaction on employee productivity in different organizations. The paper tries to explore the importance of employee perceptions about organizational communication and its correlation with employee productivity. A survey of 300 employees from ten different companies in India with diverse portfolio was conducted for this study. The Downs and Hazens (1977) Communication Satisfaction questionnaire (CSQ) was used to understand the importance of communication satisfaction in organizations and also to test the Communication Satisfaction Index of the particular organisation. A separate questionnaire for rating employee productivity was used through which a Productivity Index (PI) was derived. Pearsons correlation and regression were used to determine the actual correlation between the two variables. The results indicate that the organizational communication satisfaction has a positive correlation with the employee productivity. If employees feel that the organizational communication is effective, it leads to increased productivity. It is also seen that when communication satisfaction is low, managerial evaluation of productivity in terms of quality, efficiency, punctuality, and planning is low. The study results through an independent test endorse the fact that communication satisfaction is a very important factor in organisational setup and has a significant impact on employee productivity in all types of organisations.

Premiumisation in the Indian Luxury Watch Market Industry in Odisha

The luxury goods segment in India has seen tremendous growth in recent years, with several international luxury brands entering the Indian market. Luxury goods are a niche market segment, wherein the consumers desire exclusivity and are willing to pay heavily for it. Thus, luxury brands are priced at a premium, to maintain their exclusivity. Obviously, the more unique and exclusive a luxury brand is, the higher its expected brand premium. The present study uses dummy variable regression to estimate the premia associated with luxury watch brands and product features. The results of the study indicate statistically significant brand premia, using which the brands can be grouped into distinct segments, and statistically significant product feature premia, including for gold-plated casing and titanium and ceramic straps, and for several special functional features such as world time and chronograph. The results of the study support the exclusivity hypothesis, that the exclusivity of luxury brands is the fundamental basis for luxury brand premium, through greater diversity of product variants in higher price range, using unique casing and strap materials and innovative functional features. This reflects the strategy of premiumisation of pricing of luxury watches, with greater emphasis on value-add features and complexity (total number of complications and moving parts).