Vikalpa: The Journal for Decision Makers

Indian software firms are involved in a variety of relationships with international organizations that have opted for global software outsourcing. Most firms, if not all, started as vendors on short-term contracts and many of them are at various stages of becoming strategic partners with their long-term clients. Uncertainty is inherent in these arrangements, and trust is an essential ingredient at each stage of maturity in the development of such relationships. This paper provides some guidelines for Indian software firms on how to build trust to move from short-term contractual relationships to long-term strategic alliances.

Store choice is a decision that a shopper is fairly involved in. It is important for a store to understand this behaviour for developing marketing strategies to attract and keep its clientele. It is found that shoppers choose the store based on many aspects that could be classified as primary and image based. It is also found that the importance of each of these aspects changes with the kind of store the shopper wants to visit. In the Indian context where the shopper does not have much variety in store format, the type of store is recognized by the kind of product the store deals in. The paper is an attempt to understand this behaviour of the shopper. The shoppers are explored for the primary reasons for choosing a store. Then, using a factor analysis, the several image dimensions are classified. Further, using multinomial logit regression, the store choice pattern is studied across different types of store. Implications for the managers in the retail business are drawn and future research directions have been highlighted.

Benchmarking can be described as the search for the best practices leading to superior performance of an organization. This study demonstrates how analytic hierarchy process (AHP), a multiple attribute decision-making technique, can be used for benchmarking project management practices. The methodology has been applied to benchmark project management practices of Caribbean public sector organizations, organizations in the Indian petroleum sector, and infrastructure sector organizations of Thailand and UK. This study illustrates the effectiveness of a proposed benchmarking model using AHP and suggests measures for effective project management.

This paper benchmarks management communication courses offered at top-ranked business schools in India with those offered by topranked American business schools. It also surveys perceptions of Indian managers regarding the importance of different aspects of communication to their effective performance. Compared to the large number and wider range of topics covered in communication courses offered by American business schools, Indian business schools concentrate mainly on oral communication and within that on presentation skills. Such a focus appears to be in tune with the needs of Indian industry. However, a survey of managerial perceptions revealed that there are some skills and topics that need more emphasis. Cross-cultural communication, corporate communication strategy, and media relations are areas that require strengthening along with more innovative methodologies to teach communication.

There is a burgeoning stream of literature which has argued for the adoption of a critical methodology to reflect critically on a number of relevant issues like the notion of ideology and power, rationality, control and surveillance, and the functions of communication. This paper considers the effectiveness of a political, valuebased critical perspective to examine the political and yet unexplored dimensions of management. The critical methodology is used to deconstruct the democratic working environments of learning organizations. The analysis suggests that learning organizations are complex and intricate working environments where employees and management negotiate with each other to effectively function as an organization

BHP Limited, a global natural resource company based in Australia, has traditionally hedged its market price risks with derivatives. Based on the analysis of a ‘Cash Flow at Risk’ model, which exploits the diversification effect in a portfolio context, it has now decided to discontinue its hedging activities. However, this portfolio approach to risk management raises questions about the standard ‘stand-alone’ approach to project evaluation and capital allocation.

Readers are invited to send their responses on the case to Vikalpa office.

The October-December 2001 (Vol26, No 4) issue of Vikalpa had published a Management Case titled “Amtrex Hitachi Appliances Ltd: Competing for the Future” by Anand Sridharan and N Ravichandran. In this issue, we feature two responses on the case by Prafull Aiiubhai and Subramaniam Sridhar.

Amtrex Hitachi Appliances Ltd presents the history and managerial initiatives of a fast growing organization in the consumer durable industry. The industry is characterized by the presence of several competing (national⁄multinational) players, changing consumer needs and preferences and MNC's access to national market and vice versa. The organization needs to take stock of what it has achieved so far, what needs to be done, and how?

This section features abstracts of articles covering empirical studies, experiences, ideas, and theories published in Indian and international journals. Sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi, this service is intended to facilitate Indian management research.

Authors desirous of having their publications considered for inclusion in this feature may please send reprints of their articles to Vikalpa Editorial Office.