Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective

The stagnant manufacturing sectoral share in India’s gross domestic product (GDP) needs an in-depth understanding, analysis and recommendation for growth. Taking manufacturing to a higher growth trajectory has now become a necessity for India’s prosperity. The 2011 National Planning Commission’s (NMP) objective of 25 per cent contribution by manufacturing to India’s GDP by 2025, though challenging, needs an urgent focus. This article utilizes system dynamics (SD)-based simulation for three futuristic economic scenarios to assess the achievability of the NMP targets. The article also provides an understanding of a few critical issues of the manufacturing sector using the causal loop diagram approach of SD. The article also applies the interpretive structural modelling approach to 19 factors identified from the literature, which impact the manufacturing sector. Nine driving factors have been identified for accelerating the manufacturing sector: Technology, labour Reforms, Infrastructural and energy reforms, Good Governance, quality Education and Resource management (TRIGGER). The four dependent factors identified are Domestic value addition, Macroeconomic health, manufacturing Investment and Green-field projects (DMIG).

The study attempts to gather additional evidence on the sequential information arrival hypothesis by examining the dynamic relationship between the trading volume and the volatility of CNX Nifty index futures traded on the National Stock Exchange of India. The documented result using a linear Granger causality model shows a unidirectional causality from volatility to trading volume, thus rejecting the theory of sequential arrival of information in Nifty index futures. Further, under a non-linear GARCH framework of analysis, it is reinforced that a lagged trading volume has no explanatory power of current conditional volatility, even in the presence of market depth surrogated by open interest in the Nifty futures market. Consequently, given the trading volume, the possibility of forecasting the price variability of Nifty futures is rejected.

The present study explored the relationships among leadership styles, leader’s effectiveness and well-being directly as well as indirectly through collective efficacy among the employees of the education industry, the latest entrant on the Indian scene. Ninety full-time employees participated in the study. They were administered the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ; Bass & Avolio, 2004. The multifactor leadership questionnaire: Third edition manual and sampler set), Job-related Affective Well-being Scale (JAWS; Van Katwyk, Fox, Spector & Kelloway, 2000. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 5[2], 219–230) and Collective Efficacy scale (Karrasch, 2003. Lessons learnt on collective efficacy in multinational teams. Alexandria, VA: United States Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences). Mediation regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses. The results revealed that transactional style has influenced both the outcome variables directly as well as indirectly more than the other two leadership styles. The study contributes to the scantly explored indirect linkages of collective efficacy on leadership styles, effectiveness and well-being.

Recent developments in the marketing literature highlight the significance of consumer relationship management (CRM) in driving consumer loyalty (CL). In order to provide a clear understanding about the impact of CRM on CL, this study develops an integrated framework of CRM activities: acquisition, retention and experience to manage CL through direct and indirect approaches (with mediation of satisfaction, trust and commitment). The article utilizes a survey-based empirical study of 600 consumers from three service sectors (health, retail and wellness). Subsequently, structural equation modelling through multiple group analysis has been used to test a series of hypotheses concerning the direct as well as indirect effects of consumer relationship efforts on CL. The findings of the study suggest that a firm that pays more attention to manage consumer experiences would be significantly benefited from the implementation of CRM programmes. Consumer experience efforts have the positive impact on CL through commitment in all three sectors. The acquisition efforts are sufficient enough to develop partial CL through satisfaction in health and wellness services only. Similarly, retention efforts manage to develop CL partially by satisfaction and trust in all three select services. Among the three proposed mediators, only commitment drives true CL.

This article aims to challenge the perceived lack of a strategic value of human resource (HR) function and seeks to focus on the devolution of HR from its transactional role to strategic effectiveness. Utilizing a range of secondary resources, this article aims to critically analyze the shift of HR from transactional to a strategic role and its value contribution role in business. HR needs to overcome conventional resistance and act as the driver of an organizational strategy through aligning the HR strategy to the business strategy, adopting workforce planning and measuring an organization’s competencies. The paper contributes to the evaluation of HR management from viewpoint perspective and offers help to HR practitioners in understanding the changing role of HR.

Clive Wilson, Designing the Purposeful Organization: How to Inspire Business Performance Beyond Boundaries, 2015, Great Britain and United States: Kogan page Limited, 256 pp., ₹2,966

Amartya Sen and Jean Drèze, An Uncertain Glory, New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2013, xii + 434 pp., ₹ 599 (Paperback) ISBN: 9780141975825