Vision: The Journal of Business Perspective

The article investigates the co-integrating relation between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and economic growth of India and China: the two emerging markets of Asia. The article also tries to test the functional form of EKC as applicable to India and China. The study takes annual data for the 55 year period from 1960–2014 and the variables included are GDP per capita (a proxy for economic growth) and CO2 emissions per capita (a proxy for the environmental degradation). The co-integrating relation has been tested using Johansen (1988) co-integration test which is supplemented with VAR-VECM Model at p-1 lags with error correction mechanism showing adjustment between short- and long-run equilibrium. The diagnostics include stationarity, parameter stability and structural breaks (using Chow breakeven test & CUSUM plots) and serial correlation (using VEC-LM test). The empirical results showed long-term co-integration between GDP and CO2 emissions for India but not for China with lagged ECM term for India with a value of 0.0466 showed that the 4 per cent of the dis-equilibrium be corrected in same year itself. The stationary test showed that both our variables were stationary either at I(1) or I(2) but none of these were at levels. The null of serial correlation showed no serial correlation. The Chow and Stability tests revealed that for CO2 emissions in India, there was a break in 2009. VEC Granger causality tests showed that there was uni-directional causality for India flowing from GDP to CO2 emissions. EKC functional form of Cubic representation was proved for China where the curve was found to be ‘N’ shaped but EKC could not be proved in case of India.

Pollution of the environment is currently a global concern. Toxic emission from internal combustion engines is one of the primary air pollutants. In order to mitigate the effects of fossil fuel emission and address environmental concerns (ECs), electric vehicles (EVs) are being promoted aggressively all over the world. Various governments are encouraging people to switch to EVs by incentivizing the transition. Previous studies indicate that the high cost of the electric car, non-availability of charging infrastructure, time and range anxiety act as impediments to consumer adoption. The Government of India has given a call for ‘only Electric Vehicles’ on Road by 2030. This article is contemporary and examines the different factors that affect a consumer’s adoption of an EV. The respondents of the study are existing car owners in India. The data were analysed using Structured Equation Modelling (SEM). Attitude (ATT) emerged as a strong mediator, influencing the adoption of electric cars.

Push for sustainability is evident in areas such as energy generation where the focus has been on finding new deposits to outpace drawdown on existing reserves. Gas flaring is employed by oil and gas industries to burn-off associated gasses from refineries, hydrocarbon processing plants or oil and gas reserve wells. It is one of the most taxing energies and environmental problems challenging the world today. Generally, safety flaring was dubbed as the saviour of process plants and mostly covers for sudden or unplanned plant trips. It is an opportunity to cut greenhouse gases (GHGs) from oil and gas processing plants through flare gas recovery (FGR) process. Oil and gas plants can employ diverse FGR procedures to offset key concerns about the environmental bearing of GHGs emanation most of which necessitating novel apparatus and extraordinary outlay of design and construction. In this study, apart from economic aspects, a real-life case study is extensively analysed to highlight exploration and adoption of optimizing FGR that may be beneficial if flare gas can be recovered, instead of burning. The output of the study may have a significant impact for refineries towards both economic and sustainability towards greening. In a nutshell, this study highlights the efficacy of reducing ‘flare gas system’ towards environment-friendly ‘greening’ aspect as the core of designing.

The authors develop a scale to measure individual perspectives on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) constructs based on microfoundation theory. To develop the microfoundation based CSR scale, the research methodology involved two stages (qualitative research followed by quantitative research). In qualitative research, Focused Group Discussion (FGD) was conducted to extract items for survey questionnaire development. Subsequently, quantitative analysis was carried out. The data were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The study sample comprised of 407 management students of Indian business schools who enrolled in CSR and sustainability courses. The developed scale comprised of four variables namely Customer Product Preference (CPP), Customer Firm Preference (CFP), Investor Preference (IP) and Employability Preference (EP). The results were arrived at by undertaking Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and CFA. The scale developed and extended the theoretic conversation on CSR from the organizational level discussion to an individual level discussion based on microfoundation theory. This is one of the first studies to develop a scale on individual perspectives on CSR constructs based on micro-foundation theory.

The purpose of the article is to study the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) on the financial performance of the firms in India. The empirical analysis used data from the top 100 listed companies by market capitalization on BSE. Content analysis is conducted to analyse the principle ‘life cycle sustainability of goods and services’. Hierarchical linear regression is used to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that sustainable sourcing and resource utilization are the two SSCM activities that have a significant positive impact on the financial performance of the firm. The article offers insights for focusing on the activities that increase the shareholder value. It is the initial study that has focused on the sustainable supply chain activities at the micro level as mandated by the regulators of sustainability reporting and studies the impact of such activities on the financial performance of the Indian firms.

The role of spirituality and religion in workplace (SRW) is important as SRW reinforces values of concern and appreciation for both self and others. This is foundational to a person’s ethical schema, impacting how an individual interacts with others within the workplace, fostering organizational and individual goals. While there is a growing body of knowledge about the underlying assumptions and history of SRW, less is known about how contextual factors, such as generational diversity, impact SRW. The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate the differences in SRW among generational cohorts using the lens of cognitive spiritual development theory and multigenerational theory. The results indicate that there is a difference in spirituality and religion among generations in the workplace. Gen X and Baby boomers are similar in expressing higher spirituality and religiosity than Millennials, and religion is a less important factor among all generations. This research has important implications for organizations seeking to better understand personal core values for enhancing organizational outcomes and for individuals working towards meaningful personal and professional outcomes.

This conceptual article examines the theory of reasoned action and theory of planned behaviour and some of its important extension models developed to find out consumers’ purchase behaviour for sustainable products. It has been observed in the first two models that consumers’ attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control influences intention and purchase behaviour for sustainable product consumption. Further, in the extension models, it is observed that consumers’ confidence, environmental attitude, values, past experience, consumers’ willingness, social pressure, perceptions and feelings also influences consumers’ purchase intention and behaviour towards sustainable product consumption. Based on these studies, a conceptual model is proposed where moral obligation (values and ethics) and emotion are incorporated as separate constructs which may influence attitude and purchase intention, and consumers’ habit is taken under perceived behavioural control, which may also influence consumers’ purchase intention. Researchers further may test the proposed model using moderating role of demographic factors between purchase intention and purchase behaviour for sustainable durable products for Indian consumers.

Research on building innovative practices for enhancing the educational effectiveness has gained momentum. Schools as business units play a critical role in building effectiveness. Empirical investigation on the role of parents, the primary customers taking decisions with respect to availing school services for their children, as co-creators in conceptualizing and executing educational innovations is thin. To bridge this research gap, a mixed methods study was conducted on a sample of elementary schools in India. The study also investigated the impact of parents’ involvement on their perceived value and satisfaction. The results suggested that schools are undertaking various innovative initiatives in which parents play a primary role in execution both at home and in the school. It was found that parents’ perception of value for innovative practices introduced by the schools is high, irrespective of their low involvement in the conceptualization stage. The findings also indicated that parental involvement in the execution stage of the initiatives impacts their perceived value more than at the conceptualization stage.

The purpose of this article is to test the conceptual model that addresses the association between job crafting (JC) and organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) and also highlights how mindfulness and trust influence the JC and OCB relationship of front-line employees in hospitality sector. The data for the present study was collected from 246 front-line employees of Delhi-NCR regions of northern India. In order to avoid common method variance effect, the data was collected in two phases, namely T1 and T2. Techniques such as exploratory factor analysis (EFA), discriminant validity and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the hypothesized model. The results show that JC strengthens OCB and also found that trust and mindfulness act as moderators for JC and OCB relationship. JC will help employees to manage their resources efficiently and this process of seeking resources and challenges at work is likely to increase OCB. Mindfulness promotes concentration and interest on work which in turn helps employees to explore new and creative ways to improve their work and makes it more meaningful which in turn improves the organization. The authors could not locate any study on JC in the Indian hospitality industry. In hotel industry, satisfaction and engagement of hotel workers is essential for superior customer service. Therefore, the outcomes of this research work could be helpful to the hotel managers in finding the alternative ways to motivate and engage employees in order to generate OCB. As the sample consisted of only 246 respondents belonging to the North Indian region, therefore, the outcomes of the study cannot be generalized. In future research, retesting of the new model can be done on a larger sample and different cultural contexts. Extended work of the current research work is likely to highlight the possible implications of JC in facilitating positive organizational outcomes and increased prosocial behaviour.

The movement in sustainability and green growth approaches are not new though its application and broad basing its outcome on business is a growing phenomenon. It involves a set of key stakeholders including, but not limited to, the sovereign governments, businesses and civil society organizations to be able to orchestrate a fine balance between policy, implementation approaches and its review and reporting, including transparency for purposes of gauging uptick and progression of stated mandates. In this day and age, more than anything else, consumer pressure on manufacturers of the products is leading a sort of momentum, witnessing a new era of corresponding public policy with civil society holding any ultra-virus actions to account in quest to safeguarding the interest of consumers stands more nuanced. In this context, the issues of responsible outsourcing, traceability, supply chain management and its bearing on green growth and clean ecosystems will only help the manufacturing processes improve its efficiency and overall outcomes. These outcomes are expected to arrive at an equilibrium product price point, ensure traceability and set standards for fairness in quest for responsible consumption.

Icarus, a Greek mythical character, is fabled to have plunged to his death in the Aegean Sea due to his own overconfidence and follies. Now management literature has adopted this fable and has extensively used to denote paradoxical decision-making in business. The present case analyses the rise and fall of the Indian air company Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (KFA) and its promoter the flamboyant Mr Vijay Mallya. The author draws parallel between Icarus and KFA, and presents how both met the same fate due to misplaced overconfidence. A few suggestions for organizations to tide over Icarus paradox are also presented.

Radha R. Sharma (Ed.), Human Resource Management for Organizational Sustainability, New York: Business Expert Press, 2019, 211 pp., $36.95 (Print), $19.95 (Ebook). ISBN: 9781947098022.

Stephane Garelli, Are You a Tiger, a Cat or a Dinosaur? 100 Questions: How Competitiveness Influences Your Life! 2017, SAGE Publications.