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Purpose: This paper proposes a decision-making framework for assessing various dimensions and barriers that have affected the admission process in management educational institutions during the ongoing pandemic. The framework considers the interrelationship between the obstacles and highlights the importance of each barrier. Design/methodology/approach: An integrated method based on decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory and analytical network process is proposed to structure the barrier assessment framework. Results obtained from the study are validated by comparing them against the conventional analytical hierarchy process. Findings: The results obtained from this study indicate four significant dimensions that hinder admission in Indian management institutes, namely, governmental, financial, sectoral, institutional and market. The top five barriers are demand shift towards technical (alternative) skills, acceptance of the graduated students, lack of industry–institute collaboration, lack of long-term vision and opening new Indian Institute of Technologies (IITs) and Indian Institute of Managements (IIMs). Research limitations/implications: During this ongoing pandemic, many educational institutes have been forced to shift from the traditional classroom to a virtual teaching model. In this regard, this study helps identify and assess the barriers to admission in Indian management institutes during this epidemic and thus, contribute to the literature. The findings will assist all stakeholders and policymakers of management institutions design and develop appropriate managerial strategies. The study is conducted in the Indian management educational institute context and can be extended to technical education institutions for deeper insights. Originality/value: The paper develops an assessment framework for analysing the barriers to admission in Indian management institutes during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Research implications are discussed in the context of a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the student psychological contract in the post-pandemic induced hybrid mode of the academic ecosystem in residential business schools of India. The study puts forth three facets of understanding student expectations for contract fulfillment: the business school, academic staff (faculty) and peers. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sequential mixed methodology (qualitative and quantitative), data were gathered and analyzed in two phases. Perceptions of students regarding their expectations were captured through in-depth semi-structured telephonic interviews. The sample comprised 64 students pursuing two years of full-time master's in management courses at four residential business schools in India. Data obtained through interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. The themes extracted were prioritized using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) in the second phase. Findings: The study provides insight into the prioritized expectations of students from their peers, academic staff and the institute. The findings of the study propose that though the expectations may differ across different groups, the mutual interdependence of these groups was mandatory for contract fulfillment. Originality/value: Research on student psychological contracts in the hybrid mode of business education is scarce. The study provides a holistic perspective on this from the lens of students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify critical Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) benefits and assess their relative significance in the context of developing economies (e.g. India). Design/methodology/approach: This study has conducted face-to-face (offline/online) discussions with experts in order to identify appropriate criteria and related CDM benefits. Further, this study has used subsequently, using the analytic hierarchy process, a multi-criteria decision-making method and assess the relative significance of benefits of CDM projects. Findings: The results reveal that knowledge and capacity building, technology transfer and social benefits are the most significant CDM benefits, respectively. It is because the knowledge and capacity building tends to disseminate the awareness on CDM benefits among policymakers and stakeholders, thereby, lead to efficient policy-making and encourage effective technology transfer in a way to achieve sustainable economic growth in the host country. Originality/value: The literature is dominated by studies of CDM projects in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Africa and China. Within the thousands of CDM projects globally, India only has 1,376 registered CDM projects. To the authors' knowledge, this is one of the first studies that highlight the relative significance of CDM benefits in the context of India. This study will enhance the implementation in the Indian scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The objective of the work is to have an insight into the degree of the contemporary concept of greening the organization through human resource management (HRM) and to attempt to bridge the gap toward environmental awareness, as well as to observe the dimensions of green HRM (GHRM) practices and its impression toward environmental sustainability by using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and FAHP. Design/methodology/approach: The research was carried out in two phases; multi-method was employed. The first phase mainly includes a systematic review to convene comprehensive knowledge of widespread GHRM practices to leverage environmental sustainability. In the second phase, the AHP and fuzzy AHP (FAHP) were employed to examine the influence of the respective dimension of GHRM practices toward environmental sustainability. Findings: This study emphasizes the status of GHRM practices such as green recruitment and green selection, green performance management, green training and development, green compensation and rewards, green welfare aspects as a way to aid environmental issues. The findings suggest that these initiatives help to leverage environmental sustainability. Further, this paper reveals that green compensation and rewards have the highest impact on leveraging environmental sustainability. However, this study also emphasizes the comparative study of GHRM dimensions through AHP and FAHP. Originality/value: As existing studies reveal, there is least research carried on this field of study and no study was conducted using AHP and FAHP in this field. Thus, this study reveals the necessity to discover the degree of concern toward GHRM practices in context to India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper demonstrates a multi-criteria analytic hierarchy process (AHP) framework for evaluating and benchmarking maintenance performance in the select agro-based industry. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, 20 maintenance practices (criteria) have been identified after a detailed literature review and discussion with the agro-based industry (sugar, textile and dairy industry) executives. These are then grouped into six maintenance management areas referred to as group criteria. The multi-criteria methodology consists of three steps: criteria identification, hierarchical modeling and data collection and maintenance performance evaluation, and benchmarking. The multi-criteria methodology proposed in this work facilitates two ways of carrying out benchmarking: (1) within the agro-based industry and (2) between the agro-based industry. The methodology has been explained by taking a case example of 45 agro-based industries (18 dairy, 13 sugar and 14 textile) from the western region of India. The sensitivity analysis of the model has been performed to ascertain the robustness of the results. Findings: There is a difference in the maintenance performance across the agro-based industries due to different maintenance practices perceived differently. Research limitations/implications: The outcome of the model is mainly given by the judgments of the agro-based industry executives. It is also sensitive to any change in the relative importance to the evaluation criteria or the perception about the maintenance performance. Practical implications: The study contributes in identifying the weakness, if any, by comparing the agro-based industry under investigation with the benchmark factory at three levels, namely, overall performance (factory level), group criteria (maintenance management area level) and criteria (maintenance practice level) allowing further improvement. Originality/value: The methodology assists in better decision-making and in improving maintenance performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The successive waves of the Covid-19 SARS-II pandemic and the attendant lockdown imposed by the governments worldwide drove the economic activities to a halt. Offices and factories closed, production of goods and services declined and supply chains got severely disrupted. Many companies were embattled with the grim reality of shrinkage of aggregate demand, first due to supply shock and later due to loss of jobs and wages. Amidst all this, the handling and shipping of commodities became extremely complex. As the pandemic shifted consumer preference in favour of digital platforms, more and more fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies were confronted with multiple strategies and choices of an appropriate distribution channel to ensure smooth delivery of raw materials and products. The present study aims to study this shift and its implications in the Indian context. Design/methodology/approach: A mix-method approach, integrating quantitative and qualitative analysis, is employed to investigate the factors influencing the selection of distribution channels amongst general trade, modern trade, e-commerce and hyperlocal for FMCG companies in India. The first phase of the study uses exploratory factor analysis (EFA), followed by the application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach in a fuzzy environment to realise the priority weights and ranking of the identified factors. Finally, sensitivity analysis is performed to confirm the robustness of the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) outcomes. Findings: The study revealed that modern trade has emerged as the most favoured channel in the post-pandemic Indian economy. It has the potential to disrupt general trade. The study also revealed that the hyperlocal delivery model is not economically viable, and the partnership of FMCG companies with these applications is at best a short-term solution. However, it must be submitted that due to its sheer capability to ensure quick deliveries within a confined geographic area, hyperlocal delivery will gain momentum with the advancement of technology. Originality/value: This study can be seen as the first attempt to investigate the issues related to the selection of the distribution channels in the FMCG sector of India using multi-criteria decision-making technique (MCDM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Adopting the circular economy (CE) notion in the supply chain perspective is necessary for the sustainability viewpoint. However, such practices are deficient, especially in developing countries like India, because of several obstacles. The purpose of this study was to create an approach for circular supply chain management (CSCM) adaption in Indian rubber industries by identifying and evaluating its associated obstacles. Design/methodology/approach: A hybrid approach of analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the grey-based ELECTRE method had been employed in this research to obtain the mutual rankings of the identified obstacles based on their impressions on the CSCM prosperity criteria through a case study and involving diverse expert's opinions. Findings: Presented study's findings illustrate that "Lack of consumer knowledge and consciousness towards environmental sustainability" was found to be the top-ranked obstacle followed by "Unwillingness towards supply chain re-structuring". Research limitations/implications: The obstacles' prioritized rankings could help leaders to create sequential strategies for adapting a resilient CSCM structure by systematically eliminating these obstacles. Moreover, the pinpointed critical obstacles could be investigated further in separate studies and generate future studies' scope. Originality/value: During the extensive literature survey, it had been found that the CSCM practices are in the fledgling stage in the developing country's context. Moreover, studies related to CSCM adaption in rubber-based manufacturing industries were much lacking. Presented work is peculiar, aiming to accelerate the CSCM adaption in the industrial rubber sector in developing countries like India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study aims to determine and benchmark the performance of socially responsible companies (SRCs) in India based on the financial, value-added and combined performance indicators by addressing the climate change problems at the grass-root level. Design/methodology/approach: The present study has used the traditional financial, value-added and combined performance indicators to evaluate and rank the performance of 14 SRCs under the Bombay stock exchange (BSE)-Greenex sustainability index. The technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) algorithms calculate performance scores and assign weights to the indicators from 2015 to 2019. Further, the Altman Z-score methodology has been applied to understand the SRCs propensity toward bankruptcy behavior. The parametric t-test is also performed on the outcomes of TOPSIS scores under different categories of indicators to check the statistical significance. Findings: The performance scores of the TOPSIS algorithm indicate that the financial indicators of SRCs govern the firm performance significantly over the value-added indicators (VAIs). Further, parametric t-test results validate the outcomes of the performance scores by exhibiting that there is no significant difference between the traditional financial and VAIs at a 5% significance level. However, a few SRCs overall performance rankings have improved significantly after including VAIs. Moreover, the Altman Z-score results also reveal that most of the SRCs evaluated in the study are stable, showcasing consistent performance and absent from bankruptcy behavior. Practical implications: The study has practical implications as follows: (1) to facilitate a clear understanding of investors and portfolio managers in selecting appropriate companies under socially responsible investing (SRI); (2) to provide portfolio diversification insights for domestic and international investors besides advocating the necessity of investing in better performing sustainable companies to safeguard their investments against the future uncertainty and (3) the study results would benefit the regulatory bodies to frame appropriate sustainability policy interventions at the organization level. Originality/value: In the context of ambiguous inferences on the performance of SRI, no prior study has been conducted to assess the performance of SRCs in the Indian version of sustainability index BSE-Greenex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study prioritizes the supply chain risks (SCRs) and determines risk mitigation strategies (RMSs) for the Indian apparel industry to mitigate the shock of the COVID-19 pandemic disruption. Design/methodology/approach: Initially, 23 SCRs within the apparel industry are identified through an extant literature review. Further, a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) is utilized to prioritize the SCRs considering the epidemic situations to understand the criticality of SCRs and determine appropriate RMSs to mitigate the shock of SCRs during COVID-19. Findings: This study prioritized and ranked the SCRs within the Indian apparel industry based on their severity during the COVID-19 disruption. Results indicate that the demand uncertainty and pandemic disruption risks are the most critical. Based on the SCRs, the present work evaluated and suggested the flexibility and postponement mitigation strategies for the case under study. Research limitations/implications: This study has novel implications to the existing literature on supply chain risk management in the form of the FAHP framework. Supply chain practitioners from the other industrial sectors can extend the proposed FAHP framework to assess the SCRs and identify suitable mitigation strategies. The results aid the practitioners working in an apparel industry to benchmark and deploy the proposed RMSs in their firm. Originality/value: The present study is a unique and earlier attempt to develop a quantitative framework using FAHP to evaluate and determine the risk mitigation strategy for managing the SCRs during the coronavirus epidemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The primary objective of the study is to discover the most prominent criteria and sub-criteria among environmental issues, social dimensions and corporate governance factors that may impact individual equity investors' investment decisions. Design/methodology/approach: The present study collected data from 438 individual equity investors from the North Indian region. To achieve the objectives of the study, a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (Fuzzy AHP) was applied. The key considerations of the study were environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. Findings: The governance criterion was discovered to be the most significant factor influencing individual equity investors' investment decisions among the three ESG factors, followed by environmental criteria, while social criteria were shown to be the least influential. Research limitations/implications: The present study solely looked at ESG issues as drivers of stock investors' investment decisions. In the current world, however, many other factors, including behavioral biases, accounting information, ownership structure and fundamental analysis, can have a substantial influence on investors' investment decisions. Practical implications: The study's findings widen the theoretical contribution in the field of responsible investment by asserting how ESG factors influence investors' investment decisions in the equity market. From a practical standpoint, this study applies to retail and institutional investors, portfolio managers, financial advisors, market regulators, corporations and society at large. Originality/value: To the best of authors knowledge, no attempt has been made to prioritize the ESG issues that impact the investment decisions of individual equity investors. Ergo, this study contributes to the existing literature on socially responsible investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Elderly patients suffering from non-communicable disease face a dilemma in the selection of healthcare providers. This study attempts to identify the key variables playing a crucial role and identify the appropriate healthcare destination with the help of a combination of Decision-making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) techniques. The primary objective is to introduce the DEMATEL and AHP as efficient decision-making methods to choose the right healthcare provider for elderly patients suffering from non-communicable diseases. Design/methodology/approach: An integrative approach utilizing DEMATEL and AHP is used to reach the ideal solution for healthcare provider selection decisions. The DEMATEL approach is used to segregate the cause and effect variables. Similarly, the AHP is used to identify the weights of the top five cause-inducing variables, and the paired comparison method is used to select the healthcare provider. Findings: The variables such as dependency on family members, easily accessible services, and patient autonomy play a vital role in the selection decision of healthcare providers in elderly patients suffering from non-communicable diseases. Practical implications: In terms of priority, home healthcare should be considered the preferred provider for elderly patients suffering from non-communicable diseases followed by neighbourhood registered medical practitioners and hospitals. Originality/value: This is the first of its kind study which has attempted to solve the healthcare provider selection decision with the combined approach of DEMATEL and AHP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the research is to identify and prioritise the implementation challenges of blockchain technology and suggests ways for its implementation in supply chains. Design/methodology/approach: Underlined by the technology, organisational, and external environment model, a conceptual framework with four challenge categories and sixteen challenges is proposed. Data collected from three stakeholder groups with experience in the implementation of blockchain technology in India is analysed by employing an analytical hierarchy process method-based case study. Further, a criticality–effort matrix analysis is performed to group challenges and suggest ways for implementation. Findings: The analysis revels that all stakeholders perceive complexity challenge associated with the technology, organisational structure, and external environment, and issues of compatibility with existing systems, software, and business practices to be high on the criticality and effort scales, which thus require meticulous planning to manage. Likewise, top-management support issues related to insufficient understanding of how technology fits with the organisation's policy and benefits offered by the technology requires high effort to address this challenge. Research limitations/implications: The results were obtained by focusing on the Indian context and therefore may not apply to other nations' contexts. Practical implications: By investigating the challenges that the developers, consultants, and client organisations need to address, this study assists managers in developing plans to facilitate coordination among these organisations for successful blockchain implementation. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge this study is the first to identify and prioritise the challenges from the perspectives of multiple stakeholder groups with experience in blockchain technology implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Advanced digitalization techniques combined with artificial intelligence and automated robotic systems have created "Smart" organizations resulting in a new revolution in the industrial production systems as Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The research is aimed to do a meticulous scanning of internal and external environment pertaining to I4.0 implementation in the manufacturing industry in India. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted among the manufacturing managers and information technology professionals about the factors affecting I4.0 application, and 20 such internal and external factors were identified. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were executed for factor analysis, and four dimensions in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) factors were determined from the variables. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology was then applied. Findings: Results show that increased productivity and efficiency appeared to be the biggest strength of I4.0 while the biggest weakness is the need for specialized training and skills. The biggest opportunity is found to be increasing trust of customers in Internet transactions and employee resistance to adopting new technologies turned out to be the biggest threat. Practical implications: Organizations will be able to evaluate the strengths, work upon weakness, exploit the opportunities and protect against external challenges and threats beforehand while implementing I4.0 technologies. Originality/value: The four dimensions in terms of SWOT pertaining to manufacturing industry have been identified by collecting original data from the manufacturing industry, and AHP and CFA were then carried out to prioritize and verify them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A large number of roads have been constructed in the rural areas of India to connect habitations with the nearest major roads. With time, the pavements of these roads have deteriorated and they need some kind of maintenance, although they all do not need maintenance at the same time, as they have all not deteriorated to the same level. Hence, they have to be prioritized for maintenance. Design/methodology/approach: In order to present a scientific methodology for prioritizing pavement maintenance, the factors affecting prioritization and the relative importance of each were identified through an expert survey. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to scientifically establish weight (importance) of each factor based on its relative importance over other factors. The proposed methodology was validated through a case study of 203 low volume rural roads in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Ranking of these roads in order of their priority for maintenance was presented as the final result. Findings: The results show that pavement distresses, traffic volume, type of connectivity and the socioeconomic facilities located along a road are the four major factors to be considered in determining the priority of a road for maintenance. Research limitations/implications: The methodology provides a comprehensive, scientific and socially responsible pavement maintenance prioritization method which will automatically select roads for maintenance without any bias. Practical implications: Timely maintenance of roads will also save budgetary expenditure of restoration/reconstruction, leading to enhancement of road service life. The government will not only save money but also provide timely benefit to the needy population. Social implications: Road transportation is the primary mode of inland transportation in rural areas. Timely maintenance of the pavements will be of great help to the socioeconomic development of rural areas. Originality/value: The proposed methodology lays special emphasis on rural roads which are small in length, but large in number. Instead of random, a scientific method for selection of roads for maintenance will be of great help to the public works department for better management of rural road network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to use the framework of stakeholder analysis in a participatory democracy, used in forest management planning, for arriving at the best management option for selected sacred groves of Kachchh. This is achieved by accounting for economic, cultural and ecological values and the resulting outcomes in the complex institutional mechanism. Additionally, this study provides a framework for complex decision-making that characterizes the management of sacred groves involving multiple criteria and options accounting for multiple stakeholders that involve conflicting interests. Design/methodology/approach: The analytical hierarchy process was used to calculate the global priorities of management options using the relative importance of stakeholders, weights of different decision criteria to arrive at the best management practice for selected groves of Kachchh. The global priorities of management options rank management practices based on stakeholders' values and their effects on the choice of management strategy as well as on the potential to attain a compromise between competing interests. For this purpose, survey responses of 141 individuals belonging to seven different stakeholder categories were analyzed. Along with focus group discussions, and personal interviews, a stratified random sampling technique was used to survey respondents. Findings: Based on the global priority weights of the alternatives, it is determined that the restoration management option (guggal is restored by planting new guggal sapplings, cattle grazing is prohibited and high levels of ecosystem goods and services are provided) had the highest score, followed by the preservation management option (grazing is allowed on the periphery, juvenile guggal is preserved and moderate ecosystem goods and services are provided). Therefore, restoration of sacred groves is the best management practice of sacred groves in West Kachchh, offering a compromise between maximizing provision of ecosystem services and economic benefits in terms of allowing cattle grazing. Originality/value: Though there are several studies on best management practices for community-owned forests, irrigation systems, and pasture lands, and the role of local institutions in sustaining these common-pool resources; such studies for sacred groves are absent, despite sacred groves being one of the longest surviving common-pool resources that has sustained it over several decades. This is the first study that uses the framework of stakeholder analysis to arrive at the best management practice for sacred groves. The uniqueness of the study lies in a comprehensive evaluation of ecological–economic–cultural interests of multiple stakeholders toward management of sacred groves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: An amalgamation of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) has been performed to develop a decision-making framework for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. A primary survey was conducted to collect real-time data from the heterogeneous stakeholders of microfinance institutions across India. The validation of the proposed framework is performed by comparing the results against the conventional method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Design/methodology/approach: This study identifies various dimensions and indicators for measuring the performance of Indian microfinance institutions. Additionally, the ranking and prioritisation of the performance dimensions and indicators is obtained by considering the mutual interrelation between them. Findings: The study indicates that there exists a significant dyadic relationship between financial performance and social performance for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. Governance is found to unidirectionally influence both financial and social performance. Among all the considered dimensions, financial performance of a microfinance institution is the most critical dimension for improving the overall performance. The top five performance indicators of the Indian microfinance institutions are funding source, borrowing and overhead cost, size of the firm, end-use of the money and depth of outreach. Research limitations/implications: The study was conducted in the context of Indian microfinance institutions; hence the scope of generalisation of the results is limited. This research considers both subjective and objective aspect of the performance dimensions and indicators from the perspective of multiple stakeholders (i.e. firm, society and regulator). The integrated framework is expected to aid in improving overall performance of microfinance institutions by focusing on the most critical (high prioritised) performance indicators. Originality/value: An integrated DEMATEL-ANP framework is used in the domain of microfinance to assess the performance dimensions. This study is unique in terms of analysing performance of microfinance institutions from the perspective of heterogeneous stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]