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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the under-researched dynamics of gender, workplace support, and perceived job demands in two different contexts, the United States and India. Design/methodology/approach: The paper draws from two studies conducted in different contexts (the United States and India) via different methodological approaches (quantitative and qualitative, respectively). In Study I of this paper, data was collected using questionnaires from a nationally representative sample of adult workers in the United States. In Study II, interviews were conducted with 48 workers in India, selected using convenience sampling. Findings: It was found that both in the United States and India, women perceived considerably greater job demands than men. In terms of workplace support, both the studies found that workplace culture and supervisors' support influenced the perception of job demands, but the same was not true for coworkers' support, which mainly helped in coping rather than actually reducing the perception of job demands. Research implications: The article contributes to research by concluding that job demands as a construct are not clearly segregated from gender demands or expectations, especially in the way women "perceive" it. Women construct job demands as "job-family" demands and workplace support as "job-family" support. Moreover, being a woman in the workplace, women feel the "burden" of gender. Practical implications: It would be useful for organizations and policy makers to understand that women remain "conscious" of their gender in the workplace, and for them, the meaning of job demands and workplace support are "job-family" demands and "work-family" support, respectively. Social implications: This research intends to contribute toward thinking about gender relations and empowerment of people within organizational and work settings from a new light. Originality/value: The present study provides an alternative way of thinking about gender, job demands, and workplace support. Its value underlies in the way it raises the voices of women workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the place of religion in civil society and how that relates to the problem of social order. Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory comparative case study was conducted of flood relief in Mumbai with the relief following the Katrina disaster in the summer of 2005, using a qualitative content analysis of regional media documents. Findings – A more fluid and less clearly defined division between religion and government in the USA was found that created opportunities by which a much larger response by religious institutions occurred. Religiously-based disaster relief in the US case is conducted more through groups and networks, while in the Indian case, religious-based relief takes place more through values and norms. These conditions led to more immediate social order following the floods in Mumbai but less intensive cooperation and coordination that was not tied to religious institutions. After Katrina in the US case, coordination and cooperation were less immediate but of higher intensity and explicitly tied to religious institutions. Research limitations/implications – This research offers new categories for understanding the role of religion in civil society by focusing on disaster relief in a comparative manner, proposing a framework based on qualitative and exploratory research for pursuing more deductive and explanatory quantitative analyses in the future. Originality/value – Finally, instead of assuming religion as either a source of conflict or a source of social order, dependent on the nature of a given religious group, this paper shows the additional complexity and variation in social order that is dependent on the relationship between religion and state and the social context in a given time and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this research is to explore the reasons for service failure in restaurants. The paper aims to give insights into customers' perceptions and response regarding service failure and recovery and to try to draw a parallel between consumers in a developing economy like India and the same in a developed society, such as USA. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is empirical and involves data from 200 respondents from India and the USA. The sampling unit is individual restaurant customers and the data collection instrument is a structured, non-disguised questionnaire. The questionnaires have been administered through personal interviews. Findings - The study found conclusive results on the reasons for service failure in the restaurant business in the context of developed and developing economies. It also sheds light on the behavioral aspects of customers' perception towards these failures and their responses to the same. The paper further looked into the recovery strategy employed by restaurants and the customers' perception towards the recovery strategies. Practical implications - The study has important managerial implications as it facilitates the understanding of where and how the failure-points occur and how customers perceive and react to them. The paper is also helpful in designing policies and procedures to proactively weed-out such failure-points and, in case of their occurrence, design responses to the same. Originality/value - The paper is valuable as very little has been done in the Indian context. It also creates a comparative perspective as to service failure in the restaurant sector between a developed and a developing country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an instrument to measure the dimensionality of Indian expatriate adjustment. Design/methodology/approach – In an effort to measure the dimensionality of Indian expatriate adjustment in the USA, Black's instrument was used in this paper. Findings – The factor analysis gave a different factor structure from that proposed by Black. Expatriate scores did not merge into three dimensions of expatriates' adjustment; rather they merged into two dimensions. Unlike Black's study, interaction with host nationals was not found to be a separate dimension. A possible explanation is that linguistic skills and the presence of Indian diaspora support Indian expatriates during their interactions with Americans. Research limitations/implications – The exploratory character of this study with its small convenience sample of Indian expatriates makes the findings tentative. Practical implications – The paper is a useful source of information for students planning to make a career in international business and practitioners already engaged in international business activities. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified information need and offers help in expatriate adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The issuance of sweat equity shares has recently created controversies. The limitations backing the conservatism of sweat equity shares issuance can be ascribed to confabulating recipient recognition process, uneasy tax treatment and procedural inconsistencies. This paper aims to study the theoretical and legal underpinnings, rightful recipients and the procedure for issuing sweat equity shares. Design/methodology/approach – The authors choose the jurisdictions of India, the USA and Japan to study the problems plaguing issuance of sweat equity shares. The USA's prototypical reference and burgeoning technical soundness coupled with the sound venture capitalism of India and Japan has inspired the choice. The regulatory regime subsisting in the above jurisdictions governing sweat equity is studied comprehensively and comparatively. The structuring of sweat equity transactions and the tax treatment of sweat equity shares in the USA, India and Japan are discussed. Findings – It is found that due to the absence of set standards and precedents the method for identifying the right recipients has trembled abysmally. Originality/value – The paper focuses on the issues surrounding the practice of employees contributing to an organization being remunerated through shares. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – While there is a growing body of studies on the people's views of community policing, there have been a very few cross-national studies. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast students’ views on community policing from India and the USA. Design/methodology/approach – The data were from a survey from a total of 434 Indian and 484 US college students. Findings – Punitive orientation had a significant effect on attitudes toward community policing, but was related to an increase in the support in India and reduction of support in the USA. Among the Indian respondents, concern for crime and support for aggressive policing had positive associations with support for community policing, and police involvement in the community had a negative association. Among the US respondents, age, educational level, and perceptions of police effectiveness had positive associations with support for community policing, and holding a punitive orientation had a negative association. Originality/value – This study represents the attempt to examine Indian perceptions of community policing empirically. Uncovering factors that affect public support for community policing can provide useful references for police administrators to develop policies and practices that encourage more active community involvement in crime control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the direct and indirect effects of individuals' self-concept, product-oriented variables (i.e. consumer's need for uniqueness (NFU), and clothing interest), and brand-specific variables (i.e. perceived quality and emotional value) on purchase intention toward a US retail brand versus a local brand that are available in the Indian market. Design/methodology/approach - Data obtained from 405 college students in India were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings - This study found that Indian consumers' self-concept and NFU had indirect effects on purchase intention of the US brand and the local brand. Both self-concept and NFU positively influenced clothing interest. Clothing interest positively influenced perceived quality and emotional value for the US brand, but not for the local brand. Emotional value was found to be an important factor influencing purchase intention toward the US brand and the local brand as well. However, perceived quality did not affect Indian consumers' purchase intention of the US and local brand. Implications for both US and Indian retailers are provided. Originality/value - As India is witnessing multitude of US retailers in its market, this paper aids in the better understanding of the Indian consumers and their perceptions toward US and local clothing brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses outsourcing in the United States information technology (IT) industry. The article notes that a large number of U.S. companies have outsourced IT work to countries such as India, and the author attempts to fully examine this issue. The author found that IT outsourcing raises such problems as class issues and ethnic tensions, as largely white-collar workers in the U.S. are finding their jobs outsourced to people of different social status and ethnicity. The article also examines how outsourcing fits into globalization.