GOS tree (Goal-Objective-Strategy tree) approach to strategic planning using a fuzzy-Delphi process: An application to the Indian Shrimp Industry

Setting long-term goals, specifying short-term objectives, and formulating strategies to achieve the objectives are the key elements in a strategic planning process. In this paper, we have used hierarchical relationships among these key elements to propose a Goal-Objective-Strategy (GOS) tree. We have proposed an algorithm to validate the structural relationship between two hierarchically adjacent elements of the GOS tree by getting their feasibility score rated in a five-point linguistic scale with the help of a Delphi questionnaire survey. The linguistic scores were then converted into fuzzy scores and consensus of Delphi experts' opinions on feasibility of various statements were derived mathematically using fuzzy aggregation algorithm. We have applied the GOS-tree-based approach as a tool for strategic planning for the Indian Shrimp Industry that has displayed a cyclic performance in the past and has shown signs of rejuvenation in recent times.     

Financial frictions and total factor productivity: Accounting for the real effects of financial crises

Financial crises in emerging economies are accompanied by a large fall in total factor productivity. We explore the role of financial frictions in exacerbating the misallocation of resources and explaining this drop in TFP. We build a two-sector model of a small open economy with a working capital constraint on the purchase of intermediate goods. The model is calibrated to Mexico before the 1995 crisis and subjected to an unexpected shock to interest rates. The financial friction generates an endogenous fall in TFP and output and can explain more than half of the fall in TFP and 74 percent of the fall in GDP per worker.     

A Theoretical Framework for Understanding Transnational Public Goods (TPGs) to Upgrade Environmental Quality

In recent years, there has been an increase in awareness of trans-boundary pollution that places environmental assets at risk both globally and regionally. Globally, manmade pollutants have degraded the stratospheric ozone shield, the oceans, the atmosphere and the biodiversity of the planet. Regionally, these pollutants have harmed aquifers, rivers, lakes, soils and forests. Harmful effects of acid rains, greenhouse gasses, and thin ozone shield are not concentrated within political boundaries of a country, thus jeopardizing the well-being of people in other countries. These trans-boundary pollution problems—termed as Transnational Public Goods (TPGs)—often share two common features: strategic interactions among nations and public good properties. This paper applies the theory of voluntary provisions of TPGs to the behavior of nations to curb chloro-fluoro-carbon emissions that, in large part, preceded the ratification and institution of the Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer.

     

Incorporating Delphi results in system dynamics models: A case of Indian tea industry

The results of a Delphi study on the future of the Indian tea industry are presented. Most of the information obtained for the study helps in formulating and validating a system dynamics model. The model also considers the occurrence of new events as visualized by the panelists. It is shown, however, that the policies recommended by the panelists yield poor industry behavior when Delphi-predicted new events operate in the environment. This may be due to lack of comprehension of the complexity of interaction between policies proposed and new events visualized by the panelists. On the basis of this investigation, it is proposed that Delphi and system dynamics studies should complement each other in arriving at viable policy decisions.     

Delayed monsoon,irrigation and crop yields

Most of the empirical literature assessing the impacts of climate change on agriculture has modeled crop yields as a function of the levels or deviations in the growing-period rainfall. However, an aspect that has received little attention in the empirical literature relates to the relationship between the timing of monsoon rains and crop yields. Using a pan-India district-level panel dataset for 50 years, this article investigates two interrelated issues critical to understanding the impacts of weather-induced agricultural risks and their management. It first examines the impact of the timing of monsoon onset on crop yields and then assesses the role of irrigation in mitigating its effects. The article finds that the delayed onset of monsoon is detrimental to crops, and its effects are realized beyond the rainy season. The findings also demonstrate that irrigation helps mitigate the harmful effects of delayed monsoon. Finally, to link these findings to farm-level adjustments, the article shows that farmers explicitly adjust the timing of irrigation in response to delays in monsoon rains.     

Building Technological Capabilities In A Liberalising Developing Economy: Firm Strategies And Public Policy

As a consequence of economic reforms, the Indian manufacturing sector faces a variety of technology related challenges. It not only has to quickly develop world-class manufacturing capabilities, but also gear up to develop new products and processes. In this paper we analyse the technology strategies of six Indian firms in different product groups which are trying to build competitive manufacturing and technology capabilities. The linkages between corporate, technology, and manufacturing strategies are explored and the role of complementary assets is studied in order to identify patterns through which these firms are building capabilities of various kinds. Specifically, we evaluate the extent to which firms use supply chains to develop product and process technologies. Some links between public policy and firm level technological capabilities are also explored to identify a few key priorities in the current context     

Drivers of ad spend trends among global marketers

This research study attempts to examine whether there is consistency in the advertisingto-sales ratio (%) pattern for global marketers in their home region and at a worldwide level, through a systematic sequence of analyses. It attempts to understand the variation in the advertising spend to sales ratio for the home region and global markets for a sample of marketers by analysing along the variables of category (surrogate for advertising task), region (home base) and companies themselves. This has been done by applying the C&RT technique of the automatic interaction detector (AID) family. The key point emerging from this analysis is that, at every level, the category is the main determinant for explaining the variation in global advertising to spend ratio as well as the home region advertising to spend ratio.     

Does the XBRL Reporting Format Provide Incremental Information Value? A Study Using XBRL Disclosures During the Voluntary Filing Program

This study investigates whether the eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) reporting format provides incremental information value beyond the same 10K/10Q filings previously provided in HTML format. Using a sample from the XBRL Voluntary Filing Program, we document a significant increase in stock price variance on the day when voluntary XBRL reports are filed. We find market response is stronger when more content is filed on the same day. To evaluate relative information value, we decompose the quarterly return variance for three primary news announcements related to earnings including earnings announcement, HTML filing, and XBRL filing. We find XBRL filings have larger relative information value than HTML filings. Our results indicate that the XBRL reporting format provides incremental information content.     

Green supplier selection: a new genetic/immune strategy with industrial application

With the onset of the ‘climate change movement’, organisations are striving to include environmental criteria into the supplier selection process. This article hybridises a Green Data Envelopment Analysis (GDEA)-based approach with a new Genetic/Immune Strategy for Data Envelopment Analysis (GIS-DEA). A GIS-DEA approach provides a different view to solving multi-criteria decision making problems using data envelopment analysis (DEA) by considering DEA as a multi-objective optimisation problem with efficiency as one objective and proximity of solution to decision makers’ preferences as the other objective. The hybrid approach called GIS-GDEA is applied here to a well-known automobile spare parts manufacturer in India and the results presented. User validation developed based on specific set of criteria suggests that the supplier selection process with GIS-GDEA is more practical than other approaches in a current industrial scenario with multiple decision makers.