Customer service represents a significant opportunity for segmenting markets. This article reviews the importance of customer service and the conceptual issues associated with segmenting industrial markets on the basis of customer service. A methodology is presented which can be used by managers to classify a market into segments with different customer service needs. Empirical results from a high‐technology industry are also presented. The article emphasises the need to recognise the differing customer service requirements of segments of customers when establishing priorities for customer service expenditures.
Evidence suggests that the recent interest in competitive strategy and competitive positioning, while good in itself, has resulted in the management of many firms placing too much emphasis on competitive performance and too little emphasis on customer expectations. This research in the chemical industry provides support for the conclusion that management needs to refocus on the customer if US companies are going to succeed in the increasingly competitive marketplace. A methodology is presented that can be used by management to collect and analyse customer‐based competitive data for use in establishing priorities for customer service expenditures.
In India, with the change of political leadership at the center, the sanctity of religion- based Muslim family law has been contested. This has led to the development of a new socio-political discourse which is influenced and shaped by the basic feminist ideals of equal rights for women. In this discourse, Muslim women are portrayed as necessarily suffering from unjust family laws and needing immediate cover and protection from the secular state. In the light of the judicial reform which makes the practice of instant divorce through 'triple talaq' among Muslims a punishable offence, this article discusses that for Muslim women the domain of law is liminal and they choose between multiple legal forums to increase their access to justice. It explores how Muslim women approach different alternative forums, and in what ways Muslim women activists are creating an opportunity for the distressed women to resolve their marital disputes more efficiently. Such an examination provides important insights into how Muslim women's rights activists undertake their pursuit of justice within a complex, legally pluralistic landscape in the area of Muslim family law in India.
In: Dialectical anthropology: an independent international journal in the critical tradition committed to the transformation of our society and the humane union of theory and practice, Band 46, Heft 3, S. 291-325
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine perspective of "gendered labour process" to explore the aspectsof managerialism, which utilize gender as a control measure to achieve its ends. The paper seeks to integrate gender and labour process theory and contribute to studies on gendering of organizations that focus on organization logic as well as integrated studies of labour process theory and gender.Design/methodology/approachThe paper utilizes thematic analysis as the method for analysing the interviews of senior managers in an information technology service organization in India, to identify managerial ideologies and practices.FindingsA gendered labour process perspective could reveal the institutional orders that systemically discriminate or exclude women in organizations, rather than gender ideologies alone.Practical implicationsRather than focussing on gender sensitization alone, as is the case with the gender diversity initiatives, it may be fruitful to revisit work design and work organization, to identify and implement changes, so that women's marginalization and exclusion from certain workplaces could be minimized.Social implicationsA view of gendered labour process could aid public policies aimed at enabling women to continue their employment without disruptions.Originality/valueThe paper attempted to integrate gender and labour process theory by delineating the organization logic that deploys gender as a means of managerial control.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that Bourdieu's concept of masculine domination offers a comprehensive social theory of gender as compared to Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity through examining the proposition of positive hegemonic masculinity.
Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper that argues that Bourdieu's concept of masculine domination offers a comprehensive social theory of gender as compared to Connell's concept of hegemonic masculinity.
Findings The findings demonstrate that Bourdieu's concept of masculine domination incorporates both discursive and material structures of the gender system that privileges men/masculine over women/feminine, making it a comprehensive social theory of gender.
Research limitations/implications The concepts of hegemonic masculinity and masculine domination have not been reviewed in the light of emerging perspectives on hegemony, power and domination. The future research could focus on a review of research methods such as institutional ethnography, in examining masculine domination.
Practical implications Using masculine domination perspective, organizations could identify specific managerial discourses, aspects of work organization and practices in order to eliminate gender-based discrimination, harassment and unequal access to resources.
Social implications Public policy interventions aimed at inclusive development could examine women's condition of continued disadvantageousness, through masculine domination perspective.
Originality/value The authors seek to provide a comparative view of the concepts of hegemonic masculinity and masculine domination, using the categories of comparison that was not attempted earlier.
AbstractMitigating the impact of pollution on human health worldwide is important to limit the morbidity and mortality arising from exposure to its effect. The level and type of pollutants vary in different urban and rural settings. Here, we explored the extent of air pollution and its impacts on human health in the megacity of Delhi (India) through a review of the published literature. The study aims at describing the extent of air pollution in Delhi, the magnitude of health problems due to air pollution and the risk relationship between air pollution and associated health effects. We found 234 published articles in the PubMed search. The search showed that the extent of air pollution in Delhi has been described by various researchers from about 1986 onwards. We synthesized the findings and discuss them at length with respect to reported values, their possible interpretations and any limitations of the methodology. The chemical composition of ambient air pollution is also discussed. Further, we discuss the magnitude of health problem with respect to chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), bronchial asthma and other illnesses. The results of the literature search showed that data has been collected in last 28 years on ambient air quality in Delhi, though it lacks a scientific continuity, consistency of locations and variations in parameters chosen for reporting. As a result, it is difficult to construct a spatiotemporal picture of the air pollution status in Delhi over time. The number of sites from where data have been collected varied widely across studies and methods used for data collection is also non-uniform. Even the parameters studied are varied, as some studies focused on particulate matter ≤10 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM10) and those ≤2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter (PM2.5), and others on suspended particulate matter (SPM) and respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM). Similarly, the locations of data collection have varied widely. Some of the sites were at busy traffic intersections, some on the terraces of offices and residential houses and others in university campuses or airports. As a result, the key question of the extent of pollution and its distribution across various parts of the city could be inferred. None of the studies or a combination of them could present a complete picture of the burden of diseases like COPD, bronchial asthma and other allergic conditions attributable to pollution in Delhi. Neither could it be established what fraction of the burden of the above diseases is attributable to ambient air pollution, given that other factors like tobacco smoke and indoor air pollution are also contributors to the causation of such diseases. In our discussion, we highlight the knowledge gaps and in the conclusion, we suggested what research can be undertaken to fill the these research gaps.
PurposeBusiness‐to‐business marketing has come of age in the last three decades and research in this area has been extensive and impressive. This paper examines the extant body of business‐to‐business marketing research and identifies surpluses and shortages with the goal of stimulating future research.Design/methodology/approachThis paper focuses on two questions regarding future business‐to business marketing. First, what has been the focus of understanding in business‐to‐business marketing theory and what should be its future focus? Second, what has been the purpose or objective to study business‐to‐business marketing and what should be the future objective for research?FindingsIt is found that research in business‐to‐business marketing is fundamentally changing and will continue to change. The paper identifies areas of business‐to‐business marketing research that have received surplus attention and areas that require additional attention.Practical implicationsThe paper provides guidelines for future exploration of the business‐to‐business research domain.Originality/valueThe paper is analogous to the widely cited paper by Sheth (1979) that reviewed the state of consumer behavior research and identified areas that had been unexplored or under‐explored, and in the process provided an impetus for new research in consumer behavor.
The dataset contains images of 10 out of 32 notified Indian basmati seeds varieties (by the Government of India). Indian basmati paddy varieties included in the dataset are 1121, 1509, 1637, 1718, 1728, BAS-370, CSR 30, Type-3/Dehraduni Basmati, PB-1 and PB-6. Moreover, several images of other seeds and related entities available in the household have also been included in the dataset. Thus, the dataset contains 11 classes such that ten classes contain images from ten different basmati paddy varieties. In contrast, the 11th class- named "Unknown" contains images from a mixture of two morphologically similar paddy varieties (1121 and 1509), different pulses, other grains and related food entities. The Unknown class is useful in discriminating the paddy seeds from other types of seeds and related food entities. All the images were captured (in standard conditions) manually using an apparatus developed in-house and a tablet with a five-megapixel camera (5MP). The camera was used to capture 3210 RGB coloured images in JPG format. The data pre-processing was performed to generate the ready-to-use images for training and testing machine learning-based models. AI-based paddy seed variety classification models have been developed using the dataset. The dataset can be used to generate different types of AI-based models for adulteration detection, automated classification models (along with independent devices) at the time of rice threshing, and to increase the classification potential (Supplementing images representing additional basmati varieties).
Purpose The COVID-19 pandemic has led to major sales strategy and process changes as many interactions migrated from face-to-face to virtual environments. The nature of the interactions changed, and sales firms, the sales function and salespeople created new processes to excel in virtual environments. As sales processes evolve further, this paper aims to focus on understanding the enduring shifts in sales strategy and processes. In addition, this study seeks to understand the characteristics of enduring shifts and how they are distinct from temporary shifts.
Design/methodology/approach This qualitative analysis provides a comprehensive overview of the sales organizations and salespeople over the period from the start of the pandemic to early 2022. The authors interviewed 66 sales professionals from different countries and industries to better understand the temporary and enduring shifts in sales strategy and processes, adopting ad inductive and narrative approach.
Findings There are four major findings. First, four key themes emerged: increased digitalization, resistance to digitalization, sales process changes and sales organization transformation. Second, changes are classified as temporary, permanent and accelerated changes. Third, some proposed changes were not supported. Finally, five findings were found that were not discussed in previous literature.
Originality/value This paper finds distinctive findings that offer additional valuable insights that connect to and extend existing literature. These include emerging themes, classification shifts, unsupported proposed changes and unique findings.
BACKGROUND: Despite the provision of maternity leave benefits under the maternity benefit amendment act, its access by working mothers in the community is unknown. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to find out access to maternity leave among working mothers and its association with breastfeeding practices. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, community-based study was conducted among 150 working mothers with children 6 months to 3 years of age. Chi-square tests and logistic regression were applied to find the association of breastfeeding practices with maternity leave and independent predictors of exclusive breastfeeding (EBF), respectively. RESULTS: Paid maternity leave was accessed by majority (103, 68.7%) of the working mothers. EBF among mothers working in government organizations was more (Adjusted odds ratio: 2.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.0–5.1) than in private organizations. CONCLUSION: Lower proportion of mothers in private organizations had availed paid maternity leave as compared to government organizations. Increase in coverage of maternity benefits in the private sector is needed.
