Strategic resource management model and data envelopment analysis for benchmarking of Indian retailers

Learning from failure to enhance performance: a systematic literature review of retail failure

Purpose

The objective of this paper is to develop a map of the contours of the phenomenon of retailer failure by aggregating, parsing and extracting known findings regarding business failure in marketing, business and other streams of inquiry to provide a comprehensive understanding of research on the topic. Defined as the converse of retailer performance, an understanding of retail failure is expected to yield insights for performance measurement and benchmarking studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper includes a systematic literature review, employing state-of-the-art tools such as VOSViewer.

Findings

The analysis reveals patterns in the intellectual structure of the research on retail failure, as well as patterns of influence. While the discipline of marketing has been surprisingly limited in the study of retail failure, study of retail failure has been pursued by other branches of the business discipline, and even some disciplines other than business.

Originality/value

This paper provides a comprehensive and systematic literature review on the topic of retail failure.

Analyzing the influence of job satisfaction on hostage employee loyalty in Isfahan Province Gas Company

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of job satisfaction on hostage employee loyalty in Isfahan Province Gas Company (IPGC).

Design/methodology/approach

The statistical population of this study included the formal recruited employees of IPGC out of which, 212 employees have been selected using a stratified random sampling method. A questionnaire has been developed and used for data collection regarding job satisfaction and employee loyalty. In this study along with the other studies of the authors, employees of IPGC were classified into four different categories on the basis of loyalty matrix, and the majority (78 percent) of them were located in the hostage category. Structural equation modeling has been used for data analysis.

Findings

The findings imply that job satisfaction does not have a significant influence on the loyalty of hostage employees.

Practical implications

Organizations are encouraged to identify the individual and organizational factors and obstacles, take necessary measures to increase job satisfaction and maintain the level of employee loyalty and gradually shift them from the hostage category to the apostle category, which results in an increased number of loyal and satisfied employees.

Originality/value

This study indicates how the application of the concepts of loyalty matrix, particularly its hostage category, can be expanded in the field of organizational behavior management.

Productivity changes in Indian steel plants: DEA approach

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the technical efficiency and productivity changes in the integrated steel plants in India over a period of five years.

Design/methodology/approach

Since this evaluation of integrated steel plants needs consideration of multiple input and output factors, data envelopment analysis (DEA) has been employed including bootstrapping (to account for statistical noise) to evaluate the relative efficiency of the steel manufacturing units. The efficiency and Malmquist productivity indices of a sample of ten integrated steel plants producing around 55 percent of the industry’s output were determined for the period 2008-2013. The results of these changes were further categorized according to the management control, route followed to produce crude steel, size and age of these steel plants, for gaining insights.

Findings

The study finds that private sector steel plants with larger capacity and which have adopted the latest and most modern technologies are more efficient and productive over the study period.

Practical implications

Public sector steel plants should therefore be provided with more autonomy and delegation of power and should be agiler in responding to market requirements as well as increasing their installed capacities to be competitive in technical efficiency and productivity as well as profitability in the long term to ensure sustainable achievements.

Originality/value

Productivity changes over time, both with respect to technological and efficiency changes, for the Indian integrated steel plants producing comparable products using DEA.