Karuna Jain

A new framework to understand the technological innovation process

Purpose – This paper seeks to provide a conceptual framework to understand the complex technological innovation process from a cognitive perspective.Design/methodology/approach – A cross‐disciplinary literature survey from multiple academic disciplines such as business management, philosophy, and psychology coupled with professional experience was employed to conceive the framework.Findings – The framework can be a starting‐point for researchers to initiate research in the design of technological innovation systems, change management and organizational restructuring.Research limitations/implications – The main limitation of this paper is that the framework has been qualitatively validated in two publicly held R&D intensive organizations in India.Practical implications – Senior managers from industry can initiate competence building using the managerial concepts employed in the framework. By leveraging the intellectual capital of the organization, intellectual property, including new products and processes...

Lot sizing for a product subject to obsolescence or perishability

Abstract This paper presents a stochastic dynamic programming model for determining the optimal ordering policy for a perishable or potentially obsolete product so as to satisfy known time-varying demand over a specified planning horizon. We have considered random life time perishability where, at the end of each discrete period, the total remaining inventory either becomes worthless or remains usable for at least the next period. Two approximate solution methods are shown. The optimal and heuristic methods are compared on a large set of test problems and their performance as a function of various problem parameters is analyzed.

The single period procurement problem where dedicated supplier capacity can be reserved

In this article we consider the single period procurement strategy for an item with uncertainty in its demand and uncertainty in the capacity of the supplier. Dedicated capacity can be ensured by paying a premium charge to the supplier. The other decision variable is the replenishment quantity to request. It turns out to be very easy to select the best value of this latter quantity. On the other hand, we are only able to characterize the general behavior of the expected profit as a function of the level of dedicated capacity. In general, there can be multiple local maxima as a function of the dedicated capacity. However, for the special, but important, case of normally distributed demand, normally distributed capacity and a linear cost for reserving capacity, an algorithm is developed for finding the best level of dedicated capacity. Some preliminary insights regarding the extension to multiple periods are presented.

Benefit sharing in inter-organizational coordination

Purpose – To develop an EOQ based model to quantify the benefit accrue due to coordination for the one supplier and n retailer supply chain system and concept to share the benefits derived from coordination.Design/methodology/approach – An intensive literature review has been done in the area of supply chain coordination covering both marketing and operational perspective. The analysis of literature has shown that models to quantify the benefits for supply chains consisting of a single supplier who supplies a product to multiple heterogeneous buyers are very limited. To fill this critical research gap the benefit sharing mechanism is derived based on optimal order quantity of the supply chain system.Findings – This paper demonstrates the benefits of coordination to the supply chain system in terms of cost saving and generating the surplus money. It also suggests a way to find the range of prices to facilitated coordination. Under the developed pricing policy, no partner after coordination had to bear a lo...

Supply chain planning using multi‐stage stochastic programming

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the functionality of multistage programming approach on network supply chain structure.Design/methodology/approach – The general supply chain structure is considered and the supply chain planning model is developed using a two stage programming approach. The same model is extended to cover the applicability and advantages of a multi‐stage programming approach.Findings – A multi‐period supply chain model for new product launches under uncertain demand for supply chain network structure has been developed. The model allows simultaneous determination of optimum procurement quantity, production quantity across the different plants, transportation routes and the outsourcing cost in case of shortages. The proposed multi‐stage model is compared with the standard two‐stage model by examining the difference between the objective values of two solutions. The research clearly shows the importance of the multi‐stage model as compared to the two‐stage programming model...

Supply Chain Collaboration: A Governance Perspective

The research focus in supply chain management has shifted from interfunctional to inter-organizational integration and coordination, wherein the management of multiple relationships is critical to the success of the supply chain. In this paper, we look at supply chain collaboration and partnerships from a governance perspective. We conceptualize inter- organizational governance as a multidimensional phenomenon manifesting itself in the form of structure, processes and contracts. We also provide a framework of supply chain governance that will aid researchers and practioners in viewing and evaluating supply chain relationships using governance lens. We suggest that a governance-based perspective represents a more comprehensive way of studying relationships in supply chains and their impact on supply chain performance.

Adoption of Mobile Telephony in Rural India: An Empirical Study

Mobile telephony has become one of the major factors driving the social and economic development of a country. The objective of this article is to identify factors affecting the adoption of mobile telephony in rural India and examine their impact on its adoption. An explanatory empirical methodology with sequential design was used for this purpose, and new factors that affect users� decisions to adopt mobile telephony in rural India were identified. We extended the technology acceptance model by integrating new factors for a developing nation. This study found that ensuring service transparency and identifying opinion leaders in the local community are key requirements for increasing the speed of adoption in the rural India. The findings of this study will provide insights for service providers and policy makers to develop strategies and policies that will enhance mobile telephony adoption in rural India.

Some ideas regarding reserving supplier capacity and selecting replenishment quantities in a project context

Abstract In this paper we consider the context of a major project whose execution takes several periods. Specifically we are interested in the procurement policy for a resource (material, commodity or engineered item) that is used throughout the project. Two types of uncertainty are considered, namely (i) uncertainty in the requirements, period by period, and (ii) uncertainty in the capacity, period by period, of the supplier providing the resource. There is the possibility of paying a premium to reserve dedicated capacity that can vary from period to period. Hence, the first group of decision variables are the capacities to reserve, period by period. There is typically a long lead time involved so that all the capacities must be reserved prior to the first replenishment decision. The second class of decision variables encompasses the procurement quantities, period of period. These decisions can be made as the project progresses. We present some general approaches to dealing with this complex problem as well as some important insights.

An integrated supply chain model for new products with imprecise production and supply under scenario dependent fuzzy random demand

In the present day business scenario, instant changes in market demand, different source of materials and manufacturing technologies force many companies to change their supply chain planning in order to tackle the real-world uncertainty. The purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-objective two-stage stochastic programming supply chain model that incorporates imprecise production rate and supplier capacity under scenario dependent fuzzy random demand associated with new product supply chains. The objectives are to maximise the supply chain profit, achieve desired service level and minimise financial risk. The proposed model allows simultaneous determination of optimum supply chain design, procurement and production quantities across the different plants, and trade-offs between inventory and transportation modes for both inbound and outbound logistics. Analogous to chance constraints, we have used the possibility measure to quantify the demand uncertainties and the model is solved using fuzzy linear programming approach. An illustration is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model. Sensitivity analysis is performed for maximisation of the supply chain profit with respect to different confidence level of service, risk and possibility measure. It is found that when one considers the service level and risk as robustness measure the variability in profit reduces.

Modelling the technology transfer process in IJVs : a relationship based approach

The objectives and requirements of transferor and transferee do provide the base for the success of the technology transfer process. However these objectives and requirements are normally found to be varying from stage to stage, which altogether makes the technology transfer process more difficult and complex to get materialised. Such a situation should call for an integrated effort on behalf of the transferor and transferee to build up and maintain a strong relationship for the mutual benefit of both, through interactive and value added contacts over a long period. Although numerous books and hundreds of articles have been written on technology transfer practices, hardly any paper deals with the real issue of modelling the technology transfer process by focusing on the transferor-transferee relationship. To fill this critical gap, it has been decided to approach the process of technology transfer with a relationship perspective specific to the international joint ventures context.