Shailja Dixit

E-Retailing Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Marketplace

Description: The internet has become a flexible platform upon which global retail brands can expand and grow. With a greater emphasis on and opportunity for new market opportunities in the digital sphere, the global retail market is undergoing an era of rapid transformation as new web-based retail models emerge to meet the needs of the modern consumer. E-Retailing Challenges and Opportunities in the Global Marketplace explores the transformations occuring in the virtual marketplace as consumer needs and expectations shift to the new age of online shopping. Emphasizes the difficulties business professionals face in the digital age in addition to opportunities for market growth and new product development. Readers: This publication is a critical reference source for business professionals, product strategists, web managers, IT specialists, and graduate-level students in the fields of business, retail management, and advertising.

Conflicts in a Closely Held Family Business: Durga and Company:

The purpose of this case is to investigate the nature of conflicts that arise in a closely held family business (CHFB) and to identify variables that ensure successful transition from one generation to the next. This case necessitates that in order to decide on the inheritance, a three-step process, prevention, management and resolution of conflict, is essential. It also highlights the gender bias in succession planning, ignoring the capabilities and competence of women in the family. Unstructured interviews around multiple stakeholders in the family business (FB) were taken identifying the core issues leading to conflicts. Triangulating with multiple sources or incumbents has reduced biases. It is observed that conflicts are inevitable within CHFBs. However, it is widely accepted that conflicts are paramount to forward progression both for the family and for the business, when it is constructive in nature. The case reflects the importance of understanding the critical issues around family and business. The outcome is useful in relaying better understanding on dimensions of conflicts that plague family-controlled business. Family businesses must relay importance of managing conflicts and bringing in earlier resolutions before they become extinct. The aftermath of not resolving such conflicts can be as catastrophic of destroying the FB and its wealth in the longer run.

Comfort and shelter for all: a case of an entrepreneurial firm

Purpose The purpose of this case study is to explore enterprise creation and explore the entrepreneurship process, which necessitates entrepreneurial recognition and entrepreneurial orientation. The case also investigates how an entrepreneurial firm appreciates the importance of innovative practices for an organisational growth. Design/methodology/approach The case is based on primary research, secondary information, followed by testing the case several times and plugging case gaps. To authenticate information, multiple sources have been used in a time frame of over one year. Findings This case clearly demonstrates ability by an entrepreneur towards opportunity recognition, pro-activeness, engaging innovative skills and a capacity to undertake risks. Research limitations/implications The findings are based on observations of one company and research carried through secondary sources, which may limit the theory creation. Practical implications The accomplishment of the firm is attributed in accepting opportunities and potentially utilising its strengths towards growth. The case reflects, how Ajay, the founder of a Start-up ‘Comfort and Shelter’, intrinsically motivated and with prior knowledge in the financial services sector, was able to translate opportunities effectively via his orientation skills. Besides this in his entrepreneurial journey, Ajay was able to scale the business by continuously orienting his start-up towards customer orientation. Social implications It is imperative to understand social needs of individuals, hereby in this case need for affordable homes. An entrepreneur can be driven by social needs and create a profitable enterprise. Originality/value The case is original and reflects entrepreneurial journey of an individual as well as that of an enterprise.

Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition and Orientation via Strategic Alliance: A Case Study of RTAP

Opportunity recognition is the first nascent step towards entrepreneurship and in high tech sector it differs due to the tacit knowledge component. The purpose of this case is to complement existing theories and demonstrate how entrepreneur’s internal and external motivators have an impact on diagnosis and assessment of informational cues present in the external environment. This case describes how an entrepreneur assesses opportunity‐related information in order to arrive at a decision while connecting them via innovative practices. It also demonstrates how strategic business alliances help new ventures to constantly meet continuous innovation pressure and how dynamic customization and social network acts as a key driving force behind venture creation. RTAP is a small time engineering service provider, seeded by its founder when Indian economy moved towards liberalization. The founding members were first generation entrepreneurs without any prior start-up experience. The case attempts to examine the antecedents of, and the relationships between, entrepreneurial opportunity recognition, individual-level motivation and innovation performance, strategic alliances and social networking.