Sushanta Tripathy

Interpretive structural modelling for critical success factors of R&D performance in Indian manufacturing firms

Purpose – In order to enhance the performance of R&D in manufacturing organizations, the R&D managers need to identify the internal as well as the external factors that affect the R&D performance of manufacturing organizations in India. They need to understand the inter‐dependencies of these factors. This paper seeks to identify the critical success factors for R&D in Indian manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approach – There may be a number of factors that are critical for achieving acceptable R&D performance and these factors have been identified by a number of instruments or means, such as questionnaire surveys, brainstorming, and consolidation by Principal Component Analysis (PCA). A total of 14 factors have been identified by using principal component analysis and finally we have developed a structure of interrelationship among the identified critical success factors using an interpretive structural model.Findings – The results show that R&D vision and direction and R&D oriented culture are the m...

Information technology is an enabling factor affecting supply chain performance in Indian SMEs

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the success factors for supply chain in Indian small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and establish a causal relationship among them. In the present scenario, the SMEs are under huge pressure to achieve the supply chain competitive advantage and to improve operation and logistic effectiveness and, at the same time, remain tractable to the demand uncertainty and volatility in the market. To enhance the performance of supply chain in SMEs, the managers need to identify the internal as well as the external factors that affect the supply chain performance of SMEs in India. They need to understand the causal relationship of these factors. Design/methodology/approach – There may be a number of factors that are critical for achieving acceptable supply chain performance, and these factors have been identified by principal component analysis (PCA). In all, 29 factors have been identified by using PCA and the dominating 29 factors are categorized into 6 constru...

An interpretive structural model of green supply chain management in Indian computer and its peripheral industries

In order to enhance the performance of green supply chain management (GSCM) in computer and its peripheral manufacturing organisations, the supply chain managers need to identify the internal as well as the external factors and they need to understand the interdependencies of these factors. This paper has attempted to identify the success factors for green supply chain management in Indian manufacturing firms and provides an interpretive structural model (ISM) to develop a map of the complex relationships and magnitude among identified success factors. The results represent that Indian computer peripheral manufacturing industries should be equipped with proper management strategy based on customer support to achieve the long-term objective such as performance of marketing and communication of GSCM in most efficient way within a short span of time. In addition to that the proposed ISM model acts as good guideline in order to improve the performance of GSCM in the computer and its peripheral manufacturing organisations in India.

Factors governing R&D practices in Indian manufacturing firms: structural equation modelling

The objective of the study is to identify the factors that contribute to the research and development practices in Indian manufacturing firms, to categorise the dominating factors into different constructs, and to establish a causal relationship among the constructs. The structural equation modelling methodology using the AMOS 4.0 program has been adopted as the primary methodology for the study to possess causal relationship among five constructs, such as innovative competency, market focus, financial measures, R&D management strategy, and roadblocks to R&D. The results indicate that R&D management strategy holds the key to achieve the innovative competency in Indian manufacturing firms.

W-CDMA busy hour handoff optimization using OMC-R controlled remote electronic variable tapered planar array

Cell size breathing can lead to the generation of coverage holes in the busy hour. There are chances of call drops and handoff failures when UE moves into the region with insufficient signal levels less than minimum UE receiver sensitivity. So the theme of the paper is to increase the vertical beam width of the antenna array in the busy hour so that it overlap the cells and increase the handoff success rate. The cells overlap in CDMA and W-CDMA networks to support soft handover. The paper has developed this by using a variable tapered antenna array. Array tapering reduces the side lobe level and increases the main lobe beam width. The variable attenuators in every element are RF Reed relay switched. The tapering is directly proportional to the congestion. The tapering is implemented using a digitally controlled driver circuit which can be controlled from OMC-R. The variable array tapering using integrated circuits is implemented for the first time to counter the effect of the cell breathing in busy hour. The tapering can be controlled by three bit digital signal generated from OMC- We can also call it remote electronic array tapering.

Performance measurement of R&D is a vaccine for innovation capability: evidence from Indian manufacturing organisations

The purpose of this study is to explore the barriers and critical success factors that affect the R&D organisational performance in Indian manufacturing scenario. Reviewing the literatures on R&D performance measurement in manufacturing organisations, this paper first brings out a number of key factors contributing to the R&D organisational performance. Based on these factors, a questionnaire survey was conducted among the different manufacturing sectors. An analysis of the responses to the questionnaire survey, together with the use of principal component analysis and factor analysis, helped in framing five constructs: R&D productivity, TQM index, roadblocks to R&D, technical competency, and effectiveness of R&D. Using these constructs, seven hypotheses were developed and tested in the framework of structural equation modelling. The results indicate that technical competency and TQM index are the key drivers to encourage the performance of R&D, which enhance effectiveness of R&D in manufacturing sectors ...

Active and Entire Candidate Sector Channel Utilization Based Close Loop Antenna Array Amplitude Control Technique for UMTS and CDMA Networks to Counter Non Uniform Cell Breathing

The paper introduces a self optimized close loop antenna array amplitude control system to counter the effect of non-uniform cell size breathing in UMTS and CDMA networks by avoiding the overshooting cells in the entire network automatically. In the proposed antenna array amplitude control system the active sector’s channel utilization as well as the relative channel utilizations of the entire candidate sectors is considered. We introduce a feedback system to detect physical parameters of the entire cell site sector antennas, like antenna heights above the ground level, antenna azimuths, antenna mechanical tilts, antenna latitudes and longitudes to avoid the chances of overshooting cells when the antenna array amplitudes are controlled remotely from the OMC-R. Remote mechanical antenna tilts are used to eliminate overshooting cells. The contribution of the proposed work is to develop an overshooting resistant antenna array amplitude control system to counter the non-uniform cell size breathing.

Evaluation of Barriers of Health Care Waste Management in India—A Gray Relational Analysis Approach

The waste generated by health care units has been contributing a dreadful share in terms of life threatening diseases and environmental pollution. Erroneous management of this waste has not only invited a serious threat to the environment but also to the personnel associated with it; mainly health care experts, patients, workers as well as the general community. A number of studies advocate that there exists certain factors that inhibit effectiveness of health care waste management (HCWM). Prior knowledge of these factors and their relative importance will be helpful for decision makers to better handle these barriers and improve HCWM effectiveness. This research, through the employment of gray relational analysis (GRA) prioritizes 14 barriers identified from literature, according to the degree of their negative impact. The study reveals that “Unauthorized Reuse of Health Care Waste” and Implementation of “Poor Segregation Practices” ranked 1 are perceived as the two most significant barriers while “Lack of Accountability of Authorities of Health Care Facilities towards HCWM” and “Inadequate Awareness and Training Programs” ranked 5 are perceived as the least important barriers of HCWM in India.

Role of non technical skill in human factor engineering: a crucial safety issue in Indian Railway

It is not possible to design particularly the transport system without a man. Technical skills without non technical skills are meaningless. Developing suitable non technical skills (NTS) for every category of frontline staff is considered the strongest antidote to human error. This paper is an attempt to study and identify the most prominent issues of NTS with their inter-dependencies desired to improve the safety system of Indian Railway. A descriptive analysis was performed on the responses to the questionnaires with the help of the SPSS-14 package. Seventeen factors have been selected by using brainstorming technique and finally it provides an interpretive structural model to develop a map of the complex relationships and magnitude among identified key factors of NTS for Indian Railway. The study presented in this paper will help the top management of Indian Railway in identifying the areas in which they need to focus their attention in order to provide NTS to reduce the train accidents