Introduction to the special issue on "critical reflections on management and organizations: A postcolonial perspective"

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to present a short note on postcolonialism as a field of critical inquiry in the business management field, and enable the guest editors to introduce the contents of a special issue entitled "Critical reflections on management and organization: a postcolonial perspective". Design/methodology/approach - The paper states that postcolonial theory seeks to critique and analyze the complex and multifaceted dynamics of modern Western colonialism and to develop an in-depth understanding of the ongoing significance of the colonial encounter for people's lives both in the West and the non-West. Findings - The paper finds that modern western colonialism - a phenomenon with a history of roughly 500 years and a geographical reach that at one point spanned approximately 90 percent of the entire earth - is an episode of particular significance in human history. Originality/value - The paper shows that the special issue contents reflect different aspects of contemporary issues in postcolonialism. In terms of postcolonial geographies, the special issue papers cover regions as diverse as Africa, Australia, China, India, Jordan, Malaysia, Poland, and the UK

Hegemony and its discontents: A critical analysis of organizational knowledge transfer

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of knowledge transfer within multinational corporations (MNCs), and how the imperatives of thought and action that constitute new knowledge are received in the terrain that constitutes the MNC subsidiary. Design/methodology/approach - This study employs an ethnographic approach, and juxtaposes primary data collection with a variety of secondary data sources. Findings - The data are analyzed in light of the theoretical construct of hegemony, and three themes theorized that underlie the process of knowledge transfer. These include knowledge loss at the local level, the coercive practices that ensure knowledge transfer, and the invocation of imperial subjectivities by the headquarters of the MNC when dealing with subsidiaries from poorer nations. Originality/value - This paper goes beyond the mainstream approaches into organizational knowledge transfer, by analyzing these issues in light of political economy, and the changing landscape of industrial accumulation. It offers in some measure, the building blocks of a different organizational theory, one that is sensitive to those subjects who are consigned to the periphery of mainstream organizing

Domestic unintentional injury of 1 to 5-year-old children in a rural area of West Bengal, India: a community-based study

Background: Childhood unintentional injury, a major public health problem in India, is largely preventable. The aim of this study was to determine the burden and determinants of unintentional injury of 12 to 59 months old child at household level.Method: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted at Singur block, Hooghly district, West Bengal, India among randomly chosen children using a predesigned and pretested interviewer administered questionnaire and a checklist for assessing household level injury hazard during the period of November 2015 to February 2016. Parental supervisory behaviour was assessed using PSAPQ questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regression was performed using SPSS 19.0 software.Result: A total of 163 were involved in the study. Over one-third (37.4%) of the children underwent any type of injury during last 3-month time period, predominant body part being upper limb. Parental supervisory behaviour [AOR-2.6, (95% CI-1.2-4.9)] and household level injury hazard (AOR-1.55, 95% CI- 1.3-1.7)] were found to be significant predictors of unintentional injury.Conclusion: Unintentional injury among children is prevalent in West Bengal in India. Dissemination of injury prevention information with special focus on household modification and increased parental supervision are effective strategies to prevent unintentional injury

Analysis of the NICE Application Layer Multicast Protocol

Application layer multicast protocols organize a set of hosts into an overlay tree for data delivery. Each host on the overlay peers with a subset of other hosts. Since application layer multicast relies only on an underlying unicast architecture, multiple copies of the same packet can be carried by a single physical link or node on the overlay. The stress at a link or node is defined as the number of identical copies of a packet carried by that link or node. Stretch is another important metric in application layer multicast, which measures the relative increase in delay incurred by the overlay path between pairs of members with respect to the direct unicast path. In this paper we study the NICE application layer multicast protocol to quantify and study the tradeoff between these two important metrics --- stress and stretch in scalably building application layer multicast paths. Also UMIACS-TR-2002-6

Does Women Empowerment Predict Contraceptive Use? A Study in a Rural Area of Hooghly District, West Bengal

Background: India launched the world’s first national family planning programme in 1952. Unfortunately, considerable numbers of eligible couples in India are still not using any method of contraception in spite of the fact that knowledge related to contraceptives are not lacking. Studies reported that the status of the women in the family and largely in the community, represented by a measure ‘women empowerment’ plays a role in determining contraceptive use. However, there is dearth of literature in this regards especially among women of reproductive age of West Bengal. Aims & Objectives: To find out the current contraceptive use and its relationship, if any with women empowerment among adult married women of reproductive age group in a rural area of West Bengal. Material & Methods: Community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 151 WRA using interviewer-administered questionnaire. Current use of contraceptive was the outcome variable. The main explanatory variable was ‘empowerment score’-a summed measure of four domains: ‘financial autonomy’, ‘freedom of movement’, ‘involvement in household level decision making’ and ‘woman’s power in sexual and reproductive decision making’. Results: 63.6% study participants were using any method of contraception at the time of study. Women empowerment [AOR (CI): 1.11 (1.02-1.22)] and education of women [AOR (CI): 2.56 (1.13-5.85)] were significantly associated with contraceptive use, even after adjustment with other independent variables. Conclusion: Educating women and empowering them will improve the family planning practices. This will, in long run play a pivotal role in improving family and community health

A Protocol for Scalable Application Layer Multicast

We describe a new application-layer multicast protocol that is specifically designed to scale to large groups. Our scheme is based upon a hierarchical clustering of the application-layer multicast peers and can be used to produce a number of different data delivery trees with specific properties. On average, group members using our protocol maintain only a constant amount of state about other group members, and incur a constant amount of control overhead. We present extensive simulations of both our protocol and the Narada protocol over Internet-like topologies. Our results show that for groups of size 32 or more, we reduce control overhead by orders of magnitude, and link stress by 25%, while retaining similar end-to-end latencies and failure recovery properties

Utilisation of adolescent reproductive and sexual health services in a rural area of West Bengal: A mixed-method study

Introduction: Despite policy actions and strategic efforts for improving the reproductive and sexual health of adolescents by promoting the uptake of adolescent reproductive and sexual health (ARSH) services, the utilisation rate remains significantly low, especially in rural areas of India. This study aimed to assess the utilisation of these services by adolescents in rural West Bengal and its associated determinants. Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted from May to September 2021 in the Gosaba rural block of South 24 Parganas, West Bengal. Quantitative data were collected from 326 adolescents using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were collected via four focus group discussions among 30 adolescents and key-informant interviews among six healthcare workers. Quantitative data were analysed using SPSS, while qualitative data were analysed thematically. Results: Ninety-six (29.4%) adolescents had utilised ARSH services at least once during adolescence. The factors associated with non-utilisation of ARSH services were younger age, female sex, increasing reproductive health stigma and decreasing parent–adolescent communication related to sexual health. Qualitative exploration revealed that unawareness regarding services, perceived lack of privacy and confidentiality at healthcare facilities and disruption of services post-emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic were some major barriers to ARSH service utilisation. Conclusion: A multi-component strategy, including promotion of adolescent-friendly health clinics, community support interventions associated with motivation and counselling of parents regarding the importance of adolescent reproductive health, is needed to improve the utilisation of ARSH services. Necessary steps to correct the deficiencies at the facility level should also be prioritised

Determinants of Modern Contraceptive Usage among Married Women: A Mixed-Methods Study in a Rural Community of India

Objective: A woman’s multifaceted feelings, knowledge, and perceptions of their intimate relations greatly influence their contraceptive behavior. In addition, women empowerment has been increasingly recognized as a key factor in family planning and reproductive health outcomes. This study aimed to assess modern contraceptive usage and its determinants among currently married women of reproductive-age (WRA) in rural Bengal. Materials and Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted in a rural area of Hooghly District, West Bengal from April to September 2021. The quantitative strand of the study was conducted by interviewing 210 currently married WRA. The qualitative strand was conducted via focussed group discussions among husbands/mothersin-law and in-depth interviews with healthcare workers. SPSS software was utilized for quantitative data analysis and factors associated with contraceptive usage were analyzed using logistic regression models. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Result: Currently 114 (54.8%) study participants were using modern contraceptive methods. Education (aOR=7.65, 95% CI=1.85-31.67), empowerment through freedom from family domination (aOR=5.56, 95% CI=1.30-23.66), attitude on contraception (aOR=4.67, 95% CI=1.26-17.19), and family planning counselling (aOR=4.41, 95% CI=1.12-17.33) were found to be significantly associated with modern contraceptive usage. Lack of couple counselling, family support, and knowledge gap was identified as the major barriers to contraceptive usage. Conclusion: Since a woman’s decision-making ability significantly affects their sexual and reproductive health outcomes, effective measures should be undertaken to empower them by creating awareness regarding their rights and freedom to make strategic life choices. Couple counselling should be prioritized to enhance male involvement and eliminate perceived barriers

Chronic musculoskeletal pain among elderly individuals in a rural area of West Bengal: A mixed-method study

Introduction: The high prevalence among elderly individuals and potential adverse impact on their overall life quality make chronic musculoskeletal pain a significant public health concern. Chronic musculoskeletal pain is an important cause of self-medication, which must be addressed to avoid various side effects and improve elderly health. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of chronic musculoskeletal pain and its associated factors among individuals (age ≥60 years) in rural West Bengal and explore their perspectives and perceived barriers regarding pain and its management. Methods: This mixed-method study was conducted in rural West Bengal from December 2021 to June 2022. The quantitative strand was conducted by interviewing 255 elderly participants (age ≥60 years) using a structured questionnaire. The qualitative strand was conducted via in-depth interviews of 10 patients with chronic pain. Quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS version 16, and chronic pain-related factors were analyzed using logistic regression models. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. Results: Among the participants, 56.8% reported chronic musculoskeletal pain. The most frequently affected site was the knee joint. Comorbidity (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=7.47, 95% confidence interval [CI]=3.2–17.5), age (aOR=5.16, 95% CI=2.2–13.5), depression (aOR=2.96, 95% CI=1.2–6.7) and over-the-counter drug usage (aOR=2.51, 95% CI=1.1–6.4) were significantly associated with chronic pain. Analgesic dependency, lack of motivation to adopt lifestyle modifications, lack of knowledge on analgesic side effects were considered pain management barriers. Conclusion: Managing comorbidities, providing mental support, generating awareness of analgesic side effects, strengthening healthcare facilities should be prioritized for holistic chronic musculoskeletal pain management

Contested Compliance Regimes in Global Production Networks: Insights from the Bangladesh Garment Industry

This article reports the findings of a field study on the emergence of collective agreements led by global brands enacting compliance measures to improve safety and working conditions in the Bangladesh garment industry. We explore how key actors in the Bangladesh garment sector who constitute the local production system of the global supply chain experienced the implementation of global agreements on factory safety. We argue that global safety compliance measures through multi-stakeholder initiatives provide legitimacy to multinational corporations and their global brands but do little to address the structural problems arising from exploitative pricing and procurement practices, which are the key reasons for deplorable working conditions in garment factories. Our findings indicate that neoliberal development policies of the state, where local economies are incorporated into global production networks, resulted in differential treatment and regulation of specific populations that comprise garment factory workers. The reconfiguration of state power to meet the demands of global supply chains also involved use of state violence to suppress dissent while undermining labour rights and working conditions. Our article contributes to the politicization of multinational corporations in global production chains by showing how contestations between workers, factory owners, the state, trade unions and multinational corporations create new private forms of governance and new regimes of compliance in the industr