Impact of corporate social responsibility practices on consumer behaviour: FMCGs in Tamil Nadu

Business enterprises are traditionally known as engines for driving the economic performance of an entity, its success being measured in terms of high returns on equity and its contribution to the development of the society. The business enterprises get everything from the society for its survival and it is the obligation of the enterprise to return positive attitudes towards the society. If it fails to meet the expectations of the society, the society will punish the firm through their purchase behavior. Hence, the success of any business enterprise depends mainly on the ethical behavior of the enterprise towards the society. The Indian Government has made mandatory the CSR provisions and almost all the companies are actively engage in CSR activities. Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs) are the fastest growing industry in India and number of FMCGs companies are doing different CSR practices. Hence, it is essential to study about the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility practices on consumer behavior with reference to FMCGs in Tamil Nadu. For this, 600 responses were collected from selected corporations in Tamil Nadu by a structured questionnaire. Convenience sampling technique has been adopted to collect the primary data. The consumers who are the users of FMCG and knows CSR practices are the respondents of this study. The study concluded that there has been a positive impact among the consumers as the consumers in Tamil Nadu considered CSR in their purchase evaluation criteria, and they give much importance to CSR related products etc

Predicting Purchase Intention of Online Consumers using Discriminant Analysis Approach

The Internet plays a vital role in the business world today. It has created a tremendous volume of business transactions all over the world. Internet not only introduces a new way of doing business, it also changes consumer lifestyle. Consumers can buy products or services via the Internet without going to a physical store. Therefore, it is very important to investigate this phenomenon, seeking to determine the variables that actually motivate consumers to adopt internet shopping. In this context, this study attempts to formulate a discriminant equation on the basis of some established predictors and separate the segment into suspects and prospects. It will be healpful for the retailers can make a market assessment about their brand through this approach which will in turn, help the marketer to reduce the market risk. Keywords: Internet shopping, Online Consumers, Purchase Intention, Discriminant Analysi

Research Note An Urgent Need for Ethics Education for Accountants

Social, political and technological changes have challenged traditional idea of professionalpractice by accountants. Accounting is both an essential practice and a vital profession in theeconomically developed world of today (Ronald F.Duska and Brenda Shay Duska,2003). Today,professional accountants cannot exist by technical knowledge alone; they have to possesand apply that within a framework of professional values, ethics and attitudes.(Peter Williams,2007). Ethics, values and principles serve as benchmarks of the accounting profession. Theydetermine what is right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, on a universal basis everytime. (Joe Lienandt, 2003). Enron’s bankruptcy case, in which their auditors and consultantsfrom the accounting firm Arthur Anderson, came under criticism for not apparently carryingout their responsibilities as accountants. The Enron/Arthur Anderson’s case has raised the ethicalquestion, ‘what is the appropriate behaviour for accountants?’ and ‘what are the accountantssupposed to do?’ This paper attempts to address the following issues: How to teach ethics tothose entering the profession; How to ensure that the ethical standards and behaviour of experiencedaccountants are as fresh and relevant as technical knowledge. Copyright © www.iiste.or

Consumers' perception on online shopping

E-commerce is emerging as a great level given that organized retail is still not ubiquitous across the length and breadth of the country with large retail chains making up less than 10% of the market. E-commerce is helping people in smaller towns in India access quality products and services similar to what people in the larger cities have access to. It being forecast that close to 60% of online shoppers would come from beyond the top eight large cities by end of this year.Increasing internet penetration has helped to expand the potential customer pool. Internet penetration is only about 10% (or about 121 million users) as against about 81% in the US and 36% in China. However this number continues to rise at a consistent pace because of falling prices for broadband connections. The first World Wide Web server and browser, created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, opened for commercial use in 1991. Thereafter, subsequent technological innovations emerged in 1994: online banking, the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, Netscape's SSL v2 encryption standard for secure data transfer, and inter-shop's first online shopping system. Immediately after, Amazon.com launched its online shopping site in 1995 and eBay was introduced in 1996. In the past decade, there has been a dramatic change in the way consumers have altered their way of shopping. Although consumers continue to purchase from a physical store, consumers feel very convenient to shop online since it frees the customer from personally visiting the store. Internet shopping has its own advantages and it reduces the effort of travelling to a physical store. Decisions can be made from home at ease looking at various choices and prices can be easily compared with the competitor's products to arrive at a decision. Internet marketing is conceptually different from other marketing channels and internet promotes a one to one communication between the seller and the end user with round the clock customer service. Today, business internet marketing is the fastest growing segment of online commerce. The major difference between traditional and online selling is the extent of interaction between the consumer and the seller. There is much more electronic interactivity with the consumer in the form of emails and FAQs. Through FAQs, the consumer's questions on shipment, payment, product, policies and other customer concerns can be addressed effectively

The considerations for the implementation of an Activity Based Costing System (ABC)

Activity Based Costing (ABC) as a costing tool is widely discussed in the academic and practitioners' circles for nearly two decades. There are theoretical and empirical accounts of ABC implementation processes and techniques in different studies. This study is a synthesis of past studies on ABC implementation in organizational contexts. Using a literature analysis of published papers over the last ten years, the study develops a typology of implementation issues by three major themes: types of organizations, methodologies used to explain the implementation processes, and the factors leading to the adoption or abandonment of an ABC system. The findings suggest that ABC is used in manufacturing, service, and even government sector organizations, organizational, economic and sociological theories are used to explain the implementation processes and finally, technical and human factors affect the implementation or abandonment of an ABC system in any organization. The comprehensive account of an ABC system implementation related major considerations reported in this paper will enhance the knowledge base of the interested academic researchers and practitioners. This research can be extended to a quantitative analysis of the themes reported here to improve the reliability and the validity of the conclusions reached in the paper

Is India really competing with China on a macro economic base

Macroeconomics has been aptly defined as "the study of the major economic 'totals' or aggregates-- total production (GNP), total employment and unemployment, the average price level of all goods and services, the total money supply, and others" (Gordon, 1978). The word macro is derived from the Greek word macros meaning large. The economy of India has seen rapid growth in recent years. Spurred by good domestic demand, steady and significant reforms, lower crude prices and increased skilled labor India is the fastest growing economy among the BRICS nations. Another Asian country which is also in the fast lane with respect to macroeconomic growth is China. China's growth has primarily been attributed to a sharp sustained increase in productivity accompanied by increase in capital accumulation, improved infrastructure and cheap labor force (Hu & Khan, 1997). Both India and China have emerged as significant forces in the global economy over the last two decades. Both countries are geographically very large and have a huge population. Both countries have also achieved remarkable rates of economic growth and poverty reduction since 1980, with India doubling its per capita GDP and China posting a seven fold increase in its per capita GDP (Bosworth & Collins, 2008). A PWC report titled "World in 2050" predicts China and India to be world leading powerhouse economies by 2050

Institutional theory based research for the study of management accounting change (2008-2018): A qualitative meta-synthesis

Qualitative meta-syntnesis is a new approach to aggregating research findings from multiple singular cases for theory development. Using the protocols of qualitative meta- synthesis tradition of summarizing and aggregating findings, this paper develops abstract theorizing of management accounting change for later use. Though a number of earlier research works has summarized common elements of institutional theory based research in management accounting change, this current study uses the systematic review tradition used in medicine, education and nursing sciences to improve the credibility of the reported synthesis. The key contribution of this study is a synergistic body of synthesis of different dimensions of institutional theory based qualitative research in management accounting change. Such a synthesis is superior to meaning, understanding, generalizability and validity gleaned from a single qualitative study in general and in the area of the study examined in this paper

Consumers’ Perception on Online Shopping

E-commerce is emerging as a great level given that organized retail is still not ubiquitous across the length and breadth of the country with large retail chains making up less than 10% of the market.E-commerce is helping people in smaller towns in India access quality products and services similar to what people in the larger cities have access to. It being forecast that close to 60% of online shoppers would come from beyond the top eight large cities by end of this year.Increasing internet penetration has helped to expand the potential customer pool. Internet penetration is only about 10% (or about 121 million users) as against about 81% in the US and 36% in China. However this number continues to rise at a consistent pace because of falling prices for broadband connections. The first World Wide Web server and browser, created by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, opened for commercial use in 1991. Thereafter, subsequent technological innovations emerged in 1994: online banking, the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut, Netscape's SSL v2 encryption standard for secure data transfer, and inter-shop’s first online shopping system. Immediately after, Amazon.com launched its online shopping site in 1995 and eBay was introduced in 1996.  In the past decade, there has been a dramatic change in the way consumers have altered their way of shopping. Although consumers continue to purchase from a physical store, consumers feel very convenient to shop online since it frees the customer from personally visiting the store. Internet shopping has its own advantages and it reduces the effort of travelling to a physical store. Decisions can be made from home at ease looking at various choices and prices can be easily compared with the competitor’s products to arrive at a decision. This study highlights student’s attitude towards online shopping and their product preference on online shopping. This enable the e-retailers to support their online customer better by developing suitable marketing strategy in order to attract and convert potential customer as an active customers by encouraging them in an efficient way to make a purchase decision. Keywords: Online Shopping, Consumer Perception, Buying Behaviour, Purchase Decision,      e-Commerc

The considerations for the implementation of an Activity Based Costing System (ABC)

Activity Based Costing (ABC) as a costing tool is widely discussed in the academic and practitioners' circles for nearly two decades. There are theoretical and empirical accounts of ABC implementation processes and techniques in different studies. This study is a synthesis of past studies on ABC implementation in organizational contexts. Using a literature analysis of published papers over the last ten years, the study develops a typology of implementation issues by three major themes: types of organizations, methodologies used to explain the implementation processes, and the factors leading to the adoption or abandonment of an ABC system. The findings suggest that ABC is used in manufacturing, service, and even government sector organizations, organizational, economic and sociological theories are used to explain the implementation processes and finally, technical and human factors affect the implementation or abandonment of an ABC system in any organization. The comprehensive account of an ABC system implementation related major considerations reported in this paper will enhance the knowledge base of the interested academic researchers and practitioners. This research can be extended to a quantitative analysis of the themes reported here to improve the reliability and the validity of the conclusions reached in the paper

Complications Faced By Women Executives in New Generation Private Sector Banks in Puducherry State - India

The phenomenal growth of banks has created massive employment opportunities for the educated unemployed youths of our nation. The women job-seekers find jobs in banks more attractive and more suitable to their nature. Banks also were not only not averse to taking them but even welcomed their entry because women have certain innate traits which fit in with the job requirements. Thus the humongous increase in job opportunities in banks and the abundant availability of qualified women who get selected in job tests paved the way for the large number of women occupying positions in all cadres  today in not only public sector and private sector banks but even in new generation banks. Indian women is distinct from their western counter parts in that they do not shed their conventional roles as mothers and house wives inspire of their professional responsibilities.  They are skilled at blending professional excellence and traditional love for home harmoniously.  In the process of balancing work and home life, they encounter a plethora of problems. The study is purely exploratory in nature and seeks to identify the factors preventing women employees from aspiring for higher post and problems hindering the work performance of women executives in private sector banks in Puducherry state. Further this aims also at finding out the organizational support for women employees to achieve better work performance. The conclusion has been given. Key Words: Career Advancement, Problems faced by women executives, Role of women, Women in Banking Industry, Working women