Supplying Innovation?: Investigating Impact of Suppliers on Innovation in IT Firms

Although IT has been widely recognized as one of the most important determinants of the innovation in firms,the determinants of innovation within IT firms are very poorly understood. Cooperation with various players is widely believed to be an important determinant of innovation productivity. These include suppliers, clients, competitors etc. Amongst these supplier is most intriguing more so because of its importance for manufacturing firms and almost a negligible presence in IT literature. We attempt to understand what impact a closer cooperation with suppliers has in innovation productivity in IT firms. Literature from traditional manufacturing firms’ domain indicates that suppliers are very integral to innovation processes at a firm. Our research drawing from data of Chinese firms finds that suppliers are indeed a very critical determinant of IT innovation as well. The results from this paper sheds considerable light on suppliers and their integral role for IT firms’ innovation development

Influencing the Influencers: Analyzing Impact of Prior Review Sentiments on Product Reviews

Extant research has widely studied the impact of online product review on sales and most studies have found a significant impact of these reviews as an e-WOM tool. Given the importance of the online reviews, we study a hitherto understudied area of antecedents of sentiments in user reviews. We assess the impact of contagion effect of past review sentiments on reviewers\u27 choice to write a review. We analyze the impact of emotional response of users while writing product reviews triggered by the appraisal response to prior online reviews. A short selection of reviews, which most e-commerce websites show, along with the numerical product rating (if any) could strongly bias the sentiments in a review being written under their influence. Through a mix of experimental methods and text analysis of online reviews, we find that review writers tend to veer towards extreme reviews in absence of any benchmark or prior review

Conflict and Development: A Headquarter Intervention View of IT Subsidiary Evolution

In this paper, we examine the impact that headquarter interventions have on how subsidiaries evolve in the Indian IT offshoring industry. We analyze how a subsidiary evolved in the presence of a rare phenomenon: a negative headquarter intervention. Such an evolution has nuances and theoretical implications that existing frameworks cannot fully explain. Although researchers have often studied the relationship between a subsidiary and its headquarters through a headquarter-intervention lens, they have not employed it to examine how subsidiaries evolve. In this paper, we present a generalized model of subsidiary evolution using three constructs: value potential, headquarter intervention, and headquarter control of the subsidiary. In line with our study’s exploratory nature, we conducted an in-depth case study of a multinational firm and its Indian subsidiary over several years. We found that, in the presence of high potential value in the subsidiary ecosystem, certain headquarter interventions can lead to a conflict between the headquarters and the subsidiary. If not aligned with the subsidiary’s interests and values, a headquarter intervention can negatively affect the subsidiary’s growth even if the headquarters has good intentions

Photography and Its Relevance in Pathology

Pathology is a visual science which holds true of the old adage “seeing is believing.” Photography has become an integral part of this branch of medicine. Its application lies not only in diagnosis and consultation including telepathology, medicolegal documentation and quality assurance but also in learning and scientific purposes. The lower cost and shorter image production time has paved the way for digital imaging. Large archives of such images can be created and stored with an ease of access. Photography techniques in pathology are purely based on observation or experience rather than theory. This article aims to describe the practical aspects of photographic techniques in pathology

MARGINALISED WOMEN AND TIME SCARCITY: A MIXED METHOD STUDY ON ‘ON DEMAND WORK APPS’

On-demand work applications (ODWA), a form of digital platforms, are the primary enablers of short-term or ‘gig’ work economy. In this paper, we study these platforms in their role as enablers of women belonging to low socio-economic sections. These women act as the primary unpaid workers while being expected to make economic contribution. Hence, they suffer from classic case of time scarcity. Gig economy enabled by these ODWAs have made this possible to some extent. We employ the theoretical lens of affordance theory to delineate the affordances that are provided by the various features of ODWA and their impact on these women. We do a mixed method study employing inter-views of gig workers supplemented with survey of 927 workers of one of the largest ODWA in India. Our analysis points to the sense of identity and individuality that these platforms provide. We also find that the presence of a digital platform between the customer and these women lowers the societal boundaries that have been the biggest challenge in their inclusion. Our research is, hence, significant from both information systems and inclusion research perspective as it contributes to the theoretical understanding of the impact of digital platforms on breaking societal structures

Voltage Profile Improvement of Distribution System via Integration of Distributed Generation Resources

This study attempts to identify the causes and possible solutions for voltage profile issues in the lower land of Nepal, and is specifically focused on Laukahi feeder, a radial distribution system with an approximate length of 65 km and distributed at 11KV system voltage. Currently, the end-users feeding through this feeder are getting extremely poor voltage along with frequent interruptions in the power supply. In this study, a forward/ backward sweep algorithm is used to analyze the load flow of the distribution system, whereas ant colony optimization (ACO) technique is used to identify the best location for the Distributed Generator (DG) penetrations. After completion of this study, it is found that, the branch loss of the feeder can be reduced up to 87.22%, and voltage profile can be improved from 0.828 pu to 0.982 pu by integrating some form of DGs

Innovational Duality and Sustainable Development: Finding Optima amidst Socio-Ecological Policy Trade-off in post-COVID-19 Era

Purpose: This study attempts to analyze the socio-ecological policy trade-off caused by technological innovations in the post-COVID-19 era. The study outcomes are utilized to design a comprehensive policy framework for attaining sustainable development goals. Design/methodology/approach: Study is done for 100 countries over 1991-2019. Second-generation estimation method is used. Innovation is measured by total factor productivity, environmental quality is measured by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and social dimension is captured by unemployment. Findings: Innovation-CO2 emissions association is found to be inverted U-shaped and Innovation-Unemployment association is found to be U-shaped. Research implications: Study outcomes show the conflicting impact of technological innovation leading to policy trade-off. This dual impact of innovation is considered during policy recommendation. Social Implications: Policy recommendations in the study show a way to internalize the negative social externality exerted by innovation. Practical implications: The policy framework recommended in the study shows a way to address the objectives of SDG 8, 9, and 13 during post-COVID-19 period. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by considering the policy trade-off caused by innovation and recommending an SDG-oriented policy framework for the post-COVID-19 era

Performance Enhancement of Radial Distribution System via Network Reconfiguration: A Case Study of Urban City in Nepal

Increasing unplanned energy demand increase has led to network congestion, increases power losses and poor voltage profile. To decrease these effects of an unmanaged power system, distribution network reconfiguration provides an effective solution. This paper deals with improving the power losses and poor voltage profile of the Phulchowk Distribution and Consumer Services (DCS) via the implementation of an optimum reconfiguration approach. A Genetic Algorithm (GA) is developed for the optimization. Further, it tries to answer to what extent can we improve the distribution system without overhauling the entire network. The developed simulation algorithm is firstly put into work on the IEEE 33 bus system to better its voltage profile and the poor power losses. The effectiveness of the developed system is validated as it reduced the voltage drop by 5.66% and the power loss by 25.96%. With the solution validated, the algorithm is further implemented in the case of Pulchowk DCS. After reconfiguring the system in different individual cases, optimum network reconfiguration is selected that improved the voltage profile by 3.85%, and the active and reactive power losses by 44.29% and 45.54% respectively from the base case scenario