Private Public Partnership in Urban Infrastructure Projects: Getting Sweet Curd from Spoilt Milk?

Rapid growth in urban population has made Solid Waste Management an important issue for civic administration. The 74th amendment of the Constitution of India and Municipal Solid Wastes (Management and Handling) Rules 2000 has made municipal solid waste management the responsibility of urban local bodies (city corporations and municipal corporations). Further, the Supreme Court of India, acting on Public Interest Litigation directed all urban local governments to install scientific solid waste treatment plants before a set timeline. Installing a scientific waste management system was a costly proposition, which many urban bodies found difficult to bear. Many have sought participation of the private sector in solid waste management. The city corporation of Thiruvananthapuram also invited participation of Poabs Group to set up a waste processing plant in the corporation owned land outside the city. Right from inception the project ran into social and political opposition. The investor was enticed by the government to stick to the project by offering various concessions. There were interface issues of very serious nature between the plant and corporation employees whose support was absolutely necessary for continued, viable operation of the plant. However, the concessions remained in paper and the operations of the plant reached a stalemate. Based on the experiences of the private investor, various governance and policy level implications for public private participation in urban infrastructure projects (specifically solid waste management) are discussed.

Employee Privacy at Workplaces: Some Pertinent Issues

Employee privacy at the workplace is an issue of debate worldwide. With data security and other organizational interests becoming paramount, the employee rights for privacy and freedom is curtailed. This paper explores the underlying factors that contribute to violation of workplace privacy, the factors that affect how workplace privacy is defined, and debates on how privacy notions change based on cultural differences. We also try to understand the relevance of employee privacy nuances in the Indian context. The paper poses pertinent questions on definition of workplace privacy, and the balance of managing the employee and employer interests.

Machine Learning and Grounded Theory: New Opportunities for Mixed-Design Research

In this emerging research forum paper, we propose a novel framework for mixed-design research by integrating machine learning (ML) with grounded theory (GT). Contrary to existing belief that ML can only be used for prediction and not for explaining a phenomenon, in this paper, we illustrate that ML and GT complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses and can be integrated through mixed design research for theory building. We also propose a framework and guidelines to integrate ML in GT, with an example from an ongoing research project. This paper not only attempts to addresses the call for methodologies to employ ML techniques in social sciences research but also provides clear guidelines for executing such empirical researc

Union Imperatives from Unionized White Collar Employees’ Perspective: The Case of Tata Employees Union

The paper examines the attitude of white collar unionized employees’ towards their union and management under three key themes – work related dimensions, union related dimensions and staff members’ loyalty towards union and management. The investigation is based on survey and informal interviews of white collar employees of Tata Centre, the corporate head-office of Tata Steel, India. [W.P. No.2008-03-07]white collar, union, loyalty, India