bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Advertisements of Soft Drinks Brands- Impact on Telangana Soft Drink Consumers Preferences
Authors: Kakumanu Ramesh Babu
Published: September 2016

Advertisements are unavoidable and unseen. Everyone has to come across advertisements in daily life. Soft drinks advertisements are more possessive about their customers and pumping into their possible medium with innovative and creative concepts to reach their customers, since soft drinks emerged as crucial part of meal take in the modern era and is consistent in escalating the growth of industry. The recent growth of soft drinks in Indian market has been enormously projected in all the relevant reports. Though the Indian consumption rate is less than the worlds consumption, it has greater impact on youth drinks. Youths have been pondering their favouritism towards the beverages during all their parties and functions. Telangana youths are aggressive in nature and they are in mood of enjoying their achievement of getting their new state formed from the United Andhra Pradesh. This article is aimed at knowing the impact of advertisements on soft drinks consumers in Telangana State. An attempt has been made to verify the relationship between advertising elements of soft drink brands and demographic characteristics of the customers, the preference of soft drink consumers with respect to brand ambassadors, and also to examine which emotional ad is mostly preferred. Data is collected from 573 Telangana consumers. The techniques like Chi-Square, Lambda, Goodman and Kruskal tau, and Cramers V are used to test association and intensity of the relationship among the variables.
Impact of Host Country Culture on Glocalisation of Corporate Websites
Authors: Kansal Purva
Published: September 2016

Internet has become a hybrid means of sales, service, and communication channel. Its penetration and acceptability in areas of e-commerce across cultures have given it a growth rate of 566 percent in the time period 2000-2012. Internet helps a marketer to reach target customers across cultures and borders. Therefore, the Internet or its usability in a business environment could not avoid the continuous debate of standardization versus localization. This debate revolves around the argument that people live within a traditional core cultures and that these cultures affect communication messages and peoples perceptions toward those messages. Therefore, a globally designed website might reduce the cultural acceptability of a website. Practically, more than often the globalization of content might reduce a companys target audience to a much smaller group in terms of its way of life, customs and religious beliefs. Literature indicates that another significant element in making websites effective is to realize the importance of content and its understanding the users. One of the important issue is the relationship between culture and feature and content of a corporate website. Evidence from the emerging body of literature on the cultural dimensions of website design and content attributes cuts both ways on the assumption of culturally-neutral, web-based communication. The present study was undertaken with an objective to examine cultural differences and similarities between the content of existing corporate websites from the three countries i.e. India, China, and Denmark, across Hofstede Cultural Dimensions. Websites of 24 companies from each host country were analyzed. The results of the study were more supportive of localization of content.
Assessment of Regulatory Norms in Retail Marketing
Authors: Sharma Bodh Raj
Published: September 2016

This paper aims to explore empirically the perceptions of regulatory bodies about the legal norms followed in retail sector. Retailers are required to follow the various legal norms in their business practices but in the extant literature there is dearth of research on the topic under consideration. The study is based upon the data obtained from regulatory bodies from a northern Indian city through a self designed schedule based upon five point Likert scale. It was found that retailers do not prepare books of accounts fairly as they disclose low sales and profit. In fact, the retailers fill the tax return but at the same time, they evade the taxes by manipulating facts regarding sales and profit. However, the study is confined to retail sector and the future study can cover other areas as well.
Gender Difference in Consumer Perception towards Online Viral Marketing Communication
Authors: Haryani Sharda Jai , Motwani Bharti Bharat
Published: September 2016

The advent of social networks, online communities, online videos and emails, blogs, forums etc. provide the ability to distribute information faster than ever before. Advancements in communication technology have given rise to the evolution of a new electronic form of word-of-mouth i.e. Viral marketing communication. Viral marketing is a very effective tool available to the marketers today. Due to the extensive use of Internet in sharing information among young adults, marketers should focus on viral marketing as one of the new sources of marketing. The growth in number of internet users has been dramatic ever since it came to existence. The focus of this study is to analyze the effect of gender on the consumer attitude towards the factors that affect online viral marketing techniques. The study was done on primary data collected through self structured questionnaire based on five point Likert Scale. The data was collected from 201 respondents using non-probability judgemental sampling. Independent sample t-test was applied to find the difference between the perception of male and female towards the factors the affect viral marketing. The study will help the marketing managers to understand the behavior of consumer and tap the right customer in a right way.
Impact of Sustainability Reporting on Firm Performance of Companies in India
Authors: Garg Priyanka
Published: September 2016

The core idea of sustainability is that current decisions should not impair the prospects for maintaining or improving future living standards (Repetto, 1986). GRI (2006) defined sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The challenges of sustainable development are many and it is widely accepted that organizations have not only a responsibility but also a great ability to exert positive change on the state of the worlds economy, and environmental and social conditions. Further, the issue of environmental sustainability is intertwined with that of poverty and inequity. The causative relationship runs both ways- increased poverty and loss of rural livelihoods accelerates environmental degradation as displaced people put greater pressure on forests, fisheries, and marginal lands. The present study has made an attempt to investigate the relationship between sustainability reporting and financial performance of companies in India. Data have been collected with the help of annual reports of selected companies and Prowess Database. Collected data have been analyzed with the help of SPSS 16.0. The study shows that sustainability reporting practices of companies has improved over the time. Further, research reveals that sustainability reporting practices of a firm impact its performance negatively in short run while positively in long run.
Proposing the Sports Team Brand Hierarchy Conceptual Framework
Authors: Charumbira L ysias Tapiwanashe
Published: September 2016

The study was inspired by the fact that there has not been a systematic sport brand equity model that uses the brand perceptions held by individual and corporate consumers of sports products to rank teams from different countries in a single hierarchy according to their levels of brand development and financial structure. In line with the exploratory sequential mixed methods research design, the first phase of the study utilized such qualitative procedures as, free-thought listing, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions to explore the antecedents, dimensions and market consequences of the brand perceptions held by Zimbabwean consumers for professional football teams. In the second phase of this study, the finding from the qualitative phase were used to generate data collection instruments for questionnaire survey. Structured observation was also used to gather data in this phase. The SPSS version 21.0 and NVivo 10 data analysis packages were used to analyze quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. The findings from the study were used to develop the Sports Team Brand Hierarchy Conceptual Framework, a conceptual model which ranks sports teams from different countries in a single hierarchy, according to financial structure and level of brand development. The framework can be used to determine the level of brand development and geographical sphere of influence of sports brands. It also provides guidelines on the growth strategies that teams, at the various levels of brand development can adopt for sustainable growth and competitive advantage.
Discovering a Rosetta Stone for Firm-Side Authenticity: An Empirical Investigation
Authors: Parkman Ian , Holloway Samuel
Published: September 2016

While most academic research has considered authenticity from the consumers perspective, this paper proposes and tests a new empirical operationalization of Beverlands (2005) widely cited proposition that firm-side authenticity is…partly true and partly rhetorical (p.1008). Our study presents a model based on the Competitive Advantage (CA) that results from congruence between the partly true aspects of the firms internal culture, resources, and capabilities measured as Innovation Capacity (IC), alongside Corporate Identity Management (CIM) as the organizations partly rhetorical outwardly-directed corporate branding and marketing promotions activities. Our findings are interpreted through a four-quadrant Rosetta Stone framework for evaluating firm-side authenticity across organizational contexts and environments describing how high-IC/high-CIM (i.e., Authentic) firms create differentiation from low-IC/low-CIM Inauthentic organizations and low-IC/high-CIM Faux Imitators competitors who attempt to compensate for their lack of IC through increased investments in CIM.
The Influence of Personality Traits on Consumer Impulsive Buying Behaviour
Authors: Gangai Khagendra Nath , Agrawal Rachna
Published: September 2016

Consumer behavior is a complex phenomenon which is evolving according to the time, situations, demographic characteristics of individuals, personality traits, cultural influences etc. The personality of individuals is a unique dynamic organization of the characteristics of a particular person, physical and psychological, which influence behavior and responses to the social and physical environment. It gives the impression that consumer buying is always influenced by their personality. Therefore, many marketers make use of personality traits in the advertisement of products and at the same time they enhance their marketing strategy. The marketers always designed different products and target specific market segments which commonly addressed on individuals personality traits. The individuals few personality traits influence consumer for impulsive buying behavior. The aim of present research is to study the personality traits influence on consumer impulsive buying behavior as it will help to create opportunities of doing business and dealing with customers. The objectives of this research are: (1) to investigate the influence of personality traits on consumer impulsive buying behavior, and (2) to identify the role of gender and their personality traits influence on consumer impulsive buying behavior. To fulfill the purpose of the study, the researchers randomly collected sample and divided them on the basis of gender, 60 males and 60 females. Data were collected from Delhi and NCR region. The data were analyzed using statistical applications such as correlation and t Test. The result was revealed that the common personality traits have a significant relationship with impulsive buying behavior that is psychoticism in the case of male and female. The role of gender has significant differences in impulsive buying behavior. The man showed more impulsive buying behavior compare to women.
Factors Influencing E-learning among University Students
Authors: Suri Gunmala , Navkiran  , Kaur Gurman , Sharma Sneha
Published: September 2016

This study was conducted in Punjabi University, Patiala and focuses on the relationship between discipline of student and their response and attitude towards e-learning. In light of the extant literature it is recognized that discipline of students does play a role in understanding the satisfaction and experience of students in the education environment. It also analyses the effect of discipline of student on students response towards provision of e-learning and the impact of discipline of student on weekly Internet usage. The instrument used in collecting data was the questionnaire. This study analyzed 306 students enrolled in various courses across many departments in Punjabi University, Patiala. The results of ANOVA for analyzing the impact of discipline of student on scale on computer and e-learning attitude showed that a non-significant relationship exists between discipline of student and attitude towards e-learning, sentiment towards computer, computer/technology fear, whereas a significant relationship exists between discipline of student and perceived usage of computers. Chi square test of association disclosed that a moderate association exists between discipline of student and weekly Internet usage. The results of this study also show that students from all discipline are in favor of provision for e-learning facilities and of online access to classroom lectures.
Exploring Service Quality Perceptions of Online Shoppers: Evidence from India
Authors: Srivastava Vibhava
Published: September 2016

With emergence and evolution of Internet, shopping has added another trajectory which has got acceptance and has been adopted by shoppers not only in developed countries but also in emerging economies. It is crucial to understand, explore and advance service quality dimension associated with online shopping, that too from the shoppers perspective, since a consistent growth has been witnessed in the online space which suggests that this new space has been well accepted by shoppers and they are willing to explore it further. Of late, e-retailing and its various dimensions have been an area of research for academia as well as for practitioners. The present study endeavors to understand and explore service quality perceptions of Indian online shoppers. Effort is made to find out whether or not the perceived e-service quality lead to shoppers intention to shop online. This research utilizes various frameworks, particularly the framework E-S-QUAL developed by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Malhotra (2005) to understand the said phenomenon. It covers 106 online shoppers perception towards e-service quality of different e-retailers, currently operational in India. At the end, research and managerial implications are discussed.
A Study on the Role of Materialism in Triggering Conspicuous Consumption among Emigrants from Kerala
Authors: Paulose Daly
Published: September 2016

Conspicuous consumption involves the overt display of possessions that denote wealth and status, to communicate a distinctive self-image to others. Here, product satisfaction is often derived from audience reaction as opposed to utility from product use. Materialism is the importance a consumer attaches to worldly possessions. Materialists place possessions and their acquisition at the centre of their lives. Several studies have established that various personality traits such as materialism and social factors like susceptibility to social influence explain conspicuous consumption. This paper examines the extent of influence of materialism on conspicuous consumption tendencies of a convenience sample of 640 emigrants from Kerala. The study validates that materialism significantly relates to conspicuous consumption which means materialism is positively related to buying products that confer status. It is also seen to be instrumental in triggering conspicuous consumption among the expatriate community. Variation in conspicuous consumption with respect to gender, age, education, occupation, and income levels are also examined. The study provides interesting insights for marketers in developing consumer-centric approach towards product-development, pricing and promotions and also assists in psychographic segmentation of status seekers. It proposes means to develop and manage meaningful engagement with consumers by exhorting marketers to assume greater social responsibility and focus on societal outcomes stemming from promoting a lifestyle centred on materialism and conspicuous displays of wealth.
Business Sharing its Progress with Villagers Towards Developing Model Villages
Authors: Garain Swapan , Komal
Published: September 2016

In a developing country like India, village-centric development is very critical for improving Human Development Index of the country. In this direction, corporate contribution assumes significance for rehabilitation and resettlement of project affected people and overall intervention under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative. Since India is a country of villages, CSR has to be more sensitive towards the economic, social and cultural needs of rural society of the country. In this paper, it is proposed to gear all interventions for promoting model villages. Model village presents a credible vehicle for bringing about sustainability of a village community unit. A model village must have three significant components of infrastructure development, livelihood promotion and provision of services. Infrastructure development must cater to creating basic physical as well as social infrastructure like approach road, school building, community centre and social capital. Promotion of livelihood includes skill training, self-employment, employment opportunities and village enterprise development, while provision for services for the villagers includes health care, education, sanitation, recreational and other community services. Model village plan envisages a self-contained village community at the apex of all the pillars of sustainability, namely, livelihood, infrastructure and services. The future of Indian economy and the prospect of industry are going to depend largely on building sustainable and self-maintained smallest self-governing units called model villages.
Scoping Social Entrepreneurship in India: Organisation, Technology, and Collaboration
Authors: Kumari Sunita , G.D. Bino Paul
Published: September 2016

We explore emerging contexts of social entrepreneurship in India. Social entrepreneurship is emerging as an important option in poverty reduction and social change wherein organizing societal responses to scenarios like entrenched deprivation, cumulative disadvantages, long extant institutional lock-in, and vulnerabilities enmeshed in social stratification, hiatus emanating from segmentation of labour market and inadequate coverage of social protection form the core of strategies/collectives/organisation. In this paper, first, drawing cues from the literature, we outline basic typology of social entrepreneurship while delineating pivotal role technology and collaboration play in social entrepreneurship. Second, we provide a glimpse of not profit organisations in India, based on the secondary data. We juxtapose select patterns from the data on non profit organisations with human development. Third, we discuss select cases of social entrepreneurship that diverge in characteristics and contexts, in particular how these initiatives work towards poverty reduction and social development.
Youngistan-Discussion on Models for Working with Youth
Authors: Thomas Praveen Varghese , Varghese Sojin P.
Published: September 2016

Youth is always considered as the dynamic section of society which stands inevitable both as age category and social status. There is a strong tendency among politicians, researchers to see youth bulge as a problem to be solved or as a threat which must be treated. However youth are underestimated as positive agents of change and key actors in development and harmony of the nation. But then more importantly, providing a conducive environment for youth is crucial and remains as the biggest challenge in India as the nation is going to be the youngest nation in the world demographically and will remain the same for next couple of decades. This paper explores the role of youth in development and various models and approaches by which the society and professionals working with youth can address those queries and anxieties associated with the youth bulge. Further the paper explores the scope of youth work in India as the nation is going to be the youngest nation in couple of years. Further research and debates on youth work as a profession in India is an essential element to develop specific guidance to support policy and commissioning processes in understanding how youth work contributes to effective interventions and improves the lives of young people.
A Critical Exploration of National Youth Policy of India- 2003 and 2014
Authors: Sultana A. Shahin
Published: September 2016

The National Youth Policy was formulated in the year 1988, in 2003 and subsequently in 2014. The changes in the socio-economic and other conditions in the country call for a reformulation recurrently so that the contemporary situation is taken stock of and absorbed into the policy for the youth well-being. India is the worlds highest youth densely populated country. The Census 2011 mentions youth population in the age group of 15-24 amounting to 231 million and the decadal growth is +22.1% while the sex ratio is 908 (882) in 2011. It is an urgent call to all stakeholders interested in youth development to take a serious look into the policies, programmes and schemes crafted for the youth along with the pros and cons of the implementation and review them in accordance with the rising needs and demands of the youth population in the country. In it their participation, cooperation, contribution and inclusion should be the main approach. This paper shall primarily have a relook into the policies of 2003 and 2014 and present an analysis of them for better understanding of the same.
Leading a Rural Transformation - A Case of Punsari Village
Authors: Ghatge Bhavna , Chakrabarti Diganta
Published: September 2016

In this case, authors describe a detailed account of Punsari village in western part of India which has transformed itself from an underdeveloped and poor habitat to a smart village today. Punsari has attracted lot of positive attention from different corners recently for its excellent achievements as a village and has won recognition for the same. The authors depict an account of a rural transformation under the visionary leadership of the village headman (Sarpanch) during the last one decade. In a country, where villages still face scarcity of various basic facilities, Punsari has won accolades for providing even the most modern facilities to its population. Through effective planning and utilization of central and state government funds, Punsari has achieved outstanding landmarks in healthcare, education, employment and modern facilities. This village now stands as a role model of rural management for the rest of India. The authors have travelled to the village to talk to people and based on those interviews and information available in open sources, this case was developed. The authors have explored the journey of development to analyze the factors contributing to the success. The authors attempt to present the case of Punsari for a management model to follow in numerous underdeveloped villages around the globe, especially in the developing countries. It is also an example of how leadership vision and qualities can bring about radical changes to a populous social unit. It depicts the significance of rural entrepreneurial leadership in the current economic scenario.
Homogeneous River and Heterogeneous Communities: Implications of Local Practices of Sustainable River Basin Management
Authors: S. Neeraja K.
Published: September 2016

This paper examines the concept of resources and communities as it is rigorously used in the sustainable development discourses. The legitimisation of the local practices of sustainable development in turn conceptualise natural environment as a resource which needs to be protected with the help of local participation and local knowledge. As a result of this process of sustainable management of environment, the complexity of heterogeneity exists in the community as well as the natural life supporting system is ignored. The discussion draw on the qualitative ethnographic field work conducted at Thirunelli Grama Panchayath in Wayanad, Kerala which is complexly comprised of six different tribal communities and other different non-tribal settler communities from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
A Multimodal Discourse Analysis of Select Tourism Video Commercials of Incredible India Campaign
Authors: Poonia Arun Kumar , Chauhan Gajendra Singh
Published: September 2016

The view of exotic destinations, historical monuments, locals/natives, etc., with suitably soothing background music is the hallmark of Tourism Video Commercials (TVCs). These TVCs serve to assist the prospective tourists in forming a pre-visit mental image of a destination, but are seldom researched. The present paper attempts a multi-modal discourse analysis of two TVCs of Incredible India campaign launched in 2004 and 2013, integrating various tools from Destination Image Research Framework, Video Content Analysis and Film Analysis methodology. The repositioning of brand India is aimed by changing the Overt Induced destination image, which is achieved with different film making and editing techniques. But there are some common elements too despite the focus shifting from the destination to the tourist. The shift also showcases India as a safe tourist destination for female tourists.
An Empirical Study of New Age Employment in Tour Operations and Allied Areas
Authors: J. Shyju P. , Lama Rinzing
Published: September 2016

In this study, the authors makes an attempt to understand the aspirations of the new generation employees in tour operation business and allied areas. It is being attempted with the presumption that the takeover of information technology seeded the concept of micro enterprises in tourism which functions with the business model of low investment and good turnover. The focus was in identifying employee specific factors of encouraging and discouraging in nature in the fast growing tourism sector, especially job attrition and the dynamics of human resource management practices. Factor Analysis, independent sample t-test, multiple regression have been used to establish various relationships. The findings of the study are considered to be relevant since it quantitatively establish the dynamics of employment in tourism in India.
Human Resource Practices in the Non-Star Category Hotels in Kolkata
Authors: Sandilyan P. R. , S. Sutheeshana Babu
Published: September 2016

In this empirical study, the authors made an attempt to examine the challenges faced by the human resource managers and employees as well as the benefits extended to the employees in the non-star hotel segment in the city of Kolkata It was also endeavored to ascertain the standards maintained by these hotels specifically the hygiene, safety, work environment and to mandatory legal and regulatory compliances. The results show that while these hotels were profitable and enjoyed a healthy market, the human resource practices were unhealthy and discriminatory in nature. Employees were neither provided with minimum wages and benefits nor have the establishments shown any interest in adhering to the mandatory compliances. This could largely be attributed to predominance of largely unskilled or inadequately qualified employees and a large pool of outsourced manpower.
Human Resource Development in Tourism Sector: A Case Study of Orissa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (OTDC)
Authors: Rath Banalata
Published: September 2016

Skilled, knowledgeable, and competent people are the key resource of any industry, be it manufacturing or a service sector. Higher degree and quality of performance of tasks always require higher degree of skills and knowledge. Human potential in every employee is vast and it can be further enhanced by various interventions like training, job rotation, feedback and counseling, organizational action, etc. that make the organization dynamic and growth oriented. People who are not able to contribute to the organization fully due to reasons beyond their control can also give the best if they are taken care of with more attractive working conditions and better organizational climate. Many services depend on direct personal interaction between customers and firms employees. Professionalism has become the buzzword in service industries and the corporate world now-a-days is fast realizing the importance of Human Resource Development in the new paradigm of business. This research paper is an attempt to evaluate the state of human resource development as is existent in the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation Ltd., a State – owned public sector undertaking of Orissa operating to provide the desired facilities and services to the tourists visiting the State. While analyzing various HRD aspects of OTDC, focus has been laid on employee training practice and performance appraisal system of the Corporation and suggestions have been given based on findings of the survey conducted for this research.
A Control Framework of Lower Extremity Rehabilitation Exoskeleton based on Neuro-Muscular-Skeletal Model
Authors: Shi Lei , Liua Zhen , Zhang Chao
Published: September 2016

A control system framework of lower extremity rehabilitation exoskeleton robot is presented. It is based on the Neuro-Musculo-Skeletal biological model. Its core composition moudle, the motion intent parser part, mainly comprises of three distinct parts. The first part is signal acquisition of surface electromyography (sEMG) that is the summation of motor unit action potential (MUAP) starting from central nervous system (CNS). sEMG can be used to decode action intent of operator to make the patient actively participate in specific training. As another composition part, a muscle dynamics model that is comprised of activation and contraction dynamic model is developed. It is mainly used to calculate muscle force. The last part is the skeletal dynamic model that is simplified as a linked segment mechanics. Combined with muscle dynamic model, the joint torque exerted by internal muscles can be exported, which can be ued to do a exoskeleton controller design. The developed control framework can make exoskeleton offer assistance to operators during rehabilitation by guiding motions on correct training rehabilitation trajectories, or give force support to be able to perform certain motions. Though the presentation is orientated towards the lower extremity exoskeleton, it is generic and can be applied to almost any part of the human body.
Smart IT Technologies of the Current Century
Authors: Ohri Shweta
Published: September 2016

As we know that the emerging IT technologies are essential for our day to day live. During the last few decades we have seen a great leaps in IT technologies which are all innovations that revolution the way we live and work. In this paper we cover those emerging, smart and revolutionary technologies. The paper also cover a broad range of IT areas, from software development to network management.
A Novel Algorithm for Predicting Valuable Items in Data Streams
Authors: Mohan S. Vijayarani
Published: September 2016

A data stream is a real time, continuous, structured sequence of data items. Mining data stream is the process of extracting knowledge from continuous arrival of rapid data records. Data can arrive fast and in continuous manner. It is very difficult to perform mining process. Normally, stream mining algorithms are designed to scan the database only once, and it is a complicated task to extract the knowledge from the database by a single scan. Data streams are a computational challenge to data mining problems because of the additional algorithmic constraints created by the large volume of data. Popular data mining techniques namely clustering, classification, and frequent pattern mining are applied to data streams for extracting the knowledge. This research work mainly concentrates on how to predict the valuable items which are found in a transactional data of a data stream. In the literature, most of the researchers have discussed about how the frequent items are mined from the data streams. This research work helps to predict the valuable items in a transactional data. Frequent item mining is defined as finding the items which occur frequently, i.e. the occurrence of items above the given threshold is considered as frequent items. Valuable item mining is nothing but finding the costliest or most valuable items of a database. Predicting this information helps businesses to know about the sales details about the valuable items which guide to make crucial decisions, such as catalogue drawing, cross promotion, end user shopping, and performance scrutiny. In this research work, a new algorithm namely VIM (Valuable Item Mining) is proposed for finding the valuable items in data streams. The performance of this algorithm is analysed by using the factors, number of valuable items discovered, and execution time.
Corporate Fraud Prevention and Detection: Revisiting the Literature
Authors: Mangala Deepa , Kumari Pooja
Published: September 2016

Fraud has become a worldwide phenomenon and prime issue of concern. It dwells in all countries and affects all types of organizations irrespective of their size, profitability or industry. The primary objective of this paper is to provide an in-depth understanding of literature related to corporate fraud in order to understand why fraud occurs and how to combat it. Research studies published during the period commencing from the year 1984 to 2014 have been reviewed. The study aims to provide an in-depth discussion on significant red flags that may exist before fraud occurrence. It, also, provides a comprehensive view about fraud detection and prevention methods. Findings reveal that red flag is an important mechanism to prevent fraud. Application of single fraud detection technique will not curb the fraud effectively. Also, the top executives were found to be responsible for implementing anti-fraud policies and techniques within business organization. Further, the present study tries to discern the research gap in existing literature and explore the area of future research.
Ethical Investing: Examining the Performance of Indian Shariah Funds Vis-A-Vis Shariah Index
Authors: Seth Samarpita , Das Samyabrata
Published: September 2016

Ethical investment is an important part of Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) that is based on investors ethical beliefs and values. Shariah-compliant investment (SCI) is one such practice. In this backdrop, the primary objective of the study is to explore the performance of the existing two actively managed Shariah-compliant equity funds, namely, Tata Ethical Fund and Taurus Ethical Fund, from the perspective of risk-return parameters. Another objective is to analyze the performance of the Shariah index CNX 500 Shariah in relation to these two funds. The study is based on secondary data. The period of study is from March, 2010 to March, 2015. Measures like Annual return, Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), Risk-adjusted CAGR, Jensen alpha, R-squared (R2), and beta have been used. The funds have exhibited superior risk-adjusted return. Further, funds are defensive in nature in most of the times, and are adequately diversified. Again, fund managers have superior stock selection skills. Returns from Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) are very much satisfactory. Moreover, the performance of Shariah index is inferior to that of the Tata Ethical Fund in respect of all parameters. Shariah-compliant funds have great potential to garner more investment from Shariah-conscious Indian investors.
Relationship between EVA (Economic Value Added) and Share Prices of Select Companies in BSE-SENSEX - An Empirical Study
Authors: Aravind Mathangi , Ramya K.
Published: September 2016

In todays competitive world, corporate companies all around the world are trying to maximize the wealth of their shareholders in order to gain market value as well as satisfy their stakeholders. With the gaining popularity of value based performance measures like Economic Value Added (EVA), Total Shareholder Return (TSR), Cash Value Added (CVA) etc., many corporate companies in India have started assessing their value in terms of these measures. This paper investigates the relationship between EVA and share prices of select companies in BSE-SENSEX for a period of six years from 2008 to 2013. The study focuses on the explanatory power of EVA with respect to share prices of the selected companies. In turn, the performance of the selected companies belonging to different sectors in BSE-SENSEX was analyzed using EVA. The volatile nature of the capital markets characterized by various speculative activities have a greater influence on share prices, eventually undermining the impact of performance metrics on them. Thus, the findings of the study enumerates that EVA does not have a considerable explanatory power on share prices.
Edifying Retailer-Wholesaler Ethical Relationship: A Basis for Good Governance in Retail Sector
Authors: Sharma Bodh Raj
Published: September 2016

Retailers are dependent upon wholesalers as the latter provide the regular and uninterrupted supply of merchandise to the former even sometimes on credit basis. The retailers are,thus, expected to maintain sound relations with wholesalers on the basis of ethical retail practices. In fact, in the extant literature there is not even a single study on perceptions of wholesalers about ethical retail practices. This study is, thus, an endeavor to bridge the gap in extant literature on retailing ethics. This piece of work explores empirically the retailer - wholesaler ethical relationships for good governance in retail sector empirically. The study is based upon the data obtained from seventy wholesale firms from Jammu city in J&K through an instrument. The wholesalers viewed retailers ethical in most of the issues except untimely payments of bills and even payment of less amounts as agreed upon, which creates severe problem for the wholesalers who are ultimately liable to manufacturers. The study shall be highly useful for business concerns, retailers, wholesalers, and government for the policy guidelines and potential researchers for new thrust.
Demographic Extent and Measurement of Financial Inclusion in Jammu Division
Authors: Salathia Preeti , Andotra Neetu
Published: September 2016

The aim of this paper is to examine the demographic extent and measure the perceptual gap among the beneficiaries having different age, caste, religion, qualification, income, gender, and marital status regarding nature of financial inclusion in Jammu division. It is the fact that financial inclusion has emerged as an important topic on the global agenda for sustainable long-term economic growth of all the sections of the society. The study is based upon the primary data obtained from the beneficiaries of four banks namely, Jammu & Kashmir Bank (JKB), Jammu & Kashmir Grameen Bank (JKGB), State Bank of India (SBI), and Punjab National Bank (PNB) belonging to villages of five districts namely, Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi, and Udhampur of Jammu division of J&K state through judgement sampling. A schedule was framed containing items of demographics and statements measuring financial inclusion based upon five point Likert scale. The findings indicate that on the demographic variables i.e., age, caste, gender & marital status, there is no significant difference exists regarding nature of financial inclusion, whereas on other demographic variables such as, religion, qualification & income nature of financial inclusion differs.
Effect of Determinants of Capital Structure on Financial Leverage: A Study of Selected Indian Automobile Companies
Authors: Mittal Sangeeta , Kumari Lavina
Published: September 2016

The objective of this paper is to investigate the relationship between financial leverage and determinants of capital structure of four top-most companies of Indian Automobile Industry. Selected companies for the study include Tata Motors Ltd, Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, and Hero MotoCorp Ltd. The determinants we have taken for the study include liquidity, size, profitability, growth rate, and tangibility. The data collected for the study are of 10 years from 2005-2014. Multiple regression analysis and correlation analysis are used as statistical tools in the present paper. The inter correlation matrix is formulated with reference to selected independent variables in order to detect the problem of multi-collinearity. There is an average support of explanatory variables or independent variables on dependent variable. The independent variables that are statistically significant in explaining the variation in dependent variable are profitability, growth rate, and liquidity at 5% level of significance. The results have been indicated by the calculated p values that are less than the .05 at 5% level of significance. The outcome may be useful for companies in their financing decisions.
Decoding the Structure of Indias Union Budget
Authors: Bhatia Hitesh I.
Published: September 2016

In the run up to 86th Union Budget of India (including interim budgets) presented in Feb 2016, this is a modest attempt to study and understand the structure of government accounts both on the revenue and expenditure side. The Constitution of India has clearly laid down the entire procedure for preparing the Union Budget and recording all the events both on the account of revenue and expenditure. The paper attempts to study the entire process of preparing a Budget in detail. It also studies the method of recording transactions under various major and minor heads. Deficit calculation is an integral part of government Budgets in developing countries. The paper concludes with the discussion on methods and types of Budget Deficits.
Corporate Social Responsibility Practice in India after Introduction of Companies Act, 2013
Authors: Basak Radhagobinda
Published: September 2016

Companies Act, 2013 has come into effect in India recently. Previously, Indian companies were under the control of Companies Act, 1956. In Companies Act, 1956, there were no provisions regarding Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Therefore, it was practiced only by few Indian companies voluntarily and they would report it in the way as they deemed fit. In this background, presence of a structured legal framework for CSR was badly needed. Keeping this in mind, Companies Act, 2013 has provided some important and contemporary provisions regarding CSR practice and reporting and these provisions came into effect from 1st April, 2014. Now, the companies which satisfy the required conditions as laid down in the act must spend a specific percentage of their net profit for CSR activities and report it each year. Standing on this situation, in this present paper, it has been attempted to review the scenario of CSR practice and reporting by some major Indian companies. A sample of ten companies has been selected for this purpose. On the basis of their merit in complying the CSR provisions, they have been ranked. The conclusion is that the selected companies have already initiated good CSR projects and they have the intention to perform their social responsibilities in the coming years in a better way.
Competitive Pattern of Foreign Direct Investment in India
Authors: Sinha Manoj Kumar
Published: September 2016

Globalization can be summarized as opening-up of markets, leading to transfer of capital, technology and people. However, another important dimension of globalization is multilateralism. The international economic reforms encourage multilateralism leads allocative efficiency. Multilateralism implies importing capital from a variety of sources as may be most efficient. Indias FDI policy is in alignment with global FDI. In 1991, India had receiving FDI from 86 investing countries, which reached to 137 investing countries in 2013. This indicates global attractiveness and preferred investment destination. The paper examines FDI investing pattern of source countries in India. The period of study is 1991-2013. The paper applies a set of new indices like Index of Rank Dominance (IRD) and Bodenhorns measure of Mobility and Turnover. The most dominant country is USA. The RIRD (Relative Index of Rank Dominance) are top heavy. The first five countries are investing more than 60 percent FDI in India. Asian Tiger countries invested around 11 percent and BRICS countries have insignificant FDI in India. The competitive pattern of FDI has been declined among three different grouping countries. The global FDI in India has been declined 8 percent per annum in spite of favoured investment destination.
A Study on Factors Influencing Level of Utilisation of Public Distribution System with Special Reference to Pollachi Taluk
Authors: Kamalavalli A. L. , Archanaa P .
Published: September 2016

Government of India provides food (ration) at highly subsidized rates to the poor people through public distribution system (PDS). Cooperation, food, and consumer protection department of the Government lays down the policy for public distribution system. Public distribution system in Tamil Nadu is a universal system to cover all the needy families by supplying rice at a price much lower than the BPL price fixed by the Government of India under the targeted public distribution system. Also it ensures food security to all citizens, particularly poor people, by making essential commodities of good quality available at affordable prices every month, through a chain of shops called ration shops (or Fair Price shops). The study aims to find out the utilization level of PDS by the public for which 350 ration cardholders belonging to Pollachi Taluk (Coimbatore Dist., Tamil Nadu, India) were surveyed and the data were collected through questionnaire (literates) and interview schedule (for illiterates). It was found that cardholders have moderate satisfaction only and it was suggested to improve the working of PDS by opening the shops on Sundays, quantity of few items can be increased during festival time, etc. The result of the study is based on the opinions given by the cardholders of Pollachi taluk. It might not be applicable to other places.
An Empirical Study on Capital Structure and Corporate Performance of Chinese Listed Companies
Authors: Al-Duais Fahd
Published: September 2016

The relationship between level of debt and the companys performance remains an important unsolved issue in the field of financing. It is very important to know how Chinas listed companies manage their capital towards business growth. This paper investigates the impact of the capital structure on corporate performance of a sample of 711 listed companies on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China in 2014. The results indicates that there is a positive relation between financial leverage and corporate performance as well as there is a positive impact that the mixture of long-term debt and short-term debt (using total debt). This would help decision maker in the companies to finance firms operation in the both periods. On the other hand, the short term debt has a negative relation and impact on corporate performance compared to the changing in firm size which cannot change in the profitability of firms.