TQM Model for Manufacturing SMEs in the Middle East

Volume 12 Issue 4 March - May 2018

Research Paper

TQM Model for Manufacturing SMEs in the Middle East

Subramaniam Arunachalam*, Aisha Zwet **, N. Snailum***

* Senior Lecturer, Mechanical Engineering Subject Group, University of East London, UK.

** PhD Scholar, School of Architecture, Computing and Engineering, University of East London, UK.

*** Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader, Institution of Engineering and Technology, University of East London, UK.

Arunachalam, S., Zwet, A., and Snailum, N. (2018). TQM Model for Manufacturing SMEs in the Middle East. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(4), 32-40. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.4.14526

Abstract

Total Quality Management (TQM), has been accepted globally as a management philosophy and practice to improve quality. However, only limited empirical studies have been carried out in manufacturing Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the Gulf countries. The primary concern for the manufacturing SMEs in the Middle East who want to compete in the global market is that many competitors have been involved in quality improvement programs for decades which initially give them a competitive edge. This research is designed to identify the current level of TQM implementation in manufacturing SMEs in the Gulf States and investigate the TQM and Continuous Improvement (CI) parameters that affect the performance of the companies, and to identify the barriers that stop them from implementing TQM in their company. The main objectives are to determine the influencing factors and response to TQM implementation within manufacturing SMEs through empirical analysis and propose a TQM model that is more suitable for Arab SMEs to improve the quality management.

A Study of Generic Intertextuality in Corporate Press Releases

Volume 12 Issue 4 March - May 2018

Research Paper

A Study of Generic Intertextuality in Corporate Press Releases

Ruiqi Zhou*, Yongcui Zhao**

* Associate Professor of English, School of English for International Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, China.

** Teaching Assistant, Chengdu Institute of Sichuan International Studies University, Chengdu China.

Zhou, R and Zhao,R. (2018). A Study of Generic Intertextuality in Corporate Press Releases. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(4), 21-31. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.4.14525

Abstract

As an important communication vehicle in the area of public relations, Corporate Press Releases (CPRs) contribute to establishing favorable corporate images and maintaining good relations between corporations and stakeholders. Through Corporate Press Releases, companies usually report on the corporate news while attempting to develop positive reputations which may be reflected by the generic intertextuality in those releases, where genres of both news reports and advertisements are embedded.

In order to find out whether there exists such generic intertextuality in CPRs, the authors of this paper conducted a qualitative research. The authors collected 50 pieces of CPRs from the official websites of 42 Fortune 500 companies as research data for the current study. Firstly, to find generic intertexuality between different genres, the authors adopt Swales' move analysis to identify the move structure of CPRs and then compare it with those of news reports and advertisements respectively. It turns out that there is a high level of similarity between the move structure of CPRs and that of news reports and also between those of CPRs and advertisements. As a result, the generic intertextuality of CPRs is exposed. This paper also indicates that social transformations, such as commercialization and rise in technology have impact on CPRs, which lead to the emergence of generic intertextuality.

Has Built-In Obsolescence for Controlled Product Lifespan Influenced Attitudes towards Food Waste?

Volume 12 Issue 4 March - May 2018

Research Paper

Has Built-In Obsolescence for Controlled Product Lifespan Influenced Attitudes towards Food Waste?

Tom Page*

*Senior Lecturer, Loughborough Design School, United Kingdom.

Page,T. (2018). Has Built-In Obsolescence for Controlled Product Lifespan Influenced Attitudes towards Food Waste? i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(4), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.4.14524

Abstract

New government targets show an increasing need to reduce waste in the domestic environment. These efforts however, are often met with resistance from consumers when attempting to increase voluntary participation levels and for this reason, understanding behaviours behind why certain individuals may be more inclined to participate, is often the basis of much user waste profiling.

With food waste often the focus of many academic studies, design, product innovation and technology has recently drawn its own attention in the media, creating markets for obsolescent products and subsequently increasing volumes of electrical waste without well-established facilitation for its disposal. Many different factors have been shown to shape the behaviours of consumers when disposing of items reaching their end of life and general findings indicate trends surrounding demographics; age, education, and income as indicators of willingness to participate in various recycling schemes.

With large scale production adopted in both the food and design industries, there is often speculation over whether psychological influences such as 'the social norm' may influence consumer lifestyle leading to conditioning of 'increased wastefulness'.

Through analysis of consumer buying and disposal habits and household waste behaviours, this research aims to investigate whether through lifestyles and generation norms, there is suggestion that increased awareness of obsolescence towards electrical products has become a factor in increasing food waste behaviours. Where many studies exist to analyse behaviours by product group, this research aims to look at the bigger picture in order to identify whether these product group behaviours can be linked by common factors.

Where many studies have previously publicized complications associated with unnatural participant behaviour in ethnographical studies, this paper will assess through a combination of ethnographical research, questionnaires, and user interview, whether there is a correlation between behaviours in one product group and those in another

The study concludes that although trends show younger people for whom obsolescence of products always has been the norm tended to be more wasteful concerning food, there is not enough separating evidence to determine whether obsolescence of products and their disposal has affected food behaviours or whether these behaviours exhibited are only as an indication of age, lack of knowledge, and experience.

A Preliminary Review on Automation of Employee Engagement

Volume 12 Issue 3 December - February 2018

Review Paper

A Preliminary Review on Automation of Employee Engagement

P.S.S.Lakshmi Kavya*, A. Bala Saraswathi**

* Research Scholar, Department of MBA, K. L. University, Vaddeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, India..

** Assistant Professor, Department of MBA, K. L. University, Vaddeswaram, Andhra Pradesh, India.

Kavya, P.S.S.L., and Saraswathi,A. B. (2018). A Preliminary Review on Automation of Employee Engagement. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(3), 49-55. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.3.13884

Abstract

There has been a constant ongoing struggle between man and machines from centuries. In the past, many artisans, farmers and textile workers have opposed the automation of their sectors or industries. Automation is replacing a man's job with an automated or self-control machine to increase efficiency and to increase the quantity of production with minimal human supervision; management is forced to adopt automation for competitive advantage and many other reasons. The term automation and attrition go hand in hand as known and observed by many scholars. All of them to an extent have known the impact of automation on employees and their relations with the management. Many ways were suggested to alleviate the pain of man due to the advent of machine in his job. Many laws were made by the governments of nations to compel the management to be sincere in their efforts towards the displaced workers. But, still the problem is persisting why? This is one side of the story; this article tries to answer that why question. Are all the measures suggested and being implemented useless? No! Then why has the pain not gone and still many workers are suffering? and how researchers make more efficient methods in this regard? The other side of the story is Automation leading to employee engagement, this angle of the story is also discussed in this paper as the main focus and to arrive at this statement as a conclusion.

A Study on Factors Influencing Youngsters’ Perceptions towards Choice of Investment Avenues

Volume 12 Issue 3 December - February 2018

Research Paper

A Study on Factors Influencing Youngsters’ Perceptions towards Choice of Investment Avenues

Gowtham Ramkumar*

*PG Student, Madras Christian College, East Tambaram, Chennai, India.

Ramkumar,G. (2018). Study on Factors Influencing Youngsters’ Perceptions towards Choice of Investment Avenues. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(3), 41-48. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.3.13883

Abstract

Financial system plays an important role in the economic growth of the country. A fresh investor considers various factors before deciding his or her investment avenue. Similarly, a youngster who is considering of investing his savings will choose an investment option depending on his perceptions about various investment options. The study seeks to find out the various factors influencing youngsters' investment decisions. In other words, the study attempts to identify the factors that will be considered by the youngsters before they decide their investment avenue. The data required for the study is collected from 100 youngsters in Chennai city. SPSS 21 version is used to analyze data and reliability analysis is used to test the validity of the variables considered for the study, and factor analysis with Varimax rotation is used to group various factors influencing the youngsters' choice of investment avenues. The study comes out with five major factors influencing youngsters' choice of investment avenues. The reliability analysis shows 0.802 indicating good reliability of the scores generated by the variables used for the study.

Understanding the Perception of Millennial Generation towards Online Shopping -A Study with Reference to Chennai

Volume 12 Issue 3 December - February 2018

Research Paper

Understanding the Perception of Millennial Generation towards Online Shopping -A Study with Reference to Chennai

K. Soundarapandiyan*, M. Ganesh**

* Professor, Sri Sairam Institute of Management Studies, Sri Sairam Engineering College, Chennai, India.

** Professor & Director, Holy Angels School of Business, Siruvachur, Perambalur, India.

Soundarapandiyan,K., and Ganesh, M. (2018). Understanding the Perception of Millennial Generation towards Online Shopping -A Study With Reference to Chennai. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(3), 31-40. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.3.13882

Abstract

Online shopping is a fast growing concept nowadays globally, and it is seen that number of online shops have been increasing and it is obvious that there has been an upward trend of consumers who opt online purchases rather than conventional shopping. A consumer group, which is designated as Millennials (Generation Y) has a huge market in online market, which alone will contribute in the success of online retailers in the future. As we see internet is widely used by people of this generation and in fact, they are more technologically savvy and people feel much comfortable in using this internet for a variety of purposes including online shopping. For more than two decades, this millennial consumers segment constitutes a major marketing segment in the global market place. This trend is attributed to the fact that the individuals in the age group are in great numbers and they have supreme purchasing power which in fact, surpasses any other group of consumers. For this study, a sample size of 132 was taken through probability sampling techniques.

Working towards Supplier Service Quality and EODB: Insights from Indian SMEs

Volume 12 Issue 3 December - February 2018

Research Paper

Working towards Supplier Service Quality and EODB: Insights from Indian SMEs

Surjit Kumar Gandhi*, Anish Sachdeva**, Ajay Gupta***

* Research Scholar, Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

**-*** Associate Professor, Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, Punjab, India.

Gandhi,S.K., Sachdeva, A., and Gupta, A. (2018). Working towards Supplier Service Quality and EODB: Insights from Indian SMEs. i-manager’s Journal on Management, 12(3), 11-30. https://doi.org/10.26634/jmgt.12.3.13880

Abstract

The formation of manufacturer-supplier partnerships has emerged as a significant and popular competitive strategy in marketing channel relationships. To ensure their operational and financial benefits, small-medium manufacturing enterprises must work closely with the suppliers and the inter-firm linkage between the manufacturer-supplier units may involve all possible forms of economic relationships between them. This study highlights that prior to assess supplier service, the internal working of manufacturing units towards supply function and also ability to provide Ease of Doing Business (EODB) needs to be assessed. 120 executives working in supplier units providing raw materials and other supplies to SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) located in north India responded to a questionnaire survey. The respondents were asked to assess service quality offered by the buyer units towards facilitating the supplier's working and EODB on 1 to 5 Likert scale. Construct validation using exploratory factor analysis showed an interpretable latent structure consisting of 4 determinants and 21 indicators. Confirmatory factor analysis synthesized a purified, valid and reliable service quality measurement scale with 4 determinants and 16 indicators. It was concluded that SMEs need to improve working towards suppliers on four dimensions, viz., Assurance, Communication, Adaptability, and Empathy to carve a win-win situation. The scale thus developed can be used by managers of small-medium manufacturing units in identification of opportunities for assuring service excellence to their suppliers to facilitate their working and improve performance thereby mutually benefitting both partners and the whole supply chain.