Suku Bhaskaran - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Suku Bhaskaran

This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the a... more This thesis was scanned from the print manuscript for digital preservation and is copyright the author. Researchers can access this thesis by asking their local university, institution or public library to make a request on their behalf. Monash staff and postgraduate students can use the link in the Reference field.

Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) address environmental risks in supply chains and certific... more Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) address environmental risks in supply chains and certification of environmental claims. Governments supporting EMSs have encouraged producers to respond to anticipated consumer environmental concerns. Attempts at implementing EMSs have rarely been in direct response to market demand but are usually farmer organisation driven-to forestall increased regulation. In Australia, consumer demand for foods produced to environmentally sustainable standards is minimal because consumers don't believe these products offer special benefits. EMS implementation is expensive and onerous; and the products require a market premium. Food consumers have difficulty differentiating the terms organic, environmentallyfriendly, and sustainably-produced in food labelling.

This article aims to foster retrospection and debate regarding the use of peer reviews as the pre... more This article aims to foster retrospection and debate regarding the use of peer reviews as the predominant mechanism to manage the quality of business research outputs such as scholarly publications, competitive research grant submissions, theses and research reports. The efficacy of the practice of peer review as a quality control mechanism has not elicited much debate amongst business scholars. However, over the past several decades, there has been vehement debate in the natural, health and medical science domains on the efficacy of peer reviews, including blind peer reviews, as a quality gatekeeping mechanism. Literature that informed this study indicates that several articles in respected natural, health and medical science journals conclude that the peer review practice lacks rigor and is open to biases and ethical malpractices and consequently is not effective in gatekeeping the quality of research outputs. The article presents contemporary discourses on the practice of peer review, then, using a case example, the article analyses reviewer comments to examine the efficacy of the practice of peer review. The article concludes that the practice of peer review has serious limitations. These limitations may be the outcome of the proliferation of publication outlets and thus the difficulty of finding qualified reviewers, time constraints faced by reviewers, the inability of peer reviewers to contextualise discourses and, in some instances, unethical behaviours and academic malpractices on the part of reviewers.

This study examines supply chain members' beliefs regarding the opportunities to develop foods pr... more This study examines supply chain members' beliefs regarding the opportunities to develop foods produced under an "eco-friendly" label. The study involved in-depth interviews with 17 Australian senior managers in food organisations who have marketing responsibilities and who have expert product and consumer knowledge (c.f. Clift and Wright 2000, Peattie 2000). The findings suggest that respondents have widely different beliefs regarding the meaning of "eco-friendly" and believe that claims regarding "eco-friendly" characteristics are difficult to substantiate. They further suggested that "eco-friendly" considerations are not a major influencer of consumer food purchase decisions at present and thus "eco-friendly" production was not a strategic focus of their companies. Respondents felt that "eco-friendly" labelling would not be successful until consumers' value "eco-friendly" food attributes.

Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, Dec 7, 2006

The study focuses on the marketing practices, market structures, and firms' motives for vertical ... more The study focuses on the marketing practices, market structures, and firms' motives for vertical coordination of the paddyrice distribution system during the post green revolution period in the Punjab state of India. The study is based upon secondary data taken from several published sources and intensive interviews with the market agents in the entire distribution chain from growers to the retailers. Study highlighted the emergence of public sector as a giant player in the paddy (non-basmati) wholesale markets, unscrupulous practices for paddy/rice supplies, wide disparities in the issue prices for the below and above poverty line families, reduced off take from the public distribution system, launching of several schemes to off load excessive stocks, and improve market efficiency. Open market segment of the industry is highly fragmented wherein a large majority of the market agents have confined at the levels they can be best managed, vertical coordination plays a pivotal role to cope up with market imperfections and supply agents constitute a strategic link for rice sales. However, private milling gains momen

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Feb 6, 2009

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to analyse and review whether national culture influences or... more Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to analyse and review whether national culture influences organisational beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national alliance partners. Design/methodology/approach-Reviewed extant studies on national culture, organisational culture and business-to-business relationship. Using information from the literature review and key informant surveys, a survey instrument comprising of close-ended questions was developed. The questionnaire was sent to the Chief Executives Officer's of 1,248 organisations identified through systematically selecting every third organisation in the sampling frame. Two weeks later, universal reminders were sent to all 1,248 organisations. The data from 376 fully completed questionnaires returned were analysed through exploratory factor analysis and canonical correlation analysis. Findings-National culture influences beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national alliance partners. However, beliefs and behaviours are also influenced by the complex interrelationships between relational constructs such as trust, commitment, cooperation , dependence, communication and compatibility. Often, compatibility is not only influenced by national culture but also by the size, business activity and how the organisation is incorporated. Practical implications-Beliefs about and behaviours to trans-national partner organisations are not solely influenced by national culture. It is the outcome of complex and diverse social, political, economic and organisational factors and how these factors influence orientations to issues such as trust, commitment, cooperation and communication. Originality/value-Explores a hitherto under-researched theme on trans-national business alliances, the influence of the national culture of organisations on various relational issues discussed in business-to-business relationship studies. The study consolidates knowledge from three streams of literature (national culture, organisational culture and business-to-business relationship), often handled as disparate sources of knowledge.

British Food Journal, Aug 1, 2006

Purpose-To identify and analyse the beliefs of value-chain intermediaries regarding the productio... more Purpose-To identify and analyse the beliefs of value-chain intermediaries regarding the production and marketing of food products conforming to environmentally sustainable standards. Design/methodology/approach-The methodology was in-depth, semi-structured, face-toface interviews with senior managers of food companies across the value chain. Findings-In Australia, the demand for foods that are produced under environmentally sustainable standards has been slow to takeoff because customers do not perceive these products as offering any special benefits; customers distrust the claims made by organisations; these products are much more expensive than traditional products, and the implementation of environmental standards is expensive. Customers claim that the use of different terminologies such as organic, green and environmentally friendly in promoting food products is confusing. Research limitations/implications-Findings are not generalisable because the study is based on a small sample. Practical implications-Value-chain intermediaries are unlikely to voluntarily adopt environmental standards because of low demand for such foods and the high costs of adopting and monitoring environmentally sustainable production and marketing regimes. Originality/value-The story supports previous research findings from the USA and EU.

Indian Journal of Economics and Business, Jun 1, 2006

Study indicated the emergence of a more modern retail sector in the midst of traditional wet mark... more Study indicated the emergence of a more modern retail sector in the midst of traditional wet markets. To cope up with the resource constraints, small and medium sized retailers target the medium and low-price market segments, design merchandise mixes with the fast moving product lines and negotiate for the prices. Large sized retailers target the upper and medium price segments due to better asset positions, offer broader product choices of better qualities maintain prices higher, emphasize customer retention and market development. A handful of these retailers, has started depicting the developed country style modern selling patterns.

Communications in computer and information science, 2020

Blockchain is an emerging technology and gaining an attraction in businesses. The use of Blockcha... more Blockchain is an emerging technology and gaining an attraction in businesses. The use of Blockchain technology will ease the processes of businesses and industries. It can be characterized as one of the most important predominant topics nowadays. The issues in Blockchain like privacy, security, and risk are always debatable. It has already transformed many individuals’ lifestyle and companies due to inordinate influence on industries and businesses. The features of blockchain technology guarantee to be more reliable and also expedite the services. It is important to consider the privacy and security issues in this research paper. It also discusses the challenges behind the innovative technology to transform the enterprises.

Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, Jul 24, 2009

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and discuss a distribution outsourcing alliance bet... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to review and discuss a distribution outsourcing alliance between a small‐to‐medium scale food processor and a national distributor of frozen and chilled food products. The paper discusses the influence of market dynamics, core and differentiated competencies and strategic intents on alliance formation and operations in the small‐to‐medium scale food enterprise sector.Design/methodology/approachThe dyadic relationship of a small‐to‐medium scale food processor and its distributor is investigated through reviewing past studies of processor‐distributor alliances, conducting in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews with senior managers in both firms, and reviewing documents and correspondence between the firms.FindingsThe partners do not complement their core and differentiate competencies to achieve greater customer value creation through a joint enterprise business model. The alliance focuses pre‐eminently on short‐term sales development and cost savings targets. Non‐achievement of these targets adversely influences partners' trust and commitment to the alliance. A significant strength of the alliance is its capacity to identify customer needs and use this knowledge to speedily develop and introduce new products. In its present form this alliance is unsustainable. The partners should adopt a new philosophy and vision to pursue an alliance that will use their core and differentiated competencies more effectively.Research limitations/implicationsTo generalise the findings and inform theory building, the research has to be replicated in other businesses and market environments. The findings are specific to the market environment and strategies of a single small‐to‐medium scale food processor and a single national distributor of frozen and chilled foods. Multi‐case studies in multi‐contexts (capturing varying sizes of business, industry sectors, target market segments, competitive environments and market environments) have to be completed to enable generalisation and theory building.Practical implicationsThis paper demonstrates the disadvantages of pursuing distribution outsourcing alliances with a short‐term and enterprise level perspective. The case study provides real life evidence of the benefits of pursuing distribution outsourcing alliances based on a joint enterprise philosophy.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to knowledge on distribution outsourcing alliances, a topic that several recent studies have identified as not having been explored in great detail in extant supply chain studies.

Journal of Consumer Marketing, Dec 1, 2002

Builds on past studies in the USA and assesses the market potential for functional goods through ... more Builds on past studies in the USA and assesses the market potential for functional goods through investigating consumer needs and attitudes. Aims to add to past research through: assessing consumer knowledge and beliefs on nutrition and diet‐health relationships; analysing the influence of such knowledge and beliefs of information and sources of information; and evaluating the effectiveness and implications of government preventative health campaigns on purchase behaviour. Concludes that issues regarding personal and national health are extremely important because of the financial costs and human suffering that could be involved; and that functional goods, as a relatively new phenomenon, still need to be examined further with regard to their influence on trust and legitimacy in buyer behaviour.

Journal of Small Business Management, 2006

Past studies have analyzed issues pertaining to the definition of innovation, methods of measurin... more Past studies have analyzed issues pertaining to the definition of innovation, methods of measuring innovation and the relationship between organizational characteristics and innovation orientation. Extant studies have adopted a large business or a technologically intense context of study. By studying the adoption of new products, methods, systems, markets, and supply sources in small and medium-size seafood retail enterprises, this study reviews innovation and the adoption of innovation in a broader and novel context. Seafood retailers in this study operate in a concentrated industry environment where two large supermarket chains account for more than 70 percent of national food retail sales. The seafood retailers operate in a highly competitive environment, the industry is maturing, the firms are not very advanced technologically, and the sector has a disproportionately large number of firms owned and operated by persons of non-English speaking backgrounds. The results of the study indicate that incremental innovation offers substantial competitive advantages to small and medium-size firms, that incremental innovations can be adopted and operationalized rapidly by entrepreneurs with different cultural backgrounds and skills, and that small and medium-size firms that focus on sales and marketing innovations are profitable and are able to compete successfully with large businesses.

International Journal of Business and Globalisation, 2021

Faced with market saturation in developed countries, high-value luxury brand manufacturers are ag... more Faced with market saturation in developed countries, high-value luxury brand manufacturers are aggressively targeting populous emerging economies. Market development in these low incomes countries has been slow. Local production could reduce costs, improve price competitiveness and accelerate market development. However, customer proclivity to associate quality with a country's level of economic and technological advancement, symbolism associated with consuming imported brands and ethnocentric beliefs could constrain market development. Using car purchases by affluent customers in India as a surrogate indicator, this study analyses customer beliefs and attitudes towards high value luxury brand purchases manufactured domestically. The results reveal that customers are influenced by 'country-of-brand origin' rather than 'country-of-manufacture' or 'country-of-assembly' and do not have ethnocentric beliefs and attitudes. Consequently, high value developed country luxury brands can be manufactured and successfully marketed in low-income countries such as India.

International journal of recent technology and engineering, Sep 30, 2019

The Blockchain is an emerging technology and is gaining the popularity over worldwide. This techn... more The Blockchain is an emerging technology and is gaining the popularity over worldwide. This technology is not owned by anyone but used by everyone. The Blockchain technology can be applied in the fields for the ease of operations in business, finance, networking, law etc. This paper aims to make offerings to theory, practical and practice in blockchain technology. A framework focusses on the use of blockchain technology from entry to exit of any process in the system. This is represented in terms of use case discussions and evaluation. This gives an opportunity to use the by Blockchain and to increase trust, mitigate the risk while doing the transaction (Markovitch & Willmott, 2014). This paper presents the detailed understanding and identification of flow of any enterprise. It also covers the identification of important areas where the technology as Blockchain can be applied and implemented. Finally, the blueprint was discussed keeping the view of important areas of implementation of Blockchain technology. This aims to help the enterprise to automate and digitalize their current processes used by an organisation.

International Journal of Enterprise Network Management, 2009

This article reviews the intensity and quality of information communication technologies (ICT) ad... more This article reviews the intensity and quality of information communication technologies (ICT) adoption by small-to-medium-sized (SME) food enterprises in Australia. The study investigated the reasons why SMEs have adopted or not adopted ICT and the reasons for ...

British Food Journal, Feb 1, 2004

This article is a case study of a small‐scale family enterprise which successfully introduced a n... more This article is a case study of a small‐scale family enterprise which successfully introduced a new crop, adopted new farming methods, formed a research, development and marketing alliance with a major international company, and fostered R&D alliance with several government organisations. The study was completed through reviewing government, consultant and industry reports, and in‐depth face‐to‐face interviews of key informants in industry and government. The findings showcase the importance of entrepreneurship (ingenuity to seize opportunities, effectively use personal contact networks, take risks, experiment through trial and error learning, adapt and, notwithstanding immense barriers, to continue with the venture) and a supportive national culture in fostering innovation and business development.

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Feb 13, 2007

Purpose-This paper aims to trace the evolution of nationality-based business organisations in Mal... more Purpose-This paper aims to trace the evolution of nationality-based business organisations in Malaysia and review whether national culture, as determined by the nationality-based work values, beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations, influences the values, orientations and practices of organisations. Design/methodology/approach-In-depth literature review and ''key-informant'' surveys, based on which a structured questionnaire was developed. After pre-testing and finalisation, questionnaires were administered by fax on 1,248 Malaysian organisations selected through systematic sampling. The survey generated 376 usable responses. After testing for non-response bias, usable responses were subjected to common factor, reliability and canonical correlation analysis. Findings-Even though there are significant differences in how business entities (delineated on the basis of the national culture of owners and managers) organise and conduct their operations, these differences cannot be attributed to the beliefs and orientations of the owners and managers of these organisations. Significant ''cultural'' differences are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of one nationality and significant ''cultural'' similarities are evident across organisations owned and managed by individuals of different nationalities. Many other factors such as the legal, economic and regulatory context of the organisation influence its values, orientations and practices more profoundly than the national culture of its owners and managers. Practical implications-Interfacing managers should not stereotype the values, orientations and behaviours of organisations with which they interact based on knowledge about nationality-based beliefs, behaviours and orientations of the owners and managers of organisations. Originality/value-Provides a challengingly different perspective from the conclusions in some of the most authoritative studies on nationality-based organisational beliefs and culture.

The report discusses the findings of an Information & Communication Technology (ICT) adoption... more The report discusses the findings of an Information & Communication Technology (ICT) adoption project by five small-to-medium sized (SME) food enterprises in Australia. The project was based on a research-analyse-mentor-implement-review framework that entailed substantial engagement between participating SMEs and the Food Marketing Research Unit (FMRU) of Victoria University. The FMRU and the SMEs jointly analysed and defined individual SME’s business from a customer satisfying perspective and thereafter worked with ICT contractors to identify and introduce ICT infrastructure that aligned with the strategic intent of the SME. The FMRU team mentored and guided the owners and managers of the SMEs through the entire process of evaluating and prioritising the strategic objectives of their business and identifying and introducing appropriate ICT infrastructure that aligned with these objectives.