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Papers by Sharmistha Banerjee
Community based tourism (CBT) focuses on the protection of socio-cultural values and economic ben... more Community based tourism (CBT) focuses on the protection of socio-cultural values and economic benefits of stakeholder host communities of tourism destinations. It is increasingly being promoted as an avenue of sustainable tourism development. But for achieving economic sustainability in long run for CBT initiatives it is imperative to ensure revenue generation through regular tourist footfall and productive use of available resources. The purpose of the study is to examine the tourists' awareness level about CBT initiatives. The paper also seeks to analyze how far the aware tourist is able to contribute to economic sustainability of CBT destinations. It also aims to identify popular tourist information dissemination sources so that a policy prescription can be suggested for effective marketing and promotion strategy of CBT. The study used questionnaire based survey method and collected primary data of 100 domestic tourists focusing on the CBT destinations of Northern part of wes...
Retention of talented workers is not primarily driven by fair and equitable compensation at par w... more Retention of talented workers is not primarily driven by fair and equitable compensation at par with the industry trend. The purpose of the study is to investigate and analyze the causal factors influencing attrition and how engineering firms can retain their operational employees. This research has studied the retention pattern of managerial personnel engaged in operational activities in an engineering firm in India named DCIPS. The methodology used to unearth the causal factors determining the attrition propensity was a study of exit documents of engineering managers leaving the organization over a 10-year period (1999- 2008). The results revealed that attrition is due to the lack of growth and a career advancement opportunity. Length of association with the firm has been related to attrition pattern. Such a case study of an engineering firm may be extended for other engineering firms, which goes to establish the need for career growth and planning in ensuring employee satisfactio...
ABSTRACT The empirical literature on business ethics has been developing recently. However, the s... more ABSTRACT The empirical literature on business ethics has been developing recently. However, the scholarly interest has so far been limited to ethical infractions of large corporations. Authors argue that findings based on the practices of large corporations ...
This paper studies four cases of social entrepreneurship that have been widely recognized as succ... more This paper studies four cases of social entrepreneurship that have been widely recognized as successful, particularly because its scope has been in the field which is traditionally considered to be the exclusive responsibility of the state sector, education and health for underserved and marginalized groups which makes them potentially excluded. The attempt is to identify characteristics associated with successful social entrepreneurship, and generate propositions about core innovations, leadership and organization, and pathways of scaling up in social
Global Business Review, 2020
The rationale behind this study is to test the apathy of the rural youth to engage in agriculture... more The rationale behind this study is to test the apathy of the rural youth to engage in agriculture as their profession. This research was conducted across five universities in eastern India on a sample of 345 postgraduate students to analyse their agri-entrepreneurship intent and the determinants of agri-entrepreneurship. The findings of the study show a significant positive correlation among the variables of agri-entrepreneurship intent and career planning and agri-entrepreneurship intent and entrepreneurial capabilities. Regression analysis reveals that career planning, entrepreneurship capabilities and family background (FB) in agriculture have a significant contribution as predictors of agri-entrepreneurship intent. Categorizing the respondents based on their career planning and entrepreneurship capability tendencies, the findings indicate that career planning and FB explain the growth of agri-entrepreneurship intent. This article will be of great value to educationists to carry ...
Journal of Rural Studies
Across the world, microfinance (MF) has been recognized as an effective instrument for simultaneo... more Across the world, microfinance (MF) has been recognized as an effective instrument for simultaneous reduction of poverty and long-term growth through creation of entrepreneurship. Available research does suggest that MF experiment in most cases was successful to reduce poverty, especially among poor women. However, evidencebased research on impact of MF initiatives on nature of entrepreneurial activities and on the psychological capital or potential of the entrepreneurs remains under-studied. This paper attempts to bridge the gap and seeks to diagnose the entrepreneurial behaviour of MF users in comparison to a comparative set of non-users in the same socioeconomic climate in an emerging economy and the haven of MF, Bangladesh. The outcome variables considered are not just participation in income generating process, but specific qualitative attributes of entrepreneurship, including ability to innovative, bricolage, risk taking, marshalling etc. and also some quantitative indicators in the form of frequency of repeated loans and income generated there from that may offer proxy measures of scaled up and sustainable entrepreneurship. Data exploration posits that transformative entrepreneurship, which indicates sustainability of the venture to usher in prosperity, is rare among MF users. Small loan sizes, quick repayment cycles and repeated loans of MF institutions constrict the borrowers to opt for low-risk ventures, with women borrowers facing additional barriers as their gendered role force them to be less risky and follow traditionally accepted business modes, rather than making big headway. Using propensity score matching technique, the paper finds that easy access to credit through MF initiatives could not inculcate the psychological potential to bear risk and bricolage among the borrowers. Self-employment in micro enterprises, without much innovation and risk taking, has been the characteristics of overall income generating process of the model.
In Search of Business Models in Social Entrepreneurship
Business With a Conscience
International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011
Small businesses relative to the medium and large businesses tend to demonstrate culture (country... more Small businesses relative to the medium and large businesses tend to demonstrate culture (country) specific business practices. However, in spite of the recognized diversity of business practices, strong homogeneous tendencies and norms have been developing specially among the small businesses that operate in the global market place. These tendencies and norms offer unique opportunity for a comparative perspective. This paper is an attempt in this regard toward identifying the issues of constraints and challenges of the small business from a comparative perspective. A part of multi-country study, authors collected data in 2006 from 133 small businesses of India, and 112 small enterprises in Bangladesh. The findings provide a varying degree of supports for two illustrative hypotheses concerning issues, constraints and contingencies of small businesses in these two countries. The authors believe that the paper is likely to enhance empirical understanding of the small business from a c...
International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011
This paper addresses the issue of comparability of the small business across geographical boundar... more This paper addresses the issue of comparability of the small business across geographical boundaries based on organizational contextual, structural variables and the effectiveness indicators. The authors argue that (1) there are already many features, profiles, managerial challenges and the role the small businesses play in a political economy that are common to many countries; (2) the gradual homogenization (due to successful penetration and integration of web based information and transactional technology) of business cultures in a borderless and seamless global business environment may enable tentative generalizations based on empirical as well as ethnographic studies. The paper first defines small business effectiveness and then outlines several common factors through a review of case and ethnographic studies. Finally, the author takes one of the common factorsthe issue of capacity utilization and proposes a quasi deterministic empirical econometric model and shares the findings...
Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, 2015
SMEs forge relationship with actors in their environment to obtain necessary resources, support a... more SMEs forge relationship with actors in their environment to obtain necessary resources, support and information which they may be unable to generate by themselves. These relationships are born out of linkages through formal and informal networks. Social capital of SMEs evolves out of these networks and generates scarce benefits. Literature provides that information sharing is widely regarded as one of the key returns of social capital which has a significant impact on firm performance (Wu 2008). Various dimensions of social capital in the form of network ties, trust and shared vision in strategic alliances and social alliances of SMEs have unique influences on information sharing among their exchange partners. This study attempts to examine the effects of the dimensions of social capital on information sharing advantages of the SMEs and its influence on firm performance, while drawing a comparison between firms engaged in strategic and social alliances. Analyzing the data from 100 small firms in West Bengal largely support the hypothesis that social capital contributes significantly towards information sharing, the effect of which is consequently translated into firm performance. The influence is found to be more pronounced for firms embedded in strategic alliances as compared to other firms.
Benchmarking: An International Journal, 2010
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review general applications of the ISO14001 certificati... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review general applications of the ISO14001 certification process and show how limitations such as ensuring minimum environmental performance standard, public access to performance information, and peer benchmarking may be overcome by voluntary commitment to attainable standards by association of specific industries. Design/methodology/approach – A replicable environmental performance (weighted) index was developed by the authors. Secondary data obtained from five (public and private) steel mills provided technical data under voluntary compliance standards. Primary data on non-technical items of performance index were collected. The index was tested to demonstrate peer benchmarking process. Findings – ISO 14001 certification cannot serve as an end in itself for industries as peer companies under voluntary compliance may exceed environmental performance. Minimum acceptable environmental standards could be enforced through industry-wide consensus. Public access to performance indicators can be ensured under a voluntary mandate; peer benchmarking may allow for competitive goal setting. The model proposed could be gainfully replicated particularly in developing countries. Research limitations/implications – The weighted index used in the paper could be further expanded to include additional non-technical items such as occupational employee health and R&D expenditure of plants on environmental management system. Practical implications – Peer benchmarking should allow for competitive goal setting for continuous improvement. The weighted index could be replicated for other industries in India. This index with minor adjustment, if needed, could be used in other countries and by industries already certified by ISO 14001 standards for peer benchmarking toward continuous improvement. Originality/value – The weighted index is the original contribution. It is likely to make definitive contribution to the literature of environmental performance measurement. It also makes a contribution to the benchmarking literature in general and to peer benchmarking in particular. The paper not only shows the limitation of ISO 14001 standards but demonstrates how to overcome the limitations toward the competitive goal setting and continuous improvement of performance by the benchmarked industries.
Journal of Entrepreneurship, 2009
The modern business environment is characterised by increased scrutiny of ethical practices. Give... more The modern business environment is characterised by increased scrutiny of ethical practices. Given the ubiquitous role of small businesses and their expanding realm in the globalised era, it is becoming imperative that these enterprises reckon with the ethical dimension of business on a much more stringent basis. The issues of business ethics, which were primarily addressing problems of large corporations,
Community based tourism (CBT) focuses on the protection of socio-cultural values and economic ben... more Community based tourism (CBT) focuses on the protection of socio-cultural values and economic benefits of stakeholder host communities of tourism destinations. It is increasingly being promoted as an avenue of sustainable tourism development. But for achieving economic sustainability in long run for CBT initiatives it is imperative to ensure revenue generation through regular tourist footfall and productive use of available resources. The purpose of the study is to examine the tourists' awareness level about CBT initiatives. The paper also seeks to analyze how far the aware tourist is able to contribute to economic sustainability of CBT destinations. It also aims to identify popular tourist information dissemination sources so that a policy prescription can be suggested for effective marketing and promotion strategy of CBT. The study used questionnaire based survey method and collected primary data of 100 domestic tourists focusing on the CBT destinations of Northern part of wes...
Retention of talented workers is not primarily driven by fair and equitable compensation at par w... more Retention of talented workers is not primarily driven by fair and equitable compensation at par with the industry trend. The purpose of the study is to investigate and analyze the causal factors influencing attrition and how engineering firms can retain their operational employees. This research has studied the retention pattern of managerial personnel engaged in operational activities in an engineering firm in India named DCIPS. The methodology used to unearth the causal factors determining the attrition propensity was a study of exit documents of engineering managers leaving the organization over a 10-year period (1999- 2008). The results revealed that attrition is due to the lack of growth and a career advancement opportunity. Length of association with the firm has been related to attrition pattern. Such a case study of an engineering firm may be extended for other engineering firms, which goes to establish the need for career growth and planning in ensuring employee satisfactio...
ABSTRACT The empirical literature on business ethics has been developing recently. However, the s... more ABSTRACT The empirical literature on business ethics has been developing recently. However, the scholarly interest has so far been limited to ethical infractions of large corporations. Authors argue that findings based on the practices of large corporations ...
This paper studies four cases of social entrepreneurship that have been widely recognized as succ... more This paper studies four cases of social entrepreneurship that have been widely recognized as successful, particularly because its scope has been in the field which is traditionally considered to be the exclusive responsibility of the state sector, education and health for underserved and marginalized groups which makes them potentially excluded. The attempt is to identify characteristics associated with successful social entrepreneurship, and generate propositions about core innovations, leadership and organization, and pathways of scaling up in social
Global Business Review, 2020
The rationale behind this study is to test the apathy of the rural youth to engage in agriculture... more The rationale behind this study is to test the apathy of the rural youth to engage in agriculture as their profession. This research was conducted across five universities in eastern India on a sample of 345 postgraduate students to analyse their agri-entrepreneurship intent and the determinants of agri-entrepreneurship. The findings of the study show a significant positive correlation among the variables of agri-entrepreneurship intent and career planning and agri-entrepreneurship intent and entrepreneurial capabilities. Regression analysis reveals that career planning, entrepreneurship capabilities and family background (FB) in agriculture have a significant contribution as predictors of agri-entrepreneurship intent. Categorizing the respondents based on their career planning and entrepreneurship capability tendencies, the findings indicate that career planning and FB explain the growth of agri-entrepreneurship intent. This article will be of great value to educationists to carry ...
Journal of Rural Studies
Across the world, microfinance (MF) has been recognized as an effective instrument for simultaneo... more Across the world, microfinance (MF) has been recognized as an effective instrument for simultaneous reduction of poverty and long-term growth through creation of entrepreneurship. Available research does suggest that MF experiment in most cases was successful to reduce poverty, especially among poor women. However, evidencebased research on impact of MF initiatives on nature of entrepreneurial activities and on the psychological capital or potential of the entrepreneurs remains under-studied. This paper attempts to bridge the gap and seeks to diagnose the entrepreneurial behaviour of MF users in comparison to a comparative set of non-users in the same socioeconomic climate in an emerging economy and the haven of MF, Bangladesh. The outcome variables considered are not just participation in income generating process, but specific qualitative attributes of entrepreneurship, including ability to innovative, bricolage, risk taking, marshalling etc. and also some quantitative indicators in the form of frequency of repeated loans and income generated there from that may offer proxy measures of scaled up and sustainable entrepreneurship. Data exploration posits that transformative entrepreneurship, which indicates sustainability of the venture to usher in prosperity, is rare among MF users. Small loan sizes, quick repayment cycles and repeated loans of MF institutions constrict the borrowers to opt for low-risk ventures, with women borrowers facing additional barriers as their gendered role force them to be less risky and follow traditionally accepted business modes, rather than making big headway. Using propensity score matching technique, the paper finds that easy access to credit through MF initiatives could not inculcate the psychological potential to bear risk and bricolage among the borrowers. Self-employment in micro enterprises, without much innovation and risk taking, has been the characteristics of overall income generating process of the model.
In Search of Business Models in Social Entrepreneurship
Business With a Conscience
International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011
Small businesses relative to the medium and large businesses tend to demonstrate culture (country... more Small businesses relative to the medium and large businesses tend to demonstrate culture (country) specific business practices. However, in spite of the recognized diversity of business practices, strong homogeneous tendencies and norms have been developing specially among the small businesses that operate in the global market place. These tendencies and norms offer unique opportunity for a comparative perspective. This paper is an attempt in this regard toward identifying the issues of constraints and challenges of the small business from a comparative perspective. A part of multi-country study, authors collected data in 2006 from 133 small businesses of India, and 112 small enterprises in Bangladesh. The findings provide a varying degree of supports for two illustrative hypotheses concerning issues, constraints and contingencies of small businesses in these two countries. The authors believe that the paper is likely to enhance empirical understanding of the small business from a c...
International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 2011
This paper addresses the issue of comparability of the small business across geographical boundar... more This paper addresses the issue of comparability of the small business across geographical boundaries based on organizational contextual, structural variables and the effectiveness indicators. The authors argue that (1) there are already many features, profiles, managerial challenges and the role the small businesses play in a political economy that are common to many countries; (2) the gradual homogenization (due to successful penetration and integration of web based information and transactional technology) of business cultures in a borderless and seamless global business environment may enable tentative generalizations based on empirical as well as ethnographic studies. The paper first defines small business effectiveness and then outlines several common factors through a review of case and ethnographic studies. Finally, the author takes one of the common factorsthe issue of capacity utilization and proposes a quasi deterministic empirical econometric model and shares the findings...
Eurasian Studies in Business and Economics, 2015
SMEs forge relationship with actors in their environment to obtain necessary resources, support a... more SMEs forge relationship with actors in their environment to obtain necessary resources, support and information which they may be unable to generate by themselves. These relationships are born out of linkages through formal and informal networks. Social capital of SMEs evolves out of these networks and generates scarce benefits. Literature provides that information sharing is widely regarded as one of the key returns of social capital which has a significant impact on firm performance (Wu 2008). Various dimensions of social capital in the form of network ties, trust and shared vision in strategic alliances and social alliances of SMEs have unique influences on information sharing among their exchange partners. This study attempts to examine the effects of the dimensions of social capital on information sharing advantages of the SMEs and its influence on firm performance, while drawing a comparison between firms engaged in strategic and social alliances. Analyzing the data from 100 small firms in West Bengal largely support the hypothesis that social capital contributes significantly towards information sharing, the effect of which is consequently translated into firm performance. The influence is found to be more pronounced for firms embedded in strategic alliances as compared to other firms.
Benchmarking: An International Journal, 2010
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review general applications of the ISO14001 certificati... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review general applications of the ISO14001 certification process and show how limitations such as ensuring minimum environmental performance standard, public access to performance information, and peer benchmarking may be overcome by voluntary commitment to attainable standards by association of specific industries. Design/methodology/approach – A replicable environmental performance (weighted) index was developed by the authors. Secondary data obtained from five (public and private) steel mills provided technical data under voluntary compliance standards. Primary data on non-technical items of performance index were collected. The index was tested to demonstrate peer benchmarking process. Findings – ISO 14001 certification cannot serve as an end in itself for industries as peer companies under voluntary compliance may exceed environmental performance. Minimum acceptable environmental standards could be enforced through industry-wide consensus. Public access to performance indicators can be ensured under a voluntary mandate; peer benchmarking may allow for competitive goal setting. The model proposed could be gainfully replicated particularly in developing countries. Research limitations/implications – The weighted index used in the paper could be further expanded to include additional non-technical items such as occupational employee health and R&D expenditure of plants on environmental management system. Practical implications – Peer benchmarking should allow for competitive goal setting for continuous improvement. The weighted index could be replicated for other industries in India. This index with minor adjustment, if needed, could be used in other countries and by industries already certified by ISO 14001 standards for peer benchmarking toward continuous improvement. Originality/value – The weighted index is the original contribution. It is likely to make definitive contribution to the literature of environmental performance measurement. It also makes a contribution to the benchmarking literature in general and to peer benchmarking in particular. The paper not only shows the limitation of ISO 14001 standards but demonstrates how to overcome the limitations toward the competitive goal setting and continuous improvement of performance by the benchmarked industries.
Journal of Entrepreneurship, 2009
The modern business environment is characterised by increased scrutiny of ethical practices. Give... more The modern business environment is characterised by increased scrutiny of ethical practices. Given the ubiquitous role of small businesses and their expanding realm in the globalised era, it is becoming imperative that these enterprises reckon with the ethical dimension of business on a much more stringent basis. The issues of business ethics, which were primarily addressing problems of large corporations,