Research Training Seminar (RTS) 2009-10

Date:

10 July 2009

Speaker:

Anupam Saraph, Chief-Information-Officer of Pune city, co-founder of a think-tank and a management consultancy

Abstract:

When life throws at you life-changing problems of research it becomes an adventure. The researcher caught in the adventure is hardly likely to do research for the sake of research. Research ceases to be the end goal it becomes only a means. Whenever research becomes a means, change research is born.

The poet in the researcher seeks to find expression to the designs and utopias of neverlands. It seeks to transform the dance of the domain of research to the tune of the beauty in the eyes of the beholder, the prophecy of the seer in the researcher or the music in the construction of a new universe.

My own journey from being a researcher to becoming a change researcher has been eventful, hardly dull and even life-transformative. I will share the making of a change researcher through a few of the diverse life-changing problems that serendipitously came my way.

Trade, Labour Institutions and flexibility: Theory and evidence from India

Date:

24 July 2009

Speaker:

Kunal Sen, Professor, IDPM, University of Manchester, UK

Abstract:

There has been increasing flexibilisation of labour use both in developed and developing countries. The previous literature has looked at informal and formal sectors as separate spheres of economic activity. One important feature of recent patterns of flexibilisation in India is the use of informal (contract) workers in formal labour markets. This paper develops a model of labour demand where firms need to decide on the number of contract workers versus permanent workers to use. We then test this model using a panel of 59 industries for 15 Indian states over 7 years. We find that pro-worker labour institutions lead to greater use of contract labour relative to permanent labour, while increasing exposure to international trade leads to the reverse. We also find that states with higher rates of human capital formation use less contract workers relative to permanent workers.

Mainstreaming CSR: The case of Monsanto's Smallholder programme

Date:

21 August 2009

Speaker:

Dominic Glover, Post Doctoral Fellow at Technology and Agrarian development Group (TAD), Wageningen University, Netherlands

Abstract:

The seminar is based on the speaker's doctoral thesis which seeks to understand why and how the US-based transnational agri-business company "Monsanto" came to conceive, design, and implement an initiative known as the Smallholder Programme (SHP). As such, the programme include aspects that resembled philanthropic or developmental interventions which appeared, at face value, not to contribute directly to the company’s financial bottom line. The thesis sought to answer questions such as why would a profit-seeking, private-sector enterprise embark on such an initiative, having done so, how did it go about implementing it, what kind of developmental intervention emerged, and what were its implications for smallholder farmers. The presentation will also discuss the idea that transgenic crops are a kind of technology that is good for poor farmers, showing how that idea shaped Monsanto’s technological and commercial strategies and exploring how the idea has become entrenched, despite the fact that small farmers’ experiences with GM crops have been rather mixed and socially and economically differentiated.

Research in Management Accounting: Some observations

Date:

4 September 2009

Speaker:

D. V. Ramana (with Students of Strategic Management Accounting), XIMB

Abstract:

Research in accounting focuses either on financial accounting or management accounting. Research in financial accounting addresses the concerns of specific stakeholder groups associated with financial accounting, such as investors and regulators. Research in management accounting focuses mainly on performance measurement, performance management, managerial remuneration, and prediction of bankruptcy.

Gender disparity research: Answering why and how much questions

Date:

16 October 2009

Speaker:

T. V. Sekher, Associate Professor, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), Mumbai

Abstract:

Gender inequality has a long history going back to the ancient times (Jayapalan, 2000). In the modern times, national governments have sought to achieve gender equality through research-based strategies. In India, the decennial census reports provide some vital demographic data. The 2001 Indian census report provided an indication of gender disparity in India, in terms of the sex ratio. The sex ratio has marginally improved from 927 women per 1000 men (in 1991) to 933 per 1000 (in 2001). The census report listed sex-selective female abortions, female infanticide, and female neglect (i.e., giving girls less food and medical care than boys) as primary reasons behind the imbalance in the sex ratio. The census report also mentioned the use of new technologies for predetermining the gender composition of the household, a process that did not go in favour of the girl child.

This seminar reflected on a research project dealing with gender bias, preference for sons, and female foeticide.

Researching social response to natural disasters

Date:

6 November 2009

Speaker:

Paul R. Greenough, Department of History, The University of Iowa, USA

Abstract:

A natural disaster is the consequence or effect of a hazardous event, occurring when a natural phenomenon (such as a volcanic eruption, earthquake, or landslide) and human activities become enmeshed. Human vulnerability, caused by the lack of appropriate emergency management leads to damages or fatalities. A disaster is a social disruption that can occur at any level: individual, community, or state (Kreps, 1989). In areas where there are no human interests, natural phenomena do not constitute hazards, nor do they result in natural disasters. This understanding is crystallised in the formulation: “disasters occur when natural hazards affect vulnerable people” (Wisner, Blaikie, Cannon, & Davis, 2003, p. 50). Natural Disasters had been affecting the world since the ancient times but the scale of damage has been larger in the recent disasters.

Networks, Social Learning, and Open Innovation in Indian agricultural innovation: A Socio-Technical study of the system of rice intensification

Date:

20 November 2009

Speaker:

Andreas Mitzschke, Research Student, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Maastricht University, The Netherlands

Abstract:

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is a practice for increasing the productivity of irrigated rice cultivation by changing the management of plants, soil, water, and nutrients. SRI practices lead to healthier, more productive soil and plants by supporting greater root growth and by nurturing the abundance and diversity of soil organisms (“The System of Rice Intensification,” 2010). It not only raises the output but is also successful in reducing the inputs required. SRI has become even more important due to the widespread scarcity of water, scarcity of arable land, and the ever growing demand for food grains. SRI has also increased in importance owing to the necessity of making crops “climate proof” and securing them from the hazards of inorganic fertilisers and pesticides.

Analysing Cases on business turnaround strategies

Date:

12 February 2010

Speaker:

Githa S. Heggde, Prin. L. N. Welingkar Institute of Management Development and Research, Bangalore

Abstract:

This seminar was based on Heggde’s study on business underperformance and turnaround strategies (Heggde, 2010; Heggde & Panickar, 2010). The study aimed at understanding the internal and external causes of organisational sickness (i.e., chronic underperformance), and the strategies adopted by public and private sector organisations in India to improve business performance.

Analysis of published case studies indicated several internal and external causes of organisational sickness, for example: (a) internal causes: over-expansion, project cost escalation, slow initial growth, poor marketing, and management weakness, and (b) external causes: rise in input costs, global competition, economic recession, and government regulation. These sources also reported on a variety of turnaround strategies deployed to improve business performance, such as strategies related to marketing, human resource, finance, operations, and other areas of organisational functioning.

Longitudinal Survey: Issues and challenges

Date:

19 February 2009

Speaker:

R. K. Sinha, Former Professor and Head, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai

Abstract:

A survey is a means of “gathering information about the characteristics, actions, or opinions of a large group of people, referred to as a population” (Pinsonneault & Kraemer, 1993, p.2). Surveys are conducted in different contexts, for example, market surveys, opinion surveys, and political polls. Surveys are a common method of data collection in research (Hackett, 1981). There are primarily two forms of survey: (a) cross-sectional survey and (b) longitudinal survey (Rindfleisch, Malter, Ganesan, & Moorman, 2008). Cross-sectional surveys involve observation of the population or a representative subset at a defined time. In contrast, longitudinal surveys involve repeated observations of the same items over a period, often over decades.

The seminar addressed different aspects of the longitudinal survey method, based on the seminar leader’s personal involvement in the National Family Health Surveys (NFHS) in India, which were conducted successively in 1992-1993 (NFHS-1), 1998-1999 (NFHS-2), and 2005-2006 (NFHS-3), with roughly a 5-year gap between successive surveys. These surveys, covering women and small children, were expected to provide essential data to assist in the formulation and implementation of health policies and programmes.