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A detailed description will be provided of all the classification algorithms that have been widely used in the domain of medical science. The foundation will be laid by giving a comprehensive overview pertaining to the background and history of the classification algorithms. This will be followed by an extensive discussion regarding various techniques of classification algorithm in machine learning (ML) hence concluding with their relevant applications in data analysis in medical science and health care. To begin with, the initials of this chapter will deal with the basic fundamentals required for a profound understanding of the classification techniques in ML which will comprise of the underlying differences between Unsupervised and Supervised Learning followed by the basic terminologies of classification and its history. Further, it will include the types of classification algorithms ranging from linear classifiers like Logistic Regression, Naïve Bayes to Nearest Neighbour, Support Vector Machine, Tree-based Classifiers, and Neural Networks, and their respective mathematics. Ensemble algorithms such as Majority Voting, Boosting, Bagging, Stacking will also be discussed at great length along with their relevant applications. Furthermore, this chapter will also incorporate comprehensive elucidation regarding the areas of application of such classification algorithms in the field of biomedicine and health care and their contribution to decision-making systems and predictive analysis. To conclude, this chapter will devote highly in the field of research and development as it will provide a thorough insight to the classification algorithms and their relevant applications used in the cases of the healthcare development sector.

This case study is best suited for courses in career management, stress management, work–life management or science of well-being in organization behavior (OB) or human resources management (HRM). This case study is targeted at the MBA or executive development programs. The learning outcomes of this case study are as follows: to analyze the challenges in balancing Suraj Kumar’s (the protagonist) work–life balance situation and identifying the main causes of such a conflict. What are some strategies that could be used to address these issues? To develop a plan to balance work responsibilities with family and personal life. What specific actions could he take to achieve this balance? To design a training program for employees that addresses work–life balance issues. What topics would you cover in the training, and what methods would you use to deliver the content? To create a proposal for a flexible work arrangement program that an organization could offer to its employees. What would be the benefits of this program, and how would it be implemented and managed? To develop a business case for why an organization should prioritize work–life balance for its employees. What are the potential benefits of doing so, and how can the organization measure the impact of its efforts?

This case study discusses conflicts due to competitive priorities that people face in balancing the pressures, roles and responsibilities between their professional life (careers) and their personal life, and the trade-offs that they make across these multiple aspects of their lives. This case study revolves around Suraj Kumar, a successful consultant, who was offered a promotion as the executive director for the social sector. This promotion would require extensive travel and time away from his family. Kumar was struggling to balance his work responsibilities with his family life and his involvement with the Smile and Shine Foundation, which supports the education of children from economically weaker sections of society. He was reflecting on his past and present and trying to figure out how to prioritize his commitments while also achieving his personal and professional goals.

This research has shown that a case discussion and role-play can be effective for a less experienced audience. Instructors can provide multiple perspectives to stimulate reflection and debate. For executive MBA or executive development programs, a self-reflection exercise is recommended. Participants in these programs may have personal experience dealing with or may know others who have dealt with work–life balance issues, making self-reflection a valuable tool.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 6: Human resource management.

An amalgamation of Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Analytical Network Process (ANP) has been performed to develop a decision-making framework for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. A primary survey was conducted to collect real-time data from the heterogeneous stakeholders of microfinance institutions across India. The validation of the proposed framework is performed by comparing the results against the conventional method of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP).

This study identifies various dimensions and indicators for measuring the performance of Indian microfinance institutions. Additionally, the ranking and prioritisation of the performance dimensions and indicators is obtained by considering the mutual interrelation between them.

The study indicates that there exists a significant dyadic relationship between financial performance and social performance for improving the overall performance of the microfinance institutions. Governance is found to unidirectionally influence both financial and social performance. Among all the considered dimensions, financial performance of a microfinance institution is the most critical dimension for improving the overall performance. The top five performance indicators of the Indian microfinance institutions are funding source, borrowing and overhead cost, size of the firm, end-use of the money and depth of outreach.

The study was conducted in the context of Indian microfinance institutions; hence the scope of generalisation of the results is limited. This research considers both subjective and objective aspect of the performance dimensions and indicators from the perspective of multiple stakeholders (i.e. firm, society and regulator). The integrated framework is expected to aid in improving overall performance of microfinance institutions by focusing on the most critical (high prioritised) performance indicators.

An integrated DEMATEL-ANP framework is used in the domain of microfinance to assess the performance dimensions. This study is unique in terms of analysing performance of microfinance institutions from the perspective of heterogeneous stakeholders.

Online customer communities have become a strategic tool for business-to-business (B2B) firms to drive collaboration among customers around the company’s products and services. This paper aims to argue that the three social capital dimensions, that is, structural, relational and cognitive, themselves driven by brand community trust, can affect brand loyalty for the organization.

The authors use a survey to collect data and structural equation modeling to test the conceptual framework by collecting data from 214 participants across three online B2B communities operated by three technology firms in India.

Brand community trust is found to have a strong association with social network ties, identification and norm of reciprocity and shared vision. These three have concomitant effects on the quality of customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions. Such communication generates functional, emotional and social benefits, which, in turn, curate brand loyalty.

The authors’ findings guide community managers in leveraging such conversations in shaping customer loyalty for the corporate brand.

This work provides an integrated framework to explain the important role of C2C interactions in B2B online brand communities.

The already-strained vaccine supply chain (VSC) of the expanded program for immunization (EPI) require a more robust and structured distribution network for pandemic/outbreak vaccination due to huge volume demand and time constraint. In this paper, a lean-agile-green (LAG) practices approach is proposed to improve the operational, economic and environmental efficiency of the VSC.

A fuzzy decision framework of importance performance analysis (IPA)–analytical hierarchy process (AHP)–technique for order for preference by similarity in ideal solution (TOPSIS) has been presented in this paper to prioritize the LAG practices on the basis of the influence on performance indicators. Sensitivity analysis is carried out to check the robustness of the presented model.

The derived result indicates that sustainable packaging, coordination among supply chain stakeholders and cold chain technology improvement are among the top practices affecting most of the performance parameters of VSC. The sensitivity analysis reveals that the priority of practices is highly dependent on the weightage of performance indicators.

This study's finding will help policymakers reframe strategies for sustainable VSC (SVSC) by including new management practices that can handle regular immunization programs as well as emergency mass vaccination.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that proposes the LAG framework for SVSC. The IPA–Fuzzy AHP (FAHP)–Fuzyy TOPSIS (FTOPSIS) is also a novel combination in decision-making.

Many studies conducted on green consumer behaviour are related to environmental concerns, the motives behind green consumer behaviour and the impact of demographic characteristics on purchase decisions are not studied yet in the Indian context. Hence, this study aims to analyse the green product purchase decision and factors influencing the decision of Indian consumers along with demographic characteristics.

Present study utilise survey-based research method. Primary data were collected from 367 consumers in Hyderabad using a snowball sampling method. A structural equation modelling approach was employed to test the hypothesis.

Findings confirm that supporting environmental protection, drive for environmental responsibility, green product experience, environmental friendliness of companies, social appeal and motives behind green product purchase significantly influence the green product purchase decision. Meanwhile, control variables such as gender, qualification and income also have a significant effect on the green product purchase decision.

Results discussed in this paper will help policymakers to formulate their policies in lieu of variables affecting the purchase decision. Further, the findings of the current study can be utilised by managers to study the buying behaviour of green purchasers. This will help them to remain competitive in the Indian market.

This research presents a novel conceptual framework for the present study influenced by literature. The present study expanded the framework by adding a new independent variable: motives behind green product purchases and a control variable: demographic characteristics of Indian consumers.

Each individual needs to be vaccinated to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in the shortest possible time. However, the vaccine distribution with an already strained supply chain in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) will not be effective enough to vaccinate all the population in stipulated time. The purpose of this paper is to show that there is a need to revolutionize the vaccine supply chain (VSC) by overcoming the challenges of sustainable vaccine distribution.

An integrated lean, agile and green (LAG) framework is proposed to overcome the challenges of the sustainable vaccine supply chain (SVSC). A hybrid best worst method (BWM)–Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS) methodology is designed to analyze the challenges and solutions.

The analysis shows that vaccine wastage is the most critical challenge for SVSC, and the coordination among stakeholders is the most significant solution followed by effective management support.

The result of the analysis can help the health care organizations (HCOs) to manage the VSC. The effective vaccination in stipulated time will help control the further spread of the virus, which will result in the normalcy of business and availability of livelihood for millions of people.

To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first study to explore sustainability in VSC by considering the environmental and social impact of vaccination. The LAG-based framework is also a new approach in VSC to find the solution for existing challenges.

Supplier selection for capital procurement is a major strategic decision for any automobile company. The decision determines the success of the company and must be taken systematically with the utmost transparency. The purpose of this paper is to construct capital procurement decision-making model to optimize supplier selection in the Indian automobile industry.

To achieve the stated objective, a combined approach of fuzzy theory and AHP-DEMATEL is applied. Evaluation parameters are identified through an extensive literature review and criteria validation has been introduced through a Fuzzy Delphi method by using fuzzy linguistic scales to handle the vagueness of information. AHP is employed to find the priority weight of criteria, although an inter-relationship map among criteria is not possible through AHP alone since it considers all criteria as independent. To overcome this, DEMATEL is used to establish cause-effect relationships among criteria.

The results show that the total cost of ownership (TOC) is the first weighted criterion in supplier selection for capital procurement, followed by manufacturing flexibility and maintainability, then conformity with requirement. The cause-effect model shows that supplier profile, TOC, service support and conformity with requirement are in the cause group and are considered to be the most critical factors in selecting the supplier.

The study’s outcome can help the automobile industry to optimize their selection process in selecting their suppliers for capital procurement; the proposed model can provide guidelines and direction in this regard.

The purpose of this study is to determine the factors that enable citizens to adopt e-government services at different maturity levels: information, two-way communication, transaction and political participation.

The study uses a grounded approach by conducting semi-structured interviews.

The study reveals that the factors influencing the adoption of e-government services vary at different levels. It identifies 27 influencing factors. In total, 13 of these factors influence adoption at the information level; 13 at the two-way communication level; 25 at the transactional level; and 16 at the political participation level. Auxiliary facilities, connectedness, corruption avoidance, transparency and fairness, customer support and forced adoption, not commonly discussed as influencing factors for e-government adoption in the extant literature, have been revealed in this study.

This study uses qualitative research and rather than generalization, the focus is explicitly on obtaining an in-depth understanding. Although the sampling used is sufficient for the purpose of this study and allows reasonable conclusions to be drawn; however, it cannot be considered representative of a vast country like India. Academicians and information systems researchers can use these findings for further research.

This study advances the understanding of e-government adoption. The findings have potential implications for public administrators and policymakers in successfully designing, developing and implementing e-government services at different maturity levels.

Existing e-government adoption theories are of limited scope and do not capture and specify the complete essence of citizens’ adoption characteristics at different levels of e-government services. Hence, a theoretical gap exists, which this study aims to fill.