eChapters

1. Introduction

Technology innovation is characterised by the development and utilisation of novel or enhanced technologies, instruments, frameworks, and procedures that result in noteworthy progressions or discoveries across diverse domains. It entails utilising resources, knowledge, and experience to create creative solutions that address issues, boost productivity, advance the cause, and add value.

In numerous crucial areas, the significance of technological innovation is evident:

Renewable Energy

Renewable energy, often referred to as clean energy, comes from natural sources or processes that are constantly replenished.

Renewable energy is energy derived from natural resources that replenish themselves over a period without depleting the Earth's resources.

The term "renewable energy" is energy derived from a broad spectrum of resources, all of which are based on self-renewing energy sources such as sunlight, wind, flowing water, the earth's internal heat, and biomass such as agricultural, industrial, and municipal waste.

Introduction

India possesses abundant human resources due to its demographic dividend. With a population of approximately 1.39 billion, rural areas are home to about 68.84% of the total population, constituting more than two-thirds (Census 2011, GoI). According to the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) in 2019, about 58.3% of rural households rely on agricultural activities as their primary source of income. Despite the significant reliance on agriculture for livelihoods, the agricultural situation in India is challenging.

1. Introduction

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy and a significant sector. For all nations, agriculture digitization is a growing area of concern. The need for food rises in tandem with the world's population growth, which is happening quite quickly. The agriculture sector is finding it very challenging to develop methods and strategies that will enable them to completely meet the growing wants and specifications due to the expanding need for food and shifting consumer preferences. Misuse of agricultural components can have detrimental effects on the environment and cause pollution. Farmers mostly rely on irrigation canal networks, groundwater, and rainfall in the field of irrigation. 

Introduction

Market access and supply chain innovation are two critical pillars that underpin the success and sustainability of agricultural produce in today's interconnected world. As the global population continues to grow, along with increasing consumer demands and evolving market dynamics, ensuring efficient access to markets and implementing innovative supply chain practices have become burning imperatives for agricultural producers worldwide.

Introduction

Amidst the vast fields and verdant landscapes lies the heartbeat of nations -the farmers. Yet, despite their indispensable role in feeding the world, farmers often find themselves on the front lines of adversity, grappling with challenges ranging from volatile markets to climate uncertainties. Recognizing the pivotal importance of agriculture in fostering sustainable development, a plethora of initiatives and strategies have emerged to empower and support farmers worldwide.

Introduction

Any notable long-term alteration to the anticipated patterns of the average weather in an area (or the entire Earth) over an extended period of time is referred to as climate change. It concerns anomalous fluctuations in the climate and how these fluctuations affect other regions of the planet. Tens, hundreds, or even millions of years may pass before these changes occur. However, as a result of increased anthropogenic activity including industrialization, urbanization, deforestation, agriculture, and altered land use patterns, greenhouse gas emissions grow and accelerate the rate of climate change. Increases in temperature, variations in precipitation, and an increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentrations are all part of climate change scenarios.

Introduction

In the evolving landscape of agriculture, where feeding a rapidly growing global population is a pressing concern, the role of data analytics has emerged as a beacon of hope, igniting revolutionary transformations in optimizing crop yields and resource utilization. Data analytics, the science of examining raw data to uncover insights and make informed decisions, has transcended conventional farming practices, propelling the industry towards a new era of efficiency, sustainability, and productivity.

Introduction

The influence of government policies on agricultural practices is a topic of paramount importance in the realm of global food security, environmental sustainability and economic development. Governments around the world play a pivotal role in shaping the trajectory of agricultural systems through a myriad of interventions, regulations, and support mechanisms. The intricate interplay between governmental policies and agricultural practices underscores the complex dynamics that govern food production, land use, and rural livelihoods. Agriculture stands as a cornerstone of human civilization, providing sustenance, employment, and economic prosperity to billions of people worldwide.

Introduction

In the vast tapestry of challenges confronting humanity, few are as fundamental as ensuring a secure and sustainable food supply for a burgeoning global population. As the world's inhabitants surpass 9 billion by 2050, the pressure intensifies on agriculture to deliver higher yields, reduce environmental impact and adapt to the uncertainties of climate change. In this pivotal moment, the convergence of technology and agriculture emerges as a beacon of hope, offering unprecedented opportunities to revolutionize farm management and secure our agricultural future. The role of technology in precise farm management has transcended mere convenience to become an indispensable cornerstone of modern agriculture.

A responsibly behaving organization creates a positive impact on society and its operating environment. Globally, there is a rising demand and expectation of people from organizations to act in manners that result into shared value and prosperity. This calls for bringing a major change in the current approach of organizations and their human resources.

Three frameworks could be popularly referred to when we intend to discuss responsible behaviour of an organization. These approaches have been highlighted considering practical significance and ability to fundamentally change the ground rules of organizational day to day working. This includes.

Sambit Sharma, Chairman, CTN Limited (CTNL) received a letter from the Chairperson of 3^rd Pay Revision Committee (PRC) for Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) of India. The letter inter alia sought feedback on existing Performance Management System (PMS) at CTNL and suggestion for its continuity or modification, if any. In past also, CTNL's suggestions on various human resources (HR) matters had been valued by the Committee and many of those suggestions were retained in their final recommendations to the Government of India. Mr. Sharma, off late, had heard many stories, both positive as well as negative, about the PMS within CTNL and was therefore contemplating to thoroughly review the system. He marked the letter to Ratish Agarwal, Director (HR), CTNL to take necessary action.

Background

GMPK is a large professional services partnership firm comprising over 155,000 professionals with presence in more than 156 countries, providing Audit, Tax & Advisory services to some leading companies and governments around the world. In India, the company has two entities with a total of approximately 20000 employees and partners.

For the last four years, GMPK has ranked as an 'Ideal Employer' on a global index of the world's most attractive employers. The index is based on the opinions of close to 130,000 students from renowned academic institutions across many economies, including the United States, China, Germany, France, the United Kingdom and India. GMPK provides its employees with award-winning diversity initiatives and a formal mentoring program.

Context

Value Services Incis (VSI) incorporated and headquartered in New York, USA and with presence in 14 countries across the globe. With a total of 14000 employees globally, about 23% of their workforce is based in India in their offices across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore. Their India headquarters is in Mumbai.

The company's business is primarily in research services. They pride themselves in providing high quality and in-depth research output across all domains, industries and geographies. They serve 40% of the fortune 500 companies as their clients and by 2020, they aim to cover 70% of the list

Introduction

Mr. Ramesh Gupta was transferred from a well established business division to an emerging division of one of the largest companies of India, TN Limited (TNL) (refer Exhibit-1). Mr. Gupta had more than 30 years of work experience in TNL when he joined this new division. The division was primarily into acquisition and management of oil and gas assets in India and abroad. Recently the company had acquired a very large asset in North America. To manage this asset, a Houston, USA based subsidiary of TNL named as BM Limited (BML) was created (refer Exhibit-2). Considering scale of business and complexity involved, the company decided to post some of its brightest officers there. Through competitive and transparent process of selection, three officers viz.

"Unseasonal thundershowers," remarked Mr. Ritesh Prasad, as he peered out of the windows at the overcast sky and the storm raging outside - the landscape outside was no different than the one raging inside AXYZ ltd, a family-owned, logistics firm. Mr. Ritesh Prasad, or RP as he was popularly known, had been the CHRO at AXYZ for a decade now. He was a personal favourite of Mr. Pulkit Sahni, the founder-owner of AXYZ, and was quite popular with all levels of hierarchy, because of his genial disposition and general sense of empathy towards the firm's workforce.

Introduction

BOGL had set up its wholly owned subsidiary company Bikas Oil Inc. (BOI), Moscow, Russia. Mr. Atanu Saxena and Mr. Samish Batra were recently selected for being deputed to BOI. Being a foreign location, this posting was considered as monetarily rewarding and good for career growth of employees. Subsidiaries of other oil and gas companies were also present in Moscow as this location was considered as the oil and gas business hub of Russia.

Background

Alpha Partners is a large professional services partnership firm comprising over 180,000 professionals with presence in more than 156 countries around the world. It primarily deals in three main businesses - Statutory Audit of listed companies, Taxation Services (both corporate and individuals& Advisory services to leading private companies and governments around the world.

In India, the company has a total of approximately 20000 employees and partners divided between two broad entities - Alpha Partners India (AI) and Alpha Partners Global Services (AGS). AI is the primary client service firm in India and is engaged in professional services to clients in the Indian geography. AGS, on the other hand is a joint venture between Alpha Partners firms in U.S, U.K. and India - all three holding equal shares of AGS

Expectation from Work and Career

Millennials do not distinguish work from life; for them, both work and life blend into a single entity, and therefore, they do not seek a balance between them unlike previous generations (Meister and Willyerd, 2010). This is precisely why they seek work that has a strong focus on personal fulfilment. Their perception of work is that it is a source of opportunities to strike friendships, learn new skills, and associate with a larger purpose. They derive job satisfaction from this singular sense of purpose - they are also the most socially conscious generation since the 1960s. This social consciousness lends them a sense of validation of their purpose - they wish to see their work making the necessary social impact.

Introduction

After working for more than 10 years in set of private companies, Mr. A K Aggarwal joined a very large government organisation, ITN Ltd (ITNL) (refer to Exhibit 1). He, along with other two freshly recruited MBA graduates, was posted to a project location in the remote district of India after a brief stint at ITNL's corporate office. The top management posted them with a lot of expectation to implement one of the most critical projects of the company. In the first few weeks only, he observed a tussle between the field team and project manager Mr. Amaresh Sharma. This tussle was impeding the project progress. Being new in the organisation, Mr Aggarwal was hesitant to approach any body and was clueless about how to handle the situation. This was also a new situation for Mr. Sharma in his 20 years of ITNL career and he was facing difficulty in breaking this logjam.

What is Case Analysis?

Case analysis is basically a real life problem-based learning method. It requires the readers to become active participant in the process and apply their analytical skills including critical skills, reflections, ability to inter-relate multiple aspects of the situations and issues, apply divergent and convergent perspectives in order to identify most feasible solution under constraints and limitations.

How to go about Analysing Case?

Every case and anecdotes have certain core and peripheral issues. Identifying critical incidence is very important to clearly understand the context and problem. Therefore, the participants need to be very active and involved when reading and analysing the cases and anecdotes. The goal is to follow a structured and logically organized format for analyzing every aspect of the case.

In simple words, Organisational Behaviour is the study of Individuals and Group behaviour within an organisation and indicates how these interactions affect an organization's performance toward its goals. It also examines the impact of various factors on behaviour within an organization and help in understanding and predicting organisational life.

Organizational Behaviour is a 'Specialised Stream' drawing inputs from multiple academic domains such as psychology, sociology, political science, anthropology, science, economics, and technology to name a few.

Types of Biomedical Waste

1. Infectious waste: waste contaminated with blood and other bodily fluids (e.g. from discarded diagnostic samples), cultures and stocks of infectious agents from laboratory work (e.g. waste from autopsies and infected animals from laboratories), or waste from patients with infections (e.g. swabs, bandages and disposable medical devices)

2. Pathological waste: human tissues, organs or fluids, body parts and contaminated animal dead bodies

What is A Smart Energy Home?

Smart homes use internet - connected devices to enable remote monitoring and management of appliances and systems, such as temperature, lighting, and security cameras. Smart energy homes take a step beyond the gadget-filled smart home to focus on bringing smart functionality to major household energy-using systems like HVAC, water heating, and plug loads (including appliances and electronics).

Climate change impacts

• Climate change is a crucial factor behind cyclone Tauktae

• Global ocean has absorbed 90% of the excess heat generated by greenhouse gas emissions since 1970

• Led to anomalous ocean warming in Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal, which in turn makes cyclones intensify rapidly

• India will see more frequent cyclones every year due to global warming

Nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities by the year 2050, and cities currently pump out 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. Buildings alone contribute nearly 40% of emissions. This is also true for Indian cities, which are responsible for 40% of the energy use, 30% of raw material use, and 20% of land use. The residential and commercial buildings account for 31 % of the electricity consumption and are rising at 10-12 % annually. As per estimates, approximately 75% of the building stock that India will see in the year 2047 is yet to be built. For all these issues, renewable energy is the major solution.

Introduction

Developing means of farming and agriculture is the reason humans can live in the world today. It is a necessary means of survival, without which there would be famines all over the world. For thousands of years, agriculture was a natural process that did not harm the land it was done on. In fact, farmers were able to pass down their land for many generations, and it would still be fertile as ever.

However, modern agricultural practices have started the process of agricultural pollution. This process causes the degradation of the ecosystem, land, and environment due to the modern-day by-products of agriculture.

Introduction

India has vast livestock resources. Livestock sector includes animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries sector. Livestock provides livelihood to two-third of rural community and employment to about 8.8 % of the population in India. Livestock sector contributes 4.11% GDP and 25.6% of total Agriculture GDP. It provides milk and milk products, meat and meat products, and also constitutes a major supplier of food and food articles, raw materials, and finished products.

Commercial Building

Commercial buildings consist of government buildings, banks, hospitals, schools, malls, retail, restaurants, and office spaces. Among these, office and retail occupy the major percentage of energy consumption. 

More than 40% of the total final energy consumption and about 30% of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are in connection with the civil and residential sector.

Maximum energy consumption in commercial buildings by HVAC system (51% followed by appliances and food service equipment (20%), lighting(12%), electronics and information technology(9%) and water (8%).

Introduction: Indoor Air Pollution

People think that while they are indoors, they are breathing clean air. After all, pollution is found outside, and indoor air is filtered through the HVAC system.

Indoor air can have significantly higher concentrations of pollution than air found outside. Plenty of evidences exists. Global Burden of Disease Risk lists indoor air pollution as the ninth biggest health risk.

Sustainability

Sustainability is a complicated concept. The most often cited definition comes from the U.N. World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED): “Sustainable development is the development that fulfills the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their requirements.” Hence, sustainability has been defined as meeting our own needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Introduction

Eco-friendly interior design is an important consideration for anyone who wants to create a healthy, sustainable, and beautiful space.

Environmental impact: The materials used in interior design can have a significant impact on the environment. Eco-friendly materials are made from renewable resources, reduce waste, and often have a lower carbon footprint than traditional materials.

Introduction

India’s textile sector is one of the oldest industries in the Indian economy, dating back several centuries. The industry is highly varied, with hand-spun and hand woven textiles sectors at one end of the spectrum and the capital-intensive sophisticated mill sector at the other. The fundamental strength of the textile industry in India is its strong production base of a wide range of fiber/yarns, from natural fibers like cotton, jute, silk, and wool, to synthetic/man-made fibers like polyester, viscose, nylon, and acrylic.

Introduction

Energy conservation is the practice of using less energy to lower costs and reduce environmental impact.

A majority percentage of energy used in buildings is still from non - renewable and fossil fuel resources. Lighting and Appliances are affecting energy demand in domestic sector.

Reasons for increased energy demand

• Increase in electrical appliance ownership

• Increasing income level and reliable access

• Rise of Lighting and appliance loads

Introduction

We have now started to feel the impacts of climate change, as a threat to our health, directly as heat stress on our bodies, and indirectly as it damages crops, and causes storms, floods and wildfires (IPCC, 2022). People working in fields or factories, or in the open, suffer the most. Buildings are our first defense as we learn to adapt to these changes. Resilient buildings that provide passive cooling can protect us better from heat waves, buildings designed to withstand storms and f loods can provide better shelter, and net-zero buildings that produce and store their own energy can enable critical operations when the electric grid is down.

Project management in recent years has proliferated, reaching new heights of sophistication. It has emerged as a distinct area of management practices to meet the challenges of new economic environment, globalization process, rapid technological advancement, and quality concerns of the stakeholders. Project in general refers to a new endeavour with specific objective and varies so widely that it is very difficult to precisely define it or Project is a unique process, consist of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective confirming to specific requirements, including the constraints of time cost and resource.

Writing funded project proposals involves crafting detailed documents tailored to specific purposes, such as consulting project proposals or sponsored research projects. For instance, a consulting project proposal emphasizes understanding a client's needs, offering solutions, and outlining services to address those needs effectively. On the other hand, sponsored research proposals focus on academic or scientific exploration, detailing methodologies, expected outcomes, and potential impacts within a scholarly context.

Bibliometric Analysis

1. What is?

Bibliometric analysis is a quantitative research method used to examine and analyze the bibliographic data present in scientific publications.

2. It involves?

The systematic evaluation of publication patterns, citation relationships, and other bibliographic characteristics to gain insights into the scholarly landscape.

3. How?

By applying various metrics and indicators, bibliometric analysis helps researchers and institutions assess research impact, identify emerging trends, map collaborations, and make informed decisions.

Project Planning Matrix

• Generally, a project represents a single, focused effort. Programs are collections of projects together that constitute a complete package of work. The program's overall objectives are achieved through the complementarily of the various projects.
• The PPM is a matrix of four columns and four rows providing sixteen squares for a comprehensive description of a project.
• PPM shows both the project's logical structure (the links between the inputs/activities and the objectives to be achieved under certain Assumptions), and its major quantitative data.

In the vast landscape of research methodologies, case study research stands as a compelling and multifaceted approach, allowing researchers to delve into the intricacies of a phenomenon, event, or context. The richness and depth offered by case studies make them invaluable tools for exploring complexities that may elude traditional research methods.

Introduction

A case study involves a thorough examination of an individual, group, or event, delving into nearly every facet of their life and history to identify patterns and causes of behaviour. This investigative approach finds application across diverse fields such as psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work. The primary objective of a case study is to acquire comprehensive knowledge about a specific individual or group, enabling the generalization of information to a broader audience. However, it is worth noting that case studies often exhibit a high degree of subjectivity, making it challenging at times to extrapolate results to a larger population.

What is AHP

Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) is a decision-making methodology that helps individuals and groups systematically analyze and prioritize complex decisions.

Developed by Thomas L. Saaty (1987), AHP breaks down a decision problem into a hierarchical structure and uses pairwise comparisons to assess the relative importance of different criteria and alternatives.

Introduction

Impact assessment (IA) is defined as "a set of logical steps to be followed in the preparation of policy proposals. It is an essential tool to ensure that policies are crafted based on transparent, inclusive, and balanced procedures, define the various quality standards, and provide basic instructions to the impact assessment process" (European Commission).

Kaushik Kumar

Design Thinking

Design thinking has emerged as one of the skill set in the recent competitive environment.Basic science has been mainly involved in development of various models that fulfills the requirements of engineering domain.

However, the engineering graduates being produced did not possess the required industrial skills and hence were perceived by academia and industrialists as ineligible to be employed in various industries.

Background

Farming system is a complex inter-related matrix of soils, plants, animals, implements, labour and capital, inter-dependent farming enterprises. The farm is viewed in a holistic manner (multi-disciplinary approach). Farming system approach requires commonly homogenous type of farmers. It is an inter-disciplinary, participatory and bottom-up planning approach. It is an approach for developing farm household systems. It is built on the principles of productivity, profitability, stability and sustainability which complement component oriented approach to development.

Introduction

The term 'research ethics' in social science research refers to human values, norms, and society approved arrangements that regulate scientific understanding go for society. It consists of the set of values, standards, and principles that serve as benchmark to determine appropriate and acceptable conduct tall stage soft he research process. It is the implementation of ethical practices that specifies norms and values as well as responsibility towards the academic community and society as a whole. 

Importance of Statistical Data

In the modern era economic and social life of the people and the functional system of industry and business, educational and medical facilities and other activities of the community have undergone substantial changes due to spectacular developments in the field of science and technology. Now the emphasis is on specialization in mass production and utilization of goods and services of a given type with a view to get the maximum possible benefit per unit of cost.

1. Introduction

Social research refers to study of social trends, dynamics and principles existing between individuals and within societies. Professionals perform social research in order to better understand the social factors that motivate and influence human beings and to analyze how and why humans interact with each other, and thus create new knowledge and theories or tests and verify existing theories. The purposes of social research are manifold and can be classified as exploratory, descriptive, explanatory, community change / action and evaluative.

Introduction

"Research is the systematic approach to obtaining and confirming new and reliable knowledge." It is a systematic and orderly (following a series of steps). Purpose is new knowledge, which must be reliable. Thus research is:

1. Searching for explanation of events, phenomena, relationships and causes

• What, how and why things occur
• Are there interactions?

2. A process

• Planned and managed - to make the information generated credible
• The process is creative
• It is circular - always leads to more questions

Any organization which is in the process of scaling heights should find job motivation for its personnel. The job motivation of personnel in any organization should support the personnel and improve productivity and services. The chapter gives accounts of the significant findings of the study, followed by tenability of hypotheses and further areas of research in the related areas, suggestions and conclusion. The present study has been undertaken to find out the job motivation of LIS professionals working in Kerala's major eight state universities. The data of the study were collected from 266 (two hundred and sixty-six) Library and Information Science professionals. The study's objectives are examined with reference to the analysis of data gathered through questionnaires and realized.