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The goal of this paper is to use the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) paradigm to understand how ineffective marketplace stimuli affect perceptions related to online travel package booking, which in turn cultivate various types of confusion, and how these confusions are channelled into behavioural dispositions of consumers, such as negative electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). It also aims to investigate the moderating effects of gender and technology self-efficacy for the suggested framework.

A sample of 437 participants who had recently booked an online travel package, underwent an analysis using a survey study design. Structural equation modelling with multigroup analysis was used to evaluate the hypotheses and the moderation effect.

The findings suggest that inefficient market stimulus results in various forms of confusion, further contributing to negative eWOM. The results also imply that technology self-efficacy lessens the effect of various confusions on adverse eWOM, and gender is found to have a moderating effect on the relationships between ineffective marketplace stimuli, confusion and negative eWOM.

The research offers tourism and hospitality management advice on how to deal with inefficient marketplace stimulation to lessen confusion, which then reduces unfavourable eWOM. Additionally, the moderate impact of technology self-efficacy and gender established through the current study has important ramifications from a tourism managers' perspective.

This study develops and validates an empirical model, which will be utilised as a framework to fully understand consumer confusion brought on by ineffective marketplace stimulation, which causes adverse eWOM. The study also gives new perspectives on the moderating roles of gender and technology self-efficacy, which have received little attention in earlier studies.

Cluttered website layout and a poor presentation of information on limited web space are present on tourism websites as ineffective marketplace stimuli that give rise to the problem of consumers' confusion. Based on stimulus organism response theory (SOR), this research investigates the three-dimensional confusion framework, its direct and indirect effect on negative eWOM, and consumers' decision postponement, considering negative emotion as a mediator.

On the data gathered from 501 respondents, structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed research hypotheses.

The results reveal the existence of the ineffective marketplace stimulus as an antecedent of consumer confusion. Further outcomes validate the cognitive, affective and response behaviour state by demonstrating the direct influence of different types of confusion on negative emotions, electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and decision postponement. The association between cognitive and response behaviour is also mediated by negative emotion.

The study offers substantial practical insights for managers and company operators to better grasp the significance of the affective dimension in consumer confusion in view of the extended SOR model to encapsulate the role of human consciousness.

This study is among the first extensive studies to examine consumer confusion in the context of the modified SOR model that captures the essence of human consciousness by understanding the role of affective emotions between various confusions, negative eWOM and decision postponement. In addition, the ineffective marketplace stimulus as a confusion antecedent and negative eWOM as a response behaviour were studied for the first time.

Internet emergence has evolved the business of tourism companies, and every tourism company is available online and provides abundant choices, which causes consumers' confusion. The current study aims to investigate the interaction effect of demographic variables on confusion, decision postponement as a negative consequence of confusion and self-efficacy as a moderator in light of the stimulus organism response (SOR) model. Also, an attempt has been made to integrate the smart technology-based solution to deal with consumers' confusion.

Three-way ANOVA, Andrew Hayes process, structural equation modelling and random forest algorithm were used to assess the 507 self-filled questionnaire responses for examining consumers' confusion.

The results reveal that confusion decreases with increased education levels for each gender and age group. Also, for every gender and education level, consumer confusion increases and then decreases. Further, it was observed that self-efficacy effectively moderates the influence of different confusions on decision postponement. An artificial intelligence-enabled predictive model with an accuracy of 71.49% was established, which forecasts the possibility of consumers' decision postponement.

This study offers the comprehension of how the travel site administrators and stakeholders have used artificial intelligence-enabled solution for consumers' confusion and to reduce decision postponement.

To the best of the authors' awareness, this is one of the first studies to unveil the interaction effect of demographic factors on confusion, assess the role of self-efficacy as a moderator and provide artificial intelligence-enabled solutions for consumers' confusion.

The success or failure of any Six Sigma program/project depends on some critical factors. The purpose of this paper is to identify and explore critical success factors (CSFs) of Six Sigma from an extensive literature review of research articles published in the context of Six Sigma and propose a categorized list of vital CSFs.

The methodology used is the systematic analysis of 64 different research publications and case studies from 34 different journals that are relevant in the context of Six Sigma by filtering, using keywords like Six Sigma and CSFs. This analysis leads to the exploration of a number of CSFs followed by their prioritization by using a Pareto analysis quality tool. These CSFs are then sorted into a proposed list of “vital few” and “useful many” CSFs groups in accordance to their frequency of occurrence.

The literature revealed 13 vital CSFs: management involvement and commitment, training, cultural change, communication, customer focus and requirements, organizational infrastructure and resources, project management skills, project prioritization and selection, understanding the Six Sigma methodology, tools and techniques, linking Six Sigma to business strategy, linking Six Sigma to customers, customer focus and requirements, quality data and reporting and linking Six Sigma to suppliers. The consideration of these CSFs will increase the success rates of a Six Sigma program/project in an organization.

The CSFs extracted spotlight only small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and do not consider large industries. This paper is confined to those articles that argued that the Six Sigma is beneficial to SMEs and does not consider the failure experience of the industries.

This paper identifies the CSFs for implementing Six Sigma that are comprehensive and potential to address the quality-related issues of industries. This paper also provides an extract of the relevant publishing to both the academicians and practitioners in the field of Six Sigma for implementing Six Sigma framework in an organization. This study is apparently the first of its kind on CSF assessment and categorization.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of organizational learning and strategic human resource management (HRM) in sustainable competitive advantage.

To carry out the present study, the survey method has been used. The empirical research was done on a random sample of 300 line or human resource (HR) managers from nine Indian and foreign global organizations, chosen purposefully from New Delhi (the national capital region of India). Percentages, means, cross tabulation, Pearson's correlation, one‐way analysis of variance, inter‐item analysis and Cronbach alpha were used for data analysis using SPSS package 10.

The study reveals that there is a positive relationship between organizational learning, strategic HRM and sustainable competitive advantage.

Large samples from different Indian companies, especially middle‐ and small‐scale industries, and longitudinal studies with qualitative and quantitative research design can strengthen the current study.

The study recommends that work‐based learning strategies and HR interventions involving people can help in developing strategic capabilities for sustainable competitive advantage.

No empirical work has been carried out to study organizational learning, strategic HRM and sustainable competitive advantage in an Indian context. The present study was thus undertaken to study their relationship for sustainable competitive advantage. The study is going to be of immense importance not only for the management field, but also for the corporate world to know what is happening in India in the HRM and organizational learning field and to chalk out their strategic policies and HRM with this perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to show that the role of organizational learning is increasingly becoming crucial for organizational performance. Based on the study of three Indian global firms operating in National Capital Region of Delhi, India, this study explores the correlation of organizational learning with organizational performance in the Indian scenario.

The sample of the study comprised of three Indian global organizations chosen through purposive sampling technique. A total of 100 senior managers were interviewed from these firms, out of which 72 were HR and 28 were line managers. The data collected from these managers were analyzed using SPSS 12 version.

The paper finds that the organizational learning, which largely gets reflected through HRM activities, has a positive correlation with organizational performance.

The paper shows more samples from private, public and governmental Indian organizations could have made the study more interesting and would have presented Indian scenario better.

This paper will be useful to MNCs/global business organizations looking for investing and expanding in India, besides contributing to the understanding of organizational learning and organizational performance in Indian firms in present day global economic context.

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of human resource capability (HRC) in organisational performance and sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in Indian global organisations.

To carry out the present study, an empirical research on a random sample of 300 line or human resource managers from nine Indian and foreign global organisations, from New Delhi (the National capital region of India) is carried out. The principal research method employed included the sample and measurements tools, and data analysis concerning the human resource capabilities for organisational performance and sustainable competitive advantage by using SPSS package 12.

The findings of the study reveal that human resource capabilities are positively correlated to organisational performance. Furthermore, human resource capability was found to be a significant predictor of sustainable competitive advantage.

More samples from different Indian companies, especially middle and small scale industries, can enrich the current study.

This study contributes to the existing theory about the strategic importance of human capital for organisational performance and sustainable competitive advantage from resource‐based view of the firm in the Indian context.

The study will contribute to the understanding of Indian human resource management (HRM) as an imperative for strategic HRM and international human resource management. Business organisations will get an insight into the Indian business scenario and can chalk out their strategic policies and human resource planning with this perspective.

The use of Internet of Things (IoT) and networks has built a potential impact on the product cost and time in a company’s manufacturing process. These IoT solutions provide end-to-end visibility and faster introduction of merchandise and supplier in the market. The main aim of this research paper is to supply products with improved quality and cheaper price, whereas the rising response and quality of the client service.

This paper designs and develops two cases for selecting the most efficient vendor while keeping in mind the profit and cost constraints in optimization.

Outsourcing is a vital parameter to cut back the price and maximize the profit of the manufacturer. Therefore, the integration of supply chain with IoT can provide a solution to the cost optimization and supplier/vendor selection problems in supply chain management.

The results show that the models are quite realistic and can help the IoT-based manufacturing units to make strategic decisions regarding product manufacturing and distribution.

The authors can further extend the model to derive the retailer’s profit function and develop the end product cost to the consumers and hence make it a n-level multi-vendor selection model for IoT-based systems.

The right choice of vendor for IoT-enabled business is a crucial concern. In this paper, the authors designed and developed multi-vendor models with in-house production and outsourcing decisions to meet the demand along with the vendor selection. The variable demands and designed variable unit cost function and batch order are set to make vendor selection more realistic.

The success of Six Sigma implementation is known to depend on a number of critical factors. The purpose of this paper is to explore and analyse Six Sigma critical success factors (CSFs) in the context of Indian manufacturing organizations.

Although Six Sigma success factors have been amply researched in the global context, in this paper, a maiden attempt is made to identify, through an extensive literature review, the CSFs for Six Sigma implementation followed by their validation and prioritization using primary data collection from Indian companies. A total of 22 CSFs have thus been compiled through an extensive literature review. These CSFs are then validated through an empirical research of select Indian manufacturing companies at various stages of implementation of the Six Sigma process improvement methodology.

A factor analysis was used to finally reduce the 22 factors to seven groups of underlying CSFs, the top factors being use of right tools, measurement assurance, innovation and supplier collaboration. Based on the factors extracted, a Six Sigma adoption model has been proposed in the Asian context.

The factor analysis of CSFs of the Indian manufacturing organizations selected in this study demonstrates that the top factor is a composite factor showing combination of the ability of the project teams to use the right tools, measurement assurance, innovation and creativity skills in problem solving, and also the long‐term supplier collaboration of the firm. Perhaps there has been an overemphasis on the role and commitment of the management in the success of a Six Sigma program. Though it is undisputed, certain other factors also play an equally important role in ensuring that the Six Sigma programs are successful.

The CSFs extracted through the factor analysis could provide a basis for manufacturing organizations embarking on the Six Sigma journey to look beyond just management involvement and develop an integrated framework of other factors as outlined and give them appropriate priority and focus. The study could well be extended to service industries.

The purpose of this study is to develop a customised model to measure the performance of housekeeping (HK) services in Sri Lankan health-care facilities.

An exploratory sequential mixed approach was adopted in the study to collect and analyse data. A case study strategy was adopted in the initial phase to explore the current HK practices, and to determine the applicable key performance indicators (KPIs) found through literature. Semi-structured interviews were used as the data collection method in the selected case studies. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the next phase to verify the validity of case study findings. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. One sample t-test was used to identify significant KPIs and to formulate the customised performance measurement (PM) model.

The study identified and ranked 46 KPIs, which can be used to measure the performance of HK divisions of health-care facilities, in balanced scorecard perspectives. The findings also revealed that the KPIs determined using the model have a significant impact on implementing effective health-care HK services and could be used to measure both real and subjective cleanliness.

The developed model can be used for numerous PM requirements in health-care setups in both developing and developed countries. The KPIs determined using this model can be presented in quality audits and government inspections as proof of effective HK management. The HK managers of the health-care sector can effectively monitor the performance of their divisions using the proposed PM model and this model can be customised to match the other facilities management service divisions.

Many studies focus on overall health-care PM. This study expands the knowledge on HK PM in the health-care sector by presenting a collection of performance indicators centred on HK function.