• Energy Research

This study highlights the appropriateness of innovation management principles to successfully manage radical change in the e-commerce industry during the COVID-19 period. The study focuses on transforming delivery platforms in the context of popular e-commerce organizations in the U.A.E. We conducted the study through interviews, and the results reflect the development of three major themes (shifting consumer behavior, implementation of innovation, and innovation for effective change management) since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the transition stage, critical aspects concerning product delivery have emerged to stabilize logistics performance with sustainability. The study suggests that firms need to be faster and more flexible to address the market uncertainty through innovative practices. Similar organizations can use this study to develop mechanisms to improve their delivery systems. Additionally, the study also argues that collaborative innovation significantly contributes to the enhancement of consumers’ well-being and boosts economic growth.

AbstractHigher energy demand and shortage of energy has made energy modeling a very common researchable area in developing and developed countries. Proper and efficient execution of policy plays a vital role in the implementation and adoption of innovations, such as, the higher usage of solar generated energy over conventional electricity. This paper contributes to the existing literature by proposing a system dynamics based hypothetical framework that would have policy implication for the sustainable use of solar energy at the wide country level. The methodology explains the feedback loop through causal diagram. Additionally, it also explains the involvement of various stakeholders and the variables necessary for the acceptance of renewable energy in India.

AbstractRegulatory uncertainties have often posed a business risk to renewable energy investors. Energy regulations in Spain were recently revised in June 2014. The objective of this study is to analyze the 50 MW wind power project under revised framework. The project is evaluated using NPV with risk and real options method through Monte Carlo simulations. As a part of this study, five scenarios were evaluated. The base scenario, “Business As Usual (BAU)” consist of recent framework that was into place, just before the new regulation was announced. The other scenarios (including newly introduced framework) were compared to the BAU. We have focused on “delay” option for the current scope. The overall results of the study suggest a negative NPV under the revised framework, with significantly higher delay value. From the results, it is advisable to delay the project. The paper presents the policy implications under scenarios selected in the papers. The article also presents the policy implication for developing countries. The study also served as the learning for developing nations from European Union states.

AbstractInvestment cost associated to the generation of renewable energy such as wind and solar is generally estimated to be higher. As the wind and solar energy generation do not require any fuel, the marginal cost of electricity generation through renewable energy technologies is very low. Therefore, in the long run, the prices are expected to get reduced, once investment cost is recovered; whereas, in the short run, the expected energy price of electricity increases.However, the final electricity price depends on several factors such as distribution cost, operating cost, storage cost (if any), load factor, and cost associated to switching of technology for electricity generation through total energy mix. In case of solar and wind energy generation, the technologies have grid priorities, but solar and wind are highly sensitive to weather conditions. Therefore, to make the system efficient, an energy system also depends on coal fired plant, gas fired plants, nuclear plants, biomass, hydro, etc. for meeting the energy supply needs. Based on overall capacities, investment costs, energy imports and fuel prices, the final electricity prices are decided. With the current trends in advancement of technologies, and priority for one technology over the other, the prices can still fluctuate in the future.In the current energy literature, methods available for price forecasting followed the modelling approaches that use range of variables for forecasting the possible scenarios. These scenarios and forecasting might affect an investment decisions of investors. However, the challenging future scenario in European energy mix addresses the issue of falling electricity price while the renewable energy technologies getting cheaper; which tends to freeze further investments, unless sufficient government support is available.The current study aims to explore the various economic forecasting methods presented in the literature for the purpose of energy price modelling, in different contexts, such as geographies, demand, supply, marketing, strategy, etc. The results suggest a large variation in the methodologies being used by scientists to address the issues in different countries. A wide range of variable selection approach has been observed. Our study suggests that the current market has not researched well on long run forecasting methods. This study also aims to present some thoughts on energy marketing in the context of emerging economies, such as India for the energy policy framing.

Individualized learning plans and corresponding training programs are maintained and organized in most organizations. Employees may be averse to training if they do not see how it contributes to their professional advancement. This is an example of conflict between management and employee interests in a business. The misalignment between management’s offerings and employees’ desires is a significant factor contributing to such a situation. Our research focused on how companies and individuals put training resources to use from a perspective of divergent goals. It provides insights into making employee training more effective. We investigate the relationship between organizational, individual, and training efficacy using the principal–agent theory and the concept of bounded rationality. We attempted to validate three a priori conditions relating to goal congruence, training motivation, and decision-making through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. As per participant inputs, career aspirations drive employees’ training preferences. The significance of goal congruence in achieving corporate objectives is often neglected in the academic literature. Although goal congruence can be a useful tool in assisting organizations in achieving their stated objectives, enhanced communication and discussion between managers and employees are required in order to improve and align employee goals with the company’s, for the sake of the individual’s and organization’s development. Furthermore, firms should invest in technology-enabled learning that ensures better access to learning, in order to achieve the kind of productivity and profit margins that would benefit everyone involved. We have also proposed a training value transaction model that accommodates the diverse interests. The model depicts the role of goal congruence in enhanced value fulfilment of the principals as well as agents.

AbstractHigh technology and innovation market risk make renewable electricity generation expensive. On the other hand, green taxes applied to thermal generation also play a significant role in the increasing retail prices, considering that most energy systems are not completely renewable. The academic literature on the relationship between renewable electricity supply and electricity prices to final consumers suggest that a larger share of renewable electricity supply increases the price of electricity to end consumers although wind energy and solar energy have very low marginal costs. This study shows the individual contribution of solar and wind energy generation to the households and industrial electricity retail prices through panel data modeling of EU-27 (1995 to 2011). Random effect modeling was applied to understanding the net effect on prices. Independent variables include regulation perceptions, carbon emissions and levelised costs of electricity generation. The result of this study suggests that energy generation through wind and solar plays a negligible role in determining retail electricity prices to households, whereas in the case of industrial prices, their (solar and wind's) contribution is significant, but the value of the coefficient observed is close to zero.

AbstractThis study presents a status of renewable energy research specific to the Indian context. The Indian academic literature on renewable energy from 1998–2014 was reviewed. The major focus was to understand the direction of the energy research (solar) in consumer behavior context. Therefore, the technological research and patent studies were not taken into account for this study. The papers reviewed represent three broad categories, namely, “literature review”, “empirical studies” and “qualitative studies”. Through this study, it can be concluded that Indian energy market is not yet well researched academically. A slow growth has been observed since 1998, however, a major shift is observed from 2008 onwards.