Modeling the barriers of Indian telecom services using ISM and MICMAC approach
| Date | 02 May 2017 |
| Published date | 02 May 2017 |
| Pages | 188-209 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JABS-11-2015-0196 |
| Author | Faisal Talib,Zillur Rahman |
| Subject Matter | Strategy,International business |
Modeling the barriers of Indian telecom
services using ISM and MICMAC approach
Faisal Talib and Zillur Rahman
Faisal Talib is based at the
Department of Mechanical
Engineering, Zakir Husain
College of Engineering and
Technology, Aligarh Muslim
University, Aligarh, India.
Zillur Rahman is based at
the Department of
Management Studies,
Indian Institute of
Technology Roorkee,
Roorkee, India.
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to identify the potential barriers of telecom services and
develop relationships among them using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) in the Indian telecom
sector. Further, this paper intends to find the driving and dependence powers of telecom barriers, using
MICMAC (Matriced’ Impacts Croise=s Multiplication Applique=ea=un Classement) analysis.
Design/methodology/approach –A group of experts from telecom sector and academia was
consulted and the ISM was used to develop the contextual relationship among identified barriers of
telecom services. The results of ISM are used as an input to MICMAC analysis, to further classify
identified barriers based on their driving and dependence powers.
Findings –This paper has identified 11 barriers of telecom services from the literature review and
opinion of experts, and a contextual relationship model was developed using the ISM technique. The
paper further studied barriers based on their driving and dependence powers using MICMAC analysis
that classifies them into four clusters. The results identified the barriers such as “lack of adequate
investment in infrastructure expansion”, “interference of private operators”, “legal and regulatory
issues”, “lack of maintenance culture” and “lack of financial resources and high cost” as strategic-level
barriers that, if dealt with carefully, can help overcome the effect of other barriers preventing the
effective performance of the Indian telecom sector.
Research limitations/implications –Although, there are a number of barriers that affect the
performance of telecom services, existing theories, models and frameworks have focused on
identification of factors, their implementation and benefits, and thus, these theories lack a holistic view
in understanding those barriers which hinder the performance of the telecom sector. Top-managers and
policymakers need to be more concerned about these barriers so that the performance of the Indian
telecom sector could be improved.
Originality/value –A thorough literature review has revealed that no such study has been undertaken
that provides any clear understanding of the barriers of telecom services, linkages between them and
hierarchical relationships among the barriers.
Keywords India, Barriers, Telecommunications, Information and communication technology,
Interpretive structural modeling
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
In the past few years, the Indian telecom services have shown signs of an abrupt sector
paradigm change and symptoms of a market in transition (DOT, 2015). Bolstered by the steep
development and phenomenal growth of information and communication technology (ICT), as
well as continuous change in need and high demand of telephony and mobile services by
customers, the paradigm of the Indian telecom services is gradually shifting from
voice-centered communication to a variety of high-speed data communication and
next-generation network (NGN) (DOT, 2015). Further, factors such as increase in the number
of mobile users across the country, the growth of the wireless internet, introduction of mobile
number portability (MNO), active participation by private sector, upcoming NGN, voice over
internet protocol (VOIP) services and fixed-mobile service convergence, all contribute to
emphasize the appearance of a transition phase in the telecom services of the Indian market
Received 23 November 2015
Revised 18 March 2016
Accepted 14 April 2016
PAGE 188 JOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES VOL. 11 NO. 2, 2017, pp. 188-209, © Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 1558-7894 DOI 10.1108/JABS-11-2015-0196
(The Hindu, 2014;DOT, 2015;TRAI, 2015). Moreover, there are certain indicators which show
stagnation in the performance of the telecom sector like reduction in the landline subscriber
numbers and slow growth in broadband penetration and usage; this suggest that the market
has reached a maturity level. Additionally, availability of affordable and effective
communication for all customers and provision of high-level services capable of meeting the
needs of the country’s economy are other areas where major reforms have to be done.
This change of paradigm and the indicators of a market-transition are propelling the telecom
sector to restructure themselves and prepare for intensive competition between different
companies (Panda and Reddy, 2016). The Indian telecom sector is thus realizing the
importance of a customer-oriented business strategy as a condition for sustaining their
competitive edge and maintaining a stable profit level for their survival in the global market. The
foremost action that the Indian telecom sector has to take is to retain the registered subscribers
by increasing the customer loyalty and customer value. Previous studies suggest that customer
loyalty and customer value are crucial factors in the growth of an organization and achieving
enhanced quality performance (Lee and Cunningham, 2001;Kim et al., 2004;Buarki et al.,
2011;Leong et al., 2015;Chen, 2015;Rasheed and Abadi, 2014;Sugiati et al., 2013;Frank
et al., 2014;Amin et al., 2012). Hence, top-managers and policymakers in telecom should take
care of these factors to improve the performance of the sector. Past studies have also shown
that there is an increase in studies on ICT/IT (information technology) because of their role and
importance in many areas like telecommunication, small and medium enterprises, education,
customer satisfaction, employability, teaching and learning institutions, construction industry
and many others (Buarki et al., 2011;Peansupap and Walker, 2006;Yalm et al., 2007;Hew and
Brush, 2007;Pelgrum and Law, 2003;Tan et al., 2010;Berné et al., 2015; Mendonça et al.,
2015). This is largely because of the developments in electronic information resources and
communication systems which are meant for imparting knowledge and ICT skills to the
employees, teachers and technical support staff. However, not many studies have been
conducted on the subject of the telecom services either within or outside India. A mere handful
of research publications was found, that too on identification of factors, implementation and
benefits. A possible reason for this situation is probably the stagnation of the sector.
While adoption of ICT is in rush because of many potential benefits (OECD, 2004) and
many organizations are reaping these benefits already, a few studies have been conducted
on the telecom sector and even these are limited to theory development and theoretical
framework. In addition, the telecom literature has failed to identify the key barriers; in
particular, no studies were found to examine the interactions among different barriers of
telecom. As per Schoepp (2005), a barrier is defined as “any condition that makes it difficult
to make progress or to achieve an objective”. Although, there are number of synonyms
used for barriers like hindrances, difficulties, obstacles, etc., in this paper, the authors have
referred to all these terms as barriers. Because there remains a lack of studies on barriers
of telecom services, therefore, there is an urgent need to conduct this research and
understand the relationship among them so as to improve the falling performance of the
Indian telecom sector. Keeping in view the above aspects, this study identifies the potential
barriers of telecom sector and develops a structural relationship between them in context
of the Indian telecom sector.
Hence, the present study has four objectives:
1. identify and rank the barriers of telecom services;
2. model the barriers of telecom using interpretive structural modeling (ISM);
3. perform Matriced’ Impacts Croise=s Multiplication Applique=ea=un Classement or
cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis to
classify telecom barriers in four clusters; and
4. discuss the implications of the study and suggest directions for future research work.
VOL. 11 NO. 2 2017 JOURNAL OF ASIA BUSINESS STUDIES PAGE 189
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