International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Inclusive Growth by Means of Sustainable Supply Chains: A Case Study of The Dabbawalas of Mumbai, India


Affiliations
1 Fort Hays State University, Hays-67601, KS, United States
 

As India emerges to become a major player in the global economy, it is essential to understand some of the unique business models that have emerged interacting with its cultural economy and found a place in its developmental trajectory. Of these, the dabbawalas of Mumbai is worth a special mention. The dabbawalas constitute a lunchbox delivery and return system that delivers hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work in India. Based on primary research and more recent literature, this paper provides updated perspectives on the dabbawala business with special focus on the sustainability of their business model. It discusses the dabbawala system performance along multiple aspects of sustainability. The basis of competitive advantage of the dabbawala business model is presented an emergent phenomenon from the cultural logic of the ecosystem.


Keywords

Social Entrepreneurship, Food, Home Delivery, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Inclusiveness, India.
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • George, B (2018). Title of the paper. Inclusive growth by means of sustainable supply chains: A Case study of the Dabbawalas of Mumbai, India. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Knowledge 6(2), 5-11. doi: 10.2478/IJEK-2018-0010

  • Baindur, D., & Macario, R. M. (2013). Mumbai lunch box delivery system: A transferable benchmark in urban logistics? Research in transportation economics, vol. 38(1), 110-121.

  • Behrens, A., Singh, P., & Bhandarker, A. (2016). View from Practice: Managing Effectively in Collectivist Societies: Lessons from Samba Schools and Dabbawalas. Thunderbird International Business Review, vol. 57, no. 1, pp. 37-51.

  • Chakraborty, A., & Hargude, A. N. (2015, August). Dabbawala: Introducing Technology to the Dabbawalas of Mumbai. In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct (pp. 660-667). ACM.

  • Chopra, R., & Sharma, H. (2012). Corporate to Cooperative Entrepreneurial Leadership in Emerging Economy-Lessons from Indian Enterprises. Journal of Organisation and Human Behaviour, 1(4), 12-28.

  • Date, V. (2006). Travails of an Ordinary Citizen: A Tale from Mumbai. Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 3473-3476.

  • Farjoun, M. (2002). Towards an organic perspective on strategy. Strategic management journal, vol. 22, no. 7, pp. 561-594.

  • George, B.P. (2012). Sustainable Supply Chain Management: An Updated Case Study of Dabbawalas of Mumbai. Society for Marketing Advances (SMA) Conference, Special Session Presentation, held in Orlando, FL, USA during November 2012.

  • Ghodake, S. T. (2016). Transcending Life through Romance: Mumbai Tiffinwalas and the Lunch Box. Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal, vol. 3, no. 12, pp. 8-15.

  • Giddens, A. (2013). The third way and its critics. John Wiley & Sons.

  • Gnyawali, D. R., & Madhavan, R. (2001). Cooperative networks and competitive dynamics: A structural embeddedness perspective. Academy of Management review, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 431-445.

  • Hahn, T., & Figge, F. (2011). Beyond the bounded instrumentality in current corporate sustainability research: Toward an inclusive notion of profitability. Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 104, no. 3, pp. 325-345.

  • Honig, B. (1998). What determines success? Examining the human, financial, and social capital of Jamaican microentrepreneurs. Journal of business venturing, vol. 13, no. 5, pp. 371-394.

  • Isher, A. S., & Bhal, H. (2005). Factor Study of Human Reliability and Industrial Productivity: Comparison of Food Delivery System. In ASQ World Conference on Quality and Improvement Proceedings (Vol. 59, p. 495). American Society for Quality.

  • Karthi, S., Devadasan, S. R., Murugesh, R., Sreenivasa, C. G., & Sivaram, N. M. (2012). Global views on integrating Six Sigma and ISO 9001 certification. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 3-4, 237-262.

  • Krishnan, U. S. (2014). A Cross Cultural Study of the Literacy Practices of the Dabbawalas: Towards a New Understanding of Nonmainstream Literacy and its Impact on Successful Business Practices (Doctoral dissertation, Kent State University).

  • Leftwich, A. (1993). Governance, democracy and development in the Third World. Third World Quarterly, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 605-624.

  • Menon, S., & Raithatha, M. (2012). Occupational stress: An analytical study of stress among dabbawalas of Mumbai Tiffin Suppliers Association. Prabandhan: Indian Journal of Management, vol. 5, no. 1, 47-54.

  • Nirali, P., & Vijaylaxmi, C. (2014). Small Innovations: The Big Drivers of Indian Economic Development. Advances in Management, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 20-21.

  • North, K., & Kumta, G. (2014). On the Way to a Knowledge Society. In Knowledge Management (pp. 1-29). Springer, Cham.

  • Patel, N., & Vedula, N. (2006). Dabbawalas of Mumbai. White Paper Kenan-Flagler Business School, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 5-7.

  • Pathak, G. S. (2010). Delivering the Nation: The Dabbawala s of Mumbai. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. 33, no. 2, pp. 235-257.

  • Percot, M. (2005). Dabbawalas, tiffin carriers of Mumbai: answering a need for specific catering. vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 25-37.

  • Raste, A. (2016). Spirituality at the Bottom of the Pyramid. In Ethical Leadership (pp. 255-260). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

  • Roncaglia, S. (2017). Feeding the City: Work and Food Culture of the Mumbai Dabbawalas (p. 232). Open Book Publishers.

  • Rosca, E., Arnold, M., & Bendul, J. C. (2017). Business models for sustainable innovation–an empirical analysis of frugal products and services. Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 162, no.1, 133-145.

  • Sivarak, O. (2017). Global Supply Chain in Asia. In Internationalization and Managing Networks in the Asia Pacific, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 99-121.

  • Thakur, R. (2015). Community marketing: serving the base of the economic pyramid sustainably. Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 36, no. 4, pp. 40-47.


Abstract Views: 356

PDF Views: 121




  • Inclusive Growth by Means of Sustainable Supply Chains: A Case Study of The Dabbawalas of Mumbai, India

Abstract Views: 356  |  PDF Views: 121

Authors

Babu George
Fort Hays State University, Hays-67601, KS, United States

Abstract


As India emerges to become a major player in the global economy, it is essential to understand some of the unique business models that have emerged interacting with its cultural economy and found a place in its developmental trajectory. Of these, the dabbawalas of Mumbai is worth a special mention. The dabbawalas constitute a lunchbox delivery and return system that delivers hot lunches from homes and restaurants to people at work in India. Based on primary research and more recent literature, this paper provides updated perspectives on the dabbawala business with special focus on the sustainability of their business model. It discusses the dabbawala system performance along multiple aspects of sustainability. The basis of competitive advantage of the dabbawala business model is presented an emergent phenomenon from the cultural logic of the ecosystem.


Keywords


Social Entrepreneurship, Food, Home Delivery, Supply Chain, Sustainability, Inclusiveness, India.

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.15759/ijek%2F2018%2Fv6i2%2F178162