PhD Student Sayan Chowdhury wins Best Paper Award at POMS India International Conference held from 4th to 6th December
The paper, co-authored with IIMB faculty Prof. Nishant Kumar Verma, is titled: ‘Walking a Tightrope: Impact of Adopting Voluntary Right-to-Repair Policy on Firm Profit and Consumer Welfare’
7 December, 2023, Bengaluru: Prof. Sayan Chowdhury, alumnus of IIM Bangalore’s Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programme (Production and Operations Management area), won the Best Paper Award at the POMS India International Conference 2023 held from 4th to 6th December 2023 at XLRI Jamshedpur, for his paper co-authored with Prof. Nishant Kumar Verma, faculty of the Production and Operations Management area of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. The paper is titled: ‘Walking a Tightrope: Impact of Adopting Voluntary Right-to-Repair Policy on Firm Profit and Consumer Welfare’. Sayan Chowdhury is currently an Assistant Professor at Jagdish Sheth School of Management (JAGSoM), Bangalore.
Abstract of paper: Motivated by the current discourse on Right-to-Repair (RTR), the researchers examine the conditions under which a firm decides to voluntarily adopt a pro-RTR policy in the absence of legislation. Understanding such conditions can guide firms and regulators alike. The researchers propose utility theory-based models to capture a firm’s profit function when it adopts either a pro-RTR (PRR) or an anti-RTR (ARR) policy. The key distinction between ARR and PRR policy is the availability of self-repair option in PRR. Additionally, the researchers consider the presence of unauthorized third-party repairers (TPRs), a commonly observed phenomenon worldwide. They find that a firm adopting PRR policy would benefit by improving the cost-effectiveness of its repair operations. Effective repair operations allow a firm to set a superior pricing policy while adopting PRR over ARR. For instance, it allows the firm to set lower product prices without infusing anti-consumer practices to dissuade them from going to unauthorized TPRs. The researchers analyze the conditions under which PRR policy outperforms ARR policy both in terms of firm profit and consumer surplus (‘win-win’). They find that repairability of a product has a trade-off between firm profit and consumer surplus and interestingly, relatively ineffective repair operations help achieve a ‘win-win’ status. Furthermore, they show that the PRR policy is more suitable for sustainability-conscious markets where consumers prefer repair over a new purchase. In such markets, a firm with a PRR policy can set lower product prices while optimally setting the part sales margin for the self-repair option.
Profile: Sayan Chowdhury’s doctoral dissertation at IIMB explores how firms can incorporate sustainable business practices without sacrificing their profitability. He was the recipient of the JR Fellowship Award for academic performance and showing significant progress in research work at IIM Bangalore for two years (2021-23).
He has presented his work in reputed domestic and international conferences. Prior to joining the PhD programme, he had over three years of industry experience in the construction and product management areas. After completing his BE in Civil Engineering, he pursued his MBA from IIM Ranchi after working as a civil engineer. His research interest includes Green Supply Chains, Sustainable Operations and Circular Economy. His current work focuses on emerging business models and sustainable supply chains leveraging emerging technologies.