Paradigm Shift in Business

Job search with social media offers a wider range of opportunities to job seekers. However, the job seekers' use of social media is impacted by concerns over privacy and fairness, nested in experiences with procedural justice and privacy violations. This study examines how job seekers' perceptions on procedural justice and privacy violation affect their perceptions on fairness and thus their intention to utilize social media in job search. The study uses a structural equation model in the Theory of Reasoned Action to understand the influence of privacy affecting factors on job seekers' intention and actual use of social media. The study findings indicate privacy violation as a critical determinant that negatively affects procedural justice, fairness perception, and intention to use. Further, procedural justice and privacy violation, while having a direct effect on intention to use, have a stronger indirect influence on intention to use, mediated by fairness perception. The study provides insights for employees and employers on addressing privacy concerns.

Accounting narratives are an invaluable source of information about a company for stakeholders and analysts. This study investigates the voluntary accounting narrative of Chairman’s letter. We assess the tone and readability of the Chairman’s letter of Indian and Chinese companies, separately and comparatively. Further, the study goes on to determine the association between current firm performance, tone, and readability of the content of the Chairman’s letter and firm performance in the subsequent year. The study also explores the strength of these associations across India and China. The key findings from this study are: (1) the tone of narrative in the Chairman’s letter is relatively more positive and readability is relatively superior for companies in India as compared to China; (2) the tone and readability of the Chairman’s letter are significantly related to firm performance in current as well as subsequent year; and (3) there is no significant difference in association of tone and readability with firm’s current and future performance across the two countries. The study provides analysts and shareholders key insights pertaining to the primacy of Chairman’s letter due to wide ramifications of its content.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a watershed moment in the history of humanity, and it has altogether revamped the concept of work, workplace, and workforce. It forced offices to shut down thereby confining employees to their homes, but with gradual dawn of normalcy, corporates are calling employees back to office. Some organizations are still grappling with forming and executing a Return to Office (RTO) strategy, along with adopting a nuanced approach to creating a nurturing and welcoming environment. The premise of this study was to reassess and retrofit the way employees perceive and internalize their connection with the business today and thereby ease the herculean task of change management. At the outset, the study catered to procedural employee experience which encompasses the systems and processes that employees and employers must follow to fulfill their roles and responsibilities.

The whole world has been fighting against the unprecedented virus ‘Covid-19’. This pandemic is not only impacting the individuals, society, and organizations but the whole mankind. The coronavirus has created a frightful environment which is a threat to human life at one side and affecting the psychological well-being at another side. People are facing stress which is hampering their personal and professional life. Organizations are also understanding the seriousness of the situation and trying to change their work culture through HR policies for the benefit of employees and for their own existence. In this research, two important scales are developed, validated, and tested for the reliability in Indian context. The first scale is to analyze the changing scenario in HR practices in the organizations and the second scale is developed to examine the stress among working professionals during the outbreak of Covid-19. Both the scales developed in this research were further used to assess the impact of change in work culture on stress among Indian working professionals during Covid-19. A total of 435 respondents, segregated into 297 private and 138 public working professionals responded to these scales. It was found that internal, external, and strategic changes in HR practices in the organization during this pandemic are reducing the stress at different levels among private and public working professionals.

Hardiness has been theorized as a stress-resilient multifaceted personality disposition which acts as a protective shield against stressful situations. A wide spectrum of research has confirmed the role of hardiness in developing physiological and psychological well-being in individuals. Drawing upon the existential theory and using a sample of 234 corporate professionals, the current research assesses the influence of role stressors and gender on hardiness of corporate professionals. The key findings from the study are: (1) women corporate professionals demonstrate greater hardiness as compared to their male counterparts; (2) women corporate professionals experience greater role bounded stress as compared to their male colleagues; and (3) the role stress experienced due to role boundedness significantly and positively influences hardiness among corporate professionals. The findings from the study have implications on mental health and productivity of corporate professionals.

Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) promote entrepreneurship and create a significant amount of employment possibilities, which contribute significantly to economic growth. The purpose of the study is to identify the role of local enterprises and industrial alliances toward entrepreneurial success and also to explore the mediating connection of technological adaptation and market competition among them to enhance the performance of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). To determine the effect of the industrial alliance, SME performance, technology adoption, and market competitiveness on entrepreneurial success, the theoretical model would be put to the test. The postulated model would be validated using a variety of quantitative methods. The study has practical relevance for SMEs and business owners in understanding how local SMEs might profit from industrial alliances in addition to the issues of technology adoption and competition in the Indian MSME sector. The MSMEs would benefit from the findings, enabling them to form more effective industrial partnerships.

Disruptive technologies refer to radical innovative products and services that change consumer behavior and industry norms. In this context, the chapter explores how consumers are drawn to new products and how to help them accept new products that are slightly or radically different from the norm. Our central proposition is that disruptive technologies lead to new product development and that their features should be moderately incongruent with pre-existing product category schemas for the products to be successful. Using schema-based theories—to interpret or organize information—and qualitative methods, the purpose of the chapter is to discuss (1) the mediating role of Innovation between Disruptive Technology and New Product Development (NPD); (2) the moderating roles of Digital Infrastructure, Financial Risks, and FDI between Disruptive Technology and Innovation; and (3) moderating roles of Perceived Risks and Arousal between Innovation and NPD. In conclusion, we provide practical implications for managers regarding improving new product design. Finally, we give some pointers for future research.

Promoting free enterprises is necessary for the overall growth and development of the countries irrespective of their socio-economic and political agendas. Freedom is a basic factor for success of enterprises in emerging economies, just like the fundamental human right in the society. However, the emerging economies and enterprises have a myopic attitude towards exercising this attribute within the entrepreneurial framework, as most of the attention is laid on exploring numerous forces to develop strategies that drive success. In view of opening the horizons of freedom-based entrepreneurial models, it is important to define the structure of a free enterprise. Therefore, liberation of policies, empowering new business models, and understanding market forces can be attributed to freedom from operational and administrative restrictions that exist within the marketplace. This chapter discusses attributes of agile practices in tourism marketing and describes FACE concept about firms gaining the first mover advantage, building agility in marketing practices, providing convenience, and driving emotions among customers. Innovative approaches to craft agile tourism marketing have also been discussed in this chapter.

Marketers utilize a range of media venues to sway customer behavior (CB). Each advertisement on a media portal has a diverse makeup that calls to customers in a different manner. Because of digitalization, public media tastes have progressed. As an outcome, a greater grasp of advertisements through numerous media channels and their impacts on Consumer Behavior is vital. The research looks at how advertisements on magazines, newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet affect consumer awareness, interest, conviction, purchase, and post-purchase behavior. The investigation employs a meta-analysis of bibliometric quotes to investigate how media affects the AWR, INT, and CON phases of Consumer Behavior (CB). The ISI Web of Science summarized the bibliography. A bibliometric analysis of 117 publications published between 2007 and 2022 yielded 6407 citations. On the basis of the study’s findings, the analysis proposes a strategy for further research into the relationship between customers and promotional media. Using a bibliometric review, the study examines the influence of media on Consumer Behavior in previous studies. The research focuses mostly on papers that have had the greatest impact in the scientific field. The publications that largely dealt with this paradigm, as well as the authors that have had the greatest impact on the academic community in this field. The study demonstrates a set of linkages between the information bases examined by distinct authors and journals, as well as the framework of such interactions, depending on keywords addressed in each study.

This research paper aims to investigate the shopping preference and motivation of adolescents in small towns and their influence on customer experience contributing to mall loyalty. The conceptual model for this study was developed after intensive literature review. A survey instrument comprising 33 statements was developed, which would measure adolescents’ opinions from seven major cities of India. A total of 800 respondents were approached and questionnaires were given out, 489 responses were collected, out of which only 401 were found usable and complete. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the collected data. The findings of the study revealed that determinants such as tenant mix and mall ambiance contributed to the adolescent’s experience upon which mall loyalty depended. Shopping experience also has significant impact on patronage where income level of adolescents acts as a moderator. Some of the other determinants such as amenities, safety and security, promotion, and convenience did not seem to have an influence on the experience of the adolescents. A non-probability sampling method is applied in this research. Future studies should replicate the research in different social, economic, and geographical contexts to see if the factor composition and structure remain unchanged. Mall managers should focus on tenant mix and ambiance for better management of adolescent’s experience. Disproportionate expenditure on adding to other factors is not expected to yield matching dividends. The study assumes significance as this kind of study used to happen rarely in global context. The paper explores the motivational factors for adolescents underlying for visiting the small-town malls in the Indian context, and it has the global significance also. This paper is among the few works done on understanding adolescent’s motivation in the developing nation context. It adds significantly to the meager body of knowledge around mall management.

India has 600 million young populations and it offers a lucrative market for companies to sale their products in India. With increase in global environmental issues and in pursuit of healthier lifestyle, Indian young consumers are getting motivated towards buying green products. The objectives of this research are to find out the factors influencing young consumers buying behaviour towards green products in India and to develop a theoretical model in this context. The data were collected from 350 respondents and analysed by exploratory factor analysis using principal component method. The study develops a model with extracted factors and has been tested for its reliability and validity.

Social media communication has many usages among students. The role and accountability of social media tools have greater importance than before. The scope of social media tools is wider than the traditional print medium. Business schools use social media tools to market and promote the courses, faculty, infrastructure, and other resources among prospective students. Students use social media tools to get aware of day-to-day happenings, news, events, and other purposes too. The present research focuses to understand the different usage of social media tools among prospective students and business schools. The research also aims to know the preferences of different social media tools among the management prospective students. Additionally, it also aims to understand the importance of social media reviews and ranking in business school marketing. To explore the usage and importance of social media tools among prospective management students, the researcher conducted the depth qualitative interviews with 72 prospective students. The prospective candidates have been selected from the four zones in about eight cities of India on a convenience basis. The qualitative depth interview has been transcribed through Microsoft ottero.ai and the same has been analyzed through the qualitative data analysis software Atlas.ti (version 9). The result suggests that prospective students use social media tools to collect admission-related information about the management institute. Social media reviews and ranking played a key role in business school marketing. Instagram and LinkedIn are prominent tools to market and promote business schools among prospective students.

Cash on delivery (COD) option has revolutionized the online shopping industry. Although COD has proved itself as a boon for customers, there are mixed opinions about its effectiveness among marketers. This article investigates COD from a marketer’s point of view. Based on the theories of perceived financial risk, it suggests moderating role of COD in enhancing online impulse purchases. Further, it investigates the negative side of COD and suggests the moderating role of COD in increasing product returns. It discusses the ways for the effective use of COD to help marketers to increase their profits. Managerial implications and future research scope are also discussed.

Since the recent health crisis caused by COVID-19, innovation-led business dynamics has foreseen a systemic crisis, which has had a disruptive impact on the economic and social dimensions of entrepreneurial development. The implications of such an impact have had several consequences for stakeholders, leading to rethinking corporate strategies in emerging economies. Corporate social responsibility has deep rooted implications on entrepreneurial strategies, practices, and policies, which is implicit in the disruptive strategies applied by the enterprises. In a context of systemic crisis, this study aims to demonstrate that the best recovery alternatives lie in a multidimensional vision that involves economic, political, social, and cultural factors that allow an effective development strategy to be drawn to promote growth. Accordingly, this study proposes that the secondary sector of the economy has a lot to contribute in terms of job creation, competitiveness, social responsibility, and economic development. This study is conceptual and discusses connections between the forms of corporate social responsibility in small companies, corporate decision-making based on a new social commitment, and determination of innovative and socially responsible actions have been defined. The findings of the study highlight that entrepreneurial innovation provides a sustainable platform for growth perspectives by understanding the impact on social upliftment. The disruption in business activities boosted innovation-led strategies to gain market share leading to social upliftment in emerging markets.

Entrepreneurship is the spine of economic development of a nation by creating new job opportunities. Women establish their enterprise to achieve financial independence and empowerment. Economic growth of the nation will be asymmetrical without the involvement of women’s entrepreneurial activities. The success of the women entrepreneur is influenced by the numerous factors. The purpose the study is to explore the influence of family, managerial, and personal competencies on the success of women entrepreneurs. Questionnaire survey is considered to reach on the outcome. This study is focused on Karnataka State, south part of India. Our research findings suggest that, the success of women entrepreneur is majorly influenced by her family support and followed by managerial skills like creative thinking, adoption of innovations, analytical capabilities and people management, etc. This study provides a scope to conduct an industry and sector wise analysis for success of women entrepreneurship in India specifically based in Karnataka.

This chapter advances a narrative review of scholarship published on selected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by the United Nations 2030 agenda. Since their inception, SDGs have been addressed by several international agencies, countries, companies, and multi-stakeholder partnerships as roadmaps to solve current societal challenges. Thematic and cluster analyses were conducted on research regarding the central SDGs for business and management: no poverty, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, and responsible production and consumption. The results reveal the main research topics and apparent gaps that need to be addressed for each SDG. Overall, the narrative review shows evidence that research is still emerging, and that stakeholders need to jointly conduct socially impactful research to tackle formidable social challenges.

Considering environmental concerns including climate change, pollution, global warming, and resource shortages, sustainability is emerging as a fundamental motivator for corporate greening globally. The concept of green supply chain management (GSCM) has been considered as a solution to these problems. To integrate conventional supply networks with sustainable supply chains, this paper identifies essential green practices that may be used at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) methodologies provide the foundation of the suggested methodology. To determine relevant elements, expert opinions have been taken into consideration while choosing the criteria. Using the AHP approach, the relative weights and relevance of the green supply chain criteria have been assessed. To make wise decisions, a framework with four major variables and 16 minor ones has been suggested, and green practices have been given priority. The research found that the following practices are essential for launching sustainability across the supply chain: commitment from top leadership on sustainability-related concerns, regulatory compliance, design for the environment, green procurement, health and safety. It may be argued that implementing green practices can help businesses perform better over the long run while also improving their operational eco-efficiency.

During the past three years, the world has borne witness to the most significant disruptor in decades: the COVID-19 pandemic. Collateral effects have been vast including significant changes in the way collaborators have decided to prioritize their wellbeing. In addition, workers around the world are increasingly less tolerant to organizations’ performative actions, and both have led to mass resignation and quiet quitting. This conceptual study discusses a series of propositions and a conceptual framework and contributes to previous literature related to corporate social responsibility, collaborator management, as well as social media management.

The pandemic responses fueled calls to develop newer instruments to bridge health inequities and collaborative responses in the post-pandemic world. Health inequities and disparities compromised the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal-3 (SDG-3) which seeks to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. There are more than 650.34 million COVID-19 cases reported and 6.65 million human lives lost due to the COVID-19 virus worldwide as on 16 December 2022. The social and economic fallout out of COVID-19 pandemic affected the public health infrastructure and health systems and made the situation even bleaker. The limitations of the Governments are also well felt in every country in the World during COVID-19 Crisis. The paper provides an overview of factors that would identify and implement effective social and public health strategies, as a public policy measures to integrating the social and public health in a cohesive way. This will further provide a critical understanding of doing policy driven business integrating social and global health in an emerging economy like India. The research findings may further strengthen the Global Health Architecture in the Global South toward partnership, collaborations, and dialogues among multiple stakeholders in the Global North in the post-pandemic times delivering values and better health to support and inform deliberations on health equity, and better health access.

The purpose of the paper is to examine lessons learned by business enterprises as a deterrent to pandemic chaotic uncertainties. The effectiveness of the RRR strategy as a resurgence tool is debated, relying on a broader range of assumptions about strategic managerial decisions made at the time and as published in similar studies. The paper adopts a descriptive-analytical approach and relies on primary and secondary data. Semi-structured interviews through Google forms and a Focus Group Discussion were conducted with 35 executives working in the enterprises of Gujarat. The results show that regardless of the firm and product characteristics, RRR strategies have a positive effect on firm value, aided by government initiatives. An explanation for this resurgence is that the market sentiments interpret proactive strategies as a signal of substantial financial gains to the firm. The study's findings are intended to assist legislators in developing a resilient framework that can not only absorb external shocks like COVID-19 but also improve the supply chain network's performance and operational capability. Given the magnitude of losses since COVID-19 implementation, the analysis may persuade businesses to implement the 3R framework. The paper further proves that the RRR framework is expected to be highly beneficial to organizations in leveraging the efficiency of supply chain management and achieving supply chain competitiveness. This research study designs a RRR (Respond, Recover, Renew) framework that provides key practices to address significant barriers during a pandemic.

Agility in business is broadly a work management methodology within the Scrum framework that requires teams to adapt to the collaborative work environment with focus on 5T elements comprising task, target, time, thrust, and trust. Agile business practice functions with self-organizing skills for teams to carry out cross-functional activities in a repetitive pattern with continuous feedback. These activities are driven by temporal business planning (short-, medium-, and long-term planning). Implementation of agile business strategies varies by task, territory, and target for specific products and services. Previous studies argue that the response of the firms to co-creation and customer-driven opportunities depends on the intensity of competition and the degree of cannibalizing the business share by the competitive firms. This chapter discusses the new perspectives in agile businesses with a focus on Waterfall methodology, Kanban practices, participatory business appraisal, and rapid business appraisal. A synchronized approach to agility in business as CART comprising the convergence of concepts, applications, research, and transformation has also been discussed in this chapter along with social learning as an agile discipline.