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Stirred by scant regard for market phases in portfolio performance assessments, the current paper investigates the active versus passive investment strategies under the bull and bear market conditions in emerging markets focusing on South Africa as a case study.

Methodologically, the measures of Jensen's alpha and Treynor index are applied to the monthly returns of 20 funds from January 2010 to June 2022.

The results are enlightening; though they contradict developed market evidence, they are consistent with emerging market trends. The findings show that actively managed funds outperform the market benchmark and passive investing style under bear and normal market conditions. Passive investment strategy outperforms both market benchmark and actively investing style under bull market conditions.

In the face of improved market efficiency, increased liquidity and recent technological impact, the findings of this study have practical application. The study outcomes should inform and update global investors, especially asset managers interested in emerging markets; however, the limitations of the study should also be considered.

While limited studies consider market conditions when comparing and contrasting the performance of passive versus active investing, such consideration is lacking in emerging markets. The current study corrects this literature imbalance.

The article aims to study the demand for sparkling wines in Europe. The main objective is to estimate the classic demand parameters aggregately for the entire European area (European Union and the United Kingdom) and separately for groups of countries characterized by wine markets with similar characteristics.

Using 15-years market data for different wine categories from the Euromonitor Passport database, the estimation of price and income elasticities is performed through a Quadratic Almost Ideal Demand System. In line with the objectives, the model is applied first to the whole European area and then separately to the considered groups of countries (subareas). To identify homogeneous subareas, a cluster analysis was performed on basic characteristics of the wine market.

When considering the European market as a whole, sparkling wines should be considered a luxury category with a high own-price elasticity. However, the structure of their demand is rather different in different sub-areas. The observed heterogeneity suggests that differentiated policy and marketing considerations should be made. In addition, it widens the possibilities for producers, who can choose the submarkets that respond best to their needs to export their sparkling wines. This seems particularly important in markets, like the sparkling wine ones, that are experiencing a continuous expansion over the last decades.

Despite using a methodology well-established to study wine and alcohol demand, the study fills a considerable gap in the literature. Although the demand for sparkling wine is growing worldwide, so far only a couple of studies have engaged in the analysis of its structure. In Europe, the largest market for sparkling wine, this kind of studies is completely lacking.

Pune is a prominent information technology (IT) hub in India, where snacking has become a customary practice among IT professionals. This study aims to determine the pattern and factors associated with snacking among IT professionals from various multinational corporations (MNCs) in Pune, Maharashtra, India.

This cross-sectional study considered 404 IT professionals aged 21 to 50 years. A convenient sampling method was adopted to administer a validated questionnaire. Information on snacking patterns and factors associated with snacking were recorded. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data with p = 0.05. The participation was voluntary, and confidentiality was ensured.

The mean age of the participants was 31 ± 7.9 years. Almost half (51.5%) of the participants engaged in daily snacking. The sociodemographic factors such as younger age (0.000), marital status (p = 0.001), salary package (p = 0.006), living situation (p = 0.05), designation (p = 0.042) and work experience (p = 0.001) significantly related with the unhealthy snacking pattern scores. Daily snacking was significantly associated with hunger (p = 0.001), stress (p = 0.001), weight (p = 0.000), peer influence (p = 0.041) and taste (p = 0.001). Hunger, stress, taste, peer influence, boredom and weight were significantly (p = 0.05) associated with unhealthy snacking patterns.

The mean age of the participants was 31 ± 7.9 years. Almost half (51.5%) of the participants engaged in daily snacking. The sociodemographic factors such as younger age (0.000), marital status (p = 0.001), salary package (p = 0.006), living situation (p = 0.05), designation (p = 0.042) and work experience (p = 0.001) significantly related with the unhealthy snacking pattern scores. Daily snacking was significantly associated with hunger (p = 0.001), stress (p = 0.001), weight (p = 0.000), peer influence (p = 0.041) and taste (p = 0.001). Overall, hunger, stress, taste, peer influence, boredom and weight were significantly (p = 0.05) associated with unhealthy snacking patterns such as snacking in between, prioritizing taste over nutrition, exclusion of fruits and vegetables in snacks, lack of control over snacking and snacking habit.

This study uniquely identifies the snacking pattern of IT professionals from Pune, India, which primarily includes unhealthy snacking. Various socio-demographic and other factors such as hunger, taste, stress, boredom, convenience, weight and peer influence, were associated with unhealthy snacking. Understanding the snacking pattern and its determinants can help create nutrition interventions to promote healthy snacking and decrease the risk of noncommunicable diseases in IT professionals.

Children’s sensory involvement refers to the degree to which children engage their senses, such as sight, touch, taste, smell and hearing, in their interactions with the environment. In the context of parents' purchase decisions, children’s sensory involvement pertains to how children's sensory involvement influences the purchasing decisions made by their parents. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of children's sensory involvement on parents’ purchase decisions considering the mediating role of the parent’s attitude.

In this study, a structured questionnaire survey was conducted with parents of children aged 7–12 in Isfahan, Iran. The sample consisted of 210 parents, aimed at elucidating the relationship between variables. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to analyze the relationship between variables.

Results showed a significant relationship between children’s sensory involvement and parents’ purchase decisions, children’s sensory involvement and parents’ attitudes and parents’ attitudes and purchase decisions. It was concluded that children’s sensory involvement could indirectly influence the parents’ purchase decisions considering the mediating role of parents' attitudes.

In today's business landscape, it is imperative for organizations to discern the multitude of factors influencing consumers' purchasing decisions. Among these, family dynamics play a substantial role, with children often exerting a strong influence on their parents' buying choices. Despite the acknowledged importance of this dynamic in existing literature, the specific impact of children's sensory involvement on parental purchasing decisions remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this paper aims to fill this gap in the literature by shedding light on the role of children's sensory involvement in shaping parental buying behaviors.

Freezing extends the shelf life of food. Home freezing of fresh foods and the purchase of frozen foods have been advocated as approaches to reduce food waste in US households. This paper discusses how commonly US households apply these practices, quantifies frozen food waste and relates these practices to food waste.

We add questions to the summer 2022 wave of the US Household Food Waste Tracking Survey. The novel survey data provide important baseline information and household behaviours, such as food waste, home freezing of fresh food and the purchase of frozen foods. We analyse the association among these behaviours from more than 1,000 US households.

We find that US household wastes about 26 g per person per week of food that was once frozen, which is about 6% of all household food waste. The finding indicates that a small portion of food waste in US households comes from frozen food. Vegetables and meats are the most commonly discarded frozen foods. Among the frozen items reported as discarded, about 30% were purchased as frozen rather than purchased fresh and then frozen at home by the consumer and about 30% more were reported as discarded from the refrigerator rather than directly from the freezer. The findings are important for informing strategies to reduce household food waste.

While the data provide important baseline information and correlate the use of freezing with lower waste levels, more work is needed to understand if interventions encouraging frozen food purchase or home freezing would reduce household food waste.

We provide unique, detailed information about the quantity of frozen food waste in US households and the relationships between consumer food waste and the practices of frozen food purchasing and home freezing.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to identify the strategic key components of the Woolah tea brand through the business model canvas framework, to evaluate the major challenges faced by different stakeholders, to analyse the potential effects of bagless tea dip innovation and understand the principles of design thinking and its application in developing innovative solutions, to assess the strategic framework of Woolah tea brand to scale up its business and operations and to align the Woolah tea brand’s sustainability practices with a triple bottom line approach and contribution to UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Upamanyu Borkakoty and Anshuman Bharali, the founder duo of Woolah tea, began their entrepreneurial journey on a noble note. They recognised that plastic tea bags, which customers worldwide consume, create harmful health effects in the form of microplastic. They aimed to provide an authentic and sustainable tea experience while making it microplastic-free. When the world is heading towards securing a sustainable future, they envisioned adding a feather to it by proposing their Truedips. The USP of their product is Truedips – a tea ball they prepare by compressing one bud and two premier leaves. The founders were convinced that their innovative idea of tea consumption would provide customers with an authentic and exhilarating experience. However, there were dilemmas and roadblocks. They faced roadblocks related to the farmer’s traditional approach to growing tea, untrained tea growers, lack of financial assistance and customer readiness for a bagless tea experience. The dilemmas they faced related to their customer acceptance of their idea and the price affordability of the product. The big question hovering around was the customer’s feedback and acceptance of the product.

This case study suits graduate and postgraduate business administration students and other management programmes. The case study can also be used for business, marketing, design thinking, innovation and and social entrepreneurship courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

This study aims to investigate the impact of an emotional support training program on weight self-stigma and body image among women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

A randomized controlled trial was conducted with 200 women diagnosed with PCOS employing a pretest-posttest design. The experimental group, consisting of 100 women, participated in an emotional support training program and received an informational booklet, while the control group (100 women) received only the booklet. Pre- and post-intervention assessments were conducted using weight self-esteem and body shape questionnaires.

The results demonstrated a statistically significant difference in weight self-stigma and body shape scores between the experimental and control groups following the intervention. For both the immediate post-intervention test [t(198) = 31.1, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 31.1, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 31.1, p = 0.01] and [t(198) = 60.7, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 60.7, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 60.7, p =0.01], as well as the delayed post-intervention test [t(198) = 32.3, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 32.3, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 32.3, p = 0.01] and [t(198) = 70.9, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 70.9, p = 0.01] [t(198) = 70.9, p = 0.01], the experimental group exhibited lower mean scores. Specifically, the experimental group scored 20.3 ± 9.2 for immediate and 20.4 ± 9.3 for delayed assessments on weight self-stigma, and 101.2 ± 7.2 for immediate and 86.5 ± 7.6 for delayed assessments on body shape. In contrast, the control group scored 159.8 ± 6.3 for immediate and 157.6 ± 6.4 for delayed assessments, respectively.

Nurses should be aware of the adverse effects of PCOS and associated obesity on weight self-stigma and body image. They are encouraged to develop targeted emotional support training programs specifically designed to address weight self-stigma and body image concerns in women with PCOS.

This study confirms the effectiveness of an emotional support training program in mitigating the negative effects of weight-related stigma and improving body image perception.

The purpose of this study is to test whether presenting organizational change in a way that promotes the status quo will result in increased employee support for the change.

Using quantitative methodology, categorical data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey in which 222 adult respondents participated. The items used vignette-based question blocks with fixed response options. Item responses were analyzed using an exact binomial test – focusing on the relationship between status quo bias and other responses to change communications.

The findings demonstrated that status quo bias has an association with employee sensemaking. These results suggest that status quo bias can be utilized by organizational leaders and change practitioners to endorse change efforts. Furthermore, it not only appears that promoting what is staying the same but also including a small reason to justify the change can bring additional advantage. Advertising a vision of radical transformation is problematic as it may actually heighten employee resistance.

This research explores and presents a convergence between organizational change management and behavioral economics – specifically, status quo bias. No other comparable study collecting data across a number of organizational change themes and critiquing existing change management models could be found during the preparation of this research effort.

The purpose of this empirical study was to test whether presenting organizational change in a way that enhances employee self-worth will result in increased employee support for the identified change. In doing so, we developed a new measure, which includes a novel baseline element.

Items were developed, and then categorical validation data were collected through an online cross-sectional survey in which 222 respondents (adults over 18 years of age, and at least 6 months tenure) participated.

Within the items, we framed the activation of self-worth bias as requests for employee comments regarding change efforts. Results indicate there is a difference between asking for employee comment on change efforts, compared to asking for employee comment on change efforts and also providing feedback considerate of that input.

This study explores and presents a convergence between behavioral economics, management and applied psychology research – using both self-worth bias, and organizational change management communications; no other such comparable study or analysis could be found during the preparation of this research effort. Furthermore, a novel measure and innovative method is presented for developing and measuring self-worth bias during organizational change management communications.

This chapter introduces EmoGenPath, an innovative machine learning-based model designed to deliver adaptive therapy to children and youth affected by the trauma of armed conflict. The model synthesizes advanced artificial intelligence (AI) techniques, including convolutional neural networks for emotion recognition and an advantage-actor critic-trained reinforcement learning model for therapeutic content tailoring toward goal achievement, to provide a dynamic and personalized therapeutic experience. Recognizing the importance of empathetic and culturally sensitive interventions, EmoGenPath offers a unique approach by prioritizing the emotional states and individual narratives of its users. In regions where conflict has impeded traditional mental health services, this model aims to bridge the gap, facilitating resilience and recovery through a virtual therapeutic environment that can be accessed via low-bandwidth internet connections, ensuring broader reach and impact. This chapter emphasizes the ethical implementation of AI in sensitive settings. It discusses the imperative of privacy, security, and inclusive design, ensuring that the model is responsive to diverse emotional expressions across different ethnicities and backgrounds. Additionally, it outlines the potential of such a model to scale therapeutic resources effectively, delivering tailored interventions with a compassionate approach.