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Although several papers have been published over the past decade on various aspects of digital entrepreneurship, nothing has hitherto been written on the theme of digital entrepreneurship in the metaverse. This paper, therefore, aims to explore the key challenges of digital entrepreneurship in the metaverse, with a view to developing a model to address these challenges.

The Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory approach was adopted in this study to rank the selected challenges in order of importance and establish a cause-and-effect relationship between them. The data were gathered from 10 experts from Saudi Arabia who deploy augmented reality, virtual reality and other immersive technologies in the course of their business.

Three challenges, namely, “Market fragmentation (C3)”, “Technical complexity (C1)” and “Monetisation and revenue models (C5)” were highlighted in the findings as the main factors of influence in the Cause group, whereas the remaining five challenges, “Infrastructure and connectivity (C2)”, “Social and ethical considerations (C8)”, “User adoption and engagement (C6)”, “Privacy and security (C7)” and “Intellectual property protection (C4)”, were categorised in the Effect group, being significantly influenced by the challenges in the Cause group.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the challenges of metaverse-enabled digital entrepreneurship and classify the identified challenges into groups of Cause and Effect.

Food waste constitutes a critical global dilemma, presenting substantial environmental, economic and social challenges, with around one-third of all food intended for human use being discarded annually. This waste depletes essential resources, increases greenhouse gas emissions and intensifies food poverty. Comprehending the factors contributing to food waste is crucial for formulating effective methods to alleviate this issue.

The responses have been collected from Indian households using longitudinal techniques. In Study 1, 481 respondents responded to the questions, and in Study 2, finally, 453 respondents responded.

This study examines the relationship between attitudes about food waste, intents to mitigate waste and several influencing factors like price sensitivity, altruistic behavior, awareness of food waste and societal norms.

The study seeks to elucidate consumer behavior by analyzing these relationships and identify practical interventions that can encourage a more sustainable food consumption approach, thereby aiding in the reduction of food waste and the promotion of responsible consumption practices.

The study aimed to determine the static return connectedness between Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) equity markets and crypto assets.

The study employs the time-varying parameter vector autoregression (TVP-VAR) method to examine the static and dynamic connectedness between crypto assets and the BRICS stock market. The study sample size was segmented into full sample, pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 for in-depth analysis.

Empirical findings pointed out the significant rise in the total connectedness between both markets in the pre-COVID-19 period. Our result also exhibits a lower level of connectedness during the post-COVID-19 period. During the full sample period, it was found that cryptocurrencies and Indian, Chinese and South African stock markets remained key return transmitters, while Russian and Brazilian stock markets were seen as recipients. Moreover, during the pre-COVID period, cryptocurrencies played the role of return transmitter while the stock markets in BRICS remained recipients of return spillover.

This study contains practical insights for investors and portfolio managers in diversifying their portfolios considering the aforementioned connectivity of both markets, especially during periods of instability.

The study highlighted the importance of the TVP-VAR method in analyzing the static and dynamic connectedness of returns between cryptocurrencies and BRICS stock markets in different periods, including pre- and post-COVID-19. It further pragmatized the dynamic roles of cryptocurrencies as transmitters of returns and the BRICS stock markets as receivers where investors and policymakers can navigate market uncertainties.

The learning outcomes are as follows: develop an understanding of challenges faced by organizations regarding strategic planning; examine the strategies formulated by organizations that can enable wider adoption of a service offering; analyse service quality gaps that will provide new insights; and evaluate the strategic choices that would impact the growth of the organization.

Peter Bushwash International (PBI) was an organization that managed 60 tennis centres in 25 countries. With a staff of 100 tennis coaches worldwide, over 3 million students participated in PBI’s tennis programs. Cesar Morales was appointed the Technical Director on a two-year contract for the PBI’s new tennis centre in Bangalore (India). Morales had to decide if a decentralized strategy (hub-and-spoke model) would create broader growth for the PBI tennis program instead of operating as a premium hub with fewer students.

The case was written for organizational strategy, marketing and service quality courses for undergraduate business students (BBA).

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 7: Management Science.

The present study uses a meta-analysis technique to explore the association between corporate governance and dividend policy. The extant literature delivers inconclusive findings on the relationship between corporate governance and dividend policy. Therefore, this study aims to resolve the issues and deliver comprehensive results.

The study involves a meta-analysis of 53 research studies using preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses and population, intervention, comparison, outcome and study design approaches. The paper examines the impact of moderators: corporate governance structure (Anglo-American, communitarian or emerging system) and dividend distribution metrics (dividend over net income, dividend over total assets and absolute amount of dividend/dividend per share). The study involves subgroup analysis and meta-regression analysis to examine the impact of moderators.

The study’s results specify that board size and percentage of female directors significantly impact the dividend decisions of the company. In addition, subgroup analysis and meta-regression results demonstrate that dividend measurement proxy moderates the association between corporate governance and dividend policy.

Based on the existing literature surveyed, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is the first to conduct a meta-analysis on the relationship between corporate governance and dividend policy. This paper is unique and the first one of its kind (to the best of the authors’ knowledge) to cover all these moderating variables under an umbrella and consolidate the results to understand the existing knowledge and direct future research in the area of corporate governance and dividend decisions.

This study aims to examine whether interest rate regulations affect stock returns in a developing market.

This study analyses the impact of interest rate regulation on Kenyan banks using the event methodology and a difference-in-difference approach. It examines the market reaction and bank valuation effects from 2004 to 2022, focusing on the rate cap’s introduction in August 2016 and its repeal in November 2019. Cumulative abnormal returns are calculated for four sub-periods within a five-day window around these events using data from 11 banks and 300 days.

Contrary to expectations, this study finds that the announcement of interest rate controls results in negative and statistically significant cumulative abnormal returns. However, the difference-in-differences analysis shows that these regulatory changes had an insignificant long-term impact on market valuations beyond the event period.

This study shows how interest rate regulations affect stock returns, guiding investors in managing wealth and market efficiency in developing economies.

This study investigates market reactions and bank valuations in response to interest rate regulations within a developing economy. It focuses on the introduction of rate caps, their subsequent repeals and a shift to risk-based lending. Using a combination of event study methodology and difference-in-difference analysis offers a novel methodological contribution compared to prior research.

This study investigates public perceptions of food safety in the Czech Republic, particularly focusing on the role of disinformation and trust in regulatory frameworks.

The research, based on a nationwide survey of 2,729 respondents, explores how different information sources, including search engines, social networks and traditional media, influence trust in food safety. Quota sampling was used to ensure demographic representation.

Logistic regression analysis highlights that age, gender, education level and exposure to disinformation significantly affect perceptions of health risks from simplified food imports. Older individuals, women and those with lower education are more likely to view these imports as a health threat, while frequent internet users show less concern. The findings highlight the critical impact of misinformation and disinformation on public opinion, emphasizing the need for enhanced media literacy and targeted public health communication.

The country governments should ensure the consistency and quality of the food safety programmes and transparency in their communications to strengthen public confidence. Hence, a systematic investigation and review of the food safety systems and updating the regulatory frameworks are necessary in order to ensure higher quality and safety of food.

The research results represent a valuable platform for regulatory authorities as well as for the development of concepts of media and scientific literacy.

The study provides insights for policymakers on improving food safety communication in a post-communist context, contributing to broader discussions on combating misinformation in Europe.

Vegan cosmetics are becoming popular among consumers as they are made without animal ingredients. This study aims to analyse the impact of religious beliefs and environmental concerns on consumer–brand relationships using the stimulus-organism-response theory in the vegan cosmetics category.

The primary data has been collected from 281 millennial respondents. The authors used Smart PLS (v.4.0.9.5) to analyse the data and test the proposed hypotheses.

The study findings suggest that Environmental concerns significantly impact attitudes compared to religious beliefs. The mediating role of attitude towards vegan cosmetics between religious beliefs, brand sacredness and mindful consumption was established. It may be because of the inter-variable relationship of religious beliefs-attitude-brand sacredness on the premise of S-O-R.

This revelation contributes significantly to the academic discourse on mindful consumption and holds pragmatic implications for businesses and policymakers aiming to effectively promote environmentally responsible choices among consumers. The findings enrich the past literature on vegan cosmetics, demonstrating that trusting religious belief is a salient determinant of consumers’ attitudes towards vegan cosmetics and mindful consumption. The findings also supported the applicability of stimulus-organism-response (SOR) in the domain of mindful consumption and consumer–brand relationships in the context of emerging markets.

This paper aims to develop carbon dots using whey as a valuable resource and to create a sustainable and biocompatible nanomaterial with potential applications in a variety of fields owing to its unique optical properties and antimicrobial capabilities, which are frequently used as sensing agents for detecting specific molecules in food, environmental and biomedical applications. Versatility of carbon dots (CDs) allows the utilization of these dots for a wide range of applications in areas such as food safety, antibacterial properties, production of composite polymers for food packaging, treatment of different diseases and detection of food-borne pathogens. Owing to their high brightness, low toxicity and excellent biocompatibility, CDs have attracted significant interest in food safety. This is also a cutting-edge technology that bids new ideas for treating various diseases.

Literature review related to using whey as the carbon source for synthesis of CDs was collected and studied from different sources like Google Scholar, Research Gate, online journals available at library of Banaras Hindu University, Web of Science and Scopus. A database of more than 100 scientific sources from different sources was made as per the headings and sub headings of the paper.

Whey generated as a by-product from the cheese industry contained a good amount of carbon and nitrogen that can be used for the fabrication of CDs. CDs produced using whey exhibited great photostability, high sensitivity and outstanding biocompatibility and also showed that Fe3+ ions could be quickly, sensitively and extremely selectively detected in an aqueous solution of CDs, with a revealing limit of 0.409 µM in the linear range of 0–180 µM. CDs are a promising area of study to a key component of next-generation multifunctional nanomaterials, promoting creativity, sustainability and useful solutions across a variety of industries, including health care and energy. The susceptibility of S. typhimurium (Gram-negative) was found to be higher than that of L. monocytogenes (Gram-positive) bacteria with MIC and MBC of 500  and 1000 µL/mL, respectively.

Whey-derived CDs are an environmentally beneficial substitute for conventional additives and their biocompatibility guarantees that they adhere to food safety regulations. In light of the future, the green volarization of dairy waste for the synthesis of CDs is consistent with the increasing worldwide focus on environmental responsibility and sustainability.

This study aims to propose guidelines for developing circular products based on waste recovery that are aligned with sustainable production and consumption.

A systematic literature review and case studies on circular product development were conducted. In total, 15 companies with products based on waste recovery and aligned with sustainable production and consumption goal were studied.

The results show the decisions and strategies applied at each stage of the new product development process, including the design for recycling, the use of waste as a raw material for products and the concern for reducing pollution and recovering end-of-life products.

The cases studied meet the goals of efficient use of natural resources and waste reduction by preventing, reducing, recycling and reusing waste. For practitioners, a set of guidelines is proposed to help companies develop circular products based on waste recovery.

Previous studies have not evaluated the new product development process and circularity from the institutional theory and waste valorization perspectives.