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This case requires a decision on the possible consolidation of three Midwest business-travel centers. Significant cost savings in service representatives can be achieved by combining the front-end (booking) operations. The sensitivity of cost to service-productivity levels and customer waiting time is also explored. This case and related materials can be used as part of the Workforce Planning Module.

The aim of this paper is twofold: to explore the significance and implications of the rise of AI technology for the field of tertiary education in general and, in particular, to answer the question of whether teachers can be replaced by intelligent AI systems such as androids, what that requires in terms of human capabilities and what that might mean for teaching and learning in higher education.

Given the interdisciplinary nature of this conceptual paper, a literature review serves as a methodological tool to access data pertaining to the research question posed in the paper.

This exploratory paper gathers a range of evidence from the philosophy of mind (the mind-body problem), Kahneman’s (2011) System 1 and System 2 models of the mind, Gödel’s (1951) Two Incompleteness Theorems, Polanyi’s (1958, 1966) theory of tacit knowing and Searle’s (1980) Chinese Room thought experiment to the effect that no AI system can ever fully replace a human being because no machine can replicate the human mind and its capacity for intelligence, consciousness and highly developed social skills such as empathy and cooperation.

AI is rising, but there are inherent limits to what machines can achieve when compared to human capabilities. An android can at most attain “weak AI”, that is, it can be smart but lack awareness or empathy. Therefore, an analysis of good teaching at the tertiary level shows that learning, knowledge and understanding go far beyond any quantitative processing that an AI machine does so well, helping us to appreciate the qualitative dimension of education and knowledge acquisition. ChatGPT is robotic, being AI-generated, but human beings thrive on the human-to-human interface – that is, human relationships and meaningful connections – and that is where the true qualitative value of educational attainment will be gauged.

This paper has provided evidence that human beings are irreplaceable due to our unique strengths as meaning-makers and relationship-builders, our capacity for morality and empathy, our creativity, our expertise and adaptability and our capacity to build unity and cooperate in building social structures and civilization for the benefit of all. Furthermore, as society is radically automated, the purpose of human life and its reevaluation will also come into question. For instance, as more and more occupations are replaced by ChatGPT services, more and more people will be freed up to do other things with their time, such as caring for relatives, undertaking creative projects, studying further and having children.

The investigation of the scope and limitations of AI is significant for two reasons. First, the question of the nature and functions of a mind becomes critical to the possibility of replication because if the human mind is like a super-sophisticated computer, then the relationship between a brain and mind is similar (if not identical) to the relationship between a computer as machine hardware and its programme or software (Dreyfus, 1979). [ ] If so, it should be theoretically possible to understand its mechanism and reproduce it, and then it is just a matter of time before AI research and development can replicate the human mind and eventually replace a human teacher, especially if an AI machine can teach just as intelligently yet more efficiently and economically. But if AI has inherent limitations that preclude the possibility of ever having a human-like mind and thought processes, then our investigation can at least clarify in what ways AI/AGI – such as ChatGPT – could support teaching and learning at universities.

States that the mid‐Kent area of Kent Social Services has been engaged in a programme of organization development for the last three years. The objective of this initiative has been to provide high quality services to the vulnerable people who need them. There was early recognition that the organization needed to be more responsive to those who used its services, but also to its staff. Explains how agreement was reached on the content of a learning organization policy. Sets out how, by asking two key questions of staff and listening and responding to their replies, it was possible to introduce a programme of personal development and performance management, along with an assessment programme which is helping to develop the behaviour of managers and supervisors. Gives practical examples of the opportunities created by staff to share their learning, demonstrate initiative, effect change and enjoy recognition for their efforts.

The information which has hitherto appeared in the daily press as to the evidence laid before the Departmental Committee which is inquiring into the use of preservatives and colouring matters can hardly have afforded pleasant reading to the apologists for the drugging of foods. It is plainly the intention of the Committee to make a thorough investigation of the whole subject, and the main conclusions which, in the result, must bo forced upon unbiassed persons by an investigation of this character will be tolerably obvious to those who have given serious attention to the subject. At a later stage of the inquiry we shall publish a full account of the evidence submitted and of the Committee's proceedings. At present we may observe that the facts which have been brought forward fully confirm the statements made from time to time upon these matters in the BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL, and amply justify the attitude which we have adopted on the whole question. Representatives of various trade interests have given evidence which has served to show the extent to which the practices now being inquired into are followed. Strong medical evidence, as to the dangers which must attach to the promiscuous and unacknowledged drugging of the public by more or less ignorant persons, has been given; and some medical evidence of that apologetic order to which the public have of late become accustomed, and which we, at any rate, regard as particularly feeble, has also been put forward. Much more will no doubt be said, but those who have borne the heat and burden of the day in forcing these matters upon the attention of the Legislature and of the public can view with satisfaction the result already attained. Full and free investigation must produce its educational effect ; and whatever legal machinery may be devised to put some kind of check upon these most dangerous forms of adulteration, the demand of the public will be for undrugged food, and for a guarantee of sufficient authority to ensure that the demand is met.

THE training model to be discussed is based on an integrated set of manual and mechanised indexing systems, all handling the same body of information from a limited subject field. By extending the scope of the model's operations to include prior and subsequent activities like the selection and abstracting of the documents to be indexed, and the preparation and dissemination of material through the use of the indexes, the model may be used for a wide range of documentation training, principally at three levels: demonstration by the lecturer to the students; use by the students in the retrieval and dissemination of information; and development by the students through the selection and abstracting of documents, the indexing and storage of information and ultimately the use of feedback from the dissemination stage to improve the systems.

In the past, social exchange based on reciprocity has been important to the ways in which people in rural areas have made their living. Our study shows that contemporary reciprocal labor exchanges continue to be integral to the ways in which households sustain themselves economically and socially. However, unlike the relations of reciprocity of the past, which were based upon accomplishing harvest work among neighboring dairy farms, the current patterns of exchange are situational and contingent, and often embedded in kin and other social networks, rather than immediate neighbors. Understanding reciprocity reveals a fundamental element in the livelihood strategies of low‐income, land‐based, rural people.

This project represents a rarity among the production of specialised databases: one intended to give detailed access to a small area of imaginative, rather than scientific, technical or commercial literature. It is funded for an initial nine month period (April 1987‐January 1988) by the Welsh Arts Council and Yr Academi Gymreig. By the end of the first phase, the database will hold about 2,500 records of publications by and about 24 prominent, modern Anglo‐Welsh authors. Work on the project is being carried out at the College of Librarianship Wales (CLW). The database is designed to meet two main requirements:

Federal judges can execute at will—execute U.S. corporations, that is. Buried in the 1991 sentencing‐guidelines is a clause that gives courts the power to put any business out of business—permanently.

Upon completion of the analysis of the case, the students will be able to distinguish between a family business and a non-family business, evaluate the professionalization strategies used by Jeff Hamilton and categorize the type of family business that Jeff Hamilton is so far using the model of professionalization developed by Dekker et al. (2013). The model classifies family firms into four types according to their level of professionalization: autocracy, domestic configuration, administrative hybrid and a clench hybrid.

The case highlights how Jeff Hamilton, a family business that began in Kenya and has grown regionally in East Africa, has professionalized its operations and, by so doing, facilitated its growth. The family business is run by Major Boke and his wife Lucy Boke and was ranked number 31 in the 2019 top 100 SME survey conducted yearly by KPMG in collaboration with Nation media group – a Kenyan media company. The dilemma revolves around decision-making in the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, where structures put in place to professionalize the business facilitated the decision-making.

The case can be taught to undergraduate and graduate-level entrepreneurship and family business courses. It can also be taught to executive education short courses on family business and entrepreneurship.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Data is gathered from published sources, informal chats with umbrella buyers and sellers in Alleppey and social media posts.

In Kerala, where monsoons dominate life, umbrellas are more than just a rainy-day essential – they are cultural icons. Enter the fierce, yet friendly rivalry between Popy’s and John’s Umbrella Marts (small and medium enterprises), two homegrown brands that captivated the state for nearly three decades. What began as a simple necessity has turned into an innovation race, with quirky designs such as umbrellas with fans, GPS trackers and even selfie sticks. Behind this playful competition lies a story of family ties, smart marketing and competitive economics. It is only in Kerala that umbrellas transitioned from a commodity to a product. Cousins-turned-business-competitors Joseph and Davis Thayyil have transformed the humble umbrella into a symbol of identity and nostalgia for Malayalis. Their creative strategies not only captured markets but also redefined what an umbrella could be. How Popy’s and John’s umbrellas took advantage of Kerala’s unique monsoon season to drive product differentiation and establish themselves as household names for the last thirty years is a case to be explored.This above is presented as a case that draws data from published sources as well as from Kerala markets using unobtrusive methods.

This case is suited for MBA students specializing in marketing or organization theory and can be adapted for introductory marketing courses (BBA/MBA) focusing on regional branding and marketing mix.