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Autonomous floor-cleaning robots (AFCRs) have become increasingly popular due to their ability to provide efficient and effective cleaning without the need for human intervention. These robots can perform various cleaning tasks, such as vacuum cleaning, mopping, scrubbing or sweeping, in domestic or industrial setups. As the use of floor-cleaning robots continues to grow, this paper aims to document key technological advancements.

The structure of the present work relies on published research articles excavated from general online research databases such as Google Scholar, Web of Science and Scopus. The authors use a variety of keywords and titles to search for research papers. Finally, 93 research articles are selected for review based on abstracts and key results that match AFCRs.

According to market trends, floor-cleaning robots dominate other cleaning areas. This review mainly focuses on five attributes of floor-cleaning robots: design and development of AFCR, complete coverage path planning, the application of machine learning (ML)/deep learning (DL), optimisation strategies for qualitative output and ethnographic studies. It also consists of discussions based on the results of reported technical works. Hence, AFCRs have dominated the market in the past decade and are likely to be more aggressive in the coming years.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, only a survey article based on US-granted patents published in 2013 constitutes a review work in the research domain on AFCRs. In 2021, another review conducted a survey on the latest technological advancements in window-cleaning robots. It reviewed in detail the locomotion aspects, control mechanisms, adhesion mechanisms, sensors and actuators required for window-cleaning robots. In 2019, a comprehensive review was published on cleaning robots from a control strategy perspective for domestic applications. Therefore, the authors have crafted this review to understand the evolution of floor-cleaning robots in the past decade.

Purpose branding is a concept that has gained momentum in recent years. It is a marketing innovation that has the potential to change why and how companies work. Still, academic research on purpose branding is scarce. This paper aims to increase awareness about purpose branding and showcase how it can be implemented successfully through account of Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL).

The study is based on qualitative research and case analysis of HUL by examining its published reports, its parent company’s trade publications, press articles and relevant studies in indexed journals.

Purpose branding is a marketing innovation that delivers increased value to all stakeholders. The account of HUL reveals that purpose branding reaps economic rewards for the organization.

A study by Havas Media group involving 300,000 customers across 33 countries found that the customers would not care if 74% of brands in the world disappeared. In such a context, purpose branding provides a way to make the brand meaningful and play a worthy role in consumers’ lives. HUL’s brands that used this approach grew by 69% and accounted for 75% of its overall growth, showing how other organizations can imbibe it into their brands.

Despite many trade publications on this trending topic, there is limited academic research on purpose branding. This paper focuses on understanding this concept and demonstrates its successful use by an organization.

The alternative arrangements to traditional employment have become a promising area in the gig economy with the technological advancements dominating every work. The purpose of this paper is to explore the barriers to the entry of gig workers in gig platforms pertaining to the food delivery sector. It proposes a framework using interpretive structural modelling (ISM) for which systematic literature review is done to extract the variables. This analysis helps to examine the relationship between the entry barriers to gig platforms. The study further proposes strategies to reduce the entry barriers in gig sector which would help to enhance productivity and generate employment opportunities.

The study uses interpretive structural model (ISM) to ascertain the relationship between various entry barriers of the gig workers to the gig platforms. It also validates the relationship and understand the reasons of their association along with MICMAC analysis. The model was designed by consulting the gig workers and the experts allied to food delivery gig platforms namely Zomato and Swiggy.

It was observed that high competition, longer login hours and late-night deliveries are the significant barriers with high driving power and low dependence power. Poor payment structures and strict terms and conditions for receiving the incentives are interdependent on each other and have moderate driving and dependence power. The expenses borne by the gig workers, such as Internet, fuel and vehicle maintenance expenses have high dependence power and low driving power. Hence, they are relatively less significant than other barriers.

The study is confined to food delivery sector of India, without considering other important sectors of gig economy for generalizing the framework. As the study is based on forming an ISM framework through literature review only, it does not consider other research methods for analysing the entry barriers to the gig platforms.

The study attempts to dig out the low entry barriers for gig workers in food delivery platforms as there is a dearth of analysis of these factors. This study would weave them using ISM framework to help the gig platforms overcome these barriers at various levels, thus adding to the body of literature.

The study discusses the need for understanding relationship between the entry barriers in the form of ISM model to identify the dependent and driving factors of the same.

After completion of the case study, students will be able to understand general and specific challenges associated with carrying on a family business that faces market challenges including stiff competition from existing and newer players, understand the plywood manufacturing process and its supply chain management, understand the businesses operating in an organized versus the unorganized market, comprehend the marketing strategies adopted and identify a reasonable solution to address the challenges associated with the operations of a business.

This case study focuses on Gattani Industries (a plywood manufacturing company) located in the northeastern region of the Indian state of Assam. Headquartered at Cinnamara industrial zone of Jorhat district, Assam, the company began its operation in 1992 under the leadership of Makhan Gattani (Director). Gattani Industries catered to both residential and commercial demand. Its clients included the departments of central and state governments in India, public sector undertakings and civil contractors. The company had a wider distribution network across the country and adopted the one- and two-level marketing channels to reach consumers. It aimed to sell its products through dealers across the cities in India. However, in December 2019, Gattani faced the challenge of developing a growth strategy to overcome competition and use the upcoming market opportunities for business growth in the diverse and complex environment that existed in the country.

This case study is designed for use in graduate or undergraduate programs. This case study can be used in strategy, supply chain and marketing courses at Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Business Administration levels.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.