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The purpose of this paper is to contribute an international perspective to corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability (Sus) discussions by examining CSR/Sus reporting practices of the 200 largest state-owned and private companies in India.

The authors conduct a case study at the Danish carpet manufacturer EGE. The authors interpret the case from the perspective of pragmatic constructivism, which focusses on the integration of four dimensions: facts, possibilities, values, and communication.

The analyses showed that while most companies share CSR/Sus information through their websites they associate different levels of importance to this communication. However, the study found that overall the CSR/Sus climate in India is showing signs of positive reform.

Being among the first, this study provides a framework for future studies to continue exploring CSR/Sus context in India, a country that despite its growing importance and influence has been largely ignored in the CSR/Sus literature.

The study outlines the current CSR/Sus reporting trends and best practices in India that can help managers and organizations identify issues and topics that they could channel their resources and efforts into to maximize returns and benefits in this area.

This study provides insights into how corporations in an emerging and complex economy such as India are assuming roles of corporate citizens and are actively using web-based communication to engage and interact with stakeholders on issues that are of general concern.

The value of this study is in providing empirical insights into the strategies that Indian companies use to report on their CSR/Sus policies and commitments. The study is among the first to examine CSR in India from a sustainability perspective, and evaluate compliance with global reporting standards among top corporations.

The purpose of this paper is to stir the deliberation on understanding grassroots innovation (GI) phenomenon through the lived experience approach and attempt to address the existing void in current literature.

This paper outlines a human science research approach for studying the subjective reality embedded in the GI phenomenon. Such an approach provides a better and more bottom-up understanding of the underlying individual and interpersonal dynamics shaping the GI.

This study provides a richer understanding of the underlying individual and interpersonal dynamics shaping the GI phenomena. This may serve as an aid for future research on scaling, managing GI and developing entrepreneurial capabilities of the grassroots innovators (GIrs). The study also confirms that no single unilateral theory can fully explain the lived experiences of the GIrs at the ideation, opportunity recognition, prototyping and scaling stage of GI. Rather, it is quintessential to have an integrated holistic perspective for understanding GI. This study also highlights the importance of hermeneutic phenomenology in pro-poor innovation research and practice in the near future.

This paper’s main limitation is whether the findings can be generalized in a wider context. The authors acknowledge this limitation. However, the purpose of this study is not to generalize the findings but rather provide a contextual understanding of what constitutes the lived experiences of GI. The authors recommend that a future study covering greater number of GIrs across India be undertaken to gain a better appreciation of the bigger picture.

Systematic approaches for tapping into GI are conspicuously non-existent and hence a contextual understanding through the proposed holistic lens will assist in thriving of the GI phenomena in South Asian countries such as India.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the relation among the various enablers of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to know their degree of dependence and driving power. As there has been non-agreement among the various stakeholders regarding the benefits of sustainability brought about by CDM, this paper explores the viability of sustainable development in the Indian scenario.

This paper discusses a model to address the issues of sustainable development in the context of CDM. An interpretive structural model (ISM) has been used to model the various parameters of sustainable development in the Indian context. The relevant parameters have been considered as per the existing literature review.

The result shows that sustainable development is achievable if the nation emphasizes on strategic goals and mission because sustainable development is driven by the strategic parameters such as “employment creation” and “long-term economic goals”.

The ISM model developed is not statistically validated, therefore structural equation modeling (SEM), also commonly known as the linear structural relationship approach, may be used to test the validity of such a hypothetical model.

The government of India has to emphasize on education and inclusive employment to improve the quality of life, which would enable the sustainable development to be achieved.

This paper describes one of the few empirical studies conducted in India.

This case study attempts to sensitize the impact of restructuring on the organization’s employer brand. The students shall learn to appreciate the criticality of maintaining a balance between being an employee-centric organization and building a sustainable business model, to analyze the alternative people management strategies in emerging start-ups.

This case study illustrates the innovative human resource (HR) policies adopted by the start-up Meesho. Meesho was started as “Fashnear” by two Indian Institute of Technology graduates Sanjeev Barnwal and Vidit Aatrey in the year 2015, with the headquarters located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. It was a social commerce platform wherein the local apparel sellers or manufacturers could register themselves on the app and sell their products online to nearby consumers and the product would be delivered to their homes. Later, it was renamed Meesho (Meri E-Shop) with an improved business model. The innovative people-centric policies got Meesho recognition as one of the most employee-friendly start-ups and an innovative employer. However, later as part of the restructuring exercise, it had to lay off employees, which had a counter impact on its reputation and image as a desirable employer. This case study captures the dilemma faced by start-ups like Meesho who were in the process of sustaining their growth and optimizing their workforce and, at the same time, have to manage their employer brand in the process.

This case study can be used at the postgraduate level of management and in executive management programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS6: Human resource management.

Growing food insecurity is a leading cause of fatalities, particularly in developing nations like Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia. However, the rising energy consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are mostly associated with food production. Balancing the trade-offs between energy intensity and food security remains a top priority for environmentalists. Despite the critical role of the environment in food security, there is a scarcity of substantial studies that explore the statistical connections among food security, CO2 emissions, energy intensity, foreign direct investment (FDI) and per capita income. Therefore, this study aims to provide more precise and consistent estimates of per capita CO2 emissions by considering the interplay of food security and energy intensity within the context of emerging economies.

To examine the long-term relationships between CO2 emissions, food security, energy efficiency, FDI and economic development in emerging economies, this study employs correlated panel-corrected standard error, regression with Newey–West standard error and regression with Driscoll–Kraay standard error models (XTSCC). The analysis utilizes data spanning from 1980 to 2018 and encompasses 32 emerging economies.

The study reveals that increasing food security in a developing economy has a substantial positive impact on both CO2 emissions and energy intensity. Each model, on average, demonstrates that a 1 percent improvement in food security results in a 32% increase in CO2 levels. Moreover, the data align with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory, as it indicates a positive correlation between gross domestic product (GDP) in developing nations and CO2 emissions. Finally, all experiments consistently demonstrate a robust correlation between the Food Security Index (FSI), energy intensity level (EIL) and exchange rate (EXR) in developing markets and CO2 emissions. This suggests that these factors significantly contribute to environmental performance in these countries.

This study introduces novelty by employing diverse techniques to uncover the mixed findings regarding the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic expansion. Additionally, it integrates energy intensity and food security into a new model. Moreover, the study contributes to the literature by advocating for a sustainable development goal (SDG)-oriented policy framework that considers all variables influencing economic growth.

The learning outcomes of this case study are as follows: to understand the concept of social commerce and how it is different from e-commerce business, to discuss the unique features of Meesho’s social commerce model, to understand concepts of entrepreneurship (e.g. addressing the gap through business, pivoting), to understand the dynamics of online grocery market and e-commerce market and to apply business strategy concepts to make recommendations.

This case study presents Meesho, an organization in social commerce in India. Meesho was founded by Indian Institute of Technology graduates Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal in the year 2015 to help the small business owners with online selling. It was initially launched as an app that connected local retailers to the customers. Owing to low customer interest and low profit margins, they pivoted the business to a reseller app that facilitated the individuals and small retailers to resell the wholesalers’ products (unbranded and long-tail products) to the customers on social media channels. However, the tough competition from other start-ups in social commerce and retail giants such as Amazon and Flipkart who targeted the same customers impacted their growth. After receiving a funding of US$300m, the founders were considering if they should enter the e-commerce market and directly compete with giants such as Amazon and Flipkart or extend the product line to the online groceries market and compete with dominant players such as BigBasket and Blinkit. Through this case study, the students could be provided an opportunity to evaluate a situation, apply the strategic management concepts and make a recommendation on the strategic plan.

The case study can be taught in the business and strategy courses at the graduate and postgraduate levels in business schools. It is also suitable for the entrepreneurship course with focus on e-commerce start-up and sustainability, which is also taught at the MBA level. This case study can also be used in executive development programs for abovementioned courses.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.