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The main aim of this paper is to investigate key challenges that hinder sustainable and resilient green supply chain (GSC) building in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with respect to how they interact after the COVID era.

Using a questionnaire, policymakers and industry managers from SMEs identify the main obstacles that will affect their resilience. These issues are then discussed with 50 experienced professionals from the top management field and further divided into sustainability and gresilience challenges. The Grey-DEMATEL (Grey sets and Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) has been employed to assess the significance of challenges to SMEs' development of green resilience. Overall, the paper aims to build up a novel decision-making technology for the interconnectedness of green and resilience in the post-pandemic supply chain world.

The 12 sustainability and gresilience challenges highlighted by experts in the sector were analyzed. Insufficient government assistance and the handling of resources are the most significant challenges to developing a sustainable and gresilient value chain system, according to the study. The study highlights supply chain restructuring, waste reduction management, shortages of skilled manpower and insufficient knowledge of digitalization as key challenges for SMEs to prioritize.

The outcomes of this research are crucial for SMEs building resilient supply networks through the green concept. Policymakers may utilize the data to pinpoint shortcomings in the supply chain for tactical as well as strategic development and improvement.

When it comes to building green resilience and sustainability in an unpredictable business climate, the outcomes of this research will be significant for SMEs.

The purpose of this paper is to focus, at the country‐specific level, on India's recent outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) surge, and more broadly test the investment development path (IDP) hypothesis for India.

A combination of descriptive and empirical analysis has been used to ascertain the relevance of the IDP theory for India. The theoretical background of this paper is the IDP hypothesis, which states that the net outward investment position (NOIP) of a country depends on its level of development. The hypothesis is tested with a time series data set from 1991 to 2006.

This paper highlights that while India's sharp rise in investments since 1991 has followed the gross domestic product driven development, its NOIP fails to exactly match the stylized IDP model.

This paper undertakes a macro level analysis and has not tested the hypothesis at the sectoral or bilateral levels.

The paper identifies some peculiar features of Indian OFDI that cannot be explained by the IDP model per se. Hence modifications are required for a fuller understanding of India's investment position.

This paper addresses an under researched topic of Indian OFDI.

Although milk is considered a vital source of nutrition for the livelihood, as the beginning of civilization, its antioxidant potential is required to be improved. This paper aims to increase antioxidant activities in milk and soy milk (Glycine max L.) has been found as a good compatible source. Hence, the present work was planned to investigate the impact of blending of different proportions of soy milk with standardized milk (i.e. 50 per cent soy milk with 50 per cent standardized milk, 60 per cent soy milk with 40 per cent standardized milk, 70 per cent soy milk with 30 per cent standardized milk and 100 per cent standardized milk as control sample) on antioxidant properties and sensory attributes of the blends.

Antioxidant properties of the blends were determined in terms of 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, ferric reducing antioxidant power and total phenol content. Sensory evaluation was carried out using a nine-point hedonic scale based on four selected quality attributes (i.e. smell, taste, color and appearance and mouthfeel) and ranked for their quality traits by fuzzy modeling.

A blend containing 70 per cent soy milk with 30 per cent standardized milk showed the highest antioxidant activities as compared to control milk sample (p < 0.05). Blend of 50 per cent soy milk with 50 per cent standardized milk was found most acceptable on the basis of sensory analysis and its antioxidant activities were also appreciable as compared to control milk sample (p < 0.05). Smell, taste, color and appearance and mouthfeel influenced the acceptability of formulated milk samples in decreasing order of significance (p < 0.05).

The present attempt has been made to formulate liquid milk by mixing standardized milk and soy milk, in which enhancement in the antioxidant activities of standardized milk and masking of off-flavor of soy milk is done. It is not done before and it may improve the nutritional and commercial value of the milk. Further, fuzzy modeling used for choosing appropriate blend in terms of sensory scores is also found as a novel approach.

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) is a rich source of nutrients as compared to the major cultivated cereal crops. However, major factors which limit its utilization are the presence of anti-nutritional factors (phytate, tannins and polyphenols) which lower availability of minerals and poor keeping quality because of higher lipase activity. Therefore, this paper aims to focus on the impact of different processing methods on the nutrient composition and anti-nutritional components of pearl millet.

This is a literature review study from 1983 to 2017, focusing on studies related to pearl millet processing and their effectiveness in the enrichment of nutritional value through reduction of anti-nutritional compounds.

From the literature reviewed, pearl millet processing through various methods including milling, malting, fermentation, blanching and acid as well as heat treatments were found to be effective in achieving the higher mineral digestibility, retardation of off flavor, bitterness as well as rancidity problems found during storage of flour.

Through this review paper, possible processing methods and their impact on the nutrient and anti-nutrient profile of pearl millet are discussed after detailed studied of literature from journal articles and thesis.

The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unseen crisis lately, which has put organizational leadership and employee engagement (EE) to test. Resilient leadership (RL) helps an organization survive and keep employees engaged in the risky environment. Similarly, psychological capital (PsyCap) is known to exert an influence on EE, but PsyCap and EE have not been investigated together during the period of crisis. To address this gap, the present study aims to outline the importance of RL and PsyCap to keep the employees engaged in the information technology (IT) industry.

In total, 265 samples of IT professionals were collected by using an online survey questionnaire pan India. The collected data was analyzed using regression analysis, structural equation modeling along with bootstrapping technique for mediation analysis and model fit indices analysis.

The results of the analysis confirm the positive impact of RL on EE and the partial mediation impact of PsyCap on the RL–EE relationship, and the findings exhibit that employees with a higher level of PsyCap contribute favorably to EE during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This study aims to assist IT practitioners in effectively incorporating RL to plan mitigation strategies. EE is an outcome of enhanced PsyCap of employees. To develop necessary skills and coping mechanisms to combat disruptions of such massive outbreaks, RL and PsyCap are crucial.

This case study is designed to enable learners to narrow and identify the right customer subset in relation to a handicraft organization. After completion of the case study, the students will be able to integrate advanced frameworks for outlining the importance of product features in context to Indian handicrafts, to link the implications of product attributes as a differentiation strategy, to articulate the appropriate strategies for customer retention and to critically simulate the adoption of niche marketing imperative when making a decision to scale the business.

Design Clinic India was a globally renowned, multi-disciplinary design studio specializing in exquisite furniture and decorative lights, deeply rooted in the rich tapestry of the emerging economy of India. It was founded in 2016 by the visionary Mr Parth Parikh, a master of product design hailing from New Delhi, India. The brand firmly believed that the vibrant essence of each creation portrayed the cultural diversity of the nation. During the formative years, the brand witnessed exceptional momentum in the sales figures. However, over the time, sales started depriving and Parikh feared the survival of his business. In the first place, he was confounded with the dilemma of how to retain customers in the long run, and how to keep his business in pace. Furthermore, he also faced a tough competition from the market in terms of differentiating his authentic products from the cheap replicas of his brand’s designs to streak ahead in the market space. It became challenging for companies to align their creative vision with market realities and customer expectations while also creating a balance between innovation and commercial viability. As a passionate entrepreneur, Parikh had to think a way out for the finest strategy for his label!

This case study comprises of conceptual schemes in context to product features, aesthetics and marketing of handicrafts. It can be used in advanced business courses, particularly in the fields of entrepreneurship, marketing, strategic management, decision-making and business planning. This case study can also address the separate components of niche marketing, customer retention and export of Indian handicrafts. For the aspect of niche marketing, the context from the textbook titled “Marketing Management” by Kotler et al. would be required (pp. 201–203). For product features, the latest edition of the textbook titled “Marketing” by Etzel et al., can be used (particularly, the material from pp. 277–281). Furthermore, the case can also be used in various capstone courses falling under the chapters of small businesses and differentiation strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The case study aims to provide students with an understanding of the challenges businesses face expanding into the home market after having an international presence through exports. It also throws light on operations in an emerging market economy – both rural and urban. The key objectives are to understand the leather footwear business operation in India, understand the challenges of expanding business in India, analyse strategies adopted to sustain and compete in India and identify the possible distribution strategies for the leather footwear business in India.

The case study focuses on Tata International Limited’s (TIL) leather and leather products business in India. The leather and leather products division was present in India since 1973 (Anand, 2020) and exported to more than 35 countries across the world (Anand, 2020). TIL did not want to miss the opportunity available in India and planned to expand its leather footwear business in the country. The company opened retail outlets in major Indian cities and an experience store in Dewas (Madhya Pradesh) in 2019. It aimed for a domestic presence along with the existing export business. However, the biggest challenge that was in front of V. Muthukumaran, head of leather products division at TIL, was how to go ahead with the idea of domestic expansion (Anand, 2020). Should the company expand the market through sister companies (Westside and Tata CliQ) in India? How and in what way should TIL plan for going through Westside and Tata CLiQ? Should Muthukumaran think of either the brick-and-mortar route or the online route or both?

This case study is designed for use in undergraduate and graduate early-stage programmes. This case study is primarily designed for use in Master of Business Administration and/or Bachelor of Business Administration programmes. The case study is ideal for courses on understanding the expansion in the domestic market, strategy, retail and international marketing. The teaching note discusses theoretical frameworks such as external environment analysis and SWOT analysis to devise distribution strategies. The case study mapped the distribution channel and decision alternatives for the company.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

In the reduction of food waste and the provision of food to the hungry, food banks play critical roles. However, as they are generally run by charitable organisations that are chronically short of human and other resources, their inbound logistics efforts commonly experience difficulties in two key areas: 1) how to organise stocks of donated food, and 2) how to assess the donated items quality and fitness for purpose. To address both these problems, the authors aimed to develop a novel artificial intelligence (AI)-based approach to food quality and warehousing management in food banks.

For diagnosing the quality of donated food items, the authors designed a convolutional neural network (CNN); and to ascertain how best to arrange such items within food banks' available space, reinforcement learning was used.

Testing of the proposed innovative CNN demonstrated its ability to provide consistent, accurate assessments of the quality of five species of donated fruit. The reinforcement-learning approach, as well as being capable of devising effective storage schemes for donated food, required fewer computational resources that some other approaches that have been proposed.

Viewed through the lens of expectation-confirmation theory, which the authors found useful as a framework for research of this kind, the proposed AI-based inbound-logistics techniques exceeded normal expectations and achieved positive disconfirmation.

As well as enabling machines to learn how inbound logistics are handed by human operators, this pioneering study showed that such machines could achieve excellent performance: i.e., that the consistency provided by AI operations could in future dramatically enhance such logistics' quality, in the specific case of food banks.

This paper’s AI-based inbound-logistics approach differs considerably from others, and was found able to effectively manage both food-quality assessments and food-storage decisions more rapidly than its counterparts.