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The purpose of this study is to analyze the current scenario of private labels from consumers and retailers’ point of view and provide inputs to the retailers that will help them to increase their profitability. Profitability for retailers is a resultant of efficient inventory management in a limited space. This paper studies consumer’s purchase behavior and facilitates retailers in their decision-making of the dilemma between the appropriate mix of national brands (NBs) and private labels to increase their profitability. Retailers will be able to do cross-merchandising of the categories of the goods having strong associations and will increase the shelf space of the products, which are preferred by customers.

Market basket analysis was done for 1,223 transactions including two or more product categories in each transaction. In total, 564 products were studied and these products were further divided into 23 categories. Lift analysis was done 4 times to find an association between the products of all the categories.

The results find a strong association between some categories and advocate the placement of these combinations together – one being a NB and another private label.

Analysis of only a limited set of brands and their product categories for a value retailer cross-merchandising.

The analysis of sales transactions will help retailers in determining the associations between product categories. This association will be helpful in placing their private labels vis-à-vis NBs to do cross-merchandising and allocating judicial space to the product assortment to increase their profitability.

The purpose of the paper is to identify how the intersection of power, context, subjectivity and directionality makes it possible for the targets of workplace bullying to deflate power imbalance between them and the perpetrators.

The paper is based on nine in-depth interviews with self-reported targets from different public sector organizations in India. The targets were purposively selected keeping in mind that they made deliberate attempts to counter bullying. Constructivist grounded theory approach was used to analyze the data.

Six themes emerged as sources of power imbalance and eight themes as the way of deflating power imbalance. The core category that emerged was “enhancing personal identity”, which was the underlying phenomenon leading to deflation of power imbalance, through the intersection of power, context, subjectivity and directionality.

The study indicates that power, context, subjectivity and directionality of bullying help the targets to identify effective strategies of deflating power imbalance. In the process, the targets indulge in personal identity enhancement. It further reinforces the understanding that power does not remain static and may shift from the perpetrator to the target of bullying.

The study provides various tactics that targets can use to counter workplace bullying. It implies that targets need not always leave the organization or succumb to the situation in order to deal with bullying. It encourages the targets of bullying and those who deal with bullying targets to indulge in personal identity enhancement through problem-focused strategies of tackling workplace bullying.

It also furthers our understanding of workplace bullying from the point of intersection of the four aspects of the phenomenon – power, context, subjectivity and directionality – which allows the targets of bullying to enhance their personal identity.

Young prisoners are one of the most vulnerable groups in society for mental health problems and ill-being. Therefore, there is a crucial need to understand their physical, psychological and social situations. This study aims to explore young Cambodian prisoners’ experiences and perceptions of mental health and well-being, their determinants and their coping strategies.

Six focus group discussions were carried out in three prisons with a total of 48 young prisoners between the ages of 15 and 24 years (50% women, 50% men). Semi-structured questions guided the discussions, and thematic analysis was applied to analyse the data.

Young prisoners reported multifaceted experiences of mental health and well-being. The majority described adverse mental health experiences, while some revealed better well-being, partly influenced by the socio-economic support from outside the prisons and previous involvement or not in drug abuse. The experience of physical overcrowding without emotional attachment among the fellow prisoners was perceived as the overarching determinant of loneliness and mental health problems, while socio-emotional support and rituals were described as the most important coping mechanisms.

This pioneering study from Cambodia gives young prisoners an opportunity to voice their experiences and perceptions of mental health and well-being in the prison setting. The findings in this study underline the importance of prison authorities tackling overcrowding to promote well-being and reduce mental health problems. Also, the coping mechanisms outlined by the participants should be considered when planning psychosocial interventions.

Doubling farming households’ income through occupational diversification to the non-farm sector has been advocated to be of paramount importance in an agrarian economy such as India. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of non-farm activities on rural household incomes in four different Indian states by using a propensity score matching technique and developing an endogenous switching model.

The research is based on secondary data taken from four quinquennial rounds of employment and unemployment surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey Organization.

The matching results indicate a maximum monthly rise in per capita income of Rs. 60 in Gujarat and a minimum increase of Rs. 18 in Rajasthan among rural households employed in the non-farm sector as compared to the farm sector. The findings confirm that rural non-farm structural diversification cannot be viewed as a blueprint for increasing rural household incomes in different states. Further, it suggests the need to segmenting the different states on the basis of agricultural development for increasing rural incomes.

The study argues that Indian states with a strongly developed farm sector i.e. Gujarat and Punjab are not ideally suited to undergo structural changes in their economic pursuit. The estimates suggest that the transition of rural households from farm to non-farm-sector activities is a very weak strategy in agriculturally developed states of Gujarat and Punjab, whereas non-farm diversification becomes a pivotal strategy for increasing rural household incomes in less agriculturally developed states such as Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. A contrasting point that arises from these evidence is that although diversification to the non-farm sector leads to higher income, but the resultant figures are very scanty.

The present study contributes to the existing literature by providing evidence and policy implications on rural non-farm diversification in India and its impact on the rural household income. The study can help the policymakers in framing policies aiming at increasing the income of the rural household through the structural transition of the rural economy.

This secondary source case is based mainly on legislative documents (that tracked the initiation and progress of the Parental Rights in Education bill that later became an Act), corporate documents (published by The Walt Disney Company) and news articles from publications such as The New York Times and Bloomberg. All sources are cited in the case narrative and as end notes.

In April 2022, The Walt Disney Company and its CEO, Robert Chapek, were at the center of a controversy over the company’s opposition to the State of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill. The bill, dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” by its critics, prohibited instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation in the state’s elementary schools. The controversy stemmed from Disney’s initial non-reaction to the bill and its later strident opposition and call for its repeal. Chapek was pressured by negative media publicity and employee disgruntlement on the one hand and adverse economic consequences for opposing the bill by the state’s Governor, Ron DeSantis. Chapek and the Board had to respond to the political threats to Disney’s economic well-being while appeasing its employees and other stakeholders who wanted the company to be a corporate champion in diversity, equity and inclusion.

The case is best suited for advanced undergraduate or graduate leadership, strategic management and marketing courses. From a leadership and strategic management perspective, the case is well-suited for demonstrating the evolving expectations of leaders and corporate social responsibility, as well as the concepts of issue framing and nonmarket management. Instructors may also leverage the case in marketing courses (e.g. brand management), as CEO activism (i.e. messaging and practice) is one characteristic of brand activism (Animation Guild, 2022).

Given the increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, egalitarian ecosystems may play an important role to establish equality among various stakeholders. With this idea, the study aimed to understand conflicts and challenges in creating an egalitarian ecosystem in the application-based cab aggregator (ABCA) market.

Narratives of various stakeholders involved in the ABCA business were collected. The study involved narrations from direct and indirect stakeholders up to saturation till common themes were found. Grounded theory methodology using constant comparison was explored to interpret the results. After the results were obtained, root cause analysis was undertaken using the why–why methodology to understand ground-level reality.

In total, 13 major issues were identified using grounded theory for narrative analysis that cab aggregator companies, driver-partners, and riders faced. The stakeholders' inability in the ecosystem to see each other's problems could be accorded to their self-interest, rational boundedness and asymmetric information. These findings collude with Banaji et al. (2004) and Chugh et al. (2005).

This study explained each stakeholder's perspectives about their counterparts that influence non-egalitarianism. The study further suggested possible areas for solving the issues and promoting cooperation.

This case study will allow students to critically analyse and develop entry strategies into untapped foreign markets. The case study was designed to introduce students to identifying and analysing information related to target markets for expansions in international business.

The main objectives of this case are to evaluate and make the “Go Global” decision for the company; to take a position on entry timing for a company for entering an overseas market; to select a country for entry based on cultural, administrative, geographic and economic analysis and other relevant factors; and to evaluate a firm’s readiness for exports.

This case study on Satya Pharmaceuticals presents a typical dilemma faced by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets such as India while exploring the untapped overseas markets to expand their business. Satya Pharmaceuticals produced over-the-counter Ayurvedic medicines. With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consumer preference for Ayurvedic products had increased globally. Home country governments’ emphasis on exports and conducive consumer preferences created an opportune time for such SMEs to explore uncharted markets with a propensity for herbal medicines. Amidst strict regulations regarding safety, efficacy, labelling and packaging norms, along with a subjective understanding of the consumers’ sentiments regarding alternate medicines, SMEs had to select their target market carefully for their products to be successful overseas. This case study presents the basic information that entrepreneurs needed to explore the foreign markets. It revolved around checking firms’ preparedness to explore foreign markets, identifying target markets, timing the entry and entering those markets.

This case is appropriate for graduate-level courses in management that offer subjects such as international business.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 5: International business.

After completion of the case study, the students would be able to comprehend the crisis at hand for Milkbasket, why did it resist Reliance’s takeover in the first place, then to evaluate the pros-cons and future prospects for the organization post-acquisition; to evaluate from an ethical standpoint the process of mergers and acquisitions using ethical frameworks to understand how, when, to whom and through what processes do mergers and acquisitions qualify the test of being ethical; and to analyse different hostile takeovers, especially through tender offers, proxy contests and toehold bidding strategy in this case.

Founded in 2015, Milkbasket was a micro-delivery start-up based in Gurugram (near New Delhi), India. Milkbasket would let its subscribers order till midnight and deliver groceries, milk and other everyday essentials to its subscribers before 7 a.m. next day. It had burnt a lot of cash and was facing difficulty in getting investors; as such they were engaged in discussions with many companies. Two of them – Reliance Retail Venture Limited and BigBasket – were not accepting the proposed valuation, but Milkbasket got term sheets from other two companies.

This case study can be used for graduate courses on strategic management, business ethics and corporate governance. This case study can also be used in corporate finance course to highlight the importance of making ethical/responsible judgements to protect stakeholder interests.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.