Obstacles and threats are common occurrences for entrepreneurs in their journey of starting and surviving a venture. These challenges often induce a fear of failure in entrepreneurs, sometimes affecting their mental well-being. Although coping literature lists several explicit mechanisms to mitigate the adverse impact of entrepreneurial fear of failure, empirical evidence suggesting the role of some intrinsic typical entrepreneurial characteristics such as overconfidence and optimism is missing from the extant knowledge bank. Our study joins those missing links by studying the role of entrepreneurs’ confidence elements—overconfidence and optimism in entrepreneurial fear of failure. We adopted stress appraisal theory and experience sampling methodology to explore the hypothesized relations. We triangulate our results with semi-structured interviews with entrepreneurs. Our findings reveal the positive side of entrepreneurs’ confidence in dealing with stress and fear of failure. Therefore, we contribute to the entrepreneurial well-being literature and provide a reason for practicing entrepreneurs to build on their confidence. © 2023 Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

The article reflects on moving workspaces into homes during and after the Covid-19-induced lockdown. In our qualitative research in India, we investigate the processes of place-making and redrawing of boundaries between paid and unpaid care work. Through interviews and autoethnographic reflections, we analyse the process of new workspace making. We examine the erasing of the home from the workspace where historical hierarchies of gender and caste mediated the (re) organising of work boundaries between paid knowledge and unpaid care work. The study is based in a context where social and physical infrastructure for paid knowledge work could not be assumed to be available in homes. The paper contributes to the literature on place-making with stories from a new context. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Using the Lefebvrian triad, we explore spatial organizing of classed-gendered work and working bodies in a cafe space that emerges from urbanized claims of empowering “rural poor women” to become entrepreneurs by employing them in a cafe. Our critical-interpretive ethnography analyses the process of installing a neoliberal-managerial path along which foodwork and working bodies are hierarchized and disciplined, creating spatialized hegemonic gendered positionalities interlaced with elite urban-working class rural binaries. The womanized workers came to embody the binaries and the dialectical contradictions they created, yet performing alternative femininities in the free spaces and times in the cafe. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Wetlands have historically been considered hindrances to development, with ‘reclamation’ considered the appropriate management practice. This is no different in India, where most cities are built on wetlands. This study examines the case of fast urbanising Kozhikode City on the south-west coast of India by overlaying political and developmental interventions of the city with its ecological realities. While pre-colonial settlements in the region were predominantly along the coast leaving the marshy inland areas, the need for resource mobilisation by colonial forces led to the development of Conolly Canal through the wetlands. The spoil bank of the canal spawned the development of roads cutting across the wetlands, a process continuing to this day, with consequent ribbon development. Wetland loss due to reduction in depth, core area loss, fragmentation and salinity intrusion have gone hand in hand with the city's rapid urbanisation. While the looming threat of climate change is forcing Kozhikode's planners to revive the canal, wetlands that sustain the canal (and the city) are buried too far beneath the piecemeal undertakings that have shaped the city. This paper reconstructs the environmental history of the city, the canal and the wetlands from the establishment of the city to the present, spanning a period of 500 years. Determinants of urban growth including canal construction, transport network development in line with the spoil banks and rapid urbanisation processes are chronicled to understand the interconnectedness between ecology, urban sprawl and the rationality of disaster preparedness. In this context, the future development proposals for the region are examined especially with the wetlands as the backdrop. We employ mixed methodologies to track this history including satellite imagery, geographic information systems (GIS), archives and interviews with senior citizens. This framework can be applied to other cities to understand the metabolic relationship of urban growth with ecology and its changing history. The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2023 Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers).

One of the most widespread types of digital technology is the Internet which more than 5 billion people or 63.1% of the world’s population use as of April 2022. Previous studies have established that the relationship between digital technologies, such as the Internet, and labour market participation is worth investigating. While it is widely accepted that digital technologies help in women’s social and economic inclusion, the female labour participation force observed across countries remains slow and varied. There remains a limited investigation into the influence of internet penetration on the changes in the labour market outcomes for women. There is also scope for research on how the Internet affects women’s economic participation from a social and gender perspective. Prior research shows that social capital has been linked to labour allocation. Studies also show that variations in ideas on gender roles are significant for women’s decisions to find employment. We, therefore, investigate how widespread penetration of the Internet has influenced the economic participation of women in this study. We also investigate how social capital and gender equality play a role in the above relationship across countries. Our study uses archival data to conduct a panel analysis of 66 countries from 2014 to 2021. The study’s results show that the penetration of internet and the economic participation of women are positively associated. This study also found that the link between the penetration of internet and the economic participation of women is mediated by social capital. Gender equality was also found to moderate the above relationship, such that social capital had a stronger mediation influence on the association between internet penetration and women’s economic engagement in nations with comparatively lower levels of gender equality. © 2023 Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

Purpose: Lean manufacturing (LM) is prevalent in the manufacturing industry; thus, focusing on fast and accurate lean tool implementation is the new paradigm in manufacturing. Value stream mapping (VSM) is one of the many LM tools. It is understood that combining LM implementation with VSM tools can generate better outcomes. This paper aims to develop an expert system for optimal sequencing of VSM tools for lean implementation. Design/methodology/approach: A proposed artificial neural network (ANN) model is based on the analytic network process (ANP) devised for this study. It will facilitate the selection of VSM tools in an optimal sequence. Findings: Considering different types of wastes and their level of occurrence, organizations need a set of specific tools that will be effective in the elimination of these wastes. The developed ANP model computes a level of interrelation between wastes and VSM tools. The ANN is designed and trained by data obtained from numerous case studies, so it can predict the accurate sequence of VSM tools for any new case data set. Originality/value: The design and use of the ANN model provide an integrated result of both empirical and practical cases, which is more accurate because all viable aspects are then considered. The proposed modeling approach is validated through implementation in an automobile manufacturing company. It has resulted in benefits, namely, reduction in bias, time required, effort required and complexity of the decision process. More importantly, according to all performance criteria and subcriteria, the main goal of this research was satisfied by increasing the accuracy of selecting the appropriate VSM tools and their optimal sequence for lean implementation. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Despite their widespread popularity in the United States, MBA programs have received considerable and sustained criticism. The chief complaint is that MBA graduates lack key skills required to be competent managers, and the main suspect has been identified as a less than relevant curriculum. Previous studies determined that the required MBA curriculum did a poor job of delivering the managerial competencies prized by incumbent managers. However, these researchers suspected that across-the-curriculum delivery of managerial competencies could mitigate this misalignment. This study advances the field by implementing an intercompetency approach, by including previously excluded coursework, and by using an updated dataset. The results show that the required curriculum of MBA programs in the United States is on average more closely aligned with the prescribed coverage benchmarks than previously believed, and that across-the-curriculum delivery of content via intercompetency coursework substantially aids in this alignment. The findings have actionable implications for program managers, faculty members, and researchers in the field of graduate management education. © The Author(s) 2022.

Purpose: The study aims to develop an in-depth understanding of challenges faced by Indian women professionals during the pandemic and the human resource (HR) initiatives like effective communication, taken by the organizations to mitigate the plight of these professionals. Design/methodology/approach: A mix of two qualitative research methods namely focus groups in-depth and one-to-one in-depth interviews was used. A total of 32 females working with different organizations participated. Findings: The thematic analysis revealed themes related to challenges faced by working women-gendered burnout, mental health issues, increased household responsibilities, job insecurity, work-life conflict, gender inequalities, reduced internal communication and financial independence, domestic violence and exploitation. The major themes that emerged for the organizational initiatives were flexible working hours, equal women representation in response to planning and decision making, driving transformative change for gender equality, paid leaves for family care, caregiving bonus, leadership development seeds, increased female recruitments, transparent communication and counseling sessions. Research limitations/implications: The study establishes a holistic understanding of the plight of Indian women professionals and the consequent organizational interventions accompanied by transparent communication. It adds rigor to the evolving literature on COVID-19 and enriches the theoretical narrative of policy adaptations by industry practitioners for aligning them with employee needs. This helps in routing the policy design and implementation in light of the challenges faced. Originality/value: The study presents an in-depth understanding of challenges faced by women employees; and provides a foundation for identifying human resource management (HRM) interventions customized for working females. It also proposes a framework implementable in the recovery phase, deploying critical strategic shifts like reflection, recommitment and re-engagement of the women workforce in order to maximize their efficacy for rapidly evolving organizational priorities. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: To understand how Indian first-time mothers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) organisations returning to work cope with the perceived ideological psychological contract breaches from a work–home resources perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This paper utilises interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) within the work–home resources (W-HR) model to analyse returning first-time mothers' lived experiences. Findings: This study shows that significant life/work events such as childbirth/lack of career growth can trigger resource depletion at work and home and materialise in first-time mothers perceiving ideological psychological contract breaches at work. It has also been observed that key resource usage and macro support structures aid employees in attenuating work–home conflict by balancing contextual demands and personal resources. This study's participant accounts reveal that the recovery of volatile resources was possible by psychologically detaching and being silent. Originality/value: The study offers a distinctive perspective by investigating the ideological PC breach experienced by first-time Indian mothers upon their organisational re-entry from a work–home resource model lens. Situated in a unique socio-cultural space and bringing forth the rich lived experiences of women working in the Indian STEM field, this paper explores how key resources shape the coping responses of first-time mothers in this context. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

This paper aims to analyse the use of mobile phone assisted services in civic and academic learning. General and education-related learning applications useful to educate the users are considered as the input. This paper explores the literature into two different aspects: general and education-related mobile applications. The sentiment analysis is carried out to study users' emotions towards the mobile learning (mLearning) service. More than 30,000 tweets were collected. Through sentiment analysis, the users' awareness about mLearning application is analysed and compared. Fewer studies have reported the usefulness of civic learning apps introduced by government agencies. Moreover, the users' perceptions towards the mLearning apps in higher education are also less reported in the Indian context. The findings show the importance of improving mLearning services initiated by government agencies for civic and education-related learning. The suggestions are also provided for the improvement of mLearning services in India. © 2023 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) is a popular method to infer, based on the sampled data, whether the true means of a set of subpopulations differ from each other. The variance of conditional expectation (VOCE) is the variance of these effects in sub-populations, and this is estimated by sampling a sub-population of size (Formula presented.), for each sub-population labeled k, and by sampling K such sub-populations in the experiment. For the general case of varying (Formula presented.), it is unknown what the variance of the VOCE estimator is, though it is known for the special case (Formula presented.), (Formula presented.) for all (Formula presented.) as derived in the literature. The following derivation settles the former question and is of value in situations where sampling has constraints or only a skewed sampling budget is available. Our first application is with regard to the decision of whether samples from pilot simulation can be included in the regular simulation to estimate VOCE. The second application is an estimation technique where the estimate of optimal inner-loop size (Formula presented.) can be updated throughout the duration of simulation. We demonstrate with these 2 applications where we observe a 20% reduction in the variance of the VOCE estimate, when the proposed method is applied. © 2023 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

Comparison of Environmental attitudes (EA) and their correlation with socioeconomic factors is generally undertaken at a country level. This study captures the differences between EA using micro-level data in the context of Kerala, a fast-urbanising, disaster-prone state in India. In addition to the association of EA with the often-explored socio-economic factors, correlation of state of the environment and disaster occurrences with EA between the 14 administrative districts in Kerala state is explored. EA are measured using Dunlap and Van Liere's New Environmental Paradigm (NEP). After checking for the statistical significance in the mean NEP of the districts, the indicators for socioeconomic, state of the environment and disaster occurrence factors are compiled for the districts from secondary sources. Pearson's correlation coefficients between these and the five facets and the mean of NEP are calculated. The results support the notion that socio economic parameters, especially sex ratio, public health and urbanization levels are related to EA. Income does not appear to have an influence on EA. The correlation between the state of the environment and EA underlines the importance of working simultaneously on both to promote sustainable development. The negative correlation between disaster occurrences and EA is a counter-intuitive finding, pointing perhaps towards the lack of understanding of environmental phenomenon in the most literate state in India. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Conventional news media had a business model where readers or viewers’ attention was sold for advertising revenues. As internet giants commoditize, control and redirect attention in niche spaces like targeted advertising, the conventional business model came under challenge. Corporate cross-ownership and verticalization have been often sought after ways to ensure financial sustainability but have led to trust deficit and perceived or actual biases in editorial policies. New and independent media firms, which focus on editorial independence and are based on the internet, have the arduous task of evolving suitable business models in a competitive environment with high costs of entry and entrenched benefits for existing players. The chapter presents a novel review of the diverse business models that have been adopted by new and independent news media in India. The analysis finds the pervasiveness of the paywall or subscription-based models with some players experimenting with crowdfunding. There is extensive reliance on seed funding and support from philanthropies. Seventeen of the surveyed organizations were registered as private limited companies with a single firm operating as a nonprofit organization. The digital news media landscape in India presents specificity and definitive focus in terms of the practice of journalism and values of publishing, but there is a lack of innovative revenue models. Their relative qualities and performance in the changing landscape of news production, dissemination and consumption are identified to understand the direction of growth of new and independent media in India. The review aims to bridge the gap in the academic literature about the nuances within the monolith of news media business models. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how changes in creditors' rights affect the dividend policy behavior of corporate firms. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the implementation of the bankruptcy and insolvency code (IBC) in India in 2016 as a quasi-natural experiment setup. Differential application of this law allows them to use the Difference in Differences approach to extract the marginal impact of change in creditors' rights on the dividend policy. Findings: The authors show that firms responded to strengthening creditors' rights by decreasing their dividend payout. Further, the authors observe that this negative response is conditioned on firm leverage and the nature of the creditor, i.e. public or private. The firms with a greater leverage ratio and a greater proportion of private debt in the total debt in the pre-event period have shown greater response to the change in the law. Lastly, the authors show that stock markets positively respond to the observed decrease in dividends only when a corresponding decrease in the leverage accompanies such a decrease. Originality/value: The authors contribute to the finance and law literature from several aspects. First, the authors extend this stream by bringing to light the dividend policy response of firms when they are subjected to a change in creditors' rights. Second, the authors also show how firm-level factors like financial policy and the nature of the creditor condition their response to IBC. Lastly, the authors also examine the market reaction to the dividend policy response of firms to the change in bankruptcy law. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

While financial literacy supports enhanced investment decisions, the study of blockchain enabled green bond issuance and its influence on intent to invest has not been investigated to date. To address this research gap, the present study developed a moderated mediation model, based on planned behaviour theory, and organizational information processing theory. This model describes the influence of blockchain enabled green bond issuance on the intent to invest via perceived behavioural control, conditioned by the moderating role of financial literacy. 304 responses were collected to test the hypothesized relationship. The results revealed that perceived behavioural control partially mediates the relationship between blockchain enabled green bond issuance and the intent to invest. Besides, the effect of mediation was discovered to be substantial at higher levels of financial literacy. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Purpose: With increasing pressure from the government and private sectors to be more environmentally and socially responsible, sustainable supplier selection has gained enormous currency in recent times. Particularly, in the case of the construction industry, owing to a large amount of industrial wastage generated and extreme workplace conditions, it is even more important to devise strategies to mitigate the harmful consequences. The most crucial step in this regard is the selection of sustainable suppliers that acquire a pivotal position in the supply chain ecosystem. This study aims to identify indicators for three criteria such as economic, environmental and social, and prioritize them according to their level of significance for sustainable supplier selection in the Indian construction industry. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the best-worst method (BWM) is presented for sustainable supplier selection in Indian construction organizations. Total of 27 indicators was identified for the three criteria of the triple bottom line (TBL) approach namely economic, environmental and social. Using BWM, the most important criterion was found and subsequently, all the indicators under each criterion were ranked in order of importance. Findings: The analysis revealed that the environmental criterion was the most important criteria in the sustainable supplier selection followed by the economic criteria. The indicators that were the most influential in the effective selection process were “Usage of recyclable raw materials for production”, “Adoption of clean and green technologies”, “Waste management” and “Periodical environmental audits” under the environmental criteria; “Efficiency”, “Cost” and “Flexibility and Scalability” from the economic criteria; and “Safety programs” and “Information disclosure” in the social criteria. Research limitations/implications: The study provides a reference framework for the selection of sustainable suppliers in construction organizations. The findings can also be used for the assessment of suppliers' performance in the supply chains. Originality/value: The novelty of this work lies in its attempt to model the performance of suppliers in the Indian construction supply chains. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Research on fake news and related acts of deception in the domain of human resource management is growing but still in its infancy. This escalating crisis necessitates immediate attention, as fake news evolves into an all-pervasive phenomenon that surpasses domain boundaries and affects organizations at scale. This study analyzes the growing corpus of research on fake news and concomitant acts of deceit in the domain of human resource management through an integrative review of 64 scholarly papers published in peer-reviewed journals over the last 30 years. We identify key themes and draw attention to gaps that merit scrutiny. We then propose an open systems theory-led conceptual framework that elucidates the relationships between fake news, related acts of deceit and its effects on various facets of human resource management practice and serves as a guide to advance contributions in the field. Directions for future research and implications for practice are discussed. © 2023 ndian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

This interpretive study derives a conceptual framework explaining how Indian women experience a loss of self through the transformational event of marriage. The self-discrepancy of losing one’s self motivates these women to renegotiate their sense of self through consumption. Data were collected through 76 in-depth interviews analyzed by a constant comparative method and grounded theory. Our research question is to what degree and in what ways do women in India experience a loss of self upon marriage and, if they do, through what consumer practices (if any) do they attempt to compensate for this feeling of loss? Analysis revealed three common stages in Indian women’s married life (1) marriage as a life transitional event inducing liminality (2) loss of Self: dissonance (3) compensatory consumption as a response to dissonance. Our research contributes to life cycle theory by focusing on liminal transitions. We find that self is a possession that women can lose after marriage in India. Based on these findings we argue that understandings of identity and life cycle must be amended to consider self-discrepancy and coping processes. We develop a model of consumption that results from a perceived loss of self. This is all part of a process of self-identity reconstruction. We also expand psychological ownership theory to include ownership of self. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Learning outcomes: The case is an example of the dilemma and constraints an entrepreneur faces as they go forward in implementing ideas while setting up an enterprise. Through the eyes of John, the case helps the participants to understand and analyse two distinct business models, the bricks and clicks model and an online aggregator model and evaluate them using a visual business tool like the business model canvas (BMC). Thus, the case helps the participants to:▪ Analyse the customer segments and demand.▪ Apply frameworks for analysing a new venture’s prospects.▪ Understand two distinct business models and learn how to sketch a business model using the BMC.▪ Compare various business model designs using the BMC template. Case overview/synopsis: Set against the backdrop of high consumerism and haute couture, conventroad.com is an example of fashion aggregation and curation in the online platform. Once known as the fashion hub of Kerala with its crowded streets, cramped with boutiques on each corner, Convent Road lost its following as big and major stores left the miniscule space for better facilities in the name of development. This case follows Rijin John, founder and developer, through the course of his idea conceptualisation. In an attempt to regain its popularity through the internet, John set out to rope all the popular Convent Road boutiques into one platform. But, as more options became available, John was in a dilemma about whether he should continue to try to convince the indifferent boutique owners to be a part of his enterprise or explore an alternative model and create a platform for weavers while sacrificing the brand value of Convent Road. Complexity academic level: The case is designed for use in an undergraduate or graduate-level course on entrepreneurship, marketing, business policy and managing growing ventures. Supplementary materials: Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code: CSS 3: Entrepreneurship. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

COVID-19 has disrupted the normal course of production and livelihood activities across the world. This paper examines the short-term impact of this pandemic on one such strategically important sector, the construction industry of India. This study employs an event study approach to empirically study the market performance and response trends of the construction industry of India to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study finds that COVID-19 has negatively impacted the sector as reflected in the investors’ response during the pandemic window. Through further empirical analysis, we also find that this sector has been affected more vis-à-vis other similar industries. In addition, the study also highlights some broad recommendations and proposes a process framework with prescriptive strategies for relevant stakeholders to smoothen the post-COVID recovery process. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.