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The competition is increasing every moment for the organizations and hence organizations are putting their best possible efforts to compete. This chapter is designed with the objective to explore various HR practices that can contribute in achieving the total quality management (TQM) in business. The basis for the study is taken from the aspects of competition that are cost reduction, differentiation and innovation. The extensive literature review from Scopus, J-gate, EBSCO and Springer databases are studied to integrate various aspects of TQM and HR practices that inculcate the competitive advantage for organizations. The framework may be developed for the reference to introduce and implement HR practices and manage TQM in the organization. The study may also help the professionals in designing the relevant HR practices for more value to the organizations. The linkage between various factors of the study may be helpful for the academicians and corporate organizations.

Social entrepreneurship is an area that has been extensively researched from a variety of angles and across a broad range of academic disciplines. Parallel to this, practitioners have applied social entrepreneurship ideas to a variety of industries and at varying degrees of complexity. The purpose of this study is to understand how the social capital of an entrepreneur drives the growth of social enterprises by contributing to the social entrepreneur skills. A systematic assessment of available literature was carried out based on searches of major academic databases (Web of Science, EBSCO and CAPES Portal de Periódicos), with an initial list of 3,106 publications being narrowed down to 472 articles that were subjected to content analysis after being narrowed down. Further, a theoretical proposal and research propositions were developed, highlighting the relationship between social capital and the activities of social entrepreneurs, as well as their relationships with the collective actors and institutions that make up social entrepreneurship in its totality. The conclusion of the chapter is that the interface between social entrepreneurship and social capital is a latent field for research. Further contributions of the chapter are a theoretical model to help researchers consolidate their efforts by identifying three key themes identified by intensive literature: creation of social capital by the social entrepreneur, relationships between institutions and the formation of groups and social capital as a formation of groups. In these words, a future agenda for discussing these topics is outlined for discussion.

The purpose of this chapter is to develop academic answers to the key rural areas and smart villages and digital agriculture. This chapter analyses the National level initiatives of Government of India Mission to convert rural areas into smart cities. The Union Ministry of urban development collaborates with State Government and nominate a particular city or cities in their state. Financial incentives or benefits will be provided to enhance the quality of the city. Coimbatore being a cosmopolitan city it is also a combination of rural villages and urban township. The main objective of this chapter is to identify and explore the initiatives of SMART CITIES MISSION a joint venture activity initiated by Government of India and State Government of Tamil Nadu. The results clearly indicate how digital technologies play a pivotal role to enhance the quality of eco-friendly initiatives and to improve the smart villages and agriculture. The key recommendations are the lessons learnt from other smart cities initiatives in other states and how Coimbatore can be an example and adopt key takeaways from other states and cities around the world.

There is an ongoing debate about the purpose of business and profit maximisation. However, contemporary marketing thinking suggests that pro-social behaviour is a critical aspect of marketing strategy, wherein this type of behaviour leads to marketplace advantage. Amongst the many theories and frameworks (such as, creating shared value and subsistence marketplaces) that re-imagine the purpose of business to include pro-social behaviour, a prominent one is the base of the pyramid (BoP) thesis. This thesis challenges firms to simultaneously alleviate poverty and make a profit by targeting the poorest socioeconomic segment. However, it has encountered robust criticism, with some scholars suggesting a lopsided focus on profits to the detriment of poverty alleviation. Specifically, the criticisms centre on the marketers’ narrow focus on income poverty. In order to overcome these criticisms, as well as to envision a pathway to succeed at the BoP, this chapter makes the case to conceptualise poverty beyond an economic focus of income, assets and wealth to capture beyond economic factors such as equality, justice and freedom. The authors employ Amartya Sen’s capability approach as a starting point to reconceptualise poverty to facilitate marketers to genuinely alleviate poverty whilst making profits at the BoP.

Purpose: The banking sector took the initiative to improve it by releasing a new blockchain application. This innovative approach connects customers from various geographic locations and also gives them a sense of banks’ global presence. Competition is one of the most important market factors because consumer tastes, interests and demands constantly change, making it difficult to meet these problems.

Methodology: Blockchain develops a Blue Ocean Approach in this competitive climate by enticing numerous market segments and giving the financial industry a fresh perspective that benefits the potential consumer. This chapter illustrates how the Blue Ocean Approach can be unlocked by a disruptive technology called blockchain, which generates value innovation and renders the competition obsolete.

Findings: This paradigm shifts the emphasis away from the present competition and generates value and demand for the product. The researcher advises that the Blue Ocean Strategy in retail banking, which uses blockchain technology, works very well since it eliminates cut-throat competition and favours costs, operations, and meeting financial targets on time.

Practical Implications: The study focuses on the bank’s real-world application of the Blue Ocean Strategy and the discovery of sustainable marketing strategies that will aid in their pursuit of innovation. It also highlights the elements introduced in the banking industry to support innovation and the development of long-lasting markets.

Drawing insights from Piaget's theory of cognitive development and exploring their applicability to working adults while assessing the role of tenure, as appreciated by multiple studies associated with adaptability and openness, the current study examines the influence of work experience in the relationship between an individual's adaptability and openness to people's ideas in the context of the Indian workplace. The study followed a cross-sectional survey-based design, and data were gathered from 202 junior, middle and senior executives from Indian manufacturing and service organizations. Using PROCESS macro in SPSS, the moderating effect of work experience on the linkage between adaptability to situations and openness to people's ideas was examined. The study results depicted that adaptability to situations is positively associated with a person's openness to people's ideas. Such a result indicates that promoting adaptability among employees could lead to openness in behaviour towards ideas of their colleagues and other people, which may promote team cohesiveness and learning in the long run. Also, the work experience of employees was found to be moderating the relation between adaptability and openness such that the increasing years of work experience tend to enhance the positive relationship between adaptability and openness. These results suggest that as the work experience increases, the positive association between adaptability and tendency to be open towards people's ideas strengthens. Further, the implications for the domains of research and practice, limitations of the study and directions for future studies have been discussed.

Among the various global options for self-employment, venturing into the micro-enterprise sector has been recognized as an important way for employment generation and poverty alleviation in many developing/emerging economies. In this context, women-owned businesses at the grassroots play a vital role in developing countries like India far beyond contributing to job creation and economic growth. The informal sector is a sizeable and expanding feature of the contemporary global economy.

However, the informal economy operates at the cusp of the institutional framework, which makes them susceptible to many risks like lack of formal financing options, legal aid or increasing margin through access to formal markets. Non-Profit Development Agencies (NPDAs) have emerged as a viable and essential middle ground support in promoting women entrepreneurship in their capacity to contribute beyond governmental institutions.

The study adopted an inductive qualitative option through a case study design to explore the approaches adopted by NPDAs in promoting micro-entrepreneurship among women at the base of the pyramid (BoP) in the urban informal sector in India. The findings suggest that the NPDAs created an impact through the services, which translated into monetary earnings for the entrepreneurs. They could make financial contributions to their families, which boosted their self-confidence and overall personality. The findings also indicate positive changes like increased self-confidence, self-dependence, and inner strength as reported by the entrepreneurs.

Gender equality and women empowerment which are part of the United Nations Sustainable Development goals have attracted researchers and policymakers worldwide. Various programmes and interventions aiming at empowerment have been designed and implemented by both national and international agencies. One of the flagship programmes of NABARD introduced in the year 1992, the self-help group (SHG)–bank linkage model is also known for its impact on the availability of credit and empowerment of women. Later, the SGSY scheme was restructured into the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in the year 2013. Initially, SHGs focussed on savings and credit linkage, but now the emphasis has been changed to generate livelihoods and economically empowering women on a sustainable basis through training women to establish micro-enterprises. In this facet, the journey of microfinance in empowering women is systematically analyzed. The state of Haryana has consistently outperformed other states in terms of economic and agricultural growth but it ranks poorly in terms of its key human development indicators. Despite high productivity and low poverty, the state faces challenges related to the health and nutrition of children. Literature provides evidence that the health and nutrition status of children and women is closely linked to women empowerment. Using secondary sources of data, we conclude that micro-finance can be a useful tool for empowering women provided the roadblocks are identified and the requisite support is provided to women entrepreneurs.