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The manufacture of polymer composites with a lower environmental footprint requires incorporation of sustainably sourced components. In addition, the incorporation of novel components should not compromise the material properties. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the use of a synthetic amine functional toluidine acetaldehyde condensate (AFTAC) as a modifier for fiber-reinforced epoxy composites. One of the fiber components was sourced from agricultural byproducts, and glass fiber was used as the fiber component for comparison.

The AFTAC condensate was synthesized via an acid-catalyzed reaction between o-toluidine and acetaldehyde. To demonstrate its efficacy as a toughening agent for diglycidyl ether bisphenol A resin composites and for the comparison of reinforcing materials of interest, composites were fabricated using a natural fiber (mat stick) and a synthetic glass fiber as the reinforcing material. A matched metal die technique was used to fabricate the composites. Composites were prepared and their mechanical and thermal properties were evaluated.

The inclusion of AFTAC led to an improvement in the mechanical strengths of these composites without any significant deterioration of the thermal stability. It was also observed that the fracture strengths for mat stick fiber-reinforced composites were lower than that of glass fiber-reinforced composites.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the use of the AFTAC modifier as well as incorporation of mat stick fibers in epoxy composites has not been demonstrated previously.

Manufacturing industries are facing dynamic challenges in today’s highly competitive world. In the recent past, integrating Industry 4.0 with the lean six sigma improvement methodologies has emerged as a popular approach for organizational excellence. The research aims to explore and analyze critical success factors of lean six sigma integrated Industry 4.0 (LSSI).

This research study explores and analyzes the critical success factors (CSFs) of LSSI. A three-phase study framework is employed. At first, the CSFs are identified through an extensive literature review and validated through experts’ feedback. Then, in the second phase, the initial list of CSFs is finalized using the fuzzy DELPHI technique. In the third phase, the cause-effect relationship among CFSs is established using the fuzzy DEMATEL technique.

A dyadic relationship among cause-and-effect category CSFs is established. Under the cause category, top management commitment toward integrating LSSI, systematic methodology for LSSI and organizational culture for adopting changes while adopting LSSI are found to be topmost CSFs. Also, under the effect category, organizational readiness toward LSSI and adaptability and agility are found to be the uppermost CSFs.

The study offers a framework to understand the significant CSFs for LSSI implementation. Insights from the study will help industry managers and practitioners to implement LSSI and achieve organizational excellence.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, CSFs of LSSI are not much explored in the past by researchers. Findings will be of great value for professionals in developing long-term operations strategies.

After completion of this case study, students will be able to help participants appreciate how the personal experiences of the founder(s) shape the inception of a social venture and impact its ongoing evolution; elucidate the intricacies and challenges inherent in managing a mission-driven organization dedicated to serving the underserved segments of society; emphasize the difficulties associated with exploring opportunities for scaling up a social venture; and facilitate comprehension of the various options and strategies available for achieving scalability.

The Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), founded in 1992–1993 by Prof. Achyuta Samanta in Bhubaneswar, was a pioneering institution with a distinctive focus on providing high-quality education at all levels, exclusively to tribal students. From its inception, KISS remained unwavering in its commitment to the holistic development of marginalized tribal communities. It offered not just free education but also comprehensive support, including accommodation, food and health care, to thousands of students spanning from kindergarten to post-graduation levels. Remarkably, KISS held the unique distinction of being the world’s only university dedicated to tribal education. Over the years, KISS witnessed remarkable growth, evolving from a modest 125 students in 1992–1993 to a thriving community of 30,000 students. Its success garnered attention from federal and state governments, public institutions, philanthropists and corporations, all intrigued by the prospect of replicating its transformative model in diverse regions of the country. KISS even received invitations to establish similar campuses in neighbouring countries such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal. What set KISS apart was its self-sustaining approach. While it did receive support from like-minded organizations and government schemes, it operated without charging any fees to its students. This ethos posed a unique challenge for Samanta: determining the nature and extent of support and resources required should KISS choose to expand its impact beyond its current boundaries.

This case study is suited for inclusion in courses pertaining to social innovation and non-profit management, particularly in modules around the theme of scaling social innovation. It provides an illustration of the growth trajectory of social innovation-oriented ventures and the key factors underlining their success and sustainability. Furthermore, this case study delves into the inherent tensions that often emerge during the process of scaling up such initiatives.

In addition to the MBA-level courses, this case study can also be used as a resource for executive education programs with a specific focus on social purpose organizations and those dedicated to fostering partnerships in pursuit of social goals. It offers insights into the dynamics of these organizations and their collaborative efforts towards achieving social impact.

To effectively explore and analyse the case material, instructors should allocate approximately 70–90 min of class discussion time.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS11: Strategy.

The fractional order HIV model has an important role in biological science. To study the HIV model in a better way, the model is presented with the help of Atangana- Baleanu operator which is in Caputo sense. Also, the characteristics of the solutions are described briefly with the help of the advance numerical techniques for the different values of fractional order derivatives. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned objectives.

In this work, Adams-Bashforth method and Euler method are used to get the solution of the HIV model. These are the important numerical methods. The comparison results also are described with the physical meaning of the solutions of the model.

HIV model is analyzed under the view of fractional and AB derivative in Atangana-Baleanu-Caputo sense. The uniqueness of the solution is proved by using Banach Fixed point. The solution is derived with the help of Sumudu transform. Further, the authors employed fractional Adam-Bashforth method and Euler method to enumerate numerical results. The authors have used several values of fractional orders to present the outcomes graphically. The above calculations have been done with the help of MATLAB (R2016a). The numerical scheme used in the proposed study is valid and fruitful, and the same can be used to explore other real issues.

This investigation can be done for the real data sets.

This paper aims to express the solution of the HIV model in a better way with the effect of non-locality, this work is very useful.

In this work, HIV model is developed with the help of Atangana- Baleanu operator in Caputo sense. By using Banach Fixed point, the authors proved that the solution is unique. Also, the solution is presented with the help of Sumudu transform. The behaviors of the solutions are checked for different values of fractional order derivatives with the physical meaning with help of the Adam-Bashforth method and the Euler method.

Motivated by recent financial liberalization policies in emerging markets, this study investigates whether bank competition and regulatory capital affect bank risk taking in an international banking context.

Bank competition is regressed, using GLS regression, on various measures of bank risk, to reflect regulatory, accounting and market-based risk-taking. The authors use a sample of publicly traded banks operating in Africa during 2004–2019.

Results show that higher level of bank competition increases bank risk taking and results in greater financial fragility in the absence of banking capital regulations. Furthermore, larger capital adequacy ratios control the risk-taking incentives of managers and guard banks against the risk of default. Further tests confirm the significance of market-based risk measures over accounting and regulatory measures.

Findings are relevant to bank managers and regulators in their sustained effort of finding an optimal balance between bank competition and financial stability. Increased competition should be balanced with capital regulations to curtail bank excessive risky behavior and derive the social benefits of greater competition in the market while sustaining overall economic growth.

This study provides novel evidence in an international context. First, it uses regulatory, accounting and market-based measures of bank risk taking to reflect regulators', management and market participants' emphasis. Another original contribution is the investigation of bank competition across African economies characterized by financial liberalization, stringent banking system and interesting socio-economic challenges.

In the denim industry, enzyme washing and its combination with stone washing are generally used to get the desired worn-out look. However, these conventional methods include high water, energy and time consumption. Nowadays, laser fading, which is a computer-controlled, dry, ecological finishing method, is preferred in the denim fading process. The purpose of this study is to observe the effects of chemical pretreatment applications on laser-faded denim fabric in terms of color and mechanical properties. To eliminate the enzyme washing process in denim fading and to minimize the disadvantages of laser fading, such as decreased mechanical properties and increased fabric yellowness, various chemical pretreatment applications were applied to the denim fabric before laser fading, followed by simple rinsing instead of enzyme washing.

Two different indigo-dyed, organic cotton denim fabrics with different unit weights were exposed to pretreatment processes and then laser treatment, followed by simple rinsing. Polysilicic acid, boric acid, borax and bicarbonate were used for pretreatment processes, and laser treatment was carried out under optimized laser parameters (40 dpi resolution and 300 µs pixel time). Tensile strength was tested, and color values (CIE L*, a*, b*, ΔE*, C* and h), color yield (K/S), yellowness and whiteness indexes were measured to identify the color differences.

Before laser fading, 30 g/L and 40 g/L polysilicic acid pretreatments for sulfur-indigo-dyed fabric and a mixture of 10 g/L boric acid and 10 g/L borax pretreatments for the fabric only indigo-dyed were recommended for the laser fading with sufficient mechanical properties and good color values.

With the chemical pretreatments defined in this study, it was possible to reduce yellowness and maintain the mechanical properties after laser fading, thus minimizing the disadvantages of laser treatment and also eliminating enzyme washing.

Electric Vehicles (EVs), owing to their low carbon emissions, have gained immense importance in achieving net-zero emissions by 2070. They have also appeared as viable substitute to conventional vehicles. Aligning with global initiatives, India has created a favourable ecosystem and has implemented several policies since 2011 to achieve its target. Consequently, the market share of EVs has surged, both globally and in India, over the past decade. Taking this into account, this study aims to identify the factors that influence EVs in a developing economy using the context of India.

This study identified important determinants of EV adoption from global literature and employed a multiple linear regression model (MLRM) using the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique. Secondary data were utilised to identify determinants in the Indian context, sourced from the Ministry, NITI Aayog, AQI, the Lok Sabha Question, and the Economic Survey of India.

This study found that the number of charging stations and local pollution levels significantly influence EV adoption in India. The insignificance of the other variables may be due to the emerging state of the Indian EV market.

This study adds to the growing body of literature on EV adoption in developing economies by analysing the factors that impact its adoption using regional data. In addition, this study provides a unique perspective on a developing economy and advocates a comprehensive policy for EV adoption that reflects long-term sustainability.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2023-0479.

Despite the availability of amicable means to resolve construction disputes, litigation remains a mainstream dispute resolution process in some countries. This tendency to litigate (TTL) calls for research to develop appropriate precautions to encourage stakeholders to resolve most commercial disputes through alternate dispute resolution (ADR) techniques. While a claimant's TTL arise from the individual, project and organisation preferences, this study, which can benefit both potential claimants and employers by saving time and money on litigation, identifies a bidder's financial parameters that may increase its litigation propensities, as a first step towards aiding employers to incorporate precautions to discourage such tendencies.

After the literature review, the theoretical construct proposed by Rachlinski's “framing theory of litigation” (based on Kahneman and Tversky's Prospects Theory) is used to explain organisation-level litigation decision-making. The study sources data from the financial statements of Indian construction/real estate firms, followed by panel regression analysis to test the theoretical construct's validity.

The results show that the TTL (risk-seeking behaviour) generally increases with a lower value of sales, higher assets and profitability. Interestingly, organisation-level cash flow shows an insignificant influence on litigation tendencies.

Knowing which financial parameters may increase litigation tendencies could help employers evaluate a bidder's propensity to litigate project disputes.

Researchers use financial statements to explore correlations among financial variables. However, in the construction context, there are no empirical studies with data from construction firms to understand potential litigation expenses compared to specific financial ratios.

The paper aims to propose an innovative two-stage decision model to address the sustainable-resilient supplier selection and order allocation (SSOA) problem in the single-valued neutrosophic (SVN) environment.

First, the sustainable and resilient performances of suppliers are evaluated by the proposed integrated SVN-base-criterion method (BCM)-an acronym in Portuguese of interactive and multi-criteria decision-making (TODIM) method, with consideration of the uncertainty in the decision-making process. Then, a novel multi-objective optimization model is formulated, and the best sustainable-resilient order allocation solution is found using the U-NSGA-III algorithm and TOPSIS method. Finally, based on a real-life case in the automotive manufacturing industry, experiments are conducted to demonstrate the application of the proposed two-stage decision model.

The paper provides an effective decision tool for the SSOA process in an uncertain environment. The proposed SVN-BCM-TODIM approach can effectively handle the uncertainties from the decision-maker’s confidence degree and incomplete decision information and evaluate suppliers’ performance in different dimensions while avoiding the compensatory effect between criteria. Moreover, the proposed order allocation model proposes an original way to improve sustainable-resilient procurement values.

The paper provides a supplier selection process that can effectively integrate sustainability and resilience evaluation in an uncertain environment and develops a sustainable-resilient procurement optimization model.

Throughout the world, women encounter strong patriarchal values that promote the virtue of women's chastity. Within numerous conservative societies, such as certain regions of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the intactness of the hymen in a young woman is viewed as emblematic of her dignity, righteousness, and pride. Participants in our investigations highlighted that hymen rupture stigma remains prevalent in many parts of Pakistan, often leading to social consequences or disapproval of women who want to participate in sports. Additionally, participants disclosed that some women had internalized the hymen rupture stigma, and families might reinforce it. This chapter contributes to the limited scholarship concerning how social norms, hymen rupture stigma, and family values influence Muslim women's participation or lack of participation in sports in Pakistan.