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The primary objective of this case was to grant the students an exposure to the students regarding how to manage a retail business during an economic crisis. In this case, all three of the aforementioned objectives as the students were given opportunity to dissect the business process through business model canvas, find out the key success factors and more importantly, were encouraged towards cost cutting behaviour by presenting the real-life dilemmas that were faced by an actual entrepreneur. Furthermore, the students were shown the importance of stakeholder management through this case, as support is very much needed for the retailers from macro-economic and micro-economic level.

This case study is the story of Global Gadget Limited, a premium retailer of cell phones and other relevant devises, which is located in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. The story is revolving around the challenge that Mr Shahadat Hossain Dipto, the owner of Global Gadget is facing over the past two years. Dipto mainly runs his business by selling budget phones from brands like Oppo, Xiaomi, Samsung and Vivo to the middle class and lower middle-class people of Bangladesh, who are very much cost conscious. To persuade these customers to buy his phones, he offers discounts, free gifts, equated monthly instalment services (a monthly instalment plan for the customers who cannot afford to pay the full amount when buying the phone) and sometimes even lottery. In the process, if he can sell more phones, these brands reward him with attractive commissions and all the necessary supports that help him run the business with marginal profit. However, due to the Russia–Ukraine war, he is now in crisis as the resulting economic crisis is causing a price increase on these phones, while drying out his customer’s pockets. This case study is designed to teach the students the importance of product segmentation, inventory management, cost management and relationship management to the students and future entrepreneur, so that they can understand, what does it take for an entrepreneur to survive an economic crisis.

This case study is aimed at undergraduate, masters’ students in business schools and Master of Business Administration students or short course executives and for the students of entrepreneurship education programme.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS3: Entrepreneurship.

Corona Virus Disease (Covid-19) is a global pandemic that emerged at the end of 2019 and caused disruptions in global supply chains, particularly in the food supply chains that exposed the vulnerability of today’s food supply chain in a major disruption which provided a unique research opportunity. This review explores the current research direction for food supply chain resilience and identifies gaps for future research in preparing for future major global pandemics.

This article presents a review of food supply chain resilience followed a systematic literature review of the business and management-based studies related to the food supply chain in Covid-19 published between December 2019 and December 2021 to identify the immediate issues and responses that need to be addressed in the event of future disruptions in food supply chains due to new global health threats.

The study revealed the need for more literature on food supply chain resilience, particularly resilience to a major global pandemic. The study also uncovered the sequence of events in a major pandemic and identified some strategies for building resilience to potential future risks of such an event.

The limitations of this study are apparent. Firstly, the selection of databases is not comprehensive. Due to time limitations, authoritative publishers such as Springer, Emerald, Wiley and Taylor & Francis were not selected. Secondly, a single author completed the literature quality testing and text analysis, possibly reducing the credibility of the results due to subjective bias. Thirdly, the selected literature are the studies published during the immediate event of Covid-19, and before January 2022, other research studies may have been completed but were still in the state of auditing at this time.

This paper is the first study that provides a detailed classification of the immediate challenges to the food supply chain faced in both upstream and downstream nodes during a major global disruption. For researchers, this clearly shows the immediate difficulties faced at each node of the food supply chain, which provides research topics for future studies.

The purpose of this paper is to present the investigation on contemporary applications of game design in architectural visualization, urban environmental planning and the results to address the problems of traditional methods specifically in terms of interactivity and visualization. The authors present the prototype that incorporates information modeling and virtual reality (VR) into interactive architectural visualization.

The proposed system supports a virtual walkthrough process that allows users to navigate in an architectural space of their imagination and design. The immersion in the design of living space or environment has been made possible through the inclusion of VR through the use of WebVR technology to deploy the design to be experienced.

This study investigates and establishes a framework that explores the intricacies of 3 imensional (3D) Architectural Visualization in a real-time engine by designing a visual experience with a better level of user interaction and then deploying it through VR.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the few experimental frameworks which perfectly integrates VR for visualization in digital home design environments. The prospective applications of this framework are in several fields of construction innovation, architectural design, 3D modeling, virtual and augmented reality.

In this study, it is analyzed the validity of the exchange rate pass-through (ERPT) effect and the effect of interest rate and output level on the inflation rate (IR) in Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey (BRIC-T) between the years 1995Q1 and 2022Q4.

The methods such as the panel unit root test developed by Westerlund (2012), the LM bootstrap panel cointegration test developed by Westerlund and Edgerton (2007), the common correlated effects (CCE) estimator developed by Pesaran (2006) and the augmented mean group (AMG) estimator developed by Eberhardt and Bond (2009) that take into account the cross-section dependency are applied for analysis.

As a result of the findings, it is determined that the ERPT effect is valid in Turkey, Brazil, Russia, India and China and the cost channel is valid only in China. Finally, it is found out that output level positively affects inflation in Turkey, Brazil, Russia, India and China.

All these results indicate that the economies of Turkey, Russia, Brazil and India have a fragile structure, especially in terms of inflation. Therefore, the central bank of these countries should maintain exchange-rate stability to implement the inflation-targeting strategy successfully. In this context, central bank independence should be increased in these countries in achieving this objective. Also the results indicate that it is still early to consider whether BRIC-T countries and accordingly the Belt and Road Initiative will be an alternative against the domination of the USA and European Union (EU) on international trade system or it will substitute them.

In this study, it is tested that the impact of interest-rate (NIR), exchange-rate (FER) and output level (IPI) on general level of prices. Besides, it is analyzed that whether production level affects the IR. Also, the study investigates the economic issues such as ERPT effect and cost channel. The study analyzes whether China's Belt and Road Initiative is successful or not. In this study, we used the panel data methods that allow for structural breaks and cross-section dependency. For these reasons, this study differs from other studies in the literature both in terms of scope and methods used.

Many African countries struggle to sustain steady economic growth. Specific macro-economic factors can influence a country’s economic growth. We investigated the trend and influence of diaspora remittances, foreign direct investment (FDI) and imports on Kenya’s economic growth.

We used panel data from the World Bank Indicators database from 1973 to 2021. By utilising the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model for econometric analysis and performing computations using R software, we provide valuable insights into both short-term and long-term dynamics.

In the short term, we establish a non-significant negative impact of FDI and imports on economic growth, contrasting with the positive influence of diaspora remittances. However, in the long term, all three variables – FDI, imports and remittances – emerge as significant determinants of economic growth.

The availability and quality of data on diaspora remittances, FDI inflows, imports and economic indicators may vary, leading to potential data limitations, biases or gaps in the analysis. External factors such as global economic trends, political stability, COVID-19, regulatory changes and natural disasters may influence the study’s findings and should be considered when interpreting the results.

In the short term, the non-significant negative impact of FDI and imports on economic growth suggests that policies promoting FDI and imports may not yield immediate economic growth benefits. Policymakers might need to reassess the effectiveness of current strategies aimed at attracting FDI and managing imports in the short term. The positive influence of diaspora remittances on economic growth underscores the significance of these inflows in supporting economic development. Governments may need to focus on policies that encourage remittance inflows, such as facilitating remittance channels and providing incentives for diaspora investment in the home country. The shift in significance from non-significant in the short term to significant in the long term for FDI, imports and remittances highlights the importance of considering long-term effects in economic planning. Policymakers should adopt strategies that consider the cumulative impact of these factors over time.

Diaspora remittances often play a crucial role in alleviating poverty and reducing inequality by providing direct financial support to families. Recognising the importance of remittances in improving living standards, policymakers should ensure that policies support the effective utilisation of remittance inflows to address poverty and inequality challenges.

We therefore contribute original insights by examining the interplay between diaspora remittances, FDI, imports and economic growth over the study period. The emphasis on both short-term and long-term effects adds nicety to understanding their roles in shaping Kenya’s economic growth trail.

This study aims to examine the illicit capital movement through trade misinvoicing in Burundi, at disaggregated levels by major trading partners and by major export and import commodities.

Trade misinvoicing is estimated by comparing the trade values declared by Burundi with those declared by trading partners in a bilateral international transaction, after adjusting for the cost of freight and insurance. Disaggregated trade misinvoicing by major trading partners is computed using the Direction of Trade Statistics database of the International Monetary Fund over the period 1970–2019. Disaggregated trade misinvoicing by major trading commodities is computed using the UN-COMTRADE database over the period 1993–2019.

Exports of Burundi to most of its major trading partners are found to be underinvoiced. The top destinations for export underinvoicing are United Arab Emirates, Belgium and Germany. However, exports to UK and Switzerland are found to be overinvoiced. The major export commodities considered, coffee and gold, are found to be affected by trade misinvoicing to a great extent. On the import side, the estimation results indicate that imports of Burundi from its major trading partners are in general overinvoiced. High import overinvoicing is observed in the trade with Saudi Arabia, China and Japan. At commodity level, for the top 6 commodities considered, imports were to a great extent found to be overinvoiced. Cases of illicit capital outflows and inflows through trade misinvoicing are highlighted.

Some policy implications are drawn from this study. First, in collaboration with its development partners, the Government of Burundi should put in place measures to reduce the trade misinvoicing phenomenon, which undermines poverty reduction efforts. The study has shown which trade partners are involved and which commodities are mostly affected. Policy efforts could then be focused in that regard. Investigations at the company and transaction levels can be made to identify the mechanisms of trade misinvoicing. Second, more effort is needed in ensuring systematic and transparent reporting of international trade transactions. To fight trade misinvoicing, transparency in international trade is key, through coordinated enforcement of reporting rules.

Previous studies analyzed the problem of trade misinvoicing at an aggregated level. However, this leaves out essential information on trading partners involved in the phenomenon as well as trading commodities affected. This study investigates trade misinvoicing at disaggregated levels, at product level and by trading partner.

Afghanistan has experienced capital flight, which has long perplexed policymakers and planners. There have been widespread concerns about capital's ‘paradoxical’ character, which jeopardises national welfare. In this regard, this study envisages examining the nature and prevalence of reverse capital flight in Afghanistan by employing two methods viz direct approach (Cuddington's Model) and indirect approach (World Bank approach and Morgan approach). The findings highlight four main reasons for reverse capital. These include facilitating the whitening of black money (money laundering) which has been previously illegally flown out of the country; second, it allows import tax evasion and the realisation of unnecessary export rebates and refunds; third, it facilitates the avoidance and incidence of Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) on imported goods; and finally, it allows for the concealment of investment in the underground economy. The study recommends maintaining a thorough record of illegal cash flows in Afghanistan since the nature of trade in Afghanistan is difficult owing to the simultaneous flow of illicit capital. Furthermore, the unrecorded private investments must be adjusted for illegal capital flows resulting from trade mis-invoicing, thus crucial for policy enunciation.

Rosewood, as the most internationally traded endangered species, is subject to a series of restrictive trade policies globally. China has historically been the largest importer of rosewood in the world. The fluctuation of China’s rosewood import prices will have a profound impact on the global rosewood trade pattern. This study, therefore, assessed the impact of restrictive trade policies on China’s rosewood import prices to explore the fluctuation rule of rosewood trade prices under restrictive policies.

The study built a partial equilibrium framework about the formation mechanism of rosewood import price bubbles under supply constraints. On this basis, with China’s daily import prices of major rosewood species, the generalized supremum augmented Dickey–Fuller (GSADF) and backward supremum augmented Dickey–Fuller (BSADF) tests were applied to explore the effect of restrictive trade policies on China’s rosewood import prices.

The empirical analysis revealed that there were multiple price bubbles for five of the seven rosewood species. The largest bubbles were always created before and after the deployment of supply constraints. The empirical results for the counterfactual examples implied that price bubbles would not have occurred if restrictive rosewood trade policies had not been implemented. The above findings indicated that these measures tended to trigger significant price bubbles in China’s rosewood imports.

The effect of restrictive rosewood trade policies on rosewood trade prices had not yet been explored in previous research studies. This study empirically analyzed the effect of restrictive trade policies on China’s rosewood import prices using econometric models.