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The sublime in scent refers to the use of language and description that excites thoughts and emotions beyond ordinary olfactory experience, and I would like to borrow this literary concept to explore the recent development of incense traditions in Japan and China from a sociocultural perspective. In order to understand how olfactory characters of incense have been verbally expressed, we can start by looking into the sublime in scent through the articulation of relevant subtle approaches since ancient times.

This paper explains how the description of scent experienced by individuals has been associated with thoughts and history and why the sublime in scent is more complicated than the aroma people can tell. The data collected for this research is mostly based on observations by participating in various events and conversations with different people.

In Japan and China, the use of incense has a long history, and relevant scent cultures have been developed not only for offerings in religious practices, but also as a kind of scent appreciation together with a poetic presentation. Again, it is important and significant to discern several interactions of incense traditions in these two countries, since the transformations became obvious in the last two decades, while Japanese Kodo participated more in international exchange, and the Chinese people's view of intangible cultural heritage has become more important in their daily social practices.

As a way of showing how the study of scent can enhance ethnographic writing and the understanding of changes in the appreciation of incense, this paper hopes to contribute to the study of art and tradition.

On completion of this case study, students will be able to describe a circular economy and cross-marketing; discuss the common strategies under the circular economy paradigm; describe the benefits and risks of cross-marketing brand alliances and their strategic implications; examine the role of growth strategy in driving the growth of an organization; classify what constitutes the elements of a strategy for HelpUsGreen LLP; and discuss measures to be considered while selecting a partner for a cross-marketing brand alliance.

HelpUsGreen LLP was a start-up founded by Karan Rastogi in 2019, which manufactured incense sticks using the circular economy model. After deflecting from his earlier partner in 2019 and after approximately two years of effort, Rastogi expanded his business of making incense sticks using a circular economy model. Students through this case can step into the shoes of Rastogi, who, as of 9 January 2023, was in Kanpur and was in an urgent need to replicate a similar circular economy model in different cities. With over 21,060 tonnes of temple flower waste recycled, 210 tonnes of chemical pesticides offset and 100% natural products delivered, multiple opportunities emerged at the cross-marketing brand alliance and new product segment levels. Rastogi entered into several cross-marketing brand alliance arrangements and tasted success. Rastogi believed that choosing the right partner for cross-marketing was key to successful cooperation. Considering cross-marketing as a way forward, he urgently needed to develop a strategy that aligned with his mission to take HelpUsGreen LLP’s circular economy model to other parts of the country. Students should take into consideration the data regarding the processes at HelpUsGreen LLP that helped Rastogi restart from scratch and make assumptions to decide the growth route for entering different cities.

This case can be used as an introductory case in a post-graduate class on growth strategy for a business based on the circular economy model, as it delineates the challenges faced by a firm while creating a circular economy and managing its growth phase. The case can also be used in an entrepreneurship management course and a strategic management course. This case allows students to learn about the circular economy and challenges faced by the company during the growth phase. Thus, the case can be used for covering multiple perspectives related to growth strategy (e.g. the application of Ansoff matrix), for defining what is cross-marketing brand alliance and discussing what measures need to be considered while selecting a partner for cross-marketing brand alliance, and it is ideal for teaching the elements of strategy.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

Rivers are very close to Indian culture and civilisation. Indians treat rivers as holy and connect them to their faith. Human-induced activities unintentionally pollute the water bodies. The present case revolves around an innovative social enterprise – PHOOL, which deals with the recycling of flowers offered by devotees at temples. Thus, preventing thousands of kilograms of floral waste from being dumped into rivers daily and polluting them. The idea was conceived to save the most revered river – the Ganges. These flowers are mostly loaded with pesticides and insecticides, which further merge with river water making it even more toxic, endangering marine lives. PHOOL collects flowers from various places of worship and recycles them into handcrafted incense sticks and biodegradable Styrofoam. This unique venture has also been patented for its process and technology of floral waste recycling. Their mission is to save and preserve the river Ganges and empower marginalised women by providing employment opportunities while at the same time giving a livelihood and a future to Indian child and the generations to come. The child could now afford schooling, in hopes of a better economic future in a healthier environment while maintaining all societal traditions. It is essentially a case of social entrepreneurship that aims to help readers understand the intricacies of starting and surviving a social enterprise and ensuring continual sustainability. To create the case, an interview was carried out with Ms Ekta Jain (Associate, Marketing and Communications, PHOOL), as well as a literature review and data were collected on the social enterprise and significant events that take place in the Indian social entrepreneurship ecosystem. PHOOL is a case on ensuring a balanced approach between the economy, environment and society. It aims at protecting and creating a balance between the environment, the economy and the society, generating a new inflow to the economy, providing a purpose in life for those most in need of it and a livelihood free from pollution and deprivation, and making the world a better place to live in. It is creating a balance between societal needs, the environment that requires protection, the economy and ensuring continuity.

In an earlier article (The Electronic Library, April, 1985) a description is given of a method of making a KWOC index from article or document titles with a computer program which enables an indexer to combine words from the title in any way required to form indexing terms. Two versions of the program are described, an interactive one and one which compiles a KWOC index from a file of prepared data. The method has the drawback common to all KWOC indexes that the words in the title have to be used in the form in which they occur and this leads to certain shortcomings in the index such as a multiplicity of forms for what is the same term and the use of comprehensible but unconventional forms of a term. This article discusses these shortcomings and then describes the modifications made to the interactive version of the program which allow an indexer to edit the terms chosen as the index is being compiled so that consistency in the form of the terms is achieved and accepted conventions are observed. Modifications which effect the same improvements have been made to the other version of the program and these are also described. Examples of the use of both these new versions of the program are included.

Every year, tonnes of flower waste from religious places is dumped into India’s holiest river Ganges, polluting it to virtual death. Pesticides and insecticides used in growing these flowers mix with the water, affecting millions of lives through water-borne diseases. Most others may just lament these facts, Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, childhood friends from Kanpur, used them as inspiration to innovate. Two years of relentless experimentation led to a brilliant idea; that of recycling the flower waste. They founded HelpUsGreen® in 2014 to convert the waste into bio-fertilisers and lifestyle products. Widely appreciated and heavily awarded now, success has not come easy for this well-educated duo. HelpUsGreen® processes hundreds of kilos of flower waste, creating employment for hundreds of underprivileged women. An entirely bootstrapped project with no carbon foot print, the venture hopes to revive the Ganges through Flowercycling®. Currently at 8.5 tonnes per day and at the tipping point of scaling, HelpUsGreen® hopes to process over 50 tonnes of flower waste per day by 2020. Apart from the environmental impact, HelpUsGreen® has achieved huge societal impact, employing over a thousand women who did not previously have formal employment. What also makes the social entrepreneurs stand apart is their entrepreneurial market savviness. They have positioned their products not at the sympathy market but at the high-end premium market. Their products sell under the name ‘Phool’. HelpUsGreen® has set its eyes firmly on spreading operations across 2,000 kilometres along the Ganges and creating over 25,000 jobs for women.

This case facilitates the learning of marketing concepts like segmentation, targetting and positioning, marketing mix, branding strategies and digital marketing strategies.

The case is written based on the facts available in the public domain and hence it follows secondary data research design. The secondary sources include company websites, industry reports, newspaper articles, social media sites and other online articles and reports. The case is classroom tested with MBA students in digital marketing course and PGDM students in brand management course.

Cycle Pure agarbathi, the leading brand of NR Group, became the coveted brand among the households of India. This success amidst high competition can be attributed to the concerted effort on product development coupled with mindful branding. To keep abreast of time and competition the company opted to go digital with an e-portal. Cycle Pure had a digital presence much earlier through social media, but the e-portal www.cycle.in, was a novel attempt. All the fragrance products of the brand were available for consumers through www.cycle.in. Moreover, the product assortment consisted of a collection of top-quality products and auxiliaries linked to multiple categories such as invocation necessities, personal care, air care and lifestyle. Furthermore, using in-house fragrance research lab, the company experimented with local aromas through numerous variants and also extended to related products such as sambrani (benzene) and dhoops. With consistent product augmentations along with access to innovative sectors such as air fresheners, the company expected to grow at a rate of 15%–16% annually. However, the company targeted to grab one-third share in the total market within the next five years.

This case can be used in Marketing Management, Brand Management, Digital marketing and Strategic Marketing courses at the Master’s level. It is suitable for MBA and executive MBA students.

When things were looking particularly bleak last year for UK politician, Ian Duncan Smith, a national newspaper came up with some joke headlines. These impossible stories were, the paper suggested facetiously, more likely than the Conservative Party Opposition leader ever becoming the UK Prime Minister. One of the best headlines, referring to the founder of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, read: “Paisley attacks incense cutbacks”. For more cynical readers, “Bank expresses concern for staff and customers” might have seemed just as unlikely. That one happens, however, to be true.

This article aims to discuss the results on prevalence, patterns of use and motivations for the use of legal high products/new psychoactive substances (NPS) and possible consequences for drug policy.

The main results are derived from a non‐representative quantitative online survey in Germany, focused on persons with experience in legal highs use.

The general prevalence of legal highs varies considerably in different European countries; generally, it is much lower than the lifetime prevalence of illicit drugs. Almost every legal highs user has experience in the use of illicit drugs. Several types of (repeated) users can be identified. “Herbal incense” products are used by many persons in order to compensate for a limited availability of cannabis or to remain inconspicuous for law enforcement. Current research chemicals (RC) users are mainly experienced drug users who seek to expand the range of drugs being consumed with RCs. Repressive drug policy approaches seem to contribute to the use of legal highs as replacement drugs.

Given that many NPS show side effects that are at least as serious as those associated with illicit drugs, and that long‐time risks are unpredictable, repressive drug policy enforcement may lead to increased public health risks regarding drug users.

The survey is the first published quantitative survey focusing on legal highs users. The results have not been published in English yet.

Nahua ritual specialists of northern Veracruz, Mexico, portray spirit entities by cutting their images from paper. Paper cutting is an ancient craft in Mesoamerica that traces back to the pre-Hispanic era. The impetus to materialize the spirits in this way is the result of the highly abstract and pantheistic nature of the Nahua religious system. In pantheistic thought, the cosmos itself is the deity and all apparent diversity can be seen as different aspects or manifestations of a seamless sacred unity. The Nahua ritual specialist places the paper figures on elaborate altars where he or she dedicates special offerings to them. The fundamentally economic nature of Nahua ritual exchange is revealed – with the aid of ritual economy – through examination of multiple factors: the symbolic meanings of sacred chanting and altar construction, the role of religion in constituting Nahua ethnic identity in the face of domination by mestizo elites, and the ecological context that renders life precarious for indigenous horticulturalists of this region of Mexico.