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This paper aims to investigate the continuing experience of the employer and employees in terms of work–life balance (WLB) and productivity from the employees engaged in knowledge work working from home. Based on the findings, this study expands the key performance indicators (KPIs) of remote work and future policy decision including reorienting training practices that can be implemented to manage the workforce in a hybrid model.

Focus group interviews with the corporate executives and human resources (HR) managers of information technology (IT) sectors were conducted to pool critical success and challenging variables in various phases as in the initial and matured phase of work from home (WFH) followed by administering a structured questionnaire to identify employee perceptions toward work from office, home and hybrid mode among knowledge work employees.

WLB and lower stress were the highlights of WFH, and women employees benefit from flexibility of work as the major highlighted success factor. But there were challenges ahead; teams have become more siloed with issues of ineffective communication resulting in team coherence issues, increased health risks and also can result in attrition. Productivity increased throughout, but in the extended phase of WFH, it has affected the WLB of a major portion of technology-driven employees in terms of health risks, burnout and job attrition.

Only the current employees working at IT companies in Kerala were surveyed, and this limited scope may not be consistent with other types of industries. The companies can approach the next phase of work by embracing the positives and learning from the challenges of WFH. The employers need to identify what exactly the employees feel through their interpersonal relationship through connect and trust.

A model with listed KPIs which will address the strategy enhancement for the future of work to uphold the success of work from anywhere at any time is suggested guaranteeing the best talent and productivity to progress forward. To foster the positive experience of WFH and hybrid mode of work, human resources (HR) interventions by reorienting effective training among employees are investigated and suggested as best practices to manage WLB and drive in flexibility to bring out the productivity potential among employees.

Coworking spaces can be arranged for those employees who have space and location issues and also taking into consideration, the nature of work. Out of five to six working days, three days of work can be from office desk based on employee preference as quality of deliverables and performance seem to be the established striking factor of traditional mode of work.

A model with listed KPIs and investigating the role of training which will address the strategy enhancement for the future of work to uphold the success of work from anywhere at any time is recommended guaranteeing the best talent and productivity to progress forward.

Can industrial marketers afford to choose unethical strategies? To answer this question, this study aims to use game theory to analyze whether an industrial marketer choosing and implementing an unethical strategy is successful in maximizing her market share across her strategies.

The competition between two industrial marketers is modeled as a strategic game for the market share of a product that is identical in all attributes except the production process. Each industrial marketer’s objective is to choose to implement either the ethical or the unethical production process to maximize her market share.

The study finds that both industrial marketers choosing to implement ethical strategies is the unique Nash equilibrium of the game. That is, an industrial marketer choosing to implement an unethical strategy in the production process will be unsuccessful in maximizing her market share when both the industrial marketers are rational.

The study contributes to the literature on industrial marketing ethics, particularly that on product ethics, by showing that industrial marketers gain market share if they choose ethical strategies.

The study has implications for industrial marketing executives, as organizational consumers are increasingly aware of the strategies of industrial marketers. Failure to implement ethical strategies will cause industrial marketers to forgo their best possible market shares.

This study’s novelty lies in using a game theoretic approach to demonstrate the positive implications of ethical strategies for industrial marketers.