Search results

The learning outcome of this study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship, which is working wonders with its unique selling points (USPs) in promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and, at the same time, generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques adopted by the rural population residing in the Himalayan region of India.The proposed case study can be used as a replicable model in other parts of rural India and other emerging economies to start and scale up a similar “integrated rural development model” through effective policy advocacy and public–private partnerships and to develop sustainable farmlands and livelihoods for rural India. It has a definite potential to be used as a pedagogical tool in postgraduate programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This case study is set in the backdrop of 2023 having been declared by the UN as the International Year of Millets and India being the homeland for millet cultivation. The objective of the case study is to bring to the table of a wider intellectual audience, a unique model of community-based entrepreneurship operating in the Himalayan region of rural India. The community-based entrepreneurship model works on the USP of promoting sustainability and conserving the ethos of villages and generating livelihoods through traditional farming techniques. This case study traces the journey of Roopesh Rai (protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap), the community-based entrepreneur and his challenges in setting up the enterprise. The narrative is built in the light of a series of interviews with Rai, the main protagonist and the founder of Bakrichhap, as well as the people of Goat village by Komal, a post-doctoral fellow in the area of community-based enterprises (CBEs). Through this narrative, the case writers’ endeavour was to understand how CBEs such as Bakrichhap were providing a means of integrated rural development in the hilly region of Uttarakhand, India. Also, how such enterprises were thereby curbing distress migration, unemployment and a large-scale erosion of the cultural heritage and traditional and indigenous farming techniques of the land. In the first seven years of the operations of this uniquely curated CBE, Rai endeavoured to iron out many bottlenecks. This case study also highlights the gamut of challenges faced by community-based entrepreneurs like Rai in designing strategy for growth and expansion. What strategy should Bakrichhap follow for expansion to the other regions of the country? Should all the three existing verticals of the enterprise be scaled up parallelly or should each individual vertical be expanded one after the other in a phased manner? Stemming out from the main dilemma of strategic expansion were the related issues of funding (finance) and the formation of an effective team (HR).

This case study can be used in undergraduate, graduate and executive programmes offering courses in microfinance, financial inclusion, social and community entrepreneurship, sustainability, entrepreneurship, community development finance and rural immersions and public policy.

This comprehensive case study is written by using the triangulation of data collected through a series of personal interviews, website information, news articles, personal observation and field visits. The research design used is single case (holistic; Yin, 2003, 3rd edition). The timeline of this case study is 2021 to 2022 and place is Nag Tibba, Uttarakhand, a Himalayan state in North India.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

In recent years, the application of robots in different industrial sectors such as nuclear power generation, construction, automobile, firefighting and medicine, etc. is increasing day by day. In large industrial plants generally humans and robots work together to accomplish several tasks and lead to the problem of safety and reliability because any malfunction event of robots may cause human injury or even death. To access the reliability of a robot, sufficient amount of failure data is required which is sometimes very difficult to collect due to rare events of any robot failures. Also, different types of their failure pattern increase the difficulty which finally leads to the problem of uncertainty. To overcome these difficulties, this paper presents a case study by assessing fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA) to control robot-related accidents to provide safe working environment to human beings in any industrial plant.

Presented FFTA method uses different fuzzy membership functions to quantify different uncertainty factors and applies alpha-cut coupled weakest t-norm (Tω) based approximate fuzzy arithmetic operations to obtain fuzzy failure probability of robot-human interaction fault event which is the main contribution of the paper.

The result obtained from presented FFTA method is compared with other listing approaches. Critical basic events are also ranked using V-index for making suitable action plan to control robot-related accidents. Study indicates that the presented FFTA is a good alternative method to analyze fault in robot-human interaction for providing safe working environment in an industrial plant.

Existing fuzzy reliability assessment techniques designed for robots mainly use triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs), triangle vague sets (TVS) or triangle intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFS) to quantify data uncertainty. Present study overcomes this shortcoming and generalizes the idea of fuzzy reliability assessment for robots by adopting different IFS to control robot-related accidents to provide safe working environment to human. This is the main contribution of the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the fuzzy reliability of the compressor house unit (CHU) system in a coal fired thermal power plant under vague environment by reducing the accumulating phenomenon of fuzziness and accelerating the computation process. This paper uses different fuzzy membership functions to quantify uncertainty and access the system reliability in terms of different fuzzy reliability indices having symmetric shapes.

This study analyses the fuzzy reliability of the CHU system in a coal fired thermal power plant using T_ω-based generalized fuzzy Lambda-Tau (TBGFLT) technique. This approach applies fault tree, Lambda-Tau method, different fuzzy membership functions and α-cut coupled T_ω-based approximate arithmetic operations to compute various reliability parameters (such as failure rate, repair time, mean time between failures, expected number of failures, availability and reliability) of the system. The effectiveness of TBGFLT technique has been demonstrated by comparing the results with results obtained from four different existing techniques. Moreover, this paper applies the extended Tanaka et al. (1983) approach to rank the critical components of the system when different membership functions are used.

The adopted TBGFLT technique in the present study improves the shortcomings of the existing approaches by reducing the accumulating phenomenon of fuzziness, accelerating the computation process and getting symmetric shapes for computed reliability parameters when different membership functions are used to quantify data uncertainty.

In existing fuzzy reliability techniques which are developed for repairable systems either triangular fuzzy numbers, triangle vague sets or triangle intuitionistic fuzzy sets have been used for quantifying uncertainty. These approaches do not examine the systems for components with different membership functions. The present study is an effort in this direction and evaluates the fuzzy reliability of the CHU system in a coal fired thermal power plant for components with different membership functions. This is the main contribution of the paper.

Is more child participation always better for child rights advocacy? That is the question I examine, in this chapter, as I analyse advocacy for child rights in India that led to the adoption of the landmark Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 (the ‘POCSO Act’). Through ethnographic fieldwork with non-government organisations (NGOs) and a narrative analysis of interviews and awareness material, I tell the story of how a combination of adult-led but child-participatory advocacy brought about a new, de-tabooised way of talking about child sexual abuse. By applying the theoretical lens of ‘critical child rights studies’, I suggest how we can conceptualise a critical perspective on child participation in child rights advocacy. First, adults’ multiple and, at times, conflicting roles in children’s lives – as advocates, protectors, and abusers – needs to be recognised. Second, children should participate in advocacy activities where they can have meaningful influence and be part of the conversation. This may not necessarily occur in adult spaces, where their participation remains token. Finally, I argue that child participation should never turn into a responsibilisation of children.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reliability of the washing system in a paper plant in a more promising way under vague environment by reducing the accumulating phenomenon of fuzziness and accelerating the computation process using the T_ω (weakest t-norm) based fuzzy lambda-tau (TBFLT) technique.

This paper presents a unified approach for analyzing the fuzzy reliability of the washing system under vague environment. This approach applies the TBFLT technique which uses triangular fuzzy numbers for incorporating data uncertainty, fault tree and lambda-tau method for finding system failure rate and repair time mathematical expressions while simplified T_ω-based arithmetic operations are applied for computing various reliability parameters of the system. The effectiveness of the TBFLT technique has been demonstrated by analyzing fuzzy reliability of the system using five different techniques including TBFLT. Moreover, this paper applies extended Tanaka’s (1983) approach to rank the critical components of the system.

The TBFLT technique has the advantage of low computation complexity in comparison to other techniques and effectively reduces the accumulating phenomenon of fuzziness. This main finding verifies the conclusion made by Chen (1994).

The author has suggested a simple and more applicable technique for analyzing the fuzzy reliability of any complex process industrial system under vague environment. The effectiveness of the technique has been demonstrated by computing various reliability parameters of the washing system of a paper plant.

The cases highlight the challenges in running a new start-up especially by women in a developing nation such as India in a high growth industry. The success of a business depends on employee motivation, sales, marketing, functional coordination and coordinated efforts from all the executives. Experten Office Supplies Pvt. Ltd. (EXOS) was women empowered entrepreneurial startup (printing) in Mumbai established themselves as a trustable brand among their clientele for their office stationeries need. At Initial stages, they started with a good pace and growth in revenue. Directors of EXOS, Komal and Upasana Sanjay Kumar, were facing a downturn, their declining sales and were stressed regarding the resignation of their core member Pravin. The reasons for the situation were many, including unplanned motivational factors, non-risk-taking ability, no proper sales management (organization structure), planning process issues, lack of reward system and dependency on a person, less marketing initiative. These issues must be resolved to come back in the business, increase its sales, better sales organization structure. After the case analysis, students should be able to: know the key role of marketing and sales as a management function. Develop motivation policies for the salesforce and key team members in the organization. Understand the salesforce retention strategies of the organization.

In September 2019, directors of EXOS, Komal and Upasana Sanjay Kumar were discussing the downturn of EXOS and were stressed regarding their declining sales and profit margin. Both were disappointed at the resignation of their Business Manager. They were in worry as the new deal that they were about to get which could have made them earn, but Pravin resigned from the job in short notice. The case has short- and long-term aspects. The short-term aspect is about the decision related to EXOS’s top performer, Pravin, how to retain him, which motivational factor will help him to rethink his resignation. The long-term aspect deals with framing a motivation model that will prevent the organization from a similar situation in the future. The case outlines the human resource management issues and particularly the importance of motivation to retain the talent of a small startup firm. Directors recognize the importance of Pravin and they have a realization that the deal on which Pravin is working is critical. Under this situation, Upasana has to stop Pravin.

Undergraduate, Master of Business Administration (MBA) or in the Management Development Programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS: 8 Marketing.

This paper explores the management of emotions and emotional challenges that human trainees face when interacting with a robot or a humanoid trainer.

This study draws on existing academic and grey literature on robot and humanoids-based training with algorithms, bots, and artificial intelligence (AI).

The study highlights the need for personalized feedback, clear communication, and the establishment of trust between the trainee and robotic trainer. The study discusses the strategies to manage emotions like anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise that are experienced by human trainees.

The research provides an accessible summary of setting realistic expectations for the emotional experience of working with a robotic trainer to help manage expectations and reduce disappointment.

The managers in charge of implementing robotic training programs can provide education and resources to help individuals effectively manage emotions when working with a robotic trainer.

Prisons can be epicentres of infectious diseases. However, empirical evidence on the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic in prison is still scarce. This study aims to estimate the seroprevalence rates of anti-SARS-CoV-2 in the largest and most crowded Swiss prison and compare them with the seroprevalence rate in the general population.

A cross-sectional study was conducted in June 2020, one month after the first wave of SARS-CoV-2 in Switzerland. Groups included: people living in detention (PLDs) detained before the beginning of the pandemic (n = 116), PLDs incarcerated after the beginning of the pandemic (n = 61), prison staff and prison healthcare workers (n = 227) and a sample from the general population in the same time period (n = 3,404). The authors assessed anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies.

PLDs who were incarcerated before the beginning of the pandemic had a significantly lower seroprevalence rate [0.9%, confidence interval (CI)95%: 0.1%–5.9%] compared to the general population (6.3%, CI 95%: 5.6–7.3%) (p = 0.041). The differences between PLDs who were incarcerated before and other groups were marginally significant (PLDs incarcerated after the beginning of the pandemic: 6.6%, CI 95%: 2.5%–16.6%, p = 0.063; prison staff CI 95%: 4.8%, 2.7%–8.6%, p = 0.093). The seroprevalence of prison staff was only slightly and non-significantly lower than that of the general population.

During the first wave, despite overcrowding and interaction with the community, the prison was not a hotspot of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Preventive measures probably helped avoiding clusters of infection. The authors suggest that preventive measures that impact social welfare could be relaxed when overall circulation in the community is low to prevent the negative impact of isolation.

Body-packing means concealing packets of illicit psychoactive substances in the digestive or genital system. The purpose of this paper is to investigate profiles of body-packers and comorbidities associated with body-packing.

A retrospective study (2005–2016) was conducted among all patients hospitalized for suspicion of body-packing in the Geneva hospital prison unit (n=287). Data were extracted from medical records and included demographics, somatic/psychiatric diseases, suicidal ideation and psychological distress.

Body-packers were mostly young men (mean age=33.4). A total of 42.2 percent of the participants had at least one psychiatric or somatic comorbidity reported during incarceration (somatic: 28.2 percent, psychiatric: 18.8 percent). The most frequent somatic diseases were infectious (10.5 percent), cardiovascular (10.1 percent), and endocrinological (4.2 percent) diseases, and more precisely HIV (4.5 percent), hepatitis B (3.5 percent), hepatitis C (1.4 percent), high blood pressure (8.0 percent) and diabetes (4.2 percent). The most frequent psychiatric conditions were substance use disorders (10.5 percent) and mood disorders (8.0 percent). Depressed mood/psychological distress and suicidal ideation were frequently reported during hospitalization (27.2/6.6 percent). Comorbidities were associated with demographics: Females were more likely to have somatic and psychiatric diseases detected during hospitalization in detention and participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic countries were more likely to report diseases known before detention.

Body-packers bear a heavy burden of disease and psychological distress. This vulnerable subgroup of incarcerated people has been overlooked in previous research and their health needs are not correctly understood. This study was a first step to improve their health care and reintegration.

Assistive technology has been developed to assist the visually impaired individuals in their social interactions. Specifically designed to enhance communication skills, facilitate social engagement and improve the overall quality of life, conversational assistive technologies include speech recognition APIs, text-to-speech APIs and various communication tools that are real. Enable real-time interaction. Using natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning algorithms, the technology analyzes spoken language and provides appropriate responses, offering an immersive experience through voice commands, audio feedback and vibration alerts.

These technologies have demonstrated their ability to promote self-confidence and self-reliance in visually impaired individuals during social interactions. Moreover, they promise to improve social competence and foster better relationships. In short, assistive technology in conversation stands as a promising tool that empowers the visually impaired individuals, elevating the quality of their social engagement.

The main benefit of assistive communication technology is that it will help visually impaired people overcome communication barriers in social contexts. This technology helps them communicate effectively with acquaintances, family, co-workers and even strangers in public places. By enabling smoother and more natural communication, it works to reduce feelings of isolation and increase overall quality of life.

Research findings include successful activity recognition, aligning with activities on which the VGG-16 model was trained, such as hugging, shaking hands, talking, walking, waving and more. The originality of this study lies in its approach to address the challenges faced by the visually impaired individuals in their social interactions through modern technology. Research adds to the body of knowledge in the area of assistive technologies, which contribute to the empowerment and social inclusion of the visually impaired individuals.