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Customer experience is increasingly recognized as a source of competitive advantage. Customer experience refers to customers' responses and reactions to cues within touchpoints along customer journeys. Nowadays, customers often interact with online touchpoints – such as social media, websites, or e-commerce – in their customer journeys. Given that customer experience is multidimensional, this chapter addresses the following question: How can sensorial experiences be triggered in online touchpoints? Based on a review of the literature on customer experience and sensory marketing, four challenges in triggering sensorial experiences in online touchpoints are identified: (1) limited sensorial cues, (2) lack of thematic congruence between online and offline touchpoints, (3) sensory overload, and (4) lesser control over sensorial cues. Then, two routes through which organizations can trigger sensorial experiences in online touchpoints are proposed: (1) directly influencing sensations through sensory-enabling technologies, and (2) indirectly influencing sensorial perceptions through the use of sensory and nonsensory cues. The chapter closes with a presentation of a model that describes the process of triggering sensorial experiences in online touchpoints as well as a checklist of relevant questions for practitioners who wish to do so.

A workplace bullying dynamic involving multiple individuals targeting victims can lead to the victim losing emotional bonds or affect-based trust with their colleagues, resulting in employee silence. The literature has largely ignored this negative aspect of social dynamics. This study aims to examine the relationship between workplace bullying and employee silence behaviors and determine whether affect-based trust mediates this relationship and whether climate for conflict management moderates the mediated relationship.

Hypotheses are tested using surveys and scenario-based experiments among faculty members in Indian Universities. There were 597 participants in the survey and 166 in the scenario-based experiment.

Results revealed that workplace bullying correlated positively with silence behaviors, and affect-based trust mediated the bullying-silence relationship. The hypothesized moderated mediation condition was partially supported as moderated the mediating pathway, i.e. indirect effects of workplace bullying on defensive silence and ineffectual silence via affect-based trust were weaker for employees with high climate for conflict management. However, the study failed to support the moderation of climate for conflict management in the relationship between workplace bullying and affect-based trust and workplace bullying and relational silence. The results of this moderated effect of climate for conflict management were similar in both studies.

This study is one of the few attempts to examine employee silence in response to workplace bullying in academia. Additionally, the study revealed a critical area of trust depletion associated with bullying and the importance of employee perceptions of fairness toward their institutions’ dispute resolution processes.

The case is based on the data collected from various secondary sources only.

Godi India, a lithium-ion cell manufacturing company in India, was working to design e-cell for electric vehicles (EV) which would be compatible with Indian conditions and reduce the cost of battery to the extent possible because e-cell contributes half of the electric vehicle’s price. Godi India was set up in January 2020 by Mahesh Godi. Looking for opportunities in India after having worked in the USA for 17 years, Mahesh found that even with the rise in EV the lithium-ion cell manufacturing in India was almost zero. Using innovation as its main strategy, the start-up started its operation with a team of 30 scientists. The start-up already registered 25 patents under its name with few awaiting. Most of the EV companies relied on Chinese lithium-ion cell. Local lithium-ion cell manufacturing was believed to be the key for EV industry growth in a country. Central government production linked schemes worth INR 18,100 crore were signed by major players like Ola electric, Reliance new energy and Rajesh exports to develop locally manufactured advance cells. The push from the government for locally manufacturing the cells was a major trigger for the rise in the EV industry. The case provides the analysis of the strategies applied by the company to grow in the lithium-ion cell manufacturing industry.

This case can be used in strategic management, entrepreneurship and general management courses/modules at the Undergraduate and Postgraduate level.

Emerging economies are dominated by an unorganized retail landscape, with complex sociocultural norms dictating the behavior of retailers and customers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the phenomenon of consumer embarrassment in an emerging marketing, India.

This research adopts a grounded theory approach and undertakes 31 in-depth interviews with consumers in India. The data is analyzed inductively and iteratively simultaneously with data collection.

The study uncovers that sociocultural normative influences, the retail environment’s structural constraints, interaction-based buying processes and customers’ perceptions play a role in eliciting embarrassment in traditional stores. The traditional format retailers play a significant role in evoking embarrassment and, surprisingly, also in facilitating coping. Contrary to the extant findings, purchasing embarrassing products online may not ensure anonymity and elicit embarrassment. The findings contribute to understanding the phenomenon of embarrassment in emerging markets.

There is a dearth of research examining consumer embarrassment in emerging markets, with extant studies investigating the phenomenon in the modern retail setup of developed economies. The retail landscape of India is predominantly unorganized, with distinct transactional processes and physical characteristics that are starkly different from modern retail stores. Moreover, sociocultural normative forces have distinct influences on the informal setup of unorganized retail.

In the present work, we focus on developing an in-house parallel meshless local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) code for the analysis of heat conduction in two-dimensional and three-dimensional regular as well as complex geometries.

The parallel MLPG code has been implemented using open multi-processing (OpenMP) application programming interface (API) on the shared memory multicore CPU architecture. Numerical simulations have been performed to find the critical regions of the serial code, and an OpenMP-based parallel MLPG code is developed, considering the critical regions of the sequential code.

Based on performance parameters such as speed-up and parallel efficiency, the credibility of the parallelization procedure has been established. Maximum speed-up and parallel efficiency are 10.94 and 0.92 for regular three-dimensional geometry (343,000 nodes). Results demonstrate the suitability of parallelization for larger nodes as parallel efficiency and speed-up are more for the larger nodes.

Few attempts have been made in parallel implementation of the MLPG method for solving large-scale industrial problems. Although the literature suggests that message-passing interface (MPI) based parallel MLPG codes have been developed, the OpenMP model has rarely been touched. This work is an attempt at the development of OpenMP-based parallel MLPG code for the very first time.

Industries worldwide have been striving to serve the increasing demand of consumers alongside providing importance to environmental issues. Yet, there are concern-raising changes on the planet, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions resulting in a temperature rise. India remains a vital party of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change. Henceforth, the paper aims to study the increased emissions of GHG in Puducherry, an Indian Union Territory that faces tremendous pressure owing to its denser population.

The research is designed as a case study conducted in a tyre manufacturing unit in Puducherry. The industrial sector was chosen, as it is the largest contributor (78%) of the total GHG emissions. Case studies were chosen to analyse the GHG emissions and the effects of implementing the policies and imposing interventions over time. The identified areas of improvement, proposed changes and the implemented ones with the results over a three-year period have been discussed.

The present study’s GHG inventorisation for Puducherry paved the way for preparing mitigation and adaptation plans. A total of 21 and 48 changes were incorporated to conserve fuel and power, respectively. A significant 11% reduction in power consumption and 1,113,008/litres of furnace oil was achieved. This translates to 5,115 tCO₂ and 3,306 tCO₂, respectively.

This research will help to improve the importance of climate change management in the manufacturing sector, and it will pave the way for achieving effective sustainable practices.

Such case studies could cumulatively impact the policy directives/ interventions on GHG emissions. Though this seems a small leap, putting them into practice at firm levels would contribute significantly towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

The study endeavors to explore whether the financialization of agricultural commodities, traditionally viewed as a catalyst for price volatility, has any repercussions on food security in BRICS economies.

The empirical analysis employs the examination of three agricultural commodities, namely wheat, maize and soybean. Utilizing data from the Chicago Board of Trade on futures trading for these commodities, we focus on parameters such as annual trading volume, annual open interest contracts and the ratio of annual trading volume to annual open interest contracts. The study spans the period 2000–2021, encompassing pre- and post-financial crisis analyses and specifically explores the BRICS countries namely the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. To scrutinize the connections between financialization indicators and food security measures, the analysis employs econometric techniques such as panel data regression analysis and a moderating effects model.

The results indicate that the financialization of agricultural products contributes to the heightened food price volatility and has adverse effects on food security in emerging economies. Furthermore, the study reveals that the impact of the financialization of agricultural commodities on food security was more pronounced in emerging nations after the global financial crisis of 2008 compared to the pre-crisis period.

This paper seeks to draw increased attention to the financialization of agricultural commodities by presenting empirical evidence of its potential impact on food security in BRICS economies. The findings serve as a valuable guide for policymakers, offering insights to help them safeguard the security and availability of the world’s food supply.

Very few studies have explored the effect of financialization of agricultural commodities on food security covering a sample of developing economies, with sample period from 2000 to 2021, especially at the individual agriculture commodity level. Understanding the evolving effects of financialization is further improved by comparing pre and post-financial crisis times.

Food is a key element in tourism experiences. This study aims to investigate the interplay of sensory and non-sensory factors in food tourism experiences and models their influence on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

The study focuses on the culinary experiences of 304 tourists dining at ethnic restaurants and uses causal relationship discovery modelling to analyse data.

Sensory factors are important in tourists’ culinary experiences with cleanliness, noise levels and room temperature at the top of the causal chain. Results also indicate the interplay between sensory and non-sensory factors to explain overall satisfaction, intention to return and intention to say positive things.

Using embodied cognition theory, the study offers novel insights into the role of senses in food tourism experiences at rural destinations.

美食是乡村旅游的主要吸引物之一。本研究的目的是调查游客在用餐体验中感官和非感官因素的相互作用, 以及这些因素如何影响游客的满意度和行为意愿。

本研究使用因果关系建模的方法来分析 304 名在某地方特色餐厅用餐的游客的问卷数据。

结果显示, 对于游客的用餐体验而言, 感官和非感官因素具备同等的重要性。此外, 结果发现, 游客感知到的噪音水平、适宜的室内温度及清洁度在与其他因素的相互作用中非常重要, 并能激发游客的满意度和重游意愿。

基于认知理论, 本研究为更好地理解感官因素和非感观因素在乡村旅游情境下的游客用餐体验中的作用提供了新的知识。

La comida es un elemento clave en las experiencias turísticas. Este estudio investiga la interacción de factores sensoriales y no sensoriales en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico y modela su influencia en la satisfacción y las intenciones de comportamiento.

El estudio se centra en las experiencias culinarias de 304 turistas que cenan en restaurantes étnicos y utiliza modelos de descubrimiento de relaciones causales para analizar los datos.

Los factores sensoriales son importantes en las experiencias culinarias de los turistas con la limpieza, los niveles de ruido y la temperatura ambiente en la parte superior de la cadena causal. Los resultados también indican la interacción entre factores sensoriales y no sensoriales para explicar la satisfacción general, la intención de regresar y la intención de decir cosas positivas.

Utilizando la teoría de la cognición incorporada, el estudio ofrece nuevos conocimientos sobre el papel de los sentidos en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico en destinos rurales.

Farmers producer organisations (FPOs) play the most crucial role in the agriculture supply chain system, aiming to redress the balance between farming and marketing activities of agricultural produce. The purpose of this study is to assess the performance of FPOs using data envelopment analysis (usually referred to as DEA) on 34 FPO units selected from the state of Rajasthan.

One of the most commonly used techniques to examine business performance is the application of DEA. The application of DEA requires the selection of inputs and outputs. This study takes three inputs and three outputs based on the insights drawn from the field survey. While the input variables consist of total assets, paid-up capital and the number of economic activities, the three output variables are turnover, net profit and number of members benefitted. Broadly, these variables encapsulate the operational performance of the business units.

This study’s findings reveal that the estimated relative efficiency score of the input-oriented CCR (Charnes, Cooper, and Rhodes) model ranges from 0.06 to 1. Interestingly, only one FPO has reported a relative efficiency (RE) score of one, whereas the remaining FPOs fall below the efficiency frontier. However, 15 FPOs report an RE score of one in the output-oriented CCR approach. Considering the estimates obtained in the input- and output-oriented BCC (Banker, Charnes and Cooper) models, this study found that about 20% of the FPOs report an efficiency score greater than 0.80. Moreover, three FPOs are on the frontier line. An examination of the scale efficiency score in the input-oriented model, 45% of the FPOs have an efficiency score greater than 0.80, whereas almost all FPOs achieve a scale efficiency score greater than 0.80 in the output-oriented model. Overall, the results imply that the FPOs should place greater emphasis on the efficient utilisation of the inputs to enhance the overall business performance and productivity.

The findings of this study provide vital insights into the specific inputs and outputs that determine the performance efficiency of FPOs and identify the potential areas for improving the existing inefficient FPOs.

This study contributes to the repository of the existing empirical studies in three distinct ways. First, the authors hardly found any previous studies that quantitatively assess the business performance of FPOs using the DEA technique. Second, the effort to identify the slacks associated with each input and output variable in input- and output-oriented models gives insights on improvable areas for inefficient FPOs. Third, the authors attempt to demystify the empirical obfuscations by highlighting the major challenges FPOs face in the state of Rajasthan.

The case is written on the basis of published sources only.

Doodlage, a start-up incorporated in 2012 by Kriti Tula, Paras Arora and Vaibhav Kapoor, used discarded waste to create sustainable fashion products. It had a first-mover advantage in recycled fashion goods in the first 10 years of its existence. The company contributed to sustainable fashion by providing an alternative to fast fashion production, creating enormous clothing waste and environmental degradation. In the first quarter of 2022, it saved and reused 15,000 m of fabric waste. From 2018 to 2021, the company grew 150% annually, targeting the right customers and regions to expand its business. It ensured that postproduction industrial waste and postconsumption garments were used to produce clothes. It also confirmed that the waste generated in its fabric screening process was used to create stationery items and other valuable accessories.

However, the sustainable fashion model that gave the company a competitive advantage became obsolete in 2022 due to increasing competition in the industry as various players using unique ideas entered the market. The company is encountering operational and logistical challenges that are affecting its performance. The demand for its products was also subdued due to high prices of upcycled and recycled clothes and less consumer spending post-COVID pandemic. The competitors of Doodlage offered multiple products produced using environmentally friendly farming and manufacturing techniques, attracting sustainable purchasers. What should be the new portfolio of products for the company to explore future growth opportunities? Considering their vast price, can consumers be encouraged to buy upcycled clothes? How should the company ride the winds of change in the industry?

The instructor should initiate the class discussion by asking questions such as how frequently do you shop for clothes? Do you care about the fabric of your apparel? After you discard your clothes, do you think about where these goods finally end up? Data on the amount of total waste generated in the fashion industry should be communicated to students to connect it with the importance of the concept of circular economy. Post this, the instructor should introduce the business model of Doodlage to bring the discussion into the context of the fashion industry before going ahead to discuss the company’s dilemma.