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This study aims to outline an axiology of inclusivity, which can facilitate self-reflection on the possible impact of acting and pursuing a more inclusive branding and marketing for places.

By deconstructing the main assumption, which constitutes the new inclusive paradigm in the marketing and branding of places as more participatory, responsible and democratic, this article tackles critical and pragmatist concerns about the political dimension and its implications for branding and marketing theories and practices in the realm of places.

The article argues that, to be understood and enacted as inclusive, branding and marketing should be seen and act as (bio)political arts of government, characterized by the impolitical as an alternative form of political praxis, whose axiological foundation is based on a particular form of civism, which offers a different mode and stance of approaching political effects and impacts for all stakeholders involved.

Little has been written about the political value, substance and appearance that indicate inclusivity as a fundamental notion for participation, engagement and democracy. This article contributes to the existing literature, arguing that inclusivity should be demystified, as it may present a self-fulfilling discourse that might create political problems.

The approach to integrate concepts from different disciplines so as to solve the problems facing smallholder farmers has gained momentum in recent years. However, very little is known about how word-of-mouth (WOM) dimensions can be used in agricultural marketing to explain market participation among smallholder farmers. Therefore, this study investigates the perceived usefulness of WOM in explaining smallholder farmers’ market participation.

The cross-sectional design was carried out to survey a sample of 467 smallholder farmers. This study used partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4 to test hypotheses.

The results revealed that WOM dimensions such as expertise differential, strong tie and trustworthiness among smallholder farmers significantly influence the WOM message delivery. Likewise, the findings suggest that WOM message delivery significantly influences market participation among smallholder farmers. Finally, it was revealed that WOM message delivery significantly mediates the relationship between WOM dimensions and market participation.

This study provides useful insights to smallholder farmers on how to use WOM dimensions to enhance more market participation in formal markets, especially through proper WOM message delivery.

The current study solves the problem of information asymmetry among smallholder farmers through WOM. It is perhaps the first study to establish the link between WOM dimensions and market participation among smallholder farmers in the context of developing countries.

This paper reviews the literature on disability inclusion (DI) in supply and demand chains of hospitality and tourism (H&T) organisations. The purpose of this study is to assess disability support and interventions within H&T organisations. Through the assessment, we identified gaps to recommend H&T scholars’ and practitioners’ knowledge of DI from new perspectives.

An integrative review was conducted to examine the published evidence on DI in H&T organisations. This study used high-ranking H&T journals from the Scopus and Web of Science databases between 2001 and 2023. In total, 101 empirical papers met the criteria for the review analysis.

DI focuses heavily on customer disabilities, with scant research on DI in H&T employment. The review emphasises the critical need for empirical research into the varied disability employment ecosystem within H&T organisations, focusing on social integration for inclusive workplaces.

This study contributes to the H&T literature, which previously overlooked the disability context in diversity. The research offers strategies for creating inclusive environments in the H&T industry for disabled consumers and producers.

The paper investigates the relationship between credit to the economy, foreign direct investment (FDI) and the unemployment rate in Uzbekistan using macroeconomic time series over 2004–2019.

The study estimates the relationship by applying a vector autoregression model, which is considered a “workhorse” model for policy analysis to capture dynamic relationships in economic time series.

The results suggest both growth in credit to the economy and FDI Granger cause a change in the unemployment rate. The authors found 1% increase in bank credits to the economy growth decreases the unemployment rate by 0.096 pp. over eight years. On the contrary, 1% positive shock to FDI growth increases the unemployment rate by 0.0036% in the context of Uzbekistan.

Uzbekistan should improve FDI absorptive capacity, particularly human capital and financial market development, through growth-enhancing structural reforms in the financial sector to stimulate economic growth and employment. The attracted FDI funds should focus on productive and economic sectors with high labor-absorptive capacity, such as financial and professional services, healthcare and biomedicine, creative industries and media, software sector.

The study contributes to the empirical literature on employment effects of FDIs and credit to the economy of Uzbekistan.

The paper has a twofold purpose: (1) to test the application of means-end theory to providers of hospitality goods and services, and (2) to explore this question in the context of winery tasting rooms when they had a unique opportunity to restructure their hospitality experience due to government restrictions in response to COVID.

A qualitative approach was adopted, and a convenience sample was used to conduct semi-structured laddering interviews. Forty interview transcripts were coded as means-end ladders, which were analyzed using a custom computer program to develop the implication matrix and the hierarchical value map.

This paper demonstrates that means-end is a useful approach to investigate the values and behaviors of the producer, specifically hospitality hosts. It finds that the principal goal of tasting rooms is to generate sales, and offering a compelling guest experience is the characteristic that contributes the most to achieving that goal. The staff and the atmosphere created for the guests are the two factors with the greatest influence on the guest experience.

This is the first paper to use means-end theory to study the hospitality host, or the producer of goods and services in general, and the first to study winery hospitality primarily through the lens of means-end theory. The study also helps fill a gap in research on tasting room sales focused on the winery’s goals.

Although microfinancing is considered a key tool for fostering women's entrepreneurship development, there is growing concern regarding the impact of loan repayment strategies on the mental health of women entrepreneurs. This study seeks to unravel the implications of microfinance loans on the mental well-being of women entrepreneurs.

A carefully structured questionnaire was distributed to a purposive sample of one hundred women entrepreneurs in Lagos State using a mixed-method research approach. Also, interviews were conducted using an interview guide, which directly mirrored the questionnaire administered to five focus groups within Lagos State.

The study found that loan repayment and recovery strategies positively and significantly impact women entrepreneurs' mental well-being, with psychological distress serving as a measure for measuring mental well-being. Additionally, other factors such as the number of dependants and household headship trigger psychological distress, while age in business was associated with a reduction in psychological distress.

This study contributes to the existing literature by delving into the psychological implications of loan repayment strategies on the mental health of female entrepreneurs in Lagos State, Nigeria. Furthermore, it employs a triangulation research approach to validate questionnaire responses through focus group discussions.

Known for its motto “All Ages, All Races, All Genders,” MAC cosmetics reflects the brand’s commitment to inclusivity and diversity. It has been at the forefront of promoting a wide range of skin tones, ethnicities and gender identities in the beauty industry. If you have ever wondered about the secret behind the success of this mega-brand in the beauty industry, this case study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the company’s history from its early days to the present and discusses the factors that might build or ruin a brand. Moreover, players in the industry will need to adapt to changing consumer preferences, focus on sustainability and leverage digital technologies to remain relevant and capture market opportunities. Therefore, would it be wise for MAC cosmetics to take forward their expansion plans in India, and what is the motivation behind the expansion? Alternatively, would the implementation of a proactive strategy for product innovation, combined with a stronger presence, result in a more viable and sustainable proposition?

This study relies on online resources for data collection. The data was collected from the secondary sources in the month of November and December 2022. Moreover, the information provided in the case study was validated and supplemented via using different websites, including the company’s website and social media profiles.

The commitment shown and the roles played will have a lasting impact on the society. Additionally, student will be able to learn when and how to seize opportunities, as well as how to manage obstacles that will arise in their entrepreneurial journey. Through this case study, they will be able to learn a variety of business strategies that can be implemented in emerging markets. The conclusion of the study provides the obstacles and hurdles faced by the industry in expanding in the Indian market. The potential solutions were made through providing information for the students, academicians, entrepreneurs and others to compete in the Indian market situation.

This is a real-world case that provides the audience with first-hand experience to comprehend the event and apply their knowledge to form a conclusion and is also effective for decision-making in the dynamic environment of the present day. However, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the company’s history from its early days to the present and discuss the factors that might build or ruin a brand.

The purpose of this paper is to explore mechanisms of supply chain inclusion in Base of the Pyramid (BOP) settings. It distinguishes micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSME)-led local supply chains on the one hand and multinational enterprises (MNEs)-led global supply chains on the other hand. This paper aims to answer the following research question: Which mechanisms of supply chain inclusion are employed empirically by MSMEs and how can these mechanisms influence social impact creation in MNE-led global supply chains?

A large-scale empirical study of MSMEs operating in BOP markets is performed and a cluster analysis conducted to systematically categorize supply chain inclusion. The cluster analysis and current literature yield theory-based implications for MNE-led global supply chains.

The cluster analysis reveals three meaningful clusters of supply chain inclusion in BOP markets and highlights two main aspects. They include direct vs indirect mechanisms of inclusion and diversity in supplier relationships with local organizations aimed at either “sourcing” local capabilities needed for inclusion or “outsourcing” the inclusion. Based on these aspects, two scenarios are proposed and evaluated for local-global supply chain symbiosis.

This study aims to contribute to the existing literature with a more fine-grained understanding of the inclusion of BOP actors in local supply chains and by proposing alternative trajectories for global supply chain inclusion.

The findings outline several important decisions that managers need to make to include BOP actors in supply chain activities.

This paper contributes a novel, combined perspective of local supply chains (MSMEs) and global supply chains (MNEs).

This paper aims to demonstrate gender diversity in the structure of corporate governance and test the effect of diversity on the firm performance suffering from financial distress.

The paper is quantitative using a sample of 467 public firms in Indonesia. Data were analyzed into statistics descriptive and the hypothesis was tested using the test of logistic regression.

The preliminary results of the paper demonstrate the number of firms employing women and men in the structure of corporate governance of 13% on the commissioner board, 7% on the director board and 5% on the audit committee. Based on the test of effect, this paper further found that firms employing women and men (gender diversity) in the structure of the board of commissioners, tend to suffer from financial distress lower than firms only employing men (non-gender diversity).

This paper is not an effort to make the proportion of voices of women equal to men, however the representation of women at least exists in the structure of corporate governance as part of workforce diversity and inclusivity. In addition, this paper is considered not to use panel data with the purpose of avoiding repetitive data because of the use of a nominal scale in the logistic regression model.

The finding of the paper is addressed to deliver insights into the current conversation on the issue of women's day with the theme of Each for Equal and to firms in positioning women in the structure of boardrooms.

This paper extends the limited scholarly work on the nexus between gender diversity and financial performance. The framework of social identity theory and the tenet of corporate governance are elaborated to disclose the finding that firm shareholders tend to benefit from gender diversity in the structure of the commissioner board.

This study aims to examine how governing bodies demonstrated stakeholder engagement during the time of the COVID-19 crisis in South Africa.

This study uses a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews with 18 participants, comprising of preparers of financial statements, board members and management consultants/advisors. The study also relied on the analysis of articles on corporate webpages and publications produced by professional bodies on the economic, social and environmental impact of COVID-19.

The results of this study indicated that governing bodies demonstrated stakeholder engagement during times of crisis through transparent reporting, corporate social responsibility initiatives and active stakeholder inclusivity.

This study contributes to the body of research on stakeholder engagement during a crisis and provides evidence of the role stakeholder inclusivity can play in responding to a crisis. The findings will be useful in understanding the importance of stakeholder engagement during times of crisis. The study is one of the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to evaluate how stakeholder engagement principles can be followed by governing bodies during a crisis.