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The purpose of this paper is to develop an understanding of the different personality types and Facebook behavior of the young Indian consumers in the context of e-tailing. With the increased popularity of Facebook, consumers and e-tailers are using it as a platform to connect better with each other. This paper makes an attempt to study the motive and online purchasing behavior of youth by examining Facebook posts and understanding their relationship with personality and gender.

A survey was conducted on 200 young Indian consumers who use Facebook as well as follow at least one e-tailer on Facebook. The responses to the survey were used to test the proposed conceptual model to find out the relationship of personality types and gender with Facebook behavior, type of post liked on Facebook, reason to use Facebook and motive to follow an e-tailer on Facebook using descriptive statistics and nonparametric tests.

The tests showed that gender of online consumers influences their Facebook behavior and the type of post that they like the most on Facebook. The personality type of the online consumers has a significant influence on the motive to follow an e-tailer on Facebook and the reason to use Facebook. It implies that the Facebook pages of e-tailers should plan their posts keeping the gender and personality type of their followers in mind. In this manner, Facebook can be used as a platform by the e-tailers to increase their consumer base, especially among the youth.

The limitations of this study are the respondents for this study are in the age group of 15-25 years only and the results of the study may vary with the change in the age group. The respondents are Indians by nationality and the results may vary for different nations.

This paper provides an insight to the e-tailer about attracting young consumers on their Facebook page in the context of their gender and personality type to enhance the reach and expand their business. This research paper is informative to the e-tailers who have budgets for social media marketing to know about social media usage by youth for online shopping.

Presently, India has a demographic advantage and this paper contributes to understand the youth social media usage for online shopping. The e-tailers can relate the findings to develop strategies to enhance their customer base. This research paper will contribute to the existing literature on social media marketing and e-tailing.

This study aims to focus on implementing frugal innovation and its principles by social entrepreneurs to face the challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. The research paper discusses the case of an Indian social entrepreneur who works for menstrual health and hygiene of unprivileged and rural women in India. The social entrepreneur’s constant endeavor is to create an ecosystem to ensure rural women’s economic and social upliftment through financial inclusion and livelihood training. When faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the social entrepreneur re-purposed the manufacturing process to produce masks that were the need of the hour.

The research paper is qualitative and follows an inductive case study approach. The underlying principles of frugal innovation are established through content analysis of the social entrepreneur’s interviews and her team members.

The study discusses how adversity can be an opportunity for social entrepreneurs by implementing frugal innovation principles, i.e. re-use, re-purpose, re-combine and rapidity, in times of crisis.

One of the major limitations of this study is that it is based on a single case study, as, in the current scenario, this case appeared to be the most suitable one. There is no way to generalize the assumptions of this model. Researchers will have to study the phenomena of frugal innovation in adversity across multiple cases in the future. Also, the study is based on a single emerging economy, i.e. India. Further research may be carried out with such cases from other countries.

The proposition of this research paper will help new and established social entrepreneurs understand that the four principles of frugal innovation and their practical application by a social entrepreneur. This will act as a guiding light for the present and future entrepreneurs regarding how one can respond to a crisis. This will also help advance our understanding of the distinct ways in which social entrepreneurs’ activities can help society in times of crisis. The findings of this research paper provide timely implications for social entrepreneurs. To respond efficiently to various crises, it is important to consider its effect on social entrepreneurship.

The research paper shows that the social enterprise has implemented frugal innovation principles to manufacture the COVID-19 protection items supplied through existing supply chain networks. Also, a social entrepreneur is not intimidated by the sudden changes in the business environment; instead, they look at the situation as an opportunity to do something new. They are always willing to take the risk to innovate a solution that will address people’s problems. frugal innovation, due to its highly collaborative nature and its ability to make the most from limited resources, is the only way social entrepreneurs can create an inclusive, secure and sustainable future.

There are several challenges in social entrepreneurship, especially in emerging economies like India. During the pandemic, availability of resources was the major challenge, due to which social entrepreneurs had to find solutions through frugal innovation. This paper provides the practical application of the four principles of frugal innovation implemented by a social enterprise to manufacture and supply Covid protection items. It also presents the practical and managerial implications of the principles of frugal innovation by social entrepreneurs in low resource settings.

The study aims to identify gender differences and similarities in the awareness of legal information resources and problems faced by legal professionals. Further, the study identifies the differences on the basis of gender, regarding the requirements in developing an online legal information system (OLIS) for the Indian environment.

The study was carried out in eight law libraries in Delhi using a structured questionnaire. Data were collected through the questionnaire having 27 questions including dichotomous (Yes/No), multiple-choice questions, rating and opinion questions. A need assessment survey was conducted using the structured questionnaire circulated among 750 respondents of eight institutions in Delhi. In total, 397 filled in questionnaires were received back. A total of 246 of the respondents were males and 151 females. The design and development of an OLIS went through five phases, i.e. preliminary preparation, designing and planning phase, development of OLIS covering preparation of software, data structures, metadata, search form, testing and implementation phase and maintenance.

The study found that 100 per cent of the female respondents were aware of online legal information resources. Maximum 28.4 per cent female respondents rated legal e-resources “very good”, whereas only 19.9 per cent male ranked them “very good”. Female respondents were found less aware about open access resources. In addition, of 246 male respondents, 213 (86.6 per cent) responded “Yes” about awareness of open access resources and 33 (13.4 per cent) marked “No”. In comparison, 116 (76.8 per cent) female respondents revealed they are aware of open access resources; 35 (23.2 per cent) were not aware of open access resources. Fifty-eight (23.6 per cent) male respondents were very dissatisfied, and 60 (24.4 per cent) completely dissatisfied. However, in contrast, 29 (19.2 per cent) female respondents were very dissatisfied and 24 (15.9 per cent) completely dissatisfied in using open access resources.

The study covers only eight institutions in Delhi, India. High courts and law universities in other parts of the country are not covered. In addition, OLIS contains a sample collection.

The study explores the inhibitions faced by female and male legal professionals. A suitable legal information system is developed to match the requirements of female legal professionals, research scholars and faculty members. The study is expected to address problems faced by female legal professionals in accessing the desired judicial and legislative information.

OLIS (www.olisindia.in) has been developed on the basis of a need assessment survey conducted on male and female legal professionals in India. No study has been conducted so far to compare the viewpoints of male and female legal professionals in India for developing an OLIS.

This paper aims to synthesize, analyze and categorize the empirical literature on country-specific factors that affect foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Identifying gaps and methodological challenges in the reviewed articles, recommendations are made to guide future research.

Applying the systematic review methodology, content analysis is conducted of 42 relevant empirical studies that explore country-specific FDI determinants in the MENA region during the period 1998–2018.

This review study identifies four main research gaps in the extant literature: a lack of consensus on a common definition of the MENA region and a weak understanding of the specificities of its investment environment; a limited set of FDI theories used and a lack of other theoretical perspectives; a recurrent focus on the direct relationship between host country–specific determinants and FDI, thus ignoring the moderating and mediating effects of some variables; and the absence of certain country-specific factors pertaining to the MENA countries.

This study contributes to the international business field by enhancing our understanding of the FDI determinants in emerging and developing markets, especially the MENA countries. It develops a typology of FDI country-specific factors in the MENA region based on four main categories: macroeconomic and financial, institutional and regulatory, natural resource endowment and socio-cultural. Paths for future research are suggested.

The objective of this paper is to empirically test and verify the enablers of volume flexibility and product-mix flexibility and to assess the influence of these flexibilities on operational performance.

A research framework consisting of nine pairs of hypotheses was developed using an extensive literature review. Using a self-administered questionnaire, 391 responses were collected, and these responses were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor analysis, and structural equation modeling techniques.

The findings empirically confirm the enablers of volume flexibility and product-mix flexibility. The proposed model explained 59 percent variance in volume flexibility and 63 percent variance in product-mix flexibility. Volume flexibility and product-mix flexibility together explained 38 percent variance in operational performance.

Theoretically, this study advances flexibility literature in two significant ways. First, the study conducts first of its kind quantitative empirical investigation considering upstream, downstream, and internal integration practices as enablers of volume flexibility and product-mix flexibility. Second, this study adds to the flexibility literature by suggesting the positive influence of volume and product-mix flexibility on the operational performance of firms.

The study reinforces the role of enablers in the development of volume and product-mix flexibilities. Thus, the study provides a comprehensive view of flexibility enablers that can be used as a diagnostic tool, which practitioners can use to assess and deploy flexibility.

Owing to the paucity of literature, in the specific context of mass customization (MC), that explains what factors need to be considered while selecting suppliers and what strategies need to be implemented for effective management of suppliers, this paper aims to explore the effective supplier selection and management strategies and also investigate their impact on the development of mass customization capability (MCC).

Through an extensive review of literature, a total of 18 factors for supplier selection and management have been identified. Further, using multiple regression analysis, the linkages between these factors and MCCs have been examined based on the data set from the survey of Indian manufacturing organizations.

The results indicate that while concentrating on the responsive and reconfiguration capability, all the five measures of supplier selection and the four measures of supplier management have shown a significant influence. However, in the case of relational capability, only two of the supplier selection strategies and three of the supplier management strategies have shown a notable impact.

The study provides help to the firms in deciding whom to select and how to manage the suppliers in the course of improving their MCCs. The study has shown the possibility that different types of MCCs might require different approaches to both the supplier selection and management.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study happens to be the first of its kind that investigates the interconnectedness among the supplier selection and management strategies and MCCs.

From the dedication–constraint perspective, this study aims to complement ongoing discussions on the effects of switching costs on performance and explain the role of customer involvement and relationship quality in the relationship between switching costs and performance.

After collecting data from Chinese manufacturing firms, the authors employed structural equation modeling to test their theoretical model incorporating switching costs, new product development performance, relationship quality and customer involvement.

The findings show that switching costs negatively affect three dimensions of new product development performance covering new product development market performance, new product development speed, new product development cost. More importantly, relationship quality positively moderates the relationship between switching costs and new product development performance, while customer involvement takes positive moderation effects.

These conclusions contribute to the knowledge of switching costs and supplier–customer relationship, and provide theoretical contributions and managerial insights for both academics and practitioners.

The study aims to explore the critical approaches adopted by innovative organizations and to build an environment of trust between the multiple stakeholders collaborating for new product development (NPD).

A qualitative research approach is adopted in this study. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from the wood product industry in Quebec, Canada. These organizations have successfully adopted the latest technological developments and have developed a strong collaboration with their stakeholders.

The study identified eleven strategies for the innovative organizations that included early involvement of the stakeholders in the design process, developing long-term relationships and fostering a transparent environment using Industry 4.0 technologies. A novel framework for using this strategy is presented with three stages of application, namely, planning, enactment and review.

Inter-organizational collaborations in NPD are more successful when imbued with trust. The NPD strategies must allow innovative organizations to achieve a balanced ecosystem in which value created through the adaption of new technology can be thoroughly captured through commercialization on time with no field failure.

The study adds to the body of knowledge in stakeholder theory and NPD research and practice.

The study aims to conceptualize and empirically develop an instrument to measure manufacturing flexibility development practices in firms.

Using a dataset of 315 responses, a series of procedures were used to develop, modify and refine item measures of constructs to enhance their reliability and validity. Further, following a competing model strategy, alternative models were compared to finalize the manufacturing flexibility development practices.

The study develops 36-item instrument capturing eight distinct constructs that influence manufacturing flexibility development, namely operational improvement practices, supplier integration practices, advanced manufacturing technologies, advanced human resource practices, supplier flexibility, customer integration practices, marketing and manufacturing integration practices and product-process technology integration. The derived factors exhibit an adequate level of consistency, reliability and validity.

Since the external environment is always affected by externalities, tools and technologies used to develop flexibility may also vary over time. Therefore, the developed measurement instrument can be used over the medium term. Further, the statistical generalizability of this study cannot be drawn beyond the scope of this sample.

The derived items measure and their underlying factor structure facilitates practitioners to identify areas that need attention. Practically, practitioners should strive to improve multiple factors that influence manufacturing flexibility to arrive at the full realization of flexibility.

This study is probably the first to develop an instrument for assessing the factors influencing the potential of manufacturing flexibility.