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After completion of the case study, the students will be able to analyze the challenges and opportunities associated with business expansion in any business, assess the significance of leveraging existing strengths versus exploring new markets for organizational growth, evaluate the implications of regional consolidation versus national expansion strategies, develop strategic thinking and decision-making skills in a competitive business landscape and understand the nuances of market dynamics, brand recognition and operational challenges in diverse geographical regions.

Oneiros – The Sports Club stood poised at a pivotal juncture, grappling with a strategic quandary that encapsulates the divergent visions of its leadership. The narrative unfolded in Surat, a vibrant city in the state of Gujarat where contrasting viewpoints champion the familiar stability of local success against the lure of uncharted state and national territories. Ms Hemali Shah advocated for consolidating the club’s triumphs in Gujarat, emphasizing on the parameters of brand loyalty and operational mastery. In stark contrast, Mr Robin Patel envisioned a bold expansion strategy across the state, aiming for brand recognition and a paradigm shift to regional prominence. Caught amidst these competing visions, Mr Sumit Lathia who was aspiring for the club’s national presence navigated the complexities of market dynamics and business model, oscillating between preserving familiarity and embracing the allure of ambition. This case study highlights the nuanced strategic dilemmas faced by Oneiros, offering a captivating exploration of growth strategies in a competitive landscape. With insights from various perspectives within the organization, this case study navigates the complexities of growth, market dynamics and the balance between familiarity and ambition. This case study offers valuable insights and practical applications for students pursuing regular Master of Business Administration (MBA) and executive MBA programs, as well as undergraduate and postgraduate studies in entrepreneurship and strategic management. By examining the strategic decisions and operational challenges faced by Lathia and Oneiros – The Sports Club, students can gain a deeper understanding of key concepts such as public–private partnerships, market expansion strategies, customer segmentation and revenue diversification.

This case study is positioned within the decision-making or business development modules of the curriculum. It serves as a platform to apply theoretical concepts of strategic decision-making, market analysis and growth strategies to a real-world scenario. This case study prompts students to critically evaluate expansion dilemmas and devise strategic solutions.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Strategy.

The purpose of the study was to develop a powder shampoo with antioxidant attributes.

Dry shampoo compositions were formulated containing alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS), sodium cocoyl isethionate (SCI), microcrystalline cellulose, mannitol, carboxymethyl cellulose, maltodextrin and sodium benzoate with or without extract of Cinnamomum zeylanicum bark. Cinnamon extract was chosen for this study owing to its ubiquitously known antioxidant attributes. The formulations were tested for detergency action and antioxidant potential in vitro.

Cinnamomum zeylanicum extract exhibited noticeable antioxidant activity in vitro. The authors observed that addition of the bark extract to the shampoo formulation was associated with remarkable increase in total phenolic content, total antioxidant activity and radical scavenging activity without any effect on detergency action.

This preliminary study provides a powder shampoo formulation which exhibits antioxidant attributes as a result of incorporation of cinnamon bark extract. Clinical efficacy of the formulation remains to be tested.

Owing to the powder format of the shampoo, the formulation can be manufactured with ease and economically. Functionalizing the formulation with enhancement of antioxidant activity by incorporation of cinnamon bark extract may be associated with beneficial clinical outcomes, which remains to be tested.

The proposed formulation may be stored and sold in eco-friendly packing material, thus could pave the way for reducing the burden of plastic consumption by the shampoo industry.

The present work demonstrates that incorporation of cinnamon bark extract to a powder shampoo formulation, containing AOS and SCI as principle surfactants, significantly enhances its antioxidant attributes.

The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyse and compare equity crowdfunding (ECF) regulations across 26 countries, shedding light on the diverse regulatory frameworks, investor and issuer limits and the evolution of ECF globally. By addressing this research gap and providing consolidated insights, the study aims to inform policymakers, researchers and entrepreneurs about the regulatory landscape of ECF, fostering a deeper understanding of its potential and challenges in various economies. Ultimately, the study contributes to the advancement of ECF as an alternative financing method for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and startups, empowering them to access much-needed capital for growth.

The study used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model for a systematic literature review on global ECF regulations. Starting with 74 initial articles from Web of Sciences and Scopus databases, duplicates were removed and language criteria applied, leaving 42 articles. After a thorough full-text screening, 20 articles were excluded, resulting in the review of 22 papers from 2016 to 2022. PRISMA’s structured framework enhances the quality of systematic reviews, ensuring transparency and accessibility of findings for various stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners and policymakers, in the field of ECF regulations.

This study examines ECF regulations across various countries. Notably, the UK has advanced regulations, while the USA adopted them later through the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act. Canada regulates at the provincial level. Malaysia and China were early adopters in Asia, but Hong Kong, Japan, Israel and India have bans. Turkey introduced regulations in 2019. New Zealand and Australia enacted laws, with Australia referring to it as “crowd-sourced equity funding”. Italy, Austria, France, Germany and Belgium have established regulations in Europe. These regulations vary in investor and issuer limits, disclosure requirements and anti-corruption measures, impacting the growth of ECF markets.

This study’s findings underscore the diverse regulatory landscape governing ECF worldwide. It reveals that regulatory approaches vary from liberal to protectionist, reflecting each country’s unique economic and political context. The implications of this research highlight the need for cross-country analysis to inform practical implementation and the effectiveness of emerging ECF ecosystems. This knowledge can inspire regulatory adjustments, support startups and foster entrepreneurial growth in emerging economies, ultimately reshaping early-stage funding for new-age startups and SMEs on a global scale.

This study’s originality lies in its comprehensive analysis of ECF regulations across 26 diverse countries, shedding light on the intricate interplay between regulatory frameworks and a nation’s political-economic landscape. By delving into the nuanced variations in investor limits, investment types and regulatory strategies, it unveils the multifaceted nature of ECF regulation globally. Furthermore, this research adds value by comparing divergent perspectives on investment constraints and offering an understanding of their impact on ECF efficacy. Ultimately, the study’s unique contribution lies in its potential to inform practical implementation, shape legislative frameworks and catalyse entrepreneurial ecosystems in emerging economies, propelling the evolution of early-stage funding practices.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the role of service quality (SQ), trust and commitment to customer loyalty (CL) for telecom service users. Further, the moderating role of gender, marital status and connection type within the model was tested.

A measurement model was created based on valid 615 responses from Indian TSUs for SQ, trust, commitment and loyalty with the help of partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Multi-group analysis (MGA) was conducted to understand the moderating effect of marital status, gender and connection type within the model.

The results suggest that, out of five dimensions of SQ, only responsiveness, assurance and empathy have a significant positive relationship with both commitment and trust. Tangibility has a significant positive relationship with trust only. Both commitment and trust have a significant impact on loyalty. It was noticed that both commitment and trust act as mediators between three SQ dimensions (assurance, empathy and responsiveness) and CL. MGA revealed that empathy and responsiveness positively induce trust in telecom users who are single. Whereas, assurance increases commitment toward telecom service providers in married users. Assurance and empathy significantly contribute toward commitment and trust, respectively, in male users as compared to females. Empathy was found important for postpaid users for trust-building, whereas trust was found to be more important for prepaid users to stay loyal to the service provider.

This article contributes toward understanding the role of SQ, trust and commitment to CL moderated by marital status, gender and connection type in an integrated model concerning telecom service.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between dividend policy and the life cycle of firms in India. In addition, this study intends to examine the variation in dividend behaviour over the life cycle of a firm. The study anticipates that a firm's dividend behaviour varies over its life cycle.

To scrutinize the validity of the proposition, the authors classify 1968 non-financial industrial firms listed at Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) into growth, mature and stagnant firms over the period 2000–20. Additionally, to check the robustness of the results, they use an array of techniques such as analysis of variance, pooled ordinary least squares, fixed effects models and random effects models.

The empirical findings suggest that dividend behaviour varies over a firm's life cycle. Specifically, stagnant firms are paying significantly higher dividends than growth firms. Mature firms are paying significantly higher dividends than growth firms. The results are consistent after controlling the effects of firm's size, profitability, leverage, operating risk, systematic risk and growth opportunities.

The findings are useful for corporate decision makers in establishing an appropriate dividend policy conditional on firms' life cycle stage and for shareholders in making investment decisions.

The relation between dividend policy and firm life cycle has not been examined before in the context of Indian stock market. Thus, this research bridges this gap in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to understand whether the adoption of environmental management practices and firm characteristics influence the environmental benchmarking in Indian firms. It further looks into the impact of environmental benchmarking practices on firms’ environmental performance.

The study conducts a research survey to obtain the practitioner’s responses on the different aspects of environmental benchmarking. The survey data of 104 firms provide an empirical basis to investigate different research hypotheses using statistical techniques.

The results indicate that the firms which implement environmental management practices are more likely to adopt environmental benchmarking in one or more areas of their operations. The findings signify that firms which benchmarks for environmental purposes are more likely to have better environmental performance. The study confirms that large firms have significant chances of having environmental benchmarking compared to small and medium sized firms. The firms in different sectors have different relative preference to eight different areas of environmental benchmarking. However, all these preferences are not significant at 95 per cent confidence level.

The research use only qualitative responses on environment management aspects and could be further extended by incorporating the quantitative (emission) data of different industries.

The study provides an insight into the environmental benchmarking practices of Indian firms for better management of environmental performance of the firms.

The study investigates the experience and attitude of Indian firms to environmental benchmarking based on an empirical research. It adds to the knowledge in the field of environmental benchmarking in developing countries with specific focus on India.

This study aims to examine the relationship between organizational social capital, university image, perceived employability and career satisfaction of information technology (IT) professionals. It also aims to investigate the moderating effects of diverse age groups of IT professionals on the antecedents and consequences of career satisfaction.

Variance-based partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique was used to analyze a dataset of 412 responses from IT professionals. The predictive relevance of career satisfaction was estimated through PLS predict, and the relative importance of determinants was analyzed through importance-performance map analysis (IPMA). PLS Multi-group analysis (PLS-MGA) and measurement invariance of composites (MICOM) were used to estimate the moderating effects of age groups.

The findings of this study indicate that university image is perceived as the crucial factor for career satisfaction by IT professionals followed by perceived employability and organizational social capital. Gender was found to be a positive predictor of career satisfaction. PLS-MGA results indicate that organizational social capital is a prominent predictor of career satisfaction for middle-aged professionals as compared to young professionals as the latter consider university image to be more important.

This is the first study to examine the relationship between organizational social capital, university image, perceived employability, and career satisfaction of IT professionals in a developing country context.

In a volatile agricultural postharvest market, producers require more personalized information about market dynamics for informed decisions on the marketed surplus. However, this adaptive strategy fails to benefit them if the selection of a computational price predictive model to disseminate information on the market outlook is not efficient, and the associated risk of perishability, and storage cost factor are not assumed against the seemingly favourable market behaviour. Consequently, the decision of whether to store or sell at the time of crop harvest is a perennial dilemma to solve. With the intent of addressing this challenge for agricultural producers, the study is focused on designing an agricultural decision support system (ADSS) to suggest a favourable marketing strategy to crop producers.

The present study is guided by an eclectic theoretical perspective from supply chain literature that included agency theory, transaction cost theory, organizational information processing theory and opportunity cost theory in revenue risk management. The paper models a structured iterative algorithmic framework that leverages the forecasting capacity of different time series and machine learning models, considering the effect of influencing factors on agricultural price movement for better forecasting predictability against market variability or dynamics. It also attempts to formulate an integrated risk management framework for effective sales planning decisions that factors in the associated costs of storage, rental and physical loss until the surplus is held for expected returns.

Empirical demonstration of the model was simulated on the dynamic markets of tomatoes, onions and potatoes in a north Indian region. The study results endorse that farmer-centric post-harvest information intelligence assists crop producers in the strategic sales planning of their produce, and also vigorously promotes that the effectiveness of decision making is contingent upon the selection of the best predictive model for every future market event.

As a policy implication, the proposed ADSS addresses the pressing need for a robust marketing support system for the socio-economic welfare of farming communities grappling with distress sales, and low remunerative returns.

Based on the extant literature studied, there is no such study that pays personalized attention to agricultural producers, enabling them to make a profitable sales decision against the volatile post-harvest market scenario. The present research is an attempt to fill that gap with the scope of addressing crop producer's ubiquitous dilemma of whether to sell or store at the time of harvesting. Besides, an eclectic and iterative style of predictive modelling has also a limited implication in the agricultural supply chain based on the literature; however, it is found to be a more efficient practice to function in a dynamic market outlook.

Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence are two leading technologies that bought revolution to each and every field of humans using in daily life by making everything smarter than ever. IoT leads to a network of things which creates a self-configuring network. Improving farm productivity is essential to meet the rapidly growing demand for food. In this chapter, the authors have introduced a smart greenhouse by integration of two leading technologies in the market (i.e., Machine Learning and IoT). In proposed model, several sensors are used for data collection and managing the environment of greenhouse. The idea is to propose an IoT and Machine Learning based smart nursery that helps in healthy growing and monitoring of the seed. The structure will be a dome-like structure for observation and isolation of an egg with various sensors like pressure, humidity, temperature, light, moisture, conductivity, air quality, etc. to monitor the nursery internal environment and maintain the control and flow of water and other minerals inside the nursery. The nursery will have a solar panel from which it stores the electricity generated from the sun, a small fan to control the flow of air and pressure. A camera will also be equipped inside the nursery that will use computer vision technology to monitor the health of the plant and will be trained on the past data to notify the user if the plant is diseased or need attention.