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Purpose: This research discusses the importance of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its link to a financial performance metric called net interest margin (NIM) in the context of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs). CSR initiatives can lead to long-term sustainability and improved financial performance, attracting investors seeking to align their investments with their values.

Need for the Study: The research composes portfolios based on financial companies’ CSR performance and NIM ratios to help investors understand the difference between CSR and financial performance, making investment decisions based on their portfolio goals and values. Striking a balance between sustainability and the financial performance of financial companies, will help investors find a suitable balance between portfolios for investment purposes.

Methodology: The authors used data from 55 financial companies for daily returns from 2014–2015 to 2021–2022 and used descriptive statistics to measure the performance of portfolios.

Findings: The findings suggest that financial companies in India have improved their CSR scores over time, indicating an increased focus on integrating socially responsible practices into their operations. The data also show that NBFCs are catching up with banks regarding CSR scores, and some NBFC portfolios even outperform banks regarding returns. However, the study also highlights the need for some companies to focus more on CSR and business operations.

Practical Implications: The results serve as a benchmark for financial companies to assess their relative CSR performance, highlighting the need for companies to focus on integrating socially responsible practices into their operations and guiding areas where companies can improve.

Purpose: Different approaches have been applied to define and measure service quality as both a process and a performance-intensive presentation. The literature agreed that service quality assessments are essential in measuring performance, however they could only reach a partial consensus. Although the Servqual scale is the most widely known and used tool in measuring service quality, it has received various criticisms. This study presents the difficulties encountered in measuring service quality and an evaluation of the Servqual scale.

Methodology: The study provides a conceptual framework, examining the research on the subject in the literature and the criticisms of the Servqual scale. It is designed as a compilation/assessment to improve the perspectives of the interested parties by bringing together evaluations about the pros and cons of the most well-known service quality scale.

Findings: Measurement of service quality is a complex business. Although it has received various criticisms, the Servqual scale which enables the measurement of quality in the services sector is still the most frequently used measurement tool.

Practical Implications: The difficulty of defining the service and its quality, which arises from the characteristics of the services, does not eliminate the necessity of measuring the quality of the service. With this study, a conceptual framework has been provided on the subject, a collective evaluation has been made for the most widely used scale, and the ground has been prepared for improvement and development in the criticisms of the scale.

Purpose: This chapter aims to evaluate the significant impact of Gandhian values on sustainable consumption behaviour (SCB) by applying the value-attitude-behaviour (VAB) framework. This chapter contributes by incorporating Gandhian values as one influencing factor for SCB.

Need for the Study: Values are considered as guiding principles in people’s lives. Studies suggest that values and other social and psychological factors can be vital in determining consumers’ behaviour towards sustainable consumption. There needs to be more empirical research on consumer behaviour facets of sustainable consumption for markets in India.

Methodology: The study uses partial least square structural equation modelling to empirically test proposed hypotheses and the research model of the relationship. The study results are based on data collected by administering a survey through a questionnaire confined to India.

Findings: The results indicated that Gandhian values, attitude, and sustainable consumption intention significantly influence SCB. Intention acts as a mediator between both outward and inward environmental attitudes and behaviour. The study provides directions for further research.

Practical Implications: This research study is helpful for researchers, marketers, and policymakers.

When the media report negatively about an organisation, its employees are not only affected but also a source of information for outsiders who want to find out more about the situation. Because of their credibility, employees can support public relations managers to preserve or restore organisational reputation. In this research, we explore the role of organisational identification and internal corporate communication (ICC) in the event of negative media coverage for employees’ defensive and assertive impression management behaviours. Defensive strategies include excuses, justifications and the avoidance of threatening situations. Assertive strategies are more active and refer to behaviours which aim to establish a desirable identity; in the context of negative media coverage, this entails actively defending the organisation, explaining the situation and conveying the organisation’s official version of the event in order to bolster its reputation. Results from an online survey among employed persons reveal that employees’ identification with their work organisation positively influences their assertive as well as defensive reactions. ICC has a more differentiated influence on employees’ reactions: If ICC is evaluated well, employees’ assertive reactions increase; if evaluated poorly, employees exhibit more defensive reactions. These findings show that ICC can make a difference in winning employees as ambassadors for the organisation in critical situations.

Purpose: This study analyses the mediating effect of parasocial interaction (PSI) in the link between hedonic motivation and impulsive buying intention (IBI) in fashion vlogging about sustainable cosmetics.

Need for the Study: Due to the mass popularity of YouTube, vlogging has led to an augmented level of PSI of vloggers with consumers, which strongly impacts a consumer’s behavioural consequences and persuades consumers to indulge in impulsive buying. Thus, marketers need to comprehend the changing behavioural patterns, including sustainable products, as this new communication medium serves the future of promotion and advertising.

Methodology: Online questionnaires were administered to 349 Gen Z female fashion vlog followers. Structural equation modelling and Hayes Process macros were employed to test the model relationships.

Findings: Results indicate that PI with the fashion vlogger partially mediates between hedonic motivation and impulse buying intention for sustainable cosmetic products. Fashion consciousness (FC) was also established as a significant moderator between all the model relationships.

Practical Implications: The findings of the study would be helpful for fashion brands in the content development of visual marketing communications, which would tap the female Gen Z consumer. Improving the PSI between the follower and the fashion vlogger can be easily enhanced by delivering the right content through the vlogger’s videos.

Multinational enterprises (MNEs) own and control technological resources and capabilities that make them critical actors in accelerating the transition toward net zero. Even beyond the energy sector, stakeholders are putting increasing pressure on MNEs to reduce the carbon intensity of their operations, that is, to improve their carbon performance. While there is unambiguous evidence that national climate policy is a critical catalyst for long-term carbon performance improvements, there is limited research on how MNEs’ carbon strategies react to climate policies. This chapter reviews the concepts, drivers, and strategies connected to carbon performance in the broader sustainability and management literature to clarify potential complementarities to international business (IB). The authors then highlight how MNEs will face increasing institutional complexity along two dimensions: (1) the structural diversity of institutional environments and (2) institutional dynamism, primarily reflected by public policy. The proposed conceptual framework maps these two dimensions to national and subnational levels, and the authors present two data sources that allow the quantitative analysis of country differences in the diversity and dynamism of national climate policy. The authors conclude that there are ample opportunities for IB researchers to explore MNEs’ strategic reactions to climate policy and to inform policymakers about the consequences of national climate policy in the global economy.

One of the most marginalized communities in India is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community which commonly experiences discrimination. Many studies have countered that the LGBT community faces high discrimination in the banking and financing industry. As a result, this study concentrates on this marginalized community and its acceptance and continuation habit regarding mobile wallets. Consequently, this study has considered continuance intentions as a response to confirm the progress of the mobile-wallet industry. Also, this study tried to study the relationship between behavioral intention (BI) and continuous intention (CI) which is seriously lacks in the library of literature. The research operationalized the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework for the conceptual model and surveyed 100 self-proclaimed members of the LGBT community in India. The analysis has been done using the partial least structure (PLS). The findings demonstrate that variables like perceived trust (PT) directly influence the BI. On the other hand, variables like perceived ease of use (PEoU), social influence (SI), and satisfaction (S) doesn’t influence BI of the LGBT Community. The main outcome was a favorable association between BI and CI. It will help the stakeholders to understand how important this new market avenue is and how it can be explored. To ensure safe and secure transactions, a group think tank composed of important parties (financial institutions, mobile-wallet providers, the government, security specialists, etc.) should make recommendations. Mobile-wallet providers will attain benefit from this study’s understanding of user categories and ability to tailor their service offers as per the community.

Purpose: Innovation is a multi-dimensional phenomenon influenced at the organisational level by internal and external factors that can determine how innovative an organisation can be, determining a firm’s business performance. This chapter measures and predicts how innovative a company can be, considering key internal factors using modern data analytics/science.

Need for Study: The increasing challenge of modern business operations is affected by how quickly, sustainably, effectively, and efficiently companies can innovate to mitigate the dynamic challenges of current business environments and evolving customer needs. The ability to predict, measure, and manage innovation becomes necessary to ensure that businesses are fit for purpose.

Methodology: A model was designed following the study hypotheses and statistically tested. A historical data sample from the OECD global industry dataset for eight years was used for the analysis. The ordinary least square method was used to test for model fit. Also, in machine learning engineering, predictive analysis using the multivariate linear regression analysis method was carried out.

Findings: The results support the hypotheses that an organisation’s capacity to be innovative can be measured and predicted, and it is influenced by a good number of internal factors or independent variables at various degrees.

Practical Implications: Managers must understand how to measure and predict innovation metrics to manage innovation better, ultimately leading to better business outcomes and performance. Also proposed are new measurement matrices for innovation management: innovation capacity (I_C), business innovation value (BIV), innovation creation factor (ICF), and a practical data-driven innovation management and prediction system.