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This paper aims to discuss the successful 3D printing of styrene–ethylene–butylene–styrene (SEBS) block copolymers using solvent-cast 3D printing (SC-3DP) technique.

Three different Kraton grade SEBS block copolymers were used to prepare viscous polymer solutions (ink) in three different solvents, namely, toluene, cyclopentane and tetrahydrofuran. Hansen solubility parameters (HSPs) were taken into account to understand the solvent–polymer interactions. Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy was used to analyze transmittance behavior of different inks. Printability of ink samples was compared in terms of shape retention capability, solvent evaporation and shear viscosity. Dimensional deviations in 3D-printed parts were evaluated in terms of percentage shrinkage. Surface morphology of 3D-printed parts was investigated by scanning electron microscope. In addition, mechanical properties and rheology of the SC-3D-printed SEBS samples were also investigated.

HSP analysis revealed toluene to be the most suitable solvent for SC-3DP. Cyclopentane showed a strong preferential solubility toward the ethylene–butylene block. Microscopic surface cracks were present on tetrahydrofuran ink-based 3D-printed samples. SC-3D-printed samples exhibited high elongation at break (up to 2,200%) and low tension set (up to 9%).

SC-3DP proves to be an effective fabrication route for complex SEBS parts overcoming the challenges associated with fused deposition modeling.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first report investigating the effect of different solvents on physicomechanical properties of SC-3D-printed SEBS block copolymer samples.

The utilisation of food waste/by‐products helps to increase produce recovery and enhances nutrition in low‐cost food without any appreciable increase in product cost. The storage behaviour of the product must be studied before commercialisation of the product. This paper aims to focus on this process.

Extrudates (25 g) prepared under optimised conditions of proportion (rice flour, pulse powder and carrot pomace), moisture content, screw speed and die temperature, were sealed using a polythene sealing machine in LDPE bags and aluminium laminated LDPE bags. The bags were then stored for six months in an incubator at temperature of 38±2°C to evaluate the stability of the product. The extrudates were analysed for change in colour, hardness, moisture content and sensory characteristics.

Zero‐ and first‐order models were fitted for prediction purposes. The minimum overall change in color ΔE value, minimum increase in moisture content and minimum increase in hardness was observed in aluminium laminated LDPE bags. The zero order model better predicted the variation of L*, b*, ΔE, moisture content and hardness during storage, whereas first order model was better fitted for the a* value.

The carrot pomace has the potential to be used as a food ingredient that enhances the nutritional attributes of products along with a reduction in cost. Extruded products were successfully developed in the laboratory using carrot pomace as one of the ingredients. This study evaluates the kinetic changes during the storage of carrot pomace based extruded snacks.

With the growing acceptance of organised retail in Central India, it is important to understand the impulse buying phenomenon and how it is influenced by consumer traits and situational factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the combined effect of three consumer traits and four situational factors on impulsive buying.

Using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling (SmartPLS 2.0 software), responses from 417 hypermarket and supermarket consumers of Central India in the proposed research framework were analysed and validated.

The resulted values for the construct impulse buying tendency, shopping enjoyment tendency, materialism, person’s situation, motivational activities by retailers and product attributes show positive significant influences, whereas the construct store environment having relationship with impulse buying shows negative influence. Importantly, the findings also demonstrate that the gender moderates the relationship between various factors of consumer traits and situational factors with impulse buying.

The study develops a research framework with three specific variables of consumer traits and four variables of situational factors, triggers impulse buying. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate some other variables, such as interpersonal influence, consumer involvement and consumption patterns, so that more affluent insights can be obtained. The study presents useful insights to retailers, academicians and researchers, regarding impulse buying behaviour of Indian consumers in a still developing organised retail sector in Central India.

The study focussed on the combined effect of consumer traits and situational factors on impulse buying for the first time in Central India, as earlier studies focussed on impulse buying behaviour at the USA and metro cities of India.

Mission and vision for strategic management of non governmental organizations.

This case can be used for strategic management course (with a focus on vision and mission), particularly for the management of non governmental organizations (NGOs) (with a focus on discovering and defining directions).

Shraddhanand Mahila Ashram completed 83 years of its existence in 2011. Sharadhanand Mahila Ashram has been managed by the Hindu women's welfare society. The organization for the last eight decades has been caring for destitute women, orphans up to six years old, and caring for girls till they reached 18 years of age. The Ashram has also been taking care of mentally and physically challenged orphans. The Ashram over the years changed its policies and practices to be in tune with the social requirements in the changing environment. Up to the close of the first decade of the 21st century the Ashram had been providing traditional training to the young ladies and then subsequently would marry them. In the last two decades beginning 1991, because of the economic development of India and the economic integration of India with the West, cultural changes had transpired in Indian society. Women in general have been becoming more empowered and economically independent. Given this context the committee members of the Ashram were contemplating on the future guidance to the girls of the Ashram for making them empowered and independent individuals. This would shift the established policies and practices of the Ashram and lead to a new vision.

The case would help students to reflect on the significance of mission and vision statement of an NGO. The case would further help students to understand the day to day working practices of an NGO as derived from mission and mission statements. The students will be able to comprehend the need for review and change in mission and vision statements. The students will also be able to understand how mission and vision statements aligned to the organizational practices and policies impact at ground zero and above.

Teaching notes are available.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of organisational harmony and fellow-feelings in the relationship between intelligence generations, dissemination and implementation on business performance and explain how market orientation impacts certain aspects of organisational behaviour which in turn lead to the performance of service firms.

The data set comprises 108 responses of senior managers within the logistics sector. The multi-level sequential mediation path analysis is used to examine the above mediating role.

Results indicate that intelligence dissemination (ID), response implementation (RI) and business performance relationship is significantly mediated via fellow-feelings and organisational harmony. However, the relationship between dissemination, implementation and overall business performance is mostly mediated by fellow-feelings and followed by organisational harmony. Furthermore, when overall market orientation (intelligence generation, dissemination and RI) is used as a determinant of business performance, organsiational harmony emerged as the most significant contributor to organsiational performance.

Managers are urged to focus on building fellow-feelings among their employees, resulting in a harmonious work environment between functional units and market orientation organisation wide.

Compared to previous research, this is one of the first attempts to develop an understanding of fellow-feelings, contributing to organsiational harmony resulting market orientation and, hence, business performance. Market orientation conceptualisations lump intelligence generation, dissemination and RI of business activities together but do not explain how market orientation impacts fellow-feelings and organisational harmony which in turn leads to performance. The authors specifically address this important lacuna in our conceptualisation and propose that ID and RI lead to fellow-feelings within functional departments and results in organisational harmony.

A large number of roads have been constructed in the rural areas of India to connect habitations with the nearest major roads. With time, the pavements of these roads have deteriorated and they need some kind of maintenance, although they all do not need maintenance at the same time, as they have all not deteriorated to the same level. Hence, they have to be prioritized for maintenance.

In order to present a scientific methodology for prioritizing pavement maintenance, the factors affecting prioritization and the relative importance of each were identified through an expert survey. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to scientifically establish weight (importance) of each factor based on its relative importance over other factors. The proposed methodology was validated through a case study of 203 low volume rural roads in the state of Himachal Pradesh in India. Ranking of these roads in order of their priority for maintenance was presented as the final result.

The results show that pavement distresses, traffic volume, type of connectivity and the socioeconomic facilities located along a road are the four major factors to be considered in determining the priority of a road for maintenance.

The methodology provides a comprehensive, scientific and socially responsible pavement maintenance prioritization method which will automatically select roads for maintenance without any bias.

Timely maintenance of roads will also save budgetary expenditure of restoration/reconstruction, leading to enhancement of road service life. The government will not only save money but also provide timely benefit to the needy population.

Road transportation is the primary mode of inland transportation in rural areas. Timely maintenance of the pavements will be of great help to the socioeconomic development of rural areas.

The proposed methodology lays special emphasis on rural roads which are small in length, but large in number. Instead of random, a scientific method for selection of roads for maintenance will be of great help to the public works department for better management of rural road network.

Friction stir processing (FSP) is overviewed with the process variables, along with the thermal aspect of different metals.

With its inbuilt advantages, FSP is used to reduce the failure in the structural integrity of the body panels of automobiles, airplanes and lashing rails. FSP has excellent process ability and surface treatability with good corrosion resistance and high strength at elevated temperatures. Process parameters such as rotation speed of the tool, traverse speed, tool tilt angle, groove design, volume fraction and increase in number of tool passes should be considered for generating a processed and defect-free surface of the workpiece.

FSP process is used for modifying the surface by reinforcement of composites to improve the mechanical properties and results in the ultrafine grain refinement of microstructure. FSP uses the frictional heat and mechanical deformation for achieving the maximum performance using the low-cost tool; the production time is also very less.

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Students discussing the case will be able to:▪ Evaluate and decide the marketing strategy that will best align the organizational resources and capabilities with the external environment.▪ Demonstrate the process of segmentation and choose the most attractive target market.▪ Analyze the competition and develop an effective positioning strategy.▪ Evaluate and use different growth strategies in business situations.

The case demonstrated the decision-making process behind the post-pandemic strategy of ShakahariS by Awadhpuri, a restaurant in the emerging Indian market. The restaurant was situated in Ahmedabad, one of the fastest-growing mini-metro cites of the Indian restaurant industry. It was known for authentic Indian vegetarian cuisine. The restaurant, originally named Awadhpuri, was started in 2012 by Ms. Vandana Singh. It was positioned as a non-vegetarian restaurant providing Awadhi cuisine in the fine-dining segment known for its ambiance and authentic taste. However, due to the predominant vegetarian market in Ahmedabad city, the restaurant was rebranded and repositioned as ShakahariS by Awadhpuri, serving only vegetarian cuisine in 2018. The years 2019–2020 were very harsh due to the Covid-19 crisis. During the uncertain times when the lockdowns and the guidelines kept on changing, it was difficult for the restaurant to even recover their costs. It was a good time to explore the possibilities of the cloud kitchen format, and they came up with multiple kitchens offering different cuisines and targeted new customer segments. The case highlighted these survival strategies adopted by the restaurant during Covid. Post-pandemic, the protagonist was now contemplating a long-term growth strategy for the restaurant to target a new market with a new offering. The dilemma for the restaurant is whether (or not) to align the marketing strategy by repositioning again to cater to the new target segment.

Undergraduate courses on Business Management (BBA) and specific topics in introductory courses on marketing management and strategic management of the post-management programs.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.