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India generates around two million tonnes of e-waste every year, and it is increasing at a very high rate of 30%. However, due to inefficient handling of infrastructure and limited number of collection centres along with the absence of proper incentive structure for producer and recyclers, 95% of e-waste reaches to unorganized sector for disposal. Consumers are not aware of the need of proper e-waste disposal and in absence of proper motivation and they are not inclined towards recycling process. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the best practices of e-waste take adopted all over the world to implement effective policy interventions for e-waste management in India and other emerging economies.

This paper has recommended preventive as well as curative policy interventions on the basis of best e-waste management practices of Germany, Italy and Japan; life cycle assessment of e-waste; and SWOT analysis of Indian electronic product industry.

Preventive measures include a deposit refund scheme wherein a consumer will be responsible for depositing a refundable fees during the purchase of the product. The amount should be arrived at keeping in mind cost involved in handling e-waste and ensure some motivation for the consumers to give back used product. To ensure proper tracking of the product, Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can be used which will be activated at the time of sale of product and remain so until product reaches some designated recycling space or recycler and consumer is returned back his deposit fee. Subsidy to the producers and recyclers can also be provided by the government to further incentivize the whole process. An example of mobile phones has been used to understand the proposed deposit fees and associated cost structure. Curative measures to reduce the generation of e-waste in long run for managing the discussed issue have also been proposed.

This study is an initiative for proposing and implementing best e-waste take back techniques in a developing economy like India by acquiring learnings from best/advanced economies in terms of e-waste take back.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected service small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), increasing the importance of understanding how these businesses can become more resilient and how service innovation can be an effective strategy to increase their adaptive capacity and survival. This study aims to examine the role of dynamic capabilities in service innovation as a factor explaining the resilience of SMEs in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic during the COVID-19 crisis and its impact on service innovation. Additionally, the authors assess whether service innovation has a significant impact on value cocreation in these businesses.

This study used a quantitative method by surveying 118 SME owners in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The data were analyzed using partial least-squares structural equation modeling.

The results reflect important theoretical contributions by analyzing resilience from an innovation perspective instead of a retrospective approach, which is an area that has not been analyzed in the literature. Additionally, theoretical contributions to marketing services in SMEs are discussed, which is an underresearched topic. The results advance by discussing the role of service innovation through the reconfiguration of resources and how this can be an effective strategy to increase value cocreation with customers during crises.

This study is original in that it analyzes resilience from the perspective of innovation, and not from a retrospective approach. It offers a vision in response to the need for studies that provide a clearer conceptualization of resilience in small businesses. This highlights the importance of considering regional differences and service innovation as effective strategies to enhance resilience and value cocreation with customers.

Réal Plourde helped to oil the Couche-Tard/Circle K machine for Alain Bouchard, speeding up the pace of acquisitions and smoothing out the integration of newly acquired chains. As an engineer and MBA graduate with extensive international experience, he brought considerable added value to Alain Bouchard's team. Among other things, he helped to train many of the organization's senior executives, including the current CEO, Brian Hannasch, who joined the company in 2001, working closely with Réal Plourde for nearly a decade before replacing him as Head of Operations in 2011 and ultimately taking over from Alain Bouchard as CEO in 2014.

Although officially retired for some years now, Réal Plourde continues to sit on the boards of several organizations. He also chairs the board of an engineering firm employing more than 2,000 engineers. His Foundation has received several awards for its social and community contributions.

In recent times, the construction industry is being influenced by technological innovations when delivering a better, more effective and efficient desired project, cyber-physical systems (CPSs) offer a coupling of the physical and engineered systems by monitoring, coordinating, controlling and integrating their operations. This study aims to examine the level of awareness of professionals and usage of CPSs for construction projects in Nigerian construction industry.

The target population for this study was the professionals in the construction industry consisting Architects, Quantity Surveyors, Engineers and Builders. Data collection was through the use of a structured questionnaire administered to the target population. The data was analyzed by using statistical tools.

This study concluded that the construction professionals in the Nigerian construction industry are mostly aware about the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, global positioning system, microphone, speakers and camera as the most widely used CPSs in construction industry. HVAC systems was also found to be the mostly adopted technologies in the construction industry.

This study recommended that platforms that increase the awareness and encourage the usage of CPSs in construction industry should be encouraged by stakeholders concerned with management of construction projects. Such include electronic construction and adoption of blockchain technology.

This chapter analyzes the link between the digital divide, infrastructure regulation, and disaster planning and relief through a case study of the flood in San Jose, California triggered by the Anderson dam’s overtopping in February 2017 and an examination of communication failures during the 2018 wildfire in Paradise, California. This chapter theorizes that regulatory decisions construct social and disaster vulnerability. Rooted in the Whole Community approach to disaster planning and relief espoused by the United Nations and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, this chapter calls for leadership to end the digital divide. It highlights the imperative of understanding community information needs and argues for linking strategies to close the digital divide with infrastructure and emergency planning. As the Internet’s integration into society increases, the digital divide diminishes access to societal resources including disaster aid, and exacerbates wildfire, flood, pandemic, and other risks. To mitigate climate change, climate-induced disaster, protect access to social services and the economy, and safeguard democracy, it argues for digital inclusion strategies as a centerpiece of community-centered infrastructure regulation and disaster relief.

Product-service systems (PSS) are regarded as highly sustainable solutions. However, studies identifying and comparing the sustainable potential of product-service offerings by considering the three sustainability dimensions are still scarce. This paper aims to benchmark and analyse the sustainable potential of a use-oriented PSS, showing the influence of the context of implementation on the sustainable potential of the solutions.

By adopting a competitive benchmarking approach, six bicycle-sharing systems from different countries were selected for analysis. The main sustainability-related aspects in use-oriented PSS (the systems investigated) were identified through a literature review. Multiple secondary sources were used to collect data about the analysed PSS. A qualitative analysis was conducted through triangulation of the sources to identify and compare the systems by considering the selected sustainability aspects.

The main results show that use-oriented PSS provide a range of economic, social, and environmental benefits, confirming the sustainable potential of such solutions. Several similarities between the systems have been identified, along with some differences, especially regarding their integration with other transport systems and the use of renewable energy, which can affect users' acceptance, operation efficacy, and overall sustainable potential of the solutions.

This study identifies best practices that can be considered by other bike-sharing businesses to improve their sustainability potential.

This study identifies and explores the sustainable potential of bicycle-sharing solutions using a benchmark approach. It augments existing empirical knowledge on sustainable PSS and business models by revealing best practices, including the context that may enhance the sustainability potential of the solutions regarding environmental, economic, and social benefits.

The versatility of customer relationship management (CRM) systems has kept these technologies popular over the years. These solutions have been integrated into organizations of all sizes, from large corporations to small- and medium-sized enterprises. Similarly, CRM systems have also found applications in all types of industries and business sectors. All this has been the driving force behind the proliferation of CRM solutions around the world. In this chapter, the author not only reflects on the impact and democratization of CRM systems on business management and marketing strategies but also explores how these technologies can determine the company's income. In particular, the author presents an experiment that analyzes the extent to which the volume of annual investment in CRM solutions can be used to predict annual net income in a sample of companies. Using time series analysis and applying the autoregressive integrated moving average modeling technique, the researcher examines a sample of 10 companies from different industries, and countries, over a 20-year period. The results show the efficiency of the predictive models developed in nine of the 10 companies analyzed. The findings of this study allow us to conclude that there seems to be an association between the investments made in CRM solutions and the income of the companies that invest in these technologies.

This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.

The purpose of this study was to analyze importance of artificial intelligence (AI) in education and its emphasis on assessment and adversity quotient (AQ).

The study utilizes a systematic literature review of over 141 journal papers and psychometric tests to evaluate AQ. Thematic analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies explores domains of AI in education.

Results suggest that assessing the AQ of students with the help of AI techniques is necessary. Education is a vital tool to develop and improve natural intelligence, and this survey presents the discourse use of AI techniques and behavioral strategies in the education sector of the recent era. The study proposes a conceptual framework of AQ with the help of assessment style for higher education undergraduates.

Research on AQ evaluation in the Indian context is still emerging, presenting a potential avenue for future research. Investigating the relationship between AQ and academic performance among Indian students is a crucial area of research. This can provide insights into the role of AQ in academic motivation, persistence and success in different academic disciplines and levels of education. AQ evaluation offers valuable insights into how individuals deal with and overcome challenges. The findings of this study have implications for higher education institutions to prepare for future challenges and better equip students with necessary skills for success. The papers reviewed related to AI for education opens research opportunities in the field of psychometrics, educational assessment and the evaluation of AQ.