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This research aims at explaining the phenomenon of the “black children” (heihaizi), a very little-known generation who lived with concealment under the one-child policy in China. The one-child policy was officially introduced to nationwide at the end of 1979 by permitting per couple to have one child only, later modified to a second child allowed if the first was a girl in rural China in 1984. It was officially replaced by a nation-wide two-child policy and most existing research focused on the parents’ sufferings and policy changes. The term “black children” has been mainly used to describe their absence from their family hukou registration and education. However, this research aims at expanding the meaning of being “black” to explain the children who were concealed more than at the level of family formal registration, but also physical freedom and emotional bond. What we do not yet know are the details of their lived experiences from a day-to-day base: where did they live? How were they raised up? Who were involved? Who benefited from it and who did not? In this way, this research challenges the existing scholarship on the one-child policy and repositions the “black children” as primary victims, and reveals the family as a key figure in co-producing their diminished status with the support of state power. It is very important to understand these children’s loss of citizenship and human freedom from the inside of the family because they were concealed in so many ways away from public view and interventions. This research focuses on illustrating how their lack of access to continued, stabilized, and reciprocally recognized family interactions framed their very idea of self-worth and identity.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic is the most severe threat we have faced since World War II. So far, there have been about 5 million recorded cases, with over 300,000 fatalities globally. The epidemic is also wreaking havoc on the corporate world. People are losing their jobs and money, and no one knows when normalcy will return. So, addressing the VUCA Leadership Strategies Model is important to get more insight into this topic.

Need for the Study: According to the International Labor Organization, the pandemic might cost 195 million jobs. Even when the immediate impacts wear off, the long-term economic impact will reverberate for years. All four volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) characteristics apply to the issues we confront due to the coronavirus.

Methodology: Changes caused by COVID-19 occur daily, and are unpredictable, dramatic, and quick. No one can predict precisely when the epidemic will end or when a treatment or immunisation will be available. The pandemic impacts many parts of society, including health care, business, the economy, and social life. There is no ‘best practice’ that enterprises may utilise to tackle the pandemic’s issues. The VUCA leadership strategy models will be discussed and compared in this research study.

Findings: In this moment of transition, leaders must adhere to their fundamental values, core purpose, and ambition for big, hairy, and audacious goals.

Practical Implications: In this chapter, VUCA leadership strategy models will be discussed in detail for pre- and post-pandemic scenarios and their impact on different sectors, which will be very important for researchers in the same field.

This paper is a proposal to provide for the poor – those earning insufficient incomes to satisfy their needs and the unemployed – by enabling them to acquire dividend-paying (and voting) shares in the companies that produce the goods and services consumed in society. It will be accomplished by: (1) establishing a mortgage loan at birth for every newborn child; (2) the loans will be taken out by each of the major producing companies (plus start-ups) in the names of the children as firms do their annual planning; (3) the amount of the loan will be increased annually when the companies plan for succeeding years; (4) a portfolio of new assets – stocks and bonds – in the companies will be purchased with the funds from the mortgage loan; (5) the loan will be repaid over a period of years from the dividends paid by the companies. Once redeemed, the assets, and their future earnings, will belong to the person in whose name the mortgage loan was established. Should the program include all newborns, rich and poor in the name of fairness, when today's cohort reaches maturity, every member of society will be a shareholder in a variety of wealth producing companies that pay regular dividends. The proposal will not require funds from the government and no additional taxes will have to be raised.

This chapter is born out of concern about the perception of the physical and symbolic place of the live-in housekeeper, both in socioeconomic, and historical terms, as well as the architectural and social dynamics of the home. An intersectional and teleological analysis of the intrinsic devaluation of paid social reproduction work is carried out, based mainly on gender, race, and class inequalities. Ultimately, the chapter tries to locate the position in which the maid finds herself in the domestic environment, both in family relationships and in the symbolism inherent to the concept of the maid’s room. Based on sociological, philosophical, and anthropological analysis, the ambiguous place of domestic workers becomes clearer, promoting a reflection on the very concept of family and household. Thus, the chapter proposes to achieve a hermeneutic dive into the experience of this working class, revealing a hierarchical system beyond the socioeconomic, but above all, of their subjectivities.

Crises and natural disasters represent significant challenges to business, straining financial and human resources. However, corporate philanthropy during these times can result in significant benefits to the reputation of firms, while assisting in crisis recovery. This research focuses on the 2016 earthquake in Kaikōura, New Zealand to examine consumer reactions to corporate philanthropy. Two between-subject experiments were used to test the proposed hypotheses. Our results suggest that consumers do not differ significantly in their perceptions of the reputation of a company when donations of money or employee time are made by the company to assist the Red Cross. However, if a company is not engaged in corporate philanthropy, its reputation is significantly lower than when it engages in corporate philanthropy. We also found that the reputational benefits of giving to corporate philanthropy are weakened when consumers are highly sceptical of underlying corporate motives. Finally, we found that companies who give, despite being adversely impacted by a natural disaster, are perceived more favourably in terms of reputation, when compared with firms that have not been hurt by the natural disaster. We discuss the implications of this research for both practitioners and researchers.

Introduction: Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) have long been viable in the Indian economy. In the case of post-COVID-19, 20–40% of MSMEs in government can be permanently closed. The state should pay special attention to MSMEs for survival (Min, 2023).

Purpose: This chapter provides a framework for MSMEs to study industry challenges in Punjab and to discuss the conceptual framework and road map for future MSMEs in Punjab.

Need for This Study: The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically impacted the variable economic activities within the world. This study is responsible for explaining the different vulnerable sectors related to small- and medium-sized enterprises. On the other hand, this study is an analytical and descriptive research in nature.

Methodology: A mixed method of data collection has been used in this chapter. The data have been collected by floating a questionnaire to the various entrepreneurs of MSMEs. Secondary data have been collected through the Internet.

Findings: Through this research, we could analyse the MSMEs’ conceptual framework, the challenges they face, and the industrial units’ future roadmap.

Practical Implications: This research is mainly considered a clear explanation of current competition and market access challenges that small- and medium-sized enterprises face. This situation is derived due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so many enterprises are trying to find their exit ways. On the other hand, some MSMEs are trying to focus on the online business market to make some profit and to overcome the loss.

Little research is devoted to how salary allocation processes interfere with gender inequality in talent development in universities. Administrative data from a university indicated a substantial salary gap between men and women academics, which partially could be explained by the unequal distribution of men and women in the academic job levels after acquiring a PhD, from lecturer to full professor, with men being overrepresented in the higher job levels, as well as in the more senior positions within each job level. We demonstrated how a lack of transparency, consistency and accountability can disqualify apparent fair, merit-based salary decisions and result in biased gender differences in job and salary levels. This chapter reflects on how salary decisions matter for the recognition of talent and should be an integral part of talent management.