bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of manufacturer's flexible returns policy in a duopolistic competition
Authors: Yamini S. , Gajanand M.S. 
Published: March 2022

PurposeFlexible return policies are offered by the manufacturers to encourage the retailers announcing a lenient returns scheme to their customers.Design/methodology/approachThis study considers the distribution of durable products in a supply chain where the demand is sensitive to sales effort and retail price. Using a game theoretic framework, the paper presents an assessment of the strategic effect of flexible returns policy announced by the manufacturer under retail competition and highlights its implications on profitability.FindingsComparative analysis of monopolistic and duopolistic competition provides a better understanding about the repercussions and related facts on offering a flexible returns policy in these environments. It is profitable for the manufacturer to offer a flexible returns policy when there is retail competition than under monopolistic condition.Practical implicationsPractitioners view returns policy offered as an insurance given to the buyers and they infer it to be a better mechanism for doing business. Lenient returns policy promotes the sales by increasing the trust on the retailer and boosts up the perception of quality about the product by lowering the perceived risk for customers.Originality/valueEffective product return strategies such as being lenient in terms of time, money, effort, scope and exchange can result in increased revenues, lower cost and improved profitability to the manufacturer and retailer, at the same time offering an enhanced level of customer service.
“Jute Cottage” at crossroads: succession dilemma
Authors: Arjunan Satyanandini , Zachariah Minu , Bhat K. Prathima 
Published: March 2022

Learning outcomes
After reading this case, the students will be able to comprehend the conceptual framework of entrepreneurial learning to tap business opportunities; identify the challenges of small businesses; understand the structure of the franchise business model; and recognise the need for succession planning for business sustainability and evaluate various options for succession.

Case overview/synopsis
“Jute Cottage”, the two-decade-old brand, was operating through its own stores and franchise outlets. The brain behind the brand was Nasreen and her husband Bilal. Dire times led the duo, venture into this business. It was in 1992, the family had relocated from Kolkata and was trying to make a living in Bangalore. Nasreen joined as a teacher and her husband focused on his existing trading business in jute packaging material. This was when Nasreen tried selling jute bags from home that were bought from Kolkata. After a few years, when Bilal’s business had a setback, Nasreen thought of giving a push to her home business. This was how a business that was started at a small level grew slowly and steadily under Nasreen’s leadership to become a brand and reach the current level of owning four stores and 10 franchise outlets across South India. As Nasreen and Bilal were growing old and wanted to retire, they expected their only son, Ataullah, to take over the reins of their business. But to their dismay, he was not interested, as his focus was on movie-making and designing.

Complexity academic level
The case can be taught to MBA/PGDM students to give them experiential learning in the courses on Entrepreneurship and Strategy. It gives insight on how to tap the business opportunities, grow and sustain. The case also highlights the need for succession planning for business continuity.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only.

Subject code
CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.
Bajaj Auto (B): challenges in LATAM and Southeast Asian (SEA) markets
Authors: Gupta Nitin 
Published: March 2022

Learning outcomes
After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to critically analyze a firm's international partnership strategies for its export market; assess international markets and a firm's entry strategies in them; identify various problems that a firm can face in international markets; and recommend strategies for growth in international markets.

Case overview/synopsis
Bajaj Auto's (BA) strategy to be a global motorcycle manufacturer had enabled it to hold its ground in the difficult times posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time, two-wheeler exports from India between January and May 2021 were equivalent to domestic sales showing increased exports and decreased domestic sales. This reinforced BA's belief in its global expansion strategies. Rakesh Sharma (Sharma), the Executive Director at BA, was increasingly buoyant of BA's ambitious plans to enter new markets in Latin America (LATAM) and South-East Asian (SEA) Market.Sharma knew very well that though the LATAM and SEA markets were up-and-coming and lucrative, there were innumerable challenging factors pertaining to Indian and foreign competitors, domestic and international economic and business environment, supply chain and logistical issues, as well as uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic that BA had to face before tasting success in these markets. Was BA moving in the right direction with its global business expansion strategies? Would Sharma be able to handle the challenges and successfully take BA toward its goal?

Complexity academic level
The case can be taught in advanced undergraduate, MBA or executive-level programs.

Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Subject code
CSS 5: International Business.
Options trading prior to takeover rumors
Authors: Khadivar Hamed , Davis Frederick , Walker Thomas 
Published: March 2022

Purpose In this paper, the authors examine options trading in firms that soon become rumored takeover targets. This study also examines whether measures of informed trading can predict target returns (upon rumor announcement and over the post-rumor period) and/or predict which rumors lead to bids. The authors further assess whether the informed trading they observe is more prevalent in the options market or the equity market.Design/methodology/approach This study calculates abnormal options volume using a market-model approach that accounts for different attributes of options trading. The authors construct a control sample and compare equity options trading of firms in their sample with that of the control sample. In addition, the authors fit a series of regressions to examine whether pre-rumor abnormal options trading can predict rumor accuracy in a multivariate setting.Findings The authors find that the volume of options traded is abnormally high over the pre-rumor period while the direction of option trades (abnormal call volume minus abnormal put volume) prior to takeover rumors predicts forthcoming takeover announcements, rumor date target firm returns and post-rumor target firm returns. The results are robust when controlling for publicly available information, when using a control sample, and when using alternative measures of informed trading.Originality/value This study is the first to provide evidence of informed options trading prior to a broad sample of takeover rumors. In addition, this study contributes to the literature on takeover predictability and profitability by showing that various pre-rumor measures of informed options trading significantly predict bid announcements. The authors also contributes to the literature on price discovery by providing evidence that informed investors are more likely to trade in the options market than in the equity market during the pre-event period.
Guest editorial: Old and New Challenges for Welfare Regimes – A Global Perspective
Authors: Cruz-Martinez Gibran , Bernales-Baksai Pamela 
Published: March 2022

PurposeThis paper aims to present an introduction to the special issue titled “Old and New Challenges for Welfare Regimes: A Global Perspective.”Design/methodology/approachThe authors of the special issue combine case studies and comparative analysis across America, Asia, Africa and Europe. The authors were invited to develop the authors'ir studies with a focus on one or more of three axes: (1) institutional and governance challenges surrounding the implementation and expansion of social welfare programs,; (2) state of the art and diversity across emerging welfare states and; (3) challenges associated with migration and demographic pressures.FindingsArticles in this special issue contribute to the authors' understanding of recent challenges and transformations of welfare regimes, with special attention to the following policy areas: youth emancipation, the reduction of poverty and income inequality, social protection and taxation, the role of historical institutionalism to better understand social policy implementation and expansion, the lack of transformative social protection in “’New Right’” governments, determinants of social equality and the transformative effect of migration into welfare states.OriginalityTo the authors' knowledge, the existing publications on transformations and challenges of welfare regimes are still very much centered on a Western European context. The global perspective and diversity of policy areas covered aims to shed light on the important lessons and policy implications from less traditional welfare states.
Design and study on the leveling mechanism of the tractor body in hilly and mountainous areas
Authors: Lü X.R. , Liu Z. , Lü X.L. , Wang X. 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
This study aims to improve the automatic leveling performance of tractor body in hilly and mountainous areas by designing a kind of controllable and adaptive leveling mechanism of tractor body.

Design/methodology/approach
The mechanism is mainly composed of longitudinal slope leveling mechanism, transverse slope leveling mechanism and control components. According to the tractor body attitude in operation, the longitudinal slope leveling and lateral slope leveling can coordinate to realize the adaptive adjustment of tractor body. For this mechanism, the support mode of the linear three-point support and plane positioning combining is designed, and the leveling method of electromechanical combination is designed. The servo motor controls the longitudinal slope leveling mechanism through the reducer with self-locking function to realize the longitudinal leveling, and the servo driver controls the expansion and contraction of electric cylinder to realize lateral leveling. The designed mode can realize the relative independence and coordination of leveling in different directions.

Findings
The performance test results of the leveling mechanism are shown: the mechanism can work normally; the leveling accuracy can reach within 1°; and the leveling accuracy and stability can meet the design requirements. The leveling accuracy and stability of longitudinal slope are higher than that of lateral slope, and the coordination leveling effect of longitudinal slope and lateral slope is better than that of the independent leveling.

Originality/value
This study provides a technical reference for the design of leveling device of agricultural machines and tools in hilly and mountainous areas.
What are the influencing factors of government’s trust decision-making on private sector in PPP projects: evidence from China?
Authors: Li Huimin , Xu Chenchen , Cao Yongchao , Zhang Chengyi 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, it explores the influencing factors of the government’s trust decision-making in the private sector; second, it explores how these influencing factors affect the government’s trust decisions.

Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model was established, and a questionnaire survey was conducted among 152 professionals. The collected datas were analyzed by the structural equation modeling (SEM) method.

Findings
The study identified four critical factors that influence the government’s decision to trust the private sector in public-private-partnership (PPP) projects. All the four factors have a positively correlated impact on the government’s trust decision-making. The structural equation path analysis shows that the most important factor affecting the government’s trust decision-making is the trustee’s (private sector) trustworthy characteristics, and the path coefficient is 0.92. The path coefficients of risk perception and the trustor’s trust tendency are 0.83 and 0.74, respectively. The influence of the legal system environment on government trust decision-making is moderate, with a path coefficient of 0.68.

Originality/value
This paper contributes to the literature in two aspects. First, the factors influencing decision-making to government trust in the private sector in PPP projects have been identified. Second, a comprehensive view of the mechanism of government trust in the private sector in PPP projects has been theorized by the SEM method.
Consumer reactions to different robotic servers in theme parks
Authors: Milman Ady , Tasci Asli D.A. 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
This study aims to understand the theme park visitors’ perceived robotic qualities featured in four different robots, assess their robotic functions and consumers’ loyalty toward four different robotic server types.

Design/methodology/approach
A structured online survey of 399 respondents measured and compared consumer perceptions related to qualities and functions of robots in a theme park context and consumers’ behavioral intentions in four different robotic scenarios – anime, cartoon-like, human-like and animal-like robots in theme parks. Survey data were collected on an online platform and analyzed by SPSS.

Findings
The results showed some expected differences in robotic qualities among the different robot-type scenarios, but similar reactions overall. The findings also provided insight into the type of robots that consumers prefer and showed a little more preference toward human-like robotic servers.

Research limitations/implications
The study was restricted to several robotic scenarios in North American theme parks. Future qualitative and quantitative studies should look in more detail at theme park visitors’ participation in the robotic service delivery process, the robots’ mobility and interactions with fellow visitors.

Practical implications
The findings can guide practitioners on robots’ looks, qualities and functionalities to consider for introducing to their patrons to create more interactive environments and experiences.

Originality/value
The study revealed some new knowledge about consumer expectations for robotic servers in theme parks. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that compares different robot types on their perceived appearance, qualities and functionality, or consumers’ behavioral tendencies in the context of theme parks.
Perceived overqualification? Examining its nexus with cyberloafing and knowledge hiding behaviour: harmonious passion as a moderator
Authors: Khan Jawad , Saeed Imran , Fayaz Muhammad , Zada Muhammad , Jan Dawood 
Published: March 2022

Purpose
This study aims to assess the nexus between perceived overqualification (POQ), anger, knowledge hiding, cyberloafing and harmonious passion (HP).

Design/methodology/approach
The authors obtained 264 responses from two public traded firms in Pakistan using a supervisor-subordinated nested design and a multi-time data collecting strategy using convenience sampling.

Findings
The study results indicate that POQ positively affects knowledge hiding and cyberloafing. The authors also found anger as a potential mediator in the direct association between POQ and cyberloafing. In addition, the findings suggest that the association between POQ, knowledge hiding and cyberloafing will be weak when individuals exhibit HP towards their job roles. The results of this research, when considered as a whole, provided support for all of the hypothesised direct and indirect linkages, which has important ramifications for both theory and practise.

Research limitations/implications
This study has both theoretical and practical implications. Grounded on equity theory and relative deprivation theory, this paper asserts that HP should be used to decrease POQ affect. According to the authors, pro-environment employee actions may help build a pro-environment workplace culture as well as a pro-environment sense of responsibility, both of which can help to achieve significant pro-environment results.

Originality/value
This study builds on and fills in the gaps left by earlier research to better aid organisational researchers, practitioners and stakeholders in understanding how POQ, rage, information concealing, cyberloafing and harmonic passion interact with one another.
Self-managed action learning and assessors of newly qualified social workers in multiple organisations in England: a facilitator's perspective
Authors: Brook Cheryl , Abbott Christine 
Published: March 2022

PurposeThis study aims to explore a self-managed action learning (SMAL) initiative undertaken by social work assessors in England, which led to insights into the practice of SMAL.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws upon the experience of the authors in relation to an actual SMAL intervention in a social care context in England.FindingsThe paper suggests that, in contrast to extant literature, it is not the absence of an “expert” facilitator, which has proved to be most challenging but rather dealing with the practicalities of managing inter-organisational sets online. Specific individual and inter-organisational learning came about as a result of the SMAL initiative, including the implementation of inter-organisational networking to support isolated assessors.Research limitations/implicationsThe ideas and perspectives discussed in this paper will be explored through further empirical research.Practical implicationsThe paper illustrates how SMAL can be implemented and suggests how it can facilitate organisational and individual learning.Social implicationsThe paper discusses an initiative with the aim of better supporting assessors of newly qualified social workers; a task of enormous importance to the future of social work practice in England.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to a limited literature on the practice of SMAL. The uniqueness comes from both the multi-organisational aspect of the programme, that it is self-managed and delivered virtually.
Women as Common Scolds in Law and Popular Culture: Pennsylvania, 1824–1972
Authors: Kielbowicz Richard 
Published: March 2022

AbstractWomen faced prosecution as common scolds for their unruly speech in US jurisdictions until 1972, with Pennsylvania playing an outsized role in this history. Pennsylvania's treatment of common scolds reveals how the interplay of the law and the press perpetuated a construct of women's speech as gossipy, quarrelsome and disruptive of social order. Prosecutions occurred so frequently and continued for so long in Pennsylvania because of English common law's grip on the state's jurisprudence, reinforced by popular culture representations that stigmatised women's speech. Common law furnished formal legal precedents, while the press, driven by its own imperatives, readily propagated, amplified and validated the law's characterisation of scolds. Reports about scold cases, which fit easily into journalistic and cultural frames, often appeared as humorous vignettes that served as illustrations – if not warnings – about women's transgressive speech. Judges wondering about the continued legitimacy of this gender‐specific offense could take comfort from stories about prosecutions of scolds across the state and around the nation. The ordinariness of common scold cases also sheds light on community rules that regulated women's everyday speech – evidence about a fleeting activity nearly invisible to scholars before the digitisation of newspapers and obscure legal texts.
Longitudinal analysis of the prevalence and correlates of heavy episodic drinking and self‐reported opioid use among a national cohort of patients with HIV
Authors: Oldfield Benjamin J. , Li Yu , Vickers‐Smith Rachel , Barry Declan T. , Crystal Stephen , Gordon Kirsha S. , Kerns Robert D. , Williams Emily C. , Marshall Brandon D. L. , Edelman E. Jennifer 
Published: March 2022

AbstractBackgroundHeavy episodic drinking (HED) is a risk factor for opioid‐related overdose and negatively impacts HIV disease progression. Among a national cohort of patients with HIV (PWH), we examined sociodemographic and clinical correlates of concomitant HED and self‐reported opioid use.MethodsWe used data collected from 2002 through 2018 from the Veterans Aging Cohort Study, a prospective cohort including PWH in care at eight US Veterans Health Administration sites. HED was defined as consuming six or more drinks at least once in the year prior to survey collection. We examined the relationship between HED and self‐reported opioid use and created a 4‐level composite variable of HED and opioid use. We used multinomial logistic regression to estimate odds of reporting concomitant HED and self‐reported opioid use.ResultsAmong 3702 PWH, 1458 (39.4%) reported HED during the study period and 350 (9.5%) reported opioid use. In the multinomial model, compared to reporting neither HED nor opioid use, lifetime housing instability (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.01 to 2.35), Veterans Aging Cohort Study Index 2.0 (a measure of disease severity; aOR 1.14, 95% CI 1.02 to 1.28), depressive symptoms (aOR 2.27, 95% CI 1.42 to 3.62), past‐year cigarette smoking (aOR 3.06, 95% CI 1.53 to 6.14), cannabis use (aOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.09 to 2.62), and cocaine/stimulant use (aOR 11.54, 95% CI 7.40 to 17.99) were independently associated with greater odds of concomitant HED and self‐reported opioid use. Compared to having attended no college, having some college or more (aOR 0.39, 95% CI 0.26 to 0.59) was associated with lower odds of concomitant HED and self‐reported opioid use.ConclusionsAmong PWH, concomitant HED and self‐reported opioid use are more common among individuals with depressive symptoms and substance use, structural vulnerabilities, and greater illness severity. Efforts to minimize opioid‐related risk should address high‐risk drinking as a modifiable risk factor for harm among these groups.