Emerging Horizons: Business and Society in the Post-Pandemic Era

The COVID-19 pandemic dominated our lives since its outbreak in the year 2020. The whole economy was disrupted, and businesses and society had to adapt to the new normal. Since the last two years, the release of different vaccines and the vaccination drive have helped to contain the pandemic to quite an extent. It is believed that irrespective of the different doses of vaccination and its impact on the citizens, the virus is here to stay and will translate into an endemic. An endemic situation is where the COVID-19 virus will be confined to certain people and regions. The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted businesses, which had to move from a physical mode to an online mode and hybrid mode. While several steps were taken to contain the pandemic, its lasting effect made organizations and society rethink the future. Organizations have moved from offline to hybrid mode and now work from home. The propositions in sales have changed from price to consumer well-being and convenience. Consumers have become health conscious. Healthcare has become a necessity, and healthcare companies are taking different steps to penetrate the market with immunity boosters. Education is now offered extensively through digital media and has become another alternative. The conference theme, “Pandemic to Endemic: Propositions for the Future,” aims to identify the initiatives businesses and society will adopt for their sustained growth and development. The book provides research insights on how organizations should deal with endemic situations in different business areas. This book includes research in finance, marketing, human resources, healthcare, economics, education, and general management, such as leadership and decision?making.

1. Brig. (Dr.) Rajiv Divekar Brig (Dr.)

Rajiv Divekar is the Director of Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies for the last 12 years. SIMS is amongst the top ranked B-schools in India which is over 27 years old. Prior to this he was Head of Faculty Strategic and Operational Studies at Army War College and Faculty member in Defence Strategic Studies at Defence Services Staff College, Wellington. He has done his PhD from Symbiosis International University. He is a M. Phil from D A V V University and MSc from Madras University. A Gold medallist in BE (civil), he has done his MBA specializing in Human Resource Management. He has rich experience of strategy, planning, logistics and human resource management based on his service with multinational teams as part of United Nations Force in both Somalia and Lebanon. He has served in Kargil and Leh on the LoC where he was responsible for the Logistics and Supply Chain Management for soldiers located on posts at 17,000- 22,000 feet in the Siachen Glacier. He has a large number of research publications in National & International Journals & also in Scopus listed Journals. He is also a reviewer for a journal which is indexed in SCOPUS. Under his leadership and guidance, SIMS has been organising an Annual International Research Conference for last 11 years. He teaches Strategy, Human Resource and Leadership to MBA students and has been invited to deliver talks at various organisations and institutes as also to deliver key note address in conferences. He is a recipient of many awards in the field of education. He has been awarded “The Rashtriya Vidya Gaurav Gold Medal” by the Indian Solidarity Council, the “Rajiv Gandhi Education Excellence Award” by International Institute of Education and Management and the “Education Leadership Award” by Education Leadership Awards, Dubai.

2. Dr. Komal Chopra

Dr. Komal Chopra is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune, India. He has more than 16 years of experience in academics. Dr. Komal Chopra has taught subjects such as Retail Management, Consumer Behaviour, and Essentials of Marketing to post-graduate students. He has conducted management development programmes for Godrej & Boyce, Wipro, John Deere, Cognizant and Directorate General of Resettlement, Government of India. He has also delivered guest sessions at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, and Kathmandu University. He has done research and consultancy projects for Ministry of Corporate Affairs, ICSSR, Tata Motors, Springer Nature and Bilcare Research. He has published many research papers in ABDC and Scopus ranked journals and is a reviewer for Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, International Journal of Emerging Markets, Sage OPEN, Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, Foresight and Health Education. He has also won the best research paper award at international conferences. He is a PhD guide at Symbiosis International (Deemed University) and PhD referee at the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is an ISO 9001:2015 certified auditor and Co-Convener of SIMS Annual Research Conference.

3. Dr Smita Mehendale

Dr. Smita Mehendale is an Assistant Professor with Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies, Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune She has 18+ years of experience in diverse functions like finance, marketing and HR and across industries and educational institutions. She has worked in manufacturing, service sector and consultancy before stepping into academics. She has done her PhD from SPPU, Pune in online retailing. She teaches Research Methodology, Retail Management and Marketing Research at SIMS. She is passionate about training and has conducted sessions for FMCG, healthcare, financial services and educational institutions like Cargill, L&T, Nikita Distributers, SVM, St. Mira’s, BMCC, SVIMS. She has presented numerous papers in international conferences and won best paper awards. She has conducted Faculty Development Programmes and is the co-convener of SIMSARC22

4. Dr. Pravin Kumar Bhoyar

Dr. Pravin Kumar Bhoyar is a Professor and Deputy Director at Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Pune, for the last 17 years. His educational qualifications include BE (Production), an MBA and PhD. He has had 27 research papers published in national and international journals, including ABDC and Scopus. He, along with other researchers, has completed five research projects sponsored by the National Foundation for Corporate Governance (NFCG) over the last five years. His book, ‘Effectiveness of FMCG Distribution Channels’, was published in LAP LAMBERT Academic Publishing, Germany (2013 edition). Also, a case study — ‘Millennium Company Ltd: Overcoming Tough Times’ — was published in Emerald Markets Case Studies in 2014.