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Kerala’s entrepreneurship culture has changed dramatically, becoming a thriving ecosystem that encourages creativity and company expansion. Kerala’s history of trade and business has a strong influence on its entrepreneurial culture. Numerous family-owned businesses that have been handed down through the generations are part of the state’s lengthy history of business. The state’s economy has been greatly influenced by these traditional companies, which have also laid the groundwork for contemporary entrepreneurship. The existence of excellent educational establishments, such as medical and engineering schools, has produced a pool of bright and capable individuals who are prepared to launch their own companies. Through the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the government of Kerala launched the startup movement by developing and enforcing policies aimed at establishing a thriving startup ecosystem in the state. Kerala’s entrepreneurial culture is a vibrant, ever-changing environment propelled by creativity, social responsibility, and a strong sense of belonging. While there are challenges that need to be addressed, the state’s high literacy rate, strong educational infrastructure, and government support have created a conducive environment for entrepreneurship to thrive.

This paper presents a critical analysis of the age-old issue of rural poverty of India in the backdrop of high economic growth. This has been the result of the limitations of the trickle-down theory as well as the limitations in the rural credit system. The study discusses the income and purchasing power of rural individuals, the barriers to their institutional credit, and the dominance of informal moneylenders. The study promotes a holistic approach to rural development beyond credit-based interventions, emphasizing the importance of infrastructure development, skill development, value education, and the convergence of modern economic thinking with ancient moral economics. The study also explores new paradigms for financial institutions at the village level and proposes policy interventions to ensure inclusive and sustainable rural development in India, finally resulting in village autonomy and self-reliance.

The study attempts to explore the mediating mechanism of intrinsic motivation in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and extra- role performance. Data from 403 employees working in information technology organizations operating in India sampled using convenience sampling technique were collected through a structured questionnaire survey and subjected to analysis using structural equation modelling (SEM). The study employs a descriptive research design for testing the proposed relational hypotheses. The results of SEM indicate that there is a significantly positive relationship between qualitative job insecurity and extra-role performances, which are mediated by intrinsic motivation partially. The moderating role of employee optimism in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and intrinsic motivation has been established. The study contributes to qualitative job insecurity research and establishes the importance of employee optimism and intrinsic motivation in reinforcing employees’ attention towards job and organizational goals.

The study attempts to explore the mediating mechanism of intrinsic motivation in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and employee in-role performance. It also examines the moderating role played by employee optimism in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and intrinsic motivation. Data from 403 employees working in information technology organizations operating in India sampled using convenience sampling technique were collected through a structured questionnaire survey and subjected to analysis using structural equation modelling (SEM). The study employs a descriptive research design for testing the proposed relational hypotheses. Results of SEM indicate that there is a significantly positive relationship between qualitative job insecurity and employee in-role performance, which is mediated by intrinsic motivation partially. The moderating role of employee optimism in the relationship between qualitative job insecurity and intrinsic motivation has been established. The study contributes to qualitative job insecurity research and establishes the importance of employee optimism and intrinsic motivation in reinforcing employees’ attention towards job and organizational goals.

The study of trends in the development of social networks as a tool for communication is carried out and the potential for business promotion is determined. The advantages provided by social media tools for the formation and development of a digital marketing communications system are identified. The features of social networks are revealed and their role in the formation of a digital marketing strategy and SMM strategy as its integral part is shown. It is proved that effective business promotion in social networks requires planning, information and analytical support, content marketing, monitoring, and control, which is possible when developing an SMM strategy. The author’s own scheme of forming a strategy for promoting business in social networks is proposed, which includes business goals, objectives, analytical component, management of promotion in social media, and a system for monitoring and evaluating efficiency.

Agriculture occupies a superior place in the economy of every country. Majority of the rural agrarian households in Idukki generally incur bad debt and is a stumbling block to the well-being of the members of the borrowing households due to small land holdings, high cost of living and the prevailing agrarian distress. The extensive review of the literature reveals that there have been no serious studies carried out in Kerala, particularly in Idukki covering the aspect of- magnitude of debt, sources of borrowings, and the debt management strategies practiced by the households. Many farmer suicide cases have also been reported from Kerala especially, Idukki district. The successful debt reducing strategies help in the understanding and the monitoring of farm indebtedness. The present study ‘Management of farm Indebtedness in Idukki District’ is aimed to solve the burning issues of the distressed farmers and assumes enormous significance as it seeks to fill the existing research gap too. The study is based on primary data collected from 100 farmer households located in two panchayaths of Idukki, viz., Rajakkad and Santhanpara using a structured interview schedule. The analysis of the data was performed using both the descriptive statistical tools such as tables, graphs, and numerical summary measures like mean, median, standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis and a few inferential statistical methods as chi-square test. The findings reveal that more than two-thirds of the farmers’ total debt from the commercial banks, distantly followed by SHG and friends & relatives. It may be noticed that more than 80 percent of the debts of farmers are from the institutional sources; and the contribution of the NBFCs and money lenders in this regard is negligible. It is an index of development and financial literacy of the people in Idukki. The debt management strategies practiced by the farmers under six factors suggested that the four strategies, viz., ‘debt service planning’, ‘interest rate monitoring’, ‘careful avoidance of late payment consequences’ and ‘debt prioritisation’ were relatively more effective than the other two strategies of ‘asset management’ and ‘acquisition of financial literacy’

This research was triggered by the user dissatisfaction with shuttle bus, including the fares paid which did not match the expectations of shuttle bus users. There were complaints from users regarding the quality of services provided for the paid shuttle bus passengers, including long waiting times for the shuttle bus, buses unable to accommodate passengers, and long and disorderly queues. This research aimed to analyze the role of tariff, quality, and satisfaction in increasing loyalty among the users of paid shuttle bus services at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Data analysis technique using Structural Equation Modeling was based on Smart Partial Least Square. The sampling technique used an accidental sampling technique. The sample used was 400 respondents who were Paid Shuttle Bus users at Soekarno-Hatta Airport. Furthermore, satisfaction became a connecting variable for the influence of paid shuttle bus rates and service quality on loyalty. Researchers hoped that companies would make various efforts to increase the satisfaction and loyalty of service users, including by evaluating the rates and quality of paid shuttle bus services.

Waste generation and its proper management at the industrial level always poses challenges for both management and governments. The issue remains a persistent dilemma, especially in developing countries like India, which has no well-formulated guidelines and policy structures for waste management. One of the main hurdles the authorities face in industrial waste management is the unaffordability of the cost incurred. So, this study is a search to identify the sustainable waste management practices of manufacturing micro and small enterprises in Kerala and the cost implications of these practices. Additionally, this study examines the challenges of enterprises while processing industrial waste. The study used a structured interview schedule to consider the insights of 180 managers of enterprises in Kerala. The test results revealed that the waste management system of micro and small enterprises is sustainable and effective and, along with the majority of the managers, ensures that the cost associated with the sustainable waste management is not affordable by them. The study offers significant implications to the management of enterprises, encouraging the adoption of sustainable practices for waste management and the government, highlighting the need to provide support and assistance to these efforts.

Financial literacy refers to an individual’s understanding and ability to manage and utilize financial resources prudently. It is the set of skills that individuals possess while arranging, managing, and utilizing financial resources. Millennials live in the digital age and have access to a plethora of innovative financial products that provide adequate financial outcomes. The attitudes and behaviors of millennials with stable regular incomes are very important from both an individual and a macro perspective. Individual financial stability, as well as economic growth and development, require prudent use of financial resources. The research in this area will lead to a better understanding of the millennials’ level of financial literacy within the state, as Kerala is ranked first in the country in terms of literacy level. The study focuses on the financial literacy of salaried-class millennials in the state of Kerala, financial literacy is assessed based on five components namely Budgeting, interest rate, prioritizing savings and investment, credit/debt cycle traps, and cybercrime; the reflections of these factors on attitude and behavior are made in this study and indicates that there is a positive reflection of financial literacy on financial attitude and behavior among the millennials. The study also tries to identify the socio-economic characteristics of millennials that affects their attitude and behavior toward savings and investments which is quite essential for the better prospect of our economy.