Empowering Inclusive Innovation

This book compiles the proceedings of the National Conference on Integrating Equity & Diversity in Business for a Sustainable Future (IEDBSF 2025), organized by the Faculty of Management Studies, CMS Business School, Jain Deemed-to-be University. With novel approaches, empirical studies, and case analyses, this collection of peer-reviewed papers aims to investigate how inclusive, diverse and equitable business methodologies act as drivers for enduring sustainability.

The chapters included in this volume tackle a range of interdisciplinary topics, including finance, marketing, entrepreneurship, human resource management, analytics, and governance. Contributors delve into inclusive financial strategies for MSMEs (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises), gender-equitable leadership practices, data-driven insights focused on equity, and the significance of sustainable marketing in influencing responsible consumer behaviours.

This volume serves as a valuable resource for academics, policy specialists, industry leaders and students, and contributes to ongoing conversations about responsible economic growth in India alongside themes of inclusive innovation and ethical business practices.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

Krishna Koppa has over 27 years (16 years in the corporate world and 11 years in academia) of experience across Sales and Distribution Management, Traditional and Digital Marketing, Strategic marketing, Revenue management and Customer Experience Management. With his interests centered around business history, digital transformation and marketing, he has published quality research articles in international journals. He is currently playing his role as Head of Department of Management Studies at Jain (Deemed-to-be University), Dr. Krishna is involved passionately in guiding students and peers to perform for meeting individual and organizational objectives.

Manita D. Shah has over 25 years of teaching experience in Accounting and Finance in various business schools of repute. She is currently working as a Professor at CMS Business School, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) and previously served as Associate Dean MBA Program, SCMS JAIN (Deemed-to-be University). She was Former Dean, Ramaiah Institute of Management Studies and Area Chair – Finance, Alliance Business School, Alliance University; and Program Director – Educesta Global Services Pvt. Ltd. Her recent research spans diverse areas of finance, technology, and human capital development. Her studies examine the humanization of intellectual capital in India’s education sector, the relationship between firm size and management accounting practices in the steel industry, and the transformative role of block chain in banking and finance. Additionally, her qualitative investigation into the impact of COVID-19 on the investment behavior of salaried Indian investors highlights behavioral shifts and evolving financial preferences.

Srimantoorao S. Appadoo is a Professor and Institutional Head of the Department of Supply Chain Management at the University of Manitoba, Canada. In addition to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, he is a prolific researcher, with his work continually being published in esteemed journals (both national and international). He has presented his work at prestigious conferences and research workshops and co-authored the book More-for-Less Solutions in Fuzzy Transportation Problems (Studies in Fuzziness and Soft Computing). He is currently working on quantitative and fuzzy decision-making models, as well as multi-criteria and group decision-making. His research is funded by the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery Grant as Principal Investigator. He is a recipient of the Associates’ Achievement Award, the Joint UM/UMFA Committees on Merit Award, and several best paper awards at some national and international conferences.