Emerald & EFMD outstanding doctoral research awards

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) envision increased participation of minorities, including PwD, in global development. In line with the SDG mandate, countries are implementing measures to improve the employability of PwD. However, several countries, including India, are yet to see concrete results, with PwD continuing to face several challenges in accessing and maintaining employment.

Taking a phased approach, Dr. Suresh’s study examined perspectives of both employers and individuals with disabilities. From the employer viewpoint, some of the interventions under scrutiny included targeted recruitment and job matching for PwD. In the subsequent phase, Dr. Suresh directly obtained information from PwD regarding their access to personal and contextual resources, and how this impacted their perceived employability.

"My study focused on understanding on-the-ground reality in Indian organisations that employ PwD with a focus on the interventions adopted to ensure inclusion, the demographic profile of PwD employed in the formal sector, and resources that could help enhance employability of PwD," Dr. Suresh clarifies.

Dr. Suresh's research revealed that despite the increase in measures aimed at enhancing employability, PwD may continue to face challenges in obtaining and maintaining jobs within Indian organisations for several reasons. “While on one hand we note active facilitation through inclusive interventions, this co-exists with passive discrimination limiting employment opportunities for persons with certain types of disabilities," she comments. Notably, the research suggests that the lack of information and awareness at the organisational level regarding the employability of people with various types of disabilities contributes to their exclusion from job opportunities. "An organisation's effective decision-making can be hampered by its own limitations in awareness, thinking, information availability, and time constraints," Dr. Suresh notes. "Tapping into available external resources can help address various conscious or unconscious biases and thereby avoid unintentional exclusion of PwD."

Another crucial finding of Dr. Suresh's research is that demographic differences impact employment outcomes among PwD. "There exists a need to consider the intersection of disability with other vulnerable identities, so that employer policies can be designed to effectively address the compounding negative effect of multiple intersecting vulnerable identities," Dr. Suresh observes.

Dr. Suresh's thesis encourages organisations to acknowledge the heterogeneity among PwD and avoid a standardised approach to job matching. The intentional and voluntary endeavors of employers can have a significant positive impact on job matching for PwD, facilitating their productive deployment.

"While compatibility between a job's demands and individual's capabilities needs to be achieved for effective deployment of PwD, the answer to the question 'Does compatibility exist?' is not always binary; a spectrum of opportunities that fall under: 'Possible, can be made compatible', resides between 'Yes, compatible' and 'No, not compatible'", she explains.

Dr. Suresh concludes by saying, "I feel incredibly grateful and honored to receive this prestigious award and humbled by the recognition. I take this opportunity to express my gratitude to my research advisor, Dr. Lata Dyaram, for her guidance and support through the various phases of this challenging but rewarding journey."

This study will indeed trigger more conversations among researchers in this space, towards promoting inclusion and integration of PwD.

"Encouraging consumers not to avoid suboptimal food products might help reduce the burgeoning food waste problem. Despite the obvious imperative to identify the major factors that motivate or discourage individuals from choosing suboptimal food products, little research to date has directly investigated them. Meanwhile, most studies concerning preferences for suboptimal products lack the appropriate theoretical basis due to a disproportionate reliance on practical interventions," explains Dr. Adel.

Dr. Adel approached his research subject from two different perspectives. Firstly, he investigated how economic factors affect behavioural intentions of customers. Second, he explored the social and psychological factors that influence consumers' choices of suboptimal products. Since price reduction is becoming a straightforward approach to increase acceptance of suboptimal foods, Dr. Adel’s dissertation employs purchase value theory to examine behavioural intentions from an economic perspective. “This theory provides an appropriate framework to investigate behavioural intentions towards price promotions. Moreover, this dissertation extends theory of planned behavior (TPB) to investigate behavioural intentions from a social-psychological perspective," Dr. Adel notes.

Dr. Adel's dissertation significantly advances our understanding of the factors that motivate and demotivate customers to purchase or recommend suboptimal fresh produce. It lays a theoretical foundation for future targeted strategies aimed at reducing food waste. Moreover, his research represents a pioneering effort in identifying demotivating factors and cross-cultural influences on customer behavior related to suboptimal produce.

For managers seeking to implement sustainable market strategies, Dr. Adel's thesis recommends a gradual pricing strategy to promote suboptimal produce. It suggests that promoting suboptimal produce as a "good deal" rather than a "cheaper alternative" may increase demand. "Promoting suboptimal food products at reduced prices is a good strategy, but they also need to be promoted as 'a good deal' to increase the perceived value of such products for all consumers with different price perceptions. Promoting suboptimal products as 'a good deal' is important to make consumers perceive themselves as 'smart shoppers' while making decisions regarding suboptimal products," explains Dr. Adel.

Policymakers can play a significant role in promoting suboptimal food products across countries, according to Dr. Adel's research. State authorities can improve demand for suboptimal products through coordinated action with farmers and retailers. Governments can create or promote campaigns through popular media channels such as television and introduce awareness programs for kids and teenagers to make suboptimal produce a more attractive alternative and tackle food waste. "Creating a constructive community dialogue about the seriousness of food waste and the role of suboptimal products represents the first step in awareness creation and developing favourable social pressure," Dr. Adel concludes.