International Journal of Management and Sustainability Practices

Entrepreneurship is growing at an accelerated pace and is viewed as a natural way to cater to the economy, create new jobs, and conceptualize new ideas to life. To help such kind of growth, successive central and state governments and many other private players have launched skill development programs that guide aspiring youth to learn how to begin entrepreneurial journey. These programs mostly focus on imparting technical skills, financial acumen, digital self-efficacy, and preparation of business plan. However, training focussing legal awareness is rarely provided. Most budding entrepreneurs begin their work without knowing the iota of basic laws that apply to business environment. This constraint of legal awareness can create serious problems, such as lacunae in business registration, unknowingly compromising tax and labour laws, facing contract issues, or losing their rights over their ideas due to weak protection of intellectual property. These challenges may affect their survival and hinder growth of the startups, even though if the business idea is unique. This paper aims to study that how the lack of legal awareness in skill development programs creates hindrance for budding entrepreneurs. It can provide insight that why legal awareness is just helpful and important for managing a progressive business. The paper highlights the gaps in current skilling programs and recommends ways to incorporate simplistic legal awareness into them. It further discusses how legal understanding can help budding entrepreneurs avoid common mistakes in conflict with law and build stronger, safer startups. Lastly, the paper concludes with suggestions for improving training systems by adding basic legal education and involving legal experts, educators, and policymakers into skill building programs. The aim is to support a startup culture in India that is not only smart and innovative but also legally compliant and prepared for long-term success.

Women can play a catalyst role in sustainable economic growth and social cohesion by offering equal opportunities in entrepreneurial participation compared to their male counterparts. In emerging economies like India, close to half of the total population is women by gender and the majority of them are residing in rural areas. These women often tend to engage in household and caring activities and not actively participate in economic activities due to socio-cultural reasons. Patriarchal norms deprived women of property rights and of sharing the entitlements in family income. Gender equitable finance can act as a catalyst in promoting entrepreneurial participation of women, especially women at the bottom of the pyramid. The objective of the present study is to assess the current level of financial awareness and usage of financial services by women. Moreover, the study explores the role of social and technical factors in a behavioural intention of women to use digital financial services vis-à-vis their impact on women's empowerment using the logistic regression method. A total of 157 respondents were surveyed using a self-administered questionnaire to collect their responses in the Anand and Nadiad districts of Gujarat, India. The study found the significant influence of financial services on empowerment of women through the formal financial system and women's entrepreneurial development in rural areas. The present provides valuable insight to financial institutions, government and policymakers to form their policy for inclusive economic growth.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experience of gig workers working under algorithm management- the “Invisible Boss” in Oman Methodology. This research employs Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a qualitative approach to explore the lived experience through semi-structured in-depth interviews of gig workers in Oman.The findings revealed three superordinate themes, each comprising multiple subthemes that explains lived experience of gig workers working under algorithm management- the “Invisible Boss” in Oman. The superordinate themes include (1) navigating algorithm oversight, (2) experiencing technostress and (3) coping and adaptation strategies. The findings of the study will contribute to creating a sustainable digital labour platform, balancing productivity and the well-being of gig workers in Oman. The study is based on a small sample of gig workers, which limits the generalisation of the findings. Future researchers can expand the sample across different platforms and mixed method approach. This research contributes to the gig economy by providing an in-depth understanding of platform workers in Oman. This study uncovers the challenges of algorithm control and develops adaptive coping strategies for the digital environment.