Impact of Retail Strategy, Location and Type of Business on Sales: A Case Study of Peace & Love Festival Borlänge

Abstract   Purpose - This study primarily examines how local retail businesses strategically take advantage of an event like the Peace and Love Festival. The financial effects of the event on these businesses were studied with a focus on whether sales increase or decrease during the Festival. The influence of three important factors was examined; business strategy, location of business and type of business on local businesses’ sales during festivals. The study assessed the impact of specific location and the effect of these festivals on different types of businesses. It uncovers the influence of such events on businesses, particularly on their sales. Overall, such festivals have positive financial effects on all local business, except a few, which are further explored in the study

Impact of Retail Strategy, Location and Type of Business on Sales: A Case Study of Peace & Love Festival Borlänge

Purpose - This study primarily examines how local retail businesses strategically take advantage of an event like the Peace and Love Festival. The financial effects of the event on these businesses were studied with a focus on whether sales increase or decrease during the Festival. The influence of three important factors was examined; business strategy, location of business and type of business on local businesses’ sales during festivals. The study assessed the impact of specific location and the effect of these festivals on different types of businesses. It uncovers the influence of such events on businesses, particularly on their sales. Overall, such festivals have positive financial effects on all local business, except a few, which are further explored in the study. Methodology- The study adopts a qualitative research method in order to obtain a deeper knowledge of how local businesses take advantage of events and festivals. Primary data has been gathered by interviewing local businesses and respondents from Peace & Love Festival. In total, 22 retailers were approached and interviewed. Non-probability, purposive sampling was used for the research in determining the sample population. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with respondents. The collected data was documented and analysed using interpretivist paradigm and content analysis. Findings- The results indicate that various types of businesses experience different sales effects during such festivals. Location of retail outlets and their effective strategies influence sales. Findings also show that hotels, fast food restaurants, and beverage sectors show higher sales as compared to other sectors. The retail stores showed slight increase in sales, but electronics/appliances stores experienced almost no change, and some even showed negative sales. Practical Implication- Businesses can take maximum advantages of such events and enhance their revenue by adopting different strategies. Governments can take advantage of such studies, and promote festivals as they have influential power on attracting large number of visitors towards the host destination

Social Media Usage, Overload and Exhaustion: A Performance Perspective

This study is focused on investigating the negative consequences of social media usage at work through overloads that are a cause of exhaustion and ultimately impact performance. Performance of employee is taken as criterion of exhaustion. Three categories of overloads social overload, communication overload and information overloads serve as mechanism of negative consequences of social media during working hours. A sample of 300 employees of telecom sector of Pakistan contributed in the study. Data was analyzed by using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. Results revealed that excessive use of social media positively influence information, communication and social overload. Information and communication overload were also found to have an enhanced effect on exhaustion of social media while social overload could not. Performance of employee was also found to be negatively influenced by exhaustion of social media. Study limitations and future directions are also discussed. Keywords: Performance; Social Media; Exhaustion; Telecom Sector JEL Classification: D89 DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/irmm.1019

Establishing biotinidase reference interval, a foundation stone for newborn screening of biotinidase deficiency in Pakistan

Objective: To determine the reference interval of biotinidase activity in healthy neonates. Method: The cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Chemical Pathology and Endocrinology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from May to November 2019, and comprised blood samples collected from healthy neonates aged 2-6 days. The samples were collected on filter paper and analysed on genetic screening processor based on dissociation-enhanced lanthanide flouroimmunoassay. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. Results: Of the 120 dried blood spot specimens, 81(67.5%) were from male babies and 39(32.5%) from female babies. Reference interval for biotinidase activity, based on 2.5th and 97.5th percentiles, was from 3.0 to 11.0 nmol/ml/min. Conclusion: Screening of newborns for biotinidase deficiency is crucial to prevent irreversible neurological damage. Key Words: Biotinidase reference interval, Biotinidase deficiency, Newborn screening in Pakistan

Bio-Oriented Synthesis of Novel (S)-Flurbiprofen Clubbed Hydrazone Schiff’s Bases for Diabetic Management: In Vitro and In Silico Studies

A new series of (S)-flurbiprofen derivatives 4a–4p and 5a–5n were synthesized with different aromatic or aliphatic aldehydes and ketones to produce Schiff’s bases and their structures were confirmed through HR-ESI-MS, 1H, and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. The α-glucosidase inhibitory activities of the newly synthesized compounds were scrutinized, in which six compounds 5k, 4h, 5h, 4d, 4b, and 5i showed potent inhibition in the range of 0.93 to 10.26 µM, respectively, whereas fifteen compounds 4c, 4g, 4i, 4j, 4l, 4m, 4o, 4p, 5c, 5d, 5j, 5l, 5m, 5n and 1 exhibited significant inhibitory activity with IC50 in range of = 11.42 to 48.39 µM. In addition, compounds 5g, 5f, 4k, 4n, and 4f displayed moderate-to-low activities. The modes of binding of all the active compounds were determined through the molecular docking approach, which revealed that two residues, specifically Glu277 and His351 are important in the stabilization of the active compounds in the active site of α-glucosidase. Furthermore, these compounds block the active site with high binding energies (−7.51 to −3.36 kcal/mol) thereby inhibiting the function of the enzyme