This study examines how diversification in Indian business groups creates multiple forms of agency problems and has performance implications for group-affiliated firms. Departing from prior literature which emphasizes the principal–principal agency conflict in business groups, we argue that business group diversification leads to dual agency problems between controlling and minority shareholders (principal–principal) and shareholders and managers (principal–agent) in affiliated firms. Both these agency problems arise in diversified business groups through cross-subsidization of affiliated firms by inefficient capital investment, continuing presence of affiliated firms in declining industries, tunneling of resources from profitable affiliated firms, lack of attention by business group headquarters to affiliated firms, and affiliated firm managers' sense of perceived security, which negatively impacts affiliated firms’ performance. These agency issues are reduced with the increase in product market competition from exposure to international markets and through concentrated promoter ownership in the affiliated firms. Our hypothesized model finds empirical support in a sample of 828 business group–affiliated firms in India. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd

Asset pricing in capital markets is a strikingly vibrant area of academic research and is considered as an indicator to evaluate the efficiency of stock markets. Though the explanation for the seasonal behavior of capital markets was attempted by various market models, several anomalies were observed historically. Calendar anomalies that belong to the specific class of seasonal anomalies provided abnormal returns in the global stock markets at regular intervals within and across various calendar years. This article documents the study on one such anomaly—namely, the turn-of-the-month effect in the context of Indian stock indices. In this pursuit, exhaustive research has been carried out considering all the broad-market and sectoral indices of two major stock exchanges, namely, National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchange. The study used the ARIMAX methodology with dummy exogenous variables (to represent the turn-of-the-month days) and presented comprehensive findings and learnings. Besides, this article attempts to analyze the changes in the strength and significance of the anomaly in progression with various stock market reforms in both the broad-market and sectoral indices to provide new insights into the efficiency of Indian stock market exchanges. © 2021 K. J. Somaiya Institute of Management.

Documented cases of sustainable initiatives of firms show that green efforts in one market often have spillover effects on other markets. The critical question is, how do firms harness and respond to such market spillovers. To answer this, the paper examines two settings where, a firm operates in two different markets with spillovers and secondly, where it faces marketplace competition. Spillovers can be positive or negative. Using an analytical approach, the paper examines pricing and greening strategies of a firm in these scenarios, conducts market comparisons, and examines specific conditions where the firm may not invest in greening. The findings show that under the threat of spillovers from competitor's green efforts, a focal firm increases its greening efforts and prices. Further, the absence of consumer green sensitivity in the primary market does not deter a firm from greening, if spillovers exist. Under negative spillovers, a firm can still invest in positive green efforts if the negative spillover effect is below a threshold. However, under competitive threat, a firm may lose competitive advantage as its competitor (with positive green spillovers), increases its greening efforts to compete in both the markets. © 2021

With the growing importance of sustainable farming and increasing fluctuations in the price of agricultural produce, the choice of nature of farming and participation in a cooperative has become critical. This paper examines farmers’ decision of adopting organic farming and participating in cooperative institutions to market their produce. We formulate a two-stage strategic game model whereby two farmers first choose a technique of production of their crops followed by a decision regarding the mechanism by which to sell their products to cope with the environment of uncertain agricultural prices. We extend the two-stage process to find out conditions under which it would be profitable for a farmer to produce organic crop. We found that farmers are more likely to produce organic crop if they can sell their produce through a cooperative. Our analytical results show that incremental costs of organic production, the operational cost of running cooperatives and crop’s price volatility can be crucial in influencing farmers’ choice of production techniques of and marketing institutions. In particular, we found that when it is easier for farmers to participate in cooperative, they tend to choose organic production technique. To empirically support the findings, we analyzed the weekly transactions of 65 Fruits and Vegetables during 2017 in six different regions in the United States. We found that regions with higher number of cooperatives registered higher transactions in organic crop. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.

The UN COP26 2021 conference on climate change offers the chance for world leaders to take action and make urgent and meaningful commitments to reducing emissions and limit global temperatures to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Whilst the political aspects and subsequent ramifications of these fundamental and critical decisions cannot be underestimated, there exists a technical perspective where digital and IS technology has a role to play in the monitoring of potential solutions, but also an integral element of climate change solutions. We explore these aspects in this editorial article, offering a comprehensive opinion based insight to a multitude of diverse viewpoints that look at the many challenges through a technology lens. It is widely recognized that technology in all its forms, is an important and integral element of the solution, but industry and wider society also view technology as being part of the problem. Increasingly, researchers are referencing the importance of responsible digitalization to eliminate the significant levels of e-waste. The reality is that technology is an integral component of the global efforts to get to net zero, however, its adoption requires pragmatic tradeoffs as we transition from current behaviors to a more climate friendly society. © 2021 The Authors

Purpose: The study aims to examine the association between learning culture and adaptive performance of delivery employees during crises situation. The study develops and tests a model that explains how learning culture, through change-efficacy and meaningful work, influences employees' adaptive performance (including how they handle crisis situations and deal with uncertainty). Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected from 298 delivery employees working in e-commerce companies throughout India in a time-lagged manner. Regression analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to assess the influence of learning culture, change-efficacy and meaningful work on adaptive performance using SPSS 24. Further, PROCESS macro was used to test the parallel mediation effects through bootstrapping approach. Findings: The study establishes a significant direct and indirect relationship between learning culture and adaptive performance for employees. Further, underpinning the transformative learning theory (Mezirow, 1997), and job characteristics theory (1976), this study came across two pathways for organizations to transform their learning efforts into improved adaptive performance for employees. Practical implications: Organizations, particularly in crisis situations, can leverage employees' change-efficacy and meaningful work to connect learning efforts with employees' adaptive performance. Originality/value: The study contributes significantly to existing theory on transformative learning and job characteristics theory while strengthening the literature on antecedents of employees' adaptive performance, particularly in crises situation. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The study approaches the social problem of overconsumption by examining how dispositional characteristics (Trigunas) affect self-control capacity and buying impulsiveness. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of 181 Indian students was conducted to collect data on Trigunas, self-control and impulse buying tendency (IBT). Partial least squares-based structure equation modeling package ADANCO was used for data analysis. Findings: The results indicate that two out of the three gunas were related to impulsive buying tendency. As hypothesized, self-control mediated these relationships. The findings prove that Trigunas carry differential influence on self-control capacity and impulsive buying behavior of individuals. Practical implications: The results of this study offer new insights and ideas to practitioners and researchers pursuing the problem of overconsumption. This study delves into ancient Hindu knowledge of mindfulness and offers fresh psychological constructs that broaden scholarly understanding on personality-related drivers of overconsumption. Originality/value: Most research on overconsumption and related issues has been conducted using western personality models. Additionally, many of these findings are inconsistent. This article broadens this discussion by applying indigenous Indian psychology constructs to the study of consumer behavior and provides empirical support for the same. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explain how emotional intelligence (EI) influences intercultural competence (IC), which in turn may influence online instruction. The authors further explored the varying attributes of EI and the extent to which it intersects with IC in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach: Literature on EI and IC from the fields of education, business and leadership was reviewed. The search entailed articles related to EI and IC using the following databases: Business Search Premier, ERIC, JSTOR and ProQuest. The authors used the following key search terms in researching the articles: EI, IC, learning and online instruction. Title and abstract analyses judged each article’s suitability for the study. Findings: To better perceive, understand and appreciate others and their cultures, we need to understand our own emotions and the way we interact with others. EI is thus the foundation on which IC can be built. It takes a higher level of EI to develop higher IC quotient. An online instructor should be cognizant about the emotional issues involved in the online learning and suitably modify the instruction to improve learner engagement to ensure better and improved student learning. Research limitations/implications: Findings of this study should provide useful information for theory building and practice. Further, it is hoped the findings of this study will stimulate more scholarly interest in this relatively untapped research area exploring how EI can influence IC and ultimately influence online instruction and improve student learning. Practical implications: The findings will serve as useful pointers for instructors and scholars who strive to improve ICs and appreciate the nuances that enable an emotionally intelligent instructor to perform better and connect with learners from a different culture. Originality/value: Based on empirical literature reviewed, EI is the ability to perceive, understand and control our own emotions to better connect and relate with other individuals. It is the ability to recognize the emotional cues and change our behavior accordingly. IC is the ability to understand and appreciate the cultural differences to better function in a culture different from our own. The two constructs are therefore interrelated and have a significant overlap. However, while EI has been studied exclusively in different contexts, surprisingly, the researchers have not given adequate attention to the important theme of using EI in improving IC or even the role EI can play in improving instructors’ IC. Moreover, the interrelationship between EI, IC and online learning has not been explored previously. This paper seeks to address this gap. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: This paper aims to conceptualize and discuss empathic organizational culture and leadership along with organizational implications. Design/methodology/approach: The authors reviewed literature to conceptualize empathic organizational culture and leadership. They referred to Hofstede’s organizational culture concept and studies on empathy to explore how leader–follower relationships are influenced by a leader’s empathic disposition. Findings: Organizational leadership is instrumental in shaping employee performance. While work design, culture, peer support and resource accessibility are discernible, leadership style, control and others are covert. Leaders’ empathic attitudes and dispositions can positively influence organizational functions for improved performance. This review suggests that organizational culture should support growth, proper functioning and effective coordination between employees for improved organizational effectiveness. Research limitations/implications: The authors conducted searches in leadership and management journals to help conceptualize leaders’ empathic disposition. Future researchers may explore other bodies of literature and the cultural demographic differences in exhibiting empathic leadership and its effectiveness. Researchers can explore how empathic culture relates to job motivation, satisfaction and commitment. The authors suggest that future research may explore how employees’ and supervisors’ behaviors and interactions can create an empathic organizational culture. Practical implications: The authors identify the characteristics in an empathic leader to articulate the role of empathy in leadership. Alignment between person, group norms and organizational values is more important than the existence of culture. Originality/value: Empathy is studied by researchers from various disciplines. Similarly, employee well-being has received attention from organizational researchers from many fields. However, researchers have given inadequate attention to conceptualizing an empathic organizational culture and its interrelationship with leadership. The authors offer a more positive perspective to the leader-member exchange (LMX) research by describing how leaders can sustain positive relationships with employees rather than the purely transactional exchanges that characterize LMX. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to study senior and middle-level executive perspectives on ethical decision-making exploring stakeholder cross-impact analysis (SCIA). Given the complexities of business today, stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences have become very important. Various philosophical approaches raised questions than responses to these problems. There was a clear need to find ways through which the worldview of agents could be assimilated and understood. Design/methodology/approach: This study used the original hypothetical short case and brought in middle and senior executive reflections of Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) managers. Reflections of ten senior and 178 middle-level Indian FMCG managers were presented, exploring ethical dilemmas using short hypothetical case. These reflections have been analysed using the SCIA framework. The paired t-test was performed to compare the reflections of senior and middle-level executives. Findings: The study results indicated that differences emerged regarding stakeholder identification, prioritisation and reciprocal stakeholder influences between Indian middle and senior FMCG executives. Hence, this study paved a reflective space for SCIA. The findings were in line with the tenets of agents’ dilemmas depicted in agency theory. Research limitations/implications: This study made contribution to theory by integrating the perspective of ethical dilemma confronted by organisational decision-making units (DMUs) with respect to stakeholder influence and prioritisation. Specifically, theoretical contribution was made towards SCIA. Practical implications: This study would help middle and senior executives to better understand the needs and complexities of stakeholder identification, prioritisation and complexities of reciprocal stakeholder influences. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this was one of the first studies from an emerging market context country like India that applied SCIA in the FMCG sector. Organisational DMUs while facing ethical dilemma undertook stakeholder influence vis-a-vis stakeholder prioritisation. © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficiency of the relative performances of Mother’s canteen across the regions of Tamil Nadu and find out the determinants of inefficiencies in the scheme. Design/methodology/approach: An untargeted food security scheme called Amma (Mother's) canteen was started in Tamil Nadu, India, with an aim to provide the urban poor with hygienic and healthy food at an affordable price. Along with secondary data, interviews were conducted to understand the operational details of Mother's canteen. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) was used to find the relative efficiency of the scheme operated by nine corporations. Findings: Based on the daily expenditure, number of meals served and revenue, seven of nine corporations were found to be inefficient. Further, sensitivity analyses found that among six procurement variables, procurement (quantity and price) of black gram and cooking oil were determinants of inefficiency. Research limitations/implications: As an untargeted scheme, the cost of delivering service-based evaluation was used for performance evaluation. Policymakers could use centralized procurement instead of open market procurement at the corporation level and standardized ingredients' usage (quantity) to further reduce the cost of the food security scheme. Practical implications: The proposed DEA model may be used by policymakers to empirically evaluate the food security scheme's delivery effectiveness across various corporations in a region. Inefficient branches are identified here with empirical support for further performance improvement changes. Originality/value: There are limited number of studies evaluating untargeted schemes. This paper presents the challenges of evaluating an untargeted scheme which allows self-selection of beneficiaries. The outcome of this study will help in identifying inefficient corporations, and further, improve the performance and cost of delivering untargeted food security scheme. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to ascertain organizational factors that impacted the performance of social enterprises. Design/methodology/approach: For this research study, a structured close-ended survey questionnaire was prepared based upon literature inputs. The data was collected from 370 executives in social enterprises in India. The data was analysed through structural equation modelling. The data was analysed towards hypothesis development as well as model development explicating the success of social enterprises. Findings: This research study’s findings developed a model towards explicating firm level performance in social enterprises. The antecedent factors were organizational commitment (OC), organizational orientation (OO), employee empowerment (EE) and top management support (TMS). The factor business innovation capability (BIC) was the mediating variable, whereas the firm performance (FP) of social enterprises was the dependent variable. Business innovation creativity had full mediation effect. Research limitations/implications: In this research study, the variable influencing the performance of social enterprises were ascertained. TMS and EE were independent organizational variables in any social enterprise along with the two organizational factors of OC as well as OO that did matter for enhancement of BIC of social enterprises. BIC had full mediating effect based upon the mentioned factors of OC, organization orientation, EE and TMS, which subsequently manifested in superior social enterprises FP. Practical implications: Social enterprises had to balance the twin objectives of social good (doing good for society) as well as earning economic benefits for the enterprise. Given this challenge, social enterprises had to develop an organizational context in which employees were empowered towards undertaking social issues proactively. Furthermore, top management team must provide support for such causes. When this aspect coupled with the presence of OC and OO then in the social enterprise, BIC got developed. With the presence of BICs, it became easier for social enterprises to undertake innovation that were also socially oriented and led to superior FP. Social implications: It has often been observed in developing countries like India that social innovation and entrepreneurial ventures associated with these have become a necessity. However, such ventures often do not to scale up. Hence, its case for business continuance and sustenance have been challenging. This study provided insights regarding the existential aspect of social enterprises in terms of its performance. Originality/value: This study was one of the first research studies that integrated the factors of OC, OO, EE and TMS in building organizational capability towards innovation in social enterprises. This in turn contributed towards the improvement of FP of social enterprises. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the nature of online reviews received on various social networking sites and internet-based platforms regrading organizational corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Design/methodology/approach: Given the novelty of this field, a qualitative exploratory research study was carried out. For this research, 28 Indian CSR experts on online CSR reviews were interviewed with a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire for data collection. Thematic and relational content analysis was applied for data analysis. The data was analysed based upon the theoretical anchors of micro foundations approach, organizational egoism (reputational and economic) concept and organizational logic (instrumental and integrative) literature and stakeholder salience. Findings: The study analysis indicated that online CSR reviews that organizations received on various social networking sites and internet-based platforms from different individual and institutional stakeholders were complaints, appreciations, observations and recommendations in nature. Online CSR reviews appreciated more of integrative organizational logic than instrumental organizational logic. CSR reviews present on online platforms valued organizational reputational egoism more than organizational economic egoism. The salience of stakeholders was getting redefines in Web 2.0 based online CSR reviews. Finally, micro foundations approach was becoming a more potent perspective in the CSR narrative. Research limitations/implications: This research study was anchored in the micro foundations approach of CSR (Hafenbrädl and Waeger, 2017). This study ascertained those individuals did matter in organizational CSR narrative (Maak et al., 2016). Furthermore, how firms were evaluated through online reviews based upon organizational egoism (reputational and economic) (Casali, 2011; Casali and Day, 2015) and organizational logic (instrumental and integrative) (Seele and Lock, 2015; Liu, 2013; Gao and Bansal, 2013; Bansal and Song, 2017) was studied. Finally, in the world of online reviews, the notion of salient stakeholders (Mitchell et al., 2011; Magness, 2008) was getting redefined, and this aspect was also covered in this research study. Practical implications: Firms have been engaging in CSR initiatives towards provision of social benefits and community engagement. Regarding firm CSR initiatives, CSR managers traditionally used to receive feedback from the stakeholders based upon written and special surveys conducted post or during the late stages of CSR engagement. The advent and ubiquitous presence of digital mobile devices and Web 2.0-enabled internet connections altered the way firms received feedback. This was because increasingly online reviews were received from stakeholders on firm CSR web pages, social networking sites and other online spaces. Many of the online CSR reviews were regarding the compliments and achievements that the CSR initiatives had achieved. However, a significant portion of online CSR reviews were regarding the complaints regarding the CSR initiatives. Online CSR reviews received from an array of stakeholders are inputs for firm managers. Online CSR reviews are thus an asset for an organization. Managers need to develop capabilities towards applying this asset for the expressed purposed. These online CSR reviews could be used as inputs to draw new CSR initiatives, redefine extant CSR initiatives. Furthermore, these online CSR reviews could be used as inputs to alter the organizational resources, capabilities, competencies and process regarding CSR initiatives. Originality/value: This was one of the first studies that integrated the theoretical aspects of salient stakeholders, organizational logic, organizational egoism through the lens of micro foundations approach in the context of organizational CSR initiatives. To the best of the author’s knowledge, this was indeed a novel contribution, as the same was explored and explicated based upon online CSR reviews on internet-based platforms. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Technology is central to the work-life of professionals in the information technology (IT) domain. However, inadequate attention has been paid to technology as an antecedent of IT professionals' work outcomes, such as turnover intention and work exhaustion. In the present work, we conducted a mixed-method study. In Study 1, we used an inductive qualitative approach to explore features of technology from the career perspective of IT professionals. We explain how perception about the features of technology influences IT professionals' work outcomes. Based on semi-structured interviews of 35 IT professionals, we found three features (long-term consequence, perceived challenge, and technology-related uncertainty) on which IT professionals assess and evaluate a given technology. Subsequently, in Study 2, we used the Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) as the framework to develop a model to measure the perceived misfit between 'expected' and 'experienced' features of technology and test its impact on IT professionals' turnover intention and work exhaustion. The study provides valuable insights for the management of IT professionals. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Drawing from in-depth interviews of cleaners employed in the cleaning industry in India, the study examines the ongoing process of constructing a positive identity among dirty workers. Cleaners respond to the intense identity struggles emerging from caste stigma, dirty taint, and precarity by constructing ambivalent identities. Cleaners’ identity work is constituted by the very identity struggles they encounter, and their efforts to negotiate stigmatized identities further create identity tensions. Apart from accenting the paradoxical duality inhered in identity work, the findings show how caste/class inequalities are reworked in a neoliberal milieu and reproduced in identity construction processes. The findings call attention to caste as an important social category in organizational studies that has implications for work identities, dirty work, and precarious work. © The Author(s) 2022.

As we prepare to adopt the new trade policy, this article studies the trends in the global value chain participation of six sectors from Indian manufacturing with an emphasis on the nature of participation. It analyses the trends over the last few decades and connects them to the changes in the trade policy of the Indian government. It concludes by commenting on the viability of various policies to improve Indian competitiveness and employment over the medium term, cautioning that protectionism without improvement in productivity of the protected sectors (even as some GVCs get reorganised in a post-pandemic world) would prove counterproductive, thus puncturing India’s ambitions of becoming a manufacturing hub or creating quality employment for its workforce. © 2022 Economic and Political Weekly. All rights reserved.

Purpose: Academic dialogue related to ‘organizational performance’ in strategic management has primarily centred around the industrial organization theory (IO) and resource-based view (RBV). Both perspectives, though conceptually dialectic, have served as primary competing theories governing research studies in the domain of strategic management. However, the confluence of these theoretical perspectives has not been adequately explored to advance a shared view of competitive advantage. This study aims to explore the likelihood of embedded commonalities between RBV and IO. Design/methodology/approach: A bibliometric analysis was conducted to visualize the intellectual map of studies and knowledge development encompassing these theories. This was followed by a comprehensive literature review to understand how the business environment (BE) and organizational capabilities have contributed towards attaining competitive advantage. Findings: This study established that connecting the intellectual boundaries of these theoretical perspectives would facilitate better comprehension of the processes and outcomes in organizations. Integrating the knowledge emerging out of this methodological blend, a convergence framework connecting the intellectual boundaries of both theories was presented. Practical implications: The framework that emerged from this study would help in better understanding of organizational behaviour from a dual theoretical lens. It would also motivate future studies to consider RBV and IO as complementary theories rather than the current narrative of competing theories. Social implications: This study added to the efforts to achieve equilibrium between the BE and internal capabilities of organizations so as to maximize positive social externalities. Originality/value: This study contributed to the limited attempts to leverage shared knowledge from a dual perspective using a comprehensive literature review in sequential combination with bibliometric analysis. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

In the current post pandemic context, small and medium size enterprises, while recovering from covid-19 induced productivity dips, have been under pressure to make their operations and processes environmentally sustainable, guided by circular economic principles. Given that, drawing upon the institutional, resource-based view, upper echelon theory and norm activation theory, this study examines the influence of institutional pressures, resource availability, personal norms, and eco-innovation behaviour on SMEs' behavioural intention towards the reduction of single-use plastics. Data collected from 305 SMEs have been analyzed to draw inferences pertinent to making SMEs CE compliant. This study presents preliminary insights and understanding of the complex problem of reducing the usage of single use plastics from an integrated theoretical perspective, which will help policy makers in India and other emerging nations to take an informed view while formulating policies for SMEs in their respective countries. © 2022 Elsevier Inc.

This study examines career adaptability of trailing spouses whose comparative advantage most strikingly illustrates the erosion over time of career agency for migrant women, or what is known as “occupational downshifting.” Problematising occupational downshifting as a major obstacle to social integration of trailing spouses, we explore how cultural tensions play out vocationally, and the career choices available to trailing spouses become so diminished over time that their agency can be considered “bounded.” Using a life story approach, our study provides evidence of the lived experiences of constrained agency and paradox of 12 early childhood educators in Australia. Our evidence demonstrates that the choice of moving for the family not only creates occupational precarity, but a more grievous occupational downshifting. We consider strategies like vocational facilitation to address the needs of trailing spouses as individuals, and as such facilitate migrant integration and neutralise the forces leading to occupational downshifting. © 2021 The Authors. International Migration © 2021 IOM

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to ascertain how real options investment perspective could be applied towards monetization of customer futures through the deployment of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)-based persuasive technologies. Design/methodology/approach: The authors embarked on a theoretical treatise as advocated by scholars (Cornelissen, 2019; Barney, 2018; Cornelissen, 2017; Smithey Fulmer, 2012; Bacharach, 1989; Whetten, 1989; Weick,1989). Towards this end, theoretical argumentative logic was incrementally used to build an integrated perspective on the deployment of learning and AI-based persuasive technologies. This was carried out with strategic real options investment perspective to secure customer futures on m-commerce apps and e-commerce sites. Findings: M-commerce apps and e-commerce sites have been deploying ML and AI-based tools (referred to as persuasive technologies), to nudge customers for increased and quicker purchase. The primary objective was to increase engagement time of customers (at an individual level), grow the number of customers (at market level) and increase firm revenue (at an organizational level). The deployment of any persuasive technology entailed increased investment (cash outflow) but was also expected to increase the level of revenue and margin (cash inflow). Given the dynamics of market and the emergent nature of persuasive technologies, ascertaining favourable cash flow was challenging. Real options strategy provided a robust theoretical perspective to time the persuasive technology-related investment in stages. This helped managers to be on time with loading customer purchase with increased temporal immediacy. A real options investment space involving six spaces has also been developed in this conceptual work. These were Never Invest, Immediately Investment, Present-day Investment Possibility, Possibly Invest Later, Invest Probably Later and Possibly Never Invest. Research limitations/implications: The foundations of this study domain encompassed work done by an eclectic mix of scholars like from technology management (Siggelkow and Terwiesch, 2019a; Porter and Heppelmann, 2014), real options (Trigeorgis and Reuer, 2017; Luehrman, 1998a, 1998b), marketing intelligence and planning (Appel et al., 2020; Thaichon et al., 2019; Thaichon et al., 2020; Ye et al., 2019) and strategy from a demand positioning school of thought (Adner and Zemsky, 2006). Practical implications: The findings would help managers to comprehend what level of investments need to be done in a staggered manner. The phased way of investing towards the deployment of ML and AI-based persuasive technologies would enable better monetization of customer futures. This would aid marketing managers for increased customer engagement at the individual level, fast monetization of customer futures and increased number of customers and consumption on m-commerce apps and e-commerce sites. Originality/value: This was one of the first studies to apply real options investment perspective towards the deployment of ML and AI-based persuasive technologies for monetizing customer futures. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.