How COVID-19 pandemic has shaped buyer-supplier relationships in engineering companies with ethical perception considerations: A multi-methodological study.

In business-to-business (B2B) operations, prior studies have mainly explored transaction-based relationships with both buyers and suppliers opportunistic behaviors, driven largely by their intent to maximize their own benefits. These studies have also found that dependency on partners increases when supply materials are scarce. However, research is scant on how this relationship changes in the face of exogenous forces such as the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping in mind the ethical perception considerations. This study aims to bridge this gap in the literature by studying how buyers and sellers leverage collaboration and resource-sharing to tide over pandemic-like situations similar to the current COVID-19 pandemic while considering their ethical perceptions. We conduct a multi-methodological study consisting of an industrial survey and an interview-based thematic analysis. In the first phase, we collect primary data using a structured questionnaire and conduct a covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) analysis. In the second phase, we conduct a post-hoc test. We find that non-regular suppliers will share strategic resources with buyers during uncertain times (e.g. COVID-19 pandemic) if they have a high ethical perception of the buying firm and share a candid relationship despite being their irregular customers. Our findings propose that B2B firms should maintain healthy relationships with alternative suppliers to build trust and avoid supply crises in times of disruptions.

Examining collaborative buyer-supplier relationships and social sustainability in the "new normal" era: the moderating effects of justice and big data analytical intelligence.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a slew of new business practices that have put the society and environment under strain. This has drawn the attention of supply chain researchers working to address the COVID-19 pandemic's looming social sustainability issues. Prior literature has indicated that collaborative relationships improve organizational performance. Over the past years, problems related to justice are reported (e.g., between Walmart Canada and the Lego group), which might negatively affect the buyer-supplier relationship. In the new normal, the effect of justice on collaborative buyer-supplier relationships on social sustainability in the COVID-19 context is obviously essential but under-explored. The current study examines buyer-supplier collaborative relationships' influence on social sustainability under the moderating effect of justice and big data analytical intelligence. In this paper, we employ the stakeholder resource-based view, loose coupling theory, and resource dependency theory as the theoretical lens to establish the research hypotheses. Using primary survey data collected from supply chain practitioners in South Africa, hypothesis testing is done using a covariance-based structural equation modelling technique. To enhance research rigor, we have checked the dyadic perspectives of both buyers and suppliers. Our empirical results reveal that collaborative buyer-supplier relationships positively influence supplier social sustainability in the new normal era. However, it is relatively stronger from the suppliers' perspective when compared with the buyers' perspective. Secondly, the moderating effect of perceptions of organizational justice and big data analytical intelligence on the relationship between collaborative buyer-supplier relationships and supplier social sustainability is also statistically significant. However, it is relatively stronger from the buyers' perspective when compared with the suppliers' perspective. These are major findings of this study. Theoretical and managerial implications are further discussed.

Biosorption of organic dye Acridine orange from aqueous solution using dry biomass of Bacillus cereus M116.

Acridine orange (AO), a basic carcinogenic fluorochrome dye, is used in the industry for staining. In this study, Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus cereus M116 (MTCC 5521) dry biomass was tested as an eco-friendly, easily available, and cheap biosorbent for the AO dye removal. We obtained optimum biosorption of AO at a biomass concentration of 0.25 g/L and initial dye concentrations of 50-400 mg/L at neutral to basic pH within the 300 min contact time. Kinetics analysis of the biosorption process was best fitted with the pseudo-second-order reaction type. We also performed the isotherm analysis to predict the nature of the reaction taking place, which was found to follow the Redlich Peterson isotherm model with high determination coefficients. The maximum sorption capacity was 210.46 mg/g of dry biomass. The differential FTIR spectroscopic analysis of pristine and AO-treated Bacillus cereus M116 cells suggested the potential involvement of carbonyl, hydroxyl, and amine groups in the biosorption process. Also, the scanning electron microscopy of the cells after AO removal confirmed a gross surface alteration compared to the untreated cells. Furthermore, Response Surface Model (RSM) analysis with the three-way ANOVA test confirms statistically significant interactions between the dye concentration, pH, and temperature with the biosorption capacity (p < 0.001). Hence, the dry biomass of Bacillus cereus M116 was found to be an effective bio-remedial for the AO removal.

Study on gelatin-silver nanoparticle composite towards the development of bio-based antimicrobial film.

Nano-scale silver particle stabilized by gelatin protein was prepared through the reduction of aqueous silver nitrate solution by sodium borohydride. Gelatin concentration was varied against a fixed concentration of silver nitrate to optimize the gelatin to metal ratio. Gelatin-protected Ag-nanoparticle was characterized by UV-VIS spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). All the samples exhibited similar yellow color with a characteristic plasmonic band of silver nanoparticles at 412 nm. TEM micrographs also showed the presence of nanoscale silver particles of approximately 3.9 nm. Since silver has strong bactericidal properties and at the same time relatively less toxic to human cell, silver in various forms is ideally suited for a wide range of applications in consumer, industrial and medical products The antimicrobial properties of gelatin-silver nanocomposites were tested by 'cup-plate zone of inhibition' method. The nanocomposites exhibited significant antibacterial and antifungal activity.