This book explores the co-existence of humans and AI in business contexts. Though AI and social robots have become ubiquitous, there are still many challenges facing technological expansion, including a true understanding of abstract concepts, transfer of knowledge to novel application problems, transparency and security guarantees, and distinguishing between random and logically meaningful relationships. While machines are valuable tools, only humans are capable of recognizing values which are the key to ethics and socio-cultural norms. Further, human virtues such as emotional intelligence, wisdom, and courage are required for decision making in many (private and professional) situations where machines would lead to sub-optimal and/or ethically questionable business outcomes. This book discusses how digital technology has emerged as a critical support system for organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic and how it can be used to complement human qualities that machines lack. It is divided into three sections that examine the complex world of AI and social robotics, digital technology and social media roles in business, and human actions that are embedded within socio-cultural business norms, such as international negotiations, that are not yet replaceable by AI. For researchers interested in understanding these parallel worlds, this book assesses how can continue to not only coexist but mutually benefit the business ecosystem.

In today's ever-changing global world, there is a permanent need for anticipating new and evolving customer needs, resource supply constraints, and dynamically changing employee expectations. Sustainable innovation applies to products, services, and technologies as well as new business and organization models. This book provides insights into sustainable innovation trends in various marketing- and management-related fields. Authors critically investigate, amongst others, the sustainability impact of disruptive product design and innovative collaboration solutions within buyer-supplier relationships, along with innovative organizational processes to promote sustainable well-being-productivity synergy in a VUCA world. This volume is a uniquely positioned contribution of interrelated research articles on the sustainability-driven innovation needed for organizational health and future viability.

This book presents an overview of the evolution and opportunities associated with traditional as well as upcoming fields in the areas of materials, metallurgy, and manufacturing. There are a lot of interesting fields at this trijunction, such as alloy design, bio-materials, composites, high entropy alloys, sensors, electronic materials, and materials degradation. The progress in these fields is further fuelled by the advances in the analysis and fabrication techniques such as correlative microscopy, additive manufacturing, and surface engineering. This book discusses the above topics/fields covering advanced analysis techniques, fabrication methods, and various technological applications. Every chapter walks through the basics of the respective field and comprehensively discusses the current developments and future avenues, to arrive at a point where the reader acquires an overall view of the field. Special emphasis is given to the scientific fundamentals and application potential, in a way that readers of all backgrounds can get benefited. The chapters connect the current developments with the future avenues, to help the researchers foresee the future technologies, in their respective fields. This text will appeal to experienced researchers, practitioners, and students alike.