This issue brings our 50th volume to a close. We look back at year 2023 and see the diversity of themes we have explored and the debates we have generated. But we also look forward to the many stones left unturned, the numerous issues yet to be explored, the many management challenges for which we have not found suitable directions. The practice of management continues to present many opportunities for new and novel framing of problems; shaping existing and creating new methods for studying them and being surprised by the answers (or the lack of them) that they generate.

The six papers in this issue draw our attention to the diversity in problem spaces, in which we as management researchers embed ourselves.

Chenyu Lv, Ofir Turel and Qinghua He in their article argue that short-term memory capacity influences individuals' ability to process multiple options efficiently, affecting their choice experiences. Using three experiment studies, they find that short-term memory moderates the choice overload effect, but they also emphasize the stimulus-specific nature of this moderation, which, they argue, can help decision makers in optimizing information presentation to mitigate choice overload for consumers and businesses.

Decision-making style inventories and psychometric tools have been used extensively in management literature across disciplines such as behavioral sciences, marketing and economics. Tomasz Wachowicz, Ewa Roszkowska and Marzena Filipowicz-Chomko, in the second article of the issue, examine the relationship between the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI-20) and the General Decision-Making Style (GDMS), both measuring constructs related to rationality and intuition. Despite differing conceptualizations, the study finds a strong correlation between experientiality and intuitiveness, but weak correlation between rationality measured by REI-20 and GDMS. They also find that REI-20 differentiates significantly between genders, while GDMS does not. The authors suggest that we must exercise caution in using various decision-making style assessment tools, as they may produce different classifications of decision makers and lead to contradictory conclusions.

In the third article in this issue, Subhrabaran Das and Ariful Hoque find increased productivity in Indian pharmaceutical firms in post-patent years (2005 onwards), with large firms consistently exhibiting higher productivity. They also find that factors such as industrial concentration and firm-specific attributes such as age, size, capital intensity and R&D intensity significantly influence firm productivity, albeit with varying degrees of impact.

Meenakshi, Adeeba Hoor, Yogesh Sharma and Rajeev Sijariya, in the fourth article of this issue, propose an employee-centric approach to mitigating moral and ethical dissonance by integrating ancient wisdom from the Bhagavad Gita with the Triad of Yogas: Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Jnana Yoga through an hourglass model. They argue that this model can help employees achieve a transcendental attitude which can in turn lead to a reduction in moral and ethical dissonance.

In the final research article of the issue, Bashir Ahmad Joo, Younis Ahmed Ghulam and Simtiha Ishaq Mir analyze volatility dynamics and spillover, both symmetric and asymmetric, among BRICS countries' stock markets using dynamic conditional correlation and asymmetric generalized dynamic conditional correlation models. Apart from finding a significant bidirectional spillover effect, indicating a close relationship among BRICS stock markets, the authors also identify similar patterns in asymmetric volatility spillover but with varying significance levels.

This issue also carries a practitioner perspective article where Naveen Gowda, H. Vikas and others propose an interesting digital health adoption curve that attempts to capture the level of maturity in adoption of emerging technology solutions to support health care institutions. Using a large sample survey, they find that doctors believe that digital solutions do not enhance overall care quality or increase revenue and quite often prefer free-of-cost options for digitization. Even amongst those willing to pay for digital solutions, many doctors and administrators tend to opt for one-time investments in hardware while preferring annual subscriptions models for software. Most importantly the authors argue that doctors are less comfortable with government-controlled digital solutions and data. Such practitioners’ perspective is not only necessary in helping us understand the finer contextual nuances in technology adoption but also in defining future research agenda to identify potential design and policy interventions.

DECISION has through the years, drawn readers’ and management researchers’ attention to contemporary issues of importance through its special issues. We continue that with an announcement of our special issue on the Digital Economy in the Global South, guest-edited by Dr. Sayantan Khanra and Dr. Anuragini Shirish. The manuscript submission deadline for this special issue is on 31 March 2024. For more details, see our journal home page.

The guest editors of our other special issue on Indigenous Indian Management—Decolonizing Management Knowledge in India: Promoting Pluri-versalism through indigenous knowledge paradigms, Dr. Abhoy K. Ojha and Dr. Ramya Venkateswaran have also indicated that they would continue welcoming articles on the theme and would be glad to consider them for future special sections of the journal.