This study investigates the intricate relationships between brand strength, profitability, and value relevance within the context of Indian publicly listed companies. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset of Indian firms over a specific period, we empirically examine how brand strength influences both current profitability and its relevance in explaining firm value as perceived by the equity market. Our analysis employs various measures of brand strength and profitability, alongside market-based valuation metrics, to provide nuanced insights into the role of brands in driving financial performance and investor perceptions in the unique Indian economic environment. The findings contribute to the existing literature by offering context-specific evidence on the nexus of brand value, profitability, and value relevance in a significant emerging market.

Defined contribution (DC) retirement plans often include vesting schedules that delay participants’ full ownership of employer contributions. This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of participant vesting solutions in DC plans, examining legal requirements, common vesting practices, their impact on employee behavior and retention, and modern technological implementations. We review regulatory frameworks under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code, highlight statistical data on vesting trends and outcomes, and discuss case studies illustrating how vesting schedules influence both employers and employees. We also explore how contemporary recordkeeping technology (exemplified by FIS Omni) supports complex vesting administration and compliance. The findings, supported by authoritative sources including the IRS, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), Vanguard, and SHRM, suggest that while vesting schedules can contain costs and theoretically encourage retention, recent evidence questions their effectiveness as a retention tool. Nonetheless, plan sponsors continue to use vesting strategically, and new trends show a shift toward more immediate vesting to attract talent in competitive labor markets. Technological solutions like Omni facilitate flexible vesting design and ensure compliance with regulations. The paper concludes with best practices for balancing vesting policies to meet organizational goals while supporting participant outcomes.

The aerospace industry is uniquely positioned as a sustainable innovation that must address economic performance and environmental issues. The choice of lighter and more effective materials by the aircraft designers poses sustainability problems since tantalum, niobium, and cobalt important factors in aircraft manufacturing, are scarce. CFRPs and rare metals are challenging to recycle because of their composition and the fragmented recycling system. Transportation Logistic supply chain management needs to integrate circular economy models of resource reuse and recycling functions in åACDC to navigate the challenges they face. They need Apache Spark processing and Kafka streaming to achieve these efficiencies and address real-time event streaming at the aerospace recycling centers. Material recovery efficiency rates are one of the crucial functions that Artificial Intelligence helps to navigate; This system adds the benefits of regulatory compliance on addressing the functionality of operations. Specifically, the aerospace industry must adopt a new microservice-based system from the existing monolithic versions to address rising sustainability goals. AI application of circular economy in aerospace enables new designs of recycling that minimize resource consumption to address current laws that regulate the environment in the industry. Therefore, the aerospace industry requires significant investment in digital circularity and workforce to reap sustainability performance outcomes from data-oriented approaches to sustainability, and gain a competitive advantage through environmental stewardship.