This chapter argues that, despite the lack of consensus on definitions, one useful way of conceptualising hybrid warfare, grey zone conflict and strategic competition are as, respectively, the means employed in conflict, the arena of conflict and the context. Hybrid warfare comprises the orchestrated blending of a wide range of military and non-military instruments of power. Advocates of the concept assert that hybrid warfare now plays a key role in intensifying competition between the West and its adversaries. Nevertheless, hybrid warfare remains an ambiguous and confused concept. For many, the concept of hybrid warfare obscures as much as it illuminates, and is used to refer to activities that are not new and that can be better analysed through already existing ideas.

Retirement benefits are a critical aspect of employee compensation. This chapter discusses pension plans, 401(k) matching programs, and financial security incentives for long-term employees. It covers the impact of retirement planning on workforce management and examines best practices in designing sustainable retirement benefits.

External labor market forces and wage regulations impose constraints on compensation strategies. This chapter examines how industry norms, government policies, and economic conditions influence pay decisions. Topics include fair pay laws, external benchmarking, and compliance with regulatory standards. The chapter also discusses global compensation challenges, such as currency fluctuations and international labor laws. Readers will gain insights into how organizations navigate external constraints while maintaining competitive and equitable pay structures.

This chapter covers the legal and regulatory environment surrounding compensation. It discusses key employment laws, such as minimum-wage requirements, pay equity regulations, and collective bargaining agreements. The chapter highlights the challenges businesses face in complying with compensation laws while maintaining flexibility in pay structures. Case examples illustrate the consequences of noncompliance and best practices for ensuring fair and lawful compensation policies. Readers will gain a strong understanding of how regulatory frameworks shape compensation decisions and the role of HR in compliance management.

Chapter 9 covers the remaining aspects of the visual atmospherics – colours and signage. Colours are often said to comprise three dimensions: hue, brightness contrast, and saturation. The dimension that has been studied the most is hue. Hue is often described as on a scale from warm colours (red) to cool colours (blue). Research has shown that warmer colours tend to take over the visual scene and force their way into the s consciousness of shoppers. A red colour therefore makes shoppers more aroused or even confused and may interfere with the shoppers' ability to notice other stimuli. A store with too many red objects would overload the senses of the shoppers, and therefore it makes sense to instead work with brightness contrast. The eye's ability to detect brightness contrast primarily resides in the rods in the retina, while the cones primarily are responsible for colour vision. Research has shown that independent of hue, a contrast in the brightness level can create an even stronger visual pop-out effect. Regarding signage, it is found that a sign’s primary task is to attract attention. The attention-grabbing aspect is often more important than the communication. The optimal way to write prices is covered in Chapter 13.

Chapter 8 is the first of two chapters on the visual aspects of store atmospherics. In Chapter 8, the primary focus is on the store’s layout. In Chapter 9, the focus is more on colour and signage. A major reason for having two chapters on visual atmospherics is that vision is the most powerful of the human senses. As much as 83% of the sensory input comes from the eyes. The other four senses only contribute 17% of the sensory input jointly. The store layout is discussed as the perhaps most important aspect of the atmospherics tools since it provides the ‘framework’ for the product displays. With a traditional grid layout, research shows that only a few per cent of the shoppers notice any given product, and less than 0.3% of the total range is seen by the average shopper. With the help of the ‘PLEND’ model, various techniques supported by empirical evidence show how the store’s appearance can be improved.

Chapter 14 covers omnichannel customer journeys. Research has found that the initial digital disruption that occurred as e-commerce started has now settled so that most retailers are working in several different sales channels. It has further been found that even within the same category, customer journeys can be retail specific. The effort to understand the customer journey is called customer mapping. The most generic omnichannel customer journey is webrooming; that is, customer start the purchase journey online by scrolling a social media feed and possibly searching online before fulfilling the purchase in a physical store. The various contacts customers have with the brand are called touchpoints, and it has been shown that different touchpoints serve different purposes. Also, online shopping is a visual process. However, there is a large difference with regards to the visual processes between offline and online shopping. The difference is that in the physical store, the shopper is browsing while walking around the store. Online browsing is done by clicking on links or by typing in a search field. Since the design of the physical store – with its displays, signage, and planograms – is focused on capturing the shopper’s attention, this step can be disregarded in online shopping. Many times, this means that the way products are displayed must be flipped online as compared to offline.