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According to the service-dominant logic, the customer always contributes their resources to service delivery. This study adopts the service-dominant logic approach to social marketing in the context of preventative healthcare services for children immunization and investigates the influence of organizational (administrative quality, technical quality, and interpersonal quality) and customer operant resources (cultural resources, physical resources, and social resources) on word-of-mouth. Hierarchical multiple regression was used to test our hypotheses and the evidence indicated that all three quality dimensions of organizational operant resources significantly predict word-of-mouth behavior. Conversely, among three types of customer operant resources, social resources significantly predict word-of-mouth. The study contributes empirical insights to services marketing theory, social marketing theory, and practice.

A model for managing strategic alignment and dynamic capabilities (DC) of Supply Chain Management (SCM) information systems (IS) has been developed and applied to a traditional German steel company and a highly innovative Austrian steel company. Different concepts of leading researchers have been combined to get a holistic and detailed view of IS capabilities' impact on strategic fit. The model enables companies to identify ideal levels to strategic fit needed from SC integration and its antecedents for predefining architectural artefacts as sources for dynamic capabilities. The study contributes to new insights into the IT productivity paradox, where possibilities from IS investments remain unused. Essential concepts for optimising SC performance by reducing SC complexity and increasing SC agility have been identified and integrated. The study highlights value enabler and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods of digital SC models and how the model's ontology can be used to increase alignment autonomy. Finally, the approach supports organisational learning and development of cognitive profiles through collective assimilation and sensemaking effects.

The research presented aims to close a gap in the measurement of digital maturity for the domain of service which was identified through a systematic literature review. The study provides a holistic Digital Service Transformation Maturity Self-Assessment Model for service provider companies in a B2B-context based on analysis of different digital maturity models and by means of a qualitative approach through expert feedback in a Delphi-process and additional complementary literature review to define maturity assessment items. The presented Digital Service Transformation Maturity Model comprises 8 factors, 27 subfactors and 403 related specific assessment items describing digital maturity from a holistic point of view. The model has been further converted into a simple and practical tool to self-assess and visualize current state of digital maturity. The assessment model finally was pilot tested and the outcomes are also outlined in this article. The designed model provides practical implications for the ease of evaluating and improving digital maturity levels in every aspect of its factors and contributes to the successful management of digital transformation in service provider organizations by offering effective guidance how to move to the desired future maturity level based on a solid understanding of current digital maturity accomplishments.

In this paper, we focus on the categorization of tickets in service desk systems. We employ modern neural network-based artificial intelligence methods to improve the performance of current systems and address typical problems in the domain. Special attention is paid to balancing the ticket categories, selecting a suitable representation of text data, and choosing a classification model. Based on experiments with two real-world datasets, we conclude that text preprocessing, balancing the ticket categories, and using the representations of texts based on fine-tuned transformers are crucial for building successful classifiers in this domain. Although we could not directly compare our work to other research the results demonstrate superior performance to similar works.

Business transformations are critical to making a giant leap to create an outstanding customer experience and dominate the market. This study explores how companies with different Continuous Improvement Maturities manage the people side of a business transformation, focusing on establishing a Continuous Improvement culture. A semi-structured interview with 28 different companies and 30 interview partners from 21 different industries will explore the People Excellence approach’s differences in People Engagement, People Enablement, and People Empowerment. The study also investigates the different views on Continuous Improvement Systems and their impact on the organization. The focus on people, culture, and Leadership to achieve significant and sustainable business results from companies with a strong Continuous Improvement System will be evident, compared to companies with no structured Continuous Improvement System or a fragile Continuous Improvement System.

Global mergers and faster business cycles create weakly harmonized supply chain (SC) systems. Industry 4.0’s smart digitalization opportunities significantly alter business model innovation rates. Consequently, the complexity of aligning value exploration and exploitation has increased, often missing the needed integration level. A holistic systems engineering (SE)-driven methodology for innovation, transformation, and optimizing smart SC systems is not available so far. Case studies at SAP SE's development organization for Industry 4.0 SCM solutions and three automotive companies explored objectives, obstacles, and methods for digital transformation. The results were synthesized into a holistic SC business model transformation and optimization methodology. Complementary to traditional SCM, the study proposes SE-driven meta-modelling to improve the performance, resilience, and synchronization of end-to-end supply chains. Moreover, holistic simulations and evaluation methods for the ambidexterity of SC business models have been developed, enhancing the effectiveness of value exploration and exploitation, and innovation productivity by holistically viewing emergence and convergence throughout SC capabilities' life cycles. Ambidexterity management and dynamic capabilities are addressed by SE methods like capability engineering and complex dynamic systems theory, integrated into a concise SE model.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the service sector. This paper aims to assess how firms in the service sector changed their behavior during the covid-19 pandemic regarding innovations and using flexible forms of work. We obtained responses from approximately 300 companies operating in the Moravian-Silesian region service sector through a questionnaire survey. We show that the most common innovation firms use organizational and process innovation. Moreover, we found that larger, younger, and more internalized firms enjoyed more innovation during the pandemic than others. While changes in part-time jobs and agreements held outside the employment relationship are temporary, changes in home office use and outsourcing appear to be permanent.

This study explores how supply chain management (SCM) information system (IS) capabilities can lead to superior business performance, and what are the detailed capabilities and methods to master volatility and uncertainties in business environments. Key concepts in SC modelling have been identified for decreasing SC complexity and increasing SC agility and key methods for supply network planning and synchronisation for optimising business performance and objectives that are often contradicting at the same time. The study developed a best practice recommendation for profit-optimised SCM for companies with capital intensive and capacity constrained resources such as in the steel companies and others of the industry, and for managing their integration between SC domains and between technological and organisations' needs simultaneously. Finally, the study shows how Industry 4.0 innovations such as Smart Services and blockchain technology can provide new value potentials such as cross-organisational network effects and increased autonomy in SC ecosystems, and concludes with suggestions for further research in needed rules and semantics for SC ecosystem collaboration.

Traditionally, market comparison requires identifying a peer group, which still poses unresolved practical difficulties today. This research seeks to provide valuable insights into the practicality, efficiency, and accuracy of machine learning in valuing a company. It employs a state-of-the-art machine learning technique, Gradient Boosting Decision Trees (GBDT), to predict the valuation multiple directly. A yearly dataset of U.S. public companies from 1980–2021 was used. The most common multiples (EV/EBITDA, EV/EBIT, P/E, and EV/Sales) were tested. The performance of GBDT was assessed against an industry-based method. GBDT consistently outperformed the alternative method with an average 24 percentage point decrease in the median average percentage error. The results support GBDT’s potential as a supplementary tool in valuation practice.

This paper analyses the attitudes and opinions of statutory auditors regarding the issue of Environmental, Social and Governance reporting and its verification in the Czech Republic. The research examines auditors’ willingness to perform ESG assurance, their attitudes towards ESG issues, and their views on key skills and training needs. A questionnaire survey was conducted among Czech statutory auditors, and the results were analysed using statistical methods. The findings reveal differing attitudes between auditors employed in audit firms and self-employed auditors. Auditors from larger companies are more likely to perceive ESG reporting as a meaningful tool for responsible business and demonstrate greater interest in its verification, whereas self-employed auditors tend to be more sceptical and regard ESG as more of a formal obligation. Although the study focuses on the Czech Republic, it is based on European legislation, and the results can be generalised across the EU.

The use of Virtual Reality (VR) to visualize data is increasingly common in various fields, from medical science to education. However, visualization of geospatial data in VR is still not handled well. GIS data comes in various formats and converting them to 3D can be challenging. The choice of a format capable of streaming large amounts of spatial data in the VR scene is crucial. However, the challenge lies in ensuring the reusability of the presented scenes with different GIS data. Most applications (including the 3D scene models) are created for a single use case and do not allow for simple interchangeability of presented data. This article proposes a reusable architecture of a general-purpose web service for processing and visualizing spatial data in VR using 3D Tiles as the chosen format. The goal of the architecture is to allow fast VR scene generation from GIS data. The critical aspect is the conversion of standard GIS format to 3D Tiles. Several conversion tools were tested and compared using publicly available point and polygon feature layers in order to choose which can be used in the proposed architecture.

This study aims to understand the factors influencing consumers' intention to adopt the metaverse as a marketplace for physical products and the role of trust specifically focusing on the generation aged 18–28. It also explores the moderating role of trust towards the company Meta in these relationships. An exploratory sequential mixed-method research design was employed to develop an encompassing conceptual model, enhance hypothesis formulation, and validate findings through triangulation. In the first phase of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals and students (n=11), and in the second phase, Likert-type questionnaire was administered (n=386) to university students. The data collected in the second phase was analyzed using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) to validate the conceptual model. This included Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for reliability and validity, followed by the assessment of path coefficients. Double-mean centering was applied to test moderating effects, with all analyses conducted using the R software's lavaan package. The results confirmed the positive effects of novelty, relative advantage, realism, and compatibility on consumers' intention to adopt the metaverse as a marketplace for physical products, while complexity and financial costs were identified as barriers. Trust towards Meta did not have a moderating effect. The findings provide insights for managers to develop the metaverse in a customer-centric manner and promote its unique features while addressing complexity and financial concerns. The study extends the literature on the metaverse in the consumer goods sector and contributes to Innovation Adoption Theory.

Commercial real estate loans (CREL) are a modern essential business segment and of major relevance to the financial stability of an economy as they interconnect the financial markets and the real economy. Consequently, CREL are of specific interest to regulatory authorities. As far as the author knows, there exists no universal definition of CREL in the global financial industry and the regulatory environment. This has been subject to criticism due to resulting gaps and bias in data generated by regulatory filing. This study contributes to academia and applied sciences by providing the missing link. It develops a comprehensive categorization of CREL on a foundation of 34 sources predominately provided by regulatory authorities in the US and the EU. The categorization is based on a qualitative synthesis of main CREL characteristics of this particular heterogeneous asset class outlined in the detected sources. The objective of this work is to support the development of a common understanding of this investment segment among banks, institutional investors and regulatory authorities in order to allow an accurate and prompt filing.

This paper investigates a new method of measuring public perception of European integration policies. The methodology is based on a monthly frequency of news generating a negative attitude toward the EU integration process in newspapers from 2010:1 to 2018:12. The studies concerning similar topic are mostly based on survey data, which does not allow measuring dissatisfaction with individual political acts. The newly constructed indexes show that the identified spikes correspond to all major European integration events and can capture public disagreement attitude with the implementation of individual policies on a European or national level. The results are compared with the interest of individuals with the use of Google trend data analysis. Indexes may be useful to understand the non-economic cost in policy decision making, the same as in the question of the ambivalence of Europe.

This research delves into effective messaging strategies employed by companies to shape their reputation in anticipation of an initial public offering (IPO). Drawing insights from the analysis of 1162 media headlines encompassing 30 brands during their IPOs on NASDAQ or NYSE, the study offers valuable recommendations for entrepreneurs and startups engaging in rhetorical preparations for an IPO. By synthesizing the examination of successful companies' media framing with pertinent well-known communication frameworks (strategic communication and the PESO model), the article introduces the new 6I's model. This model serves as a comprehensive marketing guide, empowering entrepreneurs, and businesses to adeptly manage their company's reputation and highlight diverse accomplishments for the cultivation of a positive media image towards the IPO. The 6I's model encompasses messages centered on Increasing and rapid growth, Innovative technology, Immediate relevance, Individuals and personnel, In-charge management, and In-chronicle history and company tradition. Based on the suggested model, this study further develops the theoretical understanding of corporate narrative and strategic communication to mold the reputations of organizations.

Value-based pricing (VBP) is often considered the most profitable pricing method. However, VBP is rarely implemented by companies. This research study asks the question Why? and investigates the obstacles to an implementation of VBP. The objectives of this paper are to provide an assessment of customer-based obstacles to implement VBP in four different German industries and to evaluate the degree of company-based obstacles by industry. For that purpose, 792 consumer questionnaires were collected and 20 expert interviews were conducted. The results show that the technology industry is the German industry with the lowest obstacles, while the pharmaceutical industry experiences the strongest obstacles. The degree of obstacles varies significantly by industry. This study contributes to theory by taking both a customer perspective and a business perspective towards VBP while identifying the degree of the obstacles to implement VBP by industry. This paper allows future researchers and business practitioners to assess the industry-specific obstacles and take appropriate measures to overcome them.

Small firms are faced with the challenges of competing with larger firms. This has given birth to utilising different strategies to enhance the small firms’ capacity to achieve their corporate goals. This study examines the nature of coopetition among small firms and how it has influenced their ability to create value. Employing the survey research design, the study sampled 1119 small firms and established the interaction between coopetition and value creation in small firms using the partial least square-structural equation model. The results reveal entrepreneurial orientation is the most prevalent type of coopetition among small firms and that coopetition is a significant driver of value creation among small firms. The study recommends that small firms should integrate coopetition into their strategy to remain relevant, increase their revenue, customise their services through value-added services and create new products and services.

90 per cent of enterprises in the European Union (EU), including Lithuania, are small enterprises that prepare the abridged financial statements. Verifying the fairness of these reports for stakeholders is challenged due to the lack of data. The aim of this research is to develop a novel model based on fuzzy logic for detecting fraudulent financial statements in micro and small enterprises by using financial ratios suitable for abridged financial statements. The results have shown that the developed fuzzy model enables estimation of the level of fraud in each individual element of accounting. Identifying each fraudulent accounting element allows us to gain insights into the areas where the enterprise has committed fraud. The proposed model has been designed to help small businesses reduce the risk, but it may also be used by public authorities as a tool for achieving greater business transparency.

This study aims to prove the factors that affect learning outcomes achievement of management accounting courses. The sample is accounting students at four major universities in East Java, Indonesia. The questionnaire was filled out using a Google form, and the number of samples was 417 respondents. Hypothesis testing using partial least squares. Nine hypotheses were tested with gender as a moderating variable. Performance expectations and effort affect student intensity and subsequently affect active participation. Changes in facilitation conditions and the level of participation affect the achievement of learning outcomes. Different from prediction, gender was not shown to be a moderating variable.

In recent decades, digitalization has become increasingly important in the construction industry. Building Information Modeling (BIM), a digital planning method, is becoming increasingly important in the infrastructure sector. Infrastructure planning implementation is complex, so engineering firms still use conventional planning. This study sheds light on the influence of Building Information Modelling (BIM) on increasing productivity in the construction industry. Through a combination of qualitative interviews and quantitative data analysis, an in-depth understanding of the implementation processes, challenges and benefits of BIM was developed. Particular focus was placed on identifying components of success for the effective implementation of BIM in infrastructure engineering firms. The results show that BIM contributes significantly to increasing efficiency by improving the accuracy of project planning, facilitating communication between project participants and reducing the error rate in the execution phase. The study emphasises the need for a clear strategy and training to fully exploit the potential of BIM and provides valuable insights for companies planning to implement BIM.

This study focuses on intergenerational differences in attitudes towards sustainable consumer behaviour. The research is based on the framework of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) and analyses the attitudes of Generation Z, Millennials and Generation X. Opinions on this issue were obtained through a questionnaire survey of 703 respondents. The results show that younger generations are more positively disposed towards sustainability and more open to ecological innovations, but their decisions are often influenced by price and a lack of reliable information. Older generations take a more pragmatic approach to sustainable choices and prefer quality, price and brand trust when making purchases. The study confirms the presence of a value-action gap between intention and reality of consumption across all age groups and highlights the importance of transparency and credibility of environmental information. The findings underscore the need for differentiated marketing communication tailored to generational specifics. Institutions should respond with stricter regulation of environmental labelling and the creation of a uniform standard for the certification of sustainable products to improve transparency for consumers.

This study examines the effects of consumer price index (CPI) and regional minimum wage policy on firms’ sustainable growth from both economic and social perspectives. Using a balanced panel of 146 agricultural and manufacturing firms in Vietnam over 2011–2022 (1,752 firm-year observations), the analysis employs panel data regression models to estimate both linear and nonlinear effects. The results reveal clear evidence of inverted U-shaped relationships between CPI and the economic aspect of firm sustainable growth, indicating that moderate inflation promotes growth while excessive inflation constrains it. For the social aspect—measured by employees’ income growth, minimum wage policy show positive effects within certain thresholds, but the effects weaken beyond those levels. To ensure robustness, the system GMM approach is applied, and the results remain consistent. Overall, the findings provide firm-level evidence on how inflation and wage policies influence sustainable growth and offer implications for balanced policy design in emerging markets.

In many transition countries, a considerable part of economic activity takes place in the informal sector. On the other hand, tax evasion constitutes a major problem and causes improvements to all levels of the informal sector in which the volume of the informal sector in transition countries is much higher than in developed countries. Previous works have examined separately both the determinants of the size of the informal sector and the determinants of tax evasion for transition countries. But, this paper complements these significant works by examining cross sectional analysis based on firm-level data for South Caucasian countries. In addition, our paper has a new contribution to previous works by providing some empirical evidence for informality and tax evasion with the quality of business environment. Building on a simple analytical framework, we test the channels affecting the degree of informality in South Caucasian countries and vice versa, the channels affecting the degree of tax evasion. We use instrumental variable OLS and find that the extent of informality is determined by tax evasion, as well as the extent of tax evasion is determined by the informality for these countries. In addition, we find that the business environment has implications for both informal economy and tax evasion. These results suggest generally ameliorating the business environment in South Caucasian countries, while strengthening an access to land and financial sources, adequate provision of public capital such as telecommunication, transport and electricity infrastructure will reduce informality, reigning the corruption, tax administration and labor regulation will reduce tax evasion and ultimately lead to increasing government revenue collections.

This study addresses a critical gap in geopolitical finance by examining the heterogeneous capital market reactions of 370 global defense and aerospace (D&A) firms to the 2022 Russia-Ukraine war. While the impact of geopolitical shocks on financial markets is well-documented, the specific determinants of intra-sectoral returns remain underexplored. Employing an event study methodology, this research quantifies abnormal returns around the invasion date and conducts cross-sectional analyses to test whether these returns are systematically moderated by firms’ home country attributes, including geopolitical alignment (G7 vs. non-G7), economic status, and national defense budget levels. The empirical results reveal a profound and statistically significant divergence: firms domiciled in developed, G7, and high-budget nations experienced large positive abnormal returns, while those in other national contexts suffered significant losses. Critically, the analysis finds no evidence of a firm-size “leadership premium,” as the performance difference between the industry’s largest firms and their smaller counterparts was statistically insignificant. These findings suggest the market’s reaction was a sophisticated assessment of sovereign fiscal capacity, where investors priced in a “geopolitical premium” for firms in nations with a credible ability to fund a military buildup, while penalizing those in fiscally constrained countries for perceived macroeconomic risk. This research contributes to the literature by demonstrating that during a systemic geopolitical crisis, a nation’s macroeconomic and political attributes can dominate firm-specific characteristics in driving asset valuation.

This article is focused on the differences in the brand equity of the streaming service Netflix before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Czech Republic. Brand equity is measured by a specially modified conceptual model. Based on a two-wave questionnaire survey, the possible impact of the pandemic on the dimension of the conceptual model was examined. The results showed that there was no statistically significant change in the level of brand equity but there was a change in its structure. It was also found that although the number of people who tried Netflix’s services increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, they did not become long-term users.

Obesity is a significant public health issue as it seems to be the cause for high blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems. The human body cannot function efficiently if it has high body mass index score. According to the National Health and Morbidity Survey (NHMS), people with BMI score of ≥ 25 are being categorized as obese. One way to control obesity is to rely on the help of technology such as mobile health applications. In literature, there is a lack in research addressing obese people’s intention of using mobile health applications. Recognising the critical role of their behavioural intention to use mobile health applications, this research investigates the factors affecting behavioural intention to use mobile health applications. Adapting Consumer Acceptance Technology (CAT) model by Kulviwat et al. (2007) and Health Belief Model (HBM) developed by Glanz et al. (2008), this research examines factors of perceived cognition, perceived affection, perceived threat, compatibility, accessibility and attitude towards behavioural intention to use mobile health apps. To test the proposed framework, data were collected using quota sampling, while questionnaires were distributed to 500 obese people in the top 5 percent in the states with the obesity population in Malaysia, namely Malacca, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, Negeri Sembilan, Kedah and Perlis. Data collected were analysed using Partial Least Square (PLS) software. The results show that relationship between perceived cognition and perceived affection towards behavioural intention to use is partially significant, while significant relationship has been found between perceived threat, compatibility and accessibility and behavioural intention to use. Besides, perceived cognition and perceived affection partially support relationship on attitude. On the other hand perceived threat, compatibility and accessibility fully support relationship on attitude. Finally, the results demonstrate attitude partially mediates the relationship between perceived cognition and perceived affection, while attitude fully mediates the effect of perceived threat, compatibility, accessibility on behavioural intention to use. Findings provided empirical evidence on the collective effect of behavioural intention to use mobile health applications as well as independent effect of perceived cognition, perceived affection, perceived threat, compatibility and accessibility. Besides, findings suggested to encourage individual to use mobile health applications, while related takeholders should continually improve user perception on health applications.

This paper uses the Malmquist Productivity Index to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hotel productivity. It decomposes total factor productivity change (TFPC) into technical efficiency, pure and scale efficiency, and technical change to conclude on productivity growth before and after the outbreak of the pandemic. 112 hotels in four cities of the United States between 2011–2021 were subject to the analysis, using a multi-input (room, labor, and F&B costs) multi-output (accommodation, F&B, and total revenue) DEA-Malmquist model. The pandemic did not have an adverse effect on hotel productivity change, mainly due to the developments attributed to technological advancements. The paper offers crucial managerial implications. The results of the analysis emphasize the prominence of investment in technology to sustain productivity levels. It supports managers with strategy development and offers decision makers a wider overview of the sector.

Despite substantial research on the antecedents of the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior, the effect of brand attachment remains a neglected subject in marketing research. Using social exchange theory (SET) and attachment theory, this study analyses the role of brand attachment as a mediator in the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior. Specifically, is to investigate the mediating role of brand attachment in the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior to clarify the role of the different dimensions of brand values among the customers of fast-food restaurants in Egypt. In this study, data was gathered through a questionnaire based on fast food restaurants. and for data analysis, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used. Findings reveal that customer citizenship behavior is directly influenced by brand experience. Furthermore, brand experience directly and significantly impacts brand attachment. Moreover, brand experience is a strong predictor of brand attachment, which promotes consumer citizenship behavior. The study finds that there is a partial influence on the relationship between Brand experience-consumer citizenship behavior relationship.

Meteorological conditions exert a considerable influence on traffic patterns. This paper examines the influence of meteorological variables on the daily number of traffic accidents requiring fire brigade intervention. The influence of meteorological variables, including maximum temperature, wind speed, air pressure, precipitation, snow cover and sunshine, was examined. A Generalized Additive Model for variables with a Poisson distribution was employed for modelling purposes, as this allows for the representation of non-linear dependencies. The analysis demonstrates that the lowest incidence of accidents occurs at temperatures approximating 10 °C. The average daily number of accidents increases with windy weather, the minimum number of accidents occurs at zero precipitation, and the accident rate rises with higher levels of sunshine. In the Czech Republic, the period of greatest risk in terms of road traffic accidents is the summer and winter months. The findings may have several practical applications, for example, in the improvement of meteorological warnings in traffic.

The article discusses the existing structure of agricultural production in Ukraine and defines the key role of farmers in providing the population with food products at the beginning of a full-scale war. The high adaptability of the small goods sector of the agrarian economy and insufficient attention to its development in the pre-war period have been proven. An assessment of the main challenges, general losses and measures taken regarding the development of agriculture in Ukraine during the war period is given, and the importance of international financial support is emphasized. The need for a balanced model of the corporate and small commodity sectors development in the postwar period with a change in priorities to support small farmers is emphasized. It is proposed to develop a National Action Plan for the Development of Farming, which should be an integral part of the post-war reconstruction plan for Ukraine.