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This paper aims to examine the management controls that support (and fail to support) a craft brewery’s servitization journey from start-up, through growth, to maturity. It enriches our understanding of how management controls can facilitate the discovery of a service-identity that provides the foundation for servitization.

Drawing on in-depth interviews, fieldwork and secondary data analyses, this paper reports on a longitudinal case study of a craft brewery. The authors trace the case company’s servitization journey using a service-dominant logic theoretical perspective. This perspective focuses us on how the value of a product is cocreated with customers, rather than being created by the firm and then distributed.

The study found that many management controls emerged at the craft brewery from start-up to maturity. Some management controls supported a goods logic, while others supported a service logic. The findings highlight how people and cultural controls in particular enabled the company to move toward a service logic focused on servitization. These management controls informed the evolution of offerings, structure reconfiguration and resources at the craft brewery necessary to support servitization.

Studying a craft brewery contributes an alternative type of manufacturing context and shows how service-identity features such as craftiness, collectiveness, neolocalism and innovation affect a company’s servitization journey.

This study proposes a new framework for business process improvement (BPI) by identifying areas of improvement based on customer complaints.

The proposed framework comprises several stages. The first stage captures the voice of customer (VoC) in the form of customer complaints. The complaints are processed using text mining and sentiment analysis. Negative sentiments indicate areas for improvement by matching words with SERVQUAL dimensions. The FMEA method is used to identify business processes that need to be improved.

The opposing quality dimensions of SERVQUAL can be incorporated into a database for later identifying consumer complaints. FMEA can be used to identify potential failures in aspects that correspond to consumer complaints; therefore, improvement areas can be identified. The proposed framework, applied to a garment manufacturer, shows that the SERVQUAL dimensions, which were originally intended for service companies, can be adapted to manage customer complaints to support BPI in manufacturing companies.

The framework can be used by either the manufacturing or service industries to handle customer complaints and use the complaint analysis results to identify improvement areas to avoid the same complaints occurring in the future.

In this study, the construction of a database based on the SERVQUAL dimension to match sentiment results, where negative sentiment indicates improvement, and the use of FMEA to indicate specific business processes that should be improved is novel and has not yet been proposed by previous studies.

The present research investigates the role of product availability, environmental concern, and social media concerning the intention to purchase green food products by utilising the extended theory of planned behaviour framework in a developing economy.

A self-administered questionnaire collected information from 412 adults and educated consumers from Vadodara city in India. The questionnaire items were used to collect data from previous studies and further validated using confirmatory factor analysis. The data were further analysed using partial least square-structural equation modelling.

The study findings indicated that attitude and perceived behavioural control impact the purchase intention regarding green food products, while subjective norms were found not supportive. At the same time, product availability influences perceived behavioural control and increases the volitional control amongst consumers. Moreover, social media positively impacts the theory of planned behaviour’s key constructs.

The outcomes of the present study provide marketing managers with enhanced insight into the relationship between consumers' perception and green food product consumption in the context of social media influence. The findings could help green food producers evaluate the extent of consumers' intentions to buy their products in developing countries.

To the best of the researchers’ knowledge, the present research is amongst the pioneers in India that focuses on the variables of the theory of planned behaviour, which led to knowing the role of green food availability and social media influence in green food products. At the same time, the focus on purchase intention concerning green food products adds to the study’s uniqueness.

The accuracy of budgeting is important to fulfilling its various roles. The aim of this study is to examine perceptions of budgeting accuracy in UK universities and to identify and understand the factors that influence them.

A mixed methods research design comprising a questionnaire survey (84 responses, = 51.5%) and 42 semi-structured, qualitative interviews is employed.

The findings reveal that universities tend to be conservative in their budgeting, although previous financial difficulties, the attitude of the governing body and the need to convince lenders that finances are being managed competently might lead to a greater emphasis on a “realistic” rather than cautious budget. Stepwise multiple regression identified four significantly negative influences on perceived budgeting accuracy: the difficulty of forecasting student numbers; difficulties associated with allowing unspent balances to be carried forward; taking a relatively long time to prepare the budget; and the institution’s level of financial surplus. The interviews are drawn upon to both explain and elaborate on the statistical findings. Forecasting student numbers and associated fee income emerges as a particularly challenging and complex issue.

Our regression analysis is cross-sectional and therefore based on correlations. Furthermore, the research could be developed by investigating the views of other parties as well as repeating the study in both the UK and overseas.

Implications for university management follow from the four factors identified as significant influences upon budget accuracy. These include involving the finance department in estimating student numbers, removing or controlling the carry forward of unspent funds, and reducing the length of the budget cycle.

The first study to examine the factors that influence the perceived accuracy of universities’ budgeting, this paper also advances understanding of budgeting accuracy more generally.

Lean Manufacturing Systems (LMS) gained popularity among manufacturers globally. However, their efficacy in developing and least-developed countries remained noticeably understudied. Motivated by this research gap, the researchers of this study designed a quantitative study with a structured survey technique to investigate its context-specific impact on the apparel industry of a developing country. Hence, this study aimed to examine the relationship between LMS and elimination of waste (EOW) and operational performance (OP) and comprehend how the EOW mediates the relationship between an LMS and OP within the apparel industry of a developing economy.

The researchers collected data from 227 garment companies in Bangladesh. These organization-level data were then analyzed using the structural equation modeling approach with AMOS 20.0 software to examine the direct and indirect effects among EOW, LMS and OP.

The findings of this study suggest that EOW has a direct and significant effect on OP. This research also revealed that EOW has a partial mediating effect on the relationship between LMS and OP.

This research focused on a single industry administering self-reported data and cross-sectional design, limiting generalizability and causal inference.

LMS and directing efforts towards EOW can significantly improve the operational performance of apparel companies by reducing lead times and costs, improving quality and increasing productivity.

These findings can provide useful insight to managers, practitioners and future researchers to understand the relationship between EOW, LMS and OP to optimize their production processes and improve OP in the apparel industry.

This study aims to address the following research questions: (1) What are the theoretical frameworks and areas of study that influence the development of service ecosystems? and (2) To what extent does a service ecosystem align with the theoretical concepts presented in other research contexts within the study areas, thereby transforming the fundamental structure of the core concept?

We conducted a bibliometric systematic literature review, analyzing 280 papers from a sample of 52 journals listed in the Association of Business Schools (ABS). The review covered the period between 2004 and 2022, and we utilized co-citation analysis, multi-dimensional scaling analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) on a total of 2,614 citations.

This study employs co-citation analysis to identify the conceptual structure of the service ecosystem based on highly cited papers. Additionally, we utilize multidimensional scaling (MDS) to uncover key approaches driving service ecosystem research. Through HCA and network analysis, we examine the research scope and its development, emphasizing theory-driven approaches. By combining quantitative and qualitative analysis, we explore the interrelationships between scope, domain and evolution. This comprehensive analysis allows us to delve deeply into the study of service ecosystems. To broaden the research scope, we propose a conceptual framework for comparing the main components of a service ecosystem. The current paper clarifies the service ecosystem's intellectual structure, including service performance, humanistic approach, sustainable innovations and service reflexivity and reformation and proposes a prospective research framework for specialists and researchers by introducing a metaverse service ecosystem.

For the first time, the findings of this study shed light on processes that facilitate the flow of technologies, business models and markets through social structures, ultimately contributing to social change. In service-based systems, the development and application of a more humanistic approach within and surrounding social service ecosystems are crucial as they evolve. Therefore, adopting a dynamic and multifaceted approach offers valuable insights into the drivers of value creation.

The advent of mixed reality technologies in e-commerce presents marketers with numerous challenges in effectively harnessing these technologies to influence desired consumer behaviours. This paper explores the role of mixed reality in facilitating reality congruence, with the goal of enhancing e-service quality and fostering customer engagement. Through an exploration of the affordance actualization theory within the context of human–computer interaction frameworks, the study examines how mixed reality aligns virtual experiences with real-world perceptions, thereby improving service interactions and contributing to a more immersive and engaging customer experience.

A survey-based research methodology was utilized to examine the sample of 346 participants drawn from e-commerce users, focusing on the conceptual model delineating interrelations among various constructs. Data analysis was conducted employing both symmetric (structural equation model) and asymmetric analysis (fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis).

E-service quality assumes a central role in enhancing reality congruence, thereby facilitating the development of interconnected trait associations such as trust and commitment, which are conducive to customer engagement. Additionally, the findings confirm the validity of the conceptual model through fsQCA analysis, indicating that reality congruence and trust collectively serve as robust predictors of customer engagement. However, it is noteworthy that reality congruence alone does not offer significant predictive insights into customer engagement outcomes.

Based on the findings, reality congruence, supported by mixed reality (MR), is essential for e-commerce service providers to induce customer engagement. The practical implications of this study suggest the need for e-commerce service providers and integrative technology designers to engage customers in a digitally connected and intensively competitive era.

Examining the phenomenon of user experience in a mixed reality virtual shopping environment to enhance engagement in centennial consumers is an original approach.

This paper investigates how capital-intensive companies, especially in the automotive sector, navigate the challenge of balancing significant technological investments against market demands for asset-light strategies. It examines the use of innovation platforms as a strategic solution for mediating these goal conflicts and sustaining competitiveness in a technology-driven market.

The study analysed 286 automotive companies from Europe, North America and Asia through a quantitative survey conducted in 2022, focusing on companies using innovation platforms. It applied partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) to assess the relationships between the use of innovation platforms, relational rents and performance.

The research found that companies using innovation platforms can achieve early-stage relational rents through partnerships and resource sharing, although these benefits have not yet translated into profitability. Companies in the sample are still developing their partner network, and while they experience collaborative advantages, they face initial challenges in converting these into financial gains. The study highlights the critical role of scaling in the network, complementarities in production, limiting the outflow of resources and capabilities besides modularisation in achieving long-term profitability.

This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on how capital-intensive companies use innovation platforms to balance technological investments and asset-light pressures, a topic with limited previous research. It underscores the long-term potential of such digital platforms in innovation ecosystems in generating value and the need for patient investment in promising platform effects. The findings support the strategic value of innovation platforms as capital-intensive industries face intensified competition from high-technology companies.

This study identifies and ranks the barriers to manufacturing integrated circuit (IC) chips in the Indian semiconductor manufacturing industry by examining the causal relationships between the different barriers using an advanced causal modeling technique named the grey influence analysis (GINA). Moreover, IC plays a crucial function in reducing the size, boosting the speed and improving the dependability of electronic devices. The widespread use of these technologies has led to advancements in sectors such as communications, healthcare, transportation and entertainment.

This study investigates 12 factors related to the barriers to manufacturing IC chips. In addition, experts from an Indian semiconductor manufacturing organization have validated the presence of these barriers. In addition, the research employs a novel GINA to investigate and comprehend the influence relationships between these barriers.

To successfully manufacture IC chips in India, the “Government Policies and Regulations (B11),” “Lack of Semiconductor Fabrication Facilities (B1)” and “Dependence on Imported Raw Materials and Components (B2),” were the critical barriers that must be addressed and overcome, as per the GINA result.

The author highlighted that a lack of fabrication plants could lead to limited production of the semiconductor chips and that a lack of local fabs can hinder the development of advanced technologies. The complex policy can significantly affect the set-up of new semiconductor fabs, hamper the overall growth of the semiconductor market and divert away foreign investors. This further creates restrictions on employment creation and undermines the economy.

Although semiconductor applications have several benefits, more research is needed to identify the barriers to manufacturing IC chips in India, making this study unique. In addition, the advanced GINA method is also used to examine the critical barriers and their interconnection based on an expert response-based study from an Indian semiconductor organization.