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Although essential to social welfare, unpaid domestic and care work is an increasingly scarce resource in modern societies. Despite the growing need, many households refrain from outsourcing their domestic chores to the market. Simultaneously, the household service sector is mostly characterised by low-qualification, informal jobs lacking quality and professional standards. Drawing on transaction cost theory, the present study aims to examine how trust problems deriving from the quality and professionalisation of domestic services can be overcome by also exploring the role of state subsidies in this context.

A factorial survey experiment in Germany (N = 4024) causally explores the effect of state-subsidised service vouchers, quality signals and professionalisation on preferences and willingness-to-pay for domestic services. The data were analysed using multilevel modelling techniques.

Hypotheses are mostly confirmed: strong quality signals help overcome trust problems, thus facilitating the demand for household services. Further, service vouchers can generate better pay for domestic workers while simultaneously reducing the costs for households.

The relevance of professionalisation and quality of service as important determinants of domestic service demand is revealed. However, the experimental survey design involves hypothetical scenarios.

The analysis offers insights into how to stimulate demand for household services and increase formal employment in a sector currently largely characterised by informal arrangements. It further shows how social policies can help secure quality and foster professionalisation by shifting paid domestic work from the informal to the formal economy.

Decisions regarding the termination of organizational members are not only common but also represent difficult actions for managers. Despite their importance and frequency, managers often make or avoid them based on incomplete or faulty decision-making criteria. Previous research suggests that decision-makers are subject to internal influences that play significant roles in their decision-making.

Using a controlled between-groups experimental design, this study, guided by the heuristic-systematic model, tested to what extent decision-makers rely on heuristic cues versus the systematic processing of more relevant information when making termination decisions.

Findings suggest the order in which information is presented influences participants’ decision-making and influences the information-processing structure.

Findings suggest practical considerations for managers, management trainees and others who engage in termination decisions as to potential influencing factors.

This research adds to the understanding of the decision-making process in organizational contexts.

Sustainability continues to be put forth as a strategic priority. However, sustainability efforts are often deemphasized for short-term profitability. This study explores the nuances in managerial decision-making related to adopting sustainability initiatives within food supply chains in an emerging economy. We identify a complex interaction between sustainability efforts and risk mitigation. We derive a model to explain conflicting company goals, managerial decisions and system design.

We followed an exploratory research design with an inductive approach. We analyzed data from semi-structured interviews with 29 companies representing different tiers in Turkish food supply chains. We refined and validated the interview findings through a focus group with nine senior managers. We conducted open, focused and theoretical coding in an iterative and reflective manner to analyze the data and derive our results.

From the data, three themes emerged, indicating that managers are pursuing different, often conflicting, goals concerning value creation, risk management and sustainability performance. Managers identified and commented on new risks brought on by sustainability initiatives. These sustainability-induced risks were seen as a threat to operational performance, a driver of increased costs and a negative impact on product quality and delivery performance. Trade-offs across operating, sustainability and risk management systems create transformational tension that confounds the sustainability adoption decision-making process.

The data from the study was contrasted with a theoretical framework derived from systems theory, goal-setting theory of motivation and the theory of planned behavior. We identified four distinct decision paths that managers pursue. Increased awareness of transformational tension and how it influences managerial decision-making can enhance strategic sustainability system design and initiative success.

The aim of this study is to investigate ways in which healthcare organisations can successfully maintain operational resilience within intricate and varied engagements during digital transformation processes.

The present research applied cultural-historical activity theory as the theoretical framework and the ethnographic account as an approach and strategy to interpret and understand the operational resilience of digital transformation tools in daily practices. Fieldwork was based on the research technique of shadowing, whereby the researcher closely accompanied the participants to record their conduct, activities and exchanges.

Research results propose that effective operational resilience management in the implementation of digital transformation projects is based on (1) identifying and interpreting internal contradictions in everyday interactions as opportunities for capability developments; (2) navigating through multiple sites in fast and improvised movements, which derives in distributed and emergent practices; (3) interplaying between dyadic interactions and networked dependencies, which is achieved through the articulation of varied interests and (4) implementing novel intermediary tools, roles and regulations that facilitate the reduction of disturbances.

The propositions of the present study indicate that the management of operational resilience extends beyond conventional adaptive and socio-technical models in healthcare services. The study emphasises the significance of expressing and converting differing interests into mutual advantages. It additionally demonstrates the intricacy of this obstacle, as it entails navigating through uncertain information, concealed interpretations and conflicting interests.