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Loneliness and isolation are on the rise, globally threatening the well-being across age groups; global social distancing measures during the COVID-19 crisis have intensified this so-called “loneliness virus”. The purpose of this paper is to develop an integrative framework and research agenda on the role of companion robots in mitigating feelings of loneliness.

A netnographic analysis of 595 online visual and textual descriptions offer empirical insights about the role of the companion robot Vector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The contributions of this study are twofold. First, it postulates that companion robots have the potential of mitigating feelings of loneliness (i.e. indicator of well-being). Second, this study contributes to transformative service by developing an integrative framework introducing the roles (personal assistant, relational peer and intimate buddy) that companion robots can fulfill to mitigate feelings of loneliness through building different types of supportive relationships.

The proposed research agenda encourages future service scholars to investigate 1) the role of robots in addressing loneliness, 2) design features that drive adoption of robots, 3) social support for different groups, 4) the operationalization and the measurement of loneliness and 5) an impact analysis of companion robots.

Service providers and policy makers can leverage the insights about how companion robots can help reduce a sense of loneliness.

The integrative framework on loneliness reduction, based on 595 unprompted online contributions issued during the COVID-19 pandemic, offers initial evidence for the impact of companion robots in reducing people's feelings of loneliness.

In this article, we reflect on how smart technology is transforming service research discourses about service innovation and value co-creation. We adopt the concept of technology smartness’ to refer to the ability of technology to sense, adapt and learn from interactions. Accordingly, we seek to address how smart technologies (i.e. cognitive and distributed technology) can be powerful resources, capable of innovating in relation to actors’ agency, the structure of the service ecosystem and value co-creation practices.

This conceptual article integrates evidence from the existing theories with illustrative examples to advance research on service innovation and value co-creation.

Through the performative utterances of new tech words, such as onlife and materiality, this article identifies the emergence of innovative forms of agency and structure. Onlife agency entails automated, relational and performative forms, which provide for new decision-making capabilities and expanded opportunities to co-create value. Phygital materiality pertains to new structural features, comprised of new resources and contexts that have distinctive intelligence, autonomy and performativity. The dialectic between onlife agency and phygital materiality (structure) lies in the agencement of smart tech–enabled value co-creation practices based on the notion of becoming that involves not only resources but also actors and contexts.

This paper proposes a novel conceptual framework that advances a tech-based ecology for service ecosystems, in which value co-creation is enacted by the smartness of technology, which emerges through systemic and performative intra-actions between actors (onlife agency), resources and contexts (phygital materiality and structure).

The process of introducing a new robotic technology into a service system is complex, and its impacts on work practices can be challenging. By adopting a system perspective, this study investigates how human–robot collaboration (HRC) transforms work practices (i.e. customer care).

We conducted a two-year longitudinal analysis of an international company specializing in natural health products, examining changes in customer care practices following the introduction of chatbots. The study leverages expansive learning theory, which emphasizes activity systems and the transformations that occur within them, to trace the integration of robots and their effects on work practices.

The findings reveal that HRC enhances customer care practices by creating a human–robot activity system organized around shared goals. This system, mediated by tools, rules and the community, evolves through expansive learning dynamics. The process begins by identifying and addressing the contradictions and tensions between current human work practices and robotic capabilities, often revealing challenges and opportunities to improve HRC.

This research offers a novel conceptualization of the systemic and dynamic nature of HRC by placing it within broader frames of activity systems and expansive learning. Collaborations between humans and robots entail an expansive performativity that extends beyond the traditional roles or tasks of either actor or actant. It spans a diverse range of objects, tools, procedures and institutional setups, culminating in transformations of customer care practices.

This study aims to investigate the evolving concept of the metaverse and its implications for service innovation. It seeks to understand how integrating technologies such as extended reality, blockchain, artificial intelligence and non-fungible tokens enables companies to experiment and innovate.

Adopting a qualitative methodology, this investigation conducts an immersive netnography across more than 25 case studies spanning diverse industries such as gaming, retail, health care and education. The thematic analysis method is used to distill critical insights, providing a deep dive into the technological enablers, innovation processes and market adaptations within the metaverse.

The study addresses four main building blocks through which companies experiment with the metaverse to foster innovation: enabling virtual identities’ agency, developing non-fungible tokens, designing immersive paths and crafting phygital microworlds. They shape the metaverse by enacting actors, resources, processes and phygital ecosystems. Companies obtain learning outcomes from such experimentation and identify learning challenges.

This research contributes to the nascent body of knowledge on the metaverse and service innovation by providing a comprehensive framework that encapsulates the multifaceted ways companies experiment within the metaverse. It extends the understanding of digital-physical convergence in service research, offering theoretical and practical insights into the development of phygital service ecosystems.

Este estudio tiene como objetivo investigar el concepto en evolución del Metaverso y sus implicaciones para la innovación en servicios. Busca comprender cómo la integración de tecnologías como la realidad extendida, la cadena de bloques, la inteligencia artificial y los tokens no fungibles permite a las empresas experimentar e innovar.

Adoptando una metodología cualitativa, esta investigación realiza una netnografía inmersiva a través de más de 25 estudios de casos que abarcan diversas industrias como los juegos, el comercio minorista, la atención médica y la educación. Se emplea el método de análisis temático para destilar conocimientos críticos, brindando un profundo análisis de los habilitadores tecnológicos, los procesos de innovación y las adaptaciones al mercado dentro del Metaverso.

El estudio aborda cuatro bloques principales a través de los cuales las empresas experimentan con el Metaverso para fomentar la innovación: habilitar la agencia de identidades virtuales, desarrollar tokens no fungibles, diseñar senderos inmersivos y crear micromundos físico-digitales. Estos dan forma al Metaverso mediante la actuación de actores, recursos, procesos y ecosistemas físico-digitales. Las empresas obtienen resultados de aprendizaje de dicha experimentación e identifican desafíos de aprendizaje.

Esta investigación contribuye al cuerpo de conocimiento incipiente sobre el Metaverso y la innovación en servicios al proporcionar un marco integral que encapsula las diversas formas en que las empresas experimentan dentro del Metaverso. Amplía la comprensión de la convergencia digital-física en la investigación de servicios, ofreciendo ideas teóricas y prácticas sobre el desarrollo de ecosistemas de servicios físico-digitales.

这项研究旨在探讨元宇宙概念的演变以及其对服务创新的影响。其目标在于深入理解通过整合增强现实、区块链、人工智能以及非同质化代币等技术, 如何使企业得以进行实验和创新。

本研究利用定性研究方法, 进行了一项沉浸式网络民族志调查, 涵盖了跨越游戏、零售、医疗保健和教育等多个行业的25多个案例。通过主题分析方法, 提炼出关键见解, 深入探讨了元宇宙内的技术驱动因素、创新过程和市场适应性。

这项研究以四个主要方面为切入点, 探讨了企业在元宇宙中促进创新的方法：启用虚拟身份的代理、开发非同质化代币、设计沉浸式路径以及打造物理-数字微观世界。通过这些措施, 企业塑造了元宇宙, 涉及行动者、资源、过程和物理-数字生态系统的执行。在此类实验中, 企业积累了丰富的学习经验, 并面临了

本研究旨在建立一个全面的框架, 以拓展关于元宇宙和服务创新的新知识, 揭示企业在元宇宙中进行实验的多方面方式。它不仅扩展了服务研究领域中数字与物理融合的理解, 还提供了有关发展物理-数字服务生态系统的理论和实践见解。

This study aims to investigate the hybrid nature and scope of environmental innovation (EI) by assuming a paradox perspective and developing it empirically. Specifically, the authors raise the questions of how the opposite elements of EI characteristics can be arranged and combined to generate benefits for companies and markets.

A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is conducted to analyse European companies operating in telecommunications and in information and communication technology (ICT). This method helps us interpret the complexity occurring in the real world, in which the contribution of a specific attribute to the outcome might change according to other interacting and concurring aspects.

By recognising the conflicting aspects inherent to the complexity of EI, this study addresses how these tensions can be embraced. Specifically, the paradox logic is proposed to open EI strategy to a “both-and” perspective, with the purpose of making EI goals concretely feasible and integrated into a holistic view.

Paradoxical resolution denotes purposeful iterations between alternatives to ensure simultaneous attention to them over time. A paradox logic can support managers in making the EI strategy more workable and reconciling the extremes as well as possible.

This study unpacks the multiple enactments of EI by exploring the factors enabling integrated EI benefits. By adopting a paradox approach, the EI strategy may be interpreted in a “both-and” perspective, allowing firms to concretely achieve integrated EI benefits.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a tremendous impact on companies worldwide. However, researchers have no clear idea of the key issues requiring their attention. This paper aims to close this gap by analysing all business-related posts on a coronavirus subreddit (“r/coronavirus”) and identifying the main research streams that are guiding the research agenda for a post-coronavirus world.

We use data from reddit, particularly the subreddit “r/coronavirus” to identify posts that reveal the impact of coronavirus on business. Our dataset has more than 200,000 posts. We used an artificial intelligence–based algorithm to scrape the data with business-related search terms, clean it and analyse the discussion topics.

We show the key topics that address the impact of coronavirus on business, combining them into four themes: essential service provision, bricolage service innovation, responsible shopping practices and market shaping amid crisis. We discuss these themes and use them to develop a service research agenda. The results are reported against the backdrop of service research priorities.

The study identifies four key themes that have emerged from the impact of coronavirus on business and that require scholarly attention. Our findings can guide service research with unique insights provided immediately after the coronavirus outbreak to conduct research that matters to business and helps people in vulnerable positions in a post-coronavirus world.

How to improve healthcare for the ageing population is attracting academia attention. Emerging technologies (i.e. robots and intelligent agents) look relevant. This paper aims to analyze the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects in value co-creation practices. We include the perceptions of the main actors – patients, (in)formal caregivers, healthcare professionals – for a fuller network perspective to understand the potential overlap between boundary work and value co-creation practices.

We adopted a grounded approach to gain a contextual understanding design to effectively interpret context and meanings related to human–robot interactions. The study context concerns 21 health solutions that had embedded the Watson cognitive platform and its adoption by the youngest cohort (50–64-year-olds) of the ageing population.

The cognitive assistant acts as a boundary object by bridging actors, resources and activities. It enacts the boundary work of actors (both ageing and professional, caregivers, families) consisting of four main actions (automated dialoguing, augmented sharing, connected learning and multilayered trusting) that elicit two ageing value co-creation practices: empowering ageing actors in medical care and engaging ageing actors in a healthy lifestyle.

We frame the role of cognitive assistants as boundary objects enabling the boundary work of ageing actors for value co-creation. A cognitive assistant is an “object of activity” that mediates in actors' boundary work by offering novel resource interfaces and widening resource access and resourceness. The boundary work of ageing actors lies in a smarter resource integration that yields broader applications for augmented agency.

The paper offers a comprehensive understanding of how digital transformation affects business models and how firms operate and compete effectively and successfully in a digital economy.

The research adopted an abductive approach (Dubois and Gadde, 2002) through constant movement between theory and empirical evidence. A systematic literature review led the first conceptual development and examples of practices from cultural heritage sectors were used in the theorizing process.

This paper depicts a digital model framework through a set of assumptions about how an organization creates and delivers value in an interconnected way by orchestrating new interactive processes, and providing experience propositions to customers, and about how value is framed in terms of economic, social and cultural outcomes.

The study contributes to the scientific debate by discussing the role of digital business models as enhancements more rather than replacements of traditional business models; it frames a digital business model as consisting of three main pillars: value orchestration, experience propositions and value sharing.

COVID-19 has dramatically changed how people live, socialise and think about their future. The disruptive shock that hit societies all over the world had a significantly negative impact on businesses, creating not only economic discontinuity but also uncertainty and disorientation. This special issue on COVID-19 aims to phrase the pandemic crisis and its impact on how to do business.

The authors follow MacInnis’s (2011) suggestion that a conceptual article sees what others have identified in a new or revised way.

The authors develop the crisis management framework. The authors acknowledge that disruptive events may be repeated, and their consequences will have long-term and permanent impacts. These aspects highlight the need for a systemic approach in which the focus is not limited to an analysis of the cause of the crisis and ways of solving it but includes the paths through which the business, economic and social systems evolve because of the crisis.

Managerial policies, business models and practices that have been effective up to now will probably no longer work. Beyond this backdrop, the articles compiled in this special issue aim to help set the agenda for post-COVID business research

The authors identify four primary themes captured by these articles: strategies, capabilities, organisational transformations and value processes. In their entirety, they represent pieces of a conceptual puzzle that do not provide knowledge of “hard facts” but rather a “soft interpretation of how to approach the “new normal”, i.e. a new social and business context.