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The thoughtless exploitation and pollution of the environment by our species has led to deep doubts regarding the ability of this planet to support our present style of living in the future. A campaign for greener, more environmentally friendly ways of living and consumerism is rapidly gaining momentum. While environmental concern groups and the general public pressurize governments and industrialists and choose to purchase greener products, the manufacturers themselves are adapting their production to effect a minimized toll on the environment and advertising themselves appropriately, to win the consumer's heart and dollars. By studying certain consumer perceptions about the ‘typical’ attributes of a green product that are not necessarily incorporated in an environmentally friendly production process, this research seeks to discover possibilities where the not‐so‐green producer can capitalize on green marketing by modifying only such perceived green product attributes. To this end, a survey was conducted in Hong Kong to determine how different consumers would perceive products that are clear and transparent. The findings reveal that consumers tended to associate clear and transparent products with purity and environmental friendliness.

Control charts have played an important role in monitoring the performance of operation processes, ever since their invention. Traditionally, according to Juran's idea and others, x‐bar charts are more sensitive than individual x‐charts. However, such a conclusion is valid only under certain conditions. Individual x‐charts can outperform x‐bar charts in some situations, especially in cases of minor and extreme changes of the center value. Since each chart has its own advantages and disadvantages, the idea of combining the results of these two charts is studied. The finding seems to be useful for practitioners in quality control.

To develop a reliable and valid measuring scale for customer relationship management (CRM).

A series of studies were conducted for the development and validation of multiple measures for the dimensions of CRM. Once the dimensions of CRM were identified, data from study 1 (n=150 business executives attending a part‐time MBA program) were used to select items based on factor analysis. Then, confirmatory factor analyses was used on data obtained from a mail survey of Hong Kong financial firms in study 2 (n=215) to examine factor structure, as well as to provide evidence of dimensionality, scale reliability and validity. Finally, in study 3, data from 276 business executives attending a seminar on CRM were used to test the scale generalizability of CRM measures in various industries.

A reliable and valid scale was developed to measure the four dimensions of CRM: key customer focus, CRM organization, knowledge management and technology‐based CRM.

Since this study was conducted in Hong Kong only, the generalizability of the CRM scale has to be tested in other countries. In addition, cross‐sectional data were used in this study. Future studies should collect time‐series data for the testing of the causal relationship between CRM and business performance.

The findings validate the long‐held belief that CRM is a critical success factor for business performance. Firms wishing to improve their relationships with customers need constantly to monitor their behavioral and internal processes. The proposed scale in this study could be used as a diagnostic tool to identity areas where specific improvements are needed, and to pinpoint aspects of the firm's CRM that require work.

This is the first study to provide a comprehensive, psychometrically sound, and operationally valid measure of a firm's CRM.

The purpose of this paper is to draw on the theory of servant leadership to examine the influence of chief executive officer (CEO) servant leadership on firm performance in the hospitality industry. It examined the mediating role of the service climate and the moderating role of competitive intensity in the relationship between CEO servant leadership and firm performance.

Multiple regression was used to analyze multi-wave, multi-source data from 92 hotels in China. A moderated path analysis was used to test the moderating effects.

CEO servant leadership positively influenced firm performance via the service climate in the hospitality industry. Competitive intensity strengthened the direct effect of the service climate on firm performance, and the indirect effect of CEO servant leadership on firm performance via service climate.

The findings offer managerial insights into CEO succession, service management and human resource management.

This is one of the first studies to investigate how and when CEO servant leadership might shape firm outcomes in the hospitality industry. Theoretically, the findings enrich our understanding of how CEO leadership might shape firm-level outcomes.

This paper introduces a formal risk interdependency framework to model cascading effects in collaborative systems. By characterizing risk causal chains and propagation chains, the framework aims to provide decision-makers with a structured tool to systematically identify, analyze, and prevent cascading risks in interconnected networks.

The framework, named the danger-risk-consequence chain, defines core components – danger, stake, risk, condition, and consequence – alongside their causal and propagation relationships, which form the basis for risk characterization. The framework is applied through a use case in the construction supply chain to demonstrate its capacity to model cascading risks.

The framework uncovers risk propagation chains that lead to cascading effects and formalizes the state evolution of these effects within collaborative systems. Through the use case, it demonstrates practical value by enabling stakeholders to visualize interrelated risks, detect vulnerabilities early, and implement targeted mitigation measures to enhance resilience against cascading disruptions.

This study presents a novel approach to modeling cascading effects by integrating risk causality and propagation into a formalized framework. In contrast to previous research, which offers static risk definitions for risk characterization, this framework contributes to risk management theory by providing a structured method for understanding and modeling interdependencies.

The dominant worldview among marketers is one of technology optimism, which holds that technological advances influence consumers and businesses in positive ways. In direct contrast to this perspective, I advance the thesis that at the organizational frontlines where marketers interact with consumers by observing, informing, persuading, negotiating and co-creating with, and entertaining them, technology commonly produces unforeseen and unexpected effects on consumers with significant negative implications for marketers. The result is Adverse Technology-Consumer Interactions (ATCIs). Marketing practitioners play an instrumental role in producing and exacerbating ATCIs. Yet, I argue they have few incentives to fully investigate the underlying reasons, understand their scope, or find solutions to these potentially troublesome phenomena. Academic researchers, however, are uniquely poised to identify ATCIs, investigate them in depth by considering their industry-wide and society-wide import, develop appropriate theoretical frameworks, and design and test solutions to alleviate their effects. I develop these ideas by considering two ATCIs, falling response rates to customer surveys and customer reactance to frequent price changes. I also point out promising research opportunities for both these phenomena.

Given the importance of technology implementation and usage in managing and leveraging supply chains and the associated difficulties of diffusing information technology (IT) within and across organizations, little research has been conducted to understand the antecedents of technology adoption, particularly in the supply chain context. The purpose of this paper is to extend the understanding of how organizational factors affect post-adoption behaviors, a process collectively defined as internalization.

A mail survey of 413 supply chain members of a major US automotive company was conducted to test the model.

The study finds that relative cost, supply chain orientation, and task-technology fit have a direct effect on extended technology usage or internalization of the technology.

Although the study sample was collected from the supply chain base of the largest automotive manufacturer in the world, its generalizability is limited as it represents a single tier of one supply chain. The sample consists of suppliers from North America, which restricts generalizability to companies in that geographic area.

The research findings suggest that managers can influence post-adoption behaviors through seamlessly fitting the technology to the employee's tasks, communicating the advantages of utilizing the technology to its users, and developing an orientation of supply chain activities.

While previous research focuses more on technology adoption, the present study extends previous research by looking into technology internalization, a process related to the effective and consistent use of a technology over time.

The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.

Community involvement is a common strategy to negotiate changes to the built environment. Traditional community involvement approaches are increasingly augmented through playful elements or through the use of technology. The purpose of this paper is to present a case study of a community involvement approach aimed at expanding participants’ ability to contribute to the issue. Through the design of bespoke interactive approaches to asking questions and receiving responses, the InstaBooth shifts the involvement process toward an open discussion between community members.

The InstaBooth methodology established in this paper is based on the use of a physical interactive installation for situated community involvement and place-making, the InstaBooth. This methodology embeds design thinking and collaborative approaches to move the focus of the engagement from data gathering to data sharing and content co-creation.

In 2015, the authors worked with the local community of Pomona, Queensland, Australia, to inform the new masterplan for the town center by using the InstaBooth as a community involvement methodology. Examining the case of Pomona reveals how the InstaBooth approach allows participants to join a discussion about their own environment in a playful and unstructured way. This is achieved through the application of design thinking across three key phases of the community engagement; 1) planning the engagement strategy, 2) implementation of the strategy and deployment and 3) data co-analysis.

The InstaBooth is an interactive methodology which has allowed citizens to engage in the discussion about the future development of their town strengthening their sense of place and sense of community. The significance of this paper is applicable to others interested in community involvement and place-making, as it presents a novel methodology that combines different methods for different contexts while embedding co-creation in its approach.

The existing literature dealing with attractiveness during a service encounter focuses on employee attractiveness and its consequences. This paper aims to consider the other side of the coin by focusing on customers’ attractiveness.

On the basis of two studies, this paper presents and tests a model explaining the specific role that employee social attraction plays in customer service perception and satisfaction judgment.

It suggests that the appraisal of customers’ physical attractiveness and homophily may lead to situations in which employees are socially attracted to customers, thus influencing customer service perception.

Consequently, this research provides insights into the role of attraction determinants in a service context. In addition, it demonstrates how employees’ social attraction is triggered in a service context. The findings contribute to satisfaction research by extending prior research perceptions on dyadic service encounters and examining both employee attitude and customer perceptions in service interactions.