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Purpose: To outline recent developments in digital service delivery in order to encourage researchers to pursue collaborations with computer science, operations research, and data science colleagues and to show how such collaborations can expand the scope of research on emotion in service delivery.

Design/methodology/approach: Uses archived resources available at http://LivePerson.com to extract data based in genuine service conversations between agents and customers. We refer to these as “digital traces” and analyze them using computational science models.

Findings: Although we do not test significance or causality, the data presented in this chapter provide a unique lens into the dynamics of emotions in service; results that are not obtainable using traditional research methods.

Research limitations/implications: This is a descriptive study where findings unravel new dynamics that should be followed up with more research, both research using traditional experimental methods, and digital traces research that allows inferences of causality.

Practical implications: The digital data and newly developed tools for sentiment analyses allow exploration of emotions in large samples of genuine customer service interactions. The research provides objective, unobtrusive views of customer emotions that draw directly from customer expressions, with no self-report intervention and biases.

Originality/value: This is the first objective and detailed depiction of the actual emotional encounters that customers express, and the first to analyze in detail the nature and content of customer service work.

The purpose of this paper is to study the relationship between network ties (NT) and transactive memory systems (TMS), observed through three dimensions – specialization (TMSS), credibility (TMSCR), and coordination (TMSCO) – in the presence of leadership (LDR) as a moderating variable, in university research-and-development (R&D) groups.

The data are composed of 257 university R&D groups. To confirm the hypotheses, the authors use multiple linear regression analysis with a moderating effect.

The conclusions show that the relationships between NT and two of the three dimensions of TMS (TMSCR and TMSCO) are significant when LDR is included as a moderating variable. Although the effect of TMSS is positive, it is not significant. Including the interaction element enables better explanation of two of the dimensions of TMS in the sector analyzed. Thus, LDR is perfectly applicable to the university R&D environment.

This research has several limitations that suggest further possibilities for empirical research. The limitations include the cross-sectional nature of the research and the judgment of a single manager as the basis of the perception analyzed for each group.

The authors provide several implications for R&D practitioners. The results of this study could be validated in other universities in other geographic areas, enabling better generalization and applicability of the results. The results described may serve as a guide for group leaders of university R&D. This research helps us to see the importance of LDR in forming internal research networks that help researchers to perform common projects in order to obtain better results in the group. Thus, the groups provided better results to society.

No studies have tested the moderating effect of LDR in university R&D empirically. The results provide information to fill this gap and demonstrate the applicability of LDR as a key element in the organization, improvement, and cohesion of R&D groups.

It is proposed that future work should move on from existing network and system management methodologies to consider enhancing the management methodology for ATM and other networking technologies to meet existing and future requirements. This paper outlines an area where significant potential for further research exists and proposes a component‐based management architecture. The discussion indentifies the technological limitations and architectural drawbacks of current solutions and proposes the extension of existing services and an enhanced management framework to overcome the current restrictions.

Componentware is a new paradigm in software development that is based on the concept of a software component. Software components are self‐contained, immutable units of software which can be distributed over large networks or even over the Internet. The distribution of software components requires new, Internet‐based search and retrieval mechanisms. A set of collaborating software components is called componentware. We discuss the architectural requirements and mechanisms of componentware, a technical realisation of a componentware architecture, and identify obstacles in building componentware. Finally, we propose possible solutions for the realisation of componentware and componentware architectures.

This paper investigates the interaction effects of gender diversity and diversity beliefs on group-level personality fit (“collective personality fit”) and group organizational citizenship behavior (GOCB). It seeks to provide a sufficient understanding of the under-researched area, such as how group composition impacts group behavioral outcomes.

Data were collected from 453 employees and their leaders in 63 teams of Korean private sector firms using a moderated-mediation model.

This study found that high diversity beliefs can weaken the negative effects of gender diversity on collective personality fit and further enhance GOCB. The results confirm the moderated-mediation effect of diversity beliefs in the relationship between gender diversity and GOCB.

Management should realize that the negative effect of workforce diversity on GOCB can be reduced by boosting collective personality fit in the team. In this process, enhancing diversity beliefs may relieve the adverse effects on GOCB caused by workgroup gender differences.

This study develops a group-level model proposing that the interaction effects of gender diversity and high diversity beliefs enable a high level of collective personality fit, enhancing GOCB. It attempts to investigate the effects of gender diversity at the group level under boundary conditions.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of human capital related to gender and nationality diversity in boards of directors on the innovation of university spin-offs (USOs) in their entrepreneurial ecosystem. Following the intellectual capital (IC) framework and the resource dependence theory, upper echelons theory and critical mass theory, it hypothesizes that the relationship between board diversity and USOs’ firm innovation is non-linear.

To test the research hypotheses empirically, a sample of 827 Italian USOs over the period 2009–2018 was analyzed using zero-inflated Poisson regression modeling. A robustness test was also performed.

Gender obstacles remain in USOs’ entrepreneurial ecosystem, with little involvement of women in boards, and the benefits of human capital for firm innovation emerge with increased female representation. Nevertheless, a few foreign-born directors embody valued IC in terms of human capital from an internationally linked entrepreneurial ecosystem, which decreases with more foreign-born directors due to communication costs and coordination problems.

The emerging non-linear relationships imply that gender- and nationality-diverse boards in USOs constitute critical human capital factors boosting the devolvement of entrepreneurial processes, in terms of firm innovation, in university entrepreneurial ecosystems.

This study contributes significantly to the move from traditional corporate governance analysis through an IC framework, fostering an understanding of the role of human capital and its diversity determinants in spurring firm innovation among USOs considering the university entrepreneurial ecosystem.

The great value of offline identification of machine parameters is when the machine manufacturer does not provide its parameters. Most machine control strategies require parameter values, and some circumstances in the industrial sector only require offline identification. This paper aims to present a new offline method for estimating induction motor parameters based on least squares and a salp swarm algorithm (SSA).

The central concept is to use the classic least squares (LS) method to acquire the majority of induction machine (IM) constant parameters, followed by the SSA method to obtain all parameters and minimize errors.

The obtained results showed that the LS method gives good results in simulation based on the assumption that the measurements are noise-free. However, unlike in simulations, the LS method is unable to accurately identify the machine’s parameters during the experimental test. On the contrary, the SSA method proves higher efficiency and more precision for IM parameter estimation in both simulations and experimental tests.

After performing a primary identification using the technique of least squares, the initial intention of this study was to apply the SSA for the purpose of identifying all of the machine’s parameters and minimizing errors. These two approaches use the same measurement from a simple running test of an IM, and they offer a quick processing time. Therefore, this combined offline strategy provides a reliable model based on the identified parameters.

This paper aims to investigate the association among trustee board diversity (TBD), corporate governance (CG), capital structure (CS) and financial performance (FP) by using a sample of UK charities. Specifically, the authors investigate the effect of TBD on CS and ascertain whether CG quality moderates the TBD–CS nexus. Additionally, the authors examine the impact of CS on FP and ascertain whether the CS–FP nexus is moderated by TBD and CG quality.

The authors use a number of multivariate regression techniques, including ordinary least squares, fixed-effects, lagged-effects and two-stage least squares, to rigorously analyse the data and test the hypotheses.

First, the authors find that trustee board gender diversity has a negative effect on CS, but this relationship holds only up to the point of having three women trustees. The authors find similar, but relatively weak, results for the presence of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) trustees. Second, the authors find that the TBD–CS nexus depends on the quality of CG, with the relationship being stronger in charities with higher frequency of meetings, independent CG committee and larger trustee and audit firm size. Third, the authors find that CS structure has a positive effect on FP, but this is moderated by TBD and CG quality. The evidence is robust to different econometric models that adjust for alternative measures and endogeneities. The authors interpret the findings within explanations of a theoretical perspective that captures insights from different CG and CS theories.

Existing studies that explore TBD, CG, CS and FP in charities are rare. This study distinctively attempts to address this empirical lacuna within the extant literature by providing four new insights with specific focus on UK charities. First, the authors provide new evidence on the relationship between TBD and CS. Second, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of CG on the TBD-CS nexus. Third, the authors provide new evidence on the effect of CS on FP. Finally, the authors offer new evidence on the moderating effect of TBD and CG on the CS–FP nexus.

This paper aims to examine the moderating effect of employees’ work orientation and gender on their feelings toward pay, that is, the relationship between perceived fairness of a pay system and pay level satisfaction. The perceived fairness of pay system is investigated with two pay system procedures, namely, job evaluation and performance evaluation, both determining the level of base pay.

Survey data were collected from three public sector organizations in Finland (N = 526). Linear regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between pay satisfaction, pay system fairness, work orientation and gender.

The results show that employees’ work orientation significantly and negatively relates to pay satisfaction. The interaction analyses suggest significant gender differences in the relationship between work orientation and pay satisfaction, as work orientation is negatively associated with pay satisfaction for women. They also show that work orientation and job evaluation fairness have a positive, joint effect on pay satisfaction.

This study has implications for the implementation of fair pay practices in organizations. The role of work orientation in the relationship between job evaluation fairness and pay satisfaction highlights the importance of pay system fairness especially among work-oriented employees. Special attention should be paid on work-oriented women: With equal perception of pay system fairness, work-oriented women feel unsatisfied with their pay.

This paper is the first study to highlight the role of work orientation and gender in reactions related to pay.

This study aims to examine the influence of board gender diversity on audit quality demand, considering auditor choice and audit efforts within the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries. It further examines the role of political connections and the impact of gender equality policy initiatives on this relationship.

Fixed-effects regression models are employed in a sample of 1,822 firm-year observations for financial firms across the GCC from 2011–2022 to test the hypotheses. Moreover, the two-stage-least-squares and the propensity score matching methods are used for sensitivity analysis.

The study shows a negative relationship between board gender diversity and the demand for audit quality, reflected auditor choice and audit efforts. However, the study shows a positive association between firm’s political connections and audit quality demand, which is more pronounced in gender-diverse boards. Policy initiatives for gender equality show no significant effect on the relationship between board gender diversity and audit quality demand.

The results inform governments, policy-makers, regulatory authorities and corporations by providing new evidence on the relationship between board gender diversity and the demand for audit quality, as well as the moderating role of political connections and policy initiatives in this relationship. To promote the meaningful participation of female directors in board decision-making, the findings indicate that gender stereotypes, both explicit and implicit, that can hinder female directors’ influence in board decision-making need to be addressed. Second, the study underscores for governments, policy-makers regulatory authorities and corporations that the mere appointment of female directors does not necessarily ensure their engagement in board decision-making. The appointment of female directors should go beyond symbolism and translate into meaningful engagement and influence with the board.

This study contributes to the corporate governance literature by offering new insights on the link between board gender diversity and the demand for audit quality. Beyond confirming a negative relationship between board gender diversity and the demand for quality audit, this study provides new insights on the moderating role of a firm’s political connections on this relationship. In addition, existing studies are primarily based on firms in Western countries and cannot be generalized due to differences in governance and legal structures. Given that the GCC countries have different cultures, economies, institutions, governance practices and norms compared to developed and emerging countries, our study offers a pertinent discussion on the relationship between board gender diversity and the demand for audit quality, as well as the moderating role of political connections in this relationship in the GCC countries.