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THE alloys under consideration contain only zinc and magnesium as the major alloying additions. The total alloy content varies between 5 and 7 per cent whereas the high strength aircraft alloys have a total content of 8 to 10 per cent and may also contain up to 2 per cent of copper. A wide range of mechanical properties can be obtained with the weldable alloys and some of these properties closely approach those of the aircraft alloys. Problems associated with weld metal cracking and heat affected zone recovery arc normally severe with age hardening aluminium alloys but are greatly attenuated with the weldable alloys.

Continuous change has long been recognized as a core characteristic of retailing, its recent acceleration unprecedented, yet innovation in retailing remains under-researched, especially within fashion retailing. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to generate a deeper understanding of if, and to what extent, fashion retailers across different market segments are innovating in terms of in-store technology diffusion over time by taking a long-term perspective over five years.

Drawing on retail change and innovation diffusion theory, the study takes a qualitative approach, using direct observation of 71 fashion stores in London (UK) in 2014 and 2019. In total, 142 stores were tabulated in Excel and qualitatively analysed manually and with NVivo.

The findings identify the innovation adoption strategies implemented, the types of in-store technologies adopted over time and the fashion retail innovation adopters.

The research offers new knowledge in terms of retail innovation and retail change, specifically on retail diffusion of innovation and the importance of in-store technology integration. Several practical implications for improving technology innovation management are also identified.

Efficiency has not been the most familiar concept in the vocabulary of the personal social services in recent years. Some of the more obvious reasons for this having been the post‐Seebohm emphasis on expansion; the lack of clarity about service outputs and objectives; and the relative failure of the economics profession, with only a few exceptions, to concern itself with developments in this area in contrast with, say, the National Health Service. However, now that the post‐oil crisis economic recession has reduced prospects for growth in the personal and other social and public services almost to zero, in the short to medium term, the efficient use of resources assumes greater importance. This is in complete contrast to recent experience when, during the years of rapid expansion, efficiency was, inevitably, a poor second to the objective of maximising inputs. That is not to suggest that resources were deliberately wasted, but the development of new services in a growing number of areas, often on an ad hoc basis, meant that some inefficiency was unavoidable. Now the economic climate has changed and it is vital that the recession is used as a period of consolidation. Existing practices need to be rigorously examined in the search for more cost‐effective methods of achieving objectives. If this can be done at all successfully it will provide managers in the social services with much greater flexibility to meet the increasing pressures of future demands and conflicting priorities, and might even prevent that blunt instrument, the pro rata cut, being over employed. Of course, even the most efficient authority may not be able to avoid some cuts in service provision, but these will be most easily kept to a minimum by identifying areas where genuine savings can be made.

In one of his most cited works, March (1991) observed that “The basic problem confronting an organization is to engage in sufficient exploitation to ensure its current viability and, at the same time, devote enough energy to exploration to exploration to ensure its future viability” (p. 105). The need to simultaneously pursue exploration and exploitation is a cornerstone of organizational ambidexterity, with the embedded assumption that exploratory ventures require organic management systems and exploitative activities benefit from more mechanistic management systems. The authors argue that this assumption about system alignment is neither well-supported by empirical evidence nor well-grounded in March’s original ideas about exploration and exploitation. The authors review the existing empirical evidence on the management systems that support exploration and exploitation and reveal some of the empirical and conceptual challenges. The authors then share a quasi-experimental study of 49 project teams over an 18-month period where they investigated how components of the management system – formalization, specialization, hierarchy, and leadership – differentially affect project success for explore and exploit projects. The authors find that exploitation projects can succeed under either mechanistic or organic systems, but that exploratory project performance suffers under a mechanistic system. In addition, the authors also find that leadership is the most important determinant of project success or failure. The authors discuss the implications of these results for future studies of organizational ambidexterity and draw attention to some of the underdeveloped ideas in March’s original article that might further advance the field.

Due to recent developments of indoor location-tracking technologies, brick-and-mortar retailers are now able to add location-based marketing capabilities to their existing retail apps, providing retailers with new opportunities to interact with customers inside of their stores. The aim of this study is to identify factors influencing the customers' adoption intention of location-based retail apps for stationary retailing.

Based on the technology acceptance model, a conceptual model was developed. A Web-based survey was conducted in Germany with a final sample of 501 cases. Structural equation modelling was performed to test the hypotheses.

The results confirmed the positive relationship between attitude and the customers' intention to use location-based retail apps. Perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment promote a positive attitude toward location-based retail apps, while privacy concerns and fear of spam hinder the formation of a favorable attitude. Subjective norms have a positive effect on customers' usage intention.

The results help retailers who want to establish location-based retail apps at the point of sale (e.g. in the context of omni-channel strategies).

As previous research about location-based apps has mainly used empirical data from either Chinese or American samples, less is known about the perception of European customers. Research indicates that existing findings might not be transferable to European countries due to differences in values, social norms or regulations. Also, the failure of Shopkick in Germany illustrates the need for more research. Based on this, using a German sample to answer the research question, this study aims to provide a European perspective on location-based retail apps, and thereby extend existing research.

The long-term survival of companies depends strongly on successful new product introductions. However, insufficient customer new product acceptance (NPA) often leads to high failure rates for manufacturers. Retailers, as intermediaries between the company and the customer, often obtain a crucial role as primary touchpoint. Previous research shows that customers’ perception of a company is transferable to its products and thus influences NPA. Family firms, as successful company type, are supposed to positively influence NPA. The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether manufacturers achieve a strategic advantage regarding NPA when choosing retailer that are perceived as family firms.

Conducting an online survey, the authors tested whether the family firm image (FFI) of a retailer’s brand influences customers’ belief in the trustworthiness of a new product brand and their purchase intention, which reflect two components of NPA.

The results indicate that a strongly perceived FFI has a direct positive effect and, through perceived trustworthiness, an indirect effect on NPA. Those effects are moderated by the customers’ perceived uncertainty about the product. The authors show that aside from increasing trustworthiness, a retailer’s FFI creates a substantial strategic advantage that increases NPA and hence decreases manufacturers’ failure rates.

This paper is the first to investigate retailer brand influence on NPA. By providing a new definition and measurement of customers’ family firm perception, this study represents the first quantitative intent to assess the consequences of such perception.

• Retail agglomerations are predestined to capitalise on the combination of the strengths of traditional retailing and digital service innovations.

• Digital touchpoints can enhance the visitor experience throughout the whole customer journey, that is not only on-site but also before reaching as well as after having left the agglomeration.

• Digital service innovations can provide additional value to visitors of a retail agglomeration through four elements of the digital marketing mix: Information, orientation, communication and atmosphere.

• Technologies like augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) can create unique and memorable customer experiences, ensuring that retailers and service providers as well as the retail agglomeration as a whole continue to thrive.

• Key success factors for the implementation of digital services in the context of retail agglomerations include participative innovation processes, cooperation and the communication of clear benefits to stakeholders.

Retail agglomerations are predestined to capitalise on the combination of the strengths of traditional retailing and digital service innovations.

Digital touchpoints can enhance the visitor experience throughout the whole customer journey, that is not only on-site but also before reaching as well as after having left the agglomeration.

Digital service innovations can provide additional value to visitors of a retail agglomeration through four elements of the digital marketing mix: Information, orientation, communication and atmosphere.

Technologies like augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR) can create unique and memorable customer experiences, ensuring that retailers and service providers as well as the retail agglomeration as a whole continue to thrive.

Key success factors for the implementation of digital services in the context of retail agglomerations include participative innovation processes, cooperation and the communication of clear benefits to stakeholders.

Omni-channel shopping affords consumers a variety of delivery options to receive products based on their preferred times and locations. By considering consumers' contributions (physical, social and attentive efforts) in co-creating delivery services, this study investigates their preferences for parcel delivery.

A scenario-based questionnaire survey is conducted for data collection in Singapore (n = 483). Furthermore, a multinomial logistic regression is performed to assess consumers' choice mode of delivery among five alternatives, that is attended home delivery, unattended home delivery, automated self-collection locker, attended pickup point and click-and-collect.

Compared to attended home delivery, consumers who choose the alternatives are found to be more willing to contribute physical effort but less interested in responding attentively to informational updates. Efforts required for social interactions discourage consumers from choosing attended deliveries, prompting unattended alternatives (e.g. home delivery and self-collection) as more attractive choices. Additionally, socio-demographic factors and product value also influence consumers' preferences.

This study contributes to the literature by integrating the theoretical concept of consumer logistics into omni-channel studies, providing a new approach to examining consumers' channel behaviour. With detailed profiling that links product value and consumers' socio-demographics to their choice mode of delivery, the authors create practical insight into the optimal design of omni-channel distribution systems that best harness consumers' voluntary contributions.

Autonomous technologies represent an increasingly important, but at the same time controversial technological field with enormous potential. From a consumer perspective, however, the growing autonomy of technologies might result in a perceived loss of control, which can lead to consumer resistance. Given the practical and theoretical relevance, this research examines antecedents to consumer adoption of autonomous technologies in the context of self-driving cars.

This article looks through the lens of the technology acceptance model and conducts structural equation modeling.

The study validates the positive effect of perceived usefulness on behavioral intention to adopt self-driving cars. The results further suggest that individuals with a generally negative attitude toward technologies are afraid that they might not be capable of handling the new technology. Moreover, further mediation analyses reveal that perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness help us to explain the indirect effects of novelty seeking and technology anxiety on adoption intention.

The results imply that users' perceptions of an autonomous technology's usefulness are an important determinant of technology adoption. Adoption barriers could be overcome by emphasizing the usability of the new technology. On the other hand, individuals who enjoy using the old technology may be persuaded by arguments that focus on the usefulness of the new technology rather than its ease of use.

Self-driving automobiles will change our perception of mobility. It is important to understand the mechanisms that drive the adoption of such innovations.