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The purpose of this paper is to propose an assessment approach to evaluate the organizational capabilities to deploy a Lean Six Sigma (LSS) strategy.

Based on a comprehensive literature review, critical success factors required to deploy LSS were defined. These key factors are evaluated by a questionnaire based on maturity grids and structured as a multi-criteria model to compute a potential LSS performance indicator. This approach is illustrated through two case studies.

To promote a successful implementation of LSS in SMEs, it is necessary to consider five main critical factors. The evaluation of these factors could be achieved thanks to a multi-criterion-based maturity indicator for the LSS implementation. The case studies show that this approach allows SMEs to understand their strengths and weaknesses and thus better prepare the implementation of LSS.

The proposed tool identifies characteristics of companies leading to successful LSS implementation; but is not yet able to provide a detailed strategy to improve them. The case studies were applied to manufacturing companies; therefore, there is no evidence of conclusions in the context of services.

The proposed methodology will help managers and practitioners to evaluate the readiness level of a company to implement LSS. Then, they could estimate the effort required to achieve the LSS deployment.

This paper proposes a new metric of the capacity to implement the LSS successfully in SMEs: the Lean Six Sigma Global Index. This indicator is based on a survey completed by managers and supported by observable phenomena to establish a tailored diagnosis before the LSS implementation.

This study aims to propose a novel approach to select and prioritize performance indicators in Lean Manufacturing depending on whether they are influencing or being influenced by others, thereby assisting in the decision-making process for improving overall performance.

The methodology comprises two stages. First, a literature review was conducted to identify the performance indicators, and then their interrelationships were analyzed by means of the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) method.

The results provide a comprehensive visualization of the performance indicators in Lean Manufacturing, with a total of 50 identified indicators. Among these, 29 were categorized as causal, meaning that their results mainly influence the others, and 21 as influenced, with their results mostly being influenced by others. Among the causal indicators, those related to the human factor (eight indicators) were the most predominant. However, the most-cited performance families in the literature do not stand out as being causal, but rather as mostly influenced.

This study can help managers improve and analyze performance more effectively, while focusing on the importance of choosing causal over influenced indicators.

Performance measurement plays a crucial role for organizations, but because of the increasing number of metrics, there lacks an established framework. This exploratory study thus opens the discussion on relevance to determine a group of coherent and connected indicators that could help measure performance in a more comprehensive manner, rather than in several isolated parts.

In spite of offering clear benefits and increased availability, relatively few service research studies rely on eye-tracking. Therefore, this paper aims to assist service researchers in harnessing the vast capabilities of eye-tracking technologies and methods for their own inquiries.

In addition to systematically reviewing extant research in the service domain and the wider marketing field with respect to the fundamentals and practices of eye-tracking, this paper presents a concise, empirical eye-tracking demonstration. These contributions suggest future outlooks for how to incorporate eye-tracking more effectively in service research.

The systematic literature review informs a comprehensive framework for integrating eye-tracking in service research that comprises research question focus regarding higher-order psychological constructs of interest, appropriate study settings, sample composition, optimal eye-tracking equipment and operationalization considerations.

By establishing a common ground and recommended uses of eye-tracking for service research, this study equips service scholars with the knowledge they need regarding eye-tracking fundamentals, common practices and future outlooks. A simple, empirical example further demonstrates some options for unlocking the unique capabilities of eye-tracking in service research and uncovering the complexities inherent to service experiences and other core service concepts.

This paper compiles and contextualizes insights from existing eye-tracking research, which it uses to draw important lessons for deploying eye-tracking in service domains.

There are two key approaches in doping prevention research: (1) to investigate why athletes dope (i.e. risk factors) and (2) to investigate why athletes do not dope (i.e. protective factors). Both approaches aim to reduce the occurrence of doping. Even though there is a lot of evidence showing which factors protect athletes from doping, there is still the problem of putting research into practice. Currently, evidence-based prevention is lacking. In this chapter, we propose a roadmap of possible solutions in three areas: improving the translation of research findings into practice, increasing financial resources and training of human resources, and acknowledging the recipients' voice.

This paper analyses how regenerative tourism practices can advance the environmental resilience of island destinations by minimizing tourism's negative impact and moving towards net-positive outcomes. The urgency of the research study is evident in the natural and anthropogenic dangers and disasters already faced by most destinations and the increasing need for environmental resilience. The economic dependence of many island destinations on the tourism industry means ways to mitigate climate change without threatening the tourism industry are vital. This explorative study argues the concept of regenerative tourism with its focus on co-creation is an effective and implementable strategy to give more back than taken and renew and regenerate the destination. The example of New Zealand (NZ) with a thematic analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews with expert stakeholders in the NZ tourism landscape focuses on environmental pressures impacting environmental resilience and the role of regenerative tourism practices. The data show a move from a mainly short-term economic focus to a concentration on and awareness of the need to develop long-term environmental resilience through stakeholder collaboration and regenerative policies. These findings although specific to NZ provide insights for other island destinations through the clear benefit to both visitors and residents of an increased focus on the aim of net-positive rather than net-zero in improving the environment.

The main purpose of this essay is to reflect on the nature of justification. To this end, the analysis draws on Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot’s De la justification. Les économies de la grandeur ¹ [On Justification: Economies of Worth²]. More specifically, the article aims to examine the extent to which Boltanski and Thévenot’s conceptual framework, widely known as ‘the sociology of critical capacity’,³ permits us to demonstrate that processes of justification ⁴ are vital to the symbolically mediated construction – that is, to both the conceptual and the empirical organization ⁵ – of social life. In order to prove the validity of this contention, the inquiry explores the meaning of ‘justification’ in relation to the following dimensions: (1) existence, (2) ethics, (3) justice, (4) perspective, (5) presuppositions, (6) agreement, (7) common worlds, (8) critique, (9) practice and (10) justification itself. By way of conclusion, the article maintains that processes of justification constitute an essential ingredient of human reality.

The purpose of this project was to explore and identify factors that influence a consumer to purchase wine during an afternoon of product sampling (wine tasting). A panel of consumers was recruited for an afternoon of wine tasting at vineyards in Napa, California. Several potential hedonistic, utilitarian and logistical factors (i.e. winery facilities, quality of the wine and order in which the winery was visited) were measured using a journal log that was maintained by participants following the tasting experience for a period of one‐month. The conclusions drawn from this study were that group size, confidence in one's ability to purchase wine and overall assessment of a vineyard's wine portfolio were more important than the hedonistic factors in terms of inducing a sale immediately following a taste.

Public procurement activities have long been treated as a minor subset of industrial or business-to-business buying. Consequently, the literature reports sparse research on the nature of government buying or how commercial firms can successfully market to the government. While this lack of research may not have been critical with respect to traditional public buying, recent procurement reforms and new contracting arrangements suggest our knowledge of business-to-business buying is inadequate with respect to the new environment of public buying and government/business relationships. One important and unique issue is how to handle the relationship with business suppliers during the contract implementation process. This paper proposes a taxonomy of government/business relationships as an organizing framework for understanding the complexities of buyer-seller relationships in government contract implementation. Archival case studies provide illustrations and justification for the taxonomy.

Argues that lack of knowledge of Czechoslovakian wines in the international marketplace represents an opportunity to develop an identity based on quality, premium wines from the most promising districts of Moravia and Slovakia. Czechoslovakia is also seen as a nation which already employs reductive Western‐style wine making. Suggests that this provides a robust base from which such a reputation can be developed. Recognizes, however, that there are a number of problems common to most of the former COMECON wine producers, and that many Eastern European wine makers continue to face something of a “Catch 22” situation.