Sabine Fliess, Stefan Dyck and Mailin Schmelter
The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer perceptions of their own contribution to service provision, in order to enhance our understanding of customer contribution and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer perceptions of their own contribution to service provision, in order to enhance our understanding of customer contribution and its dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 27 in-depth interviews were conducted across nine service contexts. Qualitative data were then analyzed to identify the various dimensions of customer contribution.
Findings
First, the study contributes to the understanding of customer contribution in identifying physical, mental, and emotional dimensions. The physical and mental dimensions of customer contribution are represented by activities, while emotions comprise mood and emotional states. Second, relationships among the three dimensions were identified; in particular, physical and mental activities were found to influence customer emotions. Third, the findings reveal that customer understanding of their own contribution to service provision encompass the co-creative sphere of customer and provider, and extends to the customer-sphere before the service encounter.
Research limitations/implications
The qualitative study is limited in terms of generalizability, since the 27 interview cases were based on nine interviews each covering three service settings. Further research is needed to investigate how the dimensions of customer contribution are linked to different outcomes (e.g. service value, satisfaction, loyalty), thus providing a quantitative validation of our findings.
Practical implications
Understanding the customer contribution to service provision is pivotal for service design. Service managers need to reflect on how the different dimensions of contribution manifest in their existing or potential service offering, since physical and mental customer activities shape their emotions, which in turn impact on the service experience and value.
Originality/value
Little in-depth research has been conducted on the nature and dimensionality of customer contributions to service provision, particularly with regard to perceptions of their own contribution. Most previous empirical research on customer contribution is limited to a specific context and concerned with customer behaviors. Hence, this qualitative study examines customer contribution across different service context, focussing on customer perceptions in terms of physical, mental, and emotional contributions to service provision.
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Stefan Prigge and Lars Tegtmeier
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether stocks in football clubs are valued in line with the valuation of other capital assets in the capital market. Moreover, it analyzes…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore whether stocks in football clubs are valued in line with the valuation of other capital assets in the capital market. Moreover, it analyzes the risk profile of football stocks. By taking this perspective, the paper also contributes to the discussion on the motives of those who invest in football clubs, particularly the question of whether they expect extra benefits, i.e., in addition to dividends and share price appreciation, from the investments.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical study analyzes the share prices of 19 listed European football clubs from January 2010 to December 2016. Building on the capital asset pricing model, the authors used Zellner’s (1962) seemingly unrelated regressions.
Findings
The results indicate that the majority of the football clubs in the sample are overvalued. This implies that investments in football stocks are mainly attractive for those investors who expect to derive extra benefits from their investment. That might be likely for strategic, patron and fan investors, but not for purely financial investors.
Research limitations/implications
As a next step, more advanced factor models could be applied to the analysis.
Practical implications
For investors, the results imply that portfolio diversification is particularly beneficial while buying football stocks. For football clubs, the rather low general market risk, combined with the overvaluation, leads to low equity costs when new shares are issued.
Originality/value
The results suggest that dividends and share price appreciation are not the only benefits football stock owners derive from the stocks, thus underlining that further investigations in their motives to hold football stocks are very promising.
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Mike Peters, Margit Raich, Stefan Märk and Sabine Pichler
The take‐over of the hospitality family business by the entrepreneur's daughter or son is a complex process. The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of commitment on…
Abstract
Purpose
The take‐over of the hospitality family business by the entrepreneur's daughter or son is a complex process. The aim of the paper is to analyse the impact of commitment on succession in hospitality family businesses from the viewpoint of the successors. The contribution aims to shed more light on the different dimensions of commitment relevant for the succession process.
Design/methodology/approach
To understand the role of commitment in the succession process this study uses a qualitative approach. Interviews were carried out with 15 successors of hospitality businesses in South Tyrol, Italy. The obtained narrative texts have been transcribed and evaluated with GABEK®, a tool for analyzing qualitative data. The transcripts of the interviews were separated into text units and coded, developing a network of data. This rule‐based procedure of systematizing, coding and interpreting considers both syntax and semantics and enhances the validity of the results.
Findings
The results reveal that commitment seems to play a very major role in the whole succession. A cluster analysis indicates the linkage of three topics: Motives, Family business and Take‐over constitute the construct “Commitment”. The motives show that parents' heritage or the successors' perceptions of the business as the home where they have grown up are important reasons to run this family business. Also trust or personal support through family members can be interpreted as push motives to become the successor.
Research limitations/implications
Results may be influenced by the geographical concentration, but also by the selection process of the interviewees. The research is based on qualitative data that were gathered in one particular region in South Tyrol, Italy. Furthermore, the successors who participated in the survey mostly were very successful businesses keen on joining this research. Further research should focus on the role of commitment and its antecedents and consequences. In addition, commitment bases should be investigated from the predecessor but also from the successors' perspective in the light of the current and past business and business environment situation.
Practical implications
The results highlight that in the succession process, different bases of commitment exist which particularly influence the perception of succession process. Furthermore, they can be interpreted as hurdles or facilitators to the transition of the family business.
Originality/value
This paper provides useful information on the impact of commitment on succession in hospitality family businesses from the viewpoint of the successors.
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Matjaz Mulej, Vojko Potocan, Zdenka Zenko, Stefan Kajzer, Dusko Ursic, Jozica Knez‐Riedl, Monty Lynn and Jozef Ovsenik
Ludwig von Bertalanffy created general systems theory in an effort to counter the oversight and endangerment of humankind by disciplinary specialization. Bertalanffy desired for a…
Abstract
Ludwig von Bertalanffy created general systems theory in an effort to counter the oversight and endangerment of humankind by disciplinary specialization. Bertalanffy desired for a holistic worldview and openness to replace overspecialization. Although widely cited and regarded, his concept prevailed only at a fictitious level, mostly as a tool inside specialization, which many scholars are neither able to overcome nor complement with interdisciplinary, creative co‐operation. Similarities (isomorphisms) are not enough. Here, a system of seven groups of systems thinking principles, which serve as a framework for restoring Bertalanffian systems thinking without his exaggerations is presented.
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Matjazˇ Mulej, Stefan Kajzer, Vojko Potocan, Bojan Rosi and Jozica Knez‐Riedl
To show that systems theory (ST) has surfaced as innovation of worldview and thinking, aimed at holism. After ST's subordination to narrow specialists using it inside traditional…
Abstract
Purpose
To show that systems theory (ST) has surfaced as innovation of worldview and thinking, aimed at holism. After ST's subordination to narrow specialists using it inside traditional disciplines, if at all, humankind needs a new innovation of ST. An option is offered.
Design/methodology/approach
Mulej's Dialectical ST is applied as worldview and methodology of requisite holism using Mulej's Dialectical System concept.
Findings
Mulej's Dialectical System concept applies to synergies of several STs, not only viewpoints. Here, six soft STs and the social responsibility (SR) concept are combined around human subjective starting points aimed at holism and innovation, including ethics of interdependence. Combination offers new insights.
Research limitations/implications
Research is limited to soft STs and implies knowledge of more STs and SR as well as participants' readiness for creative interdisciplinary co‐operation.
Practical implications
The new concept offers a new step toward increased innovation capacity, especially toward innovation of culture toward requisite holism and innovation. This is a crucial precondition for survival in the modern global society and economy.
Originality/value
The authors know neither books nor articles presenting synergies of several STs and SR nor their application to preconditions of innovation.