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This study aims to uncover managerial representations of achieving competitive advantage in architectural practices operating within the United Kingdom (UK).

A sequential qualitative methodology is applied, underpinned by nine managerial interviews in five architectural practices, which are analysed using computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software.

In all, 108 representations are identified, with highly rated concepts including reputation, client satisfaction, fees and staff resources discussed in detail. The need for architectural practices to develop a competitive advantage within their sector is increasingly apparent, particularly during times of market turbulence. A total of 20 themes identified are clustered into four main groups focused on People (including Calibre of Staff, Attract Graduates; Qualified Staff); Product (including Emphasis on design, Specialisation, Competitive Fees): Process (including Low Overheads, Office Efficiency) and Potential (Reputation, Ability to Undertake Large Projects, Repeat clients, Ability to expand, Parent Company, Market Understanding and New Offices).

Despite numerous studies conducted on this subject, there has been no research to date documenting managerial representation on achieving competitive advantage in the context of architectural practices in the UK. This paper closes this gap in knowledge by contributing to underlying research on competitive advantage, focusing on the managerial representations within UK architectural practices.

Different studies have analyzed the relationship between organizational learning and value creation. However, the question of how crowdsourcing affects the relationships between organizational learning and value creation remains unexplored. This paper aims to explore the mediating role of crowdsourcing in the relationship between organizational learning and value creation in local governance.

The hypotheses were tested based on data collected from 205 local governance units in Poland using crowdsourcing. Data collection was carried out by using a set of standardized questionnaires. Correlation analyses were used to specify the strength of the relationships between the variables. To test the hypotheses, multiple regression analysis was used.

The results have shown that in the local governance organizational learning is related to crowdsourcing, while organizational learning is not related to value creation. Crowdsourcing does not play a mediating role in explaining the relationship between organizational learning and value creation.

A research model was developed based on the relevant literature in the field of organizational learning, value creation and crowdsourcing. This study urges researchers to explore the relationship between organizational learning and value creation in other public organizations using crowdsourcing.

This is the first study on the intermediate role of crowdsourcing in the relationship between organizational learning and value creation in local governance. The proposed model enriches the existing literature and allows better understanding of how crowdsourcing acts as an intermediary in the organizational learning-value creation relationship.

Drawing on the organizational psychology literature and social resource theory, this research aimed to investigate how attitude toward the employer (i.e. loyalty) and attitude toward the client (i.e. approach to work: professional, market-oriented and person-centered) relate to the perceived importance of socio-emotional resources in providing care to older people.

Swedish frontline care staff members participated in an electronic survey using a cross-sectional design. Mediation analyses were conducted to examine proposed direct and indirect effects of loyalty on the perceived importance of socio-emotional resources in care through three different approaches to work in care settings.

In general, the results confirmed the hypotheses. Thus, the analyses showed a positive association between employee loyalty and the perceived value of socio-emotional resources in care, which was partially mediated by the person-centered and professional approaches to work. Moreover, the analyses showed that the person-centered approach was more strongly related to the perceived value of socio-emotional resources in care than the other two approaches, lending support to the superiority of the person-centered approach in this context.

The study highlights that there exist multiple approaches to work in care settings. Also, the insights about how loyalty toward the employer relates to approach to work in care settings and the perceived value of socio-emotional resources in care are novel and of crucial importance to practitioners and the outcomes of care.

The paper aims to examine whether financial advisors can understand the symbols and meaning that investors associate with money and whether such ability plays any role in enhancing the advisor-investor relationship in terms of satisfaction, level of trust, referral propensity and loyalty.

The authors used a dyadic research design. A total of 186 dyads of financial advisors and their clients took part in the study and completed two parallel self-administered questionnaires.

The authors found that financial advisors often can detect the emotional associations that their clients attribute to money. Such ability can enhance their relationship with investors.

The main limitation of this study is its exploratory nature and the convenience sampling technique that was adopted. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the main findings further.

The results have implications for the development of ad-hoc psychological training to enhance the relationship between financial advisors and investors. Understanding the symbolic meanings and the emotions that clients associate with money may be a prerequisite for a financial services company to succeed and be competitive in the sector.

Despite acknowledging that money is not a neutral object but is layered with symbolic meanings and emotional associations, the behavioral finance literature has so far neglected to study these implications from either a theoretical or a practical point of view. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the symbolic value of money in the financial services industry.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of perceived quality and customer engagement on perceived value and satisfaction in a model to evaluate loyalty in users of fitness centres.

Through an online questionnaire, the study uses a large sample of 6,584 users from 44 low-cost fitness centres from different cities in Spain. After validating the measurement model, the hypotheses were tested through structural equation (SEM) modelling technique, noting the existence of significant relationships.

The results showed that two dimensions of perceived quality have a positive influence on perceived value (employees) and satisfaction (facilities). However, the enthused participation dimension of customer engagement also indicated an important impact on perceived value and satisfaction, thus confirming the influence of this dimension in the context of sports services for users' loyalty.

With a large sample, the importance of this study lies in the use of strategies to achieve a greater influence on perceived value and satisfaction, with the aim of increasing customer loyalty in fitness centres. This is why, in addition to the service quality, the influence of the customer engagement dimensions is included, which have not been previously analysed in this emerging business model.

El propósito de este trabajo es analizar la influencia de la calidad percibida y el compromiso del cliente sobre el valor percibido y la satisfacción en un modelo para evaluar la lealtad en usuarios de centros de fitness.

A través de un cuestionario online, el estudio utiliza una muestra amplia de 6.584 usuarios de 44 centros de fitness low-cost de diferentes ciudades de España. Tras validar el modelo de medida, las hipótesis fueron contrastadas utilizando análisis de ecuaciones estructurales, observándose la existencia de relaciones significativas.

Los resultados mostraron que dos dimensiones de la calidad percibida tienen una influencia positiva en el valor percibido (empleados) y la satisfacción (instalaciones). Sin embargo, la dimensión de participación entusiasta del compromiso del cliente también indicó un impacto importante en el valor percibido y la satisfacción, lo que confirma la influencia de esta dimensión en el contexto de los servicios deportivos para la fidelización de los usuarios.

Con una extensa muestra, la importancia de este estudio radica en el uso de estrategias para lograr una mayor influencia en el valor percibido y la satisfacción, con el objetivo de fidelizar a los clientes de los centros de fitness. Por eso, además de la calidad del servicio, se incluye la influencia de las dimensiones del compromiso con el cliente, que no han sido analizadas previamente en este modelo de negocio emergente.

This paper aims at exploring the relations amongst the concepts of customer relationship management (CRM), convenience, trust, perceived service quality, satisfaction, perceived value, loyalty, image and purchase intention in the hotel sector.

The research was conducted using interviews with hospitality managers and guests who had a direct connection with the hotel industry. According to the qualitative study results and literature review, the authors designed a model that was examined via structural equation modelling and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis.

This paper presents a conceptual framework that enhances existing research in the field of study, as it was implemented to measure the antecedent and consequences of perceived service quality. Based on the results from New York and London, the authors found that CRM and convenience have significant impact on perceived service quality. Interestingly, the aggregated data illustrate the negative relationship between image, loyalty and purchase intention.

The approach used by this study is partially in line with previous theoretical analyses and shows appealing patterns in international service quality perception. Besides, the paper adds insights into the realm, linking together different dimensions in order to reach an in-depth understanding and complex analysis of each item that affects and is affected by perceived service quality in the hotel industry.

This article addresses recent calls in the literature for advancing our understanding of public affairs consultants and their role conceptions. By testing and further exploring self-perceptions of public affairs consultants the study aims to offer new insight into how consultants define and view their occupational role.

The study draws on a nationwide survey with public affairs consultants in Sweden.

Four main role conceptions were identified (advocate, do-gooder, expert and intermediary). Further, the study tests how personal and professional characteristics correlate with different role conceptions, by viewing professional experience and consultants' selection of clients. Data also suggest that consultants' background in politics does not promote any specific role perception. Finally, the findings also show that how consultants choose clients is a divider in the industry, where some act as passive intermediaries while other take a more active role in their choice of clients.

The findings enhance our understanding of public affairs as a field, and specifically about the modelling of professional roles amongst consultants. The empirical results in this study show how contemporary role typologies needs to be extended to better capture the specificities of consultants' roles in public affairs. By addressing the issue of how consultants choose clients the study engages with the complex debate of whether consultants ought to act as objective or subjective agents and hence join the conversation on ethics in public affairs.

This paper aims to propose an interpretive framework to understand how machine learning (ML) affects the way companies interact with their ecosystem and how the introduction of digital technologies affects the value co-creation (VCC) process.

This study bases on configuration theory, which entails two main methodological phases. In the first phase the authors define the theoretically-derived interpretive framework through a literature review. In the second phase the authors adopt a case study methodology to inductively analyze the theoretically-derived domains and their relationships within a configuration.

ML enables multi-directional knowledge flows among value co-creators and expands the scope of VCC beyond the boundaries of the firm-client relationship. However, it determines a substantive imbalance in knowledge management power among the actors involved in VCC. ML positively impacts value co-creators’ performance but also requires significant organizational changes. To benefit from VCC via ML, value co-creators must be aligned in terms of digital maturity.

The paper answers the call for more theoretical and empirical research on the impact of the introduction of Industry 4.0 technology in companies and their ecosystem. It intends to improve the understanding of how ML technology affects the determinants and the process of VCC by providing both a static and dynamic analysis of the topic.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze the literature related to accounting and auditing services quality.

The authors performed a systematic literature review that considered 22 papers on the topic. The authors also applied a bibliometric analysis in order to identify the main characteristics of these studies to discuss and provide research opportunities in this field.

The bibliometric results indicate that most papers were published in services and marketing journals. The accounting service quality theme has been rarely researched in accounting field. In addition, based on our review, it was possible to identify that most papers use quantitative methods, such as surveys. The papers' conclusions diverge from each other, demonstrating a still fragmented literature.

Taken together, the paper shows how accounting services quality is relevant and emerging topic that demands future research about accounting professionals' skills, their activities and how their customers perceive quality in an environment of constant change.

The analyses indicate that there are six broad areas for future research on this topic: successes and failures of accounting services providers; the role of “client centricity”; digital accounting services; services quality and accounting education; services quality when considering different types of accounting and auditing services and development of a measurement scale and a theoretical model for accounting services quality. This paper contributes for the ongoing debate about how competition, technology and innovation are changing the landscape for accounting and auditing services providers.

Although the Net Promoter Score (NPS) index is simple, NPS has weaknesses that make NPS's interpretation misleading. The main criticism is that identical index values can correspond to different levels of customer loyalty. This makes difficult to determine whether the company is improving/deteriorating in two different years. The authors describe the application of statistical tools to establish whether identical values may/may not be considered similar under statistical hypotheses.

Equal NPSs with a “similar” component composition should have a two-way table satisfying marginal homogeneity hypothesis. The authors compare the marginals using a cumulative marginal logit model that assumes a proportional odds structure: the model has the same effect for each logit. Marginal homogeneity corresponds to null effect. If the marginal homogeneity hypothesis is rejected, the cumulative odds ratio becomes a tool for measuring the proportionality between the odds.

The authors propose an algorithm that helps managers in their decision-making process. The authors' methodology provides a statistical tool to recognize customer base compositions. The authors suggest a statistical test of the marginal distribution homogeneity of the table representing the index compositions at two times. Through the calculation of cumulative odds ratios, the authors discriminate against the hypothesis of equality of the NPS.

The authors' contribution provides a statistical alternative that can be easily implemented by business operators to fill the known shortcomings of the index in the customer satisfaction's context. This paper confirms that although a single number summarizes and communicates a complex situation very quickly, the number is ambiguous and unreliable if not accompanied by other tools.