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The purpose of this study is to understand the factors influencing Iranian tourists’ behavioural intention to use consumer-generated contents (CGC) websites whilst browsing the web when it comes to travel planning, based upon the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) extension.

The total of 211 valid responses were collected through an online questionnaire survey. Data collected from Iranian online tourists were used to test the proposed research model by using the partial least squares structural equation modeling method of analysis.

The results of the study indicate that perceived source credibility is the strongest predictor for behavioural intention. Furthermore, in this study, the most significant relationship is between perceived enjoyment and perceived ease of use. However, the findings of this study show that perceived ease of use is unable to predict behavioural intention of Iranian tourists while using CGC websites.

This study provides clear evidence for the importance of additional key variables in improving the authors’ understanding of the Iranian adoption behaviour concerning CGC websites for travel planning purposes. Implications of this research can aid both academicians and practitioners towards a better understanding of tourists’ adoption behaviour when associated with the social media.

This paper adopts TAM and extends it with other variables, namely, perceived enjoyment, perceived source credibility and perceived risk. It examines their influence in the behavioural intention of using CGC for travel planning in the context of Iran for the first time.

Offshore structures are among the structures exposed to fire more often. Most of these structures are likely to be associated with flammable materials. In this research, some of the structures constructed on top of marine decks have been studied.

For this purpose, the upper-bound theory of plastic analysis has been used to investigate its collapse behavior. In this way, genetic algorithm has been used for application of the combination of elementary mechanisms in the classic plastic analysis problem.

The studied structures are optimized by plastic analysis theory before and after the fire and their failure modes are compared with each other. The comparison of the results indicates significant changes in the load factor value, as well as the critical collapse mode of the structure before and after the fire.

Results indicate that the combination of plastic analysis and a genetic algorithm can predict the collapse mode of the structure before and after the fire accurately.

The purpose of this study is to examine how formal and informal institutions play a role in the Iranian context in shaping corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and practices.

Using a multiple case-study approach combining comparative and cross-sectional methods with semi-structured interviews, primary data was collected from eight corporations that actively participated in CSR activities in Iran. A microanalysis approach was used to examine the meanings and dynamics in the data. Through thematic analysis and pattern-matching techniques, the authors separately examined the roles of formal and informal institutions. Cross-case analysis was used to highlight the cases’ similarities and differences.

This study demonstrates that both formal and informal institutional structures exist in Iran and that both types influence CSR. This study also shows that informal institutions (such as personal values, culture, religion, traditions, charity and philanthropy) play a more explicit role than formal institutions (such as legal regulations and laws) in shaping CSR adoption policies and practices. The results indicate that, among institutions linked to CSR, formal and informal institutions are complementary and potentiate each other in Iran. Nevertheless, compared to formal ones, informal institutions play a more prominent role in shaping CSR policies and practices.

The authors recognize that, although the eight corporations are large, and although they interviewed their key personnel, they do not claim that these findings are generalizable, owing to the qualitative nature of the study and the small number of selected corporations.

This study makes relevant theoretical and empirical contributions. First, it contributes to the growing body of CSR literature that highlights the necessity of linking informal and formal institutions. Although the CSR literature lacks research on informal institutions in developing economies, researchers have yet to push forward and explore how the CSR adoption process works in developing economies that have influential informal institutions.

To gain and differentiate competitive advantage, the sustainable service quality is a determining factor that railway companies can use. The purpose of this study is to identify both the importance and performance of rail transportation service quality factors in a case study as well as determine the most influential quality features.

A comprehensive approach namely importance–performance analysis (IPA) technique and decision-making trail and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Matriced’ Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée á un Classement (MICMAC) techniques was utilized.

The relative position of each attribute is specified on the IPA matrix proposing four strategies of concentrate here, keep up the good work, low priority and possible overkill. This study reveals that attributes of “the company cares about having a good society” are the most influential factor, and “having good business relations with shareholders” is the most permeable factor. Actually, consumers pay attention to how companies act toward society and maintain communication with shareholders. Through ISM technique and by summing the row and column of the consistency matrix, the attributes were partitioned into four levels. Also, MICMAC analysis identified the four clusters of linkage, independent, autonomous and dependent status of the attributes in terms of the driving power and dependence power.

Due to the nature of single case study methodology, caution should be taken into consideration regarding the generazability of the obtained results.

The hybrid DEMATEL-ISM technique is used to analyze service quality factors in Iran’s transportation industry, which can be utilized in other industries as well as other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions (i.e. top management support, customer orientation, training orientation, customer data, customer information-processing and integration) and organizational performance in telecommunication companies in Kuwait.

This is a quantitative study, and the response came from 167 employees of three telecommunication companies. Data collected were subjected to correlation and regression analyses in pursuance of the study’s stated objective.

The results of this study found that top management support, customer data and customer information processing are positively related to organizational performance, while other variables of customer orientation, training orientation and integration of CRM have no significant influence on organizational performance.

The paper addresses CRM dimensions issues specifically for telecommunication companies in Kuwait.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effect of management accounting and control systems (MACS) on environmental innovation practices and operational performance. Specifically, this study relies on Simons’ levers of control (LOC) framework to investigate how managers implement environmental innovation practices. This paper hypothesizes that a forward-looking use of MACS (i.e. interactive use) triggers the implementation of environmental innovation practices, resulting in higher operational performance. Furthermore, the authors argue that the monitoring role of MACS (i.e. diagnostic use) combined with environmental training improves the effect of environmental innovation practices on operational performance.

Hypotheses are examined through a questionnaire survey. The analyses are based on responses in an empirical study from 89 Brazilian hotels.

Empirical findings from a hierarchical moderated regression analysis support the hypothesized links.

This study contributes to the environmental management and management control literature by providing novel evidence on the roles MACS play in the field of sustainable development. Based on the LOC framework, the authors shed light on the understanding of how managers introduce and monitor environmental innovation practices, as well as also outlining the key effects of environmental training in enabling the novel abilities of managers and employees to better understand environmental data and identify novel potential environmentally friendly solutions in the case of deviations. This paper also adds to Wijethilake et al. (2017), providing new empirical evidence on how firms design, implement and use MACS that capture institutional pressures for sustainability from multiple stakeholders.

This study aims to explore the impact of store atmospherics on urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions to purchase apparel in an emerging African market context. This study also considers purchase antecedents to attitude, perceived behavioural control and social norms as determinants of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ apparel behavioural intentions.

Using non-probability sampling, specifically purposive and interlocking sampling, data collection was secured from 881 economically active Namibian urban bottom-of-the-pyramid respondents through interviewer-administered questionnaires. Covariance-based structural equation modelling assessed the significant relationships among all constructs in the conceptual model.

This study found that for favourable apparel behavioural intentions of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers to occur, apparel retailers should emphasise trust, perceived awareness and self-identity through apparel assortment and groupings, easy-to-read visible signage, together with competent, friendly and respectful sales personnel in their store atmospherics.

The findings of this study may guide apparel retailers in other emerging African markets to develop regional integration, market-based solutions and inclusive economic growth focusing on “non-essential” products, such as apparel, among urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers.

This study expands the intellectual boundaries of urban bottom-of-the-pyramid consumers’ behavioural intentions towards “non-essential” products. The theoretical framework supports the integration of both the stimulus-organism-response model and the theory of planned behaviour into one single model for empirical investigation. Additionally, adopting a novel theoretical framework helped identify the impact of store atmospherics from a bottom-of-the-pyramid perspective in an emerging African market context, such as Namibia.