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Disruptive shocks significantly compromise service contexts, challenging multidimensional value (co)creation. Recent focus has been on consumers experiencing vulnerability in service contexts. However, the susceptibility of service firms, employees and other actors to the impacts of disruptive shocks has received little attention. Since resource scarcity from disruptive shocks heightens tensions around balancing different needs in the service system, this paper aims to propose a framework of balanced centricity and service system resilience for service sustainability.

Adopting a conceptual model process, the paper integrates resilience and balanced centricity (method theories) with customer/consumer vulnerability (domain theory) resulting in a definition of multiactor vulnerability and related theoretical propositions.

Depleted, unavailable, or competed over resources among multiple actors constrain resource integration. Disruptive shocks nevertheless have upside potential. The interdependencies of actors in the service system call for deeper examination of multiple parties’ susceptibility to disruptive resource scarcity. The conceptual framework integrates multiactor vulnerability (when multiactor susceptibility to resource scarcity challenges value exchange) with processes of service system resilience, developing three research propositions. Emerging research questions and strategies for balanced centricity provide a research agenda.

A multiactor, balanced centricity perspective extends understanding of value cocreation, service resilience and service sustainability. Strategies for anticipating, coping with and adapting to disruptions in service systems are suggested by using the balanced centricity perspective, offering the potential to maintain (or enhance) the six types of value.

This research defines multiactor vulnerability, extending work on experienced vulnerabilities; describes the multilevel and multiactor perspective on experienced vulnerability in service relationships; and conceptualizes how balanced centricity can decrease multiactor vulnerability and increase service system resilience when mega disruptions occur.

This research explores the mediating role of a firm's innovativeness and customer orientation on the relationship between commercial success and total quality management (TQM) in the Indian SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) sector.

The hypotheses suggested for this study were validated using partial least squares-based structural equation modeling on data collected from 189 executives working in SaaS companies in India.

The findings of this study revealed that a SaaS company's innovativeness fully mediates the relationship between TQM and corporate performance, whereas the customer orientation of SaaS companies partially mediates the relationship between TQM and corporate performance.

Findings of this paper indicate that, in addition to TQM deployment, SaaS companies' innovativeness and customer-focused strategy will improve their corporate performance. With minimal research focusing on India, this study may be considered a pioneer work. It can serve as a basis for SaaS company promoters to improve their corporate performance by implementing TQM processes.

This study aims to help uncover corporate culture and values to attract and retain talent by understanding job reviews written by business-to-business (B2B) salespeople.

Over 40,000 job reviews on Glassdoor.com are analyzed by a dictionary-based content analysis tool, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2015), to explore the links between corporate culture and linguistics characteristics of reviews as articulated by B2B salespeople. This study adopted a multidimensional scaling approach based on the nine cultural value scores to create a map of corporate profiles. A projection of the LIWC2015 scores on this map uncovers differences in language patterns and emotions expressed across the profiles.

Findings reveal a map of corporate profiles with two dimensions, namely, product-centricity and customer-centricity, that divide salesforce subculture into a 2 × 2 matrix of four types: Empathic Innovators, Product Pioneers, Customer Champions and Commodity Traders.

This study combined two data sets, scores on CultureX’s nine cultural values (agility, collaboration, customer orientation, diversity, execution, innovation, integrity, performance and respect) and job reviews on Glassdoor.com. This research seeks to develop profiles of the organizational culture and to use a blend of qualitative and quantitative methods. This study adds to the literature on salesforce subculture and showcases a solution to the methodological difficulty in categorizing and measuring culture.

The aim of this work is to provide a theoretical model that can help companies to develop a unique approach to achieve both corporate environmental sustainability (CES) and successful customer experience management (CEM).

A two-phase study achieved the research aim. The first phase consisted of the analysis of contemporary theoretical contributions with a focus on CES and CEM. In the second phase, taking a qualitative approach, the key dimensions identified in the initial analysis were investigated to explore the dominant perceptions of practitioners and to hone the theoretical categories.

Five innovative pathways emerged from the study to inform decision-making while maintaining the dual objectives of CES and successful CEM. These pathways are combined to offer a strategic tool for managers and for research advances. This original integrated model also offers six novel theoretical propositions that describe how to shape corporate decisions to achieve environmental sustainability in CEM.

Firms can benefit from an approach that integrates CES and CEM to develop a new mindset for an innovative and valuable decision-making process and to design more captivating experiences for customers. Nevertheless, the efficacy and generalizability of the theoretical framework and propositions require empirical testing.

This paper makes an original contribution to the environmental sustainability and marketing literature by bringing together all elements in these fields of research in a conceptual model. Moreover, this paper proposes theoretical propositions that advance knowledge of the subject and offer ideas for future research and managers.

Customer-obsessed organizations put customers first, create exceptional value and enhance business performance. This paper aims to offer a framework for implementing the customer obsession construct.

Using relevant customer value literature, syndicated research and a qualitative analysis, customer obsession insights are offered.

Customer-obsessed companies know their customers’ needs and engage with them to offer the best solutions. Four customer-centric stages are evaluated, and applications of customer obsession in the Now Economy are discussed.

This analysis of customer obsession is largely conceptual and presents a case study in one metropolitan statistical area. Although the findings are insightful, it may not be representative of the US or global health-care market.

Strategic implications relate to a bias for action, types of business obsessions, values alignment and benchmarking. This paper features an in-depth case study on Baptist Health South Florida which assesses customer obsession using a customer value framework.

Customer obsession is a strategic mindset built upon strong leadership, a sound business culture and superior value. While critical to business success, there has been limited scholarly work in this area. This paper fills that gap by providing a managerial approach for understanding this key business priority.

This paper aims to explore the relationship between owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and its effect on human resource management (HRM) practices, contextual ambidexterity and knowledge-intensive small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs) strategic agility.

This study presents an in-depth qualitative case study analysis of two knowledge-intensive SMEs from India’s information technology and health-care products industry serving a range of global clients. Using the theoretical lenses of empowerment-focused HRM practices, ambidextrous leaders, contextual ambidexterity and strategic agility, semi-structured interview data of leaders, managers and employees of the case organizations were analysed. Through a two-staged analytical process, we abductively developed a novel conceptual framework at the intersection of the above theoretical lenses.

The findings suggest that the knowledge-intensive SME’s strategic agility, ambidexterity and empowerment-focussed HRM approach was influenced by the owner-manager or leader’s ambidextrous leadership style and their philosophy towards managing people and had a positive impact in creating a culture of trust, participation, risk-taking and openness, and led to delivering innovative products and services as well as several positive employee-level outcomes.

Recent literature reviews on HRM In SMEs highlight several gaps, including the impact of owner-manager or leader’s philosophy of managing people in shaping HRM practices and employee outcomes. This paper thus adds to the existing literature on HRM and knowledge-intensive SMEs.

This study aims to analyze and discuss the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on firms’ performance, as well as to examine the interplay between CSR and the economy, society and innovation.

This paper collects data from 420 manufacturing firms across various geographical regions in China. By using a structural equation model, the paper investigates the impact of CSR on enterprise innovation, customer management capability, market competitiveness (MC) and firm financial performance.

The findings demonstrate that CSR performance positively contributes to enhancing the level of enterprise innovation, as well as customer management capability and market competitiveness. Furthermore, it assists enterprises in improving market competitiveness and elevating customer management capabilities. Thus, CSR can have a positive effect on the firm financial performance.

The outcomes presented in this paper offer valuable evidence regarding the influence of implementing CSR on different aspects of enterprise performance and innovation. Moreover, it provides practical recommendations for enterprises seeking to transition towards low-carbon practices and upgrade their manufacturing industry.

Customer service conversations are becoming increasingly digital and automated, leaving service encounters impersonal. The purpose of this paper is to identify how customer service agents and conversational artificial intelligence (AI) applications can provide a personal touch and improve the customer experience in customer service. The authors offer a conceptual framework delineating how text-based customer service communication should be designed to increase relational personalization.

This paper presents a systematic literature review on conversation styles of conversational AI and integrates the extant research to inform the development of the proposed conceptual framework. Using social information processing theory as a theoretical lens, the authors extend the concept of relational personalization for text-based customer service communication.

The conceptual framework identifies conversation styles, whose degree of expression needs to be personalized to provide a personal touch and improve the customer experience in service. The personalization of these conversation styles depends on available psychological and individual customer knowledge, contextual factors such as the interaction and service type, as well as the freedom of communication the conversational AI or customer service agent has.

The article is the first to conduct a systematic literature review on conversation styles of conversational AI in customer service and to conceptualize critical elements of text-based customer service communication required to provide a personal touch with conversational AI. Furthermore, the authors provide managerial implications to advance customer service conversations with three types of conversational AI applications used in collaboration with customer service agents, namely conversational analytics, conversational coaching and chatbots.

This study aims to assess how employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer-centricity intervene in the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness of insurance firms.

This study was a survey, with data collected using a structured questionnaire. The population was the insurance firms in Ghana, and the target respondents were employees. The sample comprises 218 employees drawn from 19 insurers. Data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.

This study concludes that transformational leadership had a direct effect on organizational competitiveness. Employee innovativeness partially mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness. Employee self-efficacy moderated the effect of transformational leadership on employee innovativeness. Finally, customer-centricity moderated the effect of employee innovativeness on the organizational competitiveness of insurance firms.

Future studies should pay particular attention to the individual dimensions of transformational leadership (individualized consideration, intellectual stimulation, inspirational motivation and idealized influence), in combination with the other constructs studied.

Insurance is a service industry, which sells mostly unsolicited products. Customer-centricity is therefore very crucial in achieving organizational competitiveness. Attention should also be paid to transformational leadership and employee self-efficacy, as they enhanced employee innovativeness needed for competitive advantage.

This study contributed to the understanding of the relationship between transformational leadership and organizational competitiveness, by identifying employee innovativeness, employee self-efficacy and customer centricity, as intervening variables.