Search results

Utilizing the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, this study examines how stimuli such as green sustainability efforts and brand image affect organisms namely brand experience and brand trust, leading to brand-related outcomes such as brand affinity, brand satisfaction and purchase intention in the soft drink industry in Singapore.

An online survey was administered to a total of 243 members of several Singapore-based Facebook groups. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The results show the positive effects of green sustainability efforts on brand image, brand experience and brand trust. Brand experience affects brand satisfaction, brand affinity and purchase intention, whereas brand trust affects brand satisfaction and purchase intention. Moreover, the mediating roles of brand experience and brand trust are verified.

To build strong consumer-brand relationships, managers can elevate brand experience and brand trust through the implementation of green sustainability efforts.

This study adds to the body of green sustainability literature by verifying the mediating effect of brand experience and brand trust in the relationship between green sustainability efforts and brand-related outcomes. The study clarifies the direct and indirect antecedents of brand affinity, brand satisfaction and purchase intention.

Based on the Natural resource-based view (NRBV), this study aims to analyze the association between the Sustainable Development Goals related to Gender Equality, Decent Work, Innovation, and Climatic Action in the Food Industry.

A quantitative study is adopted based on the 2019 World Bank Enterprise Survey microdata. The database includes 1,242 food enterprises from 16 European Union countries. We applied logistic regression with cluster robust standard errors.

Despite global efforts to promote decent work and gender equity, the anticipated results have not yet been achieved, suggesting varying performance in different contexts. Food firms, characterized by significant environmental impacts and seasonal tasks, employ diverse Human Resource Management (HRM) strategies based on whether they pursue innovation or environmental objectives. Grounded in the NRBV, our findings underscore the importance of investing in qualified workers and offering attractive wages to meet environmental goals, as well as providing stable contracts for female workers. The NRBV framework also highlights the crucial role of product and process innovations, whether green or not, in achieving climate action objectives.

European policies must be adapted to the human resources characteristics in the food industry, providing specific training on environmental and innovation issues and contributing to more work stability and gender equality.

Our study applies the NRBV to analyze how human resources and product/process innovations can boost environmental preservation in an industry characterized by strong environmental impacts, seasonal tasks, and financial constraints.

Climate change has led to a rise in the frequency, intensity and scope of droughts, posing significant implications for businesses. This study examines the impact of local community drought levels on audit pricing. Additionally, it explores the moderating effects of high-tech industries, auditor busyness and the level of local community concern regarding the drought crisis.

This study employs a mixed-methods approach to rigorously test the research hypotheses. The quantitative phase of the study utilizes a sample of 1,278 firm-year observations from Iran’s capital market. For the analysis of the quantitative data, ordinary least squares regression with clustered robust standard errors is used. Additionally, this research supplements its quantitative findings with qualitative evidence obtained through semi-structured interviews with 19 Iranian audit partners.

The results suggest that firms operating in provinces facing severe droughts experience notably higher audit fees. Furthermore, the positive relationship between drought and audit fees is weakened when auditors are busy, local community concern regarding the drought crisis is high or the firm operates within high-tech industries. These findings are supported by a range of robustness checks and qualitative evidence gathered from the field.

This research contributes to the growing literature on climate change by examining the influence of local community drought levels on audit pricing within an Iranian context. Additionally, our study sheds light on how high-tech industries, auditor workload and the level of local community concern regarding the drought crisis moderate the relationship between drought and audit fees. Importantly, our study pioneers in providing mixed-methods evidence of the association between drought severity and audit fees.

Teaching wine tasting online is challenging, even given the curated digital tools of the Wine and Spirit Education Trust, a highly renowned online wine certification system is used. This paper aims to initially explore wine experts’ opinions about online wine education and subsequently examine the feasibility of customizing wine appreciation lexicons for Chinese learners.

A two-study multimethod approach was adopted. Study 1, a two-stage Delphi study, was conducted with 17 wine experts representing a number of countries, using a mix of closed/open-ended questions in an online survey. Data was collected in a market study in Study 2, conducted at agricultural markets in Thailand (pilot test) and China. Dialogues with market sellers were undertaken, evoking mental imagery of wine descriptors to explore the relevance of traditional versus local aromas and flavors in describing wine.

Findings concentrate on three main areas: general advantages/disadvantages of online wine education, reactions toward asynchronous/synchronous methods of wine tasting and, finally, the feasibility of customizing a wine appreciation lexicon for Chinese learners.

The study presents novel insights into the role of online wine education in China.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused irrefutable devastation globally. Yet, academic and trade commentators have claimed that this disruption could have had a silver lining by presenting the fashion industry with the opportunity to reassess and rebuild in a slower, more considered way. Part of this reassessment, some have argued, may have been allowing the industry's pre-COVID sustainability buzz to come to fruition by nudging the fashion industry to go circular. This paper explores if, and how, the COVID-19 pandemic was (not) nudging the industry towards circularity using the case study of circular textiles.

Serial, semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted with three buyers and sourcers working for three UK-based fashion retailers. Each participant was involved in three interviews in June 2020 following the UK's first national lockdown.

The research findings suggest that, at the time this research was undertaken, these retailers were focussed on regaining profit, protecting their supply chains and producing “safe” designs whilst cutting back and becoming more risk averse. These actors suggested that, in contrast to the suppositions made by academic and media commentators, the COVID-19 pandemic was acting as a hindrance to circularity, not a helping hand, as retailers were less willing to invest in circular textiles at that time than they were pre-pandemic.

This paper offers valuable insight into the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on circular innovation within fashion retail whilst contributing to broader understandings of the principles of the circular economy within textiles and design.

This paper aims to present the vertical integration state-of-the-art and propose an expansion of the operations and supply chain management (OSCM) field by identifying gaps and bottlenecks.

This paper uses a systematic literature review based on a sample of 173 OSCM field articles, collected from Scopus and Web of Science databases.

There are no single factors, such as future costs, structures or skills development, in the decision to vertically integrate operations. It is necessary to combine the vision of production costs with the perspective of governance and transaction costs. In addition, it is essential to consider the competency perspective and its impact on capability building.

Few studies have attempted to understand how vertical integration is used in terms of OSCM research themes and theories. Vertical integration can help companies face challenges and serve as a potential solution for achieving better prices, demand control and quality management.

The significant role of vertical integration mechanisms in supply chains is crucial for managers evaluating a firm's reconfiguration with more vertical operations. Policymakers interested in supporting the smoothness of vertical integration decisions in regulatory agencies play a key role as contingencies.

In times of global challenges, vertical integration is a strategy known to be more effective for firms to obtain a competitive advantage, making them more resilient.

This paper addresses gaps in the vertical integration theme and provides insights for future research development.

Total productive maintenance consists of strategies and procedures that aim to guarantee the entire functioning of machines in a production process so that production is not interrupted and no loss of quality in the final product occurs. Planned maintenance is one of the eight pillars of total productive maintenance, a set of tools considered essential to ensure equipment reliability and availability, reduce unplanned stoppage and increase productivity. This study aims to analyze the influence of statistical reliability on the performance of such a pillar.

In this study, we utilized a multi-method approach to rigorously examine the impact of statistical reliability on the planned maintenance pillar within total productive maintenance. Our methodology combined a detailed statistical analysis of maintenance data with advanced reliability modeling, specifically employing Weibull distribution to analyze failure patterns. Additionally, we integrated qualitative insights gathered through semi-structured interviews with the maintenance team, enhancing the depth of our analysis. The case study, conducted in a fertilizer granulation plant, focused on a critical failure in the granulator pillow block bearing, providing a comprehensive perspective on the practical application of statistical reliability within total productive maintenance; and not presupposing statistical reliability is the solution over more effective methods for the case.

Our findings reveal that the integration of statistical reliability within the planned maintenance pillar significantly enhances predictive maintenance capabilities, leading to more accurate forecasts of equipment failure modes. The Weibull analysis of the granulator pillow block bearing indicated a mean time between failures of 191.3 days, providing support for optimizing maintenance schedules. Moreover, the qualitative insights from the maintenance team highlighted the operational benefits of our approach, such as improved resource allocation and the need for specialized training. These results demonstrate the practical impact of statistical reliability in preventing unplanned downtimes and informing strategic decisions in maintenance planning, thereby emphasizing the importance of your work in the field.

In terms of the originality and practicality of this study, we emphasize the significant findings that underscore the positive influence of using statistical reliability in conjunction with the planned maintenance pillar. This approach can be instrumental in designing and enhancing component preventive maintenance plans. Furthermore, it can effectively manage equipment failure modes and monitor their useful life, providing valuable insights for professionals in total productive maintenance.

The aim of this study is to investigate, in the Turkish market, the elements on the front and back labels of wine bottles depicting the characteristics of the wines and their impact on the purchasing decisions of wine consumers in Turkey.

The questionnaire consisted of 24 items that used a five-point Likert scale. Data were collected through a self-administered online survey completed by 340 participants. Following exploratory factor analysis with principal component analysis and varimax rotation, the number of factors was reduced to six: front and back-label consumer experiences, front label design elements, intrinsic cue information, back-label contents, storage/flavor profile and health warnings. The final section of the questionnaire presented five digitally designed front and back labels and asked participants to indicate their preferences.

The results indicated that reading/checking the front and back labels on wine bottles was more important than all other factors. Turkish consumers generally prefer traditional front label designs, while female consumers are more open to contemporary designs compared to male consumers. Back-label designs with more information are generally more acceptable, although female consumers with good wine knowledge may not consider food pairing, storage, or service information.

This research was designed only based on the elements of the front and back labels. The research should expand to include packaging characteristics such as bottle shape, bottle closure, price, and situational use.

The findings of this study offer valuable insights for Turkish wine producers aiming to enhance their marketing strategies by customizing their wine label designs to better align with the market.

This study is the preliminary study to investigate Turkish consumers purchasing decisions based on the front- and back-label characteristics by using both verbal and visual elements.

Considering the transition of communicational channels from physical to digital spaces, this study aims to provide a theoretical foundation for understanding engagement in electronic word of mouth (eWoM) among managers and customers in the hospitality and tourism industry.

This study uses the four aggregate dimensions, namely, performance expectancy, efforts expectancy, social influence and facilitations condition. Further, this paper uses the 14 second-order themes of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology with a data set that represents elements that can trigger eWoM, both from managers’ and customers’ perspectives. The process of data structuration follows thematic analysis and axial coding techniques.

The results of this study show that performance expectancy, facilitation conditions, social influence and effort expectancy all trigger positive eWoM generation in the hospitality and tourism industry indicating customers’ and managers’ perspectives.

This novel study provides a theoretical foundation and novel propositions for future research work on the role of novel antecedents that can trigger eWoM in the hospitality and tourism industry. This paper also provides a benchmark for practitioners and policymakers in their strategic decisions-making towards improving business performance through positive eWoM.

This paper takes the manufacturing cluster supply chain as the research object and explores the evaluation and enhancement strategy of manufacturing cluster supply chain synergy. The purpose of this study was to (1) analyze the mechanism of manufacturing cluster supply chain synergy; (2) construct manufacturing cluster supply chain synergy evaluation model; (3) algorithm realization of manufacturing cluster supply chain synergy evaluation and (4) propose manufacturing cluster-based supply chain synergy enhancement strategy.

Breaking through the limitations of traditional manufacturing cluster supply chain synergy evaluation, we take horizontal synergy and vertical synergy as coupled synergy subsystems, use the complex system synergy model to explore the horizontal synergy between core enterprises and cluster enterprises and the vertical synergy of supply chain enterprises and use the coupling coordination model to construct the coupled synergy evaluation model of manufacturing cluster supply chain, which is an innovation of the evaluation perspective of previous cluster supply chain synergy and also an enrichment and supplementation of the evaluation methodology. This is not only the innovation of the evaluation perspective but also the enrichment and supplementation of the evaluation method.

Using Python software to conduct empirical analysis on the evaluation model, the research shows that the horizontal and vertical synergies of the manufacturing cluster supply chain interact with each other and jointly affect the coupling synergy. On this basis, targeted strategies are proposed to enhance the synergy of the manufacturing cluster supply chain.

This study takes manufacturers, suppliers and sellers in the three-level supply chain as the research object and does not consider the synergistic evaluation between distributors and consumers in the supply chain, which can be further explored in this direction in the future.

Advanced manufacturing clusters, as the main force of manufacturing development, and the synergistic development of supply chain are one of the important driving forces for the high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry. As a new type of network organization coupling industrial clusters and supply chains, cluster supply chain is conducive not only to improving the competitiveness of cluster supply chains but also to upgrading cluster supply chains through horizontal synergy within the cluster and vertical synergy in the supply chain.

Research can help accelerate the transformation and upgrading of clustered supply chains in the manufacturing industry, promote high-quality development of the manufacturing industry and accelerate the rise of the global value chain position of the manufacturing industry.

(1) Innovation of research perspective. Starting from two perspectives of horizontal synergy and vertical synergy, we take a core enterprise in the cluster supply chain as the starting point, horizontally explore the main enterprises of the cluster as the research object of horizontal synergy, vertically explore the upstream and downstream enterprises of the supply chain as the research object of vertical synergy and explore the coupling synergy of cluster supply chain as two subsystems, which provides new perspectives of evaluation of the degree of synergy and synergy evaluation. (2) Innovation of research content. Nine manufacturing clusters are selected as research samples, and through data collection and model analysis, it is verified that the evaluation model and implementation algorithm designed in this paper have strong practicability, which not only provides methodological reference for the evaluation of manufacturing cluster-type supply chain synergy but also reduces the loss caused by the instability of clusters and supply chains and then provides a theoretical basis for improving the overall performance of cluster-type supply chains.