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As opposed to conventional promotional methods, Word-of-Mouth (WOM) communication, especially when negative, significantly shapes customers’ repurchase decisions and preferences. Therefore, this study aims to examine the interplay between negative WOM and bank service failures, with a focus on the mediating role of customer switching intentions and the moderating role of switching costs in this relationship.

Using an online semi-structured questionnaire survey, a dataset comprising 411 responses was gathered from retail bank customers in China. This dataset was subsequently analyzed using SPSS PROCESS.

Consistent with the social exchange theory, our study revealed a significant relationship between service failure and both bank customers’ intention to switch and negative WOM communication. Additionally, we observed that switching intentions significantly influence negative WOM communications, acting as a mediator between service failures and negative WOM. Furthermore, our findings indicated that switching costs moderate the direct effect of service failures on negative WOM and moderate the indirect effect of service failures on negative WOM through switching intentions.

This study provides significant policy implications aimed at minimizing bank service failures and subsequent negative WOM communications among bank customers.

This study empirically investigates the role of service failures in promoting negative WOM communication, demonstrating a partial mediation effect of switching intentions in this relationship. Moreover, the study highlights that switching costs moderate service failures’ impact on customers’ switching intentions.

This study investigates the impact of internal expectations, such as fantasy of success and fear of failure and external factors, such as social environment and past experiences, on entrepreneurial choice.

Based on achievement motivation and social cognitive theories, the authors construct hypotheses and use secondary data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) database and Economic Freedom Index report to empirically test the hypotheses. The authors also use propensity score matching to solve the endogeneity issue and test the robustness.

Internal expectations (fantasy of success and fear of failure) on business outcomes inversely affect entrepreneurial choices, with a vibrant business environment amplifying and past failure experience mitigating these effects.

Due to the economic recession, governments encourage small businesses. Thus, the complexity of individual entrepreneurial motivations and influencing factors necessitate deeper exploration. This study is one of the first research offering insights into entrepreneurial motivations from combined dimensions and providing theoretical support for strategies promoting public entrepreneurship.

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.

Steam explosions are a major safety concern in many modern furnaces. The explosions are sometimes caused by water ingress into the furnace from leaks in its high-pressure (HP) cooling water system, coming into contact with molten matte. To address such safety issues related to steam explosions, risk based inspection (RBI) is suggested in this paper. RBI is presently one of the best-practice methodologies to provide an inspection schedule and ensure the mechanical integrity of pressure vessels. The application of RBIs on furnace HP cooling systems in this work is performed by incorporating the proportional hazards model (PHM) with the RBI approach; the PHM uses real-time condition data to allow dynamic decision-making on inspection and maintenance planning.

To accomplish this, a case study is presented that applies an HP cooling system data with moisture and cumulated feed rate as covariates or condition indicators to compute the probability of failure and the consequence of failure (CoF), which is modelled based on the boiling liquid-expanding vapour explosion (BLEVE) theory.

The benefit of this approach is that the risk assessment introduces real-time condition data in addition to time-based failure information to allow improved dynamic decision-making for inspection and maintenance planning of the HP cooling system. The work presented here comprises the application of the newly proposed methodology in the context of pressure vessels, considering the important challenge of possible explosion accidents due to BLEVE as the CoF calculations.

This paper however aims to optimise the inspection schedule on the HP cooling system, by incorporating PHM into the RBI methodology, as was recently proposed in the literature by Lelo et al. (2022). Moisture and cumulated feed rate are used as covariate. At the end, risk mitigation policy is suggested.

In this paper, the proposed methodology yields a dynamically calculated quantified risk, which emphasised the imperative for mitigating the risk, as well as presents a number of mitigation options, to quantifiably affect such mitigation.

The paper follows Jason Cope's (2011) vision of a holistic perspective on the failure-based learning process. By analyzing the research since Cope's first attempt, which is often fragmentary in nature, and providing novel empirical insights, the paper aims to draw a new comprehensive picture of all five phases of entrepreneurial learning and their interplay.

The study features an interpretative phenomenological analysis of in-depth interviews with 18 failed entrepreneurs. Findings are presented and discussed in line with experiential learning theory and Cope's conceptual framework of five interrelated learning timeframes spanning from the descent into failure until re-emergence.

The study reveals different patterns of how entrepreneurs experience failure, ranging from abrupt to gradual descent paths, different management and coping behaviors, and varying learning effects depending on the new professional setting (entrepreneurial vs non-entrepreneurial). Analyzing the entrepreneurs' experiences throughout the process shows different paths and connections between individual phases. Findings indicate that the learning timeframes may overlap, appear in different orders, loop, or (partly) stay absent, indicating that the individual learning process is even more dynamic and heterogeneous than hitherto known.

The paper contributes to the field of entrepreneurial learning from failure, advancing Cope's seminal work on the learning process and -contents by providing novel empirical insights and discussing them in the light of recent scientific findings. Since entrepreneurial learning from failure is a complex and dynamic process, using a holistic lens in the analysis contributes to a better understanding of this phenomenon as an integrated whole.

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of three coping strategies (i.e. active, expressive, and denial coping) in the relationships between service failures (i.e. high- and low-contact service failures) and negative behavioral intentions (i.e. switching intention).

The critical incident technique (CIT) was used to identify the conceptually categorized service failure types in the fitness industry, and then confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were performed to examine the mediating effect of coping strategies among high-contact service failure and switching intention (study 1) and the mediating effect of coping strategies among low-contact service failure and switching intention (study 2).

While the mediating effect of coping strategies was significant in the relationship between high-contact service failures (study 1) and negative behaviors (i.e. switching intention and complaints), it was not significant in the relationship between low-contact service failures (study 2) and switching intention. Out of the three coping strategies, the impact of active coping was significant.

This study extends the understanding of the mediating effect of coping strategies in the relation between high- and low-contact service failures and switching intention.

Adhesive bonding is critical to the effectiveness and structural integrity of 3D printed components. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of joint configuration on failure loads to improve the design and performance of single lap joints (SLJs) in 3D printed parts.

In this study, adherends were fabricated using material extrusion 3D printing technology with polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG). A toughened methacrylate adhesive was chosen to bond the SLJs after adherend printing. In this study, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to examine the effect of the independent variables of failure load, manufacturing time and mass on the dependent variable of joint configuration; adherend thickness (3.2, 4.0, 4.8, 5.6, 6.4, and 7.2 mm) and overlap lengths (12.7, 25.4, 38.1, and 50.8 mm) of 3D printed PETG SLJs.

The strength of the joints improved significantly with the increase in overlap length and adherend thickness, although the relationship was not linear. The maximum failure load occurred with a thickness of 7.2 mm and an overlap of 50.8 mm, whilst the minimum failure load was determined with a thickness of 3.2 mm and an overlap of 12.7 mm. The RSM findings show that the optimum failure load was achieved with an adherend thickness of 3.6 mm and an overlap length of 37.9 mm for SLJ.

This study provides insight into the optimum failure load for 3D printed SLJs, reducing SLJ production time and mass, producing lightweight structures due to the nature of 3D printing, and increasing the use of these parts in load-bearing applications.

While the proliferation of chatbots allows companies to connect with their customers in a cost- and time-efficient manner, it is not deniable that they quite often fail expectations and may even pose negative impacts on user experience. The purpose of the study is to empirically explore the negative user experience with chatbots and understand how users respond to service failure caused by chatbots.

This study adopts a qualitative research method and conducts thematic analysis of 23 interview transcripts.

It identifies common areas where chatbots fail user expectations and cause service failure. These include their inability to comprehend and provide information, over-enquiry of personal or sensitive information, fake humanity, poor integration with human agents, and their inability to solve complicated user queries. Negative emotions such as anger, frustration, betrayal and passive defeat were experienced by participants when they interacted with chatbots. We also reveal four coping strategies users employ following a chatbots-induced failure: expressive support seeking, active coping, acceptance and withdrawal.

Our study extends our current understanding of human-chatbot interactions and provides significant managerial implications. It highlights the importance for organizations to re-consider the role of their chatbots in user interactions and balance the use of human and chatbots in the service context, particularly in customer service interactions that involve resolving complex issues or handling non-routinized tasks.

The purpose of this study was to examine entrepreneurs’ learning before, during and after entrepreneurial failure and understand the relationship between learning and recovery from failure.

A qualitative multiple case study was carried out based on entrepreneur interviews who have experienced the failure of their businesses.

The study finds that entrepreneurs learn both during the company’s lifespan and post-failure, with distinct types and intensities of learning at different life cycle phases. It highlights the link between learning and emotions during the failure process, revealing entrepreneurs’ limited awareness of their knowledge gaps, particularly during successful business phases, and shows the difference between women and men.

One limitation of this study is that the companies are all located in northern and central Portugal, and the number of entrepreneurs starting new ventures post-failure is limited. Another is a lack of comprehensive measurement of the economic impact, especially on the health of individuals who have experienced the impact of failure. The absence of concrete data hampers understanding and the development of targeted support mechanisms for these individuals.

This study stands out for its unique approach, thoroughly exploring the intricate, profound and significant experiences during a crisis, such as a business failure, from the entrepreneurs’ perspective. It delves into their learning processes before, during and after the failure, providing a comprehensive understanding. This study evidence that significant learning occurs during the operation of the business, and not during or after failure, due to the limitations imposed by the pain and disorientation it causes. Therefore, if recovery does not occur, learning does not happen either. It also highlights the differences between women and men in their learning experiences, adding a new dimension to the research.

Although trade volumes in e-retailing have increased significantly in recent years, logistics service failures are inevitable, especially at the delivery stage. Therefore, it is essential to provide customers with effective recovery strategies to increase their satisfaction and repurchase intentions. There is a lack of empirical evidence on whether the response time or the discount offered in compensation is more crucial for customers. Therefore, this study aims to determine whether the response time or the discount offered for high and low criticality failures has a greater impact on customer satisfaction levels and repurchase intentions for female and male customers.

A scenario-based experimental design method has been adopted to collect data, and 697 participants aged 18 and 58 years have been reached. The research utilized a between-subjects design, incorporating three factors: gender (female vs male), criticality (high vs low) and compensation (7 days: 10% discount, 10 days: 20% discount and 14 days: 30% discount). Six scenarios depicting the failure of an online retailer were created, and factorial univariate ANOVA was conducted to test the hypotheses.

The study's results show that in terms of customer satisfaction, female customers attach more importance to the response time in the case of high criticality and the amount of discount offered in the case of low criticality. On the other hand, male customers give more importance to the response time in terms of customer satisfaction when they experience a high or low criticality failure. In the case of low criticality, response time is more important for male customers to increase their repurchase intentions, while the amount of the discount is more important for female customers.

The study demonstrates the relative importance of the response time and discount amount according to the criticality level of failures and to guide business managers in terms of the recovery strategies they will implement. It focuses on gender differences and determine whether the response time or discount amount is more important for male and female customers in high or low-criticality situations.