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This study aims to update a 2017 review of trends, barriers and outlooks for the future of the energy advice services market in Germany, as perceived by market actors. With growing national and European ambitions for comprehensive energy renovations, lessons for a functioning energy sector management can be drawn that are valid at European and international level.

This review combines quantitative and qualitative research approaches, using a survey covering over 500 energy advisors and follow-up qualitative stakeholder interviews. Based on the present market, this study seeks to identify feedback on regulatory measures to promote market development; remaining barriers against further market development; and business and cooperation models for energy services in the building sector.

Since the last review in 2017/2018, market development has tended to stagnate, despite a strong government commitment to boost energy services markets. Significant barriers persist, many of which are related to government regulation. These barriers discourage homeowners to engage in energy renovations. To support innovative business models, regulatory complexity needs to be reduced. European Union lawmakers and German Government need to take action to facilitate access to advice services.

This paper provides the latest, updated sectoral overview of Europe’s biggest energy service market as perceived by the market actors. It focuses on the analysis of barriers, business models and cooperation models to derive governance options for further triggering market dynamics.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the degree of willingness of property developers to invest in green features in Abuja, the federal capital city of Nigeria, to determine the level of their preparedness for green building development.

Data were elicited from the property managers of the various property development companies through self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with the use of frequency distribution, percentages and measures of developers’ willingness to invest index.

The study showed that the developers’ level of willingness to invest in green features is above average with the value of willingness indices on most features rising above 2.5 on a five-point scale. Features that are less capital intensive such as “Location of air intake that are far from source of pollution” (RWI = 4.14) and “Building design that utilize natural and cross ventilation” (RWI = 4.12) attracted higher developers’ level of willingness than features such as “Mechanical ventilation of enclosed parking area” (RWI = 2.15) and “Design for energy efficient deconstruction and recycling” (RWI = 1.84) that are more capital intensive. In addition, the index of willingness (relative willingness index of developers) on features that are associated with occupants’ comfort is higher than the index of willingness on features that confer more of environmental benefits.

The study concludes by advocating that parliamentary arms of all tiers of government should formulate environmental policies and laws that will entrench sustainable practices in the building industry in the country.

This is one of the few studies on the willingness of major stakeholders to invest in green features, particularly in the Nigerian context.

The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine the different word-of-mouth (WOM) acceptance and diffusion in social brand communities according to the level of self-monitoring.

A web-based experimental design was used. The design consisted of three-mixed design of 2 (type of social networking sites) × 2 (type of online brand communities) × 2 (self-monitoring). ANOVA analysis was conducted.

Findings indicate that the differences in acceptance and diffusion of WOM according to online brand community type, and there was a significant three-way interaction effect. Specifically, people who have high propensity to self-monitor showed greater WOM acceptance in a consumer-driven community in either type of social networking sites while people who have low propensity to self-monitor showed greater WOM diffusion in a consumer-driven community only in interest-based social networking sites.

An important implication is that the social networking sites where brand communities can be placed should be chosen with the full consideration of different desires consumers have in terms of their level of self-monitoring to increase WOM effects.

This paper proposes the self-monitoring tendency as the key factor that predicts WOM effects with revealing the optimal combination of types of social networking sites and online brand communities that is most preferable for consumers with different self-monitoring level.

Customer participation (CP) in service recovery is one of the ways to co-create value with the service provider. Most existing studies assume that customers are willing to participate in service recovery, provided the firm offers them the opportunity. In this study, the authors propose the construct named customer intention to participate in service recovery (CIPSR), develop a scale for it and argue that it is not always implicit but rather is dependent on the consumer's perceived control.

A multi-method approach was used with a combination of qualitative interviews, literature review, unaided dimension identification, correspondence analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modelling to develop the CIPSR scale. The authors used structural equation modelling to test the proposed effect of perceived control on CIPSR.

The study proposes a four-dimensional scale for CIPSR. The authors also found support for the effect of perceived control on CIPSR, with anxiety and failure controllability attribution as intermediate variables.

This study develops a comprehensive scale to measure CIPSR using a rigorous multi-method technique, as well as establishes its importance in the existing literature.

Sustainable development is a central issue for the world economy today. The United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are associated with both responsible business practices and strategic orientation for competitive advantages. While most multinational enterprises (MNEs) want to ensure that their businesses will maintain or even enhance sustainability across borders, they face enormous challenges, often due to a lack of capabilities and inefficient institutions in host countries. In the nexus between the SDGs and international business (IB) research, the contexts of emerging markets and developing countries have particular significance, because they impose complex constraints on the achievement of the SDGs. At the same time, there is a high potential for MNEs to have positive effects internationally through their sustainable practices. This chapter discusses the recent trend in IB research on sustainability by showcasing current issues addressing several interrelated SDGs. The exemplary topics touch upon child labor, innovation for social sustainability, challenges in the green transition, MNE activities associated with the pollution haven, and health and safety concerns in global supply chains. The discussion cuts across various contextual settings and calls for actions by all stakeholders, including business entities, governments, and scholars.

The development of upcoming inclusive leaders requires not just knowledge of inclusion competencies but also knowledge of how to develop them and when to use them. This chapter examines the effectiveness of combining a psychometric assessment tool – the Inclusion Competencies Inventory (ICI) – and an improvement approach that places developmental responsibility in the hands of the student, not the instructor. The increased need for inclusivity in organizations requires business school graduates, who will soon be taking on the role of organizational leaders, to develop inclusion competencies. We seek to enhance inclusion competencies through a model based on reflective development and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). There are several implications for academicians and practitioners who may choose to adopt this unique, participant-driven approach to developing inclusion leadership competencies.

A bibliometric analysis of 1,456 articles appearing in Indian Library and Information Science journals between 1975 and 1985 revealed that the average rate of citations per article in the field was quite low. Books and journals were identified as the major categories of documents referred to in these articles and both were positively related. It is concluded that the increase in journal citations and rate of citations between 1975 and 1985 indicates that Indian Library and Information Science journals are now publishing a higher number of research‐oriented articles in comparison with earlier years.

With the pressing need for environmental conservation, regulatory authorities are actively looking for measures to prevent global warming. In the proposed inventory model for deteriorating items, demand is dependent on the selling price and green technology investment (or carbon reduction investment) for the green product (GP), as well as an investment in price-based preservation technology to slow down the pace of deterioration. Furthermore, emission reduction measures are put in place to reduce carbon emissions (CEs).

The current study executed a thorough literature review to determine how to improve supply chain management performance. Furthermore, assumptions are made to fill research gaps, and a mathematical model is created to address the problem mentioned above. To collect the data, the available inventory literature was reviewed. Additionally, numerical illustrations and sensitivity analyses are presented to emphasize the model's robustness.

The research indicates that it is more prudent to invest in preservation technology based on its selling price in order to control the rate of deterioration. In addition, the proposed model facilitates the management of deteriorated waste through salvage trading and emission reduction investment. The findings validate sustainable practices with a 20.86% increase in profit and a 21.4% decrease in CEs, thereby signifying environmental and economic benefits.

The proposed model enhances understanding of the impact of investments in price-based preservation technology and carbon reduction efforts on consumer perceptions of their intention to purchase GPs. Moreover, the study provides valuable insights by identifying important recommendations for policymakers regarding areas that require further investigation. This guideline can help identify both current and unexplored gaps, enabling researchers to direct future research efforts toward producing new products.

Research suggests that dysfunctional behaviour by auditors may be related to the perceived tightness of time budgets. Using data collected from practising auditors, examines the nature of such a relationship. Found that the frequency of dysfunctional behaviour increased sharply as budgets were seen to approach unattainable levels of performance. Recognizing the importance of auditors’ perceptions regarding the attainability of budgets, examines antecedent variables affecting budget attainability. Found that the influence of client fee expectations, the level of audit senior participation and the influence of the audit programme were significant influences. Discusses implications for practice and possibilities for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a multi-item economic production quantity (EPQ) strategy under grey environment and space constraint. Since the “demand” cannot be predicted with certainty, it is assumed that data behave under grey environment and compare the proposed inventory model with other studies using crisp or fuzzy environments.

This paper is to optimise the cycle time and total cost of the multi-item EPQ inventory model. For this purpose, the Lagrangian coefficient is used to solve the constrained optimisation problem. The grey relational analysis approach and grey data are applied in developing the EPQ inventory model.

The results are compared with the analysis using crisp and fuzzy data. Sensitivity analysis is done to illustrate the effect of parameter variations on the optimal solution. The results of the study demonstrate that crisp data outperform the other two data in all scales problems in terms of cycle time and cost; grey data perform better in all scales problems than fuzzy data.

The contribution of this research is the use of grey data in developing the EPQ inventory model with space constraint.