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Humanity and all life depend on the natural environment of Planet Earth, and that environment is in acute crisis across land, sea and air. One of a set of commentaries on how service can address the UN’s sustainable development goals (SDGs), the authors focus on environmental goals SDG 13 (climate action), SDG 14 (life below water) and SDG 15 (life on land). This paper aims to propose a conceptual framework that incorporates the natural environment into transformative services.

The authors trace the evolution of service thinking about the natural environment, from a stewardship perspective of the environment as a set of resources to be managed, through an acknowledgement of nonhuman organisms as actors that can participate in service exchange, towards an emergent concept of ecosystems as integrating human social actors and other biological actors who engage fully in value co-creation.

The authors derive a framework integrating human and other life forms as co-creating actors, drawing on shared natural resources to achieve mutualism, where each actor can have a net benefit from the relationship. Future research questions are posited that may help services research address SDGs 13–15.

The framework integrates ideas from environmental ecosystem literature to inform the nature of ecosystems. By integrating environmental actors and ecological insights into the understanding of service ecosystems, service scholars are well placed to make unique contributions to the global challenge of creating a sustainable future.

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly making use of e‐commerce. This study seeks to identify the reasons that are causing such businesses to adopt e‐commerce (adoption intentions); the benefits they are realising from their e‐commerce developments; and, importantly, to determine if the areas identified as important are indeed those where benefits are being realised. It was found that responding to competitive pressure was the main reason leading companies to adopt e‐commerce. Information sharing and communication between employees within the firm were found to be the e‐commerce activities where firms are realising the greatest benefit. Areas where e‐commerce could be considered as “under‐performing” were found to be online recruitment and procurement. Areas that could be considered to be “over‐performing”, and hence may indicate an appropriate starting point for those firms yet to adopt e‐commerce, are in internal knowledge sharing and communication.

IT support for marketing planning can aid in the use of marketing tools, facilitate group planning, and support moves towards continuous planning based on a live marketing model of the business. But, amongst other factors, achieving these benefits depends on the style of support provided by the system. After a review of relevant decision support system (DSS) literature, describes here the findings relating to support style from a qualitative evaluation of a system named EXMAR. The findings support Little’s classic rules of “decision calculus”, such as the importance of ensuring that managers understand and can control the system, rather than the objective influenced by management science of prescribing an optimal recommendation. Also emphasises the role of systems in enhancing mutual understanding in a cross‐functional planning team, and hence in building commitment to the resulting plan.

A research study is described exploring the potential of decision support systems to improve marketing planning practice, using a combination of project action research and case research approaches. The paper focuses on solutions to two practical methodological problems: how to analyse action research data in as rigorous a way as possible; and how to minimise the biases which can arise from the action researcher's dual role as participant and observer. In particular, the paper describes an adaptation of the research design termed analytic induction to the complex, multi‐propositional theory common in action research, and indeed in much qualitative management research. The findings of the study itself are also reported briefly.

The internet is initially hailed as the future of recruitment and is expected to replace other media as the preferred recruitment method, but the adoption of online recruitment has not been as comprehensively predicted. In addition, empirical research regarding online recruitment from an organisational perspective is sparse. This paper aims to examine the reasons behind an organisation's decision to use online recruitment, and reports on the development of a model of the factors affecting the adoption of this recruitment method.

The paper uses in‐depth interviews and a survey of human resource (HR) managers with recruitment responsibility. The factors that affect the adoption of online recruitment are explored, and related to Rogers's diffusion of innovation theory (DIT) and Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB).

Factors related to the adoption of corporate web sites and commercial jobs boards are found to be different, with positive beliefs/relative advantage, subjective norms and negative beliefs emerging in the case of corporate web sites and positive beliefs/relative advantage and compatibility for jobs boards. These results provide some fit with both Ajzen's and Rogers' factors.

This paper addresses an important area that is under‐researched academically and provides a basis for further research into how organisations may adopt online recruitment successfully.

The use of information systems (IS) in marketing is maturing, as previous piecemeal systems are replaced by CRM suites, which provide a unified view of the customer. However, research and practice in this domain suffer from the lack of a commonly accepted map of the marketing process, let alone of the potential marketing IS applications which support it. This paper describes an inductively derived process map of marketing, which is used as a basis for a map of marketing information systems. Maps synthesised from previous research were refined through seven case studies of the deployment of IS in marketing, using the analytic induction approach. The marketing map includes a revised definition of the sales process, a scoping of the role of integrated marketing communications, and a redefinition of the relationship between marketing and the other elements of Porter's value chain. Several implications of the IS map which overlays it are discussed.

Focuses on the potential negative impact of released transgenic artifacts on the genetic diversity of wild plant populations. Expresses the view that crops and companion weeds evolve together through an on‐going exchange of genes and asserts that this leaves both crop and weed forms having the same, limited gene pool. Speculates that the insertion of a genetic modification that gives evolutionary advantage to a plant could transmit very easily to companion varieties and these would then be in a position to supplant wild, non‐companion types that are the source of genetic diversity for the entire species.

Planning tools originating from logical rational models of strategy formation still have their place in e‐commerce, albeit complemented with elements of incrementalism and vision. Tools for prioritisation specifically, though, are unvalidated in this sphere. Action research would seem to be well suited to turbulent environments such as e‐commerce, due to its immediacy of outcome, its future orientation, its respect for practitioners as co‐producers of knowledge and its cyclical process. An action research study is described which modifies the directional policy matrix (DPM) to take account of competition between business models, not just between individual organisations. Conclusions are drawn on the wider applicability of the matrix, the role of strategy tools in situations of uncertainty, and the role of action research in reducing the gap between theory and practice.

Radio frequency identification (RFID) is increasingly being presented as a technology with the potential to improve supply chain performance, but empirical evidence from early adopters is sparse. This paper aims to rectify this scarcity and contribute to a more informed discussion in and between academic and practitioner communities.

The paper is based on a conceptual model of factors influencing the success of adoption efforts. It then reports the results of a survey of 612 European supply chain managers, focusing on the 128 respondents who have begun RFID trials.

A significant influence on operational deployment is the presence of mandates from key customers requiring the technology's use. Customer mandates also impact the anticipated benefits of a faster sales cycle and of enhanced systems integration, though the relationships are complex. By contrast, greater cost reduction benefits are anticipated in two industries where mandates are less common – industrial goods and logistics. Perceived organizational innovativeness positively impacts anticipated ROI from RFID. Companies adopting a “slap and ship” approach are less likely to anticipate pricing benefits than those integrating RFID into enterprise systems.

The limitations of the paper include the limited sample size of early adopters. In addition, qualitative research is needed into RFID supply chain applications and into different approaches to IS integration of RFID, to inform future survey work.

This paper informs supply chain managers and senior decision makers who are examining the potential of RFID technology. It offers guidance on what issues to look for when adopting this technology, approaches to take and the benefits that might be accrued.

This paper offers a contribution to understanding the current status of the adoption of RFID in European supply chains. This understanding is put in the context of the wider literatures on supply chain management and the adoption of information systems and technology.

The purpose of this paper is to establish what is known regarding how supply network governance leads to network outcomes, what mechanisms underlie this relationship, and how context impacts it.

A systematic literature review identified 44 conceptual and empirical studies. Purely dyadic studies were excluded. Synthesis used the context‐intervention‐mechanism‐outcomes (CIMO) logic.

From a categorization of contexts, governance instruments, mechanisms and outcomes a contingent conceptual framework is developed in the paper relating governance instruments to network outcomes dependent on the context. In general, formal instruments are adopted in dynamic and unstable circumstances defined as risky, uncertain, unpredictable or during organizational change. These instruments can result in coordination, control, viability and performance outcomes. Informal instruments tend to be adopted in contexts where prior relationships exist between actors.

Arising from the conceptual framework three robust propositions are developed. A more nuanced view of power and trust is proposed to augment the explanations provided by transaction costs and social embeddedness. This provides opportunities for further research, including longitudinal and comparative studies.

The conceptual framework provides three propositions suggesting that in dynamic or unstable circumstances formal governance instruments can provide viability, control, coordination or performance outcomes. Informal governance instruments are more effectively used in established relationships to improve performance, control and viability.

The synthesis reveals contingencies in the appropriate governance modes of supply networks for desired outcomes in specific contexts, resolving apparent inconsistencies between prior studies.