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This study aims to develop a comprehensive, theoretically grounded framework of customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) management, by revisiting three older services marketing models: the servuction model, the services marketing triangle and the services marketing pyramid.

Noting the lack of theoretical frameworks of CCI management, this study adopts a problematization approach to identify foundational services marketing models, question their underlying assumptions, develop an alternative conceptual framework and evaluate its adequacy for CCI management, on the basis of a systematic literature review and content analyses.

By revisiting the assumptions underlying three relevant models in the light of the present-day, technology-infused service environment, this study proposes a four-triangle CCI management framework encompassing four specific modes of CCI management: managerial decisions by the firm; frontline employees; the design of the physical environment; and technology. Furthermore, this study emphasizes the triadic relationships involving the focal customer, other customers and the four modes of CCI management. Building on these findings, this study concludes with an extensive research agenda.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study represents the first scholarly effort in services marketing literature to provide a comprehensive, theoretically grounded framework of CCI management. With its basis in foundational models, the new framework is well-suited to address future challenges to service marketplaces too.

Contrary to want-based services, customer participation has got lesser attention in high-credence services like health care. Customer participation for patients with chronic illnesses could be life-threatening and goes beyond the service organization’s physical environment. Realizing the importance of transformative service research in health-care services, this study aims to propose and validate the conceptualization of customer participation for patients with chronic illnesses.

The study uses sequential exploratory research design with mixed method research. The first phase is a qualitative exploration of the nature and meaning of customer participation by synthesizing theory and insights from semi-structured interviews (N = 75) with doctors, patients and paramedical staff. Next, survey data (N = 690) of patients with chronic illnesses is used to validate the proposed conceptualization. Finally, nomological validity was also tested on an additional survey data set (N = 362) using SEM and FsQCA.

The findings reveal that health-care customer participation is a three-dimensional behavioral construct in which a customer can participate by sharing information, involving in decision-making and ensuring compliance. The study also demonstrates that customer participation is a critical driver of satisfaction with life and perceived control on illness.

The research provides policy guidelines for owners and operators of health-care organizations in developing frameworks for collecting participation data, which can be used in strategies for seeking customer participation.

The research conceptualizes and validates “customer participation” as a multidimensional higher-order construct for patients with chronic illnesses, rarely focused in services marketing and management research on health care.

The paper aims to compare the efficiency of alternative municipal solid waste (MSW) management business models: a single provider against multiple providers.

In this paper the drivers of MSW management costs are analysed to test the impact of the scale and scope of MSW management services on the average cost. While the business-as-usual scenario foresees a single provider, the alternative scenario foresees multiple providers.

Based on the empirical data on municipal waste management costs, on average, the size and the average cost of the service are inversely related. This trend is supported using sub-sets defined by the quantity of waste managed. Multiple factors aid in explaining this result, and among others, due to scale and scope, factors such as transition costs increase with the number of players running different services.

The provision of public services of economic interest should favour the participation of more companies wherever possible to the extent that social surplus is produced. However, pursuing this principle to the detriment of efficient service delivery is not ideal. This paper demonstrated that a single-provider waste management business model is efficient under specific conditions, as in this article.

This paper presents an original research methodology for comparatively analysing waste management service efficiency in urban areas and provides adequate evidence using alternative measures of costs according to the phase of the waste management chain, the scale and ultimately the scope of MSW management services.

本學術論文擬比較另類的都市固體廢物管理模式的效率, 比較的對像是:單一服務提供者和多個提供服務者。

研究人員分析都市固體廢物管理成本和價格的動因, 以測試有關的管理服務之規模和範圍對平均成本的影響。若在一切照常的情況下, 我們會預見單一服務提供者, 唯在不尋常的情況下, 我們則會預見多個提供服務者。

根據都市廢物管理價格和成本上的實證數據, 平均而言, 服務的規模與其平均成本是成反比的。我們使用了以所處理之廢物量來界定的子集來支持這趨勢。多重因素會幫助解釋和說明這研究結果, 其中包括:因規模和範圍的關係, 諸如過度成本等的因素, 會按著提供各種不同服務的主要參與者的數目而增加。

在能達創造社會剩餘的前題下, 會帶來經濟效益之公共服務的提供, 應有利於在可行範圍內有更多公司的參與; 但如果實行這原則而因此有損於服務提供的效率的話, 則這是不理想的。本文展示了在特定的情況下, 單一服務提供者的廢物管理商業模式是高效率的, 本文已說明這些特定情況。

本文為以比較分析法去探討城市地區廢物管理服務的效率、提出了一個新穎的研究方法, 並根據廢物管理鏈的階段、都市固體廢物管理服務的規模、以及最終其範圍, 考慮了成本和價格的另類測量方法, 繼而提供充分的證據, 以支持這些測量方法。

In the era of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0, the integration of digital technologies, automation and data-driven insights has generated a broad wave of transformation across all industries, including the insurance sector. The study focuses on determining how the adoption of these technologies (InsurTech) is changing the life insurance industry, ultimately enhancing the level of customer satisfaction.

The data analysis has been performed with 304 useable responses from the policyholders of life insurance in the north-west region of India. The methodology adopted for this study is partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling (SEM). To investigate the predictive relevance of customer satisfaction, the PLS predict technique has been used. Also, importance performance map analysis (IPMA) has been applied to assess the important and performing dimensions of customer satisfaction.

The outcomes show that the adoption of InsurTech has a positive impact on customer satisfaction. Customer service management and policy management are among the strongest predictors of customer satisfaction, and the predictive relevance is reported to be moderate. IPMA results have suggested that improvements in online distribution of insurance services and customer service management lead to higher customer satisfaction.

The conceptual model can be tested with the moderating effect of different demographic factors (age, gender etc.), and future research can be done to analyze the mediating role of customer satisfaction between InsurTech adoption and customer loyalty.

The study offers valuable contributions to the marketing literature, shedding light on the influence of InsurTech adoption on customer satisfaction within the Indian life insurance sector. The research offers a practical approach that could help marketing professionals and policymakers comprehend the utilization of online insurance services, and this understanding can help industry experts to develop customer-oriented products and services.

This research is the first of its kind to test the association between InsurTech adoption and customer satisfaction in the life insurance sector in the Indian context. Research also provides novel insights for policymakers to enhance the satisfaction of customers towards using online insurance services in the near future in developing countries like India.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of supply chain risks (SCRs) and demand management strategies (DMSs) on the company performance in order to study the use of DMSs in delivering improved results even in the presence of SCRs. The SCRs considered under the study are as follows: demand variability, constrained capacity and quality of services delivery, and competitive performance, customer satisfaction and financial performance are the measures considered for company performance.

This study is based on a survey of 439 businesses in India representing 10 groups of services industries (information technology/IT enabled services, business process outsourcing, IT infrastructure, logistics/transportation, healthcare, hospitality, personal services, consulting, education and training, consumer products and retail), using structural equation modeling (SEM) methods.

The findings reveal that presence of demand variability risk has significant influence upon the use of demand planning and forecasting, controlling customer arrival during peaks and shifting demand to future. Mismatch of capacity against demand (unused capacity) leads to the use of techniques to influence business during lean periods, thereby resulting in enhanced supply chain (SC) and financial performance. Controlling customer arrival during peaks to shift the demand to lean periods leads to enhanced financial performance. Presence of delivery quality risk does not significantly influence the use of DMS. Also, short-term use of customer and business handling techniques does not exert significant influence on company performance.

The study has limitations as follows: (1) respondents are primarily from India while representing global organizations, (2) process/service redesign to relieve capacity as a DMS is not considered and (3) discussion on capacity management strategies (CMSs) is also excluded.

SC managers can be resourceful in shifting the peak demand to future with the application of techniques to control customer arrival during peaks. The managers can also help enhance business by influencing business through offers, incentives and promotions during lean periods to use available capacity and improve company performance.

This study is one of the first empirical works to explore how presence of SCRs influences the use of DMS and impacts the three types of company performance. The study expands current research on demand management options (DMOs) by linking three dimensions of company performance based on the data collected from ten different groups of service industry.

The UAE is among the fastest-growing facilities management (FM) markets globally. Nevertheless, conclusive evidence on this market is scarce in the literature. Therefore, this paper aims to provide an in-depth insight into the FM market in the UAE.

Fourteen interviewees were purposively selected to provide insight into FM status through their field experiences. A SWOT analysis of their answers held place.

Interviewees revealed that the main trends of FM in the UAE include interests in sustainability, integration of technology, health and safety, outsourcing FM, switching to total facilities management (TFM), and performance management systems use. Besides, the quality of the service in the FM market is driven by the real-estate boom, services sophistication, the increasing awareness of FM and focus on the quality of services. Furthermore, the interviews found that the recruitment of poorly skilled labors can threaten the FM market to meet the allocated budget, misperception of FM, the value of money, the lack of continuous follow-up with recent advancements in technologies and the lack of performance measurement models.

This paper highlights the major trends, drivers and threats of the FM market in the UAE, and the implications of its findings can direct FM organizations and researchers in their practices.

Service managers increasingly strive to achieve sustainability through strategies centered on circularity. With a focus on saving, extending and (re)generating resources and their enclosing service systems, circularity can contribute to environmental, social and financial gains. Yet, the notion of circularity is surprisingly understudied in service research. This article seeks to provide an initial conceptual understanding of circular service management, introducing illustrative strategies and research priorities for circular service management. This paper provides a roadmap for scholars, practitioners and policymakers to develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities from adopting circular services.

The authors explore the concept of circular service management by drawing upon existing literature on sustainability, circularity and service research. Strategies of circular service management and research priorities emerge on the basis of industry best practice examples and research on sustainability challenges and opportunities.

Service researchers have largely ignored the concept and role of circularity for service businesses. Extant research on the topic nearly exclusively features in non-service journals and/or does not seek to advance service theory through circularity. This article argues that circular service management enables the implementation of service thinking in the pursuit of sustainability and outlines four types of circular service management strategies.

The authors introduce the concept of circular service management and highlight the role of service research for designing and managing circular systems and operations. This article also offers a research agenda connecting managerial challenges and opportunities with key service research priorities for circular service management. This provides a roadmap for scholars, practitioners and policymakers to develop a deeper understanding of pursuing circular services, thereby contributing to a more sustainable future.

There has recently been much interest in analysing the creation of personalised tourism services and studying their effect on organisations. However, there still needs to be more work in analysing their effect on happiness and the role that emotions play in these processes. This paper aims to analyse, in the context of personalised and innovative tourism services, which factors can encourage and improve managers' happiness.

A model of analysis is presented with five variables: tourism managers' happiness (TMH), innovative personalised tourism services, internal factors: emotions (IFE), organisational factors (OF) and personal factors (PF). Eight hypotheses are proposed and tested with a structural equation model.

The results allow the authors to affirm that personalised technological advances applied to tourism services not only contribute to improving the happiness of hotel managers but also in generating emotions that contribute to improving their attitude towards the company.

This scientific work has some limitations. Firstly, this study was carried out exclusively in Spain due to the relevance of this country in the international tourism sector, according to the World Tourism Organisation. The results achieved in this research should be contrasted with other studies in other territories. Secondly, the interviews and surveys were carried out at specific time intervals. It has not led to problems of significant bias in the variance of the standard method. Therefore, it is desirable to undertake longitudinal or cross-sectional studies for future research. Thirdly, it is interesting to develop theoretical models that include other psycho-directive or leadership style constructs to determine whether they holistically enhance the subjective well-being of hospitality managers. Moreover, other types of factors of a social or strategic nature can be considered, which can positively or negatively impact the analysed variables. Finally, future research can deepen the empirical analysis of the relationship between managerial competencies and digital innovation from the perspective of happiness management. These findings would contribute to a greater cognitive understanding of the implications of personalised and innovative tourism services on hotel establishments' happiness and economic benefits.

This paper shows the fundamental role of a happy leadership style in creating responsible, green and innovative environments in today's digital society. Furthermore, the happiness of tourism managers can contribute to the generation of high quality and excellent services that are in line with the principles of sustainable development.

Personalised technological advances applied to tourism services not only contribute to improving the happiness of hotel managers but also to generating emotions that contribute to improving their attitude towards the company. On the other hand, it has been observed that personalised and innovative tourism services generate positive effects at organisational, internal and personal levels. The following reflections are advanced: The development of internal factors such as the emotions of awe and gratitude or the generation of trust can enhance the happiness of tourism managers. The happiness of tourism business managers can be enhanced by developing OF such as smart-personalised tourism services and data protection. The happiness of tourism managers can be enhanced by the development of PF such as travellers' desires, expectations and needs, or other factors such as disposable income, health status or family situation.

This is the first empirical study that focuses on investigating how personalised and innovative tourism services affect managing happiness.

This paper aims to find out the digital services of management libraries provided during the library closure and the challenges and initiatives the libraries have taken up to fulfill the need of their user community during the pandemic crisis.

To meet the purpose of the study, the investigators have used a survey method. An online questionnaire was devised and administered among the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) librarians using Microsoft Forms.

The study's findings suggested that all the libraries under investigation must avail of various digital library services in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Further, the investigators recommend that libraries formulate a disaster preparedness and management plan in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic so that libraries can prepare themselves for the future.

The pandemic has affected every aspect of life and changed the digital library services scenario. Thus, it is essential to examine the role libraries have played during the COVID-19 pandemic and distinguish the challenges and initiatives libraries have taken to tackle the problems they faced. This study has been conducted on the digital library services that were provided by the libraries of IIMs.

Customer firms and suppliers are valuable knowledge resources that can be used for achieving superior new service development (NSD) performance. This study aims to investigate how supply chain relationship quality (SCRQ) and knowledge sharing promote the success of NSD, and examines service modularity as an important contingency factor that enhances NSD performance in supply chains.

Based on service-dominant logic, this study builds a conceptual model to empirically explore the impacts of SCRQ and knowledge sharing on NSD performance, and highlights the moderating effect of service modularity by means of survey methodology of 295 Chinese service firms to test the research hypotheses.

Regression analysis results show that SCRQ has significant positive effects on knowledge sharing and NSD performance; knowledge sharing plays a partial intermediary role between SCRQ and NSD performance; and service modularity partially moderates the relationships between SCRQ, knowledge sharing and NSD performance.

Generalizations here are limited to Chinese service firms. Service modularity in manufacturing firms experimenting with servitization has yet to be examined and provides a good avenue for future research.

This study contributes to service management literature by providing empirical understanding of how service modularity affects NSD performance in multiprovider contexts. Furthermore, this study offers novel insights on the impacts of inter-firm relationship quality and knowledge sharing in modular collaborative innovation.