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In today's digital and post-pandemic era, construction teams can span their boundary to obtain important resources and support in computer-mediated ways. However, the benefits of computer-mediated team boundary spanning (TBS) are mostly assumed. Empirical evidence for these benefits is in lack. Thus, this study attempts to investigate the influence of computer-mediated (instant messaging in this study) TBS on construction project performance and the underlying mechanism.

From the multiteam system (MTS) perspective, this study employs the input-process-outcome (IPO) framework and coordination theory to explore the influence of instant messaging-based team boundary spanning (IMTBS) on construction project coordination processes and project performance. A theoretical model is built and validated with a survey involving 206 construction projects.

Results show that IMTBS positively affects knowledge integration and project coordination, but negatively affects project commitment. The positive link between IMTBS and project performance is attributable to knowledge integration and project coordination. Further, project commitment is also found to negatively mediate the relationship between IMTBS and construction project performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to empirically investigate the influence of TBS on construction project performance. As such, this study contributes to the literature on TBS in the construction field. In addition, the findings of this study unveil the double-edged characteristic of IMTBS, which should attract managers' attention. This also indicates that the form of TBS is a significant determinant of its effectiveness, which should attract scholars' attention in the future.

The paper aims to study realization requirements for the flexible enactment of artifact-centric business processes in a dynamic, collaborative environment and to develop a workflow execution framework that can effectively address those requirements.

This study proposed a framework and contract-based, event-driven architecture design and implementation that can directly realize collaborative artifact-centric business processes in service-oriented architecture (SOA) without any model conversion.

The results show that the approach is feasible in presenting several key benefits over the use of existing workflow systems to run artifact-centric processes.

Most of the existing approaches require an artifact-centric model to be transformed into executable workflow languages to run on existing workflow management systems. This study argues that the model conversion can incur losses of information and affect traceability and monitoring ability of workflows, especially in an SOA where a workflow can span across multiple inter-business entities.

The role of metaphors in information management has generally been acknowledged owing to their ability to convey immediately huge amounts of information and richness. Their role is more and more important in the current digital context of communication and marketing activities, as the decision speed and accuracy are crucial. The purpose of this study is, thus, to analyze physical metaphors as tools for making sequential decisions to achieve effective integrated corporate communication (ICC).

The paper draws on the critical analysis of literature on corporate communication and stakeholder management as building blocks for implementing an integrated approach to corporate communications.

A revision of two well-known physical metaphors in the communication literature (the “wheel” and “umbrella”) has been proposed. It is argued that integrated communication within corporate communications is more complex than in marketing communications, as it involves a greater variety of elements to coordinate and harmonize. The proposed physical metaphors suggest an effective sequential decision-making as they allow a clear distinction between different decision levels.

The paper adds to the debate on the link between theory and practice of ICC. From a practical standpoint, the proposed metaphors as simple and concrete tools for handling complex information and ICC problems could aid novice practitioners and students of corporate communications courses.

The paper shows that while scholars have concurred that ICC is crucial for different type of organizations, the use of physical metaphors can be beneficial for the reality-based challenge of ICC.

Social dilemmas take many forms but all share the property that individual benefits, at least in the short run, conflict with group benefits. This chapter examines how information about the characteristics of group members and the parameters of the dilemma affect decision-making. Particular attention is paid to transformative crises, sudden changes in the dilemma setting that for a short period of time lead to incomplete information. It is posited that these crises cause relatively dramatic shifts in the importance of information.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights on integrated marketing communications (IMC) by empirically examining the concept in a new context, that is hotel companies, and comparing its implementation and impact in Italian and Croatian hotels.

The study uses survey methodology to assess IMC, approaching managers and guests in high-quality hotels.

From the manager’s point of view, both Italian and Croatian hotels show a high level of IMC implementation and significant differences regarding some items. From the guest’s point of view, significant differences are obtained between the two hotel groups. In addition, IMC is found to influence positively and significantly customer satisfaction.

This research is limited to the Italian and Croatian hotel context. Future studies should approach a greater number of hotels to obtain more representative results.

Managers need to adopt a holistic vision of marketing communications and regularly analyze consumers’ opinions to understand if their campaign works.

This paper makes several original contributions, thus filling the existing gap in the literature. First, IMC is analyzed in a new environment, that is high-quality hotels. Second, the study is conducted in Italy and Croatia, where research on IMC is rather neglected. Third, in addition to managers’ opinions, guests’ perceptions are assessed, thus highlighting that consumers need to be considered as true “co-managers” of business strategies.

WS‐ReliableMessaging specification describes a protocol that allows messages to be delivered reliably between distributed applications in the presence of software component, system, or network failures. However, it ensures reliable communication only in the context of two sites – it does not provide any means for consistent termination of the executions spanning over more than two sites. This paper aims to address this issue.

The paper presents the Reliable WS‐AtomicTransaction protocol, and illustrates its implementation by exploiting WS‐Coordination, which describes an extensible framework for providing protocols that coordinate the actions of distributed applications. The paper also presents the ontology of the log, which is maintained by the Reliable WS‐AtomicTransaction protocol. The ontology is presented in a graphical form and in OWL.

The introduction of an atomic commitment protocol and its termination protocol increase the reliability of the executions of distributed applications in service‐oriented architectures. On the other hand, it complicates the management of distributed applications as the atomic commitment protocol has to maintain the log that is used by its termination protocol.

The paper presents an atomic commitment protocol and its termination protocol, which is failure resilient and non‐blocking as long as a failed site can communicate with a process that has received sufficient information to know whether the transaction will be committed or aborted. Decreasing the amount of blockings is important because blocking can cause processes to wait for an arbitrarily long period of time.

The purpose of this paper is to consider the potential of an organisational orientation, namely the electronic marketing orientation (EMO) to address implementation issues in business-to-business (B2B) social media implementation. Previous research has demonstrated differences between B2B and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing.

The paper draws on existing B2B marketing, social media and organisational orientation literature, both academic and practitioner. This facilitates the development of a conceptual model and research proposition as a basis of further research into addressing contemporary barriers to B2B social media implementation.

The paper contends that each of the four components of the EMO addresses different implementation issues faced in implementing social media and, more specifically, the unique issues faced by B2B marketers.

The paper is conceptual in nature; however, it provides directions for future empirical research.

The differences in promotional and sales channels and messages required in B2B context are addressed in the research propositions. The paper highlights implementation challenges and how a particular organisational orientation can facilitate the decision-making in dealing with them.

The paper provides a unique theoretical contribution by introducing the EMO conceptual model in a specific context of B2B social media marketing.

This paper aims to examine the extent to which the nation branding activities of export promotion organisations (EPOs), investment agencies (IAs), national tourism organisations (NTOs) and embassies follow the principle of coordination that characterises an integrated marketing communications approach.

A qualitative exploratory approach was taken, comprising face‐to‐face in‐depth interviews with key informants from five Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) involved in the implementation of nation branding communications in terms of export promotion, tourism, investment attraction and public diplomacy.

Seven key dimensions of interorganisational coordination in a nation branding context emerge from our results. These dimensions include sector, organisation domicile, mode, strategy formulation, nature, frequency and target audience.

The relatively small dataset as well as the restricted geographic scope of the study limits the generalisability of the findings; further research is required to ascertain whether the findings of this study also apply in other settings.

Enhanced coordination needs to occur not only between the different governmental organisations engaged in nation branding strategy, but also between those organisations and their respective private sector stakeholders.

This paper extends previous work on the need for countries to adopt a coordinated approach to their nation branding activities. The paper is original in its examination of actors’ perceptions of the optimal degree of coordination that should occur between a country's EPO, IA, NTO and embassies. The paper is also original in its reporting of findings from a region (ASEAN) that is under‐researched relative to other areas, such as Europe and North America.

The purpose of this paper is to progress research on integrated communication management from its current debates on definitions and normative models to research‐based understanding of how integration works and is implemented at an organisation with a high level of integration. Also, the paper seeks to provide insights for communication managers on implementing successful integrated communication programs.

This research incorporated a qualitative single case study of an exemplary organisational case of integrated communication, using three data sources: depth interviews, participant observation, and document analysis.

Communication integration operates organically, through cross‐functional connections and knowledge sharing and facilitated by an open organisational structure whereby integration occurs naturally.

Though other configurations may exist in high‐functioning integrated programs, this study provides a new direction for theory development, and fills a need in scholarship to identify the interactions that integration creates.

This research provides research‐based learning on integrated communication management and implementation, and includes steps to establish a successful integrated program.

The paper will be of special interest to strategists, managers, and practitioners for improving communication processes. It also fills a need in the literature to progress understanding from definition debates to the interworking of communication functions.

The purpose of this paper is to discover and empirically test the gap between the theory and practice of integrated marketing communications (IMC) in small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs).

The paper follows a quantitative approach, using the questionnaire technique. Questionnaire items emerged from a literature review and a qualitative step (in‐depth interviews). The questionnaire was submitted to a sample of 210 manufacturing firms. Factor and cluster analysis were performed in order to give a descriptive overview of different communication behavioral profiles within SMEs.

The sample shows evidence of a certain ability in marketing communication management on the part of SMEs. A group of virtuous firms able to employ a great variety of communication tools, to define in‐depth and consistent messages and to declare ambitious and long‐term goals appears. However, these firms do not adequately manage the internal organizational process aimed at marketing communication planning. As well as these virtuous firms, a large group of firms which show more gaps including in their range of activities, message, and goal definition, still exists. Structural characteristics are useful but not exhaustive in order to understand the existence of such a distance between SMEs active in communications and those with greater communication gaps. Besides, structural characteristics, internal dynamism proves to be one of the most important motivating factors in marketing communications.

Although this paper is restricted to a small sample, it constitutes a significant starting point in attaching importance to marketing communications within SMEs.

From this paper, practitioners may understand where intervention guidelines are needed in order to improve a marketing communications plan for a small or medium enterprise.

Owing to the focus of previous research on large company practices, this paper represents an original trial to empirically apply the IMC approach only within SMEs.