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This paper aims to offer evidence-based findings on the under-researched role of finance in the sales and operations planning (S&OP) process, aiming to guide academics and practitioners towards successful S&OP implementations.

The research builds upon a multiple case study, embracing five Latin American subsidiaries of four global manufacturing corporations from the consumer goods, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Following an exploratory approach, the case study results are analysed in within- and cross-case analyses.

The research findings are synthesised into a framework, demonstrating relevant benefits from the engagement of finance along the S&OP process and the implications of its interactions with traditional S&OP functions as sales, marketing and operations. The paper shows how finance adds value in supporting the process, enabling decisions on costs, margins, capital expenditures and return on investments. Finance strengthens S&OP when assessing demand- and supply-related risks and facilitates comparing the functional business areas' plans to budget. While finance participation is highlighted as necessary for supporting successful S&OP implementations, it also receives valuable inputs in return, characterising a two-way communication role that benefits the entire organisation.

This is the first research paper focusing on empirically exploring the role of finance within S&OP, going beyond initial insights from practice and academia. It provides practitioners and scholars with an in-depth, evidence-based view of finance's integration along the S&OP process.

How do organizations respond to negative feedback regarding their innovation activities? In this chapter, the authors reconcile contradictory predictions stemming from behavioral learning and from the escalation of commitment (EoC) perspectives regarding persistence under negative performance feedback. The authors core argument suggests that the seemingly contradictory psychological processes indicated by these two perspectives occur simultaneously in decision makers but that the design of organizational roles and reward systems affects their prevalence in decision-making tasks. Specifically, the authors argue that for decision makers responsible for an individual project, responses given to negative performance feedback regarding a project are dominated by self-justification and loss-avoidance mechanisms predicted by the EoC literature, while for decision makers responsible for a portfolio of projects, responses to negative performance regarding a project are dominated by an under-sampling of poorly performing alternatives that behavioral learning theory predicts. In addition to assigning decision-making authority to different organizational roles, organizational designers shape the strength of these mechanisms through the design of reward systems and specifically by setting more or less ambiguous goals, aspiration levels, time horizons of incentives provided, and levels of failure tolerance.

Product performance measurements have been used to explain other business performance variables. The purpose of this paper is to propose that, regarding Mexican consumers, the “comparison-based perceived attribute performance” (CAP) approach is a better predictor of outcomes, such as satisfaction, value and loyalty, compared with the traditional measurement of “non-comparison-based perceived attribute performance” (NCAP). These two forms of assessing attribute-level performance may be considered as different constructs.

Using these two approaches, empirical tests were performed to attribute performance measurement and were conducted on products from two different categories: tequila and liquid dishwashing detergent. Regression analyses were performed using Mexican consumer samples of n=295 and n=239, respectively.

As opposed to NCAP, CAP measurements yielded higher statistical levels of satisfaction, value and loyalty for both product categories. In the case of tequila, factor analysis indicated a clear separation between the two types of measurements, suggesting that they should be considered distinct constructs. However, this was not found for the other product category.

CAP, which has better potential to predict outcomes than NCAP, could have relevant implications in brand positioning assessment and importance-performance analyses.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust in enhancing customer loyalty, and to test the mediation role of commitment and customer intimacy in the relationship between trust and customer loyalty.

A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 200 were returned (40 percent response rate), and a structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypotheses.

The results of this study show that trust has a significant relationship with commitment and customer intimacy but no significant relationship was found with customer loyalty. Commitment and customer intimacy have a significant relationship with customer loyalty. The mediation analysis reveals that commitment and customer intimacy play a mediation role in the relationship between trust and customer loyalty.

This study indicates that commitment and customer intimacy affect customer loyalty. The role of commitment and customer intimacy as a mediator between trust and customer loyalty indicates that customers are committed to continuing and maintaining the relationships with Islamic banks.

This study provides empirical evidence on interrelationships between trust, commitment, customer intimacy and customer loyalty in banking relationships.

The objective of this research is to explore the relationship between brand experience and customer equity (value equity, brand equity, and relationship equity). We examine the impacts of different contact points’ experiences (media contact, physical environment contact, people contact, and product usage contact) and different dimensions of brand experience on customer equity. Further we investigate the possible moderating effects of different brand positioning and strategies – hedonic and utilitarian, on this relationship. The data which are collected via online survey includes 410 observations with brand experience and 83 without brand experience, 493 valid samples in total. We found that positive and strong brand experience is the key factor for building strong customer equity. Although the impacts of all four contact points’ brand experiences are significant, product usage contact has the most powerful influence on customer equity and its individual drivers. The results also indicate that the different brand positioning strategies do have moderating effects. For utilitarian brand, only brand experience at product usage contact point has significant impact on customer equity and its three drivers. For hedonic brand, all four contact points’ experiences have significant relationships with customer equity. Finally, the four experience dimensions (sensory, affective, intellectual, and behavioral) have different impacts on customer equity and its three drivers at different experience contact points.

This qualitative research aimed to explore the relationship between adaptive dynamic capabilities and resident loyalty formation among African-ethnic restaurants (AERs) during COVID-19 in East Africa.

Anchored on the dynamic capabilities perspective, the study uses eight case studies to obtain data based on restaurant owner-managers' lived experiences.

The paper presents six factors: (1) sensory quality promise, (2) service personalization declaration, (3) openness of technology adoption, (4) healthy food and safety assurance, (5) authenticity pledge and (6) diversity provision as prerequisites for resident loyalty formation. The findings suggest adaptive capacity as an appropriate alternative for stimulating resident loyalty formation during difficult times.

The findings help managers in formulating strategies that facilitate residents' display of willingness to revisit and/or recommend others. The local restaurants can now keep modifying and adjusting their practices and processes so as to exhibit the ability to handle customer unique demands during difficult times.

Through this work, a model of adaptive capabilities as enablers of resident loyalty formation is proposed, hence contributing the existing body of knowledge.