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Guaranteed maximum price (GMP) and target cost contracting (TCC) with a pain‐share/gain‐share arrangement have been adopted to integrate the construction delivery process and motivate service providers to seek continuous improvements in project outcomes. However, there is still a lack of research evidence to evaluate the levels of success and lessons learned from these innovative procurement strategies. Based on the analysis of a series of in‐depth interviews on the perceptions of various relevant experienced industrial practitioners, this paper aims to explore the key attributes of GMP/TCC including the underlying motives, perceived benefits, potential difficulties, critical success factors, key risk factors involved and optimal project conditions for adopting GMP/TCC. The research findings are useful in assisting key project stakeholders in minimising the detriments brought about by potential difficulties in and maximising the benefits derived from implementing GMP/TCC concepts. The study is also significant in contributing to new knowledge and practical information of GMP/TCC applications and implementation, in both a national and international context.

Understanding the most appropriate research philosophy to underpin any piece of scholarly inquiry is crucial if one hopes to address research problems in a manner distinct from those already evidenced across extant literature. Distinct philosophical ideas and positions are often associated with specific research designs, therefore influencing the research approach adopted in any given study. Identifying an appropriate philosophical approach requires robust comprehension of how philosophical positions differ, alongside a reflective understanding of one's own perceptions and beliefs regarding what knowledge and reality “are” and how new knowledge is discovered, developed, and/or confirmed. This chapter therefore discusses different research paradigms and philosophies in order to identify core distinctions therein, highlighting the advantages and the challenges associated with different philosophical approaches to research along the way.

The outstanding economic growth of several East Asian countries has attracted world attention. Many observers have attributed the success of these Confucian countries to their common cultural values, such as respect for authority, loyalty to good leaders, preference for order, hard work, thrift and emphasis on education. The above factors seem to have worked in Singapore, although some researchers have observed that economic success and rapid changes have eroded these traditional values. In Singapore, the political leaders have now cautioned Singaporeans against assimilating alien values and becoming a pseudo‐Western society. They have called for a set of national principles based on Asian values to guide Singaporeans into the next century.

The interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become burgeoning in the construction industry as firms are under constant pressure from socially conscious stakeholders to demonstrate their efforts to address various CSR issues. This study aims to unveil the key practices and impact factors (KPIFs) of CSR implementation in construction firms and the interrelationships among different key impact factors toward attaining CSR practices.

Mobilizing the integrated institutional, stakeholder and self-determination theories, a theoretical framework was first developed to elaborate the potential inter-relationships among the key impact factors toward CSR implementation. Data were collected from extra-grade contractors through an online questionnaire survey and was then analyzed by the partial least square structural equation modeling method.

The results show that construction firms' CSR practices could be classified into eight distinct key dimensions, e.g. shareholders' interests, government commitment and environment preservation. It is found that three groups of key impact factors – external institutional factors (especially coercive-normative factors), intrinsic factors (especially strategic business direction and organizational culture) and identified factors (i.e. the perceived importance of CSR practices) – have statistically significant positive impacts on most key dimensions of CSR practices.

The research findings have implications for top management to better understand CSR implementation, thereby helping them secure legitimacy to survive and advance in the competitive construction businesses.

The findings contribute to the theoretical body of knowledge in CSR by modeling and empirically demonstrating the influence mechanism of CSR implementation in construction within an integrated model.

The present study aims to synthesize and conceptualize, through a systematic literature review (SLR), the current state of gamification knowledge in the tourism and hospitality (T&H) sector, providing a roadmap for future research recommendations for service research and practice.

The research is based on a systematic literature review and adopts a systematic quantitative approach to summarize existing evidence on gamification usage in the T&H sector, focusing on relevant service literature on gamification. The authors analyze 36 papers published between 2011 and 2019.

The authors synthesize existing knowledge into five themes describing gamification's role in T&H (Edutainment, Sustainable behavior, Engagement factors, Service provider-generated content and User-generated reviews). Then, a cross-analysis of the five themes reveals the pivotal elements (affordances, behavioral and psychological outcomes, and benefits) generated by gamification mechanics in T&H, simultaneously highlighting potential implications and relevant insights for service literature. The review identifies critical issues affecting gamification research and provides a future research agenda, considering opportunities for T&H and service research.

The study provides the first SLR investigating gamification in T&H. The findings present potential implications and relevant insights for T&H contributing to the construction of a more holistic understanding of gamification adoption in service research.

Work-life flexibility policies (e.g., flextime, telework, part-time, right-to-disconnect, and leaves) are increasingly important to employers as productivity and well-being strategies. However, policies have not lived up to their potential. In this chapter, the authors argue for increased research attention to implementation and work-life intersectionality considerations influencing effectiveness. Drawing on a typology that conceptualizes flexibility policies as offering employees control across five dimensions of the work role boundary (temporal, spatial, size, permeability, and continuity), the authors develop a model identifying the multilevel moderators and mechanisms of boundary control shaping relationships between using flexibility and work and home performance. Next, the authors review this model with an intersectional lens. The authors direct scholars’ attention to growing workforce diversity and increased variation in flexibility policy experiences, particularly for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality, which is defined as having multiple intersecting identities (e.g., gender, caregiving, and race), that are stigmatized, and link to having less access to and/or benefits from societal resources to support managing the work-life interface in a social context. Such an intersectional focus would address the important need to shift work-life and flexibility research from variable to person-centered approaches. The authors identify six research considerations on work-life intersectionality in order to illuminate how traditionally assumed work-life relationships need to be revisited to address growing variation in: access, needs, and preferences for work-life flexibility; work and nonwork experiences; and benefits from using flexibility policies. The authors hope that this chapter will spur a conversation on how the work-life interface and flexibility policy processes and outcomes may increasingly differ for individuals with higher work-life intersectionality compared to those with lower work-life intersectionality in the context of organizational and social systems that may perpetuate growing work-life and job inequality.

The purpose of this paper is to examine which brand attributes need to be emphasised/addressed by retailers in order to achieve a positive representation of the corporate brand images in an online setting. Using bookstores as the research context, the research's main aim is to investigate the association between the functional brand evaluation (represented by brand attributes in this study) and emotional brand evaluation (represented by the corporate brand image). Specific research questions are: Are there any associations between the brand attributes and corporate brand image of an online e‐tailer?; What are the most important corporate brand attributes/drivers of online corporate brand image?

Using the brand triangle framework developed by de Chernatony and Christodoulides, the current study investigates the associations between brand attributes and corporate brand image of an online e‐tailer.

The findings show that factors such as ease of use, “personalisation”, security and customer care are significant in determining the corporate brand image of the online e‐tailer.

The practical contribution of the study and its managerial implications are in the provision of strategic directions and positioning the corporate brand in an online context.

It has been suggested by recent branding literatures that both functional and emotional brand characterizations should be adopted in order to better model consumer responses. Ailwadi and Keller pointed out that the priority of research should be to understand how corporate brand image and retailer brand attributes interact. The impact of corporate brands on the internet has been the object of study (e.g. Phillips; Lindstrom). The originality of the work is in linking online brand attributes and online corporate brand images and the role of functional and emotional attributes in brand evaluation in an online context.

This chapter introduces the specifics of spirituality-centric management practices in service and operation focused industries. Strategic management practices are often challenged by the human factor of businesses. Consequently, businesses often waver with the fulfillment of their strategic goals and face harmful repercussions. Subsequently, strategic leadership plays a crucial role in the advancement of incorporating spirituality in the workplace and cultivating a perception of the spiritual domain at the individual, team, and organizational levels. To succeed, organizations need to overcome the challenges pertaining their members' retainment and wellness. This is because members often act on their emotional, moral, and ethical concerns that are pillared by their spirituality-centric views on colleagues and management. As the overarching term, workplace spirituality has been linked with organizational learning, togetherness, sense of nurturement, and interpersonal fulfillment with tasks and often coincidences with managerial application of strategic approaches. For the synthesis of service focused businesses, authors exemplify studies within tourism and hospitality industries.

This chapter examines the application of exploratory sequential mixed methods design in the context of small accommodation enterprises (i.e., home-stay). This study, therefore, discusses the exploratory sequential mixed methods of data collection and analysis and provides practical illustrations based on a study of small tourism enterprise sustainability practices in Ghana. The findings demonstrate that mixed methods overcome the weaknesses of a mono-method and offer an in-depth understanding of tourism and hospitality phenomena. In addition to providing a practical guide to emerging tourism scholars, the current study highlights the ability of mixed methods to develop emerging practitioners' skills in both qualitative and quantitative data. In conclusion, the exploratory sequential mixed methods design offers pragmatic data collection techniques that are non-existent in mono-methods. Accordingly, it is recommended for exploring research questions when there is limited information and high flexibility is needed.

Mixed methods research (MMR) represents an alternative methodological approach, combining qualitative and quantitative research styles, and enabling researchers to explore complex phenomena in detail. This chapter provides a critical view of mixed methods research and its application in social science research, with examples from tourism and hospitality used to guide those aiming to undertake mixed-methods research projects. The chapter provides insight into the characteristics of MMR, distinguishing it from a multi-method approach. It also provides a detailed explanation of different MMR designs and highlights the advantages and challenges of adopting a mixed-methods approach. Moreover, the chapter discusses approaches to analysis which are pivotal to MMR design. Finally, the chapter concludes with recommendations for researchers hoping to adopt a mixed-methods approach.