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Product-as-a-Service (PaaS) has the potential to enable closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) and decrease environmental impact, but it is only applied on a small scale. The purpose of this paper is to explore and develop a framework of challenges and corresponding mitigations encountered by Business-to-Consumer (B2C) retailers when transitioning to PaaS.

Data collection drew on a qualitative interview study with two industry experts and four PaaS B2C retailers from different Dutch industries.

A framework was developed linking 26 challenges in eight clusters—financial, product-related, supply chain-related, consumer-related, human resources, research and development/technology, regulatory and industry-related—to 24 mitigations. The mitigations were elaborated, and theoretical insights for matching challenges with mitigations were provided.

This study expands PaaS literature to the generally under-researched retail context. It contributes to CLSC literature by applying it to a less-studied context, thereby revealing many supply chain-related challenges and mitigations encountered by B2C retailers.

The framework offers practical guidance to retail managers for overcoming or preventing challenges in PaaS, in their endeavours toward adopting environmentally sustainable practices.

The study creates awareness about environmental sustainability and the potential to reduce societal impact, in which a PaaS-enabled CLSC is one step.

Studying PaaS and CLSC in a retail context is timely and novel.

Recently emerged Packaging-as-a-Service (PaaS) systems adopt aspects of access-based services and triadic frameworks, which have typically been treated as conceptually separate. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of blending the two in what we call “access-based triadic systems,” by empirically evaluating intentions to adopt PaaS systems for takeaway food among restaurants and consumers.

We derived relevant attributes of PaaS systems from a qualitative pre-study with restaurants and consumers. Next, we conducted two factorial survey experiments with restaurants (N = 176) and consumers (N = 245) in Germany to quantitatively test the effects of those system attributes on their adoption intentions.

This paper highlights that the role of access-based triadic system providers as both the owners of shared assets and the operators of a triadic system is associated with a novel set of challenges and opportunities: System providers need to attract a critical mass of business and end customers while balancing asset protection and system complexity. At the same time, asset ownership introduces opportunities for improved quality control and differentiation from competition.

Conceptually, this paper extends research on access-based services and triadic frameworks by describing an unexplored hybrid form of non-ownership consumption we call “access-based triadic systems.” Empirically, this paper addresses the need to account for the demands of two distinct target groups in triadic systems and demonstrates how factorial survey experiments can be leveraged in this field.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the use of phragmites australis ash (PAA) in cementitious systems to achieve sustainable construction.

In this paper, the properties of mortar containing PAA as partial cement replacement are determined. The PAA is produced through slow burning in a closed system to minimize the CO₂ emission. A total of four mortar mixes are prepared with PAA replacement levels ranging from 0% to 30% by weight. The water to binder and the proportions of binder to sand are 0.55 and 1:3 by weight, respectively. The properties tested are density, compressive strength, flexural strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity, water absorption by total immersion and capillary rise. Testing is conducted at 1, 7, 28 and 90 days.

While there is a decrease in strength as the amount of PAA increases, there is strong indication of pozzolanic reaction in the presence of PAA. This is in agreement with the results reported by Salvo et al. (2015), where they found noticeable pozzolanic activities in the presence of straw ash, which is rich in SiO₂ and relatively high K₂O content. At 90 days of curing, there is a decrease of 5% in compressive strength at 10% PAA replacement. However, at 20% and 30% replacement, the reduction in compressive strength is 23% and 32%, respectively. The trend in flexural strength and ultrasonic pulse velocity is similar to that in compressive strength. The water absorption by total immersion and capillary rise tends to increase with increasing amounts of PAA in the mix. There seems to be a linear relationship between water absorption and compressive strength at each curing age.

The Phragmites australis plant used in this investigation is obtained from one location and this present a limitation as the type of soil may change the properties. Also one method of slow burning is used. Different burning methods may alter the composition of the PAA.

This outcome of this research will contribute towards sustainable development as it will make use of the waste generated, reduce the amount of energy-intensive cement used in construction and help generate local employment in the area where the Phragmites australis plant grows.

To the best knowledge of the authors, the ash from the Phragmites australis plant has not been used in cementitious system and this research can be considered original as it examines the properties of mortar containing PAA. Also, the process of burning in a closed system using this material.

This paper aims to study the inhibition effect of 2-pyridinealdazine on the corrosion of mild steel in an acidic medium. The inhibition effect was studied using weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and Tafel polarization measurements.

Weight loss measurements, potentiodynamic tests, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and spectral and conformational isomers analysis of A (E-PAA) and B (Z-PAA) were performed were investigated.

2-pyridinealdazine (PAA) acts as a good inhibitor for the corrosion of steel in 2.0 M H₃PO₄. The inhibition efficiency increases with an increase in inhibitor concentration but decreases with an increase in temperature.

This paper is intended to be added to the family of azines which are highly efficient inhibitors and can be used in the area of corrosion prevention and control.

Product as a service (PaaS) is a method of business innovation for traditional product companies to make their offerings more attractive, move up the value chain and find more customers. However, the customer acceptance of PaaS depends on the market in which it operates. The purpose of this study is to understand, through an automotive lease PaaS evaluation and from an outside-in user perspective, the effects of the main intrinsic and extrinsic factors of a product, its design and brand, on the lease versus buy decision of automobiles by consumers in an emerging market, to help companies transition to a PaaS business model.

A survey of actual car owners and lease car users was conducted. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the measurement model, followed by logistic regression for statistical modeling. As a practice evaluation of an existing PaaS example, this study further explored the expectations and experience of automotive lease users to link practical insights to analytical results and help businesses make a successful transition to PaaS.

The results of the study showed the effect of the brand as significant in lease versus buy decisions. Brand loyalty is more important when leasing than when buying a car. However, brand awareness/association is less important for leasing than buying. There was no significant difference in consumer expectations of product design in automotive lease PaaS. Customers who buy and lease cars have the same expectations of the overall product in terms of its key design attributes.

The literature on PaaS has mostly focused on strategies, frameworks and guidelines for implementation and empirical studies are limited. Comparative analyses between PaaS and traditional ownership models are also limited. It is unclear how consumers’ expectations differ between PaaS and traditional ownership models, especially in emerging markets, because PaaS’s success depends on the market in which it operates. This study addresses this gap in the literature.

The purpose of this paper was to demonstrate the influence of a 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane–polyacrylic acid (amino propyl silane (APS)-PAA) buffer layer on the tribological performance of copper sulfide (CuS) thin film on silicon (Si) substrate.

The APS-PAA buffer layer was first deposited on Si substrate by a self-assembling method. Then, the deposited film was coated by a CuS film by a successive ionic layer absorption and reaction (SILAR) method. The structures and morphologies of the prepared films were characterized by X-ray diffraction and atomic force microscopy. The results showed that the prepared CuS film with a PAA-APS double layer had a good crystallinity and surface morphology. The tribological performance of the prepared film was analyzed on UMT-2 tribometer and scanning electric microscope.

With use of an APS-PAA buffer layer, the CuS thin films became compact, smooth and uniform. The tribological performance of the CuS film was greatly enhanced by using an APS-PAA buffer layer.

The paper is the first to demonstrate that the CuS film exhibited enhanced structure, morphology and tribological characteristics by using an APS-PAA buffer layer.

Between 1927 and 1941 Pan American Airways (PAA) operated international flights from the USA with virtually no competition from US carriers. How PAA established and maintained its monopolistic position – by instrumentally creating a myth of “German threat” – and the implications for organizational theorizing and historiography is the proposed focus of this paper.

Drawing on a cultural theory approach to “doing history” and Barthes' 1972 notion of myth, this paper uses a critical hermeneutical exploration of the extensive PAA archive collection (at the Otto Richter Library of the University of Miami) and numerous secondary sources (e.g. various written histories). Following Barthes, the paper views myths as monolithic and authoritative historical constructions which conceal their ideological roots and instrumental conditions of creation. Through critical hermeneutics, the paper deciphers the myth of “German threat” by (re)contextualizing it and thus pluralizing history by showing how a threatening image of “foreign” and specifically “German” aviation operation in South America was instrumentally created to privilege PAA's operations and its close relationship with the US State Department.

Implications for the management theorist and historian as they pertain to a more fragile tone for “doing history” include the acknowledgement of history as multiple socially constructed interpretations of the past, an appreciation for histories that make their conditions of production transparent and the need for (re)writing histories that parade as authoritative monoliths.

The paper offers an empirical example of how an organization's instrumental use of myth facilitates manipulations of history in order to situate and secure the positioning and image of that organization.

The formulation consisting of 50ppm polyacrylamide (PAA), 300ppm phenyl phosphonic acid (PPA) and 50ppm Zn²⁺ has 95 per cent inhibition efficiency in controlling corrosion of mild steel in a neutral aqueous environment, containing 60ppm Cl^—, a situation commonly encountered in cooling water systems. A discussion of mechanistic aspects of corrosion inhibition is based on the results obtained from a potentiostatic polarization study, UV‐visible, FTIR and luminescence spectra. The protective film is found to be luminescent and to consist of Fe²⁺‐PAA complex, Fe²⁺‐PPA complex and Zn(OH)₂.