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The inclusion of LGBTQ + persons (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and having other sexual orientations and gender identities) is a crucial step in improving gender diversity in the workplace; however, till date, it remains a significant challenge for human resource management professionals. The current study critically examines this issue of an inclusive workplace for LGBTQ + people through a systematic review of the existing research that has empirically studied their experiences at the workplace. It also examines the resistance and challenges organizations face in LGBTQ + diversity training and provides future research avenues.

For systematically reviewing the literature, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) model has been used. A total of 101 empirical studies have been reviewed.

The result shows that LGBTQ + people encounter multiple negative workplace experiences, including proximal (hiring discrimination and housing discrimination) and distal workplace discrimination (unsafe work climate, microaggressions and harassment). These aversive experiences lead to work stress while also mandating that people manage their sexual identity and style of dressing. This stress, in turn, impacts their work–family outcomes, job satisfaction and decision-making with regard to their careers.

The paper provides a holistic understanding of the aversive workplace experiences encountered by sexual minorities.

The purpose of this research is to extend theoretical knowledge of key variables and their interactions that impact the persuasiveness of online influencers. The study explores the interactions between influencer gender, follower gender, influencer physical attractiveness, influencer product-match and influencer-follower homophily on persuasiveness of influencer product promotions. Although the extant literature shows the persuasive impact of attractiveness, product-match, gender and homophily, less is known about the interactions of these variables with each other and the gender of the influencer and his or her followers. These gaps in the literature are explored.

The study is a scenario-based experiment where respondents were randomly assigned to cells where influencer attractiveness and product-match were manipulated. The variables of homophily and respondent gender were measured and recorded, respectively. The data were collected through an online survey done through Qualtrics.

The findings show that for female influencers, homophily felt by their followers is a dominant persuasive factor, which tends to supersede the variables of attractiveness and product-match. For male influencers, homophily is an incremental persuasive variable. That is, homophily, attractiveness and product-match interact such that persuasiveness is highest when all three variables are strong.

Limitations are that the authors used a student sample and a hypothetical scenario-based experiment. Theoretical implications are interesting in that the authors have results which add to theory on the factors that make an online influencer more persuasive. Specifically, the authors contribute by extending theoretical knowledge about the interactions of key variables that influence the impact of online influencers.

For a manager marketing products using influencers, it is very important to stress homophily cues for female influencers more than other variables. However, for male influencers, product knowledge or match, homophily and attractiveness all need to work simultaneously to maximize influencer persuasiveness.

One needs to understand that physical attractiveness and perceived homophily with the influencer have significant influence and persuasiveness, regardless of product or service. Hence, there needs to be social responsibility in what is advertised and promoted, given that followers may be persuaded by influencers no matter what the product or service is.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that explores the persuasiveness of online influencers from the perspective of the variable interactions described above.

This study applies organizational information processing theory (OIPT) to investigate managing production process variability in uncertain environments using information technology (IT) capabilities.

We conduct an empirical analysis using the three-stage least squares (3SLS) technique on 1,612 manufacturing firms over ten years.

The findings show that IT capability plays a dual role: it reduces the positive impact of environmental uncertainty on production process variability and mitigates the negative relationship between production process variability and operational performance.

Our findings suggest that managers should focus on reducing production process variability by strengthening their firms' IT capabilities. This is particularly crucial in volatile environments where external uncertainties can significantly impact operational processes.

Variability in the production process is a significant source of inefficiency and disruption within business processes. Using OIPT, our study contributes to the field by empirically analyzing the role of IT capabilities in reducing production process variability under environmental uncertainty.

Electronic procurement has received primacy as one of the significant reforms to help fight corruption and inefficiencies in the public sector across countries. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of electronic procurement adoption on procurement performance. Additionally, the paper examines the moderating role of institutional quality in the relationship between electronic procurement and procurement performance.

The study applied an explanatory design and a quantitative research approach. Also, the study relied on UTAUT and institutional theory to develop a test research model using 121 responses from public entities in Ghana. Hypothesised paths were investigated using structural equation modelling.

The findings revealed that electronic procurement adoption positively and significantly affects procurement performance. Also, the findings indicated that institutional quality positively and significantly affects electronic procurement adoption and procurement performance, respectively. Lastly, the findings proved that institutional quality moderates the relationship between electronic procurement adoption and procurement performance.

The study focused on public procurement entities in the Greater Accra Region – Ghana. The study contributes to adopting electronic procurement, institutional quality, and procurement performance literature. The study also extends the UTAUT and the institutional theory to African public entities. The study reechoes the importance of institutional quality in developing economies to enhance electronic procurement adoption.

To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first study that examines the moderating role of institutional quality in the relationship between electronic procurement adoption and procurement performance.

Considerable amount of purchases in business-to-business (B2B) markets make through the tendering process. As technology keeps driving B2B procurement, both the supplier/contractor and buyer firms have settled down in their respective roles in the electronic-tendering environment. Researchers have ignored the supplier-side e-tender-driven marketing process that might lead to substantively successful financial performance. The purpose of this study is to improve the performance of an e-tender-driven marketing process of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) incorporating the stakeholder's inputs.

Discrete event simulation modelling (DESM) has been used as a methodology to model, analyse and improve the process with the involvement of stakeholders at every stage of the study. Different scenarios are analysed to identify the near-optimal scenario based on agreed-upon key performance indicators.

Scenario that incorporated man-power sharing and eliminating avoidable activities gives the near-optimal solution for implementation.

This study highlights that better insights can be gained by adopting the process-oriented view of the marketing–operations interface. Embracing a stakeholder-based consultative approach gives research a more practical outlook and reduces the gap between theory and practice. Suggestions for further research are provided.

B2B organizations, where lines between marketing and operations are blurred, can improve their marketing processes by implementing operations research tools.

This study provides an attempt to improve the performance of a supplier-side e-tender-driven marketing process of an OEM using the DESM methodology incorporating stakeholder's inputs.

The paper aims to investigate the cardiology department’s operational system for improving flexibility by minimizing the patient waiting time and simultaneously maximizing the utilization of service capacity in an uncertain environment. This article also proposes a policy framework that suggests a pool of additional resources and inter-firm collaboration can boost healthcare service delivery excellence.

A discrete event simulation (DES) approach is followed for modeling patient flow and determining the service capacity to respond to demand variability and uncertainty. The model's outputs are used to minimize patient waiting time, maximize the utilization of the resources and match the service capacity with the patient demand.

This research has tested two hypotheses and proved that an increase in waiting time decimates the throughput rate, and additional resources deployment in bottleneck activity positively impacts the throughput rate. The simulated scenarios prescribe an enhanced service capacity with quality care and further contribute to operational performance in reduced waiting time and cost. The results indicate that flexibility reduces the patient waiting time and maximizes the throughput rate.

The study guides the healthcare policymakers to develop flexible competence and facilitate service mechanisms that are adaptive and robust while operating under a volatile environment. The article contributes to the healthcare literature that conjoins flexibility through simulation and resource utilization.

This research is based on real-life primary data collected from healthcare providers. This study adds value to the healthcare systems to adopt strategic decisions to build flexibility through resource allocation, sharing and coordinated care.

This study aims to expose the challenges associated with theory development and its implementation, as it relates to services marketing and hospitality management. The author summarizes the literature, creates a conceptual model and proposes directions to bridge the theory–practice divide.

The author synthesizes and extends the literatures of services marketing, general marketing and hospitality management through a systematic literature review. A conceptual model is created to illustrate the challenges related to theory development and implementation.

Four types of theory challenges and three contemporary practical challenges are presented. The challenges for theory development include a communications gap, difficulties in applying universal theories into idiosyncratic organizations, researchers disconnected from practice and practitioners disconnected from research. Contemporary practical concerns include: human resource constraints, customer behavior and misbehavior and the organizational and business environment.

Managers can bring contemporary business challenges to the forefront by collaborating and writing with scholars. Similarly, keeping abreast of the latest advances in customer service, applying best practices in human resource management, educating and cocreating with customers are among several recommendations proposed to managers and marketers. Internal and external scanning can assure that managers engage in efforts to reduce barriers to implementation and improve services in their organizations.

Despite the decades-long study of customer service, organizations still struggle to deliver exceptional service. This study informs scholars on developing and communicating theories and managers on how to better access and interpret the latest research. In order for research to be successfully generated and implemented, scholars can engage in efforts aimed at joint (researchers and managers) idea generation, publication in multiple outlets, sampling that resembles real life, adoption of contingency theories and reconsidering journal editorial and institutional policies.

This study investigates the relationships of visitors’ recreational experiences and their future behavior for the wildlife destinations of Assam, a North-Eastern state of India.

Recreational experiences have been measured through the visitors’ perceptions on various destination characteristics. The future behavior of the visitors is measured by considering two indicators in the forms of revisit and recommendation to others. Primary data, collected from two wildlife destinations have been analyzed by using structural equation modeling technique.

The empirical results have revealed the influence of destination characteristics on visitors’ future behavior, where perceptions mediate the relationship.

The findings suggest the adoption of policies to create positive perceptions on destination attributes and product oriented promotional strategies toward making wildlife destinations more competitive. The study also provides implications for tourism literature by suggesting an integrative approach for better understanding of tourists’ future behavior.

The study is based on primary data collected from two wildlife destinations of Assam. The investigation will help to adopt policies to make wildlife destinations more competitive.

Business organizations are evermore expected to behave conscientiously, but a lack of clarity remains regarding this strategy for business-to-business (B2B) brands. This paper aims to develop and validate a B2B brand conscientiousness model that identifies what factors are driving this approach.

The research model is validated through a three-stage study that collects insights from high-level executives, mid-level managers and employees in B2B firms. Whereas the first two exploratory stages follow a qualitative approach to identify what factors motivate B2B firms to be conscientious and develop a model, the third stage empirically tests the proposed model through structural equation modeling.

The results suggest that brand conscientiousness is viewed as an important strategy by B2B stakeholders. Whereas perceived risk discourages, external and internal stakeholder expectations and a firm’s financial commitment to a cause encourage, brands to pursue a conscientious approach. Furthermore, a B2B conscientious strategy must be perceived as authentic. Long-term commitment to the cause, strategic alignment of brand values with the cause and a congruent delivery of the brand’s promise are the drivers of this perceived authenticity.

This paper contributes to the emerging knowledge on B2B conscientious brands by confirming the importance of this approach in a B2B context, identifying the factors that B2B stakeholders – executives, managers and employees – believe are driving it and highlighting the importance and identifying the factors that drive its perceived authenticity.