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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the theoretical and practical implications of adopting customer-dominant logic (CDL) of service, focusing on how firms can become involved in the customers’ context.

Inspired by the conceptual discussion of service logic and service-dominant logic, this paper focuses on the conceptual underpinnings of CDL. CDL is contrasted with other service perspectives in marketing; CDL is a marketing and business perspective dominated by customer-related aspects instead of products, service, systems, costs or growth. It is grounded in understanding customer logic and how firms’ offerings can become embedded in customers’ lives/businesses.

The conceptual analysis challenges the prevailing assumptions of key phenomena in service research, including interaction, co-creation, service value and service. The paper presents five essential foundations of CDL: marketing as a business perspective, customer logic as the central concept, offering seen through the customer lens, value as formed and not created and the prevalence of customer ecosystems.

The paper differentiates CDL from other marketing perspectives. Further empirical research is needed in different empirical settings to provide guidelines for adopting the perspective on a strategic and operational business level.

As a firm’s holistic and strategic foundation, marketing is based on understanding how providers participate, at a profit, in customers’ value formation. The paper suggests how firms can successfully conduct business in dynamic markets with empowered customers.

This paper expands marketing and business logic based on customer dominance. It accentuates the importance of understanding customer logic and stresses the presence of providers in the customer ecosystem.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, there are 7,275 indigenous tourism enterprises in Indonesia. However, only 0.5% of these are certified as a sustainable tourism village. One of them is the Karangrejo village in Borobudur, Indonesia. This village is able to sustain their enterprise, which is a unique and rare context. This study aims to address this gap by examining the sense of place value created from the collaboration between actors, mapping the actors and their resources who have crucial roles in indigenous tourism enterprise, and examining the relations between actors, mapping the characteristics and efforts made by the indigenous tourism enterprise. The novelty of this research is the unique context that it takes place, and the use of comprehensive theoretical perspectives combining architecture, sociological social psychology and marketing/business theories in tourism context, which is uncommon for research in this area.

Participants in this study were 17 individuals, comprising Village Chief, accompanying state-owned enterprises, tourists, owners of micro, small and medium enterprises, village economic center manager and village-owned enterprises manager. Data were collected from interviews and field recordings using purposive sampling technique. The study design was a case study. The data were coded in two steps: first cycle and second cycle coding. Member checking with research participants was conducted to ensure data credibility.

This study revealed several novel findings. First, sense of place value was not merely perceived as material and nonmaterial components, but also as networks between actors that were involved in creating such components within (value) exchange framework. Second, the actors involved in the exchange were provider actor, external supporter actor, internal supporter actor, collaborator actor and consumer actor. Each of these actors owned one or a combination of material and nonmaterial values that are exchangeable. Mapping of the actors involved was discussed using a combined perspective of consumer-centric and balanced network. Third, exchange relations that occurred between actors could be balanced or imbalanced, depending on the amount of resource owned by each actor. Nonetheless, imbalanced relations because of discrepancies in the value contributions could still have positive impact because it was motivated by the intention to help others. Fourth, this study identified the importance of having characteristics as resource integrator/gatherer for indigenous tourism enterprise (provider actor) to ensure the economic sustainability of their business.

This study was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, where governments imposed strict travel restrictions. Consequently, data from tourists were limited in particular, the lack of perspectives from international tourists. During the data collection, the government were still limiting international travelers to visit the country, hence only domestic tourists were able to visit. The perspectives of international tourists would have added valuable data. Because of pandemic, the data collection process was initially conducted online, which was then followed by in-person data collection. Online data collection is common in research; however, in-person data collection would have been more preferred, where possible, so that the researchers could directly observe the situation in context. Future research could be conducted after the pandemic ends. Furthermore, findings of this research asserted the importance of actors’ motives, situations, quality of the values and relational attributes, but had not discussed these in detail, especially from the perspective of each actor. Future research could address this limitation.

Enhancing material and nonmaterial sense of place value would involve multiple actors. Therefore, mapping of the resources owned by these actors as well as their roles is critical. To create sense of place value, synergy between actors is essential and could not be achieved by a single actor. Every actor is influenced by motives and circumstances when interacting with the other actor. Awareness of such motives and circumstances where the exchange takes place is necessary, to ensure that the cultivated relationship aligns with the goals and expectations. As exchange relations could be balanced or imbalanced, every actor also needs to be aware of their position and continuously evaluate it to avoid being constantly in a powerless position. Indigenous tourism enterprise could not singlehandedly provide every resource needed. Therefore, developing a character as a gatherer/resource integrator becomes crucial to gain access to all necessary resources. Currently, there are no tools available for identifying actors, resources and relational attributes. This could be a potential avenue for academics in this area. Further, the government should identify the best practice from the successful indigenous tourism enterprises, not only giving recognition awards or certifications to these enterprises.

Findings from this study have several contributions; among others, it discussed sense of place value of indigenous tourism enterprise more comprehensively, as the essential actors who exchange resources were identified. This study also underlined positive power imbalance, which had been generally seen as a negative dynamic. Moreover, this study highlighted that indigenous people, despite living by communal value (non-transactional) in their daily lives, would need to engage in transactional relations and develop resource integrator characteristics to maintain tourism enterprise. Indigenous people have often been seen from their communal side, while their transactional (non-communal) side has been rarely seen.

So far, most of the literature on logistics social responsibility (LSR) has prioritized the examination, classification of and adaption toward positive LSR practices instead of investigating necessary logistics service providers’ capabilities to implement LSR strategies. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to contribute to theory by an assessment of LSR and its linkages to dynamic capabilities theory to gain insights into how logistics service providers can foster an enhanced application of LSR practices.

The paper is conceptual and grounded on dynamic capabilities theory. Relevant literature from logistics management, supply chain management and sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) as well as dynamic capabilities was examined to build upon existing theory by conceptualizing LSR from a dynamic capabilities perspective. In addition, propositions for future research are presented based on the conceptual model.

With regards to the controversial discussion in the literature about the direct link between dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage as well as the necessary degree of heterogeneity of dynamic capabilities, the conceptualization of LSR from a dynamic capabilities perspective adds new elements to this discussion. Considering long-term or even sustainable competitive advantage, the current degree of homogeneity across logistics services might hinder a sustainable advantage in the long run and demands for more advanced logistical capabilities. In this line, it is important to understand and utilize the causal relationships between different logistical resources and capabilities to achieve a unique long-term advantage allowing logistics service providers to further enhance LSR practices.

Due to the current role of logistics service providers, they should not just foster their resources focusing on the relationship to the focal firm, but they should also develop and implement new logistical capabilities derived from SSCM-related dynamic capabilities to design alternative service portfolio extensions and new business models.

Although dynamic capabilities have been studied intensively in the last two decades, the causal relationships between different logistical resources and necessary dynamic capabilities to achieve advantages by enhancing LSR practices still lack conceptualization. To build on the understanding of LSR, the paper at hand presents a conceptual framework explaining LSR and SSCM practices through the lens of dynamic capabilities theory.

This paper aims to propose a new theoretical perspective on the organizational design of offshoring service organizations by adopting an information processing perspective which incorporates the factors of collaborative information technologies, task commoditization and global customer service delivery that are characteristic of modern-day knowledge-intensive service (KIS) organizations.

The authors analyze data from a large multiyear survey of offshoring service providers conducted in 12 countries.

The authors show how use of collaborative technology is significantly and positively related to spatial and configurational dispersion, task commoditization is significantly and positively related to spatial and temporal dispersion and need for global customer presence is not related to spatial, temporal or configurational dispersion.

The paper integrates concepts from management information system (MIS), operations management and international business to show how collaborative technology, task characteristics and customer service requirements affect the global dispersion of KISs.

The results show how use of collaborative technology, task characteristics and global customer service requirements need to be jointly considered in the global dispersion of activities by KIS providers.

The study sheds light on the effect of the key factors on different dimensions of global dispersion (i.e. spatial/temporal/configurational dispersion) in offshoring service provider organizations. Second, it shows how the traditional information processing perspective on organizations can be updated and applied to KIS organizations by incorporating the factors of global collaborative information technologies, task commoditization and global customer service.

This study aims to identify the similarities and differences between the perspectives of providers and customers regarding the important dimensions and attributes of e‐service quality (e‐SQ).

Ten criteria are proposed for assessment of e‐SQ in both business‐to‐business (B2B) and business‐to‐consumer (B2C) transactions. Confirmatory factor analysis confirms the validity of grouping these criteria into five proposed dimensions. The e‐SQ dimensions and criteria are then ranked in terms of their importance by a survey of respondents from small and medium‐sized enterprises with experience in conducting e‐business in Greece. The results are compared with selected surveys of customers' perceptions from the literature.

The results indicate that the providers' perceptions are in agreement with customers' perceptions with regard to e‐SQ dimensions, but not with regard to specific criteria (items) within those dimensions. The study also finds that providers have similar perceptions of the importance of the suggested e‐SQ criteria in B2B and B2C electronic transactions.

The findings should be generalised with care if extrapolated to other socio‐cultural settings and specific industries.

Managers should recognise that there might be differences between their views of e‐SQ and those of their customers.

This is one of the few studies to have focused on the perceptions of providers in assessing e‐SQ.

Past research on luxury is fragmented resulting in challenges to define what the construct of luxury means. Based on a need for conceptual clarity, this study aims to map how research conceptualises luxury and its creation.

This study presents a scoping review of luxury articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Of the initial 270 articles discovered by using the database of Scopus, and after control searching in Web of Science and reference scanning, 54 high-quality studies published before the end of 2020 were found to meet the inclusion criteria and comprised the final analytical corpus.

The findings demonstrate that research approaches luxury and its creation from three different perspectives: the provider-, consumer- and co-creation perspectives. In addition, the findings pinpoint how the perspectives differ from each other due to fundamental and distinguishing features and reveal particularities that underlie the perspectives.

The suggested framework offers implications to researchers who are interested in evaluating and developing luxury studies. Based on the identified luxury perspectives, the study identifies future research avenues.

The study contributes to the luxury research stream by advancing an understanding of an existing pluralistic perspective and by adding conceptual clarity to luxury literature. It also contributes to marketing and branding research by showing how the luxury literature connects to the evolution of value creation research in marketing literature.

This paper aims to examine the opportunity for third-party logistics providers (3PLs) to develop further value-added services for their clients, focused on purchasing. The provider perspectives on third-party purchase (3PP) services are examined in conjunction with their business environment, with a survey informed by transaction cost economics.

New Zealand 3PL providers were surveyed, and 166 responses were received. Structural equation modeling was used to test the conceptual model.

From the perspective of 3PL providers, uncertainty, frequency and transaction size, but not asset specificity, are significantly associated with client value from a 3PP service. While asset specificity in investments is not required by 3PLs, they need a high frequency of orders, sufficient order size and low levels of uncertainty as supporting conditions for the development of 3PP services.

The sample focuses on 3PL providers and therefore does not address the behavioral characteristics of users or customers of the services.

This study shows that 3PP services may be further developed by 3PL providers to improve the value offered to their clients.

An ever-increasing number of companies outsource logistics activities to third-party logistics (3PL) providers to beat the competition. From the buyer's (shippers') perspective, selecting the right 3PL provider is crucial, and from the 3PL provider's perspective, it is imperative to be attractive and to retain clients. To this aim, a potential lever can be physical assets, such as warehouses, which the literature has traditionally neglected. The objective is to benchmark the importance of warehouses for 3PL providers to attract/retain clients and for shippers to select the right 3PL provider.

The authors performed an empirical investigation through interviews on dyads (3PL providers/shippers) and utilized the Best-Worst Method (BWM) to rank the criteria used in the 3PL buying process and allow the warehouse's role to emerge.

Results show that the 3PL buying process consists of four phases and three evaluation steps. The selection criteria are classified into three groups: order qualifiers, order winners and retention factors. The warehouse has different levels of importance throughout the process. It appears that it can indirectly enhance the attractiveness and retention capability of 3PL providers through other selection criteria.

By combining the resource-based view and the customer value theory, this research extends the theory on logistics outsourcing by studying the phases of the 3PL buying process and scrutinizing the criteria used in different evaluation steps. The research adds a double perspective of analysis (3PL providers and shippers), which is missing in the literature, and focuses on the importance of warehouses.

Organizational diversity training is designed to enhance employees' skills and competencies regarding diversity and its management. The question of its effectiveness, and the conditions under which it thrives, remains a matter of debate. Unlike previous studies that have predominantly focused on the perspective of training participants, this study shifts the lens to the viewpoints of diversity training providers in Germany – a country where the formal requirement for diversity management was implemented relatively recently. The primary objective is to ascertain the critical factors influencing training effectiveness from the providers' perspective.

This research draws upon case studies based on document analysis and qualitative interviews with diversity training providers across Germany.

The investigation reveals that the effectiveness of diversity training, as perceived by providers, hinges on several key factors: the organizational environment (including the widespread recognition of diversity issues and the presence of an organizational diversity framework), the attributes of diversity trainers (notably their personal familiarity with diversity) and the setting and design of the training (such as venue, duration and a blend of instructional approaches). A notable barrier to achieving effective training outcomes is the lack of supportive conditions within client companies, exemplified by limited training budgets, which impedes the accurate assessment of training effectiveness.

This study marks a novel contribution to the field by explicitly focusing on the perspective of diversity training providers in Germany. It provides new insights into the importance of the organizational context surrounding diversity education within the private sector.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the subject-specific literature on service and flexibility and derive a conceptualization of the linkages between provider flexibility and customers’ value creation.

The authors analyze existing perspectives on service and flexibility and propose linkages between provider flexibility and customer value creation.

Drawing on the service logic literature, and utilizing real-world examples, this paper advances propositions and a conceptual model of how flexibility can contribute to value creation.

This paper establishes the basis for a practical and applicable flexibility perspective on value creation. It is particularly important for service-oriented providers and other firms operating in dynamic contexts.

The propositions and conceptual model offer suggestions on the manner in which provider flexibility contributes to customer value creation. Contextual influences that moderate provider flexibility in value creation are also included.

This paper contributes a novel perspective on service, which may serve as the starting point for the development of a more formal flexibility perspective on value creation.