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Quality has always been a competitive advantage for every organisation that strives for customer satisfaction when offering services or products. Technological advancements during the industrial revolutions have enabled organisations to grub improvement and transition opportunities into a new paradigm in operating business processes. In light of the fourth industrial revolution (FIR), in which Quality 4.0 (Q4.0) leveraged its technologies, this study establishes the need for service organisations to transition to Q4.0. It unveils the awareness level within the organisation, the existing challenges and the benefits of transitioning to Q4.0.

The data for this study was acquired through a survey methodology; it involved qualitative and quantitative methodologies and a mix of primary and secondary sources. The challenges and benefits regarding Q4.0 adoption were obtained from the relevant literature and used as a base of assessment in the selected service organisations. Minitab version 20 and SPSS 21.0 software packages analysed the gathered data.

The study found a high level of awareness regarding Q4.0 among the selected service organisations. Despite the high level of awareness, it was revealed that neither of the Q4.0-related technologies have been implemented nor in the process within the selected service industries. This is due to numerous challenges, including inadequate high-speed internet, a high cost of investment, inadequate skilled personnel and inadequate scepticalness to the implementation outcomes. Despite these challenges, leveraged technologies, potential benefits and Q4.0 awareness all demonstrate the need for Q4.0.

The study introduces the advent of the FIR and the disruptive nature of the associated technologies. It also unveils the potential of the contemporary technologies of the FIR that could elevate quality service provision to increase their competitiveness. Moreover, it also assists service organisations in planning and properly allocating their resources to ensure all the challenges are addressed in the Q4.0 adoption process. The study is limited in that it merely considers service organisations in Tanzania without categorising what type of service organisations were considered, i.e. banking, telecommunications, health, etc. thus generalising the findings.

Much has been discussed in the literature regarding Q4.0 in manufacturing organisations, focusing less on service organisations. This study uniquely assessed the need to transition to Q4.0 for service organisations, which has yet to be covered in the literature.

Based on the Social Exchange Theory (SET), the paper attempts to extend the research on the relationship between green self-managed teams and firm performance by exploring the serial mediation of extra-role green behavior and environmental performance. Furthermore, via moderated mediation, the study inspected the differences in relationships among these variables for manufacturing and service organizations.

Data of 407 respondents from 122 manufacturing and service organizations (having green self-managed teams) operating in India were collected using purposive sampling. Various statistical techniques like confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), correlations, multiple regressions and bootstrapping were employed.

The results indicated that extra-role green behavior and environmental performance served as serial mediators. Additionally, the nature of the organizations significantly moderated several indirect relationships, with one pathway found to be insignificant.

The study may be limited by the fact that the data were collected at a single moment in time rather than using a longitudinal design.

The study guides service organizations to attract environmentally conscious employees by promoting green self-managed teams and manufacturing organizations to enrich their operations and service delivery through such teams.

The study uniquely examines how green self-managed teams addressing environmental issues contribute to improved firm performance through mutual exchanges. It also advances existing literature by conducting a comparative analysis across manufacturing and service organizations in an emerging Indian market.

While servitization has been recognised for its potential to augment organizational revenue and fortify competitive advantage, the exploration of alternative servitization trajectories to the classical servitization model has been little explored in literature. Recent literature introduces the “service paradox” and presents different trajectories to the classical model, but it does not explain why a company chooses one trajectory instead of another. Therefore, this study aims to provide a model that, based on the contextual factors present, recommends which servitization trajectory the company should choose.

This study uses a combination of design science research (DSR) and context, intervention, mechanisms and outcomes (CIMO) to propose the model. An initial contextual factors list was created based on the literature, refined by the company’s employees and evaluated in three selected initiatives in the focal company. Furthermore, based on the understanding of the CIMO logic elements, four design propositions were elaborated to summarize the main findings of the study.

The study has demonstrated that the choice of a servitisation trajectory is intricately tied to a multitude of contextual factors, prompting organisations to deviate from conventional models towards alternative paths. Furthermore, the research sheds light on the underlying mechanisms and contextual drivers that shape servitisation decisions within the context of a consumer goods manufacturer. The analysis underscores the pivotal role of market dynamics and strategic adaptability in shaping servitisation strategies, underscoring the importance of customized approaches that cater to the distinct circumstances of each organisations.

The research contributes to both theory and practice by offering profound insights into the complex nature of servitisation, advocating for continuous adaptation and strategic alignment with market demands. For practitioners and decision-makers, the study provides valuable guidance on enhancing service offerings and navigating the complexities of servitisation within specific sectors, fostering a culture of learning and adaptation to drive sustainable growth.

This paper aims to illustrate how service ecosystem governance may provide a suitable ground to pursue holistic resilience to “wicked” socio-economic and ecological problems, for enhancing “place-based” sustainable performance outcomes through an organizational, interorganizational and context setting.

This work suggests the use of “place-based” collaborative ecosystem platforms driven by a dynamic performance governance approach as a setting where facilitated performance dialogue is carried out among networked stakeholders. This fosters a holistic view of performance sustainability where intangibles, inertial, cultural and behavioral factors play a key role in policy analysis.

The paper illustrates how different research streams framing stakeholder relationships under a business, hybrid organization and public sector perspective converge toward the “service ecosystem” construct, as a common field for sustainable “place-based” value creation. This performance governance perspective frames accountability for achieving sustainable outcomes through interconnected viewpoints, i.e. (1) time (short vs long-term), (2) subject (single organization, “theme-focused” service ecosystem and “place-based” service ecosystem) and (3) field (socio-economic, cultural and ecological).

This work has an interdisciplinary track. It recommends feedback and “stock-and-flow” modeling to enhance framing counterintuitive patterns of behavior of dynamic complex socio-economic, cultural and ecological subsystems within “place-based” collaborative ecosystem platforms. Combining an inside-out with an outside-in view triggers sustainable outcome-based dynamic performance governance through an organizational, interorganizational and context setting.

This study aims to develop and test a model of the antecedents, mediators and consequences of the glass cliff phenomenon through public sector service organizations in Iran to explore more insights on gender inequality in managerial positions.

The current research was conducted based on a mixed-method approach, using both qualitative and quantitative research designs. First, the qualitative method includes content analysis by conducting semi-structured interviews with 20 university professors and expert managers working in public sector service organizations in Iran. The outcomes of the qualitative phase lead to designing the conceptual framework and research hypothesis. Then, through a quantitative phase, 384 female managers working in public sector service organizations in Iran are selected using stratified random sampling and fill out the research questionnaire. The exploratory factor analysis was used to verify the model. Moreover, structural equation modeling, using AMOS 24, was used to test the research hypothesis.

The findings of the qualitative phase were represented in three categories including antecedents (e.g. the characteristics of women’s leadership, the selection of women based on meritocracy criteria, women’s preferences and organizational factors), mediation effect (e.g. succession planning, personal development planning and support networks) and consequences of the glass cliff phenomenon (e.g. positive and negative consequences). The results of the exploratory factor analysis show there are ten components, explaining 88.5% of variances. Moreover, the test of the structural model supports the direct effect of antecedents on the glass cliff phenomenon. The results also show the effect of the glass cliff phenomenon on consequences through mediation effects.

There are some limitations that can be addressed by other researchers. Accordingly, the limited number of female managers in Iran prevented larger quantitative research. Moreover, the current research only found casual and mediation consequences of the glass cliff phenomenon, and potential moderators were not considered in this study.

The present study’s innovations may include using a mixed-method approach to investigate the antecedents, mediators and consequences of the glass cliff phenomenon in this study and examining the model constructs in some public sector service organizations. This research may provide a deep understanding of the antecedents, mediators and consequences of the glass cliff phenomenon by finding new factors using a mixed-method approach.

Citizen's service centers (CSCs) are front-end delivery public points which aim to reduce bureaucratic procedures and improve citizens' services. The present study, based on the citizens' perceptions, aims to explore the impact of the CSCs' service quality on citizens' satisfaction and also to identify statistically significant differences with regard to service quality dimensions and citizen satisfaction among different groups of citizens.

A questionnaire survey was carried out based on the five dimensions of the SERVPERF model. Random sampling was used to acquire a representative and reliable sample of 1,226 respondents. Descriptive statistics, multiple linear regression analysis, T-test and ANOVA were applied to analyze the data.

According to the citizens' perceptions, the levels of the service quality dimensions and citizen satisfaction are medium to high. The service quality dimensions have a statistically significant impact on citizens' satisfaction. Moreover, statistically significant differences are observed among groups of citizens in terms of the service quality dimensions and citizen satisfaction.

The present study is stimulated by the existing gap identified in the literature in the field of the public sector and more specifically in the CSCs. Building on the public sector literature, the study examines the relationship between service quality dimensions and citizens' satisfaction from the services provided by the Greek CSCs, which are innovative public service organizations operating all over Greece. It also highlights key implications for public organizations and government policy decision-makers based on citizens' demographic characteristics.

This study investigates how organizational control systems induce emotional labor in frontline service employees (FLEs). Drawing on the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) theory, we hypothesized that two control systems, an outcome-based control system (OBCS) and a behavior-based control system (BBCS), trigger work engagement rather than organizational dehumanization in FLEs, leading them to choose deep acting rather than surface acting as an emotional labor strategy.

This study employed three-wave online surveys conducted 3–4 months apart to assess the time-lagged effects of S-O-R. We measured OBCS, BBCS (stimuli) and control variables at Time 1 (T1); work engagement and organizational dehumanization (organisms) at Time 2 (T2) and emotional labor strategies (responses) at Time 3 (T3). A total of 218 employees completed the T1, T2 and T3 surveys.

OBCS increased work engagement, leading to increased deep acting. BBCS enhanced organizational dehumanization, leading to increased surface acting. Post-hoc analysis confirmed that the indirect effect of OBCS on deep acting through work engagement and the mediation effect of BBCS on surface acting through organizational dehumanization were statistically significant.

This study collected three-wave data to reveal how organizational control systems affect FLEs’ emotional labor in the S-O-R framework. It illustrated how organizations induce FLEs to perform effective emotional strategies by investigating the effects of organizational control systems on their internal states.

This research investigates the role of customer involvement (CINV) in customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions and customer retention (CR) in Ghana’s hotel industry.

This quantitative-based explanatory research obtained primary data via structured questionnaires from 277 hotel customers in Ghana, processed it with SmartPLS4.0 software, and analysed it with structural equation modelling.

CRM dimensions (CRM-based technology, managing knowledge and personalisation of services) and CINV positively affect CR. Also, CINV partially mediates the interactions between the CRM dimensions and CR in Ghana’s hotel industry.

The study is geographically limited to hotels in Ghana and conceptually limited to three CRM dimensions, CINV and CR. Methodologically, the study was limited to the quantitative approach. However, our outcomes imply that hotels in Ghana that invest in relevant CRM dimensions would improve CR. CRM-CR association can also be improved through CINV.

The study outcomes imply that when Ghanaian hotels implement the CRM dimensions and foster active CINV, their customers’ retention will improve significantly. Hence, CRM and CINV are prerequisites for enhancing CR in Ghana’s hotel industry.

The study offers valuable contributions to the current literature on CRM, consumer behaviour and hospitality management, especially in a developing economy context. Its novel contribution, the mediating role of CINV, would advance CRM studies in the hospitality sector.

The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the effects of customer incivility on employees' negative emotions (i.e. anger, fear and sadness) considering the moderating role of organizational power distance.

A survey sample comprising 312 service employees was collected from 51 Taiwanese and Vietnamese companies spanning different industries. Given the multilevel characteristics of the data structure, hierarchical linear modeling was used to rigorously test the proposed hypotheses.

The results indicate a significant contribution of customer incivility to employees' negative emotions. Notably, this impact is more pronounced among employees in organizations characterized by low power distance compared to those in organizations with high power distance.

This research significantly advances our understanding of the emotional repercussions of customer incivility on employees by integrating cognitive–motivational–relational theory and organizational culture perspectives. The findings not only provide valuable theoretical insights but also offer practical implications for effectively managing employee well-being in culturally diverse contexts. The study recognizes certain limitations and puts forth suggestions for future research directions.

This paper examines how different configurations of societal impact are pursued by purpose-driven organizations (PDOs) and how these configurations align with the application of varying supply chain design (SCD) practices.

This multi-method study uses quantitative data from 1588 B Corps and qualitative data from 316 B Corps to examine how PDOs align SCD with the pursuit of diverse types of societal impact. The authors first conduct a cluster analysis to group organizations based on the impact they create. Second, qualitative content analysis connects impact with enabling SCD elements.

The analysis of the five identified clusters provides detailed empirical insights on influencers, design decisions and building blocks adopted by PDOs to drive a range of societal impacts. Specifically, the nature of the impact pursued affects (1) whether a PDO will be more influenced by a need in the political environment or an opportunity in the industry environment, (2) the relative importance of the design of social flows versus material flows and (3) the need to develop new relational resources with beneficiaries versus leveraging existing capabilities to manage inter-firm processes.

This study responds to calls to disaggregate different dimensions of societal impact and examines the relationship between SCD and a breadth of sustainability impacts for different stakeholders. In doing so, the authors identify four SCD pathways organizations can follow to achieve specific societal impacts. This study is also the first to employ a supply chain perspective in the study of certified B Corps.