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In view of the complexity of supply chain management (SCM) in the insurance industry, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper was the first to use symmetrical and asymmetrical methos to examine how the insurer’s service quality and SCM can be configurated to explain the relationships between the insurance companies and brokers as the intermediaries. This study positions insurance brokers as the insurance companies’ customers and supply chain partners, aims to examine the relationships between service quality, SCM and relationship quality.

This paper undertook two studies and used two methods to examine how the insurer’s service quality and SCM can be configurated to explain the relationships between the insurance companies and brokers as the intermediaries. Both symmetrical and asymmetrical analyses were performed including regression and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

The results from symmetrical analyses and fsQCA from two countries show substantial differences in how service quality and SCM affect relationship quality. In particular, fsQCA show that all service quality dimensions are important antecedent conditions of relationship quality for Portuguese brokers. Interestingly for Irish brokers, the combination of assurance, responsiveness and the insurer’ empathy conjunctively accounted for their satisfaction, whereas none of these quality factors are related to their commitment and trust. All SCM factors are important to explain the brokers’ relationship quality with their chosen insurers for both countries.

This study contributes to three areas of research: service quality, SCM and relationship marketing. Firstly, this study used an asymmetrical approach to providing insights into the effect of service quality dimensions by showcasing how these dimensions were configurated to explain the outcome of interest, rather than examining their symmetrical path coefficients. Secondly, this study identified the key factors of SCM in the insurance industry and how these factors can be configurated through Boolean algebra to explain relationship quality between supply chain partners. Finally, this study has implications for relationship marketing research.

As the study was conducted with the insurance brokers in Portugal and Ireland, the findings have implications for the insurance companies for the two countries. As different service quality factors and SCM exert different effects on relationship quality, the insurance companies should look into these factors to modify their current practice to improve relationship quality with their brokers.

Theoretically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to approach from intermediaries to address effectiveness of SCM. Methodologically, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to use fsQCA – a case-based approach to understand SCM and relationship quality between stakeholders.

This research is about embedding service-based supply chain management (SCM) concepts in the education sector. Due to Canada's competitive education sector, the authors focus on Canadian universities.

The authors develop a framework for evaluating and forecasting university performance using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) to assist education policymakers. The application of the proposed framework is illustrated based on information from 16 Canadian universities and by investigating their teaching and research performance.

The major findings are (1) applying the service SCM concept to develop a performance evaluation and prediction framework, (2) demonstrating the application of DEA-ANN for computing and predicting the efficiency of service SCM in Canadian universities, and (3) generating insights to enable universities to improve their research and teaching performances considering critical inputs and outputs.

This paper presents a new framework for universities' performance assessment and performance prediction. DEA and ANN are integrated to aid decision-makers in evaluating the performances of universities.

The findings suggest that higher education policymakers should monitor attrition rates at graduate and undergraduate levels and provide financial support to facilitate research and concentrate on Ph.D. programs. Additionally, the sensitivity analysis indicates that selecting inputs and outputs is critical in determining university rankings.

This research proposes a new integrated DEA and ANN framework to assess and forecast future teaching and research efficiencies applying the service supply chain concept. The findings offer policymakers insights such as paying close attention to the attrition rates of undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In addition, prioritizing internal research support and concentrating on Ph.D. programs is recommended.

Intelligent customer service has started replacing human employees in providing services to customers in numerous industries. Based on the expectancy disconfirmation theory, this study explores how different types of anthropomorphic avatar images of the intelligent customer service would affect consumer responses such as the willingness to interact, in the context of a service failure. The underlying mechanism and boundary conditions are also examined.

Two experimental studies were conducted to investigate the effect of the anthropomorphic image of intelligent customer service on consumers' willingness to interact and the potential role of consumer expectation and disappointment, following a service failure (Study 1). The moderating effect of anthropomorphic type was also explored (Study 2).

In the context of a customer service failure, an anthropomorphized intelligent customer service avatar that appeared competent (vs. warm) induced higher customer disappointment. However, if the anthropomorphic avatar had a cartoon-like appearance, the effect of avatar image perception (competent vs. warm) on consumers' willingness to interact diminishes.

This research enriches and expands the literature on interactive marketing and artificial intelligence and provides practical guidance for companies to design or choose avatar images for intelligent customer service.

Based on the dynamic capability theory, our study tries to explore the mediator mechanism of service supply chain dynamic capability between market orientation and service innovation performance, as well as the boundary conditions in which service supply chain dynamic capability plays a role, in order to reveal the key elements and their mechanisms for manufacturing enterprises to improve service performance.

With a total of 317 valid questionnaires, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research model and hypotheses.

The empirical results confirm that the three types of service supply chain dynamic capability (environment insight capability, resource integration capability and resource reconfiguration capability) can partially mediate the relationship between firm market orientation (responsive and proactive market orientations) and service innovation performance. In addition, supply chain collaboration has different types of moderator effects on the relationship between the three types of service supply chain dynamic capability and service innovation performance.

This research discovers that market orientation and dynamic capability are the key factors leading to high service performance and reveals the mediating role of service supply chain dynamic capability between market orientation and service innovation performance. Moreover, this research explores the moderating role of supply chain collaboration in service supply chain resource reconfiguration capability and service innovation performance.

This research aims to specialise in the investigation of risk management for service-oriented manufacturing supply chains via two stages, highlighting its differences from manufacturing. The research article is commenced by executing an encyclopedic review of earlier research to ascertain the distinctive traits of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains and identify prevalent risks. Secondly, an empirical study in the construction field, amongst the industry hardest struck in the mist of the COVID-19 epidemic, is conducted to thoroughly inspect the resonant effect of these risks on service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance.

In this study, to validate the resonant effect mechanism, a thorough assessment is undertaken by juxtaposing theoretical model to a newly constructed comparative model that encompasses the single effects of risks on supply chain performance.

63% variance of service-oriented manufacturing supply chain performance was showcased by the resonant effect model, compared with 46.3% in the comparative model. Moreover, each risk exerts a more glaringly significant impact on supply chain performance, asserting the mechanism of the resonant influence. Another noteworthy result involves the demand risk possessing a low effect on supply chain performance, thus emphasising the superiority of service-oriented manufacturing supply chains.

Future research endeavours should hinge on the optimal “resonant” model explosion, thereby foreseeing and alleviating worst-case scenarios to guarantee the robustness and resilience of supply chain networks.

Indubitably, reducing the intensity of the resonant effect revolves around lowering the coefficient of “a,” thereby restricting/eliminating the link among risks. Therefore, the suggested resonant impact model might thus serve as “a road map”. In light of the aforementioned considerations, it is advisable that supply chain executives employ supply chain management tactics namely avoidance, prediction, and postponement, but only after meticulous consideration the costs and benefits of adopting such strategies.

The service-oriented manufacturing supply chain features and advantages have been analysed and explained throughout the article. The data gathered during the COVID-19 pandemic is a captivating and topical point of this paper.

Purpose: Technological innovations and frameworks that provide a framework for unification have evolved to improve information exchange across organisational units and information security. These integration technologies share and communicate information using defined protocols and different data. Service-oriented architecture (SOA) is a significant emerging approach that enables modular design solution construction.

Methodology: These designs are beneficial when many apps operating on different architectures and networks need to connect. A well-defined strategy and company-specific guidelines are essential for ensuring the firm’s systematic adoption of such an architecture. The critical components of MASSOASCM ‘(Multi-Agent System Service Oriented Architecture Supply Chain Management’ are a multi-agent system (MAS), a service-oriented structure, and supplier management. The MASSOASCM model has been made, and a production unit has been made to show how it works.

Findings: It has been stated that it saves development costs, and inventory management, all of which are critical concerns in any company. Our goal is to create an inventory control approach that relies on MAS and SOA but also a simulation that demonstrates how it works and may enhance Supply Chain Management (SCM) productivity in a production plant.

Practical Implications: The SCM implementation comprises three different services: SCM, SOA, and MAS. These facilities are constructed, maintained, planned, and implemented individually before being brought together collectively using MAS and SOA techniques.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the impact of supply chain risks (SCRs) and demand management strategies (DMSs) on the company performance in order to study the use of DMSs in delivering improved results even in the presence of SCRs. The SCRs considered under the study are as follows: demand variability, constrained capacity and quality of services delivery, and competitive performance, customer satisfaction and financial performance are the measures considered for company performance.

This study is based on a survey of 439 businesses in India representing 10 groups of services industries (information technology/IT enabled services, business process outsourcing, IT infrastructure, logistics/transportation, healthcare, hospitality, personal services, consulting, education and training, consumer products and retail), using structural equation modeling (SEM) methods.

The findings reveal that presence of demand variability risk has significant influence upon the use of demand planning and forecasting, controlling customer arrival during peaks and shifting demand to future. Mismatch of capacity against demand (unused capacity) leads to the use of techniques to influence business during lean periods, thereby resulting in enhanced supply chain (SC) and financial performance. Controlling customer arrival during peaks to shift the demand to lean periods leads to enhanced financial performance. Presence of delivery quality risk does not significantly influence the use of DMS. Also, short-term use of customer and business handling techniques does not exert significant influence on company performance.

The study has limitations as follows: (1) respondents are primarily from India while representing global organizations, (2) process/service redesign to relieve capacity as a DMS is not considered and (3) discussion on capacity management strategies (CMSs) is also excluded.

SC managers can be resourceful in shifting the peak demand to future with the application of techniques to control customer arrival during peaks. The managers can also help enhance business by influencing business through offers, incentives and promotions during lean periods to use available capacity and improve company performance.

This study is one of the first empirical works to explore how presence of SCRs influences the use of DMS and impacts the three types of company performance. The study expands current research on demand management options (DMOs) by linking three dimensions of company performance based on the data collected from ten different groups of service industry.

The expansion of connectivity on a national scale in Brazil, whether through mobile Internet or fixed broadband, is described as one of the factors that can lead to social and economic benefits for large parts of the population who do not have a network connection. It can also help to reduce poverty by improving the infrastructure of services and increasing Internet use for education purposes. It also provides people with the ability to communicate with online administrative services – local, regional, and national. In Brazil, the main difficulty facing an effective universalization of telecommunications has been limitations in accessing services. This chapter demonstrates the relevance of small Internet providers for the expansion of fixed broadband in less commercially attractive regions (in terms of subscribers, income, and distance) who have been growing over recent years and are now present in 70% of Brazilian municipalities and whose role is paramount to reducing the digital divide.

This paper aims to elaborate on current research on fourth party logistics “4PL” by offering a taxonomy that provides a deeper understanding of 4PL service offerings, thus drawing clear frontiers between existing 4PL business models.

The authors collected data using semi-structured interviews conducted with 60 logistics executives working in 44 “4PL” providers located in France. Using automatic analysis of textual data, the authors combined spatial visualisation, clustering analysis and hierarchical descending classification to generate the taxonomy.

Two key dimensions emerged, allowing the authors to clearly identify and distinguish four 4PL business models: the level of reliance on interpersonal relationships and the level of involvement in 4PL service offering. As a result, 4PL providers fall under one of the following business models in the taxonomy: (1) The Metronome, (2) The Architect, (3) The Nostalgic and (4) The Minimalist.

The study focuses on investigating 4PL providers located in France; thus, future studies should explore the classification of 4PL business models across different cultural contexts and social structures.

The findings offer valuable managerial insights for logistics executives and clients of 4PL to better orient their needs, the negotiations and the contracting process with 4PLs.

Using a Lexicometric analysis, the authors develop taxonomy of 4PL service providers based on empirical evidence from logistics executives; the work addresses the existing confusion regarding the conceptualisation of 4PL firms with other types of logistical providers and the role of in/formal interpersonal relationships in the logistical intermediation.

This study aims to identify supply chain (SC) management practices applied to purchasing capable of improving the resilience of the health-care SC and mitigating the effects of material and service disruption during pandemics.

The approach adopted is qualitative and is based on a systematic literature review from the ScienceDirect, Emerald, Wiley and Web of Science databases. After selecting 705 documents, filters are applied, and 52 articles present problems faced by purchasing the health-care SC during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This article suggests five propositions of resilient practices that can increase purchasing resilience in the face of pandemics such as COVID-19. The proposed practices are collaboration, flexibility, visibility, agility and information sharing, which suggest a sequence for the adoption of management practices based on the number of occurrences and importance found in the analysed studies.

This study does not find robust empirical evidence that could categorically state that the results can be replicated in organisations in general. Thus, as a continuation of research, more studies should use an empirical methodology and case analysis to organise different branches. As the human factor was decisive for the results observed in the literature, future research should dedicate part of the studies to the psychological area of professionals. Actions to combat the pandemic were implemented, impacting positively and negatively on the results obtained. Future research on combat actions could indicate which ones should be avoided.

As a result, disruptions are expected to be reduced, and consequently, the resilience of the SC will increase. Accordingly, purchasing processes and procedures can be redefined to positively influence the resilience of the health-care SC. Resilience is related to maintaining the flow of supply, as well as systems and actions aimed at mitigating the effects of disruptions in the hospital’s core business.

Health systems need to respond to society’s needs even in the face of global crises, such as the one faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. The overload in hospitals and the exponential demand for specific medicines and services in the fight against the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic require enormous coordination in procurement by the purchasing sector. This planning aims to ensure that the care provided by health services maintains the flow of value that serves hospitalised patients.

This study introduces a new approach to the recurrent problem of disruption of the health-care SC during a pandemic using a combination of five important management practices. This proves useful for mitigating disruptions and their effects on the health-care SC.