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This study aims to explore how manufacturing firms master customer lock-in through value creation by servitization innovation strategies from the perspective of asset specificity.

A multiple case study with triangulation fashion is adopted to identify servitization innovation strategies. Several manufacturing firms were investigated, which are distributed in different positions of the value chain. Content analysis and abductive approaches are adopted to analyze the data. Moreover, an in-depth interview and participatory observation were conducted to refine the analysis results.

This study identified four different focusing points of servitization operations. Based on these, the paper further induces an innovative servitization strategy matrix of customer lock-in, concerning communion, intellectual, existential and insubstantial strategies. Furthermore, a conceptual model of customer lock-in by servitization innovation from the perspective of asset specificity is elaborated. It is suggested that companies can use tangible or intangible resources by sharing or storing operations to create servitization value.

This study theoretically proposes a conceptual model to extend servitization innovation as an intangible asset and adopt the new perspective of asset specificity to illustrate the value creation in servitization to generate customer lock-in.

This study investigates how asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability relate with supply chain integration (SCI), considering selected food processing firms (FPFs) in Uganda.

This study applies a quantitative research methodology. This research draws on a sample of 103 FPFs that have been selected from a population of 345 FPFs located in Kampala district. Hypothesis testing was done using Smart PLS version 3.

Asset specificity has a significant positive relationship with SCI, and firm adaptability partially mediates this relationship. Also, there is a full mediation impact of firm adaptability on the relationship between relational governance and SCI.

This study focused on perceptual measures to get responses from managers on the level of integration with key suppliers and customers, yet firms deal with a number of suppliers and customers.

This study contributes to existing literature on SCI by applying the transaction cost theory. The study focuses on the influence of asset specificity, relational governance and firm adaptability on SCI in the food processing sector. Literature on relational governance in supply chain using the transaction cost theory remains scanty. Few studies have also focused on firm adaptability as a mediator in the FPS with specific focus on Uganda, yet the sector is highly faced with uncertain events. The uncertain events in the sector and in developing countries call for adaptive strategies. Additionally, this study is the first to use firm adaptability to mediate the influence of asset specificity and relational governance on SCI more so in a developing country like Uganda where the FPS is one of the most important in the economy.

As corporate sustainability is systemic, it cannot be achieved without effective involvement of suppliers. This study aims to examine the drivers of supplier companies’ resource allocation to a sustainability issue that affects customer companies and society at large.

Supplier companies’ resource allocation for a sustainability issue is explained from variables at the levels of the institutional, supply chain and internal environments of a supplier company. The framework is tested with a moderated regression model on 102 supplier companies in animal-based supply chains, focussing on their resource allocation for farm animal welfare.

The findings show that supply chain factors have the strongest influence on suppliers’ resource allocation, including a strong effect of investment specificity and a U-shaped effect of chain integration. Also, significant effects from institutional variables, namely, the pressure on consumer companies, and an inverted U-shaped effect of sustainability competition are found. The innovativeness, referring to the internal environment of supplier companies, appears as another important factor for the allocation of resources to animal welfare, as a sustainability issue.

The results have implications for consumer market companies to deal with sustainability issues that require involvement of their suppliers, for supplier companies to increase their competitive positions and strengthen their relationships within the supply chain, and for policymakers seeking solutions for sustainability issues in the market domain.

While existing literature focusses mostly on the corporate sustainability of highly visible and large consumer companies, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the drivers of supplier companies’ resource allocation for a sustainability issue, namely, animal welfare. It provides insights on what drives supplier companies, usually operating outside the spotlight, to become part of a sustainability transition.

This paper aims to present the vertical integration state-of-the-art and propose an expansion of the operations and supply chain management (OSCM) field by identifying gaps and bottlenecks.

This paper uses a systematic literature review based on a sample of 173 OSCM field articles, collected from Scopus and Web of Science databases.

There are no single factors, such as future costs, structures or skills development, in the decision to vertically integrate operations. It is necessary to combine the vision of production costs with the perspective of governance and transaction costs. In addition, it is essential to consider the competency perspective and its impact on capability building.

Few studies have attempted to understand how vertical integration is used in terms of OSCM research themes and theories. Vertical integration can help companies face challenges and serve as a potential solution for achieving better prices, demand control and quality management.

The significant role of vertical integration mechanisms in supply chains is crucial for managers evaluating a firm's reconfiguration with more vertical operations. Policymakers interested in supporting the smoothness of vertical integration decisions in regulatory agencies play a key role as contingencies.

In times of global challenges, vertical integration is a strategy known to be more effective for firms to obtain a competitive advantage, making them more resilient.

This paper addresses gaps in the vertical integration theme and provides insights for future research development.

Adopting new technologies to improve supply chain activities and processes is essential due to increasingly complex and dynamic business environments. Particularly in the pharmaceutical industry, high-quality standards must be met, requiring transparency and visibility in the supply chain. This research aims at investigating the implementation of blockchain technology in the supply chain of an Egyptian pharmaceutical company.

The research applies a single case-study approach building on the theoretical underpinnings of transaction cost economics. Twenty-five semistructured interviews were conducted with pharmacies and employees of the case company to identify the blockchain technologies' potential for pharmaceutical supply in Egypt. Further analyzing the frequencies of the codes, the authors elaborate on specific relationships between the observed practices.

The research revealed the potential benefits of adopting blockchain technology. Transaction costs are indeed positively impacted by reduced contracting costs, processing costs and lead times, also ensuring the safe delivery of medications. However, the findings also highlight obstacles related to running costs, awareness and company culture. Regarding supply chain governance, blockchain technology can enhance collaboration within the supply chain as well as with important stakeholders.

Insufficient management of pharmaceutical supply chains (PSC) may affect a company's reputation but also disrupt the patient's healing process due to temperature damage and counterfeit medicines. Blockchain governance, in this vein, can ensure a safer and more reliable supply of pharmaceutical products. For intraorganizational purposes, however, cloud solutions, barcoding and generally digital platforms are rated more frequently than blockchain solutions.

The present study contributes to an advanced understanding how blockchain technology supports PSC, particularly in an emerging country context like Egypt. It thereby confirms and extends previous research as well as adds to the theoretical underpinnings of digitalized supply chains.

This research aims to determine to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions developed by bank entities in Spain improve the vulnerable customers' emotions and quality perception of the banking service. Consequently, this increases the quality of their relationship regarding satisfaction, trust and engagement.

Data from 734 vulnerable banking customers were analyzed through structural equations modeling (EQS 6.2) to test the relationships of the proposed variables.

Vulnerable customers' emotional disposition exerts a strong influence on their perceived service quality. The antecedent effect is concentrated primarily on the CSR towards the client, with a residual secondary weight on the CSR towards society. These positive service emotions are determinants of the outcome quality perceived by vulnerable customers, directly in terms of higher satisfaction and trust and indirectly through engagement.

This research contributes to understanding how financial service providers should adapt to the specific characteristics and needs of vulnerable clients by adopting a strategy of approach, personalization and humanization of the service that seems to move away from the actions implemented by the banking industry in recent years.

This study has adopted a theoretical and empirical perspective on the impact of CSR on service emotions and outcome quality of vulnerable banking customers. Moreover, banks can adopt a dual conception of CSR: a macro and external scope toward society and a micro and internal scope toward customers.

This study aims to investigate whether temperature affects the product quality of exporters and whether the effect is non-linear. More specifically, whether the impact of high temperatures differs from the impact of low temperatures, and whether different types of companies or industries are affected differently.

The paper uses detailed data covering all Chinese exporters from 2000 to 2016 to estimate the effects of temperature on the product quality of export firms. To clarify the relationship between them, the authors use a semi-parametric regression method, trying to test whether there is a non-linear relationship between temperature and the export quality of firms.

The increase in the number of high temperature days significantly reduces the quality of exported products, and this negative effect increases as the temperature rises. High temperature has the most significant negative impact on export quality for firms with low technical complexity, private firms and firms with no intermediate imports and located in historical hot cities. Product quality of both labor-intensive and capital-intensive firms will be affected by heat. High temperatures have the greatest negative impact on the export quality of newly entering products, followed by exiting products, with the least negative impact on persisting product.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is the first to examine the impact of temperature on the quality of economic development. The findings of this paper again show that the potential economic impacts of global warming are huge. In addition to some potentially devastating impacts in the future, global warming is already causing imperceptible impacts in the present. Public and economic agents need to fully understand the possible adverse impacts of climate change and take corresponding adaptation measures to cope with global warming.

This paper aims to identify critical factors that influence small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) suppliers’ involvement in their customers’ product development and contrast these with the factors identified from the customer perspective.

A multiple case study approach was used, including four companies. Data were collected through 32 semi-structured interviews, six workshops and documents.

A model is presented that merges this study’s nine identified critical factors with seven critical factors from the customer perspective. The model provides a dual perspective of supplier involvement in product development, wherein the supplier and customer perspectives are concurrently addressed. Some factors are unique for the supplier, but several mirror those on the customer side.

The study is based on data from SME suppliers in Northern Europe. As it is expected that SME companies are more constrained by limited resources, future studies could study critical factors at larger suppliers.

Customers and suppliers having insights about the critical factors can provide better conditions for product development for the other actor; for example, when evaluating customer–supplier integration.

The presented model of critical factors provides a more nuanced picture of supplier involvement in product development as prior research has been biased toward the customer perspective. This study emphasizes the importance of contextual information that has been unnoticed in the literature.

This study investigates how customer experience mediates the relationship between online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry in Ghana.

Data was collected from 167 clients from a two-star hotel in Accra, the capital city of Ghana. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the relationship between the variables.

Results from the analysis indicate that online innovation positively leads to higher repurchase intentions and better customer experience, affirming that customer experience leads to repurchase intentions. Thus, while online innovation leads to repurchase intentions, the strength of this repurchase intention depends on customer experience. Therefore, customer experience mediates the relationship between online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry.

This study addressed only the customer's point of view; future studies could investigate the subject from the managers and other stakeholders' point of view to get a holistic view. Also, the sample size could be improved, and the study could be conducted in other African countries for comparison purposes.

The study shows that online innovation does not automatically lead to increased positive repurchase intention. Hotel managers must, therefore, enforce good customer experience for better profitability.

As far as the researchers know, limited studies have been conducted into how customer experience mediates online innovation and repurchase intention in the hotel industry in Ghana using structural equation modelling. This makes this research unique in Ghana. This study makes an original contribution by measuring the real effect of innovation on repurchase intentions in the hotel industry in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how digital transformation changes highly traditional business processes and how it impacts value co-creation and co-destruction. More specifically, the aim is to examine, using the resource interaction approach, how the friction between non-digital and digital resources affects the co-creation and co-destruction of value in a network during digital transformation. Based on this, the authors provide managerial implications on how to handle simultaneous digital and traditional business processes to co-create value during digital transformation.

A case study is conducted of a digital platform provider and of three traditional confectioneries. In this analysis, the authors looked at the business processes of highly traditional confectioneries that have introduced online services through a digital platform and are undergoing digital transformation.

In some industries, it is neither possible nor advisable to fully digitalise all business processes, and companies have to partially retain their traditional, analogue character to create value. The process of value co-creation during digital transformation is affected by friction between the digital and non-digital resources and is mitigated by specific lubricants (e.g. mutual reliance, smooth personal communication, willingness to help, attitude towards change). This results in the improvement of processes and capabilities in terms of digital development and traditional production. Friction may also lead to value co-destruction, for example, as the result of transformation from face-to-face to digital interactions.

The authors contribute to research on the digital transformation of highly traditional companies that need to introduce new, digital technologies and resources while continuing their traditional processes. The authors develop the concept of lubricants that mitigate the friction between resources and, therefore, facilitate value co-creation in a business network. Additionally, the authors provide managerial implications for how to handle simultaneous digital and traditional business processes during digital transformation.