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Often when we think about the need for democracy and democratic values we look externally to other countries like China, Russia, the former Soviet Union, and various banana republics. Today, the role of democracy is even challenged in the United States. Some candidates are even calling for more socialism.

But, are we even living up to democratic values today? About 98 million eligible voters did not vote in the 2016 election. Increasing number of surveys highlights the loss of democratic values. The continuous attacks by our president on free press and other democratic values, truth, and science are a fundamental threat to our most treasured values.

We believe that marketing, if practiced in an enlightened, positive, and ethical way, can help restore our democracy and democratic values. We elaborate on these values and how marketing can play a role in restoring democracy.

We hope that after reading our chapter you will join our movement to restore democracy and democratic values in America.

• Customers expect retail companies to adapt their strategies to their behaviour, so they should use different channels and devices in interaction;

• Multichannel and omnichannel strategies represent two distinct approaches to managing relationships with the customers;

• The key to developing a successful omnichannel strategy is to integrate channels and touch points that will create a frictionless experience for the customer;

• Introducing omnichannel interaction requires organizational and IT changes within the company.

Customers expect retail companies to adapt their strategies to their behaviour, so they should use different channels and devices in interaction;

Multichannel and omnichannel strategies represent two distinct approaches to managing relationships with the customers;

The key to developing a successful omnichannel strategy is to integrate channels and touch points that will create a frictionless experience for the customer;

Introducing omnichannel interaction requires organizational and IT changes within the company.

This chapter seeks to investigate the journey of breast and bowel cancer patients at the HMC Antoniushove. It zooms in on specific touch points and the possibilities for improvements. Furthermore, it elucidates the learning process and more particular the dissemination between the hospital (staff and medical students) and hospitality students and professionals and emphasizes that looking from different perspectives and various disciplines is beneficial for all the stakeholders involved in hospitals.

Diseases are increasingly chronic; patients are more demanding and competition between different hospitals is increasing. That is why, in addition to excellent medical treatment, excellent service (referred to here as hospitality) is becoming increasingly important in the healthcare sector, including in hospitals. What does it have to meet? What do patients appreciate, what needs to be improved and how can these improvements be designed and implemented with the involvement of both patients and hospital staff?

Medical and hospitality students collaborated in this project analysing and describing the journey of patients with breast and bowel cancer. They examined the patient journey and elucidated the touch points, which patients indicated as critical during their ‘journey’.

Most important finding resulted from the learning process of this collaboration and the insight gained, a greater awareness and understanding of the non-medical needs and wishes, i.e. hospitality, of patients. Furthermore, the mutual understanding between the evidence-based stance of thinking of medical students and hospital staff at the one side and the more on soft skills–focused attitude of hospitality students on the other hand increased.

The world of management and technology has become accustomed to the notion of “2.0” advancements and transformative innovations. Is the field of Change Management/Organizational Development itself in this story? Not enough! We re-examine the field’s foundational beliefs, practices, focus, research directions, and value add. We conclude that there is strong evidence from the front line and from an IBM Case Study that the field must “reboot” – to rethink our methods and frameworks; the role and skills of change leadership for the future; change practitioner capabilities for the future; the metrics needed to evaluate progress; and the knowledge exchange between Academe and practitioners.

This chapter covers a diverse range of alternative methods for capturing deep major account insights online. Increasingly in the twenty first century, B2B decision-makers remain abreast of industry innovations and product information through participation in online communities. Through using social mobile technologies businesses exchange product and service experiences online amongst peers not just vendor organisations. A key aspect of this chapter shares rationale for selection of a marketing versus research community, community objectives, online techniques to gain major account insights using big data, resourcing, integration with existing marketing systems and budgeting for ongoing maintenance of marketing communities supporting B2B sales and marketing initiatives. This chapter focuses on the emerging area of B2B sales activities for creation and management of online communities for Major Account management of energy supply customers. A case-based research strategy specifically honed towards sensemaking of major account activities through using B2B online communities in conjunction with emerging research methods is outlined and critiqued.

This chapter offers a specific point of view on the Town Centre retail, in ­order to develop a new way to enhance the customer retail experience in this place. The combination of shopping over the Internet and the interactive technologies represents for Town Centre retailers one of the possible solutions in the creation of a multisensory experience for people living in and visiting this urban area. By welcoming the challenge of creating multisensory experiences, “bricks and mortar” stores need to integrate digital solutions to create and handle experiences. Customers can interact with people and contents via digital technologies such as Quick Response, Electrochromic Glass, Touch Systems, Outdoor Totems, Holographic Technology, and Augmented Reality. From the analysis of the academic literature emerges an agreement that the use of the Internet and interactive technologies are not totally exploited as tools able to revitalize the Town Centre retail and create animated, lively streets that offer multisensory experiences. Based on the above considerations, this chapter provides a theoretical model in order to create an immersive retail experience within the physical store by combining the use of the Internet to conduct shopping and the interaction with several kinds of technologies.

This chapter discusses how the special qualities of poetic language can inform new principles for organizational design. Appreciative inquiry makes extensive use of poetic language – of stories, metaphors, and imagery – to facilitate the discovery of high-point experiences and the articulation of desired future states. It is commonly believed that through this narrative mode of knowing, appreciative dialogue awakens the imaginative and relational possibilities for successful transformation of organizational systems. In a critique of current practice, the chapter suggests that the unleashed generative capacity for change is not fully utilized because of appreciative inquiry's reliance on logico-scientific discourse during its design conversations. This return to modernist managerial practice is unfortunate, if we accept the need for alternative ways of knowing and talking in our efforts to create more just and sustainable forms of organizing. In an attempt to renew existing thinking, the chapter explores the question of what becomes possible when we embrace the poetics, rather than the pragmatics, of organizational design. It describes four qualities of poetic language – imaginative, ambiguous, touching, and holistic – which may inspire the design of organizations that are both more daring and caring in character.

In recent years, with the development of technology, the number of contact points between companies and their customers has multiplied. From the company point of view, companies may reach their customers through multiple marketing channels. Moreover, business intelligence necessitates increasing data sources, strengthening the power of analysis tools, and developing knowledge to be used as a competitive advantage. On the other hand, today’s mostly digitized customers expect more than just commoditized products or services. Customer activation creates experiences that make them feel strong as agents perpetrating the structure (brand strategies) by taking an active role instead of being passive. In other terms, customers are in the main decision position to plan the structure. Thus, companies should design unique and memorable customer experiences through different channels in an integrated way, which is called omnichannel. Omnichannel customer experience management is possible by determining and coordinating customer touch points. In other terms, a melody should exist at these interaction points. This book aims to contribute to this advancement by first providing general reviews of the literature, then covering the pillars to design omnichannel customer experiences, and lastly providing technology-enhanced applications from several industries. This book aims also to provide fresh conceptual insights and thinking about the ways to design and develop omnichannel customer experiences.