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This paper aims to develop an alternative perspective on marketing informed by service scholarship to resolve marketing’s challenges as a discipline and practice.

This paper is conceptual and builds on the ongoing debate regarding marketing’s challenges and on service research to develop a new alternative marketing perspective and model, which could contribute to reforming marketing.

An analysis of the current understanding of marketing showed that the discipline’s myopic focus on activities, which disregards what marketing is as a phenomenon, is the primary reason for the prevailing problems and failure to reform marketing. Based on research into service logic (SL), the paper demonstrates that a higher level view of service can be characterized as the provision of help to the users of goods and services to ensure that these goods and services deliver meaningful assistance in their lives and work. This suggests that the ultimate objective for marketing is to make firms meaningful to the users of their goods and services.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, since this paper is the first to conceptually develop a perspective on marketing and a corresponding model informed by service scholarship, more conceptual and empirical research is necessary. Developing the new meaningfulness-based perspective and model for marketing brings a new approach to the process of resolving marketing’s current troubled situation.

The meaningfulness approach to marketing enables customer-centered marketing strategies to be implemented. Such strategies include both demand-stimulating and demand-satisfying programs.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first to examine marketing’s troubled situation from a service research and SL perspective.

Food quality and safety issues have always been imperative topics discussed by people. The anti-tampering of blockchain technology and the transparency of information make it possible to improve food traceability and safety quality. How to effectively apply blockchain traceability technology to food safety has great research significance for improving food safety and consumer quality trust.

The paper aims to analyze the differences in product quality levels and market participants’ profits before and after the use of blockchain-driven traceability technology in the food agricultural product supply chain (SC) in the dynamic game frameworks of supplier-led and retailer-led modes, respectively, and explores the willingness, social welfare and consumer surplus of each member of the agricultural product SC to participate in the blockchain. Besides, We investigate the SC performance improvement with the mechanism of central centralized decision-making and revenue-sharing contract, compared to the SC performance in dynamic games.

The results are obtained as follow: The adoption of blockchain traceability technology can help improve the quality of food agricultural products, consumer surplus and social welfare, but the application and popularization of technology is hindered by traceability technology installment costs. Compared with the supplier leadership model, retailer-led food quality level, customer surplus and social welfare are higher.

How to effectively apply blockchain traceability technology to food safety has great research significance for improving food safety and consumer quality trust.

Food quality and safety issues have always been hot topics discussed by people. The anti-tampering of blockchain technology and the transparency of information make it possible to improve food traceability and safety quality.

The research results enrich the theories related to food safety and quality, and provide a valuable reference for food enterprises involved in the decision-making exploration of blockchain technology.

Based on the characteristics of blockchain technology, the demand function is adjusted and the product loss risk of channel members is transferred through a Stackelberg game SC composed of agricultural products suppliers and retailers.

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  We introduce two features of blockchain: quality trust and product information tracking.

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  The willingness of each member of the supply chain to use blockchain for product traceability was explored.

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  The overall traceability effect of the retailer-led blockchain is better than that of the manufacturer-led blockchain.

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  The cost of blockchain technology is a barrier to its adoption.

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  Blockchain brings higher consumer surplus and social welfare.

We introduce two features of blockchain: quality trust and product information tracking.

The willingness of each member of the supply chain to use blockchain for product traceability was explored.

The overall traceability effect of the retailer-led blockchain is better than that of the manufacturer-led blockchain.

The cost of blockchain technology is a barrier to its adoption.

Blockchain brings higher consumer surplus and social welfare.

Small retail stores in the luxury market face significant challenges due to fluctuations in market demand. This task turns challenging as it requires effectively coordinating and translating customer needs into specific requirements that align with retail goals and available resources. However, limited empirical research exists investigating how managers can address service value and quality attributes in small retail stores. This article aims to bridge this gap by investigating the role of quality function deployment (QFD) in improving market and quality requirements management in small retail stores.

Based on the case study, a customer survey was initially conducted to gather information on critical characteristics valued in the luxury retail segment. QFD was used to assist the company in identifying and prioritizing key quality attributes to meet customer requirements effectively.

The findings demonstrate that implementing QFD in small luxury retail stores empowers managers to identify previously neglected product and service quality aspects. The article shows that QFD informs organizational adaptations that align with the demands of the retail market, leading to an improved ability to meet customer expectations and enhance customer value through the development of enhanced products and services. The study showcases the efficacy of the tested methodology in effectively capturing and prioritizing both tangible and intangible customer needs in retail.

Findings offer valuable insights to retail managers of small luxury stores, providing actionable market-oriented strategies. By implementing the recommended practices, managers can improve the store’s competitiveness and better cater to the customer base.

This study contributes to bridging persistent knowledge gaps by addressing the unique context of small luxury retail stores and introducing the application of QFD in this setting. The insights gained from this research are relevant to both retailing and quality management literature. Considering the growing prevalence of transformations in the retail industry, the study provides practical implications for retail managers in effectively navigating these changes.

This study offers practical insights into how generative artificial intelligence (AI) can enhance responsible manufacturing within the context of Industry 5.0. It explores how manufacturers can strategically maximize the potential benefits of generative AI through a synergistic approach.

The study developed a strategic roadmap by employing a mixed qualitative-quantitative research method involving case studies, interviews and interpretive structural modeling (ISM). This roadmap visualizes and elucidates the mechanisms through which generative AI can contribute to advancing the sustainability goals of Industry 5.0.

Generative AI has demonstrated the capability to promote various sustainability objectives within Industry 5.0 through ten distinct functions. These multifaceted functions address multiple facets of manufacturing, ranging from providing data-driven production insights to enhancing the resilience of manufacturing operations.

While each identified generative AI function independently contributes to responsible manufacturing under Industry 5.0, leveraging them individually is a viable strategy. However, they synergistically enhance each other when systematically employed in a specific order. Manufacturers are advised to strategically leverage these functions, drawing on their complementarities to maximize their benefits.

This study pioneers by providing early practical insights into how generative AI enhances the sustainability performance of manufacturers within the Industry 5.0 framework. The proposed strategic roadmap suggests prioritization orders, guiding manufacturers in decision-making processes regarding where and for what purpose to integrate generative AI.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the interplay of stressor (e.g. fear of missing out, FoMO) and strains (e.g. perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) in social networking sites (SNS) use can contribute to users’ SNS fatigue from a configurational view.

Data were collected among 363 SNS users in China via an online survey, and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) was applied in this study to scrutinize the different combinations of FoMO and overload that contribute to the same outcome of SNS fatigue.

Six combinations of casual conditions were identified to underlie SNS fatigue. The results showed that FoMO, perceived information overload and system feature overload are the core conditions that contribute to SNS fatigue when combined with other types of overloads.

The current work supplements the research findings on SNS fatigue by identifying the configurations contributing to SNS fatigue from the joint effects of stressor (FoMO) and strain (perceived social overload, communication overload, information overload and system feature overload) and by providing explanations for SNS fatigue from the configurational perspective.

This study aims to introduce the design and the design process for an innovative sanitary fixture to be used in public facilities for the purpose of ablution. This purpose-made fixture is needed to support the hygienic, safe and comfortable performance of this essential function in public facilities in many parts of the world. The study also clarifies the need for this function and critically reviews current designs to address it.

The study started by critically reviewing the standard built-in models for ablution. It also identified and analyzed new approaches to designing standalone ablution fixtures. The study then specified the characteristics of a better ablution fixture and involved drafting a design based on these characteristics, making a wooden prototype to test the design and receiving users’ feedback. The design was adjusted and tested again for more feedback. Finally, the study resulted in the development of a final design. It used digital fabrication to create the design prototype with improved aesthetics, tested it again and received user feedback.

A survey of users showed that they found the innovative fixture more comfortable and safer than the commonly used built-in models. The main concern was the potential for water to splash on clothes from the high faucet.

In addition to showing an innovative design for a purpose-made sanitary fixture for ablution, the study makes the reader aware of the various challenges of providing a hygienic, safe and comfortable facility for users to perform this function. This is very useful for the many designers and facility managers who deal with the issue.

Aiming at the problem of insufficient adaptability of robot motion planners under the diversity of end-effector constraints, this paper proposes Transformation Cross-sampling Framework (TC-Framework) that enables the planner to adapt to different end-effector constraints.

This work presents a standard constraint methodology for representing end-effector constraints as a collection of constraint primitives. The constraint primitives are merged sequentially into the planner, and a unified constraint input interface and constraint module are added to the standard sampling-based planner framework. This approach enables the realization of a generic planner framework that avoids the need to build separate planners for different end-effector constraints.

Simulation tests have demonstrated that the planner based on TC-framework can adapt to various end-effector constraints. Physical experiments have also confirmed that the framework can be used in real robotic systems to perform autonomous operational tasks. The framework’s strong compatibility with constraints allows for generalization to other tasks without modifying the scheduler, significantly reducing the difficulty of robot deployment in task-diverse scenarios.

This paper proposes a unified constraint method based on constraint primitives to enhance the sampling-based planner. The planner can now adapt to different end effector constraints by opening up the input interface for constraints. A series of simulation tests were conducted to evaluate the TC-Framework-based planner, which demonstrated its ability to adapt to various end-effector constraints. Tests on a physical experimental system show that the framework allows the robot to perform various operational tasks without requiring modifications to the planner. This enhances the value of robots for applications in fields with diverse tasks.

Prior research has extensively examined how bringing technology from work into the non-work life domain creates conflict, yet the reverse pathway has rarely been studied. The purpose of this study is to bridge this gap and examine how the non-work use of smartphones in the workplace affects work–life conflict.

Drawing from three literature streams: technostress, work–life conflict and role boundary theory, the authors theorise on how limiting employees' ability to integrate the personal life domain into work, by means of technology use policy, contributes to stress and work–life conflict. To test this model, the authors employ a natural experiment in a company that changed its policy from fully restricting to open smartphone access for non-work purposes in the workplace. The insights gained from the experiment were explored further through qualitative interviews.

Work–life conflict declines when a ban on using smartphones for non-work purposes in the workplace is revoked. This study's results show that the relationship between smartphone use in the workplace and work–life conflict is mediated by sensed stress. Additionally, a post-hoc analysis reveals that work performance was unchanged when the smartphone ban was revoked.

First, this study advances the authors' understanding of how smartphone use policies in the workplace spill over to affect non-work life. Second, this work contributes to the technostress literature by revealing how, in specific situations, engagement with ICT can reduce distress and strain.

The purpose of this study is to develop and validate the business streamlining (BS) model proposed in 2017.

This study/paper develops and validates the qualitatively generated BS model, a conceptual model of service sourcing relationships, by testing it quantitatively. A survey was sent to chief exective officers, chief purchasing officers or facility managers in 764 private or public companies in Sweden with an annual turnover exceeding € 10m. The categories were tested and analyzed by means of factor analysis.

The BS model for managing service sourcing processes was confirmed to be significant overall, meaning that it is applicable irrespective of service sourcing context. The efficiency pursuing (EP) was found to have an interlinking role that calls for a revision of the BS model. Furthermore, the four categories tended to load pairwise.

Although this cross-sectional study confirms the relevance of the BS model for managing service-sourcing processes, further studies should examine both the relative significance of its categories in different service-sourcing contexts and why the four main categories tend to pair.

The results support that the model is flexible and adaptable to a wide range of service-sourcing circumstances. Irrespective of the relative complexity of facility management (FM) sourcing processes, the categories can be adapted to fit the service sourcing context. Thus, it can be used as a tool to analyze and facilitate strategic decision-making.

The paper validates that the BS model can represent the dynamics of different service-sourcing processes, regardless of the complexity of the context.

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of tax incentives provided by the Ethiopian government in spurring private investment and job creation, using unique administrative and survey data.

The study employs a dataset covering large- and medium-scale manufacturing in Ethiopia from 2012 to 2018, combined with administrative data on actual tax payments and statutory obligations to gauge the impact of tax incentives. Regression analysis using the generalized method of moments (GMM) is used to examine the relationship between tax incentives and employment, taking into account variations in production, distribution and financial costs.

The study finds that tax incentives do not significantly affect employment at conventional significance levels. The incentive elasticity of employment appears to diminish as production, distribution and financial costs increase. Consequently, the incentives provided by the government have not had a substantial impact on employment generation within the manufacturing sector.

This study is unique for its comprehensive analysis of tax incentives in the Ethiopian manufacturing sector using both administrative and survey data. It highlights that increasing production and financial costs can offset the employment benefits of these incentives, emphasizing the need for a more favorable business environment for private investors.