Businesses, Volume 3, Issue 2 (June 2023) – 8 articles

This study evaluates the managerial sustainability of implementing a decision support system for industrial symbiosis through a recent business modeling methodology. The decision support system is intended to facilitate the identification of implementable industrial symbiosis good practices in a pilot project located in the industrial retro-port area of Trieste. To evaluate the feasibility of this project, a qualitative “Dynamic business model canvas for sustainability” was designed and supported by a system dynamics approach using causal loop diagrams. The study analyzed various governance scenarios for managing the decision support system (public, private, or public–private partnership) and the financing system. The analysis concludes by discussing the research limitations of this study and future opportunities, emphasizing the importance of a resilient system that can handle operational and regulatory shocks, given the project’s public relevance. Further study opportunities could be provided through quantitative simulations and potential numerical validations with stakeholders in the local area, considering potential regulatory constraints. Full article

Although there has been a worldwide cry for gender equity within organizations, gender discriminatory practices continue to be a challenge. Many women still suffer from gender discrimination and remain at the bottom of organizational structures despite their efforts to ascend. This paper seeks to examine the link between gender discriminatory practices and women’s skill development and progression within the workplace. The study espoused a quantitative approach. A questionnaire survey was self-administered online to 412 women through a convenient non-probability sampling method. Descriptive tendencies, test normality, validity, reliability, and regression analysis were performed using the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS), AMOS 27. The results reveal that women’s skill development is impacted by workplace gender discriminatory practices, and the career progression of women is linked to their skill development. Yet it rejects the claim that workplace gender discriminatory practices impact women’s career progression. While having a gender-friendly work environment is applaudable, developing women’s skills and promoting their advancement at work will require more effort from companies. Organizations need to be deliberate about the skills development and career progression of women and institutionalize initiatives that directly encourage women to engage in developmental activities as well as initiatives geared towards promoting women’s career advancement. Full article

We use the new taxonomy for innovative firms developed based on microlevel data from the Community Innovation Survey (CIS2018) on a sample of 6360 Norwegian firms, and information on users of COVID-19-related compensation schemes for firms with significant loss of turnover and furloughed employees to analyse how resilient different innovative firms have been to the crisis (in both the short and the long run). By using different probabilistic regression models, we study the probability of firms being affected negatively during the pandemic period between March 2020 and February 2022 covering three waves of societal restrictions in Norway. Our main assumption is that all firms were hit by a shock at an early stage due to a complete lockdown in March 2020, but that firms were more resilient if they either did not use the compensation schemes or used them for a briefer period than the less resilient firms. We find “active R&D doers” to be most resilient, while “strategic adapters” (firms with a main strategy of producing high-quality products for a specific group of customers) are found to be least resilient. These results imply that pre-existing innovation capabilities are important for meeting the crisis. Full article

This study aims to provide operators with measures for successful IPTV utilisation by identifying the quality of IPTV services for home training and analysing the relationship between consumers’ exercise satisfaction and continuous use to respond to the COVID-19 era. To achieve the research purpose, people who exercise at home using IPTV home training pro-grams were selected as the sample population. The relationship between efficiency, availability, security, and practicability, which are sub-factors of the service quality of IPTV home training, was analysed for exercise satisfaction and continuous use. The analysis methods include frequency analysis and Cronbach’s α using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0. Validation was conducted through correlation analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation model analysis. In addition, Harman’s one-factor verification was conducted to determine the common method bias. All statistically significant levels were set at the p < 0.05 level. The results show that efficiency, availability, security, and practicability have a positive effect on exercise satisfaction, and exercise satisfaction has a positive effect on continuous use. First, during COVID-19, IPTV plays an important role in helping consumers exercise at home and indoors. Second, the subjects of this study showed that individuals 40 years old and older are exercising the most. Therefore, it is assumed that consumers will continue to participate if they provide programs that young people can do. Third, since various human disasters, natural disasters, and other un-predictable phenomena such as COVID-19 are occurring worldwide, policymakers should try to activate programs such as IPTV’s home training that can be done indoors. Full article

This paper examines the effect of CSR perceptions on online recruitment practices and outcomes in the Vietnamese food and beverage sector. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen participants, including CEOs, HR (human resource) staff and store managers. The results show that CSR perception varies and is exemplified through employee-related activities, ethical products, environment, philanthropy, and international standards. The study is novel in establishing that, despite high unemployment in developing economies, CSR communication in online recruitment sites impacts job applicants’ choice of company. While the strategic potency of CSR has been established, this study brings to light its critical significance for human resources processes, particularly online recruitment, in an emerging economy context. The study has considerable implications for practitioners and researchers, suggesting the necessity to strategically manage the interface between CSR and online recruitment. Full article

For the tourism industry, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as an accelerator towards the 4th industrial revolution by creating new and innovative solutions, which have transformed management, finance, planning and opened new avenues for the introduction of innovative sales and marketing technologies. As the tourism industry in Greece faces significant challenges and opportunities posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, additional needs have arisen for tourism businesses, as confirmed in this research, to adapt faster to digital operations and strengthen digital marketing through multi-channel distribution and use of digital assistants. This study aims to investigate the use of digital marketing tools by tourism companies as well as the overall satisfaction of the companies with its use and the areas of impact of digital marketing from the COVID-19 pandemic, and then to highlight all those features that stand out from those of their competitors, as well as the creation of an appropriate marketing strategy that will ensure the flow of new customers and increased revenue. To meet this purpose, an empirical survey was conducted in tourism companies in order to provide answers to research questions. As tourism businesses have not yet made sufficient use of digital media as a strategic marketing tool, this research is the basis for further research into the use of technology and digital tools to reach customers and create a more personalized experience for them. Full article

Total quality management (TQM) has become a reliable quality and customer satisfaction approach that can meet or exceed customer satisfaction. Previous studies have not really tied total quality management in the aspects of SERVQUAL as the major influence on customer satisfaction in the Ghanaian telecommunication sector, thus the need for this research. As customer satisfaction continues to rise, telecommunication customers expect service quality to improve to meet their satisfaction. The quality of service determines the customer satisfaction level in a service industry, such as telecom. Effective total quality management would result in better service quality. SERVQUAL is arguably the model to assess the effectiveness of customer satisfaction in the service industry. The aim of this study is to assess the influence of total quality management on customer satisfaction in the telecom industry from a TQM–SERVQUAL perspective. The study relied on questionnaires to gather data about the TQM services on customer satisfaction. A self-completion questionnaire was administered to customers and employees of MTN Ghana and Vodafone Ghana. Both companies operate with the same procedures and equipment, hence the need to use the same apparatus for all contacted customers and employees. There were 800 respondents from both companies’ employees and customers, although 850 questionnaires were administered. Descriptive statistical analysis was used through the questionnaire. The investigators also ran preliminary tests such as reliability, validity, and multicollinearity tests to ascertain if the received data were reasonable enough for the research and would fit the expected model. The data collected were analyzed and the inference was drawn in the study. The key finding states that total quality management had a significant impact on service quality and customer satisfaction. It is also concluded that service quality has a positive influence on customer satisfaction. Moreover, service quality has been detected as a major variable of TQM in achieving customer satisfaction in telecommunication companies in Ghana. Full article

Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) periodically decide on both which products to launch (or phase out) and in which global regions, thereby conducting an integrated products-countries consideration in diversification strategies. Over time, these diversification decisions can have a cumulative impact on the structure. Diversification literature has primarily focused on one of these two metrics rather than providing an integrated view; this work investigates both metrics. Considering deal-making as an execution instrument of strategies, a comparison of historic deals of MNEs with their current structure offers insights into the nature of the diversification strategies that were pursued. For the most active global deal-making pharmaceutical firms, we derive normalized deal diversity profile metrics in terms of their cumulative past product-countries’ preferences and compare them with the product-countries’ operations of their current subsidiaries. We rationalize MNE deal behaviors as means to shed, acquire and consolidate businesses to enable their market leadership aspirations. The analysis reveals two trajectories that have been actively favored in deals: one directed at niche products offered globally, and one directed at niche products in selected countries. The former is characterized by deals in a high number of countries, whereas the latter by two identifiably different product concentration levels. In contrast, trajectories directed at widely diverse products have been disfavored in deals. Understanding such directions and their pace can aid in global- or group-level strategy formulation, monitoring strategy execution, interpreting competitor moves and designing regional policies. Full article