Purpose Food waste in Business-to-Business (B2B) banquets has become a pressing issue in China due to cultural practices such as mianzi (face-saving) and guanxi (relationship building). The Chinese government has implemented stringent food waste regulations to curb this problem. However, these regulations pose challenges for foodservice operators, who must balance compliance with traditional business hospitality norms. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to explore how foodservice businesses in China navigate these regulations while maintaining successful B2B relationships.Methodology/Approach A qualitative approach was adopted, utilizing in-depth semi-structured expert interviews with 18 industry professionals, including foodservice managers and B2B banquet hosts. Participants were selected through purposive sampling based on their extensive experience in managing B2B banquets under evolving food waste policies. Thematic analysis was conducted to extract key insights regarding the interplay between regulatory compliance, cultural expectations, and operational strategies.Findings Stricter food waste regulations increase hosts' reliance on foodservice providers that can preserve mianzi while ensuring compliance. Trust is recalibrated through providers' regulatory expertise, benevolence, and integrity, and providers use menu consultation, policy communication, and staff training to reduce waste while sustaining banquet success, guest satisfaction, and long-term business relationships.Research Implications This research extends Social Exchange Theory by identifying regulatory pressure as a boundary condition that reshapes how reciprocity and trust operate in inter-organizational relationships. Under such conditions, reciprocity shifts from visible expressions of generosity to responsible behaviors that align with institutional expectations. The study also shows that trust acquires an institutional dimension when compliance expertise becomes important to relationship maintenance. In this context, ability includes regulatory knowledge, benevolence includes protecting partners from relational and resource-related risks, and integrity includes a credible commitment to broader institutional goals. These changes, in turn, reshape dependency and collaboration between exchange partners.Practical Implications Foodservice operators must adopt proactive communication and menu engineering to balance waste reduction with guest satisfaction. Staff training on food waste prevention, suggestive selling techniques, and sustainability commitments are crucial. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of centralized kitchen operations and external nudging (e.g. displaying food waste policies and encouraging guests to take leftovers) to comply with regulations while maintaining business success. Policymakers should foster industry collaboration forums to help foodservice operators navigate regulatory challenges.Originality/Value/Contribution This study offers one of the few empirical examinations of how foodservice providers in China reconcile cultural hospitality norms with sustainability mandates imposed by government policy in B2B banquet settings. Unlike prior studies that examine policy, culture, or food waste separately, this research integrates them through Social Exchange Theory to explain how reciprocity, trust, and collaboration are recalibrated under legal constraints. It contributes a contextually grounded refinement of SET by showing how compliance expertise and relational assurance replace visible excess as key signals of successful exchange. It also provides operationally relevant solutions, grounded in senior industry interviews, for aligning banquet success with waste reduction.
Purpose: Blockchain technology continues to bring benefits to businesses through transparent, secure and efficient use, especially in the fast-paced and decentralized world of the sharing economy. However, the utilization of this technology by sharing economy companies remains limited, and the underlying reasons for this resistance and non-adoption intention are not fully understood. Hence, this study aims to determine how technical, environmental, and organizational barriers influence marketing managers' resistance, perceived value, and intentions not to adopt blockchain technology. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing upon the Innovation Resistance Theory, this study examines the unique role of marketing managers as strategic decision-makers who evaluate new technologies. Both SPSS and SmartPLS were used to analyze data collected from 300 marketing managers working for the relevant companies. Findings: The findings show that most of the barrier factors, i.e. perceived complexity, perceived incompatibility, costs, lack of proper regulations, and legal framework, etc., are strongly linked to resistance and non-adoption. Practical implicationsThe analysis provided us with both theoretical and practical insights on how to overcome the challenges associated with adopting blockchain. Originality/value: This study contributes to our understanding of blockchain resistance from the perspective of marketing managers. It also extends the body of knowledge on how people accept new technologies in the sharing economy settings. Research limitations/implicationsReflecting evidence from Malaysia-based managerial sample, this study advocates a cross-country agenda to assess different boundary conditions.
Purpose: This study examines the mediating effect of customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities in the context of business-to-business (B2B) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), analyzing how marketing and sales collaboration influences CRM performance, sales performance, and firm performance. Methodology/approach: Data were collected through a structured survey of 217 B2B managers in Mexico. The responses were analyzed using SPSS and SmartPLS to evaluate the structural model and test the hypothesized relationships. Findings: The results indicate that CRM capabilities significantly mediate the relationship between marketing and sales collaboration and CRM performance. In turn, CRM performance has a strong positive effect on both sales performance and firm performance. Research limitations/implications: This study provides empirical evidence of CRM's strategic importance in fostering interdepartmental collaboration in B2B contexts, particularly within SMEs in emerging markets. However, the generalizability of the findings may be limited to other regions or sectors beyond the sampled population. Practical implications: Managers in B2B firms can enhance sales effectiveness and firm performance by strengthening cross-functional collaboration between marketing and sales departments through strategic investments in CRM capabilities. Originality: This research advances the literature by framing CRM as a mediating organizational capability that supports strategic alignment and performance in B2B SMEs.
PurposeThe rapid digitalization spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic has heightened the prominence of hybrid trade fairs across industries. Despite this trend, there is a lack of empirical research focusing on the advantages perceived and realized by exhibitors at hybrid trade fairs. This study aims to empirically examine how exhibitors can maximize the benefits they obtain from hybrid trade fairs, and on the mediating role of marketing capabilities in the relationship between resource commitment and exhibitor performance.Methodology/ApproachThis research adopts a quantitative survey methodology, collecting data from 503 Chinese exhibitors who participated in hybrid trade fairs. This study employs partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the mediating effects of both digital and traditional marketing capabilities on the relationship between various forms of resource commitment and exhibitor performance.FindingsDigital marketing capabilities mediate the relationship between multiple types of resource commitment and hybrid trade fair sales-related and relationship-building performance. In contrast, traditional marketing capabilities specifically mediate the link between human resource commitment and performance. The results reveal that different dimensions of marketing capabilities exert distinct mediating effects across various types of resource commitment, indicating that not all mediation pathways within the resource-capability-performance framework are equally significant.Research ImplicationsThis study extends the resource-based view (RBV) and dynamic capabilities theory (DCT) by clarifying the nuanced roles of digital and traditional marketing capabilities in hybrid trade fair contexts. Empirically, the effectiveness of marketing capabilities as mediators varies with different types of resource commitment, thus refining the resource-capability-performance framework in the context of hybrid trade fairs.Practical ImplicationsFor practitioners, the study offers actionable insights into which dimensions of marketing capabilities most effectively translate resource commitments into improved firm performance in hybrid trade fairs. These insights can inform resource allocation and strategic capability development for exhibitors seeking to optimize their participation in hybrid trade fairs.Originality/Value/ContributionThis research is among the first to investigate the mediating role of marketing capabilities through exhibitors' perspective in hybrid trade fairs empirically. By integrating the RBV and DCT framework and distinguishing between digital and traditional marketing capabilities, the study contributes novel theoretical and practical insights to the literature on hybrid trade fairs and business-to-business marketing.
Purpose: The paper explores the dimensions of e-service quality from the seller's lens and further investigates their post-adoption behaviors to gauge what motivates continuous use intention among them. In doing so, it addresses the often-ignored yet pivotal sellers' perspective in the B2B e-marketplace. Design/Methodology: Through an extensive literature review and expert interviews, the study uncovered various dimensions of e-service quality from the sellers' lens. Furthermore, the post-adoption behavior was investigated through the data collected from 324 sellers, which was analyzed using PLS-SEM. Findings: The results revealed that efficiency, information quality, responsiveness, privacy and security, appearances and layout, and customization are the key e-service quality dimensions of B2B e-marketplace that must be offered, maintained, and enhanced for efficient service delivery. Furthermore, it was found that neither e-service quality nor satisfaction had a bearing on continuance intention; rather, it was perceived value that significantly drives continuance intention amongst sellers. Moreover, the mediation analysis revealed that only when e-service quality favorably shapes value perceptions can it drive continuous use behavior. Originality: This study is one of the few research attempts that addresses post-adoption perspectives of the sellers in the e-marketplace context. The existing work focuses primarily on adoption; however, given the rising competition, analyzing e-service quality and investigating loyalty behavior becomes inevitable, as mere adoption cannot sustain long-term success.
Purpose: Business-to-farm (B2F) sales represent a distinctive commercial context that existing frameworks have largely failed to examine on its own terms. Farms are owner-operated, embedded in biological production cycles, and governed by community-rooted trust relationships that differ materially from the procurement processes characterizing conventional business-to-business (B2B) markets. Yet sales research has either ignored agribusiness altogether or imported generic B2B frameworks without accounting for these structural differences. This study addresses that gap by asking how agribusiness salespeople allocate their time differently from salespeople in other industries, and what this reveals about the systematically distinct nature of B2F selling. The objective is explicitly descriptive and comparative, documenting observable patterns in salesperson behavior across selling contexts rather than testing causal mechanisms, and it uses the largest sample of agribusiness sales professionals assembled to date. Methodology/Approach: The study draws on survey data collected from 1,752 U.S. sales professionals across agribusiness and non-agribusiness industries, including agriculture, food, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, insurance, and finance. Respondents estimated the share of their selling time devoted to seven stages of the selling process: prospecting, relationship-building, information-gathering, product discussion, objection handling, closing, and service and follow-up. Response categories were recoded to midpoint values and normalized to sum to one, yielding compositional time-allocation shares. To examine relational and transactional orientations, 22 Likert-scale survey items were subjected to principal factor analysis with varimax rotation, yielding two internally consistent, statistically independent constructs: Relational Knowledge (13 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.89) and Transactional Tools and Processes (9 items, Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). Standardized scores on these indices were used to classify respondents into four salesperson personas using a mean-split quadrant approach: Hybrid Strategists, Trusted Advisors, Deal Closers, and Support-Oriented Sellers. Statistical analyses included OLS regression, fractional multinomial logit models, ANOVA with post hoc comparisons across personas, and chi-square tests of persona distribution by sector. Findings: Agribusiness salespeople allocate their time in systematically different ways than peers in other B2B industries. They devote significantly more time to relationship-building (23.4% vs. 17.9%), information-gathering (17.3% vs. 15.1%), and service and follow-up (15.1% vs. 13.4%), while allocating less time to prospecting (11.6% vs. 13.1%), product discussion (12.6% vs. 14.6%), objection handling (10.7% vs. 13.1%), and closing (9.3% vs. 12.8%). These patterns are robust across OLS and fractional multinomial logit specifications. Regression estimates confirm that agribusiness affiliation is significantly associated with greater time emphasis on relationship-building (beta = 0.047), information-gathering (beta = 0.017), and service (beta = 0.016), and significantly less time on all four transactional stages. The persona analysis reveals that agribusiness salespeople are disproportionately represented as Trusted Advisors (23.8% vs. 17.0%) and Support-Oriented Sellers (31.8% vs. 21.6%), while being substantially underrepresented as Deal Closers (19.7% vs. 32.3%) and Hybrid Strategists (24.7% vs. 29.2%) relative to non-agribusiness peers (chi & sup2; = 54.5, p < 0. 001). Control variables further reveal that sales experience is positively associated with relationship-building and negatively associated with objection handling, while higher call volume trades relational depth for transactional breadth. Research Implications: This study advances the B2B sales literature by establishing an empirical foundation for treating B2F selling as a distinct commercial context rather than a subcategory of generic B2B markets. The findings indicate that standard sales frameworks developed in manufacturing, finance, or healthcare contexts may not adequately characterize selling behavior in contexts where buyers are owner-operators facing biological and market uncertainty and where trust is a condition of market access rather than merely a competitive advantage. The relational-transactional persona typology, derived from validated survey constructs, provides a theoretically grounded and empirically tractable framework for organizing heterogeneity in salesperson orientation. Because the study is explicitly descriptive, it does not assert causal mechanisms, a deliberate positioning that invites future research using longitudinal data, quasi-experimental designs, and qualitative methods to examine why these patterns arise and how they translate into buyer outcomes. The persona-based approach also establishes a replicable tool for cross-industry comparisons, including future work that disaggregates non-agribusiness sectors rather than treating them as a single benchmark category. Practical Implications: The findings carry implications for agribusiness sales managers, trainers, and firm strategists. The evidence that agribusiness salespeople orient heavily toward relationship-building, knowledge exchange, and post-sale service rather than pipeline velocity or closing ratios suggests that conventional B2B performance metrics may systematically undervalue the activities most predictive of success in farm-facing markets. Firms might reconsider key performance indicators to capture relationship quality, technical credibility, and service follow-up alongside transactional volume measures. The persona typology offers a practical tool for role design and coaching: Hybrid Strategists are best suited to complex accounts requiring both relational depth and process discipline; Trusted Advisors benefit from investments in technical and agronomic expertise; Deal Closers perform most effectively in roles with structured prospecting and short decision cycles; and Support-Oriented Sellers may require structural scaffolding to increase relational engagement. Training programs might develop diagnostic listening, consultative problem framing, and farm-specific knowledge fluency rather than defaulting to generic closing and objection-handling curricula imported from other industries. For firms navigating continued agricultural digitalization, these findings emphasize the importance of helping salespeople translate agricultural data into trusted recommendations, a function that requires both relational credibility and technical competence. Originality/Value/Contribution: This paper makes three contributions to the literature on B2B marketing and agribusiness sales. First, it provides the largest comparative analysis of agribusiness sales behavior to date, drawing on a multi-industry dataset of 1,752 U.S. sales professionals to document systematic differences in how B2F salespeople structure their work relative to peers across sectors. Second, it introduces a novel relational-transactional persona typology grounded in validated constructs and linked to observable patterns in salesperson time allocation, offering researchers and practitioners a reusable framework for classifying and comparing selling orientations. Third, it establishes a descriptive empirical baseline that clarifies the boundary conditions of established relational and transactional selling frameworks in agribusiness contexts, providing a foundation for future causal and theory-testing research. The paper responds to calls for greater scholarly attention to the business of agriculture, demonstrating that B2F selling is more than a rural variant of conventional B2B commerce and should instead be treated as a context defined by its own structural logic, where trust, technical expertise, and post-sale service are competitive necessities.
PurposeThis study investigates how big data-driven supply chains (BDSC) enhance employees' creative skills in business-to-business (B2B) firms. Drawing on the social learning theory, this study proposed that employees' hybrid task motivation (HTM) is an intermediary mechanism that translates BDSC into employees' creative skills. We further examine that this indirect effect is more substantial in the presence of employees' hybrid resilience (HR), which moderates the relationship between BDSC and HTM.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed a multi-wave design, collecting data from 580 respondents across 116 Chinese B2B firms implementing Generative AI tools such as Baidu's newly introduced ERNIE. Mplus and the PROCESS macro were applied to test proposed hypotheses and assess our proposed moderated-mediation model's direct and indirect effects.FindingsOur results show that BDSC enhances employees' creative skills, and HTM significantly mediates this effect. We found that employees with stronger HTM are distinctively positioned to transform AI-enabled learning into creative outcomes. Furthermore, this study revealed that employees' HR is a crucial contingency factor between BDSC and HTM, confirming that resilient employees are better prepared to sustain their motivation in AI-augmented B2BPractical implicationsThese findings highlight a critical imperative for managers and policy architects in B2B firms. To unlock the full potential of BDSC, managers must support employees' HTM and HR. Such actions align data-driven initiatives with human development programs that build employees' creative skills. These crucial strategies enhance decision-making and secure a sustainable competitive advantage in AI-augmented B2B environments.Originality/valueThis study extends social learning theory by revealing its limitations in AI-augmented B2B settings. We found that technological learning (BDSC) is insufficient without key psychological enablers (HTM and HR). This study classifies HTM and HR are the essential mechanisms and boundary conditions that translate BDSC-based learning into creativity outcomes. We bridge technological, motivational, and psychological dimensions and offer a novel, person-centric explanation for fostering employees' creative skills in B2B firms.
PurposeThe COVID-19 pandemic and global economic downturn have created new challenges for enterprise internationalization, while digital technologies offer new opportunities. Amid this, alleviating insufficient embeddedness and integrating into local networks remain critical issues for enterprises. This study aims to examine how insufficient embeddedness affects internationalization performance, and to explore the mediating role of boundary spanning, as well as the moderating effects of agility and long-term orientation.Methodology/DesignData were collected through 400 questionnaires. Empirical analyses were conducted to test the hypothesized relationships among embeddedness, boundary spanning, agility, long-term orientation, and internationalization performance.FindingsThe results show that insufficient embeddedness negatively affects internationalization performance. Boundary spanning plays a crucial mediating role in this relationship. Agility positively moderates the relationship between embeddedness and boundary spanning by serving as the dynamic capability to rapidly reconfigure information exchange in the digital context. Furthermore, long-term orientation mitigates the negative impact of insufficient embeddedness, thereby improving boundary spanning.Research implicationsThis study extends the internationalization literature by integrating the concepts of embeddedness, boundary spanning, agility, and long-term orientation into a single framework. It reveals how dynamic capabilities (agility) and temporal orientation (long-term orientation) can compensate for the lack of local embeddedness, offering new insights into B2B firms' internationalization processes under digital transformation.Practical implicationsFor B2B managers, the findings suggest that when facing insufficient local embeddedness, firms should actively develop boundary-spanning activities. Investing in digital agility enables faster information reconfiguration and adaptation. Moreover, a long-term orientation helps reduce the harmful effects of weak embeddedness. These strategies collectively enhance internationalization performance in the post-pandemic digital economy.Originality/ValueUnlike prior studies that focus primarily on the positive effects of embeddedness, this study examines the negative impact of insufficient embeddedness. It identifies boundary spanning as a key mediator, and uniquely introduces agility and longterm orientation as moderators that counteract embeddedness deficits.
Purpose This study examines the relationships among channel organization forms (as governance strategies), and channel control mechanisms in marketing channels, investigating how different organization forms correspond to specific governance strategies and control mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The empirical analysis uses 183 survey responses from Chinese marketing channels. The study employs QCA method in two stages: first to identify the corresponding relationship between channel organization forms and governance strategies, and second to examine the differences in control mechanisms across various organization forms. Findings The study identifies four distinct channel organization forms through five configurations: corporate, franchised, managerial, and relational types. Each form employs different control mechanisms: the corporate type uses either contractual mechanisms or a combination of power and normative mechanisms; the franchised type relies on contractual mechanisms; the managerial type utilizes power mechanisms; and the relational type implements normative mechanisms supplemented by either contractual or power mechanisms. Research Implications This study establishes empirical connections among channel organization forms, governance strategies, and control mechanisms within a unified research framework, providing empirical support for existing theoretical models and enriching the understanding of the interrelationships in marketing channel management. Practical Implications The findings offer guidance for firms in developing and selecting appropriate channel governance strategies and control mechanisms based on their organizational form, helping managers make more informed decisions about channel design and management. Originality/value The innovative application of QCA method in a two-stage approach allows for a nuanced understanding of the complex configurations in marketing channels. This study bridges theoretical concepts with empirical evidence, contributing to both the academic literature and practical knowledge in channel management within the Chinese context.
PurposeAs supply chain relationships grow increasingly complex and interdependent, business-to-business (B2B) firms face heightened exposure to idiosyncratic risks that originate from stakeholder tensions and operational uncertainties. In such contexts, the role of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) performance becomes especially critical because B2B firms rely heavily on maintaining stable, trust-based relationships with customers, suppliers, and other network partners. Drawing on stakeholder theory and the resource-based view, this study investigates how ESG performance shapes B2B firm idiosyncratic risk and examines the mechanisms through which relational pressures intensify these effects.Methodology/ApproachWe employ a longitudinal panel dataset of Chinese listed B2B firms spanning 2011-2021. Fixed-effects panel regressions are estimated throughout, with robustness checks addressing endogeneity via instrumental variables and alternative variable operationalizations.FindingsStronger ESG performance consistently reduces B2B firm idiosyncratic risk. This effect operates through a stakeholder-based pathway, whereby high-ESG firms attract significantly fewer customer complaints, and this reduction in complaints in turn lowers firm idiosyncratic risk. Furthermore, digital transformation amplifies the ESG-risk relationship. Firms with advanced digital capabilities respond more rapidly and effectively to stakeholder signals, magnifying the risk-mitigating returns on ESG performance.Research Limitations/ImplicationsThe study is confined to Chinese listed B2B firms and a single measurement approach for digital transformation. Future research should test these mechanisms across different institutional environments, industries, and supply chain configurations, and employ finer-grained measures of digital capability and stakeholder engagement to deepen theoretical precision.Practical ImplicationsB2B managers should treat ESG investment not merely as a compliance exercise but as a proactive risk management strategy, particularly in relationship-intensive supply chain contexts. Simultaneous investment in digital infrastructure can multiply the risk-reduction returns on ESG initiatives by enabling real-time stakeholder monitoring and more agile ESG execution.Originality/Value/ContributionBy integrating ESG performance, customer complaints, and digital transformation within a single explanatory framework, this study advances understanding of how B2B firms manage idiosyncratic risk in complex stakeholder environments. It is among the first to identify customer complaints as a concrete mediating pathway linking ESG to firm idiosyncratic risk, and to demonstrate that digital transformation functions as a complementary strategic resource that amplifies ESG effectiveness. Our study contributes novel insights to the literature on corporate risk, corporate ESG strategy, and digital transformation in B2B markets.
PurposeThis study examines how generative artificial intelligence (GAI) adoption is impacted by status quo bias and its factors may influence the acceptance of GAI, which is going to have significant role in all the aspects of life. The insights found from this study are relevant for the managers who are in process of adopting latest technology in their firms.DesignThe data were collected using a questionnaire based on the current body of literature which was responded by 387 entrepreneurs and managers, working in Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) regarding their views and experiences on the status quo bias in adopting generative AI.FindingsThe findings of the study assist to plan the implementation and effective use of innovative technology within organizations.OriginalityThis study augments understanding of GAIs status quo bias, emphasizing user resistance and adoption. Particularly, the study contributes to the existing literature by considering a holistic approach as one of the moderators of generative AI implementation, thereby expanding the existing theoretical knowledge.
PurposeThis study synthesizes the fragmented literature on the impact of sustainable marketing on firm performance. Despite growing corporate interest, research findings remain contradictory. This paper aims to map the evolution of the field, identify key mediating factors, and propose a novel conceptual framework for understanding how sustainable marketing initiatives can drive business success.MethodologyA bibliometric analysis was conducted on a final sample of 55 documents indexed in the Scopus database from 2013 to 2023. The study utilized VOSviewer to map keyword co-occurrences, identifying four central thematic clusters: sustainability, sustainable development, marketing strategy, and green marketing and supply chain management.FindingsResults indicate that sustainable marketing generally has a positive long-term impact on performance. However, this relationship is not direct; it is mediated by factors such as green reputation, consumer trust, innovation, and marketing communication capabilities, while being hindered by barriers like greenwashing and implementation costs. Success requires an integrated approach that adapts to regional contexts and consumer environmental awareness.Practical and Research ImplicationsThe study proposes a novel conceptual framework that organizes variables into a logical structure linking strategic antecedents, mediating mechanisms, and multi-dimensional outcomes. Practical recommendations include integrating sustainable marketing into traditional strategies, investing in green supply chain management, and ensuring transparency. The research highlights the need for adaptive approaches and suggests future studies incorporate additional databases and empirical testing.Originality/ValueThis study provides the first bibliometric analysis to synthesize the relationship between sustainable marketing and firm performance into a structured conceptual framework. It integrates fragmented findings from 2013-2023 into a coherent body of knowledge, enriching theoretical understanding by linking results to the Resource-Based View (RBV) and Stakeholder Theory. It offers a new theoretical lens for the field and translates academic findings into practical managerial insights.
PurposeEntrepreneurship Infrastructure Organizations (EIOs) include chambers of commerce, startup incubators, accelerators, and consulting companies. There are very limited studies on the activities and effectiveness of EIOs. The potential of digitizing EIOs activities has received particularly little attention. The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential of generative AI to improve the work of B2B-focused EIOs, both internally and in their relationships with external market actors. The paper also evaluates key constraints, including data security, regulatory restrictions, and workforce challenges.Methodology/approachThe study used a qualitative research design including semi-structured interviews with 23 professionals from 18 German EIOs that operate in B2B ecosystems. The data was analyzed using the Gioia methodology, allowing for the integration of existing theoretical constructs on generative AI in B2B markets with new insights from EIOs practice. Five propositions guided the study, focusing on the impact of generative AI on operational efficiency, expert roles, customer personalization, innovation culture, and the strategic positioning of EIOs in B2B networks.FindingsThe results show that generative AI tools improve EIOs efficiency by automating repetitive tasks (e.g. document creation, customer queries, or market analytics) and improved personalization in B2B service offerings. Contrary to the assumption that generative AI reduces the need for human expertise, this research shows that AI moves expert roles toward higher-value tasks, especially in strategic consulting and customer interactions. Successful adoption is more common in EIOs with strong innovation cultures, digital maturity, and B2B customer-centricity. However, challenges remain, such as data protection, gaps in staff AI skills, and the integration of AI with older systems.Research implicationsThis study extends our understanding of the digital transformation of B2B ecosystems by proposing a conceptual framework that represents how generative AI is changing organizational processes, human-machine interaction, and B2B value co-creation. It emphasizes that, in complex B2B environments, generative AI complements, rather than replaces, EIOs. It also links theories of collaborative intelligence, organizational readiness, and business model innovation in B2B contexts.Practical implicationsB2B-focused EIOs can use generative AI increasingly to optimize workflows, provide real-time information to companies and startups, and create scalable, personalized support services. The proposed four-step roadmap - awareness, pilot testing, full deployment, and long-term optimization - offers a strategic path for B2B EIOs to responsibly and effectively integrate AI. EIO management teams are encouraged to invest in digital skills development, create AI-friendly cultures, and ensure compliance with evolving legal frameworks such as the EU AI Act.Originality/value/contributionThis research is one of the first to explore generative AI in the context of B2B entrepreneurship infrastructure organizations. It provides empirical evidence and practical insights on how generative AI enables B2B service innovation, knowledge-intensive customer interactions, and improved strategic decision making. The results offer a balanced perspective on the additional role of generative AI in enabling EIOs future-proofing and strengthening their relevance in B2B digital ecosystems.
PurposePrevious studies have highlighted that B2B supply chain design in the context of new product development (NPD) can contribute to the success of innovative products on the market. However, there is limited empirical literature regarding the role of B2B supply chain characteristics/capabilities in improving the NPD effectiveness. The aim of this article is to investigate the interrelationship between B2B supply chain dynamic capabilities and their influence on NPD effectiveness.Methodology/approachWe have adopted the dynamic capability view (DCV) to explain the combination of resources and capabilities (i.e. technology resources, agility, and adaptability) to explain the improvement of NPD effectiveness. Using structural equation modeling, this study conducted empirical tests on 214 Chinese manufacturing companies.FindingsResearch findings indicate that supply chain agility and supply chain adaptability exert positive effects on NPD effectiveness. AI-driven big data analytics capabilities, as a prerequisite, positively influence both supply chain agility and supply chain adaptability. Furthermore, supply chain agility partially mediates the relationship between supply chain adaptability and NPD effectiveness. Environmental dynamism exerts a negative moderating effect on the relationship between supply chain agility and NPD effectiveness.Originality/valueOverall, this study contributes to NPD effectiveness research by integrating the supply chain dynamic capabilities theory with an AI-driven innovation framework. By drawing on the dynamic capabilities lens, our research reveals the mechanism through which supply chain dynamic capabilities influence NPD effectiveness, thereby advancing our understanding of NPD effectiveness. We position AI-driven big data analytics capability, supply chain agility, and supply chain adaptability as a coherent cluster of supply chain dynamic capabilities. This positioning indicates that organizations' effective management of supply chain processes constitutes a key pathway for significantly enhancing NPD effectiveness.Practical implicationsWe believe that our research findings will be useful for managers who have a positive and optimistic attitude toward using new technologies to influence supply chain characteristics to support NPD.
PurposeThis research seeks to better understand how moral identity and supervisor bottom-line mentality impact salespeople's customer-relationship-building behaviors. Specifically, it is proposed that salesperson moral identity can help offset the influence of supervisor bottom-line mentality on salesperson bottom-line mentality. A bottom-line mentality primarily focuses on bottom-line outcomes to the neglect of other priorities. Particularly critical in business-business markets where there is a need for performance and customer relationships to coexist, balancing the benefits and challenges of both factors is critical. Through this pursuit, we conclude that salespeople's bottom-line mentality influences relationship-building behaviors, but that this relationship is moderated by the percentage of salespeople's compensation that is fixed.Design/methodology/approachThe proposed model and hypotheses were assessed via structural equation modeling on a sample of 227 business-to-business salespeople.FindingsThe study found that salesperson moral identity may govern bottom-line mentality and lead to customer-relationship-building behaviors. A supervisor's bottom-line mentality, typically seen as a dysfunctional attitude, may lead to salespeople adopting a bottom-line mentality. Salespeople with higher, as opposed to lower, percentages of fixed compensation are more likely to reduce the effect of the salesperson's bottom-line mentality and instead focus on customer-relationship-building behaviors. Those with a lower percentage of fixed compensation will focus less on customer-relationship-building behaviors.Research ImplicationsOur research supports and extends ethical decision-making, control, and social cognitive theories. Importantly, it adds to the body of work on bottom-line mentality in business-to-business markets by assessing moral identity as a moderator of the trickle-down effect of supervisor BLM on subordinate (salespeople) BLM and customer-relationship-building. This negative effect can be lessened when the organization increases the amount of fixed compensation relative to variable compensation, as supported by salesforce control theory.Practical ImplicationsA bottom-line mentality may drive individuals to achieve certain company goals, but it can drive some behaviors that may be detrimental to the organization, individual, or customers. This is particularly true in business-to-business markets where supervisors recognize the need to sell products and have the ability to pressure salespeople to direct efforts, and buyers and sellers jointly recognize the benefits of meaningful buyer/seller relationships. As our study found, a singular focus on the bottom line may have significant negative consequences on building customer relationships. Moral identity is negatively related to salespeople's bottom-line mentality and may be a key to building long-term customer relationships despite having a supervisor with a bottom-line mentality. This suggests attention to consideration in recruitment, mentoring, coaching, and training. Management would benefit from a deeper understanding of how to effectively manage and improve salespeople's customer-relationship-building behaviors.Originality/Value/ContributionThis study is one of the few to examine bottom-line mentality in business-to-business sales. With increases in pressure exerted by senior leaders to increase market share, revenues, and profits, sales supervisors need to understand their expression of bottom-line mentality and its impact on salespeople. Theoretical and managerial implications suggest that a sales supervisor's bottom-line mentality may have less effect on the salesperson's customer-relationship-building behaviors when the salesperson has a high moral identity, a lower bottom-line mentality, and a higher percentage of fixed compensation exists. The findings contribute to ethical decision-making, control, and social cognitive theories.
PurposeIn business-to-business (B2B) markets, supply chain resilience (SCR) not only signals a firm's risk-management strength but also anchors brand value and long-term buyer - supplier partnerships. As digital technologies penetrate operations, AI-driven big data analytics (AI-BDA) has become pivotal for bolstering SCR, yet its specific pathways remain under-examined. Guided by information-processing theory and the dynamic capability view, this study models how AI-BDA capability (AI-BDAC) fosters SCR in manufacturing firms.Design/methodology/approachBased on results gathered from an investigation of 245 Chinese manufacturing enterprises, using regression analysis and bootstrap analysis, the proposed model examines how AI-BDAC enhances SCR through anticipation capability (AC) and improvisation capability (IC) and discusses the boundary conditions affecting this relationship. Survey data from 245 Chinese manufacturers were analyzed with hierarchical regression and bootstrapping. The model tests the direct effect of AI-BDAC on SCR, the mediating roles of anticipation capability (AC) and improvisation capability (IC), and the moderating influence of social capital (SC).FindingsAI-BDAC significantly enhances SCR both directly and indirectly through AC and IC. Moreover, SC amplifies the positive impacts of AC and IC on SCR.Originality/valueFor B2B marketing and supply chain managers, the results highlight AI-BDA as a strategic asset that strengthens SCR while enabling firms to respond swiftly to market fluctuations, deepen B2B customer relationships, and advance collaborative marketing efforts. The study extends information-processing and dynamic capability perspectives to an AI-enabled supply chain context, offering actionable guidance for market adaptability and business sustainability.
Purpose: This study aims to contribute to empirical research on supply chain risk management and reshoring among Asian Multinational Companies (MNCs). It analyzes the forces of decoupling and anchoring that impact firms' reshoring strategies from Mainland China during the COVID-19 pandemic, using Taiwan's official data from 2019 to 2022.Research Implications: The study addresses inconsistencies found in earlier research and suggests directions for future research in the field. The COVID-19 crisis was found to weaken the anchoring effect of local market demand but strengthen that of material supply.Practical Implications: The results indicate that local market demand, material supply, and human resources influence MNCs' reshoring decisions. Specifically, a stronger local market reduces the likelihood of reshoring, while material supply and human resources increase it. Local human resources showed no significant interaction effect with the COVID-19 crisis.Originality/Value/Contribution: The research provides valuable insights by focusing on Asian MNCs that have reconsidered their offshoring strategies due to uncertainties heightened by geopolitical tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic. It contributes new empirical evidence on the forces driving reshoring from Mainland China.
One of the main limitations in the B2B literature is the lack of a clear understanding of buyers' satisfaction with multiple aspects of suppliers' relationship performance and buyers' commitment and behavioral outcomes. To date, little research has been conducted on this topic. To fill this important gap, we investigate economic and relational attributes, two key dimensions of suppliers' relationship performance, and their effect on buyers' behavioral intentions through the mediating mechanism of commitment in the beauty product B2B market. Our results indicate that while both economic and relational satisfaction significantly influence affective and calculative commitment, relational satisfaction has a substantially stronger effect on both forms of commitment. The mediation analyses further validate the central role of buyer commitment, showing that both economic and relational satisfaction exert their influence on purchasing and switching intentions primarily through affective and calculative commitment, with affective commitment consistently yielding stronger indirect effects. We discuss theoretical implications for understanding relationship mechanisms in B2B contexts and offering managerial guidance for strengthening buyer - supplier relationships.
PurposeThis article argues for how products evolved in the experience economy and discusses production strategies of the experiential product.Design/methodology/approachDrawing upon the theories of human motivation, experience economy, experiential marketing, value co-creation, and co-productive offering, this paper develops an experiential product evolution model. Given that the fulfillment of the need for self-actualization will lead to the ultimate satisfaction, this study proposes the upper stage of experiential products from the perspective of the sense of self-actualization. Being a research-based paper, the topic is approached by theoretical analysis and conceptual development.FindingsThe model of how the experiential product evolved has been developed, five stages of the evolutionary progress are distinguished: the utilitarian product, the pleasurable product, the collaborative product, the participative product, and the self-conductive product. The experiential product will become co-productive instead of unilateral productive and finally be self-conductive. The paper regards the enterprise as an experience stager, a consumer assistant, and the customer as the ultimate producer of the experience. Meanwhile, comparisons show that traditional products are designed to emphasize utilitarian functions, while experiential products focus on providing pleasurable experiences derived from the customer's creation and self-actualization. Drawing on the analysis, a conceptual model of experience formation process is developed.Research ImplicationsThis study posits that the experiential product evolution is driven by increased customer participation. The analysis provided a comprehensive framework for experiential product design. The comparison between traditional and experiential products elucidates key concepts such as the source product, the final product, the collaborative enterprise, and the self-conductive consumer. The findings on the relationship between enterprises and customers will enrich the literature on experience economy and experiential marketing.Practical ImplicationsThe proposed model provides a clear guideline for designing experiential products, identifying aspects that can enhance the value proposition. It defines the types of experiences that should be incorporated to create more welcoming products. An empirical validation of the five-stage evolution model through imagery evidence in tourist destinations is presented. This study adopts a cross-industry perspective, which is applicable to various segments of experience industry, such as the hospitality, tourism, and education sectors, as well as to the agricultural, manufacturing, and service industry. The findings of this paper may assist experience designers and business managers in their work.Originality/valueThe concept of peak experience has been discussed for several years, this research explores a commercial approach to achieving this optimal state of happiness.
