Why we need employees back at the office:The effect of workplace design on creativity in organizations

With the ongoing changes in the work environment, specifically turning from fulltime to no time at the office and nowadays pending somewhere in between, there is a need for decision makers to redefine their expectations of a day at the office. Previously, organizations worldwide focussed on creating workplaces that foster interaction and collaboration to enhance knowledge exchange and communication. Both are among the main drivers for stimulating creativity at the workplace, leading to increased innovation activities. Since offices are dramatically changing from lean, work-focused, and hierarchical workstations into employee-oriented, creativity-enhancing spaces with playground artefacts, the need for quantitative research on the effects of workplace design on creativity seems evident for researchers and practitioners. Although prior research has attempted to describe the physical work environment and its impact on creativity, empirical evidence is still lacking on what concrete attributes of a workplace employees perceive as inspiring. We therefore contribute to the existent body of knowledge by establishing a definition for inspiring physical workplaces as perceived by employees in times of digitalization and provide a conceptual model analysing the effects between workplace design, internal knowledge exchange, and creative problem-solving capacity. We assess our survey data with partial least squares structural equation modelling and provide first empirical evidence that our proposed formative index supports the common research agenda within the context of workplace design, and further, that aspects of workplace design not only enhance creative problem-solving capacity as an important dimension of creativity itself, but that this relationship is also partially mediated by internal knowledge exchange.</p

What’s important for relationship management? The mediating roles of relational trust and satisfaction for loyalty of cooperative banks’ customers

Building on the corporate reputation model, this study investigates the drivers of customer-based corporate reputation. We consider two corporate reputation dimensions (i.e., the cognitive dimension competence and the affective dimension likeability, and their effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty). Adapting the model to the banking sector, we theoretically extend this model by reasoning that customer satisfaction and relational trust are mediators of the relationship between the two corporate reputation dimensions and loyalty. Studying a sample of 675 customers and members of cooperative banks in Germany, we find perceived attractiveness to be the most important driver of corporate reputation. Furthermore, we confirm a positive relationship between corporate reputation and loyalty, and a mediating effect of both satisfaction and relational trust. With our study, we give support for the proposition of customer satisfaction's as well as relational trust’s role as mediators of the relationship between corporate reputation and loyalty. With this research, we expand our knowledge on the well-known corporate reputation model, which has high relevance and important implications for marketing research and relationship management practice

Does culture matter? Corporate reputation and sustainable satisfaction in the Chinese and German banking sector

Corporate reputation is important for all types of banks across the world, despite these countries differing culturally. Building on an extended corporate reputation model, we identify the key drivers of customer-based reputation and sustainable customer satisfaction in two culturally different countries, namely China and Germany. We also consider two reputation dimensions—perceived competence and likeability—and their effects on the target construct. Empirical data from 625 German and 734 Chinese commercial bank customers allow us to estimate the corporate reputation model with the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method, and by substantiating the relationships by means of a necessary condition analysis (NCA) and a predictive power analysis. By comparing the two countries’ results, we identify their cultural differences. Overall, we confirm the model’s relevance for the two cultures, finding that banks’ perceived attractiveness is the most important driver of both cultures’ customer-perceived bank reputation. By means of an importance-performance map analysis, we identify a large overlap between the two cultures’ set of important constructs, likeability’s much greater importance in Germany, and the perceived quality construct’s relevance in both countries. We contribute to research and scientific knowledge about corporate reputation models by identifying the similarities in and differences between two countries’ markets with respect to the banking sector, all of which have implications for international banks’ management.</p

Capabilities for circular economy innovation:Factors leading to product/service innovations in the construction and manufacturing industries

As companies in the manufacturing and construction industries strive to meet the EU circular economy (CE) targets, they need to develop new capabilities to implement CE activities that can positively influence their product/service innovations. However, companies in both industries, and beyond, still struggle to develop internal capabilities to innovate products and services that would help them in implementing CE principles and move towards the CE. The objective of this research is to analyze the types of innovation capabilities that are needed to enable CE implementation and achieve product/service innovations in two different industrial sectors. Prior research has focused on innovating and implementing circular business models and elaborated less on the innovation capability types. We collected survey data in December 2021–January 2022 that consists of responses from companies operating in Germany (n = 177), including employees in manufacturing (n = 87) and construction companies (n = 90). The results from the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) based on measurement models from the literature indicate that employees in both sectors overall perceive higher levels of CE implementation capability as important for the company's product/service innovations. Furthermore, the results reveal differences in the way CE innovation capability and IT resource orchestration capability influence CE implementation and product/service innovations in the two sectors. Our study offers theoretical implications on how dynamic capabilities are associated with CE innovations and how they influence companies' product/service innovations based on empirical evidence from two industrial sectors. Those capabilities that are crucial for circular product/service innovations need to be associated with CE implementation capabilities. The results further advise practitioners in the development of CE innovation and CE implementation capabilities and how they are linked to IT resource orchestration capability and provide evidence on their relevance to creating product/service innovations.</p

Advanced PLS-SEM models for bank customer relationship management using survey data

This data article focuses on a complex path model to explain and predict the relationships between dimensions of corporate reputation, relational trust as well as customer satisfaction and loyalty. The sample was collected in Germany in 2020 with German bank customers above the age of 18 via an official market research institute located in Cologne, Germany (Respondi). The German bank customer data were collected using an online survey that was programmed using the software SurveyMonkey. The subsample described in this data article comprises 675 valid responses and the data analysis was performed applying the SmartPLS 3 software

On the role of member value in cooperatives

Die genossenschaftliche Unternehmensform kennzeichnet sich dadurch aus, dass diese nicht auf eine reine Profitmaximierung aus ist, sondern viel mehr auf eine Maximierung des Mitgliederwertes (= Member Value). Der Begriff Mitgliederwert ist in der einschlägigen Forschungsliteratur nicht einheitlich definiert. In diesem Forschungsprojekt werden die monetären und non-monetären Elemente des Member Value untersucht. Hierbei wird auf die Kundenzufriedenheitsliteratur und Genossenschaftsliteratur sowie auf Experteninterviews mit Experten aus Genossenschaften in Deutschland zurückgegriffen. Darauf aufbauend wird anschließend ein Strukturgleichungsmodell entwickelt, welches aus diesen beiden Elementen entwickelt wurde. Dieses wird anhand eines Fragebogens mit Mitgliedern in Genossenschaften in Deutschland getestet.In comparison to traditional firms that by definition solely exist to maximize profit, cooperatives exist for the purpose of maximizing the value for its members, while at the time ensuring sufficient profit generation. The term member value has been discussed in the scientific literature, but is still not clearly defined. This research project identifies the monetary and non-monetary dimensions of a potential member value construct by scainning the customer satisfaction literature and cooperative literature in combination with expert interviews with experts from German cooperatives. A structural path model is developed and the model is tested by sending out a survey to members of German cooperatives

The Role of social innovations in platform coops and perceived member value

Genossenschaftlich organisierte Plattformen existieren, um den Mitgliederwert für das einzelne Mitglied zu steigern. Wertschöpfung kann in diesem Zusammenhang jedoch auf mehreren Ebenen geschehen: Zum einen auf der Ebene des individuellen Mitglieds und zum anderen auf einer übergeordneten, gesellschaftlichen Ebene. Genossenschaftlich organisierte Plattformen können zudem auch aus sich selbst heraus als soziale Innovationen betrachtet werden. In den vergangenen Jahren haben genossenschaftlich-orientierte Plattformen auch in der wissenschaftlichen Forschung an Bedeutung gewonnen; es wurde bisher jedoch kein Fokus darauf gelegt, inwieweit der durch soziale Innovationen entstehende Wert aus der Perspektive der Genossenschaftsmitglieder wahrgenommen wird und ob dieser beispielsweise den individuell wahrgenommenen Mitgliederwert beeinflusst. Dieses Forschungsprojekt hat zum Ziel, die Rolle der sozialen Innovationen am Beispiel der genossenschaftlich-orientierten Plattformen zu eruieren.Platform coops exist in order to maximize member value rather than profit. Value creation in this context can happen on the level of the individual member as well as on the societal level. Platform coops can even be seen as social innovations in themselves. Although platform coops have gained in popularity and grown by number within the past years, it has not yet been researched what the value from social innovations means from the perspective of coop members, and whether it increases the member value. The main research objective is to understand the role of social innovations created by platform coops as perceived by the members of cooperatives

Drivers of customer satisfaction with waste-disposal-services: A PLS-SEM approach

Purpose: Prior studies on customer satisfaction research have focused on the private sector. However, few studies have looked at services of general interest. Methodology: Using a PLS-SEM methodology, we establish and adapt a theoretical model based on the well-known ECSI to the waste disposal service context and use a sample of 2062 responses to assess our results. Findings: Our results show that disposal performance is most important in explaining customer satisfaction, followed by price-performance-ratio and service hotline performance. Originality: For this study, we adapted a well-established model and extended it with the construct 'waste disposal performance'. We conducted expert interviews and tested the extended model in pretests before final data collection. We show that this construct is the most important driver for customer satisfaction in the context of waste disposal services. Research limitations: The data have been collected using self-reported questionnaires in Germany. Future studies should collect longitudinal data and test the model in other countries. Managerial implications: The most important implication of our study is that managers of waste disposal services should focus on the logistical aspects behind their services, such as timely disposal of waste to ensure customer satisfaction

International Social Survey Program (ISSP) environment dataset modules: Open data and its applicability in PLS-SEM Research

This data article is based on the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Environment III Dataset and linked to a publication in Ecological Economics, in which we developed a model for explaining and predicting sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans using data of nine participating countries. In our study, we find that sustainable consumption behavior can be associated with environmental concern, which is influenced by increased levels of environmental knowledge and environmental risk perception. In this companion data article, we describe the usefulness, value, and relevance of the open ISSP dataset and take our linked article as an example. The data are publicly available via the GESIS-website (gesis.org). The dataset consists of individual-based interviews on the respondents’ perceptions regarding a variety of social matters, such as the environment, which we argue is especially suitable for PLS-SEM applications (for example, to conduct cross-sectional analyses)

Sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans : The influence of environmental knowledge and risk perception on environmental concern and behavioral intention

This study explores how environmental knowledge and risk perception influence individuals' sustainable consumption behavior through the mediation of environmental concern and behavioral intention. The study combines constructs from earlier studies to form a novel theoretical model, which is tested and validated with an open data set from the Environment III 2010 module, which was collected by the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP). Our sample consists of respondents from nine countries (N = 11,675) in the European Union (EU) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). The model indicates that environmental risk perception and environmental knowledge impact environmental concern significantly. Furthermore, environmental concern strongly influences behavioral intention, and these constructs, in turn, act as mediators of sustainable consumption behavior. The findings indicate that in Europe, sustainable consumption behavior can be associated with environmental concern, which is influenced by increased levels of environmental knowledge and environmental risk perception. The results provide a basis for future analyses once the Environment IV module is released. This will be of particular importance for tracking possible changes in the sustainable consumption behavior of Europeans when transitioning to a green and circular economy that is driven by the European Green Deal and EU Circular Economy Action Plan.publishedVersionPeer reviewe