Monitor Sustainable Municipalities Report 2019 Key topic Circular Economy. Bertelsmann Stiftung Study 4 November 2019

At first sight, the concept for a recycling economy appears to be just the latest trend in the field of urban development, but in fact conversion to circular value creation also contains numerous oppor-tunities for the creation of long-term sustainable economic, social and environmental benefits for local communities. We have therefore chosen to look at this topic in this, our fourth, Monitor Report. Recycling Economy, Circular Value Creation and Cradle To Cradle are three concepts which – alt-hough each has a different main focus – basically all describe the same paradigm shift: away from a classic linear economy (“Take, Make, Use, Dispose”) towards a model based on restoration and regeneration. The recycling economy principle is actually anchored in the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Devel-opment Goals, or SDGs. Goal 12 calls for sustainable consumption and sustainable production patterns. The recycling economy is also associated with a number of other sustainability goals, as it makes a significant contribution to their achievement. We are convinced that it is worth considering the applicability of the concept to local communities in Germany. What does transferring the recycling economy principle to local communities entail? How can towns be converted into “Recycling Cities”? Where are the obstacles and what potential is there? This Monitor Report is a first – it is the first bilingual version. With the kind permission of the Collab-orating Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP) in Wuppertal, we have issued their “Circular Economy Guidebook for Cities” in the original English with a German translation. We hope that, by looking at the bigger picture, we will also generate the impulse to consider how the topic can be adopted in (European) towns and cities, and what the resulting benefits could be. We are fully aware that a one-to-one transfer will not work. “One size fits all” does not apply to local communities. Although something that makes sense in Amsterdam, Copenhagen or Oslo may not necessarily work in towns, districts and local communities in Germany, it is definitely worth looking at how things are done in other countries. I would sincerely like to thank everyone who contributed to the creation of this Report, and especially the CSCP for its trust and invaluable cooperation. We hope you enjoy reading the Report, and look forward as always to your feedback and suggestions

Understanding Consumer Reactions to Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Services

Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence individual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area

Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Services and Consumer Behavior: Towards A Comprehensive Conceptual Framework

Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today with companies striving to reduce cost and improve productivity by shifting parts of their operations to overseas service providers in order to remain competitive (McCartney 2003; Ross 2003). Existing research on offshore outsourcing is primarily focused into the labor and ethical issues of outsourcing or on the effects of strategic outsourcing decisions on organizations (Clott 2004; Razzaque and Sheng 1998). There is little research on the influence of outsourcing on consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. However, organizations are already becoming more cautious about moving towards outsourcing because of concerns about dilution of their image, lower customer satisfaction, reduced brand loyalty and an increase in customer complaints due to real or perceived concerns about cultural differences, lower service standards and loss of privacy (Cornell 2004; Data-Monitor 2004; Economist 2001; Kennedy 2002; Reilly 1997; Roy 2003)

Understanding Consumer Reactions to Offshore Outsourcing of Customer Services

Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence individual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area

Exploring customer reactions to offshore call centers: toward a comprehensive conceptualframework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating influence of attitude toward offshore call centers (OCCs) and brand image of the service provider firm on the relationships among perceived service quality (SQ), customer satisfaction (CS), complaint (CI) and repeat purchase (RP) intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 285 adult shoppers with prior experience with OCCs were recruited using mall-intercept approach in a large mid-Western city in the USA. A structured questionnaire was used to record their perceptions about their service provider using OCCs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the measurement and basic structural model, along with multi-group analysis to test the moderating effects. Multiple moderated regression analysis was also used to verify the moderating effects. Findings – As expected, SQ was found positively associated with CS, and CS was negatively associated with CI but positively with RP. Moreover, attitude toward OCC positively moderated the link between SQ and CS; brand image negatively moderated the link between CS and CI and positively moderated the link between CS and RP. All the hypotheses were supported.Research limitations/implications – It was found that negative attitudes towards OCC result in feelings of dissatisfaction, increase in complaints and decrease in repeat purchases. However, customers are likely to complain less and continue to patronize for a more reputed service firm compared to a less reputed firm. This finding contradicts recent market reports, hence future research should investigate actual customer complaints and repeat purchases to confirm the moderating role of brand image.Practical implications – Services firms using OCC should be aware that their customers have varying attitudes toward OCC. They should track these attitudes and their impact on customer complaint and repeat purchase behavior. They should also track and benchmark the service levels of their OCC with their own local call centers and those of the competitors. They could improve customer attitudes toward OCC by customer relationship management and improve the service standards through more training and empowerment of their OCC representatives.Originality/value – This study is one of the first few empirical investigations of customer reactions to OCCs exploring the moderating influence of “Attitude toward OCC” and “Brand image” on the relationships among perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, complaint and repeat purchases. The findings provide useful insights to managers and researchers alike

Need for a reliable alternative to custom-made implant impression trays: An in vitro study comparing accuracy of custom trays versus specialized aluminum stock tray

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and to compare the accuracy of implant casts obtained by open tray pick-up impression technique using 2 types of custom-made trays and a specialized aluminum stock impression tray. Materials and Methods: A heat-cure acrylic resin master model was fabricated. Two implants were placed parallel to each other. Ten impressions were made from each group. Polyvinylsiloxane impression material with single step putty wash technique was used for making all the impressions. The resultant casts obtained were compared to the master models with respect to the distances measured between the reference points using a stereomicroscope. The data obtained was statistically analyzed using one-way ANOVA, Tukey's post hoc procedures, and t-test. Results: Mean value obtained was 2.012967 cm (±0.007060) for corimplant stock tray, 2.012627 cm (±0.007945) for autopolymerizing acrylic resin tray, 2.010279 cm (±0.006832) for light-cure hybrid composite tray. P value was calculated to be> 0.05; hence, there was nonsignificant deviation of observations from standard value in each group. Conclusion: Statistically insignificant difference was found between the accuracy of casts obtained by the different impression trays. However, light-cure hybrid composite trays showed best results followed by autopolymerizing acrylic resin trays and Corimplant stock tray

Cytomegalovirus infection in gastrointestinal tract: A case series of three patients and review of literature

Cytomegalovirus disease can involve any site of gastrointestinal tract from oral cavity to rectum. CMV disease most frequently occurs in patients’ with immune deficiency, such as the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, after organ transplantation, after cancer chemotherapy and in patients on immunosuppressive medications. The number of patients with immune deficiency has increased in recent years and has lead to a substantial increase in incidence of opportunistic CMV virus. Gastrointestinal CMV infection has also been reported in immunocompetent adults. Symptoms and signs depend on part of the gastrointestinal tract involved. Diagnosis depends either on a positive mucosal biopsy or by serology, quantitative PCR or CMV antigenemia. We report three cases of CMV infection in patients with three different underlying conditions and discuss the clinical features, diagnostic approach and treatment. All patients had positive serology with high viral load on PCR. Histology with immunohistochemistry was positive for CMV in two of the three cases. Ganciclovir response was seen in all patients in respect to clinical improvement, endoscopic resolution of lesions and clearing of the virus load