Search Results (165)

Digital transformation is reshaping business-to-business (B2B) sales processes through the growing use of customer relationship management systems, analytics dashboards, automation tools, digital communication channels, and predictive technologies. However, the performance effects of these tools remain insufficiently understood, particularly in complex B2B sales contexts where commercial work is relational, knowledge-intensive, and strongly dependent on organizational routines. Drawing on the Technology Acceptance Model, this study explores how B2B sales actors perceive, adopt, resist, and integrate digital tools into their daily commercial practices. Based on 18 semi-structured interviews with sales directors, sales managers, business development managers, and senior sales representatives, the study identifies a conditional process linking digital tool adoption to perceived sales performance. The findings show that adoption is mainly driven by perceived usefulness, while perceived ease of use depends less on interface simplicity than on compatibility with sales routines. Resistance emerges when tools create administrative duplication, threaten commercial autonomy, or remain poorly integrated into existing workflows. The study further shows that digital tools improve perceived sales performance indirectly, mainly through CRM integration, shared customer memory, data-driven prioritization, and follow-up discipline. Managerial mechanisms, including training, leadership use, digital champions, and phased rollout, play a decisive role in converting technical deployment into effective and sustained use. The study contributes to sales digital transformation research by proposing a mediated and performance-oriented extension of TAM in B2B sales contexts. Full article

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is increasingly used in entrepreneurial practice, yet limited empirical evidence explains how sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs appropriate it in relation to Triple Bottom Line (TBL) performance. This study examines the strategic alignment paradox faced by entrepreneurs who pursue accountable sustainability outcomes while using fast-moving, probabilistic, and partly opaque technologies. It investigates whether Sustainability Orientation (SO) is associated with Sustainable Entrepreneurial Performance (SEP) through five theoretically distinct GenAI appropriation dimensions: Adoptive, Customized, Ethical, Integrative, and Interface Appropriation. In this study, Ethical Appropriation is interpreted as ethical-boundary permissiveness because the retained GAIA items capture acceptance of self-serving, improper, or beyond-intended GenAI use rather than broad responsible-AI governance. A cross-sectional survey of 360 GenAI-using entrepreneurs and SME owner-managers in Saudi Arabia was analyzed using PLS-SEM in SmartPLS 4, with a 10,000-resample bootstrapping procedure, MICOM, permutation-based multi-group analysis, and higher-order robustness tests. The empirical results show that SO is positively and significantly associated with Customized, Ethical, and Integrative Appropriation, but has no significant relationship with Adoptive or Interface Adoptive Appropriation or Interface Appropriation. The aggregate model explains 60.8% of the variance in SEP. Mediation analysis indicates that the observed indirect association between SO and aggregate SEP is statistically significant only through the Customized, Ethical, and Integrative pathways. The pillar-specific analysis further shows that the aggregate SEP construct masks important differences across TBL outcomes: Integrative Appropriation is consistently associated with all three pillars; Ethical Appropriation is selectively associated with economic sustainability and should be interpreted as a governance warning rather than as evidence of responsible-AI governance; and Customized Appropriation is associated only with environmental and social sustainability. Finally, multi-group analysis provides no statistically robust evidence of gender-based heterogeneity after Bonferroni correction, suggesting that the SO–GenAI appropriation–SEP relationships are broadly comparable across male and female respondents in this sample. Overall, the findings suggest that GenAI should not be treated as a monolithic adoption construct; its sustainability implications depend on how generative tools are customized for specific tasks, interpreted with attention to ethical-boundary permissiveness, and structurally integrated into business routines. Full article

In conventional spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) systems, raw echo data are usually downlinked to ground stations for image formation, resulting in substantial communication burden and processing delay. Although onboard SAR imaging can alleviate this problem, onboard processors are constrained by power consumption, memory capacity, thermal dissipation, and physical size. Therefore, low-power embedded GPU platforms have become a practical choice for onboard SAR processing. Existing onboard processing is mainly suitable for relatively low-complexity imaging modes and algorithms, while high-resolution sliding spotlight SAR requires more accurate frequency-domain processing due to its extended azimuth bandwidth, strong range–azimuth coupling, and nonlinear range cell migration. The $\omega$-k algorithm is well-suited for such high-resolution imaging scenarios, but its large-scale FFTs, phase compensation, and Stolt interpolation impose significant pressure on the memory capacity, memory bandwidth, and computational resources of embedded GPU platforms. To address these challenges, this paper presents a GPU-oriented $\omega$-k imaging framework for high-resolution sliding spotlight SAR on the Jetson AGX Orin embedded platform. The proposed framework formulates a complete sliding spotlight $\omega$-k processing flow and develops GPU-oriented optimization strategies for efficient execution on the embedded GPU platform. Specifically, hybrid data partitioning is designed to adapt memory access patterns to range- and azimuth-dominant stages, an asynchronous multi-stream pipeline with reusable GPU buffers is introduced to overlap data movement and computation, and customized kernels are developed for Stolt interpolation and FFT-related spectral centering. Experiments on simulated sliding spotlight SAR data demonstrate that the proposed method achieves well-focused imaging results with consistent impulse response characteristics. For a 32,768× 32,768 simulated SAR dataset, the proposed implementation achieves an end-to-end imaging time of 32.17 s on Jetson AGX Orin. These results demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed framework for onboard high-resolution SAR imaging on an embedded GPU platform. Full article

The increasing industrialization of construction requires design strategies that reconcile productive repeatability with architectural customization, functional differentiation and material reproducibility. This study proposes a manufacturing-oriented parametric design framework for customizable surface components in industrialized construction. Geometry is treated as an active design variable capable of supporting hypotheses related to drainage, texture, porosity, friction, light filtering and material efficiency. The methodology links biomimetic abstraction, parametric modelling and material transfer through indirect additive manufacturing, mould fabrication and mineral-based replication. Rather than validating a specific functional performance, the study experimentally assesses a mould-based replication workflow in which customization is defined as controlled variation within a constrained design space. A modular component with a stable perimeter and parametrizable textured surface was developed, followed by the production of an additively manufactured master, a negative mould and replicas made from technical plaster and fine mineral mortar as construction-grade surrogate materials. These materials enabled the evaluation of mould filling, demoulding, defect transfer and surface-detail preservation before introducing ceramic drying and firing. The results confirm the feasibility of the proposed workflow and identify manufacturability, demoulding, dimensional deviation, material selection and application-specific validation as critical design constraints. Full article

The purpose of this research is to explore how entrepreneurs utilize their entrepreneurial mindset when incorporating activities directed towards sustainability or circularity into their small- and medium-sized enterprises. Two hypotheses are tested in the research. These are operationalized by understanding how internal and external influences affect the entrepreneurs’ perceptions and decision-making, which includes business models, innovation, customers, suppliers, products, services and processes, which can lead to sustainable value, planetary health or sustainable transitions. The methodological approach is a quantitative research method with a questionnaire sent to entrepreneurs in Swedish small- and medium-sized enterprises during the period from March 2025 to November 2025, wherein a total of 64 answers were provided. The findings show that the entrepreneurial mindset is positively related to external activities with customers and suppliers. These findings imply that external influences from customers and suppliers can support sustainability-oriented entrepreneurship. By highlighting how the entrepreneurial mindset relates to internal and external influences, the originality of the study contributes to the understanding of opportunities for small- and medium-sized enterprises to co-create value that supports sustainability, circularity and planetary health. Moreover, a positive relationship between internal influences and external influences is novel in this research and demands more attention in the future. Full article

Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE), the standard base material in ski manufacturing, offers excellent gliding performance but exhibits limited mechanical and scratch resistance on hard and icy snow conditions. In this work, stainless steel is proposed as a mechanically robust alternative, and its inherently higher friction against snow is addressed through surface engineering. The snow friction behavior of 301H stainless steel surfaces decorated with fishbone-like microstructures combined with Laser-Induced Periodic Surface Structures (LIPSSs) was investigated using a custom-built snow tribometer. Several pattern designs, with different pitch distances and depths, were engraved using femtosecond laser pulse irradiation. We conducted morphological, physical, and chemical investigations through microscopy, static contact angle measurements, and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy analyses. Results indicate that the gliding performance is not directly related to the modifications in surface chemistry and wetting behavior of the samples but is affected by the geometry and orientation with respect to the sliding direction of the specific micro- and nano-features. Overall, we achieved friction coefficient values comparable to those found in UHMWPE with a fast and economically sustainable single-step laser-texturing process. This approach allows the industrial up-scaling of the fishbone-texture design to real-size alpine ski prototypes. Full article

As global manufacturing pursues green and low-carbon transitions, servitization offers a critical pathway for firms to advance sustainability goals. Yet the “servitization paradox” persists, dampening firms’ willingness and capacity to adopt service-oriented strategies, while existing research offers limited explanations for why some transformations succeed and others fail. Drawing on embeddedness theory, this study applies fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to a sample of 110 A-share listed servitization demonstration manufacturers in China (2015–2022). It systematically investigates how configurations of cognitive, relational, and environmental embeddedness jointly drive servitization outcomes. The findings reveal the following. (1) The service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises is the result of the synergistic interaction of multiple antecedent conditions, with relational embeddedness playing a core driving role in SSP and strategic flexibility playing a core driving role in SSC. (2) There are multiple equivalent pathways for the service-oriented transformation of manufacturing enterprises; the three configuration pathways for high SSP are innovation-driven gap filling–flexible supply chain collaboration, competition-led–product–customer coupling, and institutional backstop–relationship embedded compensation. The three pathways for high SSC are: low supply dependency–autonomous flexibility, institutional guidance–flexible compensation, and innovative customer lock-in–loose market empowerment. This study enhances the understanding of service transformation in manufacturing enterprises and provides theoretical guidance and decision-making references for enterprises to select service transformation pathways tailored to their specific circumstances. Full article

Background: Custom-made subperiosteal implants have re-emerged as a valuable option for the rehabilitation of patients with severe maxillofacial atrophy and post-oncological defects. Despite advances in digital workflows and implant design, their unique anatomical, biological, and prosthetic characteristics pose specific challenges for long-term maintenance, and no dedicated standardized guidelines are currently available. Methods: This narrative review critically appraises the available literature on implant maintenance and related fields. A comprehensive search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science, including studies on peri-implant maintenance, supportive periodontal therapy, full-arch and zygomatic implant rehabilitations, and subperiosteal implants. Due to the lack of direct evidence, a qualitative narrative synthesis was adopted to develop preliminary clinical considerations for maintenance of custom-made subperiosteal implants. These considerations should be interpreted as an expert-informed perspective rather than validated clinical guidelines. Results: Conventional maintenance protocols developed for endosseous implants are not directly transferable to subperiosteal implants due to differences in the implant–tissue interface, biomechanics, diagnostic parameters, and hygiene accessibility. Key challenges include the absence of a conventional peri-implant sulcus, possible implant exposure, complex prosthetic geometries, and potential susceptibility to biofilm accumulation in areas with limited access. Evidence from related fields highlights the importance of structured maintenance, individualized risk-based follow-up, effective biofilm control, and patient-specific home-care strategies. Conclusions: Preliminary evidence-informed clinical considerations for the maintenance of subperiosteal implants are proposed, with emphasis on plaque control, individualized follow-up, descriptive clinical monitoring, and hygiene-oriented prosthetic and surgical planning. These considerations are not intended as validated guidelines, but as a practical starting point for clinical reasoning in an area where dedicated evidence remains limited. Full article

This study examines how sustainability-oriented social marketing influences relationship quality and tourism relationship value, and how perceived brand coherence (Gestalt completeness) conditions this relationship. The growing emphasis on sustainable tourism and responsible consumption has increased the importance of socially oriented marketing communication in shaping long-term consumer–firm relationships. However, prior research has largely examined social marketing, relationship quality, and relationship value in isolation, with limited attention to how perceptual mechanisms strengthen these relational processes within contemporary, platform-mediated tourism environments. Addressing this gap, this study investigates how public-issue-promoted social marketing (PIPSM) influences relationship quality (RQ) and tourism relationship value (TRV) while incorporating Gestalt completeness (GC) as a moderating mechanism that captures perceptual coherence in brand communication. Using survey data collected from 400 consumers with prior tourism experience in Taiwan, the proposed model is tested through structural equation modeling, complemented by regression-based moderation analysis. The results indicate that PIPSM significantly enhances relationship quality, which in turn positively influences tourism relationship value. Furthermore, Gestalt completeness strengthens the relationship between RQ and TRV, suggesting that perceptually coherent communication amplifies relational outcomes. This study contributes to the literature by integrating social marketing, relationship marketing, and perceptual psychology into a unified framework. Rather than demonstrating direct sustainability outcomes, the findings highlight relational and perceptual pathways that may support sustainability-oriented behaviors. The study also offers practical implications by illustrating how socially oriented communication and coherent brand design across digital touchpoints can enhance customer engagement and long-term relational value. Full article

As Artificial Intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly integrated into financial services, its alignment with sustainability goals has given rise to a new domain: Green FinTech. This study investigates the Behavioural Intention (BI) of Greek banking customers to adopt AI chatbots in the context of sustainable digital finance. Building upon the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the proposed model incorporates additional constructs, i.e., Trust, Digital AI Literacy (DAIL), Environmental Concern (ENC), and Consumer Social Responsibility (CnSR), to examine the behavioural intention (BI) to use AI chatbots in the context of sustainable digital finance. Unlike prior UTAUT-based research, which has mainly examined AI, FinTech, or chatbot adoption separately or in different contexts, the present study develops and empirically tests an extended green-oriented UTAUT model that integrates technological, environmental, and ethical dimensions within a single framework. In this way, the study addresses a geographical, contextual, and model-specific gap in the literature, as research on AI chatbot adoption in Green FinTech remains limited, particularly in the Greek banking context. The target population for this study consists of educated, working-age adults who have already used an AI chatbot for a banking transaction in the context of e-banking services. A structured questionnaire was administered to a sample of 209 users of AI chatbots in the banking context. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) and factor analysis via Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in conjunction with orthogonal rotation (VARIMAX), the results show that Green Performance Expectancy (GPE), Green Effort Expectancy (GEE), Digital AI Literacy (DAIL), and Trust significantly influence Behavioural Intention (BI). Consumer Social Responsibility (CnSR) also has an indirect impact via Green Social Influence (GSI). The study extends UTAUT in the Green FinTech context by integrating sustainability- and AI chatbot usage-related constructs, showing that Green Performance Expectancy and trust are the strongest drivers of bank customers’ behavioural intention to use AI chatbots. The study therefore contributes theoretically by extending UTAUT into a green-oriented framework that captures sustainability-related and ethical drivers of AI chatbot adoption in banking, rather than examining technology-use determinants alone. More specifically, it explains AI chatbot adoption in Green FinTech through a unified framework that combines core UTAUT variables with Trust, Digital AI Literacy, Environmental Concern, and Consumer Social Responsibility in the underexplored context of Greek banking. Full article

This work examines the contribution of additive manufacturing as an enabling technology in the design and development of smart and sustainable construction systems, with particular emphasis on nature-based solutions. While the existing literature has devoted considerable attention to the material properties of additive manufacturing, much less emphasis has been placed on its role in design processes, prototyping, and decision-making in construction and urban systems. To address this gap, this study presents a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the intersection between smart city frameworks and 3D printing technologies, utilizing a dataset of 103 peer-reviewed publications retrieved from the Scopus database. Using keyword co-occurrence analysis and network mapping through VOSviewer, this study identifies dominant thematic structures, core research hubs, and evolving trends within the field. Complementing this bibliometric analysis with qualitative synthesis, it also reveals a significant convergence of digital design, smart cities, and sustainability strategies. This work further highlights the contribution of additive manufacturing to design processes through rapid prototyping, customization, and the exploration of design alternatives. Rather than framing additive manufacturing as a replacement for conventional design practices, this study positions it as a complementary design capability that can enhance the design process, while also acknowledging important challenges related to scaling, regulation, and integration into construction workflows. This review concludes by outlining future research directions for strengthening the design-oriented integration of additive manufacturing within smart construction systems. Full article

Blockchain is a distributed database technology that enables immutable, verifiable data recording, properties that are useful for failure analysis processes requiring high data integrity and traceability. In conveyor belt failure analysis, there is a growing need for reliable management of experimentally obtained data, especially for long-term monitoring of operating and failure states. The presented article focuses on customizing the blockchain architecture to support recording and validating experimental data used in the failure analysis of rubber-textile conveyor belts in pipe conveyors. The proposed methodology integrates a private blockchain system as a layer for storing and validating raw measured data obtained during experiments. The system meets technical accuracy requirements and is defined as a private blockchain with a permissioned system, which uses the Proof of Authority consensus algorithm and is characterized by centrally managed administration. The prototype of the “LogBlock” application demonstrates the storage and validation of data in the form of plain text and compressed (.zip) files, providing robust protection against unauthorized data modifications, auditability, and resistance to unauthorized interference, while being adapted to the specific requirements of the analyzed technical system. Experimental results indicate the feasibility of the proposed blockchain system in storing, validating, and managing raw measurement data, processed data, metadata, and related source files throughout the failure analysis process. The achieved results confirm the system’s ability to identify unauthorized data modifications and ensure their traceability after entering the system. The implemented solution confirms the suitability of using blockchain as a support tool for technically oriented failure analysis applications of conveyor systems. Full article

Background: Open banking (OB) is rapidly transforming financial ecosystems by enabling controlled data sharing among multiple actors through application programming interfaces (APIs). While this transformation promises innovation and competition, it also introduces complex security challenges that extend beyond purely technical considerations. Despite growing attention in academic and professional domains, existing reviews provide limited integration of security concerns with global adoption patterns and cross regional variation. Methods: This systematic review analyses empirical and conceptual research on security in OB published between 1999 and 2025, capturing early digital banking studies that later informed the development of OB. The literature is structured into three distinct phases: foundational digital banking developments, regulatory formalisation of OB frameworks, and post-implementation expansion of OB ecosystems. A comprehensive search was conducted across major academic databases and scholarly portals, complemented by relevant regulatory and policy sources. Following duplicate removal, title and abstract screening, full-text eligibility assessment, and methodological quality appraisal, 117 studies were retained for qualitative synthesis. Results: The findings reveal recurring security challenges arising from the interaction between technological infrastructures, regulatory frameworks, and user behaviour within OB ecosystems. Technical safeguards such as APIs, strong customer authentication, and encryption are necessary but insufficient when they are misaligned with regulatory implementation and user behaviour. Behavioural factors, including trust, consent understanding, and security-related decision making, play a central role in shaping ecosystem resilience. Based on this synthesis, the study develops a tri-dimensional security framework integrating technological, regulatory, and behavioural dimensions. The bibliometric analysis of 117 studies reveals that technological security dominates the literature (58%), followed by regulatory governance (44%) and behavioural dimensions (42%). However, only 17.9% of studies integrate all three dimensions simultaneously. APIs and authentication mechanisms represent the most frequent technological terms, while PSD2 and GDPR dominate regulatory discourse. Trust and decision-making are the most recurrent behavioural constructs. The relatively low proportion of fully integrated studies confirms a structural fragmentation within OB security research, thereby empirically justifying the proposed tri-dimensional framework. Chronologically, early studies (1999–2015) predominantly focused on technical security mechanisms and regulatory compliance, whereas more recent research (2020–2025) increasingly highlights the interplay between regulatory frameworks and user behaviour, suggesting a shift towards a more holistic understanding of security within OB adoption. Conclusions: This systematic review concludes that integrating technological, regulatory, and behavioural perspectives advances a more comprehensive understanding of security in OB ecosystems. The proposed tri-dimensional security framework provides a structured foundation for future research and supports policy-relevant and practice-oriented security design. Full article

Purpose: This study provides a critical examination of the literature on applying artificial intelligence (AI) and Extended Reality (XR) in restaurant settings and related foodservice operations. It focuses on how AI and XE influence consumer nutrition awareness and decision-making about food choices, and their implications for customer satisfaction, loyalty, and service delivery in foodservice environments. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a systematic literature review (SLR) approach following the PRISMA method. An initial search identified over 3900 academic papers published between 2016 and 2025. Studies were selected on the basis of predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria, and 26 peer-reviewed articles were analyzed. The review provides a conceptual synthesis and develops propositions for practical applications and future research directions. Findings: The review reveals a shift from static systems that rely on optimization, toward adaptive and user-centered solutions that are behavior-oriented. AI applications predominate in the case of calorie tracking, personalized recommendations, and menu planning. Though deployment of XR technologies (e.g., AR and VR) is less prevalent, they offer potential for immersive, and real-time interventions. A key distinction emerges between studies demonstrating empirical effectiveness (e.g., improved understanding and healthier choices) and those focused on technical and/or conceptual developments. To date, there has been limited validation of behavioral impacts in foodservice settings. Originality: This study offers a theory-informed conceptualization of AI and XR applications in restaurant and foodservice contexts by integrating three perspectives: hospitality (menus and dining experience), nutrition (dietary awareness and healthier choices), and human–technology interaction (technology acceptance and user engagement). The study reconceptualizes AI- and XR-enabled systems as behavioral intervention tools and outlines a focused research agenda for advancing nutritional communication in foodservice environments. Full article

Background: Last-mile logistics is one of the most complex and cost-intensive segments of supply chains, particularly in densely populated urban environments where rising customer expectations, sustainability requirements, and operational constraints increasingly intersect. Despite growing academic interest, empirical evidence remains limited regarding how convenience-related last-mile service attributes influence customer satisfaction, while the sector is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. Methods: This study applies a refined Kano model to classify last-mile convenience services according to their differentiated effects on customer satisfaction. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to active e-commerce users in a metropolitan area. The methodological approach modifies and extends the traditional Kano framework. Results: The findings reveal clear patterns among last-mile service attributes. Online tracking and preferred payment options function as One-dimensional attributes, proportionally influencing customer satisfaction. Time-based delivery, flexible pickup options, and sustainability-oriented service features appear as Attractive attributes, generating additional increases in service value. In contrast, advanced technological solutions such as drone or autonomous vehicle delivery were perceived as Indifferent attributes. These interpretations are further nuanced by the fuzzy approach. Conclusions: The results provide important insights and validation for consumer-centered service design and support the prioritization of investments aimed at developing sustainable and customer-oriented last-mile logistics systems. Full article