The purpose is twofold: (i) to determine the extent to which companies' efforts aimed at sustainable business practices consider stakeholders in their organisations and business networks, the marketplace and society; and (ii) to validate or refute a stakeholder framework of business sustainability efforts within focal companies, the marketplace, society and business networks. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on a questionnaire survey targeting large companies across industries and sectors in Spain. The sample consisted of 231 companies generating a useable response rate of 38.5%. Exploratory factor analyses was performed on a crossindustry sample to test a five-dimensional framework. Findings: Reports on the validation of initial and refined factor solutions. The factor analyses confirmed five stakeholder dimensions related to business sustainability efforts of organisations, their business networks, marketplace and society. The validated results indicate satisfactory convergent, discriminant and nomological validity and reliability through time and across contexts. Research implications: The stakeholder framework in connection to business sustainability efforts in supply chains consisting of five factors was validated: (i) the focal company, (ii) downstream stakeholders, (iii) societal stakeholders, (iv) market stakeholders, and (v) upstream stakeholders.. Suggestion for further research is provided. Managerial implications: The validated framework of stakeholders allows insight into the environment which stakeholders operate and how they influence on the focal company. Originality/Value: The manuscript contributes to the validation of a stakeholder framework of business sustainability efforts within focal companies, their business networks, the marketplace and society. The measurement properties provide support for acceptable validity and reliability across contexts and through time.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine service receivers' negative emotions in two different service settings, namely at an airport and in a hospital.Design/methodology/approachA descriptive, convenience sampling survey method was used to collect data in South Africa consisting of a sample of 294 respondents at an airport and 288 respondents in a hospital. Data analysis included an exploratory factor analysis, and the results reported in this paper are based on the critical incident technique.FindingsThe findings indicate both similarities and differences in service receivers' negative emotions between the two service settings. Furthermore, the results were found to be valid and reliable.Research limitations/implicationsThe results obtained pertaining to the negative emotions that service receivers experience in two service settings in South Africa may provide the foundation for further research and replication in other countries. Furthermore, the results can aid in refining and extending service providers' efforts of managing critical incidents in different service settings in airline and hospital service settings.Practical implicationsThree main aspects of negative incidences in service encounters should be considered in strategies to manage critical incidents, namely those that are caused by: the service receiver; the service provider; or the service encounter context.Originality/valueThis study complements and reinforces existing theory pertaining to the negative emotions service receivers' experience in negative service encounters.

The study examines the interrelationships between selected relationship marketing constructs, namely customer satisfaction, trust, perceived value and commitment, and their effect on the dimensions underlying customer engagement. The study is quantitative and an explanatory research design was followed. A total of 489 selfadministered questionnaires were collected from customers of short-term insurance providers on the basis of convenience. Customer satisfaction impacts positively on affective commitment and trust. Customer value also impacts positively on affective commitment and trust, while trust impacts positively on affective commitment. Affective commitment in turn impacts positively on the four customer engagement dimensions: interaction, attention, absorption and affection. The research findings offer an initial understanding of the interrelationships between key relationship marketing constructs and their ultimate effect on various customer engagement dimensions. These matters have received little attention in marketing research, and knowledge of the proposed relationships may lead to further research on this topic.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to provide a background into the challenges and developments faced by marketers in South Africa as well as those wanting to enter the South African market. Design/methodology/approach -The paper presents the viewpoints of the authors based on their knowledge of happenings within the marketing field in South Africa. Findings -Marketers in South Africa face both challenges and developments from the macro and market environment. These challenges and developments include the diverse nature of the South African consumer, competition, infrastructure issues, government legislation and bureaucracy. Practical implications -South African marketers need to adapt their marketing strategies to accommodate the developments in the market. Furthermore, marketing strategies need to be adapted to meet the new challenges in South Africa markets in terms of the diversity of consumers in order to be successful. Originality/value -The originality and value of this paper lies in the fact that it highlights the challenges and developments that marketers in South Africa face. In many cases, marketers are marketing their products and services as they did two decades ago, without realising the need to change their marketing strategy in order to target consumers as highlighted in this paper.

This version is available at https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/60222/ Strathprints is designed to allow users to access the research output of the University of Strathclyde. Unless otherwise explicitly stated on the manuscript, Copyright © and Moral Rights for the papers on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. Please check the manuscript for details of any other licences that may have been applied. You may not engage in further distribution of the material for any profitmaking activities or any commercial gain. You may freely distribute both the url (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/) and the content of this paper for research or private study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge.Any correspondence concerning this service should be sent to the Strathprints administrator: strathprints@strath.ac.ukThe Strathprints institutional repository (https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk) is a digital archive of University of Strathclyde research outputs. It has been developed to disseminate open access research outputs, expose data about those outputs, and enable the management and persistent access to Strathclyde's intellectual output. 1 VALIDATING THE INFLUENCE OF STAKEHOLDERS AND SOURCES WHEN IMPLEMENTING BUSINESS SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES AbstractThe objective of this paper is to validate or disprove the critical role of stakeholders and sources present in organisations, the relevant marketplace, business networks and society at large, in situations where organisations implement sustainable business practices. The empirical findings indicate major similarities and minor differences between organisations in Spain and Norway across two studies. In extension, the empirical findings appear to be valid and reliable through time and across contexts. Suggestion for further research is provided.