Purpose The purpose of this research is to investigate the implementation of green supply chain management (GSCM) practices and its impact on corporate performance (CP). The research in particular examines the results of implementing a set of GSCM practices on different dimensions of the CP. Design/methodology/approach This study, being the first of its kind in the Middle East, developed a research model to test the relationship between four main GSCM practices namely, eco-design, green purchasing, environmental cooperation and reverse logistics, and four dimensions of CP: operational performance, environmental performance, economic performance and social performance, while controlling three main variables (firm size, firm age and environment management system certification). Statistical analyses were based on the data collected, through survey questionnaires, from 117 firms in the manufacturing industry in the UAE. Reliability and validity of the research model were tested by the commonly accepted statistical tools. To test the hypotheses relating implementation of GSCM practice and CP, multiple regression analysis was used. Findings The finding of the study was that GSCM practices impact the CP dimensions differently. While none of the four GSCM practices were found to have any impact on the environmental performance, green purchasing and environmental cooperation were found to have a significant impact on the operational performance. The study found that only green purchasing plays a role in improving the economic performance, while only reverse logistics practices were found to impact the social performance of the firm positively. Research limitations/implications Research on GSCM is still in the nascent stage. Further refinement of the survey to differentiate between different manufacturing industries might be needed. Generalizability of the findings is also limited because of data collected from manufacturing firms in the UAE. This research provides important insights. The findings of this research are generally consistent with those of prior studies in other parts of the world. Firms in manufacturing industry in the UAE believe that GSCM practices help the company design and develop better products which, in turn, increase the company chances in selling its products in the international markets while, at same time, improving the average profit and market share. It was also found that the UAE firms believe that implementation of GSCM practices help improve the corporate image, enhance employees’ job satisfaction and improve employees’ health and safety. Practical implications Implementation of GSCM practices improves CP in different ways. Supply chain managers are required to decide on the CP dimension they want to improve and accordingly select the appropriate GSCM practices mix that leads to the desired level of improvement. Originality/value Although few earlier researches studied the impact of GSCM on CP, this study is different and makes a unique contribution by offering a holistic view of the impact of implementing four main GSCM practices on all dimensions of CP. The study offers some insights on the type of GSCM practices the firm needs to adopt to improve the targeted performance dimension.

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Purpose The unprecedented changes in the marketplace induced by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant accelerated corporate migration to virtual ecosystems have added several unique research opportunities and theoretical gaps, especially in business-to-business (B2B) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) markets in the service sector. Particularly, customer interactions in B2B services that were once sustained by the “people mix” now demand a huge overhaul in light of the “new normal” restrictions. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explore how B2B service firms can engender firm value through virtual customer interactions during and in the post-COVID-19 era from an SME’s perspective. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts an exploratory qualitative inquiry to contribute to this discourse by proposing a conceptual framework based on prior literature and relevant theoretical frameworks, as well as qualitative interviews with SME managers, CEOs and/or owner-managers. Findings The qualitative findings reveal organizational preparedness, empathy, digital content and trust as key enablers of effective B2B virtual interaction that enhances cocreated value, thereby augmenting firm value. This study offers a much-needed examination of virtual interaction in B2B contexts and proposes a business customer virtual interaction model. Research limitations/implications The exploratory nature of this study is one limitation, and future studies with a bigger representative sample size that uses survey or experimental data drawn from large enterprises might add value to the current findings. Also, while this study is conducted in dynamic markets due to the COVID-19 crisis, future research must examine the customer/firm’s experiences in other forms of crises-led market ecosystems. Practical implications B2B service firms must be strongly inclined to continuously take steps to develop and maintain virtual interaction with customers. Proactive efforts to familiarize internal and external stakeholders with virtual interaction platforms are a crucial step for effective customer engagement. The effectiveness of B2B virtual interactions can be strengthened through digital content that elicits trust and exhibits empathy, especially in crises led-markets. Also, the value created for the firm must be redeployed strategically to sustain positive customer engagement behaviors that continue to deliver value to the firm and the customer. Originality/value This paper contributes to the increasing B2B customer engagement literature by exploring the ongoing dialogue on how B2B firms can strive and succeed in the post-COVID-19 era or related crises-led market ecosystems through enhanced virtual B2B customer interaction efforts.

Purpose The concept of “internal marketing” (IM) has gained the attention of researchers over the past three decades. Though a lot of research has been carried out on this topic, it remains a concept yet to be completely understood and captured, with ambiguity in terms of its definition and scope. The purpose of this paper is to utilise the higher education (HE) context in an emerging country, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to argue that the term “IM” needs more unbundling and hence the authors propose an enriched framework with a renewed and relevant identity, which the authors term as “corporate fusion” (CF). Design/methodology/approach The authors do so with a renewed framework and philosophy that tries to capture new constructs and dimensions of IM in line with the emerging corporate milieu and has been applied to the HE sector of the UAE in this paper. Findings The proposed new conceptual framework identifies a CF philosophy building on the existing literature and captures the essence of IM orientation, albeit with its new constructs, dimensions and justifications. Furthermore, the authors argue that this new model is relevant to the contemporary environmental trends surrounding present day HE organisations, more so ever in emerging markets such as the UAE, given their growth needs in a competitive global marketplace. Originality/value In this paper, the authors take a close introspection at the contemporary role of IM in the HE landscape available in the UAE using a renewed framework titled “Corporate Fusion”.

Social marketing is used to popularize positive ideas and bring about attitude change through empowering people for the change. However, the role of pester power in social marketing has never been explored. Children use reverse socialization strategies to get their parents to yield to their purchase requests employing pester power. Pester power has generally been seen as a negative force, but can it be used as a positive marketing tool to initiate a social change? There is a possibility of using this pester power in a nonconsumption context. The positive role of pester power is underexplored, and this research intends to provide a new insight in this regard. A case of social marketing has been identified that captures the success of a campaign, where pester power is constructively used to create awareness among mothers on self-examination and professional (medical) examination of breast cancer. Suitable modular description of the underlying processes have been brought out to indicate the role played by pester power and reverse socialization in a social marketing context.