Purpose This paper aims to model and test the relationships between corporate social responsibility (CSR), corporate reputation (CR), word-of-mouth (WOM) behavior and customer trust (CT) within the hotel context. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was conducted among 300 hotel guests. Following a two-step approach, a measurement model was estimated and then a structural model was analyzed to test six proposed hypotheses. Findings The research results show that CSR has a direct and positive effect on CT, CR and WOM; CSR has an indirect and positive influence on CT via CR and WOM as mediating variables; CR is a significant antecedent of WOM; and CR and WOM are positively associated with CT. Originality/value The research examines the relationship among CSR, CR, WOM and CT, thus contributing to hospitality management literature theoretically. In addition, relevant implications are provided for managers as to how to improve CT in service industries.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how electronic word of mouth (e-WOM), attitude, and city image affect tourists’ intention to visit a tourism city. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing from the tourism management literature, the authors hypothesize and test the relationships among e-WOM, attitude, overall city image, and visit intentions. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed relationships among the variables. Findings – The empirical results suggested that e-WOM has a positive and significant influence on tourists’ attitude and overall city image. Further, e-WOM, attitude toward city, and overall city image were significant determinants of visit intentions. Originality/value – The paper contributes to understand the relationship between four constructs of e-WOM, attitude, and overall city image and visit intentions, tested in city tourism in the context of a tourism city.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships among destination image, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction and revisit intention of sport tourism in Iran. Design/methodology/approach – Statistical population of this research consisted of those tourists who traveled to Mazandaran province in Iran as a sport tourism destination in 2012. A random sample of 1,250 tourists was asked to respond to questionnaires from which 886 accurate questionnaires were used for analysing data. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to explore the relationships among the research variables. Findings – The results showed that sport tourists’ perception of destination image, perceived quality and perceived value influenced their satisfaction and revisit intention positively. Originality/value – The results of this research help to better understand the behavioral intentions, which can be an acceptable basis to increase sport tourists’ visit and revisit of a sport destination.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of employees’ perception of organizational climate on organizational citizenship behaviour outbreak and the impact of both of them on organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach – This survey has been performed using structural equation modelling (SEM). The statistical population composed of the managers of Mazandaran small- to medium-sized enterprises. The analysis of the data obtained from distributed survey questionnaire has been performed by SPSS18 and AMOS18 software. Findings – Findings imply that positive perception of organizational climate influences on increasing organizational citizenship behaviour outbreak and performance of enterprise, and organizational citizenship behaviour in turn has positive and significant impact on organizational performance. Results of this survey also indicate that organizational citizenship behaviour impacts on sub-criteria of enterprise performance (i.e. financial, customer, learning and growth, internal processes). Moreover, the influence of organizational climate on all sub-criteria of performance except internal processes has been confirmed. Research limitations/implications – Lack of sufficient information concerning organizational climate in internal resources, and in some external ones, and low number of surveys performed in this field, limits the possibility of comparing the results of this survey with other similar surveys. Originality/value – This survey can be considered as an innovative survey, since there is no similar survey conducted in which three variables of organizational climate, performance, and citizenship behaviour studied, considering their specified sub-criteria.

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Purpose Developing strategic relationships with third-party logistics (3PL) providers has long been one of the key challenges in automotive supply chains. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new approach for evaluation and indexing 3PL providers using the Kano model. Design/methodology/approach The statistical population used in this research comprises managers from the Iranian automotive industry. The Kano evaluation approach is used to analyze the data collected and to classify the criteria used in selection of the preferred 3PL providers. Findings The results suggest that the proposed framework, based on the Kano classification, can be a powerful tool for the automotive industry in evaluating 3PL providers. Moreover, the analyses indicate that 3PL providers need to improve their service offering in aspects that are to be found in the Kano model’s requirements, namely, must-be, one-dimensional and attractive. Originality/value This study contributes to the supply chain management literature by being the first to classify selection indices of 3PL providers in the automotive industry using the Kano model.

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Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of spiritual leadership on organizational performance based on the balanced scorecard (BSC). Design/methodology/approach – Statistical population includes the middle managers of 60 hotels across eight provinces in Iran. For data analysis, 207 accurate completed questionnaires have been used. Structural equation modeling has been used to explore the relationships between the research variables. Findings – The findings showed that spiritual leadership has a significant positive effect on calling and membership. Also, spiritual leadership, calling and membership have a significant positive effect on organizational performance. Originality/value – This paper by presenting a comprehensive model provides a framework and approach for studying the performance consequences of spiritual leadership in the hotel industry using the BSC.