Purpose This paper aims to examine the antecedents of customer inertia (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs) and their relationship to customer satisfaction, service providers’ switching intentions and actual switching behavior. Customer inertia is said to reduce the incidence of service provider switching; however, little is known about the antecedent drivers of inertia. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model was tested by a longitudinal/discontinuous panel design using an online survey research of 1055 adult (i.e. +18 years old) subscribers to cell phone services. Partial least squares (PLS) path modeling was used to simultaneously estimate both the measurement and structural components of the model to determine the nature of the relationships between the variables. Findings Findings of the PLS structural model provide support for the direct relationship between customer inertia and its antecedents (i.e. knowledge, confusion, perceptions of competitor similarity and switching costs). The results show that customer inertia has a moderate negative effect on the intention to change service providers but had no measurable effect on the actual behavior of changing service providers, other than indirectly, by influencing the perception of difficulty in switching some 11 months later. Further results from an analysis of indirect pathways of the antecedents to inertia show that switching costs are the only variable which indirectly reduce intentions to change service providers. The results also show that the effect of satisfaction on switching service providers is partially moderated by inertia. Importantly, these relationships are reasonably robust given past switching behavior and contract status of consumers. Research limitations/implications The authors find evidence which explains some of the causes of inertia, and show that it has both direct and moderating effects on service provider switching intentions, though not necessarily the behavior of changing service providers. However, support was found for its indirect role through intent as an influence on switching behavior. Importantly, the authors find that inertia has lingering effects, in that it influences the perception of switching difficulties and, hence, behavior up to 11 months in the future. Practical implications Managerial implications are that service firms can profit from customer inertia through a reduction in churn. However, high levels of customer inertia over the longer term may increase the level of customer vulnerability to competitor offers and marketing activities, as satisfaction with the provider does not in itself explain switching intentions or behavior. Originality/value This study is the first study to contribute to an understanding of the antecedent drivers of customer inertia with respect to service provider switching and to empirically evaluate a variety of antecedent factors that potentially affect switching intentions. Importantly, the long lasting latent effect of inertia in indirectly influencing service switching behavior was found to persist some 11 months later.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the expectations and reality perspectives accrued in a preliminary management course and understand if they impart and embed real-world skills and develop work readiness. Design/methodology/approach Primary data collected for the research were qualitative. A total of six focus groups were conducted with a total of 52 students enrolled at a large metropolitan university in Australia. NViVO was used to code and analyse the data. Findings The study found that at the commencement of university studies, the expectations were simple like, making new friends, getting around the campus and settling well into the university culture, which over time extended to getting a part-time job, securing internships, memberships of associations, desire to participate in exchange programs and get work-ready by the close of the first year. The research outcomes show that those who held a part-time job while studying demonstrated a better understanding of the preliminary management subject matter taught in class and obtained better grades. Primarily, the preliminary management course did not specifically impart work-ready skills and it would be fitting to embed employability skills in the management curriculum from the commencement of their programs in the first year. Research limitations/implications Qualitative research is used to comprehend a research problem from the outlook perspectives of the local population it involves. The limitations of this methodology includes no objectively verifiable result, adept interviewing skills for interviewers, slow and time consuming during interviewing process and intensive category process also as qualitative inquiry is normally open-ended, the participants have more control over the content of the data collected. Practical implications The lack of skill mismatch and graduates who are not work-ready incurs significant economic and social costs. A number of policy implications emerge due to university-labour market links and skills mismatches and the impact on students and the labour market. The rise in unemployment and the skills mismatch seen after the economic crisis requires immediate attention. Job creation is crucial but so is the need to develop graduate with appropriate matching skills and qualities to do the job. Mandatory internships, apprenticeships and on-the-job training for university students would help. Governments can provide financial incentives and subsidies to organisations providing the above services and working cooperatively with the universities to get students work-ready. Universities must raise the educational requirements over time as jobs become more complex. Universities can build communities of practice with the assistance of this scheme to enable students to interact with the industry professionals. An additional year of vocational training could be recommended for the graduating students. This would help the young graduates to get work-related skills. Wheelahan et al. (2015) state that building better links between education and work can help provide a more rational approach to vocational development. They propose the use of vocational streams and productive capabilities in the education system and labour market to achieve this. Social implications This requires a combined effort from all stakeholders. A systematic approach needs to be adopted. First, the gap between the knowledge provided by the universities and the skills required by the employers need to be reduced. Second, the employers and the universities should keep a watch on the labour market and develop strategies to meet the dynamic requirements of the labour market collaboratively. Third, career guidance will help inform students make a career choice to match the labour market opportunities. This should be a part of the policy agenda for responding to the lack of work-ready graduates in the labour market. Originality/value Learning and teaching activities must include industry interface and engagement right from the first year at university. The main findings from this research indicated the need for better understanding of first-year students’ expectations. The two significant student expectations that emerged were “need for collaborations” and “industry interface”.

Purpose Research into employability initiatives such as work integrated learning (WIL) in transnational education (TNE) is scarce, and the alumni voice in TNE is largely unreported. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to TNE research by investigating the value of internship electives in the TNE campus location. Design/methodology/approach A grounded theory approach employed semi-structured interviews with local business undergraduate alumni in Vietnam. Findings Internships were instrumental to local graduate employment transitions. University support of WIL internships was a valuable differentiator in the Vietnamese university context, where internships lack formal support mechanisms. Alumni regarded internships as transformational learning journeys, rather than simply as pathways to post-graduate jobs. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study was Vietnam. Findings imply the importance of incorporating local stakeholder perspectives into TNE, particularly regarding WIL. Practical implications Universities that operate in transnational environments must meet local stakeholder needs by providing authentic, industry-related learning activities. The findings support the integration of WIL internships into TNE programmes in Vietnam and further research relevant to other TNE contexts. Originality/value The study contributes to underdeveloped TNE research around employability in general, and more specifically about the particular value of internships in TNE campus locations. Alumni stakeholders constitute uniquely valuable feedback sources based on their shared experience as TNE students, interns and graduate employees in local work environments. Their insights enable universities to facilitate locally relevant learning outcomes.

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to illustrate how marketing intelligence might be improved when an organisation's learning capacity is integrated and incorporated in well‐defined organisational subsystems in a not‐for‐profit context.Design/methodology/approachFirst, given that market orientation is primarily concerned with gathering and desseminating marketing intelligence, the paper discusses the theoretical contributions from the learning literature related to interpreting the environment. Second, while many good ideas exist in not‐for‐profit firms, ideas are seldom linked to competencies that must be tracked and developed in the workplace. A more systematic view towards competency creation will increase the unique skills of not‐for‐profits and most likely improve their performance. Third, communities of practice are introduced as a way for not‐for‐profit firms to maximise dramatically the complex relationships that exist between various stakeholders and possible institutional investors. A number of propositions are offered that support the need for communities of practice.FindingsIn relation to P1 and P2, the workplace of a not‐for‐profit firm needs to be transformed. Establishing a culture of learning is the first step in making this transformation. Improving and advancing a firm's individual and organisational competencies (P3) suggests that individual and team training – depending on the type of not‐for‐profit activities – is needed. In relation to P4, the authors suggest that a firm's market orientation will be significantly improved by incorporating learning systems that resemble communities of practice.Research limitations/implicationsThe propositions for this paper now need to be developed into a number of research questions. This paper has not provided an empirical validation and is limited by the prepositions related to the model. Subsequent testing of the model will greatly enhance its generalised findings.Practical implicationsActual work practices in not‐for‐profit firms will be substantially improved, if not radically transformed, through a learning organisation culture.Originality/valueThis paper is highly valuable with very little research completed to date on this topic.

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