Although various manufacturing companies have developed into total solution providers, no research addresses their service orientations. Building on the literature on organizational service climate, this study explores the organizational parameters and service business orientations that explain relative product sales and service volume of manufacturing companies. Following an exploratory study involving in-depth interviews, the authors conducted an empirical survey of 137 companies in The Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. The study assesses the effects of organizational parameters on the implementation of service business orientations and validates the important distinction between services in support of the client's actions (SSC) and services in the support of the product (SSP). The findings demonstrate that services in support of the client's action leverage relative product sales, while services in support of the product generate service volume. In addition to the main effects, the moderating effects of the organizational parameters are discussed.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -This study seeks to investigate barriers in the consumer adoption process of technological innovations under different contingencies. The paper aims to focus on barriers impeding adoption of technologies characterized by high incompatibility and high uncertainty -i.e. a "lack of content" (LoC) situation -versus technologies characterized by low incompatibility and low uncertainty -i.e. a "presence of content" (PoC) situation. Design/methodology/approach -Based on a literature study, the paper develops hypotheses that distinguish the diverging effects of both psychological and functional barriers on consumer adoption in different situations (LoC versus PoC). Data were collected by means of a survey, resulting in an effective sample of 229 respondents. Findings -In the case of LoC, the value, risk (financial and performance) and image barrier are negatively related to adoption intention, where the latter barrier is significantly stronger for the LoC situation than for the PoC situation. For PoC, it is found that the value, image, and financial risk barriers are negatively related to adoption intention, where the value barrier outweighs all other barriers. Interestingly, the traditional barrier reveals a positive effect on adoption intention. Practical implications -The results suggest that managers and retailers should develop a more sophisticated understanding of consumers' adoption intention of new technologies. Distinguishing between LoC and PoC situations offers managers the opportunity to differentiate their communication strategies and design more compelling ways for consumers to overcome the specific barriers they perceive in each situation. Originality/value -The paper attempts to offer a more fine-grained understanding of consumer adoption by investigating the extent to which the lack versus the presence of content gives rise to differences regarding the effects of psychological and functional barriers to technology adoption.

As the functional capabilities of high-tech medical products converge, supplying organizations seek new opportunities to differentiate their offerings. Embracing product sustainability-related differentiators provides such an opportunity. Our study examines the challenge for organizations to understand how customers perceive environmental and social dimensions of sustainability. To achieve this, the study explores and defines these two dimensions based on, first, a review of extent literature and, second, focus group research within a leading supplier of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanning equipment. The study takes place in the Netherlands in seven different types of hospitals and one private imaging center. Five social aspects, together covering eleven indicators, are identified. These are tested via 22 customer perception interviews with key decision making stakeholders (within the hospitals or imaging center) involved in purchasing of MRI scanning equipment.Respondents find environmental and social sustainability dimensions personally relevant, but professionally secondary to cost, performance, and ability to use MRI scanning equipment within organizations' physical infrastructure. Finally, incorporating a product's environmental and social credentials within marketing of MRI scanning equipment enhances the perception of the product offering in decision making stakeholders' minds and provide differentiation.