Elissar Toufaily

@article{toufaily_2574,

title = {Ecosystem Well-Being and Resilience: Lessons from Crisis Management in Service Organizations},

author = {Elissar Toufaily and Tatiana ZALAN},

url = {https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/BENMGRQVHA9IMWZQZV8K/full?target=10.1080/1051712X.2023.2289875},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-12-01},

journal = {Journal Of Business-To-Business Marketing},

volume = {30},

number = {4},

pages = {349-370},

abstract = {Purpose

In this paper, we investigate the strategies and approaches adopted by service organizations to navigate a humanitarian crisis and the lessons learnt from the crisis to face a future one. Understanding the effect of a crisis triggered by health pandemic hazards on services delivery and management, organizational strategies for survival and recovery, and the recovery post-crisis, in terms of building organizational and ecosystem resilience, is the focus of this paper.



Design/Methodology/Approach

Using a qualitative research design which closely approximates the theory-in-use (TIU) approach (Zeithaml et al. 2020), we interview 47 elite informants from service organizations that were particularly severely impacted by the crisis. We follow Corbin and Strauss's (2014) procedure for analysis of the interviews (i.e., open, axial and selective coding) and Saldaña (2013) for thematic analysis.



Findings

Drawing on Transformative Service Research (TSR) and dynamic capabilities perspective, we develop an empirical framework of crisis management which focuses on dynamic co-creation of service ecosystem well-being and resilience. Service organization responses included 1) retrenchment and balancing supply and demand, 2) service re-design and provision, 3) imposed service innovations, 4) digital servitization and 5) rethinking business models. Aiding with the process of crisis management in the face of uncertainty are dynamic capabilities, including strategic flexibility, market orientation, customer centricity, transformational leadership, and technological/digital capabilities.



Originality/Value/Contribution

The study provides a novel applied framework which sheds light on how organizations that co-created value with other firms, suppliers, customers, stakeholders (the focus of B2B marketing) fundamentally transformed their services to fulfill human and ecosystem actors' needs, by placing well-being right at the center of their crisis management strategies. We combine the TSR lens on service ecosystem well-being and resilience with the dynamic capabilities perspective to explore how service organizations managed the COVID-19 crisis and what lessons can be learnt to face any future crisis. We argue that well-being and resilience are dependent on a service co-creation process that involves multiple ecosystem stakeholders at the individual, organizational, community and societal levels. We have built on Anderson's et al. (2013) and Chen et al. (2020) work to explore empirically how well-being can be co-created in time of crisis. The process of value co-creation, through the responses identified in our paper (e.g., digital servitization and imposed innovations), were adopted to provide physical, health, financial and social safety to the service ecosystem actors (primarily customers, employees, and managers) during the pandemic.



Practical implications

The findings contribute to the service marketing practice by identifying the managerial strategies that blend TSR and dynamic capabilities. The study provides an applied framework which sheds light on how organizations fundamentally transform their services to fulfill human and ecosystem actors' needs, by placing well-being right at the center of their crisis management strategies. Well-being became a function of fulfilling the most basic human needs (belonging, safety, security and hygiene) of customers, employees, managers and communities. Our research helps managers and decision-makers to identify the right strategies and capabilities needed to manage a crisis. Critically, managers should stress building the skills of market orientation, digitalization and strategic flexibility to manage uncertainty. Service organizations require flexible and integrative decision-makers who elevate service innovation to a core strategic issue to come out from a crisis.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{toufaily_2803,

title = {Ecosystem Well-Being and Resilience: Lessons from Crisis Management in Service Organizations.},

author = {Elissar Toufaily and Tatiana ZALAN},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/1051712X.2023.2289875},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-12-01},

journal = {Journal Of Business-To-Business Marketing},

volume = {30},

number = {4},

pages = {349-370},

abstract = {n this paper, we investigate the strategies and approaches adopted by service organizations to navigate a humanitarian crisis and the lessons learnt from the crisis to face a future one. Understanding the effect of a crisis triggered by health pandemic hazards on services delivery and management, organizational strategies for survival and recovery, and the recovery post-crisis, in terms of building organizational and ecosystem resilience, is the focus of this paper.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{toufaily_2802,

title = {An Integrative Model of Trust toward Crypto-Tokens Applications: A Customer Perspective Approach},

author = {Elissar Toufaily},

url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666954422000217?via%3Dihub},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-09-01},

volume = {2},

number = {2},

pages = {100041},

abstract = {Trust is a key driver of consumers' acceptance and adoption of innovations. The purpose of the paper is to explore and understand the factors that facilitate the creation of trust in crypto-tokens decentralized applications (DApp) from the perspective of the consumer. A qualitative research design has been used and forty-five participants were interviewed for the study. Based on a theory-driven approach of qualitative data analysis, a multidimensional, holistic conceptual framework of trust has been proposed. The model captures the core categories that affect consumer's trust toward crypto-tokens applications. It highlights the need to understand the individual, technological, environmental and use-case features which shape the way blockchain-based applications can be trusted. The framework can be used by policymakers, educators, exchange platforms, DApp developers, and entrepreneurs to develop strategies that cultivate on the drivers of trust, and create value with crypto-tokens and Web3.0 economies. Higher trust ultimately promotes acceptance and adoption of blockchain applications.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{gerth_2800,

title = {Assessing the effectiveness of Covid-19 financial product innovations in supporting financially distressed firms and households in the UAE?,},

author = {Florian Gerth and Vikash Ramiah and Elissar Toufaily and Glenn Muschert},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1057/s41264-021-00098-w},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-12-01},

journal = {Journal of Financial Services Marketing},

volume = {26},

pages = {215-225},

abstract = {Covid-19 has affected the global economy, influencing firm and household financial decisions worldwide. The Central Bank of the United Arab Emirates (CBUAE) released an AED 256 billion stimulus package to provide banks with sufficient capital to support economic activities and development by providing temporary relief to large corporations, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and households. New financial products have rapidly appeared, including relief packages for rent, mortgages, personal loans, credit cards, SMEs, and corporate entities. Regression analysis explores the effect of such relief packages on UAE firm and household finances. Using online survey data gathered via convenience sampling of UAE households, econometric analysis confirms that select demographic factors and financial instruments positively relate to effective financial decision-making. Our results guide policymakers on which relief packages effectively manage firm-level and household financial distress during a health pandemic.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{toufaily_2801,

title = {A Framework of Blockchain Technology Adoption: An Investigation of Challenges and Expected Value},

author = {Elissar Toufaily and Tatiana ZALAN and Soumaya Ben Dhaou},

url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2021.103444},

year  = {2021},

date = {2021-04-01},

journal = {Information & Management},

volume = {58},

number = {3},

pages = {103444},

abstract = {The purpose of the paper is to investigate the challenges and implications related to blockchain adoption in the private and public sectors, and from the entrepreneurs' perspective. Based on 46 semi-structured interviews, a data-driven conceptual framework is proposed focussing on the environmental, organizational and technological challenges of blockchain adoption. The framework includes expected socio-economic value of blockchain adoption at the ecosystem level from a multi-stakeholder perspective: organizations and industries, end-users and society, public sector, and start-ups and entrepreneurs. The paper highlights the differences between permissioned and permissionless blockchains and identifies new constructs in blockchain technology adoption.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{toufaily_2799,

title = {What Do Learners Value in Online Education? An Emerging Market Perspective},

author = {Elissar Toufaily and Tatiana ZALAN and Dennis Lee},

url = {https://www.learntechlib.org/p/191108/.},

year  = {2018},

date = {2018-02-01},

journal = {E-Journal of Business Education and Scholarship of Teaching},

volume = {12},

number = {2},

pages = {24-39},

abstract = {The purpose of this paper is to explore the value of e-learning from a student's perspective and develops a dynamic model for evaluating e-learning perceived value in an emerging market context. A qualitative research design, via semi-structured interviews, was adopted with a group of respondents composed of undergraduate and postgraduate students who were enrolled in online, hybrid and face-to-face programs. Coding, categorization and thematic analysis of the interviews resulted in seven value dimensions, with their "Get" and "Give" components, of the dynamic learning experience. The study highlights the importance of each value dimension in relation to the stage of the learner experience, namely, prior to, during and after the delivery. Our research extends current e-learning perceived value research and frameworks. The paper provides guidelines for higher education institutions and policy makers on institutional change to support e-learning initiatives.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}