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This case was developed via primary data collected from personal (one to one) interview with the CEO and founder of Dialogue in the Dark Malaysia (Dialogue Malaysia), Stevens Chan. With Stevens’ contact, the authors also conducted personal interviews with Kaye Chan (co-founder and wife of Stevens Chan), Lynn Foo (project manager since inception until early 2022) and Dr Foo Yin Fah (academic researcher in social entrepreneurship and advisor for Dialogue Malaysia). Secondary data included reports on visually impaired context in Malaysia, Dialogue Malaysia’s annual reports and online articles. Prior to the primary data collection, the authors obtained ethics approval from the University Human Ethics Committee (Project ID: 35461).

This case narrative focuses on Stevens Chan, a blind social entrepreneur who champions the empowerment of the disabled and marginalised community. Through a social franchising model, Stevens founded Dialogue in the Dark Malaysia in 2012. As a social start-up, Stevens showcases the strengths of blind and visually impaired individuals through transformative experiential encounters and reimagining future possibilities. Although there are constant challenges in securing financial and human capital, Stevens never lacks psychological capital, characterised by hope, self-efficacy, optimism and resilience. His vision is to educate society on the power of empathy (and not sympathy) and to create a holistic experience of celebrating diversity and inclusion through an innovative discovery centre, where the elderly and the disabled community (including the deaf, mute and those with mobility issues) share their lives with the public through fun activities. However, the future of this social enterprise is uncertain, and this case invites participants to embark on this journey with Stevens to uncover future pathways for growth and social impact.

The case is tailored for higher level undergraduates and entry-level and mid-level managers of executive education programs.

Via an experimental approach, this study therefore seeks to examine the effects of outcome valence upon service perception in the higher education setting where academic services form the core service element. To further extend this inquiry, the purpose of this paper is to explore the carryover effect of these emotional states to a subsequent unrelated service encounter which is classified as a peripheral service element which is hedonic in nature.

By using a simulated laboratory experimental procedure involving 300 participants, the authors examined the extent to which a student’s feeling toward an online test result has a bearing upon the teaching evaluation and a subsequent service experience in a branded retail context.

The results gathered from this study highlight the variability of the carryover effect of outcome valence from a work-related service context that serves as incidental emotions to a subsequent unrelated service encounter which is hedonic in nature. From the results gathered, variations were observed in relation to the dynamics of outcome valence in affecting core service evaluation where teaching quality was assessed, and in the peripheral service context in the form of retail experience at a branded cafè. From the basis of these findings, the psychological role of retail stores operating in a valence-oriented industry such as the higher education is discussed in this study.

Essentially, this study contributes to the academic literature and managerial practices by extending the knowledge in the dynamics of valence and its impact upon service perceptions.

This study adopts a simulated experimental design to assess the transference effect of valence in specific service encounters. This methodological approach offers greater reliability compared to existing studies which undertake a retrospective approach via questionnaire survey to examine outcome valence in service experiences. The results from this study provide important managerial implications by assessing the impact of valence upon customer satisfaction ratings which are commonly used for performance appraisal of service staff members. Additionally, the outcome of this study potentially assist managers to account for incidental emotions which may have an impact upon customer’s service experience.

Scholars have proposed that the negative effects of service failures can be countered by developing and maintaining high quality customer-company relationships or by providing excellent service recovery to customers. While both strategies have been proposed as ways to overcome the negative effects of service failures, there are only a limited number of studies that have examined their joint effects. The purpose of this paper is to fill this gap by investigating the impact of these two strategies jointly on rumination (brooding and reflection), anger and customer forgiveness (revenge, avoidance and benevolence).

The experimental design used in this study is an adaptation of Mattila’s (2001) research design, which manipulated both the level of service recovery and relationship. A total of 677 respondents were assigned randomly to one of the six experimental conditions. Multi-group structural equation modeling was employed to estimate the proposed model across three relational conditions.

This study suggests that the buffering effects are directly triggered by the impact of relationships, whereas, the magnifying effects are primarily related to the customer’s cognitive processes. This study reveals multiple forms of concurrent buffering and magnifying effects in service failures.

The findings of the study led to a classification system of the various forms of buffering and magnifying effects of relationships in the event of service failures. The four active roles of relationships are identified as damage control, benefit catalyst, benefit attenuator and damage catalyst. This proposed typology breaks new ground for theorizing about relationship utilization in negative incidents.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of “service transgression” which violates customers’ religious beliefs through observing certain dietary guidelines that shape their religious identity. While service transgression and customer forgiveness are predominantly examined using experimental procedures or questionnaire survey in existing studies, this study adopts an interpretive paradigm to explore the complexities and idiosyncratic narratives of individual perceptions.

Detailed narrative accounts of 15 participants consisting of five Muslims, five Buddhists and five Hindus; who are working adults residing in Malaysia were gathered via in-depth interviews. Critical incident technique was employed with interpretive approach being undertaken to uncover key themes that form the essence of experiences in service transgressions.

The responses from participants were mainly contingent to the individuals’ interpretations of their religious expectations in the assessment of the incidents. Observations from the interview protocols reveal common themes in the consideration of whether one has indeed transgressed against the religious norms, the assignment of blame and responsibility and reparation of relationships. From the findings of this study, the authors developed a typology of conflict framing categories: “damaged identity”, “identity at risk” and “identity preservation” by considering both dyadic and triadic service relationships in service failure incidents which involve a violation of customers’ religious belief systems.

The outcome of this study seeks to inform service providers on the impact of service transgression of this nature upon consumers particularly in a multi-faith society. Additionally, this study provides insights into the implementation of service recovery strategies if and when such situation arises.

By undertaking a narrative enquiry, this study uncovers personal sense making in this phenomenon within the contextual frame of societal and historical norms. The outcome of this study provides insights to service providers on the impact of service transgression upon consumers particularly in a multi-faith context such as Malaysia. Additionally, this study discusses managerial implications associated with the implementation of service recovery strategies if and when such situation arises.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the complex nature of perceived quality by employing a phenomenological study to understand the meaning of University Service Quality (USQ) as experienced by the business undergraduate students.

The paper employs a phenomenological study to understand the meaning of USQ from the undergraduate students’ perspective. In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 business undergraduates from public universities, local private universities and a foreign branch campus in Malaysia. Data gathered were analysed using the procedure suggested by Colaizzi (1978) for descriptive phenomenological analysis.

From the qualitative data, the essential structure of the USQ experience was constructed based on five major themes which are “USQ as a luxury”, “USQ as citizenship rights”, “USQ as nurturing apprentices”, “USQ as administrative relief” and “USQ as utility consumption”. The findings suggest that students’ service quality experiences could be understood as a multi-faceted phenomenon with students expressing context-dependent service expectations and outcomes.

The outcome of the paper highlights the nature of students’ expectations which may vary according to service contexts, and their perception of self. Therefore, an integrated effort in various service domains is necessary to enhance service quality experience in higher education.

Although previously explored by Dabholkar et al. (1996) in the retail services, the phenomenological-based methodology is rather uncommon in the service quality inquiry, particularly in the higher education context. The insights gathered from the phenomenological study provided access to understanding some persistent issues in USQ such as standards of expectations and perceived role by students in the higher education.