Open Access

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the current empirical research examining communication, compensation and logistics as elements of product crises management in retailing. Design/methodology/approach – The advantages and disadvantages of these three elements of crises response strategies are juxtaposed drawing on relevant empirical research. For each element of crises response the major findings of research are summarized and shown how it relates to crisis management. Needs for further research that would be necessary to solidify recommendations to retail managers are derived. Findings – The investigation finds that both communicative and compensatory response elements as well as the retailer's logistics can positively influence evaluations of customers directly and indirectly affected by product problems thus enhancing brand equity. This in turn will serve to increase consumers' trust in the retailer that could win him new customers and generally benefit his reputation. Research limitations/implications – Most of the discussed research rests on the assumption of a given (extraneous) crisis response strategy of the manufacturer. Potential problems concerning the co‐ordination or implementation of manufacturer and retailer strategies remain open to question. Additionally, further research should examine which strategies are appropriate to which crisis situation. Practical implications – Materially, over‐compensating customers often has a detrimental effect on solving the crisis. The impact of different compensation types on crisis resolution mostly depends on their respective signalling capabilities, the product problem constituting the crisis and consumer attributions. The use and the effects of a communicative crisis response largely depend on moderating factors such as the retailer's reputation or the existence of strong retail brands and consumer expectations. Elements of logistics seem to support the effects of communication and compensation on crisis resolution but are hardly capable of solving a product‐harm crisis. Originality/value – The role of retailers in product‐harm crisis management has been widely neglected in research although such crises are predominant. This paper outlines the current empirical work on how different crises response elements may contribute to solving a product‐harm crisis for retailers. It derives relevant avenues for further research as well as useful insights to practitioners considering to using such response elements in their own crisis management strategy.

The candidate list of substances subject to authorisation is an instrument provided by the EU chemicals regulation (REACH) to publicly announce and prioritize chemical substances of very high concern (SVHC) as a first step of imposing an obligation of authorisation on them, i.e. including them into the authorisation list (Annex XIV of REACH). As a consequence of inclusion into the “candidate list”, a variety of obligations concerned with intensifying risk communication apply. Article producers, importers and distributors of articles have to communicate information about SVHCs contained in articles and necessary risk management measures to the recipients of the articles and provide this information to consumers on request (Art. 33 REACH). This research paper analyzes the reputational mechanism of the candidate list showing a potential to stigmatize not only the substances as such but also various actors of the supply chain associated with these substances and their brands. Drawing on behavioral psychology theories, hypotheses on the reputational impacts of the candidate list on substance manufacturers, downstream users (including formulators and manufacturers of articles) and distributors are derived. These are discussed on the basis of current empirical data surveyed by the European Commission.

A successful integration of migrants in the labour market and in the organisations is getting more important based on demographic changes. The central aim of the investigation is to deal with problem fields of the Human Resource Management, which arise by demographic changes regarding migration. Therefore, an explorative qualitative study with human resource managers and diversity representatives of the large DAX companies was conducted. The views of leaders and employees with and without an immigration background regarding diversity potentials in organisation are compared in this study. The results indicate that diversity is important for organisation. Employees have recognised the importance of diversity. Managers have not recognised the seriousness and urgency of cultural diversity and diversity actions. Human resource managers are not able to assess the additional stress of migrants correctly and to consider them in their day-to-day management and diversity actions.

Background: Muscle fatigue has been reported as a risk factor for the development of performance-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) in musicians. However, little research exists to support this claim. The aim of this study was to investigate whether changes occur in muscle activity patterns during high string performance over a prolonged playing period, and whether this is influenced by PRMD. Methods: High string musicians were divided into a PRMD and a non-PRMD group. They played a chromatic scale pre and post and a self-chosen “hard” (Borg scale 16-17) piece of music for one hour. Electromyography data recorded from arm, shoulder and trunk muscles was analyzed: the amplitude to measure muscle activity characteristics and the lower frequency to measure muscle fatigue. Differences between and within groups and the frequency spectrum were analyzed using linear mixed models. Results: Fifteen musicians participated (7 PRMD: 22.8 years, 2 male/5 female and 8 non-PRMD: 34.3 years, 2 male/6 female). Changes in muscle activation patterns were observed between and within both groups, however changes varied significantly depending on group affiliation. Significant low frequency spectrum changes between groups were observed in overall muscles of the right arm (p=0.04) and left forearm flexors (p=0.05) following one hour of playing. Conclusions: Muscle activity and frequency spectrum shifts differ in high string musicians with and without PRMD, suggesting possible differential muscle fatigue effects between the groups.