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The objective is to describe and compare two sustainable business models, one in a manufacturing industry and the other in a hospitality industry. Data was gathered from multiple sources in two case studies, including secondary data, company records, internet information, face-to-face interviews and on-site observations. Transcriptions were returned to interviewees for clarification, enhanced accuracy, and approval. The researchers remained open and receptive to emerging insights, contributing to the comparison between industries. The content analysis of transcribed interviews and other sources of data revealed a number of aspects, some similar and some different, between the sustainable business models explored. The sustainable business models assessed in this study thus consist of both similar and different elements. A differentiator between sustainable business models is whether the core offer to customers in the market is predominantly service- or goods-oriented. Further studies on common denominators and distinguishing criteria between sustainable business models would be valuable to both researchers and practitioners.

Researchers claim that trust, commitment and satisfaction constitute core dimensions in relationship quality so important to business success. However, there does not seem to be a consensus on how these core quality constructs inter-relate, nor how they relate to important outcomes. Consequently, this study examines whether satisfaction plays a mediating role between trust and commitment and three important outcomes. Leading executives in Taiwanese manufacturing companies were contacted, and the questionnaires were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The empirical testing supports the proposed theory that satisfaction is a mediator between trust and commitment, and specific assets, opportunism and formalisation. All five hypotheses in the model were supported. This study makes a contribution to theory outlining as it does a set of constructs, all of which are positioned in an AMP-model (i.e., antecedents, mediating and postcedents) for the benefit of other researchers. The supported model also provides a guideline for managers in the development, management and performance of business relationships.