Mobile Technology: An Exploratory Study of Hotel Managers

Hospitality businesses provide a natural context for mobile technology, especially given the dynamic nature of the business, the size and complexity of many hotel operations, and the need to have managers visible and overseeing multiple areas of the business (and sometimes, multiple properties) concurrently. To explore the potential for mobile technology in hospitality business contexts, we surveyed 70 full-service hotel property managers. The survey was based upon two theoretical frameworks: technology adoption model and innovation diffusion theory. Specifically, this study addressed (a) hotel property managers’ intentions to use mobile technology at work, (b) factors influencing their intentions, (c) their suggestions for implementing mobile applications in different departments, and (d) demographic characteristics of those who are inclined to adopt certain types of mobile applications. This study identified the top opportunities for mobile applications and found adoption differences based upon the respondents’ demographics as well as the factors of perceived enjoyment and relative advantages as significant determinants of hotel property managers’ intentions to use mobile technology. This study concludes with recommendations for industry practitioners and suggestions for future research opportunities related to mobile technology adoption and usage in hospitality.     

Impact of R&D and Technology Diffusion on Productivity Growth: Empirical Evidence for 10 OECD Countries

This paper examines the empirical evidence on the impact of performed R&D and of R&D embodied in intermediate and capital goods on productivity performance in 10 major OECD countries over the last two decades. To quantify intersectoral and international technology flows, industry-level embodied R&D variables were constructed from an input–output (IO) R&D embodiment model. The productivity variables used are discrete Divisia growth indexes of total factor productivity (TFP), which were estimated from an IO growth accounting model. The results from pooled regressions indicate that the rates of return of the R&D variables were positively significant and increasing in the 1980s. In particular, embodied R&D is an important source for TFP growth in services, indicating very high social returns of the flows of capital-embodied technology into this sector. Moreover, the information and communi-cation technology (ICT) cluster of industries played a major role in the generation and cquisition of new technologies at the international level.     

The Establishment and Enforcement of Codes

Information and communications technology (ICT) is now used more by non-IT professional end-users than by IT professionals. A survey of 125 London-based organisations found that the majority had instituted codes of conduct designed to govern the use of ICT by their employees. However, the primary purpose of adopting such codes was to ensure the security and efficient operation of the organisation's information systems rather than for wider ethical considerations. Hence, few of the codes of conduct addressed issues relating to the collection, storage and dissemination of data about individuals (personal data); this was especially the case with codes emanating from IT departments rather than senior management. In general, codes of conduct were found to be ineffective in influencing end-user behaviour in the organisations surveyed. Codes of conduct are a means by which organisations seek to exercise power, control and ownership, but their effectiveness is compromised by the nature of ICT itself as well as the attitudes of employees. The failure of well-publicised ethical policies to influence use of ICT by business studies students – the managers of tomorrow – suggests that these tensions are likely to remain unresolved.     

Challenge to ICT manpower planning under the economic restructuring: Empirical evidence from MNCs in Singapore and Taiwan

The study evaluates the issues related to the manpower planning for developing the information, communication and technology (ICT) industry under the economic restructuring in Singapore and Taiwan. Using data collected from 211 multinational companies (MNCs) operating in these two countries, we measured recruitment difficulty and attrition rate experienced by MNCs, and evaluate the extent of ICT skill shortages among the companies surveyed. We found some impact of the nation-pushed ICT manpower planning and development on easing the recruitment difficulty overall at firm level. However, a high attrition rate especially of the low-medium ICT professionals identified in this study may be related to an imbalanced approach taken by the governments to focus on developing high level of science and technology and ICT skills. Implications to the two countries examined and other latecomer countries such as China, India and Vietnam are discussed.     

数字经济背景下ICT货物贸易的影响因素分析——以"一带一路"沿线国家(地区)为例

本文在阐述“一带一路”沿线国家(地区)ICT(信息通信技术)货物贸易现状的基础上,利用2007~2019年贸易流量数据与空间杜宾模型,实证分析贸易格局与国家产业基础、资源禀赋、营商环境等因素的关系。研究发现:(1)“一带一路”沿线国家(地区)ICT货物贸易呈现出两边高-中间低的空间格局,产业基础是主要影响因素,并存在正向的空间溢出效应;(2)改善本国营商环境、提高城市化水平、扩大经济体量是每个沿线国家(地区)改变其ICT贸易格局的有利举措。同时需要注意对外直接投资、汇率及关税的调节作用,重视经济合作组织的影响;(3)我国应充分发挥贸易的直接和间接效应,积极拓展ICT产业新型基础设施建设,满足人们日益增长的带宽需要及通信需求。     

Evidence on the impact of R&D and ICT investments on innovation and productivity in Italian firms

Both research and development (R&D) and information and communication technology (ICT) investment have been identified as sources of relative innovation underperformance in Europe vis-à-vis the USA. In this article, we investigate the R&D and ICT investment at the firm level in an effort to assess their relative importance and to what extent they are complements or substitutes. We use data on a large unbalanced panel data sample of Italian manufacturing firms constructed from four consecutive waves of a survey of manufacturing firms, to estimate a version of the CDM model of R&D, innovation, and productivity [Crépon–Duguet–Mairesse 1998. Research, innovation and productivity: An econometric analysis at the firm level. Economics of Innovation and New Technology 7, no. 2: 115–58] that has been modified to include ICT investment and R&D as the two main inputs into innovation and productivity. We find that R&D and ICT are both strongly associated with innovation and productivity, with R&D being more important for innovation, and ICT investment being more important for productivity. For the median firm, rates of return to both investments are so high that they suggest considerably underinvestment in both these activities. We explore the possible complementarity between R&D and ICT in innovation and production, but find none, although we do find complementarity between R&D and worker skill in innovation.     

基于课程群与项目驱动的卓越工程师培养体系研究

本文结合电气工程专业课程群建设,详细阐述项目驱动教学模式的内容、具体的实施方案及实施效果。将此人才培养模式应用于卓越工程师培养体系,该体系的建立遵循"行业指导、校企合作、分类实施、形式多样"的原则,根据电气工程行业人才培养需求,指导电气专业和相关企业在本行业领域卓越计划的实施。支持不同类型的教师和学生参与卓越计划,采取多种方式培养电气工程师后备人才。     

浅谈校企合作引导下的卓越工程师培养模式

学校教育与现实实际相脱节,造成许多高校学生迈入社会时,很难在企业生产中发挥作用,于是教育部于2010年决定针对存在的问题开展"卓越工程师教育培养计划"(简称"卓越计划"),主要目的是培养一批"创新能力强、适应经济社会发展需要的高质量各类型工程技术人才"。而"卓越计划"的实行,校企合作是必经之路,本文正式从校企合作背景下,来探讨当前卓越工程师的培养模式。首先对校企合作的必要性和意义进行了简单的介绍,其次,对校企合作中对卓越工程师培养的具体措施进行分析,同时对当前校企模式存在的问题进行剖析,并提出一些建议。     

物流工程专业现场工程师人才培养初探

近年来,随着开设物流相关专业的高等院校逐渐增多,对物流专业的开设已逐渐由管理类学科向工程类学科转变,培养的物流人才也由管理类人才向技术型人才转变。因此,物流工程专业逐渐以“现场工程师”为人才培养的目标。文中首先对“物流现场工程师”的概念进行了界定,其次分析“物流现场工程师”所需具备的专业素质,并给出了培养物流“现场工程师”的初步方案,最后分析了“物流现场工程师”人才培养目标的瓶颈。     

Information and communication technology,co-innovation,and perceived productivity in tourism small and medium enterprises: an exploratory analysis

With the aim of providing new evidence and a practical instrument to measure co-innovative sources of productivity in tourism small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this article presents a newly designed questionnaire that has been validated by exploratory factor analysis. The empirical study was conducted on a representative sample of 500 tourism SMEs in Catalonia (a region in north-eastern Spain). Three factors emerged from the analysis: (1) Internet use; (2) firm innovation; and (3) new forms of work organization. Together, these factors explained 45.4% of cumulative variance. The reliability coefficients obtained for the three factors were high (α_1?=?0.76; α_2?=?0.72; and α_3?=?0.71). The study also identified a specific form of co-innovation in SMEs, which is based on bringing radically innovative products and services to the market, and on Internet use and work organization practices that are clearly orientated towards increasing income and optimizing resources. The combination between economics of the firm and statistical validation tools is a source of originality of the paper. Strategic guidelines to improve SMEs productivity have also been discussed.