Corporate brand strategy: Drivers and outcomes of hotel industry’s brand orientation

The MNC resellers are vastly competitive and capital-intensive. Based on the corporate brand orientation, the objective is to investigate how the individual dimensions of hotel industry’s brand orientation can improve a corporate experience and subsequently create superior hotel performance and retailer preferences. A model of the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation was tested in a survey conducted among MNC resellers from hospitality industry. Structural equation modelling was applied to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. The research makes two main contributions. It makes a theoretical contribution by classifying the integration of the hotel industry’s brand orientation for hospitality industry and from this extrapolate key suggestions for further study. The continuous evolution and economic influence of the hospitality industry require the application of innovative marketing practices.     

New employee orientation,role-related stressors and conflict at work: Consequences for work attitudes and performance of hospitality employees

Combining role theory with theories on hindrance stressors and intragroup conflict, we develop a model of the attitudinal and behavioral consequences of new employee orientation in hospitality organizations. We test hypotheses about main and mediated effects in this model, using data from a sample of 156 recently hired hospitality interns and applying a longitudinal approach, with data collection shortly after organizational entry and several months later. Results suggest that employee orientation is negatively related to two hindrance stressors: role ambiguity and role conflict. Role ambiguity predicts a range of attitudinal outcomes and the relationship is partially mediated by relationship conflict. In addition, role ambiguity is negatively related to task performance. Role conflict predicts hospitality employees’ job attitudes and this relationship is fully mediated by relationship conflict. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of these findings for human resource management in hospitality firms.     

甜菊糖苷的功能特性及其在饮料工业中的应用

甜菊糖苷作为天然的高甜度、低热量甜味剂,已被广泛应用于食品、饮料中。本文阐述了甜菊糖苷的化学结构、理化功能特性,综述了甜菊糖苷的研究现状以及在饮料工业中的应用,指出其发展前景广阔,为甜菊糖苷的深入研究提供参考。     

从土地资源优势区配置到主体功能区管理：一个国土空间治理的逻辑框架

研究目的:以土地资源配置方式遵从优势区开发原则到服从主体功能区分工协作规则演进规律,解释现行中国治理模式下国土空间管理逻辑。研究方法:文献分析法和理论分析法。研究结果:传统优势区开发理念为早期区域发展带来了集聚与规模经济效益,但其内部仍存在生产、生活、生态空间结构失衡等问题,降低了土地资源空间配置效率。主体功能区战略是传统优势区土地资源空间配置理念转型,是中国特定时期具有国家特色的经济发展模式,关键在于明确地方土地资源空间配置核心定位,应以法律规范"央地"土地关系、差别化实施政策制度安排、引导公众参与规划决策、创新生态(经济)补偿机制。研究结论:不同分区土地资源空间配置关系协调是世界性问题,转型时期中国国土空间优化和规制治理重点在于厘清中央与地方事权关系,精准落地县域主体功能区建设,健全主体功能配套政策体系。     

The use–make framework and the derivation of functional forms in production theory

The use–make framework is employed to explain functional forms in production theory, including Cobb–Douglas and Leontief. Productivity and efficiency are interrelated by augmenting the framework with a linear program that determines the frontier output.     

Corporate social responsibility and competitive advantage: A developing country perspective

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has attracted wider research interests over recent decades. While some studies have examined the impact of CSR activities on firm competitive advantage (CA), the findings so far remain contradictory. Moreover, the role of export orientation, firm strategy, and structure on the association between CSR and CA has not been explicitly examined. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine the moderating role of export orientation, firm strategy, structure, and firm size on the association between CSR and CA. Using a sample of 179 responses from management staff in organizations across five sectors in a developing country context of Ghana, the study found positive effects of CSR on CA. The study contributes to the resource‐based view (RBV) scholarship by confirming the important complementary effect of export orientation and organizational structure as important resources and capabilities on the CSR–competitiveness relationship. However, no evidence of a moderating effect of firm strategy, or firm size on the CSR–CA relationship was found. These findings are instructive, impactful, and enrich the existing literature on CSR and strategy. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.     

沈阳城市周边耕地多功能评价

[目的]为探索城市化影响下城市周边耕地多功能的现状,分析其空间差异,为耕地保护及城市周边耕地发展提供参考。[方法]从耕地的生产、生态、社会和景观4个功能出发构建评价指标体系,利用熵权法确定指标权重,加权求和法计算单一功能和多功能值,并用ArcGIS进行空间分析,对沈阳城市周边50个乡镇(街道)的耕地多功能性进行综合评价。[结果](1)沈阳城市周边耕地的多功能性空间差异较为明显。生产功能远郊平原区最强,远郊山区和近郊区较弱;生态功能总体偏弱,个别乡镇较好;距离城市越远,社会功能越强;景观功能近郊区较强,远郊区较弱。(2)耕地的生态、社会和景观功能主要受距市中心距离的影响,生产功能受地形和距市中心距离的双重影响,而多功能则受地形、距市中心距离及各乡镇(街道)耕地主导功能等的综合影响。(3)沈阳城市周边的大多数耕地以农业生产为主导,景观文化功能整体相对较弱。近郊区耕地生态功能所占比重较大,但社会功能比重较小,远郊区则与之相反。[结论]沈阳城市周边耕地多功能性空间差异较为明显且不均衡,应科学规划城市周边耕地功能,优化空间布局,协调耕地各功能的关系,促进耕地多功能综合发展。     

Organisational regulatory legitimacy,entrepreneurial orientation,and SME innovation: an optimal distinctiveness perspective

The optimal distinctiveness perspective argues that firms face competing pressures to be both ‘like’ and ‘different from’ their peers. On the one hand, institutional scholars assert that firms need to be similar to peers in order to gain legitimacy. On the other hand, strategy scholars insist that firms need to strive to be different to gain competitive advantage. In order to enrich the optimal distinctiveness perspective, the present study builds a conceptual model that addresses the relationships among organisational regulatory legitimacy, entrepreneurial orientation, and SME innovation under the context of China’s transition economy. Our empirical results show that organisational regulatory legitimacy has an inverted-U relationship with SME innovation. Further, entrepreneurial orientation strengthens this inverse-U shaped relationship. That is, entrepreneurial orientation magnifies both the positive and the negative effect of organisational regulatory legitimacy on SME innovation. This study echoes to the call to conduct broader optimal distinctiveness research by integrating institutional theory and strategic management. Furthermore, our findings provide new evidence for the strategic balance perspective of optimal distinctiveness.     

Poverty in US Lesbian and Gay Couple Households

Poverty is a widely researched topic in economics. However, despite growing research on the economic lives of lesbians and gay men in the United States since the mid 1990s, very little is known about poverty in same-sex couple households. This study uses American Community Survey data from 2010 to 2014 to calculate poverty rates for households headed by different-sex versus same-sex couples. Comparing households with similar characteristics, the results show that those headed by same-sex couples are more likely to be in poverty than those headed by different-sex married couples. Despite that overall disadvantage, a decomposition of the poverty risk shows that same-sex couples are protected from poverty by their higher levels of education and labor force participation, and their lower probability of having a child in the home. Lastly, the role of gender – above and beyond sexual orientation – is clear in the greater vulnerability to poverty for lesbian couples.