Business elites, universities and knowledge transfer in tourism

Policy-makers charged with enhancing the competitiveness of tourism, sometimes draw attention to the potential contribution of universities to strengthening innovative behaviour in the private sector. Business elites (very senior managers of large enterprises) play a key role in determining the propensity of organisations to participate in knowledge transfer with higher education institutions. This paper examines the process of knowledge acquisition among ten British business elites, who between them employ tens of thousands of workers, and the (potential) contribution of universities to that activity. Qualitative data are interpreted using concepts from the literature on knowledge transfer and Mezirow’s theory of adult learning. The findings suggest that business elites not only operate within communities of practice but also tend to learn within their own ’meaning perspectives’. As a result, initiatives aimed at strengthening engagement are not likely to succeed unless they are able to influence how elites approach their own learning.     

商务旅行服务专业化:国外差旅管理研究述评

差旅管理作为商务旅行服务专业化的代表,被谋求转型的商务旅行服务商所推崇,而其作为组织有效控制差旅成本的管理手段,也越来越受到企业重视.目前,该领域学术研究涌现出一批杰出成果,但相关概念探析等基础问题尚待解决,这些问题可通过国外差旅管理研究得到一些启发.文章在回顾国外相关文献及报告的基础上,剖析国外差旅管理的发展历程并编制差旅管理发展编年表,深入解读相关概念内涵并对“差旅”进行重新界定,引入差旅生命周期、差旅管理利益相关方等概念来解析差旅管理职能,最后总结国外差旅管理的研究局限并提出研究展望.     

隐没了的行当

在我的家乡松嫩平原,乡村里一些行当,转眼间,就如同谢了幕的演员;一闭眼,那形象那音容笑貌,还在眼前晃动;一睁眼,舞台上却见不到他们了.     

Lifestyle Market Segmentation,Small Business Entrepreneurs,and the New Zealand Wine Tourism Industry

ABSTRACT

Wine tourism is an important niche activity for which participant needs and motivations have been somewhat under-researched. This paper describes a case study investigation to evaluate the nature of buyer/seller relationships that evolve in a wine tourism setting. Visitors to three small New Zealand wineries were interviewed to gather data relating to their lifestyle behaviors and their attitudes towards the wine tourism experience, and factor analysis used to categorize these visitors in terms of the List of Values typology of lifestyle characteristics. Results indicate that the 'achiever' and 'funlover' segments are well represented amongst winery visitors, but that there is an appreciably lower incidence of 'belonger' personalities. Implications of these findings for the wine tourism industry are considered.     

Entrepreneurial Characteristics,Motives, and Business Challenges: Exploratory Study of Small- and Medium-Sized Hotel Businesses

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to gather information about the determinants and characteristics of the owners/managers of small- and medium-sized hotels (SMSHs) and identify various issues in starting up and operating businesses in the United Arab Emirates. The results of this study reveal that the majority of the owners/managers of SMSHs in the United Arab Emirates are male, young and middle age, and relatively new to the tourism industry. The motivations for the business ventures of the entrepreneurs include wanting to be financially independent, become one’s own boss, involvement in family business and the opportunities of the hotel business. Among the key business challenges highlighted by the owners/managers of SMSHs are stiff competition in the hotel industry, increased operating costs, reduced demand, and lack of skilled employees. Several key strategies have been employed to face these challenges. These include offering competitive pricing, improving the marketing and channels of promotion, enhancing the quality of service and providing superior customer service.     

Segmenting the Business Traveler Market

In order to position products, hotel managements need to understand its customersÆ needs and wants. With the application of multivariate techniques, this study identifies segments within the business travel market based on criteria business travelers use to choose their hotels. A national usable sample of 350 business travelers, drawn from a mail survey, was analyzed to determine hotel selection criteria. The list of choice criteria was reduced by factor analysis, and the respondents were clustered into three groups based on similar important factors. Profiles of the three groups of responsdents are discussed.     

Challenges in Mobile Business Solutions for Tourist Destinations—The Trial Case of St. Moritz

SUMMARY

Mobile business applications in tourism have been developed in the last years for various platforms and services. However, most of the applications have been tested in lab-like conditions. The article describes the trial case of St. Moritz, Switzerland. With the help of the Destination-Pilot acceptability, usability, and market potential for mobile information services have been tested in a real environment situation. The trial involves numerous visitors and tourist enterprises. The paper presents opportunities and limitations to so called mobile travel recommender systems. Strong emphasis is put on the methodical and technical challenges in the set up trial phase as well as on potential business models for exploitation.     

Educators' Perceptions of Business Ethics in Hospitality

ABSTRACT

Business ethics has become a popular topic in both the academic arena and the business setting within the hospitality industry. This research investigates the perceptions of hospitality educators regarding business ethics in contemporary hospitality programs and the hospitality industry (Damitio & Schmidgall, 1993; Dunfee & Donaldson, 1999). This study provides some pivotal educational findings as to how hospitality educators perceive the preparation of hospitality students relative to business ethics. There are three distinctive findings. Female educators have a significantly higher level of agreement toward statements about business ethics in the hospitality industry than do male educators. Educators whose own level of education was a doctorate degree were significantly less concerned about ethics education than educators whose own level of education was a two-year college degree or a master's degree. And, educators who were employed in institutions offering graduate degrees were significantly less concerned about ethics education than educators who were employed in institutions offering undergraduate degrees. In addition to those three significant findings, this study also showed that educators perceive that organizations should not only practice business ethics with customers but also with employees. Additionally, this study showed that educators are concerned about multinational companies (MNC) and students' ability to understand ethical issues while operating businesses in foreign countries. Educators are also concerned about the strong influence of business organizational leadership and management on business ethical practices.     

Leadership,Innovation Outputs,and Business Performance: A Mixed Methods Study of Senior Managers in the Attractions Industry

ABSTRACT

This mixed-methods study responds to the need for empirical studies of innovation in the experience industry context. A multisource approach was used to gather data from 189 attractions across the United States. The relationships between strategic leadership practices and various innovation output dimensions were examined at the organization level. Qualitative data in the form of innovation output examples complemented the quantitative results. Findings provide a snapshot of innovation in the attractions industry and reveal some of the “tensions” of leading innovation in organizations whose main economic offering is an experience. A list of context-specific leadership practices and innovation activities provide a starting point for self-assessment and integration of experience-economy concepts at the business unit level.