Strategy matters: strategic positioning and performance in the education services sector

• The present study explored the strategic positioning behaviour of Australian educational services institutions to see whether their choice of strategy impacted their competitiveness in international markets. A sample of schools, colleges and universities, were asked which of Porter's generic positioning strategies they used. Correspondence and cluster analysis were used to examine these relationships and discriminant analysis was used to see whether there was a relationship between strategy choice and performance. The results showed institutions that lacked a coherent strategy did not perform well, highlighting the importance of educational administrators to develop clear and coherent strategies that position their offerings effectively to targeted market segments. Indeed, a failure to apply strategic principles may risk the long term sustainability of the institution.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Integrated Approach to Internationalizing the Hospitality and Tourism Curriculum in the USA

SUMMARY

The hospitality and tourism industry in the USA is increasingly operating in a changing international business environment. Its customers and guests are international tourists and business travellers, its major employers are often multi-national corporations, and its employees are of multi-ethnic heritage. This paper examines the need for universities to take a coordinated approach in internationalizing their hospitality and tourism curriculum. Such an approach is needed to prepare students for the global work environment of the future. It presents and evaluates the various approaches that have been taken by institutions from around the world, in their efforts to internationalize their programs. The paper then examines the case of The Hotel Management School Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, which has taken an integrated approach to curriculum internationalization. Information in this paper is drawn from examples in the literature, as well as from the international experiences of the authors. Finally, this paper concludes with a model that can be used to design a fully integrated curriculum.     

The relationship between leader-member relations,job satisfaction and organizational commitment in international tourist hotels in Taiwan

The tourism industry is an indicator of the degree of internationalization and modernization of a country; and hotels are a key part in the tourism industry. According to studies on foreign tourists to Taiwan, expenses for international hotels make up the major portion of the tourists' total costs. Hence, international hotels play a significant role in the industry. The population for this study is 60 international hotels approved by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau. The sample is formed by 24 of these hotels. A questionnaire survey was conducted and 303 valid replies were received. The research analyzes cause and effect relationships among leader-member relations, as well as organizational commitment and job satisfaction utilizing structural equation modeling. The results show that job satisfaction is the mediating variable between organization commitment and leader-member relations.     

Some statistical and DEA evaluations of relative efficiencies of public and private institutions of higher learning

This paper uses the Charnes, Cooper and Rhodes (CCR) ratio form of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) (1) to examine how DEA can be utilized in analyzing different aspects of production behavior of institutions of higher learning (IHLs) as an alternative to more traditional approaches such as econometric-regression models, and (2) to compare “specifically” relative efficiencies of public and private doctoral-granting universities in the U.S. and to analyze technical and scale efficiencies of those universities. The separation of doctoral-granting universities into universities with and without medical colleges represents a departure from preceding studies. This division proved very important in uncovering substantial differences in behavior between the two groups even when using the “statistical averaging” approaches that were customary in previous studies. For both groups, public universities proved more efficient than private universities when managerial and program inefficiencies are present in the data. When managerial inefficiencies are disentangled from the data and medical schools are not present, private universities have more efficient programs. However, their managers are less efficient users of program opportunities than are managers in public universities. Another portion of the current study dealt with returns-to-scale possibilities. These differed markedly (even on average) between IHLs with and without medical schools. Moreover, analyses by DEA showed marked ranges of variation for returns-to-scale possibilities for individual IHLs within each group. These possibilities have generally been concealed by the statistical averaging utilized in previous econometric studies. Further, their identification is beyond the ability of the usual types of one-at-a-time ratio and trend analyses.     

Dual organizational identification among Japanese expatriates: the role of communication in cultivating subsidiary identification and outcomes

Dual organizational identification is significant for the success of multinational corporation (MNC) employees. This study has extended this research area by examining expatriates of Japan-based MNCs. In addition, this study has extended the existing identity-matching principle by incorporating a communication perspective. It investigated the antecedents and outcomes of subsidiary identification. Self-report survey data from 159 Japanese expatriates in the USA were analyzed. The results indicated the significance of local language proficiency in the development of identification with the subsidiary. In addition, local identification was the predictor of expatriates' adaptation to the subsidiary. Furthermore, the results showed that local organizational identification is related to their stress level in international assignments. These results also supported the growing view of situation-oriented identification. The follow-up interviews reinforced these results.     

Non-regular professionals' dual commitment in South Korea: antecedents and consequences

There is a growing concern with whether nonregular professionals are concurrently committed to both the organization and their profession and whether such commitments are beneficial to that organization. This article seeks to investigate the relationship between organizational justice variables and the dual commitment of nonregular professionals via perceived organizational support (POS) and the subsequent effect of the dual commitment on organizational citizen behavior. Hypotheses are developed and then tested through structural equation modeling with data collected from a total of 1143 part-time instructors at South Korean universities. The findings of this study reveal that the perceptions held by nonregular professionals of organizational justice constructs concurrently influence organizational commitment and professional commitment via POS and that both commitments are positively associated with altruistic behavior. The findings advance our understanding of the dual commitment of nonregular professionals and provide universities with managerial implications as to how to manage effectively part-time instructors. Limitations, directions for future research, and conclusions are presented.     

地域文化与旅游纪念品开发探析

文化是旅游的灵魂,旅游是文化的载体。在"文化牵引经济"的时代背境下,具有鲜明特色的地域文化应成为旅游纪念品开发的根基和源泉。在旅游纪念品的设计、包装、传播中注入地域文化元素,表现和彰显地域文化的个性特征,一方面有利于宣传旅游地品牌形象;另一方面,有助于提升旅游纪念品自身的文化品位,增强吸引力,实现其价值和功能,使旅游纪念品成为旅游者回忆、回味与旅游地密切相关的独特旅游体验的记忆线索。     

高校扩招现状分析及对策

高校扩招是在亚洲爆发金融风暴的国际背景下,国家为了稳定国内经济发展,迎合高等教育发展的迫切需求而出台的政策。该政策的出台是有其存在的合理性的。但是实施过程中,高校盲目扩招带来了一系列的问题,如高等教育教学质量下降,高校负债严重,高等教育消费日益昂贵化,高校毕业生就业形势日益严峻等。为此,需要通过正确认识和实施高校扩招,调整人才培养结构,逐年降低高校扩招的比率等方式来有针对性的解决高校盲目扩招中存在的问题,保障我国高等教育高效高质的发展。     

Patterns of power distribution in managerial decision making in Chinese and British industrial organizations

This article is one of three reports about the results of a Sino-British joint research project on managerial decision making in eleven Chinese companies and ten British companies. Forty managers and twenty trade union leaders from both manufacturing and service industries participated in the study. Data about decision-making patterns in eighteen different decision tasks in the organizations were collected. The results showed that there were interesting organizational and cultural differences in decision-making patterns in the two countries between manufacturing and service industries, between management and trade union groups, among short-, medium- and long-term decisions and across organizational levels. There were clear shifts of the decision-making power across organizational levels depending upon the type of decision tasks. A model of decision power shift was proposed in terms of the effects of organizational and cultural factors on patterns of organizational decision making. The implications of the decision power shift model to the management practice in the international context were highlighted.     

Conformist innovation: an institutional logics perspective on how HR executives construct business school reputations

In this paper, we explore whether Legge’s classic 1970s criticism of human resource (HR) executives as ‘conformist innovators’ is still relevant. Drawing on institutional logics, we analyse HR managers’ rationales for choosing particular university business schools to provide senior executive development. Our mixed-methods study demonstrates that senior HR managers socially construct and enact business school reputations by drawing on strategic rationales. These rationales are embedded in societal, field and organizational logics, especially the extant reputational rankings of international business schools and an ‘ideal’ template of elite business schools. We find that these rationales, and the decisions they evince, tend to confirm the traditional picture of conformist innovation among HR executives. We discuss the implications for the reputation of HR as a profession, their employers and business schools.     

Performance pay in Canadian and Australian firms: a comparative study

Based on data from 315 Canadian and Australian firms, this study examines the incidence of 13 specific forms of performance pay, along with factors that may affect their incidence. Overall, Canadian and Australian firms showed similar incidences of most forms of performance pay, with employee profit sharing the notable exception. Depending on the type and form of performance pay, various factors predicted the incidence of performance pay. As expected, firm size and unionization were among the most important predictors of individual and organizational performance pay, but neither factor predicted group performance pay. The results also indicated that high involvement firms in both Canada and Australia used more organizational performance pay than other firms, but not more group or individual performance pay. This study provides qualified support for convergence in international pay practices, but also highlights the continued importance of contextual and firm-level factors.     

Paternalist leadership style of the organizational trust

This study aims to evaluate the effect of paternalist administrators on the organizational trust of teachers working in their context. The notions of paternalist leadership style, trust, and organizational trust are explained based on literature. The study is based on qualitative research approach. Despite this, the short version of “Paternalist Leadership Scale”, developed by Cheng in 2004 and a short version prepared in 2014 is used initially. Administrators with paternalist leadership characteristic were established with the help of this scale. Later, open ended questions, developed by the authors, were asked to teachers in the schools as organizations of those administrators with the aim of establishing their “trust for the administrator and for the organization”. The sample of the research was made up of 30 teachers working at 5 primary schools of the North Cyprus Ministry of National Education during the 2016–2017 school year. It was observed in the findings that in the eyes of the teachers social characteristics of individuals were most important in creating and enhancing the feeling of trust. In addition, it was observed that personal characteristics were some of the defining factors in developing trust. The conclusion was reached that teachers working with paternalist administrators had positive communications with school administrators and colleagues, and that they carried out their relationships within the rules of good manners and kindness. Again, in the eyes of teachers, it was established that paternalist administrators were eager to renew themselves. Finally, paternalist administrators were found, with a high percentage, to be quite qualified in establishing organizational trust. In conclusion, based on the findings of this study, it can be said that administrators with paternal leadership qualities are qualified in creating organizational trust; therefore, it will be important to train administrators in developing their paternal leadership styles.     

Conditional altruism: Effects of HRM practices on the willingness of host‐country nationals to help expatriates

The assistance of host‐country nationals (HCNs) both within the workplace and in the external environment plays a significant role in expatriate adjustment and work performance on international assignments. Extant research exploring antecedents of HCNs' attitudes and behaviors toward expatriates focuses on personal and intrapersonal factors but overlooks organizational contextual effects. In this study, we propose and test a model that HCNs' willingness to help expatriates is influenced by HRM practices in international subsidiaries of multinational enterprises (MNEs). Results of analyzing data collected from Chinese subsidiaries of South Korean MNEs showed that high‐commitment HRM practices directly and indirectly influence HCNs' willingness to help expatriates through the mediation of perceived organizational support (POS). Socially responsible HRM indirectly influences the criterion variable through the mediation of organizational identification. Moreover, POS and organizational identification sequentially mediate the effect of high‐commitment HRM on HCNs' willingness to help expatriates. These findings shed some light on organizational antecedents that go beyond personal and intrapersonal factors of HCN attitudes and behavior toward expatriates.     

The relationships of organizational justice,social exchange,psychological contract,and expatriate adjustment: an example of Taiwanese business expatriates

In the field of international human resource management, studies have seldom examined organizational justice, social exchange, and psychological contract together as important factors in influencing the expatriate adjustment process. The purpose of this research is to fill the research gap by examining these factors and their relationships with expatriate adjustment. The researcher conducted a survey of Taiwanese business expatriates during the first quarter of 2007, collecting 219 valid samples for analysis. A hierarchical regression model was used to test the research framework hypotheses, which showed that expatriates' perception of organizational justice has a positive influence both on their perceptions of social exchange and on their psychological contract fulfillment. Expatriates' perceived that social exchange has a positive influence on their perceptions of psychological contract fulfillment and foreign adjustment. Finally, research implications are discussed and future study suggestions are recommended.     

Perceived organizational support and knowledge sharing: employees’ self-construal matters

Abstract

HR professionals are expected to become more involved in knowledge management and facilitate knowledge sharing among employees in the knowledge economy. In this study, we investigated the relationship between perceived organizational support and knowledge sharing by taking account of employees’ interdependent and independent self-construal. Our hypotheses were examined using a 2-wave survey data-set from 145 teachers working at 4 Dutch vocational education and training schools. The results showed that perceived organizational support was positively related to knowledge sharing for employees either with a high interdependent self or with a low independent self. However, this positive relationship disappeared for employees either with a low interdependent self or with a high independent self. Overall, the moderating effect of self-construal revealed a new avenue towards a better understanding of the relationship between organizational support and employees’ knowledge sharing. It provided a tentative answer to the question of why organizational support does not often succeed in motivating employees to share their knowledge in the workplace.     

Investigating the Number of Non-linear and Multi-modal Relationships Between Observed Variables Measuring Growth-oriented Atmosphere

This study investigates the number of non-linear and multi-modal relationships between observed variables measuring the Growth-oriented Atmosphere. The sample (N = 726) represents employees of three vocational high schools in Finland. The first stage of analysis showed that only 22% of all dependencies between variables were purely linear. In the second stage two sub samples of the data were identified as linear and non-linear. Both bivariate correlations and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) parameter estimates were found to be higher in the linear sub sample. Results showed that some of the highest bivariate correlations in both sub samples were explained via third variable in the non-linear Bayesian dependence modeling (BDM). Finally, the results of CFA and BDM led in different substantive interpretations in two out of four research questions concerning organizational growth.     

Able,willing, and knowing: the effects of HR practices on commitment and effort in 26 European countries

This study extends previous studies of human resource (HR) practices by examining how organizational commitment and work effort are related to the use of HR practices enhancing discretion and skills based on international comparative survey data from 26 European countries. By analyzing individual level data instead of the organizational level data that are examined in prior studies, this article allows investigating whether and how employee perceptions of HR practices are related to their attitudes and behavior. The multilevel analyses largely support the hypotheses that both the intensity and the consistency of these HR practices contribute to organizational commitment and work effort since they enhance the ability of employees and their willingness to cooperate and inform them about the expectations of the organization.     

Innovation by design: SPARK and the Overcoming of Stanford University's Translational “Valley of Death” in Bio-Medicine

Stanford University's world leadership as an entrepreneurial university induced a “paradox of success,” inhibiting further development of its organizational infrastructure for entrepreneurship support. Nevertheless, some prospective academic entrepreneurs realized that there were invisible persisting gaps in the university's innovation system. We discuss the role of the entrepreneurial university and provide a case study of SPARK, an organizational innovation, created to address Stanford's translational research gap, that was then spread to other universities. The creation of a support structure to encourage students and faculty to define entrepreneurial projects as part of their education and research revealed a novel organizational change dynamic.     

From Trade Among Nations to Trade Within Firms Across National Borders

SUMMARY

Based on international economics, evolutionary economics, and organizational theories, this paper discusses the evolution of the multinational corporation's intra-organizational cross-border trade and production network. The paper suggests that firms are social and economic entities, whose intra-organizational, cross-border trade and production networks coevolve with their multilocal competitive environments. Since organizational evolution, technological innovation, and organizational learning are path-dependent, a firm-specific inertia makes it to differentiate itself from its competitors in both its intra-organizational network and market outcome. The growing trends in intra-firm transactions and intra-firm division of labor on global basis present a challenge to national governments. This paper discusses intra-firm cross-border trade versus arm's-length international trade and the implications for national-based policies.     

An alternative approach to estimating demand: Neural network regression with conditional volatility for high frequency air passenger arrivals

In this paper we provide an alternative approach to analyze the demand for international tourism in the Balearic Islands, Spain, by using a neural network model that incorporates time-varying conditional volatility. We consider daily air passenger arrivals to Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza and Mahon, which are located in the islands of Mallorca, Ibiza and Menorca, respectively, as a proxy for international tourism demand for the Balearic Islands. Spain is a world leader in terms of total international tourist arrivals and receipts, and Mallorca is one of the most popular destinations in Spain. For tourism management and marketing, it is essential to forecast high frequency international tourist demand accurately. As it is important to provide sensible international tourism demand forecast intervals, it is also necessary to model their variances accurately. Moreover, time-varying variances provide useful information regarding the risks associated with variations in international tourist arrivals.