Five backpacker tourist enclaves

Little is known about backpacker enclaves and the concept itself needs clarification. The present study analysed the concept and surveyed the characteristics and local impacts of five varied enclaves in four nations. Most have a concentration of tourist businesses and are centrally located near transport and major tourist attractions. Tourist behaviour in the different enclaves is fairly similar. Tourists use them for convenience and inexpensive accommodation, to collect travel information and to relax and socialise. Some enclaves are nightlife centres for locals and are tourist attractions, with some foreign tourists visiting mainly to party and locals visiting to see the strange foreigners. Host‐nation culture also affects some enclave characteristics and local impacts. The present analysis and data provide a sound and useful concept of a backpacker enclave and its characteristics. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Relationship between Religiousness and Corporate Social Responsibility Orientation: Are there Differences Between Business Managers and Students?

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether there is a relationship between a person’s degree of religiousness and corporate social responsibility orientation. A total of 411 managers and 506 students from seven universities were surveyed. The statistical analysis showed that religiousness does influence students’ orientation toward the economic, ethical, and philanthropic responsibilities of business. It does not, however, have a significant impact upon the managers’ attitudes. When the “low religiousness” students and managers were compared, differences were found with respect to the economic, ethical, and philanthropic components of corporate social responsibility. Similar results were obtained when the “high religiousness” students and managers were compared. The implications of these findings are discussed. Nabil Ibrahim is the Grover Maxwell Professor of Business Administration at Augusta State University, Augusta, Georgia. He teaches courses in Strategic Management and Applied Statistics. Dr. Ibrahim’s articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Ethics, Health Care Management Review, the Journal of Applied Business Research, as well as many other journals and proceedings. Donald P. Howard is an Associate Professor of Management at Augusta State University, Augusta, Georgia. He teaches courses in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. His articles have appeared in a number of journals such as the Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Applied Case Research, and Health Care Management Review, as well as many proceedings. John Angelidis is Professor and Chair, Department of Management, St. John’s University, New York, NY. He teaches courses in Strategic Management and International Business. Dr. Angelidis has published articles in the Journal of Business Ethics, Review of Business, Journal of Commerce and Management, as well as many other journals and proceedings.     

Promoting corporate sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises: Key determinants of intermediary performance in Africa

This study explores the key determinants of intermediary performance in promoting corporate sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises in Africa. Despite being a critical link in the delivery of sustainability support services to small and medium‐sized enterprises, intermediaries have only received limited research attention. Research exploring intermediaries of corporate sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises have focused broadly on their roles but narrowly on performance. Those exploring intermediary performance have often focused on larger companies, sometimes, neglecting the specifics of small and medium‐sized enterprises, especially in African countries. Improving intermediary performance in promoting corporate sustainability requires an in‐depth understanding of the factors that determine their performance. As a qualitative study, interview responses from 32 experts working in National Cleaner Production Centres in four African countries were analysed using inductive thematic approach. The findings suggest that programme constraints, external profile, small and medium‐sized enterprises context, impact strategy, and service networks are the key determinants of intermediary performance in promoting corporate sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises. These determinants facilitate and inhibit intermediaries’ ability to promote corporate sustainability in small and medium‐sized enterprises. The implications concern the need for intermediaries and small and medium‐sized enterprises to manage these determinants in promoting corporate sustainability.     

Government support for tourism and the UK: A different perspective

The nature of government support for industry in the UK is examined. Support for tourism has not equalled that given to manufacturing but the grounds on which the case for tourism are argued are unsatisfactory. The circumstances where a free enterprise economy could be reconciled with increased government support for tourism are argued. A case is made for subsidized holidays and it is suggested that cash grants for tourism development are inappropriate and should be replaced by other forms of funding.     

Assessing Mobility Barriers In Dynamic Strategic Groups Analysis

The Mobility Barriers Paradigm (Caves and Porter, 1977) has strongly influenced research in strategic management, particularly in the areas of competitive analysis and strategic groups. In this article we develop a procedure called MOBIUS, based on ‘match ratios’(MRs), in order to identify those competitive variables which act as mobility barriers in a particular industry. We also attempt to classify mobility barriers in terms of the degree of observed mobility around key strategic variables and the extent to which change is desired on these variables. the MOBIUS procedure is illustrated briefly in the context of the pharmaceutical industry.     

BIG QUESTIONS IN AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC HISTORY: FROM THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN1

The conventional story of Australian economic history is worth challenging. Rather than just assuming a national economy with conventional turning points such as Federation, economic historians would do well to investigate more complex processes like the interplay between regions, races and development, and the changing patterns of interaction with the outside world. The big question for economic historians is whether in the future they can undertake economic research which informs history and so contributes to the national debate.     

COMPETITIVE GROUPS AS COGNITIVE COMMUNITIES: THE CASE OF SCOTTISH KNITWEAR MANUFACTURERS*

This article explores how the mental models of organizational strategists determine perceptions of competing organizations and responses to competitive conditions. We first outline a cognitive perspective for discussing competitive strategy, and then use this framework to analyse the particular case of the Scottish knitwear industry. We show how the structure of that industry both determines and is determined by managerial perceptions of the environment. We conclude by drawing out a few general implications of our framework for research and theory on competitive strategy.