Along came a mega-event: prospects of competitiveness for a 2010 FIFA World Cup™ host city

South Africa's hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup? came at a time when countries and cities worldwide were increasingly competing for this sought-after status. The benefits and challenges of such an event have received significant attention from researchers and practitioners alike. No tourism destination is guaranteed long-term competitiveness by being offered the once-off opportunity to host a major international event. This study aimed to determine whether a mega-event would make a greater or lesser contribution to the long-term competitiveness of the host destination given the extent to which it was being addressed at a strategic level. Existing literature on destination competitiveness and mega-events was studied to identify relevant issues that would have to be addressed at this level. Primary and secondary qualitative data were collected from a host city on the eve of the 2010 FIFA World Cup? to place these issues into perspective. The empirical findings indicate how a mega-event can contribute to the competitiveness of a destination if it forms part of a broader event strategy; if the necessary leadership is in place; and stakeholder roles have been clarified.     

Web 2.0 service adoption and entrepreneurial orientation

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between Web 2.0 service adoption and entrepreneurial orientation (EO). For this purpose, this article conducted multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) using Web 2.0 service adoption groups (high and low adopters) as an independent variable and EO as dependent variable, measured with four variables: innovativeness, risk taking, autonomy, and competitive aggressiveness. The results show that there are significant differences in EO, overall and for each dimension, between the two groups (high adopters/low adopters of Web 2.0). High adopters of Web 2.0 have a stronger EO in terms of all the four of the individual EO dimensions.     

The determinants of new firm formation in italian manufacturing

This paper focuses on entry of small firms in the manufacturing industries. It is argued that the exit option can be viewed as an insurance against risks of failure, increasing the likelihood of entry in an uncertain environment; the result is implicit in recent stochastic models of competition and entry decision under uncertainty. A regression model of industry birth rates in the Italian manufacturing industries provides empirical evidence on the impact of factors determining the decision to enter and the supply of new entrepreneurs. In our estimates, yearly entry rates are found to decrease with entry costs and barriers and to increase with market growth, expected growth of small firms, risks of failure and an index of spatial concentration of activities.     

First-time versus repeat visitors to a music festival in South Africa

This research segmented visitors to Spring Fiesta, a music festival aimed at the House, Hip Hop and Kwaito music festival market in South Africa, based on the frequency of visits to distinguish between first-time and repeat festival attendees. A research survey was done over four years (2013–2016) and 788 visitor questionnaires were included in the analysis. Independent sample t-tests, two-way frequency tables, and Chi-square tests were used to analyze the data and segment first-time and repeat visitors based on socio-demographics, behavioral characteristics, and overall satisfaction and travel motivations. These differences should be considered when the festival program is designed and marketed.     

Industry 4.0 and circular economy: An exploratory analysis of academic and practitioners' perspectives

The union between Industry 4.0 and the circular economy (CE) appears relatively recent. In this sense, new trading zones for sharing a common scenario among academics and practitioners are needed. The paper aims to investigate the link between Industry 4.0 and the CE by understanding how Industry 4.0 can foster the impact of the CE on companies. The study proposes a broader perspective that includes thematic and content analysis gathering data on professional documents based on business cases, newspaper articles, press releases and specialised blogs, as well as scientific papers. The joint academic-practitioners view highlights how Industry 4.0 has the potential to impact on the CE through countless actions: increasing waste disposal; promoting remanufacturing; enhancing the efficiency of critical resources such as water, energy, gas and CO₂; and improving business models and the mission of companies. However, barriers still exist in its adoption, stressing the need for holistic and integrated design and a proactive environment of collaboration among stakeholders. Results lead to practical as well as research implications.     

Segmentation by genres: the case of the Aardklop national arts festival

The purpose of this study was to distinguish between genre supporters and non‐genre supporters at the Aardklop National Arts Festival. This was done to determine genre supporters' individual needs and wants so that effective marketing strategies can be developed and the festival programme can be designed to attract more genre supporters. Previous research indicated that the future of festivals is dependent on the number of show tickets sold and festivals therefore need to attract more genre supporters. To achieve this goal, a questionnaire survey (N = 495) was conducted, where afterwards independent t‐tests were used to determine the differences between visitors who attend the different ticketed shows/productions and those who do not. Results showed that genre attendees and non‐attendees differ significantly based on socio‐demographic and behaviour characteristics, which gave a comprehensive profile of the two types of visitors at the festival. This method proved to be successful especially in increasing ticket sales. Marketing and management implications for effectively targeting genre supporters were also indicated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

‘All that jazz’: the relationship between music festival visitors’ motives and behavioural intentions

ABSTRACT

This exploratory study investigated the relationship between visitors’ behavioural intentions (ex-post) and their motives (ex-ante) for attending a jazz festival. The aim was to discover whether a music festival brings additional intangible benefits. The research followed a quantitative approach by conducting a visitor survey at the Cape Town International Jazz Festival in South Africa. Structural Equation Modelling showed that music festivals have the potential to create benefits beyond the festival itself or the host destination, particularly fostering an appreciation of a music genre, increasing purchasing of music, and boosting music tourism. The findings showed that a music festival could have far-reaching benefits that can contribute to its legacy. It also showed that visitors’ motives have a unique relationship with their behavioural intentions, which emphasizes the need to market the festival accordingly.     

Cost-effectiveness of de-escalation from micafungin versus escalation from fluconazole for invasive candidiasis in China

Aims: Guidelines on treating invasive candidiasis recommend initial treatment with a broad-spectrum echinocandin (e.g. micafungin), then switching to fluconazole if isolates prove sensitive (de-escalation strategy). This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of de-escalation from micafungin vs escalation from fluconazole from a Chinese public payers perspective.

Materials and methods: Cost-effectiveness was estimated using a decision analytic model, in which patients begin treatment with fluconazole 400?mg/day (escalation) or micafungin 100?mg/day (de-escalation). From Day 3, when susceptibility results are available, patients are treated with either fluconazole (if isolates are fluconazole-sensitive/dose-dependent) or micafungin (if isolates are resistant). The total duration of (appropriate) treatment is 14 days. Model inputs are early (Day 3) and end-of-treatment mortality rates, treatment success rates, and health resource utilization. Model outputs are costs of health resource utilization over 42 days, incremental cost per life-year, and incremental cost per quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) over a lifetime horizon.

Results: In the base-case analysis, the de-escalation strategy was associated with longer survival and higher treatment success rates compared with escalation, at a lower overall cost (–¥1,154; –175 United States Dollars). Life-years and QALYs were also better with de-escalation. Thus, this strategy dominated the escalation strategy for all outcomes. In a probabilistic sensitivity analysis, 99% of 10,000 simulations were below the very cost-effective threshold (1?×?gross domestic product).

Limitations: The main limitation of the study was the lack of real-world input data for clinical outcomes on treatment with micafungin in China; data from other countries were included in the model.

Conclusion: A de-escalation strategy is cost-saving from the Chinese public health payer perspective compared with escalation. It improves outcomes and reduces costs to the health system by reducing hospitalization, due to an increase in the proportion of patients receiving appropriate treatment.