Harvesting the “Business Test Trip”: Converting Business Travelers to Holidaymakers

A destination has no chance of being chosen unless it is part of a tourist's early consideration set (Crompton & Ankomah, 1993 Crompton, J. and Ankomah, P. 1993. Choice set propositions in destination decisions. Annals of Tourism Research, 20(3): 461–476. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]), implying the tourist's awareness of the destination. Raising awareness for a destination is challenging, especially in times of global competition. We investigate a common, yet empirically untested, assumption that business travelers can be converted to holidaymakers at the same destination at a future point in time. Empirical results indicate that business travelers do use business trips to a new destination to assess the potential for future leisure travel. Marketing strategies which destinations could deploy to entice business travelers back as holidaymakers are discussed.     

Consumers' Attitudes Toward Labelling of Ethical Products: The Case of Organic and Fair Trade Products

This article aims to investigate the factors that influence consumer attitudes to use labelling information in purchasing organic and Fair Trade products and to verify if labelling is a valid tool of direct shopping aid to consumers, with a view to derive inferences that may contribute to better strategic and tactical marketing decisions. A quantitative survey with a sample of 300 consumers living in south Italy was conducted to explore consumers' knowledge and attitudes toward labelling of organic and fair trade products. Data generated in this way were submitted to exploratory and segmentation analysis. The results indicate significant differences in consumer attitudes and behavior for ethical products and show the importance of new variables, other than demographics characteristics, that can influence the purchasing behavior and label information use.     

A Review on Possible Approaches for Detecting Early Warning Signs in Projects

In this paper, we attempt to provide an overview of the full extent of early warning detection approaches, which are directly or indirectly addressed in the literature. These approaches can aid project managers in taking corrective actions timely enough for preventing failures. The study is based on a review of the current literature within the field of early warning in project management and our own experiences gained from practice. An analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and their applications in different contexts are also performed. We conclude that the choice of the most effective approach is arguably dependent on the type of project, organizational culture, and the project environment.     

How Focused are the World’s Top-Rated Business Schools on Educating Women for Global Management?

Persuaded by the observed positive link between the flow of appropriately skilled and trained female talent and female presence at the upper echelons of management (Plitch, Dow Jones Newswire February 9, 2005), this study has examined current trends on women’s uptake of graduate and executive education programs in the world’s top 100 business schools and explored the extent to which these business schools promote female studentship and career advancement. It contributes by providing pioneering research insight, albeit at an exploratory level, into the emerging best practice on this important aspect of business school behavior, an area which is bound to become increasingly appreciated as more global economic actors wise up to the significant diseconomies inherent in the under-utilization of female talent, particularly in the developing world. Among the study’s main findings are that female graduate students averaged 30% in the sample business schools, a figure not achieved by a majority of the elite schools, including some of the highest ranked. Only 10% of these business schools have a specialist center for developing women business leaders, and only a third offered women-focused programs or executive education courses, including flextime options. A higher, and increasing, percentage of business schools, however, reported offering fellowships, scholarships or bursaries to prospective female students, and having affiliations with pro-women external organizations and networks that typically facilitate career-promoting on-campus events and activities. The implications of the foregoing are discussed, replete with a call on key stakeholder groups to more actively embrace the challenge of improving the supply of appropriately trained female talent, or top management prospects. Future research ideas are also suggested.     

When work and family collide: ‘Resource Caravans’ of personal and contextual resources in remote work

Research on remote work remains without consensus as to its benefits, with continued questions about which factors may enable it to be more beneficial to employees working remotely. Applying Conservation of Resources theory, we explore the impact of ‘resource caravans’ on ‘work–family balance’ and subsequent ‘well-being’ in a sample of 446 remote workers. Our findings contribute to ongoing sociological debates by showing exactly how flexibility and control play a role in the remote workplace. Specifically, our model revealed that ‘sense of control’ over home was most beneficial for ‘work–family balance’ among experienced remote workers who had high levels of ‘schedule flexibility’, whereas ‘work–family balance’ benefited from lower levels of ‘schedule flexibility’ among new remote workers. Resources from the home domain were most critical for ‘work–family balance’, which mediated the effects of the ‘resource caravan’ from the home domain on overall employee ‘well-being’.     

Eco-innovation and business performance: the moderating effects of environmental orientation and resource commitment in green-oriented SMEs

Drawing on the eco-innovation and resource-based view, this research attempts to contribute to the eco-innovation-performance debate by examining the effects of eco-innovation on business performance. In particular, we propose that the eco-innovation–performance relationship is contingent on environmental orientation and resources commitment. The analysis of 83 green-oriented SMEs in New Zealand suggests that eco-innovation has a positive effect on business performance. More interestingly, the findings show although environmental orientation does not directly influence business performance, it enhances the positive effect of eco-innovation on business performance. The results further suggest that green-oriented firms will reap more performance benefit of eco-innovation when they commit more organizational resources.     

Factors influencing repeat visits to a destination: The influence of group composition

This paper is an analysis of the likelihood for repeat visits to a sun and sand destination by tourists. For this purpose, an empirical study was conducted using tourists who had visited the destination. The analysis took into account the travelling group composition. The results showed that, for the total tourist sample, overall satisfaction had the biggest influence on the decision of whether to revisit a destination, while the least important influence was the tourist's perceived image. These influences varied, however, when different travelling group compositions were considered. The results are of vital importance in tourism management policies, because they can contribute to the better design and development of tourism promotion strategies.     

Convict Transportation to New South Wales, 1787–1849: Mortality Rates Reconsidered

Previous research into Australian convict transportation has concluded that a significant downturn in mortality rates occurred with the appointment of naval surgeons as superintendents in 1815. Statistical analysis of convict ships sent to New South Wales between 1787 and 1849 shows a more significant downturn occurred in 1800, following the introduction of closer supervision of ships' surgeons. The contracting system established by the Navy Board in 1786 for the transportation of convicts to New South Wales could be made to work as long as government maintained an effective system of inspection and supervision.     

Circular business model evolution: Stakeholder matters for a self-sufficient ecosystem

Food waste is a key issue in the circular economy. A circular ecosystem results from the contributions of various stakeholders; however, the claims and value propositions of these stakeholders can differ, hampering long-term sustainability of the ecosystem. This study analyses the case of RiCibo, a circular ecosystem based in Genoa, Italy. RiCibo collects surplus food and redistributes it to the needy in the local community. The study examines the conditions that facilitated RiCibo’s evolution from a simple project to a circular self-sufficient ecosystem characterised by a co-designed circular business model with a broad range of stakeholders. The results show that sharing people, infrastructure and knowledge, together with mutual trust among stakeholders, are the preconditions of a circular ecosystem. Long-term continuity depends on additional tools that enhance financial self-sufficiency, namely, participative governance, a co-designed circular business model, accountability, frequent engagement, local actions and the development of advocacy power.