Dimensions of Chinese culture values in relation to service provision in hospitality and tourism industry

Factor and reliability analyses were employed in this exploratory attempt to investigate and refine the structure and dimensions of Chinese cultural values (CCVs) in relation to service provision. Based on the results of factor analysis, CCVs could best be conceptualized as a five-component construct that influences the attitude or behavior of employees in providing service. These five factors were identified as follows: Integration 1 (attitude towards work); Integration 2 (attitude towards people); moral discipline; status and relationships; and moderation. The identification of these dimensions has two major implications to human resource development and service management practice in the hospitality and tourism industry. First, Chinese cultural values play a critical role in determining specific interventions, challenges and barriers in service organizational management. Second, given the profound influence of Chinese cultural values on service provision, international tourism and hotel managers, particularly in human resource development, should realize the importance of ensuring that Western management practices are adopted critically in Chinese organizations. Given the limited amount of research on this topic, the findings generated from this study are very important in guiding future research and providing insights into an area that deserves more academic attention.     

A Segmentation of Volunteers at the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival: Insights and Future Directions

Volunteers at music festivals play a critical role in festival operation and success. As the music festival industry continues to grow, the ability for these large productions to effectively execute a large volunteer program is augmented. Volunteers from the 2013 Austin City Limits Music Festival were surveyed in regards to their self-image congruency, motivation, satisfaction, and intent to return as a volunteer at the festival. Analysis resulted in three distinct segments which has significant practical implications for festival management. Academic implications exist with the addition of self-image congruency and further discovery of volunteers in the festival and event industry.     

Shoppers' Reactions to Supermarket Price Scanning and Shopper Price Marking

Supermarkets are starting to adopt price scanning checkouts. Other supermarkets, both scanner equipped and non-scanner equipped, are removing individual item prices. Although much has been written, especially in the retail trade press, about the advantages to retailers of scanner check-outs little attention has been paid to shopper reactions. This study sought to determine the attitudes and behavior of shoppers at scanner equiped supermarkets. Some user reactions to self-price marking of purchases was also determined.     

Conditions of Use of Data-processing Charge-back Systems: A Pilot Study

Previous researchers could not find empirical support for a relationship between the characteristics of the data-processing charge-back system and the impacts on the organization. The lack of empirical evidence may be caused by a missing variable problem. This paper proposes an intermediary variable: the use of the charge-back system. This research finds an empirical relationship between the characteristics of the system and its use. A pilot study was conducted to investigate the conditions of use of data-processing charge-back systems in organizations. For operations costs, results indicate that the variability of the charges, user's authority over data-processing activities and user involvement in the budgetingprocess are the important factors in explaining the use of a budget report. As for development costs, the quality of the information on the charges and user involvement in the budgeting process are the most important factors. However, the authors wish to caution readers that this is a pilot study with a convenience sample of twenty-five questionnaires collected from seven firms. Résumé Par le passé, les chercheurs n'ont pu établir de support empirique pour la relation existant entre les caractéristiques d'un système informatique d'imputation des coǔts et son impact sur l'entreprise. Le manque de preuves empiriques peut ětre dǔ à un problème de variable manquante. Cette étude propose donc une variable intermédiaire: L'usage du système d'imputation des coǔts. Cette recherche a établi une relation empirique entre les caractéristiques du système et son usage. Une étude pilote a été menée pour étudier les conditions d'utilisation de systèmes informatiques d'imputation des coǔts dans les entreprises. Quant aux frais d'exploitation, les résultats indiquent que la variabilité des imputations, le contrǔle de l'utilisation sur les activités informatiques et le rǒle de l'utilisateur dans l'élaboration du budget constituent des facteurs importants dans la justification d'un rapport budgétaire. Quant aux frais de développement, la qualité des données relatives aux frais et le rǒle de l'utilisateur dans l'élaboration du budget sont les facteurs les plus importants. Les auteurs désirent cependant prévenir les lecteurs qu'il s'agit d'une étude pilote comportant un échantillon de 25 questionnaires recueillis auprès de 7 entreprises.     

A NOTE ON DISTRIBUTED LAG MODELS OF MAIZE AND WHEAT PRODUCTION RESPONSE: THE KENYAN CASE*

In this note the supply responses in maize and wheat production are estimated from distributed lag models. The Nerlove model and the Fisher distributed lag model fit Kenyan data but more complicated models, like the polynomial lag model, do not. The calculated price elasticities suggest that Kenyan large-scale farmers are highly responsive to price changes. Some policy implications are drawn from the analysis.     

Regional welfare loss meaures of the 1973 oil embargo: a numerical methods approach

A simple exercise of time-series analysis shows that the presence of the phonomenon of temporal aggregation in quarterly consumption data can substantially alter the empirical inference about Hall' mocel of consumption behaviour. This fact has received almost no attention in the econometric research in this field.