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.     

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.     

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.     

Making a play in the policy and politics arena: nursing and the national election

With health care surfacing in political campaigns across the country and referencing virtually every one of the policy topics discussed here, nurses have an important opportunity to share their views regarding both policy substance as well as engage in the political arena. For those nurses not yet ready to run for elective office, participating in grassroots efforts of campaigns, on advisory panels, and making financial contributions to preferred candidates are important opportunities not to be missed. Given the interest in and challenges ahead associated with health care broadly and nursing specifically, there is a great deal at stake.     

Some economic effects of standards—Comment

The bulk of the literature on the empirical validation of the purchasing power parity (PPP) has been based on cointegration, although on rare occasions band-spectrum analysis has also been used. The former is tied down to the use of ‘notional’ time in the analysis of systems away from equilibrium, and the latter is circumscribed by the Slutzky-Yule effect. Both these drawbacks are sought to be remedied in the present paper, which seeks to bring to bear upon the PPP a new approach derived from the concept of a time-varying spectrum. Both absolute and relative versions of the doctrine are tested for ten advanced economies over the post-1973 period. Uniform rejection of the PPP occurs with the US $ as base, but with centring on the DM, the evidence seems to be supportive of the PPP (in its relative version) for three European countries.     

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.     

RESEARCH AND CONSULTANCY: TOWARDS A CONCEPTUAL SYNTHESIS

This paper describes an investigation into some of the apparent similarities between what certain kinds of researchers and consultants do in organizations. Using a facet analysis approach (Foa, 1965), an instrument was devised with the purpose of identifying and delineating overlaps between organizational research and consultancy. Sixty-six British researchers and consultants took part in the study. The results highlight certain specific similarities and suggest that these may represent aspects of research and consultancy which are crucial to their success. The facets of the two activities which emerged from the study as being common are described by reference to the qualitative data which were generated by participants. A number of important implications for the successful conduct of research and consultancy are discussed with particular reference to the process of managing the relationship between investigators and those with whom they work.     

A note on the role of the average cost curve in the neoclassical theory of the firm

A number of influential authors have argued that the long-run average cost curve has only a limited role in the theory of the firm. This note examines this claim in more detail. It argues that the curve has an important role in determining long-run equilibrium as it provides an important ‘signal’ to agents in the capital and product market about the extent to which an industry is in disequilibrium. The effect of removing the certainty assumption is then examined and it is argued that the average cost curve is an important input in the assessment of operating risk.