The influence of entrepreneurial marketing processes and entrepreneurial self-efficacy on community vulnerability,risk, and resilience

This paper uses the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake and re-development efforts as an exemplar to explore how entrepreneurial marketing processes combined with entrepreneurial self-efficacy can be leveraged to help a community reduce its vulnerability to natural disasters and enhance its resilience. Manyena's (Manyena, S. B. (2006). The concept of resilience revisited. Disasters, 30, 433–450; Manyena, S. B. (2012). Disaster and development paradigms: Too close for comfort? Development Policy Review, 30, 327–345) vulnerability–resilience theory is used as the conceptual framework to delineate the prophylactic benefits of building a community's entrepreneurial marketing process capabilities and the notion of entrepreneurial self-efficacy as defensive mechanisms to mitigate the effect of disasters. This work has resulted in an augmented disaster risk equation that considers: (1) the risk that a natural disaster poses on a community (as a function of the vulnerability of the community's tangible assets); (2) the hazard potential of the disaster; and (3) the resilience of its social and economic systems. This paper develops a measure of the symbiotic interrelationship of a community's entrepreneurial marketing process capabilities and community-level entrepreneurial self-efficacy to illustrate how leveraging the entrepreneurial, marketing, social, and engineering educational resources of a community can create a less vulnerable and more resilient community. In doing so, the paper develops a set of research propositions to guide future research and policy.     

External debt and real exchange rates’ adjustment in the euro area: new evidence from a nonlinear NATREX model

In this article, we revisit medium- to long-run real exchange rate determination within the euro area, focusing on the role of external debt. Accordingly, we rely on the NATural Real EXchange rate (NATREX) approach which provides an explicit framework of the external debt–real exchange rates nexus. In particular, given the indebtedness levels reached by the euro area economies, we investigate potential nonlinearity in real exchange rates dynamics, according to the level of the external debt. Our results evidence that during the monetary union, gross and net external debt positions of the euro area countries have exerted pressures on real exchange rate dynamics within the area. Moreover, we find that, beyond a threshold reached by the external debt, euro area countries are found to be in a vulnerable position, leading to an unavoidable adjustment process. Nevertheless, the adjustment process, while effective, is found to be low and occurs slowly.     

Social integration and the role of student societies in higher education: an exploratory study in the UK

• This paper reports the research findings of an exploratory study designed to examine the role that planned efforts to establish and cultivate a student society play in the social integration of undergraduate students in higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK. It identifies and explores the potential positive and negative benefits and outcomes that the operation of such a society can provide. The study aimed to achieve a better understanding of the role that a student society can play in the social integration of students. A qualitative methodology using 12 in‐depth interviews was employed. Data were analysed in relation to the key theme of the study, that is, student‐peer and student‐staff interactions. In addition, emergent themes were recorded and evaluated. The findings demonstrated that involvement in a student society did contribute to the social integration of students, it was found to be a key factor in reducing student attrition and dropout rates. The findings also demonstrate that a student society can make a meaningful and positive contribution to the management and administration of HEIs in terms of the perceived employability of students and the potential for student recruitment. It would appear that perhaps the value of a student society is currently under‐realised. Student societies could be viewed as a resource that with proper attention and development and could provide real benefits for both students and institutions across the entire HEI environment of the UK. Although there is a danger of student marginality occurring, there are ways to address this potential drawback.

Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hazard model estimates of the decision to reenroll in school

In a sample of males drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, one-third of the individuals who first leave school between 1978 and 1990 are found to return to school before 1991. In light of this finding, the current study extends the analysis of schooling demand to a dynamic framework in order to consider the timing of the enrollment decision. A semiparametric, proportional hazard model for nonenrollment durations is estimated. The hazard model estimates are consistent with the view that young men reenroll in school when the costs are relatively low and/or the benefits are relatively high. For example, increases in state-wide average tuition levels and current earned wages lower the hazard rate, while increases in unemployment rates have the opposite effect.     

Outside Looking In: Resisting Colonial Discourses of Aboriginality

Using postcolonial theory, this article examines the ways in which the staff and members of the board of directors of Outside Looking In (OLI), a youth development through arts- and leisure-based program for Aboriginal youth in Canada, respond to discourses about Aboriginality. Based on interviews with OLI staff and board members, field notes, and the review of archival documents, we argue that OLI staff and board members encounter three dominant discourses: hip-hop is not an Aboriginal activity, Aboriginal youth should learn through mainstream forms of education, and Aboriginal peoples are inherently flawed. We show, however, how OLI exemplifies Bhabha's (1994) notion of hybrid third spaces because it reflects Aboriginal youth's contemporary cultural interests in hip-hop, it integrates kinesthetic education into Eurocentric learning regimes, and its participants return the colonial gaze at OLI's annual performance. OLI exemplifies how leisure activities can be used to challenge colonial discourses of Aboriginality in Canada.     

Five Points in One Line——Liaoning Costal Economic Zone

To promote the economy in Liaoning and to revitalize the industry base in Northeastern China, we need to improve the competing ability of coastal industrial clusters in Liaoning Province.Through the industrial cluster around the projected Northeast Asia Shipping Center in Liaoning, the province will boost the development and construction of coastal area step by step: join these ports thereinto a line and form a cluster and then realize the overall prosperity.     

How competent are consumers? The case of the energy sector in France

This paper discussed the notion of value co‐creation and the concept of customer competence as suggested by this notion. This led us to consider the competent customer as a social construction related to managerial representations. In order to examine this issue, a longitudinal exploratory research based on participant observation and in‐depth interviews with employees of a French energy supplier was conducted to explore whether customers are perceived as competent or incompetent market actors. The data analysis revealed four categories illustrating customers' profiles coping with the new situation of the ‘Utility X’ group in the energy sector. ‘Utility X’ employees define their customers according to four profiles: myopic, ignorant, uncreative and organizer of company resources. Even if the marketing studies that share the Service‐Dominant Logic point‐of‐view suggest that the customer would be competent at all times, our findings showed that customer competencies are in fact socially constructed and emerge partially from managerial representations. Therefore, the adoption by companies of a marketing philosophy (‘market with’ philosophy), in which the customer and supply chain partners are collaborators in the entire marketing process, seems only possible if they recognize customers' competencies and identify situations when customers do not activate their competencies or do not have the resources that enable them to develop their competencies.     

Sources of Customer Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction with Information Technology Help Desks

As the use, development, and control of information systems diffuses through organizations and society, the importance of the information technology help desk in effective management and use of information resources increases. This study examines service encounters with help desks to understand the events and behaviors that cause customers to distinguish very satisfactory from very dissatisfactory service. While considerable research has investigated the determinants of customer satisfaction with service encounters in retail industries such as airlines, restaurants, and hotels, there has been little work investigating the dimensions of professional service encounters. Using the critical incident technique, the authors analyzed over 500 incidents from customers of information services. Help desk critical incidents were classified into three broad categories which were further subdivided into 12 categories which lead to satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The three broad categories, core service delivery failures, customer situation, and helper characteristics and behavior, were consistent with categories found in previous service encounter research, while the subcategories were different in several ways. This suggests that some dimensions of service encounter satisfaction are consistent across service industries, while others are context specific.     

MEXICO Wants to Attract Chinese Tourists

Though last year many countries were affected by the global financial crisis, tourism in Mexico enjoyed an increase of 5% in 2008. Aiming at attracting more Chinese tourists to Mexico, on April 7, 2009, Ambassador Jorge Guajardo together with Mr. Eligio Serna, China Director of the Mexico Tourism Board, held a conference to introduce Mexico Travel in Mexico Embassy to China, Beijing.