Performing tourism: exploring the productive consumption of tourism in enclavic spaces

In this paper the interactive nature of touristic encounters in enclavic spaces is explored. Drawing on concepts of tourism as performative practice, it examines tourist experience as a form of productive consumption in which holidays are shaped by interactions with both those working in tourism and other tourists. The discussion draws on data gathered in semi‐structured interviews carried out with 39 solo female tourists from the UK. The findings of this study suggest that the sexualised performances of tourism employees and of different groups of tourists in the physical, temporal and social contexts of the holiday have the power to render such spaces inclusive or exclusionary. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Standard Business Reporting in Australia: efficiency,effectiveness, or both?

The benefits of using eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a business reporting standard have been widely canvassed in the extant literature, in particular, as the enabling technology for standard business reporting tools. One of the key benefits noted is the ability of standard business reporting to create significant efficiencies in the regulatory reporting process. Efficiency‐driven cost reductions are highly desirable by data and report producers. However, they may not have the same potential to create long‐term firm value as improved effectiveness of decision making. This study assesses the perceptions of Australian business stakeholders in relation to the benefits of the Australian standard business reporting instantiation (SBR) for financial reporting. These perceptions were drawn from interviews of persons knowledgeable in XBRL‐based standard business reporting and submissions to Treasury relative to SBR reporting options. The combination of interviews and submissions permit insights into the views of various groups of stakeholders in relation to the potential benefits. In line with predictions based on a transaction‐cost economics perspective, interviewees who primarily came from a data and report‐producer background mentioned benefits that centre largely on asset specificity and efficiency. The interviewees who principally came from a data and report‐consumer background mentioned benefits that centre on reducing decision‐making uncertainty and decision‐making effectiveness. The data and report consumers also took a broader view of the benefits of SBR to the financial reporting supply chain. Our research suggests that advocates of SBR have successfully promoted its efficiency benefits to potential users. However, the effectiveness benefits of SBR, for example, the decision‐making benefits offered to investors via standardised reports, while becoming more broadly acknowledged, remain not a priority for all stakeholders.     

Overhead cost allocation changes in a transfer pricing tax compliant multinational enterprise

This paper addresses how overhead cost allocation system design in multinational enterprises (MNEs) is affected by transfer pricing tax regulation. Using a case study research strategy we find that the implementation of a transfer pricing tax compliance strategy gives rise to a number of changes to the overhead cost allocation system design. Findings suggests that a contingent relationship exists between overhead cost allocation and transfer pricing tax compliance. We argue that when seeking to understand and explain MNEs’ overhead cost allocation system design for intra-company services, the MNEs’ response to its tax regulatory environment is a significant explanatory variable.     

Interview with Bruce Rohde,CEO of Conagra,Inc.: HR as major source of competitive advantage

ConAgra, Incorporated is a diversified international food company. It operates across the food chain in 32 countries around the world. Its primary focus is to help feed people better. Bruce Rohde, president of ConAgra & Board of Directors Vice Chairman, was appointed by the Board as Chief Executive Officer on September 25, 1997. In this interview Mr. Rohde outlines his plan to increase the companyßs growth during the next decade. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The gap between the environmental attitudes and the environmental behaviour of small firms

Small firms are facing serious difficulties responding to environmental pressures. Due to their unique characteristics, small firms cannot be expected to employ scaled down solutions that have been developed by, and for, larger organizations. The indications are that the typical owner–managers of manufacturing and service small firms are struggling to bridge the gap between their environmental attitudes (aspirations) and their environmental behaviour (practices). Part of the problem would appear to be the domination of an outmoded paradigm that has created a set of values, personal and corporate, that is unable to cope with the environmental problems of today. However, the prognosis need not be pessimistic. There is evidence to suggest there are driving forces promoting change toward a more sustainable small firms sector. A number of emerging solutions offer ways to tackle the problem at the level of the firm, such as industrial ecology, and at the level of the institution, such as ecological modernization. The message remains that support for more extensive environmental education and training programmes and a much stronger regulatory framework would help to counteract the imbalance between the resistant forces and driving force that are presently widening the gap between small firm environmental attitudes and behaviour. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.     

高昂的中国减排成本

未来20年中国必须大幅提高在控制温室气体方面的支出,否则自2030年起将面对巨额的减排成本。这一数字相当于中国2030年国内生产总值（GDP）估值的7．5％。     

A Critical Investigation of the Bargaining Behavior of Tourists: The Case of Hong Kong Open-Air Markets

Shopping has long been recognized as an indispensable tourist activity. Hong Kong's open-air markets, where a multitude of bargaining activities can be observed, ranked as the second most popular of the island territory's diverse range of attractions in 2008 in terms of tourist arrivals. To develop cutting-edge marketing strategies that promote tourists' enjoyment of their bargaining adventure and ultimately enhance the overall shopping experience, the study reported in this article was aimed at identifying the dimensions underlying tourists' perceptions of the importance of 18 bargaining motivators and 12 bargaining attitudes and types of bargaining behavior, respectively, and subsequently evaluating the predictability of these underlying dimensions on tourists' shopping contentment indicators (overall bargaining satisfaction, the likelihood of a subsequent visit, and the likelihood of recommending open-air markets to others). A non-probability quota sampling technique was used to survey 203 Asian and non-Asian tourists in Hong Kong. A multivariate approach encompassing factor analysis and multiple regression was employed: Factor analysis delineated four underlying dimensions of factors affecting bargaining intentions. “Value for money” was shown to be the factor rated most important to tourists' bargaining intention; similarly, two underlying dimensions of bargaining attitudes and behavior—“bargain for psychological well-being” and “bargaining intensity”—were identified. Multiple regression results indicated the statistical significance of “bargaining for psychological well-being” and “bargaining intensity” to the existence of positive relations between shopping contentment indicators.     

Antecedents and outcomes relating to public and private nurses’ use of intuition in England

This paper examines public and private sector nurses’ use of intuition in England using structural equation modeling. Leader–member exchange (LMX) and perceived organizational support (POS) correlated positively with nurses’ perception of discretionary power and use of intuition. Nurses’ perception of discretionary power and use of intuition were positively correlated with their engagement. Further, differences were identified between private sector and public sector nurses in relation to the impact of workplace relationships (POS and LMX) and intuition onto perceived discretionary power and employee engagement. The results are important for all hospital managers seeking to foster employees’ use of intuition, perception of discretionary power, and engagement.