Cultural diversity in hospitality work: the Northern Ireland experience

International workers are a growing category of employees in the hospitality industry of Northern Ireland (NI). The retention and skills shortages of the industry are significant factors in facilitating this increase. Thus, international workers could be an invaluable new source of labour for the hospitality industry, provided that they are properly looked after and managed. However, little is known about the number of people moving to Northern Ireland to take up work in the hospitality industry. This paper sets out to answer some of the ‘unknowns’ – including nationality, demographic characteristics, educational, employment and economic background. The paper draws on data collected through a survey of migrant workers in nine hotels in Northern Ireland and focus groups with migrant employees in all of the survey establishments. Issues of social integration within the workforce and the wider community as well as the future that migrant workers see for themselves are discussed from a human resource perspective.     

A Study of the Association between Level of Slack Reduction Following Downsizing and Innovation Output

Over the years scholars put forward a number of theories to explain the association between slack and innovation. This study extends this body of research by focusing on the effects of reduction in slack level following downsizing on innovation output. We developed two hypotheses to examine the total effects and varied yearly effects. We tested the hypotheses with data from a panel of UK firms that downsized between 1997 and 2003. The results show that the level of downsizing has only temporary effects on innovation output. We discuss the implications of these findings and avenues for future research.     

A mathematical approach to the boolean minimization problem

Any minimization problem involves a computer algorithm. Many such algorithms have been developed for the boolean minimizations, in diverse areas from computer science to social sciences (with the famous QCA algorithm). For a small number of entries (causal conditions in the QCA) any such algorithm will find a minimal solution, especially with the aid of the modern computers. However, for a large number of conditions a quick and complete solution is not easy to find using an algorithmic approach, due to the extremely large space of possible combinations to search in. In this article I will demonstrate a simple alternative solution, a mathematical method to obtain all possible minimized prime implicants. This method is not only easier to understand than other complex algorithms, but it proves to be a faster method to obtain an exact and complete boolean solution.     

Buyer‐seller relationships: A conceptual model and empirical investigation

Increasing emphasis is being placed by marketing managers on the need to build long‐term relationships between themselves and their customers. Analysis of long‐term buyer‐seller relationships has drawn heavily on the literature of social psychology, especially in making comparisons with family relationships. It has been proposed that buyer‐seller relationships go through some form of life‐cycle, paralleling cyclical relationships in other areas of human activity. However, models of the evolutionary development of buyer‐seller relationships have remained largely theoretical, with little empirical validation of the life cycle concept, or analysis of the changing composition of a relationship as it progresses through a life cycle.

This paper provides cross‐sectional empirical evidence of the existence of a buyer‐seller relationship life cycle within the investment services sector. The elements that buyers perceive as being important in holding a relationship together are dependent on the duration to date of the relationship. In the early stages of development, selling pressure is perceived as being a dominant element in relationship development, giving way to judgements of ethical credibility and empathy as the relationship develops.

From this initial survey of investment services customers, a number of implications for relationship marketing strategies within the services sector are suggested.     

Financial well-being amongst elderly Australians: the role of consumption patterns and financial literacy

Consumption behaviour and financial literacy are primary factors in determining the financial well-being of retirees. This paper uses an existing financial literacy index to examine how financial literacy directly, and via an interaction with consumption patterns, affects elderly Australians’ financial well-being. We find that most elderly Australians hold an optimistic attitude towards their financial situation, and those who are relatively older, more educated, healthier and outright homeowners are more likely to report higher levels of financial well-being. Financial literacy significantly improves financial well-being. It also helps strengthen the positive effects of meeting more of non-essential consumption needs on financial well-being.     

Inference,arbitrage, and asset price volatility

Does the presence of arbitrageurs decrease equilibrium asset price volatility? I study an economy with arbitrageurs, informed investors, and noise traders. Arbitrageurs face a trade-off between “inference” and “arbitrage”: they would like to buy assets in response to temporary price declines—the arbitrage effect—but sell when prices decline permanently—the inference effect. In equilibrium, the presence of arbitrageurs increases volatility when the inference effect dominates the arbitrage effect. From a technical point of view, the paper offers closed form solutions to a dynamic equilibrium model with asymmetric information and non-Gaussian priors.     

Compative robustness of six tests in repeated measures designs with specified departures from sphericity

In this article we examine the behaviour of six univariate statistics for analyzing the data of a Split-plot factorial design. Except for the univariate analysis of variance, which assumes that the dispersion matrix underlying the data is spherical, the other five procedures assume absence of sphericity. However, they do so with a clear distinction between two alternatives, insofar as three of them presuppose an arbitrary correlation between the data and two presuppose serial autocorrelation. These six approaches were compared with regard to their robustness under multivariate normality in the absence of sphericity, both when there was serial autocorrelation and when there was underlying arbitrary correlation. In general, Monte Carlo comparisons show that when underlying the data there is a autoregressive stationary or decreasing structured non-stationary autoregressive process, the Hearne, Clark and Hatch procedure is the most robust. In the rest of the conditions studied, i.e., increasing structured non-stationarity autoregressive and arbitrary non-stationarity (autoregressive and with arbitrary correlation), the Greenhouse-Geisser and Lecoutre statistics display the best behaviour.     

A theory of minimum wage compliance (or voluntary recognition of unions)

An urn-ball matching model of the labor market is used to develop a theory of minimum wage compliance or voluntary recognition of unions. Workers can direct their search but, in the absence of wage commitment from the firms, they have no basis to do so. The default means of wage formation in one-on-one matches is Nash bargaining. When there are multiple applicants competition drives the workers down to their continuation value. By attracting more applicants, a binding wage floor provides a means for firms to increase matching rates and improve match quality. An otherwise poorly enforced minimum wage acts as a commitment device for the payment of more generous wages.     

Valuation differences between quoted and unquoted companies- empirical evidence from the UK

This paper focuses upon differences in the valuation of UK quoted and unquoted companies. It draws on empirical evidence over the period from 1991 to 1997. It commences with an overview of the published literature. This suggests a broad spectrum of valuation statistics ranging from very minor discounts for non-listed companies relative to their quoted brethren, up to a discount as high as 40%. The empirical analysis uses PE ratios, derived from the publication Acquisitions Monthly, in respect of non-listed, private companies selling out in takeover deals. These are compared with average PE ratios for quoted companies in Britain. A raw statistic of approximately 40% was found as the discount for non-listed firms relative to quoted companies. However, this is dramatically different when corrected for size. For size varying from less than GBP 0.5 million to about GBP 55 million, the discount ranges, respectively, from 16% to 6% with an average of around 10%. Regression equations relating size and PE ratio are presented.     

Market versus societal orientation in the nonprofit context

There has been considerable interest of late among nonprofit practitioners in market orientation and the extent to which its adoption might be linked to enhanced organisational performance. Preliminary studies have typically employed instruments such as MARKOR to measure market orientation in this setting and found tentative support for the existence of such a link. In this paper it will be argued that these approaches are fundamentally flawed. The market orientation construct represents the operationalisation of the marketing concept in the for‐profit sector. Since the concept is defined differently by nonprofit academics and practitioners there is a need to develop a new measure of its operationalisation specifically in this context. A review of the literature suggests that this might best be termed societal orientation. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications