Shanghai's service apartments: Product,pricing and competition

In 1998, a total of 18 existing service apartments have been identified in Shanghai, with about a third being luxurious service apartments. The majority of the service apartments were built within the last two years. A luxurious service apartment provides hotel‐like facilities, coupled with a home‐away‐from‐home atmosphere for long‐stay guests. Typically, comprised of one or more, bedrooms, a kitchen equipped with all conceivable household appliances and many other conveniences, guests also enjoy housekeeping and laundry service packages. Shanghai, with a population of over 15 million, has made great progress in its modernization efforts, and is fast catching up to become a financial center of Asia. The foreign investors, expatriate personnel and their families constitute the potential demand for luxurious service apartment as a major type of lodging facilities in Shanghai. This paper presents a research study to identify the marketing strategies of luxurious service apartments in Shanghai. To uncover the characteristics of their operations and their clients, two surveys are conducted, one on the existing service apartments and the other on their users.     

Predictors of Career Success Among Lodging Revenue Managers: Investigating Roles of Proactive Work Behaviors

This study integrated the growing literature of proactive work behavior with career success among lodging revenue managers. Proactive work behavior is a timely, relevant, and important research topic for today’s workplaces in the hospitality industry. The aim of this research was to test a model for linkage among four dimensions of proactive work behavior and career success, among 280 lodging revenue managers, while controlling for work experience, age, and gender. First, the confirmatory factor analyses examined the measurement models of proactive work behavior and career success. Next, hierarchical regression analyses demonstrated that all four dimensions of proactive work behaviors contributed positively to subjective career success, but not objective (extrinsic) career success.     

Going green: the adoption of environmental initiatives in Michigan's lodging sector

The greening of tourism activities continues to receive attention from industry members and academics. This paper assesses familiarity with, perceived benefits of and adoption levels of various environmental initiatives within the accommodation sector in Michigan, USA, based on 217 responses to an online survey of lodging providers. Variations in familiarity with various green schemes, as well as in perceived benefits of the adoption of green business practices, were assessed across property characteristics, including type, ownership, location and size. The existence of a written environmental policy was associated with higher levels of adoption of green practices for less than half of these practices; fewer than anticipated. Interesting differences in the practices adopted between smaller, independent and larger chain properties emerged, with the smaller independents more likely to engage in community-oriented activities and use local and/or organic products. The almost complete implementation of the proper disposal of hazardous waste contrasted with minimal use of keycards to control power use. The findings have implications for the promotion of green initiatives to the lodging sector, particularly in terms of which agency or organization could best deliver this messaging. Potential synergies between the findings and the award-winning tourism marketing campaign, Pure MI, are discussed.     

Database Marketing for Competitive Advantage in the Airline Industry

This paper examines the development and role of database marketing in the travel industry in general and in the airlines in particular. The airline industry has effectively merged its information with that from other travel services to better serve consumers and to increase marketing efficiency. Computer reservation systems, frequent programs, and yield management are integrated through database marketing to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace.     

Factors Affecting Lodging Career Success: An Analysis of Management Philosophies

This research investigates the impact of lodging professionals' management philosophy practices on career success. The study assesses the practice of management philosophies and examines if these practices differ among respondent groups, as well as explores the influence of practiced philosophies on career success. Findings indicate that differences exist among respondents based on age, property affiliations, and position. Moreover, executives who instill in employees customer-centeredness and engage in open sharing of information with employees experience relatively high monetary success. However, results suggest that lodging professionals' practices of these management philosophies are not rewarded until reaching senior status.     

Interview with Nancy Duricic,Senior Vice President of Human Resources,Dave & Buster's,Inc.

Abstract

This research concerns the satisfaction of lodging sales and marketing executives on different job attributes. Respondents were asked about their satisfaction with pay, current position, and their profession. Significant differences were found based on the size of hotel, marital status, personal income, and gender. A comparison of the respondents of this study to financial and technology professionals conducted by DeFranco and Schmidgall (2001) suggests that Sales and Marketing executives are somewhat more satisfied than their counterparts in Accounting/Technology.     

关于西北民族地区寄宿制学校办学若干问题的思考

寄宿制民族中小学校是国家专为少数民族举办的一种特殊办学形式。主要在少数民族牧区、边远山区和经济不发达地区设立,面向农村、牧区、边远山区招收少数民族学生。民族地区寄宿制学校已经发展成为民族教育的一种重要办学形式。当前民族地区寄宿制学校办学的主要问题表现在生源问题、民族文化传承问题、与家庭教育和社会教育的脱离问题等。解决这些问题,就要将寄宿制学校之根扎于民族文化之中,不仅要提高少数民族学生家长对民族地区寄宿制学校的认同水平,还要加快民族地区寄宿制学校标准化、规范化建设速度,提高农村寄宿制学校的管理水平与家校合作水平。