Charting a Course on the Islamic Finance Ocean： A Survey of Islamic Insurance Literatures

The number of Muslim literates in Islamic finance and conventional finance, particularly Islamic insurance, has grown tremendously, so has the number of academic and professional articles, books, and other monographs published in Islamic insurance profession. Despite Islamic insurance uniqueness based on Islamic values and philosophies, its emancipation aimed to compete or eradicate the conventional insurance at both academic and professional levels. Those monographs that were intended to replace their conventional insurance counterpart have triggered endless debates among stakeholders on their authenticity and quality of knowledge and as well challenged their authors＇ authorities. Therefore, with content analysis, this survey verified whether the Islamic insurance literatures were capable of producing well-seasoned professionals of lslamic insurance. The results showed that the disputes over the available literatures might have contributed to the failure of having a standard curriculum for teaching Islamic insurance as a profession in academic at national and international levels. Review of the literatures and curriculum was recommended.     

Active engagement with nature: outdoor adventure tourism,sustainability and wellbeing

Abstract

This article draws on the conflicting arguments surrounding outdoor adventure tourism activities to determine if such activities might usefully be considered beneficial for humans and nature, and how they might offer avenues for sustainable tourism practice. Research in the field has often examined outdoor adventure activities through a lens that either highlights their negative environmental impacts or has sought to conceptualise motivations and/or experiences. In this article, we argue that through practices that are often seen as destructive, there is the possibility to think differently about human-nature relationships and pro-environmentalism. To explore these issues, we draw on data collected from a series of semi-structured interviews with outdoor adventure tourists. Our analysis highlights how outdoor adventure tourism facilitates reconnections to nature, offering potential wellbeing impacts and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours. We conclude that outdoor adventure activities as a form of sustainable tourism have potential implications for our understanding of, and engagement with, sustainability, mental health and wellbeing.     

新形势下省级以食品业务为主的综合检验机构生存和发展

一直以来,食品检验在省级综合检验机构整个业务中占很大比重,随着食品监管行政职能的转变,导致综合检验机构在食品领域的业务量锐减,本文从质检系统本身的管理和外部竞争对手的威胁等方面对此现象进行了分析,并提出相应的调整措施。     

An alternative approach to community-based ecotourism: a bottom-up locally initiated non-monetised project in Papua New Guinea

Community-based ecotourism (CBET) is presented as a tool for conservation and sustainable development by conservation practitioners and development agencies, but is reported to have achieved little. Several scholars argue that many problems stem from inadequate power relationships between external actors and local communities, leading to low community participation. This study opens a debate on governance and social enterprise in CBET by examining a bottom-up approach to community-based ecotourism based on a small-scale CBET initiative in an amenity-poor remote indigenous community in Papua New Guinea. This initiative is unique in the following aspects: it was initiated by a community member; external assistance was advisory only; no external financial assistance was given; and it has taken place in a non-monetised economy. Participant observation and in-depth interviews with local key informants were used to identify community-defined positive/negative impacts and community participation processes. Overall, there was substantial support for the project; it contributed to community welfare, generated economic benefit, had positive conservation outcomes and from the viewpoint of the community had no adverse cultural impacts. One of the keys for success was the development of a strong community agency that led to high community participation and individual rather than the community ownership.     

旅行社经理人工作倦怠的影响因素研究

旅行社企业内外部众多的新老问题困扰着旅行社经理人的工作,长期的高压工作很容易转化成工作倦怠,严重影响他们的工作幸福感.了解旅行社经理人工作倦怠产生的影响因素及发展过程对提升旅行社经理人工作幸福感,促进旅游业的健康、可持续发展有着重要的理论和实践意义.文章采用内容分析法,通过与旅行社经理人的访谈搜集资料,并运用扎根理论对资料进行处理与分析,研究发现:①旅行社经理人工作倦怠产生的影响因素包括角色冲突、工作控制感、组织和社会支持感3个正向因素和情绪智力这一负向因素.②旅行社经理人工作倦怠的产生过程是情感耗竭—情绪调动—个人成就感降低,这与其他行业从业人员工作倦怠的情感耗竭—去人性化—个人成就感降低发展过程有所不同.     

Stephen J. O'Connor,Vice President,University Relations and Property Staffing,Marriott International

ABSTRACT

Leader-member exchange (LMX) is a multidimensional construct seeking to identify the quality of the relationship between the leader and immediate subordinate. An instrument developed by Schrie-sheim, Neider, Scandura, and Tepper (1992) was utilized to determine the LMX score of 798 non-managerial employees in a casual restaurant chain. The dimensions of perceived contribution, affect, and loyalty were examined. Results demonstrate that LMX quality was high among the surveyed employees of a restaurant chain. The scores of LMX on age, gender and job tenure differed among employees while LMX scores on job status, education, and job type did not differ significantly.     

Online distribution of airline tickets: Should airlines adopt a single or a multi-channel approach?

In today's digital world, airlines typically distribute tickets both via their own websites and through online travel agency (OTA) platforms such as Expedia and Travelocity. Although associated with higher distribution costs, selling tickets through the platforms offers airlines exposure to a broader consumer base, and potentially higher sales than selling tickets solely through their own websites. While most airlines have adopted a multi-channel approach by selling tickets through OTA platforms and their websites, some (e.g., Southwest Airlines, easyJet and Ryanair) sell only via the latter. Is one approach better than the other, and if so, under what circumstances? This study analyzes factors that affect an airline's distribution strategy by developing a decision support model. We find that airlines are less likely to use OTA platforms if they have a large loyal consumer base or if the OTA platform is highly competitive.     

Do Rating Agencies Benefit from Providing Higher Ratings? Evidence from the Consequences of Municipal Bond Ratings Recalibration

We ask whether credit rating agencies receive higher fees and gain greater market share when they provide more favorable ratings. To investigate this question, we use the 2010 rating scale recalibration by Moody's and Fitch, which increased ratings absent any underlying change in issuer credit quality. Consistent with prior research, we find that the recalibration allowed the clients of Moody's and Fitch to receive better ratings and lower yields. We add to this evidence by showing that the recalibration also led to larger fees and to increases in the market shares of Moody's and Fitch. These results are consistent with critics’ concerns about the effects of the issuer‐pay model on the credit ratings market.     

Governing cooperation hazards of outsourced municipal low contractibility transactions: An exploratory configuration approach

Increasingly, public sector organizations (PSOs) outsource the delivering of important welfare services. This gives rise to important questions of how PSOs can control their suppliers. The purpose of this paper is to show how PSOs manage cooperation hazards of low contractibility transactions, i.e., activities expected to be difficult to govern. The paper applies a taxonomic configuration approach which means we apply a holistic view on the governance of suppliers and search for internally congruent governance packages that also are adapted to the context of the transactions. We find indications of the importance of internal congruence in governance packages in order to effectively deal with cooperation hazards. We also notice that the intensity in and types of controls in inter-organizational relationships are affected by the amount of cooperation hazards. A conflict between a relational and a bureaucracy-based governance package in one of the configurations is argued to be the main driver behind lower expectations about positive behaviour from suppliers.