Change or perish: Examining the role of human capital and dynamic marketing capabilities in the hospitality sector

Many researchers have endeavored to explain which factors contribute to sustainable competitive advantage. Toward this end, this study contributes to the marketing and hospitality management literature by providing empirical evidence on how human capital, dynamic marketing capabilities, and market dynamism influence competitive advantage in the hotel sector. We collected cross-sectional survey data from marketing and sales managers in 165 hotels, along with in-depth interviews in three hotels, based in four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, namely, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. The findings reveal that human capital directly, and indirectly through dynamic marketing capabilities, plays a critical role on developing competitive advantage. To contextualize this role, our research reveals that market dynamism moderates the mediated relationship between human capital and competitive advantage via market sensing capabilities. We discuss how the findings offer theoretical and managerial implications for the development of competitive advantage in the hotel sector.     

Marketing capabilities and innovation. How do they affect the financial results of hotels?

From the point of view of firms’ managers, the knowledge of the factors which explain their firms’ financial results is considered of great usefulness to propose the most appropriate and profitable marketing strategies and actions. This research sets out from this central idea and proposes a model of relationships that considers the marketing results, the marketing capabilities, and the innovation capability as key factors for achieving good financial results. This model is verified via an empirical investigation carried out among 200 directors of hotel establishments in Andalusia, a region in the south of Spain which is one of the country's main tourist destinations. The results indicate that innovation capability is strongly conditioned by marketing capabilities and resources and that this innovation capability affects the financial results of the firms analyzed. Likewise, it is deduced that a market-oriented management philosophy contributes to the development of these marketing capabilities. The implications for management are considered very relevant as they must lead these firms to invest in the development of marketing resources and capabilities, and apply a market-oriented management philosophy if they wish to improve their financial results.     

Upgrading peripheral wind sectors

The implementation of traditional policies does not consider institutional singularities in peripheral sectors. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the interaction among local capabilities and multinational agents to upgrade a peripheral wind sector. The case study conducted in the peripheral region of Galicia (Spain) emphasises the challenges concerning policy design and implementation in this kind of regions. The theoretical foundations are based on the systemic and evolutionary approach of the innovation system and the global value chain perspective. This combination enables to analyse how local contexts could shape governance patterns within value chains in peripheral regions. Likewise, the target approach is also applied concerning the design and implementation of a policy programme and its timing. Empirical evidences underline the complementarity of market size and foreign direct investment policies, as well as the diversification towards green transitions through enhancing local capabilities.     

Non-farm entrepreneurship in rural sub-Saharan Africa: New empirical evidence

We report on the prevalence and patterns of non-farm enterprises in six sub-Saharan African countries, and study their performance in terms of labor productivity, survival and exit, using the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Study - Integrated Surveys on Agriculture (LSMS-ISA). Rural households operate enterprises due to both push and pull factors and tend to do so predominantly in easy-to-enter activities, such as sales and trade, rather than in activities that require higher starting costs, such as transport services, or educational investment, such as professional services. Labor productivity differs widely: rural and female-headed enterprises, those located further away from population centers, and businesses that operate intermittently have lower levels of labor productivity compared to urban and male-owned enterprises, or enterprises that operate throughout the year. Finally, rural enterprises exit the market primarily due to a lack of profitability or finance, and due to idiosyncratic shocks.     

Exploring the structure and meaning of public service motivation in the Turkish public sector: a test of the mediating effects of job characteristics

Using a data set consisting of 315 middle-managers at the district level in the Turkish public sector, we develop a structural equation model (SEM) for assessing the impact of empowerment and stewardship on public service motivation (PSM) through job characteristics. The results demonstrate that stewardship and empowerment are distinct ‘levers’ that managers can use in novel ways to influence PSM; and cultural context may factor into the manipulation of these levers. We find that job-based mediators may not compliment leadership styles and self-generating rewards, but, rather work separately in their appeal to PSM.     

机构编制电子政务建设模式与对策研究——以河北省为例

为了解决机构编制创新管理问题,提出电子政务建设模式,以河北省为例分析机构编制电子政务建设在观念意识、软硬件环境等方面的问题,提出解决对策,得出合理的机构编制电子政务模式有助于机构改革的结论。     

上海市第三方文付业务发展趋势分析

第三方支付作为互联网金融业态的重要形式，不受时间和空间的限制．低廉的操作成本，也越来越得到互联网企业青睐，箕支付范围已经由电子商务领域向其他消费范畴发展。上海作为华东地区的核心城市，电子商务规模庞大，与之相关的衍生业务，如第三方支付等发展迅速。其支付内容、工具、范围也在不断变化，使得管理制度也需要不断调整。分析第三方支付业务的发展趋势，对于相关管理政策的制定，提高管理效率，降低管理成本，具有一定的积极意义。本文通过对上海地区第三方支付企业的调研，从业务类型、业务领域、业务形式、支付范畴、支付工具等内容出发，以消费者需求为基础，对第三方支付业务的发展趋势进行了分析，并且对第三方支付企业与银行的竞争与合作关系进行预测。     

Inked: historic African-American beach site as collective memory and group ‘Third Place’ sociability on Martha’s Vineyard

Using data gained from ethnographic research and interviews, this article examines ‘third place’ sociability in the social interactions of the Polar Bears of Martha’s Vineyard, a group of predominantly but not exclusively middle-aged and senior African-American men and women who swim, exercise and socialise together each morning at ‘the Inkwell’ beach. Using Georg Simmel’s concept of sociability and Ray Oldenburg’s third-place theoretical framework, this study explores the key role of the Monday communal breakfast and the function of conversation in establishing bonds between individuals. It further investigates the promotion of strong feelings of social connectedness, belonging, social support, social capital gains and community among its group members. The ongoing sociability and informal rules of the Polar Bears of Martha’s Vineyard has enabled it to become a model group demonstration of third-place community building. The importance of race, class and place is socio-historically investigated within the broader social context of the popular racialised section of the beach, ‘the Inkwell’, of African-American community life, and within the sub-community milieu of group social interaction.     

New development: The conceptual underpinnings of international public sector accounting

The conceptual underpinnings of accounting standards are potentially very important for the future of public sector accounting internationally. The authors explain why and comment on the implications for public sector accounting.     

New development: The protective role of conservatism in public sector accounting

This article picks up a discussion in international business accounting about the appropriate definition and use of conservatism (or prudence) and calls for a similar discussion in public sector accounting. If financial reports present an overly optimistic situation, politicians might use them to justify spending public money that is not there, risking the sustainability of services and ‘borrowing’ from future generations.