Andrew Jones and Caroline Navarro
The Rolex Middlesea sailing event takes place in Malta on an annual basis. The race forms part of a number of new tourism initiatives supported by the Maltese Government. These…
Abstract
Purpose
The Rolex Middlesea sailing event takes place in Malta on an annual basis. The race forms part of a number of new tourism initiatives supported by the Maltese Government. These aim to diversify the Maltese tourism economy from reliance on mass tourism to more niche or specialist forms based, for example, upon the “Blue Economy”. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impact and future of sailing events using the Rolex Middlesea sailing event as a specific case. In turn it evaluates current and future contributions to both the Maltese tourist economy and broader experiences and lessons of such events for other regional destinations. Consideration is given to the overall impact of the Rolex race for Maltese tourism; how the event can be improved to enhance its contribution to Maltese tourism; and what challenges the event faces in promoting Malta as an “alternative” tourism destination. Conclusions assess the benefits and barriers for developing maritime events and for sailing and yachting sectors as an alternative tourism option for Malta. In turn, it provides a specific and unique case that reviews implications for such events and, at a broader policy context, lessons for developing niche event markets for tourism destinations generally.
Design/methodology/approach
This research focusses upon an inductive approach using qualitative and case study research methodologies. Secondary data for events management, sports tourism sailing and yachting and niche market development provide a contextual framework. Primary research is used to collect qualitative data which are based on purposeful sample selection of interviews from professionals associated with Maltese maritime industries and key stakeholder groups. The data are analysed through discourse analysis techniques utilising grid matrices to evaluate and ascertain common themes and responses that occur from the discussions and questions asked.
Findings
Results point to lessons learnt and future policy directions for the Blue economy and sailing and yachting as drivers for change. Results show that the RMSR can clearly create opportunities for the establishment of new innovative tourism markets. In turn, it is also recognised that this can lead to a stronger sailing and yachting tourism industry not only within Malta but also help regenerate or sustain interest in maritime traditions and stimulate new opportunities for maritime tourism and broader opportunities for the growth of the “blue economy” agenda across the region and further afield.
Research limitations/implications
This single case study can be best described as an “exploratory” study. It deals with how an event is structured, functions and performs particularly within the different inter-organisational partnerships. In this context, the research deals with the case study of a real-life event and therefore its academic value may tend to be rather specific and industry focussed. The empirical value of the enquiry, nonetheless, can provide a platform to draw more general assertions regarding the hosting of sailing and yachting events and consequences more broadly for events management theory and practice.
Practical implications
Evidence from the research also suggests that sailing and yachting has the capability of lending itself to many different areas of investment and new business development opportunities such as overwintering for yachts and corporate business event sponsorships linked to a growing MICE market. The need to engage with local communities at a local level is also recognised as a potential for building recognition and skill capacity. This, in turn, can assist local host communities to familiarise themselves with the discipline of sailing as a life skill simultaneously strengthening and encouraging maritime tradition and opening opportunities for social development, business and employment growth.
Social implications
The RMSR demonstrates that such an event can assist local host communities to familiarise themselves with the discipline of sailing as a life skill simultaneously strengthening and encouraging maritime tradition and opening opportunities for social development, business and employment growth. The growth potential of the RMSR is thus broad and, in many ways, may continue to assist Malta in diversifying its traditional tourism markets, capitalising assets, developing opportunity for its local communities, encouraging business opportunity and assisting in developing a higher quality tourism focus for the Islands.
Originality/value
Detailed and insightful research on sailing and yachting in Malta remains fairly limited and there is little hard evidence to prove the value of such events since there is little available data on differential spending patterns and little cost/benefit analysis undertaken. The RMSR case provide unique research which sets out to explore the role of the RMSR to Malta’s tourism product, identify and evaluate factors for success, evaluate key contemporary issues and challenges in hosting the event, evaluate the future potential of such events for Malta’s tourism economy and draw broader benefits and lessons for hosting events of this nature.
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Katie D. Ricketts, Jeda Palmer, Javier Navarro-Garcia, Caroline Lee, Sonja Dominik, Robert Barlow, Brad Ridoutt and Anna Richards
Private retail and brand-driven sustainable procurement standards are influencing global agri-food markets, shifting trade and export priorities and reshaping food supply chains…
Abstract
Purpose
Private retail and brand-driven sustainable procurement standards are influencing global agri-food markets, shifting trade and export priorities and reshaping food supply chains. Using the case of Australian beef, the authors construct and evaluate three procurement activity “portfolios” and evaluate how these activity sets pull towards or against diverse organisational goals and/or science-based sustainability objectives.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the academic and practitioner literature identified three key pillars for sustainable Australian beef procurement: animal welfare, environmental management and climate change (i.e. emissions). A subset of sustainable beef production activities (n = 100) was identified through this review plus semi-structured interviews with Australian beef retailers and industry bodies. This activity set was filtered (n = 40) and scored by a panel of science experts via a series of workshops and an additional survey. Using these data, the authors use a k-means cluster analysis (k = 3) to consider the strong or weak contributions of each activity portfolio towards typical sustainable beef goals.
Findings
A portfolio-based view of sustainable procurement puts the trade-offs between activities and the need for clear sustainability prioritisation into sharp focus. The authors find that individual strategies may be singularly more or less impactful, complex or popular, but when combined as a suite of activities enacted towards a particular goal or set of goals, essential for success. The authors find that obtaining balance across sustainable beef pillars versus within specific pillars can narrow the optimal set of activities that can succeed against multiple sustainability goals.
Practical implications
For procurement managers, the balance between clear focus and multidimensional progress is a difficult challenge. It requires the bold identification and articulation of an organisation’s interlocking corporate, industry or environmental objectives and flexibility on the strategies, tools and resources required. The authors posit that shifting away from a focus on rigid metrics may be useful in breaking the impasse on meaningful action.
Social implications
Using a set of known activities and strategies that a procurement manager might draw from in operationalising sustainability goals, the authors cluster activities into three discrete activity portfolios. Each portfolio requires differing levels of effort, implementation complexity and potential for within-pillar and cross-pillar impact (i.e. co-benefits). Assessing the evidence and potential for cross-pillar impacts of individual strategies is a complex undertaking, indicative of the systems and tangled interactions that characterise sustainability science more broadly.
Originality/value
By assessing how the procurement function can be leveraged and operationalised towards sustainability goals through a lens of optimal portfolio management, the authors provide a way forward for the procurement managers working within large retailers and agri-food businesses to progress towards multiple sustainability pillars simultaneously.
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Caroline Kalil Reimann, Fernando Manuel Pereira de Oliveira Carvalho and Marcelo Pereira Duarte
It is well established in marketing literature that international performance is positively affected by marketing capabilities, whether static or dynamic. However, recent…
Abstract
Purpose
It is well established in marketing literature that international performance is positively affected by marketing capabilities, whether static or dynamic. However, recent theoretical development proposed adaptive marketing capabilities (AMC) as a set of capabilities able to close the marketing gap. Given the relative newness of this construct, empirical studies are still scarce. Therefore, drawing from a resource-based view perspective, this study aims to analyse the relationships among market orientation (MO), AMC and firms’ international performance, as well as the moderating effects of competitive intensity.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors have used survey-based research with 335 internationalised Portuguese business-to-business small and medium sized enterprises (B2B SMEs) during June 2020. The authors analysed responses through structural equation modelling and path analysis.
Findings
Results revealed positive relationships between AMC and international performance and between MO and AMC. Furthermore, results were robust to the competitive environment.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study contributes to international marketing literature by analysing MO as an antecedent of AMC, which has never been done before. Furthermore, it analyses the simultaneous effects of MO and AMC on international performance, as well as the moderation of competitive intensity. Also, the study’s results inform managers and marketeers of internationalised firms about the advantages of adopting a market-oriented behaviour and the development of AMC, whether in more or less competitive environments.
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Furkan Amil Gur, Benjamin D. McLarty and Jeff Muldoon
Muzafer and Carolyn Wood Sherif are among the founders of social psychology. Their theoretical and empirical findings made important contributions to the management literature…
Abstract
Purpose
Muzafer and Carolyn Wood Sherif are among the founders of social psychology. Their theoretical and empirical findings made important contributions to the management literature. This paper aims to attempt to underline these contributions and highlights the Sherifs’ interdisciplinary work and their impact on management research specifically.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a citation content analysis, the influence of the Sherifs on management research is detailed by examining how their work has contributed to research published in top management journals.
Findings
The Sherifs’ work has influenced numerous research streams related to organisational groups, social norms, assimilation contrast theory and a combination of various other topics. Additionally, these works helped originate team and workgroup research in organisation theory.
Originality/value
This is the first manuscript of its type to examine the influence of the Sherifs on management research. Their story is a testament to the impact that social psychology researchers have had in developing modern thought about organisational issues. This work also addresses potential areas for future research building on the Sherifs’ work.
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Caroline Heiniger, Joan-Carles Suris and Yara Barrense-Dias
Three years after the COVID epidemic and the measures put in place by governments, the authors still cannot measure the full impact of them on the well-being and mental health of…
Abstract
Purpose
Three years after the COVID epidemic and the measures put in place by governments, the authors still cannot measure the full impact of them on the well-being and mental health of adolescents. This population was particularly impacted by this crisis, and some subgroups of young people, such as those from migration backgrounds, have been confronted with additional challenges. This paper aims to explore and describe the perspective and experience of migrant adolescents during the lockdown period
Design/methodology/approach
The authors performed 13 semi-structured interviews with migrant adolescents (nine females, median age 16) at the pediatric policlinic of Lausanne University Hospital in Switzerland between November 2020 and January 2021. Participants had been living in Switzerland for an average of 2.3 years. Three of them were staying in a refugee reception centre. A thematic content analysis was carried out to extract themes and topics.
Findings
Participants had difficulty understanding information about COVID-19 in general. Remote learning was described as stressful due to various factors and lockdown had an impact on their future plans, such as finding an apprenticeship. Some young people were already socially isolated, but families were generally supportive. They expressed particular concerns, such as the family’s financial situation and the difficulty of living in refugee reception centres.
Practical implications
In the event of further lockdown, special attention must be paid to these adolescents to ensure their proper development and integration. Comprehensive follow-up of this population during and after the pandemic is essential.
Originality/value
This study provides a better understanding of the pandemic experience of migrant adolescents and underlines their difficulties.
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Lucia Espinosa-Brisset, Caroline Pénicaud, Isabelle Souchon and Anne Saint-Eve
The purpose of this paper is to better understand consumer's familiarity with fruit processing as well as how fruit production conditions (organic and conventional farming)…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand consumer's familiarity with fruit processing as well as how fruit production conditions (organic and conventional farming), processing conditions (homemade, artisanal and industrial) and the type of processing (e.g. applesauce, apple cider and apple sorbet) influence consumer perceptions of processed fruits.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey questionnaire was applied to 1,000 people living in France. The people represented different genders, ages (18–60+) and sociodemographic categories. Participants were categorized based on their produce purchasing habits (conventional, local, organic, local-organic). The questionnaire contained multiple choice and five point Likert scale questions. Data were analyzed using non-parametric tests.
Findings
The authors found that participants saw year-round availability, fruit preservation and food waste reduction as processing advantages. Locally sourced products were preferred to organic products. The perceived disadvantages to processing were additive usage, nutrient loss and packaging. For consumers, these disadvantages drove highly differentiated perceptions of industrial versus artisanal/homemade apple products. Processing conditions appeared to matter far more than production conditions (organic vs. conventional). In general, consumers weren't familiar with processing operations, awareness was greater for consumers of local and/or organic produce than conventional consumers.
Social implications
There must be a societal transition toward healthier diets, and food technologies. Informed consumers, might be better equipped to make healthy, informed choices if the consumers are given quality information about food production and processing at different levels.
Originality/value
Research has shown that consumers view fresh organic fruit positively, but only few studies have looked at perceptions of processed fruit products and their familiarity with processing operations. Results of this study demonstrate that consumers could make better choices if the consumers are given quality information about fruit production and processing.
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Micaela Martínez-Costa, Daniel Jimenez-Jimenez and Yolanda del Pilar Castro-del-Rosario
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of implementing a standardised innovation management system (SIMS) in accordance with the Spanish UNE 166.000 standard on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the effects of implementing a standardised innovation management system (SIMS) in accordance with the Spanish UNE 166.000 standard on technological and administrative innovations and company performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypotheses with a sample of 200 manufacturing companies.
Findings
The results obtained show that implementing the SIMS promotes all types of innovations and their results. In addition, a positive relationship is found between administrative and technological innovation.
Research limitations/implications
The results of this paper show the importance of innovation management systems for the effective development of innovation processes. Despite the limitations that may arise from differences between the measurements and actual implementation, the application of a system of standard-based innovation management encourages the development of different types of innovation.
Practical implications
The research validates the use of standardisation for the development of innovation as a useful tool for the management of innovation in the company. The UNE 166.000 standard provides a guide for those companies that intend to develop more effectively administrative and technological innovations.
Originality/value
This is the first known paper testing the implications of UNE 166.000 SIMS on both organisational innovation and performance in a sample of companies.
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Xiang Ying Mei, Caroline Ventzel and Ida Zachariassen
This study aims to understand how Gen Z consumers perceive fashion brands’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through emotional appeals on Instagram and how such…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand how Gen Z consumers perceive fashion brands’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication through emotional appeals on Instagram and how such perception affects their overall behaviour towards the brand.
Design/methodology/approach
The study adopts a qualitative research approach through photo-elicitation and 14 semi-structured in-depth interviews with members of Gen Z, using one of the world’s largest fast fashion brands, H&M, as the study context.
Findings
It is increasingly difficult to capture the attention of Gen Z as they have become immune to the typical CSR messages despite attempting to appeal to their emotions. This makes CSR communication alone challenging in influencing brand perception. However, behaviour towards the brand, such as purchase intention, is not necessarily dependent on whether consumers are convinced of the brand’s CSR activities, as greater value is placed on fast fashion’s price and availability. For Gen Z, such elements surpass their concern for sustainable fashion. Since more emphasis is placed on neutral endorsers due to their trustworthiness, CSR efforts may be disseminated through such third parties to achieve desired outcomes.
Practical implications
Understanding consumers’ perceptions of the current CSR effort allows brand managers to reevaluate their CSR communication strategies to appeal to Gen Z and encourage positive brand behaviour.
Originality/value
Contrary to previous studies, which have focused on organisational outcomes, the study has in-depth explored consumers’ perception of CSR efforts on Instagram and the implications of such perceptions for long-term brand building.