Vasiliki Vrana and Costas Zafiropoulos
The purpose of this paper is to adopt a total view on the issue of usage and attitude of travel agents towards internet technology. Many aspects are being investigated, such as…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to adopt a total view on the issue of usage and attitude of travel agents towards internet technology. Many aspects are being investigated, such as agents' attitudes towards internet applications, the current state of internet use, the relative maturity of the web sites, and internet marketing by Greek tourist agencies.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey was conducted. Greek Travel Pages (GTP), notified travel agents via e‐mail sent about the online questionnaire web site. Travel agents willing to participate visited a tailor made web site replied to the questionnaire and the data were recorded to a database. A total of 117 questionnaires were answered. The questionnaire used included five sections and questions were adopted from previous researches.
Findings
Facilitation of global marketing and completion of online services are the most important reasons for using internet practices according to tourism agents. Travel agencies generally do not use internet practices effectively as a relatively small number of transactions are completed on line. The web pages are merely used as another means to exhibit their static information. Security difficulties and the need for social interaction are the main barriers to marketing over the internet
Research limitations/implications
This is an exploratory study addressed to agents on‐line. Further research and studies are needed by a broader range of travel agencies
Practical implications
Provides suggestions for good practices to tourism agents along with an understanding of their attitudes on internet use
Originality/value
Enables travel agents to recognize the pros and cons of using internet and to make technology an essential part of the company.
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Costas Zafiropoulos, Vasiliki Vrana and Dimitrios Paschaloudis
The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the practices hoteliers use to design their hotel web sites. It argues that hoteliers provide groups of relative information…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify and evaluate the practices hoteliers use to design their hotel web sites. It argues that hoteliers provide groups of relative information services, they provide them in different degrees of occurrence, and some of them being significant are not provided to meet the customers' demands, while others are provided regardless of their low perceived significance.
Design/methodology/approach
This work distinguishes groups of information services according to their occurrence and significance. The content of 798 Greek hotel web sites is recorded using the frequencies of 66 information features. Also a sample of 17 users provides the significance ratings of the information features.
Findings
Greek hotel web sites are primarily designed to serve as electronic brochures and, while they generally satisfy most of the users' needs, they partly serve as online transactions media, a function considered significant.
Practical implications
Identifies and rates the rendered groups of related information services at hotel web sites.
Originality/value
Enables hoteliers and web designers to evaluate significant web sites' characteristics.
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Nikolaos Kaiseroglou, Eleni Sfakianaki and Christina Siontorou
The purpose of this paper is to investigate perceptions of primary education (PE) teachers with respect to evaluation within the framework of Total Quality Management (TQM) and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate perceptions of primary education (PE) teachers with respect to evaluation within the framework of Total Quality Management (TQM) and their readiness to engage in the process of quality improvement. Within this context, a relevant measurement instrument is developed and empirically validated.
Design/methodology/approach
The instrument developed herein included 30 items distributed across seven dimensions. It was disseminated among public PE units in Greece, yielding a substantial 2,088 responses. Several tests were performed, including principal component analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings supported the validity and reliability of the instrument, confirming that the proposed measures encapsulate actual dimensions that are most suitable for exploring evaluation perception and readiness in the context of TQM in PE. The study explored several correlations between the validated dimensions and independent variables such as gender, level of education, years of teaching experience and age. These analyses yielded additional valuable insights, enriching the depth of understanding provided by the present research.
Practical implications
The fields of TQM and PE lack empirical evidence. However, this study offers valuable insights into teachers’ perceptions of evaluation and broader quality improvement efforts. This can help school managers, policymakers and practitioners refine their implementation strategies for educational excellence.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to focus on the examination of evaluation as a key aspect of TQM within the context of PE. Through the development and validation of a real-time measurement instrument, it bridges a significant research gap, providing practitioners and researchers with a vital tool to understand and improve educators’ evaluation perceptions, enabling targeted interventions for enhanced performance.
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Alejandro C. Tuesta-Tapia, Adolfo Vázquez-Sánchez and Luis Amador-Hidalgo
This study aims to evaluate the extent to which the criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model and the relationships between them are relevant in the management of rural territory…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the extent to which the criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model and the relationships between them are relevant in the management of rural territory development. Verifying this relevance is crucial as a first step to determine how the adoption of an excellence model could enhance the results of the local action groups (LAGs) in managing their territories. If successful, the benefits for the management of territorial rural development in Spain could be highly significant.
Design/methodology/approach
Field data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to the managers of 253 LAGs in Spain during the first quarter of 2021. Hypotheses were formulated to evaluate the significance of the EFQM model in the outcomes achieved by LAGs. The data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and necessary conditions analysis (NCA).
Findings
This study validates all the formulated assumptions regarding the EFQM model, including the mediating role of process management in the impact of strategy and the technical team (people) on outcomes. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the adoption of a model of excellence could increase the effectiveness of LAGs in managing the development of their territories.
Research limitations/implications
Like all research, this study has its limitations. For example, the data used responds to an indirect approach to the criteria of the EFQM model. Direct measurement of the criteria was not possible because there were no LAG evaluations with the EFQM model or any other model of excellence. Additionally, the LAG sample used does not equally reflect the reality of the different autonomous communities, which, together with the relatively small nature of the sample, does not allow comparisons of the autonomous communities. The age of the participants was not included in the analysis, so it was not possible to evaluate the effect that this variable could have on the results. There are LAGs in other EU countries as well. It would be interesting to see whether the results obtained in this study with Spanish LAGs are consistent with those in other countries. The study was conducted at the criterion level. It would be of interest to delve deeper into the subcriterion level in future work. Finally, this study was based on the EFQM 2013, while the most recent study was from 2020, which is a limitation. When the study was designed, there was not yet sufficient experience with the 2020 model. It will be interesting to see in future work the extent to which the results and conclusions obtained remain consistent with those of the 2020 model.
Practical implications
Approaches to tackling the problem of rural development have often relied on intuitive and practical trial-and-error methods in the implementation of public policies rather than on a solid and validated theoretical foundation. Therefore, verifying the relevance of the criteria and their interrelationships, intrinsic to models such as the EFQM 2013 model, in the context of managing rural territories, can greatly aid the management of these types of organisations.
Social implications
The development of rural territories is a critical issue that remains unresolved in many countries. Failure to address this, or not doing so in a timely manner, has consequences for equity and migration to large urban centres. Enhancing the effectiveness of the LAGs can improve the living conditions of people in rural areas and contribute to the overall development of rural territories in Spain. This can simultaneously help mitigate the depopulation of rural areas.
Originality/value
Traditional approaches to rural development have often relied on practical trial-and-error methods in implementing public policies. The decision to adopt an excellence management model for the development of rural territories hinges on the validity of criteria and their interrelationships, such as those intrinsic to the EFQM 2013 model, within the context of rural development.
Highlights
The EFQM model of excellence is applicable in managing the development of rural territories, although some relationships between criteria, such as the case of Partnership and Resources on Results, are affected by the context in which local action groups currently operate in Spain.
This study applies PLS-SEM in the analysis of the relationships between criteria of the EFQM model in the context of managing the development of rural territories.
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Philemon Seth Ackom, Kwame Owusu Kwateng, Francis Kamewor Tetteh and Manuel Wiesche
Literature reveals that citizens’ intentions or willingness to adopt and use e-government services in developing countries like Ghana have not been encouraging regardless of the…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature reveals that citizens’ intentions or willingness to adopt and use e-government services in developing countries like Ghana have not been encouraging regardless of the importance of these services. This study aims to examine the factors that inhibit the virtualization of government to citizen e-government processes by assessing citizens’ intentions to resist or use government’s virtualized processes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a survey questionnaire to collect data from public school teachers who are users of the Government of Ghana’s e-pay slip system. Out of 500 questionnaires administered, only 423 useable responses were obtained. The data was analyzed with both inferential and descriptive statistics.
Findings
The results of this study showed that process virtualizability significantly predicts virtual process use, and it is associated with user resistance toward virtual process use.
Practical implications
The findings will help governments and managers to comprehend that certain processes are more acquiescent to virtualization than others.
Originality/value
This paper provides researchers with a contemporary perspective toward understanding the adoption and use of e-government services in sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of process virtualization theory.
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Giada Mainolfi, Vittoria Marino and Riccardo Resciniti
The present study investigates the impact of perceived enjoyment, blogger credibility and homophily on readers' engagement. Moreover, the study investigates the role exerted by…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study investigates the impact of perceived enjoyment, blogger credibility and homophily on readers' engagement. Moreover, the study investigates the role exerted by blog engagement on intentions to follow blogger's recommendations. Despite the growing relevance of these issues, past studies have neglected the relevance of a joint analysis of such dimensions within the context of food blogs.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical research builds on an online survey with a sample of 821 blog readers (353 Italian and 468 American). The proposed model was tested through structural equation modelling.
Findings
Results from a survey on Italian and American consumers show that perceived enjoyment and homophily have a significant effect on blog engagement, which, in turn, positively influences both intention to taste and visit. Moreover, blogger credibility does not show a significant influence on blog engagement for Italian and American followers.
Originality/value
The study contributes to a better understanding of the influence exerted by blog engagement on intention to follow blogger's recommendations. The study also examines perceived enjoyment, credibility and homophily as antecedents of engagement, which have not been extensively researched in the past with respect to food blogs.
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Caitlin Brandenburg, Madeline Raatz and Liz Ward
Although the benefits of clinician researchers for health services are now more clearly recognised, their career development is not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this…
Abstract
Purpose
Although the benefits of clinician researchers for health services are now more clearly recognised, their career development is not well understood. Hence, the purpose of this paper, a scoping review, is to determine what has been discussed in the literature about career opportunities for allied health (AH) clinician researchers in health services.
Design/methodology/approach
A structured literature search was completed in December 2020 for literature published 2010–2020 in English. A total of 2,171 unique abstracts were found and screened by two reviewers and 206 articles progressed to full text screening.
Findings
Forty-six studies were ultimately included; however, only two of these had aims directly related to AH clinician researcher careers, with the remainder containing only incidental data on this topic. Over half (56.5%) of the included studies were conducted in Australia, with a variety of AH professions represented. In terms of research design, 52.2% used cross-sectional survey designs, while case studies and qualitative research designs were also common. Key observations were that varying terminology and definitions were used, and there was little information about the inclusion of research in clinical positions or opportunities for formal clinical researcher positions in health services. There was some evidence to support that there are limited career opportunities after PhD completion, and that current career pathways are insufficient. There was conflicting evidence on whether engagement in research is beneficial for clinical career progression.
Originality/value
This review highlights a lack of research on this topic and outlines future directions to better support career pathways for AH clinician researchers.