Robert D. Nale, Dennis A. Rauch, Samuel A. Wathen and Peter B. Barr
Assessing educational outcomes has been an ongoing activity for higher education over the past several years. This concern is important for business educators as well. Regardless…
Abstract
Assessing educational outcomes has been an ongoing activity for higher education over the past several years. This concern is important for business educators as well. Regardless of any problems institutions have experienced, there is definitely a need to continue for many reasons: e.g., mandates by state legislatures, accreditation bodies and others, and its potential as an input into strategic planning. Thus far, assessment activities have consisted of a proliferation of methodologies ranging from student portfolio analysis to standardized testing. This paper specifically examines the use of importance‐performance analysis for an evaluation of the business core curriculum, as well as some differences among major areas of study, at two distinct points in time.
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Dennis A Rauch, Michael Dwain Collins, Robert D Nale and Peter B. Barr
The purpose of this study is to identify an appropriate factor structure that may be utilized to effectively measure a hotel’s performance relative to service quality in a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to identify an appropriate factor structure that may be utilized to effectively measure a hotel’s performance relative to service quality in a mid-scale setting. Customer perceptions of service quality in mid-scale hotels have largely been ignored; the focus of researchers has been the upscale (4-star) and luxury (5-star) segments.
Design/methodology/approach
A 27-item questionnaire is utilized to measure service quality with an initial sample size of over 2,500 respondents. Principle component analysis is utilized to determine the factor structure and regression analysis to determine which factors may serve as predictors of a hotel’s ability to meet customers’ expectations and to provide value.
Findings
A three-dimensional model emerged from the data, consistent with the theorizing of Rust and Oliver (1994), which includes the service product, service delivery and service environment. The service environment is the strongest predictor of a hotel’s ability to meet guests’ expectations and to provide guests with value within this context, which is inconsistent with findings in upscale and luxury hotels.
Research limitations/implications
The generalizability of this research may be challenged, as the study was conducted within the context of an oceanfront resort destination dominated by leisure travelers; however, the study may be replicated in additional settings to determine if a similar bundling of service quality attributes occurs in other mid-scale settings including business hotels, as well as economy hotels.
Practical implications
A three-factor model may be more appropriate for assessing service quality in a mid-scale (3-star) environment. In this setting, the service environment and service product may be more important measures of service quality than service delivery. This is an important finding, as many mid-scale and select-service, as well as new mid-scale, lifestyle hotel concepts, attempt to drive profitability by deemphasizing service delivery or by utilizing technology to facilitate service delivery. These findings may also assist operators of mid-scale hotels in improving guests’ perceptions of quality, which has been found to increase perceived value and may positively influence purchase or revisit intentions (Kashyap and Bojanic, 2000).
Originality/value
Service quality research has been conducted, almost exclusively, in first-class (4-star) and luxury (5-star) hotels, while the majority of hotels do not fall into these categories. Although guest expectations relative to service quality may be lower in more moderately priced, mid-scale hotels, service quality remains a critical variable that influences a guest’s decision to return or recommend a hotel to others. Many travelers now utilize online reviews to minimize purchase risk by seeking information relative to service quality when selecting a hotel. Consequently, it is more important than ever that service quality is understood in hotels at all service levels. The present research contributes to filling this gap in the literature.
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Robert D. Nale, Dennis A. Rauch and Peter B. Barr
States that the workplace is becoming an increasingly stern taskmaster in its demands for literate employees. However, employees may be moving in the opposite direction, resulting…
Abstract
States that the workplace is becoming an increasingly stern taskmaster in its demands for literate employees. However, employees may be moving in the opposite direction, resulting in a so‐called “literacy gap”. To make progress towards eliminating this gap, it is necessary, first, to investigate the extent of the problem, or whether there truly is a problem. This is the purpose of this exploratory study, which seeks to focus on the identification of the problem. Using various readability indices, the study examines examples of a typical organization’s reading expectations in terms of grade and difficulty levels. Representative samples from high school textbooks are examined to ascertain the existence of a reading level gap. Three particular readability indices are selected for use. The methodology utilized involves the transcription of selected pieces of both job‐ and education‐specific literature. Each piece is analysed using the readability indices, with resulting measurements of readability providing some indication of the assumed educational level of the reader.
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Carles Mulet-Forteza, Juanabel Genovart-Balaguer, José Maria Merigó and Emilio Mauleon-Mendez
The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management is a leading international journal in the field of hospitality and tourism management. It was started in 1989, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management is a leading international journal in the field of hospitality and tourism management. It was started in 1989, and it turns 30 years old this year. To celebrate this anniversary, this paper presents a bibliometric overview of the publication and citation structure of the journal over the past 30 years. The purpose of this paper is to identify the relevant issues in terms of keywords and topics and who is achieving better results in terms of authors, universities and countries.
Design/methodology/approach
The Scopus database is used to collect the bibliographical material. A graphical mapping of the bibliographic data is developed by using VOSviewer software. It produces graphical maps with several bibliometric techniques, including co-citation, bibliographic coupling and co-occurrence of keywords.
Findings
The results indicate that English-speaking countries are producing the highest number of articles in the journal, followed by Asian institutions, with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University as the most productive institution.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, there are no papers that present a general overview of the publication and citation structure of this journal. Its 30th anniversary is a good moment to develop this study.
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José L. Ruiz-Alba, Anabela Soares, Miguel Angel Rodríguez-Molina and Arnaud Banoun
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gamification can influence entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of a group of users of an online platform provided by a private company.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how gamification can influence entrepreneurial intentions (EI) of a group of users of an online platform provided by a private company.
Design/methodology/approach
A quantitative research strategy was used with a sample of 220 respondents. These respondents were tested before and after the gamification experience.
Findings
Main findings support literature suggesting a clear effect of attitudes towards behaviour and perceived behavioural control on EI, in line with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Once the basic assumptions of TPB were confirmed, the authors tested the effects of gamification comparing before and after results. Main findings highlight an increase of these effects after the gamification experience, aligned with the self-determination theory.
Practical implications
These findings suggest that gamification is able to influence entrepreneurial behaviours. This contributes to both companies and educators’ knowledge on training for EI with gamification and the use of online platforms to this effect. Recommendations are provided.
Originality/value
This is the first study that investigates the impact of gamification on EI and how gamification can influence the different relationships between the antecedents of EI.
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Damian Tago, Henrik Andersson and Nicolas Treich
This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.
Abstract
Purpose
This study contributes to the understanding of the health effects of pesticides exposure and of how pesticides have been and should be regulated.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents literature reviews for the period 2000–2013 on (i) the health effects of pesticides and on (ii) preference valuation of health risks related to pesticides, as well as a discussion of the role of benefit-cost analysis applied to pesticide regulatory measures.
Findings
This study indicates that the health literature has focused on individuals with direct exposure to pesticides, i.e. farmers, while the literature on preference valuation has focused on those with indirect exposure, i.e. consumers. The discussion highlights the need to clarify the rationale for regulating pesticides, the role of risk perceptions in benefit-cost analysis, and the importance of inter-disciplinary research in this area.
Originality/value
This study relates findings of different disciplines (health, economics, public policy) regarding pesticides, and identifies gaps for future research.
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Dennis B. Desmond, David Lacey and Paul Salmon
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a literature review, which aimed to identify previous studies evaluating cryptolaundering from a systems thinking…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present the findings from a literature review, which aimed to identify previous studies evaluating cryptolaundering from a systems thinking perspective. The aim of this paper is to first confirm that cryptolaundering systems can indeed be defined as complex socio-technical systems and second to present the findings from a systematic review of the literature to determine the extent to which previous research has adopted a systems thinking perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved a SLR of studies published in the peer-reviewed literature between 2009 and 2018. Rasmussen’s risk management framework (Rasmussen, 1997) was used to evaluate the extent to which a systems thinking perspective had been adopted.
Findings
The cryptolaundering process is considered to be a complex socio-technical system. The review demonstrates that no previous studies have defined cryptolaundering as a complex socio-technical system or used systems thinking framework approach to evaluate how criminals, regulatory bodies or law enforcement entities understand processes and assess risk within cryptolaundering systems. It is argued that using such an approach to the cryptolaundering process would likely improve assessing criminal risk analyses of cryptolaundering and assist law enforcement and regulatory bodies with understanding risk management during the laundering of cryptocurrencies.
Originality/value
Future assessments of cryptolaundering using socio-technical system analytical processes may afford law enforcement and regulatory bodies the opportunity to improve intervention techniques and identify gaps in regulations and enforcement.
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To innovatively address challenges faced by corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in this modern age of globalization and digitalization, this chapter takes a fresh look at questions of…
Abstract
To innovatively address challenges faced by corporate entrepreneurship (CE) in this modern age of globalization and digitalization, this chapter takes a fresh look at questions of learning and leadership from the perspective of organization development (OD), a field that has long studied questions of planned and emergent change. This alternate perspective adds to our knowledge and understanding of the role of individuals and teams in CE and presents opportunities to integrate learning and leadership. In particular, the OD literature provides us with multilevel measurement methods and tools to better analyze the employee and team level-of-analysis. As a result, these insights should enable us to better explain the interaction between CE strategic orientation and the performance of corporate venturing employees and teams, as well as the progress of organizational strategic renewal and market (re)creation efforts.
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Ali Aslan Gümüsay, Emilio Marti, Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich and Christopher Wickert
Societal grand challenges have moved from a marginal concern to a mainstream issue within organization and management theory. How diverse forms of organizing help tackle – or…
Abstract
Societal grand challenges have moved from a marginal concern to a mainstream issue within organization and management theory. How diverse forms of organizing help tackle – or reinforce – grand challenges has become centrally important. In this introductory paper, we take stock of the contributions to the volume on Organizing for Societal Grand Challenges and identify three characteristics of grand challenges that require further scholarly attention: their interconnectedness, fluidity, and paradoxical nature. We also emphasize the need to expand our methodological repertoire and reflect upon our practices as a scholarly community.