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The purpose of this paper is to provide a summary of key aspects of a recently defended PhD thesis. It enables readers who may be interested in the thesis topic to gain an overview of that work and a link to the entire thesis through a URL link www.dropbox.com/s/1gikjlh6qw0v26u/Dissertation_Eduardo_Lopez_03122015.pdf?dl=0. The second purpose of this Thesis Research Note (TRN) is to explain the thesis author’s doctoral journey.

The methodology was rooted in critical realism using mixed research methods. The approach for the paper is to provide a reflective narrative to explain the lived experience of the authors throughout the candidate’s doctoral journey.

The theoretical implications of this study are the introduction of two new constructs (The Small Sins Allowed (SSA) and the Line of Impunity (LoI)) and the definition of these constructs as variables that affect corporate governance.

Although this study was intended to collect feedback regardless of geographical location, over 91 percent of responses came from the USA, Canada, and Latin America. For this reason, generalization beyond these boundaries requires further analysis.

The practical implications are related to the application of the two constructs (SSA and the LoI) into the daily corporate governance activities.

SSA and LoI, can be the foundation for renewed and vigorous corporate governance. SSA helps to establish a level above which adherence to ethical standards is expected. LoI aids in identifying ethical fault lines. Together they help to keep unethical behaviors under control.

The TRN provides a highly individualized account of a doctoral journey but it is intended to contribute to the growing body of TRNs published in this journal that in turn may inform decisions relating to candidates embarking on a doctoral journey.

The purpose of this study is to synthesize the published works about tourism in the island. Island destinations, especially smaller ones, suffer the negative effects of tourism more than other destinations. This is because of the characteristics of island destinations and the negative impacts arising from their inadequate management by different stakeholders. For these reasons, and conversely because tourism favors the social and economic development of islands, there has been a great deal of research published on insular tourism in the literature at a global level. Despite the number of studies carried out from different approaches, none have synthesized this scientific production. Thus, the main contribution of this paper is the use of a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a thorough review of studies published on tourist development in island destinations.

The authors use a bibliometric and descriptive approach to carry out a comprehensive review of the published studies on tourism development in island destinations in the past decade with special emphasis on the items analyzed, places of analysis and scientific journals that have addressed this topic.

The results of the analysis of the literature show the interest of the study of tourism in island destinations. This interest is partly due to the attraction that tourists have for this type of destinations and the need to promote their sustainable management as tourism destinations (Cusick, 2009, Hall, 2011, Cave and Brown, 2012, López, Orgaz, Marmolejo and Alector, 2016). In addition, tourism in island destinations constitutes an opportunity for economic development and benefits both the local population and its visitors (Fabinyi, 2010; Porter et al., 2015).

The main limitation of this paper is the great diversity of tourist destinations made up of islands, the complex nature of these destinations and tourism and the quantity and diversity of research carried out into them. This aspect has already been highlighted by other authors and makes it complex to determine which research should be included or excluded in this review.

Importantly, the results allow researchers and decision-makers to identify the main areas of interest in the study of island tourism and the reasons for this interest. They also indicate new areas of interest and in-depth studies. Thus, professionals have a map that shows the most relevant factors in tourism development for this type of destination and the variables that, both from a positive and a negative point of view, influence its development.

This research shows that the main areas of interest is island destination are the quality of life of the local community, stakeholder collaboration, sustainability, diversification and seasonality, marketing, consumer behavior/perception and segmentation, planning of tourism activity, information and technology, competitiveness and efficiency.

As evidenced by the amount of research carried out, there is a great deal of interest in tourism in island destinations. This interest arises from the specific characteristics and the interest of tourists themselves in this type of destination, as well as from the negative impacts and opportunities generated by island tourism. Nevertheless, the number of references obtained for tourism in island destinations (N = 949) represents only 0.2 per cent of the total number of studies referring to only “island” in the SCOPUS consultation (339,607 studies). Thus, one of the contributions of this paper has been to highlight the need to continue studying and reviewing in greater depth research on insular tourism.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived value of an action learning experience (i-Week) on the development of important soft employability skills applying expectation confirmation theory (ECT).

A total of 1,295 activities were offered in 36 cities of ten countries. Each activity had a faculty member and multidisciplinary teams to address an authentic situation during one full-time week. The ECT was applied to assess the disparity between what was expected from the students and their actual learning experience. A total of 929 students answered a Perceived Value Questionnaire to measure 14 transversal competences categorized on five employability skills.

Achievements were statistically higher than expectations in 5 out of 14 transversal competences. The perceived value of the i-Week reflects the impact on soft skills: self-skills, personal, learning, social and systemic. The paper proposed an integrated model to learn these competences from action learning experiences.

The questionnaire is a self-assessment and not an actual performance measure. Besides transversal competences, there were more disciplinary competences that are not included in the study.

The perceived value model of the i-Week could be applied for different educational levels and contexts considering a lower scale. A new version of the Perceived Value Questionnaire on Competences is provided for educational research.

The educational experience, instruments and analysis described in the study might be easily transferred to other action activity used to measure perceived learning results on multiple skills.

Smart tourist destinations (STDs) make use of new technologies to facilitate and improve the experience of tourists. So why not use these technologies to efficiently manage the destination? The aim of this work is to define and implement a methodology that provides value to STDs by defining their most important characteristics to monitor and quantify them automatically in real time.

The authors developed a conceptual framework to the smart tourism approach presented in previous studies, the latest technologies and the application of the smart tourism system (STS). Based on the focus group method with stakeholders from the tourism industry of the Spanish tourist municipality of Puerto de la Cruz, they defined the main KPIs for a municipal STD. Likewise, the authors specified the necessary technologies to obtain, manage and represent the data, and the method for quantifying the quality of the STD by using the AHP method. Lastly, they implemented the framework for the aforementioned municipality.

The implementation in a real context of the STS proposed for Puerto de la Cruz demonstrates its validity and the possibility of adapting it to any other municipal destination. In addition, the authors corroborate how this STS improves on other versions.

This paper provides a theoretical methodology to improve STD management and implements it. Other studies have focused only on the theoretical aspect. Moreover, automated management tools are emerging for STDs, but they lack the quality provided by the scientific approach employed herein.

The case study is based on a series of in-depth interviews carried out with the owners and directors of the company. The data are complemented by documentary analysis, including descriptions of internal processes and industry information. For the teaching note, the authors opt for an exploratory study using the open-ended approach of grounded theory.

Arette^® is a Mexican family business dedicated to the production and sale of tequila, fusing the artisanal with the new in its production processes. Sales take place mostly in the European and American markets. The foreign market for tequila is very attractive but also very demanding both in terms of financial resources and time. Although the company has managed to enter this market through bars and restaurants, it has not yet managed to reach the final consumers (those who order margaritas in bars). Jaime, Eduardo and Lalo are wondering whether it might be time to invest more resources in ensuring that Arette^® is not just a brand for fine cocktails. Until now, their main promotional tool has been word of mouth, and they are not sure what their next step should be – to focus on the international or the domestic market.

The case study can be incorporated into undergraduate classes, where it could serve as part of an international marketing course, in particular, as an international sales strategy and implementation session. It can be used to teach basic concepts and their application.

This case study focuses on the decision that many small companies have to make at some point in their business strategy, which is to focus either on the international or domestic market: The objectives are as follows:

1. To identify the variables that increase or modify the demand for Tequila.

2. Compare the advantages and disadvantages of focusing on a domestic Tequila market or focusing on an international market.

3. Identify the critical variables that a small company faces if it wants to go international such as.

4. Identify if there are forms of diversification for Tequila Arette such as new markets or new products, or both.

The purpose of this paper is to determine whether different scales and ways to collect reviews and ratings found on online travel agencies (OTAs) can affect hotels, and whether hotels obtain the same or different evaluations.

Hotel ratings from five OTAs in four European markets were collected and compared in pairs. An initial comparison was made with the hotel scores of each OTA to show what a typical user would see. Then, a rescaled score (0-10) was used to compare all the OTA scales appropriately and to distinguish between what customers observe and what the reality is.

The results reveal that Booking.com that uses a scale (2.5-10) and Agoda with a scale (2-10) seem to give higher rating scores than Atrapalo (1-10), Travel Republic (0-10) and hotel reservation service (1-10). However, when the scores are rescaled (0-10), the worst ratings are found on Booking.com followed by Agoda.

OTAs should include, next to the scores, the scale used to rate hotels so as to provide users with better and clearer information. Moreover, rating questionnaires should match the verbal denominations with their numerical values to avoid biased ratings.

OTAs and hotel managers are losing information provided by customers because customers are not aware of the scale when rating hotels. Moreover, hotel ratings are used by potential customers to obtain a clearer image of an establishment. However, if some hotels are being overrated by some scales, customers might have higher expectations, which may not be met.

The unique rating scales of Booking.com and Agoda provide additional insights into their hotel evaluations, which seem to be apparently higher when in fact they are not.

在线旅行评论评分量表及其对酒店得分和竞争力的影响

摘要

这项研究旨在研究在线旅行社（OTA）上评论和评级的不同量表和方式是否会影响酒店获得的评估。

本研究收集并比较了来自四个欧洲市场中五个OTA的酒店等级数据。研究首先对每个OTA的酒店得分进行了比较, 以显示一般用户会看到的内容。然后研究使用重新缩放的得分（0-10）来恰当地比较所有OTA的酒店等级, 并区分顾客观察到的内容和现实。

结果显示, Booking.com使用的量表（2.5-10）和Agoda的量表（2-10）, 似乎高于Atrapalo（1-10）, Travel Republic（0-10）和 hotel reservation service （1-10）的评分。但是, 当分数重新调整为（0-10）时, 最差的评分是在Booking.com上, 其次是Agoda。

OTA应在评分旁边注明用于对酒店进行评分的量表, 以便为用户提供更好, 更清晰的信息。此外, 评级问卷应使评价描述与其数值相匹配, 以避免评级出现偏差。

OTA和酒店经理正在丢失客户所提供的信息, 因为客户在对酒店进行评级时并不了解其使用的量表。此外, 潜在客户使用酒店评级来获得更清晰的企业形象。但是, 如果某些酒店被某些网站的评级量表高估, 那么客户可能会有偏高的期望, 而这些期望可能无法被满足。

Booking.com和Agoda的独特评分等级标准为酒店提供了更多见解, 而实际上酒店的情况可能并非如此。

Las escalas de calificación de las opiniones de los viajes online y sus efectos en la valoración y competitividad de los hoteles.

El objetivo de esta investigación es determinar si las diferentes escalas y formas de recopilar opiniones y valoraciones de las Agencias de Viajes Online (OTAs), pueden afectar a si los hoteles tienen las mismas o distintas calificaciones.

Las calificaciones de hoteles de cinco OTAs en cuatro mercados europeos, se recopilaron y compararon por pares. Se realizó una comparación inicial con las puntuaciones de los hoteles de cada OTA, para mostrar lo que vería un usuario típico. Luego, se utilizó una puntuación de reescalado (0-10), para comparar todas las escalas de las OTAs de manera apropiada y así poder diferenciar entre lo que los clientes observan y lo que es en realidad.

Los resultados revelan que Booking.com, que utiliza una escala (2.5-10) y Agoda con una escala (2-10), parecen puntuar con calificaciones más altas que Atrapalo (1-10), Travel Republic (0-10) y hotel reservation service (1-10). Sin embargo, cuando se vuelven a escalar las puntuaciones (0-10), las peores calificaciones se encuentran en Booking.com, seguida de Agoda.

Las OTAs deben incluir, junto a las puntuaciones, la escala utilizada para calificar los hoteles a fin de proporcionar a los usuarios una información mayor y más clara. Además, los cuestionarios de calificación deben hacer coincidir las denominaciones verbales con sus valores numéricos para evitar calificaciones sesgadas.

Por un lado las OTAs y los gerentes de hoteles, están perdiendo información proporcionada por los clientes, porque los clientes no son conscientes del tipo de escala utilizada cuando califican los hoteles. Por otro lado, los clientes potenciales utilizan las calificaciones de los hoteles para obtener una imagen más clara de un establecimiento. Por lo que en muchos casos, los clientes pueden tener expectativas más altas, que pueden no cumplirse, si los hoteles están siendo sobrevalorados por algunas escalas.

Las escalas de calificación únicas de Booking.com y Agoda, brindan información adicional sobre las evaluaciones de sus hoteles que parecen ser aparentemente más altas cuando en realidad no lo son.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects of the budget system use on innovation performance concerning products and processes in Brazilian companies.

A survey was conducted in companies with economic activities addressed by the Brazilian Industrial Research of Technological Innovation carried out by the Brazilian Institute for Geography and Statistics, which provided 111 valid answers. The structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

The results indicate that considering the budget use with control (diagnostic) characteristics as a mechanism able to elide the benefits of innovation does not find support because no negative effect may be detected in the moderation tests. On the other hand, the belief that budget use with (interactive) planning characteristics might potentiate the effects of innovation on performance has also not been confirmed, i.e. rather flexible budget use types, which could be aligned with the elasticity required by creative processes, do not seem to have the positive effect advocated in the literature.

The sample did not allow a detailed analysis of other contextual characteristics that could evidence heterogeneity. The size difference between companies, based on the number of employees rather than the volume of innovation investments, may have affected the results.

The results show there is no moderation in the relation between technological innovation and performance, both by using interactive budget and diagnostic budget.

This study aims to analyze the contribution of tourist event and satisfaction with tourism events as a product of regional tourism competitiveness, as well as evaluate factors of competitiveness.

The research followed a quantitative methodology by conducting a questionnaire on the four largest tourist events in Madeira (Carnival, Flower Festival, Atlantic Festival and Wine Festival), an insular island located in Portugal.

The sample consisted of 2,262 tourists surveyed during the year 2017 and structural equation models were used as the statistical method. Results showed that satisfaction is reflected in the client's loyalty to the choice of a tourist destination and also contributes directly and indirectly to the regional tourist competitiveness.

This study contributes to the valorization of local and regional events, perceived by the level of satisfaction and loyalty of tourists, as products of regional competitiveness of a tourist destination.

This qualitative study aims to fill gaps in a widely studied and relevant organizational feature: the alignment between information technologies and business strategies.

This research is a qualitative study. The authors used focus groups, content analysis and semantic networks as research approaches to identify the main factors that prevent or foster such alignment.

Results reveal a leading role of innovation, organizational culture, access to information and financial factors that could promote or inhibit alignment and competitiveness.

This research was conducted only in small and medium organizations in Mexico, which represents about 52% of the Mexican Gross Domestic Product (for Mexico as one of the leading trade partners of the USA).