Saad Ahmed Javed, Muhammad Ikram, Liangyan Tao and Sifeng Liu
Tourism industry is a highly complex system surrounded by many uncertainties because of its innumerable connections with other supporting systems. Considering tourism, a grey…
Abstract
Purpose
Tourism industry is a highly complex system surrounded by many uncertainties because of its innumerable connections with other supporting systems. Considering tourism, a grey system, the current study proposes optimistic–pessimistic method (OPM). This technique can aid in improving forecast accuracy of four tourism-related indicators, inbound tourism to China, outbound tourism from China, revenues collected through inbound tourism and expenses incurred on outbound tourism.
Design/methodology/approach
The study integrates OPM into EGM and then using the secondary data collected from the World Bank database, predicts the four tourism-related indicators. The mean absolute percentage error steered the performance of the models.
Findings
One of the main contributions of the study lies in its overall evaluation of one of the major travel and tourism countries of the world in light of four crucial indicators. The study highlights, four tourism-related indicators' recent information, contains more valuable information about the future.
Originality/value
OPM represents a novel application of concept of whitenization of interval grey number in grey forecasting theory.
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Andrea Berkemeier Brelje and Debra A. Pinals
This paper aims to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic response in prisons, focusing on the USA, which imprisons a higher percentage of its population than any other country in the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to analyze the COVID-19 pandemic response in prisons, focusing on the USA, which imprisons a higher percentage of its population than any other country in the world.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper evaluates the current pandemic response in prisons based on legal and ethical imperatives for providing health care to prisoners.
Findings
Themes of best practices identified include increasing rapid detection of new cases, reducing transmission and advocating for both short- and long-term ethical health care policies. Halting progress now could risk dire consequences and is unacceptable on legal, ethical and public health grounds.
Research limitations/implications
This paper does not involve primary research with prisoners; rather it focuses on reviewing the pandemic response in prisons. Although it may be possible to translate findings in this study to similar environments (e.g. jails and detainment centers), there are unique characteristics pertaining to each that deserve separate, focused analyses.
Originality/value
Outbreaks that occur within prisons are likely to spread to the community and vice versa. Analyses based on ethics, law and public health point to the same conclusion: preventing significant outbreaks within prisons will benefit not only prisoners but also the general public. Furthermore, even though the scientific understanding of the pandemic may change with future research, the ethical and legal principles highlighted in this paper will continue to be foundational when considering just care for prisoners.
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Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to illustrate the logics that have shifted in the Chinese hotel industry since 1949 and discuss its implications for advance a better understanding of how and why the Chinese hotel industry has evolved into its present situation. The logic evolution and future trends in this market were also discussed.
Design/methodology/approach
As this research is aimed at answering the “how” and “why” aspects in the evolution of Chinese hotel industry, qualitative approach is applied to answer the questions.
Findings
This paper divided the history of contemporary Chinese hotel industry into three stages: 1949-1977, 1978-2001 and 2002 to the present. Hotel business in each period was dominated by state logic, profession logic and market/corporation logic, respectively.
Originality/value
The authors applied institutional logics perspective to explore how and why China hotel industry evolved in the past 70 years.
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Juan Luis Nicolau, Zheng Xiang and Dan Wang
This paper aims to investigate the links between daily review sentiment and the hotel performance measures of occupancy rate (OR), average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the links between daily review sentiment and the hotel performance measures of occupancy rate (OR), average daily rate (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR).
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted review sentiment analyses in three moments (−1, −7 and −14 days) before arrival time using a data set of budget hotel performance and online reviews. The aim was to identify the effect of review sentiment in the budget hotel market on the three performance metrics.
Findings
Daily sentiment positively affects ADR and negatively affects OR and RevPAR, but only up to a certain threshold, after which the trend reverses. Prices increase with the level of sentiment, and high prices lead to low OR and RevPAR only when the sentiment scores are low. When they are high, they are associated with low rates, which lead to high OR and RevPAR.
Research limitations/implications
Daily review sentiment can be viewed as a valuable “barometer” indicating a hotel’s daily operational effectiveness. Daily sentiment can thus allow hotel managers to adjust their dynamic pricing strategies more accurately.
Originality/value
This study identifies daily sentiment as an alternative predictor of hotel performance. In addition to the roles of valence and volume in the decision-making process, the authors found that daily review sentiment can be an “in-the-moment” factor with a high impact, encouraging consumers to complete their transactions. This study suggests that aggregated measures such as the total number of reviews and overall ratings of the hotel should not be the sole consideration in reputation management.
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The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth of the early ski market and the marketing strategies that the Union Pacific Railroad took in promoting Sun Valley ski resort…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the growth of the early ski market and the marketing strategies that the Union Pacific Railroad took in promoting Sun Valley ski resort, one of the most popular early destination ski resorts in the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses primary and secondary source material, including ski periodicals, national magazines and the manuscript collection of W. Averell Harriman, the Chairman of the Union Pacific Railroad during the creation of Sun Valley.
Findings
This paper finds that Sun Valley pioneered the western ski vacation by conducting careful market research into not only the snow and weather conditions of western mountains, but also into the habits and economic potential of skiers and winter tourists.
Originality/value
Scholarly work on skiing has primarily looked at the sport from the social and cultural perspective of skiers. Work on entrepreneurial objectives of ski resort designers has largely focused on the period after the Second World War. This is among the first works to analyze entrepreneurial activities and marketing strategies in the ski industry before the Second World War. As a result, the paper challenges the idea that big business only began to shape the ski industry during the Cold War. Instead, this paper shows that large corporations like the Union Pacific Railroad were influential in growing the ski market by building resorts that illustrated the importance of market segmentation to the success of ski areas. In this way, the paper challenges the popular idea that Sun Valley was merely a media sensation and shows that it was a carefully designed business that exhibited a nuanced approach to changes in the ski market.
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Tingzhen (Jane) Chen and Philip L. Pearce
Consistent exposure to sunshine with high ultraviolet values has significant negative effects on human skin. Key risks include melanoma and the rapid onset of signs of ageing. For…
Abstract
Consistent exposure to sunshine with high ultraviolet values has significant negative effects on human skin. Key risks include melanoma and the rapid onset of signs of ageing. For Chinese, these are viewed as undesirable, because their genetic legacy predisposes them to greater numbers of skin blemishes and because darker shades are culturally and socially viewed as less attractive. Properties in sunshine locations may need to modify aspects of their infrastructure and service delivery to meet the needs of the globally influential Chinese market. Shaded spaces, new activities, scheduling of experiences in the early morning, evening and at night, are all a part of the required innovations in experience design.
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Man Zhang, Qian Gao, Jane V. Wheeler and Jungsook Kwon
This paper aims to investigate the role of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between the institutional environment and international performance of Chinese born…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between the institutional environment and international performance of Chinese born global firms, a type of small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) characterized by the company’s limited resources and its early efforts to internationalize.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on a multi-case analysis of interviews conducted with four chosen born global firms, coupled with public database and Web site searches. Through the use of qualitative methods, propositions were developed.
Findings
This paper provides insights regarding how the institutional environment, both formal and informal, has a strong positive relationship with born global firm’s international performance. Moreover, Sun Tzu’s significant strategies play a critical role in the internationalization process of born global firms in emerging markets.
Originality/value
Although existing studies discuss the application of Eastern philosophical strategies adopted by firms in emerging markets, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the earliest studies which evaluates the moderation effect of Sun Tzu’s significant strategies on the relationship between institutional environment and business performance. The paper contributes to scholarly discourse on the influencing factors of born global firm’s internationalization process. It also has practical relevance to international entrepreneurs and SMEs from emerging markets.
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Li Chen, Dirk Ifenthaler, Jane Yin-Kim Yau and Wenting Sun
The study aims to identify the status quo of artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship education with a view to identifying potential research gaps, especially in the adoption…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to identify the status quo of artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship education with a view to identifying potential research gaps, especially in the adoption of certain intelligent technologies and pedagogical designs applied in this domain.
Design/methodology/approach
A scoping review was conducted using six inclusive and exclusive criteria agreed upon by the author team. The collected studies, which focused on the adoption of AI in entrepreneurship education, were analysed by the team with regards to various aspects including the definition of intelligent technology, research question, educational purpose, research method, sample size, research quality and publication. The results of this analysis were presented in tables and figures.
Findings
Educators introduced big data and algorithms of machine learning in entrepreneurship education. Big data analytics use multimodal data to improve the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education and spot entrepreneurial opportunities. Entrepreneurial analytics analysis entrepreneurial projects with low costs and high effectiveness. Machine learning releases educators’ burdens and improves the accuracy of the assessment. However, AI in entrepreneurship education needs more sophisticated pedagogical designs in diagnosis, prediction, intervention, prevention and recommendation, combined with specific entrepreneurial learning content and entrepreneurial procedure, obeying entrepreneurial pedagogy.
Originality/value
This study holds significant implications as it can shift the focus of entrepreneurs and educators towards the educational potential of artificial intelligence, prompting them to consider the ways in which it can be used effectively. By providing valuable insights, the study can stimulate further research and exploration, potentially opening up new avenues for the application of artificial intelligence in entrepreneurship education.
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Haixu Bao, Haizhen (Jane) Wang and Chenglin Sun
The purpose of this paper is to explore how middle managers respond to the career challenges caused by environmental regulation. In particular, this paper examines whether…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how middle managers respond to the career challenges caused by environmental regulation. In particular, this paper examines whether environmental regulation strength is positively related to middle managers’ openness toward change, and whether middle managers’ openness toward change is positively related to proactive behavior. Furthermore, the moderating role of top managers’ bottom-line mentality in these two relationships is examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Cross-sectional survey research (n=155) was conducted. During a training program, data were collected from 155 middle managers from a listed company that manufactures primary products. With these data the authors examined the main relationship and also explored the moderating effect of top managers’ bottom-line mentality.
Findings
Analysis of the findings indicates that perceived environmental regulation strength influences middle managers’ openness toward change and consequently their proactive behavior. In addition, top managers’ bottom-line mentality moderates both the link between environmental regulation strength and openness toward change and the link between openness toward change and proactive behavior.
Originality/value
The findings of this study reveal how environmental regulation induces middle managers’ proactive behavior, and the influence of top managers’ mentality on how middle managers respond to environmental regulation both cognitively and behaviorally.