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This paper aims to analyze the antecedents of two variables concerning the presence of quality certifications in hotel chains: the (ex ante) decision to become a member of the quality system and the (ex post) trend to increase or decrease the number of certified properties. Six hypotheses are posed and tested.

The empirical investigation is carried out on the Spanish Q for Quality in Tourism using a database including 295 hotel chains and 2,727 hotels.

The results evidence the presence of differences in the behavior of hotel chains relative to certification depending on their size, market segment, customer origin and the geographical concentration of their establishments.

This research deepens in how the hotel chain characteristics affect the effectiveness of a quality certification. The consideration of two stages in investment decisions allows the authors to identify differences in the ex ante and ex post decision processes. As a result, one factor (geographical concentration) has been detected as being underrated by managers in the first stage.

Este artículo analiza los antecedentes de dos variables relacionadas con las certificaciones de calidad en cadenas hoteleras: La (ex-ante) decisión de formar parte de un sistema de calidad, y la (ex-post) tendencia a incrementar o reducir el número de establecimientos certificados. Seis hipótesis han sido propuestas y contrastadas.

La investigación empírica ha sido desarrollada en el marco de la marca Q de calidad para el turismo en España usando una base de datos que incluye 295 cadenas hoteleras y 2,727 hoteles.

Los resultados ponen de manifiesto la presencia de diferencias en el comportamiento de las cadenas hoteleras en materia de certificación dependiendo de su tamaño, segmento de mercado atendido, origen de la clientela y del grado de concentración geográfica de sus establecimientos.

El artículo profundiza en cómo las carfacterísticas de la cadena hotelera afectan a la eficacia de la certificación de calidad. Tener en consideración la existencia de dos etapas en las decisones de inversión nos permite identificar diferencias entre los procesos de decisión ex-ante y ex-post. Como resultado, hemos observado que un factor (la concentración geográfica) está siendo infravalorado por parte de os directivos en sus decisiones en la primera etapa.

This study aims to analyzes the effects of the consumer-generated media (CGM) boom on hotel managers’ investment behavior concerning quality signals.

Survival analysis has been conducted, considering the permanence/dropout of the Spanish hotels in a quality certification system during the 1998–2020 period.

The number of hotels certified since 2010 has been progressively falling, pointing to a decreasing interest of the managers in these certifications. Nevertheless, this is not a generalized phenomenon: the hotel characteristics and the number and nature of reviews about them in CGM significantly affect their permanence decisions in certification systems.

The findings provide several keys to optimizing investment management in quality signals considering hotel characteristics and their positioning in CGM.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that analyses the relationship between the presence of hotels in CGM and their investments in alternative quality signals. The results will allow future investment decisions based on previous real business experiences.

We present a critical literature review debating Brazilian research on social and environmental accounting (SEA). The aim of this study is to understand the role of politics in the construction of hegemonies in SEA research in Brazil. In particular, we examine the role of hegemony in relation to the co-option of SEA literature and sustainability in the Brazilian context by the logic of development for economic growth in emerging economies. The methodological approach adopts a post-structural perspective that reflects Laclau and Mouffe’s discourse theory. The study employs a hermeneutical, rhetorical approach to understand and classify 352 Brazilian research articles on SEA. We employ Brown and Fraser’s (2006) categorizations of SEA literature to help in our analysis: the business case, the stakeholder–accountability approach, and the critical case. We argue that the business case is prominent in Brazilian studies. Second-stage analysis suggests that the major themes under discussion include measurement, consulting, and descriptive approach. We argue that these themes illustrate the degree of influence of the hegemonic politics relevant to emerging economics, as these themes predominantly concern economic growth and a capitalist context. This paper discusses trends and practices in the Brazilian literature on SEA and argues that the focus means that SEA avoids critical debates of the role of capitalist logics in an emerging economy concerning sustainability. We urge the Brazilian academy to understand the implications of its reifying agenda and engage, counter-hegemonically, in a social and political agenda beyond the hegemonic support of a particular set of capitalist interests.

To empirically study the determinant factors of adopting work–life balance measures at the firm level.

After reviewing the main theories that explain work–life balance practices, IBEX-35 Spanish companies during 2015–2019 are studied to see whether the firm sector, the presence of female employees, qualified personnel, a company agreement and an equality plan determine these types of practices.

The results indicate a negative relationship between the firm activity sector and adopting work–life balance practices. Industrial companies offer fewer work–life balance measures than service companies. A company agreement implies more extensive adoption of work-life practices. Older companies are characterized by greater adoption of work-life practices, in contrast to their level of profitability that is associated negatively with these practices.

Since it is difficult for industrial companies to change their idiosyncrasies, it is necessary to incorporate other measures that promote work–life balance, such as timetable flexibility. Companies and policymakers should promote the advantages of a company agreement to contribute to the implementation of work–life balance practices.

The empirical evidence is scarce, especially in Spain and at the company level, given that most previous studies have focused on workers and the Anglo-Saxon sphere. Given the growing interest in this topic in the business world, the authors intend to contribute to this scarce literature by incorporating variables considered in previous studies, as well as other more innovative ones (agreement, equality plan) in a single model through a longitudinal study.

Estudiar empíricamente los factores determinantes de la adopción de medidas de conciliación a nivel de empresa.

Tras revisar las teorías que explican la adopción de prácticas de conciliación, se estudia para las empresas españolas del IBEX-35 durante el periodo 2015–2019, si el sector de actividad, la presencia de mujeres y de personal cualificado, así como la existencia de un convenio de empresa y de un plan de igualdad, determinan este tipo de prácticas.

Los resultados sugieren una relación negativa entre el tipo de sector al que pertenece la empresa y el índice de conciliación. Las compañías industriales poseen un menor índice de conciliación que las de servicios. La existencia de un convenio de empresa permite un mayor índice de conciliación. El índice de conciliación tiene mayor nivel de implantación en las empresas con mayor antigüedad si bien un mayor nivel de rentabilidad está asociado de modo negativo con las prácticas de conciliación.

En las empresas industriales es necesaria la incorporación de otras medidas que fomenten la conciliación, como, por ejemplo, la flexibilidad de entrada y salida. Animar a las empresas y policymarkers a incidir en las ventajas de un convenio de empresa puede contribuir al fomento de la implantación de medidas de conciliación.

La evidencia empírica es escasa para el caso español, y a nivel de empresa, dado que la mayoría de estudios previos han analizado al trabajador como objeto de estudio y pertenecen al ámbito anglosajón. Considerando el creciente interés de este tema en el mundo empresarial, se pretende contribuir a esta escasa literatura en España, incorporando tanto variables consideradas en estudios previos como otras más novedosas (convenio, plan de igualdad) a través de un estudio longitudinal.

Administrative reforms in Argentina have followed an irregular trajectory as a result of the penetration of patronage in the state apparatus. Extensive politicization has impeded the development of a univocal and stable civil service at the national level.

In this context, the goal of this chapter is to analyze the characteristics of the federal civil service in its interaction with actors and institutions of the political system during the 2004–2014 period. The study reveals two main findings: (1) a diversity of bureaucratic formats coexist in the country, both formally and informally; and (2) the relationships between the administration and the political system vary according to the predominant bureaucratic format.

Purpose: This chapter explores the current hybridization between true crime and nonfiction investigative documentaries on Video on Demand (VOD) platforms. It would seem necessary to distinguish true crime productions from long-form journalistic documentaries in order to avoid confusion between different products that do not pursue the same ends, such as audiovisual products with highly emotive and engaging components versus a journalistic approach to the truth about what happened. Methodology/approach: The analysis is based on the specific theory of true crime developed by Punnett, who provides genuine narrative codes (Justice, Subversive, Geographic, Forensic, Vocative, and Folkloric) for true crime to distinguish it from the formal conventions and social objectives of journalistic documentaries. The case study (El crimen de Alcàsser) was selected because of its potential to drive a detailed and in-depth study on one of the most traumatic crimes in the country’s recent history: the kidnapping, rape, torture, and killing of three teenagers in 1992. Findings: Several scholars have identified journalistic elements in true crime productions in the digital context, adopted in an attempt to distance them from the true crime tradition of appealing to primitive instincts. Although it has been perceived also as a renewed formula for journalism to reach a wide audience and mainstream success, it banishes journalism from its origin and goals: to guarantee the citizenship’s right to be truly informed about crime. In this way, journalistic documentaries inspired by real crimes may play a crucial role in a democratic society, while true crime only exploits the empathy of viewers and places them in the active participation of determining the suspect-protagonist’s guilt as a mode of “clickable” entertainment in the digital culture. Research limitations: This is the first in a series of studies within a broader research project on true crime documentaries released on the VOD platforms in Spain. The findings are, in this case, preliminary. The analysis needs additional testing before its utility can be reasonably determined and a theory about true crime made in Spain could be developed. Originality: First, there is no specific research in the field of true crime in Spain, although crime stories already enjoyed a prominent place in Spain’s conventional TV programming. Second, the Punnett analysis model introduces an interesting way to complement existing theoretical references about the connections between true crime and journalism.

This chapter presents a comparative study of the trends and patterns of communication and tourism research in Brazil and the United States over the last 20 years. Through a bibliometric analysis of the CAPES and EBSCO databases, the study identifies the main theoretical and methodological references, classifies the fundamental themes in the area, and describes the role of communication for tourism. The results indicate the predominance in North American scientific literature of research related to the image and the brand of the tourist destinations, as well as the measurement and the evaluation of the communicative strategies. On the other hand, Brazilian research presents a greater diversity of approaches: destination image studies, tourism consumption, tourist narrative analysis, identities, social networks, community-based tourism, sports, and ecological tourism, with an explicit recognition of the dangers of sexual objectification and dehumanization within tourism. The survey showed that the scientific community has a strong interest in this area, signaling a search for knowledge to deepen the conceptual understanding of the subject. Thus, this chapter provides insights regarding the opportunities and directions for the next decades of research in this field of study.

Purpose: This chapter highlights the experiences of domestic violence survivors and service providers, namely firefighters and police, during the pandemic in Guatemala. It includes an overview of violence types seen and experienced during the pandemic, contributing factors to domestic violence, an overview of why individuals may or may not leave their abusers, and why they may or may not report abuses to the authorities. Policy recommendations for supporting victims in the future are provided.

Methodology/Approach: A field-based approach along with snowball sampling techniques was utilized to contact and interview survivors, police, and firefighters. Using grounded theory, interview responses were then organized by research questions and coded into emergent themes.

Findings: Emotional, psychological, and physical violence were all experienced during the pandemic. While typical, these experiences often started before the pandemic. However, they grew in intensity, as individuals experienced various forms of stress and negative emotions while being locked down in the same household together. Domestic violence was also vicarious, impacting the whole family. Most left their abusers once the lockdown was lifted; however, many stayed due to financial insecurities. Others stayed due to a fear of not being able to see their children anymore. Similar justifications were given for why individuals did not report abuse to the authorities. While a few simply mistrusted the police and believed the law was not on their side, this was not the primary reason for not reporting domestic violence. However, they did believe that current laws and policies needed to provide better services, as the law was thought to support their abuser more than them.

Originality/Value: This study contributes to our knowledge of domestic violence during pandemics by expanding on previous research in Guatemala. It also highlights how various limitations and resources which are not addressed in non-pandemic times may result in exacerbating violence during future pandemics.