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This study aims to evaluate casino-hotel visitors’ tourism experiences which consist of multiple dimensions, and test their joint effects on visitors’ positive emotions and satisfaction. The findings are expected to reveal how multi-dimensional tourism experiences could shape visitors’ positive emotions, and empirically support positive emotions as the mediator between tourism experiences and satisfaction in the context of casino hotels.

A quantitative survey was conducted for this study. In all, 500 valid questionnaires were collected at four major casino hotels in Macao. Respondents were Chinese tourists who visited casino hotels in June. A structural model was developed and tested to understand the relationships between multi-dimensional tourism experiences, positive emotions and satisfaction.

Positive emotions were identified as “light pleasure” and “intense fun” emotions based on the context-specific measurement of casino hotels. The “light pleasure” emotions were found to be more effective in influencing respondents’ satisfaction than “intense fun” emotions. Different dimensions of tourism experiences were found to have different levels of impact on respondents’ positive emotions. The findings revealed how multi-dimensional tourism experiences influenced respondents’ positive emotions which in turn determined their satisfaction.

The findings advanced the understanding of the relationships between tourism experiences, positive emotions and satisfaction in the context of casino hotels. The two types of positive emotions identified in the study add values to the literature of casino-hotel visitors and emotional experiences. This study suggests a further investigation into the scope and measurement of each dimension of tourism experiences in different tourism settings in future research. The findings provided some practical suggestions for the management of positive emotions and tourism experiences in casino hotels.

Independent of the size of the company, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system can either boost or doom a company, if implemented successfully or unsuccessfully. There is a great deal of supporting evidence from the literature, mainly from large manufacturing and service organisations. This article adopts a case study approach to investigate the selection and im plementation activities in a manufacturing company in Greece focusing mainly on production management aspects. The goal is to provide insight into the ERP functionality with respect to production and thus the selection of an actual business case proves how the enterprise successfully implemented and integrated such a system, highlighting the processes used, the obstacles faced and how they were overcome, as well as the gains achieved. Finally, it provides useful information and practical suggestions that may help production managers and users to get a better understanding of how to deploy such systems.

Can Lean Manufacturing principles, that are suitable for capital‐intensive manufacturing in the U.S., be applied to a labor‐intensive textile firm in China? Data were collected from a family‐owned manufacturing plant, Orient Hand bag Ltd., in Fujian, China, and an Arena™ simulation model was developed to answer this question. The results indicate that, by applying Lean principles, Orient’s production efficiency for one of its most troublesome textile products could be im proved. Similarly, are these Lean principles suitable for other labor‐intensive industries in developing countries?

Despite significant investment in capital improvements and training, a rod mill suffered from chronically low productivity. The authors conducted a survey to measure employee satisfaction and to determine the correlation between employee satisfaction and productivity. The study found a correlation between average job satisfaction, low motivation and the resulting low productivity. A direct correlation was also found between low productiity and poor communication between management, supervisors and employees. The article offers recommendations to improve productivity by increasing employee involvement and communication.

This paper presents the outcomes of a study of the choice of location for distribution centres in logistics operations. A conceptual frame work of location selection for distribution centre is worked out through three main stages. At the first stage, a general geographical area for distribution centre is identified based on the Centre of Gravity principle, taking into consideration socio‐economic factors. The second stage of the selection process involves the identification of alternative locations for the distribution centre and the airports and seaports to be used for in bound and out bound cargo flows within the defined general geographical area. The third stage focuses on specific site selection among the identified alternative locations for the distribution centre based on the quantitative approach. This involves a mathematical model which aims to optimise either the total distribution cost or the integration of total distance transport with given relevant volumes of cargo. In order to illustrate the conceptual frame work, a case study of a logistics service provider will be provided. Data from the case study proved that the conceptual framework for selection is valid and can be of value to logistics companies in their operations and management.

Singapore devotes less than 4% of its GDP to healthcare in part because its average citizen is young. As the country has become developed, the birth rate has fallen, life‐expectancy has lengthened and the cost of care has shown signs of escalation. This has occurred despite the extensive cost‐control measures built into the mandatory system of medical savings and the opt‐in supplement of medical insurance. The threat of care inflation is that much greater because of Singapore’s attempt to position itself as a regional treatment hub, because of rising incomes and expectations, and because of a shortage of doctors and nurses which is driving wages up. Old age is contributing to the problem but, the article shows, is not the only cause.

This monograph contains abstracts from the 2005 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference Cardiff Business School, Cardiff University, 6‐7th September 2005

While research on outcome‐based control systems (and rewards) have been shown to lead to unethical behaviour, the same cannot be said when the research focuses on specific outcome‐based control systems. Both the positive and negative research focused on the effects of moderators on the outcome‐based control system and unethical behaviour link. The relationship was dependent on ethical climate, personality traits, and internal communications. While research yielded a slightly positive result, it was shown that ethical climate was likely a stronger contributor to ethical behaviour. The influence of client fee expectations, the influence of an audit program and unethical auditor behaviour was examined. Further research was necessary to see how people of different ages responded in terms of ethics. While the empirical research did not provide a complete positive link between outcome‐based control systems and unethical behaviour, it did show that the relationship could exist and was dependent often upon other factors, such as the ethical environment of the organisation. The purpose of this article was not to show that outcome‐based control systems are always going to drive employees to behave unethically, but that these systems can lead to unethical behaviour.

Die Empfehlung an die Verantwortlichen in Fremdenverkehrsorten und ‐regionen, zur Abwendung weiterer Marktanteilsverluste ein innovatives Marketing zu betreiben, stösst häufig auf Ablehnung oder Resignation bei den Betroffenen. Es wird eingewendet, die von der Betriebswirtschaftslehre für Konsumgüterproduzenten entwickelten Marketinginstrumente könnten nicht einfach auf den Fremdenverkehr übertragen werden. Die Fremdenver‐kehrsstellen (Verkehrsämter, Kurverwaltungen, regionale Fremdenverkehrsverbände) hätten z.B. keinen Einfluss auf die Produktgestaltung der örtlichen Leistungsträger, sie würden nur eine koordinierende Funktion ausüben und allenfalls Werbung für den Fremdenverkehrsort oder die ‐region betreiben. Tatsächlich ist der Bereich des Binnen‐marketings (auch intramulares Marketing oder Innenmarketing genannt) im Fremdenverkehr durch besondere Schwierigkeiten gekennzeichnet. Das “Produkt” Fremdenverkehrsort oder Kurort umfasst stets ein ganzes Leistungsbündel, für dessen Herstellung viele “Produzenten” verantwortlich sind. Die Besonderheiten des Marketings im Fremdenverkehr ergeben sich deshalb vor allem aus der Tatsache, dass Marketing in Erholungsorten, Kurorten, Heilbädern und Städten sowie in Fremdenverkehrsregionen in der Praxis stets Gerne in schaftsmarketing ist. Um erfolgreiches Marketing nach aussen betreiben zu können, er‐weist es sich im Fremdenverkehr als notwendig, zuerst eine Konzeption für das Marketing nach innen (Binnenmarketing) zu erarbeiten. Für jeden Fremdenverkehrsort gilt: “Marketing begins at home”.

Given the in creasing globalisation of economies, a growing number of marketing firms are expecting more of their profits to be derived from international sales. However, failure to account for or understand the effects of differences in consumers' cultural values on decision‐making will hinder a marketer's efforts to expand internationally. Using samples of Middle‐eastern and US consumers, the study found cultural values and consumer ethical beliefs to be significantly different between the two groups. In addition, these cultural values explained a significant part of the variation in consumer ethical beliefs in both cultures.