Search results

This paper addresses the issue of the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions within the information and communication technology (ICT) and engineering fields. The study examines the complex issue of vertical segregation and gender equality by exploring the barriers that women encounter and the potential coping strategies they adopt to advance in their careers.

The study employs a qualitative approach, conducting semi-structured interviews with 17 women at middle and upper management levels in the ICT and engineering sectors. This approach aims to better understand women's workplace experiences and gain deeper insights into the nature of the barriers they face.

The study identifies four main factors hindering women's progression toward senior management positions, namely working hours, work-family conflict, social role stereotypes and second-generation bias. The results also offer useful insights into the coping strategies adopted by women to overcome these barriers.

The study highlights the persisting underrepresentation of women in senior positions, indicating a societal and organizational lag in terms of inclusion and equity. It underscores the importance of developing effective policies to address the challenges faced by employees striving to balance their work and family commitments. Training is recognized as an important tool for raising awareness about gender stereotypes among employees and reducing second-generation bias.

This study provides valuable lessons derived from its findings, including potential strategies that organizations can implement to help women navigate and overcome workplace barriers in the ICT and engineering fields.

In recent years, the number of small independent tourism social enterprises has soared globally due to the rise of the Internet and tourists’ search for unique local experiences. These organizations are driven by a social purpose and have emerged as a reaction to conventional tourism development. They adopt a social justice approach with the aim to enhance community well-being. Importantly, they now exist as an accompaniment to the experiences provided by mainstream tourism that may not adequately satisfy the tourists’ quests for local, authentic, and high involvement experiences. This chapter reviews this independent operator context in Mauritius and examines the factors which contribute to meaningful local experiences.

Destination and resort managers have little knowledge regarding the Chinese outbound tourist market, yet its enormous potential cannot be overlooked. Providing services to this often unfamiliar segment can be difficult and may result in poor service delivery which can be detrimental to both enclave resorts and small island destinations, such as Mauritius. This study uses in-depth interviews among key informants from three- to five-star enclave resorts targeting Chinese tourists. The main challenges experienced by the resorts are cultural behavior, language barriers, different food habits, and the need to improve the service facilities and experience. Based on insights from industry practitioners, the study identifies service modifications provided by enclave resorts to provide Chinese tourists with a positive experience.

The aim of this paper is to examine educators' perceptions of service quality in secondary schools. Research into service quality in a secondary educational context is somewhat scant, and where investigations have been undertaken, very little has been conducted from the educators' perspectives.

A focus group was conducted to elicit attributes of service quality that were deemed important by educators of state secondary schools. The study utilises focus group findings and modifies the SERVQUAL to develop a research instrument, EDUSERV, which measures educators' expectations and perceptions of service quality in secondary schools in Mauritius.

Exploratory factor analysis was used to group the service attributes into latent “service factors” and the statements loaded on five factors. Consequently, the EDUSERV instrument was found to be reliable and valid to measure service quality in a secondary education environment. Regression analysis was also used to examine the relationship between quality dimensions and overall satisfaction.

This is the first stage of a comprehensive study, the model was tested only with educators in Mauritius, and this is the major limitation. Future research direction is desired for conducting the study using the same instrument on students and school management.

The research has important managerial implications as the findings will assist secondary school management and policy makers in identifying areas which require attention so as to improve the level of service quality in secondary education.

The paper presents a model which can be used to evaluate service quality in secondary education.

The purpose of this paper is to assess service quality of a call centre as perceived by its employees using the SERVQUAL model. It also aims to explore factors predicting front‐line employee satisfaction and behavioural intentions in a call centre. Behavioural intentions are to be measured in terms of employees' willingness to recommend the call centre and their intentions to stay.

Data were collected by field study in a particular call centre in Mauritius using a modified SERVQUAL questionnaire. The study explored both perception and expectation levels of front‐line employees. Using confirmatory factor analysis, the gap scores (performance minus expectation‐based model) were examined. Regression models were used to test the influence of the service quality dimensions on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.

Exploratory factor analysis uncovered three composite dimensions of call centre service quality: Assurance‐Empathy, Reliability‐Responsiveness, and Tangibles. The results for the regression model indicate that satisfaction is best predicted by tangibles, and intentions to stay and willingness to recommend are best predicted by reliability‐responsiveness.

Based on the results, service managers may consider measures in order to improve and diagnose service features in call centres.

The paper examines the structure and validity of the SERVQUAL model, given its wide use and criticism, and applies the model to an important set of related, yet distinct service organisations such as call centres.

In this chapter, the analysis-action nexus will be addressed by reviewing studies from across the chapters. The broad themes covered have included governance and sustainability, consumer benefits and experiences, and networking among entrepreneurs and associated opportunities. It is argued that addition to tourism intelligence often lies in improving communication, building trusted connections, and affirming local networks. A focus on the need for trust, the use of tools for insights, the value of identifying new trends, and understanding target markets, together with the usefulness of training and an appreciation of time, help smooth the journey along the long and winding road from analysis to action.

The objective of this study is to estimate leakages in tourism systems. More precisely, the study aims to investigate the sources of the annual requirements in the resorts and to identify the triggers for leakages in tourism systems in Zanzibar. It then seeks to explore the challenges that operators face when sourcing the inputs locally. Likewise the study seeks to trace the distribution channel of the tourists arriving in Zanzibar from generating markets.

Interviews involving 150 resorts were conducted during 2010 in the island of Unguja, where almost 97 percent of Zanzibar's resorts are found. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis were employed.

The findings reveal massive internal (import‐coefficient leakages) and external leakages that only 16 percent of the resort requirements are sourced within Zanzibar. Unreliable capacity in terms of quantity and quality of the local supplies are among the leading factors that trigger high leakages. Most resorts in Zanzibar are owned, managed and operated by non‐locals. Tourism in this archipelago is revolving around the beach product; whereby the direct charter inclusive tourists, mainly from Europe, dictate the tourism channels. Nevertheless, a number of tourists buy pre‐arranged tours to Zanzibar as an “add‐on” to their mainland Tanzania safaris.

This study lays out the case for the need for more local linkages in the supply chain by revealing the extent to which the accommodation sector depends upon imported as opposed to local goods and services. Practical strategies to minimize leakages are proposed.

An abundance of literature has been written on linkages and leakages in tourism in several destinations. The same amount of work has yet to be done in sub‐Saharan Africa. The choice of Zanzibar is therefore justified.