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The purpose of this study is to identify the progress of research of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the restaurant industry. More specifically, this paper reviews the main academic contributions from the area of hospitality and tourism over the past 18 years by addressing the adoption and implementation of ICT in restaurant activities.

This study analyses 68 full-length ICT research articles that were published in the period 2000-2018 in 29 journals (with Science Journal Citation Reports or Scimago Journal Rankings impact) and eight subject areas.

The review reveals a number of significant findings. It highlights the scarcity of contributions within academic research related to the area of hospitality and tourism focused on addressing the issue of ICT in restaurants. Moreover, and predictably, several dimensions clearly emerge from the consumer and supply perspectives as being the most prominent. On the one hand, the adoption of ICT has changed the behaviour of consumers in at least three dimensions: information search and evaluation of alternatives purchase decision and post-purchase behaviour. On the other hand, ICT has revolutionised the core business areas of restaurants by dramatically transforming the following areas: operational and strategic management, marketing and Web design, customer services, security, food and nutrition and human resources.

Given the fact that ICT in the restaurant industry remains a largely unexplored subject, this paper can offer a useful tool for researchers who pursue advances in this field, by providing an overview that outlines the main aspects that need further research.

本文旨在研究饭店行业信息通信系统（ICT）的发展进程。确切地说, 本文审阅过去18年中酒店旅游领域的主要文献, 关于饭店行业使用和执行ICT的研究。

本文样本为2000-2018年出版在29个期刊（带有JCR或者SJR影响因子）的68篇ICT文献。其文献涵盖8大学科领域。

本文研究结果表明, 目前酒店旅游文献中针对饭店行业ICT应用的文章还是很少。此外, 关于消费者和供应商角度的研究成为最显著的研究方向。一方面, ICT影响消费者行为至少从三个方向上：信息搜索、购买决策的备择方案评估、以及购买后行为。另一方面, ICT颠覆了饭店主营业务从以下几个方面：运营和战略管理、营销和网页设计、消费服务、安保、食品和营养、以及人力资源。

基于事实ICT在饭店行业仍处于未研究领域, 本文为相关领域学者提供了一个有力工具, 对相关领域进行梳理并对未来研究领域做出启示。

The purpose of this paper is to examine both the sources of competitiveness of small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) in the services industry measured by their capability to grow, and the relative importance of each of these sources. More specifically, the resources and capabilities of Spanish SMEs in the services industry that may become sources of competitive advantage are analysed.

In order to achieve this objective, this paper is organized as follows. First, a concise overview of prior research on determinants of performance of SMES is provided, outlining the role of factors regarding resources and capabilities. Second, a set of lineal regression models are performed to test the hypothesis research. In line with several previous studies, competitive success and performance of the company are approached through the recent evolution of firms in terms of employment, turnover and productive investment. The data set comes from a survey on Spanish SMEs operating in the services industry that was carried out between the end of 2010 and the beginning of 2011.

The findings reveal that entrepreneur characteristics, firm features and managerial attributes have significant effect on the business performance. The results from the empirical analysis indicate that competitive success of the Spanish SMEs in the service industry is conditioned by macroeconomic and social factors related to the general business environment and especially by business factors concerning the entrepreneurial orientation of the firm, these findings are consistent with those of earlier research conducted at both an international level a national level.

The fundamental contribution of SMEs to the overall performance of the economy constitutes a crucial motive for researchers to investigate and examine the key success factors behind these enterprises. This issue has been analysed exhaustively for the manufactured goods industry, but has scarcely been addressed for the services industry. Thus, further research is needed to clarify the variables explaining survival and success for services SMEs. Furthermore, since this research is focused on the microeconomic level, by considering the firm as the unit of analysis, it contributes towards complementing previous research on this topic that has been conducted from a macroeconomic approach. Thus it attempts to provide certain empirical evidences for support the traditional academic debate between economic and administrative disciplines concerning the appropriate unit of analysis for the understanding and explanation of businesses competitiveness.

The reality with many developing countries is that the countries have failed to create enough jobs for the poor and vulnerable. Under such circumstances, vulnerable employment plays a critical role in providing earning opportunities to people who are unemployed and determining the economic and social progress of such economies. The study aims to examine the possible non-linear relationship between vulnerable employment and growth in light of this background.

The study employed five-yearly averaged data of 73 developing countries for the period 2000–2019. The empirical analysis is performed using the dynamic panel data analysis and the two-step system generalised method of moments (GMM) approach. The estimations are run separately for male, female and total vulnerable employment. The threshold levels are obtained using Sasabuchi (1980) and Lind and Mehlum (2010) (SLM) test. Several sensitivity checks are performed to validate the results.

The findings of the study suggest a non-linear U-shaped relationship between vulnerable employment and growth. Thus, a positive association between vulnerable employment and growth is witnessed at higher levels of vulnerable employment. At lower levels, the relationship is negative. Threshold levels for male, female and total vulnerable employment are 46.80%, 49.29 and 50.94%, respectively. Therefore, vulnerable employment beyond the threshold levels is found to be positively associated with growth.

Countries below the threshold level of vulnerable employment should understand why these workers are not able to contribute to the growth despite working so hard. If any socio-economic barriers hinder their contribution towards growth, such barriers require greater policy attention. Countries with vulnerable employment levels above the threshold level should recognise the contributions of these workers towards the growth and actively support them in increasing their economic contribution. In either case, given the precarious circumstances under which these workers work and the pittance earnings, policy interventions aimed at ensuring decent working conditions and better earnings for these workers are encouraged.

The current study is the first one to examine the relationship between vulnerable employment and growth to the best of the author's knowledge. As such, it makes novel contributions to the literature on development policy.

The purpose of this paper is to consider an expanded vision of professional development for embedding education for sustainability (EfS) in a higher education institution. Through an exploration of a community of practice at the University of Tasmania, this paper examines how collaborative peer learning can sustain and promote continued professional development for staff in higher education who are committed to EfS as an educational paradigm.

This research was conducted through a mixed methods investigation that involved participant observation and semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Data were analysed and grouped into themes that are discussed in the paper.

This research reveals that personal values and professional identity were the two driving factors for continued engagement in a collaborative peer learning initiative. Despite institutional challenges and a lack of success of growing membership in the community of practice, participants found a level of job satisfaction and personal connection to the initiative and to each other that has sustained action and impact for this group.

This work contributes an alternative voice to the professional development discussion around EfS. While most professional development activities are aimed at transferring knowledge to individuals and groups that are identified to lack awareness or capacity in a topic, this work highlights the need to include and foster safe learning spaces for continued professional learning. Particular attention is paid to the value of peer learning to support the professional development of sessional staff engaged in EfS.

The increased demand for high-quality, nutritionally rich processed food has led to non-thermal food processing technologies like high pressure processing (HPP), a novel process for microbial inactivation with minimal loss of nutritional and sensory properties. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of HPP on the microbiological, nutritional and sensory properties of food.

Recent research on the role of HPP in maintaining food quality and safety and the impact of process conditions with respect to various food properties have been explored in this paper. Also, the hurdle approach and the effectiveness of HPP on food quality have been documented.

HPP has been verified for industrial application, fulfilling the consumer demand for processed food with minimum nutrition loss at low temperatures. The positive impact of HPP with other treatments is known as the hurdle approach that enhances its impact against microorganism activity and minimizes the effects on nutrition and sensory attributes.

This paper highlights the impact of HPP on various food properties and a good alternative as non-thermal technology for maintaining shelf life, sensory properties and retention of nutrients.

Heavy rainfall is one of the main causes of the degradation of historic rammed Earth architecture. For this reason, ensuring the conservation thereof entails understanding the factors involved in these risk situations. The purpose of this study is to research three past events in which rainfall caused damage and collapse to historic rammed Earth fortifications in Andalusia in order to analyse whether it is possible to prevent similar situations from occurring in the future.

The three case studies analysed are located in the south of Spain and occurred between 2017 and 2021. The hazard presented by rainfall within this context has been obtained from Art-Risk 3.0 (Registration No. 201999906530090). The vulnerability of the structures has been assessed with the Art-Risk 1 model. To characterise the strength, duration, and intensity of precipitation events, a workflow for the statistical use of GPM and GSMaP satellite resources has been designed, validated, and tested. The strength of the winds has been evaluated from data from ground-based weather stations.

GSMaP precipitation data is very similar to data from ground-based weather stations. Regarding the three risk events analysed, although they occurred in areas with a torrential rainfall hazard, the damage was caused by non-intense rainfall that did not exceed 5 mm/hour. The continuation of the rainfall for several days and the poor state of conservation of the walls seem to be the factors that triggered the collapses that fundamentally affected the restoration mortars.

A workflow applied to vulnerability and hazard analysis is presented, which validates the large-scale use of satellite images for past and present monitoring of heritage structure risk situations due to rain.

This study investigates the relationships between environmental, social, and governance (ESG) controversies and insolvency risk in the insurance sector. Drawing from legitimacy and stakeholder theories, the authors explore the impact of ESG controversies on insurers’ insolvency risk and the moderating effect of ESG practices on this relationship.

This study utilises a dataset comprising 120 stock insurance firms spanning from 2011 to 2022. The authors employed system-GMM estimations to control for potential endogeneity and conducted several robustness checks.

ESG controversy positively influences insurers’ insolvency risk, with ESG practices mitigating these positive effects. The Governance (G) component of ESG practices plays a key role in counteracting the effects of ESG controversies on insurance companies’ insolvency risk.

This is the first study to investigate the direct relationship between ESG controversies and insolvency risk in the insurance industry. It underscores the critical influence of stakeholders’ perceptions of the company’s legitimacy, which is determined by the number of ESG controversies undertaken by the insurer company, on its insolvency risk. Additionally, by examining the three components of ESG practices individually, the authors offer insights into how managers can gain a competitive edge, particularly by utilising governance practices as safeguards against the adverse effects of ESG controversies on their financial risk.