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In the competitive environment in which hospitality businesses exist, the quality of service is a vital mechanism used to achieve a competitive advantage. Quality is a difficult construct to quantify however the ability to measure quality is key to assessing whether or not the industry provides the service consumers desire. Consumers hold the key to business survival and success. The aim of this study was to investigate how closely consumer expectations of service, and manager and staff perceptions of consumer expectations matched. The SERVQUAL model was used to identify those dimensions of service deemed to be important in assessing service quality. The results show that there is a gap between managers’ perceptions of consumers’ expectations and actual consumers’ expectations. The main implication for the hospitality industry is for managers to develop strategies which will meet consumers’ expectations of service quality.

A survey of 12 residential homes assessed the nutritional balance of the meals selected and consumed by the elderly residents. With the increasing age of the population and the demand for professional care there is an increasing pressure on the professional caterer and carer to meet the nutritional needs of those in their care. However the ongoing concern over the safety of various foods and the requirement for residential homes to remain within budget can have an impact on the food offered to and consumed by the elderly person. The results show a general satisfaction by the consumer with the food supplied but the research indicates that the meals are not generally nutritionally balanced. The overall concern of the providers is to remain within budget and any nutritional balance of meals is obtained more by accident than as a planned policy. If this is an indication of the situation in Northern Ireland there is the possibility that throughout the United Kingdom there may be similar widespread imbalance in the nutritional provision to the older members of the population.

There has been increased interest in expanding the Medicare Prospective Payment System (PPS) to non-Medicare payers to provide incentives for hospitals to contain costs and to concentrate in those Diagnosis-Related Groups (DRGs) which they can provide efficiently. However, this should not force low-volume, low-cost payers to subsidize high cost payers and should not penalize low Length-of-Stay (LOS), low-cost hospitals. This article proposes a new method proportional pricing to expand PPS incentives to non-Medicare payers with equity for payers and hospitals. It would also allow all-payer rate setting and premium price competition among payers to coexist.

Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.

Blues music is in the midst of its second revival in popularity in roughly thirty years. The year 1960 can be identified, with some qualification, as a reference point for the first rise in international awareness and appreciation of the blues. This first period of wide‐spread white interest in the blues continued until the early seventies, while the current revival began in the middle 1980s. During both periods a sizeable literature on the blues has appeared. This article provides a thumbnail sketch of the popularity of the blues, followed by a description of scholarly and critical literature devoted to the music. Documentary and instructional materials in audio and video formats are also discussed. Recommendations are made for library collections and a list of selected sources is included at the end of the article.

Colgate‐Palmolive Co. has extended a system, originally used only for global succession‐planning, into a valuable expatriate knowledge database. The database contains information – made available throughout the company’s worldwide network – on each manager’s experience or awareness of different cultures.

This case followed Todd Duncan, Chairman of Duncan Aviation, as he considered which international locations Europe, Latin America, or Asia were most important in positioning Duncan to benefit from continued internationalization of the maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) industry. The company had the option to hire Regional Managers to actively manage these areas, recruiting new customers and building relationships with existing ones. The case provides students with an opportunity to identify the core competencies of a company, and to recognize ways in which employee engagement contributes to Duncan's core competencies. Optionally, the case may be used to introduce students to Dunning's eclectic paradigm.

The research for this case was obtained from a combination of primary research, secondary research, and personal experiences. One of the research assistants for this case was employed at the company for over two years, and reflections thus obtained, supported with supplementary research, enriched and deepened the paper. Duncan's Debrief magazine and news releases were important secondary sources, in addition to industry web sites, industry journal articles, reference books, and newspaper articles.

This case is intended to be taught in undergraduate international business or marketing courses.

This case is an illustration of the complexity, and strategic importance, of considering whether, and how, to build customer relationships outside the firm's home country. Such decisions confront many companies facing increasingly global industry environments. The eclectic paradigm, developed by John Dunning, explains why companies expand and participate in international markets.

In the future, library applications related to traditional functions may increasingly assume some of the roles and characteristics of archives and museums. In this article, the author describes fundamental archival concepts and theories and their evolution in recent times. Basic archival functions—appraisal, arrangement, description, reference, preservation, and publication—are also introduced. Finally, early applications of automation to archives (including SPINDEX, NARS‐5, NARS‐A‐1, MARC AMC, presNET, CTRACK, PHOTO, and DIARY) and automation trends for the future are discussed. The article presents a cogent introduction to archival operations, thereby providing 1) a basis for understanding distinctions between current archival and library practices and 2) insight concerning the possible convergence of selected roles and functions.

In most portfolio performance studies, a reference portfolio is used to assess the performance of a portfolio manager. The choice of an appropriate reference portfolio is essential to yield a fair and unbiased evaluation of the manager. In the following analyses, category‐based benchmarks are assessed against established benchmarks to evaluate, which alternative accurately evaluates a portfolio manager's performance. The results indicate that the category‐based benchmarks are more appropriate comparison reference for evaluating the systematic risk of equity portfolios and equity security returns.