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Networks linking tourist attractions or organizations are a major focus of tourism research. Despite extensive research on tourism networks, academic research on the spatial structure and formation of wine tourism networks is limited. This study aims to investigate the spatial structure and factors influencing the development of a network among Ningxia wineries, an emerging wine tourism destination in China.

This study uses social network analysis to uncover “what” the spatial structure of wine tourism networks looks like. Sixteen in-depth interviews were conducted among key stakeholders to explain the “why” of such structural characteristics.

The results show that in an emerging wine tourism destination, popular tourist attractions enjoy high centrality and hold key positions in the wine tourism network. Small wineries exhibit high closeness centrality, and only one winery serves as a network broker. According to the stakeholders, the importance of network actors will increase as their economic and political importance increase, while small wineries that lack differentiation in the network may perish.

Local governments can implement the suggested measures for improving network connections, and wineries are advised to find suitable positions to improve the experiences of tourists.

This study pioneers the identification of the distinct structure and factors influencing the network of an emerging wine tourism destination, thus enriching the understanding of the interplay and roles of different actors.

Although South African small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are supported by various initiatives from the government, only a limited number (3 per cent) of firms enter the international export arena. The paper briefly sketches the role of SMEs in South Africa and their involvement in exports. Based on primary data, the significance of different obstacles to trade in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) is discussed. The listing of obstacles and their significance supplies both enterprises and policy makers with crucial information with respect to regional exports. By addressing these obstacles, South African SMEs will be encouraged to increase their exports to neighbouring countries in the SADC.

Market share gain is one of the key objectives for all firms for seeking growth. It is also a fundamental aspect of competitive rivalry. The extant review of the literature points to a gap among market share performances of emerging market multinationals (EMNEs) firms, advanced economy multinationals (AMNEs) and local firms. The purpose of this study is to delineate and contrast the market share performance of EMNEs, AMNEs and local firms in Africa.

The study used available longitudinal data (2013–2022) of six industries across four African countries from Euromonitor Passport, a rich, proprietary database.

Applying contingency theory, the study shows that, over time, there is no clear-cut winner in all markets and industries. Rather, market share gain is contingent on country and industry settings in Africa. Empirical analysis demonstrates that high-tech EMNE firms operating in Africa will exceed those of high-tech AMNEs and local firms. The findings also show that local firms generally performed better during the pandemic.

As Africa is a region of interest for scholars and practitioners, critical international business (IB) research contributions in Africa have predominantly focused on foreign investments from a particular nation. The present study enriches the literature by comparing the market share performance of AMNEs, EMNEs and local firms in this important region – during and prepandemic. The study offers theoretical and managerial implications for understanding the long-term performance of these three types of firms.

This research is interested in how dynamics in negotiating cultural meanings in the globalizing market place in China become visible in one particular aspect of culture: colour culture. The purpose of this paper is to explore the provenance of some of the many potential meanings invested in colours in contemporary China, and how and why these influence international business, communication, design and marketing management in particular.

A qualitative empirical study with ambition for an emic cultural approach to Chinese colour culture. Narrative analysis of accounts by Chinese colour professionals participating in a focus group interview, and by individually interviewed managers with extensive experience in Sino‐Finnish business are reported in narrative format.

The findings support the proposed existence of a phenomenon which the author has named “Colour culture” – a cultural set of meanings that are invested in colours. Unexpectedly, the empirical study proposes a strong tendency towards these meanings being value based in China. Visual manifestations of cultural values appear to be dynamic and dependent on context.

The current study does not offer generalizable prescriptions for contextual colour usages. The explorative, qualitative nature of this study serves as a basis for contextual and quantifiable future research on the phenomenon.

Since, for the Chinese, colours manifest cultural values and are highly emotional, not only linguistic, but also visual translation of communication is needed. For international communication, design and marketing managers, this further implies a need for contextual understanding of local colour culture.

Recognizing the existence of colour culture and its value‐based proposition in China opens up new research avenues and practical considerations for cross‐cultural studies.

This paper aims to put Germany on par with other countries in terms of academic research on the topic of wine tourism from a producers’ perspective.

For this study, 199 in-depth interviews and 703 online questionnaires with winery operators in Germany were collected and analyzed according to a mixed-methods framework.

The results indicate that wine tourism is highly relevant not only for wineries but also for the families behind the predominantly small companies. The respondents reported increased demand for wine tourism activities, particularly those that are close to large cities. The findings show that the main challenges in the German wine tourism sector are to achieve a coordinated collaboration among stakeholders and to stop the ongoing concentration process in the restaurant industry.

Appropriate strategic decisions backed by governmental support may help to enhance Germany’s developing wine tourism industry, thereby preserving cultural heritage and strengthening some of the country’s structurally disadvantaged rural areas.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first mixed-methods framework study in the research field of wine tourism that includes producers from all wine regions in one country.

This article is a result of part of a doctoral study in the University of South Africa on the topic business information systems (BIS) design for Uganda's economic development: the case of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in northern Uganda conducted between 2004 and 2007. The study was conducted to establish the characteristics of the SMEs, business activities, business information needs and recommend the important business information needs required for BIS for poor country or region. It was carried out on the assumption that businesses in northern Uganda are lagging behind because of lack of a BIS that could facilitate efficient and effective business information access. This article aims to discuss this subject.

The descriptive survey research design was used to collect the required data using structured questionnaires and semi‐structured interview guide. A sample size of 251 SMEs, 75 information providers and 25 business policy makers in northern Uganda were used. Quantitative data obtained were analysed using Epi Info and SPSS while the qualitative data by use of content analysis technique.

The findings reveal that SMEs in northern Uganda have varying background and are engaged in diverse/varied business activities with varying business information needs that require a multifaceted approach in the provision of business information. The study recommends that a BIS unique to the SMEs in northern Uganda be designed to provide among others business legal information, business technical information, business economic information, business contacts information and business management skills information.

No research has been carried out on the business information activities and needs of SMEs in northern Uganda with a view to design BIS. The findings of the study will help to shape the planning and implementation of strategic interventions to transform northern Uganda using information as a catalyst for development.

This study is an inductive exploration of factors that are relevant to the inclusion and integration of immigrant workers in a Swedish workplace. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experiences of immigrant employees with other organisational actors at two senior nursing units in Sweden.

Results are drawn from the analyses of interviews with six female and three male immigrant nursing assistants living permanently in Sweden.

Trustful relationships with other organisational actors, during both formal and informal interactions, are considered essential facilitating inclusion of these immigrant workers. Immigrant workers experienced inclusion when they achieved language competence (or felt supported in their attempts to do so) and bridged cultural differences. The results also highlight conditions for interactions and leadership as factors influencing inclusion. In addition, inclusion implied acculturation or awareness of the values of native-born citizens.

The study suggests that immigrants’ relational dynamics with their colleagues are essential to inclusion, despite types of studies that focus mainly on the competences of leaders to manage diversity.

The results have implications for organisations’ development of a more democratic workplace with more inclusiveness and with satisfied employees.

The study gives voice to immigrant workers, which is rare in Swedish and international organisations that deal with the issue of immigrant integration in the workplace.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between demographics and an employee's understanding of and support for the recruitment of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups in a policing context. Design/methodology/approach – A multi‐method research approach was adopted where a postal survey, comprised of both closed and open questions, was distributed to 500 Victoria Police employees and yielded a response rate of 19.5 per cent.

The findings show that gender and higher education have significant relationships to understanding CALD and lead to significant support for the recruitment of CALD employees. Results show that the instrument utilized in this study was highly reliable with a Cronbach Alpha value of 0.802. Alpha values for “understanding” and “support” were 0.813 and 0.788, respectively. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of this study is that the findings are based on a pilot study with 97 responses.

The utility of the conceptual model generated in this study has practical implications and value as it is being implemented to assist Victoria Police in designing CALD policies, procedures and practices.

The paper proposes an empirical model showing demographics as critical determinants in understanding and support for CALD recruitment and retention in Policing. Furthermore, the conceptual model makes a significant contribution to the literature and advances Morris et al.'s model.

This paper aims to investigate the emerging relevance of gratitude within a contracted, long-term business-to-business context. Specifically, the authors examine the relationships between personality, gratitude and performance in franchisor–franchisee relationships.

A self-report survey was used to collect data from a sample of 225 franchisees drawn from across 28 franchise systems.

The results reveal that extraversion had a negative relationship with gratitude, while agreeableness and emotional stability were positively related to gratitude. Gratitude was also positively related to performance and mediated the relationship between extraversion, agreeableness and emotional stability and performance. Moreover, the results confirm that relationship length moderated the relationship between conscientiousness and gratitude.

The study shows that an individual’s personality is a factor in determining the onset of perceived gratitude, which acts as a mediating mechanism between personality and performance. This extends current research into the relational sentiment of gratitude, which has, to date, only examined the traits of the benefactor within the context of perceived benefits.

It is proposed that the knowledge of franchisees’ personal characteristics can be used to develop and maintain on-going interpersonal relationships between franchisees and franchisors. Moreover, the authors suggest that franchisors’ relationship strategy should be revised over time to maintain its effectiveness.

This paper represents the first empirical examination of the influence of personality on an individual’s proclivity to experience felt gratitude in a franchisor–franchisee relationship. This addresses one of the major issues in franchising research, which often overlooks the role of individual dispositional personality traits.

The objectives of this paper are to: examine the specific process that small entrepreneurial firms follow in their internationalization; identify the key influences on the entire process; and identify the process outcomes.

Four research questions are proposed to achieve the stated objectives. A cross‐industry, cross‐sectional survey involving a judgment sample of 1,900 small entrepreneurial firms that are engaged in international business was used. A total of 494 (26 per cent) usable responses were obtained. Correlation coefficients, frequency tables, factor analysis and discriminant analysis were used to analyse the data.

There are four micro‐processes that have a bearing on the shape and pace of the internationalization process. These relate to: accelerators, export barriers, selectors of intra‐stage foreign market development and foreign market outcomes. The paper concludes that, based on the internationalization experience of small entrepreneurial firms within Southern Africa, there is a common: set of influences on the process; preference for exporting; set of intra‐stage alternatives; and set of market outcomes that modify future internationalization. Therefore, there is a common integrated model of entrepreneurial firm internationalization.

Wide generalizations cannot be made because of the localized context of the research. Therefore, the usefulness of the research is limited to the Southern African region. Future research could perhaps test the Southern African entrepreneurial firm internationalization model in other environments to facilitate comparisons.

Entrepreneurial firms with international ambitions must emphasize an international orientation in their recruitment and training of key managerial staff, while policy‐makers need to sharpen the focus of their interventions on profiling individuals first, and firms second, while at the same time building mechanisms that sustain small to medium‐sized enterprises (SME) international business growth.

The paper addresses a knowledge gap in respect of the entrepreneurial firm internationalization process in the context of Southern Africa. This knowledge is of value to academics, SMEs and policy‐makers alike. The paper also provides an integrative conceptual framework and practical advice on how SME international business growth can be encouraged, given its importance to economic growth prospects within the Southern African region.