‘Thus, you are going to see a retreat by American companies overseas. Unless a business can stand the test of profitability it is not going to be expanded and, indeed, it might be…
Victor Matthews, Trafalgar House Investments' managing director, turned an unremarkable early career in building into that of a millionaire tycoon. Kenneth Gooding of the…
Abstract
Victor Matthews, Trafalgar House Investments' managing director, turned an unremarkable early career in building into that of a millionaire tycoon. Kenneth Gooding of the Financial Times talks to him about his meteoric rise, embarked on only 10 years ago.
The paper presents an investigation into the validity and robustness of the concept of competitive productivity (CP) using linguistic analysis and theory to explore the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper presents an investigation into the validity and robustness of the concept of competitive productivity (CP) using linguistic analysis and theory to explore the foundational CP concepts and the relationships between them.
Design/methodology/approach
The aim of this paper is to make a theoretical contribution to the conceptualisation of CP in order to inform its understanding, measurement and application.
Findings
The investigation indicates the relevance of three dimensions (instantiation, stratification and system) to understand CP as a complex, multidimensional system. Instantiation both clarifies CP as a multilevel system and highlights the need for an additional dimension(s) to understand the relationship between national, firm and individual CP (NCP, FCP and ICP). In combination, the two dimensions of stratification and system model CP as a series of nested strata (theory/models, concepts, constructs, variables and measures) through which marketing and management theory and knowledge is created and demonstrate how the options at each level can be articulated as system networks.
Research limitations/implications
Managing the complexity of CP by mapping different aspects along different dimensions and, in doing so, better understanding the nature of and relationships between different phenomena within the domain can potentially inform future qualitative and quantitative research in business studies and beyond.
Originality/value
The paper uses a novel, interdisciplinary approach to demonstrate the existence of CP as a complex, multidimensional system, where such dimensions inform the understanding, measurement and application of CP, and so is of value to marketing and management researchers and practitioners.
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Keywords
Fangfang Shi, Da Shi, David Weaver and Carla Estefania Samaniego Chavez
This research aims to explore the strategies and tactics taken by five-star hotels to create and sustain competitiveness at difficult times, the role of innovation among the…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to explore the strategies and tactics taken by five-star hotels to create and sustain competitiveness at difficult times, the role of innovation among the initiatives taken and the factors that influence managers’ decision in selection of coping measures.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted in two stages. The first stage focused on textual analysis of online news reports on luxury hotels’ coping strategies taken between 2013 and 2018. At the second stage, expert interviews were carried out with 25 managers of five-star hotels to obtain richer information of hotels’ responsive measures. The qualitative data were analyzed by thematic analysis.
Findings
The results revealed that five-star hotels in China made adjustment in physical resource management, human resource management, marketing mix, operation process and external relations to maintain competitiveness during difficult times. A model of hotel resilience was developed based on the findings. Innovation was imbedded in the responsive measures throughout these areas. Managers’ selection of coping measures was affected by the hotel’s organizational culture, location, brand image and competitors.
Practical implications
The model of hotel resilience serves as a useful reference to plan and select strategies and tactics to respond to similar external challenges. Hotel managers are recommended to embrace a variety of innovations directed at both internal management and customer service during challenging times.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical research that systematically examines the measures taken by hotels during critical times to maintain competitiveness, linking these to contemporary post-Fordist operational trends.
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In the present age the devising and formulation of standards play a steadily increasing part in the various activities one could describe, however loosely, as having a technical…
Abstract
In the present age the devising and formulation of standards play a steadily increasing part in the various activities one could describe, however loosely, as having a technical (or technological) aspect or basis; it would be unjust, perhaps, to suggest that to some people the fixing and imposing of standards might seem to be almost an end in itself. While control and controls of almost any kind cannot fail to irritate the individual on occasion, it is, of course, very proper, and indeed inevitable, that they should continue to multiply as modern life grows more complicated; more and more regulation of detail becomes necessary as the machine, using the word in its widest sense, becomes more intricate and thus more liable to be put out of order by minor faults of design or usage.
Inspectors visiting districts in connection with the Foreign Meat and Unsound Food Regulations have made detailed inquiries in certain instances in regard to local methods of…
Abstract
Inspectors visiting districts in connection with the Foreign Meat and Unsound Food Regulations have made detailed inquiries in certain instances in regard to local methods of administration of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts. Special visits for this purpose have also been made to other districts where inquiry appeared to be specially called for. In the course of these inquiries it was found that in some instances the public analyst had made a report to his local authority on some special investigation which had been undertaken in the district respecting a particular article of food, but that copies of such report had not always reached the Board. During an inquiry in the county of Cheshire Dr. Coutts ascertained that the county analyst had made valuable reports in regard to butter and Cheshire cheese of which the Board were unaware. Reports of this nature are of much interest to this sub‐department, and it would be of advantage if local authorities would send to the Board copies of all special reports made by the public analyst.
At the seventeenth ordinary meeting of the Royal Society of Arts, on Wednesday, April 17, 1912, DR. RUDOLF MESSEL, President of the Society of Chemical Industry, in the chair, a…
Abstract
At the seventeenth ordinary meeting of the Royal Society of Arts, on Wednesday, April 17, 1912, DR. RUDOLF MESSEL, President of the Society of Chemical Industry, in the chair, a paper on “Municipal Chemistry” was read by MR. J. H. COSTE, F.I.C. The following résumé of the points of interest to readers of the BRITISH FOOD JOURNAL is published by kind permission of the author and of the Royal Society of Arts:—
Tessa Withorn, Jillian Eslami, Hannah Lee, Maggie Clarke, Carolyn Caffrey, Cristina Springfield, Dana Ospina, Anthony Andora, Amalia Castañeda, Alexandra Mitchell, Joanna Messer Kimmitt, Wendolyn Vermeer and Aric Haas
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents recently published resources on library instruction and information literacy, providing an introductory overview and a selected annotated bibliography of publications covering various library types, study populations and research contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces and annotates English-language periodical articles, monographs, dissertations, reports and other materials on library instruction and information literacy published in 2020.
Findings
The paper provides a brief description of all 440 sources and highlights sources that contain unique or significant scholarly contributions.
Originality/value
The information may be used by librarians, researchers and anyone interested in a quick and comprehensive reference to literature on library instruction and information literacy.
Details
Keywords
This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE)applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metalforming, non‐metal forming and powder…
Abstract
This paper gives a review of the finite element techniques (FE) applied in the area of material processing. The latest trends in metal forming, non‐metal forming and powder metallurgy are briefly discussed. The range of applications of finite elements on the subjects is extremely wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore the aim of the paper is to give FE users only an encyclopaedic view of the different possibilities that exist today in the various fields mentioned above. An appendix included at the end of the paper presents a bibliography on finite element applications in material processing for the last five years, and more than 1100 references are listed.