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In this study the authors examine whether bridge employees tend to hold non-standard jobs, and if so, whether non-standard job choice is deliberate. Moreover, the authors examine whether fulfillment of employment expectations affects the personal and work attitudes of bridge employees.

The authors' research and hypotheses are supported and developed through psychological contract theory. The authors collected data from 195 bridge employees, employed in a variety of jobs, through an online survey. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical multiple regression.

This study suggests that some bridge employees may engage in non-standard employment deliberately. Moreover, we show that fulfillment of perceived obligation by employers (psychological contract) is associated with personal and work attitudes (life satisfaction, job satisfaction, affective commitment, normative commitment and intentions to stay) of bridge employees.

While this study supports psychological contract theory as an important framework for understanding bridge employment, sample size, cross-sectional data and a lack of diversity in the sample limit causality, generalizability and data robustness. Future research should strive to replicate and extend the current findings.

The present study underlines the importance of designing jobs to meet the expectations of bridge employees. Also, it highlights the preference of bridge employees to engage in non-standard employment.

The authors extend bridge employment research by empirically examining the relationship between unmet employment expectations and the personal and work attitudes of bridge employees.

This research addresses the diverse characteristics of existing railway steel bridges in China, including variations in construction age, design standards, structural types, manufacturing processes, materials and service conditions. It also focuses on prominent defects and challenges related to heavy transportation conditions, particularly low live haul reserves and severe fatigue problems.

The study encompasses three key aspects: (1) Adaptability assessment: It begins with assessing the suitability of existing railway steel bridges for heavy-haul operations through comprehensive analyses, experiments and engineering applications. (2) Strengthening: To combat frequent crack defects in the vertical stiffener end structure of girder webs, fatigue performance tests and reinforcement scheme experiments were conducted. These experiments included the development of a hot-spot stress S-N curve for this structure, validating the effectiveness of methods like crack stop holes, ultrasonic hammering and flange angle steel. (3) Service life extension: Research on the cruciform welded joint structure (non-fusion transfer type) focused on fatigue performance over the long life cycle. This led to the establishment of a fatigue S-N curve, enhancing Chinese design codes.

The research achieved several significant outcomes: (1) Successful implementation of strengthening and retrofitting measures on a 64-m single-span double-track railway steel truss girder on an existing heavy-duty line. (2) Post-reinforcement, a substantial 26% to 32% reduction in live haul stress on bridge members was achieved. (3) The strengthening and retrofitting efforts met design expectations, enabling the bridge to accommodate vehicles with a 30-ton axle haul on the railway line.

This research systematically tackles challenges and defects associated with Chinese existing railway steel bridges, providing valuable insights into adaptability assessment, strengthening techniques and service life extension methods. Furthermore, the development of fatigue S-N curves and the successful implementation of bridge enhancements have practical implications for improving the resilience and operational capacity of railway steel bridges in China.

The objective of this study is to examine how emotions play a role in the firm’s reaction to disruptions in the supply chain. Drawing on the upper echelons theory, we evaluate whether managers’ perception of collective emotions (CEs) in the supply environment affects the execution of specific organisational responses (bridging and buffering) to disruptive events. Furthermore, we investigate to what extent companies' own capabilities, such as supply chain resilience, influence this relationship.

A web-based survey was distributed among managers involved in supply chain relationship management (e.g. supply chain or purchasing managers). LinkedIn was used to identify and contact adequate respondents, and 221 valid responses were collected. The proposed theoretical model was empirically tested using structural equation modelling based on partial least squares (PLS-SEM).

Results suggest that emotions can shape a firm's response to supply chain disruptions. In fact, managers are more likely to pursue both bridging and buffering strategies as their perception of CEs increases. However, the intensity and underlying motivations for pursuing each strategy differ.

When CEs are perceived by buyer managers, stronger supply chain resilience incentivises the choice of cooperative practices within existing suppliers, thereby reinforcing pre-existing links. We conclude that combining companies' inherent variables or capabilities with managerial cognition and perceptions can improve our understanding of decision-making processes and buyer–supplier relationships.

The purpose of the paper is to contribute to an understanding of the relational work carried out in mentoring programmes and the implications for learning capabilities in future practices.

This study is based on field research of a mentoring programme bringing together senior and newly graduated workers in a large Swedish health care organisation. In total, 54 qualitative interviews with mentors, mentees, HR, managers and union representatives are included.

The findings point to the role of trust and a psychological sense of community in the socialisation work that goes on in relationships between the mentor and the mentee. This in turn leads to increased social capital in the form of learning and retaining workers. The conditions for being vulnerable and asking questions, as well as daring to be independent, are an essential and decisive part of constructing bonding within the professional group and bridging out to other professions and parts of the organisation.

The practical contribution from this study is the workplace conditions that are central to organising mentoring programmes, with implications for learning capabilities in future practices.

With its theoretical focus on social capital, the study shows the importance of relationships for learning and retaining both newly graduated and experienced employees in a context of high employee turnover. It is central to achieving strong and mutually beneficial relationships through continual and trustful interaction between actors. By using the concepts of social capital, socialisation agents and psychological sense of community, this study contributes to an understanding of mentoring and workplace learning.

The purpose of this study is to investigate manufacturing industry leaders’ perspectives on the prevailing skills gap in the current Illinois workforce. The insights gained hold significant importance for the emerging generation of workers, helping them discern the essential proficiencies and plan their educational and career paths in response.

Guided by Becker’s (1962) human capital theory (HCT) framework, a qualitative study was conducted to identify the skills gap and explore the perspectives of manufacturing industry leaders. Fourteen industry leaders participated in this study, representing various occupational industries.

The findings underscore the prominence of the skills gap as perceived by manufacturing industry leaders, with notable aspects including limited durable skills and difficulty transitioning from content-based knowledge to practical skills.

The findings of this study can offer insights to researchers, scholars and practitioners in the field of human resource development, as well as to leaders in the manufacturing industry who aim to address the skills gap. Furthermore, this research can inform policy decisions and assist higher education institutions in preparing students for careers in the industry.

This paper aims to introduce an under-researched concept, travel medicine, to the hospitality field and proposes future research directions. This paper also highlights the need to acknowledge the missing link between hospitality and medical science and encourages research on the health of hotel guests, especially those with mental disorders.

By synthesizing relevant literature, this study proposes a conceptual framework focused on identifying and filling knowledge gaps between hospitality and medical science. Pathways for empirical research on hotel guests’ travel health are suggested accordingly.

This paper reveals that the topic of travel medicine has been neglected in hospitality, especially in relation to vulnerable hotel guests. Additionally, this study suggests that researchers should move beyond the confines of social science and conduct interdisciplinary hospitality studies. In-depth analyses of hotel guests’ health and safety are also recommended.

This conceptual piece serves as a “provocation” that is exploratory, thus laying a foundation for future interdisciplinary studies bridging hospitality and medical science. This paper offers practical significance for hospitality stakeholders (i.e. academics, practitioners, hotel guests and society) and also provides guidelines on how to create vulnerability-friendly hospitality environments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study takes an important step toward interdisciplinary research between hospitality and medical science through the lens of travel medicine. This paper offers insight to bridge these disciplines and extend hospitality research into medical science. This paper further identifies an under-investigated topic and feasible research avenues that can offer timely solutions for hospitality academics and practitioners.

The study aims to understand the meaning of event-based and place-based community practices, as well as the resulting social impacts.

An ethnomethodological approach was followed (participant observation and interviews were supplemented by secondary data), with the analysis being exploratory and interpretative.

The festival and the place reinforce the community’s social practices, which have impacts beyond the festival, benefiting individuals, the community and the place, becoming a means for valorisation and diffusion of the rural way of life, and placemaking.

In this study the authors focus on social practices in the context of an event and of a place (the village where the event occurs). The authors connect to theories of practice, which they apply in the analysis. The value of the study lies on the underlying mechanisms (how communities exercise social practices in the context of festivals, and what social impacts may lead to) rather than its context-dependent specific results.

National and regional authorities can play a role in providing local communities with adequate tools to overcome the challenges they encounter. This can be done by issuing appropriate (events) plans and policies while giving room for the locals to voice their opinions.

Community-based festivals are key social practices that can strategically impact placemaking, strengthening community bonding, forging connections with outsiders and promoting well-being practices that discourage rural depopulation.

There is a scarcity of research that deepens the understanding of the role of festivals in placemaking and their social impacts, particularly in the rural context. This study contributes to closing this gap by focussing on the social practices of a community-based festival in a village in the interior of Portugal.

This study aims to chart the impact of technological advancements on tourism from the post–Second World War era to the present and forecast their influence until 2050. It assesses how technologies have reshaped travel experiences and operations, with a focus on upcoming innovations such as the metaverse, Web 3.0 and AI, and their implications for sustainable and ethical tourism.

This study uses a hybrid approach, combining historical analysis and future projections. It analyzes archival data, industry reports and academic literature.

This study identifies crucial technological milestones that have significantly impacted tourism, including the rise of commercial aviation, the internet and AI. Future trends suggest emerging technologies will further transform the sector. Challenges in sustainability, ethics and inclusivity are highlighted as critical considerations for future development.

This paper offers a unique longitudinal perspective on technology’s influence on tourism, bridging past trends with future projections.

本研究采取混合方法, 融合历史分析与未来趋势预测。研究分析了丰富的档案数据、行业报告以及学术文献。

旨在勾勒从二战后至今技术进步对旅游业的影响, 并展望至2050年的潜在影响。本研究着重评估技术如何重塑旅游体验和运作, 特别是对元宇宙、网络3.0和人工智能等即将到来的创新技术及其对可持续和伦理旅游的意义。

识别了旅游业中关键的技术里程碑, 包括商业航空、互联网和人工智能的崛起。研究指出, 未来趋势显示新兴技术将继续深刻改变旅游业。同时强调, 可持续性、伦理和包容性是未来发展中不可忽视的关键要素。

本文从独特的纵向视角出发, 深入探讨了技术对旅游业的历史与未来影响, 将过去发展趋势与未来展望紧密结合。

Este estudio emplea un enfoque híbrido que combina el análisis histórico y las proyecciones de futuro. Analiza datos de archivo, informes del sector y bibliografía académica.

La investigación pretende trazar el impacto de los avances tecnológicos en el turismo desde la era posterior a la Segunda Guerra Mundial hasta la actualidad y prever su influencia hasta 2050. Evalúa cómo las tecnologías han reconfigurado las experiencias y las operaciones de viaje, centrándose en las próximas innovaciones como el Metaverso, la Web 3.0 y la IA, y sus implicaciones para un turismo sostenible y ético.

El estudio identifica hitos tecnológicos cruciales que han tenido un impacto significativo en el turismo, como el auge de la aviación comercial, Internet y la IA. Las tendencias futuras sugieren que las tecnologías emergentes transformarán aún más el sector. Los retos en sostenibilidad, ética e inclusividad se destacan como consideraciones críticas para el desarrollo futuro.

Este artículo ofrece una perspectiva longitudinal única sobre la influencia de la tecnología en el turismo, tendiendo un puente entre las tendencias pasadas y las proyecciones futuras.

The metaverse, which is now revolutionizing how brands strategize their business needs, necessitates understanding individual opinions. Sentiment analysis deciphers emotions and uncovers a deeper understanding of user opinions and trends within this digital realm. Further, sentiments signify the underlying factor that triggers one’s intent to use technology like the metaverse. Positive sentiments often correlate with positive user experiences, while negative sentiments may signify issues or frustrations. Brands may consider these sentiments and implement them on their metaverse platforms for a seamless user experience.

The current study adopts machine learning sentiment analysis techniques using Support Vector Machine, Doc2Vec, RNN, and CNN to explore the sentiment of individuals toward metaverse in a user-generated context. The topics were discovered using the topic modeling method, and sentiment analysis was performed subsequently.

The results revealed that the users had a positive notion about the experience and orientation of the metaverse while having a negative attitude towards the economy, data, and cyber security. The accuracy of each model has been analyzed, and it has been concluded that CNN provides better accuracy on an average of 89% compared to the other models.

Analyzing sentiment can reveal how the general public perceives the metaverse. Positive sentiment may suggest enthusiasm and readiness for adoption, while negative sentiment might indicate skepticism or concerns. Given the positive user notions about the metaverse’s experience and orientation, developers should continue to focus on creating innovative and immersive virtual environments. At the same time, users' concerns about data, cybersecurity and the economy are critical. The negative attitude toward the metaverse’s economy suggests a need for innovation in economic models within the metaverse. Also, developers and platform operators should prioritize robust data security measures. Implementing strong encryption and two-factor authentication and educating users about cybersecurity best practices can address these concerns and enhance user trust.

In terms of societal dynamics, the metaverse could revolutionize communication and relationships by altering traditional notions of proximity and the presence of its users. Further, virtual economies might emerge, with virtual assets having real-world value, presenting both opportunities and challenges for industries and regulators.

The current study contributes to research as it is the first of its kind to explore the sentiments of individuals toward the metaverse using deep learning techniques and evaluate the accuracy of these models.