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1 – 10 of over 1000Kari-Pekka Tampio and Harri Haapasalo
The purpose of this paper is to identify the areas and logic of integration of different stakeholders using different methods and to analyse their applicability and challenges in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the areas and logic of integration of different stakeholders using different methods and to analyse their applicability and challenges in practical projects. The main aim is to describe how these different methods impact value creation.
Design/methodology/approach
Action design research was carried out in a large hospital construction project where the first author acted as an “involved researcher” and the second author acted as an “outside researcher”. Two workshops were organised to evaluate the direct and indirect challenges and benefits of the applied four methods and to explain how different methods enable value creation.
Findings
All the studied methods provide good results in terms of usability and commitment to the aims of the project, thus delivering the direct benefits expected. Process, people and tools logic works well in this case project when applying the methods properly. Significant evidence was provided on secondary deliverables of the methods, and all analysed methods had a significant impact in the area of leading people, clarifying what “focus on people” means and how it is enabled.
Practical implications
Focus on people can be achieved through different operative methods if applied in the right way. It is necessary to select the most suitable methods based on all the direct and indirect deliverables.
Originality/value
This case project offered a platform to analyse integration methods in a real-life project using the collaborative contract method. The authors were able to participate in the analysis by taking action from the very beginning of the project in terms of training, learning, continuous development and coaching of these methods and evaluating the applicability.
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Vaishali Kaushal and Rajan Yadav
Despite the severe impact of the COVID-19, Maldives was one of the top destinations which witnessed decent tourist arrival amid the pandemic. This study aims to analyze luxury…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the severe impact of the COVID-19, Maldives was one of the top destinations which witnessed decent tourist arrival amid the pandemic. This study aims to analyze luxury hospitality experiences of guests amid COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study is exploratory in nature. This study analyses 4,302 real-time customer reviews using sentiment and thematic analysis with the help of NVIVO 12 plus and Leximancer.
Findings
The findings suggest travel products as well as services associated with luxury resorts needs to be revisited. Staff needs to be more professional and must be proactive while redesigning services specially in situations like pandemic. While redesigning services in situations like pandemic, staff needs to be proactive, professional and must follow all protocols. Major negative experiences included long waiting time to avail frill services, privacy intrusion by bloggers and influencers, service quality issues. We recommend enhancing service quality followed by investing more in training and development, increasing the number of foreign languages spoken by staff and disseminating localized culinary experiences will enhance the experience quality with guests.
Research limitations/implications
This study has several limitations: first, this study limited itself to 15 luxury resorts of Maldives, which may not serve as a true representation of all luxury resorts of Maldives. The next limitation of this study is that the authors have collected customer reviews from TripAdvisor only, and the reviews were only in English language.
Practical implications
The findings of the research can be beneficial for the policymakers, hospitality practitioners and academicians who study luxury tourism industry to carve appropriate strategies for enhancing the customers’ luxury experience like leveraging customization in all areas and enhancing service quality, food quality, training and development of employees.
Originality/value
Maldives has become one of the most expensive traveler destinations and is home to world’s most expensive resorts. This study is original in nature and has a forward-looking approach which studies the disruptive effect of pandemic, intangible nature of luxury as a concept can be used by hospitality industry to redesign the luxury customer experience which can improve marketing strategies aiming to potentiate this niche. In addition, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study will be the first one to capture the real customer experiences of luxury resorts of Maldives.
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Asmaa Bouaamri and Ágnes Hajdu Barat
This article discusses the public library system in Morocco, compiling the available information tackling the historical background of public libraries and their early work and…
Abstract
Purpose
This article discusses the public library system in Morocco, compiling the available information tackling the historical background of public libraries and their early work and the system that has been adopted during and after colonial periods. The main purpose of the study is to shed light on the present situation of the public library system in Morocco and also to further identify some of the recurrent issues in the public library system in Morocco.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors relied on a literature review as a theoretical reference in order to study and extract the available studies done previously on the Moroccan system for public libraries.
Findings
Public libraries in Morocco face various issues such as lack of available data and research, lack of appropriate funds, education in the field of library and information sciences, low rate of reading culture within the country and the high rate of illiteracy, all of which obstruct the development of Moroccan librarianship. There is a necessary reform need and action in order to help in the development of libraries in the country.
Originality/value
This paper is the first paper that discussed the state of public libraries in Morocco and that draws and highlights the importance of public libraries in relation with the country's development.
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Nicolas Dupont, the owner of Chateau de Montana, a struggling (and old) boutique hotel in Crans-Montana Ski Resort, Switzerland, wished to renovate and reposition his family-owned…
Abstract
Nicolas Dupont, the owner of Chateau de Montana, a struggling (and old) boutique hotel in Crans-Montana Ski Resort, Switzerland, wished to renovate and reposition his family-owned hotel to target higher room rates. Dupont commissioned Olga Mitireva and Yulia Belopilskaya as consultants to assess the proposition. The consultants had to extract cues for the room rate of the repositioned hotel from comparable hotels. However, the room rates varied significantly across similar hotels due to their differing characteristics and locations. It was a cognitive challenge to read the patterns from a few comparable hotels. They collected the data of 200 hotels from similar locations and simulated room prices using hedonic regression models.
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Manuel J. Sánchez-Franco and Sierra Rey-Tienda
This research proposes to organise and distil this massive amount of data, making it easier to understand. Using data mining, machine learning techniques and visual approaches…
Abstract
Purpose
This research proposes to organise and distil this massive amount of data, making it easier to understand. Using data mining, machine learning techniques and visual approaches, researchers and managers can extract valuable insights (on guests' preferences) and convert them into strategic thinking based on exploration and predictive analysis. Consequently, this research aims to assist hotel managers in making informed decisions, thus improving the overall guest experience and increasing competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
This research employs natural language processing techniques, data visualisation proposals and machine learning methodologies to analyse unstructured guest service experience content. In particular, this research (1) applies data mining to evaluate the role and significance of critical terms and semantic structures in hotel assessments; (2) identifies salient tokens to depict guests' narratives based on term frequency and the information quantity they convey; and (3) tackles the challenge of managing extensive document repositories through automated identification of latent topics in reviews by using machine learning methods for semantic grouping and pattern visualisation.
Findings
This study’s findings (1) aim to identify critical features and topics that guests highlight during their hotel stays, (2) visually explore the relationships between these features and differences among diverse types of travellers through online hotel reviews and (3) determine predictive power. Their implications are crucial for the hospitality domain, as they provide real-time insights into guests' perceptions and business performance and are essential for making informed decisions and staying competitive.
Originality/value
This research seeks to minimise the cognitive processing costs of the enormous amount of content published by the user through a better organisation of hotel service reviews and their visualisation. Likewise, this research aims to propose a methodology and method available to tourism organisations to obtain truly useable knowledge in the design of the hotel offer and its value propositions.
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The purpose of the paper is to propose a shift from the ideal of immersion to a practice of “committed localism” in the ethnographic study of relational work in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to propose a shift from the ideal of immersion to a practice of “committed localism” in the ethnographic study of relational work in the post-bureaucratic and service-based economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork following management consultancy projects in a hospital and a manufacturing company in Denmark. The approach was predicated on committed attention to the everyday of consultancy work activities and associated relational dynamics. This involved being present at the client sites, observing and listening in concrete situations of interaction and engaging in conversations with the multiple actors involved, both external consultants and members of client organisations.
Findings
The paper shows how “committed localism” was practiced in the ethnographic study of management consultancy as it is relationally accomplished in and through concrete situations of interaction between consultants and different actors in client organizations and the associated meaning production of the involved actors.
Originality/value
The paper develops the notion of “committed localism”, originally introduced by George Marcus, into a methodological concept to challenge the conventional ideal of immersion as the hallmark of “proper” ethnography. Such a shift is particularly pertinent for the ethnographic study of relational processes involving multiple actors occupying different positions in the temporary social spaces of contemporary workplaces.
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David Kofi Wuaku, Samuel Koomson, Ernest Mensah Abraham, Ummu Markwei and Joan-Ark Manu Agyapong
In the past few years, researchers across the world have been attracted to corporate governance (CG) and sustainability studies in the banking space. However, inconsistencies…
Abstract
Purpose
In the past few years, researchers across the world have been attracted to corporate governance (CG) and sustainability studies in the banking space. However, inconsistencies remain, which have created a lack of alignment in existing research. To address this problem, this paper aims to re-examines the CG–bank sustainability relationship using a qualitative design, which has been underused in the field, to generate in-depth, useful and novel analysis and insights that may hide behind the numbers.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative inquiry was conducted using key informants in Ghana’s banking industry. This study made use of purposive and snowball sampling techniques, an interview guide and the thematic approach to qualitative data analysis.
Findings
Firstly, this research finds that while larger boards do not promote bank sustainability, those who are independent and have diversified expertise and experiences do. Secondly, CEO duality can boost bank sustainability only if the CEO is actively engaged and performing. Thirdly, this study finds that foreign-owned and managed banks make more profits only if they have good knowledge of the local market.
Research limitations/implications
This research makes the call that upcoming researchers should replicate this research in other banking settings worldwide to validate the results.
Practical implications
Practical lessons for local and foreign-owned banks and their shareholders are discussed to advance the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 8.
Originality/value
This research shares novel insights that offer clarity to the literature and move the CG and sustainability fields forward.
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Julie Nichols, Jeffrey Newchurch, Robert Rigney, Tinesha Miller and Bonita Sansbury
This chapter came about, after five years of working with the Ngadjuri community on speculative student cultural centre designs. Ideation for those conversations and studio-based…
Abstract
This chapter came about, after five years of working with the Ngadjuri community on speculative student cultural centre designs. Ideation for those conversations and studio-based interactions, in addition to time and cultural tours spent on Country, revealed a variety of opinions and hopes that exist within the Ngadjuri community for a place to celebrate their cultural heritage. This heritage has an incredible history, and the idea of a cultural centre has been topical since the late Uncle Vince Copley Senior worked with other Ngadjuri community members such as Robert Rigney, on Country and in an advocacy role for Ngadjuri more than 30 years ago. This series of yarnings from a two-part transcription process re-awakens those desires of Elders now passed. The transcriptions are complemented with literature around yarning as a research methodology that delivers current, immediate, and insightful personal thoughts, although only as personal as the lead yarner wishes to share. In addition, the literature contextualises the key themes of which the yarnings divulge. Research has indicated how yarning interactions and interrelationships create a unique dynamic between the researcher and the community members. It is these rich experiences where knowledge is shared in a two-way exchange that is noteworthy for the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums [GLAM] sector. GLAM sector priorities must implement policy to pursue future Indigenisation of their epistemological methods and ontological systems. To address any future data curation of Ngadjuri cultural heritage materials on Country or in GLAM, hearing the personal stories and desires seemed timely and necessary.
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Berk Diker and Halime Demirkan
This research is based on the idea that interior elements leave a wide variety of impressions on their occupants and that some interiors are likely to have more positive…
Abstract
Purpose
This research is based on the idea that interior elements leave a wide variety of impressions on their occupants and that some interiors are likely to have more positive impressions than others. These impressions are especially prevalent when an individual cannot leave their homes for extended periods. The architectural elements of an interior where people are isolated can mitigate the adverse psychological effects.
Design/methodology/approach
The study was conducted by surveying individuals under lockdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 140 participants completed three different scales (GAD-7, K10, FTB Scale) to measure mental health problems often experienced in isolated and confined environments. Their responses were then associated with the interior environments of the participants.
Findings
Statistically significant relationships were identified between the reported interiors and the results of the psychological evaluations. The level of psychological distress was associated with Volume and Visual Variety factors. Susceptibility to generalized anxiety disorder was associated with Visual Variety and Airiness factors. Finally, free time boredom was associated with Volume, Visual Variety, and Airiness factors. The Furniture and Clutter factor did not significantly contribute to any of the psychological evaluations.
Originality/value
The study was performed in response to the severe lockdown measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It successfully highlighted the need for a rethinking of interior design approaches regarding the design for isolated and confined environments.
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