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In an era where a growing segment of fantasy league participating and video game playing sport consumers has become more interested in managing individual major league players than in following the fortunes of actual major league teams, North American major league attendance is dropping. The authors aim to argue that team management could keep their attention, strengthen the team‐fan bond, and increase attendance and overall revenue, by giving their fans input into decisions related to the team's on‐field, on‐court, or on‐ice management.

This paper chronicles the rise of fantasy sport and sport video game participation and argues that a new breed of sport consumer is emerging that values managing sport over spectating. Previous attempts by teams to give fans input into management decisions are outlined and critiqued.

It is suggested that teams wishing to increase the team identification and attendance frequency of these management‐centric consumers should use technology to establish a platform whereby dues‐paying members vote on team‐related management issues. Utilizing a members‐only webpage for some votes will encourage the growth of a geographically diverse fan base, while utilizing in‐stadium hand‐held wireless technology for other votes will encourage game attendance.

This paper has value to marketers of professional sport who are constantly searching for ways to increase fan identification and sell tickets. It also has value to sport fan academics by suggesting that traditional conceptualizations of the team‐fan bond may be becoming outdated in an era where a new generation of sport consumers is becoming increasingly player‐focused and management‐centric.

The passion of Canadians for ice hockey is well documented; however, university teams in Canada are routinely ignored by consumers and the media. The authors’ goal was to better understand the context in which Ontario university hockey struggles and to address the theoretical question of how best to examine and evaluate the problems of sport‐specific organizations. Using the Value Dynamics Framework (VDF), the purpose of this paper was to examine whether or not this framework fits well with the realities facing not‐for‐profit OUA hockey teams, and if not, to create a framework specific to these teams.

Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with 15 of the 19 (77 percent) OUA hockey coaches during the 2010/2011 hockey season. The interview guide was drawn from the VDF elements and enabled the researchers to understand not‐for‐profit organizational assets, including physical, financial, employee/supplier, customer, and organizational.

This paper offers empirical insights about the assets and obstacles facing the OUA hockey league and its teams. For example, players, coaches, affiliation with universities, and the hockey product are noted assets. Obstacles for strategic growth include arenas, suppliers, media attention, financial sustainability, parity with other leagues in Canada, and leadership. The VDF proved a useful foil to suggest that something is needed that more accurately represents sport management‐specific situations.

The main limitation of this study is that it lacks generalizability. Although motivated to better understand not‐for‐profit sport in general, the authors’ model is specific to OUA men's hockey teams. However, their OUA hockey team‐specific revised VDF does provide insights into the assets available to coaches, and also acknowledges the corresponding challenges or obstacles surrounding the asset classes in the context of OUA hockey.

This paper provides an approach towards making a more generalizable not‐for‐profit sport model that could help explain the success (or lack of success) of such organizations.

This study addresses a need to develop a framework to examine and evaluate not‐for‐profit sport‐specific organizations, such as the teams in the OUA.

One of the major attractions of travel has always been exposure to the various components that make up another culture. Traditions, customs, religion, ceremonies, rituals, the arts, crafts, language, dress, food, architecture and landscaping are all elements of what is now broadly called “cultural tourism.” In this essay we examine hotel development of on‐site cultural tourism elements that serve both to expand opportunities for guests to learn about local culture and traditions and to increase the hotel's attraction to potential guests. In Sections 1–4 we present briefcase studies of three prominent hotels in Southeast Asia (the Grand Hyatt Bali, the Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay, and the Oriental Hotel, Bangkok) that have developed an array of cultural tourism offerings based on local cultural patterns, the physical setting of the hotel, and its clientele. Based on these three studies, we provide in Section 5 specific guidelines for other hotels to consider in developing their own cultural tourism offerings. In Section 6, we address the role of governments in encouraging or mandating the development of certain types of on‐site cultural tourism elements. In Section 7, we summarize our conclusions.

Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to critically evaluate the implementation of technologies from the perspective of guest services, innovation and visitor experiences. The paper focuses on the value of robots, service automation and artificial intelligence in hospitality and examines their influence on service quality

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter is a critical and conceptual overview of the emergence and implementation of robots, service automation and artificial intelligence in the hospitality with an emphasis on service, service quality and guest experience. A comprehensive overview of the academic literature of customer service and guest experience is combined with industry examples from various service operations in hospitality in order to examine the implementation of RAISA in the hospitality industry from a range of academic and practical viewpoints.

Findings: The chapter argues that despite the global acceptance of technologies in service industries in general and hospitality in particular, it remains difficult to find the right balance between digital and human interactions. In the context of service quality, the implementation of robots and service automation is increasingly important for gaining a competitive advantage, but the provision of more personalized guest experiences remains controversial.

Originality/value: The study provides a comprehensive and systematic review of RAISA in a hospitality context and examine their impacts on service quality. The chapter is a critical examination of the potential of RAISA to transform the service experience and raises some fundamental questions regarding the need for RAISA, its practical implications and impact over the understanding and measurement of service quality.

Purpose: This paper presents a review of the current state and potential capabilities for application of robots, artificial intelligence and automated services (RAISA) in hotel companies.

Design/methodology/approach: A two-step approach was applied in this study. First, the authors make a theoretical overview of the robots, artificial intelligence and service automation (RAISA) in hotels. Second, the authors make a detailed overview of various case studies from global hotel practice.

Findings: The application of RAISA in hotel companies is examined in connection with the impact that technology has on guest experience during each of the five stages of the guest cycle: pre-arrival, arrival, stay, departure, assessment.

Research implications: Its implications can be searched with respect to future research. It deals with topics such as how different generations (guests and employees) perceive RAISA in the hotel industry and what is the attitude of guests in different categories of hotels (luxury and economy) towards the use of RAISA. It also shows what is the attitude of different types of tourists (holiday, business, health, cultural, etc.) and what kinds of robots (androids or machines) are more appropriate for different types of hotel operations.

Practical implications: The implications are related to the improvement of operations and operational management, marketing and sales, enhancement of customer experience and service innovation, training and management.

Originality/value: This book chapter complements and expands research on the role of RAISA in the hotel industry and makes some projections about the use of technologies in the future.

Founded in 1971 and acquired by CEO Howard Schultz in 1987, Starbucks was an American success story. In forty years it grew from a single-location coffee roaster in Seattle, Washington to a multibillion-dollar global enterprise that operated more than 17,000 retail coffee shops in fifty countries and sold coffee beans, instant coffee, tea, and ready-to-drink beverages in tens of thousands of grocery and mass merchandise stores. However, as Starbucks moved into new market contexts as part of its aggressive growth strategy, the assets and activities central to its competitive advantage in its retail coffee shops were altered or weakened, which made it more vulnerable to competitive threats from both higher and lower quality entrants. The company also had to make decisions on vertical integration related to its expansion into consumer packaged goods.

Understand how strategy needs to be adapted to new contexts. Understand how to manage tradeoffs involved in growth. Be able to identify possible threats to competitive advantage as a result of growth.

This study aims to investigate the influences of two facets of Vietnamese consumers' cultural identities (i.e. global and national) on their intent to consume Korean lifestyle products and services via attitudes toward Korea. The difference between generations (Generation Z vs. X) is examined.

Data are collected through an online survey firm. The participants are Vietnamese consumers residing in Vietnam, varying in age from teens to those in their 50s (n = 500). The collected data are analyzed by SPSS 21.0 for the descriptive statistics, frequency analysis, and reliability analysis. AMOS 21.0 is employed for confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis.

This study reveals that global identity affects Vietnamese consumers' attitudes toward Korea and their intent to consume Korean lifestyle products and services. Results show that only global identity affects attitudes and behavioral intention toward Korea among generation Xers, while national identity has no effect. For Generation Z (Gen Z), both global and national identities have a positive effect on attitudes toward Korea, which also increases the intent to consume Korean lifestyle products and services.

Measuring individuals' global and national identities will allow brands and retailers to better understand international consumers of various generations and develop global marketing strategies.

This study bridges gaps in the literature on globalized consumption in a non-Western context by identifying how consumers in emerging markets become involved in cross-cultural consumption.

The World of Concrete trade show organizers negotiate a block of approximately 30,000 rooms with a different location each year. The case was developed through interviews with the trade show director. The issues under negotiation include the room rate, cancellation clauses, and amenities for the conference organizers and VIPs. The case is written for a negotiations course and may be used in two ways: as an intermediate exercise for refining student skills at information management and integrative bargaining or as a fairly advanced exercise about appropriate preparation for major negotiations.