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1 – 10 of 26Dale Christenson and Derek H.T. Walker
The thesis reported upon in this paper addressed the research question “How does the effective development and communication of a ‘project vision’ impact project outcomes?” It…
Abstract
Purpose
The thesis reported upon in this paper addressed the research question “How does the effective development and communication of a ‘project vision’ impact project outcomes?” It outlines the approach, summarizes results and explains the protocols that have been developed from the thesis so that others researching this area may: gain better insights and understanding into how project vision may impact upon project success; and have access to a model and protocols to effectively develop a project vision and effectively communicate it to project stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research design was selected with multiple case studies. These were conducted within a public service organization using interviews and action learning through testing a developed protocol for team members to develop a coherent and well understood vision for project outcomes. Results were then used to develop a tool for teams to develop a project vision statement in a structured workshop. This approach was then tested through gathering and analyzing participant feedback from the workshop. Subsequent to this initial workshop and the publication of the thesis, the vision development tool has been further validated in both academic class room settings (Masters of Public Administration students) and with senior public servants as part of a project sponsor course offerings. Participants in both groups have commented on the relevance and effectiveness of the tool in creating a value add project artifact: the project vision.
Findings
First, the study established that a clear, well‐articulated and convincing project outcomes vision that was effectively communicated made a strong and positive impact upon perceived project success. Second, a protocol was developed and thoroughly tested to develop a project vision. This protocol was found to be successful for the projects it was trialed on and reasons for its acknowledged success were explicated. Third, the study highlighted four emergent issues that require further investigation but for the moment may be risks that need to be managed or opportunities to be exploited. These are: the benefits of an incremental or phased approach; the need for sustainment; the necessity of addressing horizontality; and the imperative of vision champions.
Practical implications
Project practitioners should find the approach outlined by the protocol model as being valuable to replicate and adapt to their own project context.
Originality/value
While the concept of a clear and well‐communicated project vision is now well‐accepted there are few examples of rigorous thesis that examine how a vision may be best developed and communicated.
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Derek H.T. Walker and Dale Christenson
This conceptual paper aims to explain how “project management centres of excellence (CoEs)”, a particular class of knowledge network, can be viewed as providing great potential…
Abstract
Purpose
This conceptual paper aims to explain how “project management centres of excellence (CoEs)”, a particular class of knowledge network, can be viewed as providing great potential for assisting project management (PM) teams to make wise decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents a range of knowledge network types and classifies them into a matrix using dimensions of social capital formation and learning levels. Examples were used of each identified type, drawn from the literature, to illustrate and clarify the capability maturity levels, from ad hoc isolated communities of interest to integrated and strategic CoEs that serve to propagate and transfer knowledge about an organisation's advanced project management skills and tools.
Findings
The paper presens a useful framework for understanding this evolution and argues that CoEs can optimise, help coordinate and enhance the effectiveness of a range of knowledge networks operating within an inter‐organisational or intra‐organisational project team.
Originality/value
The framework: facilitates PM organisational leaders to understand knowledge networks from a social capital formation and learning organisation perspective; highlights limitations of each of the identified knowledge network types from this perspective; and challenges PM leaders to strategically create and maintain a workplace environment that both encourages PM best practice and maximises organic learning development from which knowledge networks spring. PM leaders need to realise that sustaining CoEs is highly corporate resource intensive, however, derived benefits can include reduced wasted effort, poor project outcomes and increase organisational learning that facilitates continual PM process improvement. The framework provided here helps to justify that commitment.
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Michael O’Regan and Jaeyeon Choe
As its market and society open up, China has transformed itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an urban state and an economic force. This has released accumulated…
Abstract
As its market and society open up, China has transformed itself from a closed agrarian socialist economy to an urban state and an economic force. This has released accumulated tourism demand, led to the development of a diversified industry, and the spread of university and vocational courses in this field. However, the industry faces challenges to recruit and retain staff, with tourism education in higher education blamed for the shortfall in numbers and quality of candidates with suitable purpose, knowledge, and passion to serve. This chapter provides a background to the development of and problems facing tourism education in China, and suggests how to support student engagement and hence the future workforce.
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This chapter presents an innovative learning opportunity for tourism students, International Tourism and Hospitality Academy at Sea, that has been in operation for the last 10…
Abstract
This chapter presents an innovative learning opportunity for tourism students, International Tourism and Hospitality Academy at Sea, that has been in operation for the last 10 years. The program could render itself as a case study of Kolb’s experiential learning theory according to which knowledge is created by transforming experience. Its uniqueness and complexity lie in its diversity. This program has involved between 80 and 130 tourism students yearly from four to six institutions from different countries participating in new scholarly inputs by non-resident professors and instructors.
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Towns and cities across Canada face rapidly changing economic circumstances and many are turning to a variety of strategies, including tourism, to provide stability in their…
Abstract
Towns and cities across Canada face rapidly changing economic circumstances and many are turning to a variety of strategies, including tourism, to provide stability in their communities. Community Economic Development (CED) has become an accepted form of economic development, with recognition that such planning benefits from a more holistic approach and community participation. However, much of why particular strategies are chosen, what process the community undertakes to implement those choices and how success is measured is not fully understood. Furthermore, CED lacks a developed theoretical basis from which to examine these questions. By investigating communities that have chosen to develop their tourism potential through the use of murals, these various themes can be explored. There are three purposes to this research: (1) to acquire an understanding of the “how” and the “why” behind the adoption and diffusion of mural-based tourism as a CED strategy in rural communities; (2) to contribute to the emerging theory of CED by linking together theories of rural geography, rural change and sustainability, and rural tourism; and (3) to contribute to the development of a framework for evaluating the potential and success of tourism development within a CED process.
Two levels of data collection and analysis were employed in this research. Initially, a survey of Canadian provincial tourism guides was conducted to determine the number of communities in Canada that market themselves as having a mural-based tourism attraction (N=32). A survey was sent to these communities, resulting in 31 responses suitable for descriptive statistical analysis, using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). A case study analysis of the 6 Saskatchewan communities was conducted through in-depth, in person interviews with 40 participants. These interviews were subsequently analyzed utilizing a combined Grounded Theory (GT) and Content Analysis approach.
The surveys indicated that mural development spread within a relatively short time period across Canada from Chemainus, British Columbia. Although tourism is often the reason behind mural development, increasing community spirit and beautification were also cited. This research demonstrates that the reasons this choice is made and the successful outcome of that choice is often dependent upon factors related to community size, proximity to larger populations and the economic (re)stability of existing industry. Analysis also determined that theories of institutional thickness, governance, embeddedness and conceptualizations of leadership provide a body of literature that offers an opportunity to theorize the process and outcomes of CED in rural places while at the same time aiding our understanding of the relationship between tourism and its possible contribution to rural sustainability within a Canadian context. Finally, this research revealed that both the CED process undertaken and the measurement of success are dependent upon the desired outcomes of mural development. Furthermore, particular attributes of rural places play a critical role in how CED is understood, defined and carried out, and how successes, both tangible and intangible, are measured.
Matthias Fuchs, Peter Fredman and Dimitri Ioannides
This chapter offers an experience-based report about the development of the first Scandinavian PhD program in tourism studies at Mid-Sweden University. This process is documented…
Abstract
This chapter offers an experience-based report about the development of the first Scandinavian PhD program in tourism studies at Mid-Sweden University. This process is documented through a framework which, rather than having the coherence of a single clearly bounded discipline, focuses on tourism as a study area encompassing multiple disciplines. Tourism knowledge is derived through a synthesis of fact-oriented positivist methodologies and critical theory. The theoretical framework employed to develop the graduate program in tourism studies is presented by critically discussing its multidisciplinary base and briefly outlining future veins of further development.
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Inquiry learning points is based on questions and requires students to work independently to solve problems. Instructors are facilitators of learning, not people who give right…
Abstract
Inquiry learning points is based on questions and requires students to work independently to solve problems. Instructors are facilitators of learning, not people who give right answers and instructions to learners. Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences Porvoo campus in Finland is a new concept for learning. The lecturers have changed from traditional ones to coaches aiming at new competences with new tools to enhance learning. Their own implementation of inquiry learning has been assessed by themselves with an ongoing self-assessment process as a part of the normal tasks of instructional teams. Self-assessment is a part of action research that aims to develop an organization and the work in it.
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This concluding contribution draws together key issues discussed in the various chapters of the book and connects them with future trends for tourism education. It places task in…
Abstract
This concluding contribution draws together key issues discussed in the various chapters of the book and connects them with future trends for tourism education. It places task in the changing world of higher education in general, and discusses changes in knowledge acquisition, ways of learning, knowledge content, and the role of educators in the future. This coverage leads to new learning technologies and their impact on the learning spaces of the future. Finally, the chapter discusses how projected tourism education programs can be designed to address society’s needs at this critical juncture in the history of the mankind. Creating responsible leaders for this global industry is perhaps the most important goal of future tourism education.
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Previous work has conceptually explored the value of the humanities for tourism education and has considered the pressures that likely serve as barriers to its greater inclusion…
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Previous work has conceptually explored the value of the humanities for tourism education and has considered the pressures that likely serve as barriers to its greater inclusion in curricula. This chapter moves the debate from the conceptual level to the ground, reporting the results of a survey of tourism educators with regard to the role of the humanities in the programs in which they teach. The study explores the prevalence of the humanities as primary and supporting course content at the undergraduate and graduate levels, sheds light on barriers faculty members identify for incorporating more humanities content into their curricula, and offers examples of creative ways some educators are currently engaging with such content.
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