Search results

The purpose of this study is to detect the differences in satisfaction levels with regard to different elements of the city tourism offering during the season and off-season. Furthermore, the aim is to find out what factors determine the satisfaction of season and off-season tourists.

This paper is based on the results of a survey conducted during 2016 in Opatija and Rijeka (Croatia). The analyses were conducted on a sample of 1,249 respondents. Data analysis included principal component analyses, ANOVA and series of regression analyses.

Results confirmed that there is a significant difference in overall satisfaction, as well as in all five satisfaction dimensions, between tourists visiting the cities during the season and those visiting in the pre- and post-season. In addition, simple regression analyses revealed that tourists staying in those cities during the peak season expressed a statistically significant higher level of satisfaction than those visiting in the pre- and post-season. However, no statistically significant difference was found in overall satisfaction and in four out of five satisfaction dimensions, between pre- and post-season tourists.

The findings have relevant implications for destination managers in their further decisions aimed at developing a more satisfactory tourism offering in the season and off-season.

The main contribution of this paper lies in the connection between tourist satisfaction and the season of their visit, as previous studies have rarely considered the season when analysing tourist satisfaction with the destination offering.

This study aims to explore the role of habit strength in explaining intention and open access (OA) and non-OA scholarly publishing.

A decomposed theory of planned behaviour (TPB) is used as the conceptual framework to investigate a sample of 1,588 researchers from the major universities in Norway. Different latent construct models are analysed with a structural equation modelling approach.

The results show that the effect of habit was non-significant in an extended TPB framework where attitude was most important, followed by norms and perceived behavioural control in explaining intention to submit OA. Habit was only found to have a significant impact on intention to submit OA when it played a role as a full mediator for the effects of the intentional antecedents. In this modified model, norms were found to have a stronger effect than attitudes in explaining the habit to submit OA. OA habit strength forms intentions to publish in OA journals and reduces the intention to publish and publishing behaviour in NOA journals.

Other individual forces (e.g. personality and personal values) and the role of habit strength should be included for future research.

The results provide empirical insights to management, policy makers and research on scholarly publishing.

This paper contributes not only to the understanding of OA scholarly publishing, but is also relevant for research on what drives (academic) data sharing, knowledge sharing, the sharing economy or the open source movement.

The sustainable transition towards the circular economy requires the effective use of artificial intelligence (AI) and information technology (IT) techniques. As the sustainability targets for 2030–2050 increasingly become a tougher challenge, society, company managers and policymakers require more support from AI and IT in general. How can the AI-based and IT-based smart decision-support tools help implementation of circular economy principles from micro to macro scales?

This chapter provides a conceptual framework about the current status and future development of smart decision-support tools for facilitating the circular transition of smart industry, focussing on the implementation of the industrial symbiosis (IS) practice. IS, which is aimed at replacing production inputs of one company with wastes generated by a different company, is considered as a promising strategy towards closing the material, energy and waste loops. Based on the principles of a circular economy, the utility of such practices to close resource loops is analyzed from a functional and operational perspective. For each life cycle phase of IS businesses – e.g., opportunity identification for symbiotic business, assessment of the symbiotic business and sustainable operations of the business – the role played by decision-support tools is described and embedding smartness in these tools is discussed.

Based on the review of available tools and theoretical contributions in the field of IS, the characteristics, functionalities and utilities of smart decision-support tools are discussed within a circular economy transition framework. Tools based on recommender algorithms, machine learning techniques, multi-agent systems and life cycle analysis are critically assessed. Potential improvements are suggested for the resilience and sustainability of a smart circular transition.

The purpose of this paper is to classify the main barriers related to the implementation of lean supply chain management (LSCM) and prioritize its main practices. A case study approach was conducted to obtain values for the intensity of the relationship between LSCM practices and barriers to mitigate or even anticipate difficulties in its implementation.

The case study in a company in southern Brazil that is in lean implementation is used for conducting this research. The methodology was structured in three steps, namely, classification of the main barriers through risk analysis, selection of LSCM practices appropriate to the company context and ranking and prioritization of the main practices of LSCM related to the barriers to lean implementation.

As a result, with the combination of two approaches, failure mode and effect analysis (FMEA) and analytical hierarchical process (AHP), it was possible to obtain values for the intensity of the relationship between LSCM practices and barriers. From the 12 barriers, 5 reached a high-risk degree that can be mitigated, and among the 18 practices found, 7 have the potential to be implemented.

This research allows direct efforts to continuously improve the supply chain to mitigate or even anticipate difficulties in its implementation. The proposed methodology, combining FMEA and AHP is easy to apply and understand, allowing managers and professionals to replicate it in the context of their supply chain and verify results similar and comparable to those obtained here.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between exploratory/exploitative innovation and employee creativity in the Chinese context and how these two relationships can be moderated by an important cultural dimension – collectivism.

A theoretical framework was developed to explore the relationships between exploratory/exploitative innovation, employee creativity and collectivism. Data were collected by sending out surveys to managers and employees in various industries in mainland China. Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regressions.

The results show that both exploratory innovation and exploitative innovation are positively related to employee creativity. Furthermore, collectivism negatively moderates the effects of both types of innovation on employee creativity, despite its positive main effect.

This study explores the relationship between organizational innovation and individual employee creativity in the Chinese context. This paper empirically analyzes the moderating effect of collectivism in the relationship between organizational innovation and employee creativity. It also indicates the factors inherent in Chinese culture that influence innovation and gives explanations from education, subordinate relation, etc.

Defines advertising and looks at the way it is part of the whole home environment. Considers the influence and power various media possess with particular emphasis on women. Addresses how advertising reinforces the existing power roles within society and questions if recent evidence shows any change in this position. Concludes that most individuals are aware of the unrealistic nature of some advertising but advertisers still often represent the “establishment” and stick to proven methods of success.

Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.

This study aims to provide a comprehensive insight into the role of the quality management (QM) systems in international suppliers (e.g. ISO, Total Quality Management, Lean and Six Sigma) on outsourcing decisions of buyer companies with regard to reshoring activities.

By the means of a comprehensive survey data collected within USA textile and apparel industry, the authors identify four quality factors and compare these factors for international and domestic suppliers by the means of linear discriminant analysis (LDA) and consequently define a reshore vector. Next, the most-effective QM system within international suppliers is analyzed by the means of a new application based on LDA.

The results reveal that international suppliers perform worse for all quality factors compared to domestic USA suppliers, which may leave the door open for reshoring activities. Furthermore, it is shown that Lean and Six Sigma within international suppliers lead to superior levels of quality because they are aligned along the most opposite directions against reshore vector. Therefore, it is claimed that Lean and Six Sigma within the international suppliers can inhibit reshoring activities of US companies.

The willingness of US textile companies to assist their international suppliers and the challenges on this subject are discussed on the basis that supplier development (or quality management) programs can be strong alternatives to reshoring activities.

QM systems in suppliers are analyzed with a new method within a new context based on reshore phenomenon, which provides an essential point of view for academic and industrial environments.

This study assessed the relationship among market orientation, innovation attitude and firm's innovativeness in the context of agri-food micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in a developing country context.

Cross-sectional primary data was collected using structured questionnaires from a sample of 521 agro-food MSMEs in Uganda. Data was analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Results showed that interfunctional coordination influences both firm innovativeness and innovation attitude. On the other hand, competitor orientation does not influence innovation attitude, but negatively influences firm innovativeness, while customer orientation does not influence firm innovativeness, but positively influences innovation attitude. Results also confirm the positive influence of innovation attitude on firm innovativeness. These relationships vary by location, size of MSME, type of MSME.

The findings of study this imply that agri-food firms should focus on improving the internal coordination among departments so as to improve both attitude toward innovation and firm's innovativeness.

This study investigates market orientation and innovation in agro-food MSMEs in a development country.