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Business-to-government corruption has destroyed many businesses and debilitated numerous countries. The paradox of plenty, or the curse of resources, is exacerbated in emerging oil and gas economies, where corruption is rampant. Corruption most frequently occurs within the tendering stage of construction projects and the current debate fails to arrest this ubiquitous boundless construct in small island developing states (SIDSs). The purpose of this study is to explain how the unique features of SIDS contributes to an understanding of B2G corruption during construction tendering.

This study elucidates corruption in the tendering process through the lens of collective action and principal–agent theories. Interviews with three experts and a questionnaire survey with 115 practitioners evaluated corruption in Trinidad’s construction industry. Principal component analysis reduced 33 corruption variables to 5 primary causes. In addition, the relative importance of potential solutions for curtailing corruption was assessed.

The derived factors highlight that governance within SID oil and gas economies, inadequate tender procedures and practices, reprehensible business growth strategies, unethical misconduct and the social networking context characterise public infrastructure tendering. The recommendations for minimising corruption in tendering are grounded in behaviour and deterrence theories and infused with technological advances.

Using surveys and interviews circumvents the limitation of the inability to measure corruption because of the confines of respondents’ recall triggers. However, corruption is mediated by cultural norms, which limits the generalisation of the findings.

The study concludes that corruption results from a lack of transparency in the construction supply chain. It leads to an awareness gap between project stakeholders, which is a major risk factor and source of mistrust. The result is a lack of traceable processes and coordination among stakeholders. Consequently, the study fills the gap in responsible socio-economic consumption in SIDSs.

There are limited studies addressing how choosing a maintenance strategy can contribute towards maximising outputs from given inputs, thereby minimising costs and improving a company’s competitiveness. The analytic hierarchy constant sum method (AHCSM) is used to access the appropriateness of maintenance strategies for improving the overall efficiency of a structural steel fabrication construction company.

A semi-structured interview was formulated with the stakeholders of the quality department to understand the company’s maintenance portfolio and its current functional capability. The information from this case study was then dissected to represent the factors that the company deemed appropriate for evaluating their maintenance strategy. The AHCSM approach provided a framework, which ranked the importance of factors that are sensitive to the construction industry and rank the suitability of maintenance strategies.

Factors affecting the selection of maintenance strategies to improve business efficiency are productivity, quality, reliability, cost, safety and work environment, morale, inventory and flexibility. Total productive maintenance strategy produces the most desirable outcome; however, the predictive or condition-based maintenance strategy provides an optimum solution for the case study company while considering the equipment usage, frequency of production and the current economic climate.

The approach presented allows practitioners to consider ways to increase the level of production and improve the efficiency of construction businesses without a high increase in investment. The findings can inform gaps in existing maintenance approaches in achieving business objectives.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how country image affects the dimensions of country brand equity (CBE) (i.e. awareness, image, perceived quality and loyalty) in the higher education sector, as well as the interrelationships between these dimensions.

Quantitative research with 208 international students who were starting the academic year at a Spanish university was performed to test the hypotheses. In accordance with the characteristics of the target population, the subjects interviewed were mainly from Europe and the Americas.

The results indicate that the country image affects the perceived quality and awareness of the universities in the country. Additionally, a hierarchy of effects between the dimensions of CBE was found. In particular, loyalty toward the universities of a country is positively influenced by their perceived quality, which is affected by image and awareness of these universities. For its part, the image of universities is positively influenced by the awareness attributed to them by international students.

These results have implications for marketing activities aimed at the internationalization of higher education institutions and, therefore, their appeal to international students.

The paper’s findings represent an important step in the advancement of knowledge about CBE by taking as a basis a complex model that involves the different dimensions of this construct together with a relevant variable in international marketing, that is, country image.

The main goal of this work is to argue the theoretical validity of two competitive models that integrate entrepreneurial alertness in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), and also to propose an explanation for the conceptual approach with a higher explicative ability.

A total of 281 undergraduate students participated in the survey, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling and competitive models.

The research shows it is possible to defend and test two competing TPB models with entrepreneurial alertness (EA), which alerts other field researchers to consider more than one possibility. The model showing the impact EA has on attitude toward the behavior (ATB) and perceived behavioral control (PBC), as well as the model showing the impact of ATB and PBC on EA are both valid. The shared characteristic of the sample may explain a higher predictive power in the first model.

The sample was limited to undergraduate students of one university.

For educators and policymakers, these results highlight the need to include content related to EA in entrepreneurship education programs since it could trigger the entrepreneurial process.

The paper is the first of its kind to demonstrate competing arguments for the role of EA in TPB.

As there is still only limited research about expectation formation in destination marketing, the aim of this paper is to enhance this body of knowledge by providing theoretical and empirical evidence about the role of different factors which generate tourist expectations. In particular, since expectations may significantly condition not only the tourist choice process but also the perceptions of experiences, the objective of this paper is to examine the factors contributing to the expectations of a tourist destination. Based on service expectations literature, a theoretical framework postulates the main factors generating tourist expectations.

Empirical research tests the research hypotheses. More specifically, several in‐depth interviews and focus groups (qualitative research) and a survey conducted in a holiday destination (quantitative research) led to data collection.

Tourist expectations are a second‐order factor based on inter‐correlations among several first‐order factors (i.e. past experience, external communication, word‐of‐mouth communication and destination image). In addition, image can be considered as the main factor generating expectations of a destination.

The main limitation of this study is the geographic area (tourist site) of the research process. The tourist destination under investigation significantly influences the characteristics of the sample, of which national tourists are the main constituent.

Managing the destination image and the quality of experience is critical to induce favorable expectations of the destination in the tourist's mind. In addition, the coherence and reliability of destination communication need to be controlled in expectations management.

The purpose of this research is to develop a composite agribusiness stock index and then compare the returns and volatility to other broad‐based market indices. The paper then evaluates the diversification potential of agribusiness stocks in the context of an investment portfolio.

This agribusiness index (AGB Index) is market‐capitalization weighted. Only firms traded on the NYSE, AMEX, or NASDAQ and meeting ERS SIC classification for industries related to agriculture are included in the index. The paper then uses standard financial metrics to measure the historical risk, return, and correlation.

Until recent years, the AGB Index has historically exhibited lower returns than the market indices. The AGB Index has also exhibited lower risk and correlation with treasury securities than broad market indices.

In recent years, portfolio managers and large investors have invested considerably in asset classes like farmland for stable returns, an inflation hedge, and diversification tool. This agribusiness index may further this trend and lead to the development of an alternative Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). This product would make investment in agriculture possible for virtually all investors.

Despite increasing popularity, very little research exists on the performance of agricultural stocks in an investment portfolio. This study develops a large‐cap agribusiness stock price index to help fill this void in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to advance in research on consumer psychology of hospitality, since it investigates how online search behavior of users (particularly, information search and choice) is influenced by the opinions of other people in a new context characterized by the generalized use of Web 2.0 applications.

Empirical research was carried out in the hotel sector in Iberian Peninsula, where two Web 2.0 applications are especially relevant for users: the review Web sites and the hotel interactive Web sites. A qualitative method (in-depth interviews with hotel managers) and a quantitative technique (personal surveys to a sample of 830 users) were used to conduct this research.

The results indicates that the perceived influence on behavior of the user-generated content on these Web 2.0 applications is determined, in both cases, by the value of the information, the credibility of the sources and the degree of similarity between the user and the creators of content.

Firms should have an active presence in the review Web sites and the hotel interactive Web sites, and use these platforms for market research and communication. Firms should engage users to post content, support their credibility and facilitate the evaluation of the content generators’ similarity.

This paper is the first study in the hospitality literature that develops and empirically tests an integrative model explaining the perceived influence on behavior of user-generated content on Web 2.0 applications.

The purpose of this study is to explore a methodology for connecting microelectromechanical system sensors – i.e. inertial measurement unit (IMU) – to an Arduino-based microcontroller, using graphene-based conductive filament and flexible thermoplastic polyurethane (FTPU) filament and low-cost dual material extrusion technology.

A series of electrical tests were carried out to determine the maximum resistance the conductive paths may take to connect printed circuit boards (PCB). To select the most suitable printing material, three types of conductive filaments were examined. Then an experiment was carried out to find the best printing parameters in terms of printing speed, printing temperature and layer height to minimise resistivity. The size of the conductive path was also analysed. A final prototype was designed and printed according to optimised printing settings and maximum allowable resistances for each line and considering different geometries and printing strategies to reduce cross-contamination among paths.

For the Black Magic 3D conductive filament, the printing speed and layer height played a significant role regarding resistivity, while the printing temperature was not very important. The infill pattern of the conductive paths had to be aligned with the expected current path, while using air gaps between two adjacent paths resulted in the best approach to reducing cross-contamination. Moreover, the cross-section size of the conductive path did not affect the volume resistivity. When combined with FTPU filament constraints, the prototype yielded suitable electrical performance and printing quality when printed at a temperature of 220°C, speed of 20 mm/s and layer height of 0.2 mm.

This paper explores a systematic methodology for the additive manufacturing of commercial conductive material using low-cost extrusion technology to connect complex electronics when data transmission is a key feature.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the possibility of biotic patterns. In economics, markets are thought to tend to equilibrium with random and unpredictable deviations. However, an explosion of empirical work searching for possible chaos show an enormous amount of unexplained nonlinear structure. These observations led the authors to examine the possibility of biotic patterns in economics.

Bios is defined as a causally generated creative process. It is the causal counterpart to random walk, just as chaos is the causal equivalent to randomness. Economic data consisting of time series from several categories, including banking, employment and population, and gross domestic product and components, were studied for diversification, recurrence, and predictability patterns characteristic of bios. Diversification was quantified as increased variance with embedding, recurrences were measured using newly developed computer programs, and predictability was measured with a nonlinear prediction method.

Dynamic analyses of the data show: episodic patterning and asymmetric statistical distribution, typical of bios; increase in variance with embedding (diversification), less recurrence than shuffled copies of the data (novelty), demonstrating creativity; consecutive recurrence; and patterning in the series of differences, indicating non‐random causation.

The demonstration of bios in empirical data indicates that the economy is non‐stationary, causal, and creative. This contradicts the notion that markets regulate themselves and tend to equilibrium, and the characterization of market variation as random or chaotic. Further economic crises may be avoided by acknowledging that financial markets are not bound within limits and can be modified into new forms by human action.