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This study explores the multi-phasic experience of festivals to understand the nature, purpose and degree of social media (SM) use before, during and after festival occurrence and how this may inform better engagement of attendees.

A census of tweets and posts from four festivals’ Twitter handles and Facebook accounts were coded and analyzed across three time points: one week prior, during and one week after the festival. They were coded on nature (e.g. conversational, promotional, informational), purpose (e.g. information-seeking, friendship/relationship) and presence of links, photos, etc. Tests for platform influences on usage were conducted.

In total, 1,169 tweets and 483 posts were captured. Two-thirds of SM activity occurred during the festivals, one-third pre-festival and minimal activity post festival. Temporal analyses found that while the purpose and nature of the message content varied across festival time points, this was often dependent on SM platform.

Festivals are not taking advantage of the multi-phase experience model and the utility of SM to maintain contact and encourage visitors to continue processing their experience after the festival. This lost opportunity has implications for re-patronizing behaviour and sponsor relationships.

Leung et al. (2013a) call for sector specific research to elucidate SM use in tourism. Festivals provide a unique environment of co-created experience. Findings suggest differential usage of SM across festival time frames and platforms that can be used to guide festival organizations’ SM communication to better engage its patrons.

The purpose of this paper is to understand mobile device (MD) use in a festival context. Festivals offer a range of opportunities and activities to use a MD making this context ideal for understanding digital experiences during leisure. The guiding research question asked how do festival attendees use MDs at festivals. The Typology of Human Capability (THC) provided a framework to enhance the understanding of digital experiences at festivals.

This research involved six festival case studies where semi-structured interviews were conducted with attendees on-site. Interview questions focused on how festival attendees used MDs during the festival. Data were analyzed using directed content analysis guided by the THC.

On-site interviews with 168 attendees revealed that data support the THC dimensions and constructs (sensing, linking, organizing and performing). This typology advances the understanding of the range of digital customer experiences currently available at festivals.

The addition of context to the THC is recommended to enhance its utility in application. As a limited number of festivals were included, the specific findings may not apply to all festivals but the implications are relevant to a range of festivals.

Operational definitions of the THC constructs within the festival setting were identified and provide opportunities for developing digital experience offerings.

This study provided the first comprehensive examination of MD use in festival contexts and in so doing offered data in support of Korn and Pine’s (2011) THC. The findings reveal opportunities for modifying the THC to increase its applicability in a range of settings.

Tourism is leisure commodified. As a commodity, the actuality of tourism has been suggested as less important than its expressive representations. What is depicted or not depicted in destination image advertising, and on whose authority it is selected, involves a more complex question of what comprises the destination and who has the power to define its identity. Recently, there has been a shift in the promotional role of destination marketing organizations where it has broadened to include product (attraction) development and industry relations. This role extension enables a matching of authoritative voice and reconstructed reality in order to verify official imaging. The symbolism and meaning of destination image can be interpreted through a deconstructionist analysis of tourist destination advertising. This paper explores significance of tourism promotion on tourist culture as it packages touristic representations.

The purpose of this study is to explore the use and non-use of social media (SM) by North American hotels for human resource (HR) activities.

This exploratory study used an online survey and a sampling frame of 1,711 North American hotels with 300 or more rooms, excluding economy properties. With a response rate of 17.1 per cent and a defined population, data were weighted to reflect the midscale, upscale and luxury market classes.

Slightly more than half of North American hotels use SM for HR activities. Higher service level hotels are related to SM HR use generally; midscale properties report higher usage for internal communication. Use of SM in hotel HR is more focused on marketing versus recruitment activities.

The generalizability and, therefore, implications are limited to North American hotels, midscale or higher with 300 or more rooms. Future research should complement this broad-based study by delving more deeply into rationale for HR communication over hiring functions for SM and its overall adoption for HR in the hospitality industry.

This study provides an understanding of how SM is being used and its perceived usefulness across a variety of HR activities. The findings will inform the application of SM for hotel HR purposes.

This is the first empirical study about SM and HR practices in the North American hotel industry.

Research has consistently shown that staff working with people who self‐harm tend to experience a range of anxieties and negative emotions. Very little has been written on the particular issues and needs of staff in prisons, where rates of self‐harm are high. The current study gathered information about existing sources of support for staff dealing with prisoners who self‐harm, and identified positive practice examples. A postal survey was sent out to the Suicide Prevention Team Leaders from every HM Prison Service Establishment in England and Wales (139 in total). Fifty‐four surveys (38.8%) were completed and returned. Findings indicate that staff support services were reportedly in place in virtually all 54 establishments. However, the data suggest that even when present, provisions may not have adequately met the needs of staff working with prisoners who self‐harm, particularly when dealing with ‘repetitive’ self‐harming behaviours. These findings are discussed in relation to organizational health literature. Their practical and theoretical implications are considered, together with directions for further studies in this under‐researched area.

Purpose – The chapter aims to provide a descriptive and analytical conceptual framework of critical approaches to globalisation and summarises the main debates in the area.Design/methodology/approach – This chapter is based on an extensive literature review.Findings – This chapter summarises diverse critical approaches to globalisation from a multi-disciplinary perspective. It presents theories explaining the negative consequences of globalisation on working opportunities, conditions and relations, and the negative consequences of globalisation at the economic, cultural, social and political level (particularly the perceived decline in state influence).Practical implications – This chapter provides an overview on the debates on globalisation. This chapter could contribute discussions at the classroom level, and different managerial learning circles.Originality/value of chapter – This chapter contributes teaching material for international business, trade and development, and corporate social responsibility

Presents an exploratory study on travel agents’ attitudes towards automation. Surveys 167 travel agents from both Canada and New Zealand. Shows that there are four distinct groups of agents whose attitudes towards automation differ quite substantially and that these attitudes are related not so much to current use of technology but more to perceived future usage.

Since the late 1970s, the study of the role, structure and functions of personnel management in the United Kingdom has been greatly facilitated by surveys emerging from a number of large‐scale surveys. A major interest in interpreting the data from these surveys has been to evaluate the impact of recession, and, latterly, recovery on the power, structure and roles of personnel departments and personnel specialists in recent years. The survey data are used comparatively to evaluate the empirical plausibility of the different scenarios which have arisen, and to account for the results that emerge.

Our preoccupation with the Repertory Grid Technique has left little time and attention to the core ideas articulated in Kelly’s (1955) Theory of Personal Constructs. After more than 20 years engaging with the method, I have (re)discovered his theorizing about man’s quest for knowing, to be the most insightful. This chapter shares my reflections/reflexions about the crucial role he placed on the notion of “anticipation.” I position this importance within the context of the challenges of our times and advocate that his “psychology of the unknown” is just as important today as it was 62 years ago.