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This study aims to investigate the content of hotel brands’ mission statements (MSs) and their relationship with selected attributes of hotel brands.

Content analysis of hotel brands’ MSs was used to detect the MSs’ key words, which were further processed by methods of social network analysis, complemented by clustering techniques and correspondence analysis on the generalized aggregated lexical tables, a special type of correspondence analysis.

Hotel brands operating in luxurious markets more often emphasize experiences than those in midscale markets. Furthermore, hotel brands with longer traditions and those with a large number of controlled rooms communicate words in their MSs that represent a rather traditional approach to hospitality. Younger hotel brands with fewer controlled rooms chose words that indicate a more commercially oriented approach. Finally, cluster analysis revealed four dimensions of hotel brands’ MSs, instead of the nine most typically used in mission statement component models.

Understanding the frequencies and networks of keywords, and their relationship with hotel brand attributes, will help create more focussed MSs. This will strengthen hotel brands, raise their revenues and subsequently increase company performance.

The analysis provides valuable insight into MSs in the specific tourism context of hotel brands. The authors have achieved this with the use of a wide range of advanced network analytic methods. These insights can guide hotel brands to better position themselves in the competitive tourism accommodation market.

The purpose of this paper is to propose an approach for conceptualizing science based on collaboration and competences of researchers.

The research is conducted by exploratory analysis of collaboration and competences using case studies from humanistic, engineering, natural sciences and a general topic.

The findings show that by applying the proposed approach on bibliographic data that readily exist for many national sciences as well as for international scientific communities, one can obtain useful new insights into the research. The approach is demonstrated with the following exploratory findings: identification of important connections and individual researchers that connect the community of anthropologists; collaboration of technical scientists in the community of anthropologists caused by an interdisciplinary research project; connectivity, interdisciplinary and structure of artificial intelligence, nanotechnology and a community based on a general topic; and identifying research interest shift described with concretization and topic-shift.

As demonstrated with the practical implementation (http://scienceatlas.ijs.si/), users can obtain information of the most relevant competences of a researcher and his most important collaborators. It is possible to obtaining researchers, community structure and competences of an arbitrary research topic.

The map for collaboration and competences of a complete science can be a crucial tool for policy-making. Social scientists can use the results of the proposed approach to better understand and direct the development of science.

Originality and value of the paper is in combining text (competences) and network (research collaboration and co-authoring) approaches for exploring science. Additional values give the results of analysis that demonstrate the approach.

This paper presents a comparative study of different stator-segmentation topologies of a permanent magnet synchronous machine (PMSM) used in traction drives and their effect on iron losses. Using stator segmentation allows one to achieve more significant copper fill factors, resulting in increased power densities and efficiencies. The segmentation of the stators creates additional air gaps and changes the soft magnetic material’s material properties due to the cut edge effect. The aim of this paper is to present an in-depth analysis of the influence of stator segmentation on iron losses. The main goal was to compare various segmentation methods under equal excitation conditions in terms of their influence on iron loss.

A transient finite element method analysis combined with an extended iron-loss model was used to evaluate discussed effects on the stator’s iron losses. The workflow to obtain a homogenized airgap length accounting for cut edge effects was established.

The paper concludes that the segmentation in most cases slightly decreases the iron losses in the stator because of the overall reduced magnetic flux density B due to the additional air gaps in the magnetic circuit. An increase of the individual components, as well as total power loss, was observed in the Pole Chain segmentation design. In general, segmentation did not change the total iron losses significantly. However, different segmentation methods resulted in the different distortion of the magnetic field and, consequently, in different iron loss compositions. The analysed segmentation methods exhibited different iron loss behaviour with respect to the operation points of the machine. The final finding is that analysed stator segmentations had a negligible influence on the total iron loss. Therefore, applying segmentation is an adequate measure to improve PMSMs as it enables, e.g. increase of the winding fill factor or simplifying the assembly processes, etc.

The influence of stator segmentation on iron losses was analysed. An in-depth evaluation was performed to determine how the discussed changes influence the individual iron loss components. A workflow was developed to achieve a computationally cheap homogenized model.

This chapter provides comments and suggestions to the lawmaker, and especially to economic policy-makers in the field of the optimal regulatory framework and implementation of sustainable practices. The main findings are as follows: (1) degradation of the rule of law in several European Union (EU) Member States and constant political undermining of the legal institutions represent the main threat for the implementation of sustainable practices and development; (2) the golden regulatory rule of thumb provides that regulatory intervention is suggested merely in cases of market failures under the condition that the costs of such intervention do not exceed the benefits; (3) over-regulation might impede implementation of sustainable practices, distort the operation of the market, undermine productivity, diminish growth and social wealth and consequently also sustainability; (4) efficiency and wealth maximization should be the lawmaker’s leading normative principle in designing the legal framework that will enable effective implementation of sustainable practices; (5) the efficient level of harmonization or subsidiarity of decision-making in the EU urges for a rigorous investigation of costs and benefits of the EU top-down harmonization policies which should lead to a better, efficient vertical allocation of sustainability agenda between EU and the Member States; and (6) The Reflection Paper on Sustainable Development Goals – “Towards a Sustainable Europe in 2030” – represents an effective institutional framework in pursue of the overall sustainability targets.

This chapter integrates brand identity and equity as a two-dimensional approach to destination branding. By incorporating the supply- and demand-side perspectives, the approach enables different destination stakeholders to be included in this process. Drawing on general branding and marketing literature, the study presents a three-part framework for building and implementing a destination brand. It illustrates consumer-based equity as consisting of the four dimensions: awareness, image, perceived quality, and loyalty. The chapter also offers a critical synthesis of destination image studies and recognizes the important research advancement from image to branding.

Julio Aramberri, Ph.D., is Professor of Tourism at Drexel University (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Email: ja43@drexel.edu). Previously, he worked for the Spanish Tourist Office in different capacities including the CEO position (1987–1990). He has recently been appointed to be the dean of the School of Cultural Studies at Hoa Sen University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. His areas of research are marketing, consumer behavior, and the sociology of travel and tourism. He has also published in other areas such as political sociology, US life and culture, and global challenges.

This paper aims to describe the development and application of a manpower planning system for the Slovenian armed forces using a system approach, system dynamics (SD) and numerical optimization.

The model of the hierarchical manpower system was developed by SD methodology and formulated in discrete time space. The problem of tracking the goal trajectories in the eight topmost ranks at the prescribed boundaries was solved by application of the quadratic performance index and finite automata (FA) which was used for classification of acceptable strategies. Genetic algorithms (GA) as well as pattern search were compared at the numeric optimization.

Employing SD and a system approach increases the understanding of the system control. The definition of an optimum strategy, which would consider only target values for ranks within prescribed parameter boundaries, could provide an undesired oscillatory solution. Inclusion of rules by FA to determine acceptable strategies based on the time response of a strategy provided acceptable, nonoscillatory solutions. GA and pattern search were considered where pattern search was shown to be significantly more suitable for the task of control strategy determination.

The developed system and methodology was applied by the Slovenian Armed Forces in the process of restructuring.

The developed approach permits a moderate transition to the new desired structure. Restructuring without a clear understanding of the system structure and dynamics might result in undesired social impacts such as strikes and riots.

Provision of the systemic view of the hierarchical manpower system and application of FA to determine the proper control of a complex system.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the similarities and differences in the internationalization of SMEs and MNEs and the specific factors affecting them.

The relevant literature was reviewed particularly in the context of the major theories of internationalization.

The positive and negative aspects of each theoretical approach to internationalization are present to form the basis of a new model of international entrepreneurship.

The newly developed conceptual model has not been empirically tested.

A redeveloped theoretical integrative conceptual model of international entrepreneurship is proposed based on four internationalization properties (mode, market, product, and time), internationalization performance, and key antecedents and consequences of the internationalization process.

The purpose of this paper is to use a structural equation modelling technique to verify a theoretically proposed model of knowledge management (KM).

Existing studies on KM were reviewed and their limitations were identified. Mailed structured questionnaire data for this study were collected from small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Slovenia (168 usable responses). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model.

The hypothesis on the multidimensionality of KM model were mainly supported.

The study is limited to Slovenian SMEs, but can be generalised to other regions. The study offers important contributions for research (KM construct) and for practice (improvements in SME KM).

KM can have beneficial effects on the firm's growth and profitability. The findings can be used to guide entrepreneur in efficient management of different dimensions of knowledge.

This study proved latent elements of KM model in SME. It gives valuable information, which hopefully will help SMEs to respect more the meaning of knowledge and KM.