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Case study
Publication date: 13 March 2024

Dennis Wittmer and Jeff Bowen

The case was developed from two 2-h interviews with the Chief Operating Officer of A-Basin, Alan Henceroth; there is no CEO of A-Basin. The second interview was recorded on a Zoom…

Abstract

Research methodology

The case was developed from two 2-h interviews with the Chief Operating Officer of A-Basin, Alan Henceroth; there is no CEO of A-Basin. The second interview was recorded on a Zoom call to provide accuracy of quotations and information. A variety of secondary sources were used in terms of better understanding the current state of the ski industry, as well as its history.

Case overview/synopsis

Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin) is a historic, moderately sized, ski area with proximity to metropolitan Denver, Colorado. For over 20 years A-Basin partnered with Vail, allowing skiers to use the Vail Epic Pass, for which A-Basin received some revenue from Vail for each skier visit. The Epic Pass allowed pass holders unlimited days of skiing at A-Basin. More and more skiers were buying the Epic Pass, thus increasing the customer traffic to A-Basin. However, the skier experience was compromised due inadequate parking, long lift lines and crowded restaurants. The renewal of the contract with Vail was coming due, and A-Basin had to consider whether to renew the contract with Vail. The case is framed primarily as a strategic marketing case. The authors use Porter’s five forces model to assess the external environment of A-Basin, and the authors use the resource-based view and the VRIO tool to assess A-Basin’s internal strengths. Both frameworks provide useful analysis in terms of deciding whether to continue A-Basin’s arrangement with Vail or end the contract and pursue a different strategy. In 2019, after consultation with the Canadian parent company Dream, A-Basin made the decision to disassociate itself from the Epic Pass and Vail to restore a quality ski experience for A-Basin’s customers. No other partner had ever left its relationship with Vail. An epilogue details some of A-Basin’s actions, as well as the outcomes for the ski area. Generally A-Basin’s decision produced positive results and solidified its competitive position among competitors. Other ski areas have since adopted a similar strategy as A-Basin. A-Basin’s success is reflected in a pending offer from Alterra, Inc., to purchase the ski area.

Complexity academic level

The A-Basin case can be used in both undergraduate and graduate strategic (or marketing) management courses. It is probably best considered during the middle of an academic term, as the case requires students to apply many of the theoretical concepts of strategy. One of the best books to enable students to use Porter’s five forces is Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2012). Magretta was a colleague of Porter for many years and was an Editor of the Harvard Business Review. For a discussion of the VRIN/VRIO concept, see Chapter 4 of Essentials of Strategic Management by Gamble, Peteraf and Thompson (New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2019).

Details

The CASE Journal, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Case Study
ISSN: 1544-9106

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 17 April 2024

Betty Amos Begashe, John Thomas Mgonja and Salum Matotola

This study aims to explore the connection between demographic traits and the choice of attraction patterns among international repeat tourists.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore the connection between demographic traits and the choice of attraction patterns among international repeat tourists.

Design/methodology/approach

The study employed a questionnaire survey to collect data from 1550 international repeat tourists who visited Tanzania between November 2022 and July 2023. Convenient sampling was employed as tourists were selected from the three international airports of Tanzania, namely Kilimanjaro International Airport, Julius Nyerere International Airport, and Abeid Aman Karume International Airport. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to examine the impact of socio-demographic characteristics on the selection of attraction patterns among international repeat tourists.

Findings

The study revealed that demographic factors, including age, marital status, income level, occupation, and education level, exhibit statistically significant correlations with preferences for distinct attraction patterns. This significance was established through a p-value of less than 0.05 for all the aforementioned variables.

Research limitations/implications

This study is primarily focused on international repeat tourists, thereby limiting insights into the preferences of domestic tourists. To better inform strategies aimed at attracting a larger domestic tourist base, future research may prioritize the investigation of choice of attractions patterns among domestic tourists in relation to their demographic characteristics.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the nuanced understanding of international tourist behavior by unraveling the extent to which demographic traits impact tourists’ choices of attraction patterns, thereby providing insights crucial for effective marketing strategies, improved visitor experiences, and sustainable tourism development strategies.

Details

Tourism Critiques: Practice and Theory, vol. 5 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2633-1225

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 1 February 2024

Charlotte V. Farewell, Priyanka Shreedar, Diane Brogden and Jini E. Puma

The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health…

Abstract

Purpose

The early care and education (ECE) workforce plays a pivotal role in shaping early childhood developmental trajectories and simultaneously experiences significant mental health disparities. The purpose of this study is to investigate how social determinants of health and external stressors are associated with the mental health of ECE staff, which represent a low-resourced segment of the workforce; how psychological capital (psycap) can mitigate these associations.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors administered an 89-item survey to 332 ECE staff employed in 42 Head Start centers in the USA. The authors ran three hierarchical linear regression models to analyze associations between social determinants of health, external sources of stress, psycap and potential moderation effects and mental health outcomes.

Findings

Individuals experiencing greater finance-related stress reported 0.15 higher scores on the depression scale and 0.20 higher scores on the anxiety scale than those experiencing less finance-related stress (p < 0.05). Individuals experiencing greater work-related stress reported 1.26 more days of poorer mental health in the past month than those experiencing less work-related stress (p < 0.01). After controlling for all sociodemographic variables and sources of stress, psycap was significantly and negatively associated with depressive symptomology (b-weight = −0.02, p < 0.01) and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.13, p < 0.05). Moderation models suggest that higher levels of psycap may mitigate the association between work-related stress and the number of poor mental health days reported in the past month (b-weight = −0.06, p = 0.02).

Originality/value

The implications of these findings suggest a need for policy change to mitigate social determinants of health and promote pay equity and multi-level interventio ns that target workplace-related stressors and psycap to combat poor mental health of the ECE workforce.

Details

Journal of Public Mental Health, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1746-5729

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 February 2024

Chiara Dalle Nogare and Raffaele Scuderi

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced tourism destinations to reconsider organisational aspects related to health safety measures, as perceptions of health safety may have become…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has induced tourism destinations to reconsider organisational aspects related to health safety measures, as perceptions of health safety may have become particularly important for tourists. Using data from summer 2020, the period immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic, we investigate the factors that affected tourist perceptions of health safety.

Design/methodology/approach

Data come from a survey of tourist-card holders in Trentino, an Italian mountain destination. Through regressions, we assess the conditional correlation between health safety measure evaluations following a holiday and a set of covariates related to the features of the tourist area and the tourists themselves, as well as COVID-19 incidence in their province of residence in the months before the holiday.

Findings

Tourist-related features seem not to impact on perceived health safety, whereas some destination- and accommodation-related elements do. In particular, the number of tourist beds affects it negatively, and staying at a hotel does it in a positive way. COVID-19 incidence in one’s home province does not affect perceptions of health safety measures, which suggests a possible sample selection effect and/or the need for more fine-grained data.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the few on the immediate effects of the COVID-19 pandemic using data from a large sample of actual tourists. Our findings point out the importance of the intrinsic features of some places and accommodation in influencing perceptions of safety. We discuss implications for scholars and destination managers.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 May 2024

Yueming Cao, Dongjie Zhou and Yunli Bai

This paper aims to examine the impacts of unstable off-farm employment on the probability and stability of farmland rent-out and explore its mechanisms.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the impacts of unstable off-farm employment on the probability and stability of farmland rent-out and explore its mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper adopts Ordinary Least Squares (OLS), Probit, Tobit, Order probit models with two-way fixed effects to conduct empirical analysis based on the balanced panel data collected in 2016 and 2023 with a national representativeness sample of 1,206 rural households in 100 villages across 5 provinces in China.

Findings

The empirical results showed that unstable off-farm employment had negative effects on the probability of farmland rent-out, but it had no effects on the stability of farmland rent-out. The mechanism analysis showed that unstable off-farm employment affected the probability of farmland rent-out by decreasing the probability of purchasing houses in city and endowment insurance with high pension. Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the negative effect of unstable off-farm employment was much larger for the households with higher share of labor engaging in off-farm employment outside home county, elder members in the households and those located in the villages of mountain areas.

Originality/value

This paper is the first to define the unstable off-farm employment from the perspective of incontiguous off-farm employment for several years, which could capture the normality rather than particular case in a certain year of off-farm employment among rural labors. Using these new measurements of unstable off-farmland, this paper examined the impacts and mechanisms of share of unstable off-farm employment on the probability and stability of farmland rent-out.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2024

Yuhong Li, Hang Gao and Xiaokun Yu

This study aims to increase the novelty of clothing design and fabric texture. The element library that can be used for design is systematically summarized. The element database…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to increase the novelty of clothing design and fabric texture. The element library that can be used for design is systematically summarized. The element database can also be continuously filled according to the existing logic to realize the diversity of design. Improve the theory of fashion design, expand the designer's design ideas and improve design efficiency. Clear design steps and logic can help students and machines learn the design process and promote the development of intelligent design. And verify the feasibility of the simulation software to assist pleated clothing design.

Design/methodology/approach

Firstly, according to the logical framework of origami theory, different innovative designs and combined designs are made for the basic units of hyperbolic paraboloid, and the element library that can be used for design is systematically summarized. This database can also be continuously filled according to the existing logic to realize the diversity of design. Secondly, it summarizes three methods of pleated element filling clothing – uniform filling method, the irregular filling method and geometric addition method – that improve the theory of fashion design, expand the designer's design ideas and improve design efficiency. Clear design steps and logic can help students and machines learn the design process and promote the development of intelligent design. Finally, the virtual software is used to simulate the effect of pleated clothing, and the three-dimensional simulation software 3dclo is used to make an empirical study on the application of hyperbolic paraboloid origami in clothing pleated design to verify the feasibility of the simulation software to assist pleated clothing design.

Findings

The theoretical results of hyperbolic paraboloid origami are collected and arranged to establish the element library of hyperbolic paraboloid origami. The results expand the designer's design ideas and auxiliary design technology and improve the design efficiency using a sample of hyperbolic paraboloid fabric to verify its practicability and three-dimensional clothing simulation software for exploring the design. The design rules of hyperbolic paraboloid clothing and the realization method of fabric are summarized, including the expansion and combing of elements, the application of size and shape and the method of combination.

Research limitations/implications

Owing to the hyperbolic paraboloid origami’s length shrinkage, the loose computation of clothing requires targeted computation. This paper solely applies a paper model for estimating the shrinkage, and then we tend to subsequently explore the way to precisely compute the porosity, to determine the existing differences in the two-dimensional shrinkage of hyperbolic paraboloid creases of varying materials and to know if the clothing after large-scale production is capable of reaching the anticipated value.

Practical implications

The exploration of this experiment brings a new 3D experiment process to the design process.

Social implications

This experiment brings new possibilities for the development of virtual fitting and virtual display in the industry.

Originality/value

This study combines hyperbolic paraboloid origami and clothing and combs and expands the unit with logical thinking to expand the designer's design ideas.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 March 2024

Govinda Prasad Dhungana, Dwij Raj Bhatta and Wei-Hong Zhang

Family planning (FP) services through the lens of human rights are not well known in Nepal. This study aims to assess Family Planning 2020: Rights and Empowerment Principles for…

Abstract

Purpose

Family planning (FP) services through the lens of human rights are not well known in Nepal. This study aims to assess Family Planning 2020: Rights and Empowerment Principles for Family Planning and identify factors affecting contraceptive use among HIV-infected women living in rural Far Western Nepal.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducted a cross-sectional survey using self-designed proforma. To assess the association between contraceptive use and independent variables, this study calculated adjusted odd ratio (AOR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) V.20.

Findings

Only 37.8% of participants had access to full range of contraceptive methods, and only 57.5% of participants received proper counseling. Agency/autonomy, transparency/accountability and voice/participation were practiced by 43.7%, 23.4% and 19.7% of participants, respectively. Husband’s support (AOR = 4.263; 95% CI: 1.640–11.086), availability of FP services in their locality (AOR = 2.497; 95% CI: 1.311–4.754), employment (AOR = 3.499; 95% CI: 1.186–10.328) and postpartum period (AOR = 0.103; 95% CI: 0.023–0.475) were significantly associated with contraceptive use.

Research limitations/implications

Health-care providers’ and program managers’ perspectives were not examined.

Practical implications

Findings of this study will be useful for making strategic plan on human rights-based approach to FP.

Social implications

Expanding access to contraceptive information and services and strengthening autonomy, accountability and participation are key to human rights-based approach to FP.

Originality/value

This study identified that inadequate counselling, nonavailability of full range of contraceptive methods, low level of autonomy, accountability and participation were key bottlenecks in fulfilling human rights-based approach to FP.

Details

International Journal of Human Rights in Healthcare, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4902

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 June 2023

Songjun Xu and Yaou Hu

Awe is an important yet largely overlooked emotion in tourism. This paper aims to reveal the underlying mechanism of the effects of nature-inspired awe on stimulating tourists'…

Abstract

Purpose

Awe is an important yet largely overlooked emotion in tourism. This paper aims to reveal the underlying mechanism of the effects of nature-inspired awe on stimulating tourists' environmentally responsible behavior (TERB) intention by delving into the serial mediation effect of state construal level, small-self perception and state connectedness to nature (CNT).

Design/methodology/approach

This research was built upon the appraisal theory of emotion. Study 1 was a scenario-induced quasi-experimental study to test the proposed model linking awe, small-self perception, state CNT and TERB intention. A total of 271 valid questionnaires were collected via an online questionnaire platform. Study 2 was a field study designed to replicate the findings of Study 1 and further uncover the mediating role of the state construal level. Study 2 was conducted in Baiyun Mountain Scenic Area, China. A total of 229 valid questionnaires were used for analysis.

Findings

This research deepens our understanding of the effects of nature-inspired awe in the tourism and travel fields. This research uncovers the underlying mechanism by which awe increases TERB intention through serial mediation. Specifically, awe inspires tourists to apply a higher level of construal, which makes tourists perceive a smaller self, making them feel more connected to nature and exert more intention to adopt ERB.

Originality/value

This research linked tourists' mindset (i.e. state construal level), internal (i.e. small-self perception) and external (i.e. state CNT) cognition in an integrated model, explaining how nature-inspired awe contributes to eliciting TERB intention. The findings add critical theoretical contributions to the travel and tourism literature and provide important implications for the tourism industry to inspire awe and benefit from such emotion.

研究目的

敬畏在旅游中是一种十分重要的情绪, 但却鲜少被关注。本研究旨在深入研究解释水平状态、小我感知和自然关联感的链式中介效应, 揭示自然敬畏激发游客环境责任行为意向的内在作用机制。

研究设计与方法

本研究的基础理论为情绪评价理论。研究一通过场景诱导的准实验研究, 检验将敬畏、小我感知、自然关联感和游客责任行为意向的假设模型; 研究一以网络问卷平台收集的271份有效问卷数据进行分析。研究二是一项在中国白云山风景区开展的实地研究, 旨在检验研究一的研究结果, 并进一步揭示解释水平状态的中介效应; 研究二采用229份有效问卷数据进行分析。

研究发现

本研究揭示了敬畏通过链式中介作用影响游客环境责任行为意向的内在作用机制, 深化了对自然敬畏在旅游和旅行领域价值的理解。具体而言, 本研究发现敬畏激发了游客启动更高的解释水平, 这使游客感知到更渺小的自我, 并促使他们感到与自然的联系更加紧密, 从而提升了游客的环境责任行为意向。

原创性/价值

本研究将游客的心理定式(即解释水平状态)、内在认知(即小我感知)和外部认知(即自然关联感)整合到一个综合模型中, 解释了自然敬畏引发游客环境责任行为意向的作用机制。研究结果为旅游研究提供了重要的理论贡献, 也为旅游行业如何在实践中激发敬畏感并从中获得效益提供了重要的实践启示。

Propósito

El asombro es una emoción importante pero en gran medida ignorada en el turismo. Esta investigación pretende revelar el mecanismo subyacente de los efectos del asombro inspirado por la naturaleza en la estimulación de la intención del comportamiento responsable con el medio ambiente (TERB) de los turistas, profundizando en el efecto mediador en serie del nivel de interpretación del estado, la percepción del pequeño yo y la conexión del estado con la naturaleza (CNT).

Diseño/metodología/enfoque

Esta investigación se basó en la teoría de la valoración de la emoción. El estudio 1 fue un estudio cuasiexperimental inducido por escenarios para probar el modelo propuesto que vincula el sentimiento de asombro, la percepción del pequeño yo, el estado CNT y la intención TERB. Se recogieron 271 cuestionarios válidos a través de una plataforma de cuestionarios en línea. El Estudio 2 fue un estudio de campo diseñado para replicar los hallazgos del Estudio 1 y descubrir más a fondo el papel mediador del nivel de interpretación del estado. El estudio 2 se llevó a cabo en la zona escénica de la montaña de Baiyun (China). Se utilizó un total de 229 cuestionarios válidos para el análisis.

Resultados

Esta investigación profundiza en nuestra comprensión de los efectos del asombro inspirado por la naturaleza en los ámbitos del turismo y los viajes. Esta investigación descubre el mecanismo subyacente por el que el asombro aumenta la intención de TERB a través de la mediación en serie. En concreto, el asombro inspira a los turistas a aplicar un mayor nivel de interpretación, lo que hace que los turistas perciban un yo más pequeño, lo que les hace sentirse más conectados con la naturaleza y ejercer así una mayor intención de adoptar TERB.

Originalidad/valor

Esta investigación vinculó la mentalidad de los turistas (es decir, el nivel de nterpretación del estado), la cognición interna (es decir, la percepción de un yo más pequeño) y la externa (es decir, la CNT del estado) en un modelo integrado, explicando cómo el asombro inspirado por la naturaleza contribuye a suscitar la intención TERB. Los hallazgos añaden contribuciones teóricas críticas a la literatura sobre viajes y turismo y proporcionan implicaciones importantes para que la industria turística inspire asombro y se beneficie de dicha emoción.

Article
Publication date: 7 February 2023

Rami Farouk Daher

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different levels of place understanding (primarily typo-morphological analysis) on the nature of interventions within…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of different levels of place understanding (primarily typo-morphological analysis) on the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the City of Amman.

Design/methodology/approach

The research methodology depended on an extensive thematic survey and analysis. The typo-morphological analysis addressed several of Amman's residential hills and their connections with the downtown area. The thematic place survey tool included different units of analysis (e.g. buildings, public spaces, streets and sloped lands between streets) and addressed the values of these various buildings and spaces, their typology, typo-morphology and relation to the urban context, nature of change and transformations over time to mention a few. The extensive survey also included semi-structured interviews about these buildings addressing their emergence, historic context and values.

Findings

The paper presents an architectural typology for Amman's architecture and its relationship with the city's morphology stressing the specificity of Amman's historic core and residential hills. The paper also discusses the effect of this level of place understanding on the nature and levels of interventions within historic settings and buildings.

Research limitations/implications

This level of place understanding (typo-morphological analysis) can have a positive impact on the practice of architectural and urban conservation by informing the nature of interventions within historic urban setting and buildings within the city. More specifically, this level of place understanding can, first, inform the development of urban and heritage guidelines within conservation areas in one of Amman's residential neighborhoods (Weibdeh) and, second, inform the nature of interventions to existing historic buildings based on respect of building typology.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the disciplines of architectural and urban conservation illustrating how place understanding can inform practices of heritage conservation and future policies and strategies concerning new intervention within such heritage places.

Details

Archnet-IJAR: International Journal of Architectural Research, vol. 18 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2631-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2022

Vu Hong Van, Nguyen Ngoc Quynh and Nguyen Khanh Doanh

This study aims to analyze the factors affecting tea-producing farmers' intention to use e-commerce exchanges (ECEs) to sell their products, combining the technology acceptance…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to analyze the factors affecting tea-producing farmers' intention to use e-commerce exchanges (ECEs) to sell their products, combining the technology acceptance model (TAM) theory and barrier factors.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use the generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) to analyze the intermediate model that is built on TAM.

Findings

Research results show that perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) significantly influence farmers' intention to use ECEs to sell their products. However, knowledge and information barriers hinder farmers' intention to use such ECEs.

Research limitations/implications

Encouraging farmers to use ECEs is the most helpful solution for agricultural economic development in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Originality/value

From an academic perspective, this is the first study that combines the TAM theory of Davis (1989) and barrier factors to analyze farmers' intention to use ECEs. The findings are valuable references for policymakers to propose strategies for agricultural economic development during the current pandemic. At the same time, the empirical results obtained from this study provide good orientations for agricultural economic development 4.0 in the future.

Details

Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies, vol. 14 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2044-0839

Keywords

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