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The labour market experience of graduates and diplomates is a subject currently being explored in the United Kingdom. Reports on the findings of a study undertaken in Northern Ireland with special reference to the hospitality industry. Examines graduate and diplomate opinions on the preparatory value of hospitality management courses and their perception of job quality. Found that graduates in particular feel overqualified because of a lack of opportunity to implement their knowledge and skills acquired and developed in higher education. Part of the problem appears to lie with the conflicting expectations of graduates and employers in the hospitality industry and argues that this could be overcome by forging greater links between the educators and employers. As one of the major challenges of the 1990s is the recruiting and retaining of graduates, hospitality employers must offer training which builds on the foundation laid in higher education.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to explore and make visible narrative thinking as an interpretive act in moving from field texts to research texts.

Approach – The chapter shows a collaborative meaning-making process of three teacher educators/researchers as they inquire into their identities as teacher educators. The chapter is framed around a focus on temporality, one commonplace within the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space and also shows connections with the two other commonplaces of sociality and place.

Findings – The researchers deepen the understanding of identity as situated in a continuity of experience in relation with others. They highlight how stories beget a storied response. They demonstrate that the experiential dimensions of sociality, temporality, and spatiality are interconnected. They find, through thinking narratively, that the relational is critical – both historically and in the present. Relationships shape a sense of self. This relational aspect of their research introduces ethical considerations. It is in honoring the stories they carry and the stories that are given to or shared with them that the possibility exists for shaping a responsive and attentive life.

Research implications – Numerous authors have written about the relational aspects of narrative inquiry as a research methodology. This chapter shows ways in which the relational aspects of narrative inquiry shaped both our inquiry into and our understandings of our identities as teacher educators. These foundational aspects of the relational both in terms of narrative inquiry as a research methodology and in identity inquiry open up many future research possibilities which extend far beyond narrative inquiry into teacher educator identity.

Value – Researchers utilizing a narrative inquiry approach will find a helpful explanation and demonstration of the process of making meaning of field texts by situating them within the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space.

This study sought to determine if environmental barriers (i.e. air pollution, temperature and precipitation) affect outdoor (i.e. soccer and baseball) and indoor (i.e. basketball) professional sport attendance in South Korea.

By including actual air quality, temperature and precipitation data collected from each place where the sporting events take place, this study conducted a regression analysis to examine factors that influenced outdoor and indoor sport attendance.

In outdoor sports, the estimated results suggested that soccer and baseball attendance were not affected by air pollution. Indoor sport consumers did not change their consumption behaviors in attending sports despite the presence of air pollution. In addition, there was mixed evidence on the effect of weather-related variables on attendance. Average temperature had a positive effect on baseball (outdoor) and basketball (indoor) sport attendance, indicating that the warmer the temperature, the more likely those fans were to attend the games. Average precipitation was negatively associated with outdoor (soccer) sport spectators.

The present study contributes to the sport environment literature by examining the impact of environmental barriers on spectators' behaviors in the context of outdoor and indoor professional sports.

The purpose of this study is to observe and analyze current banking practices in Pakistan, regarding the electronic customer relationship management system (ECRM). The aim is to explore the variables in relation to operational problems that may occur with banks that use ECRM and the customer's perception of the usage of e‐banking.

The research design is divided into two sections using both qualitative as well as quantitative methods to represent the results. The first section explores the variables related to the operational problems with e‐banking while the second section discusses the variables related to the customer's perception of the usage of e‐banking systems. Descriptive statistics are used to define the demographic variables while correlation is used to describe the operational problems. Cross case analysis is used to present the customer perception of e‐banking practices. In total, 40 staff members and four customers are selected as samples for this study. SPSS was used for data analysis.

Data analysis shows that customers are not ready to adopt new technologies, which results in a low level of satisfaction with e‐banking. Internet speeds and government policies are also not supportive of e‐banking in Pakistan. Owing to a lack of trust in technology and a low computer literacy rate, customers hesitate to adopt new technology. On the other hand, internet rates are too high and provided speed is in Kb/s.

The results of this study will provide some ideas and practical suggestions, which can be implemented, particularly with E‐banking in order to improve its continuance (i.e. customer satisfaction strategies as an effective means of maintaining the subscriber base, market share and the overall revenue of online banking).

The paper delineates the importance of understanding e‐banking in Pakistan and the reasons why more customers avoid using electronic banking.