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The purpose of this study is to identify the core responsible leadership (RL) practices that are most relevant to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) restaurants. Furthermore, the authors adapt scales to measure these practices and conduct a pilot study to evaluate their impact on business performance in such establishments.

Exploratory sequential mixed methods are used to fulfill the research aims. In the first phase, a set of definitions and practices associated with RL are derived from a systematic literature review. Second, a projective method of data collection is applied, involving a panel of 16 experts. Third, a fuzzy cognitive map is developed, which captures the responses of 40 owners or general managers of SME restaurants.

Twenty-five practices are identified from the systematic literature review. The results show the five leadership practices that match the order of importance assigned by the experts: societal orientation, ethics, stakeholder involvement, power-sharing and environmental orientation. The relevance of those five practices is validated to explain SME restaurants’ financial performance and innovation performance.

Innovation is the key to advancing business sustainability and resilience, and the results identify the specific RL practices that enable improvements to be made in innovation performance among SME restaurants.

This paper identifies the RL practices that are particularly relevant to the tourism field (specifically, the restaurant industry), offers measurement scales for those practices and provides empirical evidence of the relationship between these RL practices and business performance in SME restaurants.

The purpose of this study is to investigate what sustainability initiatives are being implemented by Canadian independent restaurants and to determine if the initiatives represent all 10 categories of a sustainable restaurant as established by a sustainability initiative framework.

The study uses a qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews with 15 small to medium enterprise (SME), independent restaurant owners and operators across Canada. The data was digitally transcribed and thematic analysis was performed.

Results indicated that most initiatives aligned with the categories of “sustainable food/menu” and “waste reduction and disposables” which shows that the operators were inclined to pursue initiatives in customer view. Restaurants put limited focus on water supply, chemicals and pollution reduction, furniture and construction materials. Some of the barriers to implementing, measuring and learning about initiatives were: cost, lack of access to programs, supply chain complications, not having buy-in from owners and lack of time to implement.

The study recommends that governments provide incentives to implement sustainability initiatives that are out of sight to the customer. For example, implementing composting, energy efficient equipment and water saving processes. It is also recommended that third-party restaurant organizations provide more accurate, evidence-based guidance and education on implementing a wide-range of sustainability initiatives.

This research contributes to the literature on sustainability in restaurants and applies a sustainability initiative framework in a practical context. The study provides a unique assessment of the current state of restaurant sustainability and states where restaurants need to improve their efforts.

This paper outlines ways in which struggling ethnic minority entrepreneurial service ventures and their owners might respond to unforeseen economic and social shocks. Interviews with owners of Bangladeshi Curry Houses in the United Kingdom — whom historically have lower performance rates compared to other ethnic minority businesses in the country — reveal that the entrepreneurs' response strategies undertaken to survive and remain in the business despite the challenges faced from operating in a turbulence environment.

The authors conducted depth phone interviews with owners of Bangladeshi Curry Houses in London during January and February of 2021. The Gioia methodology was applied to the interview scripts to identify which crisis themes exist.

Despite no advanced educational training, Bangladeshi owners have applied all of the different crisis management techniques present in larger companies: retrenchment, persevering, innovation, and exit. Although the results show that government schemes aimed at helping small businesses have contributed significantly to their survival, concerns regarding the post-health crisis situation remain challenging and threatening for their growth and survivability.

The results indicates that the ethnic minority owned small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are less likely to plan for the future operations; furthermore, they tend not to have formulated a strategy for dealing with an external shock hence affecting and threatening their performance and competitiveness in the marketplace.

Learning in organizations is well-recognized as a key determinant of innovation and success in competitive markets, and a rich literature examines learning mechanisms in large-sized and professionally-run organizations. Relatively little is known about the learning processes in family-run firms, most of whom are small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) led by a single family SME owner-manager connected in a family network. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate how family SME owner-managers engage in learning and how those learning processes are affected by family SME-specific characteristics.

Using pragmatic learning theory as an interpretive lens, this study conducts a qualitative multi-case study involving 61 interviews in family SMEs with family SME owner-managers, family members, employees and customers.

The within- and cross-case analysis helps identify the mechanisms, barriers and enablers of learning and innovation in family SMEs. The study develops and pinpoints the family owner managers’ “functional overload” as a major barrier to learning and employee empowerment, family-members’ support and customer feedback as critical resources in overcoming such functional overload. Yet, these resources turn out to be major amplifiers of functional overload in later phases of the learning process, thus impeding learning and innovation.

The study provides novel insights into learning processes and innovation within family SMEs, outlines the double-edged involvement of family members, employees and customers for learning processes, and provides nuance to pragmatic learning theory.

Hong Kong has a global reputation as an entrepreneurial hub. The Japanese restaurant community has grown and evolved over the last three decades into what many consider as a natural secondary market for Japanese food. As such, several Japanese restaurateurs have come to Hong Kong to enter Hong Kong’s premium Japanese restaurant market. The purpose of this paper is to explore this market of Japanese restaurateurship in Hong Kong.

One of the closest methodologies within the topic and discipline from Baldwin (2017) focuses on Japaneseness as a measurement of culinary authenticity examining Hong Kong’s Michelin rated restaurants. Here, the qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews with the chefs of two sets of premium Japanese restaurants from Japan that expanded in Hong Kong, Sushi Iwa and Sushi Yoshitake. As this paper focuses on the premium and high-end market of Japanese chefs and restaurateurs in Hong Kong, the researcher combined the approaches of Kawahara & Speece and Baldwin to pursue a qualitative methodology using semi-structured interviews.

For this research, the interview process had to be divided into two stages. The first was to speak with long standing members of Hong Kong’s Japanese restaurant community. The common thread amongst the restaurateurs was that they were either the sole proprietor or a partner who was financially vested within the company not a form of sweat equity. To respect the privacy of the interviews, questions about exact monetary amounts, number of shares and equity or anything regarding holdings were not asked. The idea was to only examine their responses within the criteria of the research objectives.

As the Michelin and premium market of Japanese cuisine is so small, this research can only represent a certain part of the market. Future research could examine other Japanese restaurateurs outside of this market that could be examined to gain a wider perspective of the entrepreneurial strategies they used to start-up their business in Hong Kong.

As research in this area is very limited, this paper helps bring restaurateurship in Hong Kong into the academic front. Restaurants are one of the most common entry points for new entrepreneurs in hospitality. This paper may help shed some light on how foreign investment entrepreneurship has been achieved in Asia.

This paper aims to report on the results of a study carried out to establish the contribution of business choice and location decision to the success of small and medium enterprises in an emerging economy like Uganda.

This study is cross-sectional and correlational. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 181 small and medium restaurants. The data were analyzed through correlation coefficients and hierarchical regression using statistical package for social sciences.

The findings reveal that both business choice and location decisions positively and significantly contribute to the success of small and medium enterprises. However, it was noted that more attention should be paid to location decision than business choice as determinants of SME success.

To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the contribution of business choice and location decision to the success of SMEs using evidence from a developing African country like Uganda. Finally, this research offers practical contributions to managers and owners of SMEs who have to make strategic decisions for firm profitability, survival and growth in the competitive business arena.

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the literature on how quality factors impact website implementation for small and medium-sized hospitality enterprises (SMEs). Its objective is to define and explain the relevance of these factors and synthesize them in the context of a digital space roadmap for Dubai’s Vision 2020, as well as to identify potential routes to assist SME practitioners in implementation.

Analyses literature on website implementation in the hospitality industry in relation to relevant themes, drawing from a range of journals and relevant industry sources. A link to trends for the future is established to illustrate the groundwork for website implementation factors and the digital roadmap. Practitioner input on the review is presented to augment the findings.

The relevant aspects of SME website implementation and associated challenges are defined. Various quality-related factors such as website access, content, function and design should not be ignored by practitioners. It is suggested that these factors retain their relevance in the context of current trends, such as social, local and mobile communications. There is a need for academia and government bodies to provide comprehensive guidance to industry executives.

Executives in the SME domain need to ensure that they take into consideration the factors pertaining to effective website implementation presented in the study, as they will likely positively influence their ability to extend their digital strategy into the future.

This manuscript provides a practically oriented and engaging overview of SME website implementation factors for a wide audience and links them to newly emerging digital marketing concepts, thus attempting to fill a gap in the literature.

This paper aims to study the effect of the COVID-19 economic slowdown on the restaurant industry in Jalisco, Mexico, identifying business-specific variables that improve/worsen restaurants’ odds of permanent closure.

The data of a randomized survey on 438 restaurants conducted in October 2020 in Jalisco, Mexico, are analyzed using a binary logistic regression model in which the dependent variable depicts the perception of the restaurant owner regarding the possibility of closing the business for good because of COVID-19.

Layoffs and large year-on-year drops in sales increased the odds of permanent closure by 12.7 and 5.5 times, respectively. At the same time, being a small business had a protective effect against closure. For instance, a restaurant with 6 to 10 employees and 11 to 20 seats, respectively, had 87.9% and 45.1% lower odds of permanent closure than a different-sized restaurant. There is also an element of legacy in restaurant resilience. Every year the business has been open, it has 2.5% lower odds of permanent closure.

These results call for government financial support to the restaurant industry in extreme financial distress and help to understand the business-specific characteristics of resilient restaurants when liquidity vanishes, such as in the COVID-19 economic crisis.

This study fills a gap in the literature regarding the effect of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry in Mexico, which is scarcely studied. Moreover, it analyzes data collected in the recovery period after the first wave of COVID-19, providing a unique scenario to study critical variables for the resilience of restaurants.

Este documento estudia el efecto de la desaceleración económica de COVID-19 en la industria de restaurantes en Jalisco, México, identificando variables específicas del negocio que mejoran/empeoran las probabilidades de cierre permanente de los restaurantes.

Los datos de una encuesta aleatoria sobre 438 restaurantes realizada en octubre de 2020 en Jalisco, México, se analizan utilizando un modelo de regresión logística binaria en el que la variable dependiente representa la percepción del propietario del restaurante con respecto a la posibilidad de cerrar el negocio para siempre debido a COVID-19.

Los despidos y las grandes caídas interanuales en las ventas aumentaron las posibilidades de cierre permanente en 12.7 y 5.5 veces, respectivamente. Al mismo tiempo, ser una pequeña empresa tenía un efecto protector contra el cierre. Por ejemplo, un restaurante con 6 a 10 empleados y de 11 a 20 asientos, respectivamente, tenía 87.9% y 45.1% menos posibilidades de cierre permanente que un restaurante de diferente tamaño. También hay un elemento de legado en la resiliencia de los restaurantes. Cada año que el negocio ha estado abierto, tiene un 2.5% menos de posibilidades de cierre permanente.

Estos resultados respaldan la necesidad de apoyo financiero del gobierno a la industria restaurantera en periodos de dificultades financieras extremas y ayudan a comprender las características específicas de los restaurantes resilientes cuando la liquidez desaparece, como en la crisis económica de COVID-19.

Este estudio llena un vacío en la literatura sobre el estudio del efecto del COVID-19 en la industria de restaurantes en México, que apenas se ha estudiado. Además, analiza datos recolectados en el período de recuperación después de la primera ola de COVID-19, proporcionando un escenario único para estudiar variables clave para la resiliencia de los restaurantes.

Este artigo estuda o efeito da desaceleração econômica COVID-19 na indústria de restaurantes em Jalisco, México, identificando variáveis específicas do negócio que melhoram/pioram as chances de fechamento permanente dos restaurantes.

Os dados de uma pesquisa randomizada com 438 restaurantes realizada em outubro de 2020 em Jalisco, no México, são analisados por meio de um modelo de regressão logística binária em que a variável dependente retrata a percepção do dono do restaurante sobre a possibilidade de fechar definitivamente o negócio por causa da COVID-19.

Demissões e grandes quedas ano a ano nas vendas aumentaram as chances de fechamento definitivo em 12,7 e 5,5 vezes, respectivamente. Ao mesmo tempo, ser uma pequena empresa teve um efeito protetor contra o fechamento. Por exemplo, um restaurante com 6 a 10 funcionários e 11 a 20 lugares, respectivamente, teve 87,9% e 45,1% menos chances de fechamento permanente do que um restaurante de tamanho diferente. Há também um elemento de legado na resiliência dos restaurantes. A cada ano que o negócio é aberto, tem chances 2,5% menores de fechamento definitivo.

Esses resultados pedem apoio financeiro do governo para o setor de restaurantes em extrema dificuldade financeira e ajudam a entender as características específicas do negócio de restaurantes resilientes quando a liquidez desaparece, como na crise econômica COVID-19.

Este estudo preenche uma lacuna na literatura sobre o estudo do efeito do COVID-19 na indústria de restaurantes no México, que é pouco estudado. Além disso, analisa dados no período de recuperação após a primeira onda de COVID-19, fornecendo um cenário único para estudar variáveis-chave para a resiliência dos restaurantes.

This study aims to identify the structural relationship among social capital, knowledge sharing, innovation and performance of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in a tourism cluster.

A total of 199 valid questionnaires are collected from SMEs in the Bomun tourism cluster in South Korea. A structural equation modeling approach is used to test the research hypotheses.

The findings suggest that social capital constructs, including network density of structural capital, relational capital and cognitive capital, all positively influence knowledge sharing among SMEs in the cluster. This implies that creating social capital is critical to enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs. This study confirms that knowledge sharing positively affects SME performance through innovation.

This study suggests that social capital, consisting of structural, cognitive and relational capital, facilitates increased knowledge sharing and innovation in a tourism cluster, which in turn enhances SME business performance.

This study suggests that tourism cluster policies should focus on how to create a friendly operational climate to build social capital and support SME innovation.

This study contributes to the literature on social capital and innovation as well as the discourse on tourism clusters by addressing knowledge sharing among SMEs in a tourism cluster. It also expands the knowledge sharing and innovation literature by focusing on inter-organizational social networking among SMEs.

Today’s consumers are aware of restaurants’ effects on the environment and pressure them to implement green practices. As restaurant success largely depends on how employees meet customer expectations, employee green creative behavior (EGCB) is critical. Therefore, this study aims to investigate how to enhance EGCB by integrating a comprehensive set of three-dimensional components: external, organizational and individual factors.

Data analysis was conducted using responses from full-time employees in the US restaurant industry. The PROCESS macro was used to test the direct and indirect relationships between the study variables. A series of mediation analyzes were conducted to investigate the mediation effects of “restaurant ethical standards” and “employee green passion” on their relationships to “customer pressure” and EGCB.

The results verified a direct effect of “customer pressure” on “restaurant ethical standards” and EGCB. The study also demonstrated positive direct relationships of “restaurant ethical standards” – “employee green passion” and “employee green passion” – EGCB. The result showed that “restaurant ethical standards” and “employee green passion” sequentially explained the partial impact of “customer pressure” on EGCB.

The study recommends that restaurant managers acknowledge growing customer environmentalism and prepare to address their customers’ stricter green requirements. Restaurants need to review their ethical standards on a regular basis to meet rising customer pressure. The study also offers empirical evidence regarding the importance of selecting employees who are passionate about sustainability and empowering them to encourage their green creative behavior.

Although past studies have introduced various determinants of employee creative behavior, they have mainly focused on organizational and individual-level factors but have ignored a critical external factor, which is customer pressure. The study addresses this research gap by investigating the interrelationships between customer pressure and EGCB through restaurant ethical standards (organizational-level) and employee green passion (individual-level).