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1 – 10 of over 1000Attempts to explain the limitations and constraints of government policy makers in the regulation of street vending. Looks at ways that street vendors in Mexico City create…
Abstract
Attempts to explain the limitations and constraints of government policy makers in the regulation of street vending. Looks at ways that street vendors in Mexico City create alternative forms of regulation that complement and challenge the state’s attempt to impose a “one size fits all’ form of regulation for the national economy. Cites two distinct forms of regulation and how these resppond to the different needs of vendors depending on their ability to negotiate their status with the state. Covers the organizations which the vendors have formed to assist them and question the “Mafia” status applied to these by the establishment.
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Pattarapong Burusnukul, Margaret Binkley and Piyavan Sukalakamala
The purpose of this paper is to examine international tourist consumption behavior and decisional attributes in the patronage of foodservice establishments in Thailand with a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine international tourist consumption behavior and decisional attributes in the patronage of foodservice establishments in Thailand with a focus on sanitation.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a convenience sample (n=129) were quantitatively analyzed using descriptive statistics, t‐tests, ANOVA, and correlations.
Findings
Tourists tended to be neutral on most attributes in selecting foodservice establishments. Key attributes included familiarity with food products for selecting international franchised restaurants, location and desire to experience authentic Thai food from locally owned restaurants, and location for eating establishments at accommodation facilities. Based on sanitation concerns, tourists lacked confidence in selecting any type of establishments, especially street vendors, and awareness of the “Clean Food Good Taste” (CFGT) Program was low. Tourists' perceived overall sanitation standard in Thailand correlated with their selection of locally owned restaurants and street vendors.
Research limitations/implications
Convenience sampling is used due to the transient nature of the population. The English language questionnaire excluded tourists from Asian countries whose cultures are similar to Thai. Generalizability and interpretation should be approached with caution. Nonetheless, this study should bring new interest for future research, addressing tourist consumption behavior pertaining to food safety practices and food tourism in Asia.
Practical implications
Suggestions are made for foodservice operators to better attract tourists and for promoting the CFGT Program. Increased awareness of the program could result in a lower number of tourists affected by foodborne illnesses and could help to promote tourism.
Originality/value
The paper is useful to both practitioners and academicians interested in tourist consumption behavior, food safety, and food tourism by revealing initial insight into how and why tourists select foodservices in unfamiliar environments.
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Greg G. Wang, David Lamond, Verner Worm, Wenshu Gao and Shengbin Yang
The purpose of this paper is to examine the indigenous Chinese concept of suzhi (素质) with the aim of furthering the development of Chinese human resource management (HRM) research…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the indigenous Chinese concept of suzhi (素质) with the aim of furthering the development of Chinese human resource management (HRM) research and practice.
Design/methodology/approach
An extensive review of the literature on suzhi, published in the West, as well as in China, is the basis for proffering an organizational-level conceptualization of suzhi in the Chinese context.
Findings
Instead of understanding it as a free-floating signifier, we argue that suzhi can be considered as a criterion-based framework for HRM research and practice. Suzhi research is classified into two major sources – indigenous Chinese and indigenized Western constructs. We further make a distinction between intrinsic and extrinsic suzhi, and analyze a popular set of suzhi criteria, considering de (morality) and cai (talent), while focusing on de in HRM selection (德才兼备, 以德为先). As multilevel and multidimensional framework, suzhi criteria may form different gestalts in different organizations and industries.
Research limitations/implications
From a social cultural and historical perspective, HRM research that incorporates a combination of indigenous and indigenized suzhi characteristics may receive better acceptance by individuals, organizations and the society in the Chinese context. Accordingly, the reconstruction of suzhi into manageable and measurable dimensions can be undertaken for more effective HRM practice in the Chinese context.
Originality/value
The HRM literature is advanced by linking the indigenous suzhi discourse to Chinese indigenous HRM research and practice.
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Provide a general contemporary overview of street vending around the world, focusing on the major issues underlying its permanence as a phenomenon, and the ambivalent attitudes…
Abstract
Provide a general contemporary overview of street vending around the world, focusing on the major issues underlying its permanence as a phenomenon, and the ambivalent attitudes displayed towards it by governments and off‐street business communities. Focuses on street vendors as an occupational group ad includes arguments for and against their existence, the impact of their geographical and economic location, and role of the government.
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The purpose of this paper is to challenge the default portrayal of street trade as an informal occupation and spatial practice, by examining comparatively the changes in the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the default portrayal of street trade as an informal occupation and spatial practice, by examining comparatively the changes in the regulatory frameworks of two politically distinct city administrations in Latin America since the introduction of the informal economy debate.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws from a comparative case study design to synthesize evidence from historical administrative records, secondary research and materials from a two-year fieldwork carried out in Lima and Bogotá in 2008 and 2009.
Findings
The author argues that the incorporation of the informal economy framework into local governments’ policymaking has reframed street trade as a subject of policy. Since the 1970s, the author traces a shift from worker-centered initiatives, through the deregulation of street trade, to entrepreneurial-centered approaches. Nowadays, both, Lima’s neoliberal governance focusing on “formalizing” and Bogotá’s socialist/progressive governance aiming at “upgrading” street trade respond more explicitly to distinct assessments about the informal economy – legalist and dualist, respectively. Yet, both cities converge in that the closer street trade is perceived as an informal occupation; the more likely policy initiatives decouple the right to work from the right to access public space, spurring more marginal forms of street vending.
Originality/value
Even though the informal economy framework has helped to draw attention to important policy issues locally, nationally and internationally, this paper calls for a critical revision of such framing at the local level to allow for inclusive urban governance.
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Informal street vending is traditionally widespread and studied concerning developing countries. Nevertheless, recently, interest in the study of this practice has also increased…
Abstract
Purpose
Informal street vending is traditionally widespread and studied concerning developing countries. Nevertheless, recently, interest in the study of this practice has also increased regarding specific developed countries. The aim of the article is to contribute to overcoming the tendency to investigate this informal economy sector with different analytical lenses between the global South and global North and to highlight the usefulness of analyzing the phenomenon from a comparative perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Therefore, the article represents a comparative review of the existing literature on informal street vending considering both the global South and global North.
Findings
The analysis revealed similarities and differences in the characteristics the phenomenon assumes in the two areas of the world while at the same time, showing how there are aspects mainly explored in the literature of southern countries and little explored in the literature of northern countries and vice-versa.
Research limitations/implications
This analytical attempt allows us to highlight any gaps present in the literature, which may represent the basis for future comparative research on the topic. Comparative research will improve both theoretical and empirical knowledge of the phenomenon.
Originality/value
On the one hand, the article represents an innovative literature review attempt, as it explicitly compares the street vending between developing and developed countries. On the other hand, it represents the first academic contribution to review street vending in the global North.
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Vanja Prevolšek, Andrej Ovca and Mojca Jevšnik
This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic…
Abstract
Purpose
This cross-sectional study aimed to evaluate the compliance of hygienic and technical standards of street food vendors in Slovenia with the requirements of the general hygienic food principals set in the Codex Alimentarius and Regulation (EC) No. 852/2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs.
Design/methodology/approach
Food vendors were observed directly and discretely using a semi-structured observation sheet that allowed fast evaluation. The employee's behaviour was not affected during the observations because they were not aware of being observed. Each observation lasted approximately 30 min. Food vendors were divided into groups according to their location, type of facility, number of employees and type of food sold.
Findings
Depending on the type of street vendor, more inconsistencies were found amongst food stands compared to food trucks and kiosks. Most food trucks and kiosks scored very high in both personal and hygienic-technical standards. Some of the major inconsistencies were lack of suitably located washbasins, improper hand-washing technique, improper waste management, working surfaces that were inadequately separated from consumers, and inconsistent maintenance of the cold chain. Food handlers have been confirmed as a critical risk factor.
Research limitations/implications
Despite methodology validation, the data was collected by a single observer, limiting the ability to obtain a more reliable estimate of the observations. The sample was disproportionate according to the type of street food facilities.
Practical implications
The results provide a basis for (1) national professional guidelines of good hygiene practices for food business operators, which should cover street food vendors more extensively in future updates, and (2) the development of food safety training programmes tailored for street vendors.
Originality/value
The study provides valuable insights into current hygienic-technical conditions of the street food vending sector.
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The purpose of this study is to review the critical success factors (CSFs) of street food destinations, given the limited attention awarded to such research in the food and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to review the critical success factors (CSFs) of street food destinations, given the limited attention awarded to such research in the food and beverage sector.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist approach was used to merge CSFs from street vending and culinary tourism perspectives, to develop a draft framework for analysing CSFs for street food destinations. In total, 64 cities that appeared in the first 20 webpage results of a Google search, using 4 keywords, formed the population. A purposive sample of seven destinations (Bangkok, Marrakesh, Mexico City, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Portland and Singapore City) was used. A content analysis method was used to review webpages, journal articles and government reports of the destinations, based on the modified list of CSFs.
Findings
The availability of diverse street food resources and cultures, coupled with rich historic city cores that sustain street food vending, in some destinations, are very important CSFs. The presence and extent of regulatory enforcement were also key in others. Empirical research is, however, required to corroborate the draft framework to create a body of knowledge for further research in the field.
Originality/value
The study examines how leading street food destinations have instituted the CSFs required for street food provision.
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The purpose of this paper is to explore resilience strategies of Chinese street vendors in a shifted regulatory policy environment from a strength-based and entrepreneurial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore resilience strategies of Chinese street vendors in a shifted regulatory policy environment from a strength-based and entrepreneurial perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon nine in-depth interviews and naturalistic observations in an urban village of Guangzhou, China, the study empirically investigates how unregulated sidewalk-based hawkers struggle to survive against socioeconomic adversities compared with regulated vendors’ operations in a legitimate transitional market.
Findings
Mirroring a sub-group of rural-to-urban migrants, street vendors espouse subtle strategies centering on purposefulness, resourcefulness and hardiness, which are instantiated through family obligation, sales tactics, merchandising techniques, technology application, trading flexibility, moral sentiment and assistance network. As such, street entrepreneurs are both enacting and constructing resilience in response to specific challenging contexts including impoverishment, operating cost inflation, contingent loss, fierce competition, market uncertainty, intensive workloads, municipal inspection and arbitrary governance practice of village cooperative organization.
Research limitations/implications
Notwithstanding its limited generalizability, the result sheds light on crystallization of street vendors’ resilience and informs social services and policy remedies.
Originality/value
The study provides a frame of reference to examine the interplay of resilience theory from psychology and entrepreneurship thesis from the field of business management by adding new evidence to the research on “entrepreneurial resilience” and potentially serves as a catalyst to enrich existing literature with an integrated perspective to comprehend the coping process of these necessity-driven micro-enterprise operators. The antagonistic understanding of informal economy is so predominating that it obscures structural oppression undermining social justice, whereas the spirit of self-reliance among street entrepreneurs is ought to be respected.
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Richard Kwasi Bannor, Bismark Amfo and Helena Oppong-Kyeremeh
The authors assessed the certification of street food retailers in Ghana in terms of awareness, training, willingness to be certified, determinants, agreement with certification…
Abstract
Purpose
The authors assessed the certification of street food retailers in Ghana in terms of awareness, training, willingness to be certified, determinants, agreement with certification requirements and impacts on performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Primary data was sourced from 200 street food retailers. Descriptive statistics, Likert scale, mean comparison test, heteroskedastic probit, inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA), inverse probability weights (IPW) and augmented inverse-probability weighting (AIPW) were applied.
Findings
Most uncertified retailers were willing to be certified. Awareness about certification was high. Most of the certified retailers had been trained on certification, while most uncertified retailers had not been trained. Being a female, being educated, being a migrant vendor, possessing experience in retailing, training in certification, trust in the local certification process, the amount spent in preparing food and the number of customers are crucial variables that increase the probability of being certified among street food vendors. Street food retailers agreed to all the requirements for certification. Certification boosts the performance of street food retailers in terms of the number of customers and contracts received. Training on certification is recommended for street food retailers.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this study is mainly due to the type of food retailers selected. Street food vending in Ghana is done among those who cook food for selling, those who sell processed products such as drinks and those who sell vegetables and other uncooked agriproducts. Meanwhile, the authors selected unorganised retailers who primarily cook local and regional dishes for sale in this study. Thus, the study did not include organised food retailers such as restaurants. Therefore, generalising the study results for street food vendors should be made with caution.
Originality/value
Several studies have been conducted on street food retailing across the globe on knowledge of food-safety practices, risk practices, bacterial contamination of street retailing food, toxicological hazards of street foods and compliance with technical and hygienic requirements by street food retailers, among others. However, empirical studies on the certification/licensing of street food retailers and its impact have been given little attention. As a result, this study investigates the certification of street food retailers and its impacts on retailers' performance in Ghana.
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