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Neither visitors of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travel nor hosts are homogeneous segments (Griffin & Guttenberg, 2020). For this reason, this study aims to address students as hosts of VFR travel and analyzes differences in the visitor and the host segment. As a result, marketing implications for destination marketing organizations that seek to realize the potential of the student VFR segment arise.

This research project adopts a multi-method approach to derive a deeper empirical understanding of visitors’ behaviors and the role of students hosting friends and relatives (SHFR). The quantitative study aims to reveal the relevance and differences between visits to friends (VF) and visits to relatives (VR), whereas the qualitative study elaborates on the findings of the quantitative study and seeks to understand the role and experiences of students as hosts.

The findings reveal that VR and VF travelers vary in terms of their expenditure. Hosts’ spending depends on visitors’ budgets; in general, both their direct and indirect (when relatives pay) spending increases when they have visitors. Furthermore, the data identify two distinct hosting styles: functional hosting is concerned with providing outstanding hospitality based on a more traditional, guest-oriented understanding of the role, whereas integrative hosting blurs the lines between hospitality and lifestyle based on a more modern, host-oriented understanding of the role.

Regarding limitations, this study did not differentiate between students who were simultaneously locals and students who resided in the city only for study purposes. In a similar vein, the cultural background of the students was not considered in the research. Finally, the differences between VF and VR could further be explored in a quantitative follow-up study and in testing for significant differences in SHFR spending behaviors. Further research could examine whether domestic travelers, travelers with cultural proximity and/or short-distance VFR travelers are more likely to visit after COVID-19 as suggested by Backer and Ritchie (2017) in the case of crises and disaster.

Students as hosts differ from other hosts in VFR travel in their reluctance to embrace conventional tourism products. This study found that place attachment makes hosts of VFR travelers passionate ambassadors and advertisers for the destinations; destination marketing organizations (DMOs) could support this already positive image by providing and supporting students with more detailed information about their cities and the opportunities they offer. Results are of particular relevance because the COVID-19 pandemic is forcing DMOs to develop destination strategies that incorporate social-distancing and avoid crowded places.

When students take their friends out to events and nightclubs, they contribute significantly to experiences that go beyond typical tourism activities such as sightseeing and shopping. By offering special discounts to visitors who come with their hosts, DMOs could help visitors delve more deeply into city life and thereby reduce the likeliness of crowded city centers. Considering the findings relating to the social and emotional qualities of VFR travel, DMO marketing to VFR travelers could benefit from promoting socio-cultural spaces and offerings that value groups’ social ties (e.g. family prices for families with adult children) or alumni status.

According to the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first which analyzes both, visitors and hosts of VFR travel using a two methods approach. Very recently, Griffin and Guttenberg (2020) miss VFR research focusing on the heterogeneity of the segment, and Backer et al. (2020) claim for more VFR research on the role of hosts carried out outside of Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the USA. To the authors’ best knowledge, this study is the first which delivers empirical insights on SHFR in Central Europe.

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is becoming a standard for family firms as the challenges facing organizations today are pervasive. In this context, employees’ perceptions of CSR are a novel research field. This study aims to address human components of business operations as it aims to understand how employees perceive CSR activities and determine their role for employees’ identification and commitment in family firms.

This study uses a mixed-method design combining samples of employees of family firms in a quantitative (N = 168) and qualitative phase (N = 18).

In summary, the findings show that employee-directed CSR is most effective to influence employees’ identification and commitment. Detailed mediation analyses further support the path from community-oriented CSR toward identification-commitment and performance. Findings from employee interviews show that identification is particularly pronounced in CSR perceptions and that mechanisms of identification occur across three interfaces: the firm, the firm in the region and the firm in a globalized world impacting commitment and performance.

Family firms engage in various CSR activities. The authors show that existing efforts can be empirically supported but that there is room for improving the strategic selection and engagement of activities. In a nutshell, the findings emphasize the importance of human components for businesses. In this context, understanding how CSR activities build identification and affect organizational commitment has important implications for family firms boosting CSR activities. In particular, the contribution emphasizes family firms’ need to stay engaged in community-directed CSR while increasing awareness for environment-related activities and diversifying employee-related activities to enable identification.

Applying the institutional logics perspective to applicant attraction, this study investigates the level of uniformity among preferences for consulting job attributes associated with the institutional logics of the corporation, the profession and the family, and tests for the influence of anticipatory socialization differences.

The study uses a discrete choice experiment with 232 business students. A hierarchical Bayes approach to conjoint analysis uncovers part-worth heterogeneity and allows for subsequent cluster and regression analysis of the choice data.

The findings identify a dominant job-oriented preference type and a minor career-oriented preference type. Anticipatory socialization through personal prior work experience and the occupation of friends decreases adherence to the logic of profession and increases the relevance of the family logic. The parents' occupation has only a minimal influence on preferences.

The study provides attribute-based recommendations on how professional service firms can effectively address the complex expectations of potential applicants in their job ads for an entry position and underlines the role of intra-generational reference groups as important anticipatory socializers.

By testing individual socialization effects at the pre-hire stage and beyond the organizational level, the study fills a void in both the recruitment and the institutional literature.

The interprofessional collaboration is a key practice for providing cancer care. However, the realization of collaboration requires effective leadership and administrative support. In this study, the aim was to analyze healthcare professionals' perceptions of leadership and administrative support (strategic and management) in interprofessional collaboration for developing practices in cancer care.

A descriptive survey design was used to collect data from healthcare professionals (n = 350, response rate 33.3%), including nurses, physicians and other professionals participating in patient care in one Finnish cancer center (out of five) in 05/2018–10/2018. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The instrument focused on leadership in the work unit and administrative support including organization strategy and organizational management.

Healthcare professionals perceived leadership in the work unit, organization strategy and management for the support of interprofessional collaboration as weak. However, the ratings of male respondents and those in leading positions were more positive. The findings indicate that healthcare professionals in the cancer care setting are dissatisfied with the leadership and administrative support.

Interprofessional collaboration, including its leadership, requires systematic and constant evaluation and development.

Healthcare leaders in the cancer care setting can use the results to identify factors that might be in need of attention and development in the field of interprofessional collaboration.