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The objectives of this study are to investigate the relationship between hotel room demand and room rates, and to find a viable solution for the optimal room rate that maximizes the total profit.

There are various studies in the literature on how room rates affect profitability, and how the optimal room rate that maximizes the total revenue can be determined. Most of these studies assume an algebraic relationship between room rates and room demand, and obtain the optimal solution by applying calculus to the revenue or profit function. This study adopts the alternative approach of using a model with a demand function that has been shown to be a superior causal forecasting model in some markets, and develops a new method to optimize the total profit.

The traditional method of applying calculus to the profit function based on a causal forecasting model leads to unrealistic solutions. This gives rise to the paradox that, on the one hand, there is a superior causal forecasting model based on room rates, but on the other hand, the traditional method does not yield a realistic solution for room rate optimization. This study analyzes the underlying causes of this paradox and proposes a method to resolve it.

The findings can be used by hotels to fine‐tune the room rates determined by conventional methods to arrive at a realistic and definitive value for the optimal room rate.

This study highlights the problems that arise with the traditional method of applying calculus to revenue and profit optimization and proposes a new method to resolve it.

This paper aims to examine the UK’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) policies under Margaret Thatcher’s era in the 1980s, with a view to understand the success stories, historical development and the structures of Chinese family business through a case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd.

The authors have achieved the objective on the study of the SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher through critical evaluation of the historical literatures, books, journals and newspapers. The study on overseas Chinese business and the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. is mainly through the research of the Chinese overseas in the UK and Southeast Asia, and the companies report from the Companies House in the UK. The authors have used the latest 2011 UK Census statistics and academic reports to locate the most current demographic changes and Chinese business characteristics in the UK and the Northeast of England.

First, the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher were quite receptive towards the ethnic business. Second, the case of See Woo Holdings Ltd. indicates that family business networks are still one of the characteristics of Chinese business. Finally, the broader UK’s SMEs policies play an important role in this case study.

The authors provide a tentative linkage between the UK’s SMEs policies under Margaret Thatcher and Chinese family business. In addition, the case study of See Woo Holdings Ltd. improves the current understanding of Chinese family business with a clearer picture about their structure, practice, characteristics and development.

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has completely changed the landscape of the hospitality industry. The World Health Organization does not officially recommend wearing face masks in the workplace. Wearing face masks is controversial worldwide, however it has been widely adopted in Hong Kong society. Hospitality practitioners have worn face masks to work and serve customers for almost a year long, matching the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. This paper proposes a conceptual model of face mask effects and also discusses and evaluates the effects of wearing face masks during the pandemic.

A convenience sampling method is employed to investigate hospitality operators using in-depth and focus group interviews with managers, front-line staff and customers.

The perspectives of both hospitality practitioners and customers are included in this study. The concepts of (1) invisible care, (2) sense of safety and (3) service trust have been introduced in this study. These provide valuable insights for the service industry when facing a large-scale health crisis, now and in the future.

This paper analyzes interview data collected from 35 respondents – 14 managers, 6 practitioners and 15 customers – in order to understand the critical effects of wearing face masks during the pandemic and the perspectives of both hospitality practitioners and customers.

For the hospitality industry, wearing face mask in service has already become a “new normal”, face mask effects might create an impact on service design, service delivery and service quality.

The findings show that wearing face masks turns hygiene and safety into a form of invisible care in the Asian hospitality industry. Practitioners' perspective regarding the necessity of a smile is less important to Asian customers, showing a discrepancy between the two parties. Customers do not believe that service quality has dropped due to the wearing of masks, but that the level of hygiene has risen. Unlike customers, practitioners are more concerned about not providing good quality service. However, the interview data show that respondents generally agree that mask wearing is a gesture and symbol for the hospitality industry to make tangible a new form of caring, professionalism, safety concern and communication.

In Canada, companies are focusing on corporate governance as an ethical response to accounting scandals and the resulting crisis of confidence. Although, many aspects of corporate governance remain free from strict regulation, we examine the voluntary changes in the disclosures of the largest Canadian companies. We attempt to understand, through disclosure theory, discourse analysis, and structuration theory, the quality of these corporate governance disclosures. We recognize that much of the disclosure is opportunistic as companies state that they have not only complied with the non-compulsory Canadian guidelines, but have also met and exceeded the requirements of U.S. regulators. This is an important finding that supports the notion that Canadian companies do not need rules and regulations. Instead, a culture of governance is developing at the boards of large companies that encourages voluntary change. Whether this is enough to prevent future accounting scandals is a question for future research.

Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979‐97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of earnings forecast revisions by equity analysts in predicting Canadian stock returns

The sample covers 420 Canadian firms over the period 1998-2009. It analyses investors’ reactions to 27,271 upward revisions and 32,005 downward revisions of analysts’ forecasts for Canadian quoted companies. To test whether analysts’ earnings forecast revisions affect stock return continuation, forecast revision portfolios similar to Jegadeesh and Titman (2001) are constructed. The paper analyses the returns gained from a trading strategy based on buying the strong upward revisions portfolio and short selling the strong downward revisions portfolio. It also separates the sample into upward and downward revisions.

The authors find that new information in the form of analyst forecast revisions is not impounded efficiently into stock prices. Significant returns persist for a trading strategy that buys stocks with recent upward revisions and short sells stocks with recent downward revisions. Good news is impounded into stock prices more slowly than bad news. Post-earnings forecast revisions drift is negatively related to analyst coverage. The effect is strongest for stocks with greatest number of upward revisions. The introduction of the better disclosure standards has made the Canadian stock market more efficient.

The paper adds to the limited evidence on the effect of analyst forecast revisions on the returns of Canadian stocks. It sheds light on the importance of analysts’ earnings forecast information and offers support for the investor conservatism and information diffusion hypotheses. It also shows how policy can improve market efficiency.

Restaurants typically have small profit margins and with the pressure of increasing food and labor costs, management is looking to revenue as a way to maintain and drive profits. One technique to increase revenue is through revenue management practices, but management needs to be aware of their customers’ reactions to these practices prior to implementation. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

This study utilizes linear regression to determine the impact of select restaurant revenue management practices, customers’ familiarity with revenue management in general and in restaurants specifically, and customers’ demographics on perceived fairness of revenue management practices in casual and fine-dining restaurants.

Results indicate that customers find certain restaurant revenue management practices, such as charging premium prices on certain days of the week, fair in both casual and fine-dining restaurants, while others are not in either. Non-refundable reservation fees were found to be fair for fine-dining establishments only. Increased familiarity with restaurant revenue management was associated with higher perceptions of fairness for both casual and fine dining. Age was the only demographic studied that affected perceived fairness.

This study is the only known study to simultaneously evaluate the impact of price and duration restaurant revenue management techniques in combination with customer demographics and revenue management familiarity on consumer perceptions of fairness.

This chapter evaluates research from the past 10 years suggesting that surfing can help develop ecological sensibilities and, in turn, lead to more environmentally sustainable lifestyles and practices.

The first part of the chapter reviews some of the key themes in the movement toward more sustainable surfing, including surfers' lifestyle practices. The second part of the chapter offers more in-depth case studies of (1) the production and consumption of surfboards and (2) the emergence of wave pools. Through these two case studies the chapter explores more promising practices that are driving more desirable human–surfing–environment relationships.

The chapter highlights the key tensions in debates over the so-called sustainable surfing movement. While surfers continue to see themselves as environmentally connected and having special relationships to the environment and sustainability, there are many contradictions and inconsistencies in this relationship. The negative environmental impact of the surfing industry remains notable, including in tourism, board manufacturing, and surfing events. The chapter highlights the limitations of relying on market-based, technologically dependent approaches to sustainable development.

The chapter shows the potential and promise of technological innovation for more environmentally sustainable practices, while recognizing the ongoing challenges in changing attitudes in the surf industry, and among many participants/consumers. It echoes broader literatures showing that attitudes and behaviors around environmental issues are complex and paradoxical.