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1 – 10 of over 25000This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network…
Abstract
This study provides a comprehensive framework of adaptation in triadic business relationship settings in the service sector. The framework is based on the industrial network approach (see, e.g., Axelsson & Easton, 1992; Håkansson & Snehota, 1995a). The study describes how adaptations initiate, how they progress, and what the outcomes of these adaptations are. Furthermore, the framework takes into account how adaptations spread in triadic relationship settings. The empirical context is corporate travel management, which is a chain of activities where an industrial enterprise, and its preferred travel agency and service supplier partners combine their resources. The scientific philosophy, on which the knowledge creation is based, is realist ontology. Epistemologically, the study relies on constructionist processes and interpretation. Case studies with in-depth interviews are the main source of data.
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Ling Fang, Zhen Lu and Linyin Dong
Corporate travel represents a significant source of revenue for the tourism industry. Therefore, the quality of service is essential for maintaining and expanding corporate…
Abstract
Purpose
Corporate travel represents a significant source of revenue for the tourism industry. Therefore, the quality of service is essential for maintaining and expanding corporate cliental bases. Despite the importance, the extant literature has yet sufficiently examined corporate travel service quality (SQ) and its impact. To make up for the drawback, this study aims to differentiate the impact of SQ perceptions on customer satisfaction between the online and off-line contexts through an empirical investigation in one of the top five corporate travel agencies in North America.
Design/methodology/approach
The well-established SERVQUAL measurement is applied in differentiating the impact of SQ dimensions between the online and off-line context. To empirically test the proposed corporate travel agency (CTA) SQ conceptual model, a set of survey data of “Welcome Back Survey” from HRG (a top five CTA in North America) was examined.
Findings
The study finds that for online services, assurance, responsiveness and empathy affect perceived SQ, whereas for off-line services, assurance, empathy and tangible are the three dimensions of perceived SQ.
Research limitations/implications
By relying on the existing survey, the off-line context has one less dimension than the online context. Yet as an early effort in differentiating the differences in the impact of SQ between two service contexts, the study offers insightful findings.
Practical implications
The findings will be helpful for business managers of CTAs to identify the factors that influence SQ in both online booking and off-line booking context. In particular, assurance and empathy are two dimensions that exert a significant impact on customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to compare the differences of the SQ of online and off-line corporate travel.
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The purpose of the paper is to show that research on the internet's impact on B2B inter‐firm relations is limited, while findings are anecdotal and sometimes contradictory. This…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the paper is to show that research on the internet's impact on B2B inter‐firm relations is limited, while findings are anecdotal and sometimes contradictory. This study investigates inter‐firm relations amongst Business Travel Management (BTM) firms and their clients by examining the impact of online BTM solutions on the creation and reinforcement of relational bonds.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper shows that two major approaches were combined for examining inter‐firm relations: economic (transaction costs economics) and socio‐psychological (social exchange; inter‐organisation; and industrial network) theories. A model illustrating the interrelations amongst the use of online BTM solutions, two structural (communication, dependence) and two social bonds (trust, satisfaction) was proposed for investigating the impact of online BTM solutions on BTM‐clients relations. Data were gathered from a convenience sample of BTM managers in the UK, Greece, and Cyprus and 194 usable responses were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The paper finds that the impact of online BTM solutions on trust, satisfaction and dependence was not confirmed. However, the hypotheses reflecting the interactions between structural and social bonds were supported, which confirmed the mediating impact of internet‐enabled communication on fostering inter‐firm relations.
Research limitations/implications
In this paper the sample is convenient, while data are gathered only from the buyer‐traveller perspective. Larger scale, cross‐industry studies that also combine buyers' and sellers' perspectives are required.
Practical implications
The paper shows that the internet's ability to foster relational bonds was found to be dependent on its exploitation for enhancing inter‐firm communications. When using the internet for enhancing clients' relations and satisfaction, firms should exploit the internet's communication tools and identify clients' information needs for customising the communications' content.
Originality/value
The paper sees that the internet's impact on forming relational bonds and building B2B relations in the BTM context has not been previously researched.
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The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities…
Abstract
The following is an introductory profile of the fastest growing firms over the three-year period of the study listed by corporate reputation ranking order. The business activities in which the firms are engaged are outlined to provide background information for the reader.
International experience (IE) has been acknowledged to be the most useful method for developing global leaders. However, not everyone benefits equally from IE. During the last two…
Abstract
International experience (IE) has been acknowledged to be the most useful method for developing global leaders. However, not everyone benefits equally from IE. During the last two decades, our understanding of why this is the case and how global leaders learn from IE has rapidly increased. Several individual and organizational enablers facilitating global leader learning from IE have been identified in the literature, as have learning mechanisms that make such learning possible. However, the literature remains fragmented, and there is a great need to integrate the findings in the field. Therefore, the present paper systematically examines peer-reviewed studies on global leaders' learning from IE published between 1998 and 2019. The study contributes to the extant literature by identifying and integrating individual enablers, organizational enablers, and key learning mechanisms from global leaders' IE and by suggesting topics for future research.
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Andrea Guizzardi, Alice Monti and Ercolino Ranieri
The present study aims to suggest a new approach to hotel quality rating, specifically designed for the business travel segment, where the evaluation of surveyed consumers…
Abstract
Purpose
The present study aims to suggest a new approach to hotel quality rating, specifically designed for the business travel segment, where the evaluation of surveyed consumers (business travelers) does not necessarily reflect the priority of customers (corporate travel departments [CTDs]).
Design/methodology/approach
Preliminarily, the authors defined key areas (domains), exploring what was done by quality certifiers recognized worldwide. Then, each domain quality was considered as a latent variable measured by a set of observable attributes (sub-domains) surveyed by a professional assessor. A continuous, fine-grained, composite indicator (CI) for quality was finally obtained by a weighted average of the domain (latent) quality measures. Weights were endogenously determined by data envelopment analysis.
Findings
The suggested CI shows both the existence of large quality disparities within the same star rating and a relevant bias in the internet reviews. A “soundproofed” room, a front desk open 24 h with sufficient staff and an adequate urban context are necessary features of any business hotel.
Research limitations/implications
Data came from a professional assessor’s database; therefore, the authors could only consider a three-domains measurement model. The database is mainly composed of three- and four-star hotels in Italy; nonetheless, these accommodations are the most widespread in the Italian corporation hotel programs, preserving the practical utility of the results.
Originality/value
This study provides a transparent (replicable) evaluation protocol that is of potential use in the most popular models for quality measurement; any assessor can use it to underline its impartiality to CTD and assessed hotels.
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The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief perspective on the growth of business travel over the past 60 years and how it may unfold in the future, highlighting certain…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief perspective on the growth of business travel over the past 60 years and how it may unfold in the future, highlighting certain themes and noting limitations in the research.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on selected academic literature and industry sources on business travel which briefly reviews its growth and directions of research in this field.
Practical implications
The paper distinguishes between different types of business travel and provides a bird's eye view of the future.
Originality/value
The review distinguishes between different forms of business travel and concludes that greater clarity of the business travel concept will enable research to be conducted within a properly defined theoretical framework.
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Bharati Mohapatra, Sanjana Mohapatra and Sanjay Mohapatra
Rahul Thakurta and Umesh Hodeghatta Rao
Information technology (IT) project risks.
Abstract
Subject area
Information technology (IT) project risks.
Study level/applicability
This case is suitable for the students who are enrolled in masters or executive programmes in management. Considering the masters programme in management, the case can be introduced in the MIS course in sessions related to IT project risks. The case will also be appropriate for discussion in elective courses, such as IT project management. Here the case can be introduced in discussions related to understanding IT project outsourcing risks. The case will also fit well with the audience of the executive programme in sessions on IT project risks. The assignment questions provided below are designed from the perspective of teaching this case to a business student audience. The case could certainly be adjusted to fit the needs of students in more technical disciplines.
Case overview
This case presents an organization (Airosonic Travels Private Limited) which was set up in 1988. The organization provided travel-related services (i.e. ticketing, hotels bookings, car rentals and cruises to exotic destinations) to meet the requirements of corporate users such as organization employees, vendors, dealers and customers. The packages were provided though the portal www.corporatetravels.in/. With cut-throat completion from other vendors, the organization acquired the globally preferred airline reservation system Galileo to gain market share in the computer reservation system market. This acquisition, however, led to a series of deliberations on how the new system could be put to use and integrated with the portal so that it helped Airosonic to achieve efficiency in its day-to-day processes. The integration was necessary, as this would entirely eliminate third-party requirements (such as travel agents) and also make travel planning easy, cost-effective and hassle-free. The different alternatives available to the governing body were to develop and manage the entire thing in-house, outsource the development to a third part, or delegate the entire responsibility to the third party. The analysis of the case takes into account the different risks that are associated with each of these decision alternatives and the possible ways forward for the Airosonic management.
Expected learning outcomes
The objective of this teaching case is as follows: to understand the different risk elements that influence development of a software initiative, to differentiate between different categories of risks including project development risks and project management risks, to appreciate the differences in the types of risks that influence different project execution scenarios such as in-house development and outsourcing and to understand how an organization can address and manage the risks facing a software initiative.
Supplementary materials
Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.
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K.J. Mason and R. Gray
Selects European business air travel as an example of a market that displays both industrial and consumer characteristics, and subsequently defines it as having a hybrid nature…
Abstract
Selects European business air travel as an example of a market that displays both industrial and consumer characteristics, and subsequently defines it as having a hybrid nature. Adopts a stakeholder approach to overcome the problems of the identification and analytical complexity associated with the decision‐making unit in this hybrid market. Collects data on three stakeholder groupings in a survey of 827 business travellers. Identifies the nature of the decision‐making process and the influence that each of the stakeholder groupings has in the purchase decision. Indicates that marketing strategies in the business air travel market could prove more successful through addressing multiple stakeholder groups involved in the purchase decision process. Suggests that the stakeholder model may provide a practical research approach to other hybrid markets where the DMU approach is difficult, particularly where there are many purchasing units.
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