bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social Capital and Farmers' Willingness to Adopt Countryside Stewardship Schemes
Authors: Mathijs Erik
Published: September 2010

The EU provides farmers with incentives to adopt Countryside Stewardship Schemes (CSS) using subsidies in the framework of the agri-environmental regulation of the EU (2078/92), now included in the more general regulation on rural development. In this paper, a case study of 36 farmers in the village of Bierbeek was carried out to investigate the determinants of the willingness to adopt a scheme involving taking care of arable field margins in particular. Bivariate and multivariate logit analysis confirmed not only the importance of personal, structural and financial factors, but also showed the importance of social capital. Farmers who are more open to both professional and non-professional contacts are more likely to adopt a CSS. Hence, government and extension agencies should undertake more efforts to involve farmers as much as possible in activities of a professional and/or non-professional nature to stimulate them to adopt sustainable farming practices.
Vicu as in Bolivia
Authors: Meerburg B.G. , de Jong R.
Published: September 2010

Although local knowledge of their economic exploitation is still poor, a new look at vicuña may offer important economic possibilities for the inhabitants of the High Andes in Bolivia. This article investigates the possibilities for a change in vicuña production systems in Bolivia, which could result in increased economic benefits whilst guaranteeing the sustainability of the system. Its main conclusion is that future vicuña production systems can certainly be made more efficient and sustainable, but that more effort is needed to develop new marketing systems and technologies if the inhabitants are to take full advantage of the possibilities that vicuña production offers.
Sustainable Agriculture in the Semi-Arid Agro-Pastoral Interweaving Belt of Northern China
Authors: Xiangliang Pan , Wei Deng , Daoyong Zhang , Fei Li , Yongjie Wang
Published: September 2010

The semi-arid agro-pastoral interweaving belt (SAPIB) is an important ecological zone in northern China and an important food base. However, sustainable agricultural development has been restricted by both natural and socioeconomic factors. It is inherently vulnerable because of its unfavourable climate and geological and hydrogeomorphological conditions. Agricultural production has been impaired by frequent natural disasters, salinization and desertification. Moreover, irrational agricultural policies and practices, poverty and other socioeconomic factors have brought about degradation in the SAPIB. The authors argue that the basis for a sustainable strategy is to transform it by increasing exergy input, changing the cultural outlook and harmonizing interactions between the component subsystems. Finally, a series of proposals based on notions for a sustainable strategy is put forward.
Structured Problem-Solving Techniques to Stimulate Innovation in New Product Development in UK SMEs
Authors: Hall D.M. , McKinna A. , Thake G.
Published: September 2010

‘Innovation’ is an often used, yet much misunderstood term. Often innovation is left to chance or, at best, approached by relatively unstructured hard work and hard thinking. This paper describes a research programme known as the ‘Futures Project’, which provides a ‘virtual’ body of expertise that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can access when increased innovation activity is required. By exposing SMEs to techniques for the generation of new and potentially innovative ideas, and for developing the right ideas at the right time, new techniques and improved versions of old techniques can be tested in a non-threatening environment.
Providing Industry with Education That Meets Business Standards
Authors: van Raaij Erik M. , Weimer William A.
Published: September 2010

As organizations are increasingly using formal education to support organizational renewal and change, institutions for higher education face the challenge of providing industry with education that not only teaches participants new concepts and new skills, but also provides them with the motivation and the commitment to implement what has been learned in their daily work. In this paper, the authors present twelve key success factors for designing education programmes for organizational transformation. Two requisites for the successful implementation of these success factors are also identified: a true partnership between the client firm and the education provider, and a pivotal role for the course manager.
Work-Based Learning, Theory and Practice
Authors: Boyd Evelyn , Knox Hazel , Struthers John
Published: September 2010

This paper begins with a discussion and analysis of the relevance of work-based learning to contemporary education and training needs. It then briefly outlines changes in attitudes and approaches to higher education and training in the UK over the past few decades and highlights the new ‘learning partnership model’ (LPM) as one that offers great potential for the effective development of a wide range of skills. In this context, the authors present a detailed analytical case study of a European-funded Adapt-University for Industry project that sought to identify training needs and to provide guidance and advice on work-based learning opportunities for a variety of Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Using Training Needs Analysis, the authors assess the difficulties as well as the opportunities inherent in such projects. The findings illustrate the heterogeneity of the SMEs' training and guidance requirements and highlight the importance of addressing the tension that exists between the different expectations of employers and employees in relation to training needs and benefits.
The Promotion of an Entrepreneurial Culture in Universities
Authors: Handscombe R. D.
Published: September 2010

This paper reviews the UK government's Science Enterprise Challenge (SEC) initiative, giving particular emphasis to the SEC objective of achieving cultural change. A ‘cultural web’ framework is applied to characterize the political, symbolic and structural issues that need to be addressed if change is to be effected. The author suggests that, if the vision of the future ‘enterprising university’ causes concern, there is a need to analyse assumptions and if necessary change activities. If the vision is acceptable, then the cultural web analysis assists in developing an understanding of the target and enables faster and better decision making on the way.
Higher Education and the Public, Private and Non-Profit Sectors
Authors: Hughey Aaron W.
Published: September 2010

Institutions of higher education throughout the world are increasingly aware of the importance of working more systematically and productively with community and business leaders in order to create better local economies and, ultimately better societies. This article presents an overview of how colleges and universities can assist with the identification and implementation of specific strategies for enhancing the economic development of the regions in which they are located. Also included is a discussion of the emerging advantages associated with developing these kinds of collaborative partnerships, as well as a brief overview of the major approaches to regional economic development.
Greening of the Industry-Related Education Sector
Authors: Ulhøi John P. , Madsen Henning
Published: September 2010

This study investigates the extent to which training and education in environmental management for future managers reflect actual needs. The data for the EU-funded study – ‘Training in Environmental Management’ – were collected from 42 providers of education and training for key managers in four European countries over three years in the mid- 1990s. Among other things, it was found that courses on the environment had resulted in interesting and innovative teaching approaches at the institutions visited (compared with the ‘traditional’ courses offered by the same institutions). These approaches are illustrated in the paper by means of three case examples. The authors examine and compare the responses of the institutions to the increasing pressure for environmental sensitivity.
Teaching Environmental and Ecological Sciences to Business Students
Authors: Maubrey Regis
Published: September 2010

The task of instilling scientific and environmental awareness and knowledge in public- or private-sector management students requires an understanding of the ways in which individuals in a group of learners absorb and appropriate scientific and/or interdisciplinary concepts. In the teaching of science to non-scientific students, the choice of topics is especially important in creating an appropriate environment for learning. In two specific teaching programmes, observations were made of students' reactions to various modes of concept presentation and pedagogical organization. The essential purpose of this teaching-observation approach was to assess how students, together, could make sense of and reconstruct the meaning of different concepts and issues. The initial results presented are consistent with models and theories developed in Francophone research circles and in earlier research by the author, with respect to the notions of ‘knowledge types’, ‘conceptions' and ‘schematization’. The two programmes discussed illustrate the application of the approach in markedly different situations -the first, discussed briefly, a course on agriculture for African immigrants, and the second, discussed in detail, a course on environmental science for business students.
Overcoming Established Thinking Models
Authors: Fehr Manfred
Published: September 2010

According to the underlying premise of this study, sustainability is above all a consequence of adequate human scales of value. The enormous responsibility of educators in the quest for a sustainable quality of life is stressed and illustrated. The scales of value and the attitudes of graduates naturally carry over to their professional activity and thus directly affect the process industry. The main desired value is total commitment to quality of work and environment. Examples of stereotypical patterns of thought to be overcome are: engineering competence is measured by technical aptitudes only; product life cycles and macroscopic material balances may conveniently be closed by a landfill; there is plenty of space on Earth for more landfills; environmental concern is an internal company problem; a passing grade on one written exam satisfies personal and institutional expectations. The time and sustained effort to reach a targeted change of attitude are realistically determined. A new thinking model is presented that has been tested over several years. Its key components are: objective, transparent and progressive evaluation schemes containing fines for unprofessional behaviour; demands on quality that are not negotiable; specific debates and assignments on product life cycles and waste logistics; extrapolation of material balances to a global scale. Graduates have confessed to high levels of professional satisfaction as a result of their newly defined thought patterns. The experience shows that the international engineering teaching community can and must contribute significantly to winning the challenge of sustainability.
A Structural View of Tourism Growth
Authors: Smeral Egon
Published: September 2010

Structural factors are important when it comes to explaining tourism growth. In this connection, crucial roles are played by structural change in demand and differentials between productivity in tourism and in manufacturing. The demand factor stimulates the rise of tourism demand and explains why tourism grows faster than the global economy as such or why the income elasticity is above 1: tourism is a luxury good, and structural change in demand is a key factor in analysing its development. Once saturation has been achieved in basic needs and durable goods, a growing economy has more money left to spend on, first, leisure and tourism services and, secondly, knowledge-based goods and services. In contrast to manufacturing, opportunities to increase productivity are limited in the tourism industry. Because there are fewer options for rationalization, tourism services become more expensive in the long term than manufactured goods or other services, and this weakens the demand-triggered growth effect. Nevertheless, in sum the demand effect is stronger than the productivity disadvantages. As a side-effect of the productivity disadvantages and the demand effect, employment grows as a share of total employment in the hotel and restaurant industry, the core segments of the tourism business.
Inter-Industry Effects of Tourism Growth: Implications for Destination Managers
Authors: Dwyer Larry , Forsyth Peter , Spurr Ray
Published: September 2010

The study of the economic contribution of tourism has recently undergone a ‘paradigm shift’ as a result of the use of Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) models in place of input–output models. In a CGE model which incorporates a realistic set of economy-wide constraints, the effects of tourism growth on destination income and employment cannot be anticipated a priori. The development and application of this superior technique have major implications for the way that tourism economists must now think about the economic impacts of tourism and for the policy advice they give to decision makers in both the public and private sectors. This paper explores three areas in which CGE modelling has relevance for the destination management organization: tourism planning, cooperative destination marketing, and assessment of destination competitiveness.
The Changing Contribution of Tourism in a Dynamic Economy: The Case of Ireland
Authors: Deegan Jim , Dineen Declan J.
Published: September 2010

The performance of the Irish economy has received considerable international commentary in recent years. The focus of this attention has generally been on how an economy with severe fiscal imbalances and endemic unemployment in the 1980s was transformed in the 1990s so that it exhibited phenomenal economic growth and employment gains. This paper argues that the turnaround in the fortunes of the Irish economy was due to the confluence of a number of endogenous and exogenous factors and explains that tourism, often overlooked by commentators, played an important role in the transformation. The paper focuses on the performance of tourism since the mid-1980s, outlines the sector's contribution in the macroeconomy and details some emerging concerns that must be addressed if the tourism industry is to continue to play an important role in the economy of Ireland.
Does Event-Driven Tourism Provide Economic Benefits? A Case Study from the Manawatu Region of New Zealand
Authors: Auld Terry , McArthur Sarah
Published: September 2010

The prime purpose of the New Zealand tourism industry is to create income. Events are becoming a major component of the tourism product. This study analyses the economic impact of an events festival in the Manawatu region of New Zealand. Destination Manawatu, the region's tourism organization, wanted to know whether an events festival held in March 1999 had provided net benefits for the region. Analysis indicates that the festival did produce significant economic benefits for the Manawatu, suggesting that event-driven tourism is an effective strategy for Destination Manawatu.
International Tourism in Africa
Authors: Kester John G.C.
Published: September 2010

The WTO region of Africa recorded an estimated 27.7 million international tourist arrivals in 2001, corresponding to an increase of 2.7% over 2000. International tourism receipts amounted to US$11.7 billion, or 9% over 2000. In this article regional results are analysed over time, as well as by purpose of visit, means of transport and region of origin. Data on international arrivals and receipts for international tourism are reviewed for the five African subregions and their individual countries.
Allocating Resources for New Technology within Entrepreneurial Firms
Authors: Kickul Jill , Belgio Elizabeth , Hanna Tim
Published: September 2010

This study seeks to determine the influence of the underlying factors and barriers that may inhibit the implementation of new technological investments by entrepreneurial firms. These factors and barriers may include the potential costs, risk of failure, low technological awareness, lack of an outside organization to facilitate development, lack of approachable organizations with which to form partnerships, and lack of contact with other organizations that have implemented technology successfully. Using structural equation modelling (LISREL VIII), results revealed that the value and importance that entrepreneurs placed on learning and adopting new technologies, in addition to the risk of failure, mediated the relationship between many of these barriers and the firms' technological investment during the past year, as well as their willingness to spend on new technology in the future.
Entrepreneurial Orientation, Uncertainty Avoidance and Firm Performance
Authors: Swierczek Fredric William , Ha Thai Thanh
Published: September 2010

This study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance in a sample of 306 Vietnamese SMEs and 172 Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation including risk-taking, proactivity and innovativeness are explored. The results indicate that Thai SMEs are more innovative and proactive than their Vietnamese counterparts, while Vietnamese SMEs are inclined to be more risk-taking. Thai SMEs have higher perceived business growth, job creation and net profit than Vietnamese SMEs.
Performance Implications of Co-Alignment of Business and Technological Innovation Strategy
Authors: Goel Sanjay , González-Moreno Ángela , Sáez-Martínez Francisco J.
Published: September 2010

Since technology is a versatile tool that can be deployed strategically, the authors hypothesize that there are certain non-random combinations of technology and business strategy choices that lead to superior performance. Findings from a sample of SMEs in the Spanish electronics industry show that there is a positive relationship between a co-alignment of the two strategies (business and technological innovation) and firm performance. In practical terms, this study shows that although SMEs can achieve equally good performance with different business strategies, within every business strategy, entrepreneurs must emphasize different sets of technological innovation dimensions to outperform the competition.
Supporting and Sustaining Internal Entrepreneurialism
Authors: Herbert Theodore T.
Published: September 2010

Internal entrepreneurialism is one important means of gaining competitive advantage. The literature recognizes that organizations' entrepreneurial orientation can be characterized, but typically addresses associations with strategies (Covin and Slevin, 1989). Missing are the hallmarks of the intent for fostering entrepreneurialism and a methodology for measuring the degree of that entrepreneurialism. In this paper, organizations are characterized by sets of distinct attributes, each associated with being increasingly entrepreneurial, and proposed as a set of four archetypes of gradations of organizational support for entrepreneurialism. The linkages between these archetypes and their strategic and competitive significance are explored. Implications for research and practice are identified.
Internet Café Entrepreneurs
Authors: Kristiansen Stein , Furuholt Bjørn , Wahid Fathul
Published: September 2010

Internet cafés represent a potential means of bridging the information gap between social groups and geographical areas This study examines the spread of Internet cafés in Indonesia The main objectives are to identify characteristics of Internet café entrepreneurs and to enhance the understanding of preconditions for the provision of Internet access by small-scale private enterprises. A survey methodology is used and the data reveal clear statistical associations between entrepreneurial adaptations, such as connection types and service variety, and success variables. The authors' policy recommendations include government intervention, primarily in infrastructure development and awareness creation, for a more equitable spread of access to information through the Internet.
Modelling Short-Break Holiday Destination Choices
Authors: Huybers Twan
Published: September 2010

This paper presents the results of a stated choice modelling study of the factors underlying holiday destination choices. The study comprises the analysis of short-break holiday choices by tourists from Sydney, Australia in the context of six destination regions. The response data reflect the way the attributes of competing destinations influence Sydney residents' destination choices. The modelling of these choices enables estimation of the trade-offs between varying levels of destination attributes. This includes estimation of the implicit prices of attribute changes, which are reported in this paper. The simulated market share effects of selected changes in destination attributes and respondent characteristics are also presented.
Quantifying the Impact of Foot and Mouth Disease on Tourism and the UK Economy
Authors: Blake Adam , Sinclair M. Thea , Sugiyarto Guntur
Published: September 2010

The foot and mouth disease (FMD) outbreak significantly reduced tourism expenditures in the UK, as well as affecting the agricultural sector. This paper quantifies the effects of FMD on tourism, agriculture and all other sectors of the UK economy using a computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the UK economy. The results show that the FMD outbreak had larger adverse effects on GDP through reductions in tourism expenditures than through other effects. The implication for policy makers is that the roles of tourism-related sectors should be considered in the formulation of agricultural policy.
Theory and Application of Genome-Based Approaches to Improve the Quality and Value of Beef
Authors: Smith Timothy P.L. , Thallman R. Mark , Casas Eduardo , Shackelford Steven D. , Wheeler Tommy L. , Koohmaraie Mohammad
Published: September 2010

The science of genome research in livestock has been the focus of substantial worldwide efforts over the last decade, resulting in the development of a genetic map for cattle and its use to identify chromosomal segments carrying genes affecting production traits. Variations in individual genes having a major impact on phenotypes in cattle, such as alleles causing double-muscling and black/red coat colour, have been identified in the process, but the majority of the loci remain unknown except for their approximate position in the cattle genome and the relative impact of variation on the trait. Approaches to fulfil the promise of genome research, resulting in DNA-based tests of genetic merit for important production traits, have been slow to develop. In this article, the authors review the theory of genome-based approaches and potential avenues of application. Application to meat quality and value is specifically discussed, but the general principles are similar for production traits such as reproduction and animal health. A substantial amount of the discussion centres on describing practical limitations on the use of genomic data and the currently available avenues for application, aspects that have previously received inadequate attention.
Genomics: Improving Qualitative Characteristics and Value of Meat from Pigs
Authors: Monin Gabriel
Published: September 2010

This article illustrates the main problems of technological and sensory quality encountered in pork production and processing using examples taken from the French pork industry. It describes how in the recent past genomics has allowed a clear improvement of the mean technological quality of pig meat produced in France, and presumably in many other countries, by helping to reduce or eliminate the most striking defects (pale soft exudative – PSE and acid meats). It gives a list of foreseeable applications of genomics to adapt technological and sensory qualities to the requirements of meat end-users, in order to deal with growing market segmentation. Finally, it is concluded that in the future the difficulty will rest much more in the choice of carcass types to produce than in the implementation of the selection tools needed for their production.
Basics and Tools of Genomics
Authors: Eggen André
Published: September 2010

During the twentieth century, with the rapid advancement in elucidating the mechanisms of heredity and in technologies giving direct access to the blueprint of an organism, the basis for a new discipline called ‘genomics’ was established. Phenotype differences between animals can now be studied from a completely different point of view, namely the nucleotide sequence. A major goal of genomics is to gain an exhaustive understanding of the structure and the function of genomes through a detailed molecular characterization of whole genomes. Therefore, genomic approaches can help in the dissection of the genetic components of a qualitative, quantitative and complex trait, and thus new possible applications for animal selection can be considered in the near future (for example, marker-assisted selection).
Combining Traditional Breeding and Genomics to Improve Pork Quality
Authors: Heuven H.C.M. , van Wijk H.J. , van Arendonk J.A.M.
Published: September 2010

Breeding for improved pork quality has been the focus of much research in recent years and some of the results have already been put into practice. The realized genetic response in pork quality to selection within lines has generally been limited, however, compared with the responses obtained for other traits. The relatively limited progress has been caused by lack of incentive to producers from industry, lack of clear definition of pork quality, high costs of collection of pork quality estimates, and consequently limited availability of phenotypic measures. The discovery of the HAL gene has greatly helped the elimination of alleles with a negative effect on pork quality. There are now proposals to integrate traditional and molecular breeding methods to improve pork quality. Implementation of such an integrated breeding strategy requires close cooperation between breeding organizations and slaughterhouses. This cooperation should help to provide clear incentives to producers and for the collection of data needed for the selection of optimal breed/line combinations and the creation of genetic improvements.
University Relations: The HP Model
Authors: Johnson Wayne C.
Published: September 2010

Hewlett-Packard benefited from one of the earliest examples of knowledge transfer in a strategic relationship, with the investment by Stanford University professor Frederick Terman in the work of former students Dave Packard and Bill Hewlett. Today HP University Relations (UR) works with university partners to create similar valuable synergy UR integrates HP higher education activities and links them with government and industrial partners within a framework known as the University Partnership Continuum. The goal is to engender world-leading knowledge transfer – in the form of both new ideas and highly skilled people – for the benefit of both HP and society at large.
Information Technology and the Performance of Higher Education and Training Systems
Authors: Benyahia Hadj
Published: September 2010

This study shows that the enrolment rate for the Canadian university system, at 56%, is one of the highest among the member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This good quantitative performance, however, is not accompanied by a similar qualitative performance in science graduation: only 25% of all university graduates are science graduates – a proportion below that observed in traditional areas (the humanities and social sciences). For computer science graduates, the share is still only 4% in all OECD countries – a paradoxically low proportion in these highly computerized countries. For the Canadian continuing training system, the weakness observable in the quantitative performance (participation rate) is accompanied by a qualitative weakness – the annual average training hours per employee is half the OECD average (31 hours against 64). To reduce the performance gaps between the higher education and training systems, measures are presented which would improve the integration of the two systems. These interventions are considered from the perspective of universities, companies and government.
Reforming Engineering Education
Authors: Gaidi Khalid El
Published: September 2010

The CDIO initiative began as a joint endeavour involving four engineering schools in Sweden and the USA. The number of schools joining the project is increasing constantly. CDIO focuses on four activities – curriculum development, teaching and learning, workshops, and assessment projects – with a view to improving engineering education programmes by redesign and through the introduction of real engineering skills as well as hands-on experiences.
Investigation of At-Risk Patent Filings
Authors: Livne Oren
Published: September 2010

The author presents an investigation of patent-application filings made without external financial support, or ‘at-risk’, based on inventions disclosed to the University of California from fiscal years 1991 to 2000. The success of the at-risk patent applications filed on these invention disclosures is examined from the perspective of agreements executed and income generated. He then puts forward recommendations for improving the overall process of at-risk patent-application filings.
Online Education in the USA
Authors: Lancaster Sean , Yen David C. , Wang Jyun-Cheng
Published: September 2010

Online education has become a highly debated topic. While some educators see it as a commercialized and prepackaged form of education, one that limits the verbal skills of students, others see it as breaking down the geographical and financial barriers that many students face. Online delivery has changed education in a number of ways, increasing the speed of communication, providing easy access to research materials and encouraging the exchange of ideas. This paper looks at how the Internet has been incorporated into traditional classrooms and how the Web is being used to offer courses and degrees in virtual settings. The authors also discuss the roles of students, traditional institutions and virtual universities in e-learning. Online education has shown marked growth and with increased bandwidth, more interactive software and increased instructor acceptance, it will be increasingly adopted.
Effects of Market-Related Assets on Innovativeness and Operational Performance in SMEs
Authors: Hyvönen Saara , Tuominen Matti , Erälinna Leena
Published: September 2010

Resource-based theory (RBT) has not been systematically applied to strategizing the market-related assets of the firm. By examining the role of these intangible assets in the context of small business management, the authors attempt, in this article, to put forward an environment–resources–performance contingency model, synthesizing the various findings in the literature on ‘marketing assets of SMEs’. The conceptual framework is deployed to assess innovativeness and operational superiority through market-related assets within 64 small and medium-sized firms operating in the Finnish meat-processing industry. The empirical results indicate strong positive associations between the key constructs involved, and further indicate that these relationships have a contingency-specific profile. The implications of these findings for practice and research are discussed.
Immunizing University Research from Patent Infringement
Authors: Guttag Eric W.
Published: September 2010

Prior to Madey v Duke University, universities may have felt that academic research was immunized from patent infringement by the ‘experimental use’ defence. However, the Madey case has made clear that this defence is ‘very narrow’ to the extent that universities can no longer safely rely on it. While state universities in the USA can rely on sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment, that still leaves private universities (like Duke) looking for available ‘safe harbours' from patent infringement for their research. One of these is offered by the Hatch–Waxman Act if the academic research is for the purpose of securing regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration. Another potential ‘safe harbour’ that was tantalizing raised, but left unresolved, by the Madey case is whether federally sponsored university research is immunized from patent infringement under 35 U.S.C. §1498(a).
Scope and Limitations of Information Technology in Distance Education
Authors: Sundar I.
Published: September 2010

The term ‘distance education’ has traditionally been used to refer to education in which teachers and learners are separated by time and space. As technologies used for distance education have become more learner-centred, providing learners with more control over their learning, the term has also come to imply this process. This paper deals with the status of distance education in India and the scope and limitations of IT applications in enhancing the teaching and learning processes in Indian distance education. The author discusses certain key strategies to promote the use of information technology in distance education and the paper concludes with policy recommendations for overcoming the constraints to IT adoption.
Modelling Higher Education in Eastern and Central Europe since Perestroika
Authors: Hobrough John
Published: September 2010

Since perestroika there have been many changes in Central and Eastern Europe. The states of the region have regained the opportunity to establish partnerships within the European Union. Higher education development has enabled increased communication and opportunities for staff and students. Greater interaction has resulted in a greater mobility of people and ideas, supported by the increased use of information and communications technology. A key factor in the globalization of higher education has been the freedom from the ideological constraints that existed before the break-up of the Soviet Union. This paper traces the changing face of higher education in Central and Eastern Europe through a comparison of models using Dynamic Concept Analysis (DCA), drawing on survey responses from Russia, Byelorussia, Central Asia, Bulgaria and Latvia. The survey gathered positive and negative perceptions of change, which were then analysed in focus group discussions. The models produced provide a framework for the interpretation of higher education systems, and suggest a transition model for further development in an increasingly global education market. In this context, the new autonomous nature of higher education institutions in the region is strongly related to scholarship and selection, while their continuing orientation towards teaching creates opportunities for skills development, thus enhancing graduate employability and services to the community, improving the ‘socialization’ of students and ensuring the sustainability of the institution.
Are There too Many Graduates in the UK?
Authors: Bowers-Brown Tamsin , Harvey Lee
Published: September 2010

The recent White Paper, The Future of Higher Education, and the annual increase in the number of young people achieving passes at A-level (the final secondary-school examinations) have fuelled an ongoing debate on whether too many people are now entering higher education in the UK. At the centre of the ‘too many graduates’ argument is the issue of employability: is the nation producing enough graduates to meet the needs of the knowledge economy or is there an abundance of graduates in the workplace who do not need degrees to do their jobs? This article identifies key arguments in the increasing participation and employability debate.
Commercial and Corporate Activities of New University Business Schools
Authors: Prince Christopher , Beaver Graham
Published: September 2010

Commercial and corporate activities and the income they generate are of increasing importance to all UK higher education institutions. For new or modern university business schools in particular, the falling unit of resource attaching to undergraduate student teaching income and the virtual disappearance of research revenues as a result of the poor results in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise have combined to produce a scenario in which commercial activity is likely to be an increasing priority as business schools attempt to remain effective and solvent. While there has been considerable research into management development in general, there has been very little research into the structuring and operation of commercial activity in new university business schools. Indeed, what research there has been into university commercial activity has examined all UK universities at a level of aggregation that makes it impossible to determine levels of business school commercialization, let alone the level of individual performance. The research presented in this paper focuses on the commercial activity of new university business schools and reveals findings about the nature and choice of strategy, product portfolio, delivery, client expectations, organization and management structure. The evidence suggests that many business schools have a considerable way to go if they are to grow commercial revenue in what will be an increasingly competitive and volatile market.
Forecasting Inbound Canadian Tourism: An Evaluation of Error Corrections Model Forecasts
Authors: Veloce William
Published: September 2010

This paper computes and evaluates a variety of quantitative forecasts for inbound Canadian tourists, including the Error Corrections Model (ECM) and the traditional regression model forecasts. A number of forecasting methods are employed: naive to sophisticated, univariate to multivariate, time series and econometric. Forecasts for the number of inbound Canadian tourists are derived using data from four major markets: the USA, the UK, Germany and Japan. The evaluation of the forecasts is based on the Generalized Forecast Error Second Moment (GFESM) criterion developed by Clements and Hendry (1993) and the Adjusted Mean Absolute Percentage Error (AMAPE) criterion. The ECM forecasts performed best, while the traditional regression model forecasts performed poorly. In this study, using Canadian data, the development of an ECM (which entails careful analysis of the integration and co-integration properties of the variables) provides an improvement in forecast accuracy. Previous tourism studies have found less promising results concerning the performance of the ECM forecasts.
Face-to-Face or Cyberspace? Choosing the Internet as an Intermediary in the Israeli Travel Market
Authors: Fleischer Aliza , Felsenstein Daniel
Published: September 2010

Existing studies of the trend towards electronic provision of travel services tend to be highly bifurcated. They focus either on the supply-side characteristics of this change (new technologies and mediation platforms) or on the demand-side attributes, such as the socio-economic profile of the Internet user and attitudes towards electronic purchasing in the travel market. The latter approach, however, can lead to sample selectivity bias and misleading parameter estimates. It fails to recognize that actual Internet travel purchases are observable only for individuals who have made the prior decision to use the Internet as a market intermediary. This paper addresses this drawback by modelling the decision to purchase travel products on the Internet in a bivariate probit framework. The choice of travel service intermediary, travel agent (face-to-face) or Internet (cyberspace), is determined by the joint probabilities of general Internet purchasing and specific Internet travel purchasing. Using unique survey evidence of actual Internet transactions, the discrepancies between preferences for Internet travel purchasing and actual travel purchases are highlighted. The results suggest that demand for the latter is more closely related to previous Internet purchasing experience than to the socio-economic attributes of the purchaser.
Tourism as a Long-Run Economic Growth Factor: An Empirical Investigation for Greece Using Causality Analysis
Authors: Dritsakis Nikolaos
Published: September 2010

This paper empirically examines the impact of tourism on the long-run economic growth of Greece by using causality analysis of real gross domestic product, real effective exchange rate and international tourism earnings. A Multivariate Auto Regressive (VAR) model is applied for the period 1960:I-2000:IV. The results of co-integration analysis suggest that there is one co-integrated vector among real gross domestic product, real effective exchange rate and international tourism earnings. Granger causality tests based on Error Correction Models (ECMs), have indicated that there is a ‘strong Granger causal’ relationship between international tourism earnings and economic growth, a ‘strong causal’ relationship between real exchange rate and economic growth, and simply ‘causal’ relationships between economic growth and international tourism earnings and between real exchange rate and international tourism earnings.
Impact of Consulting Needs on Women-Owned Businesses across the Business Life-Cycle
Authors: Lee Sang Suk , Cho Gyeong Soon , Denslow Diane
Published: September 2010

This paper analyses the differences in need of women-owned businesses for consulting assistance programmes in each of the four life-cycle stages of the business. Results from 160 women-owned businesses found that women entrepreneurs perceived the need for consulting services differently at each of the life-cycle stages. The firms were each further divided in terms of the type of business (that is, general/opportunistic or technical/craftsman) to see whether this distinction influenced the need for consulting services.
Restricting Ownership of Vacation Homes
Authors: Skak Morten
Published: September 2010

One way to enjoy or consume the countryside is through a week's vacation in a cottage or vacation home. The consumer may be the owner of the vacation home or may rent it. This paper focuses on the effects of restricting private ownership of vacation homes with limited supply. It is not surprising that under realistic assumptions a free market will lead to the trading of vacation homes, whereby they will eventually be owned by high-income consumers. In the model presented it is further shown that such trading will increase the demand for weeks in vacation homes, raise the price on the rental market and reduce the number of consumers with this kind of access to the countryside. Thus unrestricted trade may be welfare-reducing and some kind of ownership restriction may have positive welfare effects. However, other ways to secure public access to the countryside might well be preferable to ownership restrictions.
Tip Policy, Visibility and Quality of Service in Cafés
Authors: Barkan Rachel , Erev Ido , Zinger Einat , Tzach Mayan
Published: September 2010

This research studied the effect of tip policy and visibility on service quality in cafés. Applying social dilemma research to cafés suggests that service quality may be deteriorated by two types of free-riding behaviour. These free-riding behaviours include reduced-effort activities and the overuse of limited common resources. The theoretical framework implies that it is difficult to solve both problems simultaneously. For example, an individual tip policy can solve the problem of reduced effort as it motivates each server to work for his or her own tip. However, this policy intensifies the competition between the servers over limited common resources. Shared tip policy operates in the opposite way, solving the latter problem yet intensifying the former. Similarly, visibility conditions (moderating monitoring and social comparison) affect the two free-riding behaviours in opposite ways. Two field studies indicated that tip policy and visibility were interacting and that quality service could be attained with two combinations. Individual tip policy leads to quality service when combined with low visibility. Shared tip policy leads to quality service when combined with high visibility. The findings demonstrate the difficulty, but also the potential of generalizing social dilemma research to natural settings.
Embedding the Sustainability Perspective into Agricultural Research
Authors: Rao N.H. , Katyal J.C. , Reddy M.N.
Published: September 2010

Concerns for long-term food security and the sustainability of agriculture are forcing international and national agricultural research organizations to reorient their research goals, programmes and projects to ensure that the sustainability perspective underlies all of them. This requires a major paradigm shift in agricultural research planning and management. This paper develops an analytical framework for agricultural research management that can guide a transition from research directed towards productivity goals alone to that which addresses productivity issues, keeping sustainability concerns in sight. The framework is built on a realistic assessment of food demands and supplies, trade-offs between agricultural production increases and the quality of the natural resource base, the capabilities of emerging technologies and the overall profitability of agriculture. The development of such a framework is illustrated by considering the situation in India as a case study. It is suggested that, in the Indian context, embedding sustainability concerns into agricultural research requires interactions between research with a cropping systems perspective at the farm level, a regional natural resource management perspective with a relatively short-term focus on profitabilty, and a longer-term focus on environmental health at the agroecosystem level. The implications for management of such research are discussed.
Evolution of Dry-Season Irrigated Vegetable Production between 1982 and 2000 on the Jos Plateau, Nigeria
Authors: Pasquini M.W. , Harris F. , Dung J. , Adepetu A.
Published: September 2010

This paper reports on the changes observed in dry-season irrigated vegetable production over the course of nearly 20 years along the Delimi River on the Jos Plateau. Data from three questionnaires (carried out in 1982, 1990 and 2000) were compared and integrated with interview information from 2000. The data indicate that although entrepreneurial farmers benefit from this activity, which is becoming increasingly commercialized (supplying markets within and beyond Nigeria), the majority continue to struggle to achieve profits. Should dry-season farming continue to expand, this struggle will be further exacerbated.
Bionomics and Management of Major Thrips Species on Agricultural Crops in Africa
Authors: Gahukar R.T.
Published: September 2010

Several thrips species are known to cause serious damage to agricultural crops in Africa. However, only five species of the family Thripidae are considered as economic pests, namely, Frankliniella schultzei (Trybom), Megalurothrips sjostedti (Trybom), Scirtothrips aurantii Faure, Sericothrips adolfifriderici Karny and Thrips tabaci (Lindeman). Nymphs and adult thrips suck the sap from leaf buds, leaves, flower buds, flowers and fruits, which become deformed or remain underdeveloped, often showing scars. Some species act as major vectors of viral plant diseases. Current pest-control practices include using resistant plant varieties, biological agents, cultural operations and chemical pesticides. However, more information is needed to formulate an effective, low-cost and eco-friendly pest-management strategy that can be adopted sustainably in the existing agricultural framework.