bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
How might hospitality organizations optimize their performance measurement systems?
Authors: Cruz Inês 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the use of “old” and “new” performance measurement (PM) techniques in a joint venture (JV) set up by two partners, a global hotel chain and a Portuguese company.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical data upon which this paper is based was collected through a prolonged contact with the specific organizational context. Qualitative or semi‐structured interviewing is the main source of information.FindingsThe paper finds that budgeting and budgetary control practices have been the cornerstone of the PM activity at the JV, where few “new” management accounting techniques are used. Yet, changes were made to the way the “old” PM techniques are drawn on and they have been supplemented with rolling forecasts prepared at the hotel level. The objectives are to encourage local managers to become more forward‐looking and to broaden the knowledge of the global partner about the future operating activities of the JV. Simultaneously, local adaptations of PM practices introduced by this partner are occurring.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of interviews with people from headquarters and area management of the global hotel chain has to be seen as a limitation of the present study. To minimize the risk of bias, a triangulation of data was pursued by interviewing multiple people at the JV and at the Portuguese partner, and by discussing preliminary findings on several occasions.Originality/valueThe present study provides insights on how PM practices have evolved over time in a globalized organization, enriching our understanding of those practices in the context of hotel management.
Spatial analysis of small hotel activity in Tanzania
Authors: Sharma Amit , Sneed Jeannie , Ravichandran Swathi 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to evaluate whether there were significant differences in the factors affecting economic contribution and performance of small hotel clusters in the three regions of Arusha, Dar es Salaam, and Mwanza in Tanzania. This paper also assesses whether there were significant differences in developmental policies, and industry and competitive environments of small hotel activity in these three regions.Design/methodology/approachIn the paper data were collected using a novel method of educational workshops held in the three regions. Three short questionnaires were used in the paper to gather data on demographic information of participants and businesses, business environment, and economic transactions of these businesses.FindingsThe paper finds that statistical analyses indicate that factors including development policies, competitive and business environment are significantly different among the three regions.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper presented a framework within which policy and industry practices could be comparatively benchmarked amongst multiple locations. Continued future research is essential to contribute towards the dearth of literature formally assessing small hotel activity in developing economies.Practical implicationsThe results of this paper could be used to evaluate industry practices as comparative benchmarks across regions. Policy makers in Tanzania can use the data provided to close gaps in services provided to support the three regions. This could lead to a more balanced development of small hotels across the country.Originality/valueThis paper adds to the sparse literature on small hospitality business research, comparative spatial analysis within the hospitality industry, and offers an insight into factors affecting operations of small hospitality businesses in developing nations. The paper also introduces the usage of novel data collection methods from small businesses that are otherwise inaccessible to such research studies. The paper found this data collection method mutually beneficial for both the participants and the researchers.
Supporting dyslexic Scottish university hospitality students: positive actions for the future?
Authors: Ingram Arthur , Pianu Emily , Welsh Rita 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of the paper is to explore the issues of dyslexia and the management of learning support within two Scottish suppliers of premier HE hospitality education: Napier and QMU universities of Edinburgh.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory, qualitative fieldwork outlines course managers', teachers' and disabilities support staff perceptions of dyslexia support. Students' views are noted, not interviewed. The paper describes the views of 12 of a sample of (eight female and four male) staff interviewees. Napier University and Queen Margaret University are post‐1990 “new” universities; Napier has a larger student/staff population than QMU.FindingsThe emergent findings in this paper highlight the fact that managers, teachers and support staff operate an under‐resourced and largely ad hoc system of dyslexic support, although Napier, with greater central funding, shows signs of more strategic insight with the appointment of a full‐time dyslexia coordinator with strategic potential. The findings pinpoint the strengths (personal attention) of decentralised support with ambiguity problems and the need for a generic centrally coordinated support system capable of codifying tacit experience into customised support packages for hospitality students.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper is a small exploratory study of the views and perceptions of dyslexia of course managers', hospitality teachers' and support staff from two of Edinburgh's new universities. Both have decades of internationally respected work in hospitality education and elsewhere in higher education.Practical implicationsThe fieldwork draws attention to this situation and suggests ways to make concepts of dyslexia and disability more relevant to academic hospitality managers teaching in higher education and to those practising in the field.Originality/valueThe paper examines the proposition that, while dyslexia is a condition open to support and improvement, it is for many practitioners a vague concept. What emerges from the interviews is that disability and what to do about it seems to be an attitude of mind, a question of perceptions, frames of references, intangible properties: that the essence of enhanced dyslexic support is how to do things better. Napier and QMU give valuable ad hoc examples here on which to design future practice. What is needed is a systematic approach to design, implementation and sustainability, and an understanding of the tacitly held knowledge that underpins experience‐generated systems of knowledge. Bringing out such tacit and explicit notions of the complexity of perceptions of knowledge lies in future studies.
The development of the modern UK public house
Authors: Pratten J.D. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to outline the main changes to the British pub brought about by the Beer Acts.Design/methodology/approachThere has been a heavy use of secondary sources drawn from the whole of the period studied. This has been augmented by discussions with licensees, retired licensees and older pub customers, to collect their reflections on the industry.FindingsThe paper finds that ownership of public houses has changed, and the brewers ceased to be pub owners. Separate pub‐owning companies have emerged, involved in either retailing or renting. Long leases were offered instead of short tenancies. The struggle for customers has hastened changes to the industry, so that pubs are now concerned with customer satisfaction and appealing to specific sectors of the market. Government legislation and external factors have also influenced these changes.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper reports the changes in the industry, and examines some of the causes. It is also shows that further work could examine the causes more carefully, and could include regional studies for comparison purposes.Practical implications/implicationsThe paper demonstrates the extent of change, and suggests that further change is likely.Originality/valueThe paper shows that there have been other attempts to examine the history of the public house. This is the most detailed, and as such could be of interest to the general reader as well as practitioners and students of the hospitality industry.
How well are information risks being communicated to your computer end‐users?
Authors: Pattinson Malcolm R. , Anderson Grantley 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe aim of this paper is, first, to discuss how the risk perceptions of computer end‐users may be influenced by improving the process of risk communication by embedding symbols and graphics within information security messages. The second aim is to describe some pilot study research that the authors have conducted in an attempt to ascertain whether the embedding of symbols and graphics within information security messages achieves a shift in the risk perceptions of computer end‐users.Design/methodology/approachTwo pilot studies were undertaken. The objective of each study was to establish whether the embedding of a relevant graphic relating to some known aspect of information security, when placed inside an information security message, would have any influence on the information security risk perceptions of any individual to whom the message was being communicated. In both studies, the method of eliciting a response from each participant involved the use of a type of semantic differential (SD) grid.FindingsOn completing an analysis of the responses to the SD grid survey for both studies, no statistically significant differences were detected between the groups with respect to any of the six relevant scales. Nevertheless, it seems that the differences were large enough for the present authors to be convinced that the SD measures used are an appropriate survey technique for future studies in a workplace environment.Research limitations/implicationsThe research subjects (i.e. survey participants) for both pilot studies were students of the University of South Australia. There are many ways in which information risk communication could be made more effective and this paper only attempts to show how graphics and symbols could be used to convey risk messages more effectively. This paper does not in any way attempt to provide any “silver‐bullet” solutions for management in terms of what they can do towards managing information risk.Practical implicationsThe ultimate objective of this research is to subsequently advise management on how they can communicate information risk simply and more effectively to achieve the final outcome, i.e. the mitigation of actual risks.Originality/valueIt is believed that, if the effectiveness of the various forms of risk communication within an organisation can be increased, then the general perception of the risks to the information systems will be more realistic.
Usable set‐up of runtime security policies
Authors: Herzog Almut , Shahmehri Nahid 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to present concrete and verified guidelines for enhancing the usability and security of software that delegates security decisions to lay users and captures these user decisions as a security policy.Design/methodology/approachThis work is an exploratory study. The authors hypothesised that existing tools for runtime set‐up of security policies are not sufficient. As this proved true, as shown in earlier work, they apply usability engineering with user studies to advance the state‐of‐the‐art.FindingsLittle effort has been spent on how security policies can be set up by the lay users for whom they are intended. This work identifies what users want and need for a successful runtime set‐up of security policies.Practical implicationsConcrete and verified guidelines are provided for designers who are faced with the task of delegating security decisions to lay users.Originality/valueThe devised guidelines focus specifically on the set‐up of runtime security policies and therefore on the design of alert windows.
On the imbalance of the security problem space and its expected consequences
Authors: Beznosov Konstantin , Beznosova Olga 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThis paper aims to report on the results of an analysis of the computer security problem space, to suggest the areas with highest potential for making progress in the attacker‐defender game, and to propose questions for future research.Design/methodology/approachThe decomposition of the attacker‐defender game into technological, human, and social factors enables one to analyze the concentration of public research efforts by defenders. First, representative activities are selected, then each activity is mapped into the technological, human and social (THS) basis. Afterwards, citation databases are used to estimate the relative volume of publications on each selected activity in the science and engineering communities. Finally, drawing on a number of relevant theories in organizational theory, sociology, and political science, avenues for exploring the social dimension by the defenders are discussed.FindingsThe analysis suggests that over 94 percent of the public research in computer security has been concentrated on technological advances. Yet attackers seem to employ more and more human and social factors in their attacks. The social organization of the attackers allows them to achieve the results not possible otherwise, shifting the balance in their favour. It is suggested that the scope of research should be broadened, to involve organizational behavior and structure as well as social capital aspects that are currently not high on computer security research agenda.Research limitations/implicationsThe queries limit the search to public content written in the English language only. Since the authors are concerned with the relative (rather than absolute) volume of each activity, it is an open question whether this limitation biases the results.Practical implicationsAs the arms race in computer security progresses, social factors may become or already are increasingly important. The side that capitalizes on them sooner may gain the competitive advantage.Originality/valueA simple method for gauging the focus of research efforts in the computer security community and for considering computer security problem space through the lens of social sciences is developed.
Developing research journals and qualitative inquiry: the role of the editorial board
Authors: Parker Lee D. 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate and evaluate the roles of research journal editorial boards in fostering scholarship and nurturing new knowledge areas and research approaches, typified by the growing qualitative methodological tradition, in the accounting and management disciplines.Design/methodology/approachEditors and their boards are considered as trustees of both journals and their stocks of knowledge. Their profiles and multiple roles are elucidated and critiqued, and their scope of influence is delineated.FindingsThe paper reviewing function is revealed as complex and multifaceted, with reviewers falling into several categories of approach to their responsibilities. Supported by journal editors, editorial board members are portrayed as having both direct action and journal policy responsibilities, accepting such positions and roles for a variety of rationales. Their responsibility for fostering the emerging qualitative research tradition in accounting and management is explored and presented as a primary example of the editorial board's role in pushing the boundaries of the discipline.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper offers a wider than hitherto articulated specification of the roles and contributions to disciplinary advancement potentially on offer from editors' and editorial board members' strategic approach to their roles.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first in the published accounting and management research journal literatures to focus on the roles and rationales relating to research journal editorial board membership as a foundation for the academy's knowledge construction.
Calculative practices in a total institution
Authors: Jayasinghe Kelum , Wickramasinghe Danture 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present empirical evidence on how and why a poor rural community is engaged in certain calculative practices, and how these are embedded in a “total institution” defined in terms of “relations of production” and “relations in production”.Design/methodology/approachFocusing on the traditional fishing industry in the Sri Lankan village of Kalamatiya, this study employs a qualitative, ethnographic methodology to collect and analyse data.FindingsThe underlying calculative practices are shown to resemble an articulated mode of production fabricated with some heterogeneous complexities, especially patronage relations, village cultures, and local capital and political power, rather than mere economic rationalities.Originality/valueThe paper argues that the notions of the “total institution” and the “articulated MOP” can inform accounting researchers to conceptualise research sites beyond the organisation as a novel “field” for empirical studies.
Negative relationships in the workplace: a qualitative study
Authors: Morrison Rachel L. , Nolan Terry 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose this paper is to expand upon existing knowledge of this important topic by providing an expanded inventory of the causes and consequences of having enemies at work.Design/methodology/approachQualitative data were collected from 412 respondents using an internet‐based questionnaire with respondents spanning a wide range of occupations, industries and nationalities. Using a structured methodology for handling a large data sample of qualitative responses, emergent thematic categories are identified and explained by means of verbatim text.FindingsIt was found that several aspects of the work environment directly exacerbated or created negative relationships which, in turn, negatively impacted respondents' experiences of work. Findings illustrate some strongly held employee expectations of behaviour and felt‐obligations defining both formal and informal organisational roles.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings discussed here emanate only from data emphasising negative relationships at work. A study into other relational factors may provide interesting and important points of comparison as well as serving to overcome the inevitable bias towards the negative within this inquiry.Practical implicationsThe conclusions present a number of important challenges to employers and managers for anticipating and dealing with negative co‐worker relationships. Employees seek an equitable and reciprocal relationship with their organisations. An important lesson for management is that workers expect and depend upon their managers to provide support and assistance in overcoming negative workplace relationships.Originality/valueThe data, discussions and conclusions are derived from specific questions which have not previously been expressed in the literatures.
Activity‐based costing: effects of long‐term buyer‐supplier relationships
Authors: Agndal Henrik , Nilsson Ulf 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe literature on activity‐based costing (ABC) that deals with the allocation of indirect purchasing costs primarily draws on a transactional approach to purchasing. This presents a problem, since a large share of purchasing takes place within relationships. The purpose of this paper is to point out complexities in applying ABC to indirect purchasing costs, when purchasing takes place within long‐term relationships. The interaction model is used as a framework.Design/methodology/approachA case study is conducted on a first‐tier supplier in the Swedish automotive industry to illustrate real‐life purchasing practices and to point out subsequent difficulties in applying ABC principles. This firm is selected because efforts have simultaneously been undertaken to employ supplier relationship management (SRM) and to implement costing techniques. About 23 interviews were conducted and approximately 31 hours of interview data were collected.FindingsThe case shows that many functions tend to be involved in exchange within long‐term relationships. This generates additional purchasing‐related costs not previously recognized in the costing literature. It also leads to difficulties in allocating these costs.Originality/valueComplexities when implementing ABC are presented, concerning: allocation of costs relating to SRM; allocation of costs pertaining both to transactions and to relationships; less apparent cost drivers due to involvement of many functions in exchanges; and cost allocation over time.
Study and analysis of maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) for LKAB
Authors: Parida Aditya 
Published: September 2007

PurposeThe purpose of this case study is to identify and develop maintenance performance indicators (MPIs) for a mineral processing plant producing high quality iron ore pellets, as well as studying and analyzing the short plant stops and planned maintenance stops.Design/methodology/approachAn action research approach was adopted for this study, with interactive process of interviews. The existing MPIs are analyzed and a set of MPIs are developed to measure the performance of balling area of the pelletization plant, where the effect of shorter stops in the process have been studied, analyzed and measured, and linked to the management's objectives. The utility of the MPIs are tested and validated within the framework of a multi‐criterion and hierarchical maintenance performance measurement (MPM) framework. The plant stop data of the plant were collected and analyzed for MPIs and for maintenance decision making. Some other criteria were also considered from a holistic, integrated and balanced viewpoint in the model.FindingsThis study resulted in identifying a set of MPIs for the operational level of the pelletization plant of LKAB, after analyzing the short plant stops and planned maintenance stops data, and the stakeholders' requirements. This study has identified nine MPIs at operational level or shop floor level that describe the status of plant and at the same time facilitates linking of plant performance with corporate strategy.Practical implicationsThe approach used in the paper to study, analyze and develop MPIs, can be useful for plant managers and asset owners to select and develop MPIs that can describe the health status of their plant and asset and that also can be linked to the corporate strategy. The framework used to verify the multi‐criteria hierarchical framework can also be used by similar asset managers and infrastructure owners. This study has also lifted the impact of short duration stoppages, thus highlighting the total influence in terms of reduced life length, quality and productivity. This approach can be used by plant engineers, asset managers and infrastructure owners to assess the performance of maintenance process.Originality/valueThis paper presents an approach for identifying MPIs relevant to the plant status and facilitating measuring maintenance performance at corporate level in a structured way.