title: An investigation of Chinese business event experience: A third place perspective

authors: Qiao, Guiqiang

subjects: Business event

abstract: The value and rewards of hosting business events have been widely recognized by event organizers and other stakeholders. To be successful the organizers should be aware of the attitudes and perceptions of those who will be attending. At the present time there is limited research available in this area. In order to add to and explore the characteristics of a successful business event, this thesis will investigate the nature of business events using a sociological theory (Third Place) and apply it to a business event in order to gain a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationship between attendees and the event. The thesis will test a number of hypotheses relating to attitudes, motivations, perceived service quality and other factors.
A theoretical framework is proposed for a case study model to understand the complex relationships, both direct and indirect. A unique business event hosted in Hangzhou China was selected because of its wide appeal to those attending, and because of its successful influence in the market.
As part of this research an in-depth literature review was undertaken, which indicated that much of the literature was from a western perspective with less research relating to China, an important emerging market with unique cultural influences. Likewise, there was a lack of literature applying interdisciplinary theory to business events. To overcome the limitations of the existing literature which is mainly qualitative and descriptive, this thesis uses an empirical approach.
Informed by the literature and direct observation of the event, a questionnaire was developed to survey attendees at the chosen conference that resulted in a total of 1122 self-reported questionnaires. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was conducted to identify the service gaps and suggest actions to take. From these findings exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was initially used to extract factors to subsequently inform an analysis of causal relationships. To test the impacts of continuous variables (e.g., rating of performance) and categorical variables (e.g., gender, education) on the dependent variables (different levels of satisfaction), a multinomial logistic regression (MLR) was performed. The five identified constructs were used to determine the power and influence of the predicting constructs on the attendees’ satisfaction and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed using WarpPLS.
In addition to the quantitative data, qualitative data were also collected comprising 28 participants that identified important reasons to attend the conference and the perceptions of work-conference relationships by those interviewees. The findings from the research confirm that a business event can be considered as a Third Place. Research findings including PLS-SEM showed that most of the direct relational hypotheses and mediating hypotheses were supported by the empirical data, yet only one moderating effect was significant in moderating the relationship between service quality and attendees’ satisfaction by motivation.
The rich findings of this research have epistemological, methodological, and practical implications in conducting event studies, which will facilitate future researchers to investigate business events from an alternative view and re-consider the nature and non-business functions, thus adding new knowledge to event studies and extending the application scope of the Third Place Theory. These findings will provide reliable information for different stakeholders to understand the Chinese event industry and business event attendees. Further, they enable the organizers to design and operate business events innovatively with the guidance of Third Place Theory to maximise the other functions and further develop the potential of business events to provide consumers with satisfactory services but also memorable and delight event experiences.
In addition, future research directions and limitations are also reported, which will be useful for scholars to address these issues in a similar context.

text: An investigation of Chinese business event experience: A third place perspective The value and rewards of hosting business events have been widely recognized by event organizers and other stakeholders. To be successful the organizers should be aware of the attitudes and perceptions of those who will be attending. At the present time there is limited research available in this area. In order to add to and explore the characteristics of a successful business event, this thesis will investigate the nature of business events using a sociological theory (Third Place) and apply it to a business event in order to gain a greater understanding of the symbiotic relationship between attendees and the event. The thesis will test a number of hypotheses relating to attitudes, motivations, perceived service quality and other factors.
A theoretical framework is proposed for a case study model to understand the complex relationships, both direct and indirect. A unique business event hosted in Hangzhou China was selected because of its wide appeal to those attending, and because of its successful influence in the market.
As part of this research an in-depth literature review was undertaken, which indicated that much of the literature was from a western perspective with less research relating to China, an important emerging market with unique cultural influences. Likewise, there was a lack of literature applying interdisciplinary theory to business events. To overcome the limitations of the existing literature which is mainly qualitative and descriptive, this thesis uses an empirical approach.
Informed by the literature and direct observation of the event, a questionnaire was developed to survey attendees at the chosen conference that resulted in a total of 1122 self-reported questionnaires. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) was conducted to identify the service gaps and suggest actions to take. From these findings exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was initially used to extract factors to subsequently inform an analysis of causal relationships. To test the impacts of continuous variables (e.g., rating of performance) and categorical variables (e.g., gender, education) on the dependent variables (different levels of satisfaction), a multinomial logistic regression (MLR) was performed. The five identified constructs were used to determine the power and influence of the predicting constructs on the attendees’ satisfaction and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was employed using WarpPLS.
In addition to the quantitative data, qualitative data were also collected comprising 28 participants that identified important reasons to attend the conference and the perceptions of work-conference relationships by those interviewees. The findings from the research confirm that a business event can be considered as a Third Place. Research findings including PLS-SEM showed that most of the direct relational hypotheses and mediating hypotheses were supported by the empirical data, yet only one moderating effect was significant in moderating the relationship between service quality and attendees’ satisfaction by motivation.
The rich findings of this research have epistemological, methodological, and practical implications in conducting event studies, which will facilitate future researchers to investigate business events from an alternative view and re-consider the nature and non-business functions, thus adding new knowledge to event studies and extending the application scope of the Third Place Theory. These findings will provide reliable information for different stakeholders to understand the Chinese event industry and business event attendees. Further, they enable the organizers to design and operate business events innovatively with the guidance of Third Place Theory to maximise the other functions and further develop the potential of business events to provide consumers with satisfactory services but also memorable and delight event experiences.
In addition, future research directions and limitations are also reported, which will be useful for scholars to address these issues in a similar context.

year: 2020

title: Canine (Canis familiaris) scent detection of invasive brown bullhead catfish (Ameriurus nebulosus) in lake water samples

authors: Hopkins, Lauren Renee

abstract: Brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) were deliberately introduced to New Zealand from North America in the 1880s and populations have since increased significantly in the Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty regions. Catfish pose a major threat to New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems, preying on and competing with native species for food, and decreasing water clarity through bioturbation and nutrient release. 

Early detection of the spread of catfish is crucial as it allows for containment and eradication measures to be set up, preventing the establishment of new catfish populations. However, traditional methods such as visual surveying, netting, and electrofishing are time-consuming and resource intensive, resulting in high costs and restricting the number of locations that can be surveyed. In addition, they can be relatively insensitive when the target biomasses are low, such as in newly establishing populations. False negatives can result in a lack of action from governmental agencies, allowing populations to establish and spread undetected. 

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have previously been used for conservation management programmes, detecting reptiles, birds, insects, and larger wildlife animals. Although the use of dogs to detect targets in aquatic environments is relatively new, research has indicated domestic dogs have the ability to discriminate between similar aquatic species and previous projects related to catfish scent detection have shown domestic dogs can detect the presence of catfish in dechlorinated water samples at biologically relevant concentrations. 

The aim of this research was to determine whether domestic dogs could detect the presence of catfish in lake water samples at a biomass concentration equivalent to 43.5 kg/ha (based on the assumption of a 2 m deep waterbody), a concentration consistent with the estimated populations of catfish in New Zealand lakes. The first stage of the experiment determined whether dogs could detect the presence of catfish in dechlorinated water samples at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha. Water samples were collected from tanks containing a standard catfish biomass concentration of 15.5 g/L (equivalent to 38,700 kg/ha) and diluted to 311 kg/ha. As the dogs achieved the discrimination criteria, the sample concentration was progressively decreased. All three dogs were able to detect the presence of catfish at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha. The next stage of the experiment determined whether domestic dogs could detect the presence of catfish in lake water samples. Lake water samples were collected from catfish-absent Lake Rotomā and spiked with catfish aquaria. As the dogs achieved the discrimination criteria, the catfish concentration was progressively diluted. The majority of the dogs in this study successfully detected the presence of catfish at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha in lake water samples, with one dog successfully detecting catfish at a biomass concentration of 1.55 kg/ha. In New Zealand, it is highly unlikely significant environmental impacts would occur from a catfish biomass of 1.55 kg/ha. However, targeted eradication of a population density this size would be highly advisable and may be feasibly managed depending on available resources, size of the target water body and its connections to other waterways. The findings in this study indicate the potential utility of dogs in the early detection and management of invasive freshwater species. According to the theory of generalisation, the performance of these dogs may be generalised to different lakes and to different biomass equivalent concentrations without specific training on those lakes or concentrations. However, it would be important to test for this generalisation in future research as differences in stimuli can affect generalisation, with less generalisation occurring as stimuli become increasingly dissimilar from the original training stimulus. Therefore, the differences between the conditions in this study and those in an operational scenario will be important in determining whether the obtained performance will generalise to the operational scenario.

text: Canine (Canis familiaris) scent detection of invasive brown bullhead catfish (Ameriurus nebulosus) in lake water samples Brown bullhead catfish (Ameiurus nebulosus) were deliberately introduced to New Zealand from North America in the 1880s and populations have since increased significantly in the Auckland, Waikato, and Bay of Plenty regions. Catfish pose a major threat to New Zealand’s freshwater ecosystems, preying on and competing with native species for food, and decreasing water clarity through bioturbation and nutrient release. 

Early detection of the spread of catfish is crucial as it allows for containment and eradication measures to be set up, preventing the establishment of new catfish populations. However, traditional methods such as visual surveying, netting, and electrofishing are time-consuming and resource intensive, resulting in high costs and restricting the number of locations that can be surveyed. In addition, they can be relatively insensitive when the target biomasses are low, such as in newly establishing populations. False negatives can result in a lack of action from governmental agencies, allowing populations to establish and spread undetected. 

Domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) have previously been used for conservation management programmes, detecting reptiles, birds, insects, and larger wildlife animals. Although the use of dogs to detect targets in aquatic environments is relatively new, research has indicated domestic dogs have the ability to discriminate between similar aquatic species and previous projects related to catfish scent detection have shown domestic dogs can detect the presence of catfish in dechlorinated water samples at biologically relevant concentrations. 

The aim of this research was to determine whether domestic dogs could detect the presence of catfish in lake water samples at a biomass concentration equivalent to 43.5 kg/ha (based on the assumption of a 2 m deep waterbody), a concentration consistent with the estimated populations of catfish in New Zealand lakes. The first stage of the experiment determined whether dogs could detect the presence of catfish in dechlorinated water samples at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha. Water samples were collected from tanks containing a standard catfish biomass concentration of 15.5 g/L (equivalent to 38,700 kg/ha) and diluted to 311 kg/ha. As the dogs achieved the discrimination criteria, the sample concentration was progressively decreased. All three dogs were able to detect the presence of catfish at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha. The next stage of the experiment determined whether domestic dogs could detect the presence of catfish in lake water samples. Lake water samples were collected from catfish-absent Lake Rotomā and spiked with catfish aquaria. As the dogs achieved the discrimination criteria, the catfish concentration was progressively diluted. The majority of the dogs in this study successfully detected the presence of catfish at a biomass concentration of 43.5 kg/ha in lake water samples, with one dog successfully detecting catfish at a biomass concentration of 1.55 kg/ha. In New Zealand, it is highly unlikely significant environmental impacts would occur from a catfish biomass of 1.55 kg/ha. However, targeted eradication of a population density this size would be highly advisable and may be feasibly managed depending on available resources, size of the target water body and its connections to other waterways. The findings in this study indicate the potential utility of dogs in the early detection and management of invasive freshwater species. According to the theory of generalisation, the performance of these dogs may be generalised to different lakes and to different biomass equivalent concentrations without specific training on those lakes or concentrations. However, it would be important to test for this generalisation in future research as differences in stimuli can affect generalisation, with less generalisation occurring as stimuli become increasingly dissimilar from the original training stimulus. Therefore, the differences between the conditions in this study and those in an operational scenario will be important in determining whether the obtained performance will generalise to the operational scenario.

year: 2023

title: Consequences of cultural satisfaction at work: A study of New Zealand Māori

authors: Haar, Jarrod M.

subjects: cultural satisfaction at work

abstract: To expand our understanding of indigenous workers and the importance of indigenous culture in the workplace, we tested the outcomes of cultural satisfaction at work using structural equation modelling with a sample of 174 Māori employees. We show that, consistent with social exchange theory, Māori who are more satisfied with the level of understanding of their cultural values in the workplace report better job outcomes. Cultural satisfaction at work directly predicted loyalty and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). Furthermore, direct-effects and mediation models were tested, showing that loyalty fully mediated the influence of cultural satisfaction at work on OCBs. The implications for HRM are that indigenous workers who are more satisfied with the way their cultural beliefs are valued in the workplace are likely to be more loyal and may be superior performance. The findings highlight the importance for employers of having regard to the culture of their indigenous workers.

text: Consequences of cultural satisfaction at work: A study of New Zealand Māori To expand our understanding of indigenous workers and the importance of indigenous culture in the workplace, we tested the outcomes of cultural satisfaction at work using structural equation modelling with a sample of 174 Māori employees. We show that, consistent with social exchange theory, Māori who are more satisfied with the level of understanding of their cultural values in the workplace report better job outcomes. Cultural satisfaction at work directly predicted loyalty and organisational citizenship behaviours (OCBs). Furthermore, direct-effects and mediation models were tested, showing that loyalty fully mediated the influence of cultural satisfaction at work on OCBs. The implications for HRM are that indigenous workers who are more satisfied with the way their cultural beliefs are valued in the workplace are likely to be more loyal and may be superior performance. The findings highlight the importance for employers of having regard to the culture of their indigenous workers.

year: 2011