BLResearchDay (LJMU)

Extended abstract from Faculty of Business and Law Research Day 202

Murphy, Tammi

Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  1  Creative destruction, resilience, and recovery: exploring the digital cultural value of UK museums during Covid-19   T. L. Murphy Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University T.Murphy1@ljmu.ac.uk   1. Introduction, aim and objectives Exploring the extent of potential creative destruction of cultural engagement catalysed by Covid-19, this research will interrogate creative resilience – a direct response to creative destruction – as a vital prerequisite of digital cultural value and the sustainability of the museum in a post-pandemic world. Interrogating shifts in digital engagement and new realities for UK museums via a range of prisms, looking outwards from the arts and cultural sector to provide foundations of strategic knowledge. This research meets the urgency of connecting sparce, fractured literature in the context of the pandemic, to interrogate current museum marketing challenges. It will seek to reveal vital insights of both arts marketing theory and practice via case studies and using the Delphi technique to highlight real-world experiences and approaches to creative resilience throughout the pandemic to provide a framework of digital cultural value.  1.1 Research questions (1) How are UK museums adjusting to new realities and rapidly changing circumstances? (2) To what extent is Covid-19 a catalyst for the creative destruction of cultural engagement? (3) How has the success of digital engagement during the pandemic shaped creative resilience, and embedding of digital cultural value in museum marketing strategies? (4) Is creative resilience a prerequisite of digital cultural value?  2. Literature Overview The value of culture has been a particularly ambiguous pursuit for centuries (Walmsley, 2018), with fractured dichotomy divided across layers of discourse, definitions, policy and frameworks (Belfiore and Bennett, 2007; Crossick and Kaszynska, 2016), but is generally conceptualised within the parameters of the longstanding intrinsic-versus-instrumental academic debate (Belfiore and Bennett, 2008). Its complex nature means that it is problematic to define within the digital age, despite museums now adapting to the needs of a new century whilst navigating rapid cultural engagement practices during the pandemic. The value of digital within culture is not articulated clearly, leaving a significant gap in our understanding (Scott et al., 2014). The cultural and creative industries have been impacted by Covid-19 more traumatically than by any other crisis in living memory (Sargent, 2021). The criticality of this can be witnessed in extraordinary streams of governmental support and emergency funding through support programmes, packages and subsidies. Museums around the world quickly developed activity to continue production and events digitally, and nowhere was the response to the pandemic more spectacular than in the online world, where a digital journey was suddenly exponentially accelerated (Sargent, 2021). Despite devastating financial loss, job cuts, cancellations and ongoing social and economic repercussions, the pandemic has revealed significant cultural value within the digital realm. The accelerated move to online increased urgency for museums to introduce new ways of digitally presenting cultural offers (Samaroudi et al., 2020) and explore innovative ways to provide value. But the Covid-19 crisis threatens the survival and future of cultural organisations (Addis and Rurale, 2020), with 13% of museums not expected to reopen after the crisis (UNESCO, 2020). It is within this tremendous devastation that the research will seek to analyse the extent of creative destruction. Schumpeter’s publication Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy, published in the immediate Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  2  aftermath of the Great Depression, focuses on the process described as “incessantly revolutionising the economic structure from within; incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one” (Schumpeter, 1942, p. 83). The concept of creative destruction has permeated throughout history, from the industrial revolution, digital revolution and the present day, and ensures perpetual renewal and production, where innovations continually emerge to render existing processes obsolete (Aghion et al., 2021). The culture sector was already facing challenges of decreasing funding, growing competition, technological changes, and rising costs (McDonnell and Tepper, 2014) before Covid-19, but the crisis placed the sector in a paradoxical situation that warrants exploration to reveal sustainable, innovative solutions. Rapid advancement of digital technologies have fundamentally changed the environment of firms, the competitive dynamics across industries and customer demand (Downes and Nunes, 2013; Porter and Heppleman, 2014), threatening the existence of those whose analogue value proposition can be digitally substituted (Lucas and Goh, 2009). The agility of incorporating digital technologies as an innovation process and external stimulus of innovation is critical to survival (Hall and Williams, 2019), not only in response to competition, but to achieve sustainability in the evolving market. As museums in the UK adjust to new realities and rapidly changing circumstances, there remain research gaps; lacking robust, empirical understandings surrounding the processes, benefits, and challenges of digital engagement in the arts (Walmsley, 2016; Carnwarth and Brown, 2014).   3. Methods and Methodology Capturing changes over time throughout the global crisis, focusing on museums and their digital engagement activities in the UK, this research will address theoretical gaps and real-world issues to advance and contribute to discussion, combining research techniques to obtain rigorous conclusions (Bryman, 2006). Exploring interactions between museums and audiences on social media, the research will study complex, dialogic content within a web of communities, communications, and channels, to arrive at a foundation of findings useful for the sustainability of arts marketing theory and practice in a post-pandemic world, as well as the development of a framework toward digital cultural value. Using a mixed-method approach to interrogate quantitative and qualitative data, three case studies will collect data via content and digital contextual analysis, investigating organisational complexities within real life context. A Delphi study will structure communications from a sample of 30 individuals who hold expertise on the phenomena under study. Greater depth of understanding and arriving at expert consensus will allow the research to develop and present new frameworks and theory for further analysis in subsequent studies. Purposive sampling will be used to identify both case studies and the Delphi study sample, deliberately chosen to reveal insights and rich findings into experiences (Hasson et al., 2000).Providing a steady movement between the phenomena and data will aid in the constant analysis across types of evidence to control the conceptual level and scope of emerging themes (Lawrence and Tar, 2013).   4. References Addis, M. and Rurale, A. (2020) A call to revise cultural business management. In Managing the Cultural Business: Avoiding Mistakes, Finding Success. London: Routledge, pp. 1-31.  Belfiore, E. & Bennett, O. (2007). Rethinking the Social Impacts of the Arts. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 13(2), pp. 135-151 Belfiore, E. and Bennett, O. (2008) The social impact of the arts. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Bryman, A. (2006) Integrating quantitative and qualitative research: How is it done? Qualitative Research, Vol 6(1), pp. 97-113.  Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  3  Carnwarth, J. D. and Brown, A. S. (2014) Understanding the value and impacts of cultural experiences: a literature review. London: Arts Council England. Crossick, G. and Kaszynska, P. (2016) Understanding the value of arts & culture. The AHRC Cultural Value Project. [Online] Available at: https://ahrc.ukri.org/documents/publications/cultural-value-project-final-report/ [Accessed 17 January 2021].  Downes, L. and Nunes, P. (2013) Big Bang Disruption. Harvard Business Review, 91(3), pp. 44-56.  Hall, C. M. and Williams, A. M. (2019) Tourism and innovation. Routledge.  Hasson, F. and Keeney, S. (2011) Enhancing rigor in the Delphi technique research. Technology, Forecasting and Social Change, 78, pp. 1695-1704.  Lawrence, J. and Tar, U. (2013) The use of Grounded Theory Technique as a Practical Tool for Qualitative Data Collection and Analysis. Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods, 11(1), pp. 29-40. Lucas, H. C. and Goh, J. M. (2009) Disruptive Technology: How Kodak Missed the Digital Photography Revolution, The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(1), pp. 46-55.  McDonnell T. E. and Tepper S. J. (2014) Culture in crisis: deploying metaphor in defense of art. Poetics, 43, pp. 20– 42.  Porter, M. E. and Heppelmann, J. E. (2014) How Smart, Connected Products are Transforming Competition. Harvard Business Review, 92(11), pp. 64-88.  Samaroudi, M., Echavarria, K. R. and Perry, L. (2020) Heritage in lockdown: digital provision of memory institutions in the UK and US of America during the COVID-19 pandemic. Museum Management and Curatorship, 35(4), pp. 337-361.  Sargent, A. (2021) Covid-19 and the global cultural and creative sector. What have we learned so far? Centre for Cultural Value. [Online] Available at: https://www.culturehive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/COVID-19-and-the-Global-Cultural-and-Creative-Sector-Anthony-Sargent.pdf [Accessed 25 September 2021].  Schumpeter, J. (1942) Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy. New York: Harper & Bros. Scott, C., Dodd, J. and Sandell, R. (2014) Cultural Value. User value of museums and galleries: a critical review of the literature. UNESCO. (2020) COVID-19: UNESCO and ICOM concerned about the situation faced by the world’s museums. [Online] Available at: https://en.unesco.org/news/COVID-19-unesco-and-icom-concerned-about-situation-faced-worlds-museums [Accessed 4 September 2021].  Walmsley, B. (2016) From arts marketing to audience enrichment: How digital engagement can deepen and democratize artistic exchange with audiences. Poetics, Vol 58, pp. 66-78. Walmsley, B. (2018) Deep hanging out in the arts: an anthropological approach to capturing cultural value. International Journal of Cultural Policy, Vol 24(2), pp. 272-291. 

English

Creative destruction, resilience, and recovery: exploring the digital cultural value of UK museums during Covid-19

Williams, Sarah

 Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 1  Planning for uncertainty/uncertainly planning: strategic decision making in UK Higher Education Institutions during periods of external volatility   Sarah Williams Liverpool John Moores University s.j.williams@ljmu.ac.uk   1. Introduction This research project focuses on the impact of structure, culture, and agency on strategic decision-making during external uncertainty and volatility. It will use a morphogenetic approach to develop a framework to empower senior decision-makers in practice, especially those involved in Higher Education strategy, planning and leading an institution.  2. Justification  Nowotny, Scott, & Gibbons (2013) argue that too many universities have difficulty responding quickly and accurately to future demands due to rigid infrastructures that make change inherently challenging which adds to the risk in operating a thriving, modern institution. The risk is not just to student education and knowledge creation; in 2017-18 total income across the Higher Education sector in the UK was £38.2 billion, generating £95 billion in gross output for the economy contributing £21.5 billion to GDP (UUK, 2019; Wadud et al., 2019).  In 2018, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC’s) annual HE risk report stated that the sector was going through one of its most turbulent periods for a generation. In 2019 they reflected on that statement and concluded that the risks relating to the environment in which UK HE operates had further increased. Then in 2020, the whole world faced the same immediate challenge. COVID19 impacted all aspects of life, and the Higher Education sector felt the effects keenly.   In the space of six months, the sector dealt with unprecedented levels of change and volatility, often having to make a wholescale change based on government edict overnight.  Strategic planning teams in HE work to ensure that the impact of volatility is understood, monitoring immediate risks and concerns and horizon scanning to ensure that institutions are poised and ready to bounce forward once any external volatility is weathered.   3. Literature review The impact of organisational culture and the influence of key actors involved in planning and delivering change within organisations are critical aspects often overlooked in favour of more tangible metrics (Jarzabkowski, 2003; Whittington, 2006; Jarzabkowski and Spee, 2009).   Schein (2012) describes organisational culture as the pattern of basic assumptions invented, discovered or developed by a given group as it learns to cope with its problems and teaches new members the correct way to perceive, think, and feel about problems. This social perspective of organisational culture is found readily throughout further research (Gregory, 1985; Munduate and Medina, 2010; Bellot, 2011), with authors agreeing that assumptions and shared beliefs are vital for defining and understanding culture (Mullins, 2007). If shared beliefs and assumptions are the core of what makes culture, helping to form a sense of belonging and a place in a community, then the misalignment of beliefs and assumptions within an organisation could lead to issues. Culture misalignment can occur within universities due to a disconnect between senior leaders, staff and funders. Ask the Government, a regulatory body, a Vice-Chancellor, an academic or a student the question ‘what is a university for?’, and a range of responses will be received. Academic departments and professional service units have  Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 2  different priorities, and staff, especially within academic departments, have individual agendas, which affords institutional priorities various levels of importance (Shattock, 2000). The primary function of strategic planning is to determine the direction, mission, objectives and goals of an organisation over the long term, matching resources to the changing environment, markets, customers, and clients, to meet stakeholder expectations (Shepherd, 2005).  As one of the eminent authorities on strategic planning, Mintzberg continued to evolve, challenge, and redefine the concept, with other researchers such as Andersen (2004), Grant (2003) and Jarzabkowski & Balogun (2009) moving it from its original inception grounded in the rational process towards a more realistic model, including those that centre on emergent and evolutionary planning. Strategic planning should reflect the internal organisation’s conditions and respond to the external environment in which it is situated (Ansoff, 1965; Andersen, 2004). However, in many instances, strategic planning has become associated with inflexibility and an unhealthy reliance on the linear process, marred by a need to focus on agreed outcomes regardless of external events (Chaffee, 1984; Brews and Hunt, 1999). In HE, faculty and staff’s academic nature makes decision-making more complicated than in other sectors. Issues can arise over politics, the scope of implementation, narrow policy latitude, unclear lines of authority and broad constituencies (Harrison, 1975). Rigorous debate, consulting all the evidence, and questioning the norm is routine in academia. This behaviour becomes complicated in a university setting when applied to a routine managerial decisions, more so when those decisions need to be made during volatile and uncertain situations.  4. Theoretical basis This research uses the ontological lens of critical realism;  epistemologically, critical realism aims to explain the relationship between experiences, events and mechanisms. The originator of critical realism, Bhaskar (1978), proposed that events or phenomena should not be the core focus of research, and instead, the focus should be on the structures and mechanisms that generate phenomena. Mechanisms do not have to be material and can be social structures, cultures or organisations. The research project is rooted within critical realism and uses the morphogenetic approach, based on a belief that there are three primary causal powers; structure, culture and agency (Archer, 1995, 1996).  5. Research design The research study will comprise a qualitative, embedded exploratory single case study, incorporating several units of analysis of varying sizes. The case study will focus on Liverpool John Moores University, a large, multi-campus, post 92 institution based in the North West of England, UK. Although the research is focused on a single case example, adopting a focus on mechanisms suggests the arguments can be used more generally in other universities. Stake (1995) argues that the approach is aligned to the argument that a case study is not a methodological choice but a choice for the object to be studied.  Semi-structured interviews will form the basis of primary data collection, with participants selected from the population by belonging to one of the following three target groups; i) Executive Leadership Team, ii) Incident Management Team, and iii) other critical senior leaders (staff may belong to more than one group). The interviews will focus on the university response to the COVID19 pandemic, and questions will be constructed to unearth perceived causal inferences using the framework developed by Brönnimann (2021). Secondary data sources such as policy documents, strategic plans, and meeting minutes will add further context and triangulation.   Data collection for the study will happen concurrently and be analysed holistically to build a complete picture of the data. By concurrently undertaking data analysis, the research is not influenced unduly and can guard against confirmation bias in future interviews, impacting research integrity (Plano Clark and Creswell, 2007; Doyle et al., 2009). Data analysis of the interview transcripts will follow a flexible deductive method to ensure the data responds to the research aims and objectives (Saldana, 2021). A second independent coder will be used to mitigate against coding bias when researching from the position of an insider to provide inter-rater reliability (Belotto, 2018).    Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 3  6. References Andersen, T.J., (2004) Integrating the strategy formation process: An international perspective. European Management Journal, 223, pp.263–272. Ansoff, H.I., (1965) Corporate strategy - An analytical approach to business policy for growth and expansion. New York: McGraw-Hill. Archer, M.S., (1995) Realist social theory. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Archer, M.S., (1996) Culture and agency. 2nd ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Bellot, J., (2011) Defining and assessing organizational culture. Nursing forum, 461, pp.29–37. Belotto, M.J., (2018) Data analysis methods for qualitative research: Managing the challenges of coding, interrater reliability, and thematic analysis. The Qualitative Report, 2311, pp.2622–2633. Bhaskar, R., (1978) On the Possibility of Social Scientific Knowledge and the Limits of Naturalism. Journal for the theory of social behaviour, 81, pp.1–28. Brews, P.J. and Hunt, M.R., (1999) Learning to plan and planning to learn: Resolving the planning school/learning school debate. Strategic Management Journal, 20, pp.889–913. Brönnimann, A., (2021) How to phrase critical realist interview questions in applied social science research. Journal of Critical Realism, pp.1–24. Chaffee, E.E., (1984) Three Models of Strategy. Academy of Management Proceedings, 19841, pp.7–11. Doyle, L., Brady, A.M. and Byrne, G., (2009) An overview of mixed methods research. Journal of research in nursing: JRN, 142, pp.175–185. Grant, R.M., (2003) Strategic planning in a turbulent environment: Evidence from the oil majors. Strategic Management Journal, 246, pp.491–517. Gregory, S., (1985) Exploring corporate strategy: Johnson, G and Scholes, K Prentice-Hall, London, UK (1984) 354pp. Design Studies, 62, p.118. Harrison, A.T., (1975) Leadership and Ambiguity: The American College PresidentGoverning the University. AAUP bulletin: quarterly publication of the American Association of University Professors, 613, pp.255–258. Jarzabkowski, P. and Balogun, J., (2009) The Practice and Process of Delivering Integration through Strategic Planning. Journal of Management Studies, 468, pp.1255–1288. Mullins, L.J., (2007) Management and Organisational Behaviour. Pearson Education. Munduate, L. and Medina, F.J., (2010) Cambridge companions to management: Power and interdependence in organizations. [online] Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Available at: http://ebooks.cambridge.org/ref/id/CBO9780511626562. Nowotny, H., Scott, P. and Gibbons, M., (2013) Re-thinking science: Knowledge and the public in an age of uncertainty. Polity Press. Plano Clark, V. and Creswell, J.W., (2007) Designing and Conducting Mixed Methods Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications. Saldana, J., (2021) The Coding Manual for Qualitative Researchers. SAGE. Shattock, M., (2000) Strategic Management in European Universities in an Age of Increasing Institutional Self Reliance. Tertiary Education and Management, 62, pp.93–104. Shepherd, J., (2005) Exploring Corporate Strategy (7th ed.). Seven ed. Prentice Hall. Stake, R.E., (1995) The Art of Case Study Research. SAGE. UUK, (2019) Higher education in numbers. [online] Available at: https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-data.aspx [Accessed 7 Jan. 2021]. Wadud, Z., Royston, S. and Selby, J., (2019) Modelling energy demand from higher education institutions: A case study of the UK. Applied energy, 233–234, pp.816–826. 

Planning for uncertainty/uncertainly planning: strategic decision making in UK Higher Education Institutions during periods of external volatility

Geer, Katherine

Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 1  A consumer driven approach to brand personality development in higher education  Katherine Geer  Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University  k.a.geer@ljmu.ac.uk   1. Introduction This research aims to establish a consumer-driven brand personality framework for use in higher education, using self-congruity theory and the construct of brand affect to inform brand personality development and support student recruitment. Over the past two decades marketing principles have increasingly been adopted in the higher education sector, as universities look for ways to differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace (Winter and Thompson-Whiteside, 2017). Branding has received particular interest as part of this ‘marketisation’, with many universities adopting brand management practice (Plewa et al., 2016).   Branding within higher education is complex (Chapleo, 2015) as there are many difficulties in applying traditional brand models to the sector (Jevons, 2006).  Brand proliferation, increased consumer expectations and internal resistance to marketing concepts provide unique challenges to applying branding in higher education (Argenti, 2000).  Universities can address these challenges by developing a clearly defined brand personality (Winter and Thompson-Whiteside, 2017), something  more likely to be effective if it is consumer focused (Moogan, 2020). This research therefore seeks to produce a sector specific framework that can be used to develop a consumer driven, rather than corporately imposed, brand personality.   2. Overview of literature 2.1 Brand personality  Brand personality is part of a wider construct of brand identity within brand literature. It is defined as the set of human characteristics associated with a brand that can be used as a means to differentiate, encourage purchase and provide continuity (Aaker, 1997). In a higher education context, brand personality is found to relate positively to brand love, word of mouth and loyalty (Rauschnabel et al., 2016) as well as helping to create distinctiveness between institutions (Watkins and Gonzenbach, 2013).   2.2 Self-congruity theory Self-concept is defined as the "totality of the individual's thoughts and feelings having reference to himself as an object" (Rosenberg 1979, p. 7). In accordance with self-congruity theory (Sirgy, 1985), consumers compare brand image with their actual or ideal self-concept in order to establish how they identify with a particular brand. Consumers then purchase from brands that they perceive as congruent with their self-concept, in order to maintain or enhance their perception of themselves (Lee, 2009).   Consumers respond differently to certain brand personality dimensions depending on their own self-concept (Phau and Lau, 2000), making it important for organisations to shape their brand personality around their consumers. In a Higher Education context, there is limited understanding of how self-congruity might influence consumer behaviour at the recruitment stage (Banahene, 2017), though previous research has found it to improve retention and engagement (Kaushal and Ali, 2020).  2.3 Self-congruity and brand affect  Emotional response to brand communications is found to be a powerful influencer of purchase and decision-making behaviour (Pansari and Kumar, 2017) and is more likely to occur when there is self-congruity between the consumer and brand personality (Salimi and Khanlari, 2018). Brands can utilise Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 2  this by creating materials that aim to appeal to the consumer self-concept and trigger a positive emotional response in a construct referred to as ‘brand affect’ (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2002).  3. Research design Consistent with pragmatic approaches, the research uses a mixed method design to gain a comprehensive understanding of the complex behaviour being studied (Shah and Corley, 2006), confidence in findings by avoiding common method bias (MacKenzie and Podsakoff, 2012) and allow for both subjectivity and objectivity (Shannon-Baker, 2016).  The case study approach adopted enables the researcher to gain detailed information (Kohlbacher, 2006), something recognised as helpful in consumer decision making research (Riege, 2003). The qualitative stage consisted of participants producing written accounts of their emotional response to various marketing exhibits and in-depth interviews and was analysed through content analysis of interviews and written emotional responses. The quantitative stage will test the conceptual framework and hypotheses using results from a survey of undergraduate students. Structural Equation Modelling will be used to analyse relationships between variables.  4. Qualitative findings Thematic analysis identified that the sector specific brand personality framework developed by Rauschnabel et al. (2016) was found to be the most suitable framework for this case study and provides further support for using sector specific models. The majority of students appeared to look for a sense of fit between themselves and the university during university selection, suggesting self-congruity was influential in decision making.  The dimensions of sincerity, cosmopolitan and conscientiousness were found to be dominant dimensions in the perceived brand personality of the case study institution; these dimensions also appeared to produce the strongest brand affect, suggesting a potential relationship between brand personality, self-congruity and brand affect.  A new finding that emerged from thematic analysis was the identification of brand personality cues that appear to shape the formation of university brand personality through brand meaning associations; these were identified as corporate communications, location, status and people. Given that universities are typically named after places, the associations between location and university personality are likely to be sector-specific and appeared to be significant in shaping perceptions.  5. Contribution to theory and practice This research aims to contribute to knowledge and practice by developing a sector specific brand personality development framework.  It seeks to address gaps in the literature, such as exploring the relationships between brand personality, brand affect and self-congruity. Additionally, new findings from the qualitative stage of this research relating to associations between place and brand personality do not appear to have been identified or explored prior to this research. Previous higher education studies have recommended practitioners use dimensions they have found to be received positively, assuming all consumers respond to dimensions in the same way and somewhat missing the point of using brand personality as a tool to differentiate. This research proposes instead that universities define and co-create their personality based on an understanding of their particular consumer.   6. References AAKER, J. L. 1997. Dimensions of brand personality. Journal of marketing research, 34, 347-356. ARGENTI, P. 2000. Branding B-schools: Reputation management for MBA programs. Corporate Reputation Review, 3, 171-178. BANAHENE, S. 2017. The Impact of Brand Personality and Students  Self-Concept on Brand Engagement. International journal of business and social research, 7, 12-25. CHAPLEO, C. 2015. Brands in higher education: Challenges and potential strategies. International Studies of Management & Organization, 45, 150-163. Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 3  CHAUDHURI, A. & HOLBROOK, M. B. 2002. Product-class effects on brand commitment and brand outcomes: The role of brand trust and brand affect. Journal of Brand Management, 10, 33-58. JEVONS, C. 2006. Universities: a prime example of branding going wrong. Journal of Product & Brand Management. KAUSHAL, V. & ALI, N. 2020. University reputation, brand attachment and brand personality as antecedents of student loyalty: A study in higher education context. Corporate Reputation Review, 23, 254-266. KOHLBACHER, F. The use of qualitative content analysis in case study research.  Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 2006. Institut für Qualitative Forschung, 1-30. LEE, J. W. 2009. Relationship between consumer personality and brand personality as self-concept: From the case of Korean automobile brands. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 13, 25-44. MACKENZIE, S. B. & PODSAKOFF, P. M. 2012. Common method bias in marketing: Causes, mechanisms, and procedural remedies. Journal of retailing, 88, 542-555. MOOGAN, Y. 2020. An investigation into international postgraduate students’ decision-making process. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 44, 83-99. PANSARI, A. & KUMAR, V. 2017. Customer engagement: the construct, antecedents, and consequences. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 45, 294-311. PHAU, I. & LAU, K. C. 2000. Conceptualising brand personality: A review and research propositions. Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 9, 52-69. PLEWA, C., HO, J., CONDUIT, J. & KARPEN, I. O. 2016. Reputation in higher education: A fuzzy set analysis of resource configurations. Journal of Business Research, 69, 3087-3095. RAUSCHNABEL, P. A., KREY, N., BABIN, B. J. & IVENS, B. S. 2016. Brand management in higher education: the university brand personality scale. Journal of Business Research, 69, 3077-3086. RIEGE, A. M. 2003. Validity and reliability tests in case study research: a literature review with “hands‐on” applications for each research phase. Qualitative market research: An international journal. SALIMI, M. & KHANLARI, A. 2018. Congruence between self-concept and brand personality, its effect on brand emotional attachment. Academy of Marketing Studies Journal, 22, 1-21. SHAH, S. K. & CORLEY, K. G. 2006. Building better theory by bridging the quantitative–qualitative divide. Journal of management studies, 43, 1821-1835. SHANNON-BAKER, P. 2016. Making paradigms meaningful in mixed methods research. Journal of mixed methods research, 10, 319-334. SIRGY, M. J. 1985. Using self-congruity and ideal congruity to predict purchase motivation. Journal of business Research, 13, 195-206. WATKINS, B. A. & GONZENBACH, W. J. 2013. Assessing university brand personality through logos: An analysis of the use of academics and athletics in university branding. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 23, 15-33. WINTER, E. & THOMPSON-WHITESIDE, H. 2017. Location, location, location: does place provide the opportunity for differentiation for universities? Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 27, 233-250. 

A consumer driven approach to brand personality development in higher education

Saeed, Zeeshan

Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 1  Poverty Alleviation through Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Legal Approach in Asian Countries   Zeeshan Saeed Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University aeed@2018.ljmu.ac.uk   1. Introduction The nexus between the poverty alleviation and the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a rather difficult one due to the voluntarily nature of CSR. There exist plenty of debate and paucity of evidence on practices that allow alleviating poverty as an outcome of corporate action. For instance, it is still part of the debate whether and under which legal and normative setting should corporations be compelled to replace the historical functions of political economy and government including the poverty alleviation?  Are there any previous success stories? Both governments and corporations search for viable models and tradeoffs between various practices so that a smooth complex of institutional ethics is achieved within the umbrella term of CSR. Hence the present research tries to answer the question on the possible theoretical and empirical (practice driven or case deduced) basis of CSR in poverty alleviation by describing the case of India, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh.  2.  Literature and Theories There exists plenty of literature on various approaches to CSR and the literature on the political approach to CSR has identified a series of answers to the question of how MNCs are able to create their legitimacy and influence against the backdrop of state interventions the economic and political institution. Most of the theoretical and ethical paradigms are rooted in this debate. The conformist view of companies favors the use of institutional theory as it explains how companies respond to institutional pressures and institutional interdependence (George et al, 2016). The institutional theory conceives CSR as an institution in itself and using sociological concepts such as value consensus and interdependence within functionalist framework.  Similarly there exist more utilitarian accounts of possible role of MNCs termed as Rawlsian perspective, which allows the firms to evaluate the options for creating maximum value for itself and for the society; others include legitimacy theory which justifies the political role of MNCs as a strategic endeavour to create coherence between norms of the society and corporate objectives (George et al, 2016). The work of Crane et al (2004) justifies the need of democratic participation of stakeholders in the business of firms and in the process of creating value, this notion is conceptualized as stakeholder theory1 and it advocates the instilling of new institutions.  These developments have followed by a series of pro-poor initiatives in by the MNCs and even the local firm that include the wage stability, provision of goods and services to the low income consumers (Jamali et al, 2018), preventing and managing environmental effects of business (Jamali et al, 2017). One potential way to conceptually define CSR with its relation to poverty relation is the binary notion of internal and the external CSR. While the internal CSR is aimed at Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 2  reducing the poverty among the employees of an organization by means of internal policies such as benefits and rewards as well as pay and job protection; the external CSR rather focuses on the relationship of the business with external environment and actions such as public-private partnership (Jamali et al, 2017).  The pro-poor policies of the firms are not always a result of intrinsic goodness of the firms whereby it behaves in an altruistic fashion; in fact, it can be sometimes guided by well-calculated and planned outcomes related to the profit motivation and the performance of the firm (Jamali et al, 2017). Previous research has demonstrated a clear association between the performance of a firm and its engagement with pro-poor strategic goals (Medina‐Muñoz, and Medina‐Muñoz, 2020). In fact, the research literature relates pro-poor policies with the outcome such as firm’s goodwill, its branding loyalty, and satisfaction of the consumer (Moisescu, 2018). Similarly, the internal component to the pro-poor CSR may produce employees with higher level of satisfaction and retention (Khairat and Maher, 2016). As it is elaborated in the institutional theory of CSR, the firm must go an extra mile beyond performing its duties towards the social impacts, costs of business or “social license” to penetrate in the social structure and coping with the norms and values of the people and places (Lobel , 2013). The external drives of CSR are dominated by the maxims of legitimacy theory, institutional theory and stakeholders’ theory. Some of the critical reflections on CSR relate the external CSR as a way of gaining legitimacy of the authorities and policy makers rather than the poor themselves. A firms overall contribution to the  poverty  alleviation  may also  be  effected by  the economic sector and the nature of the firm (local or MNCs) while the local  firms are likely  to adopt an internal perspective the MNCs are more favorable for an external CSR aimed at wider positive outcomes for the community at large (Medina‐Muñoz, and Medina‐Muñoz, 2020).  2.1. Research Question “How state intervention through legal activism and creation of legislations have affected the nature and outcome of CSR in the subject countries”?  3. Doctrinal Research Design The present research is also based on the doctrinal research principals in the sense that the researcher will have to reflect on the situation of various institutional and supra-institutional reports and legislations to make sense of the CSR against the backdrop of poverty. Recent years have seen a great challenge of Covid-19 pandemic and the economic shut down has furthered the relative poverty by depreciating the currency and reducing the purchasing power of the rural and the urban poor. What has been the role of legislation, regulation and protectionism by the state in regulating the popular economic sector of garments and its related industries such as cotton production and spinning mills. In this case, the doctrinal approach seems to be a very suitable one because the researcher has opted for the systematic review of various policy documents, the analysis also relies heavily on the reports generated by the companies and industrial giants and secondary analysis of the policy documents.  3.1. Use of Systematic Search and Reviews To be able to conduct a doctrinal research on the role of CSR and its related legislation and judicial pronouncements on the pro-poor action by the multinational companies and industrial Faculty Research Day  7th December 2021 3  giants of the garment sector; the researcher has intended to apply a systematic review of the literature found on this subject. In the systematic review literature that has been critically reviewed can be divided into various categories:   Legal statutes and regulations  Judicial pronouncements and decisions  Self-disclosure reports by the industry  Policy analysis on pro-poor policies  Newspaper articles\  4. Possible Implications The study will help finding how corporations are being effected and affect the poverty and pro-poor initiatives in the selected Asian countries and what are the theoretical basis of the same practices. On the basis  of present research  the  researcher can make  recommendations  for the community of practitioners such as public policy  makers but also  the managers and  legal institution.  5. References Crane, A., Matten, D. and Moon, J., 2004. Stakeholders as citizens? Rethinking rights, participation, and democracy. Journal of Business Ethics, 53(1), pp.107-122.  Frynas, J.G. and Yamahaki, C., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: Review and roadmap of theoretical perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(3), pp.258-285.  Jamali, D. and Karam, C., 2018. Corporate social responsibility in developing countries as an emerging field of study. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), pp.32-61.  Jamali, D., Lund-Thomsen, P. and Khara, N., 2017. CSR institutionalized myths in developing countries: An imminent threat of selective decoupling. Business & Society, 56(3), pp.454-486.  Khairat, G. and Maher, A., 2016. The Influence of Airlines' Corporate Social Responsibility on Customer Loyalty. Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, 13(2), pp.71-92.  Lobel, S., 2013. Predicting organizational responsiveness to poverty: Exploratory model and Application to Brazil and the United States. European Management Journal, 31(5), pp.522-535.  Medina‐Muñoz, R.D. and Medina‐Muñoz, D.R., 2020. Corporate social responsibility for poverty alleviation: An integrated research framework. Business Ethics: A European Review, 29(1), pp.3-19.  Moisescu, O.I., 2018. From perceptual corporate sustainability to customer loyalty: A multi- sectorial investigation in a developing country. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 31(1), pp.55-72. 

Poverty Alleviation through Corporate Social Responsibility: The Case of Legal Approach in Asian Countries

Bird, Dorothy

Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 1  Experiential marketing and the Wild Atlantic Way: developing a framework for practitioners  Dorothy Bird Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University d.bird@2020.ljmu.ac.uk   1. Introduction This study argues that a new framework needs to be developed and implemented which captures the myriad aspects of the Wild Atlantic Way tourism experience. The development of such a framework provides a significant addition to both theory and practice, contributing to hospitality providers through a clear guidance for developing a relevant and focused marketing strategy, and to the theoretical field of experiential marketing. 1.1 Research Questions Based on the challenges addressed in this abstract, the following questions emerge: • How can small and medium tourism enterprises plan strategically for marketing, given their limited resources? • Is it possible to create a framework to enable small and medium tourism enterprises to strategically market the experiential dimensions of the Wild Atlantic Way?  1.2 Research Aim Building on the above problem and resultant research questions, this study aims to develop a framework to enable small and medium tourism enterprises on the Wild Atlantic Way to take a resource-based approach and plan strategically for experiential marketing. The Wild Atlantic Way Experiential Marketing Framework will comprise two dimensions: symbolic and materialistic, and four domains: emotion, cognition, sense and behaviour. 1.3 Research Objectives The following objectives are posed, based on the research aim: 1. To gain a critical understanding of current theoretical knowledge which exists in the context of experiential marketing, the nature and challenges faced by SMTEs, and the development of branded driving routes such as the Wild Atlantic Way. 2.  To critically evaluate perceptions and experiences of SMTEs of strategically planning in terms of experiential marketing, in the context of limited resources. 3. To triangulate the theoretical knowledge acquired from Objective 1 with the practical knowledge gained from Objective 2 in order to develop a framework for experiential marketing for SMTEs on the Wild Atlantic Way. 4. To appraise the validity of this framework by means of qualitative research. 1.4 Justification for Research Tourism is one of Ireland’s most important economic sectors. According to a report published by the Dept of Transport, Tourism and Sport in 2019, latest figures indicate that the industry is worth €9.4 billion to the economy. It has been of particular economic importance in the West of Ireland, where it is a major source of employment both directly in the accommodation and food services sector, and indirectly through retail, transport and other services. In order to ameliorate a decline in tourism numbers, a report by ITIC (2015) recommended the development of  “a branded and well interpreted ‘Atlantic Coast Drive’ to encourage exploration of points of scenic and cultural interest” (ITIC, 2015, p1).  This recommendation has since come to fruition under the guidance of Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s National Tourism Development Authority and Local Authority bodies in the region. The Wild Atlantic Way is a 2500 km branded driving route, which runs along the Atlantic coast from the tip of Donegal in the north to Cork in south of Ireland. Fyall et al. (2016) describe the Wild Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 2  Atlantic Way as “a perfect and timely example” of governmental efforts to use branded driving routes as a tourism strategy. They outline the benefits of such policies as the development of peripheral tourism destinations, connecting fragmented communities and injecting economic benefits into local areas. In order that the route to be more than simply a branding exercise, it is essential that local providers embrace its philosophy. A unified marketing strategy amongst suppliers on the Wild Atlantic Way may be desirable. However, the fragmented nature of hospitality products in the region, which are typically micro industries embedded in the local community, could prove problematic when striving to achieve this. Clearly such businesses face greater challenges than their larger counterparts when striving to achieve marketing goals.         An added dimension to the marketing discipline for these businesses is the strong experiential nature of the Wild Atlantic Way brand. Fáilte Ireland describes the Wild Atlantic Way as ‘both an experience and a destination’, with the essence of the brand being ‘wild’, offering emotional benefits to the visitors of ‘renewal, memories, liberation, freedom, excitement, oneness’. (Fáilte Ireland, 2015). It can be argued that the concept of experiential marketing, which strategises marketing methods encapsulating those sensory dimensions, has an essential role to play here.  In summary small and medium tourism enterprises on the Wild Atlantic Way face two significant challenges.  Firstly, they lack the resources available to larger organisations to develop effective marketing strategies. Secondly, despite the overarching experiential dimensions of the Wild Atlantic Way tourism product, there currently exists no applicable framework that can provide a means to develop an experiential marketing strategy for these businesses. This research project addresses these two issues by aiming to develop a framework for experiential marketing which addresses the strategic marketing needs of SMTEs on this driving route.  2. Literature Review The concept of an experiential view of consumption was first introduced by Holbrook and Hirschman (1982). Focusing on the symbolic, hedonic and esthetic nature of consumption, they regard consumption as ‘a phenomenon directed toward the pursuit of fantasies, feelings and fun’. Pine and Gilmore (1998) developed this notion further, espousing the idea of an experience economy, where businesses must shift from selling services to selling experiences.  Their framework for experiential marketing describes four realms; entertainment, educational, escapism and the esthetic, in the context of two dimensions: participation and connection or environmental relationship. Pine and Gilmore describe strategies for experientially marketing tourism and hospitality, including the use of cohesive themes and positive cues as ‘take-aways’. Schmitt (1999) delineates five dimensions of customer experience: cognitive, affective, sensory, behavioural and social and argues that the ultimate goal of experiential marketing is to create holistic experiences from individual consumers to form a holistic gestalt. Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello (2009) constructed and tested a brand experience scale in a similar manner to Schmitt (1999) using four dimensions: sensory, affective, intellectual and behavioural. Lemon and Verhoef (2016) describe the above as among the major accepted concepts in the extant literature. The various systems of classifications used by the above authors, all contain similarities, which may be summed up as: emotion/affective, cognition/intellect, sensory, and physical/behavioural.  As much of these frameworks are conceptual in nature, it can be argued that adapting such a framework to SMTEs along the Wild Atlantic Way would contribute both to a greater academic understanding in this field, and to SMTEs in developing effective strategic marketing planning. In terms of marketing expertise, SMTEs are hampered by limited resources of time, skills and finances (Gilmore, Carson and Grant, 2001). There is some agreement that traditional forms of this discipline may not be appropriate or even feasible for SMTEs, given these factors. However the significance of these organisations in the success of the tourism industry cannot be underestimated, thus it is clear that their survival and growth must be seen as being of critical importance within tourism policy.  In conclusion, current theoretical perspectives on experiential marketing, whilst clearly outlining concepts which may be of benefit to the hospitality provider, are conceptual rather that practical in nature. Secondly, the nature of SMTEs who comprise generalists rather specialists, and lack resources of finance and time, has implications for their ability to market strategically. The experiential Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 3  dimensions of the Wild Atlantic Way are an intrinsic part of this tourism product, and can create invaluable opportunities for the hospitality provider, if they are marketed effectively. Thus the potential exists to develop a framework for experiential marketing which will be directly applicable to practitioners in this field, overcoming deficits of key resources which may exist 3. Research Methods Having studied the various research designs available, it has been decided that an explanatory mixed methods approach will be used, in the context of a pragmatic research philosophy. Stage One will consist of an internet mediated exploratory questionnaire, from a probability sample based on hospitality providers on the Wild Atlantic Way. Data analysis from this stage will be used in a multiple embedded case study strategic approach in Stage Two, where semi-structured interviews will be carried out with selected respondents. Theory and research analysis will be triangulated to form a framework for experiential marketing on the Wild Atlantic Way. This framework will be validated by means of follow up qualitative research.  4.  References Brakus, J.J., Schmitt, B.H. and Zarantonello, L. (2009) Brand Experience: What is It? How is it Measured? Does it Affect Loyalty? Journal of Marketing, 73 (3), 52-68. Fáilte Ireland (2015) Wild Atlantic Way Operational Programme 2015-2019 [online] Available at: https://www.failteireland.ie/Wild-Atlantic-Way/The-Wild-Atlantic-Way-Operational-Programme.aspx[Accessed: 14.03.20]  Fyall, A., Templeton, A.J., Fjlestul, J. and Sonmez, S. (2016) The Emergence of Green Drive Tourism: A Comparative Study of Existing Drive Tourism Routes. Travel and Tourism Research Association,  Gilmore, A., Carson, D. and Grant, K. (2001) SME marketing in practice. Marketing intelligence & planning. Holbrook, M.B. and Hirschman, E.C. (1982) The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun. Journal of Consumer Research, 9 (2), 132-140. ITIC (2015) Tourism in the West: An Engine for Growth and Jobs [online]Available at: https://www.itic.ie/tourism-in-the-west-an-engine-for-growth-and-jobs/[Accessed: 13/05/21]  Lemon, K.N. and Verhoef, P.C. (2016) Understanding Customer Experience Throughout the Customer Journey. Journal of Marketing, 80 (6), 69-96. Pine, B.J. and Gilmore, J.H. (1998) Welcome to the experience economy. Harvard business review, 76, 97-105. Schmitt, B. (1999) Experiential Marketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 15 (1-3), 53-67.   

Experiential marketing and the Wild Atlantic Way: developing a framework for practitioners

O\u27Reilly Duffy, Patrice

Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 1  Agile talent management in the Irish hospitality industry – closing the skills gap  Patrice O’Reilly Duffy Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University P.OReillyDuffy@2020.ljmu.ac.uk  1. Introduction - Background to the research The hospitality industry is very important to the Irish economy and is a major source of employment.  In recent years, there has been massive growth in the industry which is now experiencing difficulties in the recruitment and retention of staff.  The Hospitality Skills Oversight Group in their final report ‘Ireland’s €5 Billion Hospitality Industry, Skills, Careers, Growth’, 2018, acknowledged the chronic staff shortage.  The report recommended that the industry itself had a role to play in promoting opportunities and a sustainable, structured strategy is required to promote careers and opportunities within the industry (HSOG, 2018).  The difficulties experienced have been compounded further by the Covid-19 pandemic.    2. Literature Review Some of the challenges faced by the hospitality industry, such as high levels of labour turnover and problems recruiting employees, could be attributed to ineffective/outdated human resources management practices.  Many hospitality organisations are reluctant to invest in training (Choi & Dickson, 2009; Jaworski, Ravichandran, Karpinski, & Singh, 2018), coupled with the fact that the industry has increasingly found it difficult to attract and retain suitable employees (Gupta, 2019; McGinley, Hanks, & Line, 2017; Sen & Bhattacharya, 2019).  Employees are fundamental to the success of a hospitality organisation.  The survival and success of an organisation is therefore highly dependent on the supply and retention of quality talented employees.  If talent is identified and acknowledged as key to business success, managers should place it at the top of the agenda (Denning, 2018).  ‘Talent management’ has been identified as contributing significantly to creating organisation competitive advantage (Gupta, 2019) and can help hospitality organisations attain their strategic goals (Nur Lyana & Wan Noordiana Wan, 2018).  General human resource management research has seen an increase in the exploration through strategic lenses of how human resource practices may be leveraged to achieve business success (Tracey, 2014).  However, Ahammad, Glaister, and Gomes (2020, p. 2) found that “scant research exists exploring the connection between strategic agility and human resource management”.  Gaps have also been identified in the literature specific to the Irish hospitality industry.  According to Nolan, Garavan, and Lynch (2020) limited research has been carried out on human resource development in the Irish tourism sector.  There has also been calls for more research on talent management approaches and practical talent management practices (Gallardo-Gallardo & Thunnissen, 2016; Harsch & Festing, 2020).  The Hospitality Skills Oversight Group (2018) called for industry specific programmes to be developed and for the introduction of flexible accreditation options and life-long training logs to support skills development within the industry.  The report also suggested that tailored education and training programmes would assist unemployed hospitality workers return to work in the sector. Talent management strategies for hospitality organisations to attract and retain employees have been identified by Goh and Okumus (2020), they include the provision of relevant training and a visual career path for employees.  The introduction of such a cultural change would require organisations to have an agile and strategic response to the management of employees.  Harsch and Festing (2020 p. 44) state “talent management is a dynamic capability fostering agility through the continuous shaping of this talent”.  The talent management challenges the hospitality industry is facing requires strategic, agile responses (Dannunzio-Green & Teare, 2018).  Collaboration with academia to review, design and develop learning opportunities would be mutually beneficial to the hospitality organisation, the employee and Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 2  the academic institute (Baum, 2019; Nachmias, Walmsley, & Orphanidou, 2017).  Studies have found that creating a positive learning environment for employees, in the areas of skill enhancement, motivation and providing opportunities have direct beneficial impacts on the organisation’s financial performance (Tracey, 2014).    3. Focus of this study This study will seek to investigate how an agile approach to talent management can be utilised by the Irish Hospitality Industry to close the skills gap.  There will be particular focus on workplace-based training and education initiatives derived from industry and academia collaboration.  Furthermore, it will assess the impact of this form of engagement in terms of retention and career progression on hospitality employees and the hospitality organisation.  4. Research Question The primary question of the study is ‘How can agile talent management play a strategic role in addressing the skills gap in the Irish hospitality Industry?’  The primary aims of this study are (1) To evaluate how agile talent management could play a strategic role in the Irish hospitality Industry and (2) To create a conceptual framework of strategic agile talent management for hospitality organisations.  5. Research approach This study takes the form of a mixed methods research approach.  Phase One consists of interviews with hospitality human resource managers in organisations that have been part of an industry-based education and training initiative and interviews with academic staff involved in developing and delivering the programme. Focus groups will be held with hospitality employees to investigate the attitudes of the participants towards the programme. Phase Two builds on the findings from phase one.  During the second phase, an on-line survey approach will be used to investigate the opinions and attitudes of managers in the wider hospitality population.  6. Contribution to theory From an analysis of the extant literature, it is evident that a gap exists between the needs of the hospitality industry and the hospitality curricula offered by education institutions.  The review also shows that this gap is not a new phenomenon and has been found by researchers on a regular basis over the past 20 years.  Amongst other issues, this research will investigate why such differences persist between educators and industry and how can they be addressed in an efficient and effective manner. This study will present an up to date critical analysis of literature in the area of talent management in the hospitality industry.  The evolution of theories will be examined, highlighting gaps in the literature.   A conceptual framework of strategic agile talent management for hospitality organisations will be presented.  The study will evidence the benefits of agile talent management for an industry known for very traditional human resource practices.  7. Contribution to practice This research will offer a robust practical solution to address the skills gap in the Irish hospitality industry.  This will be achieved by adopting a holistic approach to the research, involving hospitality employees, managers and academics.  A practical workplace-based training and education initiative involving collaboration between industry and academia will be presented, as a mechanism to support the hospitality industry in closing the skills gap.  This programme will also be of benefit to educational institutions.  It will provide them with a framework upon which to build relevant education and training programmes.  It will allow the educators to fulfil their remit relating to the development and delivery of curricula that will enable their graduates to successful contribute to their own careers and to the industry in general.       Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021 3  8. References Ahammad, M. F., Glaister, K. W., & Gomes, E. (2020). Strategic agility and human resource management. Human Resource Management Review, 30(1), 100700. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2019.100700 Baum, T. (2019). Does the hospitality industry need or deserve talent? International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(10), 3823-3837. doi:10.1108/IJCHM-10-2018-0805 Choi, Y., & Dickson, D. R. (2009). A Case Study into the Benefits of Management Training Programs: Impacts on Hotel Employee Turnover and Satisfaction Level. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, 9(1), 103-116. doi:10.1080/15332840903336499 Dannunzio-Green, N., & Teare, R. (2018). Reflections on the theme issue outcomes: Is talent management a strategic priority in the hospitality sector? Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 10, 00-00. doi:10.1108/WHATT-11-2017-0073 Denning, S. (2018). The emergence of Agile people management. Strategy & Leadership, 46. doi:10.1108/SL-04-2018-0042 Gallardo-Gallardo, E., & Thunnissen, M. (2016). Standing on the shoulders of giants? A critical review of empirical talent management research. Employee Relations, 38(1), 31-56. doi:10.1108/ER-10-2015-0194 Goh, E., & Okumus, F. (2020). Avoiding the hospitality workforce bubble: Strategies to attract and retain generation Z talent in the hospitality workforce. Tourism Management Perspectives, 33, 100603. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.100603 Gupta, V. (2019). Talent management dimensions and their relationship with retention of Generation-Y employees in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(10), 4150-4169. doi:10.1108/IJCHM-10-2018-0859 Harsch, K., & Festing, M. (2020). Dynamic talent management capabilities and organizational agility—A qualitative exploration. Human Resource Management, 59(1), 43-61. doi:10.1002/hrm.21972 HSOG. (2018). Ireland’s €5 billion hospitality industry skills, careers, growth, 2018 Final Report Retrieved from Dublin:  Jaworski, C., Ravichandran, S., Karpinski, A. C., & Singh, S. (2018). The effects of training satisfaction, employee benefits, and incentives on part-time employees’ commitment. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 74, 1-12. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2018.02.011 McGinley, S. P., Hanks, L., & Line, N. D. (2017). Constraints to attracting new hotel workers: A study on industrial recruitment. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 60, 114-122. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2016.10.010 Nachmias, S., Walmsley, A., & Orphanidou, Y. (2017). Students’ perception towards hospitality education: An anglo-cypriot critical study. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism Education, 20, 134-145. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhlste.2017.04.007 Nolan, C. T., Garavan, T. N., & Lynch, P. (2020). Multidimensionality of HRD in small tourism firms: A case study of the Republic of Ireland. Tourism Management, 79, 104029. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2019.104029 Nur Lyana, B., & Wan Noordiana Wan, H. (2018). Effects of Talent Management on Employee Retention: A Case Study of Hospitality Industry. Global Business & Management Research, 10(3), 697-707.  Sen, K., & Bhattacharya, A. (2019). Attracting and managing talent, how are the top three hotel companies in India doing it? Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, 11(4), 404-417. doi:10.1108/WHATT-04-2019-0021 Tracey, J. B. (2014). A review of human resources management researchThe past 10 years and implications for moving forward. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 26(5), 679-705. doi:10.1108/IJCHM-02-2014-0056 

Agile talent management in the Irish hospitality industry – closing the skills gap

Bryde, Mollie

Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  1  Build Back Better? Toward a Holistic Approach to Sustainability and Disaster Recovery   Mollie Bryde, Prof Claire Hannibal, Dr Kelsy Hejjas and Dr Scott Foster Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores University M.R.Bryde@2021.ljmu.ac.uk, C.L.Hannibal@ljmu.ac.uk, K.N.Hejjas@ljmu.ac.uk, S.Foster@ljmu.ac.uk  1. Introduction  It is predicted that 1.5 planets are needed to sustain current consumption levels (Isaksson, Garvare & Johnson, 2015) and therefore is reasonable to suggest that contemporary lifestyles are not sustainable. This considered, (non)sustainability presents one of the biggest and most significant challenges to society and also, to organisations. In parallel, disasters pose a significant threat to both society and organisations as it is predicted that disasters, and their effects, will increase in frequency and intensity (Institute for Economic & Peace, 2020). 2. Research Questions   I. How can stakeholder theory aid in the understanding of the complex interactions between disaster recovery (DR) and sustainability in organisations?  II. How might integrating the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) sustainability framework with the Build Back Better DR approach impact the implementation of sustainability and DR in organisations, with consideration of the possible practical, theoretical and policy implications?  III. How can a TBL sustainability framework of DR be implemented by organisations across different regions of Merseyside and the North West of England? 3.   Aims and Objectives  This research aims to develop knowledge on the complex interplays that exist between sustainability and DR. Moreover, it strives to understand how integrating an ethical framework with that of the TBL provides organisations with the means to successfully recover from future disasters in a way that promotes long term sustainability and disaster recovery preparedness.   4. Expected Contribution  In applying stakeholder theory to the problem under investigation my expected theoretical contribution is to advance understanding of the complex relationship between sustainability and DR and ethics. My expected practical contribution is to advance understanding of how applying an ethically informed TBL framework can improve the applicability and effectiveness of sustainability and DR approaches and hence, provide organisations with the means to be both sustainable and disaster resilient. 5. Literature Review  Non-sustainability can result in negative consequences for organisations such as poor client-based reputation and threats to financial performance (Elkington, 1994). Disasters can also damage an organisation through, for instance, supply chain disturbances and disruptions to personnel and customer base (Marshall & Schrank, 2020). Consideration of these harmful implications alongside the larger threats that non-sustainability and disasters pose to the survival of humans and non-humans, suggests that it is essential that organisations are equipped with successful sustainability and DR approaches. The literature suggests that sustainability and DR are conceptually similar. Both involve multi-stakeholders (Mannakkara & Wilkinson, 2014; Freudenreich et al., 2020), both include at least three interdependent dimensions: economic, environmental, and social dimensions (Tate & Bals, 2018; Rousseau & Deschacht, 2020) and both present a commitment to fairness (Kennedy et al., 2008; Böhm et al., 2012). Moreover, sustainability and DR face some of the same, key operational issues including problems around measuring and reporting on progress and mitigating trade-offs. Additionally, there Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  2  seems to be a practical link between these two concepts namely, non-sustainability increases the frequency and intensity of disasters (Institute for Economic & Peace, 2020).   Research into organisational sustainability is already a well-established area of study (Ergene, Banerjee & Hoffman, 2020). While research into post-disaster business recovery is limited, there is a growing interest in DR in this context (Morrish & Jones, 2020). However, research into sustainability and DR is very limited in the field and thus, whilst the literature suggests that the two are connected, there is a lack of clarity regarding how this relationship works both conceptually and practically.   6. Theoretical Framing  This research examines the proposed connection between sustainability and DR through a stakeholder theory lens and an ethical lens. Stakeholder theory is the most applied theory within the sustainability literature (Frynas & Yamahki, 2016) which suggests that stakeholder theory is a viable theoretical lens for this research. Stakeholder theory also appears to be a suitable lens through which to examine DR as DR is also highly attentive to the needs of multi-stakeholders. An ethical theory is also required to attend to the many ethical issues that arise when researching sustainability and DR. Three prominent normative frameworks that have influenced business ethics are virtue ethics, deontology, and consequentialism (Alzola, 2015). Continued study of the relevant literature is required at this point of research to determine the most appropriate ethical lens to address the research questions.  7. Relevance of the Study This study is both crucial and apposite as both non-sustainability and disasters present organisations with severe challenges that can have devastating implications. The effects of the latter being particularly palpable at present, following the most recent biological disaster, the coronavirus-2019. The implications of both also infringe on wider society as businesses are the backbone of society and hence, when businesses suffer the whole of society suffers through, for instance, job losses and lost tax revenues (Tierney, 2007). Given the significant impact that non-sustainability and disasters can have on organisations and society as a whole, it is clear that any research that aims to advance theoretical understanding of these concepts and improve the efficacy of their practical implementation, will be both relevant and significant. This research proposes to do just that through utilisation of a novel theoretical framework and approach that aims to advance understanding of the relationship between sustainability, DR and ethics whilst strengthening implementation at the organisational level. Thus, this research is relevant and important as it seeks to mitigate potential damage to organisations and hence to society and, in doing so, ensure long-term sustainability and disaster resilience at the recovery stage.    8. References Alzola, M., 2015. Virtuous Persons and Virtuous Actions in Business Ethics and Organizational Research. Business Ethics Quarterly, 25(3), pp.287–319. Böhm et al., 2012. Greening Capitalism? A Marxist Critique of Carbon Markets. Organization studies, 33(11), pp.1617–1638. Elkington, J., 1994. Towards the Sustainable Corporation: Win-Win-Win Business Strategies for Sustainable Development. California Management Review, 36(2), pp.90–101. Ergene, S., Banerjee, S.B. & Hoffman, A.J., 2021. (Un)Sustainability and Organization Studies: Towards a Radical Engagement. Organization studies, 42(8), pp.1319–1335. Freudenreich, B., Lüdeke-Freund, F. & Schaltegger, S., 2020. A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on Business Models: Value Creation for Sustainability. Journal of business ethics, 166(1), pp.3–18. Frynas, J.G. & Yamahaki, C., 2016. Corporate social responsibility: review and roadmap of theoretical perspectives. Business Ethics: A European Review, 25(3), pp.258–286. Faculty Research Day   7th December 2021  3  Institute for Economics & Peace. Ecological Threat Register 2020: Understanding Ecological Threats, Resilience and Peace, Sydney, September 2020. Available from: http://visionofhumanity.org/reports (accessed 23/09/2021). Isaksson, R.B., Garvare, R. & Johnson, M., 2015. The crippled bottom line – measuring and managing sustainability. International journal of productivity and performance management, 64(3), pp.334–355. Kennedy, J., 2008. The Meaning of ‘Build Back Better’: Evidence From Post-Tsunami Aceh and Sri Lanka. Journal of Contingencies & Crisis Management, 16(1), pp.24–37.  Mannakkara, S. & Wilkinson, S., 2014. Re-conceptualising “Building Back Better” to improve post-disaster recovery. International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, pp.327–342.  Marshall, M.I. & Schrank, H.L., 2020. Sink or Swim? Impacts of Management Strategies on Small Business Survival and Recovery. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 12(15), p.6229.  Morrish, S.C. & Jones, R., 2020. Post-disaster business recovery: An entrepreneurial marketing perspective. Journal of Business Research, 113, pp.83–93.  Rousseau, S., & Deschacht, N., 2020. Public Awareness of Nature and the Environment During the COVID-19 Crisis., Environmental & Resource Economics, pp.1149–1159.  Tate, W.L. & Bals, L., 2018. Achieving Shared Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Value Creation: Toward a Social Resource-Based View (SRBV) of the Firm. Journal of Business Ethics, 152(3), pp.803–827.  Tierney K.J. 2007. Businesses and Disasters: Vulnerability, Impacts, and Recovery. In: Handbook of Disaster Research. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-32353-4_16 

Not a member yet