Destination management systems : towards a holistic effectiveness evaluation

This study aims to enhance the understanding of destination management system (DMS) effectiveness and its evaluation. Upon review of the literature, it was established that DMS effectiveness and its evaluation has not yet been researched adequately. Informed by an interpretive approach, this study contributes to research particularly by investigating what constitutes effectiveness and explores the aspects (factors and relationships) that need to be considered in a holistic DMS effectiveness evaluation. Based on a qualitative case study strategy, this study adopts a comprehensive approach that considers multiple stakeholder groups’ perspectives. The research evidence is collected through a case-study of the Egyptian DMS experience (the Touregypt project). The Touregypt project gives insights to the understanding of three DMS cases that have not been researched before in DMS literature: first, an actual DMS application in a developing country; second, a public and private sector partnership experience; and third, a failed DMS experience (the system has failed in the course of this research).Prompted by the interpretive approach, this study tried to explore DMS effectiveness based on the perspectives, attitudes and experiences of the multiple stakeholder groups (Hesse-Biber and Leavy 2010). Accordingly, the empirical data was collected through a multi-method approach that includes interviews, observation, archival document analysis (including Touregypt forum analysis), and website analysis. Data has been analyzed guided by discourse analysis, complemented with the general inductive approach of Miles and Huberman (1994). Following an interpretive theory-building strategy, the analyzed data has been further interpreted in the light of prior theories of DMS and information systems research, particularly the Delone and MacLean IS effectiveness theory (1992, 2003, and 2004).The main contribution of this study to knowledge is a theory based model that enhances the understanding of DMS effectiveness evaluation. The suggested model identifies the aspects (factors and relationships) that need to be considered when evaluating the effectiveness of DMS. Also, the results of this study give insights to the understanding of DMS effectiveness by shedding light on what constitutes effectiveness and the possible relationship between such constructs

A framework for knowledge capture and recovery in whole life costing practice.

In spite of the benefits of implementing whole life costing technique as a valuable approach for comparing alternative building designs allowing operational cost benefits to be evaluated against any initial cost increases and also as part of procurement in the construction industry, its adoption has been relatively slow due to the lack of tangible evidence, know-how skills and knowledge of the practice i.e. the lack of professionals in many establishments with knowledge and training on the use of whole life costing technique, this situation is compounded by the absence of available data on whole life costing from relevant projects, lack of data collection mechanisms and so on. This has proved to be very challenging to those who showed some willingness to employ the technique in a construction project. The knowledge generated from a project can be considered as best practices learned on how to carry out tasks in a more efficient way, or some negative lessons learned which have led to losses and slowed down the progress of the project and performance. Knowledge management in whole life costing practice can enhance whole life costing analysis execution in a construction project, as lessons learned from one project can be carried on to future projects, resulting in continuous improvement, providing knowledge that can be used in the operation and maintenance phases of an assets life span. This study aims to use knowledge management as a tool to address the obstacle of whole life costing outlined in this study by developing a framework for knowledge capture and recovery in whole life costing practice in construction. An extensive literature review was first conducted on the concept of knowledge management and whole life costing. This was followed by a semi-structured interview to explore the existing and good practice knowledge management in whole life costing practice in a construction project. The data gathered from the semi-structured interview was analysed using content analysis and used to develop the framework. From the results obtained in the study, it shows that the practice of project review is the common method used in the capturing of knowledge and should be undertaken in an organised and accurate manner, and results should be presented in the form of instructions or in a checklist format, forming short and precise insights. In order to efficiently and swiftly recover knowledge from previous whole life costing project, the knowledge must be characterised based on whole life costing processes and activities, by means of an IT system with components designed to manage knowledge and locate expertise. However; the framework developed advised that irrespective of how effective the approach to knowledge capture and recovery, the absence of an environment for sharing knowledge, would render the approach ineffective. Open culture and resources are critical for providing a knowledgesharing setting, and leadership has to sustain whole life costing knowledge capture and recovery, giving full support for its implementation. The framework has been evaluated by academics and practitioners who are experts in the area of whole life costing practice. The results have indicated that the framework and its components are both suitable and efficient

The Effects of news media on leisure tourists' perception of risk and willingness to travel, with specific reference to events of terrorism and political instability.

The perceptions people hold of destinations are of critical importance in the world of tourism as they influence individuals’ travel choices. In this sense, tourists’ negative awareness concerning safety and security present at a destination can prove disastrous for its ability to attract visitors (George, 2003; Reisinger and Mavondo, 2005). Among a multitude of factors which may amplify tourists perceived risk associated with consuming tourism products, man-made disasters of political instability and terrorism are particularly intimidating (Cavlek, 2002; Heng, 2006). Central to these issues is the role of the media in providing consumers with risk information, either directly through the exposure to news coverage of hazardous events, or indirectly through ‘word of mouth’ information (Kitzinger, 1999; Wahlberg and Sjorberg, 2000; Hughes et al., 2006; Breakwell, 2007; Renn, 2008). Despite a common agreement concerning the influence of the media on tourists’ perceptions of risk (Sonmez and Graefe, 1998a; Hall, 2002; Beirmann, 2003; Tasci et al., 2007), the relationship is under-researched. This thesis enhances the understanding of the effects of news media reports concerning terrorism and political instability on leisure tourists’ perceived risk and willingness to travel. To reach this aim a sequential mixed method approach consisting of three stages of data collection is adopted. The questionnaire survey determines the influence of tourists’ holiday preferences and demographic factors on perceived destination risk and willingness to travel. In order to evaluate the link between the media and tourists’ perceived risk, the framing theory of media effects is adopted. This involves a survey-embedded experiment which manipulates potential elements of a news report concerning the risk of terrorism and political instability events in order to understand their influence on tourists’ perceived risk and willingness to travel. To gain a depth of understanding and expand on the patterns which emerged in phase one and two of data collection follow-up semi-structured interviews have been conducted. This study makes a contribution to the body of perceived destination risk research by applying framing theory and an experimental research method to the investigation of the relationship between news media, tourists’ perceived risk and willingness to travel. The findings indicate that the media effects of risk communication are difficult to control and depend upon the content of messages, the characteristics of the audiences and the characteristics of the jeopardised object. Moreover, the in-depth account of the interaction between audiences and media messages allows insights into the psychological processes that underpin media effects. The results concerning the role that the characteristics of tourists and destinations play in moderating the strength of the effects that coverage of hazards has on perceived risk and willingness to travel have practical implications for destination managers and marketers

A stakeholder approach to sustainable development in UK aviation

Aviation has become an integral component of a modern transportation system. The economic and social benefits of flight are numerous and extensive. Increasing concern about the negative environmental and social costs of aviation has begun to question projected growth of the industry. Sustainable development has become an accepted principle of development in both government policy and business. Aviation development involves the complex interaction of a wide network of stakeholders, and the resultant perceived socio-economic and environmental impacts. This complex interaction forms the basis of this thesis. The development of UK aviation is concerned with not just the development of new infrastructure and technology, but also the utilisation of existing infrastructure and technology. Future development could be by any number of alternative scenarios. However, which future scenario is superior to others? And, how should this comparison be assessed? Sustainable development evolved as a multi-disciplinary concept and this thesis draws from a wide variety of disciplines to explore the phenomenon. The stakeholder research tradition is utilised to develop a participatory stakeholder-based methodology to identify and measure the relevant impacts of sustainable development. This new ‘stakeholder-sustainable development framework’ can analyse and evaluate the current system and inform the selection and integration of assessment techniques, and the rationale behind their selection. This methodology is applied to UK aviation to identify perceived impacts and explore epistemological interpretations of sustainable development. Through semi-structured interviews, participants are invited to share the perceived impacts and their understanding of sustainable development in relation to aviation. Methods of assessment, for the identified impact of noise, are reviewed and one applied. The research proposes a network of stakeholder actors key to the future development of aviation in the UK, and whose needs should be considered. The make-up of stakeholder representation at the airport level is relatively consistent at different airport scales

English Composition as a Happening

From the Introduction: Contemporary Composition is still inflected by the epistemic turn taken in the 1980s, convincing me that we need to remember what we\u27ve forgotten—namely, how impassioned resolves and thrilling discoveries were abandoned and why. I\u27d like to retrace the road not taken in Composition Studies, to salvage what can still be recovered... I want to inspect the wreckage, in order to show what was the promise of the Happenings for Composition, as well as the huge gray longueur of its pale replacement, Eighties Composition. In so doing, I hope to begin a reconfiguration of our field\u27s pre- and after history. What happened to the bold, kicky promise of writing instruction in the 1960s? The current conservative trend in composition is analyzed allegorically by Geoffrey Sirc in this book-length homage to Charles Deemer\u27s 1967 article, in which the theories and practices of Happenings artists (multi-disciplinary performance pioneers) were used to invigorate college writing. Sirc takes up Deemer\u27s inquiry, moving through the material and theoretical concerns of such pre- and post-Happenings influences as Duchamp and Pollock, situationists and punks, as well as many of the Happenings artists proper.https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/usupress_pubs/1133/thumbnail.jp

Bowdoin Alumnus Volume 40 (1965-1966)

https://digitalcommons.bowdoin.edu/alumni-magazines/1038/thumbnail.jp