Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Consumer Decision Making Styles: A Multi-Country Investigation

Argues that profiling consumer decision-making styles has importance to marketers, advertisers and consumer affairs specialists, but developing an approach to quantify such profiles has been problematic. Reports the application of an instrument known as the consumer style inventory (CSI) to measure these profiles for samples of consumers from Greece, India, New Zealand and the USA. Indicates, from the results, that the instrument seems more applicable to higher income countries than to developing ones. Discusses implications regarding use of the instrument and cross-cultural issues

Marketing a memory of the world: Magna Carta and the experiential servicescape

Purpose The aim of this paper is to analyse visitor perceptions of the Lincoln Magna Carta exhibition in the context of an experiential servicescape perspective. Design/methodology/approach Data comes from a questionnaire carried out with visitors to the Magna Carta exhibition in Lincoln Castle, UK. The approach was framed by the student as producer perspective, that is about re-engineering the relationship between academics and undergraduate students. Findings Three main problems exist in terms of the servicescape. These are guidance signage, the small, dark inauspicious surroundings of the exhibition itself and the level of visitor interactivity present. Research limitations/implications This is only a small scale project of one Magna Carta exhibition. Research with more visitors would help to further validate the findings and conclusions of this paper and also assist in other representations of the document in other sites. Practical implications Suggestions are made for improvement to a number of experiential servicescape elements. These improved representations also need to be planned for adequately in the new staging of the document, when Lincoln Castle receives planned additional funds from the Heritage Lottery. Social implications This paper draws our attention to the fact that The Magna Carta is a shared part of a global cultural identity, where the marketing of the document represents a great privilege. Originality/value The experiential servicescape framework is used in an original way to critique aspects of the current exhibition and to propose new ideas for representing the Magna Carta. This paper is based on original data that makes a novel contribution to the debate regarding research and learning in higher education

Women as social entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism industry: Does empowerment play a role?

This paper which is a work in progress presents a qualitative study exploring the nature, motivations and extent to which female entrepreneurs use their H&T businesses as platforms for engagement in various forms of social entrepreneurship (SE) leading to value creation, economic and community development. Although SE is seen as a key contributor to the creation and diversification of entrepreneurial activity, women empowerment and local economic development, there is limited research on the role of female H&T entrepreneurs in emerging non -western destinations. We focus on the following research questions: a) Can female entrepreneurs in H&T be considered as social entrepreneurs? b) How does the structure and organization of society shape the nature of female participation in SE? c) What are the challenges involved in mobilizing female entrepreneurs to effectively engage in SE? d) How does SE maximise value creation and higher levels of satisfaction for all participants? Concepts from women-owned H&T enterprises, SE and women empowerment are drawn upon. We argue that women are embedded in male dominated traditions/customs, community associations and government bureaucracies that may either empowered or dis-empower them. Using the case of Cameroon, we examine how embeddedness enhances the capacity of women to engage in SE in the H&T industry, thereby contributing to local economic development. Empirically we adopt a mixed methods approach using multiple case studies: a survey questionnaire, five focus groups meetings (two women -only, one male-only, and two mix of male and female entrepreneurs) and twenty-five in-depth interviews with selected female entrepreneurs (18), (non)governmental organisations (03) and beneficiaries (04) of social enterprise ventures between May 2014 and February 2015. The findings clarify the role of women in SE in H&T and policy implications for maximising social value creation through the participation of women in SE

Information Technology Applications in Hospitality and Tourism: A Review of Publications from 2005 to 2007

The tourism and hospitality industries have widely adopted information technology (IT) to reduce costs, enhance operational efficiency, and most importantly to improve service quality and customer experience. This article offers a comprehensive review of articles that were published in 57 tourism and hospitality research journals from 2005 to 2007. Grouping the findings into the categories of consumers, technologies, and suppliers, the article sheds light on the evolution of IT applications in the tourism and hospitality industries. The article demonstrates that IT is increasingly becoming critical for the competitive operations of the tourism and hospitality organizations as well as for managing the distribution and marketing of organizations on a global scale

Factors Determining the Purchase Intention of Bank Services in the Republic of Yemen

The issue of motivating consumers to use the banking system was solved in developed countries and in some Middle Eastern countries. However, it is still unpredictable in Yemen where the majority of the people do not use banking services to facilitate their financial needs. Therefore, it shapes a real problem and negatively impacted the Yemeni economy. This research project aimed to provide better awareness of the variables that might affect people to use the Yemeni banking system by applying the theory of reasoned action. This study is cross-sectional, 850 questionnaires were distributed to part time university students. Multiple regression analysis was conducted to determine the contribution of independent variables in predicting behavioral intention, the dependent variable. Moreover, hierarchical regressions were used to test the effect of trust as a moderator variable. Eight variables of attitude and subjective norm were significantly and positively influence university student's behavioral intention to use banking services namely, attitude toward bank usage, attitude towards banking services, attitude toward service quality, attitude towards banking legal framework, social influence, recommendation by others on bank services, and bank advertisement. On the other hand, cultural belief was significant but in the negative direction. As well as, student’s trust had a statistically moderating effect with only three out of eight variables on the behavioral intention namely attitude toward bank usage, recommendation by others on bank services, cultural belief. The study had a significant contribution to the academic understanding of consumer's behavioral intention in Yemen, which might guide bankers and policy makers to use the right strategy in order to attract more consumers to use the banking system

Online Shopping: Perceptions Of Greek Consumers

The sharp increase of Internet usage has transformed the way goods are bought and sold. Widely available online information about products and pricing has transferred many consumers from traditional to online stores. The scope of this paper is to examine the perceptions of Greek adopters and non-adopters of online shopping in terms of demographic profile, consumers’ expectations of online stores, advantages and problems related to online purchases. Additionally, the reasons for using or avoiding online shopping, as well as, the types of preferred products were studied. The findings of this paper are useful in explaining consumers’ online buying behaviour. The empirical results provide important managerial implications and set the basis for further research on this field