Frontline employee-driven change in hospitality firms: an analysis of receptionists’ personality on implemented suggestions

Purpose Frontline employees' suggestions are relevant for employee-driven organisational change because their knowledge is partially constructed from direct contact with customers and indirectly with competitors. The employee's personality is a paramount individual characteristic that can exert a major potential influence on the proposal and implementation of those suggestions. This study aims to discuss the impact of the personality dimensions in the Big Five model (i.e. extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience) on suggestions generated by frontline employees and implemented in their firms. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was prepared based on a review of the academic literature. The 5 presented hypotheses were tested with data from 167 frontline employees from hotels in Tenerife (Spain). Findings Results show the relevance of frontline employees' three characteristics of personality regarding the employee-driven organisational change. Thus, their extraversion, neuroticism and lack of direction tend to be relevant drivers of the suggestion and implementation of change. Practical implications Frontline employees act as change agents in hospitality firms. Managers should develop recruitment processes that allow to select individuals prone to proposing innovative suggestions and creating a friendlier system for submitting and defending them. Originality/value Employee-driven organisational change becomes crucial for the survival and growth of hospitality firms. Relatively few studies have been conducted on the role of frontline employees as change facilitators in the sector. This study contributes to shedding light on this research gap from a personality approach and the study also provides practical implications to increase valid suggestions in the hospitality sector.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A MODEL OF COMPETITIVENESS IN INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM DESTINATIONS FROM THE KNOWLEDGE-BASED VIEW

U ovom radu predstavljen je model nematerijalne kulturne baštine sa stajališta temeljenog na znanju kojim se proučava njezina uloga u konkurentnosti destinacije. Prvo se razmatra pojam nematerijalne kulturne baštine i njen odnos s turizmom. Zatim slijedi osvrt na značaj konkurentnosti destinacije u kontekstu nematerijalne baštine i potencijala koji će se analizirati u okviru stajališta temeljenog na znanju. Kako je pojam održive konkurentske prednosti ključan u tom okruženju, važno je raspraviti odnose oskudnosti, relevantnosti, autentičnosti vezane uz mjesto, kratkoročne zaštite i prijenosa inherentnog znanja o nematerijalnoj kulturnoj baštini. Na prednostima održivog razvoja temeljenim na nematerijalnoj kulturnoj baštini zasniva se generiranje renti, ali one bi trebale barem djelomično pripadati lokalnoj zajednici/glavnim dionicima u destinaciji.This work presents a model of intangible cultural heritage from a knowledge-based view that studies its role in destination competitiveness. Firstly, the concept of intangible cultural heritage and its relationship with tourism are reviewed. Next, the importance of destination competitiveness in the intangible heritage context and the potential to be analyzed under the framework of the knowledge-based view are addressed. As the concept of sustainable competitive advantage is key in that setting, the conditions of scarcity, relevance, place-embedded authenticity, short-term protection, and transfer of the underlying knowledge of intangible cultural heritage are discussed. Intangible cultural heritage-based sustainable competitive advantages are the basis to generate rents, but those rents should be at least partially appropriated by the local community/key stakeholders at the destination

¿Cómo influye en el éxito de la transferencia de conocimiento la percepción que el receptor tiene del emisor?

El trabajo aborda el proceso de transferencia de conocimiento, discutiendo la influencia que ejerce la percepción que el receptor de conocimiento tiene de su emisor. Para ello se analiza un caso específico en el que tiene lugar el citado proceso de transferencia de conocimiento: los acuerdos de cooperación tecnológica entre empresa y universidad. Dichos acuerdos constituyen una de las alternativas, junto a la adquisición y el desarrollo interno, de que dispone la empresa en el momento de afrontar el proceso innovador. El análisis se inicia con una aproximación al concepto de conocimiento y a la justificación de la tecnología como forma de conocimiento, tras lo cual se reflexiona sobre su transferencia. Seguidamente se analizan los acuerdos de cooperación tecnológica, entre los que se encuentran los que se establecen con la universidad. A continuación se exponen las principales ideas en relación con la influencia de la percepción del receptor en el éxito de la transferencia. Finalmente los hallazgos teóricos se someten a contraste empírico de manera exploratoria en una muestra de acuerdos de cooperación tecnológica en el ámbito español.This work addresses knowledge transfer by discussing the influence of the recipient’s perception about the source’s reliability. A specific case of knowledge transfer is analyzed: technological cooperation agreements. These agreements are one of the firm’s alternatives in order to culminate the innovative process. The analysis begins with the introduction to the concept of knowledge and the justification of the technology as a type of knowledge, after which a reflection is done on its transfer. Next, technological cooperation agreements are analyzed, specifically university-industry agreements. After that, we address the main ideas linked to recipient’s perception about the source’s reliability in the success of knowledge transfer. Finally, the theoretical findings are tested empirically in a sample of technological cooperation agreement in Spain from an exploratory view

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Safety of hospital discharge before return of bowel function after elective colorectal surgery

Background: Ileus is common after colorectal surgery and is associated with an increased risk of postoperative complications. Identifying features of normal bowel recovery and the appropriateness for hospital discharge is challenging. This study explored the safety of hospital discharge before the return of bowel function.Methods: A prospective, multicentre cohort study was undertaken across an international collaborative network. Adult patients undergoing elective colorectal resection between January and April 2018 were included. The main outcome of interest was readmission to hospital within 30 days of surgery. The impact of discharge timing according to the return of bowel function was explored using multivariable regression analysis. Other outcomes were postoperative complications within 30 days of surgery, measured using the Clavien-Dindo classification system.Results: A total of 3288 patients were included in the analysis, of whom 301 (9.2 per cent) were discharged before the return of bowel function. The median duration of hospital stay for patients discharged before and after return of bowel function was 5 (i.q.r. 4-7) and 7 (6-8) days respectively (P &lt; 0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of readmission between these groups (6.6 versus 8.0 per cent; P = 0.499), and this remained the case after multivariable adjustment for baseline differences (odds ratio 0.90, 95 per cent c.i. 0.55 to 1.46; P = 0.659). Rates of postoperative complications were also similar in those discharged before versus after return of bowel function (minor: 34.7 versus 39.5 per cent; major 3.3 versus 3.4 per cent; P = 0.110).Conclusion: Discharge before return of bowel function after elective colorectal surgery appears to be safe in appropriately selected patients

Timing of nasogastric tube insertion and the risk of postoperative pneumonia: an international, prospective cohort study

Aim: Aspiration is a common cause of pneumonia in patients with postoperative ileus. Insertion of a nasogastric tube (NGT) is often performed, but this can be distressing. The aim of this study was to determine whether the timing of NGT insertion after surgery (before versus after vomiting) was associated with reduced rates of pneumonia in patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery. Method: This was a preplanned secondary analysis of a multicentre, prospective cohort study. Patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery between January 2018 and April 2018 were eligible. Those receiving a NGT were divided into three groups, based on the timing of the insertion: routine NGT (inserted at the time of surgery), prophylactic NGT (inserted after surgery but before vomiting) and reactive NGT (inserted after surgery and after vomiting). The primary outcome was the development of pneumonia within 30 days of surgery, which was compared between the prophylactic and reactive NGT groups using multivariable regression analysis. Results: A total of 4715 patients were included in the analysis and 1536 (32.6%) received a NGT. These were classified as routine in 926 (60.3%), reactive in 461 (30.0%) and prophylactic in 149 (9.7%). Two hundred patients (4.2%) developed pneumonia (no NGT 2.7%; routine NGT 5.2%; reactive NGT 10.6%; prophylactic NGT 11.4%). After adjustment for confounding factors, no significant difference in pneumonia rates was detected between the prophylactic and reactive NGT groups (odds ratio 1.03, 95% CI 0.56–1.87, P = 0.932). Conclusion: In patients who required the insertion of a NGT after surgery, prophylactic insertion was not associated with fewer cases of pneumonia within 30 days of surgery compared with reactive insertion