The Hospitality Gap: Bridging Russia into the 21st Century

The new intemationalization of the field of hospitality management has led to increased opportunities in the Russian Federation. At the same time, there are major challenges to be overcome. This article describes what needs to be accomplished to be successful at business in this New World Order

The Ethical Orientation of U.S. Small Business Decision Makers: A Preliminary Study

Recent news reports of escalating ethics violations in the workplace has produced growing concern. This study surveyed small business decision makers concerning their ethical orientation. These results were then compared to general responses as reflected in the norms for validating the three instruments. Small business decision makers perceived themselves as less likely to engage in exploitative power behavior and perceived their organizations as fostering a more collective and procedurally oriented climate that might be interpreted as attempting to institutionalize morality. Additionally, small business decision makers had lower idealism and relativism scores, suggesting that they were more likely to use power to adjust personal injustices or to protect oneself from potential exploitation. Further implication of this preliminary study are discussed

What Pedagogical Methods Impact Students' Entrepreneurial Propensity?

There is a dearth of research that investigates the effectiveness of different pedagogical methods for teaching entrepreneurship. This paper focuses on three learning design choices: experiential learning, use of teamwork, and focus on quantitative methods. The paper examines pedagogical variables that could contribute to raising student scores on constructs of change, risk taking, goal setting, feedback, and achievement as measured by our customized entrepreneurial propensity survey. Results offer moderate evidence to confirm effects of experiential learning designs for goal-setting and weak evidence for feedback. Additional findings suggest the need for rethinking the role of teamwork in entrepreneurship courses

An exploratory study of influences on retail service quality: a focus on Kuwait and Lebanon.

Abstract: The Middle East is a growing and lucrative marketplace. This exploratory study examines retail service in Kuwait and Lebanon, regions with long histories of trade. Retail service, however, has not been well documented in this region. To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines customer and salespeople perceptions of service encounters in these countries, in light of their culture, religion, and nationalities. As retailers expand into new markets worldwide, such information is vital to their success. Future research directions are discussed

The Premack Principle applied to quality performance behavior of part-time employees

The main focus of this study was to assess the applicability of the first version of the Premack Principle, the probability-differential hypothesis (1959, 1965, 1971), to human resources management. It was hypothesized that part-time service sector employees\u27 overall quality performance, measured from established organization standards, would be greater after the use of the Premack Principle. This was operationalized through employee choice of work stations. A secondary exploratory study was conducted to investigate whether the Premack Principle has an effect on two part-time employee attitudes: job satisfaction and commitment. The study was conducted in a fast food franchise. Eight employees were randomly selected to have their quality performance observed. Of these, five received the intervention: access to work their favorite station once quality standards were exceeded at a station targeted for improvement. Quality performance was measured by the Fast Food Restaurant Observation System Technique (FROST), which was an observational instrument developed from a franchisee-side survey (n = 188) that identified the most important quality aspects for each station. Observers were trained to meet 90% interrater agreement reliability on FROST. These observers used continuous observation to independently record the behavior of targeted employees on FROST during a seven-week period. Attitudes were asessed by two supplementary measures: the Job Description Index (JDI) and the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire (OCQ). Two research methods were employed. A multiple baseline design was applied to assess the applicability of the Premack Principle in improving part-time employees\u27 quality performance. The Solomon (1949) Four-Group Experimental Design was used to analyze the self-report questionnaires, both the JDI and the OCQ. Results revealed that the study\u27s primary focus was supported: part-time employees\u27 overall quality performance was greater after the application of the Premack Principle. Thus, beginning empirical support was provided. The secondary exploratory study investigating the effect of the Premack Principle on part-time employee attitudes was not conclusive, as it was administered to only 44 part-time employees at the study site. Further research with a larger sample is warranted