TOWARDS A RESOURCE-BASED VIEW OF THE FIRM PERSPECTIVE ON ENHANCING CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS IN THE HOTEL INDUSTRY

The Irish hotel industry is facing major challenges, with a rapidly increased bed capacity in the sector accompanied by an international economic slump. In addition, hotel guests have increasingly high levels of expectation about the quality of their hotel experience, and are sharing these views through travel sites such as Tripadvisor.com. This reinforces the need articulated in national strategy to enhance the business capability of Irish tourism firms (Fáilte Ireland 2004; Tourism Policy Review, 2003) and in particular, there is an imperative for Irish hotels to establish and maintain more effective relationships with their guests. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) represents the organisation’s ability to create and maintain profit maximising relationships with its customers (Zablah et al., 2004). However, CRM programmes frequently fail (Sigala, 2005). The objective of this paper is to examine how a Resource-Based View of the Firm (RBV) perspective (Wernefelt, 1984), which links company actions directly to performance (Harmsen and Jensen, 2004) can assist Irish hotels in implementing more effective CRM programmes. The rapid evolution of CRM technologies grants organisations the motivation and the instruments to create strong relationships and enhance customer value (Day and Van den Bulte, 2002). However, this is not the case for all organisations: many companies have failed to forge customer relationships through utilising CRM (Sigala, 2005), which may be due to an over-reliance on the technology aspect (Campbell, 2003; Reinartz et al., 2004). The RBV is proposed as a theoretical perspective to address the failures of CRM. The RBV is a strategic management framework that aims to elucidate the link between idiosyncratic firm resources and differentials in firm performance (Gibbert, 2006; Hatch and Dyer, 2004). It focuses on how specific resource and capability pools are employed to create and sustain competitive advantage. Firms possessing sustained competitive advantage (SCA) will enjoy profit earnings exceeding that of their competition. However, while the RBV shows potential as a theory for examining strategic issues, firms must understand it before implementation efforts are considered (Fahy and Smithee, 1999). Significant work by Day and Van den Bulte (2002) and Day (2003) on CRM within the RBV framework has identified that the Customer Relating Capability (CRC) provides a more satisfactory model of CRM, they argue that the acknowledgement of the cultural context to developing more effective customer relationships in this capability explains its positive relationship with performance. However, this capability has had limited empirical exploration. Therefore, a research agenda is presented in this paper which proposes examination of the nature of customer-relating capability within the Irish hotel industry. Research should encompass both senior managers and front-line staff, important for gaining the optimum view of an organisational capability (see Ulrich and Smallwood, 2004). This will make a significant contribution to the academic literature in further understanding of this key capability, and address a pressing need for insight into more effective customer relationship management in the Irish hotel sector

UTILISING THE RESOURCE-BASED VIEW (RBV) TO ENHANCE CRM PRACTICES IN IRISH HOTELS

Irish hotels face many challenges: a rapidly increased bed capacity, poor ‘value for money’, and the global economic decline (IHF, 2009). In addition, hotel guests have heightened expectations of the quality of their experiences, and are expressing their opinions through travel sites like tripadvisor.com. This reinforces the need articulated in national strategy to enhance the business capability of Irish tourism firms (Fáilte Ireland, 2004; Irish Tourism Policy Review Group, 2003) and, in particular, the impetus for Irish hoteliers to establish and maintain meaningful and durable guest relationships. Customer Relationship Management (henceforth CRM) represents the organisation’s ability to create and maintain profit maximising relationships with its customers (Zablah et al., 2004). Indeed, CRM is crucial for increasing visitor loyalty (Sigala, 2005). However, not all CRM programmes have succeeded (Bolton, 2004), which may be due to an over-reliance on technology (Campbell, 2003; Reinartz et al., 2004). This paper proposes the Resource-Based View (henceforth RBV) viewpoint (Barney, 1991; Wernefelt, 1984), as a theoretical perspective to address the failures of CRM. The RBV links company actions directly to performance (Harmsen and Jensen, 2004) and can support Irish hotels in implementing CRM more effectively. The RBV sees the firm as a collection of unique resource and capability pools that, if utilised in a distinctive way, can be employed to create and preserve competitive advantage (Osarenkhoe, 2008). However, whilst recognising RBV’s potential as a strategic management theory, firms must understand it before implementation efforts are considered (Fahy and Smithee, 1999). This paper will synthesise literature, including industry exemplars of practice, pertaining to both RBV and CRM, to demonstrate how RBV can serve as the foundation for effective CRM strategy and implementation. More specifically, it will elucidate the importance of human capital within the hotel context to achieve this

Methylmercury in lake bed soils during re-flooding of an Appalachian reservoir in the northeastern USA

Mercury methylation, where inorganic mercury (Hg) is converted to methylmercury (MeHg), can increase in soils when flooded. While effects of the initial flooding of soils on MeHg production have been well studied, less is known about impacts of re-flooding on MeHg production. Lake Perez, an impounded recreational reservoir in the Appalachian Highlands, was completely drained then re-filled 7 years later. We use a combination of chemical, soil physical, and microbial data to quantify changes in MeHg before and after re-flooding of the lakebed. Portions that were transiently saturated due to pluvial flooding had the highest pre-flooded MeHg concentrations. When the lake was re-flooded, concentrations of MeHg in subaqueous soils increased by a factor of 2.74 (+174%) on average. Substantial variability was observed among the sampling sites, with smaller increases in MeHg at sites subjected to seasonal flooding during periods when the reservoir was drained. The increase of soil MeHg after re-flooding was lower in this study compared to studies that evaluated soil MeHg after initial flooding, indicating that re-flooding of a former lake bed caused a smaller response in MeHg production compared to initial flooding of terrestrial land. This study advances understanding of the environmental impact of impounded reservoirs

Manganese-coated IRIS to document reducing soil conditions

Iron-coated indicatorof reduction in soils (IRIS) devices have been used for nearly two decades to help assess and document reducing conditions in soils, and official guidance has been approved for interpreting these data. Interest in manganese (Mn)-coated IRIS devices has increased because Mn oxides are reduced under more moderately reducing conditions than iron (Fe) oxides (which require strongly reducing conditions), such that they are expected to be better proxies for some important ecosystem services like denitrification. However, only recently has the necessary technology become available to produce Mn-coated IRIS, and the need is now emerging for guidance in interpreting data derived from Mn IRIS. Ninety-six data sets collected over a 2-yr period from 40 plots at 18 study sites among eight states were used to compare the performance of Mn-coated IRIS with Fe-coated IRIS and to assess the effect of duration of saturation and soil temperature as environmental drivers on the reduction and removal of the oxide coating. It appears that the current threshold prescribed by the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils for Fe-coated IRIS is appropriate for periods when soil temperatures are warmer (\u3e11 °C), but is unnecessarily conservative when soil temperatures are cooler (5–11 °C). In contrast, Mn-coated devices are particularly useful early in the growing season when soil temperatures are cool. Our data show that when using a threshold of 30% removal of Mn oxide coatings there is essentially 100% confidence of the presence of reducing soil conditions under cool (\u3c11 °C) conditions

Communication and control system for a 15-channel hermetic retinal prosthesis

A small, hermetic, wirelessly-controlled retinal prosthesis has been developed for pre-clinical studies in Yucatan minipigs. The device was attached conformally to the outside of the eye in the socket and received both power and data wirelessly from external sources. Based on the received image data, the prosthesis drove a subretinal thin-film polyimide array of sputtered iridium oxide stimulating electrodes. The implanted device included a hermetic titanium case containing a 15-channel stimulator and receiver chip and discrete circuit components. Feedthroughs in the hermetic case connected the chip to secondary power- and data-receiving coils, which coupled to corresponding external power and data coils driven by power amplifiers. Power was delivered by a 125 kHz carrier, and data were delivered by amplitude shift keying of a 15.5 MHz carrier at 100 kbps. Stimulation pulse strength, duration and frequency were programmed wirelessly from an external computer system. The final assembly was tested in vitro in physiological saline and in vivo in two minipigs for up to five and a half months by measuring stimulus artifacts generated by the implant's current drivers.United States. Dept. of Veteran AffairsUnited states. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. Boston Healthcare SystemNational Institutes of Health (U.S.)United States. Dept. of DefenseMassachusetts Lions Foundatio

Toward the Integration of an Attract-and-Kill Approach with Entomopathogenic Nematodes to Control Multiple Life Stages of Plum Curculio (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)

Efforts to reduce insecticide inputs against plum curculio, Conotrachelus nenuphar, a key pest of apples in eastern North America, include perimeter-row insecticide sprays applied after the whole-orchard petal fall spray to manage dispersing adults and, more recently, insecticide sprays confined to odor-baited trap trees. Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs) are virulent to ground-dwelling stages of C. nenuphar, and may be applied to the ground underneath trap-tree canopies. Here, we (1) compared the efficacy of the odor-baited trap tree approach with grower-prescribed (=grower standard) sprays to manage C. nenuphar populations over a six-year period in seven commercial apple orchards in New England; and (2) assessed the performance of the EPN Steinernema riobrave at suppressing ground-dwelling stages of C. nenuphar. In addition, the performance of S. riobrave was compared against that of S. carpocapsae and S. feltiae in one year. Across the six years, percent fruit injury on trap tree plots averaged 11.3% on odor-baited trap trees and 1.4% on unbaited trees in grower standard plots, highlighting the ability of trap trees to aggregate C. nenuphar activity and subsequent injury. Mean percentage injury on fruit sampled from interior trees, the strongest measure of treatment performance, in trap tree plots did not differ significantly from that recorded on interior trees in grower standard spray plots (0.95 vs. 0.68%, respectively). Steinernema riobrave consistently reduced C. nenuphar populations as indicated by the significantly lower number of adult C. nenuphar that emerged from the soil, when compared to water control. Steinernema carpocapsae and S. riobrave performed similarly well, and both EPN species outperformed S. feltiae. Our combined findings indicate that an IPM approach that targets multiple life stages of C. nenuphar has the potential to manage this pest more sustainably in a reduced-spray environment

The recovery of European freshwater biodiversity has come to a halt

Owing to a long history of anthropogenic pressures, freshwater ecosystems are among the most vulnerable to biodiversity loss1. Mitigation measures, including wastewater treatment and hydromorphological restoration, have aimed to improve environmental quality and foster the recovery of freshwater biodiversity2. Here, using 1,816 time series of freshwater invertebrate communities collected across 22 European countries between 1968 and 2020, we quantified temporal trends in taxonomic and functional diversity and their responses to environmental pressures and gradients. We observed overall increases in taxon richness (0.73% per year), functional richness (2.4% per year) and abundance (1.17% per year). However, these increases primarily occurred before the 2010s, and have since plateaued. Freshwater communities downstream of dams, urban areas and cropland were less likely to experience recovery. Communities at sites with faster rates of warming had fewer gains in taxon richness, functional richness and abundance. Although biodiversity gains in the 1990s and 2000s probably reflect the effectiveness of water-quality improvements and restoration projects, the decelerating trajectory in the 2010s suggests that the current measures offer diminishing returns. Given new and persistent pressures on freshwater ecosystems, including emerging pollutants, climate change and the spread of invasive species, we call for additional mitigation to revive the recovery of freshwater biodiversity.N. Kaffenberger helped with initial data compilation. Funding for authors and data collection and processing was provided by the EU Horizon 2020 project eLTER PLUS (grant agreement no. 871128); the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF; 033W034A); the German Research Foundation (DFG FZT 118, 202548816); Czech Republic project no. P505-20-17305S; the Leibniz Competition (J45/2018, P74/2018); the Spanish Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad—Agencia Estatal de Investigación and the European Regional Development Fund (MECODISPER project CTM 2017-89295-P); Ramón y Cajal contracts and the project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (RYC2019-027446-I, RYC2020-029829-I, PID2020-115830GB-100); the Danish Environment Agency; the Norwegian Environment Agency; SOMINCOR—Lundin mining & FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, Portugal; the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences; the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant PP00P3_179089); the EU LIFE programme (DIVAQUA project, LIFE18 NAT/ES/000121); the UK Natural Environment Research Council (GLiTRS project NE/V006886/1 and NE/R016429/1 as part of the UK-SCAPE programme); the Autonomous Province of Bolzano (Italy); and the Estonian Research Council (grant no. PRG1266), Estonian National Program ‘Humanitarian and natural science collections’. The Environment Agency of England, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency and Natural Resources Wales provided publicly available data. We acknowledge the members of the Flanders Environment Agency for providing data. This article is a contribution of the Alliance for Freshwater Life (www.allianceforfreshwaterlife.org).Peer reviewe

Case Study: Provisional, Forested Ecological Sites in the Northern Appalachians and Their State-and-Transition Models

On the Ground • The identification of unique areas of vegetative potential across the Northern Appalachians is complicated by a long land-use history of vegetation management. • We introduce provisional ecological sites and associated state-and-transition models for the region, which can be differentiated by latitudinal drivers of: precipitation and temperature; local parent material and resulting soil differences; and landscape position, slope, or aspect. • Identification of ecological sites and associated States or Phases in the Northern Appalachians provides land managers with quantifiable benchmarks for assessing forest compositional shifts due to natural or anthropogenic disturbance.The Rangelands archives are made available by the Society for Range Management and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform March 202