The evolution and transformation of a tourism destination network: the Waitomo Caves,

Abstract This paper examines the process of tourism destination evolution and transformation. The focus is on how the relationships between organisations can act as a self-organising mechanism for the destination, with fluidity and change being a critical component in this process. This paper uses network theory to express these dynamics, and it emphasises structural features of architectural density and centrality. Most particularly, the network approach illustrates how groupings of small firms within interdependent systems can be self-governing, and show how this process assists the destination in building tacit knowledge for competitive advantage that resides in the network structure. The case context for this illustration is an icon tourism destination in New Zealand, the Waitomo Caves. This tourism destination has undergone significant transformation over the last 15 years, from its single Glowworm Cave attraction to an interdependent network involving underground adventure caving activities. Because of this transformation, it provides a distinctive context to explore these fluid network processes.

Organizing for thoughtful food: A meshwork approach

© 2020 Springer-Verlag. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10139-0This paper provides an alternative narrative for organizing food systems. It introduces meshwork as a novel theoretical lens to examine the ontological assumptions underlying the shadow and informal dynamics of organizing food. Through a longitudinal qualitative case study, we place relationality and becoming at the centre of organizing food and food systems, demonstrating how entangled relationships can create a complex ontology through the meshwork knots, threads and weave. We show how issues of collective concern come together to form dynamic knots of interactions, how the threads within the meshwork indicate processes of movement, and how the weave suggests degrees of food system resilience - but always in flow. This theoretical approach thus provides a platform for addressing thoughtful concerns about “food matters” including the integrity of our global food system, the negative health and environmental impacts of industrialized food production, and food safety issues.Peer reviewe

The organisation of supply in a tourism destination : An analysis of a networked community - the Waitomo Caves Village

This thesis reconstructs the organisation of supply activities within a tourism destination. It uses a network theory perspective to explore the complex webbed relationships between these suppliers as they become mutually dependent upon resources, activities, markets and reputation. Its focus is on connectivity and fluidity, as it examines how the cooperative fine-grained exchanges become informal coordination mechanisms which act as glue to bind together the webbed patterns of complexity. This narrative explores how these socially complex relationships between organisations act as a source of strategic leverage for the network group. With this focus on connection, an ethnographic methodology provides a lens to observe these day to day practices of interorganisational activities. The object of study are the phenomena of shared routines, not the actors themselves. The context for this research is the Waitomo Caves tourism destination in New Zealand, with a single case study providing a depth and richness of detail. A middle-range grounded theory approach was enacted, which enabled the research process to begin with a skeletal framework. On-going discovery, illustration and analysis assisted in building an explanation of broad theoretical inter-relationships. The contribution of this thesis is the development of a process model of network coordination. It attests the flexibility and adaptability of network structures, with their multiple nodal positions supporting an array of informational advantages. The thesis data explained the important role these connections played in sourcing strategic leverage for the network. Absorptive capacity, relational absorptive capacity, relational embeddedness and structural embeddedness were all demonstrated as important attributes of the network organising process. Finally, the data supported the significant role social exchanges play as a structuring mechanism in organisational activities

The development of reflective practice through student journals

This paper explores the design and assessment of reflective journals in a course on spirituality and management in a tertiary institution. The purpose of reflection in education is to develop students' self-awareness and inner leadership. Yet, such assessment poses challenges in terms of design, content and grading. This paper explores the literature surrounding these issues, and then describes the introduction of such an approach through a case study. Two types of assessment were developed to assist students to explore self-awareness. The first was through reflective journal entries completed throughout the course, and the second was a report due at the end of the course, describing the journey of the student's most significant learning. The paper concludes by assessing the effectiveness of such an approach through qualitative measures. The use of student narratives from their journals, with their consent, illustrates the power of the reflective method

Quantum empathy: an alternative narrative for global transcendence

This paper proposes an alternative narrative for global transcendence that has spirituality at the core of shaping society. It draws on contemplative practices such as mindfulness, reflexivity and empathy that may contribute to closing the gap between self and other. From these practices, I argue that we have the ability to tap into the harmonic frequency of the universe (quantum empathy) that may bridge across, through and beyond boundaries to link our human experience. At this quantum level, empathy is an entangled, interconnected and indeterminate shared existence that may support the ethical shift in human consciousness. This view of spirituality as a macrolevel organizing mechanism does not present a tool-kit for organizational change, but rather offers a provocation of future system-level possibilities abducted from leading-edge science

A rhizomic approach to tourism destination evolution and transformation

This paper critiques linear models of tourism destination evolution through exploring change as anti-hierarchical, self organising and locally inspired. Based upon the Deleuzian concept of networks as rhizomic, the longitudinal qualitative case study shows 100 years of evolution and transformation. The data demonstrated that through collaboration, network connections could be made in endless and unpredictable ways that then formed complex bundlings of network-based capabilities (multiplicities). These knowledge repositories emerged through the non-linear, heterogeneous and volume-filling connections inspired by the informal activities of everyday life. The data demonstrated that network transformation is a result of collaborative connection, and confirms Deleuze's imperative that all creative possibilities exist and new novelty is limited only by the absence of positive acts

The evolution and transformation of a tourism destination network: the Waitomo Caves, New Zealand

This paper examines the process of tourism destination evolution and transformation. The focus is on how the relationships between organisations can act as a self-organising mechanism for the destination, with fluidity and change being a critical component in this process. This paper uses network theory to express these dynamics, and it emphasises structural features of architectural density and centrality. Most particularly, the network approach illustrates how groupings of small firms within interdependent systems can be self-governing, and show how this process assists the destination in building tacit knowledge for competitive advantage that resides in the network structure. The case context for this illustration is an icon tourism destination in New Zealand, the Waitomo Caves. This tourism destination has undergone significant transformation over the last 15 years, from its single Glowworm Cave attraction to an interdependent network involving underground adventure caving activities. Because of this transformation, it provides a distinctive context to explore these fluid network processes

Empathy, Connectedness and Organisation

Connectedness, Empathy, Interdependence, Organisation, Quantum,

Editorial: Entrepreneurship research: follow the yellow-brick road?

If entrepreneurship theory, research, and practice represent Oz at the culmination of the yellow-brick road, Dorothy and her companions have much company on their journey. For example, one source estimates that 460 million people worldwide either start a new business or become the owners of new businesses annually (Reynolds et al. 2002). Moreover, entrepreneurship is the fastest growing field of study in tertiary education in North America and Europe (Bygrave 2004) and fifteen specialized scholarly journals disseminate research on the topic globally. Within the policy-making arena, the governments of both Australia and New Zealand seek to promote entrepreneurship as an engine of economic growth. This special issue on entrepreneurship thus appears to be timely and can help to take stock of this topic within our Australasian context. It can also serve as a baseline from which to consider directions for future research in this important area of inquiry

Art, 'Knowing' and Management Education

This article explores the concept of knowledge as an internal process of inner knowing. In the educational context, we describe our experiences in using art in the classroom to assist our students in accessing this inner knowing. We describe the design and use of such creative expressions. Our findings indicate that students have to integrate both right- and left-brain thinking to access their inner tuition. This slows down linear thinking in order to access the more affective-based learning process. Further, it encourages students to experiment with non-linear methods of learning. We argue that these findings assist students in accessing more choices in their decision making, which in turn will build managers who energize, revitalize and facilitate the growth of humanity through organizational compassion and understanding