The influence of digital customer network strategy on hotel business

Dissertação de mestradoThe digital age evolution is transforming and influencing the hotel industry in various ways. The hotel industry is one of the sectors where present-day customer satisfaction impacts future business positively or negatively. In the digital age, customer feedback and reviews have moved to digital platforms leading to the formation of customer networks. Digital customer networks influence consumer perceptions, attitudes, and decisions to purchase. However, these digital customer networks are applicable as strategies to improve sales, reduce costs, and build loyal relationships with customers by maximizing access, engaging the customers, connecting, and collaborating with them. The present research slicked to assess the influence of digital customer network strategy on hotel business. For this purpose, it has been conducted an exploratory study, through interviews, in July 2020 and near five General Manager of five different hotels based in Portugal. The study shows that nowadays the digital is effectively transforming the way stakeholders do business, innovate, work and cooperate. It also adds that in future this influence will be higher, which demands an accurate attention from the management and an incorporation of digital on hotel strategies.A evolução da era digital está a transformar e a influenciar, de várias maneiras, a indústria hoteleira, que é um dos setores onde a satisfação do cliente atual impacta os negócios futuros de forma positiva ou negativa. Na era digital, o feedback e as avaliações dos clientes migraram para plataformas digitais, originando a formação de redes de clientes. E estas redes digitais de clientes influenciam as perceções, atitudes e decisões de compra do consumidor. No entanto, essas redes digitais de clientes são aplicáveis como estratégias para melhorar as vendas, reduzir custos e construir relacionamentos de fidelização com os clientes, maximizando o acesso, envolvendo os clientes, conectando-se e colaborando com eles. A presente Tese procurou avaliar a influência da estratégia de rede digital de clientes na Hotelaria. Para o efeito, foi realizado um estudo exploratório, através de entrevistas, em julho de 2020 e junto de cinco Diretores Gerais, de cinco diferentes hotéis, sediados em Portugal. O estudo mostra que hoje o digital está efetivamente a transformar o modo como os stakeholders fazem negócios, inovam, trabalham e cooperam. Acrescenta, ainda, que no futuro esta influência será maior, o que exige uma atenção apurada da gestão e uma incorporação do digital nas estratégias hoteleiras

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEARNING STRATEGY USE IN ENGLISH AND MOTIVATION OF STUDENTS AT A COLLEAGUE IN CAN THO CITY, VIETNAM

Among the many factors that increase students’ achievement in the mastery of foreign languages, including English, are motivation and use of language learning strategies. Previous studies by a range of researchers have identified these two elements as the most important in obtaining success in language learning. This study carried out on 152 university students, roughly equal in gender, studying at a university in Can Tho, Vietnam, sought to discover the relationships between these two factors within the Vietnamese language learning context. In particular, the study sought to 1) discover which of two types of motivation, intrinsic and extrinsic, is most prevalent among the students studied; 2) their use of language learning strategies; 3) reveals the relationship between students' motivation and use of language learning strategies; and 4) describe the differences in their use of language learning strategies based on whether their motivation was high, medium or low. Research instruments included Schmidt et al.'s Questionnaire on Motivation in Learning English, and Oxford's Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (both modified for the Vietnamese language learning context and translated into Vietnamese), plus an interview with 18 of the students to gain greater insight into the answers they gave on the questionnaires. Results were obtained using standard deviations and t-tests. They showed that Vietnamese university students are mainly extrinsically motivated; that all strategies were used at least at a medium level, amidst other fluctuations; and that those metacognitive strategies are most prevalent among medium and high motivated students but affective strategies are most common among low motivation students. Recommendations flowing from these results are that teachers should prioritize the formal teaching of learning strategies and should attempt to increase intrinsic motivation by putting greater emphasis on making language learning fun and relevant to the students' interests and passions. Article visualizations

Mediating teacher professional identity : The emergence of humanness and ethical identity

Over the past couple of years, international vocational education and training has been much debated at the nexus of the commercialisation of vocational education and social justice for international students. This nexus has significantly affected the professional identity and responsibilities of teachers who are directly involved in providing vocational education and training for international students. Drawing on a research project funded by the Australian Research Council, this paper offers an alternative lens on vocational teachers\u27 process of mediating professional identity in response to the flow of international students and the commercialisation of vocational education. It employs the logic of relationality as a conceptual framework to interpret teachers\u27 journey of identity re-construction. The humanness and ethical dimensions of identity have been at the heart of the teachers\u27 negotiation over the kind of teachers they are and to which they aspire. The teachers in this research draw on humanness and ethical dimensions to engage in critical reflection of their own teaching practices, their interaction with international students and the socio-political context shaping international vocational education and training. They perceive their professional responsibility not only in relation to the facilitation of students\u27 development of vocational skills and knowledge, but also the provision of pastoral care for international students and the advocating for social justice for this student cohort

Essays on the Vietnam Stock Market

This thesis consists of three substantive studies about the Vietnam stock market. In particular, I study the asymmetric information, corporate governance (CG) practices, and foreign investment of publicly listed companies in Vietnam, presented in Chapters 2, 3, and 4, respectively. In Chapter 2, I investigate the effectiveness of a market surveillance system (MSS) on improving the market quality of the Vietnam stock market, as measured by liquidity and informed trading level. I find that market liquidity decreased after the introduction of the MSS, and that the effect is more pronounced for small firms. Although informed trading, on average, does not change significantly after the MSS, subsample analysis indicates a significant decrease in informed trading among large and liquid firms. In Chapter 3, I investigate the relationship between firms’ CG practices and informed trading. I find a negative relationship between the two variables. Firms with better CG practices have a lower level of informed stock trading. Moreover, a natural experiment on a shock of firms’ CG practices generated by the CG policies shows that the negative relationship between CG practices and informed trading is a causal one, in which a change in the former causes a change in the latter. In another analysis around the implementation of the MSS, I find that the implementation of the surveillance system affects the relationship between the two variables, and this effect is driven by large and liquid firms. In Chapter 4, I investigate whether foreign investors in the Vietnam stock market are informed about firms’ performance. Using the residuals of foreign investor ownership as a measure of the abnormal foreign investor holding, I find that the abnormal foreign investor holding is positively correlated with firm performance in the following one year. I also find a positive correlation between abnormal foreign investor holding and the stock returns in the next three quarters. These findings indicate that foreign investors are informed about the firms up to a one-year period

Willingness to Pay for the Preservation of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park in Vietnam

Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park has great value in terms of biodiversity but preserving the park is a great challenge for the Vietnamese government. This study estimated the willingness to pay of households to preserve Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park, using the contingent valuation method. We employed the single-bounded dichotomous choice question format to estimate how much households in Ho Chi Minh City were willing to contribute towards a preservation plan for the park. This plan comprised twelve preservation activities and compensating the local communities for their foregone income. The study found that households in Ho Chi Minh City were willing to pay at least VND 6,209 per month for three years for the preservation of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park. With protest votes included, factors strongly affecting households' willingness to pay were bid amount and the amount of their monthly electricity bill. The education level of the respondents and the number of working people in the household had significant but lesser impact on their willingness to pay. Without protest votes, the bid amount, monthly electricity bill amount and education level of respondents significantly affected willingness to pay. We found that the annualized benefit value of the project was larger than its annualized cost. This indicated that the preservation plan was economically viable. This study does not provide the total value of Lo Go - Xa Mat National Park, but it shows the great value of the park in terms of local households' willingness to pay for its preservation and this is important information for policy-makers in deciding how to protect the park efficiently.willingness to pay, Vietnam

COMMON CHALLENGES IN VIETNAMESE-ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF ENGLISH-MAJORED JUNIORS AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

It is undoubted that translation plays an indispensable role in exchanging information, news, culture, literature and sciences among people globally. In other words, translation facilitates communication and understanding between people who come from various cultures and speak different languages. Owing to the significance of translation, it is employed as a fundamental subject to English majored students. Nevertheless, it is not an easy subject for students to master. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the obstacles that students often encountered when translating texts from Vietnamese to English. This was a quantitative and qualitative research. The questionnaire and test paper were used as two major instruments to gain the most reliable findings. To achieve the goal, 74 English majored juniors from both English 10A and 10B at Tay Do University were selected as the sample for this research. The results showed that English majored juniors faced many challenges in Vietnamese-English translation, consisting of vocabulary, grammatical structures and cultural aspects. Article visualizations

STUDY ON THE EFFECT OF CALCIUM-ALGINATE AND WHEY PROTEIN ON THE SURVIVAL RATE OF Bifidobacterium bifidum IN MAYONNAISE

ABSTRACT – QMFS 2019The functional food development by adding probiotic bacteria is getting a lot of concern. In this study, Bifidobacterium bifidum AS 1.1886 was encapsulated in calcium-alginate 2% w/v (C sample) or the mix of calcium-alginate 2% (w/v) and whey protein 1% (w/v) (CW sample) or calcium-alginate 2% (w/v) coated by whey protein 1% (w/v) (CcW sample) by extrusion method, and added to mayonnaise product. The pH changes, the survival rate of probiotic bacteria, and total yeast and mold count during storage, as well as the probiotic survival in simulated gastric medium, were evaluated. The result showed that the pH changes were not significantly different in all mayonnaise samples in this test. The viability of the free probiotic cell was significant decrease about 5.85 log CFU/g compared to 0.26 ÷ 1.14 log CFU/g in encapsulated cell samples after four weeks of storage. None of the free cells survived after six weeks of storage. The total yeast and mold count in samples related to the probiotic count, the viability of probiotic cells higher 6 log CFU/g might be controlling the growth of yeast and molds in mayonnaise. Whey protein has been shown to significantly improve the survival rate of B.bifidum and calcium-alginate coated by whey protein, indicating the most effective protection. The result showed that the application potential of encapsulated probiotic in mayonnaise product

SOME COMMON DIFFICULTIES IN LISTENING OF ENGLISH MAJORED FRESHMEN AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

The aim of the research “Some common difficulties in listening of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University" is to figure out some major factors causing difficulties for students in listening to English. The research is carried out within 12 weeks. Participants of this study are 100 English majored freshmen course 13, chosen randomly (including students in class 13A, 13B, and 13C) at Tay Do University. During the research time, participants are given questionnaires and paper interviews to show their ideas. The questionnaire and paper interview are two main instruments of this study, which are used to gather information about students' problems facing in listening. As a result, the research through the expected outcome will show some difficulties in listening of English majored freshmen at Tay Do University that related to linguistics like vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, accents and intonation, and background knowledge and unfamiliar topics, psychological obstacle, and the length and speed rate of speech. Article visualizations

THE DIFFICULTIES IN ORAL PRESENTATION OF ENGLISH-MAJORED JUNIORS AT TAY DO UNIVERSITY, VIETNAM

It could be broadly accepted that oral presentations are becoming important for students. It is required in almost every field and in the university environment. To succeed in the university environment and in their future jobs, these students need to improve their oral presentation skills. However, one of the drawbacks of using oral presentations in the language classroom is that students often find oral presentations extremely challenging. Therefore, the researcher conducted this research with the main goal of finding out common problems when giving an oral presentation to English-majored juniors at Tay Do University. Ninety juniors majoring in English at Tay Do University were selected to take part in the study. Data are gathered through questionnaires and interviews. The researcher used quantitative and qualitative methods to do the research. From the collected data, when they give a presentation, students usually make some mistakes such as problems in vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, psychological and background knowledge. Through this study, they would recognize their own problems when giving a presentation. Besides, understanding students' learning difficulties may also enable teachers to help students develop effective learning strategies and ultimately improve their presentation skills. It is hoped that this research can be helpful for not only students but also teachers in learning and teaching English.  Article visualizations

INVESTIGATING THE EXPERIENCES OF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES WITH E-LEARNING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN VIETNAMESE HIGHER EDUCATION

This study uses a mixed-methods approach to investigate the experiences of Vietnamese university students with disabilities (visual/mobility impairments) with e-learning as a consequence of emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. An analysis of the ideas of 20 surveyed students with disabilities at eight universities in Ho Chi Minh City and six students interviewed afterward shows that students can change their study habits to adapt to e-learning and to enjoy this model of learning. However, the participants revealed that they also want to experience face-to-face learning so that they can interact with their lecturers and peers more effectively and in more diverse ways, as well as assimilate lectures more easily. Furthermore, the research shows that various adjustments should be made by system designers, universities, and lecturers to make e-learning friendlier to disabled students. The recommended adjustments include designing easy-to-use learning tools and platforms, providing lecturers with the necessary tools and facilities to design lessons appropriate for all students, providing psychological and technical support for disabled students, choosing user-friendly learning applications and platforms, providing students with suitable learning resources, and modifying testing and assessment methods