The Production of Hospitable Space: Commercial Propositions and Consumer Co-Creation in a Bar Operation

This paper examines the processes through which a commercial bar is transformed into a hospitable space. Drawing on a study of a venue patronized by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual/transgender consumers, it considers how social and commercial forms of hospitality are mobilized. The paper argues that hospitable space has an ideological, normative and situational dimension. More specifically, it suggests the bar’s operation is tied to a set of ideological conceptions, which become the potential basis of association and disassociation among consumers. It examines the forces and processes that shape who participates in the production and consumption of hospitality and how. Finally, it considers the situational, emergent nature of hospitality and the discontinuous production of hospitable space. Rather than focusing exclusively on host-guest or provider-customer relations, which dominates existing work on hospitality, the paper examines how consumers’ perceptions, actions and interactions shape the production of hospitality. By doing so the paper offers an alternative approach to understanding queer spaces, bar operation as well as hospitality

A Risk Comparison of Ordinary Least Squares vs Ridge Regression

We compare the risk of ridge regression to a simple variant of ordinary least squares, in which one simply projects the data onto a finite dimensional subspace (as specified by a Principal Component Analysis) and then performs an ordinary (un-regularized) least squares regression in this subspace. This note shows that the risk of this ordinary least squares method is within a constant factor (namely 4) of the risk of ridge regression.Comment: Appearing in JMLR 14, June 201

Work(ing) Dynamics of Migrant Networking among Poles Employed in Hospitality and Food Production

Recent studies of migrants provide us with an understanding of their social relations beyond work; however, workplace networking practices among migrants, particularly as they are mediated by their jobs and their working environment has not been addressed as a substantive subject. Drawing on two studies of Poles, working in hospitality and food production, which utilised interviews, participant observation, netnography and a survey, this paper examines how occupational and organisational factors, including the nature of work and the characteristics of the workplace, impact upon migrants’ intra and inter-group relations. Furthermore, the data are used to consider how migrants ‘work’ (ie. utilise and exploit) the dynamics of the work(place) to facilitate their networking. We distinguish between task, spatial and related temporal dimensions affecting their interactions, arguing that such a conceptual lens is necessary for understanding migrants’ networking strategies

Cultivating academic imagination in (and through) hospitality

No abstrac

Using abstract concepts in impact-focused organisational research: An empirical example deploying ‘hospitality’

Purpose This paper conceptualises and examines the processes through which abstract concepts, or abstractions, can be utilised in co-creating knowledge within ‘impactfocused’ organisational and business research i.e. applied research that primarily seeks to promote change in practice rather than principally aiming to make theoretical contributions to academic debates. The paper uses the abstraction ‘hospitality’ as an empirical example and discusses the techniques used to ‘operationalise’ this concept i.e. make it understandable for research participants enabling researchers to use it within data generation and the creation of practical insights in organisational enquiry. Design/methodology/approach The study employed two methods: firstly, participant generated photos; and secondly, two interactive workshops with 38 practitioners where the abstract concept ‘hospitality’ was used to generate practical organisational insights. Findings The paper distinguishes between four stages: the elaboration of abstraction; concretisation of abstraction; probing perspectives on abstraction; and exploring experiences of abstraction. It is argued that utilising specific techniques within these four stages facilitates: a) recognisability: the extent to which organisational stakeholders understand the content and meanings of the abstraction; and b) relatability: the extent to which stakeholders appreciate how the abstract concepts are relevant to interpreting their own practices and experiences. Research limitations/implications This is an exploratory study, used to develop and refine elicitation techniques, rather than to draw definitive conclusions about the applicability of specific abstract concepts. Nevertheless, reflecting on the processes and techniques used in the utilisation of abstractions here can help to operationalise them in future impactfocused research. Originality/value The paper conceptualises the processes through which abstract concepts can be made apprehendable for non-specialist, non-academic practitioners. In doing so, it discusses how various elicitation techniques support the utilisation of abstractions in generating insights that can support the development of constructive, context-specific practices in organisations and businesses

Bandit problems with fidelity rewards

The fidelity bandits problem is a variant of the K-armed bandit problem in which the reward of each arm is augmented by a fidelity reward that provides the player with an additional payoff depending on how ‘loyal’ the player has been to that arm in the past. We propose two models for fidelity. In the loyalty-points model the amount of extra reward depends on the number of times the arm has previously been played. In the subscription model the additional reward depends on the current number of consecutive draws of the arm. We consider both stochastic and adversarial problems. Since single-arm strategies are not always optimal in stochastic problems, the notion of regret in the adversarial setting needs careful adjustment. We introduce three possible notions of regret and investigate which can be bounded sublinearly. We study in detail the special cases of increasing, decreasing and coupon (where the player gets an additional reward after every m plays of an arm) fidelity rewards. For the models which do not necessarily enjoy sublinear regret, we provide a worst case lower bound. For those models which exhibit sublinear regret, we provide algorithms and bound their regret

Challenges in Hospitality Management Education: Perspectives from the United Kingdom

Drawing on qualitative data gathered from educators based in the United Kingdom, this paper examines their perceptions of significant challenges facing contemporary hospitality management education. These include: engaging contemporary students, particularly through new technologies; the growing presence of international students; institutional constraints, resource pressures and the distinctiveness of hospitality management education; ongoing tensions between hospitality's intellectual development and its practice focus; and new course designs, delivery models and partnerships. The study also explores their views on how those are likely to evolve in the future. The findings suggest that many of the key challenges are not unique to the hospitality management area, but they also highlight many pressing concerns specific to this sector. Importantly, the findings help to identify how individuals and institutions are responding to particular challenges in higher education

The hospitality consumption experiences of parents and carers with children

Drawing on research conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom, this paper addresses two questions: first, how is parenting and childcare provision performed within restaurants, cafes and pubs; and second, how are different aspects of hospitality provision entangled with parent, carer and children’s experiences? The findings show how gestures of hospitality, particularly service interactions that are tailored to meet the specialist needs of these consumers, can create positive emotions and encourage customer loyalty. Furthermore, the data show the importance of recognising children as sovereign consumers. We conclude that responding directly to children’s needs can augment their experiences and hence, those of their carers and other patrons. The paper identifies a number of implications for management practice and several avenues for future research

Experiencing parenthood, care and spaces of hospitality

Drawing on research conducted in Australia and the United Kingdom, this paper explores how parenting and care provision is entangled with, and thus produced through, consumption in hospitality venues. We examine how the socio-material practices of hospitality provision shape the enactment of parenting, alongside the way child-parent/consumer-provider interactions impact upon experiences of hospitality spaces. We argue that venues provide contexts for care provision, acting as spaces of sociality, informing children’s socialization and offering temporary relief from the work of parenting. However, the data also highlight various practices of exclusion and multiple forms of emotional and physical labour required from careproviders. The data illustrate children’s ability to exercise power and the ways in which parents’/carers’ experiences of hospitality spaces are shaped by their enactment of discourses of ‘good parenting’. Finally, we consider parents’/carers’ coping behaviours as they manage social and psychological risks associated with consumption in such public spaces of leisure