An Analysis Of Strategic Information Published By Large Spanish Hotel Chains.

At present when the market is increasingly demanding free-flowing information concerning corporate expectations, we often encounter criticism as to the absence of this type of information in annual reports. The relevance of this lack of information is based, among other reasons, on the fact that it is the only information that businesses make public. With this hypothesis as a point of departure, we have asked ourselves if this same situation is also produced in the Spanish hotel sector. Our interest in this business is due to the importance of the tourism sector in the Spanish economy. To contrast this hypothesis, we have carried out field work consisting of, firstly, a review of annual reports for the fiscal years 2000, 2001 and 2002 published by hotel chains representative of the sector and, secondly, an analysis of the information concerning the strategies published in these reports. This paper is part of a research stream that remains open and whose objective is the elaboration of a Balanced Scorecard prototype for the Spanish Hotel Sector.

An analysis of the Final Dissertation Assessment Process in new degrees

El R.D 1393/2007 de 29 de octubre establece que las enseñanzas de Grado culminarán con la elaboración y defensa de un Trabajo Fin de Grado (TFG), el cual estará orientado a la evaluación de competencias asociadas al título. Los títulos de grado que comenzaron su andadura en el curso 2008/09, culminarán en el próximo curso, con la presentación de los alumnos de un trabajo fin de grado. Aunque existen titulaciones con gran tradición en la elaboración de un trabajo o proyecto fin de carrera; no es este el caso en otras titulaciones vinculadas a las ciencias sociales. Por ello, el objeto de este trabajo consiste en seleccionar las competencias transversales objeto de evaluación, los agentes evaluadores; junto con el conjunto de indicadores empleados para medir el grado de cumplimiento con el que el alumno alcanza las competencias objeto de evaluación por el trabajo fin de grado.According to October 29th 1393/2007 R.D. all Spanish new degrees will end up with a final year project which is aimed at evaluating the degree competencies. Those degrees started in 2008/09 school year will be finished in 2011/12 and therefore in 2012 students will be able to present their final projects. Although, some degrees have traditionally included a final Project as part of their curriculum, this has not been the case for Spanish social sciences degrees. Therefore, this paper shows the process undertaken to select those cross-curricular competences which will be assessed with the degree in Tourism final project, which will be in charge of evaluating the projects, as well as a set of indicators or assessment criteria to appraise the level of achievement of cross-curricular competencie

Bisfenol (A) una toxina a tener en cuenta en el enfermo renal en hemodiálisis

Introduction: Most uremic toxins are by-products of protein metabolism by action of intestinal flora. The metabolism of aromatic amino acids originates phenolic type residues. The most studied is p-cresol that is associated with renal function and vascular damage. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an exogenous molecule with characteristics similar to these aromatic uremic toxins. BPA is an estrogenic endocrine disruptor, found in tin cans, plastic bottles, epoxy resins and in some dialyzers. This molecule accumulates in patients who have impaired renal function. Observational studies have shown that exposure of BPA is linked to renal and cardiovascular injury, among many others in humans, and in animal studies a causal link has been described. Kidneys with normal renal function rapidly excrete BPA, but insufficient excretion in patients with CKD results in accumulation of BPA in the body.Muchas toxinas urémicas son originadas como consecuencia del catabolismo proteico por la flora intestinal. El metabolismo de aminoácidos aromáticos origina residuos de tipo fenólico. De estas toxinas, la más estudiada es el p-cresol, que se asocia a la función renal y daño vascular. El Bisfenol A (BPA) es una molécula exógena de características semejantes a estas toxinas urémicas aromáticas. El BPA es un disruptor endocrino estrogénico que se encuentra en latas de conserva, botellas de plástico, resinas epoxi y en algunos dializadores. Esta molécula se acumula en pacientes que tienen deteriorada la función renal. Estudios observacionales han demostrado que una exposición a BPA está vinculada, entre otras muchas, a lesión renal y cardiovascular en los seres humanos; en estudios en animales se ha descrito un vínculo causal. Los riñones con función renal normal excretan rápidamente BPA, pero una excreción insuficiente en pacientes con ERC da lugar a la acumulación del BPA en el organismo

Analysis of the strategies that are taken and spread by hotel chains

Hotel chains do face important challenges nowadays. On one side the complexity of the environment in which the hospitality industry evolves, demands to define, develop and manage its strategies in order to guarantee its survival. On top of it, the market is increasingly demanding fluid information for a proper knowledge of the strategies and corporate long-term expectations of these companies. Therefore this task has a double contribution. Firstly, we analysed strategic information disclosed in annual reports of some leading hotel chains, and grouped them following the model of balanced scorecard. Secondly, and as we often encounter criticism as to the absence of this type of information in annual reports, we took a sample of 102 hotel chains and questioned them about which strategies are being developed, the need, convenience and conditions related to the disclosure of strategic information, as well as the information they are unveiling to third-parties and the source utilized.Strategy; hotel chains; balanced scorecard, corporate governance

Environmental management decision-making in certified hotels

This paper analyses environmental decision-making against two axes, motivations and decision-making processes, to understand the reasons for pro-environmental behaviour by the managements of Spanish Eco-management and Audit Scheme (EMAS)-certified hotels. Mixed methods were used to study perceptions of EMAS and reasons for being certified, with current and lapsed EMAS-certified firms triangulated against expert interviews and documentary evidence. Four groups of hotels were differentiated: Strategic hotels (22%) (with high levels of integrated environmental management), Followers (48%), Greenwashers (11%) and Laggers (19%) (with low levels of integrated environmental management). Most hotels were found to be internally driven in their purpose and ad hoc in their decision-making, with limited understanding of externally driven benefits and motivation for more systematic management systems. This questions the success of EMAS as both a continuous improvement management and as a market-based regulation tool for hotels. Few hotels overall related high environmental standards to the possibilities of gaining market advantage: most wished to avoid legal challenges. The paper also illustrates the ways in which hotels opportunistically switch certification systems to get what they see as a better deal. © 2011 Taylor & Francis

Análisis del efecto del cambio climático sobre la distribución del conejo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) en España

El conejo (Oryctolagus cuniculus) es una especie nativa de la península ibérica, ampliamente distribuida. Pese a ser una especie muy prolífica, la fuerte presión cinegética y las enfermedades en las últimas décadas han mermado considerablemente sus poblaciones, alterando su distribución original. Esto ha conllevado que la UICN en 2019 declarara a la especie en peligro, indicando que se deben tomar medidas urgentes para su recuperación, entre ellas medidas de adaptación al cambio climático. Los modelos de distribución de las especies son una herramienta que permite pronosticar cómo el cambio climático podría afectar a las distribuciones, aportando información espacial precisa sobre la vulnerabilidad de estas especies. Se analizó el efecto potencial de distintos escenarios de cambio climático sobre la distribución del conejo en España peninsular. Para la construcción de los modelos se han seleccionado una serie de variables predictoras tanto climáticas como no climáticas (topográficas, espaciales y actividad antrópica). A partir de la distribución conocida (presencias/ausencias) de la especie y del conjunto de variables, como técnica de modelación se aplicó una regresión logística multifactorial y el algoritmo de la función de favorabilidad. Los resultados mostraron un decrecimiento de zonas favorables en el futuro a medio-largo plazo, especialmente en los escenarios de cambio climático más extremos, con caídas de hasta un 26% de zonas potencialmente favorables. Se encontró que el factor puro climático explicó un 9,79% del modelo y los factores no climáticos un 12,60%, habiendo un gran solapamiento entre ambos (77,60%). El decrecimiento potencial observado de la distribución, así como la proporción de explicación del clima, especialmente en su efecto compartido, confirman la necesidad de implementar medidas de adaptación al cambio climático para esta especie, tanto legislativas, como de conservación ex situ e in situ, a corto plazo