Food crises in developing countries: the role of national governance

This repository item contains a single issue of Issues in Brief, a series of policy briefs that began publishing in 2008 by the Boston University Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future. This paper is part of The Project on Food and Development, a Pardee Center program of research, publications and symposia exploring the relationship between global food policy and development in its various dimensions. The project is generously supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands. The views expressed in this paper are strictly those of the author and should not be assumed to represent the views of Boston University or the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality of the Netherlands.This paper looks at the recent price increases in food commodities and using Pakistan as a case study it concludes the national governance is a key component in understanding what happened and why. This paper is part of The Project on Food and Development, a Pardee Center program of research, publications and symposia exploring the relationship between global food policy and development in its various dimensions

Diversity and inclusion as indicators of sustainable human resources management in the international hospitality industry

This research paper discusses the notion of sustainable human resources management (SHRM). In order to deal with current and expected talent deficiencies for the international hospitality industry, innovating approaches to HRM are highly needed. An important focus within SHRM in this research is put on the necessity for companies to consider a diversity and inclusion (D&I) policy as part of a wider sustainable HRM strategy. The literature on SHRM is still limited although particularly outside the hospitality industry in other sectors there is a growing sense for the importance to the approach. The De Prins SHRM Framework visualises four perspectives to the topic. To illustrate how an inside-out company analysis can provide the elements to further develop SHRM and specifically its D&I intentions, the case of Hotel X is presented. D&I management, action needed, leadership in D&I, organisational responsibility, D&I supporting business, and Hotel X’s current paradigm are discussed in detail. Conclusions and recommendations for Hotel X and other companies in the hospitality industry include: implementing a sustainable HRM strategy including D&I policies, and setting up a monitoring mechanism to measure metrics that demonstrate if the strategy is successful. Metrics recommended to implement are: job yield, skills inventories, promotion rates, and external market share.Keywords: case study, innovation, metrics, monitoring mechanisms, sustainable human resources managemen

Customer behaviour in restaurants before and during COVID-19: A study in Vietnam

The foodservice industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world and it contributes to the development of the Vietnamese economy. However, with the appearance of COVID-19, this industry has been affected. The purpose of this study is twofold, to find out if there is a difference in customer behaviour before and during COVID-19, and to determine the most important factor that customers consider before and during their visit to a restaurant. To reach this aim, a quantitative method is conducted together with a snowball, and volunteer sampling method in which 117 people have participated from different age groups. The study found out that layout /design has the biggest influence on customer satisfaction and cleanliness is the factor that guests care about the most when choosing a restaurant to dine out. Additionally, safety regulations affect customer experience and their decision on restaurant selection. Moreover, delivery service is proved to continuously develop after the quarantine starts. Thus, restaurant managers are recommended to pay more attention to the cleanliness and safety regulations of the outlets during COVID-19. Regarding delivery companies, they should have competitive prices to attract more users

Exploring the impact of rebranding on stakeholders: a case study of Hotel Management School NHL Stenden

The purpose of this study is to provide a better insight into the impact of rebranding on stakeholders; the case for this study is the rebranding of the  Hotel Management School (HMS). This research has explored how the stakeholders have experienced rebranding and how the rebranding has  affected the brand identity, image and loyalty. A qualitative research method was used and data was gathered conducting semi-structured, face-to-  face interviews with the students, staff and industry partners. The data illustrates that due to effective internal communication the employees were not  affected by the rebranding. Nevertheless, the brand identity, image and loyalty did not have the same effect on the students and industry  partners. Thus, it is recommended that HMS pay more attention to improving the communication, rebuilding and expansion of the brand identity

Dynamic pricing and perceived fairness: a case study at a hotel on the West Frisian island of Vlieland, The Netherlands

The use of dynamic pricing strategies can have a tremendous impact on the hospitality industry. Understanding the variety in the type of customers and  the perceptions of customers concerning the fairness of dynamic pricing is essential. This study aimed to investigate how a dynamic pricing strategy  could positively affect the demand for a hotel located on the West Frisian island of Vlieland. This research was divided into four topics: determining  segments and corresponding booking processes, the importance of price when booking, perceived fairness of price change and how to influence  booking behaviour. This research used a survey that was presented to customers of the hotel in this case study for six weeks. Three hundred and sixty-  eight customers completed the survey. The evidence suggests that implementing a more elaborate pricing strategy would positively affect the demand  for this hotel. While price is still an essential factor when booking, it is concluded that this is not the most important consideration for consumers. If a  pricing strategy is implemented, the hotel can improve the occupancy rate and generate more hotel revenue while simultaneously keeping the  consumers satisfied. Relevant managerial implications include implementing peak load pricing to influence demand.&nbsp

Exploring hotel identity by focusing on customer experience analysis

Changing customer demands in the 21st century have led hotels to rethink their way of doing business. While most hotels operate with an internal focus, it is essential to examine interactions from the customer’s perspective. This study explored what makes a hotel’s identity through a customer experience analysis by interviewing nine customers using semi-structured interviews. The data was processed based on open, axial, and selective coding. The following themes emerged: the customer journey, hotel performance, physical and non-physical components, buying behaviour, and customer engagement. The findings show that guests reported positively about both hotels used in this study, and most of them stated that the overall experience exceeded their expectations. The determining factors in this outcome were the spacious rooms, unique interior design, and product quality. The hotel staff’s excellent and personalised service mainly made most of their experience an exceptional stay. The study concluded that boutique-style hotels create a unique experience which could be a determinant for return guests. Keywords: customer satisfaction, guest service, hotel performance, service qualit

Forest related interventions and the stakeholders of forests in the Northwest Frontier Province of Pakistan

The forests of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan are vanishing at a high rate in spite of more than two decades of donor led interventions and extensive forest governance systems led by the state. Failure of most of the forest related projects and policies in meeting their intended objectives calls for searching out the underlying causes of the ineffectiveness of such interventions. Many development researchers have stressed the importance of stakeholder analysis. A holistic analysis of stakeholders, conflicts and power relations is an essential step to ensure the sustainability of development interventions and active participation of local actors. A wide range of actors can influence or be influenced by any forest related intervention in the NWFP. This paper, therefore, presents an exploratory analysis of the stakeholders' characteristics, power relations and conflicts in the context of interventions in the forestry sector of the NWFP. Various groups of stakeholders, for example, local communities, civil society organizations, religious and traditional institutions, state agencies, global actors, etc., are trying to operate within the contested political arena of the NWFP. This paper shows that on the one hand, the state as well as donor led interventions do not really engage in a meaningful dialogue with local stakeholders and institutions, and on the other hand, these entities themselves are not in a position to initiate a change in the local resource use. Thus, a way forward is seen in fostering a dialogue among key stakeholders

The longitudinal bidirectional relationship between autistic traits and brain morphology from childhood to adolescence:a population-based cohort study

OBJECTIVE: Autistic traits are associated with alterations in brain morphology. However, the anatomic location of these differences and their developmental trajectories are unclear. The primary objective of this longitudinal study was to explore the bidirectional relationship between autistic traits and brain morphology from childhood to adolescence. METHOD: Participants were drawn from a population-based cohort. Cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses included 1950 (mean age 13.5) and 304 participants (mean ages 6.2 and 13.5), respectively. Autistic traits were measured with the Social Responsiveness Scale. Global brain measures and surface-based measures of gyrification, cortical thickness and surface area were obtained from T(1)-weighted MRI scans. Cross-sectional associations were assessed using linear regression analyses. Cross-lagged panel models were used to determine the longitudinal bidirectional relationship between autistic traits and brain morphology. RESULTS: Cross-sectionally, higher levels of autistic traits in adolescents are associated with lower gyrification in the pars opercularis, insula and superior temporal cortex; smaller surface area in the middle temporal and postcentral cortex; larger cortical thickness in the superior frontal cortex; and smaller cerebellum cortex volume. Longitudinally, both autistic traits and brain measures were quite stable, with neither brain measures predicting changes in autistic traits, nor vice-versa. LIMITATIONS: Autistic traits were assessed at only two time points, and thus we could not distinguish within- versus between-person effects. Furthermore, two different MRI scanners were used between baseline and follow-up for imaging data acquisition. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings point to early changes in brain morphology in children with autistic symptoms that remain quite stable over time. The observed relationship did not change substantially after excluding children with high levels of autistic traits, bolstering the evidence for the extension of the neurobiology of autistic traits to the general population. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13229-022-00504-7