Abertay Enterprise Framework:business awareness beyond subject learning

This paper proposes a new approach to developing business skills more broadly across the graduate cohort in Scotland. The approach has been developed as a response to a previous study of employers1 - particularly SMEs - and through anecdotal evidence from tutors who send students on work placements. This evidence showed a clear gap in the business skillsets of graduates in areas such as marketing, human resource management and leadership. The approach designated Abertay Enterprise Framework has been developed to run from SCQF 7 to 10 (the normal length of a degree programme). Instead of studying business related topics in isolation (e.g. a module on introductory marketing) the topics will be integrated into the students’ cognate area of study in such a way as to show the interconnectedness of these themes and their chosen subject area. This combination allows students to enter and leave the framework at different SCQF levels without requiring prerequisite knowledge

Piloting a Portfolio of Experiential Learning Activities for International Business Students

The paper reflects on the practice of implementing a portfolio of experiential learning activities in workshops involving undergraduate students in an international business management module. The aim of the workshops was to bridge the gap between theory and practice and steer students toward an inductive and collaborative learning experience. The paper presents a series of nine activity-based workshops designed to reinforce theoretical concepts taught during lectures. Based on qualitative data from the module evaluation questionnaire, we found that the workshops significantly improved students’ learning experience, as well as enhanced their engagement with the module. This paper provides practitioners with practical materials and insights which can be immediately applied to teaching international business in a classroom environment. Moreover, by implementing a portfolio of experiential learning activities that provides a wide range of opportunities for students to experience first-hand real-world challenges, this approach is expected to aid their learning process at a crucial point of their academic careers

The relationship between the management accounting techniques and the decision making in Portuguese hotels

This study examines the hospitality decision makers’ use of management accounting. The making decisions’ process involves several of steps. It is need accurate information for the hotel managers make a good decision. Management accounting (MA) can provide this kind of information. A lot of MA techniques are concerned with the preparation of specialized information. We have studied the MA techniques that are currently being used by different types of Portuguese hotels, and we relate that with the importance that is given to decision making by hotel managers. The sample includes 61 hotels, which were analyzed between 2010 and 2012. We verified that the hotel managers have different behaviors regarding the use of MA techniques, which depends of their opinion about the utility of management accounting

Global board games project:a cross-border entrepreneurship experiential learning initiative

Entrepreneurship training and development in the context of higher education has grown tremendously over the past four decades. What began as offerings of a handful of courses aimed primarily at business planning and small business management has evolved into over 3.000 higher education institutions around the world offering degree programs and concentrations in entrepreneurship on both undergraduate and graduate levels (Morris, Kuratko and Cornwall, 2013). Universities – particularly in the USA, UK and EU – have invested into developing entrepreneurship curricula but also extra-curricular programs and infrastructure aimed at supporting enterprise development. It is consensus among educators that entrepreneurship can be taught (Kuratko, 2005). Indeed, entrepreneurship education research has become a field in its own right (Fayolle, Gailly and Lassas‐Clerc, 2006; Pittaway and Cope, 2007; Penaluna, Penaluna and Jones, 2012; Fayolle, 2013; Fayolle and Gailly, 2015; Pittaway et al., 2015; Nabi et al., 2017). As literature indicates, entrepreneurship education can have an important impact on a variety of outcomes, including entrepreneurial intentions and behaviours. Intentions are a motivation to engage in certain behaviour that is geared towards venture creation (Gibb, 2008, 2011) as well as recognition and exploitation of opportunities (Shane and Venkataraman, 2000). Moreover, research has also identified the impact of entrepreneurship education on more subjective indicators such as attitudes (Boukamcha, 2015), perceived feasibility (Rauch and Hulsink, 2015), and skills and knowledge (Greene and Saridakis, 2008). Recently, the literature on the best practices in entrepreneurship education has centred on the importance of experiential learning allowing students to create knowledge from their interactions with the environment (Kolb, 1984). The key to effective experiential learning is engaging students individually and socially in a situation that enables them to interact with elements of the entrepreneurial context thus moving them away from text-driven to action-driven learning mode (Morris, Kuratko and Cornwall, 2013). Increasingly, digital technologies have been leveraged to create a learning environment that provides opportunities for experiential learning (Onyema and Daniil, 2017). This chapter provides findings of a study related to the development and implementation of a collaborative, digitally supported simulation project aimed at enhancing entrepreneurial social skills in an international context

As técnicas de contabilidade de gestão nas unidades hoteleiras portuguesas

O turismo é uma das principais actividades económicas da economia mundial, e Portugal, cada vez mais, é considerado um destino turístico de excelência. Deste modo, é cada vez mais notório o aumento de competitividade entre as unidades hoteleiras. Assim, a tomada de decisões pelos gestores hoteleiros deverá ser optimizada, e uma forma de o fazer será utilizando uma contabilidade de gestão eficaz. Este estudo tem como objectivo caracterizar a contabilidade de gestão nas unidades hoteleiras de Portugal, identificando as técnicas tradicionais e contemporâneas adoptadas, o conhecimento e adopção do Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI), se os utilizadores da informação estão satisfeitos com a informação de gestão existente, e determinar quais são os factores que influenciam uma unidade hoteleira a adoptar determinadas técnicas de contabilidade de gestão. Para tal optou-se pela recolha de dados junto de diversas unidades hoteleiras de Portugal Continental, através de entrevistas personalizadas que foram realizadas em 2009 e 2010. Os dados obtidos foram sujeitos a um tratamento estatístico. Verificou-se, que a utilização de técnicas de contabilidade de gestão pelas unidades hoteleiras é influenciada pela existência de uma empresa mãe, pelo tamanho da unidade hoteleira medido através do volume de vendas, bem como pelas características do meio ambiente onde estão inseridas

The influence of the environmental and organizational factors in the management accounting of the Portuguese hotels

This article presents an overview of the development of Management accounting (MA) in Portuguese hospitality industry. So, we have analyzed the MA techniques that are currently being used by different types of hotels. The sample includes 61 hotels, which were analyzed in the years 2010, 2011 and 2012. MA is a tool incorporated in the daily management practices of Portuguese hotels. However, we verified that the hotels have different behaviors in this area, which entailed a comprehensive study on the causes of this diversity. We applied the contingency theory to explain our findings, because this theory is based on the premise that the MA techniques are not used equally by all organizations. The findings indicate that the intensity of competition, perceived environmental uncertainty, decentralization, formalization and standardization influence the MA techniques in a hotel

Management accounting practices in the Portuguese lodging industry

Nowadays it is becoming more notorious the increase in competition within the hotel and lodging industry, thus making more relevant the decision making process for managers, in what concerns the effective use of accounting tools to provide the necessary framework of information for their decisions. This study as the purpose of characterizing management accounting techniques in Portugal, identifying the traditional and contemporary techniques, the use of USALI, if the decision makers are satisfied with the information available, and determine which factors influence the industry to adopt a certain technique

Management accounting in Portuguese hotel enterprises : the influence of organizational and cultural factors

Management accounting has evolved in order to respond to the increasing challenges imposed by the hotel and lodging industry This study as the objective of characterizing management accounting in the Portuguese lodging industry, particularly in hotels, identifying the techniques adopted, the deepness of their use, and understand the extent to which the industry adopts and use the Uniform System of Accounts for the Lodging Industry (USALI). It is also objective of the study to identify organizational structure and culture factors that influence management accounting, applying the contingency theory

Determinantes da contabilidade de gestão nas unidades hoteleiras de Portugal

É cada vez mais notório o aumento de competitividade entre as unidades hoteleiras. Assim, a tomada de decisões pelos gestores hoteleiros deverá ser optimizada, e uma forma de o fazer será utilizando uma contabilidade de gestão eficaz. Este estudo tem como objectivo caracterizar a contabilidade e controlo de gestão nas unidades hoteleiras de Portugal, identificando as técnicas tradicionais e contemporâneas adoptadas, o conhecimento e adopção do USALI, se os utilizadores da informação estão satisfeitos com a informação de gestão existente, e determinar quais são os factores que influenciam uma unidade hoteleira a adoptar determinadas técnicas de contabilidade de gestão

Management accounting in Portuguese hotel enterprises : update research

Management accounting (MA) techniques have evolved in the recent years in the various companies. We have studied the MA techniques that are currently being used by different types of hotels. The sample includes 61 hotels, which were analyzed between 2010 and 2012. MA is a tool incorporated in the daily management practices of Portuguese hotels. However, we verified that the hotels have different behaviors in this area, which entailed a comprehensive study on the causes of this diversity. We applied the contingency theory to explain our findings, because this theory is based on the premise that the MA techniques are not used equally by all organizations