The Role of Time for the Competitiveness of SMEs in the Service Sector

This paper aims to highlight the analysis of the integrated role of time and knowledge factors for the SME competitiveness in the service sector, in the perspective of an intersystemic co-evolution. Particularly, it refers to hotels. The analysis is developed from a conceptual base emphasizing time value in its subjective (i.e. socio-cultural) perspective, in the recursive setting of firm knowledge, here synthesized within the time-knowledge binomial, and cal-led co-evolutionary time. The appropriateness of this analysis is motivated by the observation of the evolutionary dynamics emerging in this sector. The paper combines theory and practice thanks to the case study of the Sextantio “albergo diffuso”, a hotel appreciated throughout the world for its innovative business.Time, knowledge, Systemness, Co-evolution, Competitive Advantage, hotel SME

Competitiveness and sustainability in tourism industry: the "albergo diffuso" case study

The objective of the analysis developed in this paper is to verify whether the sustainability of the hotel ospitality model contributes to the competitiveness of tourist destinations. The research question is: does the model of “albergo diffuso” satisfy the requirement for a social, economic and environmental sustainability? The research method adopted consisted in a survey with the submission of a questionnaire to a number of alberghi diffusi operating worldwide, that is 130 units of analysis. The submission period went from October to December 2016. Through the questionnaire submitted to the interviewees it has been possible to analyze the motivation for the business start-up as well as the characteristics of the entrepreneur, the managerial systems and the governance style. The results will be analyzed through the application of the Weaver model (2014; 2017) which is considered essential to evaluate the contribution of the albergo diffuso to tourism sustainability. The implementation of the Weaver matrix to evaluate the contribution of the albergo diffuso to the sustainability of a tourist destination is the original element of the paper. The paper discusses the implications of sustainability with particular regards to the “albergo diffuso”. Therefore, it would be suitable to expand the analysis to additional models of tourist hospitality present in the international tourism scenario

Immigrant women’s entrepreneurship: is there a development model in Italy?

The aim of this paper is to verify if there is a typical enterprise model for the development of immigrant female entrepreneurship in Italy. Based on the literature on the subject, however, it is useful to ask the following research question: “can membership in a national and international network facilitate the development of immigrant female entrepreneurship operating in Italy”? The survey was carried out by submitting a questionnaire to a sample of immigrant women entrepreneurs in the textile and clothing sector based in Italy. The choice fell on this specific economic segment because it represents the third largest sector for the number of female immigrant entrepreneurs (2.271 units) which amounts to 16% of the total number of entrepreneurs operating in the same sector. The percentage of respondents was 35%, with 795 completed questionnaires. The structure of the questionnaire reflects the need to examine the personal features of female entrepreneurs, the organizational aspects and the style of leadership, the task environment in which the enterprise works and the main possible benefits, or obstacles, they might obtain, or face. In addition to the objective of enlarging the literature regarding the management and governance of businesses run by women entrepreneurs, that is quite limited to date, this paper is a contribution to the analysis of a possible development model of women entrepreneurs

Development perspectives of relational capital in women-led firms

The purpose of the paper is to analyze the strategic role of relational capital for the achievement of sustainable development in Italian micro and small tourist businesses run by women. The paper focuses on the tourism enterprises because that sector constitute 10 % of the Italian GDP. The qualitative research methodology that has been used is that of case study research (Yin, 2009). Such process consisted in a survey with an ad-hoc questionnaire developed to analyze the distinctive features of a woman-owned micro and small enterprise that can be identified with the CAOS model (Paoloni, 2011). The paper applies the CAOS model examining the personal characteristics of the female entrepreneur (C); the environment in which the in SMEs operates (A); organizational and managerial aspects (O); and the motivations for manage a new business (S). This model is able to link these factors and classify different types of connections, it is possible to identify the kind of existing relations. The paper intends to help address a gap in the existing literature regarding the management and governance of tourism firms run by women. The paper can contribute to improving the competitiveness Italian enterprises studying how women entrepreneurs manage her business

Sustainability development and competitiveness of Rome as a tourist destination

Objectives – The aim of the paper is to study the sustainability level of the city of Rome (Italy) as a tourist destination. The paper’s basic assumption is based on the fact that, compared to other international tourist destinations, Rome is high on the list as far as the number of international visitors is concerned, yet it is not the city at the top of the list. Design/Methodology/Approach – The methodology used is that of case study research (Yin, 2003). The results will be evaluated by applying the Weaver model (2000, 2011). According to Weaver, the competitiveness of a tourist destination depends on the level of sustainability of tourism development. Originality/Value – Sustainability implies that tourist destinations are governed and managed in such a way as to satisfy the expectations of the visitor in accordance with the socio-economic and natural environment in which such destinations operate. Thus the management of the sustainability of the destination is an essential ingredient in the development of the entire surrounding area. As a tourist destination, the city has made great efforts to diversify its offer to visitors, including new infrastructural, cultural and sport facilities in order to enhance its attraction as a tourist site, and as a result, to encourage new businesses and provide employment. Practical Implications – The relationship between sustainability and competitiveness is based on the belief that businesses that pursue environmental and economic and social performance improvements may benefit from these activities

Modelling the Effect of Spiritual Tourism Motivators on Spiritual Tourism Consumption

This paper aims to study the influence of spiritual tourism motivators on spiritual tourism consumption. A structured questionnaire was distributed to respondents in all regions of India who are either tourists working in the tourism industry or academic experts. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were duly confirmed. Structural equation modelling (SEM) uses Smart PLS software to analyse the data. The findings suggest that a motivated tourist has an approximately ninety-one per cent chance of undertaking spiritual tourism. Thus, spiritual tourism consumption is a function of tourists\u27 spiritual level, marketing of spiritual tourism, tourist role in planning, psychological state of tourist, stakeholder\u27s behaviour, tourist demographics, and destination attractiveness. The stakeholders perceive that destination attractiveness is reflected in local community participation, affordability of destination, infrastructure, accessibility, and types of attractions present. The study proposes an extension of the scale to incorporate the impact of COVID-19 and explore possibilities for spiritual tourism development post-pandemic

Geometry of Lax pairs: particle motion and Killing-Yano tensors

A geometric formulation of the Lax pair equation on a curved manifold is studied using phase space formalism. The corresponding (covariantly conserved) Lax tensor is defined and the method of generation of constants of motion from it is discussed. It is shown that when the Hamilton equations of motion are used, the conservation of the Lax tensor translates directly to the well known Lax pair equation, with one matrix identified with components of the Lax tensor and the other matrix constructed from the (metric) connection. A generalization to Clifford objects is also discussed. Nontrivial examples of Lax tensors for geodesic and charged particle motion are found in spacetimes admitting hidden symmetry of Killing--Yano tensors.Comment: 13 pages, 1 figur

Electron in higher-dimensional weakly charged rotating black hole spacetimes

We demonstrate separability of the Dirac equation in weakly charged rotating black hole spacetimes in all dimensions. The electromagnetic field of the black hole is described by a test field approximation, with vector potential proportional to the primary Killing vector field. It is shown that the demonstrated separability can be intrinsically characterized by the existence of a complete set of mutually commuting first order symmetry operators generated from the principal Killing-Yano tensor. The presented results generalize the results on integrability of charged particle motion and separability of charged scalar field studied in [1].Comment: 12 pages, no figure

Evolving Themes in Dark Tourism Research: A Review Study

The purpose of this paper is to identify the evolving themes in dark tourism research. The increase in death-related incidents in the last few years has increased the consumption of dark tourism, igniting a resurgence of dark tourism literature. This study retrieves 363 articles published in Scopus-indexed journals from 1996 to 2021, using the SPAR-4 SLR technique to identify the themes using Sci2 and Gephi software. Keyword co-occurrence network, Bibliographic coupling network, and Collaboration networks were used to identify the knowledge clusters in dark tourism literature. The study reveals that existing studies have largely focused on the scope of dark tourism, destination identification and management, marketing aspects, motives, experiences, and engagement, and mitigating moral and ethical dilemmas. As the themes have remained consistent since the past studies, the study concludes that the research on DT has become stagnated, and there is a need for a novel approach. For that, it recommends that the scope of dark tourism should be enhanced beyond heritage tourism and promoted as a tool for global peace. Further, several gaps in marketing and visit and emotional engagement aspects are identified that could become the research agendas in future studies

Innovazione e cooperazione per la competitività delle imprese ricettive: tra agriturismi e alberghi diffusi

Obiettivo del presente lavoro è verificare se lo sviluppo di innovative formule turistiche ricettive, generate dal rapporto che si viene a creare tra l’impresa e l’ambiente, quali segnatamente l’agriturismo e l’albergo diffuso, possa costituire una modalità per l’avvio di un processo di creazione di nuova imprenditorialità, in un’area come quella italiana caratterizzata da una forte vocazione turistica. In virtù di ciò l’ipotesi alla base del presente lavoro è verificare se lo sviluppo dei rapporti intersistemici di matrice cooperativa, tra le imprese agrituristiche e gli alberghi diffusi e tra queste strutture ricettive ed il contesto socio-economico di riferimento, possa rappresentare una possibile modalità per rafforzare la competitività del sistema turistico nello scenario turistico internazionale. Il perseguimento del suddetto obiettivo può costituire un importante punto di partenza diagnostico per la ricerca di specifiche soluzioni che, coerentemente con le situazioni contestuali, si dimostrino capaci di rafforzare la competitività della realtà indagata.The aim of this work is to verify if the development of innovative accommodation tourist firms (agri-businesses and “albergo diffuso”) might be a way to start a creating process of new entrepreneurship, in an area like that of Italy characterized by tourist strong. Hence the assumption is to verify if the development of intersystemic relations between the firms and the “alberghi diffusi” and between these and the environment might be a possible ways to improve the competitiveness of the tourist sector. The pursuit of that goal may be an important diagnostic point of departure for the search of specific solutions that, based on the contextual circumstances, prove capable of strengthening the competitiveness of the investigated reality