Knowledge Management in Hospitality and Tourism Industry: A KM Research Perspective

Nowadays, the business landscape is changing rapidly and the competitive environment is no longer predictable. Survival and success depend entirely on the organization's ability to adjust to the dynamics of the business environment by making effective decision-making and proper utilization of skills and knowledge of employees. These are recent developments that represent the recognition of knowledge as a key competitive tool for the hospitality and tourism sector because need to upgrade their customer service to a much higher plane in order to survive in this competitive environment.  Tourism, as one of the world’s major economic sectors will ultimately be required to adapt to these changes. But, hospitality and tourism industry has been slow in adopting KM approach. Therefore, suggestion if hospitality and tourism sector as an activity-based service sector that information and knowledge are fundamental want to remain competitive in this changing era, the adoption of a knowledge management approach will be required. This paper presents an overview of the relatively new concept of knowledge management and the issues in applying such an approach to a sector such as hospitality and tourism. Keywords: Knowledge, Knowledge Management, Hospitality and Tourism Industry, Review

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Does Micro-Credit Empower Women through Self-Help Groups? Evidence from Punjab, Northern India

The goal of this paper is to examine the question—‘Does income earned by members of women’s self-help groups (SHGs) through micro-credit programs empower them?’ The nature of the topic dictates the use of cross-sectional survey technique and comparative analysis to determine the levels of women empowerment before and after joining SHGs. A five-point Likert-type scale was developed, for which Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficient was observed to be 0.824. The survey instrument contained four sections, namely, income and expenditure; savings and borrowing amounts; financial freedom; and, capacity building and awareness levels. A sample group consisting of 114 participants of SHGs responded to the survey instrument. The t-test results for mean values before and after joining SHGs showed a significant change in levels of women empowerment in all the four areas. The prime reason for this empowerment was joining SHGs and using micro-credit programmes. It becomes apparent from this research that joining SHGs, and consequently, getting access to financial services increased the ability of poor women to control their savings and generate income from their occupation. They also experienced a greater decision-making role in their families and in local society, enhanced levels of self-confidence, self-efficacy and self-esteem, and heightened freedom of mobility to increase business and social activities outside home

Nacionalinio viešosios politikos formavimo globalizacija: tarptautinė perspektyva

Globalization has had effects on different issues of society, especially in policy and policy-making. Policy-making in this era, i.e. the era of globalization, is different when comparing it with policy-making of other era. It needs policy makers to manage the situation well and look globally instead of thinking just locally. On this basis, the aim of this paper is to study globalization in general and its impacts on the national policy agenda first; then, some global context that has an important role in national policy-making, such as environment, poverty and population growth, aids, drugs, trade and industry, privatization and terrorism, is studied.Globalizacija visuomenę veikia įvairiais aspektais. Ypatingai globalizacijos įtaka visuomenei pasireiškia per politiką ir viešosios politikos formavimą. Dabartiniu laikmečiu, t. y. globalizacijos epochoje, viešosios politikos formavimas yra kitoks, negu buvo bet kada iki šiol. Šioje eroje politikos formuotojai privalo sugebėti gerai reaguoti į besikeičiančias sąlygas ir mąstyti globaliai, o ne lokaliai. Atsižvelgiant į tai šio straipsnio tikslas yra (i) išnagrinėti bendruosius globalizacijos bruožus ir jos poveikį nacionalinei viešosios politikos darbotvarkei, (ii) išanalizuoti kai kurias pasaulines, formuojant nacionalinę viešąją politiką reikšmingas tendencijas tokiose srityse, kaip aplinkos apsauga, skurdo didėjimas ir gyventojų skaičiaus augimas, AIDS, narkotikų vartojimas, prekyba ir pramonė, privatizacija, terorizmas

The role of intellectual capital in promoting knowledge management initiatives

This paper investigates the role of intellectual capital in promotion of successful knowledge management (KM) initiatives. The conclusions are based on the results of field studies conducted in the subsidiary companies of Ministry of Energy of Islamic Republic of Iran (Sistan & Baluchestan Province). Before designing the conceptual framework, relevant literature pertaining to the history of the work at hand, was reviewed by the researcher. Based on the opinions of external experts, university professors and organization’s experienced executives, a research model was developed. Tools such as textual analysis and interviews were employed to explore relationships between intellectual capital and knowledge management. A survey was conducted using a structured questionnaire which measured research variables like intellectual capital indexes and KM processes. The output of structural equations models (SEM) and LISREL statistical software showed that intellectual capital and its components have direct effects in promoting KM processes in the subsidiary companies of Ministry of Energy of Islamic Republic of Iran (Sistan & Baluchestan Province). By improving intellectual capital and its indexes, knowledge management can be improved