1984 research outputs found
Sort by
Effect of Market Channel, Farm Scale, and Years in Production on Mid-Atlantic Vegetable Producers\u27 Knowledge and Implementation of Good Agricultural Practices
Get PDFFoodborne illnesses associated with fresh produce have dramatically increased within the last decade. Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) were developed to address potential sources of pre-harvest microbial contamination, but certification remains low. The majority of mid-Atlantic vegetable farms are fresh market, but limited information is available about what on-farm production practices are being utilized to mitigate food safety risks. Our goal was to assess Maryland and Delaware vegetable producers\u27 understanding and implementation of GAP. An electronic survey on pre-harvest production practices was administered at commercial grower meetings in 2010 and 2013. A total of 313 surveys were analyzed, and Probit regression was used to estimate the average marginal effects of farm scale, years in production and market channel on the probability of using different on-farm food safety practices. Generally, food safety practices did not differ across farm scale or years in production. However, market channel did influence a grower\u27s decision to implement some food safety practices. Growers who marketed their produce primarily through wholesale channels were more likely to: have written policies for how they grew and handled their produce, test their irrigation water at least once a year for microbial contamination, or be GAP-certified. Economic constraints were not reported as the primary obstacle for GAP implementation in either survey. While more research is needed to better understand how market channel influences decision-making activities including on-farm food safety practices, this study highlights the complexity of the issue and the need for GAP educational programs to expand beyond a one-size-fits-all approach
Implementing Service Innovations in European Hotels
Get PDFThis paper examines the impact of postadoption innovation implementation strategies on five distinct performance outcomes. Using a sample of 85 hotels in Europe, the study explores which implementation strategies are most strongly linked to specific innovation outcomes and competitive performance. The results reveal that employee enabling implementation strategies have a positive direct effect on employee performance and indirect effects on customer sentiment outcomes and the operational performance of the innovation. Administratively driven implementation strategies had a positive direct effect on customer comparative performance, and an indirect effect on a firm’s comparative operational performance as hypothesized. Finally, owners were more likely to be idea generators and principal early supporters of successful innovations, highlighting the power of top-down approaches to championing change within the European context
What’s Next in Loyalty Programs: Highlights of the 2014 Cornell Loyalty Program Management Roundtable
Get PDFLoyalty programs have hit the maturity stage in the hospitality industries,” stated loyalty roundtable chair Michael McCall, as he opened the first session, “and many firms are now struggling to demonstrate the return on the investment in these programs and also to advance them to the next level. The goal of this roundtable is to discuss ways loyalty program executives can continue to extract value for these programs.” Held in Spring 2014 at the School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University, the roundtable brought together leading practitioners and researchers to examine ways to improve loyalty program management
Competitive Hotel Pricing in Europe: An Exploration of Strategic Positioning
Get PDFThis study explores the effects of competitor pricing levels on relative revenue on a sample of over 4,000 hotels in Europe over a ten-year period (2004–2013). Hotels in this European sample, which included both independent and chain-affiliated properties, achieved higher revenue per available room (RevPAR) than direct competitors when they positioned their hotels with comparatively higher prices. These data revealed that regardless of the economic situation of the time period, hotels that positioned with average daily rates (ADRs) above those of their direct competitors benefited from higher relative RevPAR even though they experienced lower comparative occupancies. This finding was stronger for chain-affiliated hotels than for independent hotels. Maintaining a consistent relative price over time (as compared to having a fluctuating price) did not significantly affect revenue performance, controlling for hotel type and location. A further analysis of hotels in the Netherlands likewise found the same connection between relatively higher rates and revenue. As is the case with previous, similar studies, the findings argue for a firm, strategic approach to pricing, rather than a reactive or strictly tactical approach
Managing Rentals with Usage-Based Loss
No full textMotivated by new and innovative rental business models, this paper develops a novel discrete-time model of a rental operation with random loss of inventory due to customer use. The inventory level is chosen before the start of a finite rental season, and customers not immediately served are lost. Our analysis framework uses stochastic comparisons of sample paths to derive structural results that hold under good generality for demands, rental durations, and rental unit lifetimes. Considering different \recirculation rules | i.e., which rental unit to choose to meet each demand | we prove the concavity of the expected profit function and identify the optimal recirculation rule. A numerical study clarifies when considering rental unit loss and recirculation rules matters most for the inventory decision: Accounting for rental unit loss can increase the expected profit by 7% for a single season and becomes even more important as the time horizon lengthens. We also observe that the optimal inventory level in response to increasing loss probability is non-monotonic. Finally, we show that choosing the optimal recirculation rule over another simple policy allows more rental units to be profitably added, and the profit-maximizing service level increases by up to 6 percentage points
Impacts of the Food Safety Modernization Act on On-Farm Food Safety Practices for Small and Sustainable Produce Growers
Get PDFWe use data from a national survey of fruit and vegetable growers to examine the current prevalence and cost burden of food safety practices required in the proposed Produce Rule implementing the Food Safety Modernization Act. In particular, we analyze the influence of farm size and farming practices on the probability of adopting food safety measures that would be required by the Produce Rule; and we analyze how the costs of using those food safety practices vary by farm size and farm practices. Majorities of our respondents currently employ most of the food safety practices that would be required under the proposed Produce Rule, but a large number of growers will nonetheless face significant changes to meet the Rule’s requirements. We do not find any effect of farm size on the probability of using food safety measures, but we find that food safety costs significant economies of scale. Sustainable farming practices are negatively correlated with the probability of testing and conducting field inspections, and they are associated with increased costs for testing and sampling, harvest container sanitation, and written records relative to conventional growers. While our estimates indicate that small and sustainable growers would face more significant changes and more burdensome costs to comply with the proposed Produce Rule, in our sample most of them would ultimately be exempt from the rule either based on farm size or the Tester-Hagan exemption
Foreword
Get PDF[Excerpt] Welcome to the 2015 edition of the Cornell Real Estate Review (CRER), a publication that features practical, applied research interspersed with commercial real estate cases and industry awards relied upon by our readers. The Cornell Real Estate Review, similar to the Law Review structure found in most US Law Schools, is edited and managed by graduate students in the two-year Cornell University Baker Program in Real Estate who serve as the managerial and editorial staff with Cornell faculty oversight. Selection as editor of the Cornell Real Estate Review is the most prestigious honor available in the Baker Program in Real Estate at Cornell University, and 2014-15 Co-Editors Dan Gualtieri (Baker \u2715), Nicholas Martinez (Baker \u2715) and Clayton Roach (Baker ’15) continued the tradition of dedication and professionalism that have come to symbolize Cornell Real Estate Review Editors as well as implemented practices that will serve the Review for years to come
Earnings Announcements and Investor Focus in the Hospitality Industry
No full textThis study examines how the release of multiple firms’ earnings announcements on the same day combines with human attention constraints to affect the trading of hospitality stocks. We document two opposing effects. We find that a rush of earnings announcements from nonhospitality firms leads to investor distraction and reduces the reaction of hospitality stocks to earnings news. Conversely, we find that multiple announcements by firms within the hospitality sector lead to increased investor focus and larger hospitality stock reactions to news. Our results show that multiple announcements can either diminish or enhance investors’ reactions to company news, which directly affects the incorporation of new information into hospitality stock prices
In Our Own Backyard: When a Less Inclusive Community Challenges Organizational Inclusion
Get PDFPurpose– The purpose of this paper is to build insight into how the local community impacts an organization’s ability to develop an inclusive culture. The paper introduces the concept of inclusion disconnects as incongruent experiences of inclusion between an organization and its community. Then, using the case of teaching hospitals, the paper empirically demonstrates how individuals and organizations experience and deal with inclusion disconnects across the boundaries of organization and community.
Design/methodology/approach– A multi-method qualitative study was conducted in hospitals located in the same city. Focus groups were conducted with 11 medical trainees from underrepresented backgrounds and semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten leaders involved with diversity efforts at two hospitals. Data analysis followed an iterative approach built from Miles and Huberman (1994).
Findings– The findings demonstrate how boundary conflicts arise from disconnected experiences of organizational and community inclusiveness. Such disconnects create challenges for leaders in retaining and supporting minority individuals, and for trainees in feeling like they could build a life within, and outside of, their organizations. Based on findings from the data, the paper offers insights into how organizations can build their capacity to address these challenges by engaging in boundary work across organizational and community domains.
Research limitations/implications– Future research should build upon this work by further examining how inclusion disconnects between communities and organizations impact individuals and organizations.
Practical implications– The paper includes in-depth insight into how organizations can build their capacity to address such a deep-rooted challenge that comes from a less inclusive community.
Originality/value– This paper contributes to an understanding of how forces from the community outside an organization can shape internal efforts toward fostering inclusion and individuals’ experiences of inclusion
Who Are My Employees?
Get PDFThe legal landscape for employers is changing. Led by the National Labor Relations Board (the “NLRB”), there is a growing trend to hold employers accountable, not only for their own employees, but also for the employees of their contractors, franchisees, and others with whom they do business. This increased accountability results from the expanding definition of “joint employer.