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A PROPOSED MODEL OF FIRM LEVEL INNOVATIVENESS THE SMALL TOURISM FIRM
Get PDFNational reports advise that in order for the tourism industry to restore its competitiveness, Ireland must enhance the innovativeness of the tourism firm (The National Development Plan, 2007-2013: Tourism Policy Review, 2003). Despite this realisation, and despite numerous calls to explore tourism innovativeness, few research agendas have addressed this issue.
Theory suggests that if small tourism firms can strategically practice innovation, limited resources will be utilised to maximum capacity and profitability, subsequently improving competitiveness (Sundbo et al., 2007). However, extant research focuses on product-level innovation, ignoring the reality that small firms need to continually innovate as a firm-level strategy, especially since “innovations in and of themselves are not necessarily the key to long-term business success” (Siguaw et al., 2006: 556). A tourism firm’s long-term survival may rely more on overall strategic-level innovativeness that produces dynamic capabilities, which in turn enhances the development of innovations, and less on actual innovations (Abernathy and Utterback, 1978; Trott, 1998). Moreover, relatively little reported empirical research details how firms can achieve firm-level innovativeness (Markides, 1998), remaining a central dilemma for most small firms.
Researchers must meticulously examine the construct of innovativeness itself, since it has received conflicting conceptualisations; often used interchangeably with the terms ‘innovation orientation’ and ‘innovation’. Consequently, the current literature appears to lack consensus regarding what exactly constitutes ‘innovativeness’, resulting in an extensive knowledge gap. To date, little significant international research activity on innovativeness within the SME, and in particular within the small tourism firm, has emerged from the extant literature.
Drawing from prior work found in the organisational, product, tourism services, consumer, and psychology literatures over the past 48 years, this paper aims to theoretically propose a new multidimensional conceptualisation of firm-level innovativeness. In essence, the primary objective of this paper is to dissect the innovativeness construct and identify its key dimensions from the perspective of the firm
A resource‐based view of micro‐firm management practice
Get PDFPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a resource-based approach for exploring micro-firm management practice, as informed by the relevant literature. Specifically, the paper analyses available literature and catalogues micro-firm and managerial competence criteria in pursuit of managerial insights in this environment.
Design/methodology/approach – A comprehensive literature review precedes the conceptualisation of micro-firm management practice.
Findings – Literary findings suggest that, considering micro-firms’ internal resource constraints, minimal environmental power, and owner-centred culture, it is vital for these organisations to embed their valuable resource in their core business strategy, to ensure survival in the longer term. Furthermore, there is an assumption that knowledge must be used optimally within the micro-firm by
developing the analytical and critical skills of individuals, groups and the entire organisation so as to
sustain and grow these firms’ competitive advantage. Having identified and catalogued a range of factors that impact micro-firms, the authors propose a “resource taxonomy of micro-firm management practice”, which establishes factor interaction and the interrelationships between each resource in this environment. The purpose of this taxonomy is to assist in the analysis of management practices in the
micro-firm milieu.
Research limitations/implications – The authors go on to discuss taxonomy implications for micro-firm training policy and propose further exploration of micro-firm management practice and resource-based research in this environment.
Originality/value – Academic research, which focuses specifically on the micro-firm, has historically
been rare, despite multiple calls to study these firms in their own right. By proffering a “resource
taxonomy of micro-firm management practice”, the authors seek to inform this neglected research area.
Keywords - Resource management, Management activities, Small enterprises
Paper type - Conceptual Pape
Developing hospitality innovation through Supply Chain Collaboration
Get PDFAs economic clouds darken and the pressure on hospitality providers to cut costs and maintain competitiveness grows, the requirement for innovation and product development in the tourism sector continues to be of critical importance. The important question for the next decade is not whether hospitality organisations should innovate but rather how can they develop their innovative capability and what steps should they be taking to improve the likelihood of success in their innovation activities. Despite ongoing academic and practitioner research the answer to these important questions remains largely unanswered; as highlighted by Ottenbacher & Gnoth (2005) research on how to innovate in tourism and hospitality is not always clear. Recognising the significant gap in the innovation and business strategy literature this paper seeks to address a single aspect of these complex questions by empirically investigating whether one organisational activity, that of supply chain collaboration, plays a role in facilitating innovation in Irish hospitality.
Integrating suppliers into new product development has been found to be successful in improving the innovative capability of manufacturing organisations (Petersen, Handfield & Ragatz, 2005). However, some debate centres on whether techniques used by the manufacturing sector to enhance integration, such as supply chain management, can be applied to the service sector (Smith & Xiao, 2007; Murphy & Smith, 2009). Given that many hospitality operators do not have specific R&D departments, partnerships with suppliers are a potentially valuable way to support new product development (Jones, 1996), yet there is evidence to suggest that because of the ease by which service innovations can be imitated, service firms are often loath to share information and are less inclined to participate in collaborative networks (Sundbo, Orfila-Sintes & Sorenson, 2007). The research conducted involved a postal survey of 300 hospitality businesses and a number of interviews with case examples. The objective of which is to identify the extent to which supplier collaboration is practiced by hospitality organisations and to -ascertain if high levels of supply chain collaboration impact upon innovative capability.
The findings of the research indicate that whilst levels of trust and loyalty to suppliers are high, hospitality firms can certainly do more to proactively facilitate the deepening of their supply chain relationships. Organisations that go that extra mile and have entered into partnerships, involving the sharing of costs and resources with suppliers, have found it possible to develop unique selling points not available to competitors. The findings of the research point to a clear inter-dependency between the level of collaboration, information exchange, and risk sharing which in turn collectively impact upon an organisation‟s innovative capability.
The research findings provide empirical support of the author‟s assertion that increased supplier involvement can be of benefit to the development of an innovative capability in hospitality organisations. The implications of the study being that, for both practitioners and policy makers, links with suppliers should be encouraged in order to facilitate the development of an innovative capability. The findings are of great importance, particularly for the Irish tourism sector dominated by small to medium enterprises (SME‟s) which may lack the individual resources to invest in research and development activities alone
AN INTEGRATED MODEL FOR MANAGING INNOVATION IN THE EARLY STAGES OF NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT IN SMES(RIKON Group)
Get PDFThis paper centralises the management of innovation in the early stages of the new product development (NPD) process. The purpose of this paper is to describe the critical episodes that enabled an SME to successfully manage the development of new product concepts from inception and, in so doing, presents implementable guidelines that can be used by SMEs to manage the delivery of creative and attractive new product concepts in the early stages of NPD. Action research was used to conduct a three-phase methodology involving a single case study. First, a diagnosis phase investigated the nature of innovation within the company. In the second phase, a series of iterative interventions by the researchers provided participants with both the theory and practice skills to manage innovation. The third phase involved an evaluation of the extent to which change in managing innovation in the company had occurred. The findings highlight a vast and sustained improvement in Dudley Europe‟s innovation management of their early NPD stages
Policy-based Traffic Management in Home Area Network – An Elementary Testbed Model
Get PDFTraffic management in home area network (HAN) is different
from the traditional traffic management in access and core
networks. Traditionally network traffic works in best effort
fashion and the HAN services are usually accommodated on the
basis of first-in first-out rule. However quality can deteriorate when high number of users is connected to the HAN. Moreover the bursty traffic can also impact the quality by chocking the network traffic and blocking the network resources for all other traffic. Traffic management rules can be employed in HAN to prioritise different types of traffic according to user requirements. Dynamic configuration of network resources and services is multifaceted process, which requires many skills and knowledge. Policy-based Traffic Management (PBTM) can play a significant role in managing home networks and configuring the services dynamically according to HAN user requirements. This paper presents a testbed model for HAN to simplify traffic management process based on the principles of policy-based network management
Architectural Principles and Elements of In-Network Management
Get PDFRecent endeavors in addressing the challenges of the current and future Internet pursue a clean slate design methodology. Simultaneously, it is argued that the Internet is unlikely to be changed in one fell swoop and that its next generation requires an evolutionary design approach. Recognizing both positions, we claim that cleanness and evolution are not mutually exclusive, but rather complementary and indispensable properties for sustainable management in the future Internet.
In this paper we propose the in-network management (INM) paradigm, which adopts a clean slate design approach to the management of future communication networks that is brought about by evolutionary design principles. The proposed paradigm builds on embedded management capabilities to address the intrinsic nature, and hence, close relationship between the network and its management. At the same time, INM assists in the gradual adoption of embedded self-managing processes to progressively achieve adequate and practical degrees of INM. We demonstrate how INM can be exploited in current and future network management by its application to P2P networks
Re-Integration Life After Prison: An Evaulation of the You Are Equal Project
Get PDFThis research was commissioned by You’re Equal Ltd., a partnership organisation of
community and voluntary groups, local development organisations and statutory
agencies. It is funded in the main by the European Social Fund through the EQUAL
Programme. All of these groups are working together with the shared objective of
removing barriers to employment for ex-prisoners and stimulating and supporting
labour market activity.
The objective of this research project was to evaluate the work of the You’re Equal Project,
while working with prisoners, pre- and post-release, in helping them in their efforts to
seek and secure employment. Rather than simply measuring the success of this project
based on the number of participants who successfully secured employment, this study
seeks to explore the deeper issues associated with prisoners and ex-prisoners’ efforts
to become employable. This issue of participants’ employability will be considered in
relation to the barriers and supports that affect ex-prisoners’ ability to engage in work
on their release.
The aims of the research were to evaluate:
the macro elements involved in creating and sustaining the multiagency and
multidisciplinary collaboration central to the You‘re Equal Project;
the micro elements involved in the mentoring work.
Research process
This research has provided a forum for prisoners and ex-prisoners to tell their stories
of involvement with the You’re Equal Project. International research highlights the
enormous challenge faced by ex-prisoners in joining the labour market. Hagell et al
(1995) agree with most penologists in stating that ‘release from prison is likely to be
a traumatic event, particularly if the sentence was long, and it will also be a time of
dramatic change – living circumstances on the outside may have changed, family
structures may have changed, prisoners themselves may have undergone a range of
different experiences that may affect them and their relationships with others’.
Without sufficient support upon release, the cycle of release and re-arrest can become
increasingly difficult to break. Thus, the You’re Equal Project has identified the need
to bridge the gap between pre- and post-release services in order to provide an element
of throughcare to ex-prisoners. Over the first 18 months of this project (June 2006
– December 2007), the mentors have worked with a total of 98 participants in equal
numbers at both Cork and Castlerea Prisons
The Silent Menace
Get PDFDAVID POWER SPEAKS TO DR. TERESA GRAHAM, CHAIRPERSON OF THE STOP INFECTION NOW CAMPAIGN (SIN) ABOUT THEIR CAMPAIGN TO DEAL WITH THE DEADLY SUPERBUGS OF MRSA AND C.DIF
An exploration of grandparenting in Ireland
Get PDFThis thesis is based on original research that carried out qualitative interviews with families in Carlow and its surrounding areas. Carlow and its hinterland provide a mix of the traditional and modern with the transient lives of commuters and three generations living in close proximity. The aim of the research was to provide an insight into grandparenting by providing a voice for each generation in the family. This involved the interviewing of three generations; grandparent, parent and grandchild within one family unit.
The inclusion of the child’s voice in research was deemed especially vital not only as it enriches and provides depth to the research but in recognition of the current trends in sociology to ‘rediscover’ childhood (Corsaro 1998). It will be asserted that in the light of this, it is necessary to include children in all research that affects their lives especially family research.
The research methodology consisted of qualitative interviews with three-generation families, specifically seven family units. The use of the families’ life stories (Giele & Elder (eds)
1998) and individual family members’ narratives are used here to formulate a perspective on family life and grandparenting in Ireland. This is considered not only useful in portraying the ‘bigger issues’ but also as intrinsic to the presentation of this research. This research did not want to lose the participant’s voice when presenting its findings.
The transition into grandparenthood specifically whether it is expected or unexpected can often cause and influence an individual to assess their life regarding aging and their choice of grandparenting role. The research shows how certain grandparents especially the maternal grandparents’ (mostly grandmothers) role is becoming ever more increasing and encompassing. Grandparents are seen in this research as not only childminders to their grandchildren but as a major financial support to their own children, pseudo-parents to lone parent families and separated families and pseudo-spouses/partners to their single and separated children