Business, Enterprise & Management
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Item An evaluation methodology for hotel electronic channels of distribution(2004) O'Connor, P.; Frew, Andrew J.Electronic channels play an increasingly important role in hotel distribution, with most companies utilising a portfolio of channels to reach the customer in an effective manner. However channels cannot simply be added ad infinitum as they emerge; system complexity, technical factors and the management overhead associated with using multiple channels mean that choices must be made between alternative solutions. However, little is understood about how an electronic channel of distribution might be best evaluated. This study, combining both qualitative and quantitative approaches through a Delphi study, explored expert opinion on the key factors involved. Factors generated in the initial round of the study were subsequently refined, rated and ranked by the expert group to identify the key factors for consideration in both the channel adoption and continued use decision making process. In contrast to existing literature on channel evaluation, this revealed that operational and performance factors, rather than financial or strategic issues, should be of prime consideration in the adoption process.Item Greening the curriculum(2009-11-27) Brennan, Carol; Schrder, MonikaItem Business support systems and cultural diversity : a knowledge transfer partnership with a manufacturer of South Asian spicy foods(2005) Seaman, Claire; Bent, Richard; Campbell, Gordon; Miskin, David; Unis, A.This paper illustrates a successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership [KTP] carried out between Queen Margaret University College and Mrs Unis Spicy Foods, a manufacturer of South Asian Spicy foods based in Edinburgh. The project is believed to be one of the first of its kind to be carried out with a South Asian owned company and the unique cultural influences on project development and management. This paper highlights both the theoretical and practical processes of knowledge transfer and will illustrate the importance of business solutions that can be tailored to the culture within an individual company. Mrs Unis Spicy Foods is a company that manufactures samosas, pakoras, nan and curries which are distributed throughout Scotland. The products sell mainly to corner shops, cash and carries, delicatessens, hospitals and universities. In addition, food for local exhibitions and conferences and Indian party food for the general public are also supplied. The potential market size for Asian foods is difficult to estimate, due to the differing modes of supply. The restaurant trade is currently estimated to be worth over 2 billion per annum in the UK, but this market is currently lacking in growth opportunities. The pre-packaged convenience food sector, however, is seeing strong levels of growth and the increased demand for convenience foods across all sectors is predicted to continue. The increase in the amount of shelf-space now given to convenience foods of ethnic origin in food retailers is clearly visible and the continuing market for the development of new products for this market is acknowledged. The primary aim of the project was to facilitate long-term knowledge transfer of business expertise from the University to the company and to encourage academics to increase their practical business experience. The development of new fusion products that blended South Asian and Scottish cuisine was a part of this project, designed to facilitate company and sales development and the targeting of new market sectors [Seaman et al, 2005]. Much that is already apparent within the literature regarding business culture and the development of appropriate business support systems is born out by the experiences of this team, with the key role played by cultural aspects emphasised by the South Asian culture apparent within the company. In addition, whilst developing and managing projects and production in an environment where English is not the first language is well documented, a business where a variety of languages are spoken, far fewer are written and some employees cannot communicate directly with the business owner is a challenging proposition. In practice, the programme heralded important changes in the structure and development of the company providing a model for the future and raising important questions about change-management and decision making. The importance of this project is threefold: to businesses it illustrates the advantages of engaging in such projects; to academics it illustrates both the importance of the cultural dimension and the potential for success and for those engaged in the development of business support systems it emphasises the importance of the individually tailored response for diverse companies.Item Please don't stop the music-: An alternative approach to public sector evaluation and funding policies for cultural events(2009-01) Finkel, Rebecca; Goldblatt, Joe J.The former director of Britain's National Theatre, Sir Richard Eyre (2005), suggests there is a fundamental incompatibility between politics and the arts. He quotes Philip Roth as saying, Politics is the great generaliser and literature the great particulariser, and not only are they in an inverse relationship to each other they are in an antagonistic relationship. How can you be an artist and renounce the nuance? How can you be a politician and allow the nuance?- (Roth, 1999, in Eyre, 2005). The relationship between UK politics and culture has become more complex and more closely connected in recent decades. The New Labour government, especially, has exerted control over the cultural realm through instrumental policies quantifying the worth of each cultural project. Cultural events now need to justify their grants on the basis of their contribution to government goals such as economic regeneration, tourism and social inclusion, rather than their cultural value (Holden, 2004). Contemporary cultural policies that see development instead of art have been criticised as sucking the poetry out of the city and replacing it with pizzazz (Cooper, 2006, 12). The results of pressure by central and local governments to justify the impact of their work have made the cultural contribution of arts festivals less important than their funders' non-cultural priorities. This model of prioritising strategic public funding is spreading to Europe as well. For the most part, cultural subsidies are still higher in many European countries than they are in the UK (Serota, 2006). However, European subsidies are not as secure as they once were, as they also have succumbed to economic restructuring pressures. For example, many IFEA Europe member festivals have also resorted to seeking private funding due to budget cuts or too many 'strings' attached to obtaining public funding (Torch, 2006). Using the city of Edinburgh and the ten major Edinburgh festivals as a case study, this paper provides an assessment of the way in which the public sector evaluates cultural events to determine financial support. It examines the factors included in this evaluation, which are mainly socio-economic targets that correspond to cross-cutting, non-arts agenda items. An alternative model of evaluation is introduced to argue for an events-driven approach to policy, which would provide benefits not only to the communities and places in which the events occur, but also would be advantageous to events and their future financial sustainability. Methods This research is based on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with ten Edinburgh Festival Directors from the Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh Science Festival, Edinburgh Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Children's Festival, Edinburgh Military Tattoo, Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Hogmanay and Festivals Edinburgh. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were also conducted with Edinburgh city council officials. The data acquired from this qualitative approach with festival providers and public sector funders shed light on the status of public sector rationales for funding and the impacts these decisions have on the cultural festivals. This, then, informed a model for an alternative evaluation system that is events-driven and does not fall pray to the mainly instrumentalist and managerialist approaches widely employed by the Scottish public sector at this time. Findings It was found that although the Edinburgh city council supports the Edinburgh festivals through funding and other resources, their policies are based on the prevailing instrumentalist argument for public funding of the arts. These socio-economic dimensions seem to provide justification for public spending, as if an exceptional artistic experience or widening education and exposure to the arts were not enough in its own right (Myerscough and Bruce, 1988, 2). In terms of the festivals themselves, the main concern of the directors is future stability and financial sustainability. Indeed, they are finding it increasingly difficult to plan from one year to the next because the council cannot pledge an amount in advance. There are some hard feelings here, as the festivals provide tremendous benefits to the city in terms of tourism, image and profit; therefore, they believe they are entitled to more financial guarantees from the public sector. Application of results It is argued that an events-driven approach to funding policies would be beneficial to both the public sector and the festival sector. Such an approach has the potential to create reliable evaluation tools in order to measure the holistic impacts of the events more effectively and provide more relevant rationales for the use of public money. It also has the potential to help festivals and events plan for the future in a more dependable manner, which would improve the quality of the event infrastructure and the cultural forms presented. This model of festival evaluation encompasses the intrinsic, institutional and even parts of the instrumental arguments (Holden, 2006) for events provision and support in order to mend the fences- between funders, providers and audiences. Conclusions Although arts festivals have the capability to contribute to wider policy objectives (Florida, 2002), it is argued that their main value should not be judged by those considerations. The socio-economic enhancements often brought about by events are valid and especially attractive to policy makers; however, it is important not to have them become the top priority for events provision. In making non-cultural priorities the overriding benchmarks for success, arts festivals on the whole are becoming increasingly unoriginal and culturally mediocre (Finkel, 2006). It is argued that it is imperative that public agencies adopt a more holistic approach to validating their funding decisions and evaluating the impacts that cultural events have on places. Without including more than socio-economic valuations into impact assessments, the cycle of underestimating and undervaluing, and therefore underfunding, cultural events will continue to the possible detriment of communities and places (Sherwood et al, 2005, 12). References Cooper, N. (2006) Edinburgh: expiring capital. The List, 6-20 July, 12. Eyre, R. (2005) Ballot-box blues. The Guardian, 26 March. Finkel, R. (2006) Unicycling at Land's End: Case study of the Lafrwoda Festival of St Just, Cornwall. Leisure Studies Association Journal, 2(92), 129-145. Florida, R. (2002) The rise of the creative class: and how it's transforming work, leisure, community and everyday life. New York: Perseus Books Group. Holden, J. (2004) Capturing cultural value: how culture has become a tool of government policy. London: Demos. Holden, J. (2006) Cultural value and the crisis of legitimacy: why culture needs a democratic mandate. London: Demos. Myerscough, J. and Bruce, A. (1988) The economic importance of the arts in Britain. London: Policy Studies Institute. Roth, P. (1999) I married a Communist. New York: Vintage. Serota, N. (2006) A new direction. The Guardian, 5 June. Sherwood, P., Jago, L. and Deery, M. (2005) Triple bottom line evaluation of special events: does the rhetoric reflect reporting?. Paper presented at the Annual Council of Australian Tourism and Hospitality Educators' Conference, Alice Springs, Australia. Torch, C. (2006) Citizen meets city: arts and urban re-invention. Paper presented at the IFEA Annual Conference: Festivals and Identities, Belfast, Northern Ireland.Item Divergent managerial approaches: The increasing professionalism of UK arts festival management(2007-11) Finkel, RebeccaItem Beyond Bakhtin: Literally legislating the hell out of the carnivalesque.(International Journal of Cultural Policy, 2008-08) Finkel, RebeccaThis paper analyses the recent changes in UK cultural policies and the impacts these have had on arts festival provision. It is argued that many UK arts festivals have become linked to the cultural economy and instrumentalist, cross-cutting, target-driven policies. Due to the nature of New Labour's objectives, it is suggested that the government's approach towards festivals in contemporary UK society is becoming more about place management, participation and economic development. These changes in the perception and support of arts festivals can be seen to have an impact on their design, development and distribution. It is argued that because of the changing emphasis on economic and political outcomes, there has been an increasing standardisation and sanitisation of UK arts festivals. Research methods include a survey sent to 117 UK arts festivals (56% response rate) and in-depth interviews with arts council officers, city council officials and festival managersItem Consumer-driven sustainable tourism: towards inconspicuos consumption.(Queen Margaret University, 2009) Reino, Sofia; Schroder, Monika; The Carnegie Trust for Universities of ScotlandItem Cultural identity and festivity: generating Singapore through citizenship and enterprise in events activity.(LSA, 2007) Foley, Malcolm; McPherson, Gayle; Matheson, Catherine M.; Aitchison, C.; Pritchard, A.Item Culture, authenticity and sport: a study of event motivations at the Ulaanaatar Naadam Festival, Mongolia.(Elsevier, 2007) Thompson, K.; Matheson, Catherine M.; Cochrane, J.Item TENSIONS BETWEEN AMBITION AND REALITY IN UK COMBINED ARTS FESTIVAL PROGRAMMING: CASE STUDY OF THE LICHFIELD FESTIVAL(International Journal of Event Management Research, 2006) Finkel, RebeccaThe research presented examines the contradiction between reality and the expressed goals of many local combined arts festivals in the UK. Combined arts festivals are defined as those containing more than one genre of arts, e.g., Edinburgh International Festival. It is argued by some scholars and practitioners in the cultural field that there is now more pressure for the arts generally and combined arts festivals specifically to fit in to place-based economic and tourism strategies. Increasingly, festival organizers feel they must justify their funding by contributing quantifiable results to the community. A case study of the Lichfield Festival will illustrate these issues. Methodology for the broader research undertaken includes a survey sent to 117 UK combined arts festival organizers to discern audience demographics, programming, funding and future plans. In-depth interviews were conducted with Arts Councils, regional arts organizations, city officials, festival organizers and sponsors. Methods for the case study include in-depth interviews with the festival director of the Lichfield Festival at the time and local tourism officials, as well as participant and direct observation of the festival. Findings suggest that the increasing economic-centric perspective is one of the reasons for the increasing standardisation and homogenisation of combined arts festival programming across the UK.