The aim of this article is to explore and to sum up essential elements in building a strong luxury brand. Contribution of this article to the academic discussion on branding is in critical review of the literature and collection of empirical insights from the Swiss watchmaking industry. The novelty of this project lies in the «industry-based» approach to the conceptual framework development (semi-structured interviews among watchmaking industry experts). The main findings of this research are ten pillars (axes) of strong luxury brand that gather the essential elements for creation of a strong brand in Swiss luxury watchmaking industry.
When designing and assessing a business model, a more visual and practical ontology and framework is necessary. We draw lessons from usage by practitioners around the world of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) method to define three maturity level. We propose new concepts to help design the dynamic aspect of a business model. On the first level, the BMC supports novice users as they elicit their models; it also helps novices to build coherent models. On the second level, the BMC allows expert users to evaluate the interaction of business model elements by outlining the key threads in the business models story. On the third level, master users are empowered to create multiple versions of their business models, allowing them to evaluate alternatives and retain the history of the business models evolution. These new concepts for the BMC which can be supported by Computer-Aided Design tools provide a clearer picture of the business model as a strategic planning tool and are the basis for further research.
Using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), we examined the impact of age on entrepreneurial intention, with special focus on seniors. Using samples from France reflecting a broad age range, a negative relationship involving age and entrepreneurial intent was found. Consistent with TPB, attitude, social norms, and perceived behavioural control were all significantly associated with intent. Importantly however, the relative weight seniors gave these components differed from that of prime age participants. For seniors, the belief that they had the requisite competencies and resources needed to own a business was especially important. Seniors also expressed greater relative interest in social entrepreneurship. The implications of these findings for both researchers and public policy makers are considered.
Volition is a determinant psychological factor in entrepreneurship to better understand the behavior of entrepreneurs. This study analyzes the personal characteristics that determine the route of entrepreneurial actions by analyzing volitional skills of three categories of people: students, potential entrepreneurs, and active entrepreneurs. The results show that individuals mobilize volitional skills in a successive order, one after the other. In addition, this order is determined by the individual's progress on the process of creation that the model of volition in this study synthetizes determines such order.
This 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 principle early supporters of successful innovations, highlighting the power of top-down approaches to championing change within the European context.
As learners’ access to knowledge has changed, so have their expectations of what and how they expect to learn in hospitality and tourism degree programs. This paper explores experiences of digital natives in a flipped classroom environment supported by open source technology (MOOCS, Moodle & Mahara) and Team Academy methodology. Blended learning is explored and practical experiences with experimental team activities are presented. Results show a potential the existence of a Blue Ocean, that can generate high levels of satisfaction, fast learning of tacit knowledge and the option for learners to develop tools, that can be utilised in academic and professional environments. The approach to teaching and learning here presented provides hospitality and tourism institutions with the opportunity to manage demand and supply within the dynamic world economy, by applying revenue management techniques, based on forecasted demand, willingness to pay as well as an activity based costing. The approach outlined provides cost and differentiation advantages, while widening access to university learning.
