Christine A. Hope

Strategic success in winter sports destinations: a sustainable value creation perspective.

Abstract According to annual reports of European and North American ski resort corporations, winter sports destinations are facing stagnating markets and at the same time challenges in the management of environmentally sensitive mountainous areas and villages. The survival and development of winter sports destinations are to a large extent centred around strategies for creating competitive advantage and at the same time meeting the criteria of sustainable tourism laid down by the WTO. In this paper, performance on these two dimensions is combined into the concept of strategic performance. Sustained value creation is suggested as a goal of strategic performance in winter sports destinations.Two new models related to the strategic analysis of winter sports destinations are developed. The first is a suggested configuration of value creation in winter sports destinations—the “value fan”—and the second is a conceptual organisational model providing a framework for analysis at strategic level of such destinations. The models have emerged from examining the central body of literature in the field of strategic management. Development of the models is part of ongoing research into what kind of organisational structure of winter sports destinations will lead to superior performance in terms of strategic success. Here the concepts of the “community model” and the “corporate model” of destination management are introduced.

Tourism in difficult areas revisited: the case of Bradford.

Abstract Bradford was the first city in a “difficult area” in the UK to try to capitalise on tourism. This concept was introduced by Buckley and Witt in the 1980s using Bradford as an example. The article looks at how Bradford and its tourism policies have changed since their initial success in the 1980s. Support for tourism from Local Government has fluctuated because of funding crises, uncertainty about the benefits of tourism and changing political priorities in the City. In the late 1990s, Bradford launched a new strategy to attract leisure tourists, using support from the private sector and funds from Europe. Finally, we attempt to evaluate Bradfords success in tourism over the period and relate this to the original study of difficult areas

The impact of national culture on the transfer of "best practice operations management" in hotels in St. Lucia.

Abstract This article briefly outlines the convergence vs. divergence debate before describing research into the potential impact of national culture on the transfer of “best practice operations management” to hotels in St. Lucia. The main focus of the paper is on the findings of fieldwork, which supports the contention that national culture does potentially create a barrier to the successful transposition of approaches developed elsewhere. In the case of St. Lucia high uncertainty avoidance and leanings towards high power distance appeared to hinder the adoption of teamworking, empowerment and communication. In addition, attitude towards time and punctuality also mitigated against the provision of a reliable service as and when required. However, with training and supportive HR practices, the end results achieved by International Chains did demonstrate the value of operating “people friendly” policies in line with “best practice”.

Service quality in the legal profession: a review

Research into the management of professional service quality, other than in health care, has been very limited, despite being particularly problematical. This paper focuses on the interactive, highly customized and labour-intensive service offered by solicitors to their commercial and corporate clients. The intangible nature of legal services, the natures of the professionals themselves and the firms within which they operate, and the perceptions of risk brought to the service by the client create additional difficulties in managing the service and measuring client perceptions of it. Yet solicitors must understand the requirements of the group of clients they seek to serve in order to design their service to match those needs. Clients have to assume the technical competence of their solicitor. Moreover, they seek confidence when buying legal services. Our research, therefore, sought to gain an understanding of the process used by commercial and corporate clients when evaluating legal service, and of the factors that are key drivers in the creation of confidence.