John R. Tanner

Thailand as a tourist destination: Perceptions of international visitors and Thai residents

In the tourism industry, the perceptions of a tourist destination are critical to its image. Image can be either a mental image of a product created by a marketing department or an associative image of a product that is developed by the consumer. Tourism destinations must be careful about their image so the perception that they have is not different from the way that they are perceived by potential travelers. This study examines the perceptions of international visitors and Thai residents on the image of Thailand as a tourist destination. International visitors and Thai residents were both surveyed to determine their perceptions of the image of Thailand. Some results of the study found that Thai residents and international visitors felt cultural sightseeing, friendly people and food were significantly important when thinking of Thailand as a tourist destination, while international visitors felt that nightlife and entertainment were significantly more important than that of Thai residents.

Managing new MIS professionals

Abstract Job search and career planning in the MIS field have received relatively little attention among academic researchers; and yet they are of significant concern to practitioners who are faced with the on-going task of attracting, retaining, and motivating their MIS professional staff. This paper presents the results of a recent study of university graduates who are about to enter the MIS field and combines these findings with work that has been done in other disciplines to lead to some recommendations for managers who are responsible for recruiting and managing new MIS professionals.

An empirical assessment of influences on POM research

Researchers in the field of production and operations management (POM), and those who evaluate them, need a clear, up-to-date picture of forums available for scholarly discourse in the field. Yet the literature contains no recent, large-scale, objective study of such publishing forums. We present the results of such a study. We employ a citation analysis methodology to examine citation trends for books, proceedings, and journals, and to determine a relative ranking of journals influencing POM research. Results of a previously reported subjective journal ranking were used to determine five base journals for our citation analysis. The data collection effort produced over 30,000 citations for the years 1989-1993. The journal rankings generated by our study are compared with those of the earlier subjective studies in the POM field.

Self-perceptions and job preferences of entry-level information systems professionals: implications for career development

This study describes the self-perceptions and job preferences of 938 students majoring in information systems at 37 colleges and universities just prior to their graduation. Scores on a specially-devised Personal Characteristics Inventory (25 items) and Job Preference Inventory (20 items) were factor analyzed as a data reduction technique and treated as dependent variables. Five independent variables (career certainty, sex, type of degree, age, and overall grade point average) accounted for 38 significant differences in the dependent variables.Career certainty, sex, and age were strongly related to self-described work capacities, traits, and behaviors. Undergraduate versus graduate degree candidacy was the variable most strongly influencing the importance the students assigned to specific job characteristics.Based upon these findings, these entry-level IS professionals are profiled according to their characteristics, perceptions, and preferences; and these profiles are then discussed in terms of career development and career management.

A Normalized Citation Analysis of Real Estate Journals

This study presents an analysis of the citation patterns and rankings for journals in real estate and related areas for the period 1990-1995. Journals were ranked based on the number of times the journals were cited in four base journals with adjustments for journal size and longevity. The results show that Real Estate Economics is the most cited journal among real estate publications followed closely by the Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics and The Journal of Real Estate Research. A temporal analysis reveals a shift over the time period in citations away from the traditional economics and practitioner-oriented journals to the academic real estate journals.

Business computing system research: Structuring the field

For over a decade now, scholars have been debating the definition, evolution and scope of research in the field of business computing systems. This article chronicles that debate by examining both philosophical and pragmatic perspectives. It also contributes to the debate by offering a hierarchic taxonomy of forums for publishing business computing research. The taxonomys first stratum consists of two categories--academic journals and practitioner publications. Academic journals are further categorized by three orientations--business/managerial, computer science/engineering and general/social sciences. The first of these is further segmented, including the identification of five categories of journals devoted to business computing research. The roots and relationships of categories within the taxonomy are analyzed in light of existing studies. Empirical support for the business computing categories is presented.

The career outlooks of I/S professionals

This follow-up study contrasted the pre-graduation and post-employment job characteristic preferences vs. realities of a sample of 290 I/S professionals. The preference-reality job characteristic discrepancies, job and career attitudes at follow-up, and two moderating variables (I/S salary level and length of I/S employment) became the independent variables in a multiple regression equation with present and long-term I/S career outlook as the dependent variables. The 16 independent variables had a significant impact on both present and long-term I/S career outlook (p < .00001). The reality shock experienced by entering I/S professionals and its impact on career outlook are discussed.

Herzberg revisited: the impact of salary on the job and career attitudes of I/S professionals

This longitudinal study examined the impact of Salary Importance/Attainment on selected job and career attitudes. Ratings of the importance of salary collected prior to graduation (Time 1) were linked with postemployment salary levels (Times 2 and 3) to classify 1/S professionals into four groups: Salary Sensitive/Need Met, Salary Sensitive/Need Not Met, Salary Neutral/Need Exceeded, and Salary Neutral/Need Balanced. Salary Importance/Attainment had a significant impact on Present Career Outlook (p < .001) and Career Fit (p c .01) at Time 2 (22 months into employment) but not at Time 3 (46 months into employment). Salary Importance/ Attainment was not related significantly to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and seven of the eight Vocational Development Scales. It was concluded that salary acts mainly as a benchmark to help 1/S professionals gauge early career progress and fit.