Roy C. Wood

Facilities management: lost, or regained?

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine the continuing debate over the nature, scope and definition of facilities management and the implications of FM practice in the field of outsourcing for the development of the field and the profession.Design/methodology/approach – The paper offers both a conceptual review of key issues in the definition of facilities management and a critique of these definitions in the context of the popular identity of facilities management as a means of generating cost savings through outsourcing.Findings – The discussion asserts that, perhaps contrary to the many published doubts expressed over the possibility of achieving consensus on the scope of facilities management, an emerging and broadly consensual model of facilities management can be discerned. This model, it is suggested, is inhibited from further development primarily because of a lack of leadership in the professional and academic communities together with a preoccupation by necessity of the FM profession...

Strategic questions in food and beverage management.

Is food and beverage management in a rut? (Roy C Wood) What do we really know about the requirements of food and beverage consumers? Food and beverage markets in the modern age (Roy C Wood) How important is the meal experience? Choices, menus and dining environments (Roy C Wood) Is McDonaldization inevitable? Standardization and differentiation in food and beverage organizations (J Stephen Taylor) Strategic purchasing policy. Reality or chimera in the foodservice sector (Donald H Sloan) How does the media influence public taste for food and beverage? The role of the media in forming customer attitudes towards food and beverage provision (Sandie Randall) Do restaurant reviews really affect an establishments reputation and performance? The role of food journalism in restaurant success and failure (Joseph E Fattorini) Can hotel restaurants ever be profitable? Short and long-run perspectives (Michael J Riley) How can we better understand operational productivity in food and beverage? A resource substitution framework (Michael J Riley) Why are there so many celebrity chefs and cooks (and do we need them)? Culinary cultism and crassness on television and beyond (Roy C Wood) Is food an art form? Pretentiousness and pomposity in cookery (Roy C Wood) Is there such a thing as beverage management? Drink and the food and beverage consumer (Joseph E Fattorini) What are the implications of tourism destination identity for food and beverage policy? Culture and cuisine in a changing global marketplace (Michael J Riley) Are restaurant dress codes in decline? The ever changing nature of food snobbery (Erwin Losekoot & Matthew J Alexander) Should smoking in restaurants be banned? The current state of debate (Dennis P Nickson) What lessons can be learned from the history of dining out? Some influences on current trends in the UK (John OConnor).

‘Folk’ understandings of quality in UK higher hospitality education

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the evolution of “folk” understandings of quality in higher hospitality education and the consequent implications of these understandings for current quality concerns in the field. Design/methodology/approach – The paper combines a historical survey of the stated topic together with an analysis of how the evolution of higher hospitality education provides insight into current issues and problems in the subject area. Findings – The paper suggests that only by thoroughly comprehending the past development of higher hospitality education is it possible to accurately map the field’s current travails and diagnose likely future trends. Practical implications – The paper outlines the implications of current understandings of quality in hospitality education for its future development and provision. Originality/value – The originality and value of this paper lie in its identification of the principal trends that contribute to understanding of curren...

A portrait of Carson L. Jenkins

Metin Kozak’s invitation to contribute to this series of profiles on eminent tourism scholars struck me as an intriguing proposition. Mulling the nature of the task, it quickly dawned on me how little we really know about people who we think we know well. As I write this, it has been my privilege to be acquainted with Carson L. Jenkins, Emeritus Professor of International Tourism at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, for exactly 30 years. For 17 of these years, until I left Strathclyde in 2001, he and I were colleagues and we have remained on good terms and in regular contact since. I know (a very limited) something of his immediate family but beyond this our relationship has not been one of especial intimacy. Professor Jenkins has kindly co-operated with the preparation of this article by answering a lot of (possibly impertinent) questions not covered by the information already known to me or supplied in his résumé/curriculum vitae. The final article is, however, “all my own work” and the responsibility for any error of fact, judgement or good taste is, accordingly, mine.

Behaviours and attitudes towards sustainable food provision on the part of Dutch restaurateurs

Though there is some evidence that consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the effects of their own “unsustainable” behaviour, this is not widely reflected in changes to such behaviour. This article reports a small-scale study into the “supply side” of this issue, focusing on the attitudes and behaviour of Dutch chefs with regard to their perceptions, understanding and potential role in encouraging sustainable public eating behaviours. A qualitative investigative approach was employed in which primary data was collected via semi-structured interviews with chefs of nine independent restaurants in a Dutch city. The issues explored pertained to chefs’ understanding of general sustainability issues, their views of the opportunities and constraints for changing their current business practices towards more sustainable behaviours, and the actions already taken (or intended to be taken) to implement these behaviours. In such a small-scale study, the findings are limited but suggestive. All respondents paid at least lip-service to the importance of sustainability and all had at least a vague knowledge of what this might imply for their provision of food. However, this was not reflected in their menus, in part because it was not perceived to be an issue with consumers, and in part because respondents were uncertain as to how they might successfully effect change (i.e. translate beliefs pro-actively into sustainable business practices).

Elephants in the room: An exploratory conceptual study of facilities management in zoological facilities

Purpose n n n n– This paper aims to develop an understanding of the potential for application of facilities management concepts and principles in the context of the “zoo sector”. n n n n nDesign/methodology/approach n n n n– The paper is a conceptual one and begins with a narrative designed to provide sufficient background to understanding key issues relevant to the practice of facilities management in zoological and similar institutions, including the implications of conservational/scientific and display imperatives of zoological facilities for facilities management. We then consider how these issues can be worked through in the context of four broad dimensions of facilities management: strategies for the management of stakeholder behaviour (non-human animals, personnel and visitors); building and environmental design (including space usage); safety, security and health; and “miscellaneous” services. The paper concludes by providing a provisional framework for further research into facilities management in the zoo sector. n n n n nFindings n n n n– As a conceptual paper, there are no empirical findings. Conceptually, the paper offers an initial and simple framework for interpreting the possible application of facilities management in zoological and related facilities. n n n n nOriginality/value n n n n– In a search of the two principal journals in the field of facilities management, nothing could be found of direct relevance to the management of facilities in zoological and similar organizations. This paper is thus a singular contribution to the field. Conceptually, the authors attribute neglect of the topic to the distinctive traditions in the study of facilities management, which, at the risk of caricature, emphasise either the pre-eminence of a building and building services approach to facilities management, or an approach which is almost exclusively focused on the “human” dimensions to the discipline.