Zhongxian Wang

Segmenting the mature travel market by motivation

The purpose of this study was to segment mature travellers based on their motivations and to profile the similarities and differences between mature travel market segments according to their sociodemographic and travel-related characteristics. A total of 217 respondents (50 years old and above) in the Upstate area in a southern state in the USA were used in this study. Three types of mature travellers were identified with an exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis: personal, educational and social travellers. They were significantly different regarding the number of years they had lived in the Upstate.

The Paradigm Shift in Organizational Research

The creation and development of theory and methods used in the study of organizations is predominantly carried out grounded in the positivist paradigm – epistemological and methodological assumptions similar to those of the natural sciences. This essay looks at the limitations of that paradigm for the study of human organizations and the benefits of relativist, humanist and post-modern assumptions, theory and methods. Limitations of the predominant paradigm are taken up by analyzing basic assumptions – objectivity, generality, empiricism, and linearity. The benefits of a more inclusive paradigm are reviewed in terms of two topic areas: Organizational learning and decision making, and financial markets and price distortion.

A Broken Supply and Social Chain: Anatomy of the Downfall of an Industrial Icon

There was a time in the history of GM when it was the largest corporation in the US. The history of GM also shows that it was the single largest employer in the world. The announcement of GMs bankruptcy on June 1, 2009 shocked the world and had a tremendous impact on the United States economy. Looking back at the history of GM, there were many indicators which suggested the fate of the company. There were several internal factors that answer the question, what went wrong with GM. These internal factors are management arrogance, not meeting customer demands, the costs and demands of unions, poor forecasting, and internal controls on accounting standards. Similarly, there were several external factors that answer the same question, which include increased competition and loss of market share, rising gas prices and environmental friendliness, and the costs and burdens of meeting government regulations and restrictions. This paper will explore and answer the following questions: What are the fundamental causes of GMs problems? What can be learned from GMs mistakes and experiences? How and why an industrial icon came to ruin?

Effective Knowledge Management Using Wikis

This paper presents a discussion and in-depth exploration of using Wikis for providing support to, and for the effective maintenance of, knowledge management systems. Specific issues, considerations, and relevant areas for which Wikis can be most effective are addressed. This includes identifying both strengths and weaknesses of Wikis as they apply to the various types of knowledge management requirements, including information capture, retention, dissemination, updating, and security concerns. A conceptual and research framework of the major impacts, challenges, and issues is also presented, as well as areas for future research.

Lessons of Disaster Recovery Learned for Information Systems Management in US Higher Education

Most U.S. universities planned and prepared their disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity strategies for their Information Systems after the September 11th attack on the United States. The devastating hurricanes and the most recent catastrophic earthquakes caused unprecedented damage for many campuses within a decade. Some of their plans worked and some of them failed; however, with these lessons learned, Information Systems Management for U.S. higher education must be reexamined, re-planned and redesigned, including DR strategies and procedures. It is equally important that the curriculum of Management Information Systems be updated along with updated DR concerns for all educators in U.S. universities. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-0167-3.ch007

Surviving Disaster: The Role of Social Networks

Disaster is a sudden event that has significant effect on the human population. It can be manmade or natural; manmade disaster is as a direct result of an accident or human errors done by the action of men whilst natural disaster is a result of natural forces of nature for example a tornado or a hurricane (Kruks-Wisner, 2011; Doreian & Conti, 2012). The main focus of this book is to inform readers of the relationship between social networks and natural disaster. It tells how social networks can be used to mitigate the effect of a disaster on people and their communities by promoting survival and sustaining recovery efforts. It explains how models are developed to assist with the process of social network and is used to assess the strengths of the social network in the communities. The purpose of this book is to stress the importance of social networks and to give practical advice to those that have been affected by a natural disaster and others that may need to be educated as a precautionary method. Social Network is an invisible force that binds society; it is established through the relationship of families or groups such as churches, communities, or workplaces (Duncan et al., 2011). Social Network plays a very important role in saving the lives of people in all society; the collective actions of a community have the potential to reduce social vulnerability and increases chances of survival. Ersing and Kost state that “evidence suggests that communities that promote the inclusion of disaster risk management activities among diverse neighborhood groups may be more successful in protecting vulnerable citizens” (p. 9). Communities have different cultures and as such social networks must be able to deal with each different cultural group effectively so as to build competence and community preparedness to act in response to natural disasters both in the United States and other countries that were studied. Chapter 1 gives an understanding of disaster and the role social network plays in Surviving Disaster: The Role of Social Networks