Business Commons^™

#Tourism: The Influence Of Social Media On Visitor Experiences In Churchill, Manitoba, Katherine Ann Fowler

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

Exploring Corporate Social Responsibility: The Roles Of Organizational Identity And Social Creativity, Pamala J. Dillon

Doctoral Dissertations

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become entrenched in organization studies, but with much confusion as to what it actually means. There are many different definitions of the term in the literature, representing multiple perspectives of the phenomenon being studied, be it ethical, instrumental, institutional, or process-oriented. The commonality tying the CSR literature together is the focus on the role of organizations in society, whether that role is understood from an ethical standpoint or an economic one, at the institutional or individual level, or from a psychological or process perspective. In this qualitative inductive study, I explore how organizational identity and …

Retail Analytics And Optimization For Store-Wide Shelf-Space Management, Tulay Flamand

Doctoral Dissertations

A major constituent of modern-time economies, retailing is a vibrant business sector that is marked by high competition, tight profit margins, novel business strategies in online and in-store environments, and demanding consumers. Driven by massive volumes of point-of-sale data, retail analytics has become instrumental for unveiling better managerial practices. Our research falls under the umbrella of retail shelf space management. In self-service outlets, shelf space constitutes a scarce resource and its management is central to ensuring an attractive shopping experience and a profitable business. We investigate how, under a given store layout, the allocation of product categories can be optimized …

Service Improvement And Cost Reduction For Airlines: Optimal Policies For Managing Arrival And Departure Operations Under Uncertainty, Heng Chen

Doctoral Dissertations

Annual U.S. air travel demand has been growing steadily by 4-5% over the last decade, and it is estimated that the demand will nearly double in the next twenty years. It has also been estimated by the International Civil Aviation Organization that global demand for commercial aircraft will increase at an average annual rate of 4.1% by 2034 (IATA, 2014). However, airport expansions and aviation infrastructure upgrades have not kept pace with the increase in air traffic demand, as only 3% of all the new airport projects around the world are planned in the U.S. (CAPA, 2015). Thus, the operation …

Network Game Theory Models Of Services And Quality Competition With Applications To Future Internet Architectures And Supply Chains, Sara Saberi

Doctoral Dissertations

The Internet has transformed the way in which we conduct business and perform economic and financial transactions. One key challenge of the Internet is the inefficiency of the mechanisms by which technology is deployed and the business and economic models surrounding these processes (Wolf et al. (2014)). Equilibrium models for the Internet generally assume basic economic relationships. However, in new paradigms for the Internet and in supply chain networks, price is not the only factor; quality of service (QoS) is also of increasing importance. Supply chains networks, which give us the means to manufacture products and deliver them to points …

Three Essays On Hedge Fund Investments And Investment Banks, Xiaohui Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on studying how investment banks affect hedge fund equity investments through acting as prime brokers for hedge funds. The first chapter studies how the relationships between hedge funds and investment banks are maintained through equity issuance and prime brokerage business. Using a comprehensive dataset of hedge funds and IPO allocations, I examine IPO allocation decisions by investment banks to hedge funds. I find that investment banks whose prime brokers have strong relationships with hedge funds and are lead underwriters of IPOs tend to allocate more IPOs to these hedge funds. Moreover, the allocation to hedge funds is …

Follow The Crowd: How Viral Social Information And Social Identity Increase Investors’ Suboptimal Investing Decisions, Stephen Kuselias

Doctoral Dissertations

Recently enacted standards have formally allowed organizations to offer equity using the crowdfunding model. The crowdfunding model raises capital over the internet by soliciting relatively small contributions from a relatively large number of people who make up a “crowd” (Mollick 2013). Organizations using equity crowdfunding strive for the spread of viral social information to solicit investments (Belleflamme, Lambert, & Schwienbacher 2014). However, research has not yet explored how virality impacts investor decision making. In this study, I investigate whether viral social information can shift investors away from financial maximization goals, leading them to make suboptimal investing decisions. Social identity theory …

Mega Versus Local Sport Sponsorships, Jakeun Koo

Doctoral Dissertations

The present study aims to fill the gap by comparing mega sport sponsorships to local sport sponsorships relative to consumers’ perceptions. Specifically, the study examines whether or not event size has significant impact on consumers’ perceptions of goodwill. In the relationship between event size and perceived goodwill, sponsorship duration and sponsor-event congruence are tested as moderating variables. Finally, it is anticipated that perceived goodwill affects attitudes toward the sponsor, subsequently influencing purchase intentions. To support the hypotheses, the current study conducted an experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design: (1) event size, (2) sponsorship duration, and …

Design, Implementation, And Evaluation Of A User Training Program For Integrating Health Information Technology Into Clinical Processes, Ze He

Doctoral Dissertations

Health information technology (IT) implementation can be costly, and remains a challenging problem with mixed outcomes on patient safety and quality of care. Systems engineering and IT management experts have advocated the use of sociotechnical models to understand the impact of health IT on user and organizational factors. Sociotechnical models suggest the need for user-centered implementation approaches, such as user training and support, and focus on processes to mitigate the negative impact and facilitate optimal IT use during training. The training design and development should also follow systematic processes guided by instructional development models. It should take into account of …

Measuring Economic Value Using Administrative Data, Kailee Penner

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

Submission Type

• Presentation (concurrent session preferred)
• 30 minute PowerPoint presentation
  • Relevance to the conference theme: Performance measurement: ROI – implementating a new approach to measure the economic impact of BC’s nature-based sector.

Measuring economic value using administrative data

The need for credible estimates of the economic impacts of commercial nature-based tourism (CNBT) is important for Crown land decision making and nature-based tourism product development. Measuring the economic value of any sector can be cumbersome.

In 2001, to measure the overall value of CNBT involved using traditional methodologies took a significant amount of time and effort of conducting phone calls to …

Teaching An Old Dataset New Tricks, Jason Dunkel

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

International Collaboration In Destination Marketing: A Case Study Of The Vanilla Islands, Émilie Bourdages, Marc-Antoine Vachon

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

Examining The Role Of Satisfaction And Brand Love In Generating Behavioral Intention, Ye (Sandy) Shen, Shuyue Huang, Hwan-Suk Chris Choi Ph.D., Marion Joppe Ph.D.

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

Behavioral intention has attracted much attention from both the industry and academia. As it is equated with customers' conative loyalty, investigating behavioral intention can give implications for tourism businesses on how to raise consumers’ loyalty and thus lead to profitable development. To have a better understanding of the antecedents of behavioral intention, this study conducted 350 surveys and used structural equation modeling to test the relationships among perceived value, satisfaction, brand love, and behavioral intention. This study found that satisfaction and brand love have similar effects on intention to recommend while the effects of brand love on intention to revisit …

The Cognitive-Affective Relationship Of Tourists To A Heritage Site: The Case Of Petra, Girish Prayag, Ning (Chris) Chen, Sameer Hosany, Khaled Odeh

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

The study evaluates a theoretical model that postulates the cognitive-affective relationships that tourists develop with a heritage site have an impact on intended behavior. Using the case of the UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) of Petra, the relationships between tourist motivation, positive and negative emotions, place attachment, overall satisfaction and intention to recommend the site are assessed. A survey of international tourists at the visitor centre in Petra resulted in 297 usable questionnaires. The two-step procedure for structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. All of the hypothesized paths are statistically significant, except the one from positive emotion …

Development Of City Destination Attractiveness Index: A China Case, Yiming Liu, Shuyue Huang, Hwan-Suk Chris Choi Dr, Ye (Sandy) Shen

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

This study aims to develop a comprehensive assessment model of city destination attractiveness index (CDAI), and to validate it by assessing the city destination attractiveness of the selected city destinations in China. The study result will complement the theoretical knowledge body of destination attractiveness evaluation. Besides, by measuring and matching the differences between a destination’s reality and a visitor’s perception, it can work as a decision-making instrument for DMOs, as well as improving tourists’ satisfaction.

Antecedents Of Heritage Tourists’ Satisfaction: The Role Of Motivation, Discrete Emotions And Place Attachment, Girish Prayag, Giacomo Del Chiappa

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

While the literature on heritage tourism recognizes the importance of emotions in predicting satisfaction and other post consumption behaviours, few studies examine the discrete emotions that determine tourists’ attachment to heritage sites. Accordingly, this study evaluates the relationships between three important antecedents of tourist satisfaction namely, motivation, discrete emotions and place attachment. Visitors at the Su Nuraxi UNESCO World Heritage Site in Sardinia, Italy were surveyed at the end of their visit. From the 497 useable surveys, the findings indicated that not all positive and negative discrete emotions predict satisfaction and attachment. The emotions of pride, love, gratitude, positive surprise …

Sharing Stories Of Familiar Places And The Emotional Geographies Of Family Travel Back ‘Home’, Kelley A. Mcclinchey Dr.

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

Conceptualization Of Place Attachment, Self-Congruity, And Their Impacts On Word-Of-Mouth Behaviors, Ning (Chris) Chen, Tina Šegota

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

The attachment theory and self-congruity theory have been widely used to explain and predict consumer behaviour. Similarly, the two theories have been also used in tourism studies with the aim to explain tourist destination choice. Placing a focus on destination visitors, the literature does not inform on the self-congruity effect among local residents, who also play a very important role in shaping destination image through their voluntary behaviors. The purpose of this paper is twofold. Firstly, the study aims at extending self-image congruence research into the resident literature within the field of tourism, by examining the links between place attachment …

The Influence Of Time Of Day On Traveler Website Conversions, Maryse Côté-Hamel

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

Through the analysis of the Quebec City Tourism website, the effect of the time of day of the visits on visitor conversions, which represent the attainment of specific objectives, will be investigated.

Tell Me At What Time You Usually Wake Up, I’Ll Tell You What Type Of Traveler You Are: An Investigation Of The Relationship Between Destination Canada “Explorer Quotient” Segmentation Method And Chronotype, Maryse Côté-Hamel

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

While travelers diverge on their attitudes, beliefs, values, motivations and behaviours, they also vary in their chronotype (also called diurnal preference). The present research investigates the mediating influence of the chronotype on the relationship between Destination Canada "Explorer Quotient" and the length of planning prior to the trip.

Uncovering And Mapping Place Attachment In Small Cities, Nicole L. Vaugeois, Alanna Williams, Sharon Karsten, Pam Shaw

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

Understanding the connections that visitors and residents have to places is critically important for tourism development. Aided with this knowledge, authentic experiences can be developed, stories can be uncovered and told, and resident perspectives can be identified. This paper describes a case study to uncover and map place attachment in three small cities in Western Canada. The project was conducted in the cities of Courtenay, Port Alberni and Nanaimo, BC. A one day “walk about” in each community was used to record 1.5 minute videos (n=85) of residents speaking about a place in their downtown core where they felt connected …

Determinants Of Traveler Dissatisfaction: An Application Of Mining Travel Blogs, Nanxi Yan

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

Consuming Places Through Food Tourism: Insights On The Food Artisan Sector From Bc, Nicole L. Vaugeois, John Predyk

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

tourism industry. This paper describes a study of BC’s food artisan sector including: a definition and description of food artisans, growth in consumer demand and business, distribution mechanisms and markets, contributions to employment, future business plans and challenges to growth. The study found that consumer demand for products has been increasing whereby 80% of artisans indicated increased demand for their products over the past 3 years, Demand was generated from both resident markets (70%) and visitor markets (30%). Similarly, 85% of artisans indicated business growth over the past 3 years and 86% indicated that their future plans were continued growth. …

Spatio-Temporal Data In Tourism Research, Dmitry Shkolnik

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

The work presented here highlights the efforts at Destination Canada to use user-generated online content to learn about tourist movement patterns, activity, and relationships among groups of connected destinations. Using a massive open-data source of photographic metadata from the Flickr photograph sharing platform, we extract time-stamps and geographic coordinates from photo metadata to analyze activity and movement patterns of international visitors to Canada.

This analysis allows us to protect privacy while identifying rich and interesting patterns of tourist activity at both national and urban scales. The data further allows us to generate constructed tourist itineraries using extracted spatio-temporal data for …

New Immigrants’ Domestic Tourism Destination Choice Behavior: A Study Of Bangladeshi-Origin Canadians, Shahin Ahmed Chowdhury, Joanne E. Mcneish

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

Research has been done in the area of international tourist attractions but less around domestic tourists’ destination choice behavior, especially among new immigrants. This paper explores the domestic destination choice behavior of relatively new immigrants of Bangladeshi-origin, i.e. those who have lived in Canada with permanent residency or citizenship status. Little is known about how this community chooses their destinations or what attracts them to particular locations within the new country of residence. Knowledge of their attitudes will assist Canadian policy makers and tourist businesses in tailoring their offerings to the preferences of this community.

Perceptions Of Pre- And Post-Event Impacts Of Pei 2014 Year-Long Celebrations, Dongkoo Yun, Melissa James-Maceachern

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

This study examines Canadian perceptions of pre- and post-event impacts of the PEI 2014 Celebrations using the 2013 and 2015 surveys of PEI residents and other Canadians conducted by the Centre for Tourism Research. Overall, results indicate that Canadians’ awareness of, knowledge about, and attitudes toward the 1864 Charlottetown Conference and the PEI 2014 Celebrations increased and positively changed over time. The research also suggests that event organizers and/or destination tourism managers need to put greater emphasis on the “socio-cultural aspects” of the event such as community participation and cultural identity, and make an effort to increase tourism volume and …

The Influence Of Ecological Worldview And Attitudes On Park Visitors’ Pro-Environmental Behavioural Intention: A Case Study Of Alberta Parks' Campers, Farhad Moghimehfar

TTRA Canada 2016 Conference

No abstract provided.

Essays On Hedge Funds Performance: Dynamic Risk Exposures, Anomalies, And Unreported Actions, Chi Zhang

Doctoral Dissertations

The first chapter analyzes hedge fund activeness and its impact on hedge fund perfor- mance. We propose an innovative method to estimate time-varying risk exposures of hedge funds. The activeness is measured as the time-series average of sum of changes in risk exposures. We examine cross-section and time-series variation of activeness among hedge funds. The activeness can be explained by fund characteristics such as age, lockup period, performance fee, and past performance. Using four performance measures, we find little evidence of active funds outperforming others over the sample period 1994 through 2013. We find that activeness tend to yield better …

Can Everyone Be A Leader? A Multi-Contextual Study Of Leadership, Xueting Jiang

Doctoral Dissertations

My dissertation is composed of three independent but interrelated essays. Each essay focuses on a specific perspective to study leadership at the individual level or at the team level and beyond. My first essay, Consequences of Leader Self-Efficacy Dissimilarity in Self-managing Teams, looks at the impacts of leader self-efficacy dissimilarity upon shared leadership and the consequent effects on team effectiveness in self-managing teams. My second essay, A Longitudinal Study on Leadership Identification in Self-managing Teams, explains why leadership structures may vary in self-managing teams and how individuals develop their leadership roles in a non-hierarchical organizational context. My third …

Three Essays On Corporate Control, Ning Pu

Doctoral Dissertations

Chapter 1 compares and contrasts the activism styles and outcomes of hedge-fund activists versus traditional institutional activists in an attempt to understand what drives the returns of institutional activism. Contrary to the popular belief that hedge-fund activism is designed to achieve a short-term payoff at the expense of long-term profitability, I find some evidence consistent with the hypothesis that hedge-fund activists can be effective monitors, especially when multiple hedge funds collaborate on the monitoring efforts. This result is supported by examining the relations between the holdings by different types of hedge-fund activists and the outcomes of proposed M&A deals, such …