Business Commons^™

Road To The Green Seal, Milos Cerovic

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Green Seal is one of the most recognized non profit organizations that work closely with companies from all over the country to provide certification of environmentally friendly products used by employees. There are many reasons for product certification process. The most obvious one is to preserve the environment and energy efficiency. Another important reason is to reduce the cost and increase the profit by using products with higher durability and less expensive packaging. Of equal importance is participation in green initiatives which allows hotels and other organizations to capture additional businesses, media exposure etc. InterContinental Chicago is the largest and …

Managing Cultural Diversity In Hospitality Industry, Yi Gong

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cultural diversity has become a major issue in the hospitality industry of the United States. This paper focuses on analyzing the change faces and current status of the cultural diversity in the hospitality workplaces, discussing the opportunities, benefits and challenges from the culturally diverse workforce, and providing practical recommendations that might help human resource managers to successfully dear with cultural diversity issues. Based on the analysis of cultural diversity, this paper creates a cultural diversity training module for a graduate human resource course or a hospitality company training program that aims at facilitating trainees to increase cultural diversity awareness and …

Camping: A Positive Developmental Context For Youth With Disabilities/Serious Illness, Christopher T. Troxell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The paper will examine how elements of youth development can enhance the camp experience, so that new camps for youth with disabilities and/or serious illness, such as Flying Horse Farms, can start with a solid knowledge base of what works and why it works. Also, even though the paper is geared toward these specific types of camps, part of its recommendation could be modified to fit the purpose of any camp.

Taxonomy Of Knowedge Management Research In Hospitality And Tourism, Henner Nehles

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The hospitality industry is operating in an ever increasing knowledge-based economy, where hotels have to increase customer satisfaction and retention levels, lower employees turnover rates and operating expenses, maximize profits and strive to gain a sustainable competitive advantage. “Knowledge management caters to the critical issues of organizational adaptation, survival, and competence in the face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combinations of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings” (Civi, 2000, p.166). Knowledge Management (KM) is not a new concept. It has its …

An Observational Tool For Measuring The Dealer's Emotional Labor In A Casino, Alfred Sukwon Jang

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The hotel industry has been interested in friendliness as a means of improving the relationships with customers. Upon how to operationally measure the employee’s friendliness, emerging studies have mentioned emotional labor at work. This study developed an observational tool for measuring the dealer's emotional labor in a casino by observing the smiling, eye contact, collecting in a gentle manner, greeting, thanking, and apologizing.

The Relationship Between High Risk Athletes Risk Perception Of Adventurous Activities, Their Travel Destinations And Their Vacation Travel Patterns, Tanir Magen

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Adventure tourism is a growing market segment in the US; the decision to participate in adventurous activities and the selection of risky destinations while on vacation involves ones risk perception about the physical risks that can lead to fatal results from these activities. Existing literature suggest that risk perception is a determinate in choosing a leisure activity and destination while on vacation and that level of tolerance to uncertainty can determine travel behavior (Floyd & Gibson, 2004; Fuchs & Reichel, 2006; Hofstede, 2001; Iso- Ahola, 1980, 1982; Money & Crotts, 2003; Reisinger & Mavondo, 2005). People who have high tolerance …

Rebranding: A Case Study Of A Business Hotel In Singapore, Guat Loo Ooi

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper examined the process of service rebranding through various studies of corporate rebranding and service branding. This paper used exploratory case study to gain insight of an actual service rebranding of a business luxury class hotel, Royal Plaza on Scotts. Information from in-dept interviews with the Marketing and Brand Director was used to understand the various elements of the service rebranding process. The study showed that the actual service brand revitalisation of the hotel involved a combination of elements in the corporate rebranding and service branding processes. The study showed that the process of making changes to service brand …

Proposing Additional Questions To Understand A Destination’S Image And Its Relationship With A Business Travelers’ Socio-Economic And Demographic Profile: Specifically, The Case Of Las Vegas, Yohan Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Based on reviewed results of visitor profile reports from Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA) and other related literature, this study concentrated on developing additional and helpful questions to measure Las Vegas business travelers’ leisure needs and their perceived image of LVCVA. These questions mainly covered the areas, which were not covered by LVCVA survey questionnaire. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were utilized to create these additional questions. Thirty seven leisure attributes were used to measure business travelers’ general travel experiences. Thirty eight leisure attributes were used to measure business travelers’ perceived overall image of Las Vegas. Three open-ended …

Premier, Stuart H. Mann, Afsha Bawany, Michelle Mouton, Robyn Campbell-Ouchida

Premier: The Magazine of the UNLV Harrah Hotel College

No abstract provided.

Chronic Disease, Homeland Security, And Sailing To Where There Be Dragons, David M. Hassenzahl

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

The five papers in this special issue share the perspective that attitudes toward risk are strongly shaped by social context, and that understanding context can help us understand how risk decisions are made, and thereby how to make them better.

Customization Vs. Standardization In Global Hotel Expansion, Nenad Praporski

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

There are numerous challenges that an international hotel chain faces when opening a property in a foreign country. The company’s response to those challenges will determine the new hotel’s overall success rate. This will in turn directly affect the corporation’s profit levels. The critical issue of this project is to define to what extent the world’s largest hotel chains utilize the theories of customization and standardization when designing a business strategy for a new property. In order to truly grasp the concept, it is essential for one to value the importance of brand standard in regards to globalization in the …

An Overview Of Change Management In The Hospitality Industry, Jennifer Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

An organization operates based on shifting circumstances, both internal and external. Such a dynamic environment demands adaptability within the organization and consequently, capabilities to absorb inevitable change. Such focus requires the commitment of an organization’s staff. In the hospitality industry, this is especially so, considering the labor-intensive operations that respond to the volatile sales and the seasonality of a perishable good. This paper considers critical issues in change management that are relevant to the hospitality industry. Research studies in change management over the last several years will be identified and analyzed. In addition, case studies which support common findings will …

Meeting Planning Basics: A Guide For Administrative Professionals, Larissa J. Schultz

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Planning meetings and events is a job function that requires skills and knowledge of the meeting management industry. In today’s economy and within many organizations across the globe, both corporate and association meeting planning is a job function that is frequently being seen as a task that an administrative professional can take on in addition to their other workload. While in many instances this may seem like the most efficient and cost-effective route for organizations to undertake, in the long-run it can actually cost the organization more – in both time and money. In addition, it can lead to poorly …

Developing A Comprehensive Training Guide For Dealers In The Gaming Sector Of The Hospitality Industry In Las Vegas, David Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Given that repeat business is at the core of profitable operations, particularly in the service industry, the purpose of this paper is to develop a comprehensive training guide for dealers in the gaming sector of the hospitality industry in Las Vegas. The comprehensive training guide will focus on customer service satisfaction to increase loyalty and add value to the Service Profit Chain (SPC). The efforts to develop and then implement this comprehensive training manual is to produce higher rates of repeat business, reflected in higher returns and overall profits. Therefore upon implementation, this comprehensive training manual will be the cornerstone …

Clarifying The Use Of Formative Measurement In The Is Discipline: The Case Of Computer Self-Efficacy, Andrew M. Hardin, Jerry Cha-Jan Chang, Mark A. Fuller

Management, Entrepreneurship and Technology Faculty Publications

The article offers insights on the use of formative measurement in the information system (IS) discipline. It focuses on the comment which warns researchers on the pitfalls of misapplying formative measures in information system domain as well as on the issues related to computer self-efficacy (CSE) and formative measurement. It then asserts that formative indicator weights are sued in determining the conceptual meaning of constructs and notes that the conceptual definition of CSE will likely differ as they are used in different research models and contexts.

Organizational Credibility Counts, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

As economic stressors increase and voting participation decreases, it is important for public administrators to find ways to minimize the negative consequences of distrust in government and to rebuild credibility by making the necessary changes to organizational culture, improving business practices, working with the media to build new more positive relationships, and by accentuating the good news about progress made. Events like Hurricane Katrina tragically teach us how long lasting one negative event can truly be because it is truly a disaster not only for those directly affected but also for those indirectly involved due to its negative affect on …

Beverage Operations Pricing Strategies, Jeffrey M. Yedlin

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A study of pricing strategies implemented in food and beverage operations that are focused on beverage operations. This is conducted through literature review and then a real time study of operations for the Luxor Casino and Hotel. Data over a period of three months is then analyzed to ascertain practical and realistic pricing strategies facing Las Vegas in the current economy.

The Logic Of Movement: Consumption Logistics On The Las Vegas Strip, Robert Dean

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The omnipresence of consumption in advanced societies is indisputable; spaces designed to facilitate consumption (or means of consumption) are one aspect of that presence. On the surface, these spaces appear to be quite harmless dreamworlds full of possibilities, but at another level they are highly instrumental, composed of various mechanisms that work to sell commodities through the manipulation of consumer behavior. I argue that consumption spaces express a logic of movement, and a consumption logistics, that is based on the commodity form and relatable to warfare that works to domesticate consumers into the commodity system. I engage in an exploratory …

Last Minute Travel: Anomaly Or Opportunity? A Case Study Of An Online Travel Agency’S Product Evolution, Cady Wolf

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

According to Jupiter Research, Online Travel is expected to reach $128 billion by the year 2011. It is estimated that sales of online packages will reach $7.6 billion by 2011; with one segment of this market, last minute travel, estimated to reach $1.8 billion during the same period. The growth potential of the last minute market segment is substantial, as the number of consumers who purchase travel online will grow from 34 million in 2005 to 55 million in 2011 (Cannizzaro, Carrol, Offutt, and Quinby, 2007).

Strategic Management Of Crises, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

The article discusses the duties and responsibilities of managers in assessing workplace threats. Managers should care when someone causes harm in the workplace. It is a duty of the managers to warn through a collaborative discussion about the advantages or drawbacks in a small group meeting. It is also an obligation of managers to act when an employee indicates that he or she is being harassed or threatened.

City Of Las Vegas Human Resources Promotional Selection Process Program Evaluation, Rik Holman, Cecil Johnson, April Thomas, Steve Weber

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The City of Las Vegas Human Resources Department requested the evaluation team examine the perception of fairness in the promotional selection process as demonstrated by the results of the 2007 Diversity and Inclusion Survey and related complaints from some of the employees. Based on discussions with the Human Resources department and subsequent interviews with other stakeholders, the main focus of the evaluation team covered the strengths and weaknesses of the promotional process and determining the reasons for the perceived preferential treatment in the promotional process as expressed by city employees who responded to the 2007 Diversity and Inclusion Survey. While …

An Assessment Of The World Wine Auction Marketplace, Michael M. Bowden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The fine wine marketplace has exploded in recent years, especially within the United States. Driven from super-heated prices this year [2007], American and European wine auctions sponsored by English-language houses realized at least US$333,209,438 in revenues this year, up from last year’s [2006] US$242,803,251 (Goldberg, 2007). It should also be noted that Peter D. Meltzer, from Wine Spectator magazine, stated that “worldwide auctions of fine and rare wines rose 25 percent over 2006 to hit a record $301 million in sales, according to figures just released by the major auction houses” (Meltzer, 2008, P. 128). This charge, especially in the …

Strategically Managing Resources And Revenue, Christine G. Springer

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Publications

The author reflects on the use of strategic management in the success of the United States Postal Service. She states that the U.S. Postal Service has used the breakthrough productivity scheme to reduce mail-processing costs and address retail locations and bulk-mail areas. She believes that the service is committed in gaining sustained success through the scheme and in serving its customers effectively.

Development Of A Student Ambassador Program, Heather James

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The need for colleges to explore alternative methods of increasing enrollment provides new opportunities and challenges in the quest to attract students. These challenges and opportunities can be addressed with the development of a Student Ambassador Program. This work presents the creation of an ambassador program consisting of current and former students who reach out to local high schools, career seminars, and industry related venues in order to both increase awareness of the program while also answering questions and being a point of contact for potential students. The implementation of the program involves a targeted recruitment strategy, coupled with training …

Ecotourism Sustainability, Lori W. Hedrick

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Ecotourism is defined by the Ecotourism Society as “responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people”. The effect of this type of tourism poses both negative and positive impacts on the tourist and society. The importance of true ecotourism is to conserve and improve the environment, but the sustainability of this type of tourism can face ecological and economic challenges.

Managing Change: The Challenges Faced At Cne, Brandon Hill

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Cherokee Casino Resort (CCR) is relatively new in the gaming industry compared to other casino resort locations such as the resorts in Las Vegas. From its inception less than ten years ago, when legalized gambling was passed in the state of Oklahoma, Cherokee Casino has gone from two bingo halls to seven casinos and a horse track. Included with the seven casinos are truck stops, outposts, motels, and hotels located throughout the state. It has grown from approximately 50 employees to over 3,000 companywide. Along with the rapid growth of casinos and employees, Cherokee Nation Enterprises (CNE) has been able …

Creating, Sustaining, And Growing The Learning Culture Of A New Luxury Hotel, Andres F. Vargas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This paper uses exploratory, qualitative research to study the development of an organizational learning culture at a new luxury hotel. In the service industry, human resources represent the most valuable asset in the organization. Simply put, employees embody the brand as they interact with guests at every touch point. Internal and external guests evolving expectations, global competition and product commoditization, have forced lodging companies to look for ways in which to remain competitive and appealing to all stakeholders. A new property that joins a renowned hospitality management company, faces the challenge to deliver service that is up to its existing …

Greening In The United States Hotel Sector: An Exploratory Examination, Adam Kaplan

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of greening in the U.S. hotel sector. Much of the existing research on the topic of greening is relegated to the European and Asian hotel sectors. Within the literature review, the paper will examine what industry leaders and scholars have reported about the progress of greening in the global sector. Given the scant research domestically, the paper will attempt to generalize some of the findings to the situation in the U.S. hotel sector. The paper’s methodology section will build on European research on greening and develop a blueprint for U.S. …

Higher Education Event – A Case Study And Special Event Approach, Matthew J. Muldoon

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of the present paper is to gain a better understanding of hospitality management literature in order to improve higher education event management strategies. The resulting professional paper intends to bring forward relevant literature and practical trends in event management. In addition, the paper intends to take a useful approach in examining the role of university conference and event standards in coordinating successful university development events. Moreover, this review expects to identify trends in higher education event programs as they relate to the hospitality industry. Events are important development initiatives and when properly planed can become a true cultivation …

Take Pride In America In Southern Nevada: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering January 6 - April 5, 2008, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• The Interagency Anti-Litter Team received new direction concerning the recycling plan deliverables.
• The Phase II media plan was completed.
• One hundred fifty nine (159) people signed the anti-litter pledge this quarter.
• The anti-litter team participated in 14 different clean up events this quarter.
• The anti-litter team participated in four community outreach events this quarter.