Purpose – The hospitality industry creates a distinctive context in which learning takes place. The industry’s international perspective and large globalisation play an important role in learning, as well as the operational and structural features that give meaning to learning and development in the hospitality industry. This explorative research therefore studies the relation between workplace learning and organisational performance in the Dutch hospitality industry. Design/methodology/approach – The qualitative research is done through 15 in-depth interviews with general managers and HR managers of Dutch hotels with three or more stars and at least ten employees. Findings – It can be concluded that there is a relation between workplace learning and organisational performance in the hospitality industry, as the participants in this research and the literature both mention workplace learning enhances organisational performance. Originality/value – Little research has been done on learning and organisational performance specifically, in the (Western) hospitality industry. This research therefore focusses on HRD and studies the influence of workplace learning on organisational performance in the Dutch hospitality industry.
Change has become continuous, and innovation is a primary approach for hospitality, i.e., hotel companies, to become or remain economically viable and sustainable. An increasing number of management researchers are paying more attention to workplace rather than technological innovation. This study investigates workplace innovation in the Dutch hotel industry, in three- and four-star hotels in the Netherlands, by comparing them to other industries. Two samples were questioned using the Workplace Innovation survey created by the Dutch Network of Social Innovation (NSI). The first was conducted in the hospitality industry, and these data were compared with data collected in a sample of other industries. Results suggest that greater strategic orientation on workplace innovation and talent development has a positive influence on four factors of organizational performance. Greater internal rates of change, the ability to self-organize, and investment in knowledge also had positive influences on three of the factors—growth in revenue, sustainability, and absenteeism. Results also suggest that the hospitality industry has lower workplace innovation than other industries. However, no recent research has assessed to what degree the hospitality industry fosters workplace innovation, especially in the Netherlands. Next to that, only few studies have examined management in the Dutch hotel industry, how workplace innovation is used there, and whether it improves practices.
Vanuit het internationale Lean 4.0 onderzoek bieden we in juni 3 webinars aan, rond de onderwerpen Lean, Lean leren en Lean en Industrie 4.0. We delen hier de eerste inzichten van ons onderzoek en praktijkvoorbeelden. Aan deelname zijn geen kosten verbonden. In June we will be hosting a series of 3 webinars. During these webinars we will share the first insights of our international Lean 4.0 research. Register now and join us (free) for one of the following online masterclasses. Lean 4.0 is a collaborative initiative between four leading Higher Education institutions and four industry partners with the objective to integrate Industry 4.0 smart technologies with the proven Lean Manufacturing paradigm. Lean 4.0 will educate the operations managers of the future in the best practices in the field of Lean & Industry 4.0. A main output is an open knowledge sharing platform to organize Blended Network Action Learning in practice and digital teaching content for the new and growing “Lean 4.0” community. Deelnemers: ca. 47 In his masterclass, mr. Gupta will illustrate his thoughts on the Fusion of Lean with Industry 4.0 using examples from his company. After an introduction and, specifically, the Lean focus in operations he will cover issues such as: • What are the key benefits of Industry 4.0? • How to justify investments in Industry 4.0 • How a pilot project helps to learn about the development of Lean 4.0 in the company • How to gain operator acceptance? • What is the impact of Industry 4.0 on the centralization/decentralization of operational responsibilities? The goal of this masterclass is to stimulate discussion about the development of Lean 4.0 in manufacturing companies.
Designing cities that are socially sustainable has been a significant challenge until today. Lately, European Commission’s research agenda of Industy 5.0 has prioritised a sustainable, human-centric and resilient development over merely pursuing efficiency and productivity in societal transitions. The focus has been on searching for sustainable solutions to societal challenges, engaging part of the design industry. In architecture and urban design, whose common goal is to create a condition for human life, much effort was put into elevating the engineering process of physical space, making it more efficient. However, the natural process of social evolution has not been given priority in urban and architectural research on sustainable design. STEPS stems from the common interest of the project partners in accessible, diverse, and progressive public spaces, which is vital to socially sustainable urban development. The primary challenge lies in how to synthesise the standardised sustainable design techniques with unique social values of public space, propelling a transition from technical sustainability to social sustainability. Although a large number of social-oriented studies in urban design have been published in the academic domain, principles and guidelines that can be applied to practice are large missing. How can we generate operative principles guiding public space analysis and design to explore and achieve the social condition of sustainability, developing transferable ways of utilising research knowledge in design? STEPS will develop a design catalogue with operative principles guiding public space analysis and design. This will help designers apply cross-domain knowledge of social sustainability in practice.
The production of denim makes a significant contribution to the environmental impact of the textile industry. The use of mechanically recycled fibers is proven to lower this environmental impact. MUD jeans produce denim using a mixture of virgin and mechanically recycled fibers and has the goal to produce denim with 100% post-consumer textile by 2020. However, denim fabric with 100% mechanically recycled fibers has insufficient mechanical properties. The goal of this project is to investigate the possibilities to increase the content of recycled post-consumer textile fibers in denim products using innovative recycling process technologies.
In this proposal, a consortium of knowledge institutes (wo, hbo) and industry aims to carry out the chemical re/upcycling of polyamides and polyurethanes by means of an ammonolysis, a depolymerisation reaction using ammonia (NH3). The products obtained are then purified from impurities and by-products, and in the case of polyurethanes, the amines obtained are reused for resynthesis of the polymer. In the depolymerisation of polyamides, the purified amides are converted to the corresponding amines by (in situ) hydrogenation or a Hofmann rearrangement, thereby forming new sources of amine. Alternatively, the amides are hydrolysed toward the corresponding carboxylic acids and reused in the repolymerisation towards polyamides. The above cycles are particularly suitable for end-of-life plastic streams from sorting installations that are not suitable for mechanical/chemical recycling. Any loss of material is compensated for by synthesis of amines from (mixtures of) end-of-life plastics and biomass (organic waste streams) and from end-of-life polyesters (ammonolysis). The ammonia required for depolymerisation can be synthesised from green hydrogen (Haber-Bosch process).By closing carbon cycles (high carbon efficiency) and supplementing the amines needed for the chain from biomass and end-of-life plastics, a significant CO2 saving is achieved as well as reduction in material input and waste. The research will focus on a number of specific industrially relevant cases/chains and will result in economically, ecologically (including safety) and socially acceptable routes for recycling polyamides and polyurethanes. Commercialisation of the results obtained are foreseen by the companies involved (a.o. Teijin and Covestro). Furthermore, as our project will result in a wide variety of new and drop-in (di)amines from sustainable sources, it will increase the attractiveness to use these sustainable monomers for currently prepared and new polyamides and polyurethanes. Also other market applications (pharma, fine chemicals, coatings, electronics, etc.) are foreseen for the sustainable amines synthesized within our proposition.
