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Understanding Cambodian tourism development through contextual education

Within a field that has prioritized ideas of a global tourism industry impacting on a local environment, less attention has been given to regional, cultural, and geographic differences and parallels. A problematic concern in the study of tourism was perhaps the lack of contextualization and the integration of the units of analysis (e.g., tourist destinations) to the larger regional structures and societal processes. We wish to take up the challenge to further disturb the foundations of the field and, more importantly, to participate in the advancement of a more pluralist discourse. A central component in this article is a 5-day study visit in Siem Reap, Cambodia as part of an Asia-based fieldwork of bachelor students in tourism development at NHTV University of Applied Sciences in Breda, The Netherlands. This study visit serves as an illustration of the contextual education approach developed in the tourism course and facilitated by the international classroom setting. This fieldwork's philosophy and the inspirational encounters made possible by it is an attempt to address the challenges posed by the study of the dynamism and changing character of destinations. To conclude we will bring forward selected student experiences as well as dimensions of Cambodian history and society that have enriched our understanding of Siem Reap as a destination. This experience will fuel a discussion on knowledge production in tourism and on the added value of this contextual education approach. The repeated opportunity for our students to meet, think, and reflect on what they were confronted with created a possibility to uncover more than would have been possible via standard research methods using surveys and interviews.

Pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities is not a choice

PurposeAll entrepreneurs interact simultaneously with multiple entrepreneurial contexts throughout their entrepreneurial journey. This conceptual paper has two central aims: (1) it synthesises the current literature on gender and entrepreneurship, and (2) it increases our understanding of how gender norms, contextual embeddedness and (in)equality mechanisms interact within contexts. Illustrative contexts that are discussed include entrepreneurship education, business networks and finance.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper draws upon extant literature to develop its proposed conceptual framework. It provides suggestions for systemic policy interventions as well as pointing to promising paths for future research.FindingsA literature-generated conceptual framework is developed to explain and address the systemic barriers faced by opportunity-driven women as they engage in entrepreneurial contexts. This conceptual framework visualises the interplay between gender norms, contextual embeddedness and inequality mechanisms to explain systemic disparities. An extra dimension is integrated in the framework to account for the power of agency within women and with others, whereby agency, either individually or collectively, may disrupt and subvert the current interplay with inequality mechanisms.Originality/valueThis work advances understanding of the underrepresentation of women entrepreneurs. The paper offers a conceptual framework that provides policymakers with a useful tool to understand how to intervene and increase contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. Additionally, this paper suggests moving beyond “fixing” women entrepreneurs and points towards disrupting systemic disparities to accomplish this contextual embeddedness for all entrepreneurs. By doing so, this research adds to academic knowledge on the construction and reconstruction of gender in the field of entrepreneurship.

The talent organization: a contextual analyses of universities in the Netherlands using a multi perspective approach

The aim of the paper is a contextual analysis of universities in the Netherlands: an analysis of the key issues and external developments, and how they affect the academic organization, the organization of academic work and the characteristics and preferences of scientists. Subsequently, we will discuss effects of these developments on the HRM system and policy (and in specific the management of talent or excellence). We will use multiple theoretical frameworks and perspectives grounded in organizational theory to describe Dutch universities and their context: structural frame, professional frame, cultural frame and political frame. Most literature discusses one aspect of the academic organization: education or research aspect, HRM aspect, financial aspect et cetera. Seldom the different aspects have been presented as one integrated entity. We want to show that using multiple frames or lenses will lead to an integrated, enriched and more balanced view of a situation.

“Those blimmin Ts and Cs”: a mixed methods analysis of how people manage personal information, privacy, and impressions

Interconnected and smart technologies complicate personal information management (PIM) because users delegate the storing, organizing, and retrieving of personal information to smart and mobile service providers. Meta-level PIM activities are required to maintain the privacy and security of personal information. This study provides insights into how users of location tracking, mobile apps, and smart home technologies perceive PIM and privacy. We turn to the privacy as contextual integrity (CI) and impression management (IM) literatures to explore informational norms and interpersonal dynamics in PIM. This study is based on a mixed methods design to analyze focus groups and interviews with 106 British and Dutch respondents. Combining unsupervised Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling and thematic analysis, we reveal discursive patterns in respondent accounts of technology use and provide an in-depth interpretation of these patterns. Our findings indicate that PIM practices are associated with the perceived appropriateness of information flows, anthropomorphic interpretations of technologies, and interpersonal surveillance. Thus, impressions are managed toward social actors as well as technology providers. We contribute to PIM research with a demonstration of how PIM in mobile, smart, and location-based technology use cannot be separated from contextual factors and strategies to manage impressions of habits and behaviors.

"To click or not to click"

Sensors in offices mainly measure environmental data, missing qualitative insights into office workers’ perceptions. This opens the opportunity for active individual participation in data collection. To promote reflection on office well-being while overcoming experience sampling challenges in terms of privacy, notification, and display overload, and in-the-moment data collection, we developed Click-IO. Click-IO is a tangible, privacy-sensitive, mobile experience sampling tool that collects contextual information. We evaluated Click-IO for 20-days. The system enabled real-time reflections for office workers, promoting self-awareness of their environment and well-being. Its non-digital design ensured privacy-sensitive feedback collection, while its mobility facilitated in-the-moment feedback. Based on our findings, we identify design recommendations for the evelopment of mobile experience sampling tools. Moreover, the integration of contextual data with environmental sensor data presented a more comprehensive understanding of individuals’ experiences. This research contributes to the development of experience sampling tools and sensor integration for understanding office well-being.

Knowledge production in tourism: the evaluation of contextual learning processes in destination studies