Zoekresultaten

Future-oriented learning within the business sector

The future of the business sector for students in higher education is uncertain. The reasons for this are technological developments, the effects of globalisation and the shifting of business models (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014; Helbing, 2014). The consequences of digitalisation and robotisation are large for professions in the financial-economic sector, such as accountancy and finance, business economy, and marketing (Frey & Osborne, 2013; Deloitte, 2016). As a result, certain jobs will disappear, but on the other hand new types of jobs will arise. It is expected that people in employment will have to have a strong adaptive ability to handle fast changes. There is an increasing expectation that they need to be mobile between employers and that they should be able to deal with a variety of new tasks, roles and positions (Dochy, Berghmans, Koenen, & Segers, 2015). Professionals need to have a sense of great flexibility in order to be able to anticipate these changes based on their own power and ambition. In addition to this adaptive ability, good interpersonal skills are essential due to the need for working in multidisciplinary teams on complex issues (Onstenk, 2017). The Social and Economic Council of the Netherlands (Sociaal-Economische Raad, 2017) presumes that the level of basic skills required to participate in an increasingly complex society is continuously growing, and they advise upcoming professionals to train their resistance, flexibility and the ability to continuously develop in order to maintain sustainable employability. In this way professionals regularly need to be able to reinvent themselves during periods of change (Van Water & Weggeman, 2017; Frie, Potting, Sjoer, & Van der Heijden, submitted for publication). This chapter will describe how the Department of Business, Finance & Marketing (BFM) of The Hague University of Applied Sciences (THUAS) has found an answer to the challenges of a Department-wide educational innovation. First it is outlined what this innovation involves and how it will be designed. The net paragraph clarifies the overlap in the competency profiles of the five programmes of BFM. Then the next steps of this educational innovation process are described. Finally, insights will be discussed as to the role of the lecturers and the business sector, as valuable partners, within this educational reform.

Making cultural differences matter?

The higher education sector has become increasingly aware of how the increasing diversity in society affects their institutions. The student population has become more diverse and future employers increasingly require trained students who are able to meet the demands of dealing with a more diverse market/clientele. In this regard, education institutions need to align their strategic approach to diversity within their organization. The purpose of this paper is to examine strategical reasons to diversify in different education teams in relation to two different diversity practices: attraction and selection of culturally diverse lecturers and utilization of cultural differences in team interaction.

Cultural tourism during the covid-19 pandemic in Portugal

The COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic represented a significant break with previous patterns of cultural consumption, effectively halting the growth of “mass cultural tourism” driven by cheap flights and collaborative economy accommodation. Surveys conducted by the ATLAS Cultural Tourism Group in Portugal were used to develop a detailed picture of cultural tourism consumption during the pandemic. In 2020 and early 2021 surveys were conducted at different locations in the country, generating over 500 responses. The research shows that COVID-19 had significant impacts on the profile and activities of cultural tourists in Portugal, with much more domestic tourism at most sites, and fewer visitors staying away from home. Levels of satisfaction and intention to return remained high, as did perceived authenticity. There was a significant drop in touring holidays, with visitors more likely to stay in a single location. Those tourists visiting cultural attractions during the pandemic had a positive experience, despite the challenging conditions. Levels of satisfaction increased compared with previous surveys in Portugal in 2004, but there were also fluctuations in levels of satisfaction during the pandemic period, correlated with levels of COVID-19 infections. Some indications of emerging alternative forms of cultural tourism include an increased proclivity for rural locations and inland areas, away from destinations usually associated with mass (cultural) tourism. The article concludes by considering a number of implications for the development of cultural tourism in Portugal and other destinations in the postpandemic era.

Working on diversity and inclusion is not a project, but a change process : implementation of the Diversity & Inclusion Code in the cultural sector.

The influence of perceived cultural and business distance on international marketing strategy decisions

World globalisation drives companies to undertake international expansion with the aim of retaining or growing their businesses. When companies globalize, managers encounter new challenges in making international marketing strategy (IMS) decisions, which are influenced by perceived cultural and business distance between their home- and foreign country. Telkom Indonesia International (Telin) was formed by Telkom Indonesia (i.e. the state-owned company in the telecommunication industry in Indonesia) to engage in international business within a global market. The central question in this study is to what extent do managers’ perceived cultural and business distance between home- and foreign country influence their IMS decisions? A mixed research strategy will be employed by applying qualitative and quantitative methods concurrently. The data collection will involve interviews with CEOs and managers, alongside a web survey to 55 managers of Telkom's. Results suggest important consequences for IMS decisions and emphasizes the need for dialogue on perceptions of cultural and business characteristics of countries.

A global mind, a joy forever

This dissertation increases our insight into the role of the service employee’s intercultural competences in the service to culturally diverse customers. Investigating the effect of the intercultural competences of service employees is of major importance because, as a consequence of globalization, the number of intercultural service encounters has increased dramatically and still does. The delivery of service to a culturally diverse customer-base requires a combination of knowledge, skills and attitude; the intercultural competences (also known as Global Mindset). In this study the hotel sector has been investigated specifically. The hotel sector is an important economic player that continues to grow inspite of economic downturn. The special characteristics of hotel services make the sector also very suitable for the research of face-to-face encounters in an international context. In this dissertation, a holistic approach has been chosen, meaning that in the four empirical studies not only the perspective of the manager, but also that of the employee and the customer was investigated. All three of the above-mentioned are actors in intercultural service according to the argumentation of the ‘service-profit chain’ (Heskett, Jones, et al., 1994). Together, the manager, employee and the customer form the so-called ‘service triangle’ (Bitner, 1990).