This paper aims to examine willingness to accept artificial intelligence (AI) devices, focusing on the so-called Gen Z population. This study presumes that specific knowledge of a business process is ...important for AI adoption in hospitality services. A research model, grounded in the artificially intelligent device use acceptance (AIDUA) framework, used data collected from 786 respondents. The model was tested using PLS-SEM methodology. The modified framework was supported by Gen Z, with hedonic motivation having the greatest effect on Gen Z members' emotions and their willingness to use AI devices in hospitality. The frequency of smartphone usage played a significant moderating role between the perceived effort of AI usage and emotions. This study helps AI designers and business managers when designing and implementing AI devices in a hospitality environment. Based on this study's findings, policymakers and educational institutions can try to advance their curricula, emphasizing the importance of new technologies.
Despite its growing popularity, the term business model has not been uniquely defined so far. Within the management science and practice, it has been frequently confused with other popular terms. ...This article aims to bring clarity into what stands behind the business model concept by providing a review of the most common themes used in defining business model elements. It also discusses the relationship between the concept of a business model, on one hand, and strategy and sustainability, on the other. A few conclusions emerge. First, although there are no generally accepted definitions for either the business model or its building blocks, academics and practitioners agree that a business model is all about value. Second, a business model is not the same as a strategy but it has an important role in strategy implementation. Third, sustainability is found to be a hot topic for business models and has been increasingly used in symbiosis with this concept. Besides being a theoretical contribution to a definition of the business model as an independent concept, the findings may be particularly helpful to managers and business practitioners seeking ways to enable their firms to deal with complex market challenges and gain competitive advantage.
The global economic crisis has had an adverse effect on, and may continue to affect, the entrepreneurial sector all over the world. However, even in a recessionary period, there will always be some ...firms growing faster than others. It is therefore imperative to understand the variables and processes that make some firms grow faster or more resilient to crisis than others. In this paper, we focus on firm size and its contributions to growth. We examine whether growth rates of manufacturing and service industries are independent of firm size during the period of economic crisis. Based on a large sample of surviving firms in the manufacturing and hospitality industries, the results of two-step dynamic panel suggest that turnover growth is positively associated with companies' size during the observed period of economic recession 2008-2013. In both industries, large and medium-sized firms exhibit higher growth than do small firms.
Large-scale sport events help attract a wide range of attendees, resulting in various implications for the host community. This paper is concerned with understanding the legacy of the 13th EHF ...European Handball Championship, held in Croatia in January 2018, by assessing the event’s economic and social benefits and costs. Drawing on the Social Exchange Theory, it also examines if any significant differences exist between host city residents and non-host city residents regarding their perceived impacts of this event on the host cities. The number of impacts was reduced by Exploratory Factor Analysis. Differences between host city and non-host city residents were examined by an independent samples t-test. The results suggest that community development and pride, security risks, traffic problems, economic benefits, environmental concerns, and economic costs are the main impact dimensions. Non-host city residents expressed a higher level of agreement with most of the impacts, but significant differences exist primarily within the dimensions of community development and pride, economic benefits, traffic problems, and environmental concerns. These findings could benefit event planners and sport marketers when trying to acquire community-wide support and to better understand how residents perceive both the positive and negative impacts that events generate.
The advances in nanotechnology are directed towards the development of new theranostic agents based on magnetic nanoparticles that can be used for both cancer detection and treatment. In this study, ...2,3-dicarboxypropane-1,1-diphosphonic acid-coated magnetite nanoparticles (Fe
3
O
4
-DPD MNPs) were evaluated for their theranostic application using different methods. The magnetic hyperthermia efficiency of the Fe
3
O
4
-DPD MNPs was investigated in saline solution with ionic strengths between 0.05 and 1.0 mol dm
−3
. For a better understanding of hyperthermia, the behavior of Fe
3
O
4
-DPD MNPs under a non-alternating magnetic field was studied, and the transparency of the sample was measured. Furthermore, the radiotracer method using the radionuclides
99m
Tc and
90
Y was applied as a reliable and powerful method for evaluating the
in vivo
behavior of a nanoprobe; a high radiolabeling yield (>93%),
in vitro
and
in vivo
stability of the radiolabeled nanoparticles and high heating effect were observed, thus paving the way for the possible theranostic applications of Fe
3
O
4
-DPD MNPs.
The advances in nanotechnology are directed towards the development of new theranostic agents based on magnetic nanoparticles that can be used for both cancer detection and treatment.
Purpose
The service industry is facing the huge impact of digital transformation, in which artificial intelligence (AI) plays one of the most important roles. This study aims to expand the ...understanding of the AI acceptance framework and confirm whether consumers’ digital skills have a moderating effect on the research model.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses were tested using a data set of 1,641 individuals. Partial least squares structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis were used to estimate the model.
Findings
The results indicate that antecedent factors influence consumers’ willingness to use AI devices in services. The two groups of different digitally savvy respondents differ because the influence of anthropomorphism, social influence and hedonic motivation on respondents’ perceived efforts to use AI devices in service delivery depends on respondents’ digital skills.
Originality/value
The novel contribution of this study is reflected in a comprehensive model that explains the moderating effect of individual digital skills on willingness to use AI devices. The attitudes of experienced and digitally skilled consumers are valuable and highlight some important theoretical, practical implications and future lines of research.
Purpose
Sports tourism was strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there is no consensus on what sports tourism should look like in the post-pandemic period. This study explores the future of ...sports tourism in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and provides an alternative paradigm model.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected by interviewing sports tourism experts. Data analysis was based on the continuous comparison method during three stages of open, axial and selective coding.
Findings
The findings point to the complexity of the future sports tourism industry. Post-COVID-19 sports tourism strongly depends on environmental forces and targeted support, with strategies focused on tourists’ safety and security, digitalization of the industry, and new employment opportunities.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the body of knowledge on sports tourism by providing answers to the current challenges, threats and opportunities associated with the pandemic. The proposed paradigm model could be a guideline for sports tourism practitioners and policymakers to accelerate recovery from COVID-19 in a sustainable and resilient manner.
Sport-tourism events create a broad spectrum of impacts on and for host communities. However, sustainable sport-tourism events, which emphasize positive impacts, and minimize negative impacts, do not ...arise by chance—they need careful planning and implementation. This paper aims to review and systematize a wide spectrum of social impacts that outdoor sport-tourism events create from the perspective of key stakeholders and addresses strategic planning elements necessary for achieving event sustainability. To reach its objectives, the authors examined the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database, searching for relevant scientific papers focusing primarily on the impacts and legacy of sport events, strategic planning elements, and attributes necessary for achieving sustainability through a systematic quantitative review and content analysis. The results indicate that the relevant literature mostly focuses on economic impacts, followed by social and environmental impacts. Most studies focus on Europe and Asia, with the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cups being the most popular type of event studied. To systemize event and destination strategic elements and attributes for achieving sustainability, this study considers eight categories: social, cultural, organizational, logistic, communication, economic, tourism, and environmental. This paper identifies the main research gaps, proposes a new holistic sport-tourism events research agenda and provides recommendations so that organizers can avoid planning, organizing, financing mistakes and better leverage future sporting events.
Sports and events play an important role in local identity building and creating a sense of community that encourages participation and increases social capital. Rural communities are specific areas ...with special needs and can face challenges and restraints when it comes to event organisation. The purpose of this paper is to identify organisational challenges and analyse the potential to achieving long-term sustainable social and economic outcomes linked to small-scale sports events in rural communities. Organisational challenges of rural communities in terms of organising sport events are examined and discussed using the framework of event leveraging developed by O’Brien and Chalip. This methodology is applied and discussed to a case study focusing on small-scale winter sport events in rural Croatia. Semi-structured interviews with local organisers were conducted in order to collect data on the overall event organisation and management, local coordination, role of community stakeholders and challenges facing strategic planning, with the intent to identify objectives for future events. Results were discussed independently and in the context of the leverage framework, with reflection on its applicability to rural communities as the event organisers. Recommendations are provided based on critical insight from the literature and are oriented on how to streamline the process of organising, delivering and managing of events in remote rural communities. Finally, the idea of inter-community organisation is proposed to ensure long-term social and economic benefits and to address the existing issues of overlapping of stakeholder categories, mixed objectives, distrust among stakeholders and inefficiently used local resources.
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