The economics of the service sector has recently attracted a large attention. At a macroeconomic level, the discussion has been focused on the issues concerning the relationship between the expansion of the service industry and the potential for a stable and sustained growth. Slow productivity growth, due to the largely non tradable nature of the output, lack of competition due either to regulations or to barriers to entry are among the "bads" sometimes associated with a "service led" growth. On the other hand new working places are created in the service industries at a rate much higher than in the industrial ones. Is a lower rate of technological change and the continuing of inflationary tensions the price to pay for a sustained expansion of employment in the service sector? These are in a nutshell the questions that led CElS (Centre for International Studies on Economic Growth - University of Rome "Tor Vergata") to organize the International Seminar on "The Service Sector: Productivity and Growth" held in Rome in May 1993, whose revised proceedings are published in this volume. The economists and academicians invited to the conference have faced the issues mentioned above from different perspectives, but they concentrated especially on the problems relative to growth and productivity.

The world arms market has been in continuous flux since the end of the Cold War. This volume provides a policy-relevant analysis of the complex web of contemporary economic trends, political developments and strategic considerations that are shaping the contours of the new post-Cold War world market for weaponry.

Given the historical and cultural richness of countries in the Middle East region, as well as the economic development many have exhibited in recent years, tourism planning and development gains much significance for both scholars and practitioners. Turbulence, conflicts and crises exhibited in the area add further dimensions that need to be incorporated in tourism strategies and planning, and taken into consideration by experts at an institutional, corporate and educational level. Furthermore, in order to effectively deal with aspects of sustainability, visions and strategies in the region need to build upon good practices. As a result, a greater understanding is required of the factors influencing decision-making on tourism matters as well as on the impacts and implications of sustainable tourism development. This book, written by an international team of experts, addresses the need to examine tourism development and planning in the Middle East from a sustainability perspective by embracing case studies and examples from the region. Through its collection of chapters, the book considers tourism planning and development from the economic, socio-cultural, environmental and regulatory perspectives of sustainability. Thus, the book advances understandings of the positive and negative impacts of tourism development as well as how turbulence, crisis, synergies and the top-down and bottom-up approaches to tourism development are connected to different problems and implications for local communities, the region and the relationship of the Middle East with the rest of the world. An essential resource for tourism practitioners, decision-makers in private and public organizations, government bodies, and consultants from not only the Middle East, but all those who want an encompassing view of global tourism.

by RolfM. Jeker, Federal Office for Foreign Economic Affairs Services have only quite recently become an important issue in foreign economic policy and particularly in international trade negotiations. Trade policy was traditionally perceived to deal almost exclusively with exports and imports of goods. The increasing importance of services both nationally and internationally is, mainly, due to the gains in agricultural and industrial productiv ity (freeing resources for services activities), and the progress in communication technology, facilitating trade in invisibles. Notable examples of contractual and legal frameworks for services in international trade relations are the internal market program of the European Community extended by the Agreement on the European Economic Are. a (EEA) to EFTA countries, the multi lateral Uruguay-Round negotiations under the auspices of the GATT on a General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed by the United States, Canada and Mexico. This trend is of particular significance to Switzerland, a country where services contribute about 65% to the value added of the economy, a share which will probably still increase somewhat. Ser vices also contribute to an important extent to the traditional surplus in the current account of the Swiss balance of payments. Switzerland clearly has comparative advantages in the field of ser vices, as is well demonstrated by its long and successful tradition in key services sectors like banking, insurance, tourism, consulting and engineering."

Many governments are pursuing with relentless vigor a neoconservative/transnational corporate program of globalization, privatization, deregulation, cutbacks to social programs, and downsizing of the public sector. Countries are forming into giant "free trade" blocs. Increasingly they lack the will and desire to resist encroachments of world "superculture". Furthermore, they encourage heightened commoditization of information and knowledge, for instance through provisions in bilateral and multilateral trade treaties. The analytical underpinning and ideological justification for this neoconservative/transnational corporate policy agenda is mainstream (neo-classical) economics.

Focusing on the centrality of information/communication to economic and ecological processes, "Communication and the Transformation of Economics" cuts at the philosophical/ideological root of this neoconservative policy agenda. Mainstream economics assumes a commodity status for information, even though information is indivisible, subjective, shared, and intangible. Information, in other words, is quite ill-suited to commodity treatment. Likewise, neoclassicism posits communication as comprising merely acts of commodity exchange, thereby ignoring gift relations; dialogic interactions; the cumulative, transformative properties of all informational interchange; and the social or community context within which communicative action takes place.

Continuing in the tradition of writers such as Russel Wallace, Thorstein Veblen, Karl Polyani, E. F. Schumacher, Kenneth E. Boulding, and Herman Daly, Robert Babe proposes infusing mainstream economics with realistic and expansive conceptions of information/communication in order to better comprehend twenty-first-century issues and progress toward a more sustainable, more just, and more democratic economic/communicatory order.

This book offers an overview of service design practices for healthcare and hospital management. It explores how these practices can help to generate innovations in healthcare and contribute to the improvement of patient-centered care. Respected experts, including scholars from various disciplines and practitioners from healthcare institutions, share essential insights into established research areas, fields of work and work structures, and discuss successful approaches, methods and tools. By illustrating innovative services, products, processes, systems, and technologies, as well as their application in practice, the authors highlight the role of participating stakeholders in service design projects and the added value that comes from sharing, communicating, networking and collaborating. This book is a must-read for scholars and practitioners in the hospital and healthcare sector. It will also appeal to anyone interested in organizational development, service business model innovation, customer involvement and perceptions, and service experience.

This book situates the 2020 Tokyo Olympics within the social, economic, and political challenges facing contemporary Japan. Using the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as a lens into the city and the country as a whole, the stellar line up of contributors offer hidden insights and new perspectives on the Games. These include city planning, cultural politics, financial issues, language use, security, education, volunteerism, and construction work. The chapters then go on to explore the many stakeholders, institutions, citizens, interest groups, and protest groups involved, and feature the struggle over Tokyo's extreme summer heat, food standards, the implementation of diversity around disabilities, sexual minorities, and technological innovations. Giving short glimpses into the new Olympic sports, this book also analyses the role of these sports in Japanese society. Japan Through the Lens of the Tokyo Olympics will be of huge interest to anyone attending the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020. It will also be useful to students and scholars of the Olympics and the sociology of sport, as well as Japanese culture and society.

Combining a range of case studies with theoretical research, this volume analyzes current developments and best practice. The contributors discuss innovative approaches in assessment, peer assessment, the NCVQ model, the positive side of assessment, staff training for assessment, and much more.

The Fundamentals of Event Design aims to rethink current approaches to event design and production. The textbook explores the relationship between event design and multiple visitor experiences, as well as interactivity, motivation, sensory stimuli and co-creative participation. Structured around the key phases of event design, the book covers all the critical dimensions of event concepting, atmospherics, the application of interactive technologies, project management, team leadership, creative marketing and sustainable production. The concepts of authenticity, creativity, co-creation, imagineering and storytelling are discussed throughout, and practical step-by-step guidance is provided on how to create and deliver unique and memorable events. The chapters include industry voices offering real-life insight from leading international event practitioners and individual and/or team assignments to stimulate learners' creativity, visualisation and problem solving. This is the first textbook in event design that integrates areas of anthropology, social psychology, management, marketing, graphic design and interactivity. Focusing on bringing theory into practice, this is essential reading for all Events Management students.

The Fundamentals of Event Design aims to rethink current approaches to event design and production. The textbook explores the relationship between event design and multiple visitor experiences, as well as interactivity, motivation, sensory stimuli and co-creative participation. Structured around the key phases of event design, the book covers all the critical dimensions of event concepting, atmospherics, the application of interactive technologies, project management, team leadership, creative marketing and sustainable production. The concepts of authenticity, creativity, co-creation, imagineering and storytelling are discussed throughout, and practical step-by-step guidance is provided on how to create and deliver unique and memorable events. The chapters include industry voices offering real-life insight from leading international event practitioners and individual and/or team assignments to stimulate learners' creativity, visualisation and problem solving. This is the first textbook in event design that integrates areas of anthropology, social psychology, management, marketing, graphic design and interactivity. Focusing on bringing theory into practice, this is essential reading for all Events Management students.

Struggling to apply Lean effectively in your office environment? Office Lean is a book for anyone who wants to apply Lean better in contexts where the work is both intangible and complex. it explains in simple terms, what Lean is -- and what Lean isn't -- enabling office professionals to understand how it can be successfully applied to their complex office-based work environments. Contrary to popular opinion, Lean is not only for mass manufacturing or healthcare. It applies just as much to the digital world of "knowledge work" industries such as banking and financial services, software development, and government. But the fundamental concepts, straight from the factory floor, need a fair amount of translation to be effectively applied in cube farms. Overturning the common perception that Lean is about imposing rigid rules, or simply eliminating waste in the name of "efficiency", Eakin presents Lean as a dynamic, flexible, people-centric philosophy that delivers outstanding business results by improving employee engagement and customer experience. Office Lean helps Lean practitioners (leaders/managers and coaches/consultants) working in professional office environments access the amazing, transformative results Lean can bring to their specific domains. It combines clear explanations of the core concepts of the Lean philosophy with relevant, practical examples from the fields of accounting, finance, insurance, IT and government.

Volunteers are central to sport at all levels, from mega-events to grassroots clubs. Sport Volunteering is a definitive guide to the issues associated with managing volunteers in sport. The book focuses on the psychology of the voluntary experience, the challenges inherent in managing a volunteer workforce for not-for-profit and other groups, and the development of volunteers. It provides a perspective on the roles of volunteers in the development and delivery of sport in a range of contexts - events, clubs, associations and other non-profit groups - and explores important contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity and the management of risk. This book is essential reading for anybody studying sport volunteering or managing volunteers in sport, and a valuable resource for students of sport development, sport management, sport business, sport events, sport administration, sport policy, community sport, sport facilities, sport operations, event management or sport coaching.

Volunteers are central to sport at all levels, from mega-events to grassroots clubs. Sport Volunteering is a definitive guide to the issues associated with managing volunteers in sport. The book focuses on the psychology of the voluntary experience, the challenges inherent in managing a volunteer workforce for not-for-profit and other groups, and the development of volunteers. It provides a perspective on the roles of volunteers in the development and delivery of sport in a range of contexts - events, clubs, associations and other non-profit groups - and explores important contemporary issues such as sustainability, diversity and the management of risk. This book is essential reading for anybody studying sport volunteering or managing volunteers in sport, and a valuable resource for students of sport development, sport management, sport business, sport events, sport administration, sport policy, community sport, sport facilities, sport operations, event management or sport coaching.

Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and Analysis is important reading for those in the following areas of industry: * Tourism: illustrates the importance of cultural background in the tourist experience and how it is a major determinant in repeat visitation * Marketing: provides an understanding of the cultural background of a destination that is vital when formulating successful marketing strategies * Management: provides valuable examples on how cultures influence tourist behaviour and decision-making, helping managers to develop cross-cultural skills and deal with tourists from diverse cultural backgrounds Tourism is a service industry where people from different nationalities meet. In today's international marketplace it is imperative that those in the industry understand the influence of national cultures on their consumers in order to compete successfully for a market share. The book is accompanied by online resources which can be found at www.bh.com/companions/0750656689. These resources include an account of Hypothesis Testing, together with a detailed glossary and a comprehensive reference list of relevant materials.

Sport is a geographic phenomenon. The physical and organizational infrastructure of sport occupies a prominent place in our society. This important book takes an explicitly spatial approach to sport, bringing together research in geography, sport studies and related disciplines to articulate a critical approach to 'sports geography'. Critical Geographies of Sport illustrates this approach by engaging directly with a variety of theoretical traditions as well as the latest research methods. Each chapter showcases the merits of a geographic approach to the study of sport - ranging from football to running, horseracing and professional wrestling. Including cases from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, the book highlights the ways that space and power are produced through sport and its concomitant infrastructures, agencies and networks. Holding these power relations at the center of its analysis, it considers sport as a unique lens onto our understanding of space. Truly global in its perspective, it is fascinating reading for any student or scholar with an interest in sport and politics, sport and society, or human geography.

Taking a new approach to a relatively underexplored area, this book examines the concept of authenticity and its relevance to marketing management. The author draws on several disciplines, including arts, philosophy, sociology and psychology, as well as focusing on important sub-fields within the field of marketing such as consumer behaviour and tourism. Presenting data from interviews with managers and consumers, and summarising and critiquing recent developments within the field, From Arts to Marketing is a timely and much-needed addition to literature and will be useful to those researching consumer behaviour, brand management and marketing more generally.

This edition stresses some critical reflectons regarding security policies before and during Sport Events in our contemporary era of generalized insecurity. Sport competitions at the national, European and global levels have evolved in terms of economic investment, social importance and media coverage. However, this evolution has brought with it major political concerns. At the same time, the dominant question regarding the organization of competitions in our post-modern, neoliberal risk societies is the creation of a safe and secure milieu; the need of construction of an environment of life where sport events and the multiple activities and interests related to them can be kept safe from any risk and potentially harmful occurrence. In the name of security, anticipatory dispositifs and risk management practices, rationalities and technologies of government do not exclusively attempt to prevent disastrous incidents or to maintain order in situ. Involving a set of heteronymous public and private organizations and bureaucraties, state "experts" and not state "security managers", proactive security strategies seek to imagine the future, to pre-empt, to act in advance, to anticipate possible catastrophic incidents by managing populations and spaces in order to set, to assure, with any cost, the ideal conditions. The aim of this volume is to highlight the complex set of legal provisions, surveillance and policing practices, discourses, bureaucratic procedures and spatial and architectural forms underpin the security governance of sport events and their effects in the contemporary era of widespread uncertainty. This book was published as a special issue of Sport in Society.

This Practical Guide to Event Promotion offers the reader a short and succinct overview of the range of marketing communication materials from print to social marketing that can be used to promote an event successfully to the correct target markets. It includes invaluable advice on how to identify the type of communication tools most applicable to the type of event that is being promoted and its target market; how to effectively use and implement these; useful tips on things to avoid; as well as suggested time frames to use before, during and after the event. Examples of best practice and insights from events marketers are integrated throughout. Although full of practical information, a strong theoretical base underpins the advice included on how event managers can apply communication and persuasion theory to key audiences. This book will be a useful resource for Events Management students putting on an event as part of their course and for assessments, and those wanting to convert general theory into practical skills they will use in the workplace.

Health, Tourism and Hospitality: Spas, Wellness and Medical Travel, 2nd Edition takes an in-depth and comprehensive look at the growing health, wellness and medical tourism sectors in a global context. The book analyses the history and development of the industries, the way in which they are managed and organised, the expanding range of new and innovative products and trends, and the marketing of destinations, products and services. The only book to offer a complete overview and introduction to health, tourism and hospitality this 2nd Edition has been updated to include: * Expanded coverage to the hospitality sector with a particular focus on spa management. * New content on medical tourism throughout the book, to reflect the worldwide growth in medical travel with more and more countries entering this competitive market. * Updated content to reflect recent issues and trends including: ageing population, governments encouraging preventative health, consumer use of contemporary and alternative therapies, self-help market, impacts of economic recession, spa management and customer loyalty. * New case studies taken from a range of different countries and contexts, and focusing on established or new destinations, products and services such as: conventional medicine, complementary and alternative therapies, lifestyle-based wellness, beauty and cosmetics, healthy nutrition, longevity and anti (or active)-ageing, amongst others. Written in a user friendly style, this is essential reading for students studying health, tourism and hospitality.

Event Audiences and Expectations for the first time examines why people participate in festivals and events, the types of events which stimulate participation, and the fanatical antics of fans who become involved in these events. By doing so the book offers significant insight into how event managers can entice and manage participant expectations as well as manage audience involvement. The book is based on primary research using participant observation, as well as in-depth interviews with event participants, event managers and government officials involved in over 50 international events to gain new perspectives into audience behaviour and participatory events. Using numerous international case studies and examples, the book offers a comprehensive outline of the reasons why people participate in festivals and events, the social world that reinforces their behaviours, and strategies that can be used to ensure future successful participatory events. This thought-provoking and original volume will be valuable reading for students, researchers, events managers and tourism and community planners at all levels of government.

This book takes an in-depth look at the emerging technologies that are transforming the way clinicians manage patients, while at the same time emphasizing that the best practitioners use both artificial and human intelligence to make decisions. AI and machine learning are explored at length, with plain clinical English explanations of convolutional neural networks, back propagation, and digital image analysis. Real-world examples of how these tools are being employed are also discussed, including their value in diagnosing diabetic retinopathy, melanoma, breast cancer, cancer metastasis, and colorectal cancer, as well as in managing severe sepsis. With all the enthusiasm about AI and machine learning, it was also necessary to outline some of criticisms, obstacles, and limitations of these new tools. Among the criticisms discussed: the relative lack of hard scientific evidence supporting some of the latest algorithms and the so-called black box problem. A chapter on data analytics takes a deep dive into new ways to conduct subgroup analysis and how it's forcing healthcare executives to rethink the way they apply the results of large clinical trials to everyday medical practice. This re-evaluation is slowly affecting the way diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and cancer are treated. The research discussed also suggests that data analytics will impact emergency medicine, medication management, and healthcare costs. An examination of the diagnostic reasoning process itself looks at how diagnostic errors are measured, what technological and cognitive errors are to blame, and what solutions are most likely to improve the process. It explores Type 1 and Type 2 reasoning methods; cognitive mistakes like availability bias, affective bias, and anchoring; and potential solutions such as the Human Diagnosis Project. Finally, the book explores the role of systems biology and precision medicine in clinical decision support and provides several case studies of how next generation AI is transforming patient care.

Este libro es para el empresario que suena con tener su propio restaurante. Es para esa persona que siente pasion por la gastronomia, la hospitalidad, el Servicio. Es para ese empresario que desea que sus empleados aprendan mas en el area de la gastronomia.

The growth of the events industry brings with it concerns of sustainable management, the sharing of available resources, and ensuring that people and places are not over-exploited. While the environmental and economic dimensions of sustainability have attracted a reasonable attention in the study of events, the social and cultural aspects of sustainability have been largely neglected. This book brings together emerging critical perspectives, innovative conceptual frameworks and contemporary case studies. Events cannot be isolated from the actions of humans and this is reflected in the emphasis on people and society throughout. The next wave of sustainable discourse requires a critical synthesis of information and this book is the first to address the need for more critical approaches and a broader way of thinking about events and sustainability. Divided into five thematic parts, the contributions delve into understanding the mainstream stances towards sustainability, the role events play in indigenous cultures and in diasporic communities, and the extent to which events influence the public discourse and civic identity. Sustainability is also examined from a strategic perspective in the events sector, and consideration is given to issues such as corporate social responsibility, greenwashing, and the power of mulit-stakeholder alliances in promoting sustainability goals. Written by leading academics, this timely and important volume will be valuable reading for all students, researchers and academics interested in Events and the global issue of Sustainability.

Many of our planet s support systems are in crisis. Climate change, resource shortages and environmental pollution threaten our economy and lifestyles. Society as a whole needs to adopt policies that can meet these challenges. The ever expanding event industry is no exception. Anyone involved in organising and managing events needs to understand the complex relationship between events and the environment so that they can implement sustainable management practices.

This is the first book to provide a thorough exploration of the multi-dimensional relationships between events and the environment. It achieves this by not only critically evaluating the positive and negative impacts on the environment but also by reviewing the ways the events industry uses the environment as a resource and how the environment helps to shape events. It traces the evolution of the concepts of sustainability and sustainable development and the implementation of environmental legislation. It offers insights into how sustainable measurement practices can be incorporated into the planning, management and monitoring of events and concludes by reflecting on some of the future environmental issues that still need to be resolved within the industry. It illustrates these ideas with a wide range of case studies at a variety of scales and geographical locations on all the earth s continents. To encourage reflection on the principal themes and promote critical thinking, there are discussion questions and links to further reading in each chapter.

This book is essential reading for students of Events Management.

In the past two decades, several millions of IT-enabled services jobs have been relocated or 'offshored' from the US and Europe to, in particular, low cost economies around the world. Most of these jobs so far have landed in South and South-East Asia, with India and the Philippines receiving the bulk of them. This has caused profound changes in the international division of labour, and has had correspondingly wide social and economic effects. This book examines how this 'next wave in globalization' affects people and places in South and South-East Asia. It brings together twelve case studies from India, the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Thailand, and explores how and for whom services offshoring creates opportunities, triggers local economic transformations and produces challenges. This book in addition compares how different countries take part in this 'second global shift', investigates service-sector driven economic development from a historical perspective, and engages with the question whether and to what extent services offer a new promising avenue of sustained economic growth for developing countries. It argues that service-led development in developing countries is not easy for all the workers involved, or a guaranteed path to sustained economic development and prosperity. This volume stands out from other books in the field in its exploration of the social and economic outcomes in the cities and countries where services have been located. Based on cutting edge empirical research and original data, the volume offers a state-of-the-art contribution to this growing debate. The book provides valuable insights for students, scholars and professionals interested in services offshoring, socio-economic development and contemporary transformations in South and South-East Asia.