Allan Williams

Professor Allan Williams

Chair in Tourism and Mobility Studies
+44 (0)1483 686308
45 AP 02

Academic and research departments

School of Hospitality and Tourism Management.

Biography

Areas of specialism

Economic development and mobility. Tourism. International migration. Innovation. Entrepreneurship. Productivity

My qualifications

1972
BSc(Econ) Joint Honours in Economics and Geography
University of Wales
1976
PhD in Geography
London School of Economics

Affiliations and memberships

Fellow of the Academy of Social Science
Fellow of the International Academy for the Study of Tourism

Research

Research interests

Research projects

My publications

Publications

Williams AM, Weidenfeld A, Bjork P (2016) Cognitive and cultural proximity between service managers and customers in cross-border regions: knowledge transfer implications, Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism16(Supplement 1)pp. 66-86 Routledge
DOI: 10.1080/15022250.2016.1244587
Knowledge transfer between customers and managers is an important source of new ideas for innovation in the service industries. In cross-border regions, inter-cultural interactions engender but also constrain knowledge transfers between actors even when actors share similar economic and technological knowledge bases. This theme is explored through an analysis of cognitive and cultural proximity between service managers and customers from ?the other side? in a European cross-border region where the constituent regions have broadly similar national cultures: Tornio-Haparanda on the border between Finland and Sweden. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 19 Swedish and Finnish managers of small and micro businesses serving customers from both sides were undertaken to gauge their perceptions of the impact of cultural and cognitive proximity to customers on learning interactions. The study adds to the emerging literature in this field by identifying seven elements of cognitive and cultural proximity including mentality, ways of solving problems, conservatism, shared language, focus on contextualised details, mentality, and use of similar technologies. It is also original for suggesting some the implications for the possible impacts of perceived cultural and cognitive proximity on cross-border knowledge transfer between customers and managers.
Shaw G, Bailey A, Williams A (2011) Aspects of service-dominant logic and its implications for tourism management: Examples from the hotel industry,Tourism Management32(2)pp. 207-214 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2010.05.020
This paper introduces the concept of service-dominant logic as a research paradigm in marketing management. It does so in the context of tourism management?s need to engage with wider debates within the mainstream management literature. Moreover it demonstrates the importance of service-dominant logic in uncovering the role played by co-production and co-creation in the tourism industry. These ideas are developed in detail through a case study of the UK hotel industry that draws on new empirical research undertaken by the authors.
Sadler D, Williams AM, Hudson R (2004) 10 Years of European Urban and Regional Studies, European Urban and Regional Studies11(1)pp. 5-7 Sage Publications
Hall CM, Williams AM (2008) Tourism and innovation, Routledge
This groundbreaking volume provides an overview of relevant innovation theories and related literatures on productivity and competitiveness, and their ...
Warnes A, King R, Williams AM, Patterson G (2000) The Well-being of British Expatriates Resident in Southern Europe, Ageing and Society19(6)pp. 717-740 Cambridge University Press
Rodriguez Isabel, Williams Allan, Brotons M (2017) The innovation journey of new-to-tourism entrepreneurs,Current Issues in Tourism22(28)pp. 877-904 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2017.1334763
This study addresses the neglect of an overall analysis of the generative process of innovation in tourism studies. A conceptual framework draws together the fragmented literature on the innovation process which is visualized as a series of non-linear tasks from idea generation to diffusion. The conceptual framework is explored through a systematic analysis of the tourism innovation journey of 24 new-to-tourism entrepreneurs establishing start-ups in Spain. The analysis draws on the innovators? narrations about their distinctive journeys to provide a more holistic picture of the innovation process. Drilling down into the sub-processes within each major task reveals the complexity of an innovation journey that is highly dynamic, uncertain, experimental and market-driven. A model of the innovation process is proposed based on the findings.
Balá~ V, Williams AM (2004) 'Been there, done that': International student migration and human capital transfers from the UK to Slovakia,Population, Space and Place10(3)pp. 217-237
DOI: 10.1002/psp.316
International student migration remains an under-researched field in migration studies, and this is especially true of return migration. This paper analyses students from Slovakia who have studied in the UK, both on degree courses and language/vocational courses, and have subsequently returned to their country of origin. It analyses their motivations, their acquisition of human capital in the UK, and the extent to which they have been able to realise individual welfare gains after returning to Slovakia. Their evaluations of their experiences are highly positive, with substantial numbers also reporting improvements in their jobs and incomes, even following relatively short stays abroad. The study emphasises the importance of the specific competences acquired by the students, rather than broad skill categories, or qualifications. It highlights the value attached to language competence, in particular, but also to learning, attitudinal and interpersonal competences, as well as networking. The paper concludes that there is a need to pay more attention to individual social biographies when understanding the relationship between migration and learning. At the same time, it also stresses structural parameters to individual agency, including the specific economic conditions in a transition economy, and the market value of competence in English as a world language. © 2004 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.
Williams AM (2007) Listen to me, learn with me: International migration and knowledge transfer, British Journal of Industrial Relations45(2)pp. 361-382
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2007.00618.x
Existing research on the economic contribution of individual international labour migrants has been couched largely in terms of skills, and has focused on mobility within transnational corporations. This article explores some of the broader links between the literatures on international migration and management, and addresses four main questions: is migrant knowledge selective, is it distinctive, what are the barriers to migrant knowledge transfer and what are the implications for individual migrants and firms. This largely conceptual review is informed by three main premises: the value of adopting a knowledge as opposed to a skills perspective on migration; the importance of examining the cycle of migration rather than static snapshots at particular stages, and the need to consider inter-firm and extra-firm migration, as well as intra-firm mobility. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd./London School of Economics 2007.
Williams AM, Balaz V (1999) Privatisation in Central Europe: Different Methods, Legacies and Implications, Environment and Planning: Government and Policy17(6)pp. 731-752
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2015) Tourism Risk and Uncertainty: Theoretical Reflections, Journal of Travel Research54(3)pp. 271-287
DOI: 10.1177/0047287514523334
© The Author(s) 2014The analysis of risk in tourism is fragmented and uneven and focuses relatively narrowly on risk as a set of negative outcomes to be avoided by individuals, firms, or destinations. This article contends that, because of general, and sector-specific, limitations to knowledge, systematic and unsystematic risks are central to all forms of tourism activities. There is a need for a stronger theoretical understanding of the different concepts of tourism risks and tourism uncertainties that engages with how these are manifested at different scales, and can be analyzed from competing perspectives. The contribution and potential of both rationalist and constructivist approaches are assessed, focusing on individuals, firms, intermediaries, and destinations. The article concludes by identifying priorities for future research relating to both theoretical positioning and scale-specific issues ranging from individual decision making to the securitization of national tourism policies.
Williams AM, Hall M (2000) Tourism and Migration: New Relationships Between Production and Consumption, Tourism Geographies2(1)pp. 5-27 Taylor and Francis
Williams AM (2013) Mobilities and sustainable tourism: Path-creating or path-dependent relationships?,Journal of Sustainable Tourism21(4)pp. 511-531 Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2013.768252
This paper advances understanding of tourism mobility trajectories and outcomes by discussing if the trajectory of tourism mobility is path-dependent or path-creating and, therefore, whether tourism is locked into existing sub-optimal pathways, or is there scope for creating significantly more sustainable future pathways. Tourism mobilities are understood in the context of overall shifts in corporeal mobilities, especially the impact of migration on networks and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism. Four main tourism mobilities drivers are considered-technology, markets, cultures of mobility and state intervention-but their impact on mobilities is contested. The concepts of enfolded and substitutable mobilities, and of scapes and flows, are explained and used as intermediary concepts for engaging with the key relationships influencing tourism mobilities. Path dependency is shown to be backed by existing technologies, cultures and markets, together with deeply embedded scapes and substantial investments in existing infrastructure. Trends towards path creation are shown to depend on technological breakthroughs, including virtual tourism, alternative lifestyles bringing cultural change, market conditions brought about by possible sustained high oil prices, and state intervention leading to behavioural change. The concept of "path-dependent path-creation" is discussed along with the powerful influence of uncertainties and unknown future tipping-points. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Williams AM, Balá~ V, Kollár D (2001) Coming and going in Slovakia: International labour mobility in the Central European 'buffer zone', Environment and Planning A33(6)pp. 1101-1123
DOI: 10.1068/a33182
The collision between economic systems after 1989 led to significant new forms of mobility. East Central Europe became a legally and institutionally constructed 'buffer zone' between Western Europe and the CIS, Commonwealth of Independent States-the former USSR. The opportunities for and costs of migration in the buffer zone were shaped by the 'double territorial shock' of the transition: reinterationalisation and the withdrawal of massive state intervention in support of regional convergence. The authors provide a comparative study of mobility and migration into and out of the buffer zone, through case studies of Ukrainians working in Slovakia, and Slovakians working in Austria. Whereas the Ukrainians are largely confined to the secondary-labour market, the Slovakians are found in both segments of the dual labour market. This leads to different implications in respect of 'brain drain' and 'brain waste' of international skilled-labour mobility, as well as amplifying income differences. The overall effect in both cases is to contribute to the reproduction of economic inequalities in the buffer zone, and this is explored through an analysis of saving and investment and future employment intentions. The conclusions are particularly pessimistic in respect of the wage differentials required to persuade Ukrainian migrants to return to their country of origin.
Williams AM, Hall CM, Lew AA (2008) Contemporary Themes and Challenges in Tourism Research, pp. 609-618
DOI: 10.1002/9780470752272.ch48
Williams AM, Balaz V (2000) Privatisation and the Development of Tourism in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; Property Rights, Firm Performance and Recombinant Property, Environment and Planning A32pp. 715-734 Pion
Williams AM (2009) Employability and International Migration: Theoretical Perspectives,In: McKay S (eds.), Refugees, recent migrants and employment. Challenging Barriers and Exploring Pathwayspp. 23-34 Routledge Taylor & Francis
This collection examines the problems faced by refugees and recent migrants in accessing employment as well as the policy frameworks that address the labour ...
Shaw G, Williams AM (2010) Tourism SMEs: Changing research agendas and missed opportunities, In: Pearce D, Butler R (eds.), Tourism Research: a 20-20 Visionpp. 80-93 Goodfellow Pub Ltd
In this edited collection of reflective, challenging and sometimes provocative papers,derived from the 20th Anniversary meeting of the International Academy ...
Williams AM (2007) Rural Tourism and Innovation, In: Rural InnovationExploration 01pp. 31-42
Williams AM (2009) International migration, uneven regional development and polarization,European Urban and Regional Studies16(3)pp. 309-322 Sage
DOI: 10.1177/0969776409104695
This article explores four aspects of the underdeveloped conceptualization of the role of international migration in uneven regional development and polarization in cities. First, it emphasizes the way in which human mobility transfers not only human capital but also knowledge and material capital, and that these are interrelated. Second, it considers how changes in the nature of mobility have implications for uneven regional development. Third, it develops the concept of enfolded mobilities, as a way of understanding how individual migrations are directly enfolded with those of other individuals, either through associated or contingent movements, or through consequential migration at later stages in the life course. Finally, it discusses how governance impinges on and mediates the key relationships between mobility and uneven regional development.
Williams AM, Balaz V (2005) Winning Then Losing the Battle with Globalization: Vietnamese Petty Traders in Slovakia, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research29(3)pp. 533-549 John Wiley and Sons
Weidenfeld A, Williams AM, Butler RW (2013) Spatial Competition and Agglomeration in the Visitor Attraction Sector,Service Industries Journal Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/02642069.2013.778251
This paper provides a theoretical and empirical contribution to understanding spatial competition by examining visitor attractions in two contrasting clusters of lower and higher levels of agglomeration of businesses in Cornwall, the UK. The study found that competition is mainly for customers and labour and is related differently to the levels of agglomeration, spatial proximity and thematic product similarity between visitor attractions at the local compared to the regional scale. Location can be used differently for employing ?weak? and ?strong? competitive strategies. The study contributes to the knowledge on the spatiality of competition and the locational strategies of service businesses.
Williams AM, Shaw G (2011) Internationalization and innovation in tourism,Annals of Tourism Research38(1)pp. 27-51 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2010.09.006
Internationalization and innovation are significant themes in tourism research whose inter-relationship has been largely neglected. Starting from the international economics literature, which focuses largely on the multinational enterprise, and on knowledge issues, the relationship can be conceptualised in three ways: internationalization is a form of innovation, successful internationalization requires innovation, and internationalization requires firms to have superior knowledge. Turning from this generic literature to the specificities of tourism, two aspects of the simultaneity of production and consumption critically shape internationalization: the requirement for co-presence, and consumer mobility. However, a firm-focussed approach fails to address the changing international environment of the enterprise, especially the increasing importance of global connectivity in relation to entrepreneurs, labour and tourists.
Paraskevopoulou A, Markova E, Williams AM, Shaw G (2012) Migration and Innovation at the Bottom End: Understanding the Role of Migrant Managers in Small Hotels in the Global City, Mobilities7(3)pp. 389-414 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2012.662359
The paper examines the role of international migration and innovation in small hotels through a comparative study of migrant and non-migrant owners and managers in London hotels. The findings show the dependence of the sector on international managers whose contribution to innovation is understood in relation to the global environment of London, sectoral particularities and complex processes of mobility amongst both migrant and non-migrant managers. Although there is only limited evidence of differences in the levels or types of innovation, international migration is significant in the transfer and dispersion of knowledge, and plays a key role in the incremental innovation processes which are essential to innovation performance in the sector.
Williams AM (2012) Tourism, migration and human capital: knowledge and skills at the intersection of flows,In: Gartner WC, Hsu C (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Researchpp. 251-264 Routledge
This paper starts from two propositions relating to tourism-migration relationships, and knowledge transfer. First, there has been considerable interest in recent years in ideas relating to ?tourist-migrant? workers, that is, in the complex inter-relationships between economic and cultural/tourism motivations, particularly amongst young people. However, this represents only one of the many economic relationships between tourism and migration, two phenomena that often have been studied in isolation (Williams and Hall, 2002). There is a need for a better understanding of how these are entwined in an economy of flows (Hudson 2004), shaping economic outcomes in the tourism sector. Secondly, there has also been a neglect of the role of labour mobility in knowledge transfer, innovation, and competitiveness ? and this is particularly notable in an industry such as tourism, where demand and, in part, production, are essentially based on mobility. International tourists seek out experiences and services beyond their usual countries of residence, and the resulting demand for knowledge in the labour force that provides these creates a potentially significant role of migrant workers. This paper brings these themes together, in order to explore the role of migration in the creation and transfer of knowledge and skills in tourism.
Weidenfeld A, Butler R, Williams AM (2011) The role of clustering, cooperation and complementarities in the visitor attraction sector,Current Issues in Tourism14(7)pp. 595-629 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13683500.2010.517312
Cooperation and complementarity are important but understudied components of tourism clusters, in general, and of the tourist attraction sector, in particular. This paper addresses product similarities, in general, and thematic similarity, in particular, in the context of spatial proximity and clustering among tourist attractions. These relationships are examined by exploring cooperation between tourist attractions in two tourism clusters in Cornwall, UK. Interviews with attraction managers and other key informants, and case studies, reveal that tourist attractions have established cooperative?complementary relationships of production based on external economies at both the local and the regional scales. Differences between the two clusters in terms of interviewees' perceptions of the relationships between factors indicate the importance of understanding the specific features of individual clusters.
Yaduma N, Williams A, Lockwood A, Park S (2015) Performance, labour flexibility and migrant workers in hotels: An establishment and departmental level analysis,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT50pp. 94-104 ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.07.003
Shaw G, Williams A (2009) Knowledge transfer and management in tourism organisations: An emerging research agenda,Tourism Management30(3)pp. 325-335 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2008.02.023
This paper reviews current research on knowledge management and knowledge transfer in the context of innovations. Specific attention is focussed on the integration of management perspectives into tourism research. The paper explores some of the key mechanisms and conduits of knowledge transfer within tourism. In doing so it explores such concepts as interlocking directorships, communities of practice, learning regions and labour mobility. There is also an emerging research agenda on knowledge management within tourism but progress is variable with most research being within the hotel sector, where a range of recent studies have examined aspects of knowledge transfer. The paper also draws attention to the need to give closer attention to the nature of innovations within tourism and to consider these in a knowledge management framework.
Williams AM, King R, Warnes A (1997) A Place in the Sun: International Retirement Migration from the UK to Southern Europe,European Urban and Regional Studies4(2)pp. 115-134 Sage
DOI: 10.1177/096977649700400202
International retirement migration (IRM) is a significant feature of the changing map of Europe. It has important implications in terms of the redistribution of both health care and social costs, and incomes and wealth. This article considers four aspects of IRM. The first considers the limited literature on this under-researched topic and identifies the distinctiveness of both its international and European features. The second reviews the existing statistical data for north-south IRM in Europe, particularly from the UK to Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain; it establishes both the scale and the geography of these migrations. In the third section we investigate some of the major influences on both the volume and the spatial pattern of IRM. Finally, in the fourth section, a brief review is presented of the economic, social and cultural implications of IRM for both the emigrants and their host communities.
Williams AM, Balaz V, Zujac S (1998) The Eu and Central Europe: the Reinternationalisation of Economic Relationships, Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie89(2)pp. 131-149 Wiley-Blackwell
Thornton P, Shaw G, Williams AM (1997) Tourist Group Decision Making and Behaviour: the Influence of Children, Tourism Management18(5)pp. 287-297 Elsevier
Lazaridis G, Williams AM (2002) Editorial introduction: European migration: Flows, structures and regulation, International Journal of Population Geography8(2)pp. 83-87
DOI: 10.1002/ijpg.245
It is now widely accepted, and commented on, that both within Europe and beyond, not only are millions on the move, but there have been fundamental changes in the very nature of migration and mobility. The large-scale uprooting of people leading to forced migration, the rapid increase of legal and illegal migration of skilled and unskilled people to the growth poles of the global economy, the rapid increase in temporary mobility of both manual labour and service providers, and the growing significance of consumption-led migration are all intimately linked to the processes of globalisation and restructuring in global and European political, economic, social and cultural relations since the late 1980s/early 1990s. It is not only the geography of flows which has been and is being transformed, but also the channels and structures - what Urry (2000) terms the 'scapes' - which mediate and are reshaped by these flows. The 'scapes' are being recast in part by technological changes in transport and communication, opening up new ways of travel and working, but they are also part of and subject to the systems which regulate migration and mobility. In part these are defined by national and supranational systems of regulation, including both the barriers to flows and the rights of permanent residence and citizenship. But they are also conditioned by the creation and renewal of informal migrant networks across space, and the 'grey' area of regulation constituted by the role of organised crime in the trafficking in people. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Williams AM (2008) International retirement migration, a northern European perspective, In: Balkir C (eds.), Economic and Social Effects of International Retirement Migration: The Case of Antalyapp. 66-92
Williams AM, Foord J, Mooney J (2012) Human mobility in functional urban Human mobility in functional urban regions: understanding the diversity of mobilities,International Review of Sociology22(2)pp. 191-209 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/03906701.2012.696961
Weidenfeld A, Butler RW, Williams AM (2010) Clustering and compatibility between tourism attractions, International Journal of Tourism Research12(1)pp. 1-16
DOI: 10.1002/jtr.732
Balaz V, Williams AM, Kollar D (2004) Temporary Versus Permanent Youth Brain Drain: Economic Implications, International Migration42(4)pp. 3-34 John Wiley and Sons
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2010) The EU: Between the global and the national, and between neo-liberalism and interventionism, In: Butler R, Suntikul W (eds.), Tourism and Political Changepp. 33-44 Goodfellow Pub Ltd
'Tourism and Political Change' addresses issues of great current relevance andimportance focussing on events and their impacts on the tourism industry.
Weidenfeld A, Williams AM, Butler RW (2010) Knowledge transfer and innovation among attractions,Annals of Tourism Research37(3)pp. 604-626 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2009.12.001
Studies of knowledge transfer and the diffusion of innovations in tourism have largely ignored the attraction sector. This study examines the level and form of knowledge transfer amongst attractions in Cornwall (UK), paying particular attention to the significance of spatial clustering and product similarity. It is based on in-depth interviews with tourist attraction managers and key informants in two contrasting spatial clusters. The findings demonstrate that spatial proximity, product similarity and market similarity have positive impacts on knowledge transfers and innovation spillovers, at both the local and the regional scales. They also show that the influences of product similarity and spatial proximity are closely related, but that the first of these is generally more influential at both the local and particularly, the regional scale. The paper also identifies some of the sources, mechanisms, channels and outcomes of knowledge transfer.
Lowe M, Williams AM, Shaw G, Cudworth K (2012) Self-organising innovation networks, mobile knowledge carriers and diasporas: Insights from a pioneering boutique hotel chain,Journal of Economic Geography12(5)pp. 1113-1138 Oxford University Press
DOI: 10.1093/jeg/lbs021
This paper provides insights from the UK?s pioneering boutique hotel chain, Hotel du Vin (HduV) to explore the dynamics of self-forming innovation networks within the service sector. In particular, it focuses on HduV?s diaspora of spin-off and follow-on enterprises, examining the nature of innovation and creativity, and the significant role of human mobility in knowledge transfer and in the dynamic reconfiguration of such networks. Through the use of participative? research methods and ?close dialogue?, it provides a contribution to understanding processes of innovation in an under-researched industry?utilizing the concept of ?diasporas? to encapsulate the temporality and spatiality of those processes. In particular, it explores the various re-uses and re-combinations of the organizational processes and value propositions that defined the innovatory nature of the original chain, showing how those re-combinations were critical to the entrepreneurial nature of the diasporic network which developed around HduV.
Balá~ V, Williams AM (2001) Patterns of internal migration, regional polarisation and market reforms in Central Europe,Ekonomicky casopis49(4)pp. 663-700
This paper analyses process of internal migration in transition countries Central Europe and Slovakia in particular. A model based on several thousands particular regional data examines relation between basic pull/push migration factors (investment, housing, income, unemployment and natural change in population) and internal migration rates in Slovakia in 1985-1999. While these factors fitted well for period 1985-1989, they explanation power was significantly lower for periods of early and late transition (1990-1994 and 1995-1999). This paradox was likely to be explained via dismantling communist economic institutions in early transition period and lagging introduction of market institutions in Slovakia. Hungary seemed to do better and accounted for better explanation power of the model. Last part of the paper provides for international comparisons of internal migration in transition countries and advanced economies. Importance of market institutions (investment, housing and labour markets) for population mobility is discussed further.
Williams AM (2006) International labour migration and tacit knowledge transactions: A multi-level perspective,Global Networks7(1)pp. 29-50 Blackwell
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0374.2006.00155.x
There has been limited research on the role of international migration in the transfer of tacit knowledge, as opposed to skills and capital. In part, this results from lack of engagement between research on migration and that on knowledge and learning, even in debates concerning the relative importance of distanciated versus localised knowledge transfers. However, positioning international migration in relation to the literature on knowledge management opens up new perspectives on its role in the overall transfer of knowledge in the economy. Starting from the premise that all tacit knowledge transactions are socially situated, this paper sets out a multi-level approach to understanding the role of migrants in knowledge exchanges. The national, the urban and the firm constitute key levels in this analysis, although these are understood as inter-folded rather than as discrete sites of analysis.
Williams AM, Balaz V, Kollar D (2001) Coming and Going in Slovakia: Labour Migration in the Central European 'Buffer Zone', Environment and Planning A33pp. 1101-1123 Pion
Chaban N, Williams A, Holland M, Boyce V, Warner F (2011) Crossing cultures: Analysing the experiences of NZ returnees from the EU (UK vs. non-UK), International Journal of Intercultural Relations35(6)pp. 776-790 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2011.03.004
While there is growing scholarly interest in returned and cyclical migration, and on young adult cultural or adventure seeking migration, there is still a lack of systematic empirical insights into how the experiences of being abroad, and after return, are mediated by exposure to different cultural environments. Addressing this conceptual and empirical gap, the paper analyses the experiences of New Zealand return migrants, or sojourners, who lived and worked in EU countries (other than the UK) for more than one year and compares them with the experiences of NZ returnees from the UK. Drawing on 20 ?non-UK? and 22 ?UK? in-depth interviews, the paper revisits Rhinesmith?s (1975, 1985) typology of cross-cultural, or intercultural, adjustment (largely ignored in studies of return migration) to assess sojourners? experiences throughout the migration cycle and serve as a useful tool for identifying and reporting psychological and socio-cultural elements in the returnees stories. This paper demonstrates the need to understand first that the costs and benefits of circular migration or sojourning are country-specific, and that they do not ?just happen? at a particular moment or in one phase but are forged through a veritable roller coaster of experiences of intercultural adjustment.
Williams AM, Balaz V (2008) International mobility, learning and knowledge transfer: a case study of Slovak doctors,Social Science and Medicine67(11)pp. 1924-1933 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.09.003
International mobility provides opportunities for learning and knowledge transfer by health care workers, with significant potential benefits for countries of destination and, in the case of returned migration, countries of origin. This is examined using a typology that recognizes four types of tacit knowledge: embrained, embodied, embedded, and encultured. There are, however, constraints to learning and knowledge transfer in the form of professional and social recognition as well as language barriers and power relationships. These theoretical ideas are explored through a case study of internationally mobile Slovak doctors after their return to Slovakia. Individual learning and knowledge sharing with colleagues, both abroad and after return, are analysed through in-depth interviews.
Palovic, Z, Kam, S, Janta, H, Cohen SA, Williams, A (2014) Surrey Think Tank ? Reconceptualising Visiting Friends & Relatives (VFR) Travel,Journal of Destination Marketing & Management2(14)pp. 266-268
DOI: 10.1016/j.jdmm.2013.11.004
This paper summarizes the major outcomes of the Surrey Tourism Research Center?s ?Reconceptualising Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR Travel)? think tank held on July 13th 2013, at the University of Surrey in Guildford, U.K. This conference communication will briefly highlight the context, approach and main discussion themes of the event. In addition, it will summarize the implications and key outcomes, leading to the identification of further research topics.
Williams AM, Shaw G (2009) Future play: tourism, recreation and land use,Land Use Policy26(SUPPL. 1)pp. S326-S335 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2009.10.003
Williams AM, Chaban N, Holland M (2011) The circular international migration of New Zealanders: Enfolded mobilities and relational places,Mobilities6(1)pp. 125-147 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/17450101.2011.532659
Migrants? social relations are reconfigured in relation to how the localised and distanciated are recombined in context of how individuals are embedded in the enfolded mobilities of increasingly mobile social networks. The paper is organized around three main propositions. First, that social relations are structured across three main and intersecting domains ? family, workplace and community. Second, that social relations and networks are shaped by, and shape, the relational nature of places. Third, that the relational nature of places, and the reconfiguration of localised and distanciated relationships should be analysed across the entire migration cycle. These ideas are explored through a study of the Big OE from New Zealand to the UK, based on in?depth interviews with returned migrants.
Williams AM, Lazaridis G (2002) European Migration: Flows, Structures and Regulation, International Journal of Population Geography8(2)pp. 83-87 John Wiley and Sons
Williams AM, Montanari A (1999) Limits to Self-Regulation, Tourism Geographies1pp. 26-40 Taylor & Francis
Williams AM, Shaw G, Greenwood J (1989) From tourist to tourism entrepreneur, from consumption to production: evidence from Cornwall, England, Environment & Planning A21(12)pp. 1639-1653
There has been little research on the social and cultural aspects of tourism entrepreneurship. In this paper the social routes to tourism entrepreneurship are investigated, with emphasis on two major channels - those of the ex-employer and the ex-employee. Data are reported from a case study of Cornwall where 411 firms were interviewed as part of a stratified sample, representing different local economic environments and different sectors of tourism. An analysis of previous occupational experience and of access to capital only provides a partial explanation of entrepreneurship in Cornish tourism. Further analysis of business motivations and of migration patterns reveals an important dimension of noneconomic decisionmaking. This raises questions as to whether tourism entrepreneurship can be seen as a form of consumption rather than production and to its relationship with the entrepreneurial middle class as a whole. -Authors
Williams AM, Balaz V (2002) International Petty Trading: Changing Practices in Trans-Carpathian Ukraine, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research26(2)pp. 323-344 John Wiley and Sons
Williams AM, Balaz V (2005) What Human Capital, Which Migrants? Returned Skilled Migration to Slovakia from the UK, International Migration Review39(2)pp. 439-468 John Wiley and Sons
Park S, Yaduma N, Lockwood AJ, Williams AM (2016) Demand fluctuations, labour flexibility and productivity,ANNALS OF TOURISM RESEARCH59pp. 93-112 PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2016.04.006
Greenwood J, Williams AM, Shaw G (1990) Policy implementation and tourism in the UK. Implications from recent tourism research in Cornwall, Tourism Management11(1)pp. 53-62
DOI: 10.1016/0261-5177(90)90008-W
Examination is made of the economic role of tourist attractions. Drawing on the author's survey of tourism-related establishments in Cornwall, UK, a greater level of economic dynamism was found in the tourist attraction sector when compared to the accommodation sector. This former sector was found to make a major contribution to the economy of the area studied, although it was marked by a considerable degree of diversity. Attention is directed to the difficulties of harnessing these economic energies by applying the tools of policy analysis. Using the concept of 'policy chains', the difficulties of meeting governmental and 'private governmental' policy objectives are highlighted, focusing attention on the importance of implementation processes of policy. © 1990.
Rodriguez I, Williams AM, Hall CM (2014) Tourism innovation policy: Implementation and outcomes, ANNALS OF TOURISM RESEARCH49pp. 76-93 PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2014.08.004
Williams AM, Balaz V (2004) From Private to Public Sphere, the commodification of the Au Pair Experience? Returned Migrants from Slovakia to the UK, Environment and Planning A36(10)pp. 1813-1833 Pion
Balá~ V, Williams AM, Fifeková E (2014) Migration decision making as complex choice: Eliciting decision weights under conditions of imperfect and complex information through experimental methods,Population, Space and Place
DOI: 10.1002/psp.1858
Migration decisions are complex, involving both economic and non-economic considerations, and are often made in conditions that depart significantly from the idealised information assumptions of many models. This paper uses a three-stage experimental research design to analyse migrant decision making in the face of complexity and varying information conditions (complete, imperfect, and overloading). It pays particular attention to differences based on previous migration experiences. It focuses on four main issues: (a) the balance between monetary and non-monetary factors; (b) the computation, via a range of methods, of relative decision weights attached to different factors; (c) the impact of country image in relation to information; and (d) the role of preferences in dealing with missing information. The research examines the decision weights for eight attributes of potential destination countries for a sample of 157 young, educated individuals in Slovakia. The relative advantages and challenges of utilising experimental methods in migration research are illustrated. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Williams AM, Shaw G (2000) Guest Editorial: Tourism Geography in a Changing World, Tourism Geographies2(3)pp. 239-240 Taylor and Francis
Balaz V, Williams AM (2007) Path-dependency and path-creation perspectives on migration trajectories: The economic experiences of Vietnamese migrants in Slovakia,International Migration45(2)pp. 37-67 Wiley-Blackwell
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2435.2007.00403.x
There has been only limited research on the Vietnamese diaspora, and that has mostly focussed on western market economies. This paper explores the distinctive migration from Vietnam to the eastern block countries that was dictated by Cold War geopolitics. It examines how the intersection of migration policies and politicoeconomic conditions, before and after the end of state socialism in 1989, produced two distinctive migration phases. Faced with economic constraints, and mediated by their relationships with the Slovak population, most Vietnamese who stayed in, or migrated to, Slovakia after 1989 survived economically by finding a niche in market trading. This paper adopts a path-creating path-dependent perspective to examine these migration trajectories through an analysis based on in-depth interviews with Vietnamese migrants.
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2009) Low-Cost carriers, economies of flows and regional externalities,Regional Studies43(5)pp. 677-691 Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/00343400701875161
Low-cost carriers, economies of flows and regional externalities, Regional Studies. The emergence of low-cost carriers, following air travel re-regulation in Europe, has major implications for individual firms and regional economies. Understanding regions as ?economies of flows?, the paper explores, largely conceptually, how uneven, fluctuating, and fragmentary changes in air travel and connectivity, resulting from the activities of low-cost carriers, have had substantial impacts on flows of labour migrants, knowledge, business connectivity/investment, and mobile markets, especially tourism. The resulting modifications to institutions and regional externalities contribute to net changes in the transaction costs of individual firms, regional competitiveness, and the unfolding and increasingly interconnected map of uneven regional development in Europe.
Balá~ V, Williams AM (2011) Diffusion and competition of voice communication technologies in the Czech and Slovak Republics, 1948-2009,Technological Forecasting and Social Change79(2)pp. 393-404 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2011.07.011
The paper applies concepts of population dynamics to the evolution of communication technologies. The dynamics of voice communication technologies in the Czech and Slovak Republics in 1948-2009 are examined via the Lotka-Volterra equations. Fixed lines and mobile phones are considered predatory technologies hunting for their ?prey? ? voice service subscribers. Each technology squeezes out carrying capacity from its competitor. Mobile phones, however, exert a far greater impact on numbers of fixed telephone lines than vice versa. The conclusions consider some limitations of population dynamics approaches in economic modelling and discuss the different growth strategies associated with particular types of technologies.
Williams AM, Patterson G (1998) 'An empire lost but a province gained': a cohort analysis of British international retirement in the Algarve,International Journal of Population Geography4(2)pp. 135-155
DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1099-1220(199806)4:2<135::AID-IJPG99>3.0.CO;2-6
The growth of international retirement in the Algarve has coincided with a number of changes in the international framework for population mobility as well as in the nature of the Algarve as a destination area. Tourism development, which is intimately linked to subsequent retirement migration, is particularly important in this. This paper considers the nature of the link between cycles of migration and of development in recipient areas, in the context of the remarkable and relatively late development of the Algarve as an area of tourism and retirement. The principal data sources for this study are 219 questionnaires completed by retired British nationals living in the Algarve, and a number of key informants. Cohort analysis of the questionnaires (in terms of arrival dates) provides the basis for an examination of changes over time in the socio-demographic profiles of the migrants, their motivations, their residential patterns and their integration. The results serve to underline the importance of an evolutionary perspective, and the need to disaggregate data on the international retirement populations living in the Algarve and other southern European countries.
Williams AM, Balaz V, Bodnarova B (2001) Border Regions and Trans-border Mobility: Slovakia in Economic Transition, Regional Studies35(9)pp. 831-846 Taylor and Francis
Border regions and trans-border mobility: Slovakia in economic transition, Reg. Studies 35, 831-846. This paper analyses the reproduction of border region inequalities in Slovakia, between the later period of state socialism and the post 1989 transition. The 'winners' and 'losers' are largely determined by changing patterns of national and international trade, investment and labour migration in Slovakia after 1989. The paper considers the extent to which regions and households can contest their position within these trajectories through trans-border personal mobility. It analyses the double-faced nature of borders which constitute both economic opportunities and barriers for border regions. In particular, it considers how trans-border arbitrage practices and labour flows benefit individuals and regions. While these may modify border region disparities, their overall impacts are limited and differentiated, and tend to reinforce the economic dynamism of the western regions. In part, such trans-border economic relationships are constrained by the uneven and incomplete institutional and market reforms in Central and Eastern Europe. Trans-border co-operation projects have had little success in overcoming the barriers to trans-border economic relationships based on personal mobility due to the enduring problems of weak market regulation and institutions. The paper, therefore, stresses the need to examine both the practices and the institutions of border region economies.
Warnes A, Williams AM (2006) Older migrants in Europe: an innovative focus for migration studies,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies32(8)pp. 1257-1281 Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13691830600927617
This article introduces the eight papers in this collection, all of which arose from the deliberations and research projects of the members of a European Science Foundation Scientific Network. The thematic focus is the intersection of migration and personal ageing. The article has three aims and themes, the first being to provide a summary account of the diversity of older migrants in contemporary Europe. A key distinction is between older people who migrate, and former labour migrants and those who accompanied them who have `aged in place'. Both groups have attracted innovative research since the early 1990s. Other `aged migrant trajectories', such as those of return labour migrants and those who move internationally in late-life to live near or with close relatives for support and care, have received much less attention, a lacuna that some of the papers in this issue begin to correct. The second aim is to synthesise the principal personal, societal and welfare implications of the growing number of `older migrants' across Europe, emphasising that there are both similarities and surprising differences amongst diverse groups of migrants. Finally, the individual papers will be introduced; in so doing, the design and methodological challenges of research on the variant groups will be drawn out. Raising understanding of the motivations of migration in old age, and even more of the inter-related consequences of migration and ageing, requires longitudinal, biographical or lifecourse perspectives. While such a research agenda is both stimulating and theoretically and empirically fruitful, it also implies profound practical research challenges.
Williams AM (2013) Mobilities and sustainable tourism: path-creating or path-dependent relationships?,Journal of Sustainable Tourism
DOI: 10.1080/09669582.2013.768252
This paper advances understanding of tourism mobility trajectories and outcomes by discussing if the trajectory of tourism mobility is path-dependent or path-creating and, therefore, whether tourism is locked into existing sub-optimal pathways, or is there scope for creating significantly more sustainable future pathways. Tourism mobilities are understood in the context of overall shifts in corporeal mobilities, especially the impact of migration on networks and visiting friends and relatives (VFR) tourism. Four main tourism mobilities drivers are considered - technology, markets, cultures of mobility and state intervention - but their impact on mobilities is contested. The concepts of enfolded and substitutable mobilities, and of scapes and flows, are explained and used as intermediary concepts for engaging with the key relationships influencing tourism mobilities. Path dependency is shown to be backed by existing technologies, cultures and markets, together with deeply embedded scapes and substantial investments in existing infrastructure. Trends towards path creation are shown to depend on technological breakthroughs, including virtual tourism, alternative lifestyles bringing cultural change, market conditions brought about by possible sustained high oil prices, and state intervention leading to behavioural change. The concept of "path-dependent path-creation" is discussed along with the powerful influence of uncertainties and unknown future tipping-points. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
Balaz V, Williams AM (2005) International Tourism as Bricolage: An Analysis of Central Europe on the Brink of European Union Membership, International Journal of Tourism Research7(2)pp. 79-93 John Wiley and Sons
Williams AM, King R, Warnes A, Patterson G (2000) Tourism and International Retirement Migration: New Forms of an Old Relationship in Southern Europe, Tourism Geographies2(1)pp. 28-49 Taylor and Francis
Balaz V, Williams AM (2011) Risk attitudes and migration experience,Journal of Risk Research14(5)pp. 583-596 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2010.547256
Although risk and uncertainty are intrinsic to human migration, there is surprisingly little explicit research on the willingness to take risks in this context. This paper analyses whether migrants are more or less likely than non?migrants to be risk tolerant, and whether these differences are gendered. Attitudes are explored in terms of responses under conditions of both risk and uncertainty, and self?assessment of capabilities is also taken into account. The research is based on a sample of students who provide a relatively homogeneous group in socio?economic terms, and relatively large numbers of individuals with experiences of temporary migration. Their attitudes to risk were assessed under experimental conditions, which measured their willingness to take risks on hypothetical gambles under different conditions. While there are some differences between males and females, and between migrants and non?migrants, the outstanding finding is the far greater risk tolerance of female migrants as opposed to female non?migrants, especially when compared to males.
King R, Warnes A, Williams AM (1998) International Retirement Migration in Europe, International Journal of Population Geography4pp. 91-111 Wiley-Blackwell
Williams AM, Balaz V, Wallace C (2004) International Labour Mobility and Uneven Regional Development in Europe: Human Capital, Knowledge and Entrepreneurship, European Urban and Regional Studies11(1)pp. 27-46 Sage Publications
Williams AM (2008) Toward a Political Economy of Tourism, pp. 61-73
DOI: 10.1002/9780470752272.ch5
Hudson R, Williams AM (2004) European Voices: Towards the Internationalisation of Academic Discourse, European Urban and Regional Studies11(4)pp. 355-356 Sage Publications
Thornton P, Williams AM, Shaw G (1997) Revisiting Time Space Diaries: An Exploratory Case Study of Tourist Behaviour in Cornwall, England, Environment and Planning A29pp. 1847-1867
Williams AM, Balaz V (2002) The Czech and Slovak Republics: Conceptual Issues in the Economic Analysis of Tourism in Transition, Tourism Management23(1)pp. 37-45 Elsevier Science
Williams AM (2006) Lost in translation? International migration, learning and knowledge,Progress in Human Geography30(5)pp. 588-607 Sage
DOI: 10.1177/0309132506070169
There are changing but increasingly important ways in which international migration contributes to knowledge creation and transfer. The paper focuses on four main issues. First, the different ways in which knowledge is conceptualized, and the significance of corporeal mobility in effecting knowledge creation and transfer in relation to each of these types. Second, the significance of international migration in knowledge creation and transfer, and how this is mediated by whether migration is constituted within bounded (by company structures) or boundaryless careers, and as free agent labour migration. Third, the situating of migrants within firms, and the particular obstacles to their engagement in co-learning and knowledge translation: especially positionality, intercultural communication and social identities. Fourth, a focus on the importance of place, which is explored through theories of learning regions and creativity, and notions of the transferability of social learning across different public and private spheres. The need to view migrant learning and knowledge creation/transfer as widely dispersed, rather than as elite practices in privileged regions, is a recurrent theme.
Higón DA, Bozkurt Ö, Clegg J, Grugulis I, Salis S, Vasilakos N, Williams AM (2010) The Determinants of Retail Productivity: A Critical Review of the Evidence,International Journal of Management Reviews12(2)pp. 201-217 Blackwell
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2370.2009.00258.x
This paper discusses the literature on the established determinants of productivity in the retail sector. It also draws attention to some neglected strands of research which provide useful insights into strategies that could allow productivity enhancements in this area of the economy. To date, very few attempts have been made to integrate different specialisms in order to explain what drives productivity in retail. Here this paper rectifies this omission by putting together studies from economics, geography, knowledge management and employment studies. It is the authors? view that quantitative studies of retail productivity should focus on total factor productivity in retailing as the result of competition/composition effects, planning regulations, information and communications technology, the multinational operation element and workforce skills. Further, the fact that retail firms possess advantages that are transferable between locations suggests that investment in strategies enhancing the transfer of explicit and tacit knowledge between and within businesses are crucial to achieve productivity gains.
Salis S, Williams AM (2010) Knowledge sharing through face-to-face communication and labour productivity: Evidence from British workplaces, British Journal of Industrial Relations48(2)pp. 436-459
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00762.x
We investigate whether the adoption by workplaces of human resources management (HRM) practices that enhance face-to-face communication (FTFC) among employees is associated with productivity gains. The analysis is based on a nationally representative sample of over 500 British trading establishments drawn from the linked 2004 Workplace Employment Relations Survey and Annual Business Inquiry, for which objective measures of labour productivity (value added per employee) are available. We find a positive association between productivity and FTFC in problem-solving groups, teams and meetings of senior or line managers and employees, provided that FTFC is adopted on a continuous basis. Our finding suggests that British workplaces in the trading sector could increase their productivity by implementing HRM practices in such a way as to enhance knowledge sharing through employees' personal interactions. © Blackwell Publishing Ltd/London School of Economics 2009.
Williams AM, Balaz V (2001) Patterns of Internal Migration, Regional Polarisation and Market Reforms in Central Europe,Ekonomický asopis49(4)pp. 663-700
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2013) Mobility, risk tolerance and competence to manage risks,Journal of Risk Research
DOI: 10.1080/13669877.2013.841729
Migration is a risky behaviour because of the uncertainty about future wages, living conditions, changing relationships with family and friends and cultural adjustment. While there has been some research on risk and uncertainty in migration, this has mostly been approached as a form of 'rational' decision-making: such approaches explain why some groups of individuals are more likely than others to migrate, but are limited in explaining individual variations in behaviour within these groups. Individual migrants vs. non-migrants are self-selected in terms of tolerance of risk and uncertainty but, with very few exceptions, there has been no research on migration within the framework of risk tolerance/aversion and competence to manage risk. Moreover, existing research is based on, and constrained by the limitations of, incumbent data-sets. Drawing on a specially commissioned large-scale survey of the UK population, this paper uses principal component analysis and logistic regression to analyse the extent to which risk and risk-related measures can be used to predict four different types of mobility profiles. There are significant associations between these individual mobility characteristics and general risk/uncertainty tolerance, and competence-based tolerance. These are strongest in terms of the two most polarised mobility types: the least mobile, the Stayers, and the most mobile, the Roamers. Recognising that previous migration is exogenous, a further analysis of migration intentions, with previous migration included as an independent variable, finds the propensity for future migration is, in fact, negatively associated with previous migration, probably due to the importance of 'pure risk' as opposed to acquired competence via migration experience, and to life cycle considerations. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Williams AM, Balaz V (2002) Trans-border Population Mobility at a European Crossroads: Slovakia in the Shadow of EU Accession, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies28(4)pp. 647-664 Taylor and Francis
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2008) International migration and knowledge, Routledge
This book challenges pre-conceived views on the debates and argues the need to understand that all migrants are potentially knowledge carriers and learners, and ...
Agarwall S, Ball R, Shaw G, Williams AM (2000) The Geography of Tourism Production: Uneven Development and Neglect, Tourism Geographies2(3)pp. 241-263 Taylor and Francis
Williams AM (2010) Mass tourism, culture and the historic city: theoretical perspectives, Revista del Scienze del Turismo1(2)pp. 9-29
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2013) Tourism, risk tolerance and competences: Travel organization and tourism hazards, Tourism Management35pp. 209-221
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2012.07.006
Research on how individual tourists respond to risk has largely focussed on risk perceptions. This paper draws on behavioural economics to analyse the influence of risk tolerance and risk-related competences on how tourists organize their tourism travel, and the importance that they ascribe to specific types of tourism hazards. Whereas most tourism research on risk has been based on small, or highly age-specific surveys, or particular market segments, this paper utilises an innovative, large-scale survey drawn from the range of the UK population. There were significant differences between package tourists and individual 'drifter' tourists in terms of their socio-demographic characteristics, general and tourism-specific risk tolerance, and competence - both real and illusory - to manage risk. Age, and tolerance of both general and tourism-specific risks, were associated with the importance of hazards as deterrents to tourist behaviour, but the evidence for competences was mixed. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.
Hall CM, Williams AM, Lew AA (2008) Tourism: Conceptualizations, Institutions, and Issues, pp. 1-22
DOI: 10.1002/9780470752272.ch1
Salis S, Williams AM (2008) Knowledge sharing through face-to-face communication and labour productivity: Evidence from British workplaces,Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management, ECKMpp. 753-762
Managing internal knowledge effectively is regarded as crucial for organisations that wish to achieve competitive advantage. The knowledge management literature advocates the importance of adopting social networks based on face-to-face communication (FTFC), i.e. networks based on employees' physical proximity and verbal interaction, in order to best enhance knowledge sharing among workers. The human resources management (HRM) literature indicates specific people practices whose implementation leads to better organisational performance. However, this literature has widely neglected to study empirically the link between intra-organisational knowledge sharing and workplace productivity. We attempt to fill this gap by investigating whether workplaces adopting HRM practices that enhance FTFC among employees are more productive than workplaces that do not use such arrangements. This hypothesis is tested on a sample of around 500 British trading establishments included in a dataset resulting after linking the Workplace Employment Relations Survey (WERS) 2004 and the Annual Business Inquiry (ABI). This dataset includes information on both HRM practices and value-added per employee. Overall, our findings suggest that sharing knowledge through FTFC enhances organisational productivity: we find indeed a positive statistical association between value-added per employee and FTFC in all the social networks established through the five HRM practices considered, namely problemsolving groups, teams, meetings made up of senior managers and employees, meetings of line managers and employees, and committees of managers and employees' representatives (specifically, this association is found for teams and problem-solving groups involving a moderate percentage of employees at the workplace). However, this result holds only provided that workplaces adopt FTFC on a continuous basis. This suggests that either knowledge needs time to be shared, understood and processed in order to produce observable gains to organisations, or that it may take time for individuals to build up the trust and empathy needed to fruitfully share their knowledge with each other.
Williams AM, Balaz V (2002) La Movilidad Internacional en Europa Central: Turistas, Comerciantes y Migrantes, Revue Européenne des Migrations Internationales18(1)pp. 37-66 Cnrs
Williams AM, Balaz V (2001) From Collective Provision t Commodification of Tourism?, Annals of Tourism Research28(1)pp. 27-49 Elsevier Science
Rodriguez I, Williams AM (2016) The Innovation Journey of New-To-Tourism Entrepreneurs and The Challenge of Traversing The Valley of Death,School of Hospitality and Tourism Management Conference 2016
Entrepreneurs undertake the innovation journey every time they follow a sequence of events to transform a new idea into an implemented reality or innovation. The journey has often been referred to as a ?black box?, where the internal workings are complex and poorly understood, and this is especially true of tourism. In order to understand this process this study aims to present a comprehensive model which integrates existent information from different strands of literature to describe and understand the tasks and subtasks in which the process can be divided. This paper focuses on the innovation journey of a specific type of innovator: new-to-tourism young entrepreneurs who followed a distinctive start-up process. It analyses the sequence of events and associated micro processes and actions in the innovation journey that broadly correspond to the unfolding innovation process: idea generation, coalition building, idea realization and transfer or diffusion. The analysis draws on the narrations of a sample of tourism innovators recipients of loans from a Spanish tourism innovation programme about their journey, backed up by desk research about the types of innovations and the entrepreneurs? identities to reconstruct each innovation biography. The findings show that these innovators, coming from other fields (mainly engineering), consider tourism to be a lower-risk sector with low barriers to entry, and high potential for technology-based innovations. However, the lack of tourism experience has forced the innovators to build coalitions with tourism stakeholders at different points. The findings also confirm the key characteristics of the process outlined by innovation scholars: the journey is highly dynamic, uncertain and fraught with difficulties of a dynamic nature which require quick, creative ? and mainly collective - responses. This is particularly important when traversing the so-called Valley of Death, the gap between set-up costs and revenue generation.
Williams AM, Makkonen T (2016) Border region studies: The structure of an ?offbeat? field of regional studies,Regional Studies, Regional Science3(1)pp. 355-367 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/21681376.2016.1209982
The contemporary conditions of academic capitalism exert pressures on researchers to avoid ?peripheral? journals and ?unfashionable? topics. This paper sheds a light onto the structure of one such ?offbeat? field, namely ?border region studies?, by discussing its geographical distribution, key themes, significance and impact. The review suggests that border region studies can be considered a significant and important ?branch? of regional studies, which accounts for a small but increasing proportion of regional studies research, particularly in Europe and North America. Four main distinct, but interconnected, research themes are discussed: cooperation, development, governance and mobility. Based on the review, potential directions for further research are proposed and the implications of valuing research based almost solely on journal rankings is scrutinized.
Williams AM, Balá~ V (2012) Migration, Risk, and Uncertainty: Theoretical Perspectives,Population, Space and Place18(2)pp. 167-180 Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/psp.663
The paper examines the role of international migration and innovation in small hotels through a comparative study of migrant and non-migrant owners and managers in London hotels. The findings show the dependence of the sector on international managers whose contribution to innovation is understood in relation to the global environment of London, sectoral particularities and complex processes of mobility amongst both migrant and non-migrant managers. Although there is only limited evidence of differences in the levels or types of innovation, international migration is significant in the transfer and dispersion of knowledge, and plays a key role in the incremental innovation processes which are essential to innovation performance in the sector
Janta H, Cohen SA, Williams AM (2015) Rethinking visiting friends and relatives mobilities,Population, Space and Place
DOI: 10.1002/psp.1914
The increasing number of people leading more mobile lives, with spatially dispersed families, raises questions over how they maintain their family life and friendships, and how this is shaped and shapes different forms of migration, and different patterns of Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR). This paper develops an explanatory framework for conceptualizing and analyzing VFR mobilities, seeking to draw together threads from migration, mobilities and tourism studies. In unpacking the notion of VFR, this paper understands VFR mobilities as being constituted of diverse practices, and discusses five of the most important of these: social relationships, the provision of care, affirmations of identities and roots, maintenance of territorial rights, and leisure tourism. While these five types of practices are considered sequentially in this paper, they are in practice often blurred and overlapping. The interweaving of these practices changes over time, as does the meaning and content of individual practices, reflecting changes in the duration of migration, life cycle stage, individual goals and values, and the broader sets of relationships with and social obligations to different kin and friends.
Balá~ V., Williams Allan, Chran oková M. (2017) Connectivity as the Facilitator of the Intra-European Student Migration,Population, Space and Place24(3)e2101 Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/psp.2101
There has been both strong growth in the numbers of students studying abroad, and in the ?talent wars? (Clegg, 2007) amongst advanced economies seeking to attract and retain the highly skilled (Kuptsch, 2006). This has been matched by significant shifts in international student migration, with the initial dominant flows from developing and/or transition economies to developed ones (Docquier et al., 2007; Lowell & Findlay, 2001), being complemented by increasing awareness of more complex flows between origins and destinations (e.g. Ono & Piper, 2004; Findlay et al., 2006; Waters, 2006; Bhandari & Blumenthal, 2013; Lasanowski, 2011). There has also been, at least with respect to intra-European mobility (Van Bouwel & Veugelers, 2013), a broadening of the theoretical perspectives on international student migration with greater focus on circulation and knowledge transfer (Williams & Balá~, 2014a), identities (King & Ruiz-Gelices, 2003), transnationalism (Kobayashi & Preston, 2007), and employability (Teichler & Janson, 2007). There has also been increasing emphasis on utilising primary individual-level data, both quantitative and qualitative (Van Mol & Timmerman, 2014; King & Ruiz-Gelices, 2003). Despite the expanding research literature in this field, there are still significant gaps. This paper makes two main contributions. First, it analyses changes in the spatial distribution of intra-European student migration stocks in the period 1998-2012, focussing on shifts across three sub-periods in the parallel processes of concentration in poles of attraction, and regionalization, at a time of major institutional shifts such as EU enlargement and the introduction of the ERASMUS programme (Teichler et al., 2011). Network analysis brings a fresh perspective to this spatial analysis.
King Russell, Williams Allan (2017) Editorial introduction: New European youth mobilities,Population, Space and Place24(1) Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/psp.2121
This paper introduces and sets the context for a special issue on ?New EuropeanYouth Mobilities: Motivations, Experiences and Future Prospects,? which derives from the European Union?funded H2020 ?YMOBILITY? project on current youth migrations and transitions across the European Union. It first introduces the YMOBILITY programme and its multimethod, comparative research effort. This is followed by a brief review of secondary data on the changing profile of youth migration and mobility in Europe. Then, we explore definitions of key terms central to the project, such as ?youth,? ?youth transition,? ?mobility,? ?skill,? and the notion of the ?learning migrant?. The final part of the paper introduces the 6 articles that make up the special issue, highlighting their most significant findings and outlining their value as an integrated set that offers new insights into the role of mobile young people as students and workers within European societies.
Williams Allan, Jephote Calvin, Janta Hanna, Li Gang (2017) The Migration Intentions of Young Adults in Europe: A Comparative, Multi-Level Analysis,Population, Space and Place24(1) Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/psp.2123

Research on migration intentions is relatively fragmented, traditionally drawing conclusions from relatively small survey samples, focussing on individual countries, or relying on public opinion polls which provide very few explanatory variables. This paper addresses these limitations by developing a multi-level model of an extensive range of macro, meso and micro determinants of migration intentions across different time frames. The paper utilises an online panel survey of 20,473 non-student respondents aged 16-35 from 9 EU countries.

Ordinal multi-level modelling, with post-stratification weighting, is used to determine the key drivers of, and barriers to, migration intentions in both a pan-European model, and nine separate national-scale models. The findings confirm the significance of macro, meso and micro factors. While socio-economic factors emerge as powerful explanatory factors, non-pecuniary factors are also important, including sensation seeking. There are broad similarities in the findings across the separate national-level models, but also differences in the relative importance of socio-economic, gender, and personality factors. Migration intentions were highly dependent on the decision-making time frame: 17 per cent of respondents over one year, but 30 per cent over five years, are likely to migrate or to have made firm plans to migrate. The rank ordering of the countries challenges the notion of there being a simple differentiation between the newer and older member states of EU.

Balá~ Vladimir, Williams Allan (2017) Migration Decisions in the Face of Upheaval: an Experimental Approach,Population, Space and Place24(1) Wiley
DOI: 10.1002/psp.2115
The analysis of migration under conditions of potential economic and political upheaval is challenging because these undermine the institutional framework which underpins existing migration trajectories. Therefore, this paper demonstrates how an innovative experimental approach can be used to analyse migration decision-making under disruptive scenarios of a deep economic crisis and the introduction of work permits. Such disruptions have particular resonance in Europe which has experienced deep economic crises, as well as discussions of potential regulatory shifts in the European migration framework following the UK?s Brexit referendum. Data were collected from a sample of 540 experimental participants, drawn from young adults (students and young working people) in nine EU member states, and used to analyse their propensity to migrate under principles of uncertainty, incomplete information, and information overload. The findings indicate that a sharp rise in unemployment rates is more disruptive than the introduction of work permits.
Makkonen T, Williams Allan (2017) Developing survey metrics for analysing cross-border proximity,Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography18(1)pp. 114-121 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/00167223.2017.1405734
Cross-border innovation cooperation (CBIC) has been heralded as one of the corner stones of innovation-driven growth opportunities for firms located in cross-border regions (CBRs). The success of this cooperation is affected by varying types of proximities identified in the literature as: geographical, institutional, cultural, cognitive, technological, organizational and social. Although the topic has been widely discussed, the validation of the concept of proximity vis-à-vis CBIC has been persistently hindered by a lack of readily available empirical metrics. Therefore, this research note attempts to operationalize the varying types of proximity ? in relation to CBIC ? in the form of a questionnaire tested through pilot studies of two CBRs, at the Finnish-Swedish and Danish-German border, and for two contrasting service industries, namely knowledge-intensive business services and tourism. The findings indicate that the developed survey metrics are effective in depicting the phenomenon of proximity. The foundational work undertaken in this research note provides a platform, and catalyst, for more extensive investigations of the topic.
Bereghazyova Gabriela (2017) Discourses of corruption in Slovakia : society, media and small and medium-sized enterprises.,
International anti-corruption discourse (IACD) has received a lot of attention in scholarly circles. The discourse itself has been the subject of a number of critical analyses. However, not much is known regarding how IACD is received in local contexts. Enquiries into the matter are only now beginning to attract attention. It is also surprising that scholars in the field of corruption have somewhat neglected SMEs. SMEs are heralded as pillars of the economy and society at large, while corruption is viewed as an obstacle to prosperity. Corruption in SMEs is thus a timely issue. This research provides insights into the appreciations of corruption on the meso-level of Slovakia and micro-level of individual entrepreneurs in tourism and agriculture in the country against the macro-level IACD. It critically analyses how IACD impacts on societal discourse on corruption in Slovakia by tracking the genealogy of corruption from the time of the emergence of Slovakia as a nation in the 19th century to the present. Consequently, it looks into how individual SMEs in tourism and agriculture utilise this discourse in their understandings and behaviours towards corruption, utilising the lens of governmentality. The interview data was collected from 30 SMEs in Western and Central Slovakia. Discourse analysis of media texts reveals curious workings of IACD in the local context where international truths are adopted and adapted to suit local appreciation of corruption in such a way that does little to combat corruption. IACD misses the crucial subtle meanings and moral refinements that corruption carries in the Slovak context. These are embraced creatively by entrepreneurs. Corruption is either morally justified or condoned. It manifests itself either in the direct undermining of the ongoing anti-corruption efforts. The findings shed light on the struggling anti-corruption fight in the country, the need to abandon the universalising strategies of IACD in favour of more context-sensitive tailored solutions. Above all, the thesis highlights a glaring gap in anti-corruption - its desire to ingrain western institutions with a little foundational work in terms of shifting beliefs and mindsets of population. Without it, anti-corruption can only offer limited results. Free media that are tasked with the role to raise awareness in populations, that is to say to induce the particular mindset, do not take up this challenge in the face of pursuing their own interests. In Slovakia, an approach that would set traditional rural morality, rather than economic morality of IACD, at the heart of corruption, appears a way forward. The principal contributions of this research stem from being the first study to explore corruption in depth in SMEs, and thus the first to address corruption in tourism and agriculture not only in Slovakia or CEE, but ? at least in the English language - in the world. It brings fresh and, above all, detailed insights into the mechanisms and dynamics of petty corruption. It is also the first study to devote extensive attention to the ways corruption is discussed in the media.
Palovic Zuzana (2018) From east to west : learning, knowledge and personal development through migration and its impact upon return.,PhD Thesis
This research provided a theoretically-informed empirical exploration of the nature and significance of learning through the international migration experience. Furthermore, it explored how mobility contributes to the diffusion of new knowledge across socio-economic and national boundaries through return and circular flows. The context for the research was a post-communist, post-accession, transition economy located in the heart of Europe (Slovakia), but once part of the former Soviet-Bloc. This study also provided the context to gauge the extent to which the tenet of ?freedom of movement?, in the form of circular East to West migration flows, contributed to professional and personal development. The focus was the formal and informal learning made possible through the international migration experience. The researcher employed face to face interviews to gather in-depth qualitative data. A sample of 30 returned migrants were interviewed, supplemented by interviews with key informants from business, government and civil society sectors in Slovakia. In turn, four respondent groups were approached, which culminated with 72 study respondents in total. The findings from the study revealed that international migration may be a context for accelerated learning, that contributes to professional but also personal development, in the form of hard and soft-skills acquisition, including key competencies such as enhanced confidence, independence and critical thinking. All of these attributes were identified to be in short supply in the post-communist labour market, and key to various transition issues, as addressed by the key informants. Comparatively, this study built on the seminal work of Williams and Balaz (2008) on international migration and knowledge. These scholars argued that international migration is an important vehicle for the acquisition, and circulation, of tacit knowledge. Potentially migrants constitute sources of key know-how, in addition to acting as boundary spanning knowledge brokers, that help to connect regions and/or countries through their embedded and encultured knowledge of multiple contexts. This study also built on Williams? and Balaz?s (2008) theoretical perspectives, by focusing on international migration and knowledge, in addition to exploring the implications of this new learning on the individual. In the field of adult learning, knowledge is not just a brick by brick accumulation of information, but also highly personal. Therefore, knowledge is not just a process driven added-value for the individual, but may also be emancipatory. Therefore, this study explored how international migration can be a context for deep personal learning and not just professional knowledge acquisition. By applying Jack Mezirow?s (1991) transformative learning theory and linking the migration experience to a ?disorienting dilemma?, this study concludes that international migration may contribute to transformative learning. The outcome can be the acquisition of a ?more open, integrated and discerning? meaning perspective.
Makkonen T, Williams Allan, Weidenfeld A, Kaisto V (2018) Cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the European neighbourhood: Tourism cooperation at the Finnish-Russian border,Tourism Management68pp. 140-151 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.03.008
Knowledge transfer and innovation cooperation between the EU and its neighbours has remained weakly developed. To promote this cooperation, the EU has set up initiatives for the European neighbourhood. The issue has, however, received very limited scholarly attention in the field of tourism. This research gap is addressed here via interview data collected from participants in tourism related EU-funded projects in the Finnish-Russian cross-border region. These underline the importance of EU-funding in facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation between Finland and Russia. While language issues, and differences in business culture and administrative/legislative systems between the two countries, constitute barriers for practical cross-border cooperation, it is cross-border differences in culture and technological capabilities that drive cross-border knowledge transfer and innovation in the cross-border region. The paper concludes with policy recommendations for promoting future cross-border cooperation in innovation and tourism.
Makkonen Teemu, Williams Allan, Habersetzer Antoine (2018) Foreign board members and firm innovativeness: An exploratory analysis for setting a research agenda,Corporate Governance18(6)pp. 1057-1073 Emerald
DOI: 10.1108/CG-12-2017-0301

Purpose: This study seeks to assess the often repeated, but empirically unconfirmed, supposition that there is a positive connection between foreign board members (FBMs) and firm innovativeness, and to set a research agenda for future studies on the topic.

Design: The analyses are based on a large sample of firms within the European Union, utilizing patent and trademark data together with information on the national diversity of the boards.

Findings: The analyses confirm that there is a positive association between FBMs and firm innovativeness. Contrary to expectations, FBMs from less innovative countries than the countries of their host companies are more often associated with innovative firms than are FBMs from more innovative countries.

Research implications: This study provides empirical support for propositions, drawn from resource dependency theory and group effectiveness/diversity theories, that diverse boards of directors can lead to greater firm-level creativity and innovativeness. It also outlines a detailed research agenda for future studies to build on the tentative findings presented in this paper.

Practical implications: The findings suggest that greater national diversity in the board of directors can enhance innovation.

Originality: Earlier studies on board diversity have not analysed empirically the issue of national diversity. The originality of this paper lies in its attempt to address this gap in the corporate governance literature.

Kilinç N (2018) Lifestyle returnees at 'home' : the second-generation Turkish-Germans' search for self in Antalya.,
This thesis uses a lifestyle migration lens to explore the second-generation Turkish-Germans? ?return? migration to their ancestral homeland. Disappointed with the post-return lives in their parents? towns of origin and/or in big cities like Istanbul, the research?s sample group consciously made the decision to remobilise themselves and resettle in Antalya, a tourism hub in the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. The narratives reflect that the second generation?s ?return? imaginings and further life choices such as places of settlement are motivated by their goals of ?living a fulfilling life? and have a ?coherent sense of self?. The qualitative study coins a new term, ?lifestyle return migration? which offers a hybrid conceptual framework, alternative to conventional migration theories that evaluate ?return? as an ?income-maximising act?, ?anomaly? and ?homecoming?. Based on the thematic and narrative analysis of 44 semi-structured, in-depth life-story interviews, the findings illustrate that ?lifestyle returnees? perceive Antalya as a place wherein their multiple identities, ?alternative? lifestyles and translocal ties can co-exist. Thus, Antalya?s cosmopolitan setting with many foreign, especially German, tourists and residents are particularly valued. Moreover, they can mobilise their human capital of educational qualifications, bilingual skills and ?transcultural capital? to set up or get jobs in the tourism sector, combining work with leisure in ?tourism spaces? wherein they can sustain a persistent holiday feeling. In addition, the narratives reveal more existential themes of (re-)discovering their ?true? selves and (re-)inventing the meaning of ?home? in this international niche. Subsequently, the thesis aims to highlight the relevance of lifestyle migration approaches to explore complex ?return? decisions through an agency-oriented approach and with a focus on social fields embedded in specific locales.
Rodriguez Isabel, Williams Allan (2018) INNOVATE Evidence Briefing. Challenges and opportunities to minimise the risks of innovation in tourism,In: ?The innovation journey of tourism entrepreneurs: evidence from Spain and the UK and policy implications-INNOVATE?.
This is a policy note from the project ?The innovation journey of tourism entrepreneurs: evidence from Spain and the UK and policy implications-INNOVATE?. The project aims to deepen understanding of the different stages of the innovation journey followed by entrepreneurs in tourism to contribute to the design of more effective innovation policies. This project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie SkBodowska-Curie grant agreement Nº 700893. This briefing is based on more than 70 interviews with tourism innovative entrepreneurs (both successful and unsuccessful).
Liu Chao (2018) Knowledge management in tourism development companies : a project ecology approach.,
This research seeks to advance the understanding of the role of knowledge management in the contribution of tourism development companies (TDCs) to the process of producing tourism development projects (TDPs). The starting point of this research is the recognition of a major research gap relating to tourism product development. Within this field, the role of TDCs is rarely researched or even mentioned in the research literature. Additionally, despite the knowledge-intensive nature of the tourism product development process and TDCs, limited attention has been given to the perspective of knowledge management (KM) in tourism development. KM in this research is viewed as a continuous process which involves three interrelated dimensions, i.e. knowledge creation (KC), knowledge transfer (KT), and knowledge retention (KR). Understanding TDCs as typical project-based organizations, the research adopts a project ecology approach to provide an insightful understanding of knowledge management in tourism development companies in China. From this perspective, the research involves examination of secondary data (e.g. TDCs` websites) and initial semi-structured interviews with professional participants in the tourism development industry in order to map the framework of TDC project ecologies in China. However, the core of the methodology is multiple case studies conducted in three contrasting TDCs over a period of 10 months. Data were collected through participant observation and informal interview during the case study process, focusing on how knowledge is managed within the project ecologies. This research provides a relatively detailed description about the entities, and their interrelationships, involved in the project ecology of TDP. Building on the multilevel nature of project ecology, this research discusses the effects of various factors on KM at four different contextual levels (i.e. the individual level, the team level, the organizational level, and the external environment level). Four key findings serve to synthesize the roles of the factors in the four levels respectively: (1) the diverse and intrinsic effects of individual level factors on the individuals` performance in KM-related activities; (2) the aligning functions of the team level factors in configuring individuals` project work and their corresponding KM-related activities; (3) the organizational level factors which exert relatively more ongoing and sustained influences on KM activities despite the varied features of the various projects;(4)the characteristics of the external environment which can also exert latently ongoing, and sometimes notable influences on the interactions and dynamics of these relevant entities in terms of their performance in project and KM-related issues. As well as bringing a new theoretical perspective to knowledge management in tourism, this research exhibits the ways in which the project ecology of TDPs in China are different from previous models of project ecologies developed in the literature. It does represent a substantial analysis of this topic within the field of tourism. Furthermore, it is intended that the research will also contribute to enhancing the performance of the case study firms, as well as the TDC sector generally.
Rodriguez Isabel, Williams Allan (2018) Opportunities to minimise the risks of innovation in tourism, University of Surrey
The innovation journey of tourism entrepreneurs: evidence from Spain and the UK and policy implications-INNOVATE is a research project that aims to deepen understanding of the different stages of the innovation journey followed by entrepreneurs in tourism to contribute to the design of more effective innovation policies. This project has received funding from the European Union?s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie SkBodowska-Curie grant agreement Nº 700893.This 2 year project included an analysis of the innovation pathways of 70 entrepreneurs (both successful and unsuccessful). Critical factors for success or failure were identified from the innovators? narratives and were discussed with policymakers in Spain. The results of this discussion was the co-production of an online survey allowing the potential policy measures and issues to be discussed with a wider sample of innovative entrepreneurs. The survey was completed by 269 tourism innovators both in Spain and the UK. The policy recommendations included in this report are informed by the views of all the participants at different methodological stages.
Makkonen Teemu, Williams Allan M, Mitze Timo, Weidenfeld Adi (2018) Science and Technology Cooperation in Cross-border Regions: A Proximity Approach with Evidence for Northern Europe,European Planning Studies26(10)pp. 1961-1979 Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2018.1500528
Given the sheer number of cross-border regions (CBRs) within the EU, their socio-economic importance has been recognized both by policy-makers and academics. Recently, the novel concept of cross-border regional innovation system has been introduced to guide the assessment of integration processes in CBRs. A central focus of this concept is set on analyzing the impact of varying types of proximity (cognitive, technological, etc.) on cross-border cooperation. Previous empirical applications of the concept have, however, relied on individual case studies and varying methodologies, thus complicating and constraining comparisons between different CBRs. Here a broader view is provided by comparing 28 Northern European CBRs. The empirical analysis utilizes economic, science and technology (S&T) statistics to construct proximity indicators and measures S&T integration in the context of cross-border cooperation. The findings from descriptive statistics and exploratory count data regressions show that technological and cognitive proximity measures are significantly related to S&T cooperation activities (cross-border co-publications and co-patents). Taken together, our empirical approach underlines the feasibility of utilizing the proximity approach for comparative analyses in CBR settings.
Weidenfeld Adi, Björk Peter, Williams Allan (2018) Identifying Cultural and Cognitive Proximity Between Managers and Customers in Tornio and Haparanda Cross-Border Region,Journal of Borderlands Studies Taylor & Francis
DOI: 10.1080/08865655.2018.1510335
Daily intercultural interactions in cross-border regions such as those between customers and managers can be a source of knowledge and ideas. However, such interactions can pose distinctive constraints and opportunities for learning and exchange of ideas. This study adopts a relatively fine?grained quantitative approach to study elements of cognitive and cultural proximity which have a major impact on these interactions. It is based on a survey of 91 managers of small service firms and 312 customers in the twin city of Tornio and Haparanda on the border between Finland and Sweden. Seven elements of proximity were identified and measured. Six elements of perceived cognitive and cultural proximity including values, conservative values towards new ideas, knowledge and use of technology, use of a foreign language, sufficiently focusing or providing specific details and ways of solving problems were found significant in terms of shaping perceptions of Swedish and Finnish managers and customers, which shape these interactions. The results enhance our understanding of how daily cross-border intercultural can be examined in the context of cross-border regional knowledge transfer.
Vladimirov Zhelyu, Williams Allan (2018) Hotel innovations and performance ? the mediating role of staff related innovations,Tourism Management Perspectives Elsevier
Previous research has mostly considered separately the direct effects of innovations, and of internal and external factors, on performance. This paper assesses a model which recognizes the critical role of staff-related innovations in mediating between other types of innovations and factors and hotel performance. An exploratory factor analysis of a sample of UK hotels identifies five factors which have been utilised in a SEM model of ?innovation - performance? relationships. The findings reveal that staff innovations have the strongest direct impact on performance, along with product innovations and two external factors. Staff innovations mediate partially the effects of these factors, and fully the influence of management innovations and internal factors, on performance. Therefore, the model provides evidence of the complexity of the relationships between hotel performance factors and types of innovation, as well as insights into the key role that staff-related innovations play in realising performance improvements.
Verreynne Martie-Louise, Williams Allan, Ritchie Brent, Gronum Sarel, Betts Kim S (2019) Innovation diversity and uncertainty in small and medium sized tourism firms,Tourism Management72pp. 257-269 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2018.11.019
In increasingly uncertain and competitive markets, small tourism firms are often pressured to in-novate across a diverse range of innovation types. Innovation diversity creates synergies in that capabilities developed for one type can enhance the outcomes of other types of innovation. This paper defines and examines innovation diversity, and its relationship with small and medium en-terprise (SME) performance. It then considers the role of uncertainty and dependence on tourism markets in this relationship. The paper is original in that it first finds that innovation diversity mit-igates the negative effect of uncertainty on performance, and second that this relationship is es-pecially strong in more tourism-dependent SMEs. Whereas most research on tourism innovation relies on cross-sectional data, this paper is methodologically novel in using longitudinal data col-lected from 358 SMEs over a period of 18 months.
Rodriguez Sanchez Isabel, Williams Allan M., Andreu Hugo García (2019) Customer resistance to tourism innovations: entrepreneurs? understanding and management strategies,Journal of Travel Research59(3)pp. 450-464 SAGE Publications
DOI: 10.1177/0047287519843188
Customer resistance is the greatest risk to innovation for the entrepreneur. The aim of this exploratory study is to provide insights into this underdeveloped area in the tourism innovation literature. A qualitative approach is adopted to understand the resistance experienced by 57 entrepreneurs when introducing their innovations into the market, the causes and the actions taken to minimise resistance. Findings indicate that most entrepreneurs often encounter resistance from sceptical customers, satisfied with their status quo and with no or low appetites for innovation. The analysis reveals two main sources of resistance: the association of the innovations with particular risks, and the customers' lack of understanding of the innovation value. Communication strategies are crucial to decrease the associated risks and for trust building. The paper provides a critical perspective on the challenges faced by innovators, challenges which are often overlooked given the near-iconic status of innovation in studies of economic development.
Rodriguez Sanchez Isabel, Makkonen Teemu, Williams Allan M. (2019) Peer review assessment of originality in tourism journals: critical perspective of key gatekeepers,Annals of Tourism Research77pp. 1-11 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2019.04.003
Originality is an essential element of academic research and the peer review system plays a key gatekeeping role in its acceptance. However, there is no consensus as to the precise definition of the concept, its measurement nor the importance attached to it. Primary data from 26 interviews with editors or editorial board members of top ranking tourism journals inform a discussion of the nuanced understanding of the concept and of how different levels of originality (radical vs. incremental), among other peer review assessment criteria, influence tourism publication. Finally, the main challenges relating to recognising originality in the peer review process are identified leading to recommendations for improvements to how originality is assessed.
Tang J., Williams A. M., Makkonen T., Jiang J. (2019) Are Different Types of Inter-Firm Linkages Conducive to Different Types of Tourism Innovation?,International Journal of Tourism Research21(6)pp. 901-913 John Wiley & Sons
DOI: 10.1002/jtr.2313
Few studies have researched how the linkages of tourist firms are related to the types of tourism innovation. Therefore, an organizational information processing theory perspective, a case study approach, and a focus group method were adopted in the Pearl River Delta area (China) to discover how different types of firm linkages influence tourism innovation. The findings reveal that tourist firms have four main forms of linkages and that they have differentiated impacts on innovations. Intracompany linkages are beneficial for institutional, managerial, and product innovations; both intercompany and intrasectoral linkages encourage marketing and product innovations, whereas intersectoral linkages facilitate process innovation and product innovation. These findings fill a research gap in the knowledge of firm?based innovative linkages and explore the importance of linkages between tourism services and tourism manufacturing.
Palovic Z., Janta H., Williams A.M. (2019) Manager Perceptions of the Value of Returned Migrants and the Relational Nature of Knowledge,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1679412
This article builds on the seminal work of Williams and Balá~ (2008a) on international migration and knowledge, by arguing that the economic value of the knowledge is relational, being dependent on how it is recognised by potential employers. By analysing in-depth interviews with sixteen managers which are contrasted with insights from thirty interviews with skilled returnees to Slovakia, this study aims to identify the extent to which return migration is considered to facilitate knowledge transfer, and the diversification of the knowledge available, to organizations. The findings reveal that skilled migration is understood by managers to facilitate accelerated learning that contributes to professional and personal development in several ways. Firstly, formal qualifications gained abroad are valued, particularly in context of perceived limitations to the national educational system. Secondly, the managers consider that returnees have acquired not only technical skills, such as market know-how and business intelligence, but also soft skills. Finally, the study indicates that far from facing barriers to the recognition of their knowledge by employers, this was acknowledged and welcomed. Managers with personal exposure to international migration were predisposed to recognising the experiences of returned migrants, and this was most evident in the recruitment practices of the multinationals.
Janta H., Jephcote C., Williams A.M., Li G. (2019) ?Returned Migrants Acquisition of Competences: the Contingencies of Space and Time?,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1679408
The conditions which determine the acquisition of skills by migrants are still poorly understood. This paper addresses two of those conditions: the temporality of the acquisition of competences, whether the number and duration of migrations matter, as well as the spatiality, or the variation across countries of origin and return. Based on a large-scale online panel survey of returned young migrants in nine European countries, the significance of time (duration) and space (number of migrations) in the acquisition of skills and competences are examined. The findings reveal that young European returnees? experiences gained abroad result in largely positive outcomes but with significant differences between formal qualifications, language skills and personal and cultural competences. However, their acquisition of skills and competences is mediated by temporality ? the combination of number of trips, and duration of migration. Spatiality is also important, with outcomes depending on the destination countries, and whether migration and return are from or to rural versus urban areas. These indicate that structural considerations continue to shape individual migration experiences within the EU?s freedom of movement space.
Balá~ V., Williams A. M., Morav íková K., Chran oková M. (2019) What Competences, Which migrants? Tacit and Explicit Knowledge Acquired via Migration,Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies Taylor and Francis
DOI: 10.1080/1369183X.2019.1679409
This paper analyses the links between the competences acquired via international migration, and the tacit versus explicit knowledge which are encapsulated in these. Whereas most research in this area utilises qualitative methods, this paper utilises a mixed methods approach. It draws on an online quantitative survey of the skills and competences acquired by young Slovak migrants (N = 366), complemented by more traditional in-depth interviews, with a sample of 52 Slovak migrants. The Slovak informants mostly valued those competences which included a distinctive component of tacit knowledge: higher self-confidence and an improved ability to deal with challenges. Migrants simultaneously drew on several types of tacit knowledge (embrained, embedded, encultured and embodied), and a major finding is that in practice these different categories of knowledge are blurred. There are also socio-demographic differences in migrants? experiences. Both the quantitative and qualitative analyses indicated that women benefited far more than men from the acquisition of the tacit components of embodied, encultured and embedded knowledge. Migrants with tertiary education reported significantly higher acquisition of all types of competences than those who only had secondary education.
Williams Allan M., Sánchez Isabel Rodríguez, Skokic Vlatka (2019) Innovation, risk and uncertainty: a study of tourism entrepreneurs,Journal of Travel Research SAGE Publications
Innovation is inherently associated with risk and uncertainty, and the engagement of entrepreneurs with these is central to the innovation process. Entrepreneurs are not passive actors but, through learning, they contribute to the dynamic capabilities of the firm across the innovation process. Drawing on 57 interviews with entrepreneurs in tourism SMEs in Spain and the UK, the paper identifies how risk and uncertainty are understood to change throughout the innovation process in the key areas of technology, finance, markets and organizations. It also examines how tourism entrepreneurs respond to risk and uncertainty through a range of strategies, especially the harvesting of knowledge and networking. However, engaging with uncertainty remains elusive and relies as much on intuition as on reasoning.
Figueroa Domecq Cristina, Williams Allan, de Jong Anna, Alonso Alessandra Technology is a woman?s best friend: Entrepreneurship and Management in Tourism,e-Review of Tourism Research Texas Digital Library
Technology and ICT?s are key for entrepreneurs and managers in the tourism and hospitality industry. But technology is not gender neutral and the research literature confirms women?s limited participation in high-tech organizations and positions. The aim of this research note is to show the initial results of an exploratory analysis that evaluates the relation between women?s perception of the ease-of use and usefulness of technology, and the future technological development and progress of their businesses, either as entrepreneurs or corporate entrepreneurs. The paper considers whether technology is women?s best friend, or another source of barriers.
Kim Yoo Ri (2020) The impact of spatial clustering on the labour productivity of the UK tourism and hospitality industry,
DOI: 10.15126/thesis.00853707
This research aims to investigate the impact of spatial clustering of T&H firms on the labour productivity of the UK T&H industry, specifically on the implications of agglomeration economies for labour productivity both within (direct effects, accounting for spatial feedback effects) and between (indirect spatial spillover effects) spatial units. Employing under-exploited micro-level datasets from the UK Office for National Statistics, the impact of spatial clustering and agglomeration economies (labour market pooling and knowledge spillovers) on T&H labour productivity within and between local authority districts (LADs) was examined using spatial panel modelling. Based on 373 LADs across England, Scotland and Wales and for the period 2006-2016, the fixed-effect spatial Durbin panel model was estimated. Findings concluded that the increase in the degree of clustering of T&H firms has had negative effects on labour productivity of T&H firms within the LADs but also across, and from, neighbouring LADs and back. Labour market pooling variables have shown positive effects regarding the pool of skilled labour but the effects on productivity were negative in terms of the share in high-skilled jobs. Knowledge spillover effects on labour productivity of T&H firms within a LAD were insignificant, but when considering its spatial spillover effects, they were complementary, suggesting the importance of human capital externalities and their spillover effects across geographical boundaries. Moreover, the long-run effects of agglomeration economies were significantly greater than the short-run effects on the labour productivity of T&H firms within and between LADs, suggesting the need to take a long-run perspective on how spatial clustering and agglomeration economies affect T&H labour productivity within and between neighbouring regions. Using geographically weighted regression modelling, significant spatial variations in the relationship between spatial clustering and agglomeration economies and T&H labour productivity were identified within each LAD but also spillover effects across the neighbouring districts.
Williams Allan, Rodriguez Isabel, Makkonen Teemu (2020) INNOVATION AND SMART DESTINATIONS: CRITICAL INSIGHTS,Annals of Tourism Research Elsevier
Smart destinations have become an esteemed concept among researchers and policy makers. Discus-sion of the concept is optimistic in tone and commonly linked to information rather than knowledge and more to design than innovation. This partly explains the relatively limited critical discussion of the (potential) benefits of smart destinations. The article raises selected issues from the innovation, as opposed to the design literature, to offer insightful perspectives on analyzing smart destination. The discussion emphasises that: 1) smart destinations are driven by uncertainty; 2) knowledge pro-vides deeper insights than information into smart destinations as innovation; 3) entrepreneurs play an important role in facilitating smart destinations; and 4) smart destinations constitute innovation sys-tems.
Kim Yoo Ri, Williams Allan, Park Sangwon, Chen Jason Li (2020) Spatial spillovers of agglomeration economies and productivity in the tourism industry: The case of the UK,Tourism Management82104201 Elsevier
DOI: 10.1016/j.tourman.2020.104201
This research investigates the direct and (indirect) spatial spillover effects of agglomeration economies on the productivity of the tourism industry. With increasing concerns about the persistence of low (labour) productivity in tourism across many developed economies, there is an urgent need to address this productivity challenge. Using major under-exploited UK microeconomic panel data, spatial econometric modelling is employed to estimate the effects of agglomeration economies on productivity. Findings reveal the significant effects of agglomeration economies on productivity within a specific region, but also significant spatial spillover effects across neighbouring regions, suggesting the possibility of productivity convergences. Competitive and complementary effects of agglomeration economies on productivity are identified.
Williams Allan M., Balaz Vladimir (2020) Tourism and Trust: Theoretical reflections,Journal of Travel Research SAGE Publications
Tourism researchers have increasingly, but selectively and uncritically, engaged with the notion of trust. This study therefore aims to provide a stronger theoretical foundation for understanding tourism related trust, starting from consideration of uncertainty and the nature of tacit knowledge. The relationship between displacement and uncertainty is at the core of the distinctiveness of trust in tourism, highlighting the importance of institutions, but also recognizing the diversity of tourism contexts. Three disciplinary perspectives on trust are considered: economics, psychology and sociology. After outlining their general characteristics in relation to McKnight and Chervany?s (2001) typology of trust, we review their application in tourism, and conclude by identifying a future research agenda to address the distinctive characteristics of trust in tourism.

Additional publications