Additional Updates

I can also announce the following:

Thitthongkham, Thavorn and John Walsh, “Language Roles and Model Tour Companies in the Competitiveness of the Thai Tourism Industry,” paper to be presented at the 3^rd Annual PSU Phuket Research Conference (Phuket: November 17^th-19^th, 2010).

Ngaochay, Thanee and John Walsh, “Success Factors of 7-Eleven in Thailand,” paper to be presented at the ICBER 2010 (Kuala Lumpur: 26^th-28^th, 2010).

Thitthongkham, Thavorn and John Walsh, “An Analysis of Factors Influencing the Competitiveness of the Thai Tourism Industry,” paper to be presented at the ICBER 2010 (Kuala Lumpur: 26^th-28^th, 2010).

There should be a few more dribbling through in the next couple of weeks. I will post the abstracts as and when the papers are actually given.

Language Roles in Internal and External Communication in Thai Tourism Industry Competitiveness

I can also announce:

Thitthongkam, Thavorn, John Walsh and Chanchai Bunchapattanasakda, “Language Roles in Internal and External Communication in Thai Tourism Industry Competitiveness,” Acta Universitatis Danubius: Oeconomica (2/2010), pp.46-57, available at: http://journals.univ-danubius.ro/index.php/oeconomica/article/viewFile/616/567.

Abstract: Language plays important roles in both internal and external communications in the competitiveness of the tourism industry. Communication involves giving, getting, and highlighting information. Communication also enhances understanding and establishing harmonious relationships among people. Effective communication involves nine elements and is influenced by a multitude of factors, including the use of language by employees, employee involvement and commitment and technological change. Language can be a means in helping to maintain competitiveness. The usage of clear and appropriate language and vocabulary-building helps in generating effective communication leading to organisational change. Observation and interview are ways of determining the degree of effectiveness of internal and external communications.

There is still a bit of editing to be done for the online version (which explains discrepancies).

Infrastructure Development in Three Mekong Region Capital Cities

I’m back now from Singapore where I presented, with reasonable success, this:

Walsh, John and Fuangfa Amponsitra, “Infrastructure Development in Three Mekong Region Capital Cities,” paper presented at the International Conference on Global Urban Frontiers: Asian Cities in Theory, Practice and Imagination, 8-9 September 2010 Organized by the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (NUS: 8^th-9^th September, 2010).

Abstract

Infrastructure, broadly defined to include road and rail networks, telecommunications, electricity and other utilities, offers both direct and indirect benefits to economic growth. The direct effects include employment and contracts for local firms, while its role as an enabling technology means that a multiplier effect is provided for the economy as a whole. Infrastructure also has a role to play in promoting efficiency of governance and social cohesion. The relative importance of these factors varies according to the specific conditions applying with a geographical location. The Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, for example, is symbolic of the seat of post-colonial Burmese power, while offering a strategic location from which to govern the country. The role of infrastructure, in this case, is to promote efficiency of rule and creating a network in which the city can form a node connected with economically important locations. In Phnom Penh and Vientiane, by contrast, infrastructure is being used both to promote economic activities and to link them with cross-border markets. As primate cities, important political, cultural and societal institutions already exist: however, both cities were abandoned by their populations in the past and recreated under foreign influence. This paper investigates the specific nature of these three cities and analyses the factors contributing to infrastructure development in them and the different forms this is taking.

There was some discussion about publication of some papers from the workshop – I will wait to see if ours is one of the papers subsequently favoured. If not, I expect I will find some alternative publication possibilities.