This paper highlights the global phenomenon of the crisis in the quality and quantity of water supplies and how tourism generally and hotels specifically may have contributed to the situation. The major internal and external barriers for Small Medium Enterprises adopting Environmental Management Systems, including water, are listed. The paper proposes a water management framework for hotels and other types of accommodation that leverages on the concept of innovation. Taking into account the various levels of knowledge and technological capabilities in water management, the framework is developed based on the commonly known 3R approach in environmental management, with the addition of another R (Reaching). It is proposed that hotels can innovate and enhance their water management approaches under these 4Rs: Innovative Reducing, Innovative Reusing, Innovative Reaching and Innovative Recycling. The framework offers examples and strategies about how hotels of different sizes, with differing financial, technical, knowledge and managerial capacities could address the challenge of implementing water management and obtain commercial benefit. A detailed case study is provided of a gray and black water recycling system in a Malaysian resort. Other examples of a range of water management methods are also discussed.

Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) are the pillars on which most of the economies worldwide rest. Without the support of qualified technological innovation, it will be very difficult for SMEs’ performance to improve and impossible for them to reach their sustainability goals. Small businesses should therefore be encouraged to embrace the next technological frontier, Industry 4.0 (I4.0). The main purpose of this research is to understand the relationship between the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies and sustainability goals, along with an analysis of how innovation characteristics make implementing I4.0 easier for small businesses. To answer the research questions and analyse the high complex data, this research performed a structural equation model by using AMOS software. The results indicated that technology innovation characteristics have a positive significant effect on I4.0 implementation and sustainability goals. However, effective implementation of I4.0 mediates between the relationship of innovation characteristics and sustainability goals, except observability. The implications of this research are that SMEs should develop effective I4.0, implement it, and build innovation characteristics to reach sustainability goals.

Among the many personas of cultural heritage offered to global tourism, religious or faith-based tourism is perhaps the least prominent. However, this often-ignored component of tourism resources is turning into a booming business, as can be seen in the case of Mecca and Jerusalem. In essence, religious tourism is a good example of pro-poor tourism because it can generate good tourism income, develop the local economy, and bring about other possible benefits such as employment and local access to outside goods and services. However, the excitement of making profit from religious tourism should not be allowed to overshadow its traditional role of promoting spiritual healing and piety. This article argues that understanding the significance of a religious event amongst its followers will preserve the real purpose of religious travel and tourism and provide insights of a balanced management approach of a religious tourism destination. Using Malaysia as a study context, the article highlights qualitative findings from an open-ended questions survey on Hindu parents of University Utara Malaysia students. The findings highlight the meaning and importance of Thaipusam amongst the devotees, the balance of tourism and religious activities while at the sacred site as well as issues, concerns and improvements required to increase their quality of experience in Batu Caves. The article ends with a discussion on the implications of the findings on the management of a religious tourism destination.

This paper focuses on the impact of Market Orientations (MO), Organizational Learning (OL) and Market Conditions (MCs) on Firm Growth (FG), within the context of hospitality Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia. Entrepreneurs/managers were sampled using cluster-sampling technique and surveyed using a 5-point Likert type scale instrument. The questionnaire’s validity was determined by 1) expert opinions, and 2) pilot testing the instrument on a small group of target respondents. A total of 254 completed questionnaires were analyzed to test the research model using Structural Equation Modeling approach (SEM) via the Partial Least Squares (PLS) software. The findings reveal that MO has a strong influence on FG and that OL partially mediates the MO-FG relationship. However, MCs have no moderating influence on the OL-FG relationship. The paper then discusses the findings’ implications on theory and practice.

Sustaining youths interest in entrepreneurial education is important to cultivating future entrepreneurs. This study examines factors influencing entrepreneurial attitudes among youth using 334 respondents within the context of Indonesian institutes of higher learning. The findings show that in entrepreneurial education, both perceived educator competency and perceived social support are important drivers for the creation of self-efficacy in youth. However, only perceived social support is directly related to increased entrepreneurial attitude orientation. On the other hand, when self-efficacy is introduced as a mediating variable, both perceived educator competency and perceived social support show influence on youths entrepreneurial attitude orientation. From these findings, the research proposed both its theoretical and managerial implications.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to advance a theoretical framework that incorporates the relationship between market challenge and learning and customer orientations, and the influence of these orientations on innovativeness in an international joint venture (IJV) context.Design/methodology/approach: The authors estimate a structural equation model utilizing survey data collected from 199 IJVs in the Republic of Korea.Findings: The authors found that while market challenge does not influence learning orientation in IJVs, it does have a significant positive influence on customer orientation. Further, the authors’ findings support that both learning orientation and customer orientation have positive impacts on IJV innovativeness. Another interesting finding shows that the impact of learning orientation on IJV innovativeness is significant only when IJVs have high levels of interaction with parent firms. The study also reveals that having a strong learning orientation amplifies the impact of customer orientation on innovativeness in IJVs.Originality/value: Despite increased interest in IJVs, there has been relatively little work linking IJV innovativeness with learning and customer orientations. The study contributes to recent streams of research that seek to understand the role of these orientations in IJV innovativeness.