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The success of hotels and their contribution to the destination depends on the development of sustainability practices. The aim of this paper is to study possible interactions between environmental, economic and social sustainability practices with each other and with hotel performance. In these interactions, hotel performance is not considered as the final dependent variable. Hotel performance may play a mediating role as it may be considered as a consequence of environmental sustainability practices and as a means for economic and social sustainability practices. From a PLS analysis using data from 365 Spanish hotels, we find that environmental sustainability practices influence hotel performance and economic and social sustainability practices; hotel performance positively influences economic and social sustainability practices; and economic sustainability practices influence social sustainability practices. Moreover, hotel performance mediates the relationship between environmental sustainability practices and the other two dimensions of sustainability practices; and economic sustainability practices mediate the link between environmental and social sustainability practices. This study has theoretical and practical implications because it shows that environmental sustainability practices contribute to hotel performance, creating value for shareholders and owners; and environmental practices and the availability of financial resources contribute to the development of economic and social sustainability practices, also creating value for other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Firm success depends on economic performance, but also on social and environmental factors. We use abilities, motivations, and opportunities theory and resource-based view to analyse the role of human resources management (HRM) as an antecedent of environmental management and how this relationship contributes to a deeper understanding of the linkage between environmental management and performance. This is because there are no conclusive results of the costs and profits derived from environmental practices and HRM could add more information to this topic. Here, we show that a set of HRM practices, and specially employee participation processes and communication between managers and employees, significantly improves environmental management. Moreover, environmental management explains significantly competitive advantages and performance in the hotel industry. Findings show that hotels should have an HRM structure to train, motivate, develop, and retain employees to develop environmental management aimed at obtaining cost and differentiation advantages and improve their perceptual performance, average daily rate, and revenues per available room. Our findings have implications towards advancing theory because we develop an integrative framework which includes the link between HRM (antecedent) and environmental management, and the relationship between environmental management and competitive advantages and performance (consequences) in the hotel industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The hotel industry is characterized by operating in a global, dynamic and uncertain environment where stakeholders' concerns on sustainable development are growing. However, there is limited research on whether hotels have flexibility and capacity for change, to develop environmental practices that meet stakeholder demands and improve their competitiveness. Through the dynamic capabilities theory, the resource‐based view and the stakeholder theory, this paper develops a model that considers agility and innovation as antecedents of environmental management and competitive advantages as consequences. A Partial Least Squares analysis is carried out based on data from Spanish hotels. The results indicate that agility and innovation influence environmental management positively; agility influences innovation positively; and agility influences environmental management indirectly through innovation. Moreover, environmental management positively influences cost and differentiation competitive advantages. This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of two important dynamic capabilities and their impact on environmental management and showing how the interaction and mediation between these capabilities favors competitive advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8551.2008.00597.x Byline: Eva M. Pertusa-Ortega (*), Jose F. Molina-Azorin (*), Enrique Claver-Cortes (*) Abstract: The purpose of this study was to examine the viability of hybrid competitive strategies, which combine differentiation and cost elements, and their impact on organizational performance in comparison to pure strategies and 'stuck-in-the-middle' combinations. Previous studies have focused above all on US data. The analysis carried out in this paper has centred on a multisectorial sample of 164 Spanish firms. The findings show that a large number of the organizations use different types of hybrid strategies and also that such strategies tend to be associated with higher levels of firm performance, particularly those strategies which place emphasis on a greater number of strategic dimensions, and specifically on innovation differentiation. Author Affiliation: (*)University of Alicante, Department of Business Management, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080 Alicante, SpainCorresponding author email:eva.pertusa@ua.es

The analysis of ambidexterity at the individual level may help to open the black box of organizational ambidexterity and to address the microfoundations of the exploration/exploitation dilemma in order to know how it can be achieved. The purpose of this article is to examine the main characteristics, antecedents, and consequences of individual ambidexterity, highlighting several key theoretical and methodological issues. Through a systematic literature review, we synthesize and integrate knowledge about individual ambidexterity, identifying opportunities and challenges for future research. We propose a multilevel framework that includes antecedents, consequences, and contingent effects of individual ambidexterity and their relationships. This multilevel framework may help to overcome the micro--macro divide in the management field. We also provide a synthesis of future research proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Sample of large Spanish firm is examined by using the partial least squares (PLS) technique to understand the relationship between organizational structure, competitive strategy, and firm performance which are usually analyzed by the contingency approach. The findings supported both the resource-based view (RBV) and the contingency approach, but the RBV is found to be more superior and indicated that organizational structure does not exert a direct influence on performance, but has an indirect influence through competitive strategy.

The aim of this article is to analyze the main characteristics of mixed methods research and the use of this methodological approach in several research projects and works that are being conducted by our research group about the implications and impact of management systems on competitive strategy. First, we examine the main features of mixed methods research, emphasizing why and how to use this approach. Then, we indicate our experiences as scholars who usually use mixed methods approaches in our research. We highlight the reasons and motives for using this methodology, how we conduct these studies, and the logic and key features of the mixed methods research designs that we conduct. Several implications for management research are also indicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]