Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Vita.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 136-142).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: l. 73.

Thesis (M.S.)--Springfield College, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references.

Hospitality and tourism environments are widely regarded as complex and dynamic in nature. This combined with the need for commercial organisations to improve performance places considerable emphasis on the need for approaches to understanding market and organisation dynamics. This research proposes an approach to analysing and understanding the dimensions of markets and the interface with organisations to allow optimum performance. It uses the commercial short holiday break (CSHB) market in Scotland as a contextual base, and reflects an industrial economics approach which encompasses identification of market structure, competitive strategies and company performance, to explore activity in the area and propose approaches to analysing dynamic and complex markets. Commercial short holiday breaks (CSHB) are widely recognised as a growth market for hotels. What is often not documented is that such growth is at the expense of other market sectors, fuelling mature market conditions and requiring increasingly sophisticated marketing strategies to gain and sustain market share and thus improve performance. To date, little has been published on how hotel companies compete in CSHB markets or what performance differences result as a consequence of different strategies and market conditions. Therefore through an extensive literature review (of the limited data available) and the construction of a database of hotel groups containing the 30 largest hotel groups operating in Scotland, an indication of the market structure was formed. To confirm initial findings and provide more detailed data on strategies adopted in the market, structured telephone interviews were conducted with key suppliers. The interviews revealed strategic groups with two main categories of strategy : predator strategies for gaining market share and secondly defender strategies for protecting market share. To establish how strategy affects corporate performance, further interviews were conducted at the corporate level and then in recognition of the multi-site nature of hotel operations, interviews were also conducted at unit level for six key short break providing companies. The findings indicate that there are bilateral "associations" between the market structure, the strategy adopted and the resulting performance. Having constructed a model based upon the findings, it appears to be the case that results hold true between both the corporate (industry) relationships and the unit (market) level relationships, making the model a significant contribution to knowledge.

Despite football being deeply entrenched in Scottish culture it is under-researched from a business perspective. This research develops a conceptual framework that views professional football clubs from a number of different perspectives. It draws on strategic management literature since this views the firm as the intersection between internal competence, customer perception and competition within an industry. A review of previous sports business research highlighted five main themes that were used to create a structure for the analysis: on-field performance, attendance, finance, the playing squad and the manager. These themes were used as frames to view the firms within the industry from a number of different perspectives. Each frame allows a different aspect of the firm to be considered singly in turn and then collectively to develop a deeper understanding of the existing frames in use within the industry. The research is based on a pragmatic philosophy that allows mixed methods to be combined to provide both an objective and subjective view of the industry. The subjective view was drawn from five interviews with senior figures within Scottish professional football. These participants were from a number of different roles and organisations within the industry to provide a balance of experiences. The views were triangulated with a descriptive analysis of secondary data from a number of industry sources to establish patterns within and between these frames. A peer group of six clubs was selected as they competed in the Scottish Premier League in each of the seasons within an eleven-year period (2000-2011). The peer group clubs selected were: Aberdeen, Dundee United, Heart of Midlothian (Hearts), Hibernian, Kilmarnock and Motherwell. By focussing on a small group of clubs with a similar on-field record a broad study across the five frames could be carried out in detail without the findings being influenced by the impact of relegation to a lower division or sustained participation in European football. Within each of the original five frames a number of sub-components were identified and linked to the framework; this expanded the content to reflect the findings of this project. There appeared to be little link between on-field performance and attendance although progress to the later stages of cup competitions allowed clubs to connect with fans who do not regularly attend. The relationship between a club's income and wage bill should be expanded to include interest repayments since this expenditure can be used to highlight future financial problems caused by increased debt levels. Although all of the interview participants spoke with pride of the players that had progressed from the club's youth academy to success at the highest level the peer group clubs only produced one player each season that played more than ten matches for the club. Almost half of the players signed from the youth academy left the club without playing for the 1st Team. The importance of the relationship between the manager and club chairman was highlighted, although the speed with which managers were appointed suggests that little consideration was given to this before offering a contract. Once appointed there appeared to be little clarity over the job description and areas of responsibility. Several of the interviewees brought experience from other businesses to football but admitted that short-term decision making and entrenched behaviour made change difficult. The conclusion of the research is that by taking a firm-wide view of the club, longer-term decisions can be taken within football. Player development and supporter relationships were both identified as long-term processes that are impacted by the current short-termism. With greater role clarity for managers and a mixture of short and long-term objectives those involved in the industry are more likely to have opportunities to learn from experience and performance, across the different frames, will improve as a result.

Recent epidemiological data suggests that the incidence of hamstring and ACL injuries are on the rise in football, resulting in significant financial costs to individual clubs. Research has highlighted fatigue, decreased functional strength and reduced dynamic stability as key aetiological factors common to both injuries. Previous research has considered the influence of fatigue on eccentric strength and dynamic stability discretely, but their functional synergy warrants investigation. Furthermore, the fatigue-effect should be considered beyond the acute 90 minutes of match exposure, and consider the temporal pattern of recovery. In the first experimental chapter (Chapter 4), twenty male professional soccer players (age 21.50 ± 3.09 years, height 181.98 ± 5.43cm, body mass 77.73 ± 5.06 kg), undertook a localised fatigue protocol until they exhibited a 30% reduction in eccentric hamstring peak torque. Pre fatigue measures of isokinetic eccentric strength (60°·s-1, 150°·s-1, 300°·s-1., System 3, Biodex Medical Systems, Shirley, NY, USA) and dynamic stability (OSI – Overall Stability Index, A-P – Anterior Posterior Stability, M-L – Medial Lateral Stability, Biodex Medical Systems, Shirley, NY) were taken. These were then repeated at the same time of day post, 24 hr post, 48 hr post and 72 hr post fatigue. Metrics in average peak torque and peak torque were observed to be significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) when compared to baseline levels at +72 hr at the two fastest testing speeds. Significance values indicated that angle of peak torque was fully recovered. Dynamic stability measures of OSI and A-P also remained significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) at +72 hr, whereas M-L scores showed no significance (P ≥ 0.05) at 72 hr. Quadratic regression analyses revealed unique temporal rates of recovery, requiring up to +82 hr post-exercise. These unique patterns were identified through differentiation of the quadratic regression curve, enabling calculation of the curve minima and the time at which the outcome variable returned to pre-exercise levels. A similarexperimental design was employed in Chapter 5, utilising a soccer-specific fatigue protocol. Eighteen male professional soccer players completed the present study, with a mean age of 22.94 ± 4.57 years, height 185.38 ± 4.22cm and body mass 75.91 ± 6.38 kg. Average peak torque and peak torque metrics at all speeds were significantly reduced (P ≤ 0.05) at +72 hr, with no change in angle of peak torque. As with the localised fatigue protocol, dynamic stability measures in A-P were significantly impaired at +72 hr (P ≤ 0.05) whereas M-L scores were recovered to baseline at 72 hrs. A similar predicted maximum recovery duration of +81 15 hr was observed following soccer-specific exercise, utilising the same quadratic regression analysis as in chapter 4.Fourteen male professional soccer players completed chapter 6, (mean age 24.29 ± 5.06 years, height 184.51 ± 3.91cm, and body mass 74.91 ± 4.30 kg) analysing the effects of soft tissue massage (24 hours post fatigue) on the temporal pattern of recovery post soccer specific fatigue. Sports massage techniques were applied for 20 minutes on the posterior aspect of the dominant limb, with a specific focus on effleurage and petrissage to aid recovery. Results highlighted that all measures for AvgPkTeccH, PkTeccH (60°·s-1, 150°·s-1 and 300°·s-1.) and OSI were all shown to recover within the 72 hr period. The A-P dynamic stability measures were recovered at +48 hr. Time of recovery was calculated with the same quadratic regression anlaysis completed in chapters 4 and 5. These findings indicate that an intervention of soft tissue massage at 24 hr post fatigue accelerates the recovery process. An alternate intervention was utilised in Chapter 7, where sixteen male professional soccer players completed a soccer specific fatigue protocol incorporating periods of interchange (mean age 22.64 ± 4.70 years, height 185.41 ± 4.72cm, body mass 77.62 ± 6.08 kg). The interchange strategy employed was designed to reduce total workload (to 60mins), with each player exposed to a 15 min period of rest in the middle of each half. Peak torque metrics at the two slowest speeds had failed to attain full recovery at +72 hrs, and similarly OSI was still significantly impaired relative to baseline at +72 hrs. Following completion of the same quadratic regression analysis, as completed in previous chapters (4, 5 and 6) the predicted time required for full recovery of all markers was +82 hr. The results of the study highlight that despite reducing the playing time with periods of interchange players had still not fully recovered within the 72 hr period, thus exposing players to potential injury within this time period The current thesis is aimed at the sports science and medical teams working within football involved in injury prevention strategies, specific conditioning and rehabilitation. Findings highlight the temporal pattern of recovery post-exercise with specific focus on hamstring function. Simple functional anatomy highlights any decreased function of the hamstring will have implications for potential knee injury, including the ACL. Epidemiological and aetiological research in football continues to be heavily focussed on hamstring strains. This thesis highlights the potential implications that decreased function over a 72 hr period can have on the muscle group, and associated ligamentous structures. Clinical implications of this work 16 include the periodisation of rehabilitation stages or training micro-cycles, the importance of developing fatigue resistance within players to facilitate a reduction in the occurrence of hamstring and ACL injury, and the development of a more stringent return to play criteria encompassing these biomechanical markers. Evidently, findings within the current body of work suggest that fatigue is an unalterable factor that contributes to injury, but it can be quantified with meaures of dynamic stability and eccentric strength. Quantifying fatigue between games with these biomechanical markers provides key information of a player’s readiness to play, implications for injury, key time frames to implement interventions and provide key markers to be utilised in the design of return to play protocols post injury.

This thesis is the first sociological examination of white-collar boxing in the UK; a form of the sport particular to late modernity. Given this, the first research question asked is: what is white-collar boxing in this context? Further research questions pertain to social divisions and identity. White-collar boxing originally takes its name from the high social class of its practitioners in the USA, something which is not found in this study. White-collar boxing in and through this research is identified as a practice with a highly misleading title, given that those involved are not primarily from white-collar backgrounds. Rather than signifying the social class of practitioner, white-collar boxing is understood to pertain to a form of the sport in which complete beginners participate in an eight-week boxing course, in order to compete in a publicly-held, full-contact boxing match in a glamorous location in front of a large crowd. It is, thus, a condensed reproduction of the long-term career of the professional boxer, commodified for consumption by others. These courses are understood by those involved to be free in monetary terms, and undertaken to raise money for charity. As is evidenced in this research, neither is straightforwardly the case, and white-collar boxing can, instead, be understood as a philanthrocapitalist arrangement. The study involves ethnographic observation and interviews at a boxing club in the Midlands, as well as public weigh-ins and fight nights, to explore the complex interrelationships amongst class, gender and ethnicity to reveal the negotiation of identity in late modernity.

This thesis explores patterns of time use among university students to further understand their leisure time as an aspect of their day-to day lives, especially with regard to their time spent drinking alcohol. Attending university can be viewed as a key aspect in the prolongation of the youth life-stage for some young people, and a key influence on how they develop their own identities and spend their leisure time. In this regard, research suggests that far from being a homogeneous group, there can be a marked difference between sub-groups of students. Residence, for example, has been shown to be a particularly significant factor influencing how students report their university experience. Furthermore, a number of studies report that rather than being fixed, young people’s leisure lives, including their time spent drinking, tend to be dynamic, context-dependent and develop in some significant ways during their university careers. However, studies that have focused on university students have tended to study aspects of their leisure in isolation. This study aimed to address this limitation by studying students’ lives ‘in the round’ in order to more adequately understand the contextual complexity of their lives and how this might shape patterns of time use on leisure in general and drinking alcohol in particular.

This thesis focuses on cultural narratives and representations of Mexico, Mexicans, and Mexican culture prevalent in US travel books, tourist discourse, and Mexican tourist scapes. It examines US tourism to Mexico through the lens of the imaginative geographies it is informed by and serves to mobilize. After exploring the context onto which contemporary tourism and US tourism discourse to Mexico unfolds, this thesis traces the evolution of contemporary ideas of Mexico and Mexican culture found in popular tourist narratives by looking at US travel books from the nineteenth century to the contemporary period. It then draws from empirical research data gathered through multisited ethnographic fieldwork conducted at three of Mexico’s most popular tourist destinations: San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Cancun/Mayan Riviera. Here, I examine the way in which particular tourist spaces – ranging from hotels, tours, expeditions, cultural courses and attractions – interweave elements of local culture into their surrounding, on-site exhibitions, and/or events programming. In addition to examining these spaces, I also consider the voices of individuals from the US who, at the time of my fieldwork, were visiting or living in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, or Cancun/Mayan Riviera. By triangulating the discursive tropes and conceptual frameworks mobilized by tourist books, tourist discourse, and tourist scapes, this thesis illustrates how culturalist readings and imaginative geographies premised on nationalist modes of understanding continue to be mobilized in the context of much of the discourse through which tourism operates.