This study contributes to the hospitality and strategic management literature through the development of a mid-range approach to the study of environment and strategy. Through the use of cluster analysis and multiple discriminant analysis, four commonly recurring environmental settings were identified. These were (1) a high growth environment, (2) a complex environment, (3) a dynamic environment, and (4) a low growth environment. The significance of the environmental typology was then determined by investigating the proposition that different strategies are associated with high profit performance in each type of environment. In order to investigate this proposition use was made of Miles and Snow's (1978) strategic typology of generic business strategies. No Significant relationship was found between environment, strategic posture and performance. A description of the methodology and statistical approaches used for the investigating the research propositions is included. / Ph. D.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Indianapolis is considered by many a competitive, large population city with incredible resources for business conferences and event tourism. The city’s flagship event, The Indianapolis 500, has paved the way for the city’s success. With initiative, planning, construction, and implementation the city’s tourism prowess has grown over the past three decades. Indianapolis has become host to a plethora of mid-size and large conferences every year, a regular on the host circuit for the NCAA Final Four, host of the annual Big Ten basketball tournament and most recently the host of the 2012 Super Bowl. Indianapolis continuously attempts to bring in more events every year. Not many residents get to see, or are even aware of, the associates busy at work attempting to fill hotel rooms, conference centers and stadiums. The Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) of the city are constantly working and tweaking strategies to increase exposure and get tourists excited about visiting Indianapolis. However, it is difficult to identify what truly separates Indianapolis as a tourist destination from any other competitive, second-tier population, landlocked city. Centrality within the country and the tourism infrastructure may be argued, but a representative from nearly any city in competition with Indianapolis may make a counterpoint to most resources. Instead of running in circles with this argument, this thesis looks to probe into a resource for Indianapolis that could be turned into a strong marketing tool for tourism: its employees. The overall purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of resident contact employees in the food service and lodging industries concerning Indianapolis’ tourism attributes, and their relation to Indianapolis’ destination marketing and managerial strategies.