Examinando por Autor "Font, Xavier"

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Beyond ethics: The transformational power of overlapping motivations in implementing strategic sustainability actions
(Wiley, 2021) Bonilla Priego, María Jesús; Nájera Sánchez, Juan José; Font, Xavier
We develop a methodology to identify patterns between sustainability motivations, actions, and engagement. We apply this methodology to analyse a 3 ½ year intervention that yielded 151 sustainability actions undertaken by 46 outbound tour operators. We find three aspects that can be explained by the tour operators’ motivations to act sustainably, namely a connection between: i) the actions taken in the context of the organisation’s business model, ii) the intensity of the approach, measured by the resources invested in it and the operator’s commitment level, and iii) the evolution of the response. These patterns demonstrate how ethical motivations are common and a precondition to acting sustainably but, in themselves, these motivations are not sufficient to integrate sustainability practices into the core business or to maintain commitment over time. It is the combination of a high ethical commitment with clear strategic intent, materialised in commercial and operational motivations, that increases the connectedness, and intensity, of sustainability actions amongst ethically committed firms.
Materiality: stakeholder accountability choices in hotels' sustainability reports
(Emerald Publishing Limited, 2019) Guix, Mireia; Font, Xavier; Bonilla Priego, María Jesús
Purpose This paper aims to examine the choices made by the hotel industry about what to include, and who to be accountable to, in their sustainability reports; a process defined as materiality assessment. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the findings of semi-structured interviews with eight sustainability managers (from eight of the world’s 50 largest hotel groups) to explore their understanding of, and use of, materiality and any barriers to its uptake and eight industry sustainability experts to assess the general industry-wide application of materiality. Findings Sustainability managers from large hotel groups are evasive when disclosing their materiality criteria, their decision-making processes and how they aggregate stakeholder feedback; they limit their disclosure to the reporting process. Sustainability managers are disempowered, with limited resources, time, knowledge and skills to apply to materiality assessment. Experts confirm that hotel groups are unsystematic and opaque about their decision-making and how they control their materiality assessments. Practical implications Materiality assessment is concealed from the public and may be constructed around business imperatives with high managerial capture. The hospitality industry needs to improve its sustainability reporting by examining how it defines and applies materiality and by addressing the barriers identified, if it is to demonstrate an enduring commitment to sustainability and organisational legitimacy. Originality/value This study addresses the limited knowledge of how hotel groups undertake materiality assessments. It identifies gaps in the conception and application of materiality by pinpointing barriers to its uptake and recommending areas in need of further research.
The impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness: the European Tourism Indicator System
(Routledge, 2021-04-19) Font, Xavier; Torres-Delgado, Anna; Crabolu, Gloria; Palomo, Jesus; Kantenbacher, Joseph; Miller, Graham
We aimed to evaluate the impact of sustainable tourism indicators on destination competitiveness with reference to the European Tourism Indicator System (ETIS), a scheme funded by the European Commission to address the evidence gap in tourism policy making. To do this, we evaluate the absorptive capacity of destination management organisations (DMOs) to implement and use sustainable tourism indicators to make policy decisions. We provide evidence of how DMOs have acquired knowledge about the importance of sustainable tourism indicators through ETIS, and how they have assimilated it by developing their own systems based on the principles of ETIS. However, we find that the European Commission had unrealistic expectations that DMOs, or their policies, would be transformed as a result of the use of indicators, or that indicators would be exploited to improve tourism sustainability and competitiveness. We contribute to the study of policy science by showing how absorptive capacity can be used to analyse and evaluate policy interventions, despite being a linear rational approach to explaining a complex policy context.
The process of sustainability reporting in international hotel groups: an analysis of stakeholder inclusiveness, materiality and responsiveness
(Taylor & Francis Online, 2017-12-14) Guix, Mireia; Bonilla Priego, María Jesús; Font, Xavier
While extensive research covers the disclosure of performance in sustainability reports, there is limited understanding of the process of how such reports are developed and whose priorities they reflect. We investigate the sustainability reporting, focusing on stakeholder-related practices disclosed by the 50 largest hotel groups worldwide, by testing the AA1000 Stakeholder Engagement Standard. We use the three interrelated dimensions (inclusiveness, materiality and responsiveness) to assess the disclosure of how organisations 1) identify and engage with stakeholders, 2) determine the importance of sustainability issues and 3) respond to stakeholder concerns. We find the low transparency and imprecision of decision-making criteria and processes suggest sustainability reporting is more of a legitimisation exercise than one of accountability. We find the stakeholder identification approach does not inform the organisation’s transparency, whereas the dialogue mechanisms used to empower stakeholders, as their participatory role in decision-making and the reporting process, shape the disclosure of materiality and responsiveness. We demonstrate how that the ability to determine stakeholder engagement, materiality analysis and responsiveness of the sustainability reporting process can improve the role of sustainability reports as a mechanism for accountability, and we argue the importance of the alignment between the degree of disclosure on inclusiveness, materiality and responsiveness.
Trade associations as corporate social responsibility actors: an institutional theory analysis of animal welfare in tourism
(Taylor & Francis Online, 2019) Font, Xavier; Bonilla Priego, María Jesús; Kantenbacher, Joe
Most travel trade associations ignore their responsibility towards sustain-able development broadly and animal welfare in particular. We analyse the development and implementation of animal welfare standards across 62national and international associations using interviews, surveys, content analysis of published materials and websites. Only 21 associations mention sustainability in their websites, and only six refer to animal welfare. Of these, three associations have well-developed animal welfare activities (ABTA, ANVR and GSTC) [AQ1] and only one (lightly) monitors its members’ sustainability and animal welfare standards (ANVR). ABTA’s Animal Welfare Guidelines are the de facto industry standard, despite being designed for information (not auditing) purposes and lacking enforcement mechanisms.We examine jolts that prompt some associations to respond to externalpressures and the institutional entrepreneurship process that triggers aprocess of reflexivity, theorisation and diffusion of a broader sense ofresponsibility. We examine the field-level conditions that lead to mostlymimetic pressures on large European tour operators (that compel them toact due to reputational risk management), with minimal normative pres-sures that would diffuse animal welfare practices across other associationmembers. Change is not divergent, and the resources allocated to animalwelfare protect trade associations’members from criticism withoutbinding them to implementation.
Why organizations join voluntary sustainable tourism associations: Implications for membership and sustainability monitoring systems
(Wiley, 2020) Peters, Scott; Font, Xavier; Bonilla Priego, María Jesús
With the use of institutional theory, we study why organizations join a voluntary sustainable tourism association and how the organization-association dynamics change over time. We find a disconnection between the joining and monitoring motivations for the association and its members that leads to conflicting forces and confusion, resulting in goal misalignment and loss of monitoring data. Voluntary associations need to accommodate for organizations need of social identity, the desire to learn from each other and the sense of belonging from membership (mimetic forces), with the desire to institutionalise the members to behave in increasingly standardised way (normative and eventually coercive forces).