Journal of Multidisciplinary in Social Sciences

Exploring Green Factors and Green Practices: A Case Study of Thailand's Best Green Small Hotel

Narinsiree Chiangphan — 2024-03-07

This qualitative study aimed to investigate the components of Green Practices and Green Factors that contribute to the successful implementation of sustainable practices in small hotels in Thailand. The study utilized a framework derived from world-class green hotels and incorporated the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) concept. Through interviews with 12 small hotel owners and managers in the Thailand Active Beach Cluster, an outline for implementing Green Practices was developed. Content analysis allowed for a thorough and structured analysis of the interview data, enabling the identification of key insights and trends that informed the development of the Green Practices implementation plan. The findings revealed that small hotel Green Practices comprised four dimensions: optimizing the utilization of community resources (OCR), integrating environmental concepts to gain competitive advantage (ICA), Developing and disseminating environmental awareness to customers (DEC), and protecting the environment (PE). Additionally, through a comprehensive examination of literature and interviews, 20 Green Factors were identified as crucial elements contributing to the successful implementation of Green Practices in small hotels in Thailand: Strategic planning, Innovative and energy-efficient technologies, Perceived Green standard and green law, Competitors, Supplier, Government campaign, Effective marketing, Owner’s awareness, Partner, Environmental leadership, Green knowledge, Hotel guests’ awareness, Cost allocation for environment activities, Infrastructure and system investment, Trend, Government regulations, Employee adaptability, Rewards and incentive, Facilities and Resources, and Clear Organizational identity. These findings offer valuable insights into the effective and efficient implementation of Green Practices in the context of small hotels in Thailand. This study can serve as a valuable reference point for various types of hotels worldwide, facilitating the adoption of green practices that benefit not only the environment but also the long-term economic prospects and reputation of the hospitality sector as a whole.

Correlating Reasons for Student Dropouts and Socioeconomic Factors at a State University from a Rural Province on the Philippines

Graham M. Naz — 2024-04-11

This descriptive-correlational study determined the students’ reasons for dropping their studies, amid the newly implemented free tuition law in state universities and colleges. It also explored their relationship with the students’ socioeconomic factors. Thirty-six (36) student dropouts from academic years 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 of the cohort state university in the rural province were chosen through systematic random sampling. Structured interviews using closed and open-ended questions were carried out through phone calls or direct messaging. Reasons for student dropouts that emerged are financial and economic, family and personal, academic, and engagement-related reasons. Test of correlation revealed that respondents’ residence, gender, and family income are significantly related to their reasons for dropping. It can be concluded that despite the free tuition law, financial and economic factors remain the prevalent reason for dropping. Further, the more inaccessible the residence, the lower the family income, and being female, the more likely to drop out due to financial reasons and personal problems. Lastly, respondents suggested improving the institution’s various student services, such as scholarships, admission, hostel, and guidance among others.

Exploring the Influence of National Culture on the Intercultural Conflict Management Styles in Virtual Teams

Somjai Siritrakankij — 2024-04-17

Conflict is a disagreement between two or more people. It is considered unavoidable and stressful in everyday workplace interactions. It becomes even more problematic when dealing with team members from a different culture and when dealing with them through digital communication tools. Virtual teams are often international and include culturally diverse members, making conflict management more difficult. This research examines the influence of a virtual team leader's cultural background and level of intercultural competence on the choice of conflict management styles in two types of conflicts - task and relationship conflicts - in two situations, with people from their home culture and with foreigners. In this quasi-experimental research, a serious game was used as an innovative data collection method to assess intercultural competence and intercultural conflict management style. The sample consisted of 106 Thai, 114 French, and 119 American participants (339). The results of this study concluded that cultural background and intercultural competence influence the choice of intercultural conflict management style as well as the adaptation of intercultural conflict management style to culturally different team members. Specifically, it was partially confirmed that intercultural conflict management styles vary across cultures, Americans preferred to use dynamic style and accommodation style, while Thai and French teams were similar in using discussion style as their preferred style. A significant relationship was also found between intercultural competence and conflict management styles, as well as the adaptation of conflict management styles to cultural differences and adaptation, Thai and French significantly used the argumentative style more than the dynamic and accommodation style. Meanwhile, Americans significantly used the dynamic style, followed by the accommodation style and the discussion style.

Investigating the Impact of Ethical Considerations in Final Assignment Submission among Postgraduate EFL Students

Saber Alavi — 2024-04-18

This study examined how postgraduate English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students behave and perform academically. The study demonstrates the significant impact of ethical issues on students' behavior and outcomes by examining data from a sample of postgraduate EFL students. The results show that putting ethical concerns first encourages moral conduct, reflecting academic honesty. Students that prioritize ethics routinely create excellent work that is detailed, well-structured and follows writing rules. Additionally, ethical concerns considerably impact assignment evaluation scores, with students who practice ethics-conscious behavior scoring higher on various assessment criteria like content, organization, writing style, plagiarism, and timely submission. This research recommends that educational institutions and teachers incorporate ethical considerations into the curriculum, establish guidelines for appropriate academic behavior, and provide training programs to increase student knowledge of ethical issues to promote academic integrity. Maintaining academic standards requires the implementation of effective mechanisms to identify and manage plagiarism and other forms of academic misconduct. The results highlight the significance of creating precise regulations and procedures that spell out the repercussions of academic misconduct to promote an integrity culture inside educational institutions. Students are more likely to appreciate the importance of academic integrity and make ethical decisions throughout their educational journey when an atmosphere that emphasizes ethical behavior is fostered.

The Charm of Phetchaburi’s Local Foods: The Added- Value of Phetchaburi Local Foods based on Storytelling Innovation for Enhancement of Creative Cultural Tourism

Atcharawan Phenwansuk — 2024-03-07

This research was conducted to 1) investigate the local wisdom and creative cultural capital of Phetchaburi local foods 2) develop added-value for local foods through the use of storytelling innovation 3) develop the innovation of storytelling and its application and 4) test and evaluate the tourist activities, routes and exhibition of local foods for promoting the creative cultural tourism of Phetchaburi Province. The research process was divided into 4 stages as follows: The first stage was to investigate the local cultural capital and wisdom. The first informant group consisted of local entrepreneurs, community leaders and folk philosophers and accounted for 44 persons and the second group was 400 Thai tourists. The research instruments were in- depth interviewing, structural questionnaire and document analysis. The second stage was to develop and increase the added value of local foods. The target group was 20 entrepreneurs of local foods. The research instruments were structural questionnaire and in-depth interviewing. The third stage was to develop the innovation of storytelling, create an E-Book and other media applications. The participants were 5 experts and 400 tourists. The instruments were evaluation of the quality of applications and tourist satisfaction. The fourth stage was to test t and evaluate the tourist activities, routes and exhibition of local foods of Phetchaburi Province. The participants were 15 tourists. The instruments were evaluation of the tourist satisfaction. The collected data was analyzed with the computer program of social science. The analyzed data was presented into percentage, mean, standard deviation and content analysis.
The results presented as the following:
- The local wisdom and the creative cultural capital were accepted by the participants. The criteria of how to choose the local community products to develop and increase added value was set up. The demand on the Charm of Phetchaburi local foods was evaluated at a high level. The participants also agreed to the local foods based on the cultural capital at a high level. The entrepreneurs demanded the product packages be designed to suite the various kinds and properties of products. All product packages should have the light color tones, identity, local stories and brand names.
- The development and added value of local foods consisted of 25 prototype products and were chosen under
the standardized criteria. The business plan was manipulated based on the 9-field table. Many government and business
organizations participated in the research events. The local communities had their own local stories and resources with
high potentials. Each of the community products had outstanding identity that could serve the tourist demands. The
products and its packages were designed to have the united identity of “ The Charm of Phetchaburi local foods”.
- The development of storytelling innovation in the format of E-Book and other media applications were evaluated by the experts at a high level. The tourists were also satisfied with the media applications at a high level.
- From the testing and evaluation of tourist routes and exhibition of local foods, the tourists were satisfied with the activities at a high level. The routes that were popularly included the short and moderate tourist trips. This study found that tourists require Phetchaburi Province to have the exhibition and distribution points of local community products. The tourist route named “TASTE SEE AND SHOP” should be publicized, informed and disseminated for the tourists. The selling points should have the local foods such as savory foods, desserts and local gifts that have outstanding identity and are different from the general goods and these should be offered and distributed for the customers to access and buy more easily and conveniently.