Flexibility in the Tourism Sector: Do organisations and events need to be flexible in order to recruit and retain volunteers?

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Lockstone-Binney, Leonie, Smith, Karen and Baum, Tom (2007) Flexibility in the Tourism Sector: Do organisations and events need to be flexible in order to recruit and retain volunteers? In: CAUTHE 2007 tourism - past achievements, future challenges. McDonnell, Ian, Grabowski, Simone and March, Roger, eds. University of Technology , Sydney, N.S.W, pp. 1035-1046.

Abstract

The concept of flexibility has received widespread attention beyond its theoretical roots in manufacturing. It has been applied to the services sector, including tourism and hospitality; however, little work has investigated the transference of its basic tenets to volunteering. Research is lagging behind practice in contemporary volunteering as the value of flexible attitudes and flexible work options in terms of recruitment and retention outcomes is increasingly recognised. To address this gap, the current paper proposes a conceptual model that takes into account levels of reciprocal flexibility between host organisations and their volunteers, against the backdrop of volunteer supply. A comprehensive explanation of the literature supporting this model and its accompanying research questions serve as a way forward to determine whether all types of tourism organisations, offering a range of volunteering opportunities, need to be flexible in order to recruit and retain volunteers

Additional Information

Proceedings of the 17th Council for Australian University Tourism and Hospitality Education's (CAUTHE) annual conference, titled Tourism: Past Achievements, Future Challenges, hosted by the University of Technology, Sydney, and the University of New South Wales.

Item type Book Section
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/5736
ISBN 9780646469980
Subjects Historical > FOR Classification > 1506 Tourism
Historical > FOR Classification > 1599 Other Commerce Management, Tourism and Services
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > School of Hospitality Tourism and Marketing
Keywords ResPubID13036, workplace flexibility, formal volunteering, functional flexibility, numerical flexibility, Flexible Firm theory, work–life balance, paid employment, mutual flexibility, mutuality, bounce-back, recruitment
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