Intersections of racial/ethnic discourses in management and sport: Making embodied whiteness visible

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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
The Journal of Americanos College
Editor
Charalambos Louca
Americanos College
Co-Editors
Andreas Petasis
Yianna Danidou
Christina Frangou
Americanos College
Editorial Board
Andreas Andreou, University of Cyprus,
Cyprus
Andros Gregoriou, Brunel University,
Uxbridge, Middlesex, UK
Andreas A. Jobst, London School of
Economics, London, UK
Andreas Kapardis, University of Cyprus,
Cyprus
Anton Anthonissen, University of Utrecht, the
Netherlands
Arie De Ruijter, Tilburg University, the
Netherlands
Athanasios Laios, Democritus University of
Thrace, Greece
Biser Petrov, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,
Sofia, Bulgaria
Caroline Ann Wiscombe, University of
Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
Charles M. Beach, Queen’s University,
Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Constantinos-Vasilios Priporas, Athens
Graduate School of Management, Thessaloniki,
Greece
Costas Zafiropoulos, University of
Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
David Cooper, University of Salford, Salford,
UK
David Songhurst, Wolverhampton Business
School, Wolverhampton, UK
Demetris Vrontis, University of Nicosia,
Cyprus
Eleni Berki, University of Tampere, Finland
Evangelos Charos, Merrimack College, North
Andover, USA
Graham Orange, Leeds Metropolitan
University, Leeds, UK
Irene Sciriha, University of Malta, Malta
Jan Katherine Bamford, London
Metropolitan University, London, UK
Joseph S. Joseph, University of Cyprus,
Cyprus
Kalliope Agapiou-Josephides, University of
Cyprus, Cyprus
Krassimira Ilieva, Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Leonidas A. Phylactou, Cyprus Institute of
Neurology & Genetics, Cyprus
Marianna Sigala, University of the Aegean,
Greece
Mary Koutselini-Ioannidou, University of
Cyprus, Cyprus
Mary Vaxevanidou, Hellenic Open
University, Greece
Paul Verweel, University of Utrecht, the
Netherlands
Povey Ghislaine, University of
Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK
Savvas Katsikides, University of Cyprus,
Cyprus
Sean W. Cleary, York University, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada
Sergey Belousov, Bulgarian Academy of
Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Sofiane Aboura, Essec Business School,
France
Suzanne Gatt, University of Malta, Malta
Vasiliki Vrana, Technological Educational
Institute of Serres, Serres, Greece
Vasilios Grammatikopoulos, University of
Thessaly-TEFAA, Trikala, Greece
Assistants to Editors
Koulla Nicolaou
Mariangela Pishili
Miranda Hoplaros
Stella Georgiou
Americanos College

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
2008 Vol. 6
i
CONTENTS
Editorial Board Inside Front Cover
From the Editor iii
Notes for Contributors Inside Back Cover
Articles
Humanities and Social Sciences
Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible 1
Anton Anthonissen and Annelies Knoppers
Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research 17
Theodoros Iosifides and Dimitrios Papageorgiou
Work/Family Balance and Family-Friendly Policies – The Role of
Trade Unions: A Literature Review 35
Nickolaos E. Giovanis
Moral Functioning among Handball Team Players 49
E. Bebetsos, D. Konstantoulas,
G. Bebetsos and O. Kouli
Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community 61
Mariangela Pishili
Pure and Applied Sciences
A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval 75
Issam Moughrabi
Distribution of Microorganisms in Soils of Victoria Land
and their Biosynthetic Capabilities 93
Victoria Gesheva
Radiation Shielding Analysis of VVER-440 Spent Fuel Cask 101
N. Mihaylov, M. Manolova,
S. Belousov, Kr. Ilieva, and B. Petrov

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
2008 Vol. 6
ii
Economics, Management, Hospitality and Tourism
Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece 111
Nachmias Stefanos and Niki Kyriakidou
Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems:
The Case of Caves in Greece 125
Nikos D. Kartalis
An Evaluation and Proposals for the Success Factors
and the Process of Innovation 149
Marios Charalambous
Is there a Distinctively European Model of Human Resource Management
or are the Differences within Europe Greater than the Similarities? 157
Andreas Petasis and Michael Anastasiou
Assessment Issues Regarding Tourism Partnerships, Competitiveness and
Sustainability: the Case of Cyprus 169
Kakia Avgousti
Barriers to International Supply Chain Collaboration for
Small Chinese Costume Jewellery Suppliers 181
Yiannis Polychronakis and Xiang Li
Theory and Evidence from Entrepreneurship and Rural Growth 203
George M. Korres and George O. Tsobanoglou

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
Vol. 6, 2008
iii iii
From the Editor
Dear Readers,
In this volume of our Journal, the section, “From the Editor”, presents the results
of the grant research project, “Sustainability and Modernization of the Public Pension
Scheme” which was financed by the Research Promotion Foundation and was
completed by the end of the year 2008.
The participants of the research network which was developed for executing the
research project, were Americanos College as the sponsor of the project, Muhanna &
Co. Actuarial Services, the Aegean University, Department of Geography and the
Department of Sociology as research partners, the Ministry of Finance, Department of
Public Administration and Personnel and the Treasury of the Republic as the final
users of the outcomes of the research project.
The research project has determined the following objectives:
1. Examining the sustainability of the Scheme and its impacts on public
economics.
2. Examining different parametric changes in the current Scheme so as to
develop its sustainability.
3. Designing a new system for the Public Sector’s Pensions that will be
sustainable in the long-run and the burden on public economics will be lower.
4. Suggesting amendments in the Law which governs the Public Pension
Scheme, so that the proposed reforms of the Scheme to be governed by a
complete legal framework.
1. General Comments on the Results
The expenditures of the Scheme in 2006 were 2.2% of the GDP. It is estimated
that they will remain on the same levels until 2030, but by the year 2040 they will
reach 2.8% of the GDP. In 2006 the cost of pensions as a percentage of the
remunerations was 28% and it is estimated that by the year 2040 it will be 50%.
The actuarial liability of the pensioners’ benefits and of the accrued rights of the
current civil servants is estimated to be €8.34 billion.
2. Reform Packages
Based on the outcome of the alternative scenarios, the research team proposes two
Reform Scenarios of the Scheme. Scenario 1, suggests parametric reforms that include
the existing civil servants as well as the new ones that will be employed after the

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iv
implementation of the reforms. Scenario 2, suggests structural reforms that include the
civil servants who will be employed after the Reforms are implemented.
2.1. Reform Scenario 1
Scenario 1, suggests the following parametric reforms:
1. 3.5 percentage units increase in the contribution for widow/ orphan pensions,
which is equal to the 50% of the cost of these pensions. This rational was valid
when the system was designed in the year 1967. For retirement pensions, a
contribution of 5% is suggested. The sum of contributions is 8.5% and will
cover only 23% of the total cost of pensions.
2. It is suggested that the retirement age is raised for all those who retire before
the age of 60. In the case of educators it is suggested that the retirement age is
the 63rd. For all those who retire at the age of 55, (members of the police force
up to the surgeon), it is suggested that the retirement age is the age of 60 and
for those who currently retire at the age of 60 (officers of the police force) it is
suggested that the retirement age is the age of 63.
3. Regarding pension raises, it is suggested that the pensions should be raised
based on the inflation index.
Based on this scenario, the actuarial liability decreases to €6.42 billion and the
normal contribution for financing the future service decreases by 10.3 percentage
units. That is, it decreases to 26.2% of the remunerations.
2.2. Reform Scenario 2
Scenario 2, suggests structural reforms of the Scheme and includes the new civil
servants who will be under a new Defined Contributions Scheme (DCS). This new
Scheme will offer benefits based on the accumulated value of the contributions of
each member. The objective of the DCS will be to supplement the Social Insurance
Pension, so that the sum of the pension benefits replaces the 75% of the gross salary
before retirement. It is proposed that a total contribution of 11.3% (5% to the DCS and
6.3% to the Social Insurance Fund) must be made by the employee. Based on this
scenario, the new employees will contribute 6.3% to the Social Insurance Fund as all
employees.
Based on the scenarios studied (projected simulation tests), the government as the
employer will contribute to the Social Insurance Fund 6.3% and to the DCS from 5% -
15%. The total cost of the pension benefits of the new civil servants to the government
will be less even if the contribution of the government to the DCS is up to 15%. In the
case of the DCS, the contributions of the government and the employee will be
invested and the accumulated account of the member will be transformed into pension
at retirement, part of which can be transformed into a lump sum.

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3. Amendments of the Law
According to the suggested reforms, the amendments of the Law that will govern
the Pension Scheme of the State employees were proposed, in case the suggested
reforms were implemented:
(a) Increase in the contributions of the employees to the financing of the Scheme:
Article 41 of the Basic Law can be amended and the contribution percentages of
0.75 and 1.75 respectively can be replaced by a single contribution of 3.5% of the
annual remuneration for any level of salary (contribution for the widow pension).
There is also the proposal of adding an additional paragraph for the contribution of
5% (contribution to the Pension Scheme), so that the total contribution to be 8.5%.
Similar amendments will be made in the case of the DCS. A new paragraph will
be introduced underlining that the total contribution of the new employee will be
11.3% (5% to the DCS and 6.3% to the Social Insurance Fund) and that the
government will contribute 10.3% to the Social Insurance Fund (6.3% as an
employee and 4% as government) and 5% - 15% to the DCS according to what
will be finally adopted.
(b) Rise of the retirement age: In the case of educators and state employees, article
12(1) of the Basic Law will be amended. In the case of the police force article
12(2) of the Basic Law will be amended accordingly.
(c) Adjustment of pensions based only on the inflation index: Article 8 of the Basic
Law will be amended according to what will finally be approved by all the
interested parties in combination with Article 2 of L.69 (I) / 2005 as it was
recently amended.
Τhe results of the research project were presented to the interested parties at a
conference held on the 21st October, 2008 at Hilton Park in Nicosia, Cyprus. Also,
very shortly a book will be published by Americanos College titled, “Sustainability
and Modernization of the Public Pension Scheme”.
Lastly, once again I acknowledge the worthy contribution of the members of the
Editorial Board, the authors and friends of our Journal. Their commitment to the
Journal has been expressed in variegated forms throughout the development of this
academic journal edition. Also, my thanks to the readers who so warmly have
embraced The Cyprus Journal of Sciences so as to achieve its main objective – to
serve the international academic community.
Charalambos N. Louca

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/1-16
INTERSECTIONS OF RACIAL/ETHNIC DISCOURSES IN
MANAGEMENT AND SPORT:
MAKING EMBODIED WHITENESS VISIBLE
ANTON ANTHONISSEN* and ANNELIES KNOPPERS**
ABSTRACT
Although managerial discourses seem to be ideologically neutral, they often have racial and
ethnic subtexts. These discourses are informed by white western culture including meanings
given to the body, physicality and sport. Sport is an area for the (re)production of discourses
about the body and physicality across social relations. We examine dominant directions in
research about ethnicity/race constructions in managerial work. We then explore ethnic/racial
discourses about bodies and physicality in sport. Subsequently we explore possible ways in
which ethnic/racial dominant discourses about managerial work and sport/physicality are
intersected and suggest directions for research in this area.
Keywords: Race; Ethnicity; Sport; Managers; Body.
1. INTRODUCTION
Ethnicity and race are constructions by which individuals and groups are classified
by others, are assigned labels and/or assign labels to themselves (Thomas & Dyall,
1999). These classifications and labels are not discrete variables however, but are
constructions; race is often associated with meanings given to physical differentiation
while ethnicity is associated with cultural and geographical differentiation (see for
example, Asfar and Maynard, 1994; Duncan, 2003; Nkomo, 1992; Thomas & Dyall,
1999; Whitehead, 2002). The concept of ‘ethnicity’ is more encompassing than race
since it denotes various hybrid, overlapping, and changing forms of ethnicity, racial
and religious constructions. ‘Race’ remains a ‘significant symbolic marker of social,
political and economic entitlement’ (Duncan, 2003, p. 138) and power1. However, the
growth in the multiplicity of meanings for (hybrid) social identities has extended the
conceptualization of ethnicity/race. We define race/ethnicity ‘as behaviors, languages
and practices, existing in specific cultural and organizational locations’ (Whitehead &
Barrett, 2001, p. 15)2, which are commonly associated with either black or ethnic
minorities and white or ethnic majority3. We refer to ethnicity and race as conflated
concepts in this paper.
* Organizational Consultant, Vaassen, The Netherlands
** Professor, Utrecht School of Governance/Pedagogy, University of Utrecht, the Netherlands

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A considerable body of research has been developed that focuses on the dynamics
of race and ethnicity in managerial work, using categorical, distributive or relational
approaches (cf. Hall, 1996). Categorical research focuses on social group differences
and similarities; distributive research examines inequalities in resources and access to
opportunities across race and ethnicity. Relational research explores how discourses
about management, ethnicity, race [and other social relations], intersect and thus
create, reinforce and challenge distinctions among social groups. Meanings given to
the body and embodied identities are often neglected in these approaches (Trethewey,
2000). Yet bodywork and physicality are often used to perform race and ethnicity and
other social relations. This is most obvious in the world of sport in which bodies are
given meaning as they are praised, derided and publicly celebrated (see for example
Coakley, 2007; Messner, 1992). Black and white sporting bodies and forms of
physicality are given different meanings. Black athletes may be revered because of
their accomplishments and at the same time ascribed stereotypes about their embodied
identities4. According to Long & Hylton (2002) a stereotypical lens is infrequently
used to describe White athletes because their dominant social position is seen as
‘normal’. These meanings given to sporting bodies may influence managerial
discourses, because managers use bodywork and sport in socializing after working
hours or attending sporting events together (Charles & Davies, 2000; McDowell,
2001; Rutherford, 2001; Timberlake, 2005). Participation in (male dominated) sports
and client entertainment at sport-events can therefore influence managerial careers
(McDowell, 2001). However, the extent to which meanings given to sporting bodies
and physical activities of a white majority and black (and other) ethnic minorities
serve as subtexts for and/or intersect with managerial discourses work, has received
little scholarly attention. The purpose of this paper is to explore intersections among
discourses of race/ethnicity, management, sport and physicality. We use English and
Dutch literature on ethnicity and race, management and sport/physicality to make this
analysis.
We first examine common ways of researching ethnicity/race in managerial work
and question the assumptions underlying this research. Then we focus on ethnic/racial
subtexts in discourses about sport, physicality and the body and argue that research
that explores race and ethnicity in managerial work needs to include discourses about
sport/physicality. We show how racial/ethnic subtexts in discourses of management
and sport/physicality may intersect and reinforce each other and conclude by arguing
for the necessity of interrogating embodied whiteness in (research on) managerial
work.

Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible
3
2. DIFFERENT APPROACHES ON RACE AND ETHNICITY
IN MANAGERIAL WORK
Since a considerable amount of categorical and distributive research has focused
on ethnic/racial constructions in management, we will briefly describe the results,
followed by a summary of the possible deficiencies of such research. Much of the
categorical research in the area of ethnicity/race in management has focused on
differences and similarities in leadership, work ethic and managerial styles (see for
example, Arslan 1999; Bartol et al. 1977; Xin & Tsui, 1996). In general, such research
shows little difference in leadership, work ethic and/or managerial styles across race
and ethnicity. These results differ however, from those of distributive research.
Significant differences have been found across race and ethnicity in structural
dimensions of managerial work such as type of psychological support and networks,
promotion opportunities and performance evaluation. Landau (1995) for example,
found a significant relationship across race and gender in ratings by senior managers
of the promotion potential of 1268 managers and professionals in a multinational
Fortune 500 company. Blacks and Asians were rated significantly lower than were
white managers. In part, this difference in perceived promotion potential may be due
to differences in types of supportive networks. Similarly, Igbaria & Wormley (1992)
found that black managers and professionals within a large information system
company received lower performance ratings and less career support than did their
white counterparts. Although same -race networks tend to provide psychological
support for both black and white managers, such networks are more influential in
career support and the promotion chances of whites than blacks (Thomas, 1990;
Ibarra, 1995). Ibarra (1995), in a study of four Fortune 500 firms in different
industries, found that while the instrumental usefulness of networks did not influence
day to day interactions among managers, such networks significantly enhanced the
career possibilities of white managers more so than they did those of black managers.
The degree of impact of race/ethnicity on performance evaluations and promotion may
vary by sector however. Powell & Butterfield (1997), for example, found no direct
significant effect of race on promotion to senior management positions in US
governmental agencies. They suggested that the negative effects of race in promotion
opportunities for blacks might have been blunted by the explicit promotion protocols
that were used to select senior managers in governmental agencies. Yet, Powell &
Butterfield also found that blacks who were recommended for positions in top
management had significantly more work experience and were more likely to have
worked in the department doing the hiring than white managers were. In other words,
blacks had to be ‘known’ to be considered for promotion. These distributive variables
of evaluation, networks and promotion potential therefore have a cumulative and
multiplicative effect.

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Although such categorical and distributive studies about ethnicity and race may
yield accounts about similarities and differences among managers, they are very
limited and have several underlying questionable assumptions. First, often such
management research assumes that managerial styles and differences are stable and
can be empirically verified (Mumby, 1996). Managerial styles and practices are not
straightforward however, but are complex, situation-specific and contradictory.
Although senior managers have an influence on employee behavior and on
organizational culture for example, they themselves are subordinate to other
organizational members such as the director, the chief executive officer or the chair of
the board. As Maile (1999) argues, in this relationship managers may (have to) behave
as subordinates such as following the wishes of others, putting others/team first, and
acting in a deferential manner. This relationship requires different behaviors than the
manager-employee relationship. Similarly, autonomy is never total. A senior manager
may be dependent on his or her subordinates for important information and for
meeting organizational targets. Thus, style may be situation specific and not easily
quantified and/or generalized.
Second, research that compares management styles, motivations and behaviors
across race and ethnicity often erroneously assumes that social relations such as race
and ethnicity can be treated as demographic variables. This is problematic in several
ways. In contrast to the number of members of a white ethnic majority in an
organization, the number of subjects per ethnic minority tends to be small.
Quantitative management and organizational research designs therefore often require
that the different minority ethnicities be combined, resulting in categories such as
‘whites’, ‘blacks’ and ‘others’ (Powell & Butterfield, 1997). Such procedures
however, mask the heterogeneity of these various ethnic groups, which means that the
results of such studies may be misleading. For example, the percentage of minority
men in Dutch management seems to be increasing, but this percent masks the
heterogeneity and complexity of a group’s history within the country itself.5 Colonial
immigrants with roots in Indonesia have lived in the Netherlands since the 1950s,
while colonial immigrants from Surinam and Dutch Antilles came in the 1970s and
later (Vermeulen & Penninx, 2000). The second-generation of these colonial
immigrants tends to be found in middle management positions, especially in semi-
governmental organizations such as the police and civil service. Labor immigrants
came to the Netherlands from Morocco and Turkey (and south European countries) in
the 1960s and 1970s to do the menial work for which there were not enough laborers
of white Dutch descent. Immigrants from Morocco and Turkey therefore, tend to be
found on low job positions (Vermeulen & Penninx, 2000). We assume that the same is
true for Arabic, Asian and African immigrants who came primarily as refugees and
asylum-seekers from the 1980s until now. Obviously then, the increase in ethnic
minority managers refers primarily to (mostly) men from regions that have a colonial

Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible
5
connection with the Netherlands. Treating ethnicity as a homogeneous variable
therefore often ignores the historic context of each ethnic minority group.
Third, demographic research about race and ethnicity may also erroneously
assume stability in the creation of ethnic and racial groups. Each ethnic/racial group
however, creates a country-specific version of ethnicity. Arabic-American immigrants
have for example, created their versions of the North American capitalistic culture and
its ways of classifying people (Naber, 2000). Xin & Tsui (1996) compared influence
tactics used by Asian-Americans and European- American managers, and found that
Asian-American managers tended to use tactics that more accurately reflected those
used by European-American managers than by Asian managers in their country of
origin. Xin & Tsui concluded that the results from cross-cultural studies cannot
automatically be generalized to corresponding cross- ethnic minority comparisons.
This conclusion was confirmed by Landau (1995) who found that managers in a
multinational Fortune 500 company rated the promotion potential of Hispanics from
Spain higher than that of Hispanic-Americans. In addition each ethnic minority not
only has its own history in a country but each context has its own fluid definitions of a
racial/ethnic minority. In Africa, for example, the relatively dark colored Arabs,
Berbers and Tuaregs have been defined as white (Lyde, 1914 cited in Bonnett, 1998,
p.1040) while in the United States, Irish Catholic immigrants with their white skin
color and red hair were only seen as 'white' after they had created their own economic
power and opportunities (Ignatiev, 1995 cited in Bonnett, 1998, p.1043).
Fourth, contradictions exist within these classifications. Those who feel
marginalized may classify themselves as black although official governmental
definitions may define them as white. For example, since ‘black’ has been associated
with marginalization and given political meanings signifying resistance to white
racism, marginalized ethnic groups in Great Britain identify themselves as ‘black’
(Back, 1996). South Asian British Muslims from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, who
are phenotypically lighter than African Caribbean British people, use black identity
politics to denote an anti-white stance. These examples show that the categories for
classification of social groups across race/ethnicity are themselves fluid social
constructs.
Race and ethnicity are therefore not only difficult to capture as separate variables
but are fluid and also conflated with each other.2 Classification of ethnic /racial groups
can therefore vary by context, that is, by groups, organizations, countries and
continents. Traditional classification systems on which these categorizations are based
are not ideologically neutral but are socially reproduced and situated in specific
ideologies (Bordo, Bradley & Fenton 1999). Obviously then, use of race and/or
ethnicity as demographic variables to study race and ethnicity (and management) is
problematic because it ignores historic, social relational and/or organizational contexts
and how ethnicity and race are embedded in discursive practices (see also Knoppers &
Anthonissen, 2005; Nkomo, 1992).

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6
Since meanings given to race and ethnicity are based on ideologies, relational
research into the nature and use of discourses (symbolic level) about managerial work
and ethnicities may yield new insights. The focus is then not on who says or does what
but on what is said and done and how ideas about race and ethnicity are a subtext for
these actions (cf. Whitehead & Barrett, 2001). Discourses suggest, often in a very
persuasive way, what can (not) be said in a specific setting. They contain powerful
messages about what is perceived as (not) true and as common sense and how
individuals should behave in a specific situation. Discourses about ethnicity and race
(often intersecting with other social relations, such as gender) are an inherent part of
discourses about management and shape managerial practices. Meyerson & Kolb
(2000) argue that managerial practices are created for white heterosexual middle-
upper-class men so that managerial discourses reflect their experiences, values, and
life situations. Senior management functions therefore require minority men and
women to develop specific skills and management styles that are congruent with
certain forms of white discursive practices. Such practices however are not only
informed by culture but also by meanings given to the body, physicality and/or sport
(Knoppers & Anthonissen 2005; Mc Dowell 2001; Trethewey, 2000).
3. RACIAL/ETHNICAL BODIES IN THE CONTEXT OF SPORT
Ever since white Europeans began to theorize about ‘blacks’ in the eighteenth
century, their theories have ascribed a certain type of physicality to black skin color
(Saint-Aubin, 2002). White Europeans tried to describe how ‘blacks’ were different
from and inferior to them and located those differences in physicality/body. They used
what they saw as racial differences in the appearance and behaviors between
themselves and ‘blacks’ to construct a theory of race. Consequently, meanings given
to the body played and continue to play a large role in the construction of race and
ethnicity. What the sporting body is assumed to be able to do and does are often
constructed as ‘natural.’ It is not surprising then, that essentialist perceptions and
stereotypes about inherent physical and mental skills and abilities across
race/ethnicity, especially with respect to black athletes, predominate and are often
reproduced in the (sport) media. They tend to be grounded in a biological view of
race, often mixed with ethnicity and other social relations (for a detailed discussion of
racial representation in the sport media see Davis & Harris, 1998; Van Sterkenburg &
Knoppers, 2004). The existing skewness in representation of black athletes in sport
has played a significant role in the creation of dominant discourses about race and
ethnicity.6 Such discourses about race acknowledge the achievements of black men
(and women) but also often attribute that excellence to physical superiority in strength
and explosive power, not to mental superiority (Mc Carthy & Jones, 1997; Van
Sterkenburg & Knoppers, 2004). The stereotypic association between strength and

Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible
7
explosive power of black (male) athletes in professional sports has strengthened
dominant white societal discourses about blacks (Ferber, 2007) and has several
consequences.
First, this stereotypic association means that black men in North American and
British baseball, football and soccer have often been assigned to what have been
defined as peripheral and non-leadership positions although this is beginning to
change (Buffington, 2005; Eitzen, 1999; Sage 2001). 7 Since central positions tend to
be the pool from which captains, coaches and managers are drawn, it is not surprising
that regardless of sport, blacks and other (ethnic) minorities are relatively under-
represented in leadership positions in sport, although they are over-represented as
athletes (Cunningham & Sagas 2004). King (2000), studied the relationship between
race and football/soccer, and concluded that the physicality of blackness is exploited
in the playing of the sport but “made redundant in the white administrative structures”
(p. 20).
Second, meanings given to black sporting physicality are also embedded in
discourses on physical and verbal aggression. Violence during or after soccer
competitions between a team defined as ethnic minority or black and a team seen as
white or ethnic majority, is labeled as ethnic/racial aggression (Verweel &
Anthonissen, 2006).8 Sport organizations have tried to control the occurrence of such
incidents primarily by creating strict rules based on stereotypes with stringent
punishment. White administrators and managers often interpret the assertiveness of
black men as aggressive and difficult behavior because blacks are expected to act in a
submissive manner (King, 2000; Messner, 1992: 2002). Sport governance and
therefore, ‘positions of power in sport are dominated by white people’ (Long,
Robinson & Spracklen 2005: p.43). It is not surprising then, that some whites fear the
verbal aggression of blacks (and other ethnic minorities). The extent to which ethnic
and racial majorities embed this fear of the physicality of these non white men in their
discursive managerial practices is not known and needs to receive scholarly attention.
Third, although blacks may be marginalized in management positions, they show
resistance to this marginalization in various ways. Majors (1990), who conducted
research about the meanings given to sport by African Americans, found that their
relatively large number in certain sports enables them to create room for showing
more emotional expression than white athletes do. He calls this expressiveness 'cool
pose’. Black athletes may see this expressiveness and other behaviors associated with
it, as part of their resistance to white racist culture in sport. They may create their own
sport culture in which individuality, language, and expressive behaviors are accepted
(Majors, 1990; Messner, 1992; Goldsmith, 2003). As Majors (1990) points out: ‘Black
males…have taken a previously white dominated activity (basketball) and constructed
it as an arena in which they find accessible recreation, entertainment, stimulation and
opportunities for self expression and creativity’ (p.12). Although Majors wrote
primarily about African-Americans, other athletes classified as non-white or ethnic

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8
minorities, such as Asian- British or Arab-Dutch, people also find their own context to
practice resistance (Johal, 2000; Knoppers & Anthonissen, 2001). Black and ethnic
minority athletes, coaches and managers may use such acts of resistance to strengthen
their racial and ethnic identities. The danger of the outward manifestations of such
practices of resistance is, however, that others may interpret them differently than
those engaging in them. As such, these acts of resistance may be given meanings that
reinforce essentialized stereotypes/discourses about blacks and other minorities that
create non-white athletes often as a homogeneous group. Resistance is therefore
complex and may be given various meanings and/or become part of dominant
(managerial) discourses instead of changing those discourses.
4. USING SPORT(ING BODIES)
IN MANAGERIAL DISCURSIVE PRACTICES
Since white managers ally themselves with sporting discourses it is not surprising
then that various aspects of sport such as sport talk, sport participation and attendance
at sport events can be part of their discourses and/or networks (Rutherford 2001;
McDowell, 2001). Their networks are places where they construct and negotiate their
status with other white(s). White managers however, do not see these networks as
white. They tend to see themselves as colorblind and as non-raced individuals while
they see minority managers as being part of a racial and ethnic group (King, 2000).
Sometimes white managers assume that all ethnic minorities are beneficiaries of
affirmative action and that non-white applicants for managerial positions may not
have the requisite skills for such positions; in addition, some white managers fear that
appointing minority managers may elicit negative reactions from employees and/ or
managerial colleagues (Knoppers & Anthonissen, 2001).
Little is known about the extent to which ‘white’ managers, project these
discourses onto minority managers and how minority managers react to the use of
these racialized/ethnicized sport discourses by white managers. Dominant white
organizational culture may for example, require minority managers to downplay their
embodied identities, with respect to their hairstyles and ways of speaking, walking and
interacting. To what extent does the use of sport talk and interest in sport contribute to
solidarity among black managers? What does the black superstar’s body represent in
terms of cultural identity for the white spectator/manager (Whitehead, 2002)? King
(2000) has focused on the ways black athletes are excluded from managerial positions.
He found that blacks who were involved in English football had to ‘play the white
man’ in order to succeed and even then they had a difficult time attaining and keeping
managerial positions. Miller (2001) has shown that for most African-American men
success in sport does not lead to career success outside of sport.
Minority managers may not all have the same experiences, however. Some
organizations may allow a greater diversity of embodied identities than others. In

Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible
9
addition, geographical context of an organization may also play a role in meanings
given to embodied identities. Charles & Davies (2000), for example, have shown how
the geographical location of an organization in part accounts for cultural stereotypes
that inform the gendering of senior management. We assume this is also true for race
and ethnicity. An explicit focus on embodied whiteness in managerial discourses
within different organizational contexts may yield understandings of ways in which
white managerial privileges are resisted, sustained or changed.
5. NAMING WHITENESS IN MANAGEMENT AND SPORT
Although the social construction of ‘whiteness’ has been part of scholarly
discussions on race relations for the last ten years, the ways white managers reproduce
and resist racism have received relatively little attention (Grimes, 2002). As we
indicated earlier, white managers (and white researchers of management) tend not see
whiteness as part of social relations but instead tend to construct ethnicity/race as only
affecting blacks and other minorities. This perception is rooted in colonial images in
which ‘black’ (and ethnic minority in general) were seen as 'other' and 'white' were
unmarked, invisible and therefore without color/ethnicity (Andersen, 2003; Johnson,
Rush & Feargin, 2000). Consequently, whiteness is rarely problematized in
managerial work in Western Europe and the United States. This practice ignores the
social constructions of whiteness as part of ethnicity and race and its conflation with
power/privileges in organizations and in sports (Doane & Bonilla Silva, 2003; Grimes,
2002; King, Leonard & Kusz, 2007).
Grimes (2002), argues that researchers need to explore the ways organizational
and managerial whiteness are masked, re-centered, and interrogated by white
managers. Managerial whiteness is masked when its existence and the accompanying
privileges of whiteness are made invisible by means of a discourse of color blindness
and the denial that inequality exists. Those who are seen as ‘other’ are expected to
engage in dominant white discursive managerial practices that can include discourses
about sport/physicality. This color blindness seems to be an underlying assumption of
much of the type of categorical managerial research we cited earlier. Existing
differences tend to be attributed to personal differences while minority group issues
are often ignored (Moodley, 1999; King, 2000). Obstacles that ethnic minority
managers may encounter are individualized so that whiteness is the invisible standard.
The invisibility of whiteness in discursive practices may be strengthened by the use of
sport discourses in entrepreneurial discourses. Entrepreneurial practices require senior
managers to be hard nosed, to be competitive, to focus on reaching targets, to be
efficient and to work long hours. Organizations may sponsor sport events or teams, its
members may watch and discuss sport together and embed sport discourses within
organizational talk, goals and policies, and, simultaneously be blind to racial/ethnic
inequalities inherent in those sport discourses.

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10
Meritocracy and ideology of equal opportunity are dominant themes in sport and
entrepreneurial discourses (Hall et al, 1990; McKay, 1997; Knoppers & Anthonissen,
2001). Sport is constructed as a place where objectivity and color blindness prevail
because performance results are measured in a seemingly objective nonracialized
manner. It is not surprising then that sport metaphors are used in entrepreneurial
managerial discourses. Yet little has been done to explore how whiteness plays a role
in this sport discourse of meritocracy. As Hartmann (2003) explains ‘there are color-
blind, individualist ideals at the root of much liberal democratic theory and practice
that make it difficult, especially for the privileged, to even recognize racial categories
and inequalities, much less provide mechanisms to address them.’ (p. 474).
Other managerial practices that try to re-center whiteness acknowledge that
differences exist. Those differences may be located in (dismantling) stereotypes about
‘Others’ (Grimes, 2002) and make it seem that all differences are accepted and treated
equally. Sport discourses may play a contradictory role in this re-centering. Blackness
may be valued in sport but not elsewhere. As we indicated earlier in this paper, the
success of African- American and African -Caribbean athletes in certain sports may
reinforce stereotypes that are based on essentialist notions of embodied blackness.
Discursive practices in sport can be used to “excuse or legitimate existing racial
inequalities by making it seem as if there were no fundamental barriers standing in the
way of African American mobility and assimilation. If in sport, the implicit thinking
goes, why not in other social spheres?’(Hartmann, 2003). Programs that manage
diversity in sport and nonsport organizations may acknowledge differences but tend to
neglect issues of power (Hall, 2004; Malcapine & Marsh, 2005; Spracklen, Hylton &
Long, 2006). Grimes (2002) shows, how the complaints of white males about being
ignored in diversity programs for example, neglect the overall ‘over-privileging’ of
white managers in organizations. ‘There seems to be an understanding that people of
color (and white women) in organizations should have more but a resistance to the
notion that white men get less’ (Grimes, 2002, p. 393). Sometimes, re-centering
whiteness seem to suggest that all groups fight equally against a nameless and
powerful oppressor while in actuality, it is white managers who hold most of the
power. Whiteness continues to be privileged and in the center but tends not to be
named (Long & Hylton, 2002). Change therefore tends to be superficial.
In contrast to managerial practices and research methods that mask and re-center
whiteness, the interrogation of whiteness in management requires whiteness to be
named, unmasked and de-centered so that unassimilated diversity (difference)
becomes the norm (Forbes, 2002; Grimes, 2002; Johnson, Rush & Feagin, 2000). The
interrogation of whiteness in managerial work requires recognition of race and
ethnicity as a power structure that materially benefits whites in both sport and
nonsport settings. The interrogation of whiteness and the creation of unassimilated
diversity are difficult to investigate and implement. The tendency of individuals and
groups to assign labels to themselves and/or actively redefine those labels that have

Intersections of Racial/Ethnic Discourses in Management and Sport:
Making Embodied Whiteness Visible
11
been assigned to them by others requires a critical orientation of researchers,
managers, and policy makers toward the creation of meanings. Grimes (2002), points
out that many white managers see themselves as unprejudiced and are unaware of
their own unconscious feelings and beliefs. Yet [male] embodied whiteness continues
to be the most important criteria in the selection of managers.
Earlier in this paper, we described some of the structural barriers that minority
managers often face in management. Interrogating whiteness means that white
managers and researchers become transformative and explore the barriers that prevent
them from seeing whiteness as a discursive practice and the forms it may take
(Johnson, Rush & Feagin, 2000). Discussions about the influences of sport discourses
must be part of this self-reflection and research reflexivity. This reflection includes an
exploration of intersections between racialized discourses about the body, sport and
management. White managers and researchers must however, avoid taking on the
identities of blacks as often occurs when whites become aware of racism (Johnson &
Roediger, 2000; King, 2000). King (2000) calls this ‘black manning.’ Yet, at the same
time, managers and researchers should not see ‘whiteness’ as a static classification but
as a discursive practice that intersects with other social relations such as gender, age
and sexuality.
6. FURTHER RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
We have argued that categorical and distributive ways of managing ethnic/racial
diversity may do little to change managerial practices since the assumptions that
undergird these perspectives are not ideologically neutral. These assumptions are part
of white managerial discourses and are dominant in specific organizations and
situations. Research questions about ethnicity and race in management can include
various directions. First, the interdependence of sport and managerial discourses
requires researchers to pay more attention to ways meanings given to racial and ethnic
physicality-/embodiment are explicitly and implicitly embedded in discursive
managerial work. Since sport is an important site for the creation and reproduction of
discourses about physicality and since race and ethnicity are embodied discursive
practices, sport discourses should be taken into account in the interrogation of how
whiteness structures management. Second, race and ethnicity research requires an
examination of how whiteness manifests itself in every day managerial work and how
it structures managerial and sport discourses in different organizational contexts or
locations. Third, this research should include an exploration of the extent to which
white managers project these discourses onto the ways in which black and other
minority managers engage in managerial work and how these minority managers react
to the use of these racialised sport discourses by their white managerial colleagues.
Fourth, such research requires a discussion of the ways in which black and other
minority managers use sport in their managerial discourses and how sport may

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
12
structures their networks. Finally, research that focus on the ways in which meanings
on sport and physicality can interrogates managerial whiteness, requires white
researchers to be self reflective about their own assumptions (Grimes, 2002) and be
open to exploring contradictory discursive practices.
NOTES
1. Black and other ethnic minorities face barriers and discrimination in all areas of society
including management. Although racism or race logic is based on a false binary, it reflects
an ideology that is used to justify the sub-ordination and marginalization of all those
defined as ‘black’ or and to privilege those defined as ‘white’ (Ignatiev, 2003).
2. Whitehead & Barrett (2001) use this definition to define ‘masculinities’ in the context of
gender-issues. We assume that a similar definition can be used for ethnicity/race and other
social relations.
3. Black/white relations should be seen as a ideological practice that is sustained by
discursive practices that reproduce and create systemic inequalities (Duncan, 2003).
4. Other minority athletes, such as those with an Asian or Middle East background, are
labeled in ethnocentric or racial ways, although stereotypes can vary (Walseth, 2006)
5. This perception of scarcity is also based on our experiences in teaching management
courses for senior managers in non-profit organizations in the Netherlands. The overall
relatively low participation rate of minority managers has changed little in the last ten
years although white managers in these courses state that there has been an increase of
minority managers at the middle management level. Demographic data about managers
across ethnicity and race are difficult to come by in the Netherlands since most non-profit
organizations do not register such demographics.
6. In the USA, black athletes tend to be relatively over-represented in several sports such as
basketball, athletics, baseball and football. Eitzen (1999) notes that 12% of the American
population is African-American while 80% of the players in professional basketball, 67%
in football and 18% in baseball are African- American. Although Dutch sport
organizations refuse to collect demographic data about the ethnic/racial background of
their members, minority athletes in the Netherlands seem to be over represented in combat
sports, athletics, aerobics, baseball and cricket (Elling, Knoppers & De Knop 2001).
7. No data are available for the Netherlands.
8. This is not to say that these are the only occasions that fighting occurs in football/soccer; it
occurs among teams of similar ethnicity as well but then it is not labeled as ethnic or racial
violence. In contrast, the violence that is part of hooliganism is rarely described as ethnic
violence although it primarily involves white men.
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/17-33
DISABILITY IN LESVOS AND CHIOS, GREECE: KEY FINDINGS FROM
MULTI-METHODOLOGICAL SOCIAL RESEARCH
THEODOROS IOSIFIDES* and DIMITRIOS PAPAGEORGIOU**
ABSTRACT
The aim of this article is to present some key findings on crucial social dimensions of mobility
disability in a peripheral area of insular Greece (Lesvos and Chios). The findings are derived
from a telephone survey research on local population’s stances towards people with
disabilities and from in-depth qualitative research on social representations of people with
disabilities, concerning mainly their social life, social relations, family and social
reproduction, educational and labour market arrangements and participation and interaction
with health and social policy institutions.
Keywords: Disability; Mobility Problems; Multi-methodological Social Research.
1. INTRODUCTION
This paper concerns basic findings derived from a multi-methodological social
research on the social dimension of disability in the islands of Chios and Lesvos,
Greece. This study was part of a broader research project (EQUAL Initiative) funded
by the European Union. Lesvos and Chios islands are located in the northeast of
Greece and are characterized by socio-economic peripherality and geographic
remoteness. The permanent population of Lesvos is, according to the latest national
survey (2001), about 108.000 people (the capital of Lesvos Mytilini accounts for about
38.000 people) whereas the permanent population of Chios is about 53.000 people (the
capital of the island accounts for about 25.000 people) (NSSG, 2001). The particular
social, economic and cultural characteristics of the two islands were historically
formed under the strong influences from the multicultural and multinational urban
centres of Asia Minor (Siphneou, 1994). This historical continuity was ruptured after
the Greek-Turkish war of 1919-1922, which ended with Greek defeat. The following
extensive exchange of Muslim and Christian populations between Greece and Turkey
marked the end of Greek presence in Asia Minor. The impact of this historic change
on Lesvos and Chios, which were encapsulated in the Greek national territory in 1912,
was manifold; disruption of commercial, social and cultural bonds with Asia Minor,
* Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Lesvos,
Greece
** Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of
the Aegean, Mytilene, Lesvos, Greece

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
18
which contributed to the decline of financial investments and corresponding
employment opportunities; lack of infrastructural development; the cultural
degradation and the gradual formation of a mentality of ‘isolationism’ in the two
prefectures (Htouris, 2000). Thus today the 4th Community Support Framework
recognizes North-East Aegean islands as one of the Greek regions eligible for
additional financial support, in order to converge with the rest of the country. Two
important features, related to our research with people with disabilities in Lesvos and
Chios, characterize this socio-economic environment:
• The first feature is related to the limited socio-economic and employment
opportunities for people with disabilities compared to those available to other areas
of Greece (mainly to the major urban centres of the country), associated with
exacerbated infrastructural problems.
• The second feature is related to the strong sense of ‘community’ in Chios and
Lesvos and to the central role of family relations and networks to the social
reproduction of people with disabilities. This feature results to a series of positive
and negative outcomes as regards social integration of people with disabilities in
the area and is discussed later on in the paper.
2. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
The basic methodological approach of this study was that of the in-depth
qualitative investigation of stances and interpretations of disabled people in Lesvos
and Chios, as regards their social role, relations and position. Complementary to this
basic approach, we conducted a telephone survey in the municipalities of Mytilene,
Lesvos and Chios, in order to investigate the stances of general population towards
people with disabilities. The telephone survey questionnaire included fourteen (14)
basic questions and the mean time of completion was between five and ten minutes.
Thus, choosing the technique of telephone interviewing led to a relatively large
sample of completed interviews, allowing the capturing of basic trends as regards
broad social stances towards disabled people in the two islands. In total four hundred
and eighty two (482) complete telephone interviews were taken (254 in Mytilene,
Lesvos and 228 in Chios). The sample frame used was that of the most recent voting
catalogues of the two municipalities and the final sample was formed by stratified
random sampling according to age and gender. The basic findings of this survey
research are presented and discussed in the next section of the paper.
Our main methodological approach was based on a series of in-depth semi
structured interviews with people with mobility disabilities in Lesvos and Chios. We
put an emphasis on the people with mobility problems because this category
comprises the vast majority of people with disabilities in Lesvos and Chios (NSSG,
2002). This was also reflected in the findings of the general population survey. The

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
19
vast majority of people in Lesvos and Chios develop or had developed occasional or
more stable social relations with disabled people with mobility problems. In total
twenty-two (22) in depth-interviews were taken in the two islands (12 in Lesvos and
10 in Chios). Eighteen of the research participants were men and four were women.
The age of the vast majority of them ranged from 20 to 45 years; twelve research
participants had mobility problems from birth and the rest acquired the problem at
some time in their life-span (mainly caused by car accidents). The general purpose of
this study was to understand the implications of being a person with mobility
problems in the specific context of north Aegean islands. More specifically we ought
to answer the following, interrelated research questions:
• What are the basic features and characteristics of social life of people with mobility
problems in Lesvos and Chios and how they construct and interpret their social
relations?
• What is the role of family and family relations to the social reproduction of people
with mobility problems and to their overall life trajectories?
• How people with mobility problems are integrated (or not) into society through
educational and labour market arrangements and participation?
• How people with mobility problems relate with health and social policy institutions
at national and local level?
In order to address these questions we constructed a detailed Interview Guide. The
guide was divided into four major thematic parts; the first part concerned with broad
social life and social relations, the second part with family and family relations, the
third part with education and labour market participation and the last one with medical
care and social policy. The above themes and sub-themes were developed further into
a series of open-ended questions, giving special emphasis to the wording and the
sequence and to the avoidance of leading, biased or insulted questions (Denzin and
Lincoln, 1994). Although the interview research framework proved to be quite
detailed and analytic, it changed considerably through the research process due to the
constant interaction between researchers and research participants and due to the open
character of the whole process (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Glaser, 1992; Flick et al,
2004). Thus the participants brought up several themes and issues during the
interviews, which subsequently were extensively discussed with other interviewees. In
all instances we made an effort to keep a balance between pre selected interview
themes and interviewee suggestions and responses.
The whole research process was based on teamwork. Four researchers participated
in the research process after reaching an agreement on basic common interviewing
approaches. Research lasted for about five months (July - September 2002, February -
March 2003) and the average duration of each interview was over two and a half
hours. All interviews were recorded with the consent of the participants in
combination with parallel note taking. Interviewees talked extensively about their

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20
personal and collective life experiences and interpretations giving rich and retailed
information about most or all of the research issues. Total anonymity was guaranteed
and the purposes and scopes of research were explained to the prospective research
participants in detail. Additionally, the possibility of ending the interview process at
any time was made clear in all of the prospective participants (Hopf, 2004).
Furthermore, access of research participants to the interim and final research reports
for review, evaluation and response was guaranteed. For this purpose all research
reports were made publicly accessed via the Internet, while hard copies were available
to all research participants on request.
The selection of prospective interviewees was based on the snowballing technique
and the initial contacts were made through various associations of people with
disabilities in Lesvos and Chios (‘Iliahtida’ and ‘Kipseli” in Lesvos and ‘Panhiakos’
and ‘Iones’ in Chios) (Robson, 2002). We made an effort, through the selection
process of prospective interviewees, to capture the whole spectrum of their basic
characteristics such as age, gender, place of residence, educational level and working
experience. Furthermore we included people who were born with mobility problems
and people who acquired mobility problems at some time in their life course. This
difference proved to be crucial for social life trajectories, social relations and social
integration (please see next part). Almost all interviews were conducted at the
associations’ premises and at the houses of people with mobility problems. The
research process ended when a certain degree of saturation was reached and when we
felt that the research questions were satisfactorily addressed (Robson, 2002). The
degree of saturation was mainly dependent on the repeatability of responses of the
interviewees. It was also dependent on the formation of a set of qualitative data,
through which the research questions were answered in a comprehensive way.
3. KEY FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
3.1. Survey findings
Starting from the basic findings of the general population survey in the two
islands, Table 1 shows the basic demographic characteristics of the final sample.
These characteristics correspond to a great extend to the real characteristics of the
population of the municipalities of Mytilene, Lesvos and Chios.
Almost 54% of all research participants stressed that they know or have known in
the past a disabled person or persons. Nevertheless almost half of the sample has never
developed any kind of social relation or contact with people with disabilities (see
Table 2). The vast majority of people which stressed that they know or have known a
disabled person (over 70%) determined that these persons have some kind of mobility

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
21
disability. The rest comprised of various categories of disability or perceived disability
such as mental problems, psychological problems, vision and hearing problems etc.
TABLE 1: BASIC DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RESPONDENTS
Gender Age Education
Frequency % Frequency % Frequency %
Male 239 49.5 18-35 113 23.4 Primary 79 16.3
Female 243 50.4 36-50 116 24.0 Secondary 173 35.8
Total 482 100 51 and
above 253 52.4 Post-
secondary
and higher
166 34.4
Total 482 100
No
response 64 13.2
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
TABLE 2: RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION ‘DO YOU PERSONALLY KNOW
OR HAVE KNOWN AN INDIVIDUAL WITH DISABILITIES?’
Frequency %
Yes 260 53.9
No 218 45.2
No response 4 0.8
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
The basic causes of social contact with people with disabilities are three (see Table
3). The first one is related to the association (accidental, occasional or more frequent
and stable) with people with disabilities because of sharing common social grounds,
environment or relationships (for example common friends). The second cause is
related to the fact that the disabled person is a family member and the third is related
to the fact that the disabled person is a working colleague.
The dominant types of social relations with disabled people were again three (see
Table 4). The first important type is the familial one (13%) whereas 18% of the
respondents said that their relations with people with disabilities are only accidental,
superficial or occasional. Only 17% of the sample maintains close or simply friendly
relations with a person with a disability.

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TABLE 3: CAUSES OF SOCIAL CONTACT WITH
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Frequency %
Social environment 163 33.8
Family member 67 13.6
Work 45 9.3
Other 34 7.0
Special associations 8 1.6
No response 165 34.2
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
TABLE 4: TYPE OF SOCIAL RELATIONS WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Frequency %
Occasional or accidental social relations 87 18.0
Friendly and close social relations 83 17.2
Social relations because of family membership 63 13.0
Other 44 9.1
No response 205 42.5
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
We think that the answer to the hypothetical question ‘Would you develop close
social relations with people with disabilities?’ has great implications on the
understanding of the general social stances towards disabled people (see Table 5).
Almost 22% of the sample would not develop any kind of social relations with people
with disabilities or would develop some kind of relations under special circumstances
and under conditions. This quite high percentage for a telephone survey, where
respondents could take a more favorable position without any personal cost, reveals
the relatively widespread stereotypical and biased social stance of a large proportion
of the population towards the disabled (Lambridis, 2004). This finding is reinforced
from the kinds of answers in the hypothetical question ‘Would you cooperate with
people with disabilities at work?’ (Table 6). Here about 31% of the sample would not
cooperate with disabled persons at work or would cooperate under special
circumstances or conditionally. This very high percentage of dismissal of the
possibility of cooperation with the disabled at work is of great importance as it
concerns a field (work and the labour market) which plays an extremely important role
to the social integration and inclusion (or exclusion) of people with disabilities.

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
23
TABLE 5: RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION ‘WOULD YOU DEVELOP
CLOSE SOCIAL RELATIONS WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES?’
Frequency %
Yes or probably yes 363 75.3
No or probably no 85 17.6
Under conditions 21 4.3
Other 6 1.2
No response 7 1.4
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
TABLE 6: RESPONSE TO THE QUESTION ‘WOULD YOU
COOPERATE WITH PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AT WORK?’
Frequency %
Yes or probably yes 313 64.9
No or probably no 112 23.2
Under conditions 37 7.6
Other 6 1.2
No response 14 2.9
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results
Finally, the survey comprised a question on evaluating Greek public policy for
people with disabilities (see Table 7). Although about 62% of respondents found
public policy on the matter not satisfactory, 26% were satisfied or relatively satisfied
from the public provisions and benefits for disabled people in Greece. This finding, is
once again, characteristic of broader social stances towards disabled people, as it is
generally recognized that public disability policy in Greece is still underdeveloped,
failing to combat the multidimensional problems of the disabled population in an
effective way and to create a social, economic and cultural environment of inclusion
and integration (Darais, 2001; NSSG, 2002; Psilla et al., 2003)
TABLE 7: EVALUATION OF PUBLIC POLICY FOR PEOPLE WITH
DISABILITIES IN GREECE
Frequency %
Not satisfactory or relatively not satisfactory 297 61.6
Satisfactory or relatively satisfactory 117 24.2
Very satisfactory 8 1.6
No response 60 12.4
Total 482 100
Source: Survey results

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In general, the findings of the survey of the population of municipalities of
Mytilene, Lesvos and Chios, Greece revealed a certain trend of social prejudice and
bias towards the disabled people. This trend is verified further as it corresponds with
the experiences and interpretations of disabled people themselves in their narratives.
Those interpretations concern mainly four fields of social life; social relations and
participation, family relations, education and employment and medical care and health
policies.
3.2. Qualitative research findings
3.2.1. Social relations and participation
The fear of social rejection, which is a relatively extended social phenomenon in
the study areas as the findings of the telephone survey in Lesvos and Chios indicate,
the frequent weakness of independent mobility and the problem of access to public
and private places, due to the absence (in most cases) of suitable infrastructure, pose
obstacles to the everyday life of persons with mobility problems. As it is obvious by
the narrative of an interviewee, the fear of social rejection is very strong:
“When they brought me the wheelchair, it was a sensational moment in my life.
For the first time, I was going out of my house, out of my bed. And when I went to the
square, as it was summer, people gathered on the balconies, outside the houses, in the
square [...], they thought they were seeing a monkey…A gypsy who came with his
monkey to give a performance…So I summoned up my strength, my courage and I
faced everyone with self-control and stoicism. I had to give the performance…Is he
crazy, is he stupid, is he this or that [...], everyone [...], as I told you, I was a
stranger…It was the first time that I went outdoors, to the community. And especially
to that [community] of a village, because people of the village have strong curiosity.”
(age 72, male, disabled because of illness, date of interview: 09/02/2003)
Talking about social rejection, another interviewee presents characteristically her
experiences:
“…I can’t keep my temper, you know…One day, I’m getting off the car and I am
ready to get on the wheelchair, and behind me there was a taxi driver, and he was just
the first car …So he could see what was happening, he wasn’t the last one where there
was no visibility, so he looks at me and starts honking. Then, I was pissed off and I
said, “Why are you honking, are you blind?”
“Another day, I was getting off the car and there was a Mercedes. There was
space. If he got slightly on the pavement, he could pass through. The other cars did
that, but he was afraid for the tires, I don’t know what he was afraid of, and he didn’t
get on the pavement. So I go to him, pissed off, and I say, “Eh buddy, what do you
think you are doing? Do you think your Mercedes is more expensive than this thing

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
25
I’m sitting on?” [the wheelchair] And he apologized for honking. You see? …” (age
27, male, disabled because of accident, date of interview: 14/02/2003).
There is a widespread feeling of social discrimination among the interviewees.
This discrimination is perceived mainly as social prejudice related to their particular
situation and place in society. It must be noted that the majority of interviewees
connected the feeling of being discriminated against, with specific incidents and
associated behaviors taking place outside their home, at recreational places and during
their contacts with state or local institutions. For many research participants, these
incidents marked significantly the way of viewing society and their place and role
within it. Another crucial issue of perceived social discrimination is related to the
serious access problems that interviewees face in their daily routines, which keep them
excluded from basic activities of social life. Although the access problem of people
with disabilities is general in Greece, it is worse in Lesvos and Chios as these islands
are less favored areas and are characterized by major infrastructural deficiencies.
Wider uneasy social relations lead to high appreciation of social life within special
associations of people with disabilities. For the vast majority of interviewees,
associations form the most important field for their social interaction, socialisation and
respective activities. The value ascribed by the research participants to these special
associations is indicated below:
“I like it very much in the association because it is a place where I can get help
when I want to be informed on something concerning people with disabilities, solve a
problem of mine and have the possibility of learning things. It is a friendly
environment where I have a good time, get to know people and so I don’t stay isolated
within the walls of my house.”
“…In the past, I stayed most of the time at home, then things got better. Through
the association I acquired all the knowledge on my work. In the beginning, I didn’t
want the job. At first, we are afraid to begin something. At first I made some mistakes,
but gradually I improved…” (age 22, male, disabled since birth, date of interview:
06/08/2002).
“I come to the association; I talk with the people and deal with the various
activities of the association as well as the different discussion groups. Furthermore,
here I work out, I play basketball and take part in all activities. My life has changed a
lot in the association; now I have a very good time and enjoy myself much more than
in the past” (age 29, male, disabled since birth, date of interview: 24/07/2002).
“I didn’t manage to make friends and keep contact with people who don’t belong
to the association. This is not easy and I know it from experience, because friendships
I made with many able-bodied persons didn’t last; the next day the most, everything
was over. I say that, because I have made this mistake many times…” (age 22, male,
disabled since birth, date of interview: 06/08/2002).
The degree of dependence on associational social life between people with
acquired mobility problems and people with mobility problems from birth differs

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26
considerably. The former develop wider social relations and are more autonomous
even when their mobility problems are more serious than those of the latter. On the
contrary, people with mobility problems from birth – even in cases that their problem
does not inhibit their independent mobility – show greater hesitation and express
greater insecurity regarding their social contacts and relations, especially with non
disabled people. Those people firmly prefer the development of relationships with
persons facing the same (or similar) disability or (even generally) with other disable
people, whereas they are particularly hesitant in sharing emotions and experiences
with others.
Friendly or intimate relationships with others are considered to be «difficult» or
even «problematic», by the vast majority of research participants. In general, they
believe that the contact with another disabled person is easier, whereas they consider
extremely difficult the development of a stable social relationship or an intimate affair
with non-disabled people. As an interviewee puts it:
“…Now if you have an affair [...]; it is widely believed that a handicapped man
should have an affair with a handicapped woman, if a normal woman goes with me,
she is not normal or she is ‘weird’ or crazy or something else, in other words, this is
the ‘status’ in Greek society. The handicapped will marry […], he has the right to get
married or have affairs only with a disabled woman…You must be normal, honestly I
don’t know how they define ‘normal’…” (age 36, male, disabled because of accident,
date of interview: 12/02/2003).
“…The relations of disabled people are a bit more difficult. The relationships of
able-bodied persons, able-bodied man with able-bodied woman, are different from a
relationship of a guy on a wheelchair with a non able-bodied girl. It’s like puzzle
pieces that must be compatible, in other words disabled man with disabled woman an
so on. Let’s say, a man on a wheelchair must get married to a woman who has a
problem. Basically, an able-bodied woman will not accept to live her life with a man
on a wheelchair. I believe that a girl would consider the relationship with me as a
hang-up, because I have a mobility problem. She would meet many difficulties in
taking this decision. I would try it, but if she were an able-bodied woman, a hundred
percent I would fail. Whereas if she was a non able-bodied woman she would fully
understand me since she would also have a problem…” (age 22, male, disabled since
birth, date of interview: 24/07/2002).
The participation in associations of disabled people is considered to be a largely
positive characteristic of social life by the interviewees. Within the associations lasting
friendships, relations and cooperation are developed. On the other hand for the vast
majority of the research participants their social life is limited within the associations.
While they have developed strong social bonds within these associations their ties
with the ‘outside’ world are relatively weak and in many cases emotionally painful.
Thus, the contradictions of associational social life lead to raising important questions
on the process of broader social integration.

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
27
3.2.2. Family relations
The most striking finding as regards family relations is that family overprotection
leads to dependence and social closure, even in cases where there is high potential for
autonomous living and full social participation. A characteristic example of family
over protected behaviour, which causes social isolation and exclusion, is given below:
“Many times, I fear to make contact with people, despite the fact that my problem
is not so serious. I fear that I’ll feel embarrassed, you know! This feeling was in part
provoked by my family, because sometimes they told me not to go out so as not to be
seen and feel embarrassed. They said such things; it was difficult for them, too!” (age
27, male, disabled because of accident, date of interview: 28/08/2002).
From the whole research process, it became evident that although family support is
crucial for people with mobility problems, its content needs major redirection towards
the enhancing of their autonomy and social participation and away from the promotion
of passiveness and social closure. Thus, family dependence emerged as an extremely
crucial issue from the whole research process. This dependence is related to the
seriousness of the mobility problem but what is more important is the associated over-
protection behavior of the vast majority of their families. Family over-protection
reinforces the dependence feeling, as it limits the prospects for greater autonomy and
personal development of people with mobility problems.
3.2.3. Education and employment
People with mobility problems adjust their reactions to their educational and
labour problems according to the type and degree of their inadequacies, as well as the
time and the circumstances under which they were manifested. In cases where
disability existed from birth and the people with disabilities were never self-defined as
«healthy», a predisposition of low expectations regarding education and employment
is obvious, both by him/herself and his/her family. The majority of people with
disabilities from birth have only completed the compulsory public elementary
education, while they enrich their (general and professional) knowledge and training
through their participation in associations, professional workshops and professional
training centres. As one of these interviewees reported:
“Thanks to the association I started fulfilling my dream which was the basic
education. It also helped me deal with computers. Financial problems kept me from
carrying on this occupation at home. I occupy myself as much as I can and I have
some equipment but I didn’t have the chance to carry on further.” (age 29, male,
disabled since birth, date of interview: 06/08/2002).
Under these circumstances, the role of the «educational» and «supportive»
personnel of the associations for people with disabilities is very crucial: if they are
patient and persistent (and they are in most cases) they can boost certain changes of

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28
the mentality of people with mobility problems. Although initially, people with
disabilities are usually self defined as incompetent and inadequate, they can regain a
great part of their self-confidence, through their participation in the educational and
working procedures organised by the above mentioned agents:
“I just finished elementary and middle school because I believed I didn’t have the
strength to go on with high school. But here at the association, I have learnt many
things about computers and there was a girl who was a volunteer and thanks to her I
learnt some things about the Internet, Word and PowerPoint and I liked it very much”
(age 22, male, disabled since birth, date of interview: 24/07/2002).
“I work at the association [as supportive personnel] and I’m very happy with my
job. I believe that what matters, is not just the availability of employment posts, but to
love your job. The more love you show, the more you will accomplish and succeed in
anything you want, even if you are a person with disabilities …I like my job so much
and I am very satisfied with my life regarding my profession. Of course, I don’t know
what I’ll do after the completion of the programme, but for now it doesn’t bother me. I
enjoy the co-operation with the other people very much…” (age 22, male, disabled
since birth, date of interview: 24/07/2002).
According to the aforementioned statements, we can assume that people with
mobility problems suffer more from the lack of awareness and guidance for improving
their skills, rather than from their disabilities themselves. This conclusion is enhanced
by the (well-founded) tendency for systematic self devaluation of their abilities,
especially in relation and coherence to various educational procedures. The negative
self image concerning their educational abilities and skills, and consequently their
social inclusion and acceptance, it seems to be a major problem for the people with
mobility problems in their effort for social inclusion:
“I finished high school. Initially they stared at me in a strange way but later on
they got used to me. At high school things were harder. I remember a fellow student
who threw me the ball after the accident and told me: ‘Now, you must forget all
these!’ I didn’t say anything to him because I had realised that all these, indeed, was
not for me any more. I couldn’t imaging playing basketball then, although I had seen it
in America [USA], I always thought of Greece, about the Greek standards…At school
I couldn’t sit behind the school desk properly and one of my teachers said to me:
‘Masters desk doesn’t lower!’, while another teacher lowered the masters desk in
order for me to write an essay…” (age 36, male, disabled because of accident, date of
interview: 13/02/2003).
It is indicative that people who suffered mobility problems at a relatively late stage
in their life course adopt a more «open» and «courageous» attitude about the issues of
education and professional rehabilitation:
“I attended up to middle school and I was awarded the school certificate although I
had hardships with my health every now and then, and I had to be absent; after middle
school I went to a school…of three years of duration and I received a certificate. There

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
29
were seminars about learning different crafts and I chose; and at this school we also
were paid. Then I attended some computer seminars that lasted 6 months. The
association for people with disabilities informed me about these seminars and I
enrolled and attended them. We learnt many things there about computers such as
Windows, Corel Draw and Excel… Most of all I liked Windows, it was a very good
experience for me, I enjoyed it, because if you ask for a job you must have some
skills. I followed some English lessons too, but then I quitted so I didn’t get any
certificates …” (age 25, female, disabled since birth, date of interview: 06/02/2003).
“After finishing school I worked there at the service of economics for six months
doing my practice. It was very good there because my colleagues considered me as
equal. I would like to find a job relative to what I have studied, because now I’m
doing something different. The job I have now at the office of …did me good on
social issues, because people saw that I can make some things and they are no longer
hesitant towards me. In the past, they thought that because of my disability I couldn’t
do things, since they didn’t know …” (age 36, male, disabled because of accident,
date of interview: 12/05/2003).
After the completion of their studies, people with mobility problems still have to
cope with social stereotypes, since, most employers, even the unprejudiced, prefer to
employ able-bodied, «healthy» persons. This attitude very often drives people with
mobility problems to social and labour market exclusion:
“In fact, I have not tried to find working positions outside the association to see to
what degree people consider people with disabilities able to cover the needs of a job.
Perhaps these problems that I imagine don’t exist at all, however I don’t think so,
because not all bosses are ‘saints’, and in some cases not so tolerant. I believe that the
relations in the working environment are rather defined mostly by the employer,
because even if your colleagues are OK with you, if your boss doesn’t like you or
doesn’t consider you important, then things become bad. If I had an employer who
wouldn’t treat me well I would try to show him that I am willing to succeed …OK, I
can’t say that I am perfect, since sometimes due to problems of transport, I may be late
for example, but I would try to show my boss that although I’m a little bit late, I’m
quick-witted…” (age 22, male, disabled since birth, date of interview: 24/07/2002).
However, despite the difficulties faced by people with mobility problems, there are
recorded experiences of some of them who managed to be admitted to the labour
market. An experience of that kind is described as following:
“In the beginning, people showed great hesitation. They thought I couldn’t do
various things…you know, people thought of me…can he use a computer? When they
asked me to write, you know at first all of them showed hesitation…could he make
photocopies? One day, an elder woman, around 70, said ‘son could you write for me
the address to send the letter to my child’. ‘I’ll write it’, I said and so I wrote the
address and there was a [lady] behind me…[who said] ‘Oh! He can write!’ in other
words she confirmed something which [is a common ground: mobility handicap

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30
subconsciously is connected by the wide public to a general disability of working]…”
(age 36, male, disabled because of accident, date of interview: 12/05/2003).
An additional series of important problems of people with mobility difficulties
working «outside protected structures» concerns their financial earnings, their working
rights, as well as their relationship with employers. As one of them stated:
“…Legislation must give motives to employers and support the socialisation of
people with disabilities and include them in the labour market. Employment is a
fundamental condition for socialisation and it is both a financial and psychological
support …Usually, the employer, receives by ΟΑΕD some money [he/she] pays
Ι.Κ.Α. [Social Insurance Foundation] and gives the rest to the employee, you see? And
sometimes he doesn’t give him/her the entire sum that rests so in a way we can’t say
that financial support is guaranteed. He doesn’t pay overtimes, neither Sunday
working, he keeps him/her working at irregular hours…there are some things that
basically cannot be dealt with so easily…” (age 46, female, disabled because of
accident, date of interview: 10/02/2003).
Interview data reveal that there are limited opportunities for social development,
which are mainly observable in the fields of education, training and active labour
market participation. Apart from the developmental and structural problems that
characterize the local economies of Lesvos and Chios, what is more important is the
low self esteem of people with mobility problems and the associated perceived
‘inability’ to participate fully to educational and labour market procedures away from
the educational, training and working activities available within associations.
3.2.4. Medical care and health policies
People with mobility difficulties were (in general) very critical about the Greek
National Health System, as well as the health policies addressed to them. The majority
expressed great dissatisfaction about the quality and effectiveness of Public Health in
the sector of rehabilitation, while in many cases, they have also pointed out crucial,
according to their opinion, mistakes of the medical and nursing personnel, which had
unpleasant physical and psychological consequences for people with disabilities :
“…In 1997, I was admitted to a public hospital in Athens and I had a bed which
should be a special one in order to protect us, since if you stay still you get bedsores.
That happened to me, which is extremely painful! It is the worst thing I have ever
experienced in my life and I still suffer, because that got me upside down, I couldn’t
practice anything I had learnt! The availability of special beds, special mattresses are
essential…There should be a suitably operating Public Rehabilitation Centre, not a
‘Dahaou’… Buildings should be different and there should be available modern
medical equipment, not only for us but for others, too …” (age 36, male, disabled
because of accident, date of interview: 13/02/2003).

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
31
Summoned up, their critiques focused on issues concerning mainly public
hospitals. People with mobility problems believe that the Greek State should deal with
the issue of rehabilitation with greater responsibility and Public Health Services must
be staffed with specialised medical and nursing personnel who, apart from the medical
knowledge, should show greater sensibility about the way of treating people with
disabilities:
“In other words, there should be specialised personnel, medical personnel knowing
well their work and knowing how to treat patients who suffer from these problems and
are in this position …” (age 36, male, disabled because of accident, date of interview:
13/02/2003).
4. CONCLUDING REMARKS
People with mobility problems in Lesvos and Chios, Greece face a series of
intense difficulties related with different aspects of their social life and a series of
challenges. Due to family dependence, over-protection and a series of negative social
experiences, people with mobility problems have, in a great extent, ‘internalized’ the
‘social stigma’ (Lemay and Ashmore, 2004) of being a disabled person. These
experiences are mainly related to social rejection and prejudice against people with
disabilities. The findings of both the survey and the qualitative part of research are in
agreement on this extremely important matter. Thus, the relatively high percentages of
social rejection of people with disabilities found in the telephone survey research
coincide with the discourses of those people, who talked extensively about different
aspects of the negative side of their broad social relations. People with disabilities in
Lesvos and Chios have gradually adopted a highly negative self-image, which is
indicated in their discourses and interpretations of personal ‘inability’, ‘inefficiency’,
‘incapability’ and ‘powerlessness’. Despite that, this image is in direct contrast with
their actual capabilities and personal qualities (as showed by their activities within
their associations), it leads to curbing their great autonomy potentials and results to
minimal broader social integration. These research findings contribute to the limited
Greek literature on the matter, mainly by changing the view of the role of families of
disabled people and by showing the ambiguity of associational participation.
Empirical research on disability in Greece is still limited despite the great social
problems that those people face, which are mainly related to social discrimination and
closure, exclusion from the labour market, inefficient education and training and
access problems due to unsatisfactory infrastructural arrangements (Ksiromeriti-
Tsaklaganou, 1984; Stasinos, 1991; Psilla et al, 2003; Dourakopoulos, 2004)
The constant negotiation between the autonomy potential and the negative self
image among people with mobility problems, and among disabled people in general,
raises broader public policy questions, such as the need of redirection of public
intervention towards the creation of permanent structures of family training, personal

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32
empowerment and social sensitizing. Specific policy recommendations, derived from
the whole experience and findings of this research, are the creation of specialized and
permanent structures of family counseling, the development of programs for the
empowerment of people with disabilities, the generous increase of public spending for
the disabled persons, the significant improvement of infrastructure, especially in
peripheral areas and the creation of stable structures of additional training and
education of people with disabilities without separating people with disabilities from
mainstream educational institutions.
REFERENCES
Darais, K. (2001). Atoma me eidikes anagkes stin koinonia [People with special needs in
society, not available in English] Athens, Virtual School: The Sciences of Education
Online.
Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln, Y.S. (1994). (Eds.) Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand
Oaks, Sage.
Flick, U., Kardoff, von E. and Steinke, I. (2004). (Eds.) A companion to qualitative research.
London, Sage.
Glaser, B.G. (1992). Basics of grounded theory: emergence vs. forcing. Mill
Valley, Sociology Press.
Glaser, B.G. and Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, Aldine.
Hopf, C. (2004). Research ethics and qualitative research. In Flick, U., Kardoff, von E. and
Steinke, I. (Eds.) A companion to qualitative research. London, Sage.
Htouris, S. (2000). Mousika stavrodromia to Aigaio [Musical crossroads in the Aegean, not
available in English] Athens: Exantas and Ministry of the Aegean.
Ksiromeriti-Tsaklaganou, A. (1984). Skepsis gia tin eidiki ekpaideusi stin Ellada [Thoughts
about special education in Greece, not available in English], in Contemporary Education,
16, pp. 90-93.
Lambridis, E.A. (2004). Stereotypo, prokatalipsi kai koinoniki tautotita [Stereotype, Bias,
Social Identity, not available in English]. Athens, Gutenberg.
Lemay, E.P. and Ashmore, R.D. (2004). Reactions to perceived categorization by others during
the transition to college: internalization and self verification processes. Group Processes
and Intergroup Relations, 7(2), pp. 173-187.
NSSG (National Statistical Service of Greece) (2001). National Population Survey of 2001.
Athens: NSSG.
NSSG (National Statistical Service of Greece) (2002). Research for People with Health
Problems and Disability. Athens: NSSG.
Psilla, M., Mavrigiannaki, K., Vazaiou, A and Stasinopoulou, O. (2003). Atoma me anapiries
stin anotati ekpaideusi [People with disabilities in higher education, not available in
English]. Athens, Kritiki.
Psilla, M., Mavrigiannaki, K., Vazaiou, A. and Stasinopoulou, O. (2003). People with
disabilities in higher education [Atoma me anapiries stin anotati ekpaideusi, not available
in English] Athens: Kritiki.

Disability in Lesvos and Chios, Greece:
Key Findings from Multi-Methodological Social Research
33
Robson, C. (2002). Real world research. Oxford, Blackwell.
Siphneou, E. (1994). La ville de Mytilene et sa region. Economie et societe de 1850 a 1912.
These pour le Doctorat, I, II, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (in French).
Stasinos, D.P. (1991). Eidiki ekpaedeusi stin Ellada, idees, thesmoi kai praktikes, kratos kai
idiotiki protovoulia [Special education in Greece, concepts, institutions and practices,
state and private initiative, not available in English] Athens : Gutenberg.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/35-47
WORK/FAMILY BALANCE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES - THE
ROLE OF TRADE UNIONS: A LITERATURE REVIEW
NICKOLAOS E. GIOVANIS*
ABSTRACT
The issue of work/life balance has become increasingly prominent on the policy agenda. This
paper uses a literature review to explore the effects of family-friendly policies on work/family
balance. It also examines the role that trade unions have been playing in the provision of
family-friendly policies. The paper concludes that practices such as parental leave, childcare,
flexible working hours and part-time working generally promote work/family balance.
Additionally it is shown that trade unions appear to help with work/family issues by increasing
the availability of family-friendly policies, especially in large companies and public sector
organizations.
Keywords: Family-Friendly Policies; Work/Family Balance; Trade Unions; Paternal Leave; Childcare;
Part-Time Work; Flexible Working Hours.
1. INTRODUCTION
Over the past thirty years, the employment rate for mothers with young children
has increased in almost all countries (OECD, 2001). At the same time many
comparative studies have shown that women appear to increase their attachment to
the labor force when given the opportunity to take paid leave (Blau and Ehrenberg,
1997; Waldfogel et al., 1999). Interest in the growth of flexible working practices has
also been increasing all over the world.
In some cases employers have introduced flexibility in order to survive in
increasingly competitive environments (Casey et al, 1997). The positive effects on the
labor market tend to outweigh the costs of conducting such benefit policies thus
legitimizing the family- friendly policies (Ronsen and Sundstrom, 1996; Joshi et al.,
1996).
Originally these arrangements were aimed at helping the newer workforce of
women with children, but gradually the needs of male employees with a wider range
of responsibilities have been considered.
Action to enable men and women to reconcile the demands of work with the demands
of their home life has also been noted as a relevant and important issue by the
European Union. Their most recent employment directives have been concerned
* Technological Educational Institute (T.E.I.), Serres. Managing director of Efstratios Giovanis
S.A

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36
with the work- family issue because it offers scope to foster equal opportunities as
well as act as a generator of new employment through increased demand for childcare
and services (Lewis and Lewis, 1996). It is undoubtedly the case that societies face a
challenge if they are to balance paid work and caring needs (Daly, 1996).
Family- friendly working has essentially been a corporate led development (in the
UK, USA and Australia) motivated by national concern about the shrinking pool of
labor caused by the declining fertility rate (Spearrit and Edgar, 1994), as well as in
response to the issues women employees are facing issues in terms of family-
formation (Forth et al., 1997). In addition, demographic changes and high employment
levels raise the costs to employers of excluding a section of the workforce (Cassel,
1996). Thus, there has been an expansion of a number of family-friendly policy
initiatives over the past decade (Datta Gupta et al., 2006). However, as Liff, (1989)
points out, once a certain approach to a problem becomes established, the success of
policies is evaluated in terms of the scale and integrity of their adoption, rather than in
terms of their ability to achieve a particular outcome. In addition, company-level equal
opportunities policies may conflict with other strategic management goals: for
example, individual contracts and pay determination make equal opportunities policies
difficult to enforce (Bruegel and Perrons, 1998). On the other hand, management of
diversity is usually thought to entail a long-term strategic view of equality issues, in
contrast to the reactive, compliance route of the earlier equal opportunities perspective
(Mabey et al., 1998).
Of course, one other main factor, which is very important for employment equity,
is the wage gap. In a micro-study of 22 countries, Blau and Kahn (2003) demonstrate
that highly centralized wage bargaining settings increase female wages relative to
male wages by setting wage floor at the bottom of the distribution, where females tend
to be located. Therefore decentralization should adversely affect the gender wage gap.
However, studies in Sweden and Denmark which have analyzed changes in the gender
gap over time, both document the stagnation of overall female wages (Albrecht et. al.,
2003; Datta- Gupta, et. al., 2006; Edin and Richardson, 2002). In contrast, in the U.S.
there is evidence that a tendency towards equalization of male and female wages
stagnated during the 1990s mainly because of a changing demand and supply structure
which was less favorable to women in the 1990s compared to the 1980s (Blau and
Kahn, 2003). In addition, retirement policies are an example of other factors which
have implications for family-friendly policies (Hutchens and Martin, 2006).
On the other hand, unionism seems to play a significant role in promoting FFP
(Family-Friendly Policies). Indeed, as Sisson (1993) points out, employers are more
likely to perceive the benefits of equal opportunities in a competitive labor market and
HRM practices are more likely to occur in unionized workplaces than in a non-union
sector.
Using a literature review, the aim of this paper is to firstly review the influence
that family-friendly policies have on work/family balance, and secondly, investigate

Work/Family Balance and Family-Friendly Policies - The Role of Trade Unions:
A Literature Review
37
the role that trade unions have in the application of family-friendly policies. The paper
is organized as follows: following the introduction, section two provides a review of
family-friendly orientation. The next section discusses the effects of 4 major friendly-
policies on work/family balance. The fourth section outlines the role of trade unions in
the application of family-friendly policies. Finally the paper concludes with a
summary of the aims that were described previously.
2. ORIENTATION OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES
The wide range of policies that have been assumed under the heading of family-
friendly precludes a concise definition. These are policies concerned with employees’
hours of work (job sharing, part- time work, flexi- time), leave entitlements (paternal
leave, career break), financial assistance (child care, maternity pay) and particular
responsibilities, such as care of the elderly or of children.
The literature on employment- provided family-friendly benefits, and fringe
benefits more generally, posits a range of alternative explanations as to why
employers might provide family-friendly practices. There are three theories:
neoclassical economics, internal labor markets and institutional (or neo-institutional)
theories.
The neoclassical economic explanation of employer-provided benefits focuses on
employer decision-making in spot labor markets. The use of non-pecuniary benefits as
a tool to attract employees is well documented in labor supply literature
(Killingsworth, 1983). Economy theory suggests that firms will introduce family-
friendly policies as long as they increase profits, either through an increase in
productivity, a lowering of the costs associated with higher wages, or through higher
turnover or absenteeism (Glass and Fujimoto, 1995). There is a wide variety of non-
pecuniary benefits that can be offered and profit-maximizing companies would only
choose to offer family-friendly benefits if there was a sufficient level of demand
among its current and potential employees (Guthrie and Roth, 1999). According to this
theory, the changes in the labor supply of women and the division of household non-
labor market work across parents, lead to increased demand from workers for family-
friendly practices and cause profit-maximizing employers to offer such benefits.
Empirically, this implies that demographic controls are important because different
groups of workers will have varying levels of demand for such policies. This theory
also suggests that employers might need to offer additional benefits to attract
employees when labor markets are tight.
Internal labor market explanations of employer-provided benefits stem from
employers’ need to develop employee commitment. Firms invest in workers and they
want workers to invest in firm-specific human capital so as to develop high levels of
commitment. Thus, Osterman (1995) argues that firms provide non-pecuniary benefits
such as family-friendly practices when they face difficulties employing high quality

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workers into work tasks that require high levels of commitment and non-supervised
performance. Empirically, this implies that measures of internal labor markets and
high commitment work systems, such as the presence of training, job ladders, work
teams, and employee seniority, will be important.
In contrast, institutional theories emphasize that organizations respond not only to
economic factors, but also to the institutional environment (Guthrie and Ross, 1999;
Kelly and Dobbin, 1999). In this model, firms are essentially pressured into adopting
family-friendly policies by various institutions. Of particular interest for this study is
one of the key workplace institutions: trade unionism. Unionization of a work group
can bring about two important changes in the workplace. Firstly, to the extent that the
right to strike results in collective bargaining power that is greater than an
individual´s, labor’s bargaining power will increase. This increased bargaining power
might allow unions to negotiate family-friendly policies. Secondly, union
representation can change the nature of workplace decision-making from a
neoclassical focus on the marginal employee to a median-voter model with a focus on
average preferences (Freeman and Medoff, 1984). If the average worker has a greater
preference for family-friendly policies than the marginal worker, unionized
workplaces will have a greater frequency of family-friendly policies.
TABLE 1: ORIENTATION OF FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES (F. F. P.)
Theory Explanations Authors/ Year
Neoclassical
Economics Firms will introduce FFP to increase
profits either via an increase in
productivity or by lowering the costs.
Killingsworth,1983 ;
Glass and Fujimoto,
1995;
Guthrie and Roth, 1999.
Internal Labor Market Firms will provide FFP to develop
employee commitment Osterman, 1995.
Institutional The provision of FFP is due to the
institutional environment: in
particular, trade unionism.
Guthrie and Roth, 1999;
Kelly and Dobbin, 1999 ;
Freeman and Medoff,
1984.
3. WORK/FAMILY BALANCE AND FAMILY-FRIENDLY POLICIES
The way in which people balance their work and family responsibilities is
becoming increasingly prominent on the policy agenda. There is no doubt that FFP
(Family-Friendly Policies) have an effect on family behavior and welfare (Jaumotte,
2004). In addition, the interdependency of work and family life also suggests that
firms can benefit from providing family-friendly workplaces.
This section explores the influence of the wider use of family- friendly policies
(OECD, 2002; Forth and Kirby, 2000; Millward et. al., 2001), on work/family

Work/Family Balance and Family-Friendly Policies - The Role of Trade Unions:
A Literature Review
39
balance, including parental leave, childcare, part-time work and flexible working
hours.
3.1. Parental (Paternal-Maternal) leave
The literature surveyed suggests that provision (or not) of parental leave can have
effects on child cognitive development, child health, fertility, economic growth and
labor force participation (Ingram and Simons, 1995; Galinsky and Bond, 1998;
Sundestrom and Dufvander, 2002; Buchanan and Thornthwaite, 2002; Ronsen, 2004).
On this point it must be mentioned that, in the literature reviewed, maternal leave is
defined as a leave period that is reserved for the mother only. If the leave is
transferable between the father and mother, the leave period is denoted instead as
‘paternal leave’. In most countries there is a short period of leave for the father
immediately following the birth of the child, typically 2 weeks. This father-leave
period (which can be used by the father even though the mother is also on leave) is
denoted as “daddy days”, (Haataja and Nyberg, 2005).
Brooks-Gunn, et.al., (2002) found that children whose mothers worked in the first
nine months of the child’s life were less school ready at 36 months than children
whose mothers did not work at all in that time, suggesting positive grounds for
paternal leave. A number of research findings also point out how important the earliest
years of a child’s life are in determining their wellbeing later in life (Waldfogel,
2002). There is no doubt that maternal leave periods of a certain length are highly
beneficial for the children’s health and general wellbeing. However, where rights
already exist, extensions of the rights and prolonging the maternity leave period
beyond a certain point, may have the opposite effect ( Ronsen and Sundstrom, 2002),
because long periods on maternity leave imply career interruptions, and thus, a
reduced labor supply.
The OECD (2001), have reviewed the literature referring to the impact of paternal
leave policies. Maternal leave policies (with employment protection) were expected to
raise maternal employment rates. Indeed, employers were found to be implementing
such policies in order to improve staff retention rates. Long periods of leave were
predicted to be detrimental, as women become detached from the workforce. Ruhm’s
(1998) comprehensive comparative study on European countries also found that
parental leave legislation raises the female employment-to-population rate by 3-4%,
and even more for women of childbearing age.
Evans (2002) considered the link between work/family policies such as maternity,
paternity and parental leave, gender wage equity and occupational segregation using
evidence from the OECD countries. He found general agreement among the literature
that maternity, paternity and parental leave tend to encourage female workforce
participation. However there is a growing concern that policies, such as maternity and
parental leave (generally taken up disproportionately by women), can lead to a greater

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40
gender gap and greater inequity in the work force for women. In addition, access to
leave, may mitigate to another gap: women with leave access are higher paid than
women without (Waldfogel, 1998a). Additionally, women who have children, move
onto a lower earnings profile, relative to those who have not (Waldfogel, 1998b).
3.2. Childcare
In 2002 the OECD investigated the effect of policies such as childcare and paid
parental leave on child development. It found that while it is generally accepted that
the first years of a child’s life are among the most important in terms of cognitive and
behavioral development, a significant body of research shows that participation in
good quality childcare can have positive impacts on cognitive, emotional and social
development. However, the evidence on this issue is mixed.
Several studies conducted in Sweden showed that children starting childcare at
between 6-12 months of age achieved markedly better in aptitude tests and made
greater socio-emotional advancement than those entering childcare later or those
cared for at home. In addition, those children who entered childcare in their second
year of life had lower school performance, although those cared for at home had the
lowest level of performance (Andersson, 1992; Broberg, et. al., 1989; Nielsen at. al.,
2004).
A meta-analysis by Violato and Russel, (2000) on the psychological effects of
non-maternal care on children’s cognitive development showed that, unlike children in
maternal care, children in day care are not at risk of negative outcomes. Additionally,
one study suggested that low income families, in the absence of subsidized childcare,
often rely on informal and relative care that does not provide adequate cognitive
stimulation in contrast to preschool (Fuller, et. al., 2002). In addition, schemes which
subsidize parents (mothers) with informal and relative care have negative labor effects
(Schone, 2005; Aslaksen et.al, 2000). A number of studies have found that when a
mother works outside the home it can be harmful for the cognitive development of
their children; Ruhm (2004) for U.S. evidence and Ermisch and Francesconi (2001)
for the U.K. According to a survey by Waldfogel (2002), also confirmed by a study by
Gregg (2005) in the U.K., the main lessons from the empirical research are that
parents’ care is important but that the quality of child care is even more important.
The OECD (2002) found that childcare facilities, either completely publicly
provided or subsided, can have positive effects on the maternal employment rate. In
Germany Hank and Kreyenfeld (2000) reached the same conclusion. However,
research undertaken by Butig and England (2001), found that the gap between
womens earnings is due to whether or not they have children, and that woman without
children are better-paid.
Dex and Scheibl (2001, 1999) found that firms may benefit from providing
childcare for their staff by reducing absenteeism and sickness absences.

Work/Family Balance and Family-Friendly Policies - The Role of Trade Unions:
A Literature Review
41
3.3. Part-time work
Two opposing views on part-time work have been suggested by the literature. The
first is that part-time work offers the perfect balance of work and family life. The
second is that the low rates of remuneration, routine tasks and limited career
opportunities that characterize a lot of part-time work make it more difficult for
women to balance their work and family lives. Higgins, et al., (2000) conducted a
study using both interviews and surveys to investigate whether part-time work helped
women to balance their work and family lives. The authors found that both of these
views may be valid. They also argued that work may play a more central role in the
life of career-oriented women than it does in those who are not career-oriented.
Tausig and Fenwick (2001) considered the effect of alternate work schedules such
as part-time work, non-Monday-to-Friday, non-daytime shift work, and flextime on
the work/family balance. In terms of part-time schedules, they found that, after
accounting for the differences in hours worked by full and part-time workers, those
working part-time reported greater work/family imbalance. This finding raises
questions regarding the commonly held belief that provision of part-time schedules
aids in achieving a positive work/family balance. The authors suggest that in trying to
swing the work/family balance towards family, part-time schedules lead to a greater
imbalance on the work side, because of financial and career costs that may offset the
benefits of greater family life. For example, Evans (2002) has considered the role of
part-time work in the context of gender equity and occupational segregation. He found
that part-time employment may serve to promote inequity and segregation even
though it is highly valued by women and serves to increase female participation rates.
Part-time work is generally characterized by lower pay and lower job status and
therefore may not provide sufficient remuneration or career fulfillment, even though it
may promote work/family balance.
On the other hand employers seem to benefit the most from the application of part-
time work. Skiner (1999) found that employees had greater enthusiasm for their work
when they were employed on a part-time basis, a factor which might then be expected
to generate higher productivity. The fact that part-time employees may not require a
paid break can also reduce costs for employers (IRS, 2001).
3.4. Flexible working hours
Flexible working hours appear to be the most commonly provided family-friendly
measure. In theory, flexibility in hours allows workers more control over the balance
between their family and working lives. However there is a distinction between
flexibility for the worker and flexibility for the firm. The former could potentially aid
the worker while the latter could ultimately serve to constrain the worker.

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42
Staines and Pleck (1986) have investigated the impact of flexible work schedules,
in the context of non-standard work schedules, on the quality of family life. Non-
standard work schedules have in general been held to be detrimental to quality of
family life. Staines and Pleck investigated the extent to which the provision of flexible
working hours moderated these negative effects. They found that the relationship
between family life and non-standard working schedules is stronger the more limited
the control workers have over their schedules. They also found that when workers had
some control over their working hours it generally ameliorated the negative effect of
non-standard working schedules.
Tausig and Fenwick (2001) investigated the impact of flexible schedules on the
work/family balance. They found that the availability of flexible work schedules
(flexible hours, extended lunch breaks) had no effect on work/family balance. Instead,
it was the perception of control over schedules that improved work/family balance.
Lewis, (1997) believes that flexible working is increasingly offered to meet the
changing structure of demand for labor, rather than the needs of workers with families.
4. TRADE UNIONS AND FAMILY FRIENDLY POLICIES
Trade unions have an important bearing on the implementation of family friendly
policies. Despite the emphasis on the responsibilities of governments, it is
increasingly recognized that trade unions have an important role to play in reducing
work/family conflict, and promoting family supportive employment policies (Lewis
and Cooper, 1995).
Researchers have identified the pro-active role played by unions in the
development of family working arrangements (Forth et.al., 1997; Marchington and
Grugulis, 2000; Buchmueller, et. al., 2002).
Freeman and Medoff (1984), and others have documented that individuals
represented by trade union are more likely to receive traditional fringe benefits such as
health insurance and retirement plans.
Some researchers have shown that the active involvement of unions has pushed
large and public sector organizations to consider family-friendly policies. Forth, et al.,
(1997) express the opinion that although the private sector makes a lower level of
provision than the public sector there is a slightly better level of provision when a
private company is unionized and of a large size. Fredriksen-Golden and Scharlach
(2001), found that companies with fewer than 100 employees are significantly less
likely than larger firms with over 100 employees to recognize unions and therefore to
offer benefits such as retirement, health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance,
or paid time off. Ingram and Simons (1995) cite literature indicating that large
organizations have also been found to be more responsive to work-family issues
because they are more visible and are under more pressure to respond to work-family
concerns. Goodstein (1994) also states that the greater the size of an organization, the

Work/Family Balance and Family-Friendly Policies - The Role of Trade Unions:
A Literature Review
43
greater its level of responsiveness to institutional pressure on employers to be involved
in work-family issues. For similar reasons, public sector organizations are responsive
to institutional pressures (Goodstein, 1994; Ingram and Simons, 1995). Smaller
organizations may use informal practices to address similar work-family issues
because they may have the luxury of addressing each employee’s situation
individually and thus not need to establish formal policies.
Machin (2000) found that older workplaces are more likely to recognize a trade
union. In addition, Goodstein (1994) hypothesizes that the greater the dependence of
an organization on female employees, the greater its level of responsiveness to
institutional pressures on employers to be involved in work-family issues.
5. CONCLUSIONS
The basic aim of this article was to study the influence of the most widely used
family- friendly policies on work/family balance, through a literature review.
The provision of parental leave is highly beneficial for children’s health and
general development and it is expected to raise maternal employment rates. However,
long periods of leave were predicted to be detrimental, as women can become
detached from the workforce.
The provision of childcare can improve women’s participation in paid work and
early childcare can give children a socio-emotional advantage. However, the quality
of childcare is critical. High quality childcare has no apparent negative effect on
children’s cognitive development and it may indeed have positive effects, particularly
for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Part-time work can also increase female labor force participation, but it is often
associated with lower job status, low prospects and lower pay. Working part-time can
have different effects on work/family balance depending on the characteristics and
preferences of individual workers.
The provision of flexible working hours is the most common family-friendly
measure. It can allow workers more control over their work/life balance. However,
flexible work schedules have little effect on work/family balance unless workers have
some control over that flexibility.
The second objective of this paper was to examine the relationship between unions
and the availability of family-friendly policies through a literature review. It was
found that unions appear to positively affect the provision of family-friendly policies.
This effect is more pronounced in large and public sector organizations.
Taking all these factors into account, it is obvious that family- friendly policies
affect work/family balance positively. The important bearing of unions on the take up
rate of family-friendly policies is also evident. However, given that this study has
certain limitations, there is a need for more extensive research in order to further
clarify the issues.

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44
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/49-59
MORAL FUNCTIONING AMONG HANDBALL TEAM PLAYERS
E. BEBETSOS*, D. KONSTANTOULAS*, G. BEBETSOS**, and O. KOULI*
ABSTRACT
The aim of this study was the investigation of the possible relationship between sport
participation and moral functioning between Greek handball team athletes. The instrument
that was used was developed by Gibbons, Ebbeck, and Weiss (1995). The sample consisted of
204 athletes, 107 men, 97 women. Factor analysis revealed 4 factors. Cronbach’s varied from
.81 up to .88. Statistical significant differences were indicated in the dependent variables of:
(1) lying, (2) violation of a rule, (3) intentional injury, and (4) deliberately hurting.
Conclusively, the results support the use of the instrument for measuring moral functioning
among Greek athletes.
Keywords: Moral Functioning; Handball Team; Unsporting Behaviour.
1. INTRODUCTION
Nowadays sport constitutes a way of getting away from everyday routine. Many
believe that children should devote some of their free time to sports, in order to
improve their quality of life. All stress the beneficial aspects of sports for the body and
spirit. Since ancient times, sport was the basic factor in shaping somebody’s character.
However, today, violence and aggressiveness are connected directly with sports and
constitute a major problem.
On the subject of ethics the research in the area of sports is mainly empirical.
Bredemeier and her students in their research (Bredemeier and Shields, 1984, 1986a,
1986b, Bredemeier, Weiss, Shields and Cooper, 1986, 1987) mainly examined the
relationship between athletic attendance and the various subjects of ethics, such as
moral causality, tendencies of aggressiveness and judgement in regard to the legality
of deliberate harmful athletic actions. The major part of this research was focused on
moderate and high contact sports where ethics plays a major role (Bredemeier and
Shields, 1986).
They have discovered that two strategies coexist and determine the relationship
between athletic attendance/experience and morality. The first strategy compares
* Department of Physical Education and Sport Science, Democritus University, Komotini,
Hellas
** Anatolia College, Thessaloniki, Hellas

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50
athletes with non-athletes in regard to moral causality, which is reported in the criteria
that someone uses in order to find solutions to moral conflicts. The second strategy
determines how much the degree of sport involvement is related to moral causality,
aggressive tendencies and crisis in regard to the legality of deliberate detrimental
athletic energies.
The research on morality initially started in the area of physical education and
education in generally. A distinguished contribution with respect to teaching strategies
and the focus on ethics is reported in the "Fair Play for Kids" (Gibbons, Ebbeck, and
Weiss, 1995) handbook. This handbook includes a line from academic study and
educational activities that concern children from the 4th up to the 6th grade. These
activities focused on the growth of attitudes and behaviours, which are used as
examples and also the ideas of "fair play", which were determined by a particular
committee: a) respect to rules and regulations, b) respect to officials and their
decisions, c) respect to opponents, d) equal opportunity for all students wishing to
participate and e) maintaining of self-control at all time.
Based on Kohlberg’s (1984) theory of moral maturity, a model of four components
on moral action was drawn by Rest (1984), and its results were very promising in the
area of competitive sports. In recent studies, the indications of the model were used in
order to evaluate different aspects of moral functioning (Kavassanu and Robers, 2001,
Kavussanu, Roberts, and Ntoumanis, 2002, Ommundsen, Roberts, Lemyre and
Treasure, 2003). The proposal of Rest’s model was the research on the subject of
social behaviour. Concerning Kohlberg´s theory, (1984), Rest (1984), disagreed that in
order for us to comprehend moral behaviour, internal processes that produce this
behaviour should be examined thoroughly and approached carefully.
In Rest’ s model (1983,1984), four basic processes are involved: a) interpretation
and explanation of the situation, recognizing possible causes of action and how much
the various actions influence the well-being of all the people who are involved, b) the
creation of moral crisis with regard to which is the “right thing” to do for every
individual, c) to decide which is the action that someone really wants to do and d) the
implementation of that decision, which represents realistic behaviour. Rest (1983,
1984) reports that the four processes are interrelated, influencing one another. For
example, motivation is a major aspect of the decision process that an individual
follows, while real behaviour is influenced by circumstances, while distress or other
factors may prevent somebody from acting accordingly.
Shields and Bredemeier (1995) used Rest´s model in Physical Education, and
moreover they supported that, these four components are found in the area of sports,
and can potentially be influenced by the teammates’ perceptions, or the coaches’
opinion with regard to what constitutes suitable or unsuitable behaviour. Based on the
work of Kohlberg (Higgins, Power and Kohlberg, 1984, Kohlberg, 1984, Power,
Higgins and Kohlberg, 1989), Shields and Bredemeier (2001) proposed that moral

Moral Functioning among Handball Team Players
51
crisis-estimate in competitive team sports is probably a deflexion of the norms that
exist in student groups.
Kavussanu Roberts and Ntoumanis (2002) in their research with a sample of 199
basketball athletes on the moral aspect of motivation and moral atmosphere realised
that moral functioning takes place in sports, after the athletes corresponded with
success in moral dilemmas that described individual, not athletic behaviour that is
likely to happen during a basketball game. The same results were found in the
research of Kavussanu and Ntoumanis (2003), which examined with the help of a
questionnaire, the moral growth of athletes in combination with their attendance-
experience, their goal setting and their social wish. The participants were 221 college
athletes who participated in 4 contact sports (basketball, football, field hockey and
rugby). The results showed that attendance in contact sports preview positive ego
orientation, which in turn previews low levels of moral functioning. On the other
hand, high levels of task orientation previewed high levels of moral functioning.
With regard to the subject of how important the type of sport is, if it is a contact
sport or not, an initial research that included measurements of general moral maturity
showed that, college basketball athletes had lower levels of maturity in relation to the
student average (Hall, 1981, Bredemeier and Shields, 1984). Additionally, the
basketball athletes showed lower levels of maturity in relation to non-athletes on the
subject of life and athletic moral dilemmas (Bredemeier and Shields, 1986a).
Nevertheless, no major differences were found between high school basketball
athletes and college swimming athletes (Bredemeier and Shields, 1986b).
Also, Bredemeier and her co-researcher (1986a) realised that boys in high contact
sports such as rugby, wrestling and judo, and girls who participated in medium contact
sports such as football and basketball, are related with low levels of maturity and high
levels of tendency for aggressiveness in sport settings and in life, in general. Other
studies agree with the previews results (Conroy, Silva, Newcomer, Walker and
Johnson, 2001; Bredemeier et al., 1987). The attendance in non contact sports such as
gymnastics, golf, swimming and track and field, does not result as a factor for preview
of ethics in any of these studies.
Many researchers in the area of moral functioning, study this subject in relation to
other factors. The most popular is moral atmosphere (Higgins et al. 1984, Kohlberg
and Higgins, 1987, Power, Higgins and Kohlberg, 1989, Stephens, 1993, Stephens and
Bredemeier, 1996, Bredemeier, 1999, Shields, Bredemeier and Power, 2002),
aggressiveness (Bredemeier, 1985,1994, Bredemeier and Shields, 1986, Bredemeier,
Weiss, Shields and Cooper, 1986, Kavussanu and Roberts, 2001, Conroy et al., 2001),
and the subject of an athlete trying to remain moral while he/she seeks success in the
area of sports (sportspersonship) (Stuart and Ebbecks, 1995, Shields and Bredemeier,
1995, Lemyre, Roberts and Ommundsen, 2002, Chantal, Robin, Vernat and Bernache-
Assollant, 2005, Gano-Overway, Guivernau, Magyar, Waldron and Ewing, 2005).
Finally, the motivation climate that is created by the coach (Ames, 1992; Shields,

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52
Bredemeier, Gardner and Bostrom, 1995; Miller, Roberts and Ommundsen, 2000;
Ommundsen, Roberts, Lemyre and Treasure, 2003; Miller, Roberts and Ommundsen,
2004). All these factors, together or separately, contribute to the better comprehension
of moral operation. A lot of researchers have located differences between men and
women in the sector of sport ethics. Bredemeier (1985) reported that men are more
likely to approve the use of aggressiveness and deliberate hurting actions in sports
than women. Moreover Bredemeier and Shields (1986), found that female high school
basketball players had more mature moral causality than male basketball players in
sports and in life, even at a collegiate level.
Duda and her co-researchers (1991) recognized that the male basketball players
are more ego oriented and had low conceiving aggressive behaviour in relation to
female players. Similarly, Kavussanu and Roberts (2001) found that male college
basketball players were highly ego oriented and also, had low levels of morality in
comparison to female ones.
Moral atmosphere and the "legal" action of hurting an individual constitute two
other moral functioning factors of study. Many researchers showed gender differences
(Shields et al. 1995, Tucker & Parks, 2001, Guivermau and Duda, 2002, Gardner and
Janelle, 2002, Miller, Roberts, and Ommyndsen, 2004).
This research is a study of moral functioning and ethics in Greece, via the
adaptation of moral dilemmas in Greek sports life. The aim of the research was
twofold: a) to examine the structural validity of the instrument of Gibbons, Ebbeck
and Weiss (1995) and b) to investigate if sex, and age differentiate the moral
dilemmas of athletes.
2. METHOD
2.1. Subjects
The sample included 204 handball team athletes. More specifically, they were 107
men and 97 women. Their mean age was 17.5 years and the ages ranged from 12-33
years.
2.2. Questionnaire
To measure moral functioning, the instrument that was used then was one that was
developed by Gibbons, Ebbeck and Weiss (1995). The instrument includes 4
dilemmas referring to unsportspersonlike behaviours: (1) lying to an official, (2)
breaking a rule, (3) risking injuring an opposing player and (4) deliberately hurting an
opponent. The instrument was translated into Greek using a back translation procedure
in an earlier study by Konstantoulas, Bebetsos and Mihailidou (2006). For the purpose
of the present study, the Greek version was administered to 10 handball team athletes

Moral Functioning among Handball Team Players
53
to examine whether the items of this version were comprehensive and well
understood. No further modifications were made after the above process.
Respondents were instructed to extent their morality and answer to 5 questions for
each dilemma. Each question was answered on a 5-point scale anchored by 1: never
and 5: always. Also, at the end of the dilemmas the athletes indicated their gender
and age. More specifically, for the age the sample was separated into 3 groups.
Group 1 athletes up to 18 years of age (43.5%), Group 2 athletes up to 25 years of age
(34.2%) and Group 3 all the athletes over 25 yrs. (22.3%) (Martin, 1991; Bebetsos
and Antoniou, 2003).
2.3. Procedure
The method chosen to conduct the research was that of self-completed dilemmas.
Researchers informed all subjects that their participation was completely voluntary
and the individual responses would be held in strict confidence.
3. RESULTS
3.1. Psychometric Characteristics
One of the objectives of the paper was to test the psychometric properties of the
scale in the context of Greek handball team players. A principal component analysis
with varimax rotation was performed to test the factor structure of the scale. The
above analysis was selected since the two factors were found to be uncorrelated. As
shown in Table 1, 4 factors that emerged from the analysis accounted for the 71% of
the total variance. These factors were the same as the dilemma factors mentioned
above. Using the Cronbach coefficient α for internal consistency, the value for lying
to an official was 0.82, for breaking a rule 0.81, for risking injuring an opposing
player 0.85 and for deliberately hurting an opponent 0.88.
3.2. Gender
Interdependent-samples t tests applied to assess differences between genders,
yielded no significant differences on any of the dilemmas.
3.3. Age
One-way analysis of variance was conducted to examine differences by the age of
the athletes. For the first dilemma the analysis revealed statistical significant
differences F(4,176)=3.58, p<.01. More specifically, the youngest age group had the

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
54
highest scores (M=2.6, SD=0.11), followed by the mid age group (M=2.4, SD=0.10)
and last the oldest age group (M=2.3, SD=0.15).
For the second dilemma the analysis revealed statistical significant differences
F(4,166)=4.43, p<.01. More specifically, the youngest age group had the highest scores
(M=2.6, SD=0.11), followed by the mid age group (M=2.3, SD=0.10) and last the
oldest age group (M=2.2, SD=0.15).
For the third dilemma the analysis revealed statistical significant differences
F(4,176)=4.36, p<.01. More specifically, the youngest age group had the highest scores
(M=2.3, SD=0.12), followed by the mid age group (M=2.1, SD=0.10) and last the
oldest age group (M=1.8, SD=0.15).
Finally, for the fourth dilemma the analysis revealed statistical significant
differences F(4,176)=3.39, p<.05. More specifically, the oldest age group had the
highest scores (M=2.6, SD=0.13), followed by the mid age group (M=2.3, SD=0.11)
and last the youngest age group (M=2.2, SD=0.17).
4. DISCUSSION
One of the objectives of the present study was the initial examination of the
structural validity of the questionnaire of athletes’ moral functioning. The results
confirmed the existence of four factors, as they were, also, reported by Gibbons,
Ebbeck and Weiss (1995). Moreover, the high internal cohesion of the four factors
confirms the reliability of the questionnaire. This also means that other researchers,
coaches or administrative executives of sport settings could use that particular
instrument in order to measure the level of operation of ethics of athletes.
The results of the present study prove the existence of morality and moral
functioning and agree with previous studies, where the relationship between sports and
quality was a key point (Shields & Bredemeier, 1984, 1986a, 1986b, Kavussanu,
Roberts, & Ntoumanis, 2002, Kavussanu & Ntoumanis, 2003). Other studies relative
to the subject of morality and ethics simply dealt mainly with the distinction of sports
in contact and non-contact (Kavussanu, Roberts, and Ntoumanis, 2002, Kavussanu
and Ntoumanis, 2003).
The results of the present study not only showed the existence of the relation that
was mentioned before, but showed, also, differences between age groups. More
specifically, the results showed that the younger children (12-16 years) comprised the
group who had the highest scores on the “lying to an official” factor. It is speculated
by the researchers that a possible reason for these results might be the existence of
pressure and tiredness during practices, where the sense of playing and enjoyment is
replaced by sentiments such as intensity, anxiety and the passion for victory.
Continuing from the previous results it was found that the same age group had the
highest scores on the second factor “breaking a rule”. It was speculated that -due to the
fact that younger children do not have such a great sense of danger - do not understand

Moral Functioning among Handball Team Players
55
exactly how and when exactly they break a rule in contrast to older players where
maturity and a greater sense of knowledge and understanding of the rules is obvious.
Regarding the third factor of the questionnaire “risking injuring an opposing
player”, again the youngest age group had the highest scores. The researchers believe
that these results are a continuation of the violation of rules aspect. We must not forget
that such actions might take place because the athlete tries to stop the opposing team
from an offensive action or even prevent scoring. In many cases such actions might be
considered as actions of spontaneity where - in combination with the young age of the
players – it does not necessarily mean that the player had a bad intention. Another
reason could be that younger players do not have a very good knowledge of the rules
as older players do. Additionally, the younger athletes might show a greater passion
during the game because they try to establish themselves as players on the first team.
On the contrary, older athletes have already established their position in their team. It
is important to indicate that in the present research, older players had the lowest scores
in all three factors that were mentioned before.
For the fourth factor “deliberately hurting an opponent”, regarding the age, the
highest results were shown by the oldest players. The lowest scores were indicated by
the youngest group. It is important to note that deliberately hurting an opponent is not
only stopping the opposing team from scoring but, also, hurting an individual player in
such a way where he will be forced to leave the game. It was speculated that as the
players grow older and their team competes under more stressful and serious
situations/conditions (national and/or international competition, Olympic Games,
money prize etc.), quite often those players might overexert themselves and act in a
very serious manner for the opponent’s health and body integrity. Also, no gender
differences were found in the present study in any of the factors. Similar results were
found in a previous research on water polo players (Konstantoulas, Bebetsos, and
Mihailidou, 2006).
In conclusion, the present study extends previous work that has identified the
relationship between sport involvement and various aspects of morality, and
furthermore underscores the role of morality in different age groups in association
with weekly practice. However, as with all aspects of human interaction, moral
functioning in sport is a complex phenomenon influenced by multiple variables. Age
constitutes only one influence that mediates the relationship between participation in
sports and moral functioning. In short, more research is needed to examine other
variables and reveal the processes through which they influence moral functioning in
sport.
Finally, the limitations of the present study should be reported. All athletes were
athletes competing in the first national division (elite athletes). Additionally, the
samples were athletes that live in a big urban city of Greece (Thessaloniki). Also, the
questionnaires were completed after a practice session and not after a game.

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56
TABLE 1: PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS
REFERENCES
Ames, C. (1992). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and
motivation processes. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80 (3), pp. 260-267.
Bebetsos, E. and Antoniou, P. (2003). Psychological skills of Greek badminton athletes.
Perceptual and Motor Skills, 97, pp. 1289-1296.
Bredemeier, B.J. (1985). Moral reasoning and the perceived legitimacy of intentionally
injurious sport acts. Journal of Sport Psychology, 7, pp. 110-124.
Item Lying Breaking Injuring Hurting
Do you think it is appropriate to lie to an official during a
critical game? .72
Would you lie to an official during a critical game? .70
How often did you lie to an official this season? .83
How many of your teammates would lie to an official if it
would help the team win a critical game? .78
Would the coach encourage lying to an official if it would
help the team win a critical game? .75
Do you think it is appropriate to violate a rule during a
critical game? .76
Would you violate a rule during a critical game? .64
How often did you violate a rule this season? .72
How many of your teammates would violate a rule if it
would help the team win a critical game? .75
Would the coach encourage violating a rule if it would help
the team win a critical game? .75
Do you think it is appropriate to risk injuring an opponent
during a critical game? .69
Would you deliberately risk injuring an opponent during a
critical game? .69
How often did you risk injuring an opponent this season? .68
How many of your teammates would risk injuring an
opponent if it would help the team win a critical game? .61
Would the coach encourage injuring an opponent if it would
help the team win a critical game? .67
Do you think it is appropriate to deliberately hurt an
opponent during a critical game? .65
Would you deliberately hurt an opponent during a critical
game? .68
Would you deliberately hurt an opponent during a critical
game? .66
How many of your teammates would deliberately hurt an
opponent if it would help the team win a critical game? .67
Would the coach encourage deliberately hurting an opponent
if it would help the team win a critical game? .71
Eigen value 4 4 3.5 3
% of variance explained 20 20 18 14
Mean Scores 2.3 2.4 2.1 2.4
Cronbach’s alpha .82 .81 .85 .88

Moral Functioning among Handball Team Players
57
Bredemeier, B.J. (1994). Children’s moral reasoning and the assertive, aggressive, and
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/61-73
CORPUS-BASED ANALYSIS:
STOCK MARKET INVESTORS’ COMMUNITY
MARIANGELA PISHILI*
ABSTRACT
For a teacher of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), finding appropriate teaching materials
is not an easy task as the majority of coursebooks deal with General English. This project
demonstrates how a teacher can analyse the language of a particular discourse community
using a corpus-based analysis and find the prominent lexical items and grammatical structures
useful for the students of that discourse community by analysing the stock market investor’s
community.
Keywords: English for Specific Purposes; Discourse Community; Corpus-based Analysis.
1. INTRODUCTION
“A Corpus is a large computer-held collection of texts (spoken, written, or both)
collected together to stand as a representative sample of a language or some part of it.
Corpora provide easily accessible and accurate data, useful to descriptive and
theoretical linguistics. They may also be used to calculate frequency of occurrence of
items and, as repositories of actual instances of language as they have a place in
language teaching textbook design. […] (Johnson & Johnson, 1998)
As this definition suggests, corpus is a representative collection of spoken and
written texts of a particular language. Corpus Linguistics uses such collections to
analyse and study the language that is used. According to Biber et al (1998), there are
four basic characteristics of a corpus based analysis. First of all, it analyses the actual
patterns used in natural texts, and these analyses are empirical, that is, it relies on
experiments and/or experiences, not on theory. Secondly, the collection of natural
texts that are to be analysed -corpus- should be large and principled. Thirdly, the
analysis is made by the use of computers. With computers, the analyst can use
automatic techniques to easily analyse a large amount of complex patterns and be
consisted and reliable without getting tired – traditionally, this was done by hand.
Also, computers can be used interactively which means that the computer can keep a
record of any comments made by the analyst. Finally, the fourth characteristic is that
the analysis should be quantitative as well as qualitative; after reporting all the
findings (quantitative) a meaningful analysis of those findings should be made
(qualitative).
* Lecturer at Americanos College, Nicosia, Cyprus

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Another important point to be made about corpus based analysis is that the
traditional way of analysing language through introspection, practiced by two,
amongst others, famous linguists, Saussure and Chomsky, is no longer seen
satisfactory. This is because these linguists argued that linguistics can be based on
intuitive data and isolated sentences. Furthermore, Chomsky has since argued that
corpus does not give any revealing information. However, nowdays language is
analysed using both corpus and the analyst’s intuition (Leech, 1991). This was
influenced by a British school of linguistics developed by Firth, Halliday and Sinclair.
They argued that language should not be studied in isolated sentences but instead,
study complete contexts. They also focused on the empirical evidence of the language
as it is actually used (Stubbs, 1996).
However, a corpus based analysis is not only carried out to check one’s intuitions
or find frequently re-occurring patters but more meaningful results could be drawn. It
could help investigate lexical and grammatical associations, that is lexis and syntax
study, register and genre studies as well as dialect studies, more widely know as
sociolinguistics (Biber, 1998).
The purpose of the following corpus based analysis is to investigate the discourse
community of ‘Stock Market Investors’ and closely examine the language that is used
in this community in order to help students who will be studying that topic.
2. DISCOURSE COMMUNITY (DC)
Discourse Community is a term not yet fully established, however, Swales (1990)
proposes six defining characteristics of discourse community which could help in
identifying a discourse community. First of all, ‘a discourse community has a broadly
agreed set of common public goals’. This is a straight forward characteristic simply
meaning that members of a DC have the same goals. This, however, should not be
confused with a shared object of study because a shared object of study does not mean
a shared goal, for example if the shared object of study is the Vatican, students who
study in the Vatican history departments and birth control agencies in the Vatican do
not have the same goal and therefore do not form a DC (ibid). The second
characteristic is ‘a DC has mechanisms of intercommunication among its members’.
Such mechanisms could be meetings, communication through telephone or
correspondence, newsletters and many more. This means that even though members of
a DC might never directly interact, mechanisms like these help them communicate.
The third characteristic is that ‘a DC uses its participatory mechanisms primarily to
provide information and feedback’. Members of a DC have to actively use the
mechanisms of intercommunication available to them to get information and feedback;
there is no use in having those mechanisms available and not use them. It should also
be added that the information exchange will vary depending on the goals. The fourth

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
63
characteristic is that ‘a DC utilizes and hence possesses one or more genres in the
communicative furtherance of its aims’. These genres create discoursal expectation
amongst its members. The fifth characteristic is that ‘in addition to owning genres, a
DC has acquired some specific lexis’. Such specific lexis could be some common lexis
used in a particular DC with more special or technical way or it could be technical
lexis only, usually, understood only by members of that DC. Members of a DC also
use special abbreviations and acronyms. Finally, the sixth characteristic is that ‘a DC
has a threshold level of members with a suitable degree of related content and
discoursal expertise’. That is, a DC has changing memberships with older members
leaving the DC and new members entering which means there are different levels of
expertise (Swales, 1990).
‘Stock Market Investors’ (SMI), which is the object of study of this project, can be
considered to be a DC as it will be demonstrated here by showing how SMI meet each
DC characteristic. First of all, SMI have common goals two of which are to buy and/or
sell stocks. Also, SMI have many mechanisms of intercommunication some of which
are meetings and telephone conversations among stock brokers or between stock
brokers and stock holders or, the mechanism of intercommunication that was used in
the compilation of this corpus, media coverage. Having seen these examples, we can
say that the purpose of those mechanisms is to give its members both information as
well as feedback. Moreover, SMI use language that consists of many genres including
reports and the genre that will be under investigation in this analysis, ‘media
coverage’. Furthermore, SMI use a specialised lexis, abbreviations and acronyms.
Finally, SMI have changing memberships and therefore different levels of expertise
since many young people get involved in stock market investing and many people
have been working as stock marker investors for many years.
Consequently, having seen that SMI have common goals, they use mechanisms of
intercommunication to exchange information and get feedback, they use different
genres, they use specialised terminology and that they have different levels of
expertise, we can conclude that SMI form a discourse community.
3. THE DATA
Designing a corpus is not an easy task; there are many issues to be taken into
consideration before collecting the data. First of all, the content of the data has to be
decided and in order for a decision to be made, we need do know exactly what we
want to examine. The more representative and restricted our data is the clearer and
useful our findings will be (Barnbrook, 1996). For this project, the data is a collection
of commentary on financial and related media coverage including analysis of political
and social influences on the business world in the USA with the more general
headings of ‘The Market Today’ and ‘The Market this Week’. These commentaries
were found in the World Wide Web (www.analyze-media.com/) which brings us to

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another issue, the issue of were to get texts from. There are many ways of getting texts
for our data; one can download texts from the internet, use a CD-ROM, use
institutional text archive sites or even type or scan texts in (ibid). As already
mentioned above, the data for this assignment was taken from the internet and there
was no problem using the data from the internet since the texts were computer-
readable. Should the texts had not been computer-readable, more effort should be
made to turn them into a computer-readable form (ibid). Furthermore, there is the
issue of the size of the data. It is difficult to know in advance how much data will be
needed since every corpus analysis has different needs (ibid). This analysis is very
restricted and therefore small in size; about 115.000 words. Finally, there is the issue
of copyright; that is, permission needs to be obtained from the copyright holders to use
any texts protected by copyright (Biber et al, 1998). This issue was not a problem for
this project because the texts that were downloaded from the internet were not
protected by copyright.
4. THE PROCEDURE
After collecting the data, the first step of the analysis was to produce a wordlist of
the top 200 most frequent words by using ‘Wordsmith’ concordancing tools (see
appendix1), and examine to see which content words that were high in frequency
seemed to be more interesting. To check whether those frequent words had any
significance, they were compared with a wordlist of frequency words from a ‘general
English’ corpus, the ‘Birmingham Corpus’ (BC). In this way words that had high
frequency in both corpora were seen as common and therefore uninteresting for the
analysis. The words, on the other hand, that were high in frequency in the SMIC
corpus but less frequent in the BC were considered to be of greater importance to the
SMIC. The next step then, was to choose the words that were thought to play an
important role in the SMIC and thus need a closer investigation (corpus plus
intuition1). The investigation was carried out by using the ‘concordance tool’ for each
word under investigation. Once the concordance lines of the words were displayed
more concordancing tools were used. More specifically, the ‘show collocates’ option
gave the collocations of the node word, that is the search word, and the ‘clusters’
option gave chunks that collocate with the node word. Furthermore, to see how strong
the collocations were, an investigation of the collocations and clusters from a ‘general
English’ Corpus was carried out. Unfortunately, access to the BC was not possible,
instead, the Guardian-Observer Corpus (GOC) was used which is also a general
English corpus. Finally, to analyse the meaning of those findings, concordance lines
were used.

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
65
5. THE ANALYSIS
Looking at the SMIC and BC wordlists, we immediately notice that the SMIC has
a high lexical density; the first content word, in the SMIC is ‘market’ (no.17), which is
register specific, whereas in the BC the first content word, is ‘people’ (no. 72) which
is a general noun. Also, if we compare the content words with the function words of
the two top 200 wordlists, in the SMIC there are about 94 content words and 106
function words whereas in the BC there are only about 37 content words and 163
function words. There are more than double the number of content words in the SMIC
than BC which confirms the claim that SMIC has a high lexical density.
5.1. Pronouns
Before we look at the content words in more detail, however, we will look at the
function words. The most sticking discovery is that personal pronouns have a high
frequency in the BC but not in the SMIC; some pronouns do not even appear in the
top 200 words:
TABLE 1: FREQUENCY OF PRONOUNS
Pronouns SMIC
ranking BC
ranking Pronouns SMIC
ranking BC
ranking
I 99 8 SHE __ 31
HE 128 12 HER __ 36
YOU 64 14
THEY 31 21
HIS 152 23 WE 48 30
Source: Developed by the author
This suggests that this genre of SMIC is mainly impersonal. This could be because
what this genre does is report situations and when reporting something, usually,
personal opinions and interpretations are not given.
5.2. Verbs
Furthermore, examining the verbs that appear in the top 200 wordlists, we can
observe that there is an uneven distribution of verbs as well:

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TABLE 2: FREQUENCY OF VERBS
VERBS SMIC
ranking BC
ranking VERBS
SMIC
ranking BC
ranking VERBS
SMIC
ranking BC
ranking
IS 7 11
WOULD 74 44
FELL 156 _____
WILL 11 77
MAY 77 118
RALLIED 158 _____
ARE 12 27
HAD 92 19
YIELD 159 _____
BE 15 18
DO 101 53
DID 161 95
WAS 19 10
SHOULD 115 133
KEEP 162 _____
HAVE 20 24
CAN 117 60
GO 168 100
HAS 28 61
COULD 124 71
GAINS 180 _____
BEEN 47 50
GOING 127 112
DOES 185 188
WERE 50 37
BEING 133 130
GET 188 85
RALLY 62 ____
SELL 140 ____
TAKE 190 148
FED 71 ____
CONTINUE 149 ____
Source: Developed by the author
More verbs from the BC not found in the SMIC are: said, think, might, want, see,
got, say, know, come, work, made, make, must, came, thought, says, went, put, look,
mean, find, left, looked and used.
5.3. Function verbs
The major difference of the two wordlists in terms of the verbs is that the most
frequent verbs in the SMIC are ‘grammatical’ or ‘function’ verbs; they do not convey
a clear meaning when they stand alone. In this category, some modal verbs are
noticeable: will, would, should, can, could, may.
‘Will’, ‘may’ and ‘could’ are more frequently used in the future, to show
possibility or to make future predictions. ‘Can’ is used to show ability and ‘should’ is
used to give advice or opinion, or show an expectation in the future. Finally, ‘would’
is mainly used to speculate about past events. This leads us to the conclusion that one
of the characteristics this DC and in particular this genre, is that it is important to
make predictions and also speculate about how things would have been if certain
things had happened.
5.4. Content verbs
Also, the content verbs of SMIC, compared with BC, are register specific. This is
because some verbs are unusually high in frequency, like fed and sell, and many
everyday used verbs which are frequent in the BC, like think, are not even in the top
200 words.
What was surprising though was that when the first content verb of the SMIC was
investigated, ‘rally’, which was initially regarded as a verb, was discovered to be more
commonly used as a noun, collocating with ‘market’. Also, looking through the

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
67
concordance lines, it was discovered that ‘rally’ in this context has a different meaning
than the everyday use of it to mean a large public meeting to support a particular idea.
Here, it means ‘an agreement’ when used as a noun and ‘to improve’ or ‘regain
strength’ when used as a verb. Also, clusters and concordance lines suggest that ‘rally’
as a verb is more frequently used in the future tense to make predictions. This finding
intrigued me to investigate the verb ‘rallied’. What was found was that ‘rallied’ was
used as the past tense or past participle of ‘rally’ and has the same collocations with
rally as a noun, as well as the collocation ‘rallied strongly’. This difference of
frequency between ‘rally’ and ‘rallied’ in terms of tense, suggests that ‘rally’ is a past
action rather than a future one.
I also wondered whether ‘gains’ was more widely used as a verb or as a noun. The
analysis showed that ‘gains’ was used as a noun. There was only one piece of
evidence of ‘gains’ used as a verb, which was a headline of an article, and was
actually used for a past event2. Instead, there were other word forms of ‘gain’ used as
a verb, which were not in the top 200 words. As with ‘rally’, ‘gain’ was used for past
and future actions not present. Also, ‘yield’ was more frequently used as a noun to
mean ‘the rate of income received by an investor from a security’ (Alan, 1989) but
was also used as a verb to mean ‘to produce’. What was interesting to discover was
that ‘yield’ was mainly used in the future tense.
What these findings suggest, is that in the SMIC mainly uses past and future verbs;
past verbs for past results and future verbs for future predictions. This reinforces the
findings of the usage of modal verbs.
In addition, the word ‘fed’ was investigated, which was though to be a strange
verb to be so high in frequency (no. 71) and wondered whether it was used
metaphorically. The investigation showed that it was not a verb; there was not a single
example of it used as a verb. It was actually an abbreviation of the ‘Federal
Government’ of the USA. It became more apparent that ‘fed’ was some kind of a
formal body by the fact that in all the examples ‘Fed’ was written with a capital ‘F’.
5.5. Content words
Furthermore, the content words that were high in frequency in the SMIC, but not
in the BC, and that were though to be of great significance to SMIC were investigated.
These words are: market, markets, equity, equities, bond, bonds, day, economy,
economic, stock, stocks, dow, street, rate, rates, data, earnings, points, trading, share
and shares. However, not all words showed any unusual usage or meaning. Here, only
the words that behaved differently in the SMIC will be presented. These words are:
market and markets, bond and bonds, equity and equities, share and shares, stock and
stocks. Also the words ‘above’ and ‘over’ and ‘dow’ will be under investigation.
The analysis of these words aims to discover whether SMIC uses common lexis
that is used in this DC with more special way or whether it uses technical lexis only,

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usually, understood by members of that DC. As it will be demonstrated below, it has
been discovered that the SMIC uses common lexis which gets a more specialised
meaning by the context and by different collocations that precede or follow that lexis.
Firstly, ‘market’, the first content word of the SMIC, and ‘markets’, the second
content word, behaved in the same way but had different collocations from the GOC
and some of them were rather unusual, giving the words a specialised meaning:
TABLE 3: COLLOCATIONS OF ‘MARKET’ AND ‘MARKETS’
SMIC: market(s) GOC: market(s)
The
Stock
Labour
market
the markets
The
Bond
Stock
Equity
Treasury
Bear
Housing
Bull
market
markets
and
rally
has
will
are
have
Source: Developed by the author
In this context ‘market’ means ‘the total public demand for a commodity’ (ibid),
whereby different collocations are formed, for example, ‘treasury market’ and
‘housing market’. These collocations, even though they have a specialised meaning,
they are relatively easy for people outside the DC to understand. What are unusual and
quite opaque are the collocations ‘bear market’ and ‘bull market’; their meaning
cannot be guessed just by explaining the words. ‘Bear market’ means ‘a market in
which prices are tending to fall’ (ibid) whereas ‘bull market’ means ‘a market in
which prices are tending to rise’ (ibid).
The next words under investigation are ‘bond’ and ‘bonds’. The analysis found
that there is some difference between the meanings of the two words.
TABLE 4: COLLOCATIONS OF ‘BOND’
SMIC: Bond GOC: Bond
The
And
Treasury
year
bond markets
yields
prices
markets
And
the
bond
Source: Developed by the author
‘Bond’ here has shown two different uses and meanings. The first one is as an
adjective and it is used as a general term for ‘any fixed-interest security’ (ibid). The

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
69
second use is as a noun and it means ‘a document issued by the government or a
company borrowing money from the public, stating the existence of a debt and the
amount owing as principle and interest to the holder of the document’ (ibid). The
collocations that precede or follow ‘bond’ give it a very register specific meaning, for
example ‘Treasury bond’ (second sense of the word) means a bond issued by the
Treasury. In the GOC, however, ‘bond’ shows little connection with the stock market;
many concordance lines are about James Bond, the fictional character.
Interestingly, the collocations of the word ‘bonds’ came after the word and were
mainly verbs.
TABLE 5: COLLOCATIONS OF ‘BONDS’
SMIC: ‘Bonds’ GOC: ‘Bonds’
And
that
bonds
and
that
are
will
have
were
rallied
No collocations
No clusters
Source: Developed by the author
This means that ‘bonds’ is used as a noun which suggested a connection with
‘bond’ as a noun. The analysis proved this to be true. The meaning of ‘bonds’ is ‘an
accepted word for unregistered bonds’ (ibid).
Moreover, ‘equity’ and ‘equities’, has been discovered, are words that do not need
collocations to give them a register specific meaning. They themselves carry a
specialised meaning. Perhaps this is the reason why no important collocations were
found apart from ‘equity market’. However, ‘equity’ and ‘equities’ have a different
meaning. ‘Equity’ is ‘the value of a company’s shares’ whereas ‘equities’ is ‘shares in
a company which do not pay a fixed amount of interest’ (Hornby, 2000). The fact
‘equity’ and ‘equities’ are register specific and thus not very common outside SMI
Community is reinforced by the fact that in the GOC there were only five entries for
‘equity’ and no entries for ‘equities’.
‘Share’ and ‘Shares’ have no difference in meaning as used in the business world
which is ‘a particular separate part or portion into which the capital of a company is
divided’ (Alan, 1989) and they do not seem to have any significant collocations or
clusters apart from ‘share market’ and ‘shares and bonds’. Even though these words
become register specific when in the SMIC, they are widely understood by people
outside this DC. This is evident in the GOC where ‘share’ was used as a main verb.
‘Shares’, in the GOC, was more frequently used than ‘share’ as with the SMIC.

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Furthermore, ‘stock’ and ‘stocks’ were investigated:
TABLE 6: COLLOCATIONS OF ‘STOCK’
SMIC: Stock GOC: Stock
the
stock market
markets
prices
The stock (5 instances)
Stock market (7 instances)
Source: Developed by the author
‘Stock’ and ‘Stocks’, like ‘’share’ and ‘shares’, when used in a business context
they are registered specific. Two uses of ‘stock’ have been observed. The first one is
as a noun used to mean ‘the value of the shares in a company that have been sold’
(Hornby, 2000). The meaning becomes obvious by the fact that in the concordance
lines the examples that had this meaning denote a connection with money or rates. The
second meaning of ‘stock’ is ‘a share that somebody has bought in a company or
business’ (ibid). This use of ‘stock’ was strongly connected with collocates like
market(s) and prices. Also, ‘stocks’ is used as the plural of the second use of ‘stock’
and has similar collocations.
Furthermore, it was initially planned to investigate the collocations of the
collocations to check how strong the collocations are. However, after the analysis of
the chosen words, it was discovered that this was not necessary because it was obvious
that the words collocated with each other. We have thus: ‘stock market’, ‘bond
market’, ‘equity market’, ‘bonds and stocks’, ‘equity and bond’. This shows that these
words have a strong bond among them and it also shows their importance in the
SMIC; not only they are very high in frequency but they complement each other as
well. The strong collocations among the chosen words confirmed that the words were
worth investigating and analysing.
In addition, the words ‘above’ and ‘over’ were investigated to see how they are
used in the SMIC and see whether it is the same in general English. The analysis has
shown that these words are used more restricted in that they are used to convey fewer
meanings than in general English; the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
(Hornby, 2000) presents ten different uses of ‘above’, five as a preposition, three as an
adverb one as an adjective and one as a noun. The SMIC has revealed the following
four uses: (a) adj. to refer to ‘something mentioned previously’, (b) n. ‘the above’ to
refer again to ‘something mentioned previously’, (c) adv. to mean ‘earlier in
something written or printed and (d) prep. to mean ‘greater in number’. From these
four uses of ‘above’, only the last one, (d), shows a link with the context of SMIC.
The other uses are plainly used to create syntactical style.
Additionally, ‘over’ showed a similar behaviour. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s
Dictionary (Hornby, 2000) presents eighteen uses of ‘over’. In this data, there were

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
71
observed six uses of ‘over’; (a) prep. to mean ‘more than’ used with numbers and
money, (b) prep. to mean ‘during something’, (c) prep. to mean ‘in or on all or most
parts of something’, (d) adv. to mean ‘repeatedly’, (e) adv. to mean ‘ended’ and (f)
adv. to mean ‘above’. The most frequent uses of ‘over’ in the SMIC were ‘a’ and ‘e’.
From the examples in this corpus, the use that has a direct link with the DC under
investigation is the first one, (a) which is used to mean ‘more than’. This is reinforced
by the fact that the word is used with numbers and money which is what this DC is all
about. The other meanings of ‘over’ are used, as explained above with the word
‘above’, for syntactic reasons.
Finally, the word ‘dow’ was investigated, a high frequency word which did not
seem to mean anything. The analysis was proved to be worthwhile because this word
was discovered to be an abbreviation of the ‘Dow Jones Average’ which, in USA, is ‘a
number of weighted averages of prices of leading stocks quoted on the New York
Stock Exchange, calculated by Dow Jones & Co. and published hourly in their Wall
Street Journal, as well as being reported daily in other newspapers all over the world’
(Adams, 1989). The concordance lines have revealed that Dow is always with a
capital ‘D’ and always preceded by ‘the’; ‘the Dow’. They have also revealed two
different types of Dow Jones Averages. The first one is ‘Dow Jones Industrial
Averages’, sometimes abbreviated to ‘the Dow Jones Industrial’, which is ‘probably
the world’s best known index of the movement of prices and yields of common stock
on the New York Stock Exchange. It is based on 30 leading US industrial companies’
(ibid). The second one is ‘Dow Jones Transportation Average’, sometimes abbreviated
to the ‘Dow Jones Transports’, for ‘calculated on the stock prices of 20 leading air,
road, rail and freight-forwarding companies’ (ibid). The analysis of this word has not
only revealed yet another abbreviation used by this DC, which is part of the fifth
characteristic of a DC as presented by Swales (1990), but it has also revealed other
genres of the SMIC, which is the fourth characteristic.
6. CONCLUSION
The aim of this corpus-based analysis was to investigate how Stock Market
Investors use language in their community and thus create appropriate teaching
materials for students studying this particular business area. Here, is a summary of the
findings:
• There is a high lexical density;
• Reporting of events is impersonal;
• Past and future tense is more widely used than present tense;
• Non-specialised, common lexis is used but gets a more specialised meaning
by the context and by different collocations that precede or follow that lexis
and becomes register specific;

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72
• Some abbreviations were found such as ‘Fed’, ‘the Dow’;
• New genres that they are utilized were discovered.
Undoubtedly, there are many more things to be said and be investigated about this
DC, however, due to the small nature of the project, only the most prominent findings
were presented. Also, due to the small size of the data, perhaps not all relevant
collocations and clusters were revealed.
Nevertheless, this corpus-based analysis revealed interesting and enlightening
insights into the Stock Market Investors Community. Corpus was without a doubt a
great source of information and an effective way of analysing language. Following
the analysis, a teacher can produce appropriate, helpful and interesting materials for an
ESP (English for Specific Purposes) class of business, studying about the stock
market.
NOTES:
1. As Pattington explains (1998), an analysis based on intuitions as well as corpus, is
coordinated in the following way; the analyst has an intuition about something and with
the help of concordancing tools checks the corpus data to see whether his or her intuition
is feasible or not. It is also possible to discover something that was not previously
suspected.
2. Using present simple tense for a past action is a typical journalistic style (Evans, 2000).
APPENDIX:
First 120 word forms in the Stock Market Investors Community Corpus compared
with the Birmingham Corpus:
SMIC BC WORD SMIC BC WORD SMIC BC WORD
1 1 THE 42 BONDS 83 131 ALSO
2 3 AND 43 33 ONE 84 DATA
3 4 TO 44 38 WHICH 85 EARNINGS
4 6 IN 45 BOND 86 64 INTO
5 2 OF 46 142 DAY 87 74 OTHER
6 5 A 47 50 BEEN 88 161 LAST
7 11 IS 48 30 WE 89 128 STILL
8 7 THAT 49 WEEK 90 POINTS
9 15 ON 50 37 WERE 91 TRADING
10 26 THIS 51 WAR 92 19 HAD
11 77 WILL 52 149 AGAIN 93 59 VERY
12 27 ARE 53 51 OUT 94 110 MANY
13 9 IT 54 ECONOMY 95 68 WELL
14 13 FOR 55 46 NO 96 174 MR
15 18 BE 56 183 YEAR 97 STOCK
16 17 AS 57 42 THEIR 98 EVEN

Corpus-Based Analysis: Stock Market Investors’ Community
73
17 MARKET 58 39 AN 99 8 I
18 25 NOT 59 STOCKS 100 135 HERE
19 10 WAS 60 92 DOWN 101 53 DO
20 24 HAVE 61 103 AFTER 102 81 BECAUSE
21 20 BUT 62 RALLY 103 72 PEOPLE
22 MARKETS 63 63 SOME 104 111 GOOD
23 28 OR 64 14 YOU 105 87 ANY
24 29 BY 65 DOW 106 IRAQ
25 41 WHAT 66 70 TIME 107 65 THEN
26 22 AT 67 73 ITS 108 WALL
27 16 WITH 68 80 JUST 109 86 SEE
28 61 HAS 69 145 OFF 110 136 LONG
29 45 ABOUT 70 99 NEW 111 175 ONCE
30 34 ALL 71 FED 112 TREASURY
31 21 THEY 72 STREET 113 HOUSING
32 40 SO 73 56 WHO 114 REPORT
33 48 UP 74 44 WOULD 115 133 SHOULD
34 U 75 RATES 116 75 ONLY
35 S 76 83 OVER 117 60 CAN
36 55 MORE 77 118 MAY 118 TODAY
37 66 NOW 78 THAN 119 FRIDAY
38 35 THERE 79 ECONOMIC 120 197 END
39 43 IF 80 91
40 32 FROM 81
41 EQUITY 82 49
Source: Developed by the author
REFERENCES:
Adam, J.H. (1989). Longman Dictionary of Business English. Harlow: Longman.
Barnbrook, G. (1996). Language and Computers. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Biber, D., Conrad, S. and Reppen, R. (1998). Corpus Linguistics – investigating language
structure and use. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Evans, H. (2000). Essential English for Journalists, Editors and Writers. London: Pimlico.
Hornby, A.S. (2000). Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.
Johnson, K. and Johnson, H. (eds) (1998). Encyclopedic Dictionary of Applied Linguistics.
Oxford: Blackwell.
Leech, G. (1991). ‘Corpora’ in Malmkjaer, K. (1991) (ed) The Linguistics Dictionary.
London: Routledge.
Partington, A. (1998). Patterns and Meanings – Using Corpora for English Language
Research and Teaching. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Stubbs, M. (1996). Text and Corpus Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell.
Swales, M. (1990). Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/75-92
A HYPERGEOMETRIC MODEL FOR INFORMATION RETRIEVAL
ISSAM MOUGHRABI*
ABSTRACT
Response time in an information system can be improved by reducing the number of blocks
accessed when retrieving a document set. One approach is to restructure the document base in
such a way that similar documents are placed close together in the file space. This ensures a
greater probability that documents will be co-located within the same block. This paper is
based on a file sequencing algorithm proposed by in [Lowden 1985, Moghrabil (1996)] and
attempts to improve the aforementioned algorithm. Three sequencing algorithms are
considered. The effect of associating weights to key terms during document sequencing is the
major area of interest. A study of the algorithms’ performance is conducted using statistical
and experimental methods of these algorithms. In specific, statistical formulae are employed to
predict the algorithms’ behavior on a random sample.
Keywords: Clustering; Hypergeometric Models; Term Weighting; Database; Statistical Models;
Information Retrieval.
1. INTRODUCTION
Generally speaking information retrieval is a discipline involved with the
organization, structuring, analysis, storage, searching and dissemination of
information. Information retrieval systems are designed to make available a given
stored collection of information items with the objective of providing, in response to a
user query, references that would contain the information desired by the user. In other
words, the system is intended to identify which documents the user should read in
order to satisfy his/her information requirements.
It is common, in information retrieval, to suppose that each document is indexed
by a set of content identifiers that are variously known as key terms, index terms or
subject indicators. This would require the application of some automatic or manual
indexing technique to the full text or some surrogate of the documents in order to
identify the key terms to be used in their representation. In addition to the selection of
index terms to represent documents, it is also common to associate weights that reflect
the importance of each key term (Wong et al 1986).
In 1985, Lowden (Lowden, 1985) proposed a file sequencing algorithm to reduce
the access time required for information retrieval. His work was extended by
* Professor of Computer Science, Faculty of Business, Gulf University for Science and
Technology, Kuwait

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Thompson (Thompson, 1989) who introduced a similar algorithm that sequenced a file
in a significantly reduced amount of time. His work included a large number of
simulations to determine the effectiveness and duration of the algorithm. The
conclusions obtained, while clearly indicating a reduced sequencing time, contained a
number of unexpected and unexplained results.
The purpose of this paper is four fold:
1. To investigate various document classification algorithms and compare their
performance during document retrieval.
2. To compare Lowden's and Moghrabi’s sequencing algorithms to determine the
effectiveness of each.
3. To investigate the effect of 'weighted-key terms' on the file sequencing
efficiency of the above algorithms.
4. To analyze statistically the file sequencing algorithms in an attempt to
explain the results obtained.
2. INFORMATION RETRIEVAL ISSUES
All search strategies are based on comparison between the query and the stored
documents. The search strategies to be employed in an information retrieval system
depend mainly on the file structure of the system. Different file structures would
have different strategies and appropriateness for searching. Sometimes comparisons
may only be achieved by comparing the query with cluster profiles (cluster
representatives) indirectly.
The following Retrieval Models are mostly employed in the representation of
data/document representatives and that suggest methods for comparing the similarity
between a document and a query:
(1) The Vector Space Model: represents both queries and documents by term sets and
computes global similarities between them.
(2) The Probabilistic Retrieval Model: is based on the idea that since relevance of a
document with respect to a query is a matter of degree, then when the document and
query vectors are sufficiently similar, the corresponding probability of relevance is
large enough to make it reasonable to retrieve the document in answer to the query.
(3) The Boolean Family of Retrieval Models: which compare Boolean query
statements (i.e. the ones with AND, OR and NOT operators) with the term sets used to
identify document content (Salton, 1989).
Matching a query with existing documents plays an important role in query
processing. Different file organizations have been used to aid the matching process
and the most common ones are the Inverted List and the Multi-list file organizations
(Ashford, 1989).

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
77
3. DOCUMENT CLUSTERING
One disadvantage of conventional information retrieval methodology, using
inverted index files, is that the information pertaining to a document is scattered
among many different inverted-term lists. Furthermore, information related to
different documents with similar term assignments may not be in close proximity
within the file system. Hence, during retrieval, documents satisfying queries would
not appear close together. This problem may be overcome by the use of clustering
operations that group into common areas items judged to be similar (Salton, 1989).
In general, a clustered file provides efficient file access by limiting the searches to
those document clusters which appear to be the most similar to the corresponding
queries. At the same time, clustered file searches may also be effective in retrieving
the wanted items whenever the so-called Cluster Hypothesis applies. The hypothesis
states that closely associated documents tend to be relevant to the same request (Van
Rijsbergen, 1979). According to the cluster hypothesis, it is obvious that storing
similar documents together would reduce the time required for retrieval.
Various classification methods have been proposed by various researchers.
However, for a good classification method, a few criteria should be emphasized:
• the method produces a clustering which is unlikely to be altered drastically
when further objects are incorporated;
• the method is stable in the sense that small errors in the description of the
objects lead to small changes in the clustering; and
• the method is independent of the initial ordering of the objects.
Two approaches of cluster-generation will be introduced next.
3.1. Hierarchical cluster generation
Two main strategies can be used to carry out the cluster generation. Firstly a
complete list of all pair wise document similarities can be constructed, in which case it
is necessary to employ a grouping mechanism capable of assembling into common
clusters documents with sufficiently large pair wise similarities. Alternatively,
heuristic methods can be used that do not require pairwise document similarities to be
computed (Salton, 1989). The heuristic methods will be discussed in the next section.
When clustering depends on pairwise document similarities, a document similarity
matrix is conveniently used as a starting point, followed by a comparison of all
distinct pairs of matrix rows to be used for document clustering. Suppose there are N
documents in total, the pair wise comparison of matrix rows produces N(N-1)/2
different pair wise similarity coefficients for the documents. No matter what specific
clustering method is used, the clustering process can be carried out either diversively
or agglomeratively (Jain, 1958). In the former case, the complete collection is

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assumed to represent one complete cluster that is subsequently broken down into
smaller pieces. In the latter, individual document similarities are used as a starting
point, and a gluing operation collects similar documents into larger groups (Murray,
1972). In both cases, a document hierarchy called a dendrogram would be produced
(Jain, 1988). Here the agglomerative process, which is more commonly employed in
information retrieval systems, will be considered.
A simple outline for a hierarchical, agglomerative clustering process is given
below:
1. Compute all pair wise document-document similarity coefficients.
2. Place each of the N documents into a class of its own.
3. Form a new cluster by combining the most similar pair of current clusters (i)
and (j); update the similarity matrix by deleting the rows and columns
corresponding to i and j and then calculate the entries in the row corresponding
to the new cluster i + j.
4. Repeat step 3 if the number of clusters remaining is greater than 1.
Each item is thus placed in its own class and then the two most similar items are
combined into a single class; the combining process is continued until only a single
class of objects remains.
In Single-Link clustering, the similarity between a pair of clusters is taken to be the
similarity between the most similar pair of documents, one of which appears in each
cluster. Thus each cluster member will be more similar to at least one member in that
same cluster than to any member of another cluster.
In Complete-Link clustering, the similarity between the least similar pair of
documents from the two clusters is used as the cluster similarity. Thus each cluster
member is more similar to the most dissimilar member of that cluster than to the most
dissimilar member of any other cluster.
Group-average clustering is a compromise between the extremes of the single-link
and complete-link Systems, in that each cluster member has a greater average
similarity to the remaining members of that cluster than it does to all members of any
other cluster (Murray, 1972).
It can be seen that a single-link system produces a small number of large, poorly
linked clusters, whereas the complete-link process produces a much larger number of
small, tightly linked groupings. Because each document in a complete-link cluster is
guaranteed to resemble all other documents in that cluster (at the stated similarity
level), the complete-link clustering system may be better adapted to retrieval than the
single-link clusters, where similarities between documents may be very low.
Unfortunately, a complete-link cluster generation is generally more expensive to
perform than a single-link process.
3.2. Heuristic cluster generation

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
79
The hierarchical clustering strategies just described are based on prior knowledge of
all pair wise similarities between documents. Therefore, the corresponding cluster-
generation methods are relatively expensive to perform. In return, these methods
produce a unique set of well-formed clusters for each set of data, regardless of the
order in which the similarity pairs are introduced into the clustering process.
Furthermore, the resulting cluster hierarchy is stable in that small changes in input
data do not lead to large rearrangements in the cluster structure.
These desirable clustering properties are lost when heuristic clustering methods
are used; heuristic methods produce rough cluster arrangements rapidly at relatively
little expense. The simplest heuristic process, a one-pass procedure, takes the elements
to be clustered one at a time in arbitrary order, requiring no advance knowledge of
document similarities. The first document is initially taken and placed into a cluster of
its own. Each subsequent document is then compared against all existing clusters, and
is placed in a previously existing cluster whenever it is similar enough to that cluster.
If a new document is not sufficiently similar to any existing cluster, the new document
forms a cluster of its own. This process is continued until the last element is
processed.
A somewhat different heuristic clustering method is based on identifying
individual documents that lie in dense regions of the document space, that is,
documents surrounded by many other documents in close proximity. When such a
document is located, it is used as a cluster seed, and all sufficiently similar documents
in the same general vicinity then form a common class of documents. More
specifically, a density test is performed sequentially for all documents not yet
clustered. Whenever a document passes the density test by exhibiting a sufficient
number of close neighbors, a clustering operation forms a new cluster around the
document. The density-test process is then resumed with the next document not yet
clustered. At the end of the process, some documents remain unclustered either
because they failed the density test, or because they were too far removed from cluster
seeds to fit into any existing cluster. Such 1loose' items may either be left unclustered,
or assembled into cluster structures of their own (Salton, 1989).
Although the desirable properties of the hierarchical clustering strategies are not
retained by the use of the methods described here, the time saved during clustering
makes it advantageous to perform clustering heuristically.
4. DOCUMENT SEQUENCING
4.1. File system description

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The records of the files in this paper are assumed to be of fixed length and the key-
terms are confined to particular fields within the records. Such records serve as
identifications or pointers to actual documents in the Information system.
A key conversion table is used to convert key-terms into numerical values within
some range. Thus, every attribute will be mapped into its equivalent numerical value,
according to the data it holds in that record. Thus, there is a mapping of records such
that each record can be viewed as a vector X in a geometrical space and X can be
represented as: X=(x1, x2, x3,..., xn)T {where n is the number of key-terms}
Moreover, all of these X vectors, assuming that each is unique, can be written as a
linear combination of the vectors of the basis in a unique fashion.
4.2. Hamming distance
Various measures and methods have been used for gauging the dissimilarity (or
otherwise) between two given records. Let the difference between the ith and kth
records be denoted as: d(i, k)
One such ‘cheap’ measure that we adopt in this work is the Hamming Distance
(HD). Let HD stand for Hamming Distance; then, the difference between two records
is given by:
d(i, k)= f(x , x )
ij kj
j=1
r
∑{where r is the number of attributes of a record}
where, f(xij, xkj) = 0 if xij = xkj
and f(xij,xkj) = 1 if xij<>xkj.
The total hamming distance of the file is given by [2]:
HD= d(i,i +1)
i
N
=
−
∑
1
1{where N is the total number of records}.
4.3. Clustering algorithm 1 (Moghrabi)
This algorithm is based on the specification of a threshold value. When the latter is
satisfied, no further comparisons are made and an insertion of the record in the bucket
that satisfied the threshold condition occurs, thus reducing the number of comparisons.
Given a file of size N and a dissimilarity index definition d, a complete weighted
graph denoted by (N, d) may be constructed. Each of the N nodes in the graph

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
81
represents a record in the file space of size N. The weight d(x, y) on each one of the
N(N-1)/2 edges of the graph represents the dissimilarity between the 2 records x and y
connected by the edge (x, y). The algorithm’s goal is to construct a short spanning
path through the nodes thereby reducing to near optimal the overall hamming
distance.
Thus, the operational steps of the algorithm can be specified as follows: a sub-
path of the graph (N, d) is an ordered subset of the nodes in N. (P, m) denotes a path
including a path P and an extra node m which is not in P. The path (P, m) is formed as
follows:
Case 1: If P passes through more than one node then
(a) find an edge (x, y) between nodes of P such that the value
[d(x, m) + d(m, y)] - (x, y)
≤
h (some user-defined threshold value)
or is minimal if no such edge exists
(b) delete edge (x, y) and add edges (x, m) and (m, y) to form path (P, m)
Case 2: If P passes through exactly one node n then make path (P, m) as the edge
(n, m) or (m, n).
The clustering process starts by retrieving the records in the order they were
originally arranged and finding an insertion position among the already clustered
records in the new file. The position that is sought for each incoming record is one
leading to an increase in hamming distance of the new file only by the threshold value
specified or less. Thus, the incoming record starts at the front of the already clustered
records and tries one position after the other until a position is found where the
increase in hamming distance is less than or equal to the specified threshold value. If
no such position is found, the insertion would take place at the position yielding the
smallest increase in hamming distance even though it is greater than the specified
threshold value, which had been kept track of during the search.
The increase in hamming distance ranges between 0 and r inclusive, r being the
number of attributes per record. It is 0 when the incoming record is placed adjacent to
a record that it is identical to. The increment is r when the record is placed between
two records it does not have a single common attribute with and the two records also
do not have any common attribute.
The higher the threshold value, the fewer positions the incoming record needs to
try before it finds itself a satisfactory position. A threshold value equal to r results in a
total number of comparisons equal to the number of records in the file minus two
since the first two records do not need any comparisons. With such a threshold value,
no clustering is done and the resultant file turns out to be a copy of the original file.

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A low threshold value implies a higher number of positions tried and, therefore, a
greater number of comparisons. For example, with a threshold value of 0, and if the
records in the file are unique, no position tested will be satisfactory. Incoming records
will all end up being placed at the position giving rise to the smallest increase in
hamming distance. This is the optimal ordering of the records which is O(n2) Thus, a
wise choice of the threshold value is essential.
4.4. Clustering algorithm 2
This clustering algorithm, before doing any physical clustering, starts matching
each record to one of the nodes of the already built query history tree. The tree
maintains a history of the most frequent queries posed to the IR system. In other
words, it tries to assign each record to the most frequent query that it satisfies. It is a
single pass process which takes each record of the file, traverses through the tree and
assigns it to the query with the highest frequency (or priority) that it satisfies. It stops
when the file is exhausted.
Once the first phase is over, the second phase of clustering starts which is the real
physical clustering of the file. It starts reading the file in sequence and puts the
records that satisfy the same query in contiguous physical positions. Those records
that did not satisfy any of the queries of the query tree are clustered according to a
specified threshold value following the steps of algorithm 1. In other words, while the
first part of the resultant file consists of buckets of records that belong to the same
query, the second part consists of a sequence of records that are clustered according to
a dissimilarity index which in our case is the hamming distance.
Thus, if a record was assigned to a query during the first phase of the algorithm,
then its position in the new file will be at the end of the current sequence of records
that satisfy that query. If a record does not satisfy any of the queries, then the
clustering algorithm will fetch a position starting from the first record of the first
bucket of the second part of the file trying to place it in a position where the increase
in hamming distance is less or equal to the threshold value specified.
Those records that are assigned to the same query will be put in proximity to one
another in the same bucket (and consecutive ones if they need more than one bucket).
The clustering is based on the assumption that since these queries are asked very
frequently, and consequently their probability of being asked again is very high, then
by putting records that satisfy the same query in contiguous locations will result in the
retrieval of the minimum number of blocks.
This strategy tries to make a compromise between the most frequent queries and
the minimum hamming distance.
4.5. Document insertion

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83
Document insertion by both types of classification methods is the same: insertion
is done by looking up the file in the same way as in query processing. The document
to be inserted is treated as a query. It is then inserted into the location where its
neighbors are most similar to it.
For hierarchical clustering, the document is inserted into the cluster which
members are most similar to it.
For file sequencing, an incoming record is inserted into a location that results in
the lowest increase in the total Hamming Distance.
4.6. Document deletion
Document deletion, like insertion, is also treated like query processing. When such
a document is found, it is deleted from the file.
It is less of a problem to hierarchical clustering since the document is only taken
out from the cluster it is in. Only when the cluster is too small (i.e. less then the pre-
set threshold) would a file reorganization be required.
For file sequencing, since the neighbors of each document are quite similar to each
other, deletion of a few documents would not cause many problems. However when
deleting a large number of documents, file reorganization may be necessary.
Suppose there are N documents in total, the hierarchical cluster-generation
methods would require N(N-1)/2 pair wise document similarity coefficients. In order
to sort them in descending order for clustering, it would require a total of O(N2 log N2)
operations.
The file sequencing algorithm would require O(N2) comparisons for document
insertions. The hierarchical-generation algorithms are therefore more expensive than
the file sequencing algorithm. However, files generated from file sequencing are more
sensitive to update operations. Therefore there is a trade-off between efficiency and
effectiveness.
In the next section a few heuristic modifications of the file sequencing algorithm
will be introduced. Their efficiency and effectiveness will be investigated both
experimentally and statistically.
The performance of different sequencing algorithms with key term weighting will
be analyzed both experimentally and statistically with the help of computer programs.
5. NEW SEQUENCING METHODS
5.1. Key-term weighting
According to the original work of Lowden [Lowden 1985] all key terms are of
equal weight. However in real life some key terms are more important than others and
therefore would have higher chance to appear in queries. In order to simulate this

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situation, a weight is now given to each key term. During sequencing, records
containing key terms with higher weights would have higher likelihood to be clustered
together. It can help reduce the number of block accesses during query processing.
The approach can be achieved by modifying the method of calculating the Hamming
Distance. The idea can be illustrated by the following example.
Suppose there are seven key terms (a, b, c, d, e, f, g) with weights (1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 4,
3) respectively and two records R1 and R2 of the following form:
R1 = < a, b, C, d, e >
R2 = < b, C, e, f, g >
By the original method of calculation of Hamming Distance, i.e. each key term is
of equal weight, HD (R1, R2) would be equal to 2 since only b, C and e are in both
records.
According to the new key term weighting scheme, a, b, d and e are normal key
terms while C, f and g are more important key terms and therefore have higher
weights. The magnitude of the weights reflects the importance of them in comparison
with the normal key terms. Under this key term weighting scheme, the new
HD(R1,R2) would be evaluated as follows:
HD(R1,R2) = original HD - ∑[ weight(key term in common) – 1]
= 2 - (1 - 1) - (2 - 1) - (1 - 1) =1
The performance of all three sequences with and without this key term weighting
scheme will be investigated. Their performance under the adjustment of the weights
of key terms, number of attributes in queries and the size of a block will also be
investigated.
In addition to simulating the performance using computer programs, it can also be
estimated by statistical methods. The experimental results will be compared with the
theoretical results so as to validate their correctness.
The total Hamming Distance of an unsequenced file is dependent on its
characteristics such as the number of attributes in a record and the number of possible
key terms. It is therefore possible to estimate its total Hamming Distance with the use
of some statistical models.
The experimental result will be compared with the theoretical statistical
predictions in order to assess the effectiveness of the statistical estimates.
5.2. Choosing thresholds for sequencing 2

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
85
According to the key term weighting scheme, it is clear that different thresholds
are needed for key terms with different weights. Some thresholds may be more
effective than others to a particular set of weights. Therefore choosing a suitable
threshold for a particular situation is crucial.
Thresholds may be chosen according to experience or by statistical estimation.
Both approaches will be carried out to investigate the effect of different thresholds. It
is possible that an optimal threshold could be found which suits all situations.
This part will be carried out using a statistical technique called Multiple
Regression. It is a general statistical technique through which one can analyze the
relationship between a dependent or criterion variable and a set of independent or
predictor variables. The value of the dependent variable can also be predicted by the
values of the set of independent variables.
The results from Regression Analysis will be justified by a series of statistical
Hypothesis Testing.
The Hamming Distance of the sequenced files will depend on the number of
attributes in a record, the number of possible key terms and their respective weights.
Multiple Regression will be used to find out their relationship. The result can help to
predict the Hamming Distance of the sequenced files before sequencing is carried out.
Apart from the factors mentioned above, the structure of the unsequenced file is an
important factor which affects the resulting Hamming Distance of the sequenced files.
If the relationship between the Hamming Distance of the sequenced files and the
unsequenced one can be found, it may be possible to predict the Hamming Distance of
the sequenced files in advance. Multiple Regression will be used to investigate this
relationship.
6. EMPIRICAL RESULTS
6.1. Hamming distance of the unsequenced file
The unsequenced files are generated such that each key term (attribute) is
represented by a random number. It is possible to estimate the Hamming Distance of
an unsequenced file with the help of statistical probability distribution theories since
the probability of a specific record being generated is known.
Since each key term can only appear once in each record, sampling is therefore
done by Simple Random Sampling without Replacement (SRSWOR). Let r be the
number of available random numbers and n the number of attributes in a record, the
number of possible unique records to be generated will be equal to rCn. That means
the probability of each record being generated is equal to 1/rCn.
After the first record has been generated from the set of rCn, the probability of the
second one having identical “key terms” as the first one follows a Hypergeometric
distribution.

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86
Suppose there are r preferred objects out of a population of N objects. A sample
of n objects is taken from these N. The probability of having x preferred objects in
this sample is equal to:
Ncx[r / n …. r-(x-1) / N-(x-1)][( N-r)/(N-x)…..{(N-r)-(n-x-1)}/{N-(n-1)}]
={rCx N-RCN-X}/NCn
The first record of the unsequenced file, having n distinct attributes, is drawn from
a population of r key terms. For the second record, the key terms are drawn from the
same population but with n key terms which are already present in the first one.
Therefore, the probability of having x key terms equal to the first one is:
P(X) = ncx r-ncn-x / rcn.
As records are generated independently from each other, when generating the k
record, the probability of having x matches with the (k-1) record is still equal to p(x).
According to this principle, the total Hamming Distance of the file can be
estimated by calculating the expected value of the Hamming Distance. When the
number of matches is x, the Hamming Distance between the two records is (n-x).
Therefore, the expected total Hamming Distance is:
E(total HD) = (n - 1) *∑x=0 (n - x) p (x), where n = total number of records in the
file.
Experimental results generated from computer programs are compared with the
values obtained from this expression. A file size of 1000 was used. The result is
plotted in Figure 1. The experimental results would be closer to the theoretical values
if the points are distributed near to the diagonal. From the figure, it is clear that the
results are quite satisfactory.
6.2. Choosing threshold for sequence 1
When sequencing the records according to the key term weighting scheme with
Sequence 2, different thresholds would be needed for different weights of the key
terms since insertion of new records can only be done if the increment in total
Hamming Distance is less than the threshold. If the threshold is set too high, the
records will not be sequenced at all. If it is too low, the number of comparisons will
be too high. Therefore, choosing suitable thresholds is crucial for getting satisfactory
sequenced files.
In order to set a reasonable value for the threshold, the first thing to consider is the
possible Hamming Distance between two records. The threshold should be at least
smaller than the mean of the possible Hamming Distance. That means insertion can
only be done if the records are at least 50% similar to each other. Otherwise, the

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
87
insertion would be meaningless.
To simplify the situation for analysis purposes, during the experiments the number
of attributes in a record is fixed to 10 and only one key term will have a higher weight.
All other key terms have weights equal to one.
Let w be the weight of one of the key terms. If there are x key terms in common
within two adjacent records and they contain the higher-weighted key term, the
Hamming Distance between these two records will be [(10-x) - (w-1)]. On the other
hand, if they do not contain the higher-weighted key term, the Hamming Distance
between them will be (10 - x). Therefore, the following relationship can be obtained:
TABLE 1: POSSIBLE HD BETWEEN ADJACENT RECORDS AND THE
PROBABILITY OF ATTAINING THEM
Number of
matching
Key-terms
between 2 records
(x)
Possible HD
Presence of
higher
weighted key-
term
Prob. (HD/x)
10 1-w
0 y
n 0.5
0.5
9 2-w
1 y
n 0.5
0.5
1 10-w
9 Y
n 0.5
0.5
0 10 - 1
According to the description in section 6, the number of matches between two
records follows the Hypergeometric Distribution. Hence the expected value of the
Hamming Distance between two records would be equal to:
E(HD) = ∑ possible HDi * P(HDi ∩ X)
= ∑ possible HDi * P(X) *P(HDi/X)
It is obvious that any threshold higher than this value would be meaningless.
Using some calculations, the following threshold values are obtained:
TABLE 2: MAXIMUM THRESHOLDS FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF
WEIGHT
W Maximum Threshold
1 5.0
2 4.5
3 4.0
4 3.5
5 3.0

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An experiment has been done to investigate the performance of different
thresholds. The result is shown in Figure 2. A ratio of the total Hamming Distance to
the number of comparisons of records is plotted. Sequence 2.n means the threshold is
being set to n. It is very clear that a significant decrease in the Hamming Distance is
found when the threshold is smaller than 4. In addition Sequence 2.2 can approximate
Sequence 1 very well under all three different values of the weights. This matches
the theoretical result given above: if the weight is not greater than 5, a satisfactory
result will be obtained if the threshold is not greater than 3.0.
As a threshold of 2 is very suitable for all the values of weights used in the
experiments, the threshold of Sequence 2 will be fixed to have a value of 2 for the
remaining experiments.
6.3. Performance of the sequences during Query Processing
6.3.1. Percentage reduction in Block Accesses during Query Processing
Our experiments have revealed that the percentage reduction in block accesses
would be highest when the number of attributes in queries is around 3. When the
number of attributes in queries is too small or too large, the percentage reduction is
decreased.
This trend of percentage reduction is due to the distribution of the records
matched. When there is only 1 attribute in each query, a large number of records in
the file would be matched with the queries. Therefore whether the records are
sequenced or not does not have much effect on the number of block accesses.
When the number of attributes in each query is large, the number of records in the
file that match with the queries would be very limited. Therefore, even when using
the sequencing algorithms that are quite efficient, the number of block accesses would
not be greatly reduced.
The maximum value of the percentage reduction in accesses can be estimated by
using statistical methods. The probability of a query matching a particular record is
given by:
P (matching) = n/r…..(n-x+1) / (r-x+1),
where, n = number of attributes in a record, x = number of attributes in the
query and r = number of possible key-tems.
The probability of obtaining y records in a file that matches the query can be found
with the help of this equation. It is also possible to estimate the percentage reduction
in block accesses.
The expected number of block accesses in the unsequenced file when there are y
matches is approximately equal to y if y is not greater than the number of blocks in the
file. This is because the matched records may be distributed among all the blocks in

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
89
the file. If y is greater than the number of blocks in that file, the expected number of
block accesses would be equal to the number of blocks in the file.
In the sequenced file, the estimation of number of block accesses could be done by
making the assumption that sequencing will place all matched records as close as
possible. Therefore the expected number of block accesses would be equal to ((y-1)
div block_size) + 1.
The difference between these two expected values is the reduction in block
accesses after sequencing. With this value, it is possible to approximate the expected
percentage reduction in block accesses with different number of attributes in queries.
It is given by the following equation:
∑ y=0..N E(% reduction in block accesses | y) P ( y matches)
=∑ y=0..N E(% reduction in block accesses | y) NCy py (1-p)N-y ,
Where, N = no. of records in the file and p = p(match).
The results of the above estimation are summarized in table number 4.
The percentage reduction in block accesses in this table is much greater than the
experimental values, as the estimation is based on the assumption of optimal
sequencing which can never be attained even with Sequence 1. Although the estimated
values are not directly comparable with the experimental ones, they still show a trend
which is very similar to the experimental one: the maximum reduction is attained
when the number of attributes in queries is around 3.
TABLE 3: OPTIMAL PERCENTAGE REDUCTION IN BLOCK ACCESSES
WITH DIFFERENT NUMBER OF ATTRIBUTES IN QUERIES
Number of Attribute in Query % Reduction
1 49.55
2 75.87
3 88.83
4 88.96
5 87.22
6 81.21
6.4. Evaluating the key-term weighting scheme
The objective of the key term weighting scheme is to increase the likelihood to
cluster the records containing important key terms together so as to reduce the number
of block accesses during query processing.
The performance of the sequencing algorithms under the scheme is compared with
their performance when rating all key terms with equal weight. The results are shown

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90
in Table 4 and 5. The number of attributes in queries is 3, and the weight of one of the
key terms is set to 3 or 5.
TABLE 4: AVERAGE NO.OF BLOCK ACCESSES
sequencing without weight
avg. no. of block accesses
block size 5 10 15 20
unsequenced 84.06 66.07 53.84 44.33
1 57.23 44.27 37.87 32.86
2 59.31 46.20 39.11 34.02
3 58.76 46.01 38.87 33.95
TABLE 5: AVERAGE NO. OF BLOCK ACCESSES WHEN THE WEIGHT OF
THE HIGHER-WEIGHTED KEY TERM IS 5
sequencing with weight
avg. no. of block accesses
unsequenced 84.06 66.07 53.84 44.33
1 55.54 42.15 35.17 30.18
2 66.42 51.05 41.97 34.81
3 64.74 50.00 40.72 33.91
TABLE 6: AVERAGE NO.OF BLOCK ACCESSES WHEN NO WEIGHT IS USED
sequencing without weight
avg. no. of block accesses
unsequenced 82.86 65.33 53.57 44.08
1 56.60 44.53 37.60 33.08
2 59.14 46.07 38.70 33.92
3 58.90 46.36 39.22 34.12
TABLE 7: AVERAGE NO. OF BLOCK ACCESSES WHEN THE WEIGHT OF
THE HIGHER-WEIGHTED KEY TERM IS 5
sequencing with weight
avg. no. of block accesses
unsequenced 82.86 65.33 53.57 44.08
1 53.49 40.08 32.78 28.29
2 69.52 51.24 40.62 33.28
3 69.38 51.46 40.54 33.09
As can be seen from the tables, the sequencing1 algorithm l's performance is

A Hypergeometric Model for Information Retrieval
91
improved with the use of the key term weighting scheme; it conforms to the objective
of the scheme.
The results of Sequence 2 and 3 were contradictory: the number of block accesses
increases when weighting is involved during sequencing. Since the Hamming
Distance between two records would be reduced if they contain the higher-weighted
key term, it is obvious that the increment in total Hamming Distance would be much
smaller with the use of the key term weighting scheme. Although both Sequence 2 and
3 can adequately cluster the records containing the higher-weighted key term together,
due to the relatively small Hamming Distance between them, they cannot sequence the
records within this set comprehensively. Under the insertion strategy of these two
algorithms, insertion within this set of records would not be as satisfactory as within
the other records since the increment in total Hamming Distance during insertion may
always fall below the insertion threshold. Intra-set sequencing would therefore be
affected. As a result, both Sequence 2 and 3 become less efficient when sequencing
under the key term weighting scheme.
The difference between the number of block accesses with and without the use of
the key term weighting scheme is decreasing gradually while the block size is
increasing.
7. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
The characteristics of various file clustering and sequencing algorithms were
discussed. Heuristic modifications of them were also introduced.
Simulations of Lowden's file sequencing algorithm (Sequence 1) and its two
heuristic modifications, Sequence 2 and 3, have been performed. A key term
weighting scheme has also been introduced, and its implication on query processing
was compared with files without the association of key term weighting. Empirical
results indicated that Sequence 2 will have the best performance when the threshold is
set equal to 2. The results also showed that the heuristic modifications are less
effective with the association of key term weighting. However, the efficiency of file
sequencing is significantly improved over the original algorithm (Sequence 1).
Therefore the trade-off of efficiency and effectiveness is once more shown.
In addition to experimental analysis, statistical techniques were also employed to
estimate the Hamming Distance of various kinds of files. The total Hamming
Distance of unsequenced files
A key term weighting scheme has been employed during sequencing. However, to
reduce complexity of the analysis, only one of the available key terms was associated
with a higher weight during analysis. Further analysis would be possible for
investigating the effect of associating various magnitudes of weight to the key terms,
which would surely be a more interesting and challenging task.

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92
REFERENCES
Deppisch, U. (1986). S-Tree: A Dynamic Balanced Signature Index for Office Retrieval:
Proceedings of the 1986-ACM Conference on Research and Development in Information
Retrieval, pp. 77-87.
Guttman, A. (1984). R-trees: a dynamic index structure for spatial searching: Proceedings of
the 1984 ACM SIGMOD International conference on the mgt. of data, pp. 47-57.
Jain, A.K. and Dubes, R.C. (1988). Algorithms for Clustering Data, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, New Jersey.
King, B. (1967). Step-wise clustering procedures, Journal of the American Statistical
Association, 69.
Larson, P.A. (1980). Linear Hashing with Partial Expansions: Proceedings of the 6th
international Conference on VLDB, pp. 224-232.
Lowden, B. G. T. (1985). An Approach to Multikey Sequencing in an Equiprobable Keyterm
Retrieval Simulation: Proceedings of 8th ACM SIGIR Conf. on Research and
Development in Information Retrieval.
Lowden, B.G.T. and Kitsopanidis, A. (1993). Enhancing Database Retrieval Performance
Using Record Clustering, Essex, UK, University of Essex.
Mauldin, M.L.(1991), Conceptual Information Retrieval: A Case Study In Adaptive Partial
Parsing, Kluwer Academic publishers.
Moghrabi, I.A.R. (1995). Expert Systems and Their Use in Libraries, Sci-Quest, 5 (2).
Moghrabi, I.A.R. (1996). Analysis of Algorithms for Clustering Records in Document
Databases, Lebanese Scientific Research Reports, 1 (2), pp. 33-44.
Nievergelt,J. and Hinterberger, H. (1984). The Grid File: An Adaptable Symmetric Multikey
File Structure, ACM Transactions On Database Systems, 9 (1), pp. 38-71.
Salton, G. and McGill, M.J. (1983). Introduction to Modern Information Retrieval, McGraw
Hill, New York.
Salton, G. (1975). Dynamic Information and library processing, Prentice-Hall, Englewood
Cliffs, new Jersey.
Williamson, R.E. (1974). Realtime Document Retrieval, Ph.D. Thesis, Ithaca, NY, Cornell
University.
Wong, S.K.M., Zierko, W. and Ranghvan, V.V. (1987). On Modeling of Information Retrieval
Concepts in Vector Spaces. ACM Transactions on Database Systems, 12 (2).
Yu, C.T. Lam, K. Suen, and Siu, M.K. (1985). Adaptive Record Clustering. ACM Transactions
on database systems, 10 (2), pp. 180-204.
Yu, C.T. Luk, W.S. and Siu, M.K. (1978). On The Estimation of The Number of Desired
Records With Respect To A Given Query. ACM Transactions on database systems, 3 (1),
pp. 41-56.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/93-99
DISTRIBUTION OF MICROORGANISMS IN SOILS OF VICTORIA LAND
AND THEIR BIOSYNTHETIC CAPABILITIES
VICTORIA GESHEVA*
ABSTRACT
The microfloras of soil samples from Terra Nova Bay and Edmonson Point, Antarctica were
observed by dilutions spread plate methods. Variety of mesophilic and psychrophilic
microorganisms was detected and isolated.Bacteria, actinomycetes, fungi and microalga
occurred. Some fungi as Penicillium, Aspergillus, Paecilomyces, Cladosporium, Mortierella,
Candida, Rhodotorula were determined. The actinomycetes were considered to genera
Streptomyces and Nocardia by aminoacid composition of their cell walls. Screening of bacteria
and actinomycetes for biologically active products was carried out.Singular cultures produced
enzymes, antibiotics and glycolipids.
Keywords: Antarctic Soils; Victoria Land, Actinomycetes; Microbial Diversity; Enzymes; Antibiotics.
1. INTRODUCTION
Victoria Land is a place of exceptional scientific attention because of its particular
climatic conditions. This region possesses extensive ice-free geothermal areas with
unique fauna, cryptogamic flora and microbiota (Fig.1). Interesting enough are the
investigations devoted to Protozoa, Rotifera, Tardigrada and Collembola (Petz and
Foissner, 1997; Valbonesi and Petz, 1998; Petz, 2001).The flora is presented by
liverworts (Cephaloziela exiliflora), yellow-green moss (Campilus puriformis) which
occur only here and lichen (Broady et al., 1987). The microflora comprises a range of
unicellular and filamentous algae including Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta and
cyanobacteria, realizing the cyanophacean nitrogen fixation (La Ferla et al., 1995).
Ugolini and Starkey (1966), Broady et al. (1987), Del Frate and Caretta (1990), Onofri
et al. (2000) determined some fungi in this region and found producers of enzymes.
The biological potential of bacteria in Terra Nova Bay has not been studied yet. In
this paper the results of microbe distribution and biological potential of some
microorganisms occurring in Victoria Land are presented.
* Department of Microbial Biosynthesis and Biotechnology, Institute of Microbiology,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Dr. W. Petz for the soil samples, the soil descriptions
and the map.

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94
FIGURE 1: MAP OF VICTORIA LAND
2. MATERIALS AND METHODS
2.1. Soil samples
Three fell field soil samples were taken from 0-3 cm depth in Terra Nova Bay
Station (Italy), northern Victoria Land, (74°41′S, 164°07′E and Edmonson Point
(74°20′S, 165°07′E), Antarctica. The samples were collected and described by Dr. W.
Petz as follow:
Number 1: Terra Nova Bay. Parent material is Mt Abbot Granite.

Distribution of Microorganisms in Soils of Victoria Land and their Biosynthetic Capabilities
95
Number 2: Terra Nova Bay.
Number 3: Edmonson Point. Parent materials are dark volcanic lavas and scoria.
2.2. Isolation and enrichment of microorganisms
The samples were treated by the dilution spread method described by Gesheva
(2002). Cultivation was carried out at 4ºC, 12ºC and 25ºC. The total number of
microorganisms was calculated by plate counts and the results were treated
statistically. Values of the statistical separate experiments were determined as a mean
of five parallel assays ± S.D.
2.3. Taxonomical grouping of isolates
The bacteria and fungi were isolated on appropriate media listed in Table 1.
Growth temperatures, morphological and biochemical characteristics of the strains
were studied according to Bergey's manual, Alexopoulos et al. (1966) and Larone
(1995). Aminoacid composition of cell wall in actinomycetes has been assayed as
described by Vasileva-Tonkova and Gesheva (2005).
2.4. Assays for antimicrobial and enzyme activities
Determinations for antimicrobial activities, α-amylase, protease, β-lactamase were
carried out as it was described by Gesheva (2002). DN-ase and RN-ase were detected
with DN-ase and RN-ase test agars. Keratinase or cellulose was determined after the
growth on agar supplemented with leather hydrolyzate at concentration of 0.3 % (w/v)
or a paper strip in mineral medium of Hutchinson.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The amounts of bacteria and fungi are presented on Tables 1 and 2. The sample 1
shows the highest value of bacteria and fungi.The probe No.3 has low content of
bacteria and fungi, actinomycetes, yeasts and single alga were detected. The typical
actinomycetes consisted 47 % of total bacteria amount on mineral agar No. 1 at 28ºC.
Occurrence of two genera yeasts is not surprising because it is known that bacteria and
yeasts serve as a food of protozoa. According to Valbonesi and Petz (1998) in
Edmonson Point soils there are many species of Protozoa. Great diversity of
mesophilic and psychrophilic fungi was detected in soil samples No.1-3 (Table 3). The
majority of fungi were psychrophilic: Alternaria, Aspergillus, Penicillium, Mucor,
Rhodotorula. Some of the fungi were chromogenic and contained a melanin which
plays a protecting role against UV-radiation. Cladosporium and Alternaria were

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96
TABLE 1: NUMBERS OF MICROORGANISMS IN SOIL SAMPLES
FROM TERRA NOVA BAY
x103 CFU/g soil
28°C 12°C
Medium
Bacteria Fungi Bacteria Fungi
Sample 1
Meat extract pepton agar 21.0± 7.0 4.0±1.5 7.0±2.0 5.0±1.0
Czapek agar 1.1 ±0.1 9.5 ±3.1 5.0 ±2.0 30.0± 2.0
Küster agar 0.6 ±0.2 5.0 ±2.0 4.0 ±2.0 20.0± 4.0
Mineral agar No.1 3.3± 1.3 0.1±0.1 0.8±0.4 0.6 ±0.3
Maize extract agar No.6 4.1 ±0.2 0.4 ±0.2 3.5 ± 1.2 2.0 ±0.6
Oat meal agar 6.0 ±1.6 0.6±0.3 0.8±0.4 0.9 ±0.1
Sample 2
Meat extract pepton agar 12.0 ±3.0 5.0±1.2 20.0 ±4.2 6.0±2.0
Czapek agar 16.7 ± 2.3 20 ±3.2 10.0 ±3.0 16.0± 1.0
Küster agar 1.6±0.4 6.5 ±0.5 0.3 ±0.02 4.0 ±0.8
Mineral agar No.1 2.0 ±0.5 13 ±1.6 10.0±3.2 15.0±4.6
Maize extract agar No.6 6.0 ±1.1 4.1±1.1 8.0 ±1.5 6.0±2.1
Oat meal agar 4.0±1.1 0.5±0.04 3.0±1.2 0.2± 0.03
TABLE 2: NUMBERS OF MICROORGANISMS IN SOILS SAMPLE FROM
EDMONSON POINT
x103 CFU/g soil
28°C 12°C
Medium
Bacteria Fungi Bacteria Fungi
Meat extract pepton agar 4.0± 0.6 0.1 ±0.01 0.5± 0.02 0.2± 0.01
Czapek agar 0.2 ±0.1 0.5 ±0.05 6.0± 1.4 10.0± 2.5
Küster agar 0.3 ±0.1 0.1 ±0.02 10.0 ±4.0 4.0 ±1.1
Mineral agar No.1 5.0± 0.5 0.1±0.03 2.0±0.7 4.6 ±0.3
Maize extract agar No.6 6.0 ±1.2 0.4 ±0.03 0.8 ±0.1 5.0± 0.3
Oat meal agar 1.0± 0.2 0.3± 0.01 0.1± 0.05 0.2 ±0.1
found in Edmonson Point similarly as Onofri et al. (2000). From soils in Terra Nova
Bay Penicillium, Aspergillus and Paecilomyces were detected while Broady et al.

Distribution of Microorganisms in Soils of Victoria Land and their Biosynthetic Capabilities
97
(1987) described the same genera in Mt. Melbourne. Ugolini and Starkey (1966) have
reported about Penicillium in Mt. Erebus. Our results indicated that Aspergillus and
Penicillum spp. are prevailed in Terra Nova and Edmonson Point. Similar results for
dominance of two genera listed above were noted by Fletcher et al. (1985); Del Frate
and Caretta (1990); Kerry (1990); Steiman et al. (1995); McRae and Seppelt (1999);
Bradner et al. (2000) in other Antarctic regions.
TABLE 3: DISTRIBUTION OF FUNGI IN TERRA NOVA BAY AND
EDMONSON POINT
SAMPLE TAXON Psychrophiles Mesophiles
Alternaria sp. 3
Aspergillus spp. 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3
Cladosporium spp. 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3
Cladophialospora sp. 3
Mortierella spp. 1
Mucor sp. 2
Paecilomyces sp. 1, 3
Penicillium spp. 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3
Rhinotrichum sp. 1
Rhizopus sp. 1, 3
Phialophora sp. 2
Candida spp. 1 3
Rhodotorula spp. 2 3
Nonidentified 1, 2, 3 1, 2, 3
The actinomycetes were rare in Antarctic soils (Boyd et al., 1966; Johnson et al.,
1978; Greenfield, 1981, Gesheva, 2005). In soils of Mt Melbourne Streptomyces
coelicolor and Thermomonospora were found (Broady et al., 1987). Actinomycetes
detected in Terra Nova Bay and Edmonson Point, are signed to Streptomyces and
Nocardia according to morphological, biochemical properties and amino acid
composition in cell walls. The streptomycete strains had gray aerial and brown
substrate mycelia. Some of actinomycetes and coryneform bactera produced
antibacterial and antifungal antibiotics (Table 4).Other strains formed extracellular
enzymes or surfactants with glycolipid nature (Vasileva-Tonkova and Gesheva,
2004).Use of psychrophilic antarctic cultures may open new horizons in enzymology
and biotechnology (Russell, 2000, Zechinnon et al. 2001).

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98
TABLE 4: BIOLOGICAL POTENTIAL OF STRAINS ISOLATED FROM TERRA
NOVA BAY AND EDMONSON POINT
Property Coryneform
bacteria Streptomyces spp.
Antibiotic activity against:
Bacillus subtilis
ATCC 6633 3 5
Sarcina lutea 3 5
Escherichia coli 1 1
Candida utilis 2 3
Cladosporium
cladosporiodes 2 3
Enzyme activity:
α-amylase 4 12
protease 3 8
cellulase 2 5
DN-ase 1 3
RN-ase 1 2
Keratinase 2 4
β-lactamase 3 3
Production of glycolipids
3 3
REFERENCES
Alexopoulos, C.J, Mim, C.W. and Black-Well, H. (1996). Introductory mycology, John Willey
and Sons, New York.
Bergey's manual of systematic bacteriology, Eds. N.R. Krieg, P. H. A. Sheath, J. T. Staley,
S.T.Williams, 1- 4, Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore.
Boyd, W.L., Staley, J.T., Boyd, L.W. (1966). Ecology of soil microorganisms of Antarctica.
Antarctic Science, Seria 8, pp. 125-159.
Bradner, J.K., Sidhu, R.K., Skotnicki, M.L., Selkirk, K.M. and Navaliainen, R. (2000). A new
microfungal isolate, Embellisia sp. associated with antarctic moss Bryum argenteum.
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Effect of water content in moss turves on fungal diversity. Polar Biology, 22, pp. 389-399.
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/101-109
RADIATION SHIELDING ANALYSIS OF VVER-440
SPENT FUEL CASK
N. MIHAYLOV, M. MANOLOVA, S. BELOUSOV, KR. ILIEVA, and B. PETROV*
ABSTRACT
The modular code system SCALE-4.4 has been used for determination of characteristics of
VVER-440 spent fuel assembly and for radiation shielding analysis of VVER-440 transport
cask. The control module SAS2H has been applied for both determination of isotope inventory
and neutron and gamma sources spectrum calculation. One- and two-dimensional radiation
shielding analysis has been performed using the control modules SAS2H and SAS4,
respectively. The obtained results for neutron dose rates have been analysed and compared
with experimental data. As a result of the comparison, it may be concluded that the SCALE-4.4
code system is appropriate tool for radiation shielding analysis of VVER-440 spent fuel casks.
Keywords: Spent Fuel Cask; Radiation Shielding, Neutron Dose Rates; Dose Depending on Initial
Enrichment; Isotope Inventory.
1. INTRODUCTION
The precision of modeling of the nuclide evolution in irradiated fuel is an
important prerequisite for the accuracy of subsequent radiation shielding analyses. A
related issue is the reducing nuclide inventory in irradiated fuel to a shorter list of
important nuclides sufficient for predicting the radiation characteristics of typical
storage and transport configurations. The choice of the SCALE code system as a tool
for nuclide composition modelling is motivated by its wide applicability and the broad
validation and verification experience in application of this system to various fuel
designs.
In this paper, some results of radiation shielding analysis of VVER-440 spent fuel
transport cask are presented. For a preliminary validation of SCALE4.4 for depletion
calculations, SCALE Manual (1998), VVER-440 Post-Irradiation Examination data
for fuel samples from Novovoronez NPP recently published in ISTC report, Jardine
(2005), have been used. For the dose rates calculations, one- and two-dimensional
geometry models have been applied. The necessary neutron and gamma sources and
isotope inventory calculations for radiation shielding analysis have been carried out.
* Institute for Nuclear Research and Nuclear Energy, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia,
Bulgaria

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The obtained results for neutron dose rates have been analysed and compared with
experimental data.
2. METHODOLOGY
The modular code system SCALE-4.4 has been applied for determination of
characteristics of VVER-440 spent fuel assembly and for radiation shielding analysis
of VVER-440 spent fuel transport cask. The control module SAS2H has been used for
determination of the spent fuel characteristics: neutron and gamma sources and
isotope inventory, necessary for radiation shielding analysis. The neutron dose rates
exterior to the cask have been calculated by the control modules SAS2H and SAS4.
Also, by applying the axial power profile, the axial distribution of the isotope
inventory at different cooling times has been determined.
Shielding Analysis Sequences (SAS2H and SAS4) are SCALE control modules
developed for problem-dependent cross-section preparation and subsequent one- and
two-dimensional shielding calculations, respectively.
The SAS2H control module provides a sequence that generates radiation source
terms for spent fuel and subsequently utilizes these sources within a one-dimensional
shielding analysis of a shipping cask. Using a prescribed reactor history and cooling
time, the SAS2H module is able to determine the spent fuel characteristics (isotope
inventory, heat generation, and radiation sources) and then subsequently compute the
neutron dose rates at chosen distances from a specified shipping cask surface.
Six different functional modules are utilized by the SAS2H control module. The
BONAMI module applies the Bondarenko method of resonance self-shielding for
nuclides that have Bondarenko data included with their cross-sections. The NITAWL-
II module performs the Nordheim resonance self-shielding corrections for nuclides
that have resonance parameters included with their cross sections. For each time-
dependent fuel composition, the XSDRNPM module performs 1-D discrete-ordinates
neutron transport calculation based on various specified geometries of the reactor fuel
assembly. The COUPLE module updates the cross-sections included on an ORIGEN-
S nuclear data library with data from the cell-weighted cross-section library produced
by the XSDRNPM module. The cross sections derived from a transport analysis at
each time step are used in a point-depletion computation (via ORIGEN-S) that
produces the burnup-dependent fuel composition. The ORIGEN-S module performs
both nuclide generation and depletion calculations for the specified reactor fuel
history. Also, this functional module computes the neutron and gamma sources
generated by the fuel assembly. The XSDOSE module applies the angular flux at the
surface of a shipping cask, as produced by XSDRNPM, to compute dose rates at
specified detector positions outside the shipping cask.

Radiation Shielding Analysis of VVER-440 Spent Fuel Cask
103
The SAS4 control module performs a three-dimensional Monte Carlo shielding
analysis of a nuclear fuel transport cask using an automated biasing procedure.
Biasing parameters required by the Monte Carlo calculation are generated from results
of a one-dimensional adjoint discrete-ordinates calculation. The SAS4 control module
performs resonance self-shielding treatment with either the BONAMI or NITAWL-II
functional module and cell weighting with the XSDRNPM functional module; then it
carries out adjoint discrete-ordinates and Monte Carlo calculations, respectively, with
the XSDRNPM and MORSE-SGC functional modules. MORSE-SGC performs a
Monte Carlo simulation of the radiation transport through a cask and evaluates the
dose rates exterior to the cask.
3. RESULTS
The neutron dose rate calculations have been performed for transport cask with 30
VVER-440 spent fuel assemblies, irradiated up to a burnup level of 30 MWd/kgU, at
3.6% initial enrichment of 235U for cooling time Tcool = 5 years. The concentrations of
actinides and fission products, and the neutron and gamma sources generated by a
spent fuel assembly, which are needed for dose rates calculations, have been
determined by the SAS2H control module. By the control modules SAS2H and SAS4,
the neutron dose rates calculations of a transport cask have been performed.
The transport cask model in both x-y plane and y-z plane is presented in Fig. 1 and
Fig. 2.
FIGURE 1: VVER-440 SPENT FUEL CASK. VISUALIZATION BY PICTURE,
X-Y PLANE

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104
FIGURE 2: VVER-440 SPENT FUEL CASK. VISUALIZATION BY PICTURE, Y-
Z PLANE
a. Spent fuel isotope inventory determination
Calculation and analysis of actinides and fission products concentrations at an
initial enrichment of 235U 3.6% for flat burnup 30 MWd/kgU at different cooling
times: Tcool = 0 (discharge), 5 and 50 years of VVER-440 spent fuel assembly have
been carried out. The comparison of the calculated and experimental results,
Mihaylov, Manolova and Peeva (2006), shows that the concentrations of all nuclides
are well predicted. On the basis of the calculated results and the comparison with the
experimental data, it could be concluded that the SCALE 4.4 system can predict the
spent fuel nuclide concentrations necessary for radiation shielding analysis reasonably
well.
The isotope concentrations for axial burnup profile at Tcool = 5 years have been
determined by the control module SAS2H on the basis of the CB3 benchmark
problem, Markova (1998).
The obtained results have been used for radiation shielding analysis of a spent fuel
cask. The necessary nuclide isotope inventory for determination of neutron and
gamma sources have been used for further neutron dose rates calculations. They have
also been used for criticality safety analysis with burnup credit implementation,
Manolova, Prodanova, Strahilov, Mihaylov and Apostolov (2005). The list of

Radiation Shielding Analysis of VVER-440 Spent Fuel Cask
105
actinides and fission products whose concentrations have been calculated is as
follows, Markova (1997): 12 major and minor actinides (U-235, U-234, U-236, U-
238, Pu-238, Pu-239, Pu-240, Pu-241, Pu-242, Am-241, Am-243, Np-237) and 15
fission products (Mo-95, Tc-99, Ru-101, Rh-103, Ag-109, Cs-133, Nd-143, Nd-145,
Sm-147, Sm-149, Sm-150, Sm-151, Sm-152, Eu-153 and Gd-155).
The isotope concentrations of actinides and fission products for flat burnup
depending on the cooling time are presented in Fig. 4.
The axial dependence of isotope concentrations of actinides and fission products
for Tcool = 5 years is presented in Fig. 5.
FIGURE 3: ISOTOPE CONCENTRATIONS AT TCOOL = 5 YEARS, DEPENDING
ON THE INITIAL ENRICHMENT OF 235U
0,0E+00
3,0E-05
6,0E-05
9,0E-05
1,2E-04
1,6 2,4 3,6
Concentration [a/cm
3*10-
24]
U 235
0,0E+00
1,5E-07
3,0E-07
4,5E-07
6,0E-07
1,6 2,4 3,6
Cm 244
Initial enrichment of 235U [%]
FIGURE 4: ISOTOPE CONCENTRATIONS FOR FLAT BURNUP DEPENDING
ON THE COOLING TIME TCOOL
0,0E+00
8,0E-06
1,6E-05
2,4E-05
3,2E-05
4,0E-05
4,8E-05
0550
Cooling time [years]
Concentration [a/cm
3*10-24]
U 234
Pu 241
Am 241
Cm 244
Sr 90
Cs 137

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106
FIGURE 5: AXIAL DEPENDENCE OF ISOTOPE CONCENTRATIONS, TCOOL= 5
YEARS
0,0E+00
8,0E-05
1,6E-04
2,4E-04
3,2E-04
4,0E-04
4,8E-04
25 50 75 100 125 150 175 200 225 250
Fuel Height [cm]
Concentration [a/cm3*10-24]
U 235
Np 237
Pu 239
Am 241
Cm 244
Sr 90
Cs 137
b. SAS2H one-dimensional calculations
By using the control module SAS2H, neutron dose rates calculations in radial
direction of a transport cask with 30 spent fuel assemblies at 3.6% initial enrichment
of 235U have been performed. The neutron and gamma sources generated by the spent
fuel assembly, which are needed for dose rates calculations, have also been
determined by SAS2H.
In Table 1, the results for neutron dose rates at the surface of the cask are
presented and compared with the experimental data, Safety Report (2005). The
relative difference ΔD/D% between calculated and measured neutron dose rates is less
than 8%.
c. Neutron dose rate dependence on the initial enrichment
In Table 2, the neutron dose rate dependence on the initial enrichment of 235U is
presented. For these calculations, different enrichments have been applied: 1.6%,
2.4% and 3.6%. The dependence of the concentration of 235U and 244Cm at Tcool = 5
years on the initial enrichment of 235U is shown in Fig. 3.
The obtained results show that with decrease of the initial enrichment of 235U, the
basic neutron source for spent fuel 244Cm received by the 238U chain increases, and the
neutron dose rate also increases, respectively.

Radiation Shielding Analysis of VVER-440 Spent Fuel Cask
107
d. SAS4 two-dimensional calculations
Two-dimensional calculation in cylindrical geometry of neutron dose rates in
radial and axial directions at 3.6% initial enrichment of 235U has been performed by
the control module SAS4.
The control module SAS2H has been used for preparation of the neutron and
gamma sources spectrum, and the isotope inventory of the spent fuel assembly has
been used for the neutron dose rates calculations performed by SAS4.
The results for neutron dose rates at the radial surface and at the top and bottom of
the cask are presented in Table 3.
TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF CALCULATED AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
ON THE CASK SURFACE
TABLE 2: SAS2H CALCULATED RESULTS FOR DIFFERENT VALUES OF
THE INITIAL ENRICHMENT
OF 235U, AT TCOOL = 5 YEARS
62.640
57.984
Neutron dose rates [
μ
S/h]
---
- 7.43
Δ
D/D [%]
Experimental results
SAS2H
Results
57.984 3.6
94.713 2.4
144.919 1.6
Neutron dose rates [
μ
S/h]
Initial enrichment 23
5
U [%]

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TABLE 3: SAS4 CALCULATED RESULTS
4. CONCLUSION
Calculations of isotope inventory for flat burnup and for axial burnup profile at
different cooling times have been performed. The obtained results have been used for
radiation shielding analysis of a spent fuel cask. In addition, they have also been used
for criticality safety analysis with burnup credit implementation.
The comparison of the calculated and experimental results shows that the
concentrations of all nuclides are well predicted. On the basis of the calculated results
and the comparison with the experimental data, it could be concluded that the SCALE
4.4 system can predict the spent fuel nuclide concentrations necessary for radiation
shielding analysis reasonably well.
Based on the comparison of calculated and experimental results for neutron dose
rates, it may be concluded that the SCALE-4.4 modular code system is an appropriate
tool for radiation shielding analysis of VVER-440 spent fuel transport casks.
Future three-dimensional Monte Carlo shielding analysis of spent nuclear fuel
performed by the SAS4 control module is required for more accurate calculations with
the MARS (Multiple-Array System Using Combinatorial Geometry) functional
module of the control module SAS4.
REFERENCES
Jardine, L. J. (2005). Radiochemical Assays of Irradiated VVER-440 Fuel for Use in Spent
Fuel Burnup Credit Activities. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, UCRL-TR-
212202.
Manolova, M. and Prodanova, R. and Strahilov, G. and Mihaylov, N. and Apostolov, T.
(2005). Criticality safety analysis of VVER spent fuel casks with radial burnup profile
implementation, International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Meeting “Advances in
applications of burnup credit to enhance spent fuel transportation, storage, reprocessing,
and disposition”. London, UK, 29/08 - 2 I/10/2005.
Neutron dose rates [
μ
S/h]
Cask surface
49.520 Bottom
55.030 Top
60.970 Radial

Radiation Shielding Analysis of VVER-440 Spent Fuel Cask
109
Markova, L. (1998). Continuation of the VVER Burnup Credit Benchmark&Evaluation of
CB1 Results, Overview of CB2 Results to Date and Specification of CB3: Proceedings of
the 8th Symposium of AER. Czech Republic, 21-25 September 1998.
Markova, L. (1997). Results of CB1 Burnup Credit Criticality Benchmark Calculations and
Calculational Burnup Credit Benchmark №2 (CB2): Proceedings of the 7th Symposium of
AER. Germany, 23-26 September 1997, Vol.II, p.871.
Mihaylov, N. and Manolova, M. and Peeva, M. (2006). Validation of SCALE Depletion
Module against VVER Experimental Data: Proceedings of the 16th Symposium of VVER.
Bratislava, Slovakia, 25-29 September, 2006, p.605.
Safety Report of the Spent Fuel Storage on Kozloduy NPP Site (2003). Chapter 7: Evaluation
of the Spent Nuclear Fuel Radiation Fields and Subcriticality, August 2003. (In Bulgarian)
SCALE (1998). A Modular Code System for Performing Standardized Computer Analyses for
Licensing Evaluation. NUREG/CR-0200 Rev.6 (ORNL/ NUREG/CSD-2/V1/R6), Vols. I, II
and III (September 1998), Version 4.4.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/111-123
CRITICAL ISSUES IN GOLF TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN GREECE
NACHMIAS STEFANOS* and NIKI KYRIAKIDOU**
ABSTRACT
The tourism industry is changing. Tourists are becoming more demanding by seeking
experiences rather than relaxation. Therefore, it is becoming more apparent that holiday
destinations and resort companies need to consider the tourists’ motivations for travel. This
research study seeks to investigate the importance of segmenting markets, with particular
attention to the sport tourism in Greece. The study also examines the benefits that the growth
and expansion of golf tourism will bring to Greece. In the hospitality travel industry,
psychographic segmentation is used effectively because it determines tourist categories in
relation to the purposes of travelling. According to the results, there are millions of golfers
around the world. Greece does meet all the criteria to be a popular golf destination and
compete successfully with other Mediterranean countries. In addition, the country´s
overdependence on the “cheap” end of the global tourism market is compounded by its
extreme “seasonality” characteristics. Therefore, developing golfing tourism could not only
extent the tourism season but also contribute towards the development of quality tourism in
Greece.
Keywords: Golf; Sport Tourism; Tourism Development, Greece.
1. INTRODUCTION
This research study investigates the golfing tourism in Greece and the benefits that
its growth and expansion will bring to the country. It investigates the market
segmentation with particular emphasis on the sport tourism. For this reason, secondary
data from golf investment companies, such as JBR Hellas and INV golf investment,
the Ministry of Tourism and other governmental and non governmental organisations
was used to collect information related to the marketing segmentation and its
techniques. Segmentation is a business tool used by organisations to target specific
market groups and position themselves in a competitive way. An excellent example of
the above is sport tourism that is an area of potential growth and already a number of
Mediterranean countries are adapting their product offer to accommodate this. Sport
tourism segments are the main focus for this study. For the purpose of this study, golf
tourism will be investigated, as golf is an area of present and future development with
* Ph.D Student in Hospitality and Management, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leslie Silver
International Faculty, School of Tourism, Hospitality and Events
** Senior Lecturer in HRM/OB, Leeds Business School, Leeds Metropolitan University,
Headingley Campus, Leighton Hall

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112
many opportunities and challenges for everyone involved in the hospitality industry.
As such, the importance of this study for all stakeholders in this industry is based on
the critical question whether Greece should develop its product offer and target the
golfing tourists or not.
2. MARKETING SEGMENTATION AND TOURISM MARKET MOTIVES
A number of organisations have recognised the need to develop new products and
services by identifying and targeting new market segments in order to increase their
competitiveness on an international level. The most effective way to achieve this is
through marketing segmentation. The tourism market is characterised by many
different groups of people with dissimilar needs and wants. The aim of marketing
segmentation is to categorise these different groups’ wants and needs into distinct
groups of buyers who might require separate products and services, but also separate
marketing mixes (Kotler et al., 2003). Indeed, marketing segmentation is not only
focused on market needs and wants, but also on breaking down the overall market into
self-contained and relatively homogeneous subgroups of consumers, where each group
possesses its own special requirements and characteristics (Bennett, 2001). Overall,
marketing segmentation is a valuable tool that organisations use to select those groups
of customers that their product and services are best fit for and also a way for them to
improve the effectiveness of their marketing decision-making (Lancaster & Reynolds,
1995).
According to Kotler et al. (2003), there are four different ways to segment the
tourism market. The first one is geographic segmentation, where the market is divided
into different geographic units, such as nations, states, regions, counties, cities or
neighborhoods. In 2007, Greece received almost 19 million tourists in total (General
Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece, 2008), most of them travelling
from Germany, the United Kingdom and France (Ikkos, 2003). Therefore, these three
countries are the most important to Greece in terms of geographic segmentation.
Secondly is the demographic segmentation, which consists of dividing the market
into groups based on demographic variables such as age, gender, family life cycle,
income, occupation, education, religion, race and nationality (Kotler et al., 2003).
Thirdly is the psychographic segmentation that divides buyers into different
groups based on social class, lifestyle and personality characteristics. In the hospitality
travel industry, psychographic segmentation is used prolifically, in terms of
considering the motives that drive consumers in their purchasing decision (Kotler et
al., 2003). According to Halloway (2004), the main motives are: seek for relaxation,
religious reasons, visiting friends and relatives, business, sports and health. The above
tourism motive segments are important for hospitality organisations, because they
determine the tourist categories in relation to the purposes of travelling and as such
these organisations can develop facilities according to traveller requests. Thus,

Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece
113
countries like Greece need to investigate these motivations for travel in order to
consider whether their country will able to absorb and successfully satisfy the
increasing number of tourists.
Last but not least is the behaviour segmentation. Buyers in this category are
divided into groups based on their knowledge, attitudes, use or response to a product.
Behaviour variables are the best starting point for building market segments (Kotler et
al., 2003).
On the whole, the tourism market has grown considerably (INVgolf Investment,
2003, 2004 and 2005) and many tourists have emerged seeking more than just a ‘sun,
sand and sea’ holiday package. Sport tourism -a tourism segment that combines
holidays with fitness and natural activities - is an area that should be considered as an
expanding market offering great growth potential for all hospitality organisations. As a
result of the above, numerous countries and large hospitality organisations, have
already heavily invested in sports tourism, mainly due to their geographical location,
such as ski resorts in France or Italy. The biggest factor in this significant growth is
not only the changes in travellers’ demographics and psychographic characteristics,
but also the evolving behaviour of tourism consumers. An example of growing
tourism destinations countries are Croatia and Greece, which now promote themselves
as sport tourism destinations. More particular, Greece was the host country of the
2004 Summer Olympic Games, which were held in Athens, and that attracted millions
of athletes, visitors and spectators. This event had a significant effect on Greece, as it
increased its popularity and creditability as a first class sports tourism destination for
demanding travellers (Hede, 2005). This can be succeeded by giving emphasis on
hosting events of special interest, such as the golf and sailing sport events which can
develop new forms of tourist activities (Mintel, 2004; Kotokolias, 2006).
3. DEFINE SPORT TOURISM, TOURISM SPORT AND SPORT TOURISTS
Focusing on the reasons why people travel for sport activities and events, sport
tourism and tourism for sport have a different concept. More specifically, sport
tourism considers a temporary visitor staying at a specific area, where an event
occurred and whose primary purpose is to participate in a sport event, with the
holidaying region being a secondary attraction. On the other hand, tourism for sport is
when a specific group of tourists travels in a particular place, outside their usual
environment, and participates in recreational sport activities as a secondary activity.
Thereby, sport tourists are a group of people, or individuals, who travel in places
outside or inside their usual environments, to participate actively or passively in
recreational or fitness sport activities. As a result, hospitality organisations can be
further segmented sport tourists according to their requirements and needs (Brent and
Adair, 2004; Hinch & Higham, 2004). In addition, there are other classifications of
sports tourism that the Greek government needs to take into account in order to

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develop the country into one which accommodates golf tourists. In general, sport
tourism classifications include consumers known as Sport Participation Tourism
whose primary purpose is to participate in sport and the Sport Training category deals
with tourists who wish to learn and improve their current sporting skills. Table 1
provides an up to date classification of sports tourism, together with a summary to
clarify each segment.
4. GOLF SPORT ACTIVITY
Golf is considered to be one of the most delicate sports, which tops the list as the
most potentially lucrative form of special tourism. It is a sport activity that has grown
in popularity and is now played, both professionally and recreationally by people of
every age, sex and race. The reason for its increasing popularity is based on the fact
that it is a sport activity which combines pleasure, leisure and fitness. There are
currently 61 million golfers around the world and 8 million of those live in Europe
(Owners Direct, 2005; Business & Finance, 2004).
5. GOLF TOURIST SEGMENTATION
Demand for golf takes on various forms. ‘A Golfer’ cannot be characterised by
homogeneous behavioural patterns and psychological structures. Indeed, there are
many different segments of golfers who are looking for offers that suit their
motivational needs. A breakdown of future golfers according to their motives,
attitudes and behaviour reveals a variety of segments (Ikkos, 2003).
These segments are:
• Tradition Golfers in Clubs: These are mainly individuals that play golf in
their leisure time and as part of their holiday activities. Most of them are looking for
standard quality when it comes to the facilities of resort hotel and the golf courses.
Tradition golfers may well spend the rest of their leisure time at the beach, marina,
and casino or just simply enjoy the natural environment.
• Prestige-Oriented Golfers: Generally, prestige-oriented golfers are members
of established golf clubs and they have high expectations with regards to the standards
and quality of golf resorts and courses. A good example would be the Shadow Creek
in Las Vegas and Valderrama in Spain.
• Convenience-Oriented Golfers: looking for convenience of the resort and
golf with high standards of service and facilities. The leisure-time and the golf
activities are the main expectation of these golfers target market.
• Sport-Oriented Golfers: Sport oriented golfers consider golf as a sport
challenge. Normally, these kinds of golfers look for well design courses, high quality
of service, high standards of accommodation and excellent quality golf facilities.

Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece
115
• Smart Golfers: Usually, people of this target group have very high
expectations of the facilities and courses of the golf resorts destination. The term
“value for money” and better golfing opportunities, is a very important concern for
them. France is considered to be a country that satisfies this need by offering golfing
packages which include three nights’ accommodation, meals and two rounds of golf
for a minimum cost.
• Golf Tourists: In this target market, tourists consider their leisure vacation
with playing golf, as a sport activity.
These are just some of the golf segments that Greece could consider if they wish to
become a renowned golfing destination in Europe and especially in the Mediterranean
area. Greece could consider the huge market opportunities with novices, newcomers
and beginners by making golf accessible and fun, but also by providing excellent
packages with “value of money” and superior golfing opportunities. According to
Johnson (2005) “the harsh reality for Greece is that most of the existing golf courses
are lacking in attractiveness and quality of auxiliary tourist services and most of the
developments of new golf courses and resorts are trapped in the Greek bureaucracy
and in the ineffective tourism policy and legislation” (Datamonitor, 2005).
Golf tourists may be individuals or groups, academy groups of novices, business
groups, golf clubs and societies or just occasional golfers. On the basis of the above,
the Greek Ministry of Tourism needs to distinguish measurable, substantial,
actionable, and accessible segments of the potential tourist market in order to attract
more golf tourists and become more competitive. The Greek Ministry of Tourism also
needs to develop products and services to fit the needs of the target market. One of the
most effective ways to remain competitive is to clearly position itself in the desired
market segment and establish an effective brand strategy. Indeed, all golfers look for
professionally organised and managed golf resorts in countries where the weather
conditions in the winter months are suitable for playing golf. Greece offers a 12-month
golf season, with great leisure and cultural activities throughout the country. As a
result, Greece has all the prerequisites to become an attractive investment golf area
and one of the most popular golfing destinations across Europe and Worldwide (GTC
Golf & Tourism Consulting, 2006; Ikkos, 2003; Fairway, 2001).
6. GREEK TOURISM AND BENEFITS OF GOLF HOLIDAY TOURISM
During the last few years, Greek tourism has had a big increase in international
tourist arrivals. It is estimated that the travel and tourism activity in Greece will grow
by 4.1 per cent per each year, in real terms, from 2006 to 2015 (WTTC, 2005).
However this increase will be mainly during the summer months as Greece is a
popular destination for “sun holidays”. As a result, the country´s overdependence on
the “cheap” end of the global tourism market is compounded by its extreme
“seasonality” characteristics. As a result, this seasonality minimises the tourism period

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and inactivates all available infrastructures in the winter months (Ikkos, 2003). Table 2
illustrates the large increase of the international tourist’s arrival in Greece, since 2000.
Greece is clearly an underdeveloped country when it comes to attracting golf
tourists and has already missed the opportunity to draw the attention of millions of
golfers. In fact, even though Greece has on average 14 million international tourist
arrivals per year, only 1.25 per cent (185,000) of them visited Greece for playing golf.
Table 3 indicates the latent demand for playing golf in Greece, in comparison to
incoming tourists in 2003. In addition, Greece has only 6 golf courses and resorts and
has less than 1,500 Greek golf players. Portugal, on the other hand, is a country of
similar size and economy with Greece and in 2006 it had 67 golf courses and resorts.
Currently there are over 3,000 golf clubs in the UK (Mintel, 2005). Other European
countries have a large number of golf courses with France having over 548, Spain
having over 266 and Italy having over 238 (The Business & Investment World of
Greece, 2005). On the other side, Turkey has 9 golf courses and Cyprus only 3
professionally organised and managed golf resorts (INVgolf investment, 2005).
The above countries are the major competitors of Greece in the golfing tourism.
The main reason behind this discrepancy is the fact that these countries are closer to
European traditions and influences and the local population has been more receptive to
the expansion of golf in recent years. Another reason is that the competition has
already made conscious efforts to develop effective strategies associated with golf
tourism and its development. In relation to these issues, Egford, President of Greek
National Team Coach stated that “Greece’s golf enthusiasts think it is for Greece to
become a leader in golf tourism in Mediterranean area” (Ikkos, 2003; The Business &
Investment World of Greece, 2005). Thus, the Greek Ministry of Tourism, through its
strategic tourism plan tries to promote the development of a series of supportive
tourism infrastructure, which will benefit the development of special forms of tourism
like golf resorts and will relief the intense seasonality that characterises the demand
for Greece. Varnas President of the Cretan Golf club said that “golf tourism can save
Greek Tourism from the quagmire of failing standards and revenues” (The Business &
Investment World of Greece, 2005).
Similarly, Greece will receive many benefits from the growth of golf tourism.
Golfing holidays is an industry that has grown in many countries all over the world in
the last decade. The reason is that golfer tourists are high income tourists and tend to
spend much more than regular tourists. Studies show that golfers are a very powerful
and selective group of sportsmen-tourists, who spend an average of 40 per cent more
than regular tourists. Overall, golf tourists look for a golf destination that combines the
following: social events in and around the golf course, leisure opportunities, such as
bars, restaurants, good weather, and god quality golf courses that include good upkeep
and tee-times, price and accessibility. Golfers travel usually in the winter and spring
months (during November to April), and this would have a positive effect on tourism
growth in Greece.

Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece
117
As previously noted, Greek tourism is characterised with strong seasonality and
thus holidays in Greece are mainly considered as a summer activity. As a result, most
tourists arrivals concentrate in the two peak summer months of July and August.
Indeed, 82 per cent of tourists visit Greece during the summer season. Table 5
illustrates the low percentage of tourist arrivals in Greece, during the winter season, in
comparison to visitors to other European countries. Therefore, part of the Greek
growth strategy would be to provide travel opportunities to extend the holiday season.
In particular, golf tourism is a growing market that Greece has to consider as a new
market segment. Golfers use to travel especially during the winter months, in
destinations with year-round warm climate. As a result, Greece, with year round sun
and mild climate is an ideally place for the golfers’ off season holidays. The country
has all the prerequisites for attracting golfers, but it needs to build new, modern and
quality golf courses and resorts.
The development of golf as a form of tourism is a process that takes time and a lot
of money, but in Greece there is a big investment interest to create new golf resorts
(Ikkos, 2003; Mintel Reports, 2004). As stated by Papadimitriou, Chairman of the
Hellenic Centre for Investment (ELKE), “golf real estate and resorts have become
major factors driving property development in the United States, Spain and Portugal”
(Business & Finance, 2004). However, after years of benign neglect, golf in Greece is
beginning to attract attention from the international investment community. According
to Doulas, Deputy Economy and Finance, almost 40 Greek and international investor
groups have submitted proposals to build golf courses and resorts in several places
around the country. Thus, the Greek government is trying to make the process of
getting licenses and permits easier, by hitting any bureaucratic obstacles and
modernising land regulations. Also, the publisher and editor of Golf and Tourism in
Greece magazine, Abravanel stated that “golf investment is reaching substantial levels
in Greece. There are 11 planned resorts complexes totaling EUR 2 billion in budgeted
outlays” (INVgolf, 2005).
Some new developments of golf courses and resorts still in progress are:
• Crete, Cavo Sidero, the UK’s Loyalward Group is building on a EUR 750
million golf resort, promising two 18-hole courses.
• Crete, Matala, Belgan investors are planning a major integrated residential and
leisure golf project.
• Peloponnesian Area of Pylos, a luxurious golf resort complex is being
developed in this area.
• Pelion Area of Volos, a luxurious golf resort with 18-hole courses and a five star
hotel.
Continuing with the benefits of golf tourism, studies have shown that golfers enjoy
taking their family holidays in places where there are golf courses and tend to spend
more than other tourists. Golf tourism contributes to the improvement of the
infrastructure, recreation facilities and to the provision of high levels of standards and

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services. In addition, Spiliotopoulos, Minister of Tourism in Greece, indicated that
“golf tourism can become the main factor towards quality tourism in our country”
(INVgolf Investment, 2007).
Greece has a great opportunity to attract millions of golfers from all over the world
and especially from the European markets. Table 6 indicates that golf tourists will
increase significantly by 2010 and reach approximately 82,400,000 million players.
Greece, should take advantage of the golfers boost, not only to increase its tourism
profits but also to raise its international golfer’s arrival. However, Greece needs to
develop new golf courses and resorts in spectacular locations all over the country and
generate new advertisement and promotion campaigns, to get the attention of golfers.
Apart from this, it needs to segment these markets effectively, according to their
needs, wants and characteristics. Greece needs to improve the existing infrastructure
and facilities, and enhance the quality of the tourism products and services. The 2004
Olympic Games helped Greece boost its economy of growth and improve its
infrastructure activity, but the Greek government needs to do more in order to make
Greece a world-class “golf destination”. Greece can be the destination for teeing off
and not just for summer activities. It has all the prerequisites for a great game of golf
to be played all year round,” as Papadimitriou, chairman of the Hellenic Centre for
Investment, underlined (Business & Finance, 2004).
On the other side, the development of new golf courses and resorts, the
improvement of the existing infrastructure and the selection of golf market segments,
need the acquiescence and the leading of the Greek government. According to Doukas
“the Greek government is committed to assist the development of new golf courses
throughout the country as part of its tourism modernization drive”. Also, the minister
said that “the government is forming a new inter-ministerial committee to facilitate
investment in golf, because it is one of the most promising areas for growth in
Greece". At the same time, the Greek Prime Minister Karamnanlis, during an internal
cabinet in February 2005, decided to “do all that is needed to disentangle major
investment projects from the maze of red tape and contradictory licensing legislation”
(Johnson, 2005). Thus, Heilmann, founder and director of INVgolf magazine stated
that “now is the perfect time for business people to consider Greece as a golf
investment location. The new legislation, the interest by the government and the
locations available today translate into unprecedented opportunities that will pay off
handsomely” (INVgolf, 2006).
For the first time, the Greek Ministries of Tourism, Economy and Finance,
Development and Physical Planning support local and foreign investors to invest in
new hospitality projects that will contribute to improve the quality of Greek tourism
and increase its stock of up market ancillary services to 45 golf courses. According to
Andreadis, Chairman of Greek Association of Tourist Enterprises (SETE), “Greece
should have at least 24 golf courses and resorts by 2010 to match Spain’s
corresponding population and resort location parameters” (International Reportsnet,

Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece
119
2005). Moreover, the Ministry has established a development plan for the Greek
Tourism 2004 to 2010, and some of the main goals of it, is the development of golf
tourism in Greece. In addition, the Ministry has established separate promotion and
advertisement campaigns, concentrated to attract golfer’s tourists (INVgolf
Investment, 2005; Ikkos, 2003).
7. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Golf tourists represent a very powerful source of income; they are a selective
group of people who are knowledgeable about the different golf destinations around
the world. However, there is not one single golf market for a country or for a specific
destination. There are many sub-markets and each one has its own characteristics and
needs. Greece has all the prerequisites to attract all these market segments and be
considered a world-class “golf destination”. In the hospitality industry, tourist
psychographic segmentation is an important part to select groups of people with
similar holiday needs and similar characteristics. The growth of sports tourism over
the last decades has become an increasingly important part of tourism development
strategies around the world. The biggest factor of this growth is not only the changes
in demographic and psychographic characteristics of travellers, but also the necessity
for new alternative forms of holidays. As such, sport tourism is an alternative form of
holidays which combines pleasure, leisure, nature and fitness.
Sport tourism has many market segments that each country possibly will attract as
new tourists. In particular, golf tourism is a sport activity that has grown in popularity
and is played both professionally and recreationally by millions of people around the
world. Moreover, golf holidays, is an area that Greek hospitality organisations have to
consider as a new market segment. Greece is clearly an underdeveloped country when
it comes to attracting golf tourists because it has only 6 golf courses and resorts.
However, Greece has all the prepositions and criterions to be a popular golf
destination and also compete with other Mediterranean countries. Taking into
consideration all the above, it is concluded that Greece and especially investment
companies, should invest in golf holidays and activities. It is a great opportunity,
because with the growth and expansion of golf tourism, Greece will increase its annual
tourism income and minimise tourism seasonality. Overall, it is vital that new facilities
and amenities are developed, at least 30 to 40 more golf courses and resort in a period
of five to eight years. Last but not least, Greece needs to improve its accommodation
and service standards, and also offer special golf value packages.

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APPENDICES
TABLE 1: TOURISM MOTIVES
Tourism with Sport Content. Typically, in this category sport activities and opportunities are not the prime purpose
of the tourism trip and may be not organised as a part of the holiday package.
Sports Participation Tourism is the category, where sport is the prime purpose of the trip. Also sport participation
tourists, take part in sports events and it is and it refers to sport holiday.
Sport Training Category is much narrower than the other sports tourism types. It comprises, quite simply, sport
tourism trips where the prime purpose is sport instruction or training.
Sport Events Category, refers to tourism where the prime purpose of this trip is to take part in sports events, either as
a participants or a spectator.
Luxury Sports Tourism is not defined by reference to the nature of the sport involved in the trip. Rather it is the
quality of the facilities and the luxurious nature of the accommodation and attendant facilities and services that define
this type of sport tourism. Finally, in this type of sport tourism, classified the Golf, where consider luxury sport with
quality in facilities and features.
Source: (Weed & Bull, 2004, pp. 123-124)
TABLE 2: ANNUAL TOURISTS ARRIVALS IN GREECE
Source: (General Secretariat of National Statistical Service of Greece, 2008)
TABLE 3: GOLF TOURISM DEMAND IN GREECE
Source: (Ikkos, 2003)
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
13.568.000 14.679.000 14.919.000 14.785.000 14.267.420 15.938.131 17.283.910 18.754.593
Year: 2003
Country of Origin Incoming Tourists to Greece Latent Demand for Golf Tourism
to Greece
Canada 49,383 8,296
Denmark 350,930 7,420
Germany 2,347,434 12,181
Japan 73,350 5,868
Netherlands 673,405 8,134
Norway 329,469 7,259
Sweden 502,683 29,795
United Kingdom 2,916,508 60,186
United States of America 199,737 18,975
Other Countries ----- 26,401
Total Number ----- 184,515

Critical Issues in Golf Tourism Development in Greece
121
TABLE 4: TOURISM ARRIVALS PER SEASON IN 2000
Countries Winter Season
(October to March) Summer Season
(April to September)
France 30 per cent 70 per cent
Germany 42 per cent 58 per cent
Great Britain 32 per cent 68 per cent
Malta 35 per cent 65 per cent
Norway 41 per cent 59 per cent
Spain 37 per cent 63 per cent
Turkey 31 per cent 69 per cent
Greece 18 per cent 82 per cent
Source: (Homendis, 2000)
TABLE 5: GOLFERS´ PREDICTIONS
Source: (Ikkos, 2003)
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Travel & Tourism Council.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/125-147
INSTITUTIONAL EXPLANATIONS OF BUDGETING CONTROL
SYSTEMS: THE CASE OF CAVES IN GREECE
NIKOS D. KARTALIS*
ABSTRACT
The article uses the New Institutional Theory of Sociology (Di Maggio and Powell, 1983,
1991) to examine how the budgeting control systems inform decision making in the Greek show
caves. The study focuses on four show caves selected out of the eight main shows caves
operating in Greece. Three of the studied caves are owned by the local municipal council (one
jointly with a prefectural council) and the fourth by the Anthropology Association of Greece.
Data is gathered from multiple sources via questionnaires, semi-structured interviews,
discussions and documentary evidence focusing on the role of accounting information in the
day-to-day operation of the show caves.
Keywords: New Institutional Theory; Management Accounting; Budgeting; Case Study; Greek Show
Caves.
1. INTRODUCTION
Scott (1987) argues that since the early period, institutional theory and research
have developed rapidly and currently occupy a prominent place in the field of
organizational analysis. Zucker (1977) and Powell and DiMaggio (1991) have written
several papers in this field. Meyer and Rowan (1977) argue that one of the central
problems in organizational theory is to describe the conditions that give rise to a
rationalized formal structure. They argue also that as markets expand, the relational
networks in a given domain become more complex and organizations in that domain
must manage more internal and boundary-spanning interdependencies.
Size and technology (Woodward, 1965) increase the complexity of internal
relations, and the division of labour among organizations increases boundary-spanning
problems (Aiken and Hage, 1971; Freeman, 1973; Thompson, 1967). The result is that
organizations are structured by phenomena in their environments and tend to become
more isomorphic with them. Berger and Luckmann (1967) argue that organizations
structurally reflect socially constructed reality. Organizations both deal with environ-
ments at their boundaries and imitate environmental elements in their structures.
Meyer and Rowan (1977) argue that there are some myths which describe the
* Senior Lecturer at the Accouting Department in ATEI of Kozani (ATEI of Western
Macedonia), Greece

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126
elaboration of complex relational networks in society or some myths that describe
specific structural elements. For example, laws, educational and credentialing systems
and public opinion then make it necessary or advantageous for organizations to
incorporate the new structures. Meyer and Rowan stated that the myths generated by
particular organizational practices and diffused through relational networks have
legitimacy based on the supposition that they are rationally effective.
Furthermore, Meyer and Rowan (1977) stated that there are many organizations
which, in order to institutionalize their goals and structures, seek charters from
collective authorities. First, powerful organizations force their immediate relational
networks to adapt to their structures and relations, and second, powerful organizations
attempt to build their goals and procedures directly into society as institutional rules.
Moreover, Meyer and Rowan (1977) stated that isomorphism has some crucial
consequences for organizations: one, they incorporate elements which are legitimated
externally, rather than in terms of efficiency; two, they employ external or ceremonial
assessment criteria to define the value of structural elements; and three, dependence
on externally fixed institutions reduces turbulence and maintains stability.
According to Meyer and Rowan, this enables the organization to remain successful
by social definition, thus avoiding failure. Isomorphism in terms of institution
identifies the process by which organizations tend to adopt the same practices and
structures over time in response to common institutional pressures which may exist at
the individual, organizational or organization field level.
This does not lead to radical changes in the organization field because
isomorphism makes organizations seem identical without necessarily improving them.
In order to maintain institutional legitimacy, organizations tend to adopt
bureaucratization and other forms of standardization. DiMaggio and Powell (1983)
suggest that governments, which often have ambiguous goals and unreliable
performance measures, resort to legitimacy rituals to demonstrate social and economic
fitness. In 1971, Silverman first attempted to introduce institutional arguments to the
study of organizations. Reed (1985), however, argues that Silverman, in his
subsequent work, shifts his focus to an ethnomethodological emphasis on the multiple
meanings and rationalities associated with the participants’ phenomenological
accounts of their common situation. Moreover, in 1977 two influential articles by
Meyer and Rowan and Zucker tried subsequently to introduce institutional arguments
into organizational sociology with the micro-environmental perspective.
The other foundation work of the New Institutional Theory is the article by
DiMaggio and Powell (1983). New Institutional Theory is based on the premise that
organizations respond to pressures from their institutional environments and adopt
structures or pressures that are socially accepted as the appropriate organizational
choice. DiMaggio and Powell (1991) suggest that the term “New Institutionalism”
rejects the previous model of rational-actor. Further, DiMaggio and Powell suggest the
idea of an interest in institution as an independent variable and an interest in properties

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
127
of the supra-individual unit of analysis that cannot be reduced to aggregations or direct
concentrations of individuals’ attributes or motives.
New Institutionalism thus rejects the assumptions of methodological individualism
and individual rationality. Furthermore, new institutional theorists believe that people
live in a socially constructed world that is filled with meanings and rules that are taken
for granted and as a result their actions are neither intentional nor conscious. Selznick
(1996) notes also that corporate rationality derives from the actions of shareholders.
Furthermore, he argues that what is rational for the shareholder is not necessarily
rational for the enterprise. Indeed, institutional theory is a voice of resistance to the
culture of short-sightedness exercised in the shareholder’s rational choice. According
to Scott (1987), the increased pressure on organizations for legitimacy, resources and
survival results in such organizations yielding to institutional pressures for change.
2. RESEARCH METHOD
The article adopts a case study approach because of its ability to deal with a
variety of evidence such as documents, artefacts, interviews and observations. A case
study is an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within a
real-life context where the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not
clearly evident, and in which multiple sources of evidence are used (Yin, 1994). Yin
(1994) argues that case study research represents the intersection of theory, structures
and events. It is a scientific approach that attempts to ground theoretical concepts with
reality. Yin (1994) identifies three types of uses of case study research. The first is the
exploratory use which relates to pilot studies that can be used as a basis for
formulating more precise questions or testable hypotheses. The second is a descriptive
case study, which is an attempt to describe, for example, what happens when a new
product is developed and launched on the market. The third type of case study is the
explanatory approach, which attempts to find explanations for organizational
practices.
The case research process can be broken down into five critical stages as
suggested by Yin (1994). The first stage of the research process involves defining the
research question, which includes building a body of knowledge and developing
theory. In the second stage, the researcher needs to develop measurement instruments
to capture the data for future analysis. In the third stage the data are gathered, and in
the fourth stage the data are analyzed. In the final stage the researcher disseminates the
research findings or composes a case-study “report” (Figure 2.1).
Qualitative designs call for the persons most responsible for interpretations to be
in the field, making observations, exercising subjective judgement, analyzing and
synthesizing, all the while realizing their own consciousness. For mainstream
quantitative researchers, these interpretations and judgement create problems of
reliability, which is often judged by the ability of an experiment or study to be

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128
replicated by another researcher who reaches identical conclusions. However, the
identity and interpretation of the researcher need not affect the validity of the study.
Pre-understanding refers to such things as people’s knowledge, insights and
experience before they engage in a research project (Gummesson, 1991).
FIGURE 1: STAGES FOR CASE STUDY RESEARCH
(AFTER YIN, 1994)
Gummesson (1991) notes that an individual’s pre-understanding is primarily
influenced by five elements: (1) a knowledge of theories; (2) a knowledge of
techniques; (3) a knowledge of institutional conditions; (4) an understanding of social
patterns which encompasses a company’s cultural value system of often tacit rules of
cooperation, social intercourse, communication, etc; and (5) the personal attributes of
the researcher, such as intuition, creativity, vitality and human understanding. While a
lack of pre-understanding will cause the researcher to spend considerable time
gathering basic information, pre-understanding can be a serious threat to the
objectivity of a study as it introduces bias on the part of the researcher. Those who are
able to balance on the razor’s edge use their pre-understanding but are not its slave
(Gummesson, 1991). It is essential that pre-understanding be subject to change, that
the researchers be aware of their own paradigm, selective perception, and personal
defence mechanisms; moreover, they must also take into account the fact that their
own possible insecurity or other personality factors may influence their research
(Gummesson, 1991).
In qualitative methods, including case research, coding represents another tool to
support researchers during early analysis. Codes are especially useful tools for data
reduction purposes and having a coding scheme in an appendix helps to facilitate a
replication or an extension to a given study and allows the reader to see the logical link
between the theoretical model and the codes.
Visual displays are an important part of qualitative analysis (Yin, 1994) and
displaying data is a powerful means for discovering connections between coded
segments (Crabtree and Miller, 1999). Data displays also transmit synthesized
information to the reader, which can help demonstrate the chain of evidence and
ultimately the findings.
Stage 1
Define
Research
Question
Stage 2
Develop
Instrument
Stage 3
Gather Data Stage 4
Analyze
Data
Stage 5
Disseminate
Results

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3. BACKGROUND OF THE COMPANIES
Ballas and Venieris (1996) adopted a case study approach to investigate the role of
management accounting practices in Greek companies. This method has the advantage
of uncovering the actual processes of decision making and the role of management
accounting information. In addition, the process of the interview allowed the
researchers to explore broader issues about decision making and its context. While
there are many caves in Greece, only a few have been exploited and only eight are
opened all year round. Questionnaire data was collected from the four show cave
companies which the in-depth case study focuses on. Limiting the case study to only
four caves was necessary to provide an in-depth analysis of the underlying
management accounting practices. The experience the researcher has as a manager of
one of the show caves helped in the data gathering process. Thus while some
questions were developed based on the literature, others were developed based on the
researcher’s personal experience.
To explore the role of management accounting in decision making in the caves,
the research was divided into three phases:
1. Phase one included gathering background information about the organizations by
means of a questionnaire (see Appendix 1).
2. Phase two consisted of gathering various documents with details of decision
making, data about them, and discussion of them.
3. Phase three consisted of conducting semi-structured interviews with the managers
of the show caves.
Phase 1: Background Information
Gaining access to the companies was not difficult because as a manager of one of
the show caves the researcher was able to communicate easily with the managers of
these companies, from the general manager down to junior managers. The
questionnaires were designed in such a way as to include diverse questions to fully
understand the parameters of the use of accounting information and decision making
in the organizations. Some questions focused on the background of the employees,
such as age, educational background, position at the company and number of people
supervised, and these were directly addressed to the person being interviewed and the
questionnaire filled in by the researcher. This was helpful because this meant that the
questionnaire was filled in on time. At this particular stage of the study, the researcher
had plenty of time to spend with each interviewee and was thus able to inquire into the
operation of the company.

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Phase 2: Documentary Evidence and Discussion
In the second phase of the study, the researcher gathered documents from the
companies and also had conversations with individuals in all the organizations. First,
the researcher visited different departments, had discussions with different individuals
in various positions, and asked for various particulars that corresponded to different
documents, particularly ones of some historic interest.
Second, the researcher focused on the procedures and processes of decision
making and the role of accounting information. The answers given show that the
person responsible for gathering information in the decision-making processes is the
general manager in each of the four show cave companies. The aim of the questions
and of the conversations generally was to gain an understanding of historic and other
changes that have contributed to the development of the processes followed in
decision making, as well as to the development of the companies. The discussions as
well as the documents gathered helped the researcher comprehend the decision-
making processes followed in the organizations. The purpose of gathering evidence of
decision making processes was to get to know both the historic and the current
processes used by managements in decision making and the underlying accounting
practices that informed their decision making.
The organizational structures of the companies, as well as their goals and
intentions, were also examined. Documents helped to support the answers of those
questioned, as well as to throw light on matters left unclear in the discussions. The
major problem at this point was that several documents were classified as confidential
and therefore were not allowed off the company’s premises. However, the researcher
took notes of every relevant document.
Phase 3: Formal Interview
The third phase involved interviews with managers at various levels of decision
making. A number of managers in each organization were interviewed (see Table 4.3),
with each of the interviews lasting two hours on average. The interview questions
concerned accounting information, such as budget, cost management and procedures
followed in decision making. It was understood by the interviewees that the main
thrust of the research was about decision making. The interaction between interviewer
and interviewee at times led to results that could not have been predicted. Some
flexibility in the asking of questions sometimes times led to the interview being
extended, sometimes lasting over two hours. Many times during the interview
interesting issues arose which the researcher had not thought of.
The interview questions were divided into eight categories:
1. Interviewee’s Background: Questions were asked to gather personal data such as

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131
age, sex, position in the company, position in a specific department, how many
years the employee had been employed by the current company or had worked in a
similar company, and last but not least, any degree and/or professional
qualifications the employee had obtained. These kinds of questions helped the
researcher to build up a background for each participant, allowing him to associate
the decision-making process with the historic and professional orientation of every
interviewee.
2. Company background: Questions related to both historic and recent data of the
company, for example, the length of time that the company had been active in a
particular sphere, its total turnover and net profit, its actual status, the number of its
employees in permanent and/or seasonal positions. Other questions asked whether
the company was active in a seasonal environment or not, and the number of
accountants and economists employed by it. Others concerned the way in which
the company’s services were promoted, whether accounting information had
influenced a specific promotion, and if there was a separate accounting system.
3. Budget: Questions were specifically related to the budget, asking about the
interviewee’s degree of participation in the formulation of the budget; whether
there was a budget formulated every year; whether its implementation was
supervised and who was responsible for its formulation and monitoring. Other
questions asked whether the manager exerted influence over the budget, and if so
to what extent; how frequently subordinates were consulted about the budget’s
formulation, and to what extent the company’s performance had affected the
budget’s formulation.
4. Role of budget: Questions asked whether the budget was used as a bureaucratic
tool or a management tool in the company; whether its formulation and use were
compulsory; whether it was used as a planning tool; whether it was used to
motivate the employees; and finally, whether it was used as a tool to evaluate the
company’s or the employees’ performance. Open questions asked whether the
interviewee had had the chance to voice his/her opinions about how he/she
perceived the goal of the budget in the company.
5. External factors impacting the budget and others: Questions concerned any
external influence on the preparation of the budget, specifically whether the mayor
or the chairman of the board of directors had influenced its formulation; what were
the principal problems in preparing the budget and the main advantages of drawing
one up; how and how often were the budget and the employees’ performance
evaluated; who was responsible for performance evaluation; and whether there was
a penalty to anyone who had not reached the performance goals.
6. Role of accounting information: Questions concerned the degree to which

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accounting information influences decisions, such as invoice-related decisions; the
design of new products or services; the engagement of new staff; or decisions
concerning investments. Other sources of information affecting decision making,
besides economic / accounting information, are also inquired into, for example,
some questions concerned changes that had been made in the companies during the
last few years and about the extent to which decision making was influenced by the
board of directors.
7. External factors impacting decision making: Questions concerned the influence of
external factors on decision making in general, for example, concerning pressure
brought to bear by the mayor, other political institutions or banks; pressure from
members of the board of directors or managers of other organizations, either out of
antagonism or on behalf of customers; pressure by professional bodies; pressure
designed to increase the community’s or society’s satisfaction with the company’s
management of the caves; pressure to copy other, successful organizations.
The research process started with the researcher making contact with the people he
sought to interview by telephone, before meeting them in person. The personal inter-
view followed the telephone contact, with the researcher setting the questions in
context. The interview procedure was that interviewees would be given the questions
beforehand in order to prepare themselves so they would be able to highlight some
evidence. As a result of successive interviews, some of the questions were changed or
new ones introduced – the more time elapsed in the research process, the more the
environment became familiar, and so even more questions related to hidden aspects of
the given company came to light. The only problem affecting the interview process
was that no tape-recordings were able to be made as the participants wished to remain
anonymous, and so the researcher had to make extensive notes during each interview.
This led to some interviews going over time, with questions at times having to be
repeated and interviewees’ answers having to be clarified.
3.1. Selection of organizations
There are four major show caves in Greece, each run by a separate organization or
“company”. Three of the show cave companies are controlled by the municipalities
(one jointly with the local prefecture) in which they are located and one is controlled
by the Anthropology Association of Greece. The four companies are therefore largely
public rather than private enterprises (although one or two operate as if they were
private enterprises), with their respective “owners” making appointments to their
boards of directors. The show cave companies have competitors, make their own
decisions and are evaluated on their profitability. Most of the companies running show
caves were established in the 1990s, with a few established three decades ago. Their
average turnover is about €300,000 and their average net worth €135,000. The average

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
133
number of employees within the companies is 33, half of whom are casual employees.
None of the companies operates only seasonally.
The research was conducted by a survey of four show cave companies, followed
by intensive case studies of these. The four show cave companies selected for the case
study attract over 60% of the total number of visitors to show caves in Greece. Three
of the companies are controlled by municipal councils (one jointly with the local
prefecture) and the fourth by the Anthropology Association.
In order to ensure confidentiality, the show cave companies are referred to as
Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Table 1 provides some background of the companies.
TABLE 1: SHOW CAVE ORGANIZATIONS
Organi-
zation Ownership Staff*
No. Annual
Turnover
(Euro)
Industry/ Tourism Objective
Alpha Municipality
(80%)
Prefecture
(20%)
35 400,000 Service Profit,
socially
responsible
Beta Municipality 30 350,000 Ditto ditto
Gamma Anthropology
Association 30 150,000 Ditto ditto
Delta Municipality 35 400,000 Ditto ditto
*Staff is both full-time and permanent; however, most of the show caves also employ additional
casual staff during the peak season.
Overall, only a small number of the employees in any of the show cave companies
are involved in the decision-making process in their respective organization. The
number of employees so involved varies between 20% and 35%. In all four of the
selected show case companies, Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta companies, decision
making is the responsibility of managers at all levels: senior, middle and junior. The
managers selected for the semi-structured interviews were all involved in the decision-
making process in their respective organizations, and all were happy to participate in
the research. All the participants were male and all were Greek nationals. Table 2
shows the number of senior, middle and junior managers interviewed.
The interview participants selected from each company include senior, middle and
junior managers in both accounting and non-accounting positions. Table 3 shows the
number of managers interviewed who were / were not involved in accounting.

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TABLE 2: MANAGERS INTERVIEWED
Companies
Managers
(by Seniority) Alpha
No. Beta
No. Gamma
No. Delta
No. Total
No.
Senior Managers 1 1 1 1 4
Middle
Managers 4 4 4 2 14
Junior Managers 7 4 5 4 20
Total 12 9 10 7 38
TABLE 3: MANAGERS INTERVIEWED:
INVOLVEMENT IN ACCOUNTING
Companies
Alpha
No. Beta
No. Gamma
No. Delta
No.
Accounting Accounting Accounting Accounting
Managers
(by Seniority)
Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No
Senior
Managers 3 1 2 0 2 1 1 1
Middle
Managers 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 1
Junior Managers 4 1 3 1 3 1 2 1
Total 9 3 7 2 6 4 4 3
4. CASE RESULTS
The task of initial budget planning is assigned to the general manager, who is
responsible not only for the process of its development, but eventually also for
monitoring its implementation. The general manager puts all proposals concerning
investments, costs, invoicing and new activities to the board of directors, which
usually adopts them. Alpha Company’s general manager observed that the company’s
operations are affected by both internal and external factors. Management is not
independent in its decision-making processes regarding budget development and
control since its shareholders, i.e., the municipal and prefectural councils, directly
influence its decisions via their representatives on the board of directors and indirectly
via their power to change the board of directors. Municipal elections very often create

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
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uncertainty for Alpha Company as changes in the municipal and prefectural councils
usually result in changes to the composition of the board of directors. And since there
is a legislative requirement that the board of directors be reappointed by the
municipality every November, the influence of the municipality is self-evident. As one
senior manager observed that, “Any change in members on the board of directors of
the organization that follows a change in the municipality’s administration leads to a
change of influence in decision making at all levels”. The results is about the influence
of the institutional environment showed that other board members, specifically
representatives of professional associations, are also likely to exert influence over the
company’s decision-making processes in the interests of their associations. There is
also pressure from the banks for Alpha Company to perform better, and from the
board of directors to increase its total profits. Moreover, there is pressure to emulate
the successes of other organizations. Alpha Company’s investment policies are also
responsive to social pressures exerted in other ways, with significant direct influence
exerted by public institutions. Since it is located in a small country town, the town’s
population is able to exert some influence directly on the members of the company’s
board.
All decision making is effectively in the hands of the board of directors, acting on
proposals by the general manager, in accordance with the Municipal and Community
Code that governs the operations of Beta Company. The Code also mandates the
composition of the board of directors, comprising two municipal councillors, three
representatives of trade unions and two representatives of professional associations.
The results for the questions in Appendix 1i concerning the influence of the
institutional environment show that outside influence on Beta Company’s
management may also be exerted by municipal councillors who have no formal
involvement with Beta Company since there is also always the possibility of them
making suggestions for changes to the budget during the year. In addition, the
decision-making process in Beta Company is also potentially influenced by truly
external parties, such as one of the community groups active in the small town in
which Beta Company is located. The importance of influence wielded by external
parties, be they municipal council, trade unions, professional associations or
community groups, cannot be overestimated.
The law enshrines the decision-making power of the board of directors, rather than
that of the general manager, who is limited to making recommendations concerning
the budget to the board and ultimately to executing its decisions, yet as one
interviewee noted, “Most of the board members do not have any formal education in
economics, and neither does the mayor. This makes their task of assessing the
economic parameters of the budget quite difficult.”
The board of directors conveys its budget proposals to the general manager, who
monitors the monthly implementation of the budget and recommends the final form of
next year’s budget in November of each year to the board of directors for its ultimate

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approval. Investment decisions are also made by the board in November, and these are
included in relevant programmes in the next annual budget. However, under the
Municipal and Communal Code, these programmes can be reconsidered at any time of
the budget year. Every month the general manager considers proposals to vary the
budget. Furthermore, the general manager regularly puts proposals to the board of
directors concerning pricing of new services, investment programmes, hiring of staff
and cost reduction programmes.
Gamma Company’s decision-making processes are subject to both internal and
external influences. The company is owned by the Anthropology Association of
Greece and run by it via its nominees on the company’s board of directors, all of
whom, including its chairman, are members of the Anthropology Association. Given
its emphasis on private sector economic criteria, Gamma Company is less inclined to
acknowledge any social responsibilities to the local community. The results for the
questions in Appendix 1i concerning the influence of the institutional environment
show that external influences on decision making are exercised by local bodies,
especially the municipal council, but also by trade unions and professional
associations.
Gamma Company’s decision-making processes reflect the fact that under the law
the Anthropology Association has the final say on all proposals put forward by the
board of directors. Moreover, since the chairman of the board is an anthropologist
himself and a member of the Anthropology Association, he is likely to act in the
interests of the Anthropology Association, as are the other board members. Gamma
Company can thus at best be considered semi-autonomous.
The general manager plays a significant role in the decision-making processes
concerning the budget and its implementation, but it is effectively one of
implementing the decisions of the board. For example, the board forwards budget
proposals to the general manager, who via his monitoring of the implementation of the
budget is able to recommends a final draft of the new budget at the end of each year.
The general manager’s monitoring of the budget’s implementation also makes it
possible for him to propose changes to the budget each quarter, including new
investments, and other measures, for example, to achieve a reduction of costs and
changes to the pricing of services. Investment decisions may also be made by the
chairman of the board.
Decision making in Delta Company is effectively in the hands of the board of
directors, which votes on all proposals put to it by the general manager. The board
consists of two municipal councillors, one of whom acts as its chairman, two
representatives of local trade unions and three representatives of professional
associations. The chairman of the board of directors is also a member of the local
municipal council, and thus can be expected to represent the municipality on the
board. As a result, Delta Company can only be considered semi-autonomous. In
addition to the municipal council, the company’s decision-making process is also

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
137
influenced by outside forces, such as the local trade unions, professional associations
and other community groups that are active in the small town where the company has
its offices.
The majority of directors do not hold any economic, managerial or accountancy
degrees, so their task of assessing the economic parameters of the budget is quite
difficult. Nevertheless, the law supports the decision-making power of the board of
directors. Responsibility for implementing the budget and making recommendations
for any changes throughout the year is assigned to the general manager, as it is in the
three other show-cave companies.
6. DISCUSSION
The analysis of Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta companies revealed some very
interesting aspects of institutional isomorphism in the management of the show cave
companies.
6.1. Coercive isomorphism
Theory predicts that coercive isomorphism is found only when there are political
influence and problems of legality. Coercive isomorphism concerns the ways in which
organizations may be subject to external pressure from organizations upon which they
are dependent or as a form of more general cultural expectations (Meyer and Scott,
1983). In such cases of formal or informal pressures on organizations, organizational
change may be a direct response or obligation to a government demands.
In Alpha Company we find coercive isomorphism, which stems as much from
official as from unofficial pressures by outside organizations that in turn are dependent
on yet other organizations active in the community (Mizuchi and Fein, 1999). In
particular, the influences on decision making and budget development identified in
Alpha Company include pressure to follow the municipal regime, to make investments
in the interests of the municipality, and generally to act in support of the public
accounting system. These indications of outside influence correspond to those
identified by DiMaggio and Powell (1983). The findings show that Alpha Company
recommends that some investments be made in the municipality, although stating that
it is not obliged to make them. These findings bear out the findings of Greenings and
Gray (1994) and Meyer and Scott (1983).
A middle manager stated that many times the mayor tried to impose the municipal
council’s will on the show cave investment programs. This caused the company
financial problems and lead to a drop in investment programs.
The implications of political influence being exercised by municipal councillors in
the show cave company correspond to those identified by Carpenter and Feroz (2001)
and Pfeffer (1981) as well with the findings of Papadakis and Barwise (2002).

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Similar to Alpha Company, Beta Company also experiences coercive
isomorphism, due to both official and unofficial pressures being exerted by other
municipal organizations, which in turn are dependent on community organizations.
The pressures exerted on Beta Company by the municipality have the potential to
influence the final form of its budget through its processes of budget development and
decision making, its investment decisions, employment policy and cost management.
The research findings are consistent with the findings by Covaleski and Dirsmith
(1988), Mizuchi and Fein (1999) and Rao and Nielsen (1992), which show that
pressure from public interest groups clearly appears to act as a coercive institutional
force impelling firms to initiate or elaborate structural responses to issues.
6.2. Mimetic isomorphism
When organizations are not sure what to do, they very often look to a reference
group, to kindred organizations, and emulate what they do in the same situation.
Imitation is nowadays far more widespread in the decision making of companies than
before the election in 2002. One example is the way in which prices are set for a
company’s services. It is known that at periods of uncertainty, or at periods when the
achievement of goals is doubtful, companies imitate one another (March and Olsen,
1976).
Alpha Company imitated other companies when setting prices for its services,
rather than taking into account its costs. A junior manager of Alpha Company stated
that when the company started, no one had the requisite knowledge to set prices for its
services and for this reason asked managers from other show cave companies what
they charged. This was because the company was facing organizational problems and
had failed to set clear goals, as was confirmed by its general manager, who stated that
he attempted to set the prices of services by relying upon models created by other
companies (Kimberly, 1980).
A company may issue staff and management regulations that have been copied
from other, similar companies as long as they are based on the prevailing law. It was
crucial for Alpha Company to follow other show cave companies, because it had been
established in 1998 and thus been in existence for merely eight years at the time of this
study. Especially in the early stages of its operation, Alpha Company relied heavily on
imitating the organizational details of other show cave companies, such as a
company’s investment program, budget development, management regulations,
company reports and regulations of services. Indeed, such imitation was made
necessary by the inexperience of Alpha Company’s board of directors, which wanted
to minimize the possibility of failure. A middle manager of Alpha Company stated
that many times it was obvious that no one from the board of directors could
understand the economic issues facing the company. For this reason, the best way was
to imitate other companies in order to succeed. The uncertainties felt by the board led

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
139
to the employment of a general manager with commercial experience, who was given
a number of responsibilities and tasks, including to hire a team of accountants to
ensure that the company acted in a commercially responsible manner.
The researcher analyzed the composition of the board of directors from the early
stages of Alpha Company’s operation and found that the majority of board members
had neither the experience nor the knowledge required for the successful creation and
development of the company. The first chairman of Alpha Company, for example,
was a municipal councillor at the time of his appointment, but by occupation he was a
high school teacher.
The information received in budget reports was evaluated by the general manager,
who put recommendations based on them to the board of directors, which then made
the required decisions. However, the inexperience of the General Manger in running a
show cave company led him to copy other show cave companies’ investment
decisions. These findings are consistent with those by Cyert and March (1963) and
March and Olsen (1976); those authors argue that uncertainty is also a powerful force
that encourages imitation. A contributory factor, were the relationships with external
associations and even individuals, such as university geology professors, who
attempted to influence investment decisions. As a result, many decisions simply
imitated companies that had been active in the exploitation of show caves for many
years.
The above findings are also consistent with those by Palmer (1999), Greenwood
and Hinings (1996) and Lomis (1995), which show that organizations adopt forms that
are considered legitimate by other organizations in their field regardless of whether
these will actually improve efficiency.
6.3. Normative isomorphism
The third factor in isomorphic organizational change is normative pressure.
Institutional legitimacy is derived from the wider institutional environment, not from
the local bureaucrats who may employ their own unique interpretations of proper
procedure. Professional power not only shields decision makers from having others
pass judgment on their decision but also “binds supervisors and subordinates to act in
good faith” (Meyer and Rowan, 1977:343).
Alpha Company takes a normative attitude to its practices and procedures, i.e.,
they are essentially fixed. The company bases this stance on the fact that its schedule
and structure are frequently mentioned in the public accounting system, as well as in
the private sector accounting system. Besides, the company is obliged to implement
the public accounting system.
A junior manager of Alpha Company stated that, “we are obliged to apply the
public accounting system, which often is not as flexible as the private accounting
system”.

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The company’s management regulations are the same as those that also govern
Beta and Delta companies, while Gamma Company has its own regulations. There is
influence exerted upon all these companies by professional associations (Meyer and
Rowan, 1977), of which their employees are members, and by the members of their
boards of directors. These indications of normative isomorphism correspond to those
identified by Palmer et al. (1993) and Scott (1987), who argue that normative
isomorphism analyzes the major role of the profession within organizations.
The general manager of Alpha Company is under particular pressure because he is
an economist and therefore promotes economic practices concerning the budget and
decision making rather than practices which are primarily to discharge an alleged
social responsibility, which are recommended by the mayor. Moreover, because the
first board of directors was presided over by a municipal councillor who was a teacher
at a state school, decision making was based on bureaucratic practices suitable for the
development of a budget. This view of budget development, and of the budget itself,
was in line with regulations rather than considering the budget a management tool.
Two middle managers stressed that “many times the chairman of the board tried to
advocate more bureaucratic procedures for the development of the budget since this is
typical in the public accounting system.
The second board of directors was presided over by the mayor, whose main aim
was to shift funds from the company to the municipality, without taking into account
the general manager’s recommendations. This had been anticipated in the company’s
charter, and so the resulting pressure was not as great as it might have been. The last
board of directors was mainly composed of people who used to be members of the
local chamber of commerce, and they tended to make decisions in favour of
professionals. As a result, the general manager came under pressure from various
professional associations, for example, when a professor of geology proposed that
priority should be given to research and to improving the protection of the show caves,
the board sided with the outside expert and decided to protect the show caves as a
matter of priority rather than to increase the number of tourists visiting it.
A senior manager stated that “the pressure of the geologists sometimes is crucial
because many times there is a shift towards making investment decisions for the
improvement of the show cave’s protection or to explore the implementation of plans
for new buildings”.
In this way, decision making on issues such as evaluation of the company’s
performance, cost management, pricing and planning were affected more by the
pressures brought to bear by outside professional than by the fact that the municipality
was the majority owner of Alpha Company, holding 80% of shares vs. 20% held by
the prefecture.
The management regulations that govern Beta Company are the same as those that
govern Delta Company, while Gamma Company has its own regulations. There is
influence exerted upon these companies by the professional associations to which the

Institutional Explanations of Budgeting Control Systems: The Case of Caves in Greece
141
company’s employees belong, and by members of the board of directors. The general
manager of Beta Company is under pressure deriving from the fact that he is an
accountant and therefore promotes practices informed by economic and accounting
concerns rather than practices informed by issues of social responsibility, the latter
being preferred by the mayor.
7. CONCLUSION
The analysis of the case companies revealed some interesting aspects of
institutional isomorphism in the management of the show caves as is the coercive,
mimetic and normative where the findings show that in Alpha, Beta and Delta
companies there is coercive isomorphism from unofficial pressures by outside
organizations as is the pressure to follow the municipal regime, or in the case of
Gamma company there is a pressure to follow political and legislative regimes.
Furthermore the findings shows that the companies face mimetic isomorphism in
terms of imitating other companies when setting prices (Alpha Company), or imitating
other companies when facing organizational problems (Beta Company), or imitating
other companies because the chairman of the board does not appreciate the economic
information made available to him (Gamma Company), or when the company face
uncertainty about future success (Delta Company).
In addition, the findings show that the case companies face normative
isomorphism when the company is obliged to implement the public accounting system
(Alpha Company), or influence by professional associations to which employees
belong (Beta Company), or influence from professions (Gamma Company), or
influence by outside professionals (Delta Company).
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/149-155
AN EVALUATION AND PROPOSALS FOR THE SUCCESS FACTORS
AND THE PROCESS OF INNOVATION
MARIOS CHARALAMBOUS*
ABSTRACT
The first part of the study was negotiated with the theoretical background of innovation and had
presented its importance in achieving competitive advantage, in particular reference to the
coffee sector. To review previous results, innovation is a powerful source of advantage as it
gives the change to act against competitors (Tidd, et al, 1997). Innovation is necessary as
customers’ needs and demands are constantly changing and the main concept is to create ideas
and then transform them into products and services that will improve the customer service,
costs, quality and reliability and therefore to generate success (Henry, & Walker 1994). In a
general approach, the results had shown that in the coffee sector, like any other service
operation, innovation is a necessity and a vital aspect in order to survive from competition.
Bear in mind that while coffee shops are increasing and sales are rising, competition is
increasingly intense. Thus, the need for brand strength and differentiation is vital, with the
effort to win consumer loyalty (Wiggin, 2002). After analyzing the importance of innovation, the
study now aims to describe the nature of the designated sector and the key trends and
developments. Afterward, it targets to discuss the factors that determine the success of
innovation in the coffee sector. Finally the study seeks to present and discuss an appropriate
process by which the coffee sector should carry out and manage its innovative activity.
Keywords: Innovation; Competition; Brand Differentiation; Trends and Developments; Process of the
Innovation Activity.
1. INTRODUCTION
The coffee drinking boom that began in the 1990s created a whole industry and
until recent years it has noted a phenomenal growth. The main reason of that growth is
the desire by the population for a place to socialize (Wiggin, 2002). The following
section discusses the growth of the coffee shop operations.
Nowadays the number of coffee shops is increasing greatly. More specifically and
based on the Specialty Coffee Association of America (2005), an estimated 1,150
coffeehouses were operating in 1990, whereas by the end of 2005 they increased to
21,400. Based on their operation success, the two of the biggest coffee chains and the
major competitors are considered to be Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks, with nearly
16,000 stores worldwide (Sanchez, 2006).
* Head of Hospitality and Tourism Department, Americanos College, Cyprus

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1.1. Growth
The growth of the coffee sector is believed to be due to the availability of sites, the
willingness of operators to invest in these sites and the emergence of a café society,
(all contribute towards this growth). In 2002 the number of coffee shops repetition
increased sensibly because of the lower rents of that time and operators took
advantage of that (Wiggin, 2002). Despite that, sites are always available for the
growth of the coffee shop operations, branded or not, and this is a great investment for
operators.
To continue, the growth of the coffee operations is also driven by the consumers.
People’s lifestyle has been and still is beneficial to the coffee shop sector. The
necessity to relax, socialize and change environment, give a reason for operations to
be developed.
As demand is growing, operations take the advantage to become better, by being
innovative and aiming to meet demands and follow trends. Many coffee operations
provide new, moderated products, but also services that attract the interest of more and
more consumers. Thus, innovative strategies certainly lead to profitability and success
and taking into account today’s facts, improvements and growth of the sector, all
prove the role and importance of innovation.
Though, the most important factor is for operations to have in mind that
customers’ demands as well as trends are changing. As innovation helps operations in
achieving success, the coffee shop operations are constantly taking this advantage to
invest in new aspects and improve them based on the consumers’ demands.
On the other hand and despite the massive expansion of coffee shop operations
and sales, profits are often low and success is limited. To give a reason to this, a
number of coffee shop operations are incapable of implementing innovative activities.
Coffee shops with no success are those who are not innovative enough, do not work
on new ideas and they are unable to achieve any competitive advantage.
After giving an overview of the nature and the growth of the coffee sector, the
following section illustrates how the significance of new ideas generates sales and an
overall success to the operations.
1.2. Innovation brings success
The question that occupies the study is “which are the factors that determine the
success of innovation in the coffee sector?” Trying to come closer to this topic, firstly
it is noted that there are many innovative ways through which an operation can
achieve success, where many of them are being described below.
One of the most important innovative steps for the coffee shop operations is the
one related to products and offerings. Taking in mind that consumers are increasingly

An Evaluation and Proposals for the Success Factors and the Process of Innovation
151
coming to expect a range of coffee styles, specialties and varieties, operations should
work to meet those expectations on the best way possible. Being able to do this may
be one of the ways for coffee chains to increase their profit margins.
The important factor is to offer something extra over competitors and to keep the
product offer more interesting. Examples of this innovation to products are the
offering of choices for coffee types, from strong to decaffeinated/standard, with milk
or cream, cup size available, additional flavoring syrups, the option of iced or hot
coffee, and a variety of selection on toppings.
Alternatives to coffee are also offered, such as chocolate drinks, a choice of teas or
fruit juices to drink in or take away and in addition all drinks are often offered with a
pastry or delicatessen sandwich. Last but not least, some coffee shop operations add
liqueur coffees to their menu for late-night consumers.
These ideas drive the coffee operation to success as consumers are attracted not
only to new offerings but also to the variety of the products offered. Also, the idea of
broadening the product provision of a wider choice of food is working out. The aim of
this idea was for coffee operations to “capture the lunchtime trade”. The results though
are positive as more and more people, especially during working breaks, purchase
both their lunch and their coffee in one place. The success and the achievement to
manage the operation are noticeable, and the result lies to the increase of loyal
consumers and desired sales.
Another thought of innovative activities, is that many coffee shops have launched
the “home away from home” concept which involves the creation of a living-room
atmosphere in their outlets, complete with sofas, low-rise tables, plants, newspapers
and even sockets for notepad computers.
A real example of this concept is, among others, the Starbucks coffee chain, which
refers to its stores as “the third place” in people’s life – the first is at home and the
second is at work. The idea is to give to the customer the best experience and make
him or her feel as comfortable as being at home.
Also the success of a coffee shop operation relies on its location. For instance a
shop situated on a platform of a railway station has customers made up of commuters
and other travelers who might not have many common demographic characteristics. In
contrast a shop situated within a retail store will attract customers with more
characteristics in common. Similarly a shop in a city centre will derive its custom
from a mixture of shoppers, office workers and students (Wiggin, 2002).
In addition to the above, coffee shop chains are now selling beans directly to
consumers in order “to thrive in today’s changed marketplace” an agricultural
representative said. In particular, Colombia’s coffee growers undertake this process
and sell their beans to the public. The Colombia’s coffee growers once more prove the
importance of innovation and this late improvement made Colombia the world's
second-largest producer after Brazil (Cowboy, 2001).

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In general, innovative actions include all of the above and also the offering of free
vouchers, designated cups, summer drinks, Italian heritage, delivery of free coffee to
offices, free sampling, offers, discounts to encourage trial purchase, loyalty cards
offered when refurbishments are taking place to encourage customers to come back
when they re-open and unique service standards (Wiggin, 2002).
A last fact is the cooperation that the Starbucks Coffee Company has with the
Alliance for Environment Innovation to include in-store tests of new environmentally
preferable disposable coffee cups. The company believes that through this action, it
will enhance its customers’ coffee experience and will generate environmental
benefits (www.environmentaldefense.org).
In reference to that, the company, through innovation manages to keep its
reputation of being the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the
world. It invests such new ideas, which no others do, and so it gets the opportunity to
maintain the success of its outlets.
As Howard Schultz (2005), Starbucks chairman says, “You get more than the
finest coffee when you visit a Starbucks—you get great people, first-rate music and a
comfortable and upbeat meeting place. We establish the value of buying a product at
Starbucks by our uncompromising quality and by building a personal relationship
with each of our customers” (www.starbucks.com).
1.3. Factors that affect success
Despite the fact that innovation brings success and helps operations in achieving
competitive advantage, at the same time there are those factors that affect the
development of coffee shops and some of them are shown below.
Technology plays in important role to the development and operation of the coffee
sector, taking into account that inventions in technology happen all the time.
Concerning this, operations in order to operate a large number of outlets effectively
and profitably, they need a systems infrastructure in place to keep track of stocks,
selling prices and cash flow.
There have been instances of companies at the bottom end of the market that have
not invested sufficiently in this type of infrastructure, thereby making it difficult to
sustain a large number of outlets. The major coffee chains have therefore invested in
technology for linking points of sale (POS) into their supplies/stocks (Wiggin, 2002).
Another factor that has an effect on the success of coffee operations is the
tremendous growth of competition. There is a great number of coffee-shops,
independents or chains, all around the world serving millions of people every day and
most of them are located in small distances within the same area (Sanchez, 2006).
Based on Wiggin (2002), currently there is a lower rate growth of coffee
operations due to the fact that some parts of the country, particularly in London, have
become very well covered by coffee shops and therefore the scope for further new

An Evaluation and Proposals for the Success Factors and the Process of Innovation
153
sites is considered to be less than it was several years ago. As a result of the lack of
opportunities in Central London, most of the leading operators are looking to the
suburbs of the capital, into other regions or even worldwide.
2. THE INNOVATION PROCESS
Part of the report is to introduce and discuss an appropriate process by which
coffee operations in the coffee sector should carry out and manage their innovative
activities. This sector tries to make that happen.
The success of innovation is never guaranteed. Real success lies in being able to
repeat the trick of success – to manage the process consistently, so that success, whilst
never guaranteed, is more likely. So, innovation management is about learning to find
the most appropriate solution problem of consistently managing this process and doing
so in the ways best suited to the particular circumstances in which the organization
finds itself (Tidd, et al 1997).
2.1. The process
Once any operation decides that it must innovate to become or to remain
competitive, it “should establish a rational, logical process to use it as guidance to the
entire strategy” (Baldwin, 2006). Thus firstly it needs to pick a type of innovation
process that is correct for the company. The result of this process could include a new
product, a new service, or process or the re-invention of a current strategy concept.
So based on Tidd et al (1997) there are four phases, which make the innovation
process and which they need to be managed:
1. Scan and search the environment
2. Selection
3. Obtain resources
4. Implement innovation
5. Review experience (success or failure)
As a first step in the innovation process, there is the necessity of the operations to
scan the environment, both external and internal, to become aware of what is
happening. In this way operations look at competitors and on changes that can be
happening and so they take the advantage of identifying the arising opportunities and
then to generate a set of ideas.
Secondly, operations “are called to select from the set of the potential triggers for
innovation those things which offer the best chance of developing a competitive edge”
(Tidd et al. 1997 p.14). Many new ideas are possible to be generated, but there is no

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guaranteed that all can meet success. So, the operations need to select the one which
can be implemented and therefore bring success.
After choosing their option, operations need to resource it – providing the
resources to exploit it. Resources may include anything that is estimated to be used
and help the innovation strategy to be processed. Extensive search though may be
required in order to find the right resources.
Finally, operations have to implement the innovation process, by bringing the idea
to the final launch, through various stages of development– as a new product or
service in the external market place or a new process or method within the
organization.
Except from that option, operations can reflect upon the previous phases and
review experience of success and failure – in order to learn about how to manage the
process better and to capture relevant knowledge from the experience.
Apart from that there are also some additional factors, based on Baldwin (2006)
that the operation planning, to innovate should take in great consideration.
1. The operation should see where and how this process should be set up and
look at the organizational structure, the organization's strengths and
weaknesses, the culture within the company and the management team.
2. The time scale for the development process. If the development project is an
extension or minor modification of an existing product or service, the time
scale could well be a few months up to a year in length.
3. Any individual within the operation is encouraged to contribute to the process
and so the result will be more effective and more productive.
Also, he adds that concerning the evaluation process there are some criteria that
must be considered, two of which are mentioned below.
1. The potential profit impact on the company. Here there is the use of two
assumptions: first that the company puts full efforts into making the idea work
and second that the result of the idea is successful.
2. The possibility that the result will not be successfully implemented or that it
will fail after being attempted. In this case the team, after having ideas on how
to approach the problem should rank the solutions of the problem and select
the best approach. It is suggested that, whenever feasible, the management
team should try to validate its potential solutions with selected, trusted
customers.
2.2. Conclusion

An Evaluation and Proposals for the Success Factors and the Process of Innovation
155
Based on the above analysis of the process that operations in the coffee sector can
follow to be able to manage their innovative actions, it is obvious that, in general the
benefit is that it gives the best and most appropriate result for the operations in this
sector.
3. CONCLUSIONS
To conclude on the whole report, the process of innovation increases profitability,
reduces costs, improves efficiency and productivity. Apart from that, it also delivers
enhanced product or service customer as results of the process are linked to the desired
outcome.
Besides, the significant changes that had been noted in the coffee sector since the
coffee drinking boom, which began in the 1990s, and therefore the success of the
sector nowadays, affirm the importance of the use of innovation.
However, the coffee shop operations should keep improving and continuously
innovating, so as to remain successful for eternity.
Furthermore, it is suggested that any process undertaken by the operations needs to
be worked out carefully and correctly in order for the desired results to be met.
Innovation is truly a complex and hard work, but what matters is the result.
REFERENCES
Baldwin, D. (2006). The Strategies of the Innovation Process. [Internet]. Available from:
<http://www.strategyletter.com/CD0603/featured_article.asp> [Accessed 18 April 2007]
Cowboy, S. (2001). Coffee Bean Growers Should Innovate Along Their Value Chain.
[Internet].Available from:
<http://www.abinavinnovation.com/index.cgi?template_id=35&NewsObject_NewStoryId
=13> [Accessed 18 April 2006]
Henry, J. & Walker, D. (1994). Managing Innovation. SAGE Publications Ltd, London
No Author. (1997). Starbucks Coffee Company and Alliance for Environmental Innovation
search for the perfect cup. [Internet]. Available from:
<http://www.environmentaldefense.org/pressrelease.cfm?ContentID=3546> [Accessed 15
April 2007]
No Author. (2005). Starbucks.com. [Internet]. Available from: <www.starbucks.com>
[Accessed 17 April 2007]
Sanchez, C.E. (2006). Coffee chains percolate competition [Internet]. Available from:
<www.heraldtribune.com> [Accessed 25 February 2007]
Specialty Coffee Association of America (2005) Specialty Coffee Retail in the USA. [Internet].
Available from: <www.scaa.org> [Accessed 18 April 2007]
Tidd, J., Bessant, J. & Paritt, K. (1997). Managing Innovation, Integrating Technological
Market & Organizational Change. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, England
Wiggin, E. (2002). Market Assessment Report; Coffee & Sandwich Shops 2nd ed. Key Note
Ltd, Middlesex

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/157-168
IS THERE A DISTINCTIVELY EUROPEAN MODEL OF HUMAN
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT OR ARE THE DIFFERENCES WITHIN
EUROPE GREATER THAN THE SIMILARITIES?
ANDREAS PETASIS* and MICHAEL ANASTASIOU**
ABSTRACT
It is obvious that the effects of change brought by the European Union will affect different
organizations in different ways. The strategy that will need to be adopted by a company
already established in Europe, or a company expanding into Europe, or a domestic company
that intents to protect its existing customer base, will be totally different. This paper examines
the content and meaning of European HRM, by examining the recent models and developments
of HRM in five major European countries. By investigating the differences and similarities in
HRM practices in the UK, Denmark, France, Germany and Spain, the paper concludes that the
differences in the HRM models within the EU are greater than the similarities.
Keywords: HRM; Europe; Social Charter; Denmark; France; Germany; Spain; UK.
1. INTRODUCTION
Human Resource Management is one of the most complex and challenging fields
of endeavor. Not only must the firm’s requirements for an effective work force be me,
but also the Human Resource manager must be greatly concerned with the
expectations of both employees and society in general. Society at large has proclaimed
its human resources to have vital needs that move beyond a “work force” status. The
employee is simultaneously an instrument of the firm, a human being, and a citizen.
Every organization has a Human Resource function whether or not a specific
Human Resource manager has been so designated. Every organization must hire, train,
pay, motivate, maintain, and ultimately separate employee. However, we need not to
task far to identify challenging problems in the field of Human Resource
Management. Many problems are caused by constant changes that occur both within
and outside the firm. Along the many major changes that are occurring, the following
five can illustrate the nature of the Human Resource Management challenge: (a)
Changing mix of the work force, (b) Changing personal value of the work force, (c)
Changing expectations of citizen–employees, (d) Changing levels of probability, and
(e) Changing demands of government.
* Assistant Professor, Business Department, Americanos College, Nicosia, Cyprus
** Senior Lecturer, Hospitality and Business Department, InterNapa College, Famagusta,
Cyprus

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Therefore, throughout this work, we will try to look beyond these challenges, by
investigating the differences and similarities within Europe, concerning Human
Resource Management.
Hence, this paper is divided into smaller parts; first we will try to identify the most
important elements of Human Resource Management, then to examine the concept of
Human Resource Management within Europe, and finally to examine whether or not
the differences are greater than the similarities (European Model) within Europe.
2. THE CONCEPT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
The role of Human Resource Management has changed through time. At first, the
dominant role was to satisfy top management in procuring and maintaining a work
force that would be instrumental to organizational productivity. As knowledge
expanded in executing this role, the manager began to understand the necessity for
ascertaining and accommodating to the needs of human beings who constituted that
work force. Managers constantly searched for that program which would support the
accomplishment of both organizational and individual objectives.
Therefore, Human Resource Management requires a broad background in such
fields as psychology, sociology, philosophy, economics and management. Hence, in
this section we will try to identify and summarize the basic functions of Human
Resource Management, as developed by many theorists throughout the last decades:
Planning, Organizing, Directing, Controlling, Procurement, Development,
Compensation, Integration, and Maintenance.
To conclude, the above functions were listed and included in this paper, to better
understand their complexity, especially when Human Resource Management is
required to act on these functions in a single market, such as the European Union.
Human Resource Management not only has to act upon these functions effectively
and efficiently, but it has to integrate them with the different cultures, attitudes,
beliefs, values, perceptions and behaviors of all the citizens of the European Union.
3. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
3.1. The Cultural impact of Europe
“Employers will have to aim at maintaining systems which are flexible enough to
cater for different national salary levels… These systems will also need to be able to
cope with more frequent moves and job changes… A sensible constructed and flexible
policy will be essential” Richard Underwood (1989).
It is obvious that the effects of change brought by the European Union will affect
different organizations in different ways. The strategy that will need to be adopted by
a company already established in Europe, or a company expanding into Europe, or a

Is there a Distinctively European Model of Human Resource Management or are the
Differences within Europe Greater than the Similarities?
159
domestic company that intents to protect its existing customer base, will be totally
different.
Equally, Human Resource Managers would adopt different strategies and methods
depending on the status of their companies. Thus, it is clear that a number of specific
areas of concern are emerging that Human Resource Managers should take under
consideration in the wider market. These areas can be: (a) Manager and staff mobility,
(b) Executive pay and benefits, (c) Recruitment of managerial staff, and (d)
Vocational, cultural and language training.
3.2. The European workforce; change and regulation
One of the most important documents regarding the workforce in the European
Union was produced by its Commission on 1989, entitled “Community Charter on the
Fundamental Social Rights of Workers”. The document’s main objective is to ensure
the working and living conditions within the European Union, by setting out social
rights, that the Community is committed to improve. The Charter specifies twelve
areas of entitlement and encompassed a commitment to translate agreed and guiding
principles into legal measures. These twelve areas are: Right of freedom of movement,
Employment and remuneration, Improvement of living and working conditions, Right
to social protection, Right to freedom of association, Right to vocational training,
Right of men and women to equal treatment, Right to information, consultation and
participation of workers, Protection of children and adolescents, Health protection and
safety at the workplace, Rights of the elderly, Rights of the disabled.
3.3. Creating a European human resource management structure
First of all, for a manager to be successful in a European organization, four major
attributes must exist. These attributes are: (a) the ability to work within a complex
operational framework. An adaptable and cosmopolitan approach should be a
minimum requirement, (b) an understanding of any change process, as it will be
necessary to work in an environment in which decisions will not be necessarily based
on facts, (c) the ability to operate across cultural boundaries. Good communication
skills are required as it may be necessary to lead or mange cross-cultural groups, and
(d) the willingness to accept a demanding lifestyle, involving frequent travel,
relocation and other disruptions to family life.
Thus, the Human Resource Manager’s role and contribution is of a unique
significance, since he has the responsibility to induct and develop these attributes to
the current staff, or to recruit new managers and staff that possess these attributes.
Moreover, in designing the structure of the European management team, the
Human Resource Manager must be capable of developing appropriate personnel
systems. As previously mentioned, these systems should be carefully designed after a

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thorough analysis of the current systems that exist both in the company as well as in
the market.
Although the personnel systems depend on the management style and areas of
activity of the organization, in most of the situations we can include the following: (a)
the development of common grading systems compatible with different countries,
having always in mind the different pay levels and living costs of each country, (b) the
development of a common merit review and appraisal system for the whole
organization, (c) the development of a common job evaluation structure, and (d) the
development of a non-cash benefits scheme.
4. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT WITHIN EUROPE
“When ‘zooming in’ towards HR practices in specific European countries, it
becomes clear that in all major functional areas there are significant differences
between European countries” Chris Brewster (2004).
The above statement of Chris Brewster clearly identifies that there are significant
differences in the concept of Human Resource Management within the European
Union. However, we can identify that at least all members of the EU share the same
attitudes towards Human Resource Management. However, the differences can be
identified in terms of culture, values, and lifestyles as well as in the economic and
political situations of each member-country of the European Union. In the following
pages, we will try to examine the concept of Human Resource Management for some
European Countries, like France, the UK, Germany, etc.
FIGURE 1: BREWSTER’S ‘EUROPEAN” MODEL OF HRM
Source: Timothy Clark, 1996, European Human Resource Management,
Blackwell Business
International Context
Includes:
e.g. European Union
National Context
Includes:
Culture
Political
Legislative
Economic
Social
Paterns of ownership, etc
National HRM Context
Includes:
Education
Training
Labor markets
Trades Unions
Corporate Strategy
HRM Strategy
Includes:
Integration
Development to line
Employment policies
Involvement policies
Reward policies
Work systems, etc
HRM Practice
Includes:
Selection
Performance appraisal
Rewards
Development
Industrial relations
Communication, etc

Is there a Distinctively European Model of Human Resource Management or are the
Differences within Europe Greater than the Similarities?
161
4.1. Human resource management in Denmark
Danish companies require total functional flexibility thus they perceive Trade
Unions and other societal committees as allies and partners to the fulfillment of this
goal. Danish companies consider the involvement of these Unions as a necessity and a
great advantage when decisions must be made concerning vital organizational
changes.
Moreover, this point of view by Danish companies results in building relationships
between employees and management and thus gain employee loyalty. They seek to
meet employees’ needs and requirements to provide them with a meaningful working
life. Therefore, if the company provides them the above, these employees will become
loyal, thus more effective and efficient in the work. The following statement confirms
the above: “Denmark’s relatively good cooperation means that the trade unions must
work to render visible the new items which are to be bargained over and the new
victories which can be won – and this will be one of the greatest challenges for the
trade union movement in the new Millennium” Steen E Narvberg (1999).
To conclude on Danish companies, it is believed that they follow Gospel’s model
of Human Resource Management which covers three main areas: (a) Work Relations,
(b) Employment Relations, and (c) Industrial Relations.
4.2. Human resource management in Germany
Unlike Denmark, employee-elected councils exist in Germany which are legally
entitled to co-determination and consultation, and restrict the degree of managerial
autonomy, with as an objective, the continuous improvement of working hours,
training and disciplinary procedures.
Therefore, the Human Resource department in German companies is in general
largely restricted to ensure that companies do not breach any of the regulations that
constitute national employment law and agreements.
Hence, in the case of Germany, Human Resource Management has to cope with
the burden of a comprehensive and detailed legislative regime, which in turn leads to a
highly operative focus that is expected to inhibit the use of collaborative practices.
To conclude, we distinguish five approaches to contemporary Human Resource
Management in Germany as found in European Human Resource Management, by
Timothy Clark (1996). These are:
Focus on management:
Ackermann (1987), Berthel (1993) and Scholz (1995) represented an approach that
traditional personnel issues are complemented by concerns with system design process
and corporate culture. Hence, management of people is seen as a broad subject area in
which the theories and ideas from a range of disciplines are relevant.

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Focus on controlling:
The controlling-oriented approach developed by Wunderer and Kuhn (1993),
points out that employees are a cost to companies, thus they have to be managed.
Therefore, the strengths and weaknesses of the workforce must be continuously
evaluated in order to meet the goals and objectives of organizations.
Focus on development:
The key issue of this approach is the continuous development and training of
human resources in integration with the development of the organization as a whole.
This learning approach leads to motivation, thus increase productivity, performance,
efficiency and overall growth.
Focus on information:
According to this approach, employees need information regarding key-business
issues, in order to allow them not only to perform more effectively, but also to
participate and to assist management in organizational decision making.
Focus on planning/ administration:
This approach stretches the strengthening of relationships between the employer
and the employees. This approach focuses on building relationships to avoid
interference from trade unions and other employee organizations in one hand, and on
the other hand to make employees perform better and work effectively.
In addition, the following graph is developed to define the four major approaches
of Human Resource Management in Germany:
FIGURE 2: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
APPROACHES IN GERMANY
The Stuttgart Approach
• Personnel Development Strategy
• Personnel Appraisal
• Personnel Administration
• Personnel Research
The Zurich Approach
• Structural Dimension
• Corporate Culture
• Corporate Policy
The Mannheim Approach
• Personnel Policy
• Personnel Planning
• Recruitment
• Personnel Assignment
• Leadership
• Compensation
• Corporate Social Policy
• Personnel Development
• Personnel Administration
The Saarbrucken Approach
• Workforce Analysis
• Personnel Recruitment Analysis
• Internal and External Recruitment
• Training and Development
Source: Timothy Clark, 1996, European Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business

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4.3. Human resource management in France
French companies are characterized as hierarchical by Brunstein (1995), as well as
being based on the principle of control with power concentrated at the top, as seen by
Van der Klink and Mulder (1995).
In addition, no particular relationship exist between management and employees
resulting from the reluctance of management to grant employees access to information
about a variety of functional, operational and managerial matters. This lack of trust is
defined by the role of trade unions which has traditionally been in strong opposition to
corporate management as identified by Slomp (1995).
Therefore, the above facts resulted to the increased relative autonomy of French
companies. Hence, employees should try to fit company structures and procedures
without freely expressing their requirements, opinions or needs.
4.4. Human resource management in Spain
Similarly to France, institutional structures in Spain still remain weak, thereby
granting management great autonomy, according to Lucio (1992). Moreover, we can
identify that the existence of union with bargaining power and effectiveness varies
between provinces and regions, according to their poor (or strong) financial and
organizational resources.
As noted by Florez-Saborido, GonzalezRendon, and Alcaide-Castro (1995), “this
wide range of contractual arrangements generated a complex system, in which clear,
common rules did not exist… The government followed a gradualist type strategy in
introducing greater contractual freedom, but the process also produced unnecessary
administrative complexity and legal insecurity for the employer”. Hence, personnel
practices in Spain have exhibited a reactive and highly operatively oriented character,
with specialist personnel departments in possession of scarce resources and limited
status.
Therefore, Spain is characterized by weak labor unions without any significant
influence on work life and by substantial management autonomy. At the same time,
the personnel function has traditionally been highly operatively oriented, lacking the
opportunity to introduce collaborative human resource management practices.
4.5. Human resource management in The United Kingdom
The UK is characterized by Edwards et al. (1992), as unique in the European
context because of the considerable increase in general managerial autonomy; this was
a result of the radical changes in the employment legislation forced by the European
Union.

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Therefore, the UK Human Resource Management model emphasizes a great
degree of organizational and managerial autonomy. In other words, this means that
UK companies have absolute freedom regarding Human Resource practices, based
mainly on the inexistence of relationships between management, employees and trade
unions.
To conclude, Human Resource Management in the UK is interpretated by four
very different views, as noted by Timothy Clark’s European Human Resource
Management: (a) A pragmatic view, (b) A purist view, (c) A processual view, and (d)
A polemical view.
In summary, Human Resource Management in the UK supplies an authoritative
theory of how organizations should work and how individuals must be managed,
rewarded and directed.
5. CONCLUSIONS: DIFFERENCES VS SIMILARITIES
The European Union, particularly through the European Social Charter and its
associated Social Action Program, is having an increasing legislative influence on
Human Resource Management as identified by Brewster and Teague (1990). Half of
the countries (an exception is the UK) are committed to a wider and deeper role for the
European Union in this area, as Teague (1993) described.
Moreover, governments in Europe and the overall European Union tend to have
more of a controlling (through legislation) and supporting (through finance) role in
Human Resource Management, with the consequence that management is autonomous
regarding Human Resource issues.
However, we should note that in terms of Human Resource Management,
legislation, literature and perception, a European Model of Human Resource
Management surely exists. However, significant factors are present that influence
strategic decision making in Human Resource Management, like economic, political,
social and technical factors. These factors include elements such as: Ownership and
control, Organizational size and structure, Growth patterns of organizations, Industry
and markets structure, Skills, Technology, Institutional framework, National education
and training system, Culture.
In addition, European countries have differences towards trade unions and
employee-management relations, which are identified as a significant element in
designing a single European Model of Human Resource Management.
Moreover, throughout this assignment, we are able to identify the resistance of
some member countries (such as the UK), to adopt a European Union social policy, in
terms of trade union involvement and employee participation.
Furthermore, Brewster and Mayne (1992) examined a number of areas that show
signs of convergence: Development in pay, Flexible working practices, Equality of
opportunity, Training.

Is there a Distinctively European Model of Human Resource Management or are the
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TABLE 1: THE CENTRAL ELEMENTS OF HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT IN SEVEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
UNITED KINGDOM
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. A recognition of the importance of establishing a close two-way relationship between the HR
strategy and the corporate strategy
FRANCE
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. A belief in the decentralization of responsibility for certain HR issues to the firm level
3. A recognition of the importance of:
a. the integration of the HR strategy with the corporate so that they are mutually consistent and
supportive; and
b. the integration of various elements of the HR strategies themselves
SPAIN
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. HR skills and expertise within organizations are accorded to high status
3. HRM should be a high-status function with representation on the boards of directors
4. The HR function participates in the strategic planning process (i.e. ‘external’ integration)
GERMANY
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. A recognition of the importance of establishing a close two-way relationship between the HR
strategy and the corporate strategy
DENMARK
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. A belief in the decentralization of responsibility for certain HR issues to the firm level
3. A number of policy goals designed to:
(a) enhance employee commitment;
(b) foster functional flexibility; and
(c) develop an internal labor market
SWEDEN
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. Generally it is a multi-disciplinary topic and therefore encompasses those aspects of industrial
relations, occupational psychology, management and sociology which have traditionally focused on
the employment relationship
3. Specifically it refers to:
(a) the decentralization of the employment relationship to the firm level
(b) the individualization of the employment relationship

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THE NETHERLANDS
1. A belief that the Human Resources of an organization are an important source of competitive
advantage
2. A recognition of the importance of establishing a close two-way relationship between the HR
strategy and the corporate strategy
3. The decentralization of responsibility for HR issues to the firm and within this line management
4. A recognition of the importance of integrating the various elements of HR strategy
Source: Timothy Clark, 1996, European Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business
However, resistance exists in establishing and developing the above four elements
by European Union members, basically because of cultural diversity, managerial
autonomy and ethnocentrism.
Throughout this work, we can identify that country differences in the area of
Human Resource Management do continue to exist. Despite the increasing common
elements in the legislative framework of the European Union countries, differences in
institutional terms still matter, such as the role of trade unions and work councils, and
the level of safety and health regulations, as Brewster (2004) describes.
TABLE 2: COUNTRY CLUSTERS AND THEIR CULTURAL
CHARACTERISTICS
1. More Developed Latin
(High power distance, high uncertainty avoidance,
high individualism, medium masculinity)
2. Less Developed Latin
(High power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, low
individualism, whole range of masculinity)
Belgium
France
Argentina
Brazil
Spain
Columbia
Mexico
Venezuela
Chile
Peru
Portugal
Yugoslavia
3. More Developed Asian
(Medium power distance, high uncertainty avoidance,
medium individualism, high masculinity)
4. Less Developed Asian
(High power distance, low uncertainty avoidance, low
individualism, medium masculinity)
Japan Pakistan
Taiwan
Thailand
Hong Kong
India
Philippines
Singapore
5. Near Easter
(High power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, low 6. Germanic
(Lower power distance, high uncertainty avoidance,

Is there a Distinctively European Model of Human Resource Management or are the
Differences within Europe Greater than the Similarities?
167
individualism, medium masculinity) medium individualism, high masculinity)
Greece
Iran
Turkey
Austria
Israel
Germany
Switzerland
South Africa
Italy
6. Anglo
(Low power distance, low to medium uncertainty
avoidance, high individualism, high masculinity)
7. Nordic
(Low power distance, low to medium uncertainty
avoidance, medium individualism, low masculinity)
Australia
Canada
UK
Ireland
New Zealand
USA
Denmark
Finland
Netherlands
Norway
Sweden
Source: Timothy Clark, 1996, European Human Resource Management, Blackwell Business
REFERENCES
Albrecht, H. M. (2001). International Human Resource Management. Blackwell Business
Bean, R. and Holden, L. (1992). Cross national differences in trade union membership in
OECD countries. Industrial Relations Journal
Brewster, C. (1994). Developing a European model of Human Resource Management.
International Journal of Human Resource Management
Brewster, C. (1995). Towards a European model of Human Resource Management. Journal of
International Business Studies
Brewster, C. and Hegewisch, A. (2001). Policy and Practice in European Human Resource
Management. Industrial Relations Journal
Cabral-Cardoso, C. (2004). The evolving Portuguese model of Human Resource Management.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management
Camelo, C., Martin, F., Romero, P. and Valle, R. (2004). .Human Resource Management in
Spain: is it possible to speak of a typical model? The International Journal of Human
Resource Management
Clark, T. (1996). European Human Resource Management. BlackWell Business
Drew, J. (1983). Doing Business in the European Community. Butterworths
Dudley, W. J. (1990). Strategies for the Single Market. Kogan Page
EuroStat and EFLWC 2001
Helen Bloom, H., Calori, R. and De Woot, P. (1997). Euro Management. Kogan Page
Lessem R. and Neubauer F. (1994). European Management Systems. McGraw Hill
Mayhofer W. and Brewster C. (2004). European Human Resource Management: Researching
development over time. Management Revue
Navrbjerg E. S. (1999). New Search on flexibility and Human Resource Management in
Danish companies. EIROnline

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Sculer S. R. and Jackson E. S. (1996). Human Resource Management. WEST Publishing
Company
Simons F. G. (2002). EuroDiversity. Butterworth Heinemann
Warner M. and Joynt P. (2002). Managing Across Cultures. Thomson

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6, 2008/169-180
ASSESSMENT ISSUES REGARDING TOURISM PARTNERSHIPS,
COMPETITIVENESS AND SUSTAINABILITY: THE CASE OF CYPRUS
KAKIA AVGOUSTI∗
ABSTRACT
Undoubtedly, the tourism sector is the biggest industry worldwide, as it is the main source of
the economic growth for many counties. Based on this, the current study, associates to cover
issues regarding tourism policies and strategies in Cyprus. In more depth, it attempts to
exemplify issues about partnership, competition and sustainability, their role and importance,
and also to explain how these practices can be carried out so as to develop tourism. More
intensively the study obtains theories regarding the terms, examines the elements though which
these practices can be carried out and based on these, it finally attempts to investigate how
these are being applied in the case of Cyprus. Regardless the current practices, through the
integration, the study also highlights some of the main practices that need to be taken in
action. Finally, the study concludes that the island of Cyprus has potentials and opportunities
for further developments, regarding the tourism sector; what is needed is for tourism
organizations, authorities, and tourism bearers to become normal players and acknowledge
what is needed to be done in terms of improving the image of the island.
Keywords: Policy; Partnership; Competition; Sustainability; Innovation; Cyprus.
1. INTRODUCTION
Tourism plays a significant role in the economic development of many
destinations. In particular, in small tourist destinations, tourism is the main and
exclusive means of development and economic growth (Sharpley, 2003). Based on
that, the tourism sector needs to be in continuous development and improvement in
order for a destination to keep growing economically and also to survive from
competition. Additionally, policy decision-making is an integral part for the tourism
development as is the means of making changes happen were necessary. Nevertheless,
while several issues are arising to the development of a destination, the study will
concentrate on issues related to partnerships, competitiveness and sustainability.
Based on the tourism development strategy of the island of Cyprus the study attempts
to identify and evaluate the key policy interventions, related to these aspects that had
and still are influencing the development of tourism in Cyprus.
∗ Lecturer at Americanos College, Hospitality and Tourism Department

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2. THE ISLAND OF CYPRUS
The tourism development of Cyprus counts years of success. Going back and
examining the island’s tourism and economic developments, is asserted that, two
distinct phases were occurred. The first phase, up to 1974, witnessed the beginning of
the island’s transformation into a major Mediterranean summer sun destination as the
focus of tourism development shifted from the traditional hill resorts of The Troodos
Mountains to the coastal resorts of Kyrenia and Famagusta. The second phase
occurred after The Turkish invasion in 1974. During this period the Turkish attack had
impacted the island’s economy in general and the tourism sector in more specific.
Many tourist facilities and services were lost, as a great number of existing
accommodation as well as the island’s international airport. As a result international
tourist arrivals (47,000) had significantly decreased in 1975. Despite the problems of
this period, the island managed to plan strategies for development and so from 1975
onwards it again witnessed remarkable growth (Press and Information Office, 2001).
Nowadays, Cyprus still works on continuous tourism developments and strategies,
concerning tourism as the main source of beyond economic growth and development
(Smid and Zwart, 2002). The Island hosts more than two million tourists every year,
of whom 90% originate from European Countries; foreign exchange income amounts
to approximately US$1, 9 billion, which represents a contribution of approximately
20% to the Island’s GDP. During the same period 613 tourist establishments were in
operation. Additionally, the Tourism Sector comprises of 445 licensed travel agents
with 162 branch offices, 2 940 licensed catering and entertainment establishments,
264 licensed tourist guides and a number of other tourist enterprises. The majority of
them are small and medium size businesses (C.T.O., 2001).
3. THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY IN CYPRUS
In the past, Cyprus had noted significant developments in the tourism sector and
still gives efforts to remain competitive through continuous developments. In general
tourism receipts which, in 1975, contributed just over 2% of GDP (Gross Domestic
Product), currently reach the 20%of GDP (Ayers, 2000).
The Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO), a Semi-Governmental organisation,
under the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, is the main responsible
establishment for the tourism organisation and promotion. Hence, in response to the
need of ongoing tourism developments, the CTO has drawn up a long-term Tourism
Strategy Plan for the period of 2000-2010. Its vision is to reposition the island from a
traditional sun and sea destination, to an area of upgraded quality and sustainability as
well as to maximize the socio-economic benefits by increasing the tourist revenues.
The main objectives of the Plan are, firstly to increase the tourist arrivals, therefore to
increase their expenditure, to expand duration of stay and repeat tourism, as well as to

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171
improve seasonality (CTO, 2006). The CTO through this strategy, attempts to respond
to the problems of one-dimensional development, seasonality, high operational costs
and the dependence upon leading tourism sectors, such as Tour Operators that Cyprus
is currently facing.
Nevertheless, the most crucial part of the strategy is to examine the role of policy
decision-making and intervention to successfully implement the tourism plan. In the
case of Cyprus, several interventions in marketing, product development and in
quality sector exist are further identified, so as for the island to take the opportunity
and make known its identity and target those market segments, which will greatly
contribute to the increase of revenues.
An additional strategy, which links with the tourism policy, is the economic
development strategy, which was planned and prepared by the Planning Bureau, an
independent directorate under the authority of the Ministry of Finance for the period
of 2004-2006. The aim of the strategy is, firstly to upgrade the economic, social and
other structures in order to follow the European Union’s arrangement (after Cyprus
accession in the European Union in May 2004). Additionally, the document aims to
set the priorities of the Government in achieving economic and social development,
both at the macro as well as the micro level. It highly aims to face the structural
problems of the Cyprus economy in improving the competitiveness of the economy
and the improvement of the standard of living (Violaris, 2003).
However, other figures that are impacted by the growth of tourism in Cyprus
include construction, and related industries such as financial services, communications
and transport, as well as the increasing number of arrivals and simultaneously the
demand of producing a range of local products also influenced agriculture and
manufacturing (Ayers, 2000).
4. PARTNERSHIPS
The examination of partnerships is wide in context. Researchers have noticed the
increasingly use of partnerships in the tourism sector in order to achieve business and
community goals (WTO, 2003). Based also on Augustyn and Knowles (2000),
partnership has become a strategic tool for the development of tourism. The role of
partnership is great as it generates benefits that contribute to the tourism development,
gives the ability to tourism destinations and organizations to achieve business and
community goals and also to gain competitive advantages (Kotler’s et al, 1993). The
key factor in the examination of partnerships though, is to identify its nature and
performance, as well as to evaluate its effectiveness and efficiency within the tourism
sector.
To start with, a partnership is believed to be a set of arrangements for tourism
planning “that involve face-to face interventions between stakeholders who may be in
the public, semi-public or private sectors” (Bramwell and Lane, 2000, p.1). Adding to

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that, Wood and Gray (1991) support that collaboration happens when a group of
independent stakeholders interact in the process of solving a problem domain, by
using shared rules, norms and structures, to finally act or decide on issues related to
that domain. Final definition refers to partnership as “the bond of two or more
organizations which share resources in order to solve a problem or even to create such
opportunities within the tourism sector, which can not be addressed individually”
(Selin and Chavez, 1995, pp844-5)
Based on the above, commentators agree that partnerships involve the
participation of several stakeholders, who work together in order to examine a
common issue or a problem area and therefore to gather ideas and plan strategies for
development and implementation. So it is important that each stakeholder’s activity is
to control the several resources, knowledge, expertise, constituency and capital
(Kotler’s et al, 1993). This is the evidence that shows the important rule that
partnership plays in the tourism development.
Concerning the tourism industry, partnership can be seen as part of the
government arrangements. Many commentators give emphasis to the role of the
government’s interventions in the tourism sector at international, national, regional
and local level (Thomas and Thomas 2005; Hall 1996). Taking into account the types
of partnership, Timothy (1998) argues that cooperation between government agencies
is essential for the smooth development and operation of tourism. Further types of
partnerships discussed are those between the administrative levels and the private and
public-sector. In many cases, great attention is being paid to the cooperation of the
public and the private sector. It is strongly asserted that partnerships between the
public and the private sector require government approval, support and infrastructure
development, so that tourism to be regulated, promoted and to promote the
development of private projects. On the other hand the public sector depends on
private investors for the provision of services and to finance the construction of
tourism facilities (Timothy, 1998).
However, the success of the private and public sectors’ partnership depends on
several factors such as the leadership of the government – at the highest level - to
support tourism proposals, the recognitions of the value or tourism, the engagement of
major companies, for instance airlines, the active financial involvement of all parties
of the destination, the goal-oriented approach to get things done, setting targets,
measurements and monitoring, the involvement of local communities to provide
knowledge and information of local cultures and environments, the long-term
perspective-tourism planning and management, the concern of sustaining heritage,
culture and environment (WTO, 2000).
In contrast Augustyn and Knowles (2000) give emphasis to the factors that make
the tourism partnership to be successful. Firstly they assume that in order for a
partnership to be successful, it requires an expert preparation, so as to be organized
along horizontal lines and to involve both the public and the private sectors.

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Afterwards joint efforts are established and finally great consideration is been taken in
terms of time scale to make the partnership worth. Other factors that determine the
success of a partnership are related to the objectives of a partnership agreement. Clear
objectives in a long-term level, based on an extensive research are essential for the
success of a partnership. Lastly, a partnership is sustained through monitoring, control
and feedback.
To conclude, Bramwell and Lane (2000) had reviewed some potential benefits of
partnership in the tourism planning:
• There may be involvement by a range of stakeholders, all of whom are affected by
multiple issues of tourism development and may be well placed to introduce
change and improvement.
• Decision-making power and control may diffuse to the multiple stakeholders that
are affected by the issues, which is favorable for democracy.
• The involvement of several stakeholders may increase the social acceptance of
policies, so that implementation and enforcement may be easier to effect.
• More constructive and less adversarial attitudes might result in consequence of
working together.
• The parties who are directly affected by the issues may bring their knowledge,
attitudes and other capacities to the policy-making process.
• A creative synergy may result from working together, perhaps leading to greater
innovation and effectiveness.
• Partnerships can promote learning about the work, skills and potential of the other
partners and also develop the group interaction and negotiating skills that help to
make partnerships successful.
• Parties involved in policy making may have a greater commitment to putting the
resulting policies into practice.
• There may be greater consideration of the diverse economic, environmental and
social issues that affect the sustainable development of resources.
• There may be greater recognition of the importance of non-economic issues and
interests if they are included in the collaborative framework, and this may
strengthen the range of tourism products available.
• When multiple stakeholders are engaged in decision-making the resulting policies
may be more flexible and also more sensitive to local circumstances and to
changing conditions.
• Non-tourism activities may be encouraged, leading to a broadening of the
economic, employment and societal base of a given community or region.

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5. SUSTAINABILITY
Despite the above, there are also other issues that influence the development of
destinations in terms of tourism. Some of these are the technological and socio-
economical changes, as well as the changing demands of tourists; all these had let to
the need for destinations to develop strategies for sustainability. To enlighten this
issue, sustainability is similar to development and change and it comprises long-term
decision-making and involves a need of intervention and planning (Swarbrooke,
1999).
Sustainability is commonly perceived to be related to environmental issues.
However, theorists discuss that there are broader principles that refer to economic and
socio-cultural aspects of tourism development. Its principles refer, except to the
environmental, the economic and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development.
Among various perspectives and a wide range of literature for tourism
sustainability, the study concentrates mostly on the environmental aspects. So, in this
context sustainable tourism is the tourism who gives great attention to the protection
of the environment and do not destroy the resources of the physical environment and
the social fabric of the visited area (Swarbrooke, 1999).
The five aspects that comprise the environment are related to the natural resources
(climate, air, water) and the natural environment (landscape, mountains, forests, rivers,
and beaches), wildlife, farmed environment and finally the built environment
(Swarbrooke, 1999). It is important to mention that the public sector intervenes and
acts in the development of environmental sustainability by legislation and regulation,
funding incentives, land use planning, developments and building control and
provision of infrastructure.
Lastly, sustainable texts refer to the concept of de-marketing in order for
destinations to sustain there tourist arrivals. De-marketing strategies are followed in
order to discourage rather that attract tourists to visit destinations and his is mostly
applicable from over-crowded destinations. Several aspects, like word of mouth,
repeat and even business tourists, influence significantly undesired increase of arrivals
in destinations which are already overcrowded. De-marketing help such destinations
to control their marketing mix, like for instance to minimize the promotion of the
affected destinations or to raise prices, so as to put off undesired tourists (Swarbrooke,
1999).
6. COMPETITIVENESS
Competition between destinations becomes to be another issue regarding tourist
destinations’ development. As competition is vastly increasing, many destinations
have noticed the need to develop strategies, aiming to improve their resources and thus
remain competitive. Jackson (2006) reveals that competitive advantage can be

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achieved through gains in productivity and innovation rather that to have economical
affects in the destination.
Through the wide range of related to competition issues, innovation is often seen
as a way and an opportunity for destinations in general to gain competitive advantage.
It is asserted that innovation implies changes, growth and survival through
competition as well as in the long-term it enhances profitability (Page, 2003). It is
obvious that innovation can be a very effective tool for destinations who wish to
overcome competition and to generate their own identity. However, the most
important consideration is the examination of how innovative actions can be
implemented.
In response to this, Page (2003) makes reference to a study, which identifies five
principal types of innovation that apply to the tourism development. Based on these,
innovation can be achieved through the introduction of new or even through the
improvement of the quality of existing products and services and of new methods of
production. Further, by the opening of new markets and the use of new sources of
supply. Lastly the creation of a new type of industrial organization is perceived to be
an innovative action.
7. THE POLICY INTERVENTIONS FOR THE
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN CYPRUS
7.1. Introduction
In relation to all the above, at this point the study makes reference to the policy
interventions (partnership, competitiveness and sustainability) for the tourism
development, as this is being applied in Cyprus. At first hand, it should be noted that
the tourism development strategy in Cyprus is currently in action and also more plans
and projects are still in discussion (CTO, 2006). Additional policies for competitive
benchmarking strategies will be conduct in order to compare Cyprus with other tourist
destinations and so to work on gaining competitiveness.
7.2. Partnership
In the case of Cyprus, a number of government agencies contribute to the
implementation of the tourism strategy plan. First of all the plan was approved by the
government, a factor that shows the power of the government to participate in the
tourism development of the island. The main government parties that are involved in
the tourism plan include namely the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism,
which controls the activities of the CTO, the Ministry of Finance, responsible for
funding the tourism strategy and the Chamber of Commerce, all cooperating with the
CTO in order to achieve the goals of the development strategy. Also several other

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departments and intergovernmental agencies, such as communities and councils and
the Institute of Tourism and Travel Research are involved and finally the partners of
the private sector who support the plan are the local and regional business whereas the
participants of the public sector include hotel associations and the hoteliers. Finally,
the tourism Strategy Plan is supported by the Regional Tourism Strategies and Action
Plans and this is a way through which regions take the advantage to expose their
identity and uniqueness and this will finally contribute to the repositioning of Cyprus.
In his study, Sharpley (2003) mentions that, the CTO itself enjoys little statutory
authority and, although it has the power to license and grade new accommodation
facilities, it is not in the position to decide whether such facilities should be built in the
first place. Conversely, various political groups, such as the trade unions and the
Cyprus Hotels Association (CHA), are relatively powerful.
Based on the desire of repositioning Cyprus, each region is called to get involved
and great its own vision for the tourists. The intervention of regions in the strategic
development will include the production and offer of products that will make known
the unique cultural characteristic of the island. In general the regions’ stakeholders are
required to develop their own strategies, which are expected to be focused on the
preparation of product development and action plan especially in marketing yet they
are going to be supported, financially and technically by the CTO.
Also, Cyprus in collaboration with specialist Tour Operators which control the
greatest part of the tourist flow, will attempt to cover new areas by upgrading the
existence of tour operator brochures or even introducing specialized programmes. At
the same time proposals are suggested in order to develop alternative ways of travel
planning and bookings rather than depending on tour operator’s network, including the
use of e-marketing and the creation of a system for destination management (CTO,
2006). The achievement will be to eliminate the dependence of the island’s tourism
upon the Tour Operators.
Of great importance is the accession of Cyprus to the European Union on 1 May
2004. Such a factor caused the transformation of its economic landscape, through
significant economic and structural reforms. The European Union also contributes in
the implementation of the tourism development plan, by supporting financially the
construction and operation of infrastructure projects. In particular attention to the
tourist sector, plans include the construction of new marinas, theme parks, football
stadiums and the upgrading of the island’s two international airports and ports (Press
and Information Office, 2005).
Based on Cyprus accession to the EU in May 2004, air transport within Europe is
supposed to become fully liberalization. At the same time the Government’s
restricting intervention in licensing charter flights to and from Cyprus from third
countries will expectantly bring positive changes in the field of air transport (CTO,
2006). Such a factor will contribute to the increase of tourist arrivals not only for
holidays but also tourists with special interests and business tourism will be attracted.

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7.3. Competitiveness
As mentioned before, in order for Cyprus to overcome some problems, and
therefore to gain competitive advantages, the CTO had drawn up Tourism Strategy
Plan. The strategic effort for repositioning is supported by three component strategies:
the Marketing Strategy, the Product Strategy and the Quality-Value Added Strategy.
The study supports that success or failure of a destination is determined by the
range and the quality of the tourist product that it is offered and the most attractive
product is the one that meets customers’ expectations. Cyprus being a destination for
Sun and Sea holidays has lost the advantage that it previously had (due to the high
demand for Sun and Sea holidays at that time and the fact that it was a new
destination). In order to continue to be competitive, the strategy for repositioning the
island as a destination that offers a multifaceted tourist experience in a relatively small
geographical space.
The policy therefore, which is also related to the marketing strategy is to diffuse
the existing markets and segments and on the other hand to attract those marker
segments that will yield the most, by prioritizing those in respond to those that best
serve the measurable targets of the strategy (CTO, 2006). By following this strategy,
the parties involved are able to perform certain projects in providing the adequate
products and services to the targeted market segments and meet their needs. The focus
on certain segments will minimize the potential of over-producing resources for
several markets as well as time and money will not be spent on unnecessary aspects.
The intervention on achieving this is, among others the examination of the tourist
demand on Cyprus through past and new statistical data. Therefore, timely, accurately
and systematically regional and national stakeholders need to collect, process and
utilize information and thus to monitor and evaluate the market intelligence.
In relation to this, for Cyprus to be innovative and therefore competitive, it plans
to invest on developing existing products or even on introducing new products for the
markets it wishes to attract. Based on the Tourism Development Strategy of Cyprus,
the policy is to upgrade the existing products and also to develop new ones focusing
on the priority target market segments.
The various aspects of the product will be developed with culture and the
environment as the central points of reference, as they constitute the two main axes
that will help Cyprus to bring out its identity and become a unique destination. The
improvements of products will cover the needs of special interest, sports and
agricultural-rural tourism.
Cyprus has the potential to develop a wide range of special interest products. After
prioritizing its target market segments Cyprus will then aim to develop products which
are determined by the motivation, the social and demographic features of each
segment.

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In addition to the above, the potential for developing each product was taken into
account i.e. the availability of the required resources (Capital, Land and Infrastructure)
for the development and successful implementation of the special products
investment, the public sector, (including the local authorities) and the private sector
alike are required to get involved. The involvement of these sectors will be motivated
and encouraged through suggested incentive schemes (CTO, 2006).
7.4. Sustainability
The Plan for the Development of Rural Tourism has been drawn up in line with
the National Development Plan 2004-2006 and the Single Programming Document
Objective. The development does not only consist of accommodation infrastructure in
restored traditional houses, but it also includes actions and measures towards the
creation of an integrated tourist product for the countryside, enhanced by projects of
cultural and environmental nature that are addressed to special interests and activities.
more specifically, actions plans include the creation of new accommodation and the
upgrade of existing agrotourism accommodation and traditional restaurants, and the
promotion of other activities like exhibition areas, museums, workshops for traditional
handicrafts and other activities, the support of units that manufacture local produce
and the development of nature trails, cycling routes, theme and combined routes,
theme museums, information centers.
As culture is one of the most supporting element of the repositioning effort and the
major feature that enhances the wealth and value of the tourist experience for all
customer segments, the Public Sector and in particular the Department of Antiquities,
the Cultural Services, District Administrations, the Handicraft Centre as well as the
Local Authorities are expected to invest heavily in this area. The CTO has included a
motivated scheme for the development of cultural and other routes, new museums,
information centers, workshops, and the organization of events like International
Festivals, for example an Annual Film Festival, Opera and various other artistic,
cultural and folklore events.
Intervention related to the environmental products include the strengthening of the
regulatory framework for the protection of the environment, the introduction of
environmental criteria in policy-making and project planning and design, the adoption
of environment-friendly practices and the promotion/cultivation of environmental
consciousness. The highest priorities in the planning programs of the CTO and other
Government departments such as the Forestry Department and the Environmental
Services Department are the development of nature tourism projects such as nature
trails, routes, environmental centers, cycling routes, camping sites and the protection
of salt-lakes and the local flora and fauna.
The needs of the targeted market segments were surveyed in order for plans to be
introduced for the development of accommodation establishments. Priority was given

Assessment Issues Regarding Tourism Partnerships, Competitiveness and Sustainability:
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179
to the number of the market segments to which they appeal. The proposed
intervention include the new types of accommodation that will be developed must fall
into these categories and classes where a need for new beds was identified; these are
the 3 to 5 star hotels, tourist villages, mixed use destination resorts, small units of
character and agrotourism establishments, In order to better serve the targeted market
segments, there is a need for the development of new types of accommodation such as
mixed use destination resorts and small units of character, the existing accommodation
must be upgraded and accommodation in lower categories must be encouraged either
to upgrade to the priority categories and classes or withdraw from the market. To
implement these strategic interventions, the review of the institutional framework that
regulates the development and operation of tourist accommodation establishments is
necessary. This must be done in order to determine the specifications for the new
types of accommodation, to introduce qualitative criteria and to modernize the
quantitative specifications, the classification system and the mechanisms for the
approval of plans, and the introduction of Incentive Schemes towards the upgrade of
hotel beds or their withdrawal from the bed supply.
8. CONCLUSIONS
The basic aim of this study was to exemplify practices regarding tourism
development. More specifically it attempted to explain the role of carrying strategies
related to partnerships, competitiveness and sustainability as practices for tourism
development. Finally the study attempted to reveal how these practices are being
applied in the case of the tourism development of Cyprus. Ultimately, the aim of the
study was achieved through discussing empirical studies regarding the subject.
Through this discussion, the study demonstrated the foremost of the practices and
strategies undertaken in Cyprus in terms of tourism development. As far as the
aforementioned current practices are concerned, they are in fact strong strategic tools,
they are fitted with the existing image of the island and they are achieving the goals
and objectives for developing the tourism industry. Although, challenges and
opportunities in terms of development always exist; the matter is for the commentators
to keep expert preparation and joint efforts, utilize and exploit what is available, but at
the same time to be aligned with trends and improvements, adjust with tourist
demands, and finally to make strategies worth. The aim and focus point of all these
would be to achieve a satisfactory and effective development.
REFERENCES
Augustyn, M.M. and Knowles, T. (2000). Performance of Tourism Partnerships: a focus on
York. Tourism Management, 21, pp. 341-351.

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Ayers, R. (2000). Tourism as a passport to development in small states: reflections on Cyprus.
International Journal of Social Economics, 27 (2), pp.114-133.
Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. (2000). Tourism Collaboration and Partnerships: politics, practice
and sustainability. Clevedon, Channel View.
C.T.O. (2001). The Tourism Sector of Cyprus: A Brief Overview. Symposium on Tourism
Services [Internet] Available from: <www.visitcyprus.org> [Accessed 30 May 2008].
CTO (2006) Tourism Development Plan. [Internet]. Available from: <www.visitcyprus.com>
[Accessed 10 June 2008].
Hall, C.M. (1996). Tourism and politics: policy, power and place. Wiley.
Kotler, et al (1993). Quoted in: Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. Tourism Collaboration and
Partnerships in tourism planning (2000) Tourism Collaboration and Partnerships: politics,
practice and sustainability. Clevedon, Channel View.
Page, S.J. (2003). Tourism Management, Managing for Change. Oxford, Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Press and Information Office (2005). Cyprus: An International Business and Services Centre.
Cyprus. Republic of Cyprus [Internet] Available from:
<http://www.moi.gov.cy/moi/pio/pio.nsf> [Accessed 02 June 2008]
Selin and Cahvez (1995). Quoted in Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. (2000) Tourism Collaboration
and Partnerships: politics, practice and sustainability. Clevedon, Channel View.
Sharpley, R. (2003). Tourism, Modernisation and Development on the Island of Cyprus:
Challenges and Policy Responses. Journal of Sustainable Tourism. 11, pp. 246-265.
Smid, S. and Zwart, P. (2002). Tourism on Cyprus. IBM – Global Services Business
Consulting Services.
Swarbrooke, J. (1999). Sustainable Tourism Management. Wallingford, CABI.
Thomas, R. and Thomas, H. (2005). Understanding tourism policy-making in urban areas, with
particular reference to small firms. Tourism Geographies, 7 (2), pp. 121-137.
Timothy, D. J. (1998). Cooperative Tourism Planning in a developing destination. Journal of
Sustainable Tourism, 6 (1), pp. 52-68.
Violaris, J. (2003). Strategic development plan, 2004-2006. Planning Bureau, Ministry of
Finance, Republic of Cyprus. [Internet] Available from:
<http://cordis.europa.eu/erawatch/index.cfm?fuseaction=policy.documentAjax&uuid=FA4
D965C-9128-F643-B96C3AED945CD0DC [Accessed 02 June 2008].
Wood and Gray (1991). Quoted in Bramwell, B. and Lane, B. (2000) Tourism Collaboration
and Partnerships: politics, practice and sustainability. Clevedon, Channel View.
WTO (2000). Tourism Partnerships in Asia. Seminar Proceedings. Bangkok Thailand.
WTO (2003). Co-operation and Partnerships in Tourism: A Global Perspective. WTO –
Spain.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6/181-201
BARRIERS TO INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN COLLABORATION
FOR SMALL CHINESE COSTUME JEWELLERY SUPPLIERS
YIANNIS POLYCHRONAKIS* and XIANG LI**
ABSTRACT
This article represents the first output of a research project in progress. The overarching aim
of the research is to establish the barriers that the Chinese Jewellery small enterprises are
faced with in their internationalisation attempts. This paper concentrates on the two primary
objectives of the research: firstly to establish a framework that separately captures (and
subsequently jointly discusses) the concepts of marketing and logistics in a small Business to
Business context. Secondly to deploy that information in a second framework that captures the
pertinent issues of international collaboration for joint supply chain development. The third
and final objective of this research is to generate a framework that will ultimately enable the
researchers to establish the barriers within the aforementioned context. This final framework is
not discussed here but the preliminary literature findings are.
Keywords: International Supply Chain Development; SMEs; China; Collaboration.
1. INTRODUCTION
Firms remodel their supply chain to fully apprehend the benefits of shared
information, business process benchmarking and advanced business planning
(Trkman, et al., 2007). Also, globalisation influences the worldwide business
environment where the synergies and differences between West and East have now
become imperative issues (Li and Khalil, 2006). Thus, supplier firms around the globe
engage collaboration to re-align the relationships with their (foreign) retail buyers and
manufactures (Sheridan, et al., 2006), and to achieve “the strategic management of
product groups through trade partnerships, which in turn aims to maximise sales and
profits by satisfying customer needs” (IGD, 2000, p.1).
Other scholars point out that studies involving Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
should draw more attention to the international implications; certain aspects of the
world-class practices and performance in SMEs are different from those in larger
organisations (Cagliano et al, 2001).
* Lecturer in Logistics and Project Management, MBA Admissions Tutor, Salford Business
School, University of Salford
** PhD candidate, Management and Management Science Research Institute, Business School,
University of Salford

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In the past six years, as the fourth largest economy in the world (the People's
Republic of China) started to encourage entrepreneurship in a wide variety of small-
scale enterprises and welcome foreign trade and foreign investment (XinHua report,
2006), more and more Chinese Jewellery Suppliers are keen to go to the international
market where there is huge demand for their products (China trade News, 2006).
When it comes to supply chain management (SCM) and implementation, major
differences exist between industrial sectors (Wong, et al., 2005). The fashion industry
in particular has been referred to as “fast fashion”, where the implications of
ineffective supply chain management can be catastrophic to local economies (Fernie et
al., 2004).
Hence, the two main objectives pursued in this paper are as follows: firstly to
establish a framework that separately captures (and subsequently jointly discusses) the
concepts of marketing and logistics in a small Business to Business context. Secondly
to deploy that information in a second framework that captures the pertinent issues of
international collaboration for joint supply chain development. Ultimately, the purpose
of the research is to produce and test a third framework that reflects the synthesis of
the previous two and consequently expands in addressing the barriers faced by the
Chinese small enterprises when attempting to collaborate with other businesses (in a
business to business context) in the international business arena. The last section of
this paper provides an overview of the preliminary literature findings. These findings
will ultimately enable the construction of the third framework that captures the
barriers as they are derived from the relevant literature and subsequently test them
within 20 case study organisations. These organisations are all small enterprises based
in the Zhejiang province in the Southeast of China.
2. BACKGROUND
Supply Chain Management (SCM) is a key activity for any business. The
likelihood of a small business succeeding, in part at least, depends on the extent to
which it is able to manage the relationships it has with those organisations which form
the immediate supply chain. A supply chain is regarded as the alignment of
organisations to bring products or services to market (Lambert et al., 1998). Thus,
“supply chain management represents one of the most significant paradigm shifts of
modern business management by recognizing that individual businesses no longer
compete as solely autonomous entities, but rather as supply chains” (Chen and
Paulraj, 2004, p.136). Also, with the developing information technology each member
of a supply chain continually needs to review the way to manage relationships with
their business partners (Cassivi, 2006). Conceptually, there is a need to develop a
model for successful supply chain operation for SMEs, building on the models derived
from the marketing and logistics literature.

Barriers to International Supply Chain Collaboration for
Small Chinese Costume Jewellery Suppliers
183
Also, competition drives businesses to become globalised (Lynch, 1997). Hence,
globalisation essentially becomes a “necessary” trend for business as “it signifies the
shrinking of the world where people, services and goods are available to each other
across the globe through a variety of means and in increasingly immediate ways”
(Edwards and Usher, 2000, p.13). Moreover, “supply chain often is the part of a firm
that is mostly affected by changes in such international environments” (Edmund et al.,
2001, p.823). The SCM approach has been increasingly identified by many small
organizations as an opportunity to improve their competitive capability and achieve
their goal of better customer care and increased profitability (Chin et al., 2004). Thus,
one way of achieving this is through collaborations in supply chains. Collaboration
has been considered as a very effective and efficient method for leveraging the small
business (Polychronakis and Syntetos, 2007a)
According to Udin et al. (2006), collaborative SCM can be defined as a condition
in which all parties in the supply chain are dynamically working together, towards
objectives by sharing information, knowledge, risk and profits, which possibly involve
consideration of how other partners operate and make decisions. Although the
importance of international supply chain collaboration has been noticed, “adopting a
global perspective is often difficult because the individual member has been trained to
work as a single entity only guided by local perspective and often exhibits
opportunistic behaviour” (Simatupang and Sridharan, 2002, p.16). Consequently, a
model is needed in part to reflect the dramatic changes in increased global
competition, to guide organisations in SCM and to enable them to improve
international collaboration.
Collaboration in supply chain activities is significant in any advanced or
developing economy, and particularly for SMEs which may often be vulnerable to
failure after a relatively short operating period. This issue is particularly significant in
one of the world’s largest and fastest growing economies, the People’s Republic of
China (Prasad, 2004).
Currently in China, ‘the principal economic target is to double the 2000 per-capita
GDP by 2010’ (China Report, 2006, p.218) and, to achieve this goal, China is seeking
development by relying on its own strength, following the policy of opening-up the
economy to market forces, and involves widespread global economic and
technological cooperation, and the outgrowth shares with all other countries (China
Report, 2006). SMEs have similar to the above mentioned, international problems and
start to cooperate with foreign firms when buying and when, in particular, selling
abroad (Ruzzier, et al., 2006).
This paper considers the issue of collaboration in SCM by focusing on small
Chinese businesses. At present, in comparison with big or state-owned enterprises,
undersized Chinese small suppliers are more sensitive to any internal and external
influences, when they are attempting to generate partnerships in international supply

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184
chains. This is “due to their lack of size, limited resources and multiple competitors”
(Ottesen and Gronhaug, 2007, p.36).
Having said that, jewellery consumption in the west as a sort of fashion
expenditure, is getting more associated with people’s daily life, as more people pay
attention to their image (Beaudoin et al, 2003). Individuals and society use fashion to
communicate their taste and lifestyle. Therefore, in certain cases, the design of the
item is viewed as more important than the value of the material (Barnard, 1996, and
Cholachatpinyo et al, 2002). As part of the light industry sector, jewellery business
sector has very fast growth rates. This industry is characterised by low-value material
and high-value on manpower involvement, therefore, costume jewellery
manufacturing is the type of industry that is currently heavily supported by the
Chinese Government. This is evident in an official report-XinHuaShe report,
published by the Chinese government (XinHuaShe Report, 2006). The selling volume
of Chinese-made jewellery in 2005 was about £10.7 billion, and total amount of
import and export was £3 billion. Currently, in China, there are more than 5000
jewellery manufacturers, and more than 2 millions people are employed in this
industry. The annual selling volume in jewellery business increases by 10% per year
for the past 6 years. Chinese jewellery suppliers are keen to find appropriate ways to
satisfy the international market (CLII, 2006).
Thron et al. (2006) have pointed out that for different products, companies or
industries, the framework of SCM may differ from one to another, thus, individual
studies in novel contexts are necessary to throw some light on the above. Arguably,
focus on SCM for small businesses in the light industry sector in the rapidly growing
Chinese economy is not well-covered in the literature. This is particularly true in the
context of the costume jewellery industry.
This paper is dimensioned as shown in figure 1, where the authors arrow-down the
research to the collaborative international SCM. Ultimately, the research focuses on
establishing the barriers that small Chinese suppliers are faced with when attempting
to collaborate with their international partners. The findings of that will be the theme
of one of our forthcoming papers.

Barriers to International Supply Chain Collaboration for
Small Chinese Costume Jewellery Suppliers
185
FIGURE 1: RESEARCH FOCUS
Paper focus
3. LITERATURE REVIEW
The following literature provides the theoretical underpinning for the two
generated frameworks proposed in this paper. It addresses in detail the pertinent
literature on SCM, business globalisation, international supply chain collaboration and
reports on the current state of the Chinese small jewellery producers.
3.1. Supply Chain Management
“A supply chain consists of all stages involved, directly or indirectly, in fulfilling a
customer request. The supply chain not only includes the manufacturer and suppliers,
but also transporters, warehouses, retailers, and customers themselves” (Thomas,
2002, p.1). It is regarded as a package of arm’s length and closer relationships linking
suppliers and buyers (Erridge and Greer, 2002; Polychronakis and Syntetos, 2007b).
3.1.1. Business to business to customer (B2B2C) supply chain
Christopher (2005) and Handfield and Nichols (1999) describe the notion of a
supply chain of interconnecting activities with a flow of materials and associated
information from supplier to end user that has been developed as part of a move
towards the customer led operation. As shown on figure 2, SCM has the potential of
Collaborative international supply chain
Concept
Dimensio
Subdimension
Indicators
As buyer
As supplier
B2B* B2C*
•
In China
• Small size
• Costume jewellery supplying
• Barriers
B2B2C*
(Adopted from: De Vaus, 2001, p.26) *B2B2C: business to business to customer
B2B: business to business
B2C: business to customer

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contributing to the competitiveness of those enterprises within the supply network if
properly managed and implemented.
FIGURE 2: B2B2C
3.1.2. The marketing and logistics interface
A company’s supply chain is an integral part of its approach to the markets it
serves. The supply chain needs to respond to market requirements and do so in a way
that supports the company’s business strategy.
FIGURE 3: MARKETING AND LOGISTICS IN SUPPLY CHAIN
As shown on Figure 3, “place”, which is one element from Marketing 4Ps (people,
promotion, price and place) is the point which marketing management and logistics
Customer
Business
Business
B 2 C B 2 B
: information flow
: material flow
: product flow
Marketing part –
four Ps
Logistics Part
: information flow
place

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join together as supply chain and support the right product, in the right place at the
right time (Christopher, 2005). Framework A joins the tasks of marketing and
logistics, in a B2B2C context.
Step 1: Starting with “Marketing research” and new product launch
New-product or business development is an integrated innovation (Kotler and
Armstrong, 2006). Consequently, to create successful new products or business, a
company must understand its consumers, markets, and competitors and develop
products that deliver superior value to customers. Strong new-product planning and a
systematic new-product development process should cover idea generation, idea
screening, concept development and testing, marketing strategy business, analysis
product development, test marketing and commercialisation (Kotler and Armstrong,
2006).
Step 2: Capability analysis (environment analysis)
When the initial product or business is decided, understanding internal strengths
and weaknesses is essential. It lets firms realise its resources, capabilities and core
competencies. PEST (Political, Economic, Social and Technological) analysis and
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis help to identify
the main opportunities and threats in the target market, and how to overcome the main
weaknesses (Bangs 2002).
Step 3: Splitting in-house and out-house business
Outsourcing is also an important task though the core business is the firm’s
concern to gain competitive advantage. The word “outsourcing” defines the process of
transferring the responsibility for a specific business function from an employee group
to a non-employee group (Zhu, et al., 2001). “The greatest advantage of outsourcing,
in both high- and average- performing companies, is the sharpening of focus on the
core competences of the organisation” (Kakabadse and Kakabadse, 2002, p.85;
Franceschini, et al., 2003).
Step 4: Relationship management
The strategic procedure of relationship management is replacing the function of
purchasing (Cousins, 2002, Polychronakis, et. al., 2006, Polychronakis, et. al., 2005a).
Thus, after defining core business and outsourcing projects, internal and external
relationship management in the supply chain should be considered in detail, such as
which type of strategic relationships should be set, cooperation, co-existence, co-
competition or competition, how to maintain the relationship, what added value could
be created by this cooperation, and so on.
Step 5: Producing procedure and Transportation
With the achievement of precedent tasks, enhanced SCM capabilities can create
efficiencies and cost savings across a wide range of business processes, from
marketing and product design groups all the way through to the “accounts receivable”
department. It must be conducted between enterprises, since optimising entire supply

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chains will require a level of information sharing and collaboration among enterprises
previously unknown in most business (Sahay, 2003).
Step 6: Marketing
In this stage for logistics the task is to deliver; but for marketing is also to collect
feedback and information from the market. One of the major changes is that marketing
- from having focused initially on gaining new customers - is now more preoccupied
with retaining existing customers. It is possible to propose that marketing as a business
function follows a life cycle (Shaw, 2000).
Step 7: Benchmarking and further development
Benchmarking should be considered based on the whole process and all the
internal and external parts, then recognising the existing problems and providing
innovation (Ribeiro and Cabral, 2006). By accomplishing the above process, the
developed design and business strategy will be able to function, which in turn leads to
stronger customer loyalty and higher profits.

189
6
3
2
1
7
4
5
Benchmarking Product & Process development
Internal capability
Strength & weakness
anal
y
sis
External environment Analysis
Threads, opportunities,
customers, product substitute,
competition
Initial design (based on the demand & gap
Internal & External Environment Analysis
1. International
marketin
g
research
In-house/outsource split
In house Outsourcing
Su
pp
lier/
p
artner
Final
desi
g
n
In house: internal
integration
Strategic Relationships in ISC*
cooperation, co-existence, co-
competition & competition
Outsourcing: extending
coordination/integration
Warehousing /delivery
Manufacturing &
supply
Order(s)
Wholesaler/distributor
Customer/final consumer
*SC: supply chain
Information flow
Material flow
Cost: TCO Time: Lead-time Quality: TQM/ISO
(initial information
collection)
(feedback of
new launch
)
Framework A:
Tasks of supply chain
Defining gap
Marketing part
or
Business to
Customer part
Logistics part
or
Business to
Business part

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3.2. International business
The term ‘globalization’ has been coined to represent the ways in which markets
have converged throughout the world and the ways in which production poles have
shifted geographically to satisfy global consumers (Hines, 2004).
As global markets grow increasingly efficient, competition no longer takes place
between individual businesses, but between entire supply chains. Collaboration can
provide the competitive edge that enables all the business partners in a supply chain to
prevail and grow (Sahay, 2003).
3.3. Collaboration
There are many driving forces for collaboration in supply chains. For example, the
innovative nature of products, the length of the life cycle and the duration of retail
trends in the industries, the longer more complex supply chains and the general
movement to offshore production are only some of the associations that move supply
chains in to that direction. Global markets and more competition is likely to move
supply chains towards a more universal participation where final retailers and
upstream suppliers will be more willing to collaborate in an effort to cut costs
(Polychronakis and Syntetos, 2007b; Fliedner, 2003).
3.3.1. Forms of collaboration in the supply chain
There are a variety of forms of potential supply chain collaboration, which can be
divided into two main generic categories (see figure 4). Vertically, collaboration
includes external customers, internally (across functions), and with external suppliers.
Horizontally, it include collaboration with competitors and with other external non-
competitors (Simatupang and Sridharan, 2002; Barratt, 2004).
In terms of external collaboration, figure 5 presents a number of potential
opportunities for vertical supply chain collaboration such as customer relationship
management (CRM), collaborative demand planning (which in turn includes
Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment-CPFR), demand
replenishment, and shared distribution (Barratt, 2004).

Barriers to International Supply Chain Collaboration for
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191
FIGURE 4: THE SCOPE OF COLLABORATION
Source: (Barratt, 2004, p.32)
FIGURE 5: THE SCOPE OF VERTICAL COLLABORATION
Source: (Barratt, 2004, p.34)

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3.3.2. Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR)
FIGURE 6: 2004 VICS CPFR MODEL
Source: (Oracle, 2005, p.3)
Explained by Oracle (2005), the latest CPFR model (Figure 6) highlights the
collaboration as a continuous cyclic activity where the focus is on collecting and
sharing the determinants of supply chain performance that measure success.
The important tasks which are covered by the current CPFR are:
1. Collaborative Planning – all parties should enthusiastically integrate each other
to get ready to respond variable requirements from the market.
2. Collaborative Forecasting – retailers and suppliers in channels with high
volume adapt their demand planning processes to incorporate feedback from
trading partners.
3. Collaborative Replenishment – retailers and suppliers that have relied on
continuous replenishment planning (CRP) or vendor-managed inventory (VMI)
are evolving to collaborative inventory management. (Oracle, 2005, p.4)
3.3.3. Framework B
The previously mentioned literature addresses CPFR and the development of
Framework A. In this section of the paper we deal with the rationale behind the
development of Framework B. Steps 1 to 3 provide an overview of the three main
stages as they appear in Framework B.

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Technology is important, but appropriate information flow is essential: “the
efficient information flow between partners is identified as the key to improving the
time, quality and cost factors. Meeting the customer objectives satisfactorily depends
on co-ordination of information that helps produce highest quality, low cost and
minimum time to service” (Titus and Bröchner, 2005, p.78).
1. For the Collaborative Planning, all parties should enthusiastically integrate with
each other to define and meet market requirements. Thus, accurate
understanding of market demand, and own and potential partners’ capability,
become essential identifications. Task 1 to task 3 in Framework A are fulfilling
these requirements.
2. Collaborative Forecasting encourages the integration of feedback from each
party such that it enhances their own planning processes – see Task 4 and the
initial part of Task 5
3. Collaborative Replenishment employs continuous replenishment planning
(CRP) or integrated inventory management techniques, which are leading to
collaborative inventory management – see the later part of Task 5 and Task 6 in
Framework A
As is highlighted by the latest CPFR in figure 6, endless cyclical improvement is
crucial to improve customer satisfaction. Companies can only achieve improved
market share by keeping modifying and adjusting their business strategy and improve
their products. Then benchmarking is essential and becomes an effective approach to
achieve both previous performance and further improvement objectives. Collaborative
benchmarking provides motivation for supply chain collaboration in order to improve
overall supply chain performance (Horvath, 2001; Simatupang and Sribharan, 2002),
and further improvements that in turn contribute to both individual and mutual
benefits (Simatupang and Sridharan, 2004). Hence, benchmarking can be regarded as
an integral part of the planning and development stages. In that respect, product and
process innovation can be decided by considering the new items on cost, quality and
time management through the whole chain.

194
Forec
a
t
Initial Forecast
Benchmarking
Product & Process development/innovation
Internal capability
Strength & weakness
analysis
External environment Analysis
Threads, opportunities,
customers, product substitute,
competition
Initial design (based on the demand & gap
Internal & External Environment Analysis
* International
marketin
g
research Defining gap
In-house/outsource split
In house Outsourcing
Su
pp
lier/
p
artner selection
Order(s)
Internal
id
Strategic
Relationships
on ISC*
cooperation,
co-existence,
co-competition
&
co
m
pe
titi
o
n
External suppliers
Warehousing /delivery
Wholesaler/distributor
Customer/final
Cost: TCO
Time: Lead-time
Quality: TQM/ISO
External Partners:
*:Begin of the International supply chain : Information flow : Material flow 1: first time 2: second time Framework B
Planning
Initial
Planning
1
1
2
1
1
1
1
1
1 1 1
1
1
1
2 2
2
2 2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
Replenishment

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4. BARRIERS FOR CHINESE SMALL SUPPLIERS
4.1. The Chinese Context
China has become a major player in outsourcing/offshore sourcing production and
assembly for products supplied to local markets of western firms (Hong, et al., 2006).
This has forced China to change its traditional way of doing business. In China, as
Yang and Xu (2006) state, SMEs are the main driving force of economic and social
development. The Chinese economy has undergone four major stages of change
namely the “early stage” (1949-1957), “growth and fluctuation” (1958-1963),
“innovative transformation” (1978-1996) and “rapid growth” (1997 onwards) (Sun,
2003). The scale of the “rapid growth” phase can be illustrated by SMEs statistics. In
2003, SMEs accounted for 98.9% of the total number of businesses in China, and
made up 65.6, 63.3, 54 and 77.3 per cent of gross industrial output value, sales
revenues, total profits, and employment respectively” (China Statistics Press, 2004, in
Yang and Xu, 2006, p.174).
4.2. Problems that small Chinese costume jewellery suppliers face
This section of the paper provides a summary overview of the preliminary findings
as we have identified them in the relevant literature.
The main problems are generally generated from differences in the business
environment, physical characteristics, climate, infrastructure, population, economic
strength, political systems, and cultures (Waters, 2003). These differences create
numerous problems, for example Gibb (2000a, b) points out that "the transfer process
from developed to developing countries includes substantial elements of implicit and
explicit transfer of ideologies and culture (Gibb, 2006, p.267).” This in turn leads to
problems with language, concept understanding, agency involvement, and so on
(Gibb, 2006).
Gaps specific to the Chinese small enterprises include embryonic international
outsourcing, nascent logistics system, un-globalised relationship management,
knowledge transfer inefficiencies, lead-times, responsiveness and innovation, quality
and cost, trust and sharing. (Wiley, et al., 2006, Lin and Miller, 2003, Li-Hua, R. and
Khalil, T.M, 2006, and Hong, et al., 2006)
Other problems pertinent to the Chinese small business globalisation attempts
originate from the fact that although small enterprises are widely regarded as agents of
innovation, economic growth, and wealth creation, nevertheless as China opens its
gate to foreign business, many gaps are created in the small business sector
development in such areas as financing, management skills, motivated skilled labour,
supply chain and subcontracting networks (Poutziouris, et al., 2002).

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Compared to large firms, small enterprises in China have problems of both internal
financial resource constraints and difficulties to involve external finances (Yao, 2003),
government policy restrictions, and triangle debts that represent a type of debt
collection situation where three or more firms are involved (Tang and Zhang, 2002,
Tang, et al., 2007). Other specific problems on internationalisation attempts (under a
regime of strong official influence) include lack of capability on international market
research or overall lack of international marketing skills (Bamforth and Brookes,
2002, Siu, 2005 and Li and Matlay, 2006). Furthermore, with labour-intensive
production methods, low capitalization and a low level of computerization, adding
value to the raw material and overall product quality are also low (Chen and Shih,
2004).
5. CONCLUSIONS AND EXTENSIONS
It is true that “from time to time researchers do explore new grounds with the
changing dynamics that occur in the same field” (Cavana et al, 2001, p.108 and
Sekaran, 2003, p.119). For modern small enterprises success in capturing sales
opportunities and to satisfy customer needs in terms of speed, location and product
variability, it is highly dependant on their supply chain capabilities (Council of
Logistics Management, 2004). In this scenario, strategic alliances (including their
business partners and competitors), core competencies and information technologies
are the key weapons to achieve flexibility and responsiveness (Gunasekaran and Ngai,
2005). Members in the supply chain are forced to rethink the way they manage their
business (Cassivi, 2006). To that end the first major contribution of this research paper
is framework A that portray how marketing and logistics fits in the organisational
context within a “process map” rationale.
Moreover, the various customer tastes and concerns, fast developments in
technology and business globalisation remodel today’s small businesses (Hsu and
Wang, 2004). Effective collaboration between units in a supply chain plays a crucial
role, as it supports firms to concentrate on their core activities and ultimately
outsource the rest. It also allows enterprises to focus on the innovation, flexibility, and
lead-time and permits them to concentrate on the sources of competitive advantage
necessary for survival in global competition (Fisher, 1997; Lee, 2002, Simatupang, et
al., 2004). With that in mind the second major contribution of this paper is framework
B which captures all the elements of collaboration in the modern international supply
chain.
To summarise this paper contributes to the current body of knowledge on SCM by
focusing on a specific problem in a specific industry within China, namely the
costume jewellery industry. Based on the relevant literature we have generated an
initial framework that brings logistics and marketing together in fitting the
organisational context. Following that we have produced a second framework that

Barriers to International Supply Chain Collaboration for
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197
addresses collaboration pertinent issues. We are currently in the process of developing
a final framework that captures the specific barriers for international supply chain
collaboration for Chinese small businesses. To that end we have provided in section 4
of this paper some preliminary findings based on the review of the related literature.
As previously mentioned we are looking at testing this final framework within a
sample of 20 small enterprises in order to further review, evaluate and finalise it.
Further results of our work will follow in a future publication.
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The Cyprus Journal of Sciences, Vol. 6/203-214
THEORY AND EVIDENCE FROM ENTREPRENEURSHIP
AND RURAL GROWTH
GEORGE M. KORRES* and GEORGE O. TSOBANOGLOU**
ABSTRACT
The importance of entrepreneurial activities for economic growth has been emphasized by
economic literature. Much of the recent work on economic growth can be viewed as refining
the basic economic insights of classical economists. The recent debate on the determinants of
output growth has concentrated mainly on the role of knowledge typically produced by a
specific sector of the economy, and furthermore in the role of entrepreneurship and the
implications on economic growth. In the past, public policy has tended to focus on rural areas
as a block, treating them homogeneous with uniform problems and opportunities. However, the
unit of analysis and intervention has been dramatically changed and such an approach no
longer reflects the present development of rural areas. Rural policy has seen significant
developments in the last two decades. This paper aims to review and analyze the
entrepreneurship and rural policy and its effects on rural and economic growth.
Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Rural; Economic Growth; Competitiveness.
1. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND ECONOMIC GROWTH
An entrepreneur is an individual who assumes the financial risk of developing or
managing a new venture, where the venture is based on a new idea or an innovative
way of performing a task. The “entrepreneurial spirit” is something that has long been
associated with the driving force behind economic progress and growth. Joseph
Schumpeter (1950) stated that the key to the success of markets lies in the spirits of
entrepreneurs who persist in developing new products and technologies, and succeed
at ultimately reducing production costs.
The last two decades have witnessed a wealth of studies analyzing the
determinants of entrepreneurship. While some of these studies are theoretical (Holmes
and Schmitz, 1990), others are empirical (Evans and Leighton, 1990). The
consequences of entrepreneurship, in terms of economic performance, have also
generated an extensive literature. However, this literature has generally been restricted
to two units of observations – that of the establishment or firm, and that of the region.
* Dr. George M. Korres, Associate Professor at the University of Aegean, Department of
Geography, University Hill, Mitilene, Lesbos, Greece
** Dr. George O. Tsobanoglou, Associate Professor at the University of Aegean, Department of
Sociology, Mitilene, Lesbos, Greece

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204
Noticeably absent are studies linking the impact of entrepreneurship on performance
for the unit of observation of the country. A large literature has emerged analyzing the
impact of entrepreneurship on economic performance at the level of the firm or
establishment.
Non-agricultural sector is economic activity in urban or semi-urban areas. People
who live in these areas are involved in industrial enterprises, both at the production
and managerial level and also in various service sectors, such as trade and tourism.
Although the norms and regulations vary from country to country, the firms of the
urban sector (or otherwise the formal-sector) receive the benefits of state economic
support. Usually, the firms in this sector operate under the accepted rules and
regulations imposed by government. The workers of these firms belong to a union and
collective bargaining between firms and workers is not uncommon. The firms are
required to pay minimum wages and to conform to certain standards such as, safety,
pension schemes and so on. These firms pay taxes and may receive infrastructural
facilities, such as the access to subsidized electricity, and may have access to foreign
exchange quotas or the right to import certain inputs. In contrast, the agricultural
sector (or otherwise the informal sector) usually has small-scale organizations and
lower basic infrastructure. This sector usually does not adhere to norms of minimum
wages, retirement plans or unemployment compensation. Usually, firms do not pay
taxes and they receive little government support. People in agriculture are often very
poor and they face high levels of risk, while the primary occupation in the agricultural
sector is farming.
Explanations for economic growth have generally been restricted to the realm of
macroeconomics (Romer, 1990; Krugman, 1991). However, a different scholarly
tradition linking growth to industrial organization dates back at least to Schumpeter
(1934). According to this tradition, performance, measured in terms of economic
growth, is shaped by the degree to which the industry structure utilizes scarce
resources most efficiently.
Brock and Evans (1986) argue that the shift away from large firms is not confined
to manufacturing industries and provide four more reasons why this shift has occurred:
• the increase of labour supply leading to lower real wages and coinciding
with an increasing level of education;
• changes in consumer tastes;
• relaxation of (entry) regulations; and
• the fact that we are in a period of creative destruction.
Loveman and Sengenberger (1991) stress the influence of two trends of industrial
restructuring: that of decentralization and vertical disintegration and that of the
formation of new business communities. These intermediate forms of market
coordination flourish owing to declining costs of transaction. Furthermore, they
emphasize the role of public and private policies promoting the small business sector.

Theory and Evidence from Entrepreneurship and Rural Growth
205
Acs (1992) was among the first to discuss them. Acs distinguishes four
consequences of the increased importance of small firms:
• entrepreneurship
• routes of innovation
• industry dynamics and
• job generation
Acs claims are that small firms play an important role in the economy serving as
agents of change by their entrepreneurial activity, being the source of considerable
innovative activity, stimulating industry evolution and creating an important share of
the newly generated jobs. The role of small firms in the job creation process remains
controversial. The re-evaluation of the role of small firms is related to a renewed
attention to the role of entrepreneurship in firms.
Entrepreneurship has to do with activities of individual persons. The concept of
economic growth is relevant at levels of firms, regions, industries and nations.
Entrepreneurship is not synonymous with small business. Certainly, small firms are an
outstanding vehicle for individuals to channel their entrepreneurial ambitions. The
small firm is an extension of the individual in charge (Lumpkin and Dess, 1996, p.
138). Schumpeterian entrepreneurs are found mostly in small firms. They own and
direct independent firms that are innovative and creatively destroy existing market
structures. Schumpeter emphasizes the role of the entrepreneur as the prime cause of
economic development. He describes how the innovating entrepreneur challenges
incumbent firms by introducing new inventions that make current technologies and
products obsolete. Managerial business owners, entrepreneurs in a formal sense, are to
be found in the large majority of small firms. Recently, the conceptual link between
entrepreneurship and economic growth has received renewed interest by economists.
The finding that increased entrepreneurial activity leads to greater economic growth is
now well founded at both the national and local level. The purpose of this article is to
provide a survey of what is known about the links between entrepreneurial activity
and rural economic growth.
2. RURAL POLICY AND THE GROWTH PROCESS
An examination of rural policy requires an understanding of the unique conditions
in rural places that justify separate national policies. There are several characteristics
of rural areas that make them relatively unique and therefore justify special policies.
Most are relatively low population densities, which create fewer organizational
resources for most activities. Population density also makes it difficult to achieve
economies of scale in the provision of services and therefore cause many costs to be
higher and require people and organizations to be less specialized. Of course, the
exception is the heavy specialization of many rural areas on single natural resource

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206
oriented industries, like agriculture, mining and energy. These industries often have
had profound effects on rural areas because they have concentrated resources in a few
hands and contributed to the concentration of economic and political power and
therefore weakened democratic and civic institutions.
A major subject of rural policy related to the basic infrastructure is the remote
areas. Usually, rural policy in remote areas should provide services to meet the
demand of users and also to enhance the whole basic infrastructure and to improve the
quality of life. Due to isolation of the remote areas, rural policy in these areas should
directly affect remote areas which will gain more from the upgrading of basic
infrastructure, as for example from roads and telecommunications. However the
indirect effect of rural policy on particular remote areas, such as on employment,
education and training, are not so strong due to luckiness of skilled labor and the low
level of investment and of basic infrastructure.
The existing patterns of supporting economic activity in rural areas focus
predominantly on agriculture and food processing. The role in supporting
entrepreneurship in rural areas lies in the hands of local governments in order to
enhance the growth process and the results expected from supporting entrepreneurship
are:
• an increase in overall employment;
• increase in employment outside of agriculture;
• increase in demand;
• increase in the value of investments;
• a larger tax base and, as a result, an increase in the revenue collected by local
authorities;
• diversification of economic activity and thus a lower dependence on market
volatility;
• strengthening and an expansion of existing enterprises;
• an increase in the number of investors; and
• an increase in the number of enterprises.
3. POLICIES FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND RURAL GROWTH
There are various dimensions to thinking about entrepreneurship and enterprise
policies that we need to take into account when defining the scope of the policies that
this paper is concerned with. In this regard, we may distinguish between on the one
hand policies to encourage and support entrepreneurship, such as entrepreneurship
policies which include the promotion of an entrepreneurial culture, entrepreneurship
education, and policies to help individuals through the nascent and initial stages of
starting a business (Stevenson & Lundstrom, 2002) and on the other hand, more
traditional enterprise support policies concerned with the growth, survival and

Theory and Evidence from Entrepreneurship and Rural Growth
207
competitiveness of existing SMEs. There are many different factors which can
influence the level of entrepreneurship within a rural economy, not least the
specificities of the social, cultural and political context including national level
policies with regards to, for example, market openness, privatization, and legal and
taxation regimes (Glancey & McQuaid, 2001; Morrison, 2000; Reynolds et al., 2002).
However, we focus here upon those entrepreneurship policies which are directly
concerned with building-up the entrepreneurial capacity of rural regions. These
include:
(i) Policies concerned with building the entrepreneurial capacity of rural regions
such as those seeking to influence the attitudes and motivations of individuals
towards entrepreneurship and providing opportunities for the acquisition of
business and management skills via the education and training process;
(ii) Policies concerned with targeting potential sources of entrepreneurs, such as
those aimed at attracting in-migrants with entrepreneurial skills and ambitions or
those initiatives aimed at increasing the proportion of entrepreneurs from “under-
represented” groups such as young people or women;
(iii) Policies concerned with supporting the process of starting new business
ventures, including pre-start-up advice and appraisal of the “business idea” as well
as assistance with the various aspects of setting up a new business.
More generally, enterprise support policies are primarily concerned with
improving the competitiveness and viability of existing SMEs with a view to
increasing their chances of survival and growth. These include:
(i) Policies concerned with generic support to rural businesses, such as those
concerned with providing advice on different aspects of running a business, such
as business planning, marketing, exporting, use of information and communication
technology.
(ii) Policies aimed at providing specialist support to enterprises in particular
sectors, such as those initiatives concerned with helping farmers;
(iii) Policies concerned with providing an infrastructure which is supportive of
enterprise formation and development in rural regions.
4. EVIDENCE FROM RURAL POLICY AND
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ACTIVITIES
The great differences among rural people and places in most countries make it
hard to discover national policies that fit all of these places. Isolated rural areas will
generally exist at considerable distance from urban centers. These communities will be
those that survived a period of significant rural consolidation. Population will be
stable or declining. Income levels will be significantly lower and income growth will
lag behind the national average. The basic infrastructure in these communities,
including transportation and telecommunication infrastructures, will be typically less

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(at least one generation behind) than that of urban and growing rural areas. The policy
orientation is closely related to the main socio-economic factors, the basic priorities
and the emerging needs. The main macroeconomic and social factors in relation to the
rural policy are presented on the following Figures 1-4. In particular, Figure 1
illustrates the enterprises with less than 20 persons engaged as a percentage of the total
number of enterprises for a number of countries in 2005. Whereas Figures 2 and 3
illustrate the labour productivity in total manufacturing in value added per person
employed as a percentage of annual rate and in total market services, respectively.
FIGURE 1: ENTERPRISES WITH LESS THAN 20 PERSONS ENGAGED (AS
A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL NUMBER OF ENTERPRISES), 2005.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Ireland
Slovak Rep.
Japan
Korea
United States
Norway
Luxembourg
Germany
Denmark
United Kingdom
Austria
Netherlands
Belgium
Iceland
Spain
Portugal
Finland
New Zealand
France
Hungary
Poland
Mexico
Sweden
Italy
Czech Rep.
Australia
Greece
Percentage of empl oyees Percentage of enterprises
FIGURE 2: LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY IN TOTAL MANUFACTURING
(VALUE ADDED PER PERSON EMPLOYED % ANNUAL RATE)
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Slovak Republic
Poland
Korea
Hungary
Sweden
Czech Republic
United States
Finland
Norway
Uni ted King dom
Japan
France
Netherlan ds
Austria
Denmark
Germany
Greece
Portugal
Belgium
Luxembourg
Canada
Spain
Italy
2000-2005 1995-2000

Theory and Evidence from Entrepreneurship and Rural Growth
209
However, “macroeconomic policies”, dealing for instance with national growth,
stable prices and financial system, as well as “structural policies”, concerning for
example the efficiency of markets, will not be sufficient to deal with new and more
intense rural problems.
FIGURE 3: LABOUR PRODUCTIVITY IN TOTAL MARKET SERVICES (VALUE
ADDED PER PERSON EMPLOYED % ANNUAL RATE)
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
Ireland
Hungary
Czech
Poland
Japan
Norway
United King dom
Korea
Greece
United Stat es
Australia
Sweden
Netherlands
Belgium
Finland
Denmark
Canada
Luxembourg
France
New Zealand
Germany
Austria
Switzerland
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Mexico
Slovak
2000-2005 1995-2000
In rural areas, economies of scale are more likely to be achieved internally to firms
and consequently firms are becoming increasingly larger and larger. Evidence from
the agricultural sector is the emergence of supply chains, whereas in urban areas small
to medium firms can cluster to capture the benefits of agglomeration economies, as the
saving due to proximity to a diverse labor force, specialized producer services and
high-quality public services.
Unequal distributions of wealth and income have created rural poverty, which is
likely to be different from urban poverty. In urban areas more poor people are single-
parent heads or households. In rural areas, they are more likely to be the working poor.
Therefore, employment and training programs are likely to do more for rural than
urban poverty.

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210
FIGURE 4: R&D EXPENDITURES FINANCED BY BUSINESS SECTOR AS A
PERCENTAGE OF E.U.-25, 2005.
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
Luxembourg
Japan
Switzerland
Finland
Germany
Sweden
U.S.A.
Denmark
Belgium
Slovenia
Ireland
E.U.15
E.U. 25
Czech
France
Netherlands
Norway
Spain
Austria
Latvia
Iceland
United
Romania
Slovakia
Hungary
Estonia
Portugal
Russia
Greece
Poland
Cyprus
Malta
Lithuania
Improved rural development has often been associated with greater capital
investment, the application of science to production, better economic organization,
and in some cases effective urbanization. The notion is that infrastructure is public
capital investment that will make private capital investment more productive. The
expectation is that improved water, better electricity, lower cost transportation, and
augmented information infrastructure in rural areas can allow firms to be more
productive and to operate at lower costs. Figure 4 illustrates the research expenditures
financed by the business-sector as a percentage for EU-25.
The resulting productivity gains are expected to increase overall economic
activity. A range of tools can potentially be used to make rural areas more
economically vital. The challenge for policymakers, functioning with limited
resources at their disposal, is to select the mechanisms that are most efficient for
stimulating rural economies. In this way, infrastructure is best seen as one of the
competing means for enhancing rural economic development. For instance, water,
electricity, telecommunications and other infrastructure are obviously imperative to
business development. During the last two decades rural policy focusing on the
following points:
• There was an attempt to pursue strategic investments and to develop new
activities for basic infrastructure.
• There was more attention to public investment and to support local enterprises,
local entrepreneurship, and innovation, as well as assure social cohesion.
• There was a clearer planning for exploitation of local resources and to develop
the comparative advantage.
• There was support on sectoral policies aiming to enhance the inter- and -intra
linkages effects at sectoral, local and regional levels.
• Finally, there was an effort to increase the decentralization of administration and
policy and furthermore to increase the partnership between public and private
sectors, in order to improve and to increase the necessary basic infrastructure of
the rural regions.

Theory and Evidence from Entrepreneurship and Rural Growth
211
5. CONCLUSIONS
We expect a framework relating entrepreneurial activity to economic growth to
hinge on at least four elements.
• First, on the literature identifying the micro-economic foundations of growth
emphasizing the role of knowledge externalities in the growth process (Romer,
1986 and 1994).
• Second, it should identify intermediate linkages.
• Third, it should deal with dual causality in the relation between entrepreneurial
activity and growth.
The main factors that are favourable to entrepreneurship and investment in rural
areas are:
• Loyalty of employees: Because it is difficult to find a job and work alternatives
are scarce, having a job is highly appreciated.
• Lower crime rates: The safety of running a business is an important factor that
investors take into consideration before making an investment decision.
• Ease of adopting new consumer behavioural patterns. Entrepreneurial and
market-oriented attitudes are slowly adopted by people in rural areas. It is not
the case with consumer behavioural patterns.
• Clean environment: Clean air, low noise levels, and unpolluted water are
advantages.
• Easier control of employees: Lower levels of education and a smaller number of
work alternatives make it easier for employers to control workers.
• Lower prices of land: Lower land prices can attract investors willing to build an
enterprise.
• Lower wages: The cost of living is substantially lower in rural areas than
elsewhere and wages can also be relatively lower.
• Negligent role of trade unions: Although workers have a right to form trade
unions, they seldom make use of that right in rural areas.
The main factors that are unfavourable to entrepreneurship and investment in rural
areas are:
• Low population density: Because of low population density, human settlements
are far from one another, and communication is slow.
• Low demand per square kilometre: Market potential, which denotes the volume
of goods sold in an area, is one of the basic measures used in marketing.
• Large distances: As a result of low population density, human settlements are
scattered over a large area. Large distances increase the cost of transportation
and reduce the frequency of supply deliveries.
• Lack of an entrepreneurial tradition: Entrepreneurship coming up with new
ideas and innovations, and actively trying to overcome obstacles and difficulties.

The Cyprus Journal of Sciences
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• Low level of education: The level of education can heavily influence a
company’s decision about where to invest.
• Lack of models for successful business ventures: Instances of successful
business undertakings are an enormous encouragement for other people to do
the same. In rural areas, however, such examples of successful entrepreneurship
in rural areas undertakings are rare.
• Problems with infrastructure: Underdeveloped infrastructure can scare off
potential investors.
Entrepreneurship generates growth because it serves as a vehicle for innovation
and change. One of the central goals of public policy common among all modern
economies is the generation of growth and the creation of employment. Much of the
policy debate to generate growth and jobs has relied on a macro-economic framework
and focused on the traditional macro-economic policy instruments. The survey of this
article suggests that a different, less traditional instrument for generating growth and
employment plays an important role – policies that generate and promote
entrepreneurship (OECD, 1998). Empirical evidence surveyed in this chapter suggests
that those countries that have experienced an increase in entrepreneurial activity have
also enjoyed higher rates of growth. Experience also suggests that an approach which
actively involves rural communities, enterprises, and economic development agencies
is most likely to work best, although regional level economic development
organisations are probably in the best position to achieve the level of integration
between different interests and agencies which will be required.
Based on the increasing awareness of the role of entrepreneurs in driving
economic growth, state and local economic development efforts have been more
heavily directed toward promoting entrepreneurship. These development efforts have
mainly focused on reducing the financial constraints that entrepreneurs face either
through preferential loans to new businesses, as those supported by the Small Business
Administration, or preferential tax treatment for new or small businesses. One such
policy that has recently gained popularity is to devote public resources toward
attracting and building a larger amount of venture capital to encourage entrepreneurial
activity. This development strategy is largely based on casual observation that areas
with larger amounts of entrepreneurial activity generally tend to also have a larger
amount of venture capital.
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NOTES FOR CONTRIBUTORS
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Arestis, P. and Demetriades, P. (1997). Financial development and economic growth: assessing the
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