Piotr Zientara

The present paper, which is conceptually embedded in environmental management theory, focuses on the question of monitoring and reporting environmental performance in the hotel industry. Its principal aim is to analyse the functioning, characteristics, and advantages of the performance assessment systems that are currently used in facilities belonging to international hotel chains. Specifically, the study, drawing on the content analysis technique, substantiates its claims by referring to concrete examples from the hotel industry (Scandic, Marriott International, Inter- Continental Hotel Group, Hilton Worldwide). Crucially, emphasis is placed on the practical problems related to the operation of such tools. The paper concludes by providing a number of recommendations on how to implement and run environmental performance assessment systems in hotels. In this way, it expands a fast-growing research on the practical dimension of hotel operation, thereby being of special interest to hoteliers and hotel managers.

This paper, which draws on monthly data from 2002–2011, aims to prove that Polish emigration proceeds in spurts – it is, in other words, characterized by relatively long spells of stability that are followed by sudden outflows triggered by such factors as changes in unemployment or currency exchange rates. In doing so, it first seeks to find out whether SETAR (threshold) models are better-placed than ARMA/ARIMA models to estimate the pace and rate of emigration. It transpires from our econometric analysis that this is indeed the case, which, in turn, allowed us to estimate the threshold values of selected transition variables – emigration, unemployment, purchasing power parity, wages, GDP and the PLN/EUR exchange rate – that set off the outflows. These findings per se merit recognition due to their socio-economic and demographic implications. The study contributes to the literature by proposing an original approach to analyzing the dynamics of migratory processes.

This paper, drawing on the experience of the Polish city of Gdynia, focuses on urban development
strategies in the era of a knowledge-based economy. Given that some doubts have recently
been cast over the effectiveness of certain urban policies based on innovation generation and
creativity promotion, the study constitutes a voice in the debate on the opportunities and threats
facing modern cities. It examines these issues through the prism of central and eastern Europe,
which – due to a confluence of various politico-economic factors – is seen as a fertile ground for
the promotion of new urban strategies. Specifically, the paper, while highlighting the fact that Poland’s
nationwide business environment is unsupportive of entrepreneurship and new knowledge
creation, shows how the municipal authorities act with a view to advancing Gdynia’s
development. Hence it makes a contribution to the existing body of literature, thereby deepening
our understanding of modern urban development patterns.