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This study aims to analyze social networking and network centrality in the case of community enterprises, which the existing literature has not addressed. To do so, the authors use the survey of community enterprises from the One Tambon One Product (OTOP) entrepreneurship program of Nong Khai border province in Thailand as a case study.

Social network analysis (SNA) is a tool to study and understand the relationship patterns of units of analysis, which can be individual, household, community or production units, and how those units interact through social or economic activities. Network positions are important when identifying the centralization of links in a particular network. If a representative is close to the center of a network, it is possible that the production unit will be able to contact or coordinate with a greater number of other members of the cluster, create knowledge sharing, promote collaboration and then typically demonstrate greater performance.

The results show that overall, local government agencies play a critical role in the community enterprise relationship network, while private entities are the least active group. Enterprises in partnerships with external agencies are mostly cooperating with branding and marketing dimensions, followed by the design dimension. There is no cooperation regarding production and distribution. Most community enterprises have established at least a one-dimensional network of cooperation with external agencies; only five community enterprises have isolated nodes with no partnerships having been created within this group.

The study was limited by the surveys having been conducted in a single area and, therefore, can be used only as a case study for this area. Surveys in larger group sizes and in a wider range of areas would lead to results with greater applicability and reliability.

These results bring to mind policy proposals to increase the competitiveness of community enterprises through the development of social networks as follows: firstly, knowledge should be created with community enterprise operators to understand their supply chains and analyze the strengths and weaknesses and core competencies of their enterprises; and secondly, enterprises should be educated about which agencies can assist businesses at each stage in the value chain system and encouraged to ask for help in adding value at each stage of production.

A “OTOP to Business Networking” platform for community and private enterprises should be created with projects/activities that offer venues to exchange business learning and opportunities. Holding meetings among people in a variety of business sectors may help inspire entrepreneurs to innovate to further their businesses, which can lead to networking businesses conducting activities across community enterprises and the private sector for the mutual benefit of producing merchandise for large customers and markets. Learning systems, production techniques and cooperation should be created, as well as opportunities to increase market share and profitability, if this platform is successful.

This paper is the first study, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to utilize SNA to examine the use of social networking among community enterprises participating in Thailand’s OTOP entrepreneurship program in Nong Khai province. The results show that overall, local government agencies play a critical role in the community enterprise relationship network, while private entities are the least active group. Therefore, the government can play an important role in helping to develop a network of community enterprises with external entities at each stage of the value chain to enhance the competitiveness of each enterprise.

The objective of this study is to determine how service marketing strategies affect enterprises in the tourism and hospitality industry, especially, operators in small towns that are not tourism destinations and visited only by small numbers of tourists.

This study investigates the impact of 4P strategy implementation on the potential and profitability of service operators in Nong Khai Province, Thailand, by using an econometric model and defining dependent variables in order to classify firm performance into 3 areas, namely, (1) revenue, (2) cost/expense and (3) profit—in log form.

Study results show that tourism and hospitality service operators have to place emphasis on “development,” starting from upstream processes such as research and development and utilizing local wisdom and reflecting cultural identities as well as focusing on downstream activities, including adoption of modern media. At the same time, operators should also emphasize marketing and sales promotions as well as seek publicity through websites and online social media in parallel with developing downstream activities.

This paper only focuses on Nong Khai Province as the research area because, first, Nong Khai has a relatively low income per capita and is located in Thailand's Northeast, the country's poorest region. Second, Nong Khai is a border province, adjacent to the Lao PDR, and thus there are numerous tourists from the Lao PDR and overseas countries who travel in and out of the province through the Thailand–Lao border checkpoints.

Relevant government agencies should provide support throughout the development process from upstream to downstream in order to upgrade the potential of tourism and service operators in this small province by incorporating local identities used for creation of service products and by supporting marketing and sales promotions whether in the form of organizing various exhibitions events, publicity via the Internet, etc.

Raising service standards of an organization and developing an acceptable quality brand and setting fair prices without taking advantage of consumers were strategies that played important roles. This set of strategies was implemented together with a development strategy for people also through the process of team building and knowledge management, including skill development through a training system, which also played an important role toward the sustainability of tourism and hospitality enterprises in Nong Khai Province.

It is believed that this paper is the first study to apply Stan Shih's innovation smiling curve in a small border province of Thailand. This study could shed the light for tourism and hospitality enterprises in a small and poor town in attempt to be the sustainability.

Educational mismatches constitute negative impacts on labor markets in most countries, Thailand is no exception. The purpose of this paper is to quantify the degree of educational mismatch in Thailand and its impacts on labor market outcomes.

This study analyzes data obtained from Thailand’s Labor Force Survey to estimate the likelihood of horizontal and vertical mismatches and their impacts on labor market outcomes.

Estimation results reveal the existence of a high level of both vertical and horizontal mismatches in the labor market. The vertical mismatch tends to be most prevalent in the case of graduates with degrees in the social sciences, while the existence of the horizontal mismatch is mostly found in the case of graduates with backgrounds in the physical sciences. Samples with a degree in health science seem to be least impacted by both types of mismatch. Education-job mismatches, either vertical or horizontal mismatches, are found to cause negative impacts on workers’ employment. Findings indicate that workers who encountered either horizontal or vertical educational mismatches tended to have lower monthly incomes than did those without such mismatches. Vertical mismatches seemed to result in lower incomes than did the horizontal mismatches. Furthermore, both types of mismatch are found to not have any significant impact on workers’ employability.

Nevertheless, due to different types of mismatches such as skill mismatch or personality mismatch, this paper only quantifies degree mismatch on the context of Thailand only. Nevertheless, different structure of labor market can show different findings.

Both horizontal mismatch and vertical mismatch can be mitigated with strong collaboration system between colleges/universities and employers. Therefore, the government should further promote better cooperation between universities and the private sector (industry-university linkages) by encouraging more exchanges between high-level executives and students of the private sector and higher-education institutes. More opportunities for students to practice their skills in real workplace settings should be provided, and students should also be able to gain credits from participating in such training. In Thailand, at present there are only a few degree programs that require students to complete an internship.

As for social policy recommendations, to reduce both horizontal and vertical mismatches in practices, it is essential that the education sector promote a life-long learning framework that allows workers whose jobs do not match their educational background (or with their educational attainment) to receive the training and develop the skills required by employers.

Comparing to other literature in these areas in which survey data from the authors are relied, this paper, however, uses the Thai Labor Force Survey, which is the national representative sample data set. The results found from this paper are therefore useful to be reliable on implying appropriated policy recommendations.

Does delay of gratification affect the probability of engaging in self-employment and does it contribute to business performance? This paper aims to quantify impacts of delay of gratification on engaging in self-employment and business performance.

Using Lao PDR as a representative of least developed countries, the authors analyze nationally representative survey data from the Lao PDR – STEP Skills Measurement Household Survey and estimate the binary logit/probit model to quantify impacts of delay of gratification on probability of self-employment. And, the impacts of delayed gratification on business performance of the self-employed individuals are also estimated.

Those with a lower degree of delayed gratification tend to elect to be self-employed instead of being full-time employees. However, a higher delay of gratification score is found to positively correlate with higher business performance among those who are self-employed. Other control variables such as business characteristics, education level and skills of the self-employed also play an important role in higher business performance.

Analysis from this paper still shows some weak points and limitations. First, the data set on self-employment has little representation from industry and the service sector and lacks many important variables such as parents’ characteristics and working hours. Second, there is no clear measurement of delay of gratification, as the measurements use only hypothesis money. Finally, there is a lack of studies to back up the result of delay of gratification on business performance, especially in a least developed country such as Lao PDR. The authors suggest that future research be conducted with richer data regarding the self-employed in industries and services. It would be quite interesting to study further the effect of delay of gratification along with grit, another behavioral variable, on business performance.

Based on the findings, it is therefore crucial that the Lao Government support a policy that helps strengthen both cognitive and noncognitive skills and the delay of gratification along with education to make Lao self-employment more productive.

Providing the self-employed with adequate skills to succeed in their enterprises can lead them and the nation to escape the poverty trap. Family, school and government should promote delay of gratification among young children. Encouraging special activities that foster emotional and behavioral skills learning and practice for children, such as religious learning and meditation, might boost their ability to delay gratification. Moreover, support for skills training, both basic and job-relevant skills, could promote business experience exchange by creating an organization that provides guidelines, information and advice for self-employment.

Even though there is extensive research indicating that delayed gratification exists in many contexts, there are very few studies investigating the impact of delayed gratification on the business, especially on the decision to be self-employed and the resulting business performance. The delay of gratification could be one factor that influences decisions on job selection or employment status and that influences business performance as well. This paper is also the first one conducted in a least developed country such as Lao PDR.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Tourism and hospitality firms in less conventional tourist areas can improve performance by utilizing relevant service marketing strategies. Focusing on components of the 7 P marketing mix along with key variables enables positive outcomes in view of revenue, cost and profit.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.