Performance and prospects of smaller UK regional airports

This paper investigates the traffic and financial performance of smaller UK regional airports between 2001 and 2014. Fourteen airports that typically serve less than 5 million passengers per annum were selected for the analysis. A period of strong growth in passenger demand was experienced from 2001 to 2007, driven largely by low cost carriers. The period from 2007 to 2014 was characterised by declining demand, resulting in significant losses for many of the airports. Airline strategies, such as the use of an increased unit fleet size and average sector length, may further limit future prospects for smaller UK regional airports in favour of larger ones with greater local demand. The relationship between traffic throughput and the generation of aeronautical revenues seems to vary at airports. There is generally a strong and significant relationship between traffic throughput and the generation of commercial revenues and total operating costs at airports serving 3–5 million passengers, but the situation for airports serving fewer than 3 million is less certain.

Co-production and co-creation using self-service technology: the application of service-dominant logic

Research on how customers engage in the co-creation processes envisaged by the Servicedominant logic paradigm is currently limited and even less work has been published on frameworks for organizations to manage the co-creation process. This conceptual paper examines a particular aspect of co-creation: co-production as a result of the application of self-service technology (SST). We propose a conceptual framework for co-production, which emphasizes the need to understand productivity from the point of view of the customer, and demonstrate how this can be applied in both consumer (b2c) and interorganizational(b2b) contexts. We conclude that service organizations might benefit from clearly identifying co-production with task-performance, and co-creation with the valueattributing aspects of the customer service experience. Both aspects generate a range of design and management challenges for suppliers particularly the need to understand the cocreation process 'outputs' desired by customers and the full costs of moving away from person to person interaction.

Reducing job-irrelevant bias in performance and appraisals: compliance and beyond

Job-irrelevant discrimination seems as ubiquitous as the performance appraisals in which it is commonly detected. This paper explores both compliance-based and more proactive approaches that deal with the various possible sources of discrimination in performance appraisal ratings. The suggestions lead to a code of practice for performance management in firms across cultures and national boundaries.