HEC Montréal

About: HEC Montréal is a education organization based out in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Context (language use) & Vehicle routing problem. The organization has 1221 authors who have published 5708 publications receiving 196862 citations. The organization is also known as: Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales de Montreal & HEC Montreal.

The Influence of Tourism Innovativeness on Online Consumer Behavior

Abstract: The objective of this study is to investigate the impact of tourism-specific consumer innovativeness (i.e., domain-specific innovativeness) on their information search, purchasing, and communication behaviors on tourism websites. The methodology employed is based on a combination of data from website log files and questionnaires (n = 207). The results show that tourism innovativeness is positively related to the frequency and density of site visits, downloading of information brochures, use of the online purchasing mode, and the volume of online purchases. Tourism innovativeness is also positively associated with consumer chatting and e-mailing. The study reveals that consumers high on tourism innovativeness maintain active and cooperative communications with the firm. In summary, the behaviors of innovative consumers that have been documented in traditional offline settings are also exhibited in the online environment. The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Analysis and Branch-and-Cut Algorithm for the Time-Dependent Travelling Salesman Problem

Abstract: Given a graph whose arc traversal times vary over time, the time-dependent travelling salesman problem (TDTSP) consists in finding a Hamiltonian tour of least total duration covering the vertices of the graph. The contribution of this paper is twofold. First, we describe a lower and upper bounding procedure that requires the solution of a simpler (yet NP-hard) asymmetric travelling salesman problem (ATSP). In addition, we prove that this ATSP solution is optimal for the TDTSP if all the arcs share a common congestion pattern. Second, we formulate the TDTSP as an integer linear programming model for which valid inequalities are devised. These inequalities are then embedded into a branch-and-cut algorithm that is able to solve instances with up to 40 vertices.

Integrating sustainability into business practices: learning from Brazilian firms

Abstract: This paper proposes a conceptual model to facilitate incorporation of sustainability into business practices, learning from the context of companies operating in Latin America – more specifically, in Brazil – that excel in terms of sustainability initiatives Five large companies recognized as leaders in sustainability practices were studied using the grounded theory method The main result of our study is the identification of a number of influential factors, interconnected according to three broad categories – corporate view, organizational structure and organizational mechanisms – allowing a better understanding of the integration of sustainability into business practices