“The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”: The World at the Dawn of 2006-2011. Understanding societal themes

Abstract

This article offers a snapshot of the societal dynamics of individual countries around the world, integrated into a global view to provide the tourism and hospitality industry insight into potential customer needs and perceptions. The OPUS Reports on the Global Dynamics at the Dawn of 20...are published annually since 2006 in the Journal of Organisational and Social Dynamics in London. The researchers were interested in a metaphoric tour of the world‟s social dynamics over time as perceived from both the Systems psychodynamics and Positive psychology theoretical paradigms. The research methodology was qualitative using a case study approach where each of the six (2006- 2011) years‟ integrated hypotheses was studied as a separate case study. The six cases were integrated into new hypotheses reflecting how global social dynamics changed over the years. The findings were presented as hypotheses per individual country followed by an integrated global hypothesis. The three main emerging themes were framed as Identity, Hope and Love. Identity contains the sub-theme of Facelessness, described as the fragmentation of cultures, a loss of cultural identity and a search for shared social meaning. Hope embodies the theme Knight/s in shining armour which describes youth as saviours and Obama as saviour. The loss of Hope is illustrated by the sub-themes of the impotence of the older generation, pessimism, fear and the death of a way of life. Love consists of human connection described as affiliation, support and trust. The lack of Love consists of human alienation described as loneliness, aggression and violence.

The findings of the study identify societal themes that can be operationalized in the tourism and hospitality industry through targeted offerings to provide in the unmet needs of society. In addition, training interventions to improve customer service and return on investment can be based on the findings of this research.