New article: Managing a non-profit hospitality platform conversion: The case of Couchsurfing.com

Glad to see our article ‘Managing a non-profit hospitality platform conversion: The case of Couchsurfing.com‘ published in Tourism Management Perspectives (TMP). Such a smooth process, with submission, reviews and revise. I recommend TMP to publish. It was a pleasure.

O’Regan, M., & Choe, J. (2019). Managing a non-profit hospitality platform conversion: The case of Couchsurfing. com. Tourism Management Perspectives, 30, 138-146.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2019.02.018

Abstract

Couchsurfing (CS) was founded in 2003 as a non-profit for those interested in creating a common resource for world-wide hospitality exchange and low cost tourism. Built around a non-market communal sharing model, it became a for-profit in August 2011. Applying a discourse relational model approach, this study characterizes how competing discursive articulations over the conversion led to a discursive strategy of moral justification as management sought to retain its non-profit, alternative, democratic imaginary. The study finds that the justifications gained initial appeal, but ultimately lost credibility due to a mismanaged conversion. By articulating the competing discourses through the sacred value protection model (SVPM), this study provides insights into the way in which a management strategy can be interpreted at a micro-analysis level. It recommends that management decisions need to start from the activities of the organizations members, groups and networks so as to account for their emotions, motivations and actions.

I have been looking at Couchsurfing (CS) for quite a few years, as for many, CS was the father of the sharing economy. It was pre- AIRbnb, Pre-Uber, and the path they took was followed by many. Indeed, I presented on the theme of this paper in 2015, at the RGS in Exeter.

I attended the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2015 (Exeter, UK) and presented a paper in the “Critical geographies of the sharing economy – Sharing places” session on Thursday 03 September 2015, Session 3 (14:40 – 16:20).