How do dynamic capabilities explain hotel performance?

This research study explores the relationship between three dynamic capabilities and their impact on hotel performance. Specifically, we examine the relationship between human resource management (HRM), quality management (QM) and sustainability. In addition, we analyse how QM and sustainability explain hotel performance measured by occupancy rate, average daily rate (ADR) and revenues per available room (RevPAR). These capabilities can generate income, enabling hotels to adapt as quickly as possible to the changing environment. Findings show a significant relationship between HRM, QM and sustainability. The relationship between QM and hotel performance and between sustainability and hotel performance is fully mediated by the differentiation competitive advantage. Our results represent an advance in hotel theory and management because they integrate HRM, QM and sustainability, and show their ability to be a source of competitive advantage and profitability.     

Human Resource Management,Job Satisfaction,Morale, Optimism,and Turnover

ABSTRACT

This article examines the usage of nine human resource management (HRM) practices among 46 hotels in San Diego. Results showed that the hotels in the sample use training and development to bring employees up to an acceptable level of performance, and then rely on allowing employee a voice to keep them engaged. Usage of HRM varied by hotel types (e.g., resorts vs. economy), and the practices had a statistically significant relationship with job satisfaction, morale, and optimism about the future of the hotel. These attitudes, in turn, were significantly related to turnover intentions. Implications of the results are discussed.     

Effect of Management Practices on Actual ICT Application in Kenyan Hotels: A PLS-SEM Approach

Advances in information communication technology (ICT) has seen many hotels invest huge sums of money in ICTs to enhance their performance. However, this has never been the case for most hotels in economically developing countries due to poor ICT implementation. This study sought to establish how ICT-related management practices influence actual ICT application by hotels in Kenya. A total of 194 hotel managers drawn from 36 hotels were surveyed. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively. The outcomes show that though operational management and human resource management practices significantly predict actual ICT application, HRM practices have the biggest effect in explaining the variance in actual ICT application. The study finding offer insights to best management practices and how they influence actual ICT use in hotels.     

Shattered but smiling: Human resource management and the wellbeing of hotel employees during COVID-19

The purpose of this paper is to explore the human resource management (HRM) practices adopted by hotels during COVID-19 and to examine the impact of COVID-19 on the wellbeing of hotel employees using qualitative thematic analysis. This study presents HRM practices that organizations can use to effectively manage employees in uncertain times. There is compelling evidence that employee-centered HRM practices strongly impact employee wellbeing. This paper integrates the insights from an HRM framework for wellbeing using a job demands-resources model. The paper identifies themes that confirm and extend existing theories and models of wellbeing. The findings are important for policy makers by offering guidance for managing people effectively during tough times.     

International franchising: Opportunities for China's state-owned hotels?

The hotel industry in China faces global competition. Most of the state-owned hotels have struggled during the period of transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Furthermore, international franchising hotel chains have entered China with their different operation modes. Could the franchising hotels bring opportunities for state-owned hotels? In an attempt to answer this question, the researchers carried out a study of state-owned independent hotels and state-owned franchised hotels to analyze their external and internal business factors, their intentions to join international franchise operations and the international hotel franchisors in China. The research technique used was qualitative. Two rounds of in-depth interviews were conducted. Content analysis was used in the data analysis. Results indicate that the majority of state-owned independent hotels have intentions to join an international franchise operation in the next 5 years. It also identified major factors affecting the franchising of state-owned hotels in China. However, franchising may not be attractive to those hotels that want to keep their management culture and characteristics. Implications of the study were discussed. Recommendations were provided to the state-owned hotels. Future research studies have been suggested to examine the relationships between franchisors and franchisees.     

Innovation activity in the hotel industry: Evidence from Balearic Islands

The paper provides empirical evidence on technological activity in the Spanish service sector, in particular for the tourist accommodation in the Balearics. The study wants to fulfil the lack of analyses in the field of tourism. Commonly, the study of innovation activity has been carried out from a manufacture perspective, for that reason the paper discusses the precise definition of innovation in accommodation services. The data refer to a large representative sample of hotels in Balearic Islands (Spain), providing a homogeneous set of information. The results show as higher-categories hotels are more innovative than lower-categories hotels; an aggregated measure of technological innovation presents a rate over the average for hotels that belong to a chain, and that for hotels under management contract. Half of innovative companies adjust the human capital skills and abilities. The hotel industry is a supplier-driven sector that innovates introducing R&D embodied technology rather than undertaking internal R&D activities.     

Hospitality Managers' Perception of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Explorative Study

In recent years, many factors have influenced the hotel industry to identify areas of social concern most beneficial to it. Staff incentives, rewards, community involvement, and charitable activities, coinciding with increased management and staff education concerning internal and external social responsibilities, have increased. The objective of this study is to investigate how hotel leaders from Hong Kong in high-tier and medium-tier hotels attempt to influence employees' behaviour to act in a more socially responsible manner towards their companies and communities. It highlights both leaders' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) behaviour of their employees and the instruments used to influence that behaviour. As a first step, this study aims to determine hotel managers' perception of leadership styles and their interpretation of the CSR role in the industry and community. Managers differ in leadership styles, thereby influencing their employees' perception of the CSR role in industry and community. Findings have shown that CSR awareness is deeply incorporated into high-tier Hong Kong hotels where community involvement is particularly strong.     

International hotel chains and environmental protection: an analysis of Hilton's we care! programme (Europe, 2006–2008)

Using the case study method, this paper evaluates and analyses Hilton's we care! programme for improving the environmental performance of the 70 Hilton Worldwide hotels in operation in Continental Europe in 2006–2008. It explores the practical dimension of “greening” hotel operations in the context of corporate social responsibility (CSR), and demonstrates the close links between CSR and human resource management (HRM) in hotels. It deepens the understanding of corporate environmentalism and seeks to disseminate best practice among hospitality managers. The programme's distinctive and innovative character as well as its weaknesses and strengths are highlighted. Barriers to behavioural change in hotel operation are discussed. The programme involved over 16,000 employees, created hotel-specific action teams linking all employee levels and reduced energy use per square metre by 15%, water use and CO₂ emissions per guest night by 8% each over three years. Avoided utility costs totalled US$16 million, of which US$9.6 million can be attributed to changes in human behaviour. The paper makes a case for a holistic approach that combines the introduction of IT-based measurement and performance-assessing tools with genuine employee empowerment and green awareness raising. The study concludes with future managerial policy recommendations that simultaneously bear upon corporate environmentalism and HRM.     

Human resource managers’ perceptions of the applications and merit of the balanced scorecard in hotels

The extent to which performance measures that align with the “learning and growth” dimension of the balanced scorecard (BSC) are applied in the hotel industry has been examined by conducting interviews with 14 hotel human resource (HR) managers. Minimal appreciation of the BSC concept was in evidence. When an explanation of the BSC framework was provided, the interviewees unanimously held the view that the term “learning and growth” did not adequately encompass the HR oriented performance measures that they seek to apply. Further, it was found that most hotels were using a single measure of employee satisfaction to represent “learning and growth”, which does not enable examination of the five separate dimensions of “learning and growth” represented in the BSC model. These findings suggest a significant schism between BSC theory and the application of HR oriented measures in the hotel industry.     

Role of Perceived Fit With Hotels’ Green Practices in the Formation of Customer Loyalty: Impact of Environmental Concerns

With the increasing concern for ecological issues among hotel customers, this study pursues an investigation of customers' perceptions of hotels' core business in association with green practices and the resulting purchase-related loyalty (i.e. intentions to visit, accept price premiums, and recommend). In addition, the study examines the moderating role of environmental concerns in the relationships among perceptions of hotels' green practices and loyalty components. A survey of tourists using hotels showed that customers related hotels' core businesses and green practices positively, which consequently affected customers' purchase intentions toward the hotels. This study is unique in academia in that it investigates the fit theory for the hospitality industry by considering the impact of environmental concerns, while employing environmental practices as an emerging social cause, which is, increasingly, important for the society. This study is beneficial by providing hotel managers with insight into hotel customers' decision-making processes regarding green practices.     

An Examination of Job Satisfaction of General Managers Based on Hotel Size and Service Type

ABSTRACT

Because of the flatter organizational structure and decentralized hierarchical configuration of limited-service and extended-stay hotels, managerial job responsibilities may differ between these types of hotels and their full-service counterparts. As job responsibilities vary, so too might approaches to ensuring job satisfaction. This study examined how hotel size and service type affect the job satisfaction of general managers. After hypotheses testing and an analysis of the item correlations, it was concluded that neither hotel size nor service type significantly impacted general manager job satisfaction and gender, age, educational level, and longevity in the hospitality industry or as a hotel manager all had minimal impact on job satisfaction.     

The impact of industry force factors on resource competitive strategies and hotel performance

This study integrates the Porter's five forces and resource-based approach measuring U.S. hotel performance. The results show that hotels with the advantage of low customer bargaining power and low threat of new hotel entrants exhibit the strong human resource and information technology (IT) strategies. In contrast, hotels with the advantage over existing competitors do not exhibit any significant competitiveness of brand image, human resource, and IT strategies. This dues to different hotels define competitors with various criteria such as proximity and price. Competitive human resource and IT strategies indicate the increase of hotel performance, while competitive brand image strategy has no influence on hotel performance. The competitiveness of brand image strategy may overlap with implementing human resource and IT strategies.     

Gender differences in the relationship between justice perceptions and job insecurity in hotel outsourcing

Discrimination against women, injustices, and job insecurity are three issues in hotel outsourcing that have not been examined together. This study uses conservation of resource (COR) theory to investigate whether male and female internal staff have lower job insecurity when they perceive external peers’ fair treatment by management or when they perceive such treatment for themselves. Using a pen-and-paper survey, data were collected from 215 internal staff who worked side by side with external peers in 14 Spanish hotels. Results indicate that female internal staff reduce their job insecurity when observing acts of interpersonal justice towards external peers, and male internal staff reduce their job insecurity when perceiving themselves as recipients of acts of procedural justice. No results were found for internal staff who observed acts of distributive justice towards external peers. Findings suggest that job insecurity threatens outsourcing’s success unless different kinds of justice are managed according to gender.     

Water use efficiency in the hotel sector of Barbados

Barbados is water stressed, with water production close to its renewable freshwater resources. The hotel sector uses far more water than the general population (756 vs. 240 L/cap-d); water savings there would improve the overall water balance. No comprehensive analysis exists for water use by the Barbados hotel industry; this study addresses the gap. Data were collected from the Barbados Water Authority and from onsite surveys; consumption patterns were compared with international studies which had established environmentally acceptable benchmarks. The water use efficiency of Barbadian hotels was also studied as a function of “influential variables”: unit water consumption was somewhat correlated with the number of rooms, average room rate, property size and number of employees. The lack of success in reducing hotels' water consumption is tied to the fact that water bills represent less than 5% of their annual expenses. A model for unit water consumption was derived using two influential variables: the annual number of guest nights and the number of employees. Ways of fostering sound water practices include promotion among guests of the need to save water, schemes to promote the financial benefits of water conservation by relating unit water pricing to total consumption and awareness-raising among hotel managers.     

Zimbabwean hospitality students’ experiences of sexual harassment in the hotel industry

This study investigates the experiences of Zimbabwean hospitality management students in relation to sexual harassment. The students were asked to draw their responses from their industrial attachment year which is part of their four-year degree program. Guided interviews were conducted with 77 final year hospitality management students who had undertaken their industrial attachment in the hotel industry. Findings reveal that sexual harassment is not uncommon in Zimbabwean hotel workplaces. Coworkers, managers and customers were identified as perpetrators. The lack of sexual harassment training in the Zimbabwean hospitality, as well as the non-response of managers to some sexual harassment cases are possible indicators of the inadequacy, or complete lack of sexual harassment policies in Zimbabwe's hotel industry. The researcher suggests that human resource managers in the hotels should formulate, in consultation with Zimbabwean law and labour relations experts, sound sexual harassment policies. Continuous educational training for all employees and managers is also necessary to encourage more employees to report cases and to deter offenders.     

Drivers of environmental innovation in Majorcan hotels

Using a database of Majorcan hotels, this paper examines several previously untested determinants of environmental innovations in hotels derived from the Porter hypothesis and from the specifics of knowledge transfer in the tourism industry. The empirical analysis is original in that it distinguishes between eight types of environmental innovations. The results show that hotels’ general predisposition to implement innovations, manager remuneration based on environmental performance, staff satisfaction, environmental accounting, and trainings are important determinants of the overall environmental innovation activity of Majorcan hotels. Moreover, the use of environmental management systems is associated with innovations with cost-saving potential, whereas the hotel star category is associated with innovations that contribute to hotel quality, such as wastewater treatment, noise reduction, noise isolation, and visual impact improvements. Furthermore, high levels of staff satisfaction are related to the implementation of water-saving and noise reduction innovations, as such innovations require staff participation, whereas the role of information sources in explaining innovation adoption varies based on the technical complexity of innovations. The paper concludes with policy implications for sustainable tourism development, recommendations for the hoteliers, and directions for future research.     

Modeling a green supply chain in the hotel industry: An evolutionary game theory approach

Despite extensive discussion of environmental management for hotels, little research has been done on the hotel industry’s green supply chain management. This study uses the evolutionary game approach to examine the generation of green behaviors and a green supply chain by hotels. Results show that most hotels do have an incentive mechanism for green growth; hotels with green behaviors are more profitable than those that are not. Furthermore, governments and hotel customers are critical in the “greening” of traditional hotel supply chains. The findings can assist governments in formulating effective environmental policies, provide a theoretical avenue in governing green practice, and guide stakeholders to understand the formation and evolution of green development in the hotel industry.     

What is happening to flexible workers in the supply chain partnerships between hotel housekeeping departments and their partner employment agencies?

The primary aims of this paper are two-fold: first, to consider the potential which exists for hotel management to establish a firm relationship with employment agencies to contribute to the deployment of right numbers and skills at the right place; and second, to assess whether both the hotels and employment agencies treat the flexible workers as a resource, or as a cost. The findings, based on 84 qualitative interviews, indicate that: there is a solid economic rationale that is likely to bind the incidence of flexible working practices to the wider recruitment strategies of the hotels; that the flexible firm models do not provide a full account of supply chain relationship between hotels and their partner agencies; and that the current management approach to labour flexibility conforms to a ‘hard’ version of HRM in that labour is treated as a variable cost. The findings suggest that flexible workers are highly likely disadvantaged in terms of access to training, career development, remuneration and other work-related practices than core employees. Overall, the data reveals that both dimensions of cost and, to a lesser extent, quality of the workforce provided by the employment agencies are central to the interests of the hotel management, thereby forming the backdrop to their decisions on whether to maintain these supply chain relationship with their partner agencies. Finally, the implications of these findings are discussed.     

How human resources management best practice influence employee satisfaction and job retention in the Thai hotel industry

Human resources management (HRM) practices are hotel management tools that contribute to organizational success. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how soft HRM practices in the Thai hotel industry affect job satisfaction and job retention. This study focuses on soft HRM practices, which draws on theories of commitment and motivation. Soft HRM refers to human relations between staff and the hotel organization. A quantitative approach was employed using multiple regression technique with a stepwise method for data analysis. It was found that employee satisfaction is not fostered by increasing remuneration, but is more related to the quality of working life, good leadership style, regular training, employment security, the hotel's brand image, and employees' personal traits, a most important aspect. The findings from this study provide a comprehensive framework for both academic and managerial responses to resolve the labor and skill shortage crises. Equally important is the extrinsic and intrinsic motivation and personal attitude theory that underpins employee job satisfaction in this study.     

Customer Satisfaction,Training and TQM

Abstract

Managers within the hospitality industry make frequent reference to TQM principles. The extent to which these principles are applied effectively within the human resource management area of hospitality however remains under-researched. By applying TQM principles, this paper focusses on the relationship between customer service and training drawing upon comparative data from Western and Thai hotels. The paper also examines the perceptions of staff towards of hotels' guest-orientation and the provision of quality guest services. The researchers found that guest assessments of the performance of hotel frontline staff depend on their services function (e.g., front-office, housekeeping). The service quality skills needed by frontline staff were also found to differ in the case of Western and Thai hotels. Such differences merit proper consideration on the part of managers within the major hotel chains. The various findings may assist hospitality managers to determine appropriate strategies for the enhancement of guest services particularly in cross-cultural settings.