Research Possibilities in Private Club Management

Abstract

This research project proposes a process that studies the service quality trade-offs that restaurant managers worldwide are willing to make in order to maximize their customers' satisfaction level. The project uses traditional conjoint techniques to determine which service attributes managers are willing to trade so that customer satisfaction is maximized.     

Influences of Campus Recruiting on Applicant Attraction to Hospitality Companies

ABSTRACT

Many hospitality companies use college recruiting to attract managers to work for them. This study expands on previous research to further investigate initial reaction to recruiter behavior, during campus interviews, as it relates to the pursuit of the job in regard to expectancy (of a job offer) and attractiveness of the job. The study findings confirmed that applicant perceptions of recruiter behaviors influence applicant attraction, particularly in regards to a perceived interest in candidate and professionalism. Given the highly competitive atmosphere for recruitment of qualified hospitality managers, this study could prove useful regarding attraction of potential hospitality managers.     

An Integrated Approach to Service Quality in Hotels

ABSTRACT

An examination of service quality in hotels goes beyond the measurement approach by incorporating, customer satisfaction, organizational culture and climate. Customer satisfaction is examined and the use of employee perceptions of customer satisfaction is proposed as an index for customer satisfaction. Organizational climate is discussed as being a fundamental element that needs to be understood and used by managers in order to promote service quality. A conceptual model that incorporates all the elements of an expanded service quality model is presented by utilizing organizational culture and climate as its base. It is argued that hotel managers need to address all aspects of the model simultaneously instead of the single element at a time approach.     

Cross Cultural Training for Expatriate Hotel Managers: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT

Expatriate managers are regularly used to start up and manage international hotels in China. This paper looks at the cross cultural training (CCT) given to expatriate hotel managers in China to help adjust to living and working in a foreign environment. The findings show that even though there is a substantial amount spent on expatriate managers' compensation, the amount of CCT that is actually occurring is limited because CCT is undervalued.     

Segmenting foodies for a foodie destination

ABSTRACT

The consumption of food is an integral part of a tourism experience. As foodie travellers seek out unique food experiences, it is valuable for tourism destination managers to understand their preferences and behaviours. Using a 61-item foodie activity scale, 2948 surveys were analyzed to determine clusters of foodies. The findings suggest that researchers or destination managers should avoid a “one size fits all” approach in the development of foodie destinations. Giving attention to the travel preferences and types of experiences that foodie segments prefer may allow communities reap the benefits of serving as a destination for foodie travellers.     

The influence of service orientation discrepancy between managers and employees on employees’ affective outcomes

This study attempted to relate service orientation discrepancy (SOD) between employees and managers to employees’ affective reactions [role conflict (RC), role ambiguity (RA), job satisfaction (JS), and organizational commitment (OC)] in the restaurant industry. The findings of the study indicate that there is a SOD between managers and employees; employees saw themselves as more enthusiastic and less bureaucratic than managers. When this SOD was correlated with employee outcomes such as RC, RA, JS, and OC, the results indicated that SOD had a direct effect on RC, JS and OC. SOD also had indirect effects on JS, and OC through RC and RA. RC had a direct effect on JS and an indirect effect on OC. RA had a direct effect on JS. Finally, JS had a direct effect on OC.     

Buying a Piece of Paradise- A Case Study

ABSTRACT

The vacation ownership (timeshare) industry is the fastest growing segment in the hospitality industry. With this growth is the need to attain qualified managers and hospitality programs must ascertain the skills that are necessary to meet the demands of this market. The purpose of this study was to discover if there were any significant differences between traditional lodging managers and timeshare managers based upon a manager's knowledge, ability, and attitude related to their job duties. The study did discover some areas that were deemed more important to timeshare managers. These results could be used to help potential employees in the lodging industry discover what type of environment would best match their skill set.     

Tradeshow Managers

ABSTRACT

Technology adoption in the tourism industry has been widely reported. Tradeshows, which play a vital part in the tourism economy, have not been investigated to the same extent. This study focuses on tradeshow managers' use of technology, particularly the Internet. Using Rogers' Innovation-Diffusion Theory model, the present research queried the managers of the Tradeshow 200 (the 200 largest tradeshows in the United States) to assess their feelings about technology innovations. Tradeshow managers were also asked about Time Poverty Issues as identified by Forsythe and Bailey. Technology usage has become infused into the jobs of show managers. At the same time, correlations between technology adoption and feelings of time poverty were discovered.     

Prioritizing destination attributes for optimal resource allocation: a study of Chinese tourists visiting Britain

ABSTRACT

This study assesses the importance, performance, and the interrelationships of key destination attributes for marketing managers to prioritize resource allocation. A three-dimensional analysis of importance–performance–impact-analysis (IPIA) factors, based upon a survey sample of 275 Chinese tourists to Britain and an expert panel interview with 10 destination marketing managers is presented. Data analysis was based upon a mix of multi-criteria decision-making methodologies, the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method and the Analytic Network Process (ANP) method. The framework can be applied to prioritize resources allocation to improve customer satisfaction in other contexts, such as a sector or a specific business.     

Ethical purchasing perceptions and practices of Oklahoma restaurant managers

This study examined ethical business perceptions and practices in purchasing dealings between junior and senior managers in the U.S. restaurants. This study investigated the managerial style in the context of business ethics relative to employees’ loyalty, ethical working behavior, attitude, and decision‐making process of restaurant's food purchasing personnel. Additionally, organizational business ethics training for employees is a crucial component to enhance adherence to an ethical code of conduct. The findings revealed that the managers’ ethical purchasing perceptions and practices of their employees’ behaviors were not different in terms of gender, age, and years of experiences as a manager. Corporate ethical standards and managerial ethical practices can guide managers and employees as to how to behave when confronted with a dilemma with regard to ethics and personal interest. Consequently, the prime principle of management or purchasing personnel in terms of ethical dealings has tremendous impact on a firm's operational performance and employees’ morale.     

General Manager Perceptions of Guest Satisfaction Measurement Systems in the Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

This research examined 151 hotel general managers' perceptions of four different guest satisfaction measurement systems in the hotel industry. The results found that general managers had questionable confidence in the output from any of the systems investigated. The general managers felt that all systems present sample size, representative sample and manipulation problems. The general managers had the greatest confidence in third-party mail-out satisfaction systems and preferred these systems in a rank-order response.     

Spillover Between Work and Personal Life for Lodging Managers

ABSTRACT

The hospitality and tourism industry is characterized by long and erratic work hours. Many jobs are unsuitable for working at home. The unique features of the lodging industry and the demands of lodging managers' jobs often have interfered with the personal lives and marital relationships of these managers. The situation may even lead to a decision to leave the specific occupation or the industry permanently. The primary goal of this research was to investigate the perspectives of Taiwan hotel managers' regarding work-personal life balance and its relationship to various demographic variables, such as gender, marital status, etc. Results indicate that very few of Taiwanese managers had difficulty balancing work and personal lives. Indeed, the majority of these managers reported their perception of success in balancing work and personal life as from neutral to very successful. No statistically significant differences were found between female and male managers in terms of perceived difficulty or success in work and personal life balance. Neither was there a significant difference among married or single female/male managers. Results also suggested that work interfered with personal life more frequently than personal life did with work.     

Host-Guest Dating

ABSTRACT

This article argues for the potential use of lifestyle segmentation in order to achieve psychographic matching between hosts and guests in Bed and Breakfast and homestay accommodation. The discussion draws on research conducted in home-hosted accommodation in New Zealand and Scotland that highlighted the central role that the host-guest interaction plays in guest experience and satisfaction. The idea is then developed as to the potential for tourism boards and other promotional bodies to conduct psychographic profiling on homestay hosts so that potential guests might match themselves for potential com-patibility with hosts. Whilst points of caution are noted, it is argued that such profiling could increase the possibilities of successful host-guest interaction and thus the quality of experience of both guests and hosts.     

Transformational leadership and turnover intention: The mediating effects of trust and job performance on café employees in Thailand

ABSTRACT

Immediate managers are the number one predictor of employee turnover. Immediate managers’ transformational leadership style might reduce turnover intention through the employees’ trust in their manager and their perceived job performance. To support the contention, a study was conducted among 187 employees of cafés in Bangkok, hypothesizing that transformational leadership would negatively predict turnover intention and that trust and job performance would mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intention. Results support the hypotheses. Transformational leadership seems to have an impact to reduce turnover intention and organizations may benefit from development programs to instill transformational leadership style among their immediate managers.     

Key managerial and financial accounting skills for private club managers: Comparison to lodging managers

ABSTRACT

This study provides empirical evidence of the comprehensive accounting skills by financial executives across the United States, and Canada believed important to private club general managers. This study’s purview extends to identify any significant differences or similarities in the accounting skills between the private club and lodging managers. Four hundred and one responses (211 from clubs and 190 from hotels) were received. The most critical accounting skills for club and lodging managers are understanding operating budgets, capital budgets, income statements, and analyses of variances. When comparing the accounting skills to managers between clubs and hotels, the ranks of importance are similar. The findings provide theoretical and practical implication for hospitality researchers, managers, and educators.     

Quality Selection Criteria of Travel Intermediaries

ABSTRACT

The study explores the selection criteria conducted by travel agencies, evaluating travel intermediaries (destination tour operator) founded on the visionary perspectives of product managers and front-line employees (tour leaders) of Taiwanese travel agencies. Statistically, data accumulated from the 36 product managers and 36 tour leaders by the critical incident technique indicates that local coaches, drivers, and local guides are monumental on group package tour (GPT) service sectors. Meanwhile, another critical issue being scrutinized is the selection scenarios, as to which prices are exponentially executed by product managers, whereas tour leaders tend to be destination tour operator qualities-oriented fundamentally. In order to enhance the destination tour operator service qualities, the research conducts relatively objective selection criteria in selecting the well-qualified and appropriate travel intermediaries as commissioners on the cutting edge travel agencies domain. More substantially, the revealed scenarios of destination tour operators supply the populously rivalous market, China, a relatively credential reference on selecting the well-suited Travel Intermediaries.     

Managers’ psychological diversity climate and fairness: The utility and importance of diversity management in the hospitality industry

ABSTRACT

Despite corporate investments in diversity management programs, there is a dearth in the literature that examines managers' attitudes toward diversity management practices. This is a glaring gap in the literature because the success of diversity management programs is highly depend on managers. A survey was distributed to hotel managers from properties in the southern United States. The results showed that psychological diversity climate predicted the perceived utility and importance of diversity management, and these relationships were mediated by the fairness of diversity management. These results suggest that psychological diversity climate has an impact on attitudes toward diversity management practices.     

Sexual Harassment in Hong Kong

ABSTRACT

Prudent restaurant managers and owners should be aware of new trends in their industry. One of the most recent trends or challenges that the restaurant industry is facing is that of sexual harassment lawsuits. As the cost of litigation and dollar amount of settlements increase substantially, restaurant managers and owners should take a proactive view at sexual harassment in Hong Kong from the perspective of their employees. Hong Kong today is no different than any other major city in the world with attorneys (Solicitors and Barristers) advertising on television and in newspapers, therefore managers and owners in the restaurant industry must realize the significance of a work environment free of sexual harassment. The purpose of this study was to investigate perceptions of restaurant employees in Hong Kong concerning sexual harassment.     

An exploratory study of managerial compensation in the restaurant industry

ABSTRACT

Set within the human capital framework, the focus of this exploratory study is to investigate how individual and industry attributes affect the earnings of salaried restaurant managers in the United States. Previous compensation studies in the restaurant industry have almost exclusively focused on executive compensation and its relationship to a firm's financial variables. Given the size of the industry, it is important to investigate compensation practices at various levels of its leadership. The findings show that relevant work experience, gender, education, race, and property size are significant attributes effecting restaurant managers’ compensation. Practical implications are provided.     

Line Manager Challenges in Human Resource Development

ABSTRACT

There is a range of challenges inherent in and surrounding line managers' involvement in human resource development, according to theoretical perspectives. At a conceptual level, the challenges include organisational commitment to human resource development; senior managers' understanding of training and development issues; and trust between line managers and human resource specialists. At a practical level the willingness and ability of line managers to carry out human resource tasks; organisational support; time pressures and workload are all challenges.

The aim of this article is to explore levels and types of line manager challenges in human resource development in the context of a branded international case organisation, Hilton International hotels. The empirical work is derived from a survey of 760 of Hilton International's UK line managers on their perceptions of, and involvement in, human resource activities. With a survey yield of 328 questionnaires, the Hilton work affords an in-depth analysis of the perspectives of line managers on their interface with human resource development. In particular, the analysis reveals high levels of senior manager understanding of training and development issues, very high levels of trust in human resource specialists and high levels of personal commitment to the human resource development activities. However, also evident are issues of conceptual understanding and responsibility for the service quality strategy that shapes human resource development activities, together with the importance senior managers attach to human resource development, and workload pressures. The respondent line managers themselves make suggestions, notably in the provision of training, to improve their involvement in human resource development within Hilton International hotels.