Culture and evaluation of service quality — a study of the service quality gaps in a Taiwanese setting

This research is built upon the work of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985) by exploring the service quality gap within a Taiwanese hospitality setting and reports the findings from 164 interviews among hotel managers, service staff, and hotel guests. One motive for the research was whether concepts derived from an American‐Euro‐centric conceptualisation of service relationships was transferable to another cultural setting. It was found that the influence of national, ethnic culture on perception of service is limited, but the factor of kuan‐hsi (personal relationship) and mien‐tsu (face) had some role to play in guest‐staff relationships. However, it is concluded that the globalisation of hotel corporate modes of operation have more influence in shaping expectations and thus the ServQual model has validity in such settings.     

Resort mystery shopping: A case study of hotel service

ABSTRACT

Mystery shopping is a common mode of improving customer service in retail and hospitality businesses, but researchers rarely utilize the methodology in academia. In these business entities, high-level quality standards are paramount to customer satisfaction, and mystery shopper reports have been found to be indicative of an organization’s service quality. This study employed a mixed-method approach, utilizing qualitative and quantitative procedures to examine a mystery shop program from within a resort hotel in the Southeastern US. The researchers used seven service principles which were established by the resort hotel. Mystery shoppers surveyed this specific service culture for a span of 13-months. The results suggested that managers need to re-examine service principles to ensure consistent employee performance and guest experiences.     

Multidimensional Scaling Analysis in the Determination of Hotel Quality Dimensions–Patagonia,Argentina

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to identify and select quality dimensions for high category hotels in Neuquén and Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina.

The research starts with a battery of 28-quality indicators that was obtained from in-depth interviews with hotel managers, and guest surveys carried out in both locations.

Through a structured interview by filling cards, the research team finds out the dimensionality that groups the hotel service quality items. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis are used to explore the items grouping pattern and to define resulting quality dimensions. An empirical content validated scale for the construct “perceived service quality in hotels” is attained. Its three dimensions are “Physical support and hotel general services quality,” “Room quality” and “Employee service quality.”     

Understanding service attributes of robot hotels: A sentiment analysis of customer online reviews

Robots and artificial intelligence are essential to the future of the hospitality industry, and they are receiving increasing interest from hotel managers and researchers. However, the adoption of robotic services in hotel operations is a challenging task owing to the current level of technology and lack of understanding on the relationship between various aspects of robotic services and customer satisfaction. Moreover, no prior study has examined the service attributes of robots in hotels. To fill these gaps, this study analyzes customers’ sentiments on major hotels employing robotic services expressed through online reviews. A list of robot quality and operational area attributes is first constructed, through which underperforming robot service areas are identified. Sentiments on robotic services have a positive correlation with hotel service satisfaction, which plays an important role in determining the overall satisfaction of customers. The analysis and findings are valuable to researchers and managers for future research and adoption of robotic services in hotels.     

The impact of quality management on productivity in the hospitality sector

This paper attempts to determine the relationship between quality and productivity in the hospitality sector. Although both variables are crucial to the competitive and value creation processes in hotels, few empirical studies have explicitly analyzed the relationship between them. Thus, we estimated a production function for a hotel sample that shows how a set of determinants influences labour productivity. Among these determinants we included different quality variables, defined from the point of view of total quality. The estimation results show a direct and significant effect of quality on labour productivity. This suggests that the implementation of total quality management (TQM) systems, or the adoption of the TQM principles, have a positive impact on hotel labour productivity.     

Understanding service experience and its impact on brand image in hospitality sector

This paper provides an understanding of customers’ common expectations and other important factors that enhance service experience during guest stay in the three selected four star rated hotels in Jammu, Chandigarh and Delhi, India. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from hotel managers and individual customers. Guest's attitudes, their expected and unexpected feedback in addition to analyzing the important information that helps in finding out particular areas critical to customer service quality are explored. Overall the results indicate that expectations of the guests and actual experiences are at disparity. Viable recommendations to the hotel owners in particular and the hospitality industry overall are made which are likely to improve customer's memorable experience.     

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.     

Effects of organizational/occupational characteristics and personality traits on hotel manager emotional exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion is a type of burnout and a state of mental weariness. It is an important issue for hospitality organizations because customer contact employees and hospitality managers function in an environment that is particularly susceptible to the creation of the antecedents of burnout. Further, emotional exhaustion itself is costly to hospitality organizations and individuals because it has been shown to result in depersonalization, detachment, decreased service quality and job performance, and increased turnover. Using a sample of 544 hotel managers from 36 hotels located throughout the United States, this study examines whether emotional exhaustion is a function of organizational and occupational characteristics, including job demands, quality orientation, pressure to produce, and need for “face time.” In addition, this study analyzes whether personality traits of the managers themselves, including extroversion and neuroticism, are predictors of emotional exhaustion. This study found emotional exhaustion of hotel managers to be a function of not only job and organizational characteristics, but also personality characteristics.     

Making innovation happen through building social capital and scanning environment

Both new service development and existing service improvement are critical tools for hotels to gain competitive advantages, but pursuing new services while simultaneously improving existing services is difficult for hotel managers. The success of highly proactive hotel managers has been credited to their ability to change the environment effectively, and such managers may be able to lead hotels to resolve the trade-off dilemma and deliver better services. To elucidate the contributions of proactive managers in making innovation happen, this study explored two key activities that hotels may undertake when prompted by the proactive managers, namely, environmental scanning and social capital building. The process involved in developing new services and improving current services was examined using empirical data collected from the general managers of 226 hotels in Taiwan. The results confirm that environmental scanning and social capital fully mediate the relationship between proactive personality of managers and capacity for service innovation as well as service improvement of hotels, indicating that hotel managers with a proactive personality are helpful at implementing innovation.     

Quality clusters: Dimensions of email responses by luxury hotels

A growing body of research investigates hospitality Internet use, but usually focuses on websites rather than the most popular Internet application, email. This study uses cluster analysis and the SERVQUAL-P service quality (SQ) model to help address gaps in both academic and applied research of email use in the hospitality industry. The cluster analysis of email responses to a mystery guest survey by luxury hotels identified four hotel clusters. The clusters showed significant differences across all 24 email response variables and support four dimensions of email SQ corresponding to SERVQUAL-P's four dimensions.     

An Examination of Quality Management in Luxury Hotels

Abstract

The purpose of this case study was to analyze and compare the total quality management (TQM) practices of three luxury hotels. Leadership, guest and market focus, and information and analysis emerged as the three most significant TQM factors successfully implemented in these three hotels. The human resource focus factor was less successfully integrated into these hotels' operations. Although the three hotels claimed that they managed their processes effectively, these processes were not as well-designed or complex as in many other quality-conscious companies. Strategic planning emerged as one of the most difficult factors to implement. The general managers interviewed argued that these six factors contributed positively to their hotel's business results. Managerial and research implications are also discussed.     

The Importance of Hotel Attributes in Contributing to Travelers' Satisfaction in the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

Abstract

This study surveyed 402 international travelers to explore their satisfaction levels towards service and facility quality in three Hong Kong hotel market segments, High-Tariff A, High-Tariff B and Medium Tariff. Six perception dimensions were extracted from 33 hotel attributes by a factor analysis. All six dimensions had a significant impact on the overall satisfaction of travelers with service quality and facilities in the three Hong Kong hotel market segments. Quality of Staff Performance was the most influential factor followed by Quality of Room Facilities, Value for Money, Variety and Efficient Services, Business Related Services, and Safety and Security respectively. It was found that travelers had the lowest satisfaction level towards the Medium-Tariff hotel segment. By identifying the most influential hotel dimension in influencing travelers' satisfaction levels, hoteliers will be in an advantageous position to formulate tactics to meet the changing needs and expectations of travelers. Implementing human resources training that emphasizes the fact that service quality is part of each employee's job should have a significant impact on guest re-purchase intention. The importance of value segmentation cannot be overlooked by hoteliers. Travelers will continue to expect hotels to provide more value-for-money services and facilities and they are expected to shift their purchasing decision to an economic value basis.     

A study of critical factors of the job involvement for hotel employees—Taking hotels in Taiwan as an example

The selection of staff is always a critical success factor for managers in the hospitality service sector. This work focuses on the front-line employees and supervisors of international tourist hotels as the study subjects to explore the direct effects of the individual guanxi networks and POS (perceived organizational support) of hotel staff on their job involvement, and examines the indirect effects of these via personality characteristics. For this paper, questionnaire surveys were utilized; 246 questionnaires returned, of which 221 were deemed valid samples appropriate for further analysis. Reliability analysis, EFA, CFA, and SEM were used to examine the data.     

Deciphering ‘Islamic hospitality’: Developments,challenges and opportunities

This paper examines the principles and practices of Islamic hospitality, outlining the diverse ways in which Islam intersects with ‘hospitality’ and the ‘hospitality industry’. The intangible elements of Islamic hospitality are initially discussed, particularly the importance of the host–guest relationship and differing cultural interpretations. The discussion then evaluates the tangible aspects of Islamic hospitality through identifying trends, developments and challenges within the hotel sector, the food production and service sector, and the festivals and events sector. The work adopts a global perspective, examining Islamic hospitality with reference to both OIC (Organization of Islamic Cooperation) countries and non-OIC countries. The paper also considers new sector opportunities and acknowledges the social difficulties associated with the development of Islamic hospitality within the Western world, notably Islamophobia. Finally, the paper indicates ways forward for future research.     

An Assessment of Key Hotel Guest Contact Personnel in Handling Guest Complaints

Abstract

The quality of a guest's hotel experience is frequently dependent on the consistency with which hotel standards of service are applied. Where the existing systems break down, guests will complain. This should be viewed as an opportunity for the hotel's management. However, some hotel direct guest contact personnel may view guest complaints as causes for panic rather than opportunities for improving the hotel operation. Guests whose complaints were resolved satisfactorily were willing to return back to the hotel. Proficiency in handling their complaints results in greater guest satisfaction and loyalty. The application of the research will be on Hotel Assistant Managers/Guest Relations Agents to investigate whether they are applying the necessary steps and techniques to solve guests' complaints related either to tangible or intangible products in hotels. Results indicate that Hotel Assistant Managers and Guest Relations Agents could improve their effectiveness in handling guests' complaints. Assistant Managers were found in this study to be better at handling complaints than Guest Relations Agents.     

Exploring the Factors Affecting Hotel Outsourcing in Taiwan

Two studies were conducted to examine factors affecting hotel outsourcing in Taiwan. In study 1, interviews with senior hotel managers were analyzed to explore the factors determining a hotel's outsourcing of different services. The results of the questionnaire survey used in study 2 indicated that the current and desired percentages of outsourcing for international tourist hotels in Taiwan were very low, indicating that strategic outsourcing has not received much attention in that part of the Taiwanese hospitality sector. The hotel departments that were most often outsourced were housekeeping, security, maintenance and information systems. Study 2 also showed outsourcing decisions were based only on a hotel's resources. The effect of predicting outsourcing was not significant for transaction costs. The results of this study provide both hotel management and outsourcing service providers with insights into hotel outsourcing in Taiwan.     

Skills and Competencies Needed for the Hong Kong Hotel Industry

ABSTRACT

The tourism industry is one of the main sources of income to Hong Kong. If qualified employees provide better service, Hong Kong can potentially attract even more visitors. The training of new recruits and existing staff is therefore vital, but views on the value and the type of training vary amongst the stakeholders. This study of the views of hotel human resources managers revealed that they considered that people who were interested in developing their career in the hospitality industry must be prepared to start at the bottom. The hotel human resources managers strongly believe that employees must have a positive service-mind and commitment to the industry with a certain degree of working experience. Employers perceived these were important components to success for every member of staff, rather than having a good educational background. Such qualifications will raise the status of the hotel industry in general and enhance the status of the service providers as professionals.     

An exploratory analysis of hotel selection factors: A comprehensive survey of Tehran hotels

The selection of residence location in different countries is of high priority and significance for tourists. The selection of the most appropriate hotel entails a rather complicated decision-making process. A comprehensive hotel selection model can empower the hotel managers, the tourists, and the tourism industry to make decisions based on more effective indicators of high quality services for a higher rate of satisfaction. The purpose of this research is to deeply explore the broad literature and to identify the most significant hotel selection indicators and factors in Tehran hotels and to present a comprehensive model through an exploratory factor analysis of the extracted indicators so as to provide the managers and tourists with a firm ground for making better decisions regarding the indicators of hotel selection. Promenade and comfort, security and protection, network services, pleasure, staff and their services, news and recreational information, cleanliness and room comfort, expenditure, room facilities and car parking were identified as the main hotel selection factors of Tehran hotels. Afterwards, another factor analysis has been done in order to extract the next hidden set of factors within the aforementioned factors which return two main factors of “Hotel Comfort Factors” and “Hotel Compensatory Factors”. Following the creation of the final model and based on the intrinsic vagueness of decision making in the process of selection, a set of fuzzy membership functions for the extracted factors has been provided. The intention has been to provide the expert system and decision support system developers and users with a set of practical indicators in order to help them design and implement realistic systems based on the deeply studied indicators and factors of hotel selection. Such supportive systems can be directly presented to the tourists requesting a mechanism for selecting the most appropriate hotel but lacking enough information about the important indicators and factors and also to the managers of hotels who are trying to make strategic decisions regarding the most optimized investments on the indicators of selecting a hotel. Considering the priorities of tourists, hotel managers, entrepreneurs and investors in the hotel industry require deep investigations and studies for which this paper provides a firm basis.     

Training plans,manager's characteristics and innovation in the accommodation industry

This paper explores the effect of training plans and managerial characteristics on innovation activity in the hospitality sector. This sector is featured by being labor-intensive so the examination of employment and managers skills deserves attention in order to determine the level of quality and competitive advantage in the provision of services. The data in the paper comes from a questionnaire administered to hotel managers in a representative sample of hotels in the Balearic Islands, a leading tourist destination. Results suggest that training plans positively affect innovation-related decisions and the extent of their implementation; however, managers should have more than experience to manage the innovation change, specifically skills and capabilities.     

Hotel Attributes and Consumer Satisfaction: A Cross-Country and Cross-Hotel Study

The main purpose of this study was to identify the influence of the consumer’s country of residence on hotel service attributes’ contribution to consumer satisfaction. The hospitality services of Disneyland Paris in Paris, France, were analyzed in the context of the study. Data came from their seven hotels and comprised 47,885 valid questionnaires. The Tetraclasse model was applied to identify hotel attributes’ contribution to satisfaction and compare them for consumer segments from eight European countries and between hotels. Results showed that the four service attributes’ contributions are influenced by country of residence and vary between hotels.