Investigating the effects of self-efficacy on foodservice industry employees’ career commitment

Compared to workers in other kinds of occupations, such as technology services, foodservice industry workers face much higher psychological pressure with relatively lower pay. In an ideal foodservice industry, the human factor should not be neglected. With a relatively high turnover rate, understanding the psychological needs and conditions of foodservice industry workers would be helpful for the organizations and management to allow them to react properly and effectively. Previous research indicates that career commitment is the factor which most affects turnover rate. Researchers have discussed numerous motivation factors affecting career commitment, but they have not examined the relative contributions of self-system, i.e. individuals exercising control over their thoughts, feelings and actions. Among the beliefs with which an individual evaluates the control s/he has over his/her actions and environment, self-efficacy beliefs are the most influential arbiter of human activity. This empirical study examines the relationship between self-efficacy and career commitment in the foodservice sector. ANOVA of survey data from 1025 foodservice employees supported the relationship between self-efficacy and career commitment. A chi-square test found that high self-efficacy degrees indicate a higher level of career commitment. Our findings suggest that the higher an employees’ self-efficacy, the higher their career commitment will be.     

Cost–benefit framework for K-12 foodservice outsourcing decisions

There is scarcity of research to investigate not-for-profit sector outsourcing decisions. K-12 school foodservices are not-for-profit operations, and non-core (non-academic) school functions, making them an ideal context to contribute to this literature. We propose a generic framework to investigate K-12 foodservice outsourcing decisions based on the transactional, cost–benefit view of outsourcing. In addition, this paper lays out an agenda for future research.     

The BYOB of wine phenomenon of consumers in the Australian licensed on-premise foodservice sector

The overall aim of this baseline exploratory study was to explore the behaviour of wine consumers while dining out in the licensed on-premise sector of foodservice outlets in Australia. It examined the incidence and dynamics of the rather unique situation associated with wine in these outlets, namely the “bring-your-own-bottle of wine” (BYOB) phenomenon. A total of 816 respondents provided information regarding their most recent dining out experience. It was found that the BYOB of wine phenomenon is quite prevalent in Australian licensed on-premise foodservice outlets with 26% of all diners reporting that they had engaged in this the last time they dined out. Females engaged in the BYOB of wine to a greater extent than males and cited the lower cost to them as the main reason. Evidence was also found that the main motivating factor for the BYOB of wine phenomenon among diners was their risk perception levels and that it was therefore employed by consumers mainly as a risk-reduction strategy (RRS). This study showed that the BYOB of wine phenomenon should be added to the knowledge base on generic risk-reduction strategies of the on-premise foodservice sector.     

Food waste management in ethnic food restaurants

The foodservice sector generates excessive amounts of food waste. This wastage remains however understudied, especially in the context of specific foodservice sub-sectors catering for a large number of consumers. This holds true for ethnic food restaurants holding a noticeable share of the global out-of-home food consumption market. This paper contributed to knowledge with an exploratory study of food waste and its management in Chinese cuisine restaurants operating in the UK. By applying a novel approach to estimating food waste in foodservice operations, it demonstrated the magnitude, established the drivers and revealed managerial approaches to food waste mitigation. The study showcased the role of contextual, UK market-specific, and cultural, ethnic cuisine-related, factors in food waste generation and its management. Drawing upon perspectives of foodservice operators, the study outlined the key barriers to more effective mitigation of food waste and proposed how these could be at least partially overcome in the future.     

Understanding the effects of COVID-19 on the health and safety of immigrant hospitality workers in the United States

The U.S. tourism and hospitality workforce is disproportionately represented by immigrants and minorities, particularly in low-wage jobs with adverse work conditions. Immigrant hotel and foodservice workers face excess chronic stress and related syndemic risks, exacerbated by social, political, and economic inequities. COVID-19 has suddenly intensified the stressful and already difficult circumstances of immigrant service sector workers. The travel and tourism sector is one of the hardest hit due to widespread travel restrictions and shelter-in-place orders designed to curb infection spread. Restrictions and lockdowns have devastated tourism-dependent destinations and displaced millions of vulnerable workers, causing them to lose their livelihoods. Compared to the general workforce, a sizeable increase in occupational stress has already been observed in the hospitality/tourism sector over the past 15–20 years. COVID-19 and related fears add further strains on immigrant hotel and foodservice workers, potentially exerting a significant toll on mental and physical health and safety.     

Foodservice hygiene factors—The consumer perspective

Food safety is important to today's food industry operators as consumers have become increasingly concerned about risks related to food. Unlike foodservice operators or health inspectors, consumers can only rely on the visible cues, particularly those associated with food hygiene to judge the level of food safety in eating establishments. While previous research highlighted the influence of foodservice hygiene perception on consumer dining out decision, study examining the constructs of food safety cues that consumers employed is scant. This research aims to bridge the gap by exploring the topic from the consumer perspective. Results indicate that foodservice hygiene is one of the top three considerations when consumers select a dining place. Results of confirmatory factor analysis reveal a four-factor model encompasses staff and handling, food and location, premise and practices, and scent aspects. Further substantiation in different settings is needed for generalization purpose.     

Rescuing imperfect produce: The effects of stigma disclosure strategies,controllability, and aesthetics

In the U.S., the foodservice industry has been responsible for significant portions of food waste. Recently, on-site foodservice industry leaders advocate for the potential use of imperfect produce. However, lack of research efforts on the use of imperfect produce limits its adoption by the industry. Thus, this study investigates ways to enhance guests’ perception of companies when they adopt imperfect produce in their operations. Grounded in stigma theory, this research conducted two studies to evaluate the application of stigma theory to imperfect produce in a foodservice setting: study one, 3 (disclosure strategies: simple vs. de-categorization vs. integration) × 2 (controllability: high vs. low) and study two, 3 (same disclosure strategies) × 2 (aesthetics: standard vs. aesthetic). Findings of this research indicate that simple disclosure strategies are not effective compared to the other two strategies. However, this depends on controllability of the stigma and environmental aesthetics of imperfect produce presentation.     

Critical food safety violations in Florida: Relationship to location and chain vs. non-chain restaurants

This study explores the relationship between the number of critical food safety violations and the restaurant's status as either a chain or independent foodservice provider and location. The State of Florida categorized the restaurant operations according to the type of license obtained, chain or independent. Chain restaurants are defined as multi-unit restaurants owned or operated by the same company or individual that total seven locations or more. Data for the current study was retrieved from the public records for the fiscal years 2009–2010 and 2010–2011. The study found that both the aggregate number of critical violations and risk factors and the number of individual critical violations and risk factors were significantly different among chain and non-chain restaurants in the state of Florida. Results indicate that the number of critical violations received is impacted by both the location of the restaurant and whether the restaurant is independently operated or a chain. The current study assists in explaining underlying reasons for repeated food safety violations despite Florida's required food safety training certification of restaurant managers and training of their staff; providing implications for academics and foodservice practitioners alike.     

Training Issues

Abstract

This paper reviews issues relating to the vision-impaired (V-I) foodservice management program and subsequent training supported by the Randolph-Sheppard Act and the Randolph-Sheppard foodservice program (henceforth referred to as RS) of 1936. The act gives vision-impaired foodservice managers preference for the award and operation of vending operations in all types of federal and government buildings as well as road-side rest areas. As a pilot study, this paper investigates the perception of V-I respondents pertaining to training and other issues covered under the RS program. The results spur suggestions for potential improvement to the RS program in the State of Florida, as well as a need for improved training and inspection of V-I sites nationwide. Tips for those who might train the vision-impaired foodservice manager are also included.     

‘Bin it and forget it!’: The challenges of food waste management in restaurants of a mid-sized Hungarian city

Although research on food waste and its management in foodservices is gradually evolving in developed countries, it remains limited in transitional economies. This holds true for many EU-28 member states located in East-Central Europe, where no studies have assessed to date the magnitude of food waste occurring in foodservices, identified its key drivers and established the scope for minimisation. By interviewing 18 managers of foodservice businesses in a historical, mid-sized, city of Veszprem, this paper explores the phenomenon of food waste in the foodservice sector of Hungary, an EU-28 economy in transition. It provides a first benchmark of food waste generation in Hungarian foodservices. It also identifies institutional, contextual, locational, organisational and cultural factors that impede food waste prevention and mitigation. Drawing on international experience and best practices in food waste management, recommendations are made on how these factors should be addressed.     

Hospitality management study programme and students’ perceptions: universities in South Africa

This study using a questionnaire survey of 200 hospitality management students in two South African Universities assessed the perceptions of these students towards their study programme, the support they get while studying, and their intention to work in the hospitality sector over the long-term. Results from data analyses indicate that the students are generally satisfied with their study and would recommend hospitality management as a study programme to friends and relatives. Many of them also expressed the desire to work in the hospitality sector over the long-term. Their major concerns towards their study are in the areas of inadequacy of the hospitality management curriculum to address their study needs, the fear that fulfilling jobs will not be available for them after graduation, and their lack of knowledge regarding public and private funding for hospitality entrepreneurship activities. This study therefore calls on hospitality management study programme managers in South Africa to include entrepreneurship courses that address how graduates can source public or private funds to start up their own hospitality businesses, to decrease dependence on employers. Graduates with comprehensive and integrated knowledge of the hospitality sector operations and opportunities will not have fear of getting jobs and performing well in the sector.     

Health care and tourism: Evidence from Singapore

This research note analyses the role of the health care sector in international tourism and the impact of international tourism on the state of health care in Singapore. The results suggest that there is a long-run unidirectional causality from health care to international tourism. The effect of health care on international tourism is positive. However, in the short-run, the results also indicate that there is no causality between these two variables. It is concluded that the current efforts of the Singaporean government to establish Singapore as a leading medical hub will attract more inbound tourists in the long-run.     

Complexity of occupational health in the hospitality industry: Dynamic simulation modeling to advance immigrant worker health

Hispanic immigrant workers, who are heavily employed in low-skill/low-wage lodging and foodservice jobs, work in environments that induce disproportionate health and safety risks. Traditional research approaches have produced only partial insights into the risks of Hispanic immigrant hospitality sector workers, failing to fully capture the underlying dynamic, structural, and systemic complexity of hospitality worker health. This paper has three objectives: (1) to outline the multifaceted and disproportionate health and safety risks of these workers; (2) to introduce a systems paradigm with potential to contribute to more promising approaches in occupational health and safety research in tourism and hospitality; and (3) to elaborate on how computational simulation modeling can fortify occupational health and safety research in tourism and hospitality, and offer a heuristic example of a risk prevention model among Hispanic immigrant hospitality workers rooted in a stakeholder-based system dynamics modeling approach.     

Incorporating satisfaction measures into a restaurant productivity index

The increasing stature of the foodservice industry in the global service economy suggests that productivity analyses—similar to those performed in non-service-based settings—would benefit multi-unit operators by maximizing their desirable operational outcomes while minimizing expenses and other detrimental conditions such as low job satisfaction. This paper suggests that such analyses might be possible through the application of a holistic productivity metric—one that includes traditional operational variables such as revenue, profit, food cost, and labor cost, and previously ignored variables such as guest and employee satisfaction as well as retention equity. Through data gathered from a single chain's 36 corporate-owned, same-brand casual-theme restaurants located in metropolitan centers across the United States, we found that factors leading to maximum outputs such as controllable profit and retention equity include employee satisfaction in addition to expected variables such as cost of goods sold and number of seats. Most notably, employee satisfaction as an input proved to be the most volatile variable in maximizing operational outputs.     

Can tourism be part of the decarbonized global economy? The costs and risks of alternate carbon reduction policy pathways

Global leaders agree on the need to substantially decarbonize the global economy by 2050. This paper compares potential costs associated with different policy pathways to achieve tourism sector emission reduction ambitions (?50% by 2035) and transform the sector to be part of the mid-century decarbonized economy (?70% by 2050). Investment in emissions abatement within the tourism sector, combined with strategic external carbon offsets, was found to be approximately 5% more cost effective over the period 2015–2050 than exclusive reliance on offsetting. The cost to achieve the ?50% target through abatement and strategic offsetting, while significant, represents less than 0.1% of the estimated global tourism economy in 2020 and 3.6% in 2050. Distributed equally among all tourists (international and domestic), the cost of a low-carbon tourism sector is estimated at US$11 per trip, equivalent to many current travel fees or taxes. Exclusive reliance on offsetting would expose the sector to extensive and continued carbon liability costs beyond mid-century and could be perceived as climate inaction, increasing reputational risks and the potential for less efficient regulatory interventions that could hinder sustainable tourism development. Effective tourism sector leadership is needed to develop a strategic tourism policy framework and emission measurement and reporting system.     

Food management in tourism: Reducing tourism’s carbon ‘foodprint’

Food production and consumption have a range of sustainability implications, including their contribution to global emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs). As some foodstuffs entail higher GHG emissions than others, managing their use in tourism-related contexts could make a significant contribution to climate change mitigation. This article reviews the carbon intensity of selected foods and discusses how foodservice providers could adapt their practices. It shows that even though food management could substantially reduce the GHG emissions of foodservice providers, its application is currently hampered by the complexity of food production chains and a lack of dependable data on the GHG intensity of foodstuffs. Nevertheless, it is possible to make a number of recommendations in respect of how foodservice providers can better purchase, prepare and present foods. Further research is now needed to refine and extend our understanding of the contribution that food management can make to reducing tourism’s carbon ‘foodprint’.     

Burnout and food safety: Understanding the role of job satisfaction and menu complexity in foodservice

This study measures job motivation, satisfaction, and burnout amongst foodservice employees, as well as the menu complexity in foodservice establishments. It verifies the relationship between these factors and food safety practices. We visited 20 foodservice establishments and interviewed 202 foodservice employees. Job motivation, satisfaction, and burnout were assessed using validated questionnaires. Menu complexity was evaluated by considering the number of meals prepared in different courses. Data relating to food safety violations were obtained using a food safety checklist. Our findings show that foodservice employees exhibit high levels of job motivation, job satisfaction, and personal burnout. In restaurants with more complex menus, instances of burnout as well as food safety violations are higher, and these have a negative impact on foodservice employees’ job motivation. Job satisfaction is positively affected by job motivation and negatively affected by burnout. Cognitive aspects of food safety, practical implications, and limitations of this study are discussed.     

Integrating Persons with Disabilities into the Work Force

Abstract

Despite increased innovations in rehabilitation and laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990), the unemployment rate for individuals with disabilities has consistently hovered in the 60%-70% area for decades. Extensive literature reviews indicated that one of the biggest barriers to employment opportunities for people with disabilities is employers' negative attitude. The purpose of the study is to measure the attitudes of foodservice employers toward hiring persons with disabilities and to assess the effects of these attitudes on employers' hiring practices. The survey population was foodservice employers who are members of Oklahoma Restaurant Association (ORA), and a simple random sampling approach was used to survey 500 ORA members. Factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and one-way ANOVA were employed for data analysis. The study revealed a somewhat favorable attitude towards workers with disabilities among Oklahoma foodservice employers. The results also showed that prior positive working experience with persons with disabilities people contributed to favorable employer attitude. It was concluded that the more positive employers' attitude towards persons with disabilities employees, the more likely they are going to hire or continue to hire persons with disability.     

Examining the determinants of hotel chain expansion through international franchising

This study proposes and tests an agency-based organizational model of internationalization through franchising in the hotel sector. Using data obtained from a Franchisor Questionnaire 2001-2008, we analyzed a panel of 117 observations of 17 U.S.-based hotels. Our analysis reveals that a hotel franchisor's decision to internationalize through franchising is positively related to the percentage of franchises, the ratio of franchised units to the total number of units. The article contributes to the literature by empirically modeling international franchising of hotels, which present unique characteristics among franchising companies, with a high investment capital requirement, maturity in the product life cycle, and a high level of standardization and globalization of operations. The unique characteristics of individual chains and their segment in the industry are particularly important, as revealed by both data analysis and expert opinion.     

What is hospitality?

Some health care organizations looking to improve customer satisfaction have tried to redefine their customers as guests, applying the concept of hospitality to their operations. It is not clear, however, just what hospitality means. This paper reviews the literature of hospitality and proposes a model of hospitality. Some implications for delivering hospitality in a customer service organization are discussed.