An investigation of the impact of internal labour markets in the hotel industry

Maintaining a stable and competitive workforce is a key element of the role of management, and there has emerged a barrage of ‘recipes’ to achieve this. All too frequently, however, these new concepts replace the old, with little justification other than being innovative. This article investigates the concept of an internal labour market [ILM] as a strategic management tool. Past studies by labour market researchers have confirmed the value of the components of an ILM, yet none has investigated the concept of an ILM as a coherent whole. This paper investigates the impact of the components of an ILM – training, promotional opportunity and job security – on the key employee attitudes of job satisfaction, organisational commitment and employee intention to leave. It then examines the impact of this concept as a single variable on the employee attitudes. The study is conducted in the service industry, in particular, the hotel sector, and examines the responses of 297 non-supervisory hotel employees. The findings suggest that the use of a holistic ILM strategy could provide a new means for management to retain and develop a stable and satisfied workforce.     

Losing More than Money: Organizations’ Prosocial Actions Appear Less Authentic When Their Resources are Declining

Journal of Business Ethics - Companies often benefit from others’ attributions of moral conviction for prosocial behavior, for example, attributions that a company has a sincere moral desire...     

The development of a conceptual model of greening in the business events tourism sector

This paper examines the process of corporate greening, and proposes a general conceptual model of the process, which may be relevant in a number of different corporate sectors. The model includes drivers of greening and barriers to greening and also the organisational context in which greening decisions are taken. In addition, this paper considers the role of media coverage in influencing pro-environmental behaviour amongst organisations. The paper then tests the model in one particular tourism context – that of business events – in order to ascertain the specific nature of the corporate greening process in that context. The paper concludes that the general model may be applied to a number of industry sectors, and the model specific to business events tourism may be used to underpin future research in this area.     

Psychiatric inpatient cost of care before and after admission at a residential subacute step-up/step-down mental health facility

Background: Residential step-up/step-down services provide transitional care and reintegration into the community for individuals experiencing episodes of subacute mental illness. This study aims to examine psychiatric inpatient admissions, length of stay, and per capita cost of care following the establishment of a step-up/step-down Prevention And Recovery Care (PARC) facility in regional Australia.

Methods: This was a pragmatic before and after study set within a participatory action research methodology. The target sample comprised patients at a PARC facility over 15?months. Six-month individual level data prior to study entry, during, and over 6-months from study exit were examined using patient activity records. Costs were expressed in 2015–2016AU$.

Results: An audit included 192 people experiencing 243 episodes of care represented by males (58%), mean age?=?39.3 years (SD?=?12.7), primarily diagnosed with schizophrenia (48%) or mood disorders (30%). The cost of 1?day in a psychiatric inpatient unit was found to be comparable to an average of 5 treatment days in PARC; the mean cost difference per-bed day (AU$1,167) was associated with fewer and shorter inpatient stays. Reduced use of inpatient facility translated into an opportunity cost of improved patient flow equivalent to AU$12,555 per resident (bootstrapped 95% CI?=?$5,680–$19,280). More noticeable outcomes were observed among those who stayed in PARC for longer during index admission (r_s = 0.16, p?=?0.024), who have had more and lengthy inpatient stays (r_s = 0.52, p?r_s = 0.69, p?p?Conclusion: Efforts should be directed toward the adoption of cost-effective alternatives to psychiatric inpatient facilities that provide comparable or improved patient outcomes.     

Hotel management style: a study of employee perceptions and preferences

This study investigates employee perceptions of, and preferences for, management practices within a five-star, medium-sized hotel. In particular, the study examines the hypothesis that hotel managers have become more consultative. Using longitudinal data over a 4-yr period, the study examines the perceptions of staff of the management practices and styles in the changing environment of one hotel. The findings suggest that, while staff prefer a decisive style of management, supervisors and department heads were perceived as being autocratic. In fact, in the 4 yr over which the data had been collected, the style of management had become less consultative and more autocratic. Implications for management are discussed, as are recommendations for future research.