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.     

Total quality management,corporate social responsibility and performance in the hotel industry

Total quality management (TQM) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) are relevant management philosophies in the hotel industry to be able to generate a sustainable competitive advantage. This paper examines how the implementation of both TQM and CSR influences the results of hotels’ stakeholders as an antecedent of business performance. An empirical study of a sample of 141 Spanish hotels from the Andalusian region shows that the adoption of such approaches improves the capacity of hotels to create benefits for their stakeholders, and these results have a positive effect on hotel performance. The study also provides evidence of the complementarity of both management philosophies as TQM can enhance the development of CSR.     

Analyzing Quality of Supply Chain Management in Hotels of Isfahan Using the Partial Least Squares (PLS)

ABSTRACT

Hotels, as one of the major tourism service providers, must offer high quality products to survive in this severely competitive environment so that they can preserve their competitive advantage dealing with other competitors. Therefore, considering the high importance of this subject, this study aims to analyze the quality of hotels supply chain in Isfahan- Iran. On this account, the literature of quality in supply chain is reviewed and seven factors affecting the supply chain are identified. Then research hypotheses are raised in accordance with the seven factors. Data was gathered using questionnaire and Partial Least Square was applied in order to analyze the data. The obtained results indicate that focus on customer, supply chain quality leadership, supply chain quality strategies, supply chain quality information and process approach results in an increase in supply chain quality; meanwhile, the two hypotheses regarding supplier quality management and human resources development of supply chain are rejected. The results of this article will be beneficial to hotels which want to increase the level of their service quality.     

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.     

Total Quality Management and Tourism and Hospitality Education

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the application of quality management concepts in relation to the provision of tourism and hospitality education, with a specific focus on Thailand. The key quality concepts, namely quality control, quality assurance, quality audit and “Total Quality Management” (TQM) are identified, and the applications of these concepts in the provision of tourism and hospitality education are discussed. The paper explores three main themes. The first is to examine how quality issues have been applied to tourism and hospitality education. Second, the paper outlines the concepts of quality management, which represent the key element of a TQM strategy to implement conformance to standards and quality improvement. The third theme discusses the specific case of Thailand, drawing on research in its early stages which examines quality management in tourism and hospitality education in Thailand. An outline of the nature of tourism and hospitality education in Thailand is provided, followed by a synopsis of the significant challenges facing Thai tourism and hospitality education. A procedure for examining quality in tourism and hospitality education in Thailand is proposed.     

Serviced Accommodation,Environmental Performance and Benchmarks

Abstract

The establishment of benchmarks as a tool to aid the evaluation and review of the performance of hospitality and tourism enterprises in a number of areas, e.g., financial appraisal, grading schemes, is comparatively long established. More recently, benchmarks have been developed for the accreditation of business in such areas as TQM and IiP. One area that has been comparatively ignored is that of environmental performance of the enterprises. This is particularly notable, given the rise of attention and debate over sustainable development and the need for a balance between economic growth and the quality of the environment which has generated much debate. The quintessential importance of this latter aspect-the quality of the environment-to the development of tourism has long been recognised, and since the mid-1980s has generated substantial attention to the impact of tourism on the physical environment. In combination, this attention has led to the development of 'sustainability indicators for tourist destinations.' However, there has been a substantial lack of attention to the environmental performance of the enterprises involved and their impacts on the environment-taken in its widest senses. This weakness, and the absence of suitable benchmarks, emerged in the initial stages of a major project designed to evaluate the environmental performance of the tourism sector in the Lake District of England; an area listed in the top 50 of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world in 2000. Thus, the first stage of the project required the development of a set of suitable indicators designed to assess the environmental performance of the enterprises involved. This article discusses the development and derivation of these indicators, with specific focus on serviced accommodation, and subsequently the establishment of a range of benchmarks which may not only be applied in evaluating progress in future assessment of the environmental performance of this sector in the Lake District but also may be applied in other destinations throughout the world.     

Relationship Management

Abstract

Total quality management (TQM) is an organizational culture that emphasizes internal integration at the same time that it demands innovation in the marketplace. TQM effectively integrates the internal and external activities of an organization. In business to business marketing, the role of relationship management is to bridge internal quality management with external quality management. In a hotel, the convention services manager must be sure that the promises made by external marketing activities can be fulfilled through interactive marketing activities. Internal marketing processes which enable employees to fulfill marketing promises are an equally important part of the service quality equation.     

Evaluating Internet Portals—An Empirical Study of Acceptance Measurement Based

SUMMARY

Due to the great importance of the “information business” in the tourism industry, the Internet has seen increasing use in this field. This paper deals with the evaluation of Internet portals based on the example of the Austrian National Tourist Office, Austria's largest tourism service organization. The empirical analyses performed on the basis of 172 useable questionnaires demonstrate the high significance of the Internet in the work processes of tourism professionals. In this context, significant differences were identified between the four user groups examined in the B2B field (provincial tourism organizations, hotels, travel agencies/operators and associations) and between age groups and genders in the various dimensions of Internet portal evaluation. Usability and content play the most critical role as factors influencing the appeal of Internet portals, the users' satisfaction with them, and their frequency of return visits to a portal. The design of a portal has a significantly lower influence.     

Measuring Personal Service Quality

Abstract

This study examined the personal service quality of international tourism hotels in China by measuring international hotel customer's satisfaction level and their perceived importance evaluation of personal service attributes. Six international hotels in Beijing and three departments (reception, food and beverage, and housekeeping) in each hotel were selected in this study. Responses from 472 customers were used for the data analysis of this study. It was found that customers identified friendliness and willingness to provide service in all three departments as service attributes with which they were very satisfied. Foreign language ability was identified as the least satisfactory in the reception and food and beverage departments. Customers also regarded friendliness and willingness to provide service as very important.     

The Role of Training in Achieving TQM in Restaurants

Abstract

TQM, and its application to the hospitality and tourism industries, has begun to receive more attention in the literature. However, few articles focus exclusively upon TQM in the restaurant industry and fewer still have examined the relationship between TQM and employee training. This article examines this relationship through interviews with managers with two prominent restaurant chains in Canada.     

Social responsibility and total quality in the hospitality industry: does gender matter?

This empirical study examines the role of gender diversity in top management teams (TMTs) and their impact on corporate social responsibility (CSR), which is an underexplored topic within the hotel sector. Based on stakeholder theory, we argue that the relationship between gender diversity and hotel performance is indirect and mediated by CSR. Our study also analyses how the implementation of total quality management (TQM) and CSR influences hotel stakeholder results, and hence business performance. Using a sample of Spanish hotels, we provide evidence that gender diversity in TMTs increases the level of implementation of CSR within the hotel industry. The results show that the impact of gender diversity on hotel performance is mediated by CSR. The findings also suggest that the adoption of TQM and CSR management philosophies improves the capacity of hotels to benefit their stakeholders, and that this improvement has a positive effect on hotel performance.     

Algarve hotel price determinants: A hedonic pricing model

This study sought to assess customers' willingness to pay for a wide variety of characteristics and attributes of hotels in Portugal's Algarve region. After collecting nearly all the information available on TripAdvisor for hotels in this region, a hedonic pricing model was developed using a database of 9992 cases. The results suggest that – after standardisation – the most important variable shaping Algarve hotel room rates is the previous day's prices. When associated with a family-friendly hotel, star category and services have a greater value than beaches or golf courses do. Customers also appreciate some types of hotels, such as boutique, quaint or trendy hotels, but view others negatively, such as family-friendly or business hotels. Only the specific location of Falesia Beach adds value, although the Algarve is a desirable destination overall. Both destination and hotel managers can use the proposed method to analyse data for their region on customers' propensity to pay.     

On-Job Training—A Critical Human Resources Challenge in China's Hotel Industry

Abstract

The strategic role of human resources function in China's hotel industry is more important than ever before. An increasing number of hotels begin to recognize its significance of such role in sustaining growth in the competitive hotel marketplace. This study focuses on the on-job training aspect of the human resources by first identifying the major problems faced by the industry. The underlying factors of the problems are then investigated; and possible solutions are recommended. The discussion is in the context of five stakeholders in the on-job training function of China's hotel industry. They include hotel employees, hotel management, government agencies, universities, and non-university training institutions.     

Barriers affecting organisational adoption of higher order customer engagement in tourism service interactions

In this study, consumer engagement was examined from a service-dominant logic perspective in tourism service interactions. Extensive field interviews and focus groups in the context of three upscale hotels in Hong Kong identified numerous barriers towards successfully engaging consumers, extending from consumer, technological, and strategic cases to organisational cases. In all, a firm's overall strategy, organisational structure and culture are the most important barriers determining whether consumer engagement as depicted in the literature can be successfully deployed within hotel organisations. Implications call for a more intensive study of engaging consumers from an organisational context with a reassessment of progressive stages that include leadership interventions and the incorporation of consumer feedback at all stages of the firm's value-creating network.     

Team Needs and Management of Multi-Ethnic Workgroups in Hotels

Summary

This study of multi-ethnic workgroups in two deluxe London hotels used an open-ended interview approach to obtain rich data from managers and their subordinates. Data was analysed using cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede and Trompenaars. Managers, who were from both individualistic and collectivistic national cultures expressed themselves in predominantly individualistic terms. In contrast, workers, regardless of their cultural background, spoke of their working relationships in a generally collectivistic way. They also said that they preferred to be managed in a collectivistic style, according to Trompenaars' categories. There was evidence that this clash of preferences caused conflict between workers and managers. Both managers and subordinates appeared to believe that a multiethnic workforce delivered a better quality service to a multi-ethnic clientele than would a homogeneous staff team, but for different reasons. Managers mentioned the potential adaptability and innovativeness of a mix of different cultures. Workers spoke of multi-ethnic teams as being open-minded, patient, understanding, sharing common goals and being a family. However, the collectivistic qualities of workgroups seemed to inspire workers from individualistic national cultures rather than the collectivistic nationalities. “Family” aspects of group work seemed inadequate for the latter, who tended to identify external factors as responsible for their motivation.     

Crisis Management During the SARS Threat

ABSTRACT

No one could have predicted the outbreak of SARS and its impact on the tourism business. Within a fortnight, hotel occupancy dropped by more than 80% to a single digit record. The hotel industry in Hong Kong was largely caught unprepared, and had to quickly work out ways in which to mitigate the loss of business and profit. This paper identifies the impact of SARS on hotels in Hong Kong, and the relevant human resources strategies used to tackle the crisis. The findings show that unpaid leave and involuntary separation were the most common immediate solutions adopted by the hotels.     

Total quality management, market orientation and hotel performance: The moderating effects of external environmental factors

With the market competition of hotel industry being heated, it is critical that hotels have a breadth of resource and more flexible forms to meet the needs of a changing marketplace. In the past, the relation of total quality management (TQM), market orientation, and performance are equivocal. These mixed results may be due to some factors or not to include the environmental factors. This study adopts the Input-Processing-Output (IPO) concept model to construct all variables research model. The research surveyed samples of 588 and used Structural Equation Model and discriminate analysis for analysis and testing. The results show that TQM positively affects hotel performance. Market orientation positively affects hotel performance. Market orientation has the mediating effect between TQM and hotel performance. External environment factors truly play a moderator between TQM, market orientation and hotel performance, especially when external environment factors greater changes are going to help to build relationship with customer, to enhance hotel performance and further to gain chance of hotel's survival.     

The Perceived Importance of Job Attributes Among Foodservice Employees in Hong Kong Hotel Industry

Abstract

This study explored the perceived importance of fourteen job attributes among foodservice employees in Hong Kong hotels. The study identified that Pay was ranked as the most important job attribute, followed by Fringe Benefits, then Advancement and Promotion, respectively. Status, Job Autonomy, Skill Utilization, and Supervision were the attributes ranked as having the lowest importance. Four factors were derived from the fourteen job attributes: Intangible Job Context, Employee Development and Skill Utilization, Remuneration Packages and Workplace, and Intangible Work Rewards. Results of ANOVA indicated that the four factors varied significantly related to the employees' Education Level, Income Level, Position, and Type of Hotel. Implications for future studies of job attributes were discussed.     

Developing a Research Agenda for Tourism Crisis Management,Market Recovery and Communications

SUMMARY

This article focuses on the need to develop a comprehensive research agenda for crisis management and market recovery in tourism. A review of the literature on research into risk, crisis and disaster management indicates that research has emerged on an ad hoc basis. Analysis of a database of over 2400 relevant references supports the need for a research agenda that will focus on crisis management and market recovery and communications, rather than prevention. The BEST Education Network research agenda on risk and crisis management for sustainable tourism is then presented as a basis for further development of a crisis management and market recovery research agenda. In particular, it elaborates on research issues related to the communication during tourism crises, assessing strategies for market recovery and understanding these issues from the DMO's perspective.