Hong Kong and New Orleans

Abstract

The headline reads, “$3.25 million verdict against restaurant for employee who worked in fear of sexual harassment.” Settlements and verdicts such as this are becoming increasingly common and the restaurant industry worldwide will have to address this issue of sexual harassment. A major problem facing all the restaurant industry is sexual harassment and the explosion of the number of sexual harassment lawsuits being filed (Agrusa, Tanner, & Coats 2000).

Today's Hong Kong is a world-class city where the east meets the west. To be successful in today's competitive restaurant market, it is important for managers to realize the significance of a sexual harassment-free work environment. It is also important to understand how employees feel about the issue. The purpose of this study is to investigate and compare the perceptions of restaurant employees in Hong Kong and New Orleans on sexual harassment. As the cost of litigation and the dol-     

Sexual Harassment in the Hospitality Industry: Perceptions of Restaurant Employees

Abstract

With the cost of litigation and the dollar amount of settlements both increasing substantially, it is with a pro-active view to look at the perspective of sexual harassment by restaurant employees. The purpose of this study is to measure female restaurant employees' and male restaurant employees' perceptions and attitudes on sexual harassment in the restaurant industry. By analyzing the responses of the female restaurant employees and male restaurant employees, a better understanding of the similarities and differences among these two distinct employee segments could be obtained. This research paper will try to provide some useful information when it comes to sexual harassment in the restaurant industry and what policies should be implemented.     

Perceptions of restaurant employees in Asia Pacific on sexual harassment in the hospitality industry

A major issue facing all of the hospitality industry is that of sexual harassment and the explosion of the number of sexual harassment lawsuits being filed. According to the National Restaurant Industry (U.S.) in 1998, in certain states there are more sexual harassment lawsuits than slip and fall cases filed within the restaurant industry. With the cost of litigation and the dollar amount of settlements both increasing substantially, it is with a pro‐active view to look at the perspective of sexual harassment by restaurant employees. The purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions and attitudes of service personnel, specifically restaurant employees in Hawaii on sexual harassment.     

The Relationship Between Demographic Characteristics and Socialization Outcomes Among New Employees in Hong Kong Hotels

Abstract

High turnover among new hotel employees has become a major concern for Hong Kong hotel managers. Previous studies have shown that the demographic characteristics of employees are related to their subsequent behavior and attitude. However, there is little vigorous discussion on new employees in particular. This study examines the relationship between the demographic characteristics of new employees and their socialization outcomes in the Hong Kong hotel industry. Its findings show that there are significant differences between the effects of certain demographic characteristics on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. Some recommendations for maintaining new employees' productivity and minimizing turnover intentions are made for hotel managers' consideration.     

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.     

Zimbabwean hospitality students’ experiences of sexual harassment in the hotel industry

This study investigates the experiences of Zimbabwean hospitality management students in relation to sexual harassment. The students were asked to draw their responses from their industrial attachment year which is part of their four-year degree program. Guided interviews were conducted with 77 final year hospitality management students who had undertaken their industrial attachment in the hotel industry. Findings reveal that sexual harassment is not uncommon in Zimbabwean hotel workplaces. Coworkers, managers and customers were identified as perpetrators. The lack of sexual harassment training in the Zimbabwean hospitality, as well as the non-response of managers to some sexual harassment cases are possible indicators of the inadequacy, or complete lack of sexual harassment policies in Zimbabwe's hotel industry. The researcher suggests that human resource managers in the hotels should formulate, in consultation with Zimbabwean law and labour relations experts, sound sexual harassment policies. Continuous educational training for all employees and managers is also necessary to encourage more employees to report cases and to deter offenders.     

Effects of work status congruence and perceived management concern for employees on turnover intentions in a fast casual restaurant chain

The current study examines a proposed turnover intention model on hourly employees in a large fast casual dining restaurant chain located in the United States. High levels of turnover have been a consistent and costly issue in the restaurant industry. The study was developed to help restaurant owners and managers determine how relationships between variables influence the turnover intentions of their employees, in order to overcome the economic hardship that organizations face when their turnover rates are high. Many factors were found to influence employee turnover intentions, including work status congruence, perceived management concern for employees, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Hence, it is important for fast casual restaurant operators in the United States to develop their managers' human resource skills, in order to have satisfied and committed hourly employees, who should as a result develop lower turnover intentions. Managerial and academic implications are discussed in detail.     

Strategy Communication in Family-Owned Restaurants: Ad Hoc and Ad-Lib

ABSTRACT

Most New Zealand restaurants are small family-owned businesses, which could be expected to communicate their purpose, business strategy, and goals to their employees. However, this expectation may be at odds with the informal mode of a family operation. This exploratory study therefore examines the communication of strategies in family-owned restaurants to determine the likely impact of family ownership on strategy communication. Interview data from family business owners and employees indicate that communication was largely ad hoc, relating to tactics more than strategies, and that many owners lacked the skills needed to operate a profitable and successful business. The weak understanding of strategic business skills identified may explain the high rate of failures identified in the New Zealand restaurant industry.     

An Analysis of Sexual Harassment in Korean Hotels from the Perspective of Female Employees

Abstract

Female employees in Confucian and collective societies are particularly susceptible to sexual harassment. Occupational norms can also influence sexual harassment. First, this paper introduces the legal development of the sexual harassment law in Korea. Second, it examines the prevalence of sexual harassment in Korean luxury hotels. The results of the first survey in the Korean hotel industry detail female employees' experiences, the characteristics of harassers, the reaction to harassment, effects of harassment and effective methods of prevention. The results of this paper will aid hotel practitioners, especially in Asian countries where sexual harassment laws have not been well developed, to monitor activities in workplaces where sexual harassment might occur.     

Retention Factors of Tipped Hourly Employees in the Casual Dining Restaurant Segment: Exploratory Research in Central Florida

ABSTRACT

Hourly employee retention has been a major area of concern for casual dining restaurant operators. The current exploratory research employed a self-administered questionnaire asking 96 tipped casual dining restaurant hourly employees from 12 different restaurants in the Central Florida region of the United States to rate the importance of 21 employment characteristics of their job and their actual experience with these employment characteristics. The findings revealed that the most important employment characteristics were: flexible working hours, consistent working hours, and nice people to work with. These findings differed from a similar previous study done in 2004 with quick service restaurant employees who rated nice people to work with, humane approach to employees, and hourly wages as the most important employment characteristics. The current study showed statistically significant differences between the level of importance and actual experience attached to 18 of the 21 employment characteristics, which could explain some potential areas of misperception between hourly employees and managers in the industry. These variations can consequently help to explain the high turnover and low retention of employees in the tipped positions in the casual dining restaurant industry. Implications for management are discussed.     

American theme restaurants: A study of consumer's perceptions of the important attributes in restaurant selection

In recent years, a number of American theme restaurants have established in Hong Kong. Keen competition exists for this type of restaurants. Customers who visit this type of restaurant seem not only to enjoy their food but also to enjoy their environment. However, little is known about what customers expect and how they select this type of restaurant. In order to have an understanding of customers’ behaviour in relation to the customers’ perceptions of important restaurant attributes in selecting an American theme restaurant in Hong Kong, a study was conducted. The results indicated that ‘Food quality’, ‘Servers’ attitude’, ‘Value for money’, ‘Atmosphere’ and ‘Word‐of‐mouth’ were the five important restaurant dimensions as considered by consumers in selecting an American theme restaurant. Customers for this type of restaurant are likely to be professionals, highly educated and belong to the middle‐income group in the society. Customers usually go to the American theme restaurants for meetings, fun and enjoyment. Marketing implications and directions for future studies are discussed.     

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.     

Hospitality Cobranding: An Experimental Investigation of Enhancement and Erosion in Consumer-Based Brand Equity

ABSTRACT

Cobranding is suggested as a competitive strategy for the hospitality industry due to its potential benefits. Although implied, the potential impact of cobranding on consumer-based brand equity of partner brands and the composite brand has not been empirically investigated in the hospitality industry context. Therefore, a quasi-experimental study design with a structured survey was applied to general tourist population in Hong Kong to identify the potential influence of cobranding on the brand equity of individual brands as well as the hotel–restaurant composite brand versus the hotel–retail composite brand. Surprisingly, results revealed brand equity erosion rather than brand equity enhancement for even the presumably fit hotel, restaurant, and retail brands. Theoretical and managerial implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

Hourly Employee Retention Factors in the Quick Service Restaurant Industry

Abstract

Hourly employee retention in the quick service restaurant industry has long been a major area of concern for both operators and multi-unit restaurant decision makers. While numerous studies concentrated on managers' perceptions on why employees leave, few have explored the employees' perceptions on employment characteristics that kept them from changing jobs. The study employed a self-administered questionnaire and asked 233 quick service restaurant employees in the Midwestern region of the United States to rate the importance of and their experience with 20 employment characteristics of their job. The findings revealed that the most important employment characteristics were nice people to work with, humane approach to employees, and hourly wages. In addition, the study showed statistically significant differences between the level of importance and the level of experience attached to 18 out of 20 employment characteristics, which could explain the high turnover and low retention of employees in the industry. Implications for management are discussed.     

The Application of Activity-Based Costing in a Hong Kong Buffet Restaurant

Abstract

Previous research has shown that Activity Based Costing is a feasible method for establishing overall menu profitability. In this study, a model for Activity Based Costing that had been applied to a fine dining restaurant was tested in a buffet style restaurant in Hong Kong, China. The outcome of this study indicates that the restaurant model could also be applied to a buffet style restaurant with good results. In addition, the model was able to trace undistributed operating expenses to individual dinner buffet items, thereby revealing that every time the restaurant sold a dinner buffet, it realized a loss of HK $33.     

Recruitment and Retention Practices in Independent and Chain Restaurants

Abstract

The management of employees in the restaurant industry is a major challenge that operators must address as companies work to find the best employees in a shrinking labor market. An exploratory study of twenty restaurants (ten independent and ten chain restaurants) investigated similarities and differences in employee recruitment and retention practices. Personal face-to-face interviews with managers disclosed a variety of interesting practices and ideas in the management areas of recruitment, interviewing and hiring, incentives, discipline, and retention. Environmental issues (relating to atmosphere and work environment) were most frequently cited by managers as reasons employees choose to work and remain in restaurants. Compensation and monetary awards were second in importance, followed by work schedule. This analysis provides an understanding from the manager's viewpoint of why employees work in restaurants and offers a perspective in current practices in employee recruitment and retention processes.     

Entrepreneurial Characteristics,Motives, and Business Challenges: Exploratory Study of Small- and Medium-Sized Hotel Businesses

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study is to gather information about the determinants and characteristics of the owners/managers of small- and medium-sized hotels (SMSHs) and identify various issues in starting up and operating businesses in the United Arab Emirates. The results of this study reveal that the majority of the owners/managers of SMSHs in the United Arab Emirates are male, young and middle age, and relatively new to the tourism industry. The motivations for the business ventures of the entrepreneurs include wanting to be financially independent, become one’s own boss, involvement in family business and the opportunities of the hotel business. Among the key business challenges highlighted by the owners/managers of SMSHs are stiff competition in the hotel industry, increased operating costs, reduced demand, and lack of skilled employees. Several key strategies have been employed to face these challenges. These include offering competitive pricing, improving the marketing and channels of promotion, enhancing the quality of service and providing superior customer service.     

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.     

Training practices in the Hong Kong hotel industry: Managerial and executive perspectives

ABSTRACT

Technology is expected to be adopted for the benefits of two types of customers in the hotel industry—external customers for providing better guest experience and internal customers for upgrading skills and knowledge. A survey was used in this study. Training with technology is not the current trend, and on-the-job training is still being adopted frequently and is preferred by executives and managers. It is unpredictable how long it will be before Hong Kong hotels take complete advantage of computer-based training. Minimum yearly training hours and training budgets should be benchmarked and be transparent for a better provision of training.     

Employee job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior: A study of frontline employees in the foodservice industry

ABSTRACT

As the significance of frontline employees increases in the foodservice industry, organizations are paying more attention to internal marketing and customer-oriented behavior for the success of their business. Thus, this study surveys restaurant employees to investigate the impact of development and rewards on job satisfaction and customer-oriented behavior from the perspective of restaurant employees. This study not only supports aspects of previous literature, but also proposes a testable and parsimonious research model by exploring development, rewards, job satisfaction, and customer-oriented behavior simultaneously and revealing how those factors are correlated. Finally, limitations and future research directions are addressed.