Environmental proactivity of hotel operations: Antecedents and the moderating effect of ownership type

This study examines the relative importance of three influential factors (stakeholder pressure, economic opportunities, and top managers’ personal environmental concern) in shaping managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs in the hotel industry. The results, based on a sample of 235 top managers of hotels affiliated with three U.S. state hotel associations, suggest that stakeholder pressure is the most dominant predictor of managerial attitudes toward adoption of green programs followed by economic benefits and top managers’ personal environmental concern. In addition, the relationship between managerial attitudes toward adoption of environmental programs and organizational environmental commitment is found to be moderated by the ownership style. The relationship is stronger for independent hotels than for chain-affiliated hotels, indicating a more significant role of managerial discretion in implementing environmental strategies at the independent hotel setting than the chain hotel setting.     

基于TRA理论的酒店员工信息技术心理研究

本文以TRA理论和TAM模型为基础,通过针对中国三星级以上酒店员工的信息技术采用心理的实证研究,探讨了目前酒店员工信息技术采用认知、态度和意向等基本心理状况．比较了不同的客观环境和个体特征下酒店员工信息技术采用心理的差异,在中国酒店业的技术进步和人力资源管理方面提出了有价值的结论。     

Information technology capability and organisational agility: A study in the Canary Islands hotel industry

Investments in information technology (IT) by the hotel sector are becoming increasingly important. However, it is necessary to analyse the extent to which IT contributes to hotels being ‘agile’ in responding to changes in the environment. The paper analyses the mediating and moderating role of IT capability in the relationship between IT uses and hotel agility. Results demonstrate the mediating role of IT capability, confirming IT uses affect organisational agility not only directly but also indirectly by improving the ability to manage technological resources. However, the role of IT capability as a moderator is not confirmed in this research. Such findings provide guidance to hotel managers to improve IT management and applications, suggesting future lines of research.     

A model that connects information technology and hotel performance

Despite vast investments in IT, there is scant research and empirical data that connects, in depth, IT with firm performance in the hospitality industry. However, the literature does show partial evidence and examples of particular technologies. After an extensive literature review, we posit four global paths through which IT can impact hotel performance and, for each one, the precise mechanisms that cause these influences. These four proposals are further developed and refined using in-depth interviews with a group of 30 managers of different areas from several hotels. A final comprehensive model that shows the specific routes that IT can follow in order to improve hotel organizational performance is presented. This model can be taken as a frame of reference by academics and can also be used by both practitioners and IT producers to assess particular IT options.     

From innovation to sustainability: Sustainability innovations of eco-friendly hotels in Taiwan

Sustainable innovation is a critical attribute in modern hotel management, as is widely recognized by experts and hotel managers alike. This paper develops and tests a new integrated theoretical model of associations among innovation diffusion, environmental marketing strategy, sustainability innovations, and the organizational environment. This research also considers the mediating effect of environmental marketing strategy and the moderating role of the organizational environment. The results of a study that included 367 managers of eco-friendly hotels in Taiwan provide support for this model across various dimensions of hotels’ sustainable innovation. The present study found relationships among innovation diffusion, environmental marketing strategy and sustainability innovations, and a mediating effect of environmental marketing strategy. The results also confirmed that the organizational environment moderates the relationship between innovation diffusion and environmental marketing strategy. That is, a supportive organizational environment will enhance the effect of innovation diffusion on environmental marketing strategy.     

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.     

Hotels’ corporate social responsibility practices,organizational culture,firm reputation,and performance

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices are considered one of the key success factors influencing firm performance. However, how CSR practices should be integrated into an organization’s business practices has not been investigated empirically. The present research proposes an integrated model incorporating the interrelationships among CSR practices, organizational culture, and corporate reputation to improve firm performance in the hotel industry. The proposed model is developed using stakeholder theory and the perceptions of the general managers. According to the study’s results, organizational culture influences different dimensions of CSR. The results further indicate that hotels using CSR practices related to employees and customers strengthen their reputation. Through improved reputation, CSR practices positively influence firm performance. Furthermore, hotel managers perceive that CSR activities in the local community and related to the environment do not significantly affect a hotel’s reputation. Theoretical and practical implications are provided, and the limitations of the study and future lines of research are discussed.     

Determinants of hotels’ environmental performance: Evidence from the hotel industry in Accra,Ghana

This study explores the factors that account for the environmental performance of hotels in the special context of a developing country, Ghana. It also examined the socio-demographic characteristics of managers and organizational characteristics that determine the environmental performance of Ghanaian hotels. A stratified random sampling method was employed to survey 200 hotel managers from different categories of hotels in Accra. Ninety-four per cent were independent, and Ghanaian-owned. Sixty-seven per cent had fewer than 20 rooms; only 45 had more than 100 rooms. Only 11.6% were affiliated to foreign multinational companies in any way. Six key factors that accounted for the environmental performance were extracted from a factor analysis. They included, in order of most practised, the environmental education and training for staff, measures to support for the host community, conservation project support, compliance with environmental regulations, waste management, and voluntary programmes. A hierarchical multiple regression analysis indicated that larger size and better class of hotels, as well as those with membership of the national hotel trade association, had better environmental performance as did hotels with better paid managers. Affiliation to foreign multinational chains did not predict better performance. A series of suggestions are made to improve the environmental performance of Ghana's hotels.     

Key drivers of innovation capability in hotels: implications on performance

Innovation capability is critical for the modernization and competitiveness of the hotel industry. This work analyzes the role of hotels' innovative culture, market orientation, and internal marketing as forerunners of innovation capability in hotels, as well as the effect of innovation capability on hotels' performance. The proposed conceptual model is evaluated through structural equation modeling using a sample of 256 Spanish hotels. The results reveal that innovative culture by itself is not a key driver of the hotels' innovation capability. However, internal marketing and market orientation mediate the innovative culture-innovation capability relationship. Innovation capability proves to enhance hotels' market results directly and indirectly through customer equity. Our findings offer hotel managers useful guidance to understand how innovation capability is built within the firm by combining the right organizational culture and practices. Additionally, our study reinforces the financial and non-financial benefits of innovation capability in hotels.     

The impact of perceived benefits and risks on current and desired levels of outsourcing: Hotel managers’ perspective

The purpose of this paper was to investigate the interactions between perceived benefits and risks of outsourcing and outsourcing adoption from the hoteliers’ perspective. Data were collected from 123 hotels in Egypt using a list of 32 hotel activities. Results revealed that managers’ perceived benefits of outsourcing had a direct positive effect on the current level of outsourcing, while indirect effects on the desired level of outsourcing. Interestingly, results confirmed the mediating role of current outsourcing between managers’ perceived benefits and the desired outsourcing. However, the perceived risks of outsourcing had a nonsignificant moderating effect. The findings provide implications for both theory and practice.     

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.     

International franchising: Opportunities for China's state-owned hotels?

The hotel industry in China faces global competition. Most of the state-owned hotels have struggled during the period of transition from a planned economy to a market economy. Furthermore, international franchising hotel chains have entered China with their different operation modes. Could the franchising hotels bring opportunities for state-owned hotels? In an attempt to answer this question, the researchers carried out a study of state-owned independent hotels and state-owned franchised hotels to analyze their external and internal business factors, their intentions to join international franchise operations and the international hotel franchisors in China. The research technique used was qualitative. Two rounds of in-depth interviews were conducted. Content analysis was used in the data analysis. Results indicate that the majority of state-owned independent hotels have intentions to join an international franchise operation in the next 5 years. It also identified major factors affecting the franchising of state-owned hotels in China. However, franchising may not be attractive to those hotels that want to keep their management culture and characteristics. Implications of the study were discussed. Recommendations were provided to the state-owned hotels. Future research studies have been suggested to examine the relationships between franchisors and franchisees.     

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.     

Application of the extended VBN theory to understand consumers’ decisions about green hotels

An increasing number of hotels are altering their operations proactively to include more environmentally friendly practices. Despite the greater interest in consumers’ green behaviors, the theoretical application of the value-belief-norm (VBN) theory has been used only rarely to investigate consumers’ intentions to visit a green hotel. The purpose of this study was to expand existing knowledge of hotel consumers’ green behaviors by developing and testing an extended VBN theory used in the hospitality literature. More specifically, this study incorporated subjective norms and green trust into the original VBN model as a theoretical framework to understand comprehensively consumers’ decision-making processes with respect to their intentions to visit a green hotel. A web-based survey was used to collect data from a convenience sample of faculty members working at an institution of higher education in the Midwestern United States who have been lodging consumers. Structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses. The results showed that all but subjective norms were successful in explaining consumers’ decision-making processes regarding their intentions to visit a green hotel. The results can assist hotel managers in the adoption and implementation of hotel operations based on the needs of environmentally conscious consumers.     

Multilevel Analysis of the Relationship Between Type of Travel,Online Ratings,and Management Response: Empirical Evidence from International Upscale Hotels

The diverse characteristics of customers and hotels have been identified as relevant to online customer satisfaction at the individual level. In this study, a comprehensive examination is conducted, through the use of a multilevel, nested model and secondary data set. The results show that both online review experience and management response frequencies can positively affect customer satisfaction. Additionally, hotel managers need to pay more attention to customers who have less online review experience when they carry out targeted response strategies. The findings have various implications for both academic researchers and hotel operators.     

Political connections,guanxi and adoption of CSR policies in the Chinese hotel industry: Is there a link?

This research note examines the existence of a potential relationship between the political connections possessed by senior Chinese hotel managers and their adoption of corporate socially responsible (CSR) policies in the Chinese hotel industry. Given (a) China’s Green Hotel policy and (b) a broader context where, it is argued political connections and guanxi are a means by which the State seeks to advance desired economic reforms and counter corruption practice, it is suggested that those hotels with better political connections may show evidence of higher levels of awareness and adoption of CSR policies. The data are derived from a usable sample of 404 senior hotel managers. The findings show a positive relationship between the variables of ‘political connectedness’ and ‘CSR adoption’ in areas relating to environmental and philanthropic action, but less of a relationship in other CSR areas such as human resource management and guest relationships. The implications for future research are discussed.     

Assessing holiday satisfaction of Australian travellers in Vietnam: An application of the HOLSAT model

The hotel business model has been diversified in response to the various needs of consumers. Many previous studies focused on the alteration factors of the hotel business model from the consumer's point of view. Although it is one of the factors that affect alteration of the hotel business model, the manager's perspective is also an important alteration factor. This article emphasizes that it is necessary to consider not only the consumer side, but also the management side based on two approaches of the strategy theory: the positioning approach and the resource-based approach.

Surveys were conducted by mail in order to gather information regarding what managers in Japan consider to be important components of a hotel. As a result, “location” was found to be the most important component, followed by “annex facilities” and “deployment system”. Once the components were ordered according to their relative importance, a strong relationship was found between the managers' preferences and the characteristics of “syukuhakusyutai-type” hotels, which are ‘direct management’ (DM) hotels located usually in the city. In Japan, the number of “syukuhakusyutai-type” hotels has recently increased, therefore capturing the spotlight in the hotel industry. However, the results of this research are not compared with those of much previous research conducted on hotel choice attributes, because the measured variables differed significantly.     

Exploitation of Renewable Energy in the Hospitality Sector: Case Studies of Gaborone Sun and the Cumberland Hotel in Botswana

This study examines the factors influencing the adoption of renewable energy technologies at two hotels in Botswana. Interviews with key informants from Gaborone Sun and the Cumberland Hotel were used to collect the data for this study. The study was designed along the general conceptual model of the drivers and barriers of corporate “greening.” Narrative analysis was used to present the findings. Results point to the fact that the availability of the biogas and solar technology in Botswana, political leadership, financial benefits, the availability of a comprehensive environmental sustainability program, and strong environmental management values were the driving forces behind renewable energy adoption by the two hotels. The major barriers against biogas adoption by the Cumberland Hotel included lack of financial resources and limited waste. For solar energy adoption at Gaborone Sun, the main problem was lack of space for further expansion, which has also constrained the hotel’s efforts for wastewater recycling. These results have implications at both local and national levels. Environmental management strategies and values should drive the exploitation of renewable energy by local hotels. At the national level, results imply that the government should take a more responsive approach in facilitating the adoption of renewable energy plans by the corporate world.     

How psychological and contextual factors contribute to travelers’ propensity to choose green hotels?

Despite the growing popularity of green hotels, there remains a dearth of research examining travelers’ intentions to choose green hotels. The study addresses this research gap by developing and testing an integrated model of green hotel behavior in an emerging market of India. We use a sequential approach of SEM and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis on 347 responses collected from Indian travelers to gain a more in-depth understanding of the role of biospheric value, green trust, willingness to pay premium, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control in determining green hotel intentions. The findings show that presence of green trust is a significant and necessary condition for green hotel choice. Additionally, absence of willingness to pay premium, biospheric value, attitude, and subjective norm were found to deter travelers from choosing green hotels. These findings offer unique insights for managers in developing marketing strategies to enhance travelers’ green hotel adoption.     

Effects of psychological contract breach on attitudes and performance: The moderating role of competitive climate

The performance of hotel employees is an important driver of customer satisfaction, which in turn affects hotels’ financial outcomes. Hotel managers should encourage their staff to deliver quality service and should inspire them to perform their best. This study advances a multilevel model that draws connections among competitive climate, organizational identification (OID), job performance, affective commitment (AC), and psychological contract (PC) breach from a sample of hotel staff. The results indicate that (1) PC breach is negatively related to OID and AC, (2) OID and AC have a significant positive relationship with job performance, and (3) competitive climate at the organizational level moderates the effects of OID and AC on hotel workers’ in-role performance. These results offer valuable implications for managers to produce more efficient hotel human resource management techniques.