Human Capital,Organizational Orientations and Performance: Evidence From the Restaurant Industry

ABSTRACT

The study examines how human capital combines with and influences organizational orientations to determine performance. Specifically, this study investigates small restaurant businesses’ ability to effectively exploit intangible resources and capabilities, rather than tangible resources, in order to produce sustainable competitive advantage. A structured questionnaire was used to survey owners/managers of small independent restaurants in the United States. The results demonstrate that human capital, market orientation and entrepreneurial orientation serve as intangible resources and capabilities that can augment the competitive position of independent restaurants, and thereby improve performance. Human capital also combines with and influences the adoption of market orientation and subsequent performance.     

The Role of Market Orientation in Managing Crises During the Post-Crisis Phase

SUMMARY

The tourism business around the world, as one of the most susceptible and vulnerable sectors, must often manage and survive global crises. In recent years the global tourism industry has experienced major crises, such as terrorist attacks, political instability, economic recession, biosecurity threats and natural disasters. The most well-known cases bear testimony to the fact that crises are not new to the tourism industry. However, tourism management capabilities and abilities to deal with complex and critical situations are limited. The time has come to develop an understanding of factors that can help tourism businesses prepare a way of getting through such crises by examining the role of market orientation and its antecedents during a post-crisis phase. This paper is concerned with the effects of several organizational factors on market orientation in airlines during the post-crisis phase of the terrorist attacks of “9/11.” The results indicate that top management factors, interdepartmental factors and organizational systems have a positive effect on market orientation after a crisis has occurred.     

Mediated Effects of Customer Orientation on Customer Relationship Management Performance

ABSTRACT

Drawing on relationship marketing and management theory, the author examines how customer orientation can stimulate employee training and customer information processing capability when firms implement customer relationship management (CRM). The researcher also investigates how employee training and customer information processing affect CRM performance in light of customer satisfaction and financial performance. Restaurant data support the proposed model, which incorporated mediated relationships among customer orientation, training orientation, customer information processing, and CRM performance. The findings indicate that training orientation and customer information processing mediate the effect of customer orientation on CRM performance. The empirical results suggest theoretical and managerial implications for CRM implementation and strategies.     

Travel motivation among cross border tourists: Case study of Langkawi

Research that focuses on regional tourists in Malaysia is scarce in literature. This study examined the influence of travel motivations; economic, nature, and cultural aspects on tourists' loyalty intention in the context of Langkawi Island, Malaysia. A total of 200 fully answered questionnaires were collected from ASEAN tourists on the island using the purposive sampling technique, and the data were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique. The results confirmed that the ‘economic aspect’ and ‘nature aspect’ are important motivational factors affecting tourists' loyalty intention to revisit Langkawi. Although cultural aspect influences loyalty intention, its effect was weak. Managerial and marketing recommendations were made for tourism in Langkawi based on these findings.     

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.     

Becoming an ambidextrous hotel: The role of customer orientation

Because competitive pressure in the hotel industry continues to increase, hotels have to develop service innovation (i.e., exploration) and service improvement (i.e., exploitation) capacities to become ambidextrous for continually creating customer value. In this study, a theory of the effect of customer orientation on service innovation and service improvement, which facilitates service quality and results in better market performance, was developed and investigated. By analyzing the data provided by senior executives and department managers from 126 hotels in Taiwan, both service innovation and service improvement were revealed to partially mediate the relationship between customer orientation and market performance. The results imply that customer orientation affects the market performance of a hotel through the development of service capabilities, and that customer orientation can transform a hotel into an ambidextrous hotel by concurrently developing service innovation and service improvement capacities.     

The Relationships Between Food Service Wait Staff Skills,Satisfaction, Commitment and Their Levels of Customer Orientation

Abstract

Restaurants are in an industry that seems to be one of the most competitivein the nation. The challenges of operating in this particular industry are exacerbated bythe relative similarities that exist between many food service providers. One means that may be used to achieve a degree of differentiation may be through the restaurant's customer contact personnel, i.e., its wait staff. The restaurant's wait staff is an important factor in determining customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction in turn is an important determinant of the restaurant's profitability and longevity. The purpose of this research is to assess the relationships that exist between the wait staff's levels of customer orientation and their sales skills, job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The results indicate that the positive relationships exist between the wait staff's customer orientation and their skills, job satisfaction and organizational commitment.     

Japanese Visitors to Guam: Lessons from Experience

Abstract

Naisbitt (1994) notes that 60 percent of the world's radio broadcasts, 70 percent of the worlds' mail, 85 percent of international phone calls and 80 percent of computer data are in English (pp. 24-25). Perhaps a similar preponderance exists in tourism literature. But beyond this language orientation there is a “Western” orientation of thought regarding tourist behavior and culture that might influence survey design and research methodology. This may leave researchers less able to understand the heterogeneous Asian travelers that are traveling in increasing numbers. It is important to understand the culture of the sending country when analyzing tourist behavior and motivation. This paper illustrates how understanding Japanese culture enhances the development of survey instruments as well as the interpretation of survey results. Examples are taken from the quarterly visitor exit surveys conducted on the island of Guam, a U.S. territory that serves as one of the major short-haul destinations for Japanese travelers.     

Market Orientation and Performance Outcomes: An Empirical Study of Travel Agencies in Taiwan

This paper reports the results of a study that found evidence to support the importance of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the relationship between market orientation and financial performance. The performance of travel agencies in Taiwan was examined with data collected through a questionnaire survey completed by the managers of 292 travel agencies in Taiwan. Analysis using structural equation modelling revealed that market orientation influences the financial performance of travel agencies indirectly through customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Neglecting customer satisfaction may negate any improvements in the level of performance that have been gained by adopting a market orientation. It was found that market orientation does not affect financial performance unless the two mediators, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, are applied concurrently.     

The role of wellness spa tourism performance in building destination loyalty: the case of Thailand

ABSTRACT

Despite the considerable growth of the wellness spa tourism market, little research has examined the intricate procedure involved in travelers’ loyalty toward Thailand as a wellness spa tourism destination. This research aimed to explore such loyalty formation by investigating the relationships among performances of wellness spa tourism in Thailand, affective experiences, and overall satisfaction. A field survey methodology was used for data collection. Findings of the structural analysis revealed that product performances, affective experiences, and satisfaction were in general significantly associated, and that these variables contributed to a satisfactory prediction for destination loyalty. In addition, the adequacy of the second-order structure of the performances of Thai wellness spa tourism was demonstrated. Moreover, the relative effectiveness of satisfaction in building loyalty was identified. Both affective experiences and satisfaction were also found to have a significant mediating impact. Implications for destination researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Emotions,Mood, Flow and Motivations to Travel

Abstract

Three theories, Csikszentmihalyi's flow (1975), static versus dynamic orientation (Wicklund 1986) and mood theory were used to understand and test the impact of emotions as antecedents on motivations to travel. Significant correlations between discreet emotions and mood were found. The state of flow regarding respondents' levels of skill versus the challenges faced at work as a measure of static versus dynamic orientation resulted in explaining motivational tendencies to travel.     

Meeting Planners' Perceptions of Site Selection Characteristics

Abstract

This study aims to examine meeting planner assessments of convention site selection characteristics for international meetings/conventions and to appraise the strengths and weaknesses of six selected major convention hotels in Seoul, Korea. The principle components procedure indicated that four factors accounted for 78 percent of the cumulative variance of the eleven site selection variables listed in the study.     

Understanding pioneering orientation in tourism clusters: Market dynamism and social capital

The aim of this paper is to study whether and how closed ties and diverse ties moderate the relationship between firms' market dynamism and pioneering orientation in a tourism cluster. We use original data on a sample of 215 firms belonging to the World Heritage Cities of Spain. The results show a curvilinear U-shaped relationship between market dynamism and pioneering orientation. This relationship is accentuated by higher closed ties, and is attenuated by higher diverse ties. Managers are advised to pay attention to changes in consumers’ needs so as to identify first-mover opportunities. Furthermore, firms located within tourism clusters might benefit from developing social capital. Specifically, managers should strengthen their closed ties when market dynamism is high and their diverse ties when the first changes in the market emerge.     

Do emotions play a mediating role in the relationship between owner leadership styles and manager customer orientation,and performance in service environment?

This study examines the dynamic relationships among leadership style (transformational and transactional), emotion in service employees, customer orientation (dimensions of enjoyment and needs), and job performance. The study proposes a model based on existing literatures and examines the mediating role of service employees’ emotion in the relationship between leadership style and their customer orientation. The study found that all four elements of transformational leadership have a significant effect on positive emotion. Emotion is found to have a significant influence on both enjoyment and needs dimensions of customer orientation and to partially mediate the relationship between leadership style and customer orientation.     

Exploring the influence of big data analytics management capabilities on sustainable tourism supply chain performance: the moderating role of technology orientation

ABSTRACT

The current study examines the importance of big data analytics (BDA) management capabilities, namely BDA planning, BDA investment, BDA coordination, and BDA control on sustainable tourism supply chain performance (STSCP). The study also explored the moderating role of technology orientation on BDA management capabilities' association with STSCP. Perceptual responses from 212 analytics professionals suggest BDA planning, BDA coordination, and BDA control as prominent enablers of sustainable tourism supply chain performance. Furthermore, technology orientation was found to enhance the contribution of BDA planning, BDA coordination, and BDA control as enablers.     

Terrorism Effects on Travel Arrangements and Tourism Practices

Abstract

In light of the unprecedented terrorist assaults on September 11, 2001, this research attempts to assess their underlying impacts on travel arrangements and business practices. A questionnaire reflecting the objectives of the study is developed accordingly. To gather the empirical data, this research draws samples from an academic community consisting of faculty, staff, and students. This study first reveals that the level of perceived risk differs among the respondents; students tend to be risk-takers while faculty and staff could be considered as risk-averters. In large, respondents agree that the recovery of airline business will take at least a year. As for travel arrangements, participating in leisure activities around government buildings notably decreases. Regarding tourism practices, it indicates that both governments and businesses have taken rightful measurements against future terrorist movements. Critical marketing implications along with suggestions for future research are discussed in the conclusion section.     

How and when servant leadership promotes service innovation: A moderated mediation model

Based on social learning theory, the current study examined how and when servant leadership could promote employee service innovative behavior (SIB) in the hospitality setting. Survey data collected from 1021 service employees and their 229 direct supervisors at 54 hotels showed that servant leadership was positively related to employee SIB, and employee customer orientation mediated such effect. Results also showed that employee age moderated the effect of servant leadership on customer orientation, as well as the indirect effect of servant leadership on SIB via customer orientation, such that these effects were stronger for younger employees. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

Market orientation in mid-range service,urban hotels: How to apply the MKTOR instrument

This work analyses market orientation (MO) within hotels and its impact on business performance (marketing, economic and financial results). To achieve this, after developing a measurement scale based on MKTOR, a survey targeting senior managers of four-star hotels located in Spain was carried out. The data of the study show that the more market-oriented hotels know their customers and competitors better and that they are more effective at coordinating their actions. This in turn generates a positive and direct effect on customer satisfaction, on the value added for them and on the perceived image of the hotel. Also, perceptions about technological turbulence positively affect the adoption of the MO philosophy and, therefore, its consequences in terms of company performance. Finally, the effects of MO on results would be overvalued if the perception of the impact of the crisis is not taken into account.