Generational differences: An examination of work values and generational gaps in the hospitality workforce

The purpose of this study is to identify generational differences and similarities among hospitality employees and managers in order to develop leadership strategies and management styles that can be utilized to increase employee morale and productivity while enhancing recruitment and retention rates of highly qualified workers. Data for this study were collected through a series of in-depth focus group discussions. Findings indicated significant generational differences in world views, attitudes toward authority and perspectives on work. Findings suggested the Baby Boomers respect authority and hierarchy, while the Generation X-ers (Gen X-ers) rebel against authority. Findings also suggested while Baby Boomers live to work, Gen X-ers work to live. The Baby Boomers are willing to wait their turn for promotions and rewards, and are very loyal. On the other hand, Gen X-ers expect immediate recognition through title, praise, promotion, and pay. They also want a life outside of work—they are not likely to sacrifice theirs for the company. The Millennial Generation believes in collective action, with optimism of the future, and trust in centralized authority. They like teamwork, showing a strong will to get things done with a great spirit.     

Work environment and atmosphere: The role of organizational support in the creativity performance of tourism and hospitality organizations

In this study, we developed and tested a new model of how organizational support affects the organizational work environment and atmosphere that facilitates creativity. A field study of 320 employees showed that organizational support was positively related to the work environment for knowledge sharing, motivation, procedural justice, and promotion. Further, the work environment plays a mediating role between organizational support and employee creativity. These measures of an organization's environment of procedural justice are related to employees’ motivation and knowledge sharing, which predict employees’ promotion.     

Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of work motivation tested empirically on seasonal workers in hospitality and tourism

The objective of this study was to understand work motivation in a sample of seasonal workers at a tourism destination strongly steered by seasonality. Furthermore, it was investigated whether seasonal workers could be divided into worker subgroups on the basis of their work motivation. A structural equations model tested Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory of work motivation empirically. The findings of the study support the Two-Factor Theory of work motivation. Furthermore, results indicated that a migrant community of workers was significantly less concerned about wage level as well as significantly more concerned about meeting new people than resident workers. As a result of these findings, it is suggested that management of businesses in hospitality and tourism need to consider that the seasonal workforce consists of different kinds of worker subgroups, which have different needs to be satisfied.     

Strategy implementation research in hospitality and tourism: Current status and future potential

To achieve their business objectives, hospitality and tourism organizations need effective implementation as well as consistent strategy formulation. However, the implementation aspect of strategy has attracted relatively less scholarly interest than strategic planning despite its critical role in achieving performance outcomes. Consequently, it is timely to provide an in-depth analysis of the strategy implementation literature. This is particularly the case in hospitality and tourism management where comprehensive literature reviews of strategy implementation have been lacking. To address the knowledge gap, the authors conduct a systematic literature review of 139 articles that appeared in 42 journals over the period 1988–2019. The items were grouped into six topic clusters with a view to generating novel research questions that have the potential to advance the field. We identify four main gaps that should be addressed and suggest prospective research directions.     

Academic foundations for hospitality and tourism research: A reexamination of citations

A 1999 study looking at the research relationships within and between the disciplines of hospitality and tourism is revisited. When compared to the 1999 study, the current study reveals that there is more within-discipline citing, suggesting that both the hospitality and tourism academic areas are maturing, and not relying as heavily on other disciplines. Further analysis of the citations outside hospitality is done to elicit a more in-depth picture of where hospitality and tourism citations are coming from. Implications are discussed.     

Human resource systems as antecedents of hotel industry market orientation: An empirical study in the Canary Islands, Spain

This paper studies how the different dimensions determining the human resource management system (recruiting, training, evaluation and compensation) influence the market orientation of hotels. There is also an exploratory analysis of the differences in the human resource management systems according to the following hotel classification data: star rating, size, ownership, time-share offer, type of location, customer satisfaction and profitability.     

Thirty years of research on tourism and hospitality management in China: A review and analysis of journal publications

The tourism industry in China has undergone rapid development since 1978 and is foreseen as being the world's largest tourism market by 2020. However, no comprehensive review of literature in this context has been completed, and international academics have little understanding of China tourism research. This paper aims to provide an overview of 119 articles selected from six leading English language academic journals published from 1978 to 2008. Content analysis points to the evolving trend in Asian universities in terms of journal contributions. Consumer behavior has gained popularity as a research topic, and will likely remain as a prevalent research theme in the near future. A tendency toward multiple-authorship, rather than single authorship, and more sophisticated methodological procedures has also been found. Future analysis may focus on including other forms of publications and Chinese language journals to capture the full picture of China tourism.     

Human resource management approaches in Spanish hotels: An introductory analysis

Although Spain is one of the most important tourism destinations in the world, Spanish tourism firms need to be more competitive in order to continue attracting citizens from other countries and human resource strategies can help. The present study aims to identify the specific human resource practices applied by hotels. The variables of interest are those related to human resource profile (number of employees, nationality and sex) and to human resource strategies (recruitment, hiring and training strategies). A survey of the hotel establishments in the Valencian Autonomous Region shows that a hard human resource approach prevails and that hotels apply the same human resource strategies regardless of their category or competitive strategy (universalistic approach).     

The learning style preferences of hospitality and tourism students: Observations from an international and cross-cultural study

This paper reports on a study of the learning style preferences of new entrants onto hospitality and tourism programmes in Australia and the United Kingdom. It suggests that a majority of students on these programmes in both countries have strong learning style preference that present some challenges to educators and the planning of learning experiences in higher education. Typically these students prefer learning styles that are concrete rather than abstract, and active rather than reflective. Furthermore, substantial minorities register low or very low preferences for learning in abstract and reflective styles. The initial learning style of new entrants on to taught programmes, therefore, present substantial teaching and learning barriers for educators who are attempting to develop reflective practitioners. Inappropriate teaching strategies can present some genuine learning difficulties for these students. In Australia, educators face added complexity because students from Confucian heritage backgrounds display learning style preferences at odds with their piers. They are more likely to respond positively to abstract and reflective approaches but negatively to active and concrete teaching strategies. The authors suggest one way of approaching the learning needs of these students is to use Kolb's experiential learning cycle as a way of encouraging the development of ‘balanced’ learning strategies that lead to reflective practice.     

A review of entrepreneurship research published in the hospitality and tourism management journals

This research evaluates the entrepreneurship research in field of the Hospitality and Tourism Management to obtain a better understanding of its progress and potential. The study examines entrepreneurship articles published in seven leading hospitality and tourism management journals from 1986 to 2006. Findings indicate that Tourism Management, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management are the top three journals that publish entrepreneurship research. However, the amount of entrepreneurship research in the leading hospitality and tourism management journals appears less than expected. Publication of empirical work has not increased over time over the past 21 years, and theoretical work remains at a consistently low level. Even for empirical studies, there is a lack of methodological sophistication of analytical and statistical tools. The results suggest a concern that entrepreneurship research remains under studied; therefore, more theoretical work is needed to map a course of study and to develop a framework unique to the entrepreneurship domain of hospitality and tourism research. The good news is that there are abundant opportunities for scholars in hospitality and tourism management to explore the field of entrepreneurship as a viable research paradigm.     

Human resources administration processes in commercial restaurants and food safety: The actions of administrators

The study analyzed of the human resources administration processes at commercial restaurants, focusing on the provision of safe foods to consumers. Interviews were conducted with 105 restaurant managers at the city of Florianópolis, Brazil. Three types of restaurants were studied; 45.7% were buffets by weight, 39.1% fast-food restaurants and 15.2% churrascarias. A questionnaire was used with close-ended questions to characterize the restaurants and identify the human resources administration processes for hiring, evaluation, training and provision of benefits to employees. It was found that 89.4% of the restaurants adopt criteria for hiring of employees and 81.9% conduct periodic evaluations. Benefits were offered by 85.7% of the restaurants and 74.3% of the establishments provided employee training. The results indicate that human resources management processes at restaurants can contribute to the provision of safe food, although some establishments still need to adopt professional procedures for recruitment, selection, evaluation and training of their employees.     

An overview of Internet-based surveys in hospitality and tourism journals

Survey research has reached an era when the Internet is commonly used as a research tool in different fields of study. Yet, the use of this method in tourism and hospitality research has not been fully explored. This study provides a state-of-the-art assessment of journal publications in the past ten years to reveal how the Internet has been incorporated into tourism and hospitality research. Various aspects of online research in tourism and hospitality are identified via reviewing relevant articles retrieved from the EBSCOhost.     

The entrepreneurship research in hospitality and tourism

The purpose of this study is to review entrepreneurship research in hospitality and tourism (H&T), draw a map of the evolving domain, and propose a framework for future research. The entrepreneurship literature is categorized by identifying the antecedents and consequences in the context of H&T. The study findings suggest that entrepreneurship research subjects in H&T are extended from developed countries to emerging economies. The research level begins at the meso level (firms) and gradually develops to the micro level (individual entrepreneurs) and macro level (environment). Entrepreneurship in H&T is currently rich in practice but poor in theoretical development. This study is one of the few to critically review entrepreneurship research in H&T. This paper identifies a range of research issues in H&T entrepreneurship.     

Gender diversity in hospitality and tourism top management teams: A systematic review of the last 10 years

Due to women still accounting for less than a quarter of hospitality and tourism executive-level positions, the purpose of this paper was to identify antecedents to and outcomes of gender diverse hospitality and tourism top management teams, describe potential mediators and moderators to these relationships, and provide directions for future research. A systematic review of gender diversity in hospitality and tourism top management teams (TMTs) was conducted between the years 2010 and 2020, resulting in 26 articles used for the thematic analysis. Antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators of gender diverse hospitality and tourism TMTs were identified. The results indicated female role models, organizational structure, and organizational support as antecedents, while financial performance, business growth, and human resource outcomes were consequences. The resource advantage theory is proposed as an explanation for each of these relationships. This study fills a gap in previous literature by conducting a review of gender diversity, identifying critical gaps, and proposing an overarching theory.     

Place change and tourism development conflict: Evaluating public interest

As a set of economic activities, tourism trades on the character of special places. Conflict can emerge where local residents perceive that tourism development proposals challenge the special qualities of place, and where place meaning and attachments are compromised. A key function of government in mediating conflict is to protect public interests, yet explicit consideration of public interest in tourism development conflict is unusual. This paper argues for a reinvigoration of public interest in the mediation of tourism development conflicts. It explores the concept of public interest and how governments interpret and give meaning to it in development debates. In a case study of a cruise ship terminal proposal on the Gold Coast, Australia, the state adopted a neoliberal interpretation of public interest wherein increased global competitiveness of the destination was the overriding common good pursued. Local and diverse interests were marginalised in the debate. The paper concludes that in order to reinvigorate public interest, a public interest evaluation framework for tourism development is needed.     

Human resources development for tourism in rural communities: A case study of Kerala

Considering the relative backwardness of rural areas, human resources development (HRD) seems to have a very important role in rural tourism development. However, tourism HRD in rural communities is affected by a number of drawbacks. In the absence of any significant private sector presence, especially during initial stages, the public sector need to take the initiative in equipping and empowering the local community to meaningfully participate in tourism. This paper suggests a multi‐pronged approach to educate and empower the members of the host community, the tourism industry personnel, and visitors to facilitate rural tourism development, which is sustainability‐oriented and can help localize the benefits. The experience of Kerala provides an example of how the public sector initiated HRD activities could contribute to the development of rural tourism, especially in engendering local entrepreneurial endeavors and giving tourism a higher profile. The Kerala experience represents some of the issues in HRD for rural tourism and suggests potential strategies for other rural communities involved in tourism development.     

The intention to quit entrepreneurship in tourism SMEs: The effect of work addiction

Entrepreneurship is one of the fundamental tools in the generation of economic activity and labor in the tourism industry, with Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) playing a relevant role in the sector. Academic studies on entrepreneurship have focused more on the keys to entrepreneurial success, rather than on the factors leading to its abandonment. In the tourism sector, the lack of research on this matter is even more significant. In response to this gap in literature, this article aims to be a first approach to the study of work addiction as an antecedent of entrepreneurial abandonment. The main contribution of this study confirms the relationship between the different constructs that relate work addiction to entrepreneurship withdrawal. Thus, hypotheses relating driveness and lack of work enjoyment to the intention to quit entrepreneurship are supported. The hypothesis relating work involvement with the intention to quit is not supported, however. A number of important implications derive from this study. Among them, our results demonstrate that the relationship between workaholism and the intention to quit entrepreneurship in the tourist SME sector is supported, and that work enjoyment can act as a mediator strengthening the effect of the driveness to work on the intention to quit.     

‘Empirical characteristics’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research: An assessment

The objective of this study is to describe the ‘empirical characteristics’ of scholarly journals in hospitality and tourism research by assessing selected journals. A sample of scholarly journals was selected on the basis of journal ranking lists. The ‘empirical characteristics’ assessed in this study were found to be variable across the studied journals.     

A bibliometric analysis of trust in the field of hospitality and tourism

The emerging field of trust has evolved dramatically with an increasing number of academic publications in this area. However, there is a lack of better clarification to draw a global picture of scientific knowledge, from a statistical perspective, using the three structures of knowledge: conceptual, intellectual, and social, to obtain a structured overview of its characteristics, identify dynamic aspects and find intellectual representations. This paper presents a new insight into scientific production through bibliometric (Bibliometrix) and network (VOSviewer) analysis, not previously fully clarified in hospitality and tourism. A total of 305 articles published between 2004 and 2020 were analyzed, covering 580 authors, 19 journals, and 43 countries. This research’s main findings showed that trust is one of the most decisive variables in the digital market, and keywords such as satisfaction, loyalty, service quality are closely related. The results provide clues for further investigation in this field.     

Current issues in tourism: Mitigating climate change in sustainable tourism research

This paper adopts a problematising review approach to examine the extent of mitigating climate change research in the sustainable tourism literature. As climate change has developed into an existential global environmental crisis and while tourism's emissions are still increasing, one would expect it to be at the heart of sustainable tourism research. However, from a corpus of 2573 journal articles featuring ‘sustainable tourism’ in their title, abstract, or keywords, only 6.5% covered climate change mitigation. Our critical content analysis of 35 of the most influential papers found that the current methods, scope and traditions of tourism research hamper effective and in-depth research into climate change. Transport, the greatest contributor to tourism's emissions, was mostly overlooked, and weak definitions of sustainability were common. Tight system boundaries, lack of common definitions and incomplete data within tourism studies appear to hamper assessing ways to mitigate tourism's contribution to climate change.