The failure of ‘control’ in the hospitality industry

This paper explores the relationship between the literature on the issue of control and the realities of the hospitality industry. Management control is related to the unsanctioned entrepreneurial activities of operatives (illustrated by the ‘taxi scam’), the failure of computer systems used to control operatives, and the failure of the hospitality industry to exploit the potential of the new technology. The paper suggests that management's (and a significant part of the literature in this area) failure within hospitality is linked to the perception of the role of the hospitality manager as one of policing the industry.