International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

Karatepe, Osman M.

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-09-2013-0417

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine personal resources as a mediator of the effect of perceived organizational support on emotional exhaustion, extra-role customer service and turnover intentions. Design/methodology/approach – Using data collected from frontline hotel employees with a one-month time lag in Cameroon, the relationships were assessed via structural equation modeling. Positive affectivity, intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy were treated as the indicators of personal resources. Findings – The results suggest that positive affectivity, intrinsic motivation and self-efficacy are significant indicators representing personal resources. As hypothesized, personal resources fully mediate the effect of perceived organizational support on emotional exhaustion, extra-role customer service and turnover intentions. Specifically, frontline employees who receive sufficient support from the organization are high in positive affectivity, intrinsically motivated and self-efficacious at elevated levels. Such employees, in turn, experience low levels of emotional exhaustion and turnover intentions and display high levels of extra-role customer service behaviors. Originality/value – The current paper contributes to the hospitality management literature by investigating personal resources as a mediator of the impact of perceived organizational support on emotional exhaustion and the aforementioned job outcomes.

Padin, Carmen ; Svensson, Göran ; Otero-Neira, Carmen ; Høgevold, Nils

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-05-2013-0205

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to describe the teleological actions needed to assess and manage critical incidents that cause negative emotions in service encounters. Teleological actions are movements into the future that are believed to be move either towards a predictable/known or unpredictable/unknown state or condition. The authors distinguish between, define and apply three categories: transformative – ad hoc and present-based actions; formative – pre-determined and past-based actions; and rationalist – goal-directed and future-based actions. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative study, based upon a two-phase approach applying convenience and judgemental sampling, was used. Focussing on one teleological theory, a process of abductive matching was applied throughout the study. Abductive matching refers to recurring themes, patterns and categories that are uncovered through the iterative processes of analysis. The teleological framework structured and guided the data collection and empirical observations. Findings – Seen through the perspective of teleological actions, the study enhances our understanding of the manner in which critical incidents generate negative emotions in service encounters. Through the same perspective, the investigation also reveals that the outcome of a negative service encounter depends upon the interactive interface between service provider and service receiver. Research limitations/implications – The teleological actions between service providers and service receivers in negative service encounters appear to be mediators between cause-and-effect on the one hand (critical incident and negative emotions) and a perceptual gap on the other (outcome of negative service encounter). The teleological perspective also provides numerous opportunities for further research in this area. Practical implications – Managers should strive to understand the teleological actions potentially undertaken by service receivers, so that they can deal with the teleological actions of their front-line staff accordingly. The interactive interface between a service provider and a service receiver is crucial in assessing and managing critical incidents. Originality/value – Based on teleological actions, the investigation provides both a valuable and complementary contribution on assessing and managing critical incidents and the negative emotions that are often triggered in the service-encounter interface between a service provider and a service receiver. Providers also need to educate their staff on what can occur and on how to react appropriately.

Gregory, Amy M ; Parsa, H.G. ; Nusair, Khaldoon ; Kwun, David J ; Putrevu, Sanjay

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-07-2013-0284

Purpose – This research aims to propose a model that may be used to classify product attributes according to their effect on customer satisfaction within the services industry. It also aims to apply the model to vacation ownership products and to explore attributes related to both the purchase and use of the product: an owned luxury product. Design/methodology/approach – Data from 3,231 vacation ownership customers of multiple international companies were analyzed using a modified Kano model and related questionnaire. Findings – This study reveals the effect that specific product attributes have on customer satisfaction. It addresses previously unexplored attributes (i.e. sales techniques and hotel program benefits), confirms others previously identified with customer satisfaction (i.e. amenities, exchange benefits, hotel affiliation and vacation counselors) and reveals those that had no incremental effect on overall satisfaction (i.e. financing and activities). Practical implications – Results of this study suggest that attributes have varying effects on customers’ overall satisfaction and submit that companies may wish to focus their efforts in particular areas to maintain or improve overall satisfaction. Doing so may create opportunities for companies to increase satisfaction, operate more efficiently or distinguish themselves within the marketplace. Originality/value – This research is the first comprehensive examination of customer satisfaction related to the purchase and consumption of an owned luxury vacation product, reveals misconceptions related to certain product attributes, uncovers previously unidentified attributes, provides a model for examining customer satisfaction that could be applied across lodging products and provides a benchmark for future studies.

Seilov, Galimzhan Aidarkulovich

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-12-2013-0547

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the influence of customer and competitor orientations on the entrepreneurial orientation of small hospitality enterprises in Kazakhstan. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses quantitative data collected through a self-administered questionnaire from 318 entrepreneurs who participated in the survey. Findings – The findings of the study demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between customer and competitor orientations and the entrepreneurial orientation of small hospitality businesses in Kazakhstan. Research limitations/implications – Future studies should also consider additional contingencies such as organizational learning capability and environmental dynamism. In addition, it is recommended that future studies look into the effect of customer and market orientations on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME) performance. Practical implications – The findings of the study showed that hospitality in small businesses needs to embrace a new way of thinking and adopt a more strategic approach to their entrepreneurial activities through proactively responding to constantly changing customer needs and competitors’ moves. Originality/value – This study offers insights into the relationship between strategy and entrepreneurship in the context of small hospitality businesses. In particular, it develops an understanding about the factors that stimulate small hospitality businesses’ entrepreneurial orientations in a dynamic and competitive environment marked by the growing pressure of continuously changing consumer habits and direct competition both from SME counterparts and large enterprises.

Rauch, Dennis A ; Collins, Michael Dwain ; Nale, Robert D ; Barr, Peter B.

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-06-2013-0254

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify an appropriate factor structure that may be utilized to effectively measure a hotel’s performance relative to service quality in a mid-scale setting. Customer perceptions of service quality in mid-scale hotels have largely been ignored; the focus of researchers has been the upscale (4-star) and luxury (5-star) segments. Design/methodology/approach – A 27-item questionnaire is utilized to measure service quality with an initial sample size of over 2,500 respondents. Principle component analysis is utilized to determine the factor structure and regression analysis to determine which factors may serve as predictors of a hotel’s ability to meet customers’ expectations and to provide value. Findings – A three-dimensional model emerged from the data, consistent with the theorizing of Rust and Oliver (1994), which includes the service product, service delivery and service environment. The service environment is the strongest predictor of a hotel’s ability to meet guests’ expectations and to provide guests with value within this context, which is inconsistent with findings in upscale and luxury hotels. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of this research may be challenged, as the study was conducted within the context of an oceanfront resort destination dominated by leisure travelers; however, the study may be replicated in additional settings to determine if a similar bundling of service quality attributes occurs in other mid-scale settings including business hotels, as well as economy hotels. Practical implications – A three-factor model may be more appropriate for assessing service quality in a mid-scale (3-star) environment. In this setting, the service environment and service product may be more important measures of service quality than service delivery. This is an important finding, as many mid-scale and select-service, as well as new mid-scale, lifestyle hotel concepts, attempt to drive profitability by deemphasizing service delivery or by utilizing technology to facilitate service delivery. These findings may also assist operators of mid-scale hotels in improving guests’ perceptions of quality, which has been found to increase perceived value and may positively influence purchase or revisit intentions (Kashyap and Bojanic, 2000). Originality/value – Service quality research has been conducted, almost exclusively, in first-class (4-star) and luxury (5-star) hotels, while the majority of hotels do not fall into these categories. Although guest expectations relative to service quality may be lower in more moderately priced, mid-scale hotels, service quality remains a critical variable that influences a guest’s decision to return or recommend a hotel to others. Many travelers now utilize online reviews to minimize purchase risk by seeking information relative to service quality when selecting a hotel. Consequently, it is more important than ever that service quality is understood in hotels at all service levels. The present research contributes to filling this gap in the literature.

Parte-Esteban, Laura ; Alberca-Oliver, Pilar

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-08-2013-0342

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the determinants of dynamic efficiency in the Spanish hotel industry. The study also aims to introduce a large number of variables potentially related to efficiency and performance measurement. In particular, it seeks to explore the association between efficiency scores and firm-specific factors (variables related to market conditions, business factors, audit variables, organisational forms and subsidiary variables). Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the data envelopment analysis (DEA) double-frontier approach is used according to firm size in conjunction with non-parametric tests (Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis tests), a dynamic Tobit regression model and a bootstrapping procedure. The tests are performed using 1,805 hotels from the years 2002 to 2011. This allows the authors to overcome several of the major limitations of previous papers, namely, the low number of observations, the static or cross-sectional analysis referring to a single period and the use of conventional DEA models, among others. Findings – The results show significant differences in dynamic efficiency among Spanish hotel companies. In addition, the evidence suggests the levels of efficiency are related to the hotel's location, the hotel's size, internationalisation, the first source of the hotel's activity, audit service and management variables. Research limitations/implications – One limitation of the study is related to the input and output variables specified in the DEA model. The selection of inputs and outputs was based on data availability and the previous literature on hotel efficiency, but the results might change if the hotel sample and the selected input and output variables were changed. Another limitation is the availability of data on ownership structure and subsidiary variables for very small businesses. Originality/value – The paper contributes to the tourism literature by offering new insights into hotel performance: dynamic efficiency evaluation and its main determinants. The paper presents strategic market implications for hoteliers, government decision-makers and destination management organisations.

Dedeoğlu, Bekir Bora ; Demirer, Halil

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-08-2013-0350

Purpose – Studies in the service quality evaluation literature have generally attempted to determine the service quality perception level of customers by mainly focusing on customers’ quality evaluations. However, the nature and characteristics of differences in service quality perceptions among customers, managers and employees are not sufficiently researched. In this study, the differences in service quality perceptions among the aforementioned stakeholders are examined. Design/methodology/approach – Multivariate analysis of variance was used to test the significant differences between stakeholder’s perceptions of service quality, using a sample of 845 hotel stakeholders (customers, employees and managers). Findings – The findings showed that employees perceived service performance to be at a high level, while customers perceived it to be at a low level. According to the post-hoc test, even though managers’ perception of service quality performance was lower than that of employees, no significant difference was found between them. In addition, it was determined by second-order confirmatory factor analysis that the lowest explanation ratio was the tangible dimension in SERVQUAL. Originality/value – One major shortcoming in the concept of service quality is that stakeholders perceive service quality differently. In particular, a hotel business that lacks service quality may face issues such as negative customer satisfaction, lack of customer loyalty and lower competitive advantage. However, while most of the studies on the hotel sector in the literature focus mainly on the evaluation of customers for service quality, other stakeholders’ (employees’ and managers’) perceptions have been ignored. Therefore, the current study’s contribution to the literature explores the differences in stakeholders’ perceptions of the hotel industry.

Kong, Haiyan ; Wang, Sujuan ; Fu, Xingxing

2015 International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

doi: 10.1108/IJCHM-08-2013-0353

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the influence of career expectations on job satisfaction of Generation Y, as well as the mediating effect of career expectations on the relationship between hotel career management (HCM) and job satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from the main tourist cities in China with Generation Y employees working in the hospitality industry as the target population. A total of 442 valid questionnaires were obtained, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the relationships among the constructs. Findings – HCM contributed positively to employees’ career expectation and job satisfaction. Career expectation was positively related to job satisfaction, as well as mediated the relationship between HCM and job satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – This study is limited by the use of self-reported data in the cross-sectional design because all participants filled out the questionnaires by themselves. The use of convenience sampling method presents another limitation for this study. Practical implications – This study may serve as a guide for managers and policymakers. First, this study highlights the importance of effective career management activities. Second, this study may help hotels retain the qualified staff members. Third, this study may help hotel managers respond to the career expectation of their young employees. Social implications – The meditating effect of career expectation highlights its importance in the career management system. The main force of market labor is Generation Y, who are known for their high career expectation and their emphasis on their career development. The findings indicate that both extrinsic and intrinsic value factors provide greater contributions to job satisfaction than prestige and stability factors. Therefore, hotels must provide a stable working environment, and care more on employees’ intrinsic value. Aside from providing high compensation, employers should also provide career growth opportunities and challenging job to their employees, as they are important motivational factors. By providing tailor-made career activities, hotel managers may satisfy the career expectations and enhance the job satisfaction of young employees, which, in turn, leads to a mutually beneficial situation for both managers and employees. Originality/value – This study explores the predictors and outcomes of career expectations of Generation Y employees. It highlights the importance of meeting the career expectations and also shows initial evidence on the mediating effect of career expectation. The findings of this study may provide useful guidance to both hotel operators and employees.