Exploring Hotel Management Innovation

Abstract

The study of management innovation has gained relevance in recent years, but there is a lack of empirical research analyzing the factors that favor it. This article contemplates two types of antecedents of management innovation in the hospitality industry. In the internal context of the company, the influence of the employees’ knowledge and skills is analyzed, as well as the company’s capacity to integrate this knowledge. In the external setting, an evaluation is performed of the way relationships established with tourist industry agents and external change agents affect the development of management innovation. The data obtained from 27 firms operating hotel establishments in Taiwan show that both the internal resources and the relations with external change agents determine the introduction of management innovations. However, access to knowledge held by tourist industry agents does not influence management innovation.