Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the quality management (QM) practices in Iranian hotels that are small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through the integration of the fuzzy set theory with both qualitative and quantitative methods. The criteria were collected through the literature survey and the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). This study applied fuzzy multiple criteria decision making (FMCDM), including the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP), the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Vise Kriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje (VIKOR). In the FDM phase, 21 practice was selected and categorized into four main factors. Results of the study indicated that the quality assurance was ranked as the highest important fac- tor. From the practical viewpoint, this paper proposed new integrated model that applied FDM, FAHP, TOPSIS and VIKOR for the evaluation of QM practices in the hotel industry and introduced the environmental perspective as a new viewpoint of QM systems, espe- cially in hotels as SMEs. In addition, the proposed model highlights a new insight into MCDM and contributes to the present body of knowledge in the area of QM systems.
Highlights
Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple perspectives and issues
The current study presents a review of the literature Journal of Business Economics and Management, 2016, 17(1): 1–16 on QM and attempts to identify, evaluate and prioritize numerous quality management practices used in Iranian hotels that are small and medium enterprises (SMEs)
The most important practices for the evaluation of QM practices were extracted during the literature survey. 43 practices were extracted from previous studies
Summary
Organizational studies encompass the study of organizations from multiple perspectives and issues. Studies that focus on explanatory factors of organization performance always emphasize the contingency theory (Lawrence, Lorsch 1967) to clarify the association between the management practices, external environment, organisational characteristics and performance. The significant findings in the previous researches suggested that in order an organisational to perform well, the characteristics of the organization and the contextual factor must be considered and aligned. This is basically in line with the concept of fit (Drazin, Van de Ven 1985) that rationalize the association or relationship between explanatory variables and performance. The current study introduces the external environment as a new viewpoint to the foundation of quality management systems. The current study can be considered the first that introduces a comprehensive list of QM systems from four different perspectives on the hospitality industry
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