International Hotel Industry Research Articles

Customer perspective on dynamic marketing capability in international hotels of Indonesia during Covid-19: Confirmatory factor analysis

The objective of this study was to validate three independent variables, namely market sensing, learning, targeting and positioning, as to dimensions of dynamic marketing capability (DMC). By developing a theoretical framework, this study demonstrates the importance of three dimensions of DMC. This study collected 530 valid samples through an online questionnaire survey in major cities in Indonesia. Respondents are Indonesian citizens aged over 15 years who have stayed at three to five-star international hotels in Indonesia during the Covid-19 period in 2020. This study used a combination of Smart-PLS and SPSS to examine the outer model and inner model. The outcome of this study demonstrated that market sensing had a significant effect on DMC. Then, market learning also had a significant effect on DMC. Next, market targeting and positioning had a significant effect on DMC from the perspective of the customer in international hotels in Indonesia. The outcome of this study is to support the development of a conceptual framework and conduct an empirical evaluation of the relationship between market sensing, market learning, market targeting and positioning, which are DMC dimensions in global marketing. In general, this study contributes to the international hotel industry in developing the marketing area in the context of DMC.

ZAMONAVIY MEHMONXONALAR BARQARORLIGINI TA’MINLASH IMKONIYATLARI

This article explores the possibilities of preventing the Covid 19 pandemic and its negative consequences, reducing the damage from the pandemic in the development of the international hotel industry and developing measures to protect the industry and related industries in a difficult situation, both economicallyand socially. The sustainability recommendations for each of the modern hotels have been compared with international analytics and scientific findings.

The Role of Self-Confidence in the Criteria of Aesthetic Labour Recruitment

The international tourist hotel industry that focuses on quality of the “tangible” service is a typical high-contact service. Many studies raised the importance of recruitment criteria for aesthetic labour. To survive in the recent competitive work environment, many hoteliers enhance their competitiveness in the process of service employee selection and emphasize the importance of physical attractiveness. However, it is “self-confidence” to be the basic reason for employees to perform their attractive manner and professional jobs. This study uses self-confidence as a moderator which is rare relevant empirical evidence to confirm the relationships between physical attractiveness, professional competence and service attitude. The results show that confidence of the service personnel, physical attractiveness and professional competence have positive significant correlation relationships with service attitude. Service personnel's “self-confidence” is the most important variable towards service attitude. The study borrows selection and training functions of human resource management to integrate the knowledge of psychology, marketing management to expand the theory.

What matters for hotel executives? An examination of major theories in non-equity entry mode research

This study examines the non-equity entry mode decisions of high-level executives in the international hotel industry, specifically the choice between franchising and management contracts. This quantitative study is based on a self-selected scenario-based online survey of 110 hotel executives. The primary objective of the study was to develop and test hypotheses through the combined theoretical lenses of transaction cost economics and the resource-based view. The hypotheses were tested through a logistic regression and the findings show that intangible assets and resources are the most important consideration in deciding between franchising and management contracts when internationalising hotels, generally prompting the use of management contracts. It was also found that uncertainties in the host market may lead hotel executives to choose franchising over management contracts, and finally, that asset specificity may prompt the use of management contracts over franchising.

How hotel employee job-identity impacts the hotel industry: The uncomfortable truth

Abstract The hotel industry admits to struggling to attract and retain well-qualified, skilled labour; this article questions if this difficulty is due to internal and external ‘image’ of the industry. Just over four thousand hotel employees were surveyed on their views of life working in a hotel with results advising that though hotels are not a bad place to work, they are not a good place to work. When this internal view/image merges with the external realities and image characteristics of other job and career options, remuneration (particularly compared with other industries), hours, and turnover, it potentially projects an overall ‘negative industry image’. As the international hotel industry continues to grow, the challenge of attracting and retaining employees will be even greater; this article concludes that it is time for the hotel industry to undergo an ‘industry-image-makeover’.

Evaluating foreign market entry mode theories from a hotel industry perspective

This is a qualitative examination of the theories of new institutional economics (NIE) in the context of choosing between franchising and management contracts in the international hotel industry. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight high-level hotel executives. The primary objective of this study is to empirically examine which of the predominant theories of NIE are the most appropriate for examining the specific choice between franchising and management contracts when internationalising a hotel or hotel chain. Transaction cost economics and the resource-based view emerged as the most appropriate theories, according to the executives interviewed. Moreover, several other important considerations were suggested by the respondents, including the size of the organisation, the importance of intangible assets and the level of investment into these assets. Finally, host country factors, such as legal and political risk, as well as the availability of capable local partners, were suggested as important considerations.

Employee Turnover in International Brand Hotels in Russia: A Comparison of Nationals and Foreign Nationals

ABSTRACTThis empirical study tests the relations between employee turnover and the organizational dimensions of service climate, comparing nationals and foreign nationals in the international brand Russian hotel industry. This study extends the geographic scope of employee turnover to the undertested Russian context. Responses were analyzed using a partial least squares model. Results show that nationals’ and foreign nationals’ responses to model variables diverge. Job insecurity directly affects the turnover intentions of Russian nationals, while its effect for foreign nationals was indirect through organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Compounded indirect effects of turnover antecedents and service climate dimensions are also examined and discussed.

Hotel industry expansion and sustainable development: A case study of Inle Lake, Myanmar

This article examines how international hotel industry expansion affects sustainable development in the context of least developed countries. The study focuses on power asymmetries in the governance processes of hotel value chains. First it develops a model to analyse these processes. Subsequently this model is used to present a case study of Inle Lake, Myanmar. The results show the relations between hotel industry growth, economic development, and sustainability in the particular governance setting of this destination. The analysis sheds light on how actors purposely produce and maintain strategic situations in which the interests of particular actors are protected at the costs of many others. In conclusion we therefore argue that practitioners and academia should direct their efforts at creating (knowledge about) governance arrangements that enable genuine community involvement in decision-making processes related to hotel industry expansion.

The use of non-equity modalities and host-country impact: Some evidence from the international hotel industry and areas of further research

This paper provides preliminary evidence on the use of non-equity modalities by transnational corporations in the hotel industry and discusses the conditions that may favour the choice of one of these modalities as a substitute for foreign direct investment. Based on secondary data and interviews with experts of the hospitality industry, the study looks at the expansion of the major international hotel chains and focuses on the issues of control, transferability of resources and institutional framework to explain the choice of a non-equity governance form. Concentrating on three of the main growth markets in the hospitality sector, China, India and the United Arab Emirates, the study highlights some implications of non-equity modalities in terms of host country impact, emphasizing the issues of skill development, knowledge transfer and procurement linkages, and identifies areas for further research.

The Use of Non-Equity Modalities and Host-Country Impact: Some Evidence from the International Hotel Industry and Areas of Further Research

This paper provides preliminary evidence on the use of non-equity modalities by transnational corporations (TNCs) in the hotel industry and discusses the conditions that may favor the choice of one of these modalities as a substitute for foreign direct investment (FDI). Based on secondary data and interviews with experts of the hospitality industry, the study looks at the expansion of the major international hotel chains and focuses on the issues of control, transferability of resources and institutional framework to explain the choice of a non-equity governance form. Concentrating on three of the main growth markets in the hospitality sector, China, India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the study highlights some implications of non-equity modalities in terms of host country impact, emphasizing the issues of skill development, knowledge transfer and procurement linkages, and identifies areas for further research.

Implications of Cultural Differences for Expatriate Managers in the Global Hotel Industry

The purpose of this article is to explore the concept of expatriate managers as an emerging phenomenon in the context of the international hotel industry. Expatriate managers face significant challenges due to cultural differences when operating and managing hotels in foreign countries. The article explains culture and cultural values, and analyzes the implications for expatriate managers with respect to the three basic dimensions of cultural values: individualism/collectivism, power distance, and uncertainty avoidance. Recommendations are provided, drawn from the perspectives of expatriate managers themselves and international hotel corporations. The article also provides insights into the implications of cultural differences for expatriate hotel managers and how they can adjust to the different working environment.

Strategic human resource management: Insights from the international hotel industry

In the strategic human resource management (SHRM) field three approaches have dominated, namely, the universal or best-practice, best-fit or contingency and resource-based view (RBV). This study investigates evidence for the simultaneous or mixed adoption of these approaches by eight case study firms in the international hotel industry. Findings suggest there is considerable evidence of the combined use of the first two approaches but that the SHRM RBV approach was difficult to achieve by all companies. Overall, gaining differentiation through SHRM practices was found to be challenging due to specific industry forces. The study identifies that where companies derive some competitive advantage from their human resources and HRM practices they have closely aligned their managers’ expertise with their corporate market entry mode expertise and developed some distinctive, complex and integrated HRM interventions, which have a mutually reinforcing effect.

Rasch model in data envelopment analysis: application in the international tourist hotel industry

The Rasch model can be used to transform ordinal data into interval data. Rasch has seldom been incorporated in data envelopment analysis (DEA) models. Therefore, this study attempts to apply the Rasch model in DEA to analyse the performance of seven districts including Taipei; Kaoshong; Taichung; Hwalian; Scenery; Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli; Others in Taiwan containing 56 international tourist hotels during 2009 using five criteria, including average occupancy rate, average room rate, average production value per employee in the accommodation department, average production value per employee in the catering department and operating income/expenses. Furthermore, this study also compared the results with and without the Rasch-bounded DEA model. As expected of the analytical results that applying the DEA model using the bounded formulas achieves better distinguishing power than applying the model without using the bounded formulas. Furthermore, the effectiveness value of each district of Taiwan (Taipei (1.000), Kaoshong (0.3661), Taichung (0.3494), Hwalian (0.2658), Scenery (0.6476), Tyoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli (0.5623), others (0.3127)) during 2009 is obtained.

Trends in the international hotel industry

Purpose – This paper aims to analyse the evolution, current challenges, best practices, and trends in the international hotel industry.Design/methodology/approach – The foundation for this paper was laid during a well‐attended Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes (WHATT) roundtable discussion between industry leaders and hospitality educators in May 2012. International hoteliering is discussed in the context of the theme for the 2012 Canadian WHATT roundtable and the strategic question: “What innovations are needed in the Canadian hotel industry and how might they be implemented to secure the industry's future?”Findings – Through analysis of past and present trends, the paper predicts that current challenges such as labour shortages will continue to affect the industry in the near future.Practical implications – In the conclusion the paper advocates innovative approaches for hospitality education, and states that Canada should learn from international trends and become more innovative and competitive ...

Factors influencing relationship development in franchise partnerships

PurposeThis paper aims to identify and evaluate the factors which influence relationship development between franchisors and franchisees in international service franchise partnerships.Design/methodology/approachCase studies of two international hotel firms were the focus of the enquiry. Interviews and document analysis were used as the data collection techniques.FindingsFindings demonstrate that role performance, asset specificity and cultural sensitivity influence relationship development in franchise partnerships. The influence of these factors, however, varies in different forms of franchise partnerships, namely individual and master franchises.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are based on case studies in the international hotel industry and therefore may not be generalizable to other industry sectors.Practical implicationsService firms should adopt a systematic organization‐wide approach to, and management of, relationship development in franchise partnerships. In particular, in the case of cross‐country partnerships, both franchisors and franchisees need to develop and exploit their inter‐cultural skills and adapt their business practices to the cultures of host and home countries where appropriate.Originality/valueThe paper exploits three main streams of research which could inform the antecedents of business‐to‐business relationships, namely power‐dependence, transaction cost theories and international business. It thus advances services marketing and more specifically international franchising literatures by offering a holistic theoretical perspective to our understanding of business‐to‐business relationship development.

The role of strategic groups in understanding strategic human resource management

PurposeThis article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies' attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identifies how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on firm and industry level analyses.Design/methodology/approachSenior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews.FindingsThe findings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where specific industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt.Research limitations/implicationsThis study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical understanding of strategic human resource management and specifically the forces that act to constrain the achievement of competitive advantage through human resources. A limitation of this study is the dependence on the human resource divisions' perspectives on realising international expansion ambitions in the hotel industry.Practical implicationsThis study has implications for companies' engagement with their executives' perceptions of opportunities and threats, and suggests companies will struggle to achieve competitive advantage where such perceptions are consistent with their competitors.Originality/valueDevelopments in strategic human resource management have relied on the conceptual and theoretical developments in strategic management, however, an understanding of the impact of strategic groups and their shaping of SHRM has not been previously explored.

Firm competition and industrial organization for international tourist hotel industry

The mark-up test (Bresnahan, 1982; Lau, 1982) is adopted to examine the competitive behavior in Taiwan’s international tourist hotel industry. The most important findings are that the industry was operating in a competitive environment, and that the average international tourist hotel had no market power to affect the market price over the study period (1981 - 2006). The “lack of market power” finding is consistent with the industry’s low profit and occupancy rates observed and supported by the increasingly competitive industrial structure and the frequent occurrences of entry into and exit from the industry during the study period. Key words: Markup test, newly empirical industrial organization (NEIO), H-statistic, structure-conduct-performance (SCP), international tourist hotel industry (ITHI).

Work-life mobility and stability: The employment histories of immigrant workers at a unionized Toronto hotel

This article examines the employment histories and future prospects of immigrants employed in main-grade and supervisory positions at a unionized hotel in Toronto. Using interview and observational data, the article examines the employment careers and experiences of the hotel's multiethnic workforce, who were disproportionately located in back-of-house departments. For most, their working lives in Toronto represented downward social mobility relative to their class positions in their countries of origin. This downward mobility was connected to the downgrading of their 'institutionalized cultural capital' since their foreign qualifications and work experience were generally considered invalid by Toronto employers. However, within the city's low-wage service and manufacturing sectors where immigrants are clustered, the workers regarded unionized hotel employment as offering relatively advantageous earnings, benefits and security. Unlike much of the international hotel industry sector, employment at the Toronto hotel was in many ways remarkably stable as seen in the longevity of job tenure. The factors leading to such stability are explored including low promotion prospects coupled with incremental progression via the union-negotiated seniority system. The article illustrates the point made by Gray that lower-end service jobs, such as found in hotels, are not necessarily inherently 'bad' (or 'good') in themselves, but that they are constructed as such via institutional arrangements including the role played by trade unions.

Influence of Uncertain Demand on Product Variety: Evidence from the International Tourist Hotel Industry in Taiwan

Hotels provide many different types of rooms in terms of capacity as well as quality to diversify their products. This paper examines the relationship of uncertain demand and product variety by using monthly operation data from international tourist hotels in Taiwan during 2007–2009. First, the authors apply the two-stage least squares (2SLS) and random-coefficients models to estimate the demand function in Taiwan's international tourist hotel industry. They then examine the relationship between uncertain demand and product variety. The empirical results indicate that the market's uncertain demand significantly induces the hotels to expand their product variety.

International master franchise agreements

PurposeThis paper seeks to examine the inter‐organisational processes used to control international master franchise agreements from operational, relational and evolutionary perspectives.Design/methodology/approachThe research is undertaken through a qualitative, in‐depth case study in the international hotel industry. The case comprises an international master franchise agreement between a large US‐based hotel franchisor and its European master franchisee.FindingsThe study identifies the inter‐related nature of operational and relational control processes and how these evolve over the life of a master franchise agreement. It reveals how the perceptions of franchise members serve to enhance or inhibit the development of relational norms and how these, in turn, impact on the predominant type of control and the specific inter‐organisational processes employed.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is based on a single in‐depth case study within one industrial context and the universality of the findings may therefore be limited.Practical implicationsThe paper offers insights to managers of international master franchise agreements on the interaction between members' perceptions, relational norms developed and the inter‐organisational processes used to control the agreement. It also reveals how the use of contractual controls can inhibit the development of relational norms and negatively impact on relationships between franchisors and master franchisees. The findings presented may have relevance to managers of other types of international alliance agreements.Originality/valueBy drawing on both the alliance and franchise literature and employing a qualitative approach, the study helps to close a gap in the current international franchise literature through the identification of specific inter‐organisational processes for control within international master franchise agreements, how these evolve in respect of relational norms and how these are underpinned by perceptions of franchisor and franchisee members.