Multinational Hotel Chains Research Articles

Challenges and Strategies for Knowledge Transfer in Multinational Corporations: The Case of Hotel “Maria the Great”

This case study examines the difficulties multinational corporations (MNCs) encounter when sharing knowledge among their various business units. The study pinpoints four main challenges to knowledge transfer: the hoarding-of-expertise challenge (HEC), the foreigner challenge (FC), the not-invented-here challenge (NIH), and the absorptive capacity challenge (ACC) and presents approaches to tackle these issues. The case study centers around the A&A hotel chain, specifically its subsidiary, “Maria the Great Hotel,” located on Kish Island in Iran. The study identified challenges within the context of this multinational hotel chain. It introduced strategies that can be used to address these challenges, emphasizing the significance of knowledge transfer in attaining organizational success and gaining a competitive edge.

The theory-practice research gains from big data: evidence from hospitality loyalty programs

PurposeThe hospitality industry values segmentation and loyalty programs (LPs), but there is limited research on new methods for segmenting loyalty program members, so managers often rely on conventional techniques. This study aims to use big data-driven segmentation methods to cluster customers and provide a new solution for customer segmentation in hotel LPs.Design/methodology/approachUsing the k-means algorithm, this study examined 498,655 profiles of guests enrolled in a multinational hotel chain’s loyalty program. The objective was to cluster guests according to their consumption behavior and monetary value and compare data-driven segments based on brand preferences, demographic data and monetary value with loyalty program tiers.FindingsThis study shows that current tier-based LPs lack features to improve customer segmentation, and some high-tier members generate less revenue than low-tier members. Therefore, more attention should be given to truly valuable customers.Practical implicationsHotels can segment LP members to develop targeted campaigns and uncover new insights. This will help to transform LPs to make them more valuable and profitable and use differentiated rewards and strategies.Originality/valueAs not all guests or hotel brands benefit equally from LPs, additional segmentation is required to suit varying guest behaviors. Hotel managers can use data mining techniques to develop more efficient and valuable LPs with personalized strategies and rewards.

The roles of justice climates on high-investment human resource system and unit/individual performance relationships

While there is evidence that high-investment human resource system (HIHRS) use is related to positive behavioral outcomes, our understanding of the underlying mechanism is wanting. Answering the calls for more cross-level human resource management (HRM) studies, we integrate and build on contemporary organizational justice climate research and the extant cross-level HRM research to investigate unit justice climates as novel mechanisms through which unit HIHRS use may advance the performance of units and their members. Adopting a multi-level and multi-source approach, we develop and test a moderated mediation model to explain how unit-level HIHRS use relates to unit and individual task performance. Analysis of multi-source data from 701 managers, 120 food and beverage units and 40 hotel properties of a multinational hotel chain illuminated the mediating influence of unit overall justice climates on the relationships between unit HIHRS use and unit and individual task performance. Moreover, unit procedural and distributive justice climates were found to have positive interactive effects on that performance. The current study’s findings, practical implications, limitations, and avenues for future research are discussed.

Moderating effects of decision autonomy and culture novelty on the relationship between expatriate manager leadership styles and host country managers’ job satisfaction: Evidence from the global hotel industry

While the use of expatriate managers to control and manage the foreign subsidiary is well recognized, there is a paucity of literature that considers how expatriate managers’ leadership behaviors affect host country nationals (HCNs). By incorporating leadership contingency perspective into expatriation literature, we examine the boundary conditions of two leadership (planning and consulting) behaviors on HCN managers’ job attitude (i.e., job satisfaction). Specifically, we investigate the moderating effects of decision autonomy and culture novelty of expatriate managers on the aforementioned relationships, using survey data collected from 103 expatriate general managers and 276 HCN managers working in nine American-based multinational hotel chains and found both planning and consulting leadership behaviors to be positively related to HCN managers’ job satisfaction. Decision autonomy and culture novelty acted as boundary conditions of such relationships such that decision autonomy moderated the planning-job satisfaction relationship while culture novelty moderated the consulting-job satisfaction relationship.

Do personal values matter? The effects of personal values on hospitality employees’ service climate perceptions

Growing workforce diversity necessitates greater knowledge and understanding of how employee personal attributes alter perceptions of organisational practices. This study investigates the effects of personal values on employee perceptions of service climate in the context of multi-national hotel chains. We employed a sequential explanatory design that yielded unexpected results, indicating little evidence of personal values effects on employee perceptions of service climate. Nonetheless, the study contributes to unfolding the complex mechanisms of service climate antecedents. Situational strength theory and employees’ self-suppression of personal values advance understanding of the intersection between personal values, organisational attributes, and employee perceptions of service climate. Future research opportunities are proposed, and theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Benefits and challenges for Malaysian hotels when employing foreign workers and interns

PurposeIn Malaysia, globalization has increased the number of multinational hotel chains and independent five-star hotels employing foreign professionals, interns and labourers. This study aims to explore the benefits and challenges for hotels of the many foreigners working in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with Malaysian hotel managers concerning employment of foreign workers.FindingsThe results indicate that the employment of foreign workers benefits customers, enlarges the hotel’s network of industry contacts and enhances the knowledge, professionalism and service culture of the hotel workforce. This study identified challenges for the foreign workers such as culture shocks and problems with learning the Malay language.Research limitations/implicationsThis is an exploratory qualitative study conducted prior to the outbreak of COVID-19. The unemployment issue is worsened as COVID-19 spreads globally. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is among the first study to examine the positive and negative impacts of foreign workers employment in hotels in Malaysia.Practical implicationsThe employment of foreign workers reduces the availability of jobs for locals. Recommendations are provided for locals to improve their employability and for hotels to better host international interns.Social implicationsThis study highlights the need for balance between the benefits of foreign workers employment, and its challenges such as local unemployment.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research is among the first in the international human resources management literature to provide a first-hand perspective of employment of expatriate managers, foreign labourers and interns in hotels in a Southeast Asian developing country.

Dynamic pricing in different Spanish resort hotels

The present study uses data on seven 4-star hotels belonging to the same multinational hotel chain located in different Spanish regions. The objective is to estimate the dynamic prices that allow the hotel revenue maximization during high season. The study includes the demand functions of seven resort hotels and implements a dynamic pricing deterministic model to estimate the prices that will maximize the hotel revenue for each date of stay. The results point out general revenue management implications, mainly that hotels located in the same destination should follow individualized pricing policies, more focused in the specific hotel and tourists’ characteristics; while in practice, hotel companies apply similar pricing policies to hotels located in the same destination. Furthermore, the deterministic model performs well with the data available on seven different hotels with different customer profiles and hotel characteristics.

Economics of cultivation of exotic fruits and vegetables in Chhattisgarh

In this research an attempt has been made to study the economics of exotic fruits and vegetables in context of Chhattisgarh. With advent of multinational hotel chain in Chhattisgarh the demand for the exotic fruits and vegetables are rising, hence farmers can find a local market for these crops which fetches a healthy wholesale price. The two crops analysed in this study is zucchini which yielded a profit of 2.2Lakhs/Hectare and Green Cantaloupe which yielded a profit of 2. 7 Lakhs/Hectare. The wholesale price of these crops always remains the same as there is no heavy competition among cultivators of these crops. The Crops are in demand while their availability is limited hence a healthy whole sale price is always maintained. The second advantage of these crops is that the farmer reaches the breakeven point with ease, on the contrary conventional crops such as tomato may fetch a price of 1 Rupee per kilogram in the wholesale market hence farmers are not even able to reach the breakeven point.

Exploring the impact of international human resource management practices on firm performance

In the recent decade, the global tourism industry is showing trends of increasing visitor arrivals in the developing countries. On one hand, this implies that more tourist dollar is coming into small island developing states; on the other hand, it means that there will be more need for accommodation facilities and tourist attraction sites. In the case of Fiji, majority of the five star hotels in Fiji are owned and operated by foreign multinational hotel chains. Against this backdrop, this research will examine the human resource management practices adopted by the multinational hotels in Fiji and how each innovative employee management practices has a causal impact on firm performance, employee retention and customer satisfaction.

Empowerment, Organizational Commitment, and Voice Behavior in the Hospitality Industry

Employee empowerment is widely viewed as a promising approach to improve operating efficiency and customer service. But the most effective way to empower the staff is not always clear to hospitality managers, both in terms of what to do and what to avoid. Using data from 640 frontline service employees and their supervisors working in sixteen different properties of a multinational hotel chain in the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region, this study tested a model of the relationships between empowering leadership, psychological empowerment, organizational commitment, and voice behavior. Results suggest that psychological empowerment mediates the relationship between empowering leadership and both organizational commitment and voice behavior (defined as identifying problems and suggesting improvements). The study also found a particular pitfall for empowerment in high power distance cultures, in that the effects are much weaker for high power distance cultures. As the value of empowering leadership seems clear, multinational companies may wish to select employees and managers who are comfortable with an empowerment strategy, and make clear to all employees—particularly those on the frontline—that the organization will support them as they take more initiative.

Doing the right thing without being told: Joint effects of initiative climate and general self-efficacy on employee proactive customer service performance.

We developed and tested a cross-level model of the antecedents and outcomes of proactive customer service performance. Results from a field study of 900 frontline service employees and their supervisors in 74 establishments of a multinational hotel chain located in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia demonstrated measurement equivalence and suggested that, after controlling for service climate, initiative climate at the establishment level and general self-efficacy at the individual level predicted employee proactive customer service performance and interacted in a synergistic way. Results also showed that at the establishment level, controlling for service climate and collective general service performance, initiative climate was positively and indirectly associated with customer service satisfaction through the mediation of aggregated proactive customer service performance. We discuss important theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Dynamics of standards as an innovation process in service MNCs: a case of multinational hotel groups

This empirical study explores the dynamics of standard operating procedures (standards) as an innovation process in service multinational corporations (MNCs). The qualitative data was collected from five multinational hotel chains (in three multinational hotel groups) and their affiliated hotels located in the UK, Thailand, France and Hong Kong. The results show that the evolution of standards can be identified as an innovation process within the multinational hotel groups because new service offerings and processes are driven by changes in corresponding standards. A process of standard evolution contains four consecutive stages: variation, selection, experimental-replication, and routinisation. Throughout the process, collective and multiple learning underline evolving standards over time. The evolution of standards can be recognized as an ‘all for one and one for all’ innovation process in service MNCs since all actors, including the corporate headquarters, regional headquarters and affiliated hotels, participate in this long process.

Anti-Competitive Practices In The Tourism Industry: The Case Of Small Economies

<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; margin: 0in 0.6in 0pt 0.5in;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Who benefits from the proliferation of ecolodges, beachfront resorts, safari parks, river cruises, forest forays and other similar and increasingly popular ventures popping up in developing economies across the world? Critics hold that multinational hotel chains, influential tour operators and foreign interests sometimes in association with powerful domestic groups often engage in anticompetitive practices at the expense of local communities, domestic workers and other stakeholders where the tourism activities take place. In this paper, we examine the possibility of market power abuses in the tourism industry in small economies or small national economies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Many of these small economies have recently inaugurated antitrust enforcement agencies charged with curtailing market power abuses and other anticompetitive practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>We also examine how effective these agencies are likely to be in challenging the powerful tourism industry. Succinctly, we conclude that monopsonistic practices may arise in the tourism sector of small economies. But we argue that domestic competition agencies are not suited to challenge monopsony for various reasons including a lack of political will.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>We also analyze the plausible cartelization role of regional marketing boards.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Regional marketing boards are collaborative efforts by groups of countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>Because it is entrusted with cross jurisdictional enforcement of competition laws, a “regional” agency with jurisdiction in several countries across a region may be more likely to successfully confront monopsony problems.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">  </span>However, we conclude that a regional enforcement agency is equally unlikely to successfully challenged cross-border anticompetitive practices because it is not likely to challenge the impairment of consumer welfare of foreign nationals.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> </span></span></p>

Internal labour markets as a strategic tool: A comparative study of UK and Chinese hotels

This paper reports how internal labour markets (ILMs), operated by a multinational hotel chain in the UK and China, impact on a range of organisational outcomes. The study examines the effects of three main dimensions of ILMs: job security, training, and opportunities for advancement on the key organisational outcomes of job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and intention to leave, together with employee attitudes to work environment, co-workers, supervisor, service to guests, leadership, communication, and organisational goal achievement. The paper concludes that the operation of an ILM, underpinned by effective human resource management policies and actions, is associated with high levels of work commitment and job satisfaction together with reduced intention to leave. However, the importance of individual ILM variables differs between hotels in the UK and China.

What Matters More?

Research has provided little empirical support for the concept that employee job satisfaction is a causal driver of employee job performance, customer satisfaction, and company performance. This concept is an enduring one, however, and it has been codified as the starting point in the widely espoused service profit chain. Using a sample of eighty-four food and beverage (F&B) manager groups from forty Asian hotel properties owned and managed by a single multinational hotel chain, we examine the effect of job satisfaction, and contrast this effect with that of group service climate, on supervisor ratings of group job performance behaviors (group task performance and organizational citizenship behaviors). The findings underscore the weak connection between job satisfaction and job performance. However, group service climate was found to have a positive effect on supervisor ratings of group job performance behaviors. Consistent with prior research, this study’s findings indicate that managers may improve their employees’ job performance (and job satisfaction) by ensuring that employees understand what is expected of them and how their performance will be appraised and rewarded by the organization.

Linking employee attitudes and behaviors with business performance: A comparative analysis of hotels in Mexico and China

Organizations have been studied extensively through the lenses of employee attitudes and behaviors, yet links with organizational performance have not often been considered. This research uses established measures of commitment, job satisfaction and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) to analyze data obtained from workers in a multinational hotel chain operating in Mexico and China. Mexico and China are selected due to their importance as emerging global markets. Quantitative analysis shows significantly different levels of commitment, job satisfaction and OCB in line with low and high performance in these national hotel groups. The research finds that commitment, job satisfaction and OCB are associated significantly with financial performance, but not with guest satisfaction.

It's more than wages: Analysis of the impact of internal labour markets on the quality of jobs

This article reports on a study of how internal labour markets, operating in a multi-national hotel chain, may impact on workers in traditionally low paid jobs. The quality of jobs has been linked to pay, with lower paid jobs tending to be regarded as being of lower quality. The study examines the effect of three main dimensions of internal labour markets: job security; training; and opportunities for advancement; on the key organizational outcomes of job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave. A range of human resource management actions in the operation of the hotel's internal labour market is discussed. Data from a world-wide organizational survey are analysed in order to examine the links between the internal labour market variables and the key organizational outcomes. The article concludes that the operation of an internal labour market, underpinned by effective human resource policies and actions, leads to improved quality of jobs as measured by increased job satisfaction and organizational commitment, together with reduced intention to leave.

Modeling the Effects of a Service Guarantee on Perceived Service Quality Using Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE)*

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the dearth of empirical research on the relationship between service guarantee and perceived service quality (PSQ). In particular, we examine the moderating effects of a service guarantee on PSQ. While a recent study provided empirical evidence that service quality is affected by service guarantee and employee variables such as employee motivation/vision and learning through service failure, the nature and form of the relationships between these variables remain unclear. Knowledge of these relationships can assist service managers to allocate resources more judiciously, avoid pitfalls, and establish more realistic expectations. Data was obtained from employees and customers of a multinational hotel chain that has implemented a service guarantee program in 89 of its hotels in America and Canada. As the employee variables could affect performance in a non‐linear fashion, we relaxed the assumption of model linearity by using the Alternating Conditional Expectations (ACE) algorithm to arrive at a better‐fitting, non‐linear regression model for PSQ. Our findings indicate the existence of significant non‐linear relationships between PSQ and its determinant variables. The ACE model also revealed that service guarantee interacts with the employee variables to affect PSQ in a non‐linear fashion. The non‐linear relationships present new insights into the management of service guarantees and PSQ. Explanations and managerial implications of our results are presented and discussed.

The Accor Multinational Hotel Chain in an Emerging Market: Through the Lens of the Core Competency Concept’

Service multinationals rely more on their abilities to leverage corporate resources than on their large resource positions to be successful in competition in today ‘s market. To understand this phenomenon, a fresh approach is needed in research on competition in service industries. The concept of core competency is applied in an analysis of case studies of the Accor multinational hotel chain (France) and its competitors in the Thai marketplace. The analysis focuses on core competencies embedded in the three main functions of service firms -human resources, operations, and marketing. It traces Accor's success to four core competencies - nurturing empowerment, data management, and new service development

A Framework for the Identification of Political Environmental Issues Faced by Multinational Hotel Chains in Newly Industrialized Countries in Asia. Chol Yong Kim and Michael D. Olsen. International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 12, no. 2, May 1993, pp. 163-74. Pergamon Press Inc., 660 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591-5153. $219 annual subscription

A Framework for the Identification of Political Environmental Issues Faced by Multinational Hotel Chains in Newly Industrialized Countries in Asia. Chol Yong Kim and Michael D. Olsen. International Journal of Hospitality Management, vol. 12, no. 2, May 1993, pp. 163-74. Pergamon Press Inc., 660 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591-5153. $219 annual subscription