Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2009), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 21 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2009.04121daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 21, Issue 4

I am pleased to note that 2008 was another successful year for IJCHM. Among Emerald’s 205 journals, IJCHM was ranked third once again in terms of the number of article downloads made. Last year, 464,941 article downloads were made from IJCHM through the Emerald database. My most sincere thanks to our readers, authors, Editorial Advisory Board members, ad hoc reviewers, and, of course all employees of Emerald for their support and hard work.

This issue consists of six empirical research articles, two research-in-brief (RIB) papers, and a book review. In the first article, Young Namkung, SooCheong (Shawn) Jang, Barbara Almanza and Joe Ismail examine the applicability of fairness concepts as a lens for evaluating services in restaurants. They address service fairness issues within, as well as outside of, the service failure context. After collecting data from two casual dining restaurants in the USA, and interpreting their results, they are able to offer managers a perspective on how consumers evaluate service from a fairness viewpoint. This study provides the basis for investigating which aspects of service fairness can be critical in eliciting favorable emotional and behavioral consequences.

In the second article, Carola Raab, Karl Mayer, Stowe Shoemaker and Steve Ng assess how activity-based pricing can be applied in a restaurant setting by combining the use of price sensitivity measurement with activity-based costing. They collected data at a Hong Kong buffet restaurant, based on guests’ price perceptions and the establishment’s detailed cost structure. The findings from this study suggest that activity-based pricing may be a viable way for restaurant managers to gain a better understanding of both their guests’ price perceptions and the true cost structure of their restaurants.

The next article, by Seonghee Oak and Raymond S. Schmidgall, examines whether budgetary controls at clubs have changed from the mid-1980s to the first decade of the twenty-first century. They find that comparisons to the original budget and actual numbers during the current decade increased significantly from comparisons made in the prior decade. This paper provides findings that can help managers as they compare their budgetary control practices with US club industry practices.

Sharpen Nisbet examines the role of employees in encouraging customer adoption of new gaming machine payment technologies. The author collected data through semi-structured interviews and proposes a typology of change agent involvement in the successful customer adoption of payment innovations. This paper applies a typology of change agent roles in a service industry context, acknowledging the unique relationship that club employees have with customers.

Elisa Moncarz, Jinlin Zhao and Christine Kay empirically investigate US lodging properties’ organisational employee-retention initiatives and practices. They find that corporate culture, hiring and promotion practices and training influence the retention of non-management employees. At the same time, it is found that hiring and promotion practices impact management retention as well. Moreover, organisational mission, goals and direction, and employee recognition, rewards and compensation are found to positively reduce non-management employee turnover. The paper provides implications for practitioners with the contemporary tools to reduce employee turnover proactively.

The final research paper, by Valerie K. Pilling and her colleagues, evaluates the relative effectiveness of four-hour ServSafe^® food safety training, a theory-based intervention targeting foodservice employees’ perceived barriers to implementing food safety practices. They find that training or intervention alone was better than no treatment, but the training/intervention combination was most effective at improving employees’ compliance with and perceptions of control over performing the behaviours. The authors suggest that ServSafe^® training can be enhanced with a simple intervention that targets foodservice employees’ perceived barriers to food safety. Providing knowledge and addressing barriers are both important steps to improving food safety in restaurants.

In the first Research in Brief paper, Ersem Karadag and Sezayi Dumanoglu examine the productivity of guest-related IT applications and perceptions of hotel managers on IT competency in upscale hotels in Turkey. They find that hotel managers view guest-related IT applications as highly productive and appreciate IT’s benefits. This RIB paper provides a useful insight for hoteliers to understand the productivity dimensions of guest-related IT applications. The findings of this paper can be used as a guide for hoteliers deciding on which IT applications to implement in order to meet customer expectations while at the same time trying to maximise the benefits of a hotel property.

The next Research in Brief paper, by Cristina Jönsson and Dwayne Devonish, examines a typology of competitive strategies in the context of the accommodation sector in Barbados. They collected data through self-administered questionnaires from hotels in Barbados. They find that hotels in the five-star and higher category placed substantial strategic focus in the area of defining service standards and performance in comparison to hotels in the one-star category. This study suggests that hoteliers should focus on a combination of different strategies advanced by Vandermerwe et al. as a means of securing a competitive advantage.

Finally, Mark J. Okrant provides a very interesting review of Lee Cerveny’s Nature and Tourists in the Last Frontier: Local Encounters with Global Tourism in Coastal Alaska.

In every issue we strive to publish articles and Research in Brief papers on relevant and current topics in the hospitality field. For example, the articles published in this issue provide empirical evidence and discussions from different segments of the hospitality industry. The articles also offer clear theoretical and practical implications on marketing, budgetary practices, human resources, information technology, productivity and competitive strategies in hospitality organisations.

Fevzi OkumusEditor-in-Chief