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Article
Publication date: 8 April 2014

Sun-Young Park and Stuart E. Levy

The aim of this paper is to examine hotel frontline employees' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at the hotel they currently work, and how their…

5873

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this paper is to examine hotel frontline employees' perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities at the hotel they currently work, and how their perceptions influence their level of organizational identification, an indicator of their relationship quality with the hotel.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses 575 responses of hotel frontline employees in the US, collected through a national online survey.

Findings

Results show that hotel employees' perceptions of CSR activities encompass the host community, colleagues, and customers, beyond green practices. Moreover, their perceptions of CSR activities positively and significantly influence the level of organizational identification.

Research limitations/implications

The results of this exploratory study should not be generalized to all frontline employees in the US hotel industry. Future studies should extend this study to examine potential relationships among other variables relevant to organizational identification, and in other hospitality industry contexts. Also, this study does not seek to question the merits of CSR per se, as it takes a managerial perspective to assist hoteliers' understanding of and decision-making on CSR.

Practical implications

As CSR activities often represent company values and norms, frontline employees' perceptions of them can influence how they identify with the company, which is an impetus for their attitudinal and behavioral support to help achieve the company's goals. Accordingly, CSR activities can be a critical tool in engaging frontline employees to achieve better performance and derive more meaning in their careers, and in attracting good quality employees.

Originality/value

This study is a first attempt to empirically examine how CSR activities can benefit hotel employees, based on various literatures on service-profit-chain, CSR, and social identity theory.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 26 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 August 2009

Osman M. Karatepe, Ilkay Yorganci and Mine Haktanir

The central purpose of this study is to develop and test a model which examines the effects of customer verbal aggression on emotional dissonance, emotional exhaustion, and job…

5862

Abstract

Purpose

The central purpose of this study is to develop and test a model which examines the effects of customer verbal aggression on emotional dissonance, emotional exhaustion, and job outcomes such as service recovery performance, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions. The model also investigates the impact of emotional dissonance on emotional exhaustion and the effects of emotional dissonance and exhaustion on the above‐mentioned job outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered from a sample of frontline hotel employees in Northern Cyprus via self‐administered questionnaires. A total number of 204 questionnaires were obtained.

Findings

As hypothesized, emotional dissonance and emotional exhaustion were found to be significant outcomes of customer verbal aggression. The results demonstrated that emotional dissonance amplified exhaustion. The results further revealed that customer verbal aggression and emotional dissonance intensified turnover intentions. As expected, emotional exhaustion reduced service recovery performance and job satisfaction and aggravated turnover intentions.

Research limitations/implications

The cross‐sectional design of the study constrains the ability to make causal inferences. Therefore, future studies using longitudinal designs would be beneficial in establishing causal relationships. Although the paper controlled for common method bias via Harman's single‐factor test, future studies using multiple sources for data collection would minimize such a problem.

Practical implications

Hotel managers need to arrange training programmes to enable their employees to cope with the actions of boisterous and boorish customers. Having empowerment in the workplace seems to be an important weapon in managing such customers. In addition, managers should recruit and select the most suitable individuals for frontline service positions so that such employees can cope with difficulties associated with customer verbal aggression, emotional dissonance, and emotional exhaustion.

Originality/value

Empirical evidence pertaining to the consequences of customer verbal aggression in the hospitality management and marketing literatures is meagre. Thus the study partially fills this gap in the research stream of customer verbal aggression.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 21 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 February 2022

Feng Hu, Rohit Trivedi and Thorsten Teichert

This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables…

1091

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how marketers can use text mining to analyze actors, actions and performance effects of service encounters by building on the role theory. This enables hotel managers to use introduced methodology to measure and monitor frontline employees’ role behavior and optimize their service.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ approach links text mining and importance-performance analysis with role theory’s conceptual foundations taking into account the hotel industry’s specifics to assess the effect of frontline hotel employees’ actions on consumer satisfaction and to derive specific management implications for the hospitality sector.

Findings

This study identifies different actors involved in hotel frontline interactions revealing distinct role behaviors that characterize consumers’ perspectives of service encounters with different role types associated with front-office employees. This research also identifies role performance related to role behavior to improve service encounters.

Practical implications

Customer–employee interactions can be assessed by user-generated contents (UGC). Performance evaluations relate to frontline employee roles associated with distinct role scripts, whereby different hotel segments require tailored role designs. Insights of this study can be used for service optimization, market positioning as well as for improving human resource management practices in the hotel industry.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the service encounter literature by applying role theory in the text mining of UGC to assess frontline employees as actors and the effects of their actions on service quality delivery.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2016

Kyoung-Joo Lee

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and to analyze the mediation role of…

2711

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between sense of calling and career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and to analyze the mediation role of knowledge sharing with organizational members given the rapidly growing academic interest in the meaning of work.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a survey of 357 frontline employees in 12 super-deluxe hotels in Korea, this study performed confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling analysis to test the hypothesis of causal relationships in the research model.

Findings

Drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), this study shows that sense of calling has a positive and significant effect on the career satisfaction of hotel frontline employees and that the relationship was mediated by active participation in knowledge sharing with supervisors and coworkers.

Practical implications

The research result highlights the significance of service providers’ calling orientation on career satisfaction and their pursuit of skills and knowledge for higher personal development and performance to achieve career success.

Originality/value

Based on SDT, this study deepens our understanding on the process of how calling orientation leads to career satisfaction and knowledge sharing behavior in organizations.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Osman M. Karatepe and Georgiana Karadas

This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model that investigates the effect of psychological capital on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by work engagement…

7341

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model that investigates the effect of psychological capital on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by work engagement, drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the motivational process of the job demands-resources model.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on data gathered from frontline employees in the international five- and four-star chain hotels with a time lag of two weeks in three waves in Romania, the relationships in the conceptual model were gauged through structural equation modeling. Self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience were treated as the indicators of psychological capital.

Findings

The results suggest that optimism appears to be the best indicator of psychological capital, followed by resilience, self-efficacy and hope. Employees with high psychological capital are engaged in their work at elevated levels. Employees high in psychological capital are more satisfied with their job, career and life. The results reported in this study further suggest that psychological capital boosts work engagement that in turn leads to job, career and life satisfaction.

Practical implications

The presence of rigorous selective staffing enables management to select a pool of employees high in psychological capital and work engagement. Inviting applicants to fill out an online questionnaire to identify their knowledge and skills and then using specific experiential exercises or short case studies to understand their tactics for handling service encounters can serve this purpose. Management can utilize the psychological capital questionnaire during and after the selection process. The availability of a resourceful work environment where there are training, empowerment, rewards and career opportunities is likely to stimulate employees’ positive emotions that in turn relate to psychological capital.

Originality/value

Very little is known about psychological capital in the hospitality management literature. Therefore, this paper fills in this void by linking psychological capital to employees’ job, career and life satisfaction through work engagement.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 27 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 August 2022

Merve Öksüz, Hikmet Tosyalı and Furkan Tosyali

This paper aims to examine the association between supervisor support, servicing efficacy and job satisfaction among frontline hotel employees in Turkey. Specifically, the…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the association between supervisor support, servicing efficacy and job satisfaction among frontline hotel employees in Turkey. Specifically, the mediating role of servicing efficacy was examined in the link between supervisor support and job satisfaction.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from 421 frontline employees in 4- and 5-star hotels located in the South and South West of Turkey. The authors proposed a conceptual model in which servicing efficacy mediates the link between supervisor support and job satisfaction after controlling for demographic information. Data were analyzed through the structural equation modeling (SEM) framework.

Findings

Results showed that supervisor support positively predicted servicing efficacy and job satisfaction reports of the employees. Those reporting higher servicing efficacy were more likely to report increased job satisfaction. In addition, servicing efficacy partially mediated the link between supervisor support and job satisfaction.

Originality/value

The current study provides new evidence on the link between supervisor support, efficacy beliefs and job satisfaction in the hotel industry. This is the first study investigating the mediating role of servicing efficacy in the association between supervisor support and job satisfaction. Moreover, most previous studies separately focusing on supervisor support, efficacy beliefs and job satisfaction in the hospitality industry were conducted in developed, Western countries. In contrast, research examining work-related constructs and outcomes in Turkey’s hospitality industry has been limited. Thus, both replicated and original findings would contribute to the generalizability of cumulative knowledge in tourism and hospitality.

Article
Publication date: 20 August 2021

Eunice Fay Amissah, Sarah Blankson-Stiles-Ocran and Ishmael Mensah

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of emotional labour on frontline employees' emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction within the hotel industry.

1633

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of emotional labour on frontline employees' emotional exhaustion and job satisfaction within the hotel industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The quantitative research approach was employed by administering questionnaires to 205 frontline employees from 16 luxury hotels in the Accra Metropolis, out of which 194 questionnaires were retrieved and analysed.

Findings

The results showed that surface acting was positively associated with emotional exhaustion, while deep and genuine acting were negatively associated with emotional exhaustion. In addition, both deep and genuine acting related positively with job satisfaction, while surface acting was negatively associated with job satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

A lackadaisical attitude from hotel management and employees towards data collection was encountered. Also, the study area had very few upscale hotels, making the sample for the study relatively small. Further, since this study was taken from the African perspective, readers should be mindful of generalisation of the results.

Originality/value

This paper is one of the pioneers to have assessed the relationships between emotional labour, job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion in the African hospitality context. The study contributes to hospitality management literature by explaining how the acting strategies of emotional labour affect frontline employees in the hotel industry. A better understanding of emotional labour will help both management and frontline employees to employ the appropriate acting strategy in any given situation they encounter in the course of their service delivery, to reduce the emotional drain they face in handling especially difficult customers and to increase frontline employees' job satisfaction.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 5 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2010

Ugur Yavas, Osman M. Karatepe and Emin Babakus

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficacies of a set of organizational support mechanisms and personality traits in predicting frontline employees' service…

3067

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relative efficacies of a set of organizational support mechanisms and personality traits in predicting frontline employees' service recovery and job performances.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered through self‐administered questionnaires. A sample of 723 frontline hotel employees in Turkey serves as the study setting.

Findings

The study results show that organizational support is more effective in differentiating between high‐ and low‐performing frontline employees in the case of service recovery performance. However, job performance overall is more susceptible to the influences of personality traits.

Research limitations/implications

Replication studies in other regions of Turkey and other countries among frontline employees in the hotel industry as well as other service settings would broaden the database for further generalizations. Including other organizational support mechanisms (e.g. technology support) and personality traits (e.g. customer orientation) would shed further light on our understanding of the relative roles of organizational support and personality traits in predicting frontline employee performance.

Practical implications

In addition to providing organizational support to their employees, hotel managers should recruit individuals with the relevant personality traits for frontline service jobs. Using these strategies in tandem increases the likelihood of having high‐performing employees.

Social implications

From a macro standpoint, implementation of the strategies discussed here will benefit the hotels in Turkey which are in stiffening competition with their counterparts.

Originality/value

The study adds to the body of knowledge by investigating simultaneously the relative efficacies of organizational support and personality traits in predicting service recovery and job performances of frontline hotel employees in a developing economy.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 65 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 February 2011

Osman M. Karatepe

Using the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a research model that investigates the moderating role…

4706

Abstract

Purpose

Using the Job Demands‐Resources (JD‐R) model as the theoretical framework, the purpose of this study is to develop and test a research model that investigates the moderating role of perceived organizational support and job autonomy on the relationships between emotional dissonance and exhaustion and disengagement. The model also seeks to test the impact of emotional dissonance on exhaustion and disengagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this empirical investigation were gathered from a sample of full‐time frontline hotel employees in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. Respondents self‐administered the questionnaires. A total number of 620 questionnaires were obtained.

Findings

Results based on hierarchical regression analysis reveal that emotional dissonance intensifies exhaustion and disengagement. Results also demonstrate that perceived organizational support and job autonomy buffer the impact of emotional dissonance on disengagement.

Research limitations/implications

Future studies should use longitudinal data to establish causal relationships among the study variables. Although common method bias was controlled via Harman's single‐factor test using confirmatory factor analysis, in future studies it would be beneficial to collect data from multiple sources to minimize this potential threat.

Practical implications

There is a need for effective and continuous training programs for frontline employees to learn how to cope with emotionally demanding interactions with customers in the service encounter. Hotel managers should employ mentors and/or benefit from the existing successful more experienced senior employees as mentors to provide professional assistance to less experienced junior employees for the alleviation of emotional dissonance and burnout. In addition, supervisors should be trained to learn how to provide assistance for front‐line employees to reduce emotional dissonance and disengagement. Having jobs with adequate autonomy in the workplace could help such front‐line employees to decrease emotional dissonance and experience less disengagement.

Originality/value

Empirical research pertaining to the moderators of emotional dissonance in the hospitality management and marketing literatures is sparse. Hence, based on the precepts of the JD‐R model, this study aims to fill this void.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 23 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 September 2012

Taegoo (Terry) Kim, Joanne Jung‐Eun Yoo, Gyehee Lee and Joungman Kim

The study aimed to test the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor (EL) acting strategies in the hotel industry. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to…

8243

Abstract

Purpose

The study aimed to test the antecedents and consequences of emotional labor (EL) acting strategies in the hotel industry. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of emotional intelligence (EI) on the relationships among EL acting strategies, emotional exhaustion (EE) and service recovery performance (SRP).

Design/methodology/approach

The survey was administered in five‐star hotels in Korea. Frontline employees of the hotels participated in the survey and a total of 353 returned questionnaires were used for data analysis.

Findings

The research confirmed the importance of EI in the context of EL. The paper provided empirical evidence that EI affected the EL acting strategies and their consequential behavioral outcomes.

Practical implications

The study suggests that hospitality managers must find ways to elevate employees' EI level. Performance management processes should incorporate identification and positive reinforcement of EL acting strategies that enhance SRP and customer satisfaction.

Originality/value

This study explored the under‐researched subject of EL and its role within a hospitality industry context. The study is among the first to examine EI as an emotional resource, EL acting strategies, EE and SRP as a form of job‐related performance simultaneously.

1 – 10 of over 3000