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1 – 10 of over 3000Erika L. Paulson and Mary E. Schramm
This paper aims to explore how home economists, employed by the Good Housekeeping Institute, may have influenced the use of principles from the home economics movement in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how home economists, employed by the Good Housekeeping Institute, may have influenced the use of principles from the home economics movement in advertising appeals for electric appliances.
Design/methodology/approach
A content analysis of more than 400 print advertisements from Good Housekeeping magazine, from 1916 to 1929, was conducted to determine whether manufacturers used appeals derived from the home economics movement in their advertising. Then, the Good Housekeeping Institute’s history is explored to suggest how its relationship with manufacturers may have resulted in the use of the home economics movement’s principles in advertising appeals for electric appliances.
Findings
The content analysis shows that principles of the home economics movement appeared in advertising appeals for electric appliances in advertisements placed in Good Housekeeping magazine during the period studied. Through its unique relationships with electric appliance manufacturers, the Good Housekeeping Institute seems to have taught manufacturers how to position electric appliances by incorporating the principles of the home economics movement in their advertising appeals.
Practical implications
This research demonstrates how a commercial organization successfully navigated its relationships with manufacturers and consumers for mutual benefit.
Originality/value
This work is the first to link the Good Housekeeping Institute’s work with manufacturers to its influence on advertising appeals. This work also expands understanding of the influence of women on marketing practice. Existing literature on women’s publications is also broadened by analyzing Good Housekeeping, rather than the more frequently studied Ladies’ Home Journal.
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Sharda Sharma and Tanuja Kaushik
This paper aims to examine new housekeeping procedures introduced in response to COVID-19. The pandemic has required hotels to reassess their standard operating procedures…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine new housekeeping procedures introduced in response to COVID-19. The pandemic has required hotels to reassess their standard operating procedures, especially in housekeeping to retain the confidence of guests in the hotel/brand via high standards of sanitization, hygiene and the maintenance of social distancing.
Design/methodology/approach
The article draws on publications and announcements made by major brands and associations about their updated standards of cleaning, hygiene and sanitisation, social distancing and workplace protocols arising from the pandemic. Further, a survey was used to determine the impact of new processes on housekeeping teams and their perceptions of its effect on service quality, guests and employee safety.
Findings
Some key new processes are: keeping the hotel room vacant for several hours after departure, the sanitisation of every room, cleaning and sanitisation of high touch points, linen and waste management and low frequency or complete avoidance of the cleaning of occupied rooms. The survey questionnaire establishes that housekeepers value their new standard operating procedures (SOPs) and agree that “clinically clean” is the new normal and essential to avoid cross-contamination and keep guests and employees safe.
Research limitations/implications
As the pandemic is a current phenomenon, the guidelines and protocols are rapidly evolving. Hotels are innovating and looking for new processes to manage infection control. This study has mainly focused on cleanliness and hygiene protocols and procedures prevalent in the industry. Currently, future work could be useful to evaluate the long-term impact of COVID-19 on the new processes and procedures that have been deployed.
Practical implications
In order to recover from the pandemic, the Indian hotel industry faces a colossal task. Even when the virus peaks have passed and hotels can safely reopen, the fear of infection will continue and so guest trust and confidence is essential. Given this, the paper should be of interest to hoteliers and policymakers seeking to implement the best possible post COVID-19 housekeeping practices.
Originality/value
This paper identifies and analyses best practice in hotel housekeeping in response to COVID-19. The new standards that are being adopted aim to assure hotel guests and employees about the hygiene and safety measures and standards that have been adopted.
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Monica Choy, Justin Cheng and Karl Yu
The purpose of this paper is to use the case of an international luxury hotel chain in Hong Kong to illustrate general environmentally-friendly practices in housekeeping. Six…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use the case of an international luxury hotel chain in Hong Kong to illustrate general environmentally-friendly practices in housekeeping. Six in-depth interviews were conducted with the housekeeping department staff to evaluate the effectiveness of the Hotel’s environmental sustainability practices by analysing their benefits and limitations. Results reveal that all informants acknowledged the environmental sustainability strategies adopted by the Hotel, which can benefit stakeholders. Despite multiple green practices in hotel housekeeping, several strategies may not be as significant as expected with misaligned expectations from the management and the actual practices may create excessive workload for frontline room attendants with a lack of policy enforcement and supportive policies. Therefore, hotels should keep a mutual communication between the management and frontline employees prior to conducting environmentally- and employee-friendly practices. Given the labour-intensive nature of the hotel industry, the housekeeping department should ensure employment equality policy is in place with adequate environmentally friendly support for employees.
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Nofirman Firdaus, Hasnida Ab-Samat and Bambang Teguh Prasetyo
This paper reviews the literature on maintenance strategies for energy efficiency as a potential maintenance approach. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main concept…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reviews the literature on maintenance strategies for energy efficiency as a potential maintenance approach. The purpose of this paper is to identify the main concept and common principle for each maintenance strategy for energy efficiency.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review has been carried out on maintenance and energy efficiency. The paper systematically classified the literature into three maintenance strategies (e.g. inspection-based maintenance [IBM], time-based maintenance [TBM] and condition-based maintenance [CBM]). The concept and principle of each maintenance strategy are identified, compared and discussed.
Findings
Each maintenance strategy's main concept and principle are identified based on the following criteria: data required and collection, data analysis/modeling and decision-making. IBM relies on human senses and common senses to detect energy faults. Any detected energy losses are quantified to energy cost. A payback period analysis is commonly used to justify corrective actions. On the other hand, CBM monitors relevant parameters that indicate energy performance indicators (EnPIs). Data analysis or deterioration modeling is needed to identify energy degradation. For the diagnostics approach, the energy degradation is compared with the threshold to justify corrective maintenance. The prognostics approach estimates when energy degradation reaches its threshold; therefore, proper maintenance tasks can be planned. On the other hand, TBM uses historical data from energy monitoring. Data analysis or deterioration modeling is required to identify degradation. Further analysis is performed to find the optimal time to perform a maintenance task. The comparison between housekeeping, IBM and CBM is also discussed and presented.
Practical implications
The literature on the classification of maintenance strategies for energy efficiency has been limited. On the other hand, the ISO 50001 energy management systems standard shows the importance of maintenance for energy efficiency (MFEE). Therefore, to bridge the gap between research and industry, the proposed concept and principle of maintenance strategies will be helpful for practitioners to apply maintenance strategies as energy conservation measures in implementing ISO 50001 standard.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper is in-depth discussion on the concept and principle of each maintenance strategy (e.g. housekeeping or IBM, TBM and CBM) for energy efficiency. The relevant literature for each maintenance strategy was also summarized. In addition, basic rules for maintenance strategy selection are also proposed.
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Jay Kandampully and Dwi Suhartanto
Loyalty of a firm’s customer has been recognised as the dominant factor in a business organization’s success. This study helps us extend our understanding of the relationship…
Abstract
Loyalty of a firm’s customer has been recognised as the dominant factor in a business organization’s success. This study helps us extend our understanding of the relationship between customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, and image. This is of considerable interest to both practitioners and academics in the field of hospitality management. The objective of this research is to identify the factors of image and customer satisfaction that are positively related to customer loyalty in the hotel industry. Using data collected from chain hotels in New Zealand, the findings indicate that hotel image and customer satisfaction with the performance of housekeeping, reception, food and beverage, and price are positively correlated to customer loyalty.
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Susan L. Hyde and Paul J. Bagdan
This chapter covers total quality management (TQM) with respect to the Lean and Six Sigma methods used to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of hospitality operations. In…
Abstract
This chapter covers total quality management (TQM) with respect to the Lean and Six Sigma methods used to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of hospitality operations. In the first section, TQM is discussed. In the second section, Lean and Six Sigma techniques are examined individually. Then, Lean and Six Sigma are connected with an example of a housekeeping case study that applies both methodologies. In the third section, business analytics are explored and statistical process control analysis is demonstrated using a hotel room cleanliness example. The fourth section summarizes the concepts of change management, which is critical for embracing the philosophies of TQM. Finally, project management is discussed in the fifth and last section.
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Though Local Area Networks (LANs) have been much talked about over the past two or three years, their role in libraries has, with a few exceptions, been in the realms of…
Abstract
Though Local Area Networks (LANs) have been much talked about over the past two or three years, their role in libraries has, with a few exceptions, been in the realms of speculation rather than active examples. The commonest way in which libraries encounter LANs is for the parent organisation to introduce the LAN and for the library to be included as part of that campus or organisational network: applications are, therefore, most often directed towards communicating with other departments and sharing common facilities such as electronic mail rather than towards the traditional automation activities of library housekeeping. This is not to say that LANs have no potential for housekeeping: Mel Collier in his introduction to LANs notes a number of ways in which LAN technology may be of direct benefit in a library environment; and the OKAPI online‐public access catalogue project at PCL (see pp 3–13)originated as an investigation into the potential of LANs for specific library‐housekeeping applications. What this preamble is leading up to is the news that Reading University Library has installed a LAN within the library with the intention of using it for library housekeeping operations. However, before going on to look at Reading's implementation in some detail, a little background on LANs may be useful.
Ilhan Dalci, Veyis Tanis and Levent Kosan
The purpose of this paper is to show the implementation of customer profitability analysis (CPA) using time‐driven activity‐based costing (TDABC), in a Turkish hotel.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to show the implementation of customer profitability analysis (CPA) using time‐driven activity‐based costing (TDABC), in a Turkish hotel.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study was conducted in a four‐star hotel with 100‐room capacity in the Çukurova region of Turkey. Interviews, direct observations, and documentation collection were used to collect the data.
Findings
The results showed that some of the customer segments which were found unprofitable under the conventional ABC method were determined profitable using TDABC. The case study also revealed the cost of idle resources devoted for front office, housekeeping, food preparation, and marketing activities.
Research limitations/implications
Only a single hotel operating in Turkey is examined in this paper. Further research should focus on implementing CPA using TDABC in other hotels in Turkey and abroad.
Practical implications
Based on the results of the study, the hotel management is better able to understand profitability of different customer segments and implement appropriate strategies. Moreover, the time equations of TDABC are considered to provide hotel management with an opportunity to better balance the capacities supplied in departments.
Originality/value
There is limited research relating to profitability analysis in service companies in general and in the hotel industry in particular. Therefore, this paper is unique in the sense that it analyzes the use of TDABC systems for CPA within a real case hotel.
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Jing Zeng, Phan Chi Anh and Yoshiki Matsui
This study empirically examines the effect of shop‐floor communication on implementation effectiveness of process management practices, and on the corresponding quality…
Abstract
Purpose
This study empirically examines the effect of shop‐floor communication on implementation effectiveness of process management practices, and on the corresponding quality performance gained through process management implementation. It deals with four types of communication on the shop floor (small group problem solving, feedback, instructive communication, supervisory interaction facilitation) and three process management practices (process control, preventive maintenance, housekeeping).
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and regression techniques were used to test the hypothesized relationships. Data were collected from 238 manufacturing plants through a questionnaire survey conducted in eight countries to develop reliable and valid measurement scales for operations management.
Findings
The statistical results demonstrate the positive effect of shop‐floor communication on the implementation of process management practices and the resultant quality performance. The results also suggest that each type of shop‐floor communication differently affects the way in which process management practices are implemented to influence quality performance.
Originality/value
Although the existing literature of quality management highlights the importance of communication and information management for the successful implementation of quality management, little detailed study has been conducted on how specific types of communication support quality management practices to obtain quality performance. This study contributes to the literature by breaking down communication into four types and providing specific empirical evidence on the relationship between each type of communication, process management practices, and quality performance.
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The idea of robotic floor cleaning landed on the housekeeping industry like an alien from outer space in the early part of the decade. An industry that had seen little progress in…
Abstract
The idea of robotic floor cleaning landed on the housekeeping industry like an alien from outer space in the early part of the decade. An industry that had seen little progress in the past 100 years suddenly was faced with a method of scrubbing and sweeping floors without a human being trailing a machine. It was frightening for employees unfamiliar with computers and afraid of losing their jobs and it was no small outlay for the housekeeping budget. It has taken less than five years for an industry, managers and staff alike, to realize the benefits and lead the way into the future with service robots.
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