Search results

1 – 4 of 4
Article
Publication date: 19 February 2021

Laurent Yacoub and Samer ElHajjar

Many researchers have attempted to outline the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the growth of economies across the world. Few researchers consider addressing the…

11636

Abstract

Purpose

Many researchers have attempted to outline the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on the growth of economies across the world. Few researchers consider addressing the COVID-19 pandemic as a crisis that needs effective crisis management measures. In particular, there is a gap in research that maps a way forward that managers can use as a guide to recover and revive the hospitality industry after the pandemic. This paper aims to fill this gap.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected through interviews with 26 hoteliers managing 4- and 5-star hotels in the city of Beirut. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

Findings

Findings show that the level of preparedness toward dealing with such a pandemic had been low. Hotels have been focused on ensuring transparency with the employees, providing adequate information and decentralizing power to the departmental levels to deal with the impacts of COVID-19. Operationally, hotel managers are shifting focus toward more safety-conscious operations across all departments; emphasizing the importance of local tourists rather than complete dependence on foreigners as a source of revenue; increasing flexibility in bookings and cancellations to incentivize customers. Shifts are expected to be made, making operations in hotels more technologically-aligned and focused.

Research limitations/implications

The aim of this study is to address the managerial reactions of the hotel industry during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis and the potential strategic approaches that hotels might adopt in the future. A focus on the Lebanese context can provide scholars with a new model and inform managers on how to approach a crisis of such nature and magnitude, especially in a country that is facing its worst political and economic crisis. The main challenge of this paper is that it examines the hotel industry only in the Lebanese context. The development of the hospitality sector cannot be studied outside the institutional context in which it operates.

Originality/value

This paper fulfills an identified need to study to which extent hotel managers were prepared to deal with a crisis the size of a global pandemic, what shifts in strategies were implemented and what is the future of the hospitality industry?

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 33 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 March 2021

Laurent Yacoub, Samer Nakhle and Dorra Yahiaoui

Given the complexity of a post-conflict environment, the restaurant sector needs to be analyzed not just from the economic perspective. This paper aims to identify the diverse…

Abstract

Purpose

Given the complexity of a post-conflict environment, the restaurant sector needs to be analyzed not just from the economic perspective. This paper aims to identify the diverse macroenvironmental and managerial factors underlying restaurant failures in Lebanon. The authors hope that this effort may help increasing restaurant success rates in other post-conflict settings.

Design/methodology/approach

The aim of this paper is to explain how macroenvironmental pressures influence the restaurant business and which managerial factors are most critical in a post-conflict context. The authors adopted a qualitative method by conducting face-to-face, semi-structured interviews.

Findings

The findings show that restaurant failures in a competitive and uncertain post-conflict environment were caused mainly by a snowball of internal organizational factors related to bad management, poor human resource management policies, inefficiency and fraud. Internal organizational factors can all be associated with human mistakes and bad decisions, including excessive initial investment, expensive decoration, inability to manage monthly expenses, bad communication and market research.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature regarding restaurant failures in post-conflict regions and presents results that are expected to help managers in family- and non-family-owned businesses to enhance their decision-making process.

Details

EuroMed Journal of Business, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1450-2194

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2022

Laurent Yacoub, Sara Abou Ibrahim, Eliane Achy and Eva Nicolas

This study aims to identify the major job stressors that can affect employees’ mental health in the Lebanese commercial banks during the economic turmoil. This study also aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to identify the major job stressors that can affect employees’ mental health in the Lebanese commercial banks during the economic turmoil. This study also aims to identify the effects of the mental problems on the employees in addition to the role of human resources in promoting and preventing mental well-being at the workplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors interviewed 28 bank employees and the semi-structured interviews last for around 50 min, starting by asking the employees a general question about the concept of mental health disorder. The authors used a purposive sampling in which the population sample is selected based on purpose and the characteristics of a specific category of individuals. Moreover, a thematic analysis is used to analyze the data.

Findings

The findings of this study indicate that most of the employees were suffering from many work-related stressors that have negatively affected their mental well-being. The stress and pressures have significantly increased during the economic crisis. However, most of the interviewees were not or rarely supported by their human resources department and their administration to help them get adapted for such a crisis or for the changes at the workplace.

Originality/value

Mental health disorders are present in the daily normal life and in the workplace as well. The banking industry is not an exceptional one.

Details

International Journal of Organizational Analysis, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1934-8835

Keywords

1 – 4 of 4