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The purpose of this study is to investigate how hotels are implementing customer relationship management (CRM) practices at the property level.

Semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with 45 hotel managers from 17 hotels. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using content analysis.

All participating hotels have practices in place to manage customer relationships. The most commonly cited goal for CRM is guest retention. Evaluation and control are perceived as very important activities not only to create value for the customers, but also to track the performance of the guest contact departments and the customers' evaluations of the hotel/restaurant experiences.

The sample is probably biased towards hotels that are most interested in CRM and are heavily weighted towards higher tariff properties.

The study modified Buttle's CRM value chain to analyze hotels' CRM practices. Results of the study provide a source for industry practitioners to compare and benchmark their practices and to obtain useful CRM ideas.

CRM‐related research in the hotel industry has looked at a variety of specific practices and its role in achieving overall objectives at the corporate strategic level. Yet, no research has been done to investigate CRM practices at the property level for hotels using the CRM value chain.

This chapter investigates the effect of customer orientation and CRM organization on hotel financial performance. A model of enhancing hotel financial performance through customer satisfaction practices was tested. Customer satisfaction was hypothesized to be a mediator in the relationships between customer orientation and CRM organization and the result being financial performance. The sample consisted of 54 hotels that was made up of three 5-star, fifteen 4-star, and thirty-six 3-star hotels in Ghana. A quantitative deductive approach was employed to gather data using cross-sectional survey, which was analyzed using PLS-SEM to check the validity, reliability and factor loading of the data. The findings revealed that, CRM organization enhances customer satisfaction and financial performance of hotels. Also, customer orientation showed significant positively related to customer satisfaction in the hotels. Surprisingly, the effects of CRM organization and customer orientation on financial performance through customer satisfaction were insignificant. Thus, customer satisfaction failed to mediate the effect of CRM organization and customer orientation on the financial performance of hotels. This suggests that though an effective CRM organization enhances customer satisfaction, it directly affects the financial performance of hotels. The outcomes have useful implications for CRM implementation on hotel financial performance in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature relating to retention of good employees and the role that work‐life balance (WLB) issues have in an employee's decision to stay or leave an organisation. The paper begins with a brief overview of the seminal material in the more generic management literature and then tailors the discussion to the hospitality and tourism industry using literature from the hospitality and tourism journals.

The paper provides an overview of the key employee turnover literature within the hospitality and tourism industry for those academics researching in this area, with specific attention given to the role of WLB issues in the turnover decision‐making process. The paper also provides a theoretical and practical framework for industry to develop strategies for reduced employee turnover, with a focus on the role that balancing work and family plays in these strategies.

The key findings emerging from this literature review focus on job attitudes such as job satisfaction and organisational commitment, personal attributes such as positive and negative affectivity, the role of WLB in employee turnover and, finally, the strategies provided to alleviate high turnover rates.

Recommendations to management are presented for both government and organisational consideration. These recommendations include the need for legislation on maximum, as well as minimum working hours, good role models at the workplace, flexible working hours and arrangements, sound recruitment and training opportunities and company family friendly work policies.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Journal of Management Development is split into six sections covering abstracts under the following headings: General; Executive Development; Management Education; Management Skills Training; Management Development Techniques; Career Management and Succession Planning.

This paper aims to describe the incorporation of technologies into two upper division Communication Studies courses at Texas Tech University.

The article discusses the methodological and pedagogical rationale used to select the appropriate technologies and to effectively incorporate them into the classroom. An early semester survey and then a post‐semester survey were administered. The survey results and implications are reported and discussed.

There are more technologies available to teachers today than in the past. Therefore, the decision to use these technologies will continue to be intricate, but instructors must make the decision based on a fundamentally sound rationale in order to succeed and attain the course goals.

The paper offers both qualitative and quantitative observations and suggestions for instructional technology in the traditional classroom.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the way leadership influences an organization to become humane through its features and behaviors; as well as the organizational circumstances in which humane leadership can be nurtured. The first empirical case study, in the fields of Human Resource Development (HRD) and hospitality management, to explore the way employees from different national cultures (as measured by their individualistic/collectivistic values), in a US-based hotel, perceive their workplace to be a humane organization (HO), as defined by Chalofsky (2008), was the one made by Dimitrov (2009, 2010). More specifically, the example set by leadership in the studied hospitality organization is the focus of the present descriptive manuscript. The importance of HRD concepts such as the HO for the academic study and practical development of leadership in organizations is significant, through the effects leadership has on employee satisfaction and engagement at the workplace.

The exploratory research mentioned above used a single embedded case study with 17 participants, selected via purposeful convenience sampling, who represented management, supervisory and professional line-level employees from a culturally diverse full-service hotel in a major metropolitan area. The instrument of Singelis et al. (1995) for horizontal and vertical individualism (I) and collectivism (C), as well as the instrument of Triandis and Singelis (1998) for I and C, was applied to every respondent to determine their cultural belonging. One-on-one interviews, written reflections and documentary analysis, as well as observations of the social and physical aspects of the participants’ workplace, were conducted.

Five leadership sub-themes were observed to the general theme “Setting the Example” of the study’s findings: company values for leadership styles and employee treatment; the legacy of one charismatic leader (the previous general manager); leader–follower communication; how the workplace feels intrinsically; and how the work environment becomes negative. The study led to the formation of two new characteristics of the HO (Dimitrov, 2009), of which one could be recommended as the main focus of leadership in an HO: being cognizant and understanding of individuals as human beings, not just as employees. The traits and behaviors of some modern leadership theories such as authentic leadership, transformational leadership and charismatic leadership were combined under the concept – humane leadership.

The research of more culturally diverse organizations in different counties, brand cultures and economic sectors, under various research methodologies, and in the context of classical and recent leadership theories, was recommended to establish further weather I and C employees’ expectations of their leadership would make a difference for the sustenance of an HO.

Furthermore, organizations and HRD practitioners are encouraged to invest more time, efforts and resources into leadership development programs that create such humane leadership skills and prepare quality leaders who are well-perceived and trusted by their culturally diverse workforce.

The importance of HRD concepts such as the HO for the academic study and practical development of leadership in organizations is significant, through the effects leadership has on employee satisfaction and engagement at the workplace. Humane leaders can be nurtured in a humane organizational culture.

This paper considers the nature of “best practice” recruitment and selection in the hotel sector. Data from a sample of Scottish hotels indicate a reliance on informal methods, particularly in smaller hotels. In larger and chain hotels, structured procedures, including references, application forms and panel interviews, are evident, but, here too, these methods seem inadequate for dealing with recruitment and quality problems, especially in meeting temporary staffing needs. Case study evidence contrasts two alternative strategies: a successful holistic strategy based on management of social processes important for selection, and a more conventional bureaucratic strategy. Each strategy depends on a complex interrelationship between business and labour market considerations, the ownership and management structure of the hotel, and the tenure and experience of those responsible for selection. This evidence indicates that, for the hotel industry, the holistic strategy is an alternative to conventional notions

This paper aims to comprehensively and systematically review the state of customer relationship management (CRM) research on hospitality and propose future research agenda.

All hospitality-related CRM articles since its introduction as a concept in 1988 were collected. The retrieved articles were then chronologically and thematically analyzed.

Hospitality CRM research has rapidly grown from the initial relationship marketing concept into social CRM. Five research foci were identified, including CRM planning and implementation process, organizational support, technology and tools, customer perspectives and characteristics and outcome and impact. Three potential pitfalls were observed in the existing literature. A comprehensive research framework incorporating the five research domains and three key players was proposed.

Hospitality practitioners should take an integrated perspective on the five major domains of CRM and the three key players to ensure that informed decisions can be made.

This study contributes to the literature through its qualitative and critical assessment of existing hospitality CRM literature, which can guide future research.

This study creates new knowledge that addresses issues significant enough to warrant intellectual engagement. It fills a gap in the academic and practitioner literature by examining a profitable yet understudied cottage industry (artisan vendors). It examines marketing concepts that influence dedication to authentic craftsmanship and artisans' willingness to continue in the industry.

This study examines historical evidence and connects it with subjective and interpretive analyses from 29 in-depth interviews of today's US artisan vendors to identify sustainable marketing best practices for the industry.

Researchers uncovered factors behind artisan vendors' willingness to stay committed to their craft and remain in the industry. From the findings of this study, marketing best practices (branding, brand communities and product adaptation while remaining authentic to their craft) were identified as tools for resilience and remaining a viable competitor in the marketplace.

Historically, artisan vendors have been engaging in marketing practices before terms defined their activities. Thus, this study is original in that it contributes to the academic literature by first conducting an analysis of the history of an understudied cottage industry (artisan vendors) starting in the Mesopotamian Era. The key marketing factors discovered in the historical study contributing to the resilience of this industry were then used to conceptualize a qualitative study of the highly profitable US artisan vendor industry.

This paper aims to examine a model that uses customer service quality as an intervening mechanism in the relationship between customer relationship management (CRM) practices and organizational performance in two different banking structures: conventional and Islamic. The study focuses on organizational and technological practices of CRM, as both have been demonstrated to be critical to CRM success.

The analysis is based on responses from 247 managers from conventional banks and 141 managers from Islamic banks operating in Morocco using a self-administered questionnaire. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique is employed for data analysis.

Findings demonstrate that customer service quality plays a mediating role between CRM practices (organizational and technological) and organizational performance in both conventional and Islamic banks. Our results confirm the positive impact of CRM practices on organizational performance in the two banking structures.

This study enhances our understanding of how CRM practices contribute to improving customer service quality and organizational performance in both conventional and Islamic banks. Bank managers, who aim to deliver superior service quality and achieve customer satisfaction and retention, should capitalize on the benefits of implementing CRM organizational and technological practices.

The present paper bridges a gap pertaining to key practices and factors that impact CRM success in the banking industry. It is the first of its kind to investigate the effect of CRM practices on organizational performance with customer service quality as a mediating variable. The study also contributes to the field of CRM literature, as CRM has rarely been addressed in an Islamic banking context.