Search results
1 – 10 of 11J. Bruce Tracey, Vinh Le, David W. Brannon, Sue Crystal-Mansour, Maria Golubovskaya and Richard N.S. Robinson
The purpose of this study is to extend the findings from a very limited number of studies that have focused on the potential antecedents of firm diversity. Specifically, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to extend the findings from a very limited number of studies that have focused on the potential antecedents of firm diversity. Specifically, the authors examined the extent to which a set of firm-level diversity management initiatives, which included diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) policies and oversight structures, senior leader values and utility perceptions about DE&I and DE&I dissemination strategies, may be related to firm-level reported diversity – overall, and that which is specific to gender, ethnicity, race and disability.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this study were gathered from a national sample of 200 US restaurant and foodservice companies during the third quarter of 2021 by an independent data collection firm.
Findings
After controlling for firm size, age, ownership structure and chain affiliation, the results from a series of regression analyses showed that formal diversity management policies and procedures (e.g. policies beyond those legally mandated), structural oversight of diversity management initiatives (e.g. designated diversity leader) and beliefs among senior leaders regarding the utility of diversity management initiatives, were positively related to firm-level diversity. There were also several notable differences in the significance of the findings across the four diversity groups, indicating support for a contingency explanation.
Originality/value
There are two unique contributions to this study. First, by considering a more support-based (vs compliance and control) approach to managing DE&I that is authenticated by senior leadership’s beliefs about the utility of DE&I, the findings advance the understanding of the nature and scope of diversity management initiatives that may influence firm-level diversity – in general, as well as that which may be specific to restaurant and foodservice settings. Additionally, the findings offer industry-specific insights regarding the extent and relevance of DE&I policies and practices that have been adopted by restaurants and foodservice organizations and prescriptive guidance for future inquiry on this topic.
Details
Keywords
David Solnet and Maria Golubovskaya
This article aims to build on the insights from the systematic reviews included in this special issue (SI) on frontline service employees (FLE) by adding practitioner…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to build on the insights from the systematic reviews included in this special issue (SI) on frontline service employees (FLE) by adding practitioner perspectives. Its purpose is to gauge knowledge, awareness and practices from industry and government regarding topics related to frontline workers and to offer critical and, in places, provocative insights on the relevance of scholarly focus in serving the needs of industry.
Design/methodology/approach
Insights were developed through consultation with managers who are responsible for leading frontline employees, who offered insights on the important issues affecting their workforce as well as direct comments on each of the key topics covered in this SI articles. Additional insights were gathered through a review of policy document reviews with relevant government agencies and trade publications, a review of a body of conference topics and speakers and personal reflections developed over decades of consulting work.
Findings
This paper presents insights from industry about looming challenges facing managers of frontline service employees, including a forecasted worsening of labor force availability to perform many frontline jobs; growing competition for workers from other sectors; a relatively shallow understanding by industry of academic research topics on workforce in service; the emerging increased cooperation between industry and governments to address these challenges and a clear deficit in necessary frontline skills.
Originality/value
This paper provides rare and direct insights from industry practitioners about current and critical topics investigated by academic researchers and offers opportunities for further collaboration and collective thought on addressing global challenges faced by frontline service employees.
Details
Keywords
David Solnet, Mahesh Subramony, Robert C. Ford, Maria Golubovskaya, Hee Jung (Annette) Kang and Murat Hancer
With the ever-increasing adoption of technology and automation radically changing the nature of service delivery, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of human touch…
Abstract
Purpose
With the ever-increasing adoption of technology and automation radically changing the nature of service delivery, the purpose of this paper is to explore the role of human touch, introducing hospitable service as an enhancement for value creation in service organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on management, social sciences and hospitality literatures, a four-configuration model is presented to illustrate dimensions which arise from the confluence of different degrees of relationship orientation – shared mental models held by the host organization (self- or other-oriented), and guests’ service preferences (transactional or relational).
Findings
A theoretically grounded model of configurations resulting from variations on three key dimensions is offered. These are: employee organization relationships – social exchange processes governing the interactions between employees and their employers; HRM systems – internally consistent combinations of HR practices; and tech-touch trade-off – prioritization of technology vs employees to deliver services.
Research limitations/implications
Embedding hospitable service as a construct to support the leveraging of human touch in service organizations opens up new research opportunities including avenues to further conceptualize the nature and dimensions of hospitable service. Future research that supports further understanding about the role of human touch and value creation in service organizations is proposed.
Practical implications
Through the value-enhancing capability of human in the service encounter, firms can be enabled to accurately position themselves in one of the four relational configurations on offer and then identify opportunities for managers to leverage human touch to combat the diminishing role of the human touch in a technology-ubiquitous service context.
Originality/value
This is among the first papers to explore the influence of technology on the degree of human touch in the interface between hospitality employee and customer, and to develop a configuration model through which researchers and practitioners can operate during this declining era of human to human service interactions.
Details
Keywords
David Solnet, Mahesh Subramony, Maria Golubovskaya, Hannah Snyder, Whitney Gray, Olga Liberman and Rohit Verma
Employee wellness is vital to creating high-quality employee–customer interactions, yet frontline service workers (FLSWs) do not typically engage in, or benefit from, wellness…
Abstract
Purpose
Employee wellness is vital to creating high-quality employee–customer interactions, yet frontline service workers (FLSWs) do not typically engage in, or benefit from, wellness initiatives. This paper aims to conceptually model the interactive influences of organizational and employee factors in influencing FLSW involvement in wellness programs and provides suggestions on how service organizations can enhance wellness behaviors and outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper builds upon classical and contemporary management theories to identify important gaps in knowledge about how employees and firms engage with wellness. Interactive psychology, emphasizing multidirectional interaction between person (employee) and situation (organization) wellness orientation, is introduced.
Findings
The paper develops a model that can be used to assess organizational wellness program effectiveness by emphasizing the interaction of employee and organizational wellness orientation. The model illustrates that wellness effectiveness relies equally on employee agency through an active wellness orientation matched with the organizational wellness orientation.
Originality/value
This paper questions the dominant approaches to assessing the effectiveness of workplace wellness initiatives, arguing for a more humanistic and agentic perspective rather than traditional organizationally centered fiscal measures.
Details
Keywords
Maria Golubovskaya, David Solnet and Richard N.S. Robinson
This paper aims to challenge existing assumptions in talent management (TM) research, showcasing a misalignment between commonly held assumptions and the characteristics of the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to challenge existing assumptions in talent management (TM) research, showcasing a misalignment between commonly held assumptions and the characteristics of the youth-intensive hospitality sector workforce.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a review of the TM literature, Piirto’s educational talent pyramid is adopted to conceptualize a recalibration. Drawing on multidisciplinary literatures (i.e. adolescent development, youth employment, positive psychology), and adopting a (talent) developmental approach, a reframing of prevalent TM discourses is enunciated based on the logic that the hospitality workforce is predominantly in a developmental state.
Findings
TM discourses are misaligned with the workforce composition of the hospitality industry, which is dominated by young, often unexperienced, workers. The need for dramatically recalibrated TM structures and underlying assumptions, centred around a greater attention to the “development” of talent and a more employee-focused and inclusive approach, can facilitate greater alignment between TM and hospitality.
Research limitations/implications
This paper extends a body of work advocating for more inclusive TM and developmental postures. The contribution, via a hospitality industry context, has been to create linkages between talent- and youth-development discourses.
Practical implications
This paper outlines a number of implications, among which are a pathway forward for hospitality industry to rebuild its poor HRM image and conversion of “transient” hospitality jobs to career jobs (for youth).
Originality/value
This paper identifies youth as a distinct workforce entity and suggests that hospitality jobs represent a critical developmental context for young people, resulting in a series of critical implications for TM practice and theorizing.
Details
Keywords
Mahesh Subramony, David Solnet, Markus Groth, Dana Yagil, Nicole Hartley, Peter Beomcheol Kim and Maria Golubovskaya
The purpose of this paper is to explore the changing nature of the relationship between service workers and their work arrangements. Building upon classical and contemporary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the changing nature of the relationship between service workers and their work arrangements. Building upon classical and contemporary management theories and examining current trends and disruptions in employment relationships, it proposes a dynamic and relational model applicable to the management of service work in future decades (notionally in the year 2050).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper introduces and develops the concept of worker–ecosystem relationship as a core construct to describe the participation and productivity of workers in the significantly transformed work environment of 2050.
Findings
This paper argues that in work ecosystems – defined as relatively self-contained and self-adjusting systems – work arrangements will evolve toward less-clearly defined employment relationships characterized by long-term social contracts, tightly defined work roles and physical proximity of workers and organizations.
Originality/value
A novel yet theoretically rooted construct of work ecosystems is introduced, using this new lens to predict changes in the nature of service work in 2050.
Details
Keywords
Maria Golubovskaya, Richard N.S. Robinson and David Solnet
This paper explores how hospitality frontline employees understand, interpret and practice “hospitality” in a hotel industry context.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper explores how hospitality frontline employees understand, interpret and practice “hospitality” in a hotel industry context.
Design/methodology/approach
Framed by interpretivist and phenomenological approaches a dual-stage semi-structured interview study design was conducted. A sample was drawn from hotel employees in Australia.
Findings
Findings support the proposition that the hospitality workforce tends to favor service management and service processes as the guiding paradigm. The essence of what it means to be hospitable, and the host-guest model, appears to be largely absent in practice.
Research limitations/implications
This paper contributes to a scarcity of literature exploring the understanding of hospitality, and how this understanding can translate into hospitable behavior, from the employee perspective. Our main implication is that service management terminology colonizes hospitality within a commercial context, while the essence of hospitality and the “hospitality” lexicon is concomitantly diminishing. The authors advocate for developing an inter-paradigmatic view of hospitality management.
Practical implications
While the study revealed that the majority of frontline hotel employees struggle with grasping and verbalizing their understandings and perceptions of the hospitality construct, although some acknowledged the importance of hospitality as being an integral component to service delivery. We identified consistent organizational practices and intrinsic employee traits that either enabled or obstructed hospitable behavior in hotel settings.
Originality/value
The study reveals tensions between the hospitality and service paradigms in hospitality literature and practice. We uncover hotel management practices that may help to conserve and foster the essence of hospitality in hospitality organizations.
Details
Keywords
Fotis Kitsios and Maria Kamariotou
The purpose of this paper is to review the dominant role which technology plays in the new service development (NSD) process and indicate the critical success factors that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to review the dominant role which technology plays in the new service development (NSD) process and indicate the critical success factors that managers should have in mind during the implementation of service projects, as well as the extent to which NSD lead to technological investments.
Design/methodology/approach
Studies were identified using a three-phased literature review methodology, which was suggested by Webster and Watson (2002). A total of 144 papers have been categorized and analyzed based on their content.
Findings
The findings of this paper indicate that information technology (IT) is a critical factor for the success of new services, but managers ignore its benefits. It could be used during the development process, to support managers to produce innovative services.
Practical implications
This study provides practical implications for IT managers, to increase the success rate of service innovation. The understanding of the effect of technology on firm performance can help managers to use technology to increase firms’ performance and provide an opportunity for organizations to benchmark their own processes of service innovation technology with their competitors.
Originality/value
This paper may be of interest to academics who are already studying service innovation or NSD-related scientific areas or researchers who have been introduced to the field but they are interested in examining more specific insights into where current research topics in this literature can be located and how they may contribute to them.
研究目的
本论文旨在审视哪些科技是新服务研发(NSD)过程的关键,以及指出管理者应该谨记这些关键因素,特别是在执行管理项目和NSD导向科技投资的时候。
研究设计/方法/途径
本论文采用三阶段文献综述法,此方法由Webster和Watson (2002) 提出。研究样本共为144篇文献,通过其内容进行分类和分析。
研究结果
本论文结果指出科技时新服务成功的关键因素,但是管理者往往会忽视其带来的好处。建议在发展过程中,管理者应该重视科技对创新性服务的发展。
研究实际意义
本论文结果对意于提高服务创新成功率的IT管理者有着实际指导意义。科技对于公司绩效的作用能够帮助管理者使用科技以提高企业绩效,并且对企业提高自身服务创新科技开发水平,比肩竞争者,也提供了机会。
研究原创性/价值
本论文对于研究服务创新或者NSD相关科学领域的学术人员有着一定的价值,亦或者对于新加入这个领域的学者新人,帮助其有效的审视过去相关文献,以及探究相关应用。
关键词
新服务开发、服务创新、信息技术、电子服务、成功要素
论文类型
文献综述
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to investigate tourists’ experiences of local hospitality and offer a typology of Turkish hospitality based on perspectives of international tourists.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate tourists’ experiences of local hospitality and offer a typology of Turkish hospitality based on perspectives of international tourists.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted with tourists visiting Istanbul, Turkey. Interview transcripts were content-analyzed and -coded under different themes that characterize local hospitality.
Findings
The research findings revealed 64 items describing local Turkish hospitality. These were grouped under four distinct themes: sociability, care, helpfulness and generosity.
Research limitations/implications
Using the factors of local Turkish hospitality identified in this paper, future studies might measure the impacts of these antecedents of local hospitality on tourist satisfaction and positive behaviors such as loyalty and word of mouth in a quantitative study. Exploring local hospitality in different destinations with different characteristics might also reveal valuable insight into variance and intensity of local hospitality.
Practical implications
The research findings have implications for both commercial hospitality and destination management. By leveraging the local hospitality elements in their operations and human resources management practices, the commercial hospitality firms might create strong emotional bonds with their guests and create loyalty through these relationships. Destination planning and management might also adopt the findings to facilitate interactions between the hosts and tourists for more positive experiences for both sides to emerge.
Social implications
Destinations exposed to heavy visitation may not have the same level of hospitableness toward visitors. Hence, impact of tourism activity on local quality of life should be monitored and managed.
Originality/value
Despite hospitality having been researched in numerous previous studies, local hospitality has not yet been fully explored in tourism. This study presents and discusses empirical findings and offers a typology of local Turkish hospitality.
Details
Keywords
Vanessa Apaolaza, Patrick Hartmann, Cristobal Fernández-Robin and Diego Yáñez
This paper aims to examine the effects of natural plants on satisfaction and loyalty in the hospitality servicescape and provides a theoretical framework explaining the underlying…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the effects of natural plants on satisfaction and loyalty in the hospitality servicescape and provides a theoretical framework explaining the underlying processes.
Design/methodology/approach
An experimental study (plants vs no-plants) was conducted in a restaurant with a sample of 119 individuals. Data were analyzed using ANOVA and bootstrapping moderated mediation analysis (Hayes, 2013).
Findings
The results of the study confirmed significant effects of indoor natural plants on consumers’ satisfaction and loyalty, mediated by the experiential value components of aesthetic value, service excellence and escapism. The absence of an interaction of these influences with consumers’ connectedness to nature indicates that the beneficial effects of indoor plants universally affect all individuals, independent of their personal degree of feeling connected with nature.
Practical implications
Indoor natural plants as ambient elements in restaurants can improve satisfaction and loyalty by enhancing the dimensions of aesthetics and escapism of the service experience, as well as the perception of service quality.
Originality/value
This is the first experimental study analyzing the effects of indoor plants on customer satisfaction and loyalty conducted in a real-life restaurant setting using actual plants. The findings contribute theoretically by providing an integrated conceptual model of the satisfaction and loyalty effects of atmospheric stimuli (i.e. plants) in the hospitality servicescape, which offers a process explanation based on the mediating influence of aesthetic value and the sequential mediations of aesthetic value → service excellence and aesthetic value → escapism.
Details