Is Your Hotel MISsing Technology?

In order to become more effective and efficient in providing guest services, hotels must avail themselves of information technology. A firm\u27s competitive edge and quality can be the result of the successful implementation of an information sys- tem. The authors present in this article the why, who, what, when, where, and how of implementing information systems

Harnessing the Power of Your Culture for Outstanding Service

[Excerpt] Your company\u27s culture can be one of the strongest forces for ensuring excellent customer service and the resulting financial success, or it can stand in the way of your ever achieving your service and financial goals. Company cultures come in all shapes and sizes, but all cultures are assembled from specific parts, such as language, beliefs, and philosophies. In this chapter, we review the elements of corporate culture, give examples of successful corporate cultures, and point out key ways that you can harness your company\u27s culture for outstanding service

Measuring Hotel Service Quality: Tools for Gaining the Competitive Edge

As the hotel industry grows more competitive, quality guest service becomes an increasingly important part of managers\u27 responsibility measuring the quality of service delivery is facilitated when managers know what types of assessment methods are available to them. The authors present and discuss the following available measurement techniques and describe the situations where they best meet the needs of hotel managers: management observation, employee feedback programs, comment cards, mailed surveys, personal and telephone interviews, focus groups, and mystery shopping

RFLP markers and genetic linkage of oil content and hypodermis color in sunflower seed (Helianthus annuus L.)

The service sector is dependent upon customers’ willingness to contribute their knowledge, skills, and abilities to co-produce the service experiences they want and expect. Service organizations therefore seek to employ strategies that will enhance their customers’ ability to do whatever they must to be successful in co-producing those experiences. Applying the concept of self-efficacy, we offer a theory-based approach to developing these strategies that firms may utilize. These strategies involve focusing both employee training and environmental cues on how to enhance the self-efficacy of the customer in performing whatever tasks are necessary toward a successful service experience

In vivo crystals reveal critical features of the interaction between cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and the PDZ2 domain of Na+/H+ exchange cofactor NHERF1

Crystallization of recombinant proteins has been fundamental to our understanding of protein function, dysfunction, and molecular recognition. However, this information has often been gleaned under extremely nonphysiological protein, salt, and H+ concentrations. Here, we describe the development of a robust Inka1-Box (iBox)–PAK4cat system that spontaneously crystallizes in several mammalian cell types. The semi-quantitative assay described here allows the measurement of in vivo protein-protein interactions using a novel GFP-linked reporter system that produces fluorescent readouts from protein crystals. We combined this assay with in vitro X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics studies to characterize the molecular determinants of the interaction between the PDZ2 domain of Na+/H+ exchange regulatory cofactor NHE-RF1 (NHERF1) and cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a protein complex pertinent to the genetic disease cystic fibrosis. These experiments revealed the crystal structure of the extended PDZ domain of NHERF1 and indicated, contrary to what has been previously reported, that residue selection at positions −1 and −3 of the PDZ-binding motif influences the affinity and specificity of the NHERF1 PDZ2-CFTR interaction. Our results suggest that this system could be utilized to screen additional protein-protein interactions, provided they can be accommodated within the spacious iBox-PAK4cat lattice