Wage differentials in the lodging industry: A case study.

Salary compensation programs are widely used as a tool to attract, retain, and motivate employees in the hotel industry. The development of a sound compensation plan is a critical component of any successful business. This study investigated the pay differential from different perspectives by using the data collected by the California Hotel and Lodging Association (CHLA), the largest state level hotel association in the United States. The results indicated that full service hotels offer higher base pay in positions such as General Manager, Resident Manager, and Executive Housekeeper as compared with limited service hotels. When accounting for hotel size only, hotels with more than 300 rooms offered higher base pay than their counterparts in several but not all managerial positions. The findings serve as a reference for human resources administrators in the state of California to develop their pay system. Pay differential rates were calculated to see the wage gap between different managerial positions. The results also provide a base salary reference to those looking for a job in the lodging industry

Assessment of admission criteria for predicting hotel management students' academic performance.

With the growth in the number of Hospitality and Tourism programs, admission committees have become increasingly attentive to the most efficient means of selecting students with the best potential for academic and professional success. Many higher education institutions in Asia employ a standard entrance exam system to select potential students. This study used the National Kao-Hsiung Hospitality College as a case study to examine whether entrance exams, when used as the sole admission criterion, were able to predict students' academic, professional, and overall performance. The results indicated that entrance exams were limited in predicting student performance. An admission portfolio approach including entrance exams, high school ranking, leadership abilities, work experience, and references was recommended instead of exams alone

Bed and Breakfast Innkeeper’s Work and Personal Life Balance: A Cross-cultural Comparison.

Bed and Breakfasts (B&B) represent a unique sector in the tourism industry. This study expands on previous hospitality work and life balance studies by investigating the cultural influences on B&B operators’ work and personal lives. The results indicated that Taiwanese B&B operators, who are in the collective culture, perceive less difficulty in their balancing work and personal lives, and they receive more family and social support compared to their American counterparts, who are within an individualistic culture. Both groups experienced equally satisfactory levels of successful balance. The implications and limitations of this study are discussed, and future studies are proposed

The effects of music on room attendants' work performance.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influences of music on the work performance of hotel room attendants. Most of the hotels' guest rooms are equipped with radios. However, many room attendants are told not to turn on the music while cleaning the guest rooms. Is this policy effective? Can music enhance room attendants' work performance? An experiment was conducted in a business hotel in Taiwan. Music was found to have no significant impact on room attendants' work performance. Nevertheless, the majority of the participants did indicate that they liked to have music playing in the guestrooms while cleaning

The moderating effects of job and personal life involvement on the relationship between work/personal life conflict and intention to quit.

This study expands research on work–personal life conflict and intention to quit by exploring the moderating effects of job involvement and personal life involvement on the relationship between work–personal life conflict and an employee's intention to quit. The sample consisted of 295 hotel managers. Personal life involvement was found to have a moderating effect on the relationship between work interference with personal life and intention to quit. The relationship between work interference with personal life and intention to quit was strongest among respondents with the highest levels of personal life involvement. However, employees' job involvement did not moderate the relationship between work–personal life conflict and intention to quit. Recommendations are offered to monitor impacts of work on personal life and to address the retention challenges facing the industry

Spillover between work and personal life balance for lodging managers.

The hospitality and tourism industry is characterized by long and erratic work hours. Many jobs are unsuitable for working at home. The unique features of the lodging industry and the demands of lodging managers' jobs often have interfered with the personal lives and marital relationships of these managers. The situation may even lead to a decision to leave the specific occupation or the industry permanently. The primary goal of this research was to investigate the perspectives of Taiwan hotel managers' regarding work-personal life balance and its relationship to various demographic variables, such as gender, marital status, etc. Results indicate that very few of Taiwanese managers had difficulty balancing work and personal lives. Indeed, the majority of these managers reported their perception of success in balancing work and personal life as from neutral to very successful. No statistically significant differences were found between female and male managers in terms of perceived difficulty or success in work and personal life balance. Neither was there a significant difference among married or single female/male managers. Results also suggested that work interfered with personal life more frequently than personal lif

Hotel Companies’ Environmental Awareness and Commitment: A content analysis of their web pages.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the environmental management policies and practices of the top 50 hotel companies as disclosed on their corporate web sites. Design/methodology/approach – This study employed content analysis to review the web sites of the top 50 hotel companies as defined herein. Findings – Only 46 per cent of the selected hotel companies used web pages to post information related to environmental issues on their public web sites. The web pages of Wyndham, IHG, Accor, Whitbread, Hyatt, Rezidor, Sol Melia, TUI, and Scandic featured more revealing environmental information than that posted by other companies, which indicated their environmental commitment and engagement. The results of content analysis identified 12 major environmental focus areas in which the sample hotel companies engaged. Research limitations/implications – The findings on environmental policies and practices are limited to the environmental information featured on the web sites of the top 50 hotel companies. Some of these companies may have established environmental policies or initiated environmental programs not disseminated on their web sites. In addition, web page information can be changed at any time, and the findings of this study are based upon a snapshot of the web sites as of March 2010. Practical implications – This study establishes a benchmark of the dissemination of environmental information on the internet by leading hotels, and provides a preliminary picture of environmental initiatives and engagement among these top hotel companies. The information generated from this study can serve as a guide for hotels that would like to engage in an environmental management program. This study also provides a source of information for hotels that would like to develop environmental web sites to demonstrate their environmental commitment to their stakeholders. Originality/value – Information concerning the content of environmental information disseminated on the web sites of large hotel companies is sparse. Consequently, this study aims to provide a snapshot of where the hotel industry is with regard to on-line environmental disclosure and related environmental policies and practices

Lodging managers’ perceptions of work and personal life balance: balanced or imbalanced?

This study serves two main purposes: (1) to assess lodging managers' perceptions of difficulties and success in balancing their personal and work lives, and (2) to investigate if lodging managers' work interferes with or is enhanced by their personal lives, or vice versa. The results indicate that most lodging managers believe that they have struck a satisfactory balance between their work and personal lives. This study identifies the respective bidirectional effects of the interaction between work and personal life. Personal life boundaries are more permeable to work demands than work boundaries are to personal life demands

B & B innkeepers in the United States: When the boundary between work and personal life is blurred.

Many bed-and-breakfast inns are operated by owners who live on the property. Working at home allows the boundary between work and personal life to become permeable. This flexibility either affords bed-and-breakfast innkeepers more time for their personal life or it serves as an intrusion. This study investigated bed-and-breakfast innkeepers’ perceptions of the balance between work and personal life, as well as their interaction. The results indicate that most bed-and-breakfast innkeepers maintain a satisfactory balance between work and personal life. They tended to perceive each of these dimensions as enhancing the other more than interfering with it

Coping strategies used by lodging managers to balance work and personal lives.

The hospitality industry offers services to consumers around the clock, every day of the year. Lodging managers, in particular, are required to work long hours in a highly unpredictable and stressful environment. Consequently, a successful career in hotel management leaves little time for outside activities which often leads managers to leave such positions or the industry altogether. The purpose of this study is to explore the coping strategies used by lodging managers who have a successful balance between their work and personal lives. Eight coping strategies are identified by interviewing 15 lodging managers