Investigating the Association of Burnout and Personality Traits of Hotel Managers

The article presents an investigation of the relationship between the burnout dimensions of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and personal accomplishment and the ‘Big Five’ personality traits. The Maslach Burnout Inventory was utilized to allow research participants to describe their perceived level of burnout while the most widely acknowledged tool for measuring personality traits, the ‘Big Five’, was also incorporated in the questionnaire, which was then distributed to 500 hotel managers. Findings indicate a positive association between emotional exhaustion and neuroticism, negative associations between depersonalization and both agreeableness and conscientiousness, and, finally, a positive association between personal accomplishment and conscientiousness. Industry implications and recommendations for stakeholders are discussed

Quality and satisfaction with culinary education: evidence from Cyprus

Culinary education has experienced remarkable growth in Cyprus in the past decade. Numerous institutions are offering a variety of related programs with the aim of adequately preparing the next generation of culinary professionals. Despite this unprecedented growth, many argue that a short-term opportunistic business mentality prevails. Driven by the profession’s celebrity status, institutions offering culinary-related education risk downgrading the quality of their portfolio. Adopting a uantitative methodology, the study set out to investigate industry professionals’ and educators’ perceptions of the quality and overall satisfaction with the current culinary education offerings. The findings inform and provide practical recommendations for those striving to improve the nature, identity, scope, and value of culinary education

Extraversion, openness and conscientiousness

Purpose: The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between leadership styles (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X-Short)) and the "Big Five" personality traits (NEO-FFI) of neuroticism, extraversion, openness to experience, conscientiousness and agreeableness among managers currently working in the hotel industry of Cyprus. Design/methodology/approach: Adopting a quantitative approach, the MLQ 5X-Short was utilized to allow research participants to describe their leadership style as they perceive it. In addition, the most widely acknowledged tool for measuring personality traits, NEO-FFI, was also incorporated in the questionnaire. Findings: Findings suggest that transformational leadership is positively associated with extraversion, openness and conscientiousness; while in contrast, passive/avoidance leadership style is negatively associated with conscientiousness and agreeableness. Research limitations/implications: The small sample size (n=131) and the homogeneity of the sample, limit the generalizability of the findings to other environments. Practical implications: Hospitality organizations should recruit, promote and invest in developing extrovert individuals who are both open to experience and conscientious, and who also exhibit transformational leadership behaviours. Originality/value: This paper contributes to the scientific literature by investigating the association between the "Big Five" personality traits and transformational leadership behaviour

Managing Hospitality Internship Practices: A Conceptual Framework

By challenging the existing paradigms governing hospitality internship practices over the last two decades the paper presents some innovative ideas, in the form of a framework, as to how the practice can be enhanced for the benefit of all stakeholders involved. The framework, which lay its foundation in Kolb's (1984) theory of experiential learning, covers the fundamentals of designing, monitoring, and evaluating students' internship practices, as well as providing an exploration of the theory and rationale of internships as effective educational practices. The proposed framework is of value and has practical implications both for academic scholars, who wish to further investigate the issue, and industry practitioners, since it can serve as a guide for the provision of a pedagogically sound internship experience to the next generation of hospitality professionals

Leadership Styles and Burnout: is there an association?

The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the association between leadership styles and burnout among hospitality managers currently working in the industry of Cyprus. Specifically, transformational, transactional and passive/avoidance were investigated in order to establish which leadership style is more prone to burnout effects. Design/methodology/approach - Adopting a quantitative approach, the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ 5X-Short) was utilized to allow research participants to describe their leadership style as they perceive it. In addition, the most widely acknowledged tool for measuring burnout, the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), was also incorporated in the questionnaire, which was then distributed to 500 hospitality managers in Cyprus. A number of hypotheses, reflecting the primary objective of the study, were postulated. Findings - The findings suggest that transformational leadership has a significant positive association with personal accomplishment and is negatively related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. In addition a positive relationship exists between passive avoidance leadership and emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. Finally, individuals with a passive avoidance leadership style exhibited higher levels of burnout. Research limitations/implications - It is well documented in the literature that surveys measuring sensitive issues, such as leadership styles and burnout levels, have inbuilt limitations (Hunt, 1999; Antonakis et al., 2003). With regards to leadership, the authors acknowledge that they were not able to replicate the original nine-factor solution of the MLQ 5X, therefore, findings should be viewed with caution. The second limitation is the small sample size (n=131) and the homogeneity of the sample, which limit the generalizability of the findings. Practical implications - The findings have a practical relevance to both hospitality stakeholders and academic scholars who wish to further explore the leadership-burnout association. In addition, Human Resources practitioners could utilize the findings when developing strategies for recruiting and developing leaders. Originality/value - The paper adds to existing knowledge by investigating an issue presented in just a few hospitality-related studies. While burnout and leadership separately, have captured the attention of hospitality researchers, studies investigating their association are ubiquitous by their absence. The insights derived from this paper are of value to academic scholars wishing to build on this exploratory investigation

Migrant labor in hospitality: The Cyprus experience

tThe hospitality industry depends to a great extent on migrant employees for its day-to-day operations.Cyprus’ accession to the European Union (EU) in 2004 saw an influx of migrant employees, mainly from‘New Europe’, a development which posed and continues to pose, numerous organizational challenges.Adopting a qualitative methodology, the study set out to investigate migrants’ employment experiencesin Cyprus, via the views of three different groups of employees; managers, local and migrant employees.Findings, can inform both industry stakeholders and academic scholars, while enhancing our collec-tive knowledge regarding migrants’ contributions to the industry, ‘push’ and ‘pull’ factors of migrantemployment, their intercultural relationships with the host population, and the impacts that migrantemployment can have on the service delivery process

Adult vocational decision, career satisfaction and future intention: Insights from the hospitality industry

Purpose This study aims to examine the association between the elements which influence the career decision-making process of tenured hospitality employees and their existing level of career satisfaction (CSat) and future intention. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a quantitative approach, a questionnaire survey collected data from 564 individuals working as full-time employees at all levels of the hierarchy in four- and five-star hotel establishments in Cyprus. Structural equation modeling analysis, preceded by exploratory factor analysis, was utilized to assess the constructs’ relationships and address the postulated hypotheses. Findings The results suggest that accurate job-person fit, reflective career awareness and the individuals’ pragmatic occupational perceptions, positively influence their CSat and, subsequently, strengthen their intention to remain and progress within the industry. Research limitations/implications The study’s setting, the Cyprus hospitality industry, a Mediterranean seasonal destination with unique operational characteristics, may limit the generalizability of the findings to business environments in other regions. Practical implications Insights are of interest and value to stakeholders, including academic scholars wishing to build on this investigation, industry professionals striving to revitalize interest toward relevant professions, career counselors’ vocational decision guidance tactics and strategies and individuals envisioning a prosperous hospitality career. Originality/value The paper enhances and enriches our conceptual knowledge of a relatively barren landscape, investigating the behavior of mature employees’ choice of a hospitality career

‘The past is prologue to the future’: an introspective view of hospitality and tourism research

Since the early 1970s, scholars have contributed their talent and intellect towards the establishment of the discipline and the education of the next generation of hospitality and tourism professionals. Espousing the popular notion ‘‘publish or perish’’, numerous scholars have explored the discipline’s research foundations from an array of different perspectives, such as the ranking and rating of scholars, journal publications and institutions. This novel empirical endeavor aims to enrich the existing intellectual capital by investigating the publication strategies of forty-four prolific hospitality and tourism scholars, by focusing on three distinctive thematic areas, namely, a journal’s impact factor and citations, authorship specifics, and research themes. Findings are of interest to both current and future scholars in their quest for academic excellence and contributions, which further enhance the hospitality and tourism discipline