Job satisfaction in hotel employess: a systematic review of the literature

Hotel employees' job satisfaction is very important to their performance. In a systematic review of the previous literature on hotel employees, it was found that the most studied variable was job satisfaction; there were no other systematic reviews on the topic. In this review, performed in the Web of Knowledge, Web of Science (Social Sciences Index Expanded, Social Sciences Citation Index, Medline), and Science Direct between 2000 and 2014, 51 studies were found.These studies indicated that satisfaction is crucial to the financial performance and prosperity of hotels and acts a mediator in customer satisfaction. Contributing to greater satisfaction are factors such as greater autonomy and independence, greater power of decision making, flexible schedules, better working conditions, and training. The factors that promote dissatisfaction are wages and reduced benefits. The studies also indicated that a higher level of job satisfaction can have a direct impact on increasing the financial performance of the hotel. The implications of this study for hoteliers and directors relates to the creation of adequate working conditions to increase job satisfaction and provide hotel employees with a greater sense of subjective well-being

A motivação profissional dos docentes do Ensino Básico e Secundário: a influência de variáveis organizacionais, individuais e pertencentes à interface sujeito-organização

A motivação no trabalho tem-se assumido como uma pedra basilar para o alcance do sucesso organizacional em vários setores de atividade. No setor da educação tem-se dado grande ênfase à motivação docente, dado que professores motivados têm um impacto positivo na motivação dos alunos, ministram um ensino de qualidade, promovem o bem-estar na sala de aula e estão disponíveis para participar na conceção de implementação de reformas educativas. No entanto, este tema tem uma natureza complexa e multifacetada, sendo que grande parte da investigação efetuada sobre ele se tem focado no impacto dos fatores de mal-estar (e.g., ansiedade, burnout, depressão e stresse) na motivação dos professores. Ou seja, os estudos realizados têm apresentado predominantemente um cariz individual e estão ligados à psicopatologia. Assim, podemos verificar que não existe uma visão organizacional para o estudo deste tema. Contudo, as escolas são, na sua essência, organizações e, como tal, é crucial perceber como as dinâmicas organizacionais influenciam a motivação destes profissionais. Além disso, também não tem havido a preocupação em utilizar variáveis ligadas à psicologia positiva como forma de fomentar a motivação dos docentes. Deste modo, através da recolha de uma amostra composta por 1129 professores do Ensino Básico e Secundário, foram realizados um conjunto de estudos que procuraram analisar a relação entre a motivação docente, medida através do commitment organizacional, do engagement no trabalho, da motivação intrínseca e da intenção de permanecer, e um conjunto de variáveis organizacionais (clima organizacional, cultura organizacional e saúde organizacional), pertencentes à interface sujeito-organização (avaliação de desempenho, justiça organizacional e satisfação no trabalho) e individuais (capital psicológico positivo). Os estudos efetuados procuraram compreender os mecanismos, diretos e indiretos, existentes entre estas variáveis e possibilitaram a elaboração de um conjunto de propostas destinadas a promover a motivação dos docentes portugueses

Sport tourism: regional promotion strategies

The main purposes of this paper are (i) to analyze the regional promotion strategies of the UEFA Euro 2004 and (ii) to contribute for the improvement of planning and implementation strategies of tourism marketing at regional level. Data regarding these strategies were collected and synthesized. We verified if these strategies match some of the theoretical issues of promotion and tourism marketing. Despite the fact that already many studies have been made, internationally, on the impact of sport events, the present study contains something new as it introduces an ante analysis on the regional promotion strategies of major sport events. Unlikely, the results show that no specific and integrated regional promotion strategy was pursuit, and no substantial additional financial effort was made. In what concerns the private regional tourism agents, no promotion could be found. The main tourism promotion competition came from across the boarder, with dynamic promotion actions of the nearby Spanish regional tourism responsibles

Plano de desenvolvimento desportivo municipal

Esta comunicação não pretende ser a apresentação de um qualquer projecto de investigação, mas sim motivar todos os responsáveis municipais pelo desporto e lazer a aderirem com as suas câmaras municipais ao projecto PLANO DE DESENVOLVIMENTO DESPORTIVO MUNICIPAL – PDDM – do Núcleo de Investigação em Políticas Económicas da Universidade do Minho. O PDDM vem reunir num só projecto dois interesses legítimos: (1) o legítimo interesse que a universidade tem na concepção, na elaboração e no teste de novos modelos e instrumentos de planeamento sustentado, no sentido da implementacao de uma política de ordenamento local racional, e (2) o legítimo interesse das câmaras municipais em verem esses modelos e instrumentos aplicados aos seus territórios, a fim elaborarem políticas o mais próximas possível dos interesses e opções dos seus munícipes. Resumidamente, o PDDM pretende desenvolver uma metodologia científica que permita reconhecer, a médio-longo prazo, a evolução das formas de organização do desporto e dos diferentes hábitos/comportamentos desportivos da população portuguesa, permitindo alicerçar as decisões políticas em favor do desporto para todos, já que o grupo da população activa no lazer e desporto se encontra em directa concorrência com outros grupos sociais no que diz respeito a espaços/ terrenos municipais, suas localizações e respectivas fontes de financiamento. O PDDM pretende ainda garantir uma aplicabilidade fácil e uma utilização prática dos dados a obter, traduzindo as necessidades e realidades de cada localidade na perspectiva de formulacao de objectivos políticos, desportivos e de ordenamento do território

Frontline employee-driven change in hospitality firms: an analysis of receptionists’ personality on implemented suggestions

Purpose Frontline employees' suggestions are relevant for employee-driven organisational change because their knowledge is partially constructed from direct contact with customers and indirectly with competitors. The employee's personality is a paramount individual characteristic that can exert a major potential influence on the proposal and implementation of those suggestions. This study aims to discuss the impact of the personality dimensions in the Big Five model (i.e. extraversion, neuroticism, conscientiousness, agreeableness and openness to experience) on suggestions generated by frontline employees and implemented in their firms. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was prepared based on a review of the academic literature. The 5 presented hypotheses were tested with data from 167 frontline employees from hotels in Tenerife (Spain). Findings Results show the relevance of frontline employees' three characteristics of personality regarding the employee-driven organisational change. Thus, their extraversion, neuroticism and lack of direction tend to be relevant drivers of the suggestion and implementation of change. Practical implications Frontline employees act as change agents in hospitality firms. Managers should develop recruitment processes that allow to select individuals prone to proposing innovative suggestions and creating a friendlier system for submitting and defending them. Originality/value Employee-driven organisational change becomes crucial for the survival and growth of hospitality firms. Relatively few studies have been conducted on the role of frontline employees as change facilitators in the sector. This study contributes to shedding light on this research gap from a personality approach and the study also provides practical implications to increase valid suggestions in the hospitality sector.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Job crafting and job performance: The mediating effect of engagement

The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether work engagement mediates the relationship between job crafting and job performance. To this end, the following hypotheses were formulated: (1) job crafting establishes a positive and significant association with job performance; (2) job establishes a positive and significant association with work engagement; (3) work engagement establishes a positive and significant association with job performance; (4) work engagement mediates the association between job crafting and job performance. The sample was composed of 453 participants working in organisations based in Portugal. The hypotheses formulated in this study were tested by performing simple and multiple linear regressions. The results indicated that only increasing structural job resources and increasing challenging job demands established a positive and significant association with task performance. Increasing structural job resources, increasing social job resources, and increasing challenging job demands established a positive and significant association with citizenship performance and work engagement. Work engagement established a positive and significant association with task performance and citizenship performance. Only a partial mediating effect, through work engagement, was observed on the association between increasing challenging job demands and task performance, and between increasing social job resources and citizenship performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The influence of planning and response inhibition on cognitive functioning of Non-Psychotic unipolar depressed suicide attempters

Depression is one of the main risk factors for suicide. However, little is known about the intricate relationships among depressive symptomatology in unipolar depression, suicide risk, and the characteristics of executive dysfunction in depressed patients. We compared 20 non-psychotic unipolar depressed suicide attempters to 20 matching depressed non-attempters and to 20 healthy controls to further investigate the possible differences in neuropsychological performance. Depressed subjects were controlled for current suicidal ideation, and their neuropsychological profile was assessed using a range of measures of executive functioning, attention, verbal memory, processing speed, and psychomotor speed. Depressed groups were outperformed by healthy controls. Depressed attempters presented more cognitive impairment than depressed non-attempters on a simple Go/No-go response inhibition task and performed better than non-attempters on the Tower of London planning task. Depressed attempters were clearly distinguished by a deficit in response inhibition (Go/No-go commission errors). The normative planning performance (Tower of London extra moves) of the suicide attempters was unexpected, and this unanticipated finding calls for further research. Normative planning may indicate an increased risk of suicidal behavior.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Job crafting and job performance: the mediating effect of engagement

The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether work engagement mediates the relationship between job crafting and job performance. To this end, the following hypotheses were formulated: (1) job crafting establishes a positive and significant association with job performance; (2) job establishes a positive and significant association with work engagement; (3) work engagement establishes a positive and significant association with job performance; (4) work engagement mediates the association between job crafting and job performance. The sample was composed of 453 participants working in organisations based in Portugal. The hypotheses formulated in this study were tested by performing simple and multiple linear regressions. The results indicated that only increasing structural job resources and increasing challenging job demands established a positive and significant association with task performance. Increasing structural job resources, increasing social job resources, and increasing challenging job demands established a positive and significant association with citizenship performance and work engagement. Work engagement established a positive and significant association with task performance and citizenship performance. Only a partial mediating effect, through work engagement, was observed on the association between increasing challenging job demands and task performance, and between increasing social job resources and citizenship performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Depression and sleep quality in older adults: a meta-analysis.

The literature emphasizes depression and poor sleep quality as problems that affect many elderly individuals. However, these problems have been related in few studies and there is no meta-analysis performed so far on this relationship. The present research reviewed the studies performed on the subjective sleep quality in order to understand how it relates to depression in older adults. The review was conducted in January 2016 and comprised publications between 2005 and 2015. Based on the electronic databases Web of Science and EBSCO, we used the keywords 'sleep quality', 'depression', and 'older' to identify the empirical studies performed. After assessing the collected studies, we selected those that presented the elderly as participants, resulting in nine papers (N=3069). A random-effects method was used to evaluate the relationship between depression and sleep. We found that an older person's lack of good sleep quality is significantly related with depression. The main limitation of this study was the difficulty in collecting a greater number of studies. Future research should consider the importance of additional variables (e.g. moderators) in order to understand and investigate viable interventions for prevention and health promotion in the elderly

Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis – Sodium Valproate and Vancomycin?

A prevalência de reacções adversas a medicamentos (RAM) em doentes hospitalizados é estimada em 10 -20% e estas podem ser potencialmente fatais. A necrólise epidérmica tóxica (NET) é uma das apresentações de RAM mais severa, com baixa incidência mas mortalidade elevada. Os autores apresentam o caso de uma mulher de 79 anos, com doença cerebrovascular hemorrágica grave, pós -traumática, com necessidade de internamento em cuidados intensivos que, sob terapêutica com meropenem, vancomicina e valproato de sódio, desenvolveu um quadro de NET. Para identificação do fármaco responsável realizou -se teste de transformação linfoblástica (TTL). Os índices de estimulação obtidos foram 3. Apesar de ser ainda um instrumento de investigação, o TTL foi decisivo na confirmação da base imunológica da reacção. Vancomicina e valproato de sódio estão totalmente contraindicados nesta doente