Quality management, environmental management and firm performance in the Spanish hotel industry

Comunicación presentada en el XVI Simposio Internacional de Turismo y Ocio, ESADE, 23 mayo 2007.

The effect of innovation on hotel market value

The purpose of this article is to analyze the effect of hotel innovations on firm value. Specifically, this study fills a research gap in the previous literature by examining this effect through market value and by distinguishing the potentially different impacts of distinct innovation types: product, process, organization and marketing. This research contributes to consolidating the empirical evidence of hotel innovation and performance by analyzing whether distinct types of innovation lead to different levels of results. The findings show that innovations are perceived to have a positive impact on the future sales of the company: in a four-day period (0,+3), there is an increase in stock exchange returns of 1.53%. In terms of innovation types, process and marketing innovations are found to have a higher positive effect on hotel market value than product and organization innovations; which is explained by potential cost differences among innovations.

Cómo reacciona el personal de hotel cuando observa un trato (in)justo hacia los huéspedes

Este artículo sugiere que el personal de hotel ante un trato (in)justo del hotel hacia los clientes atribuye tal trato a la responsabilidad del hotel y, dependiendo que éste sea justo o injusto, aumentaría o disminuiría sus conductas orientadas al cliente (COBs). Los datos fueron recogidos mediante cuestionarios pasados a 204 empleados de ocho hoteles de lujo en las Islas Canarias (España). Para examinar las hipótesis se utilizaron modelos de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM). No así en el caso de percepciones de justicia distributiva, los resultados muestran que cuanta más justicia procedimental e interpersonal hacia los huéspedes perciban los empleados, más se implican en conductas orientadas al cliente (COBs). Los hallazgos sugieren la necesidad de prevenir episodios de maltrato a los huéspedes por parte del hotel, haciendo especial hincapié en aquellos que son visibles para los empleados, para promover así conductas orientadas al cliente (COBs). Hasta donde nosotros sabemos, este es el primer estudio empírico en donde la justicia organizativa (distributiva, procedimental e interpersonal) dirigida hacia los clientes y las conductas orientadas al cliente (COBs) de los empleados son examinadas conjuntamente en un mismo modelo.

Quality Management, Environmental Management and Organizational Design in the Hotel Industry: A Qualitative Study

The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, the paper analyzes the relationship between quality management and environmental management and their effects on hotel performance. Second, the article examines the relationship between these two management systems and organizational design. The paper uses an exploratory, qualitative approach based on interviews with managers and experts in the hotel industry. Based on a content analysis of interviews, the results lead to several propositions. Specifically, quality and environmental management influence hotel performance through mediating variables. Moreover, the implementation of quality management facilitates the implementation of environmental management. Furthermore, the implementation of these two management systems is associated with an increase of formalization and decentralization. The paper contributes to the analysis of quality management, environmental management, organizational design and performance in a joint manner, which has not been attempted before in the hotel industry. In addition, it helps extend the findings about these links in manufacturing and service organizations to the hotel industry.

The effects of quality and environmental management on competitive advantage: A mixed methods study in the hotel industry

This paper reports results derived from a mixed methods study where 13 hotel managers were initially interviewed, followed by a quantitative study of 355 additional managers. Data were analysed using partial least squares path modelling. The research question related to the relationship between quality and environmental management and the competitive advantage sought by hotels. The results indicate that quality management and environmental management permit the improvement of competitive advantage in terms of both costs and differentiation. Moreover, hotels implementing quality programmes find fewer obstacles in implementing environmental management.

Quality certification, performance and size in hotel chains

This paper examines the relationship between quality certification and performance, and quality certification and size in hotel chains operating in Spain. In an initial phase, a quantitative study is made with secondary and objective data to analyse these relationships. In a second phase, a qualitative analysis is applied to reach a better understanding of the quantitative results. The findings show that chains with certified hotels achieve better performance levels; that better performance levels increase with the percentage of certified hotels within the chain; and that quality certification has positive effects on some performance variables. In addition, size is not a key factor for certification, although it could be an enabler.

El bienestar y la conducta de los empleados de hotel en el contexto de la actual crisis económica

Poco se ha estudiado en qué medida la inseguridad laboral provocada por la actual crisis económica está afectando al comportamiento y rendimiento de los empleados del sector turístico. Este trabajo examina el posible impacto que la inseguridad laboral puede ejercer sobre la ansiedad y la depresión de los empleados de hoteles, y si estos estados de ánimo, a su vez, afectan su comportamiento cívico (OCB) y al rendimiento de sus tareas. Los datos fueron extraídos de 188 empleados de siete hoteles de entre tres y cinco estrellas de la isla de La Palma (Islas Canarias, España). Los resultados respaldan efectos significativos de la inseguridad laboral sobre la ansiedad y la depresión. A su vez, conforme a lo esperado, la depresión afectó negativamente a la conducta del empleado, pero sólo a su comportamiento cívico (OCB) dirigido hacia la organización (OCB-O). Sin embargo, la ansiedad no se relacionó conforme a lo esperado, aumentando el OCB-O del empleado y el rendimiento de sus tareas, lo que pudiera tener como objetivo un intento de protección de su puesto de trabajo. Los hallazgos nos permiten afirmar que la actual situación de crisis está afectando significativamente al empleado de hotel, perjudicando su estado de ánimo y, a través de la depresión, su conducta OCB-O.