Baker Ayoun

Hospitality student perceptions on the use of sustainable business practices as a means of signaling attractiveness and attracting future employees.

Employer attractiveness and recruiting success can offer a company competitive advantage. This study examines employer preference and attractiveness to current hospitality students through the examination of sustainable development behaviors as the signal of social responsibility. The research was conducted through a survey instrument which was administered to students enrolled in hospitality programs at four U.S. universities. Analysis of 341 responses indicated that the current industry practice of corporate philanthropy as the primary vehicle of signaling is outmoded and new behaviors emphasizing diversity and human rights are more effective in appealing to todays hospitality student.

The Effect of Information Technology Steering Committees on Perceived IT Management Sophistication in Hotels

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of information technology (IT) steering committees on perceived IT management sophistication in hotels. MANOVA was used to test if there was a significant difference in the levels of IT management sophistication between hotels that have an IT steering committee than in hotel companies that do not have such committee. Results indicated that the hotels that have an IT steering committee have a higher level of IT planning, culture, integration, control, and organization sophistication. Such committees are of strategic importance to the overall success of the hotel in achieving not only its IT strategic objectives, but also gaining an edge over its counterparts in terms of the potential to maximize its return on the investment in technology. This is the first study of effects of IT steering committees on IT management sophistication in the hotel industry.

Expatriation in the hotel industry: An exploratory study of management skills and cultural training

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the following expatriate issues as related to the hospitality industry, from the perspective of practitioners: the most important management skills hotel expatriates should possess, whether these skills vary by the country of origin of the expatriate and parent company, and the most effective cross‐cultural training activities provided by hotel companies.Design/methodology/approach – Data for this exploratory study was obtained from a sample of 66 respondents from lodging organizations with membership in the International Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH & RA). Data was collected by means of self‐administered, web‐based surveys.Findings – Participants in this study indicate that expatriate management skills vary in importance for hotel expatriates. The results of the analysis of variance demonstrate that the importance placed on the different expatriate management skills varies based on country of origin of both the expatriate and the parent compan...

Is workplace spirituality associated with business ethics

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically explore the potential association between spirituality and business ethics in a hotel workplace. Design/methodology/approach – A scenario-based quantitative approach was used to collect data from 165 practicing professionals in the hotel industry. Findings – The results show that spirituality, as measured by the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS), did not correlate significantly with measures of ethical perception, ethical judgment, ethical intention or perceived moral intensity. There was, however, evidence to suggest that spirituality may be able to contribute incrementally to future research. Research limitations/implications – This study demonstrates that the dynamic associations between spirituality and ethics may produce different outcomes in different industry settings. Practical implications – If hotel companies focus on developing ethical standards, the effects on the business ethics of managers could be considerably greater than relying on t...

A Comparison Study of U.S. and Non-U.S. Education Internationalization Practices of Hospitality and Tourism Programs

This study seeks to determine the practices and perceptions of internationalization in hospitality and tourism education programs throughout different regions of the world. The findings of this research suggest that U.S. hospitality and tourism education programs are behind in the areas of student and curriculum, faculty and research, and the networks and organizational support. However, U.S. hospitality and tourism education programs show comparable results with regard to the reasons, benefits, risks, and barriers to internationalization. This suggests that U.S. hospitality and tourism education programs realize the importance but are not on par with non-U.S. programs in implementation. These findings open discussion of how U.S. and non-U.S. hospitality and tourism education programs can increase their internationalization efforts to compete in the global environment.

Impact of Time Orientation on the Strategic Behavior of Thai and American Hotel Managers

The aim of this article was to investigate the potential influence of the cultural dimension of time orientation on the strategic behavior of hotel managers. A survey questionnaire was mailed to top-level hotel managers in the U.S. (short-term orientation) and Thailand (long-term orientation). A usable sample of 120 was used in the analysis. The results indicated that this cultural dimension provided a relatively proper base for explaining the differences between managers from these two countries. Compared to their American counterparts, Thai managers were found to place a stronger emphasis on longer term strategic plans, have a stronger tendency toward involving others when developing their business strategy, and a stronger reliance on long-term evaluation of strategy. No significant differences were found between the managers concerning openness to strategic change and commitment to strategic decisions. Directions for future research and implications for the hotel industry are presented.

Cultural influences on strategic behavior of hotel executives: masculinity and femininity.

As more hotel companies progressively internationalize their operations, the composition of their top management teams becomes more diversified. This necessitates the understanding of whether variations in strategic behavior and philosophy among these executives exist, which can be partially explained by differences in their national cultures. This article investigated the potential influence of masculinity on strategic behaviors by comparing hotel executives from three countries, the U.S., Thailand and Turkey. The findings indicated that executives associated with masculine cultures tended to use less involvement of others and less rationality in strategy development than their counterparts from feminine cultures. No differences were found regarding emphasis on content of strategic goals and openness to strategic change. Managerial implications and directions for future research are presented.

Individualism-collectivism insights into the strategic behavior of hotel managers.

This study investigated the potential influence of the cultural dimension of individualism-collectivism on the approaches toward business strategy development. A total of 207 responses from hotel top executives from the United States, Malaysia, Thailand, and Turkey were analyzed quantitatively. The results demonstrated that differences between executives from cultures with varied degrees of emphasis on individualism were significant regarding openness to strategic change, strategy evaluation time horizons, involvement of others in the strategy development efforts, and criteria for strategy performance evaluation. The findings concerning the focus of strategic objectives and formality of strategic control were mixed. Implications of the findings for the international hotel companies are discussed, and limitations of the present study and venues for future research are provided.

Tomorrow’s Hospitality Leaders of America: Their Willingness to Accept a Future Expatriate Assignment

Previous research has shown that sending managers on international assignments is accompanied by both a high chance of failure and substantial investment in training and preparation. One strategy to reduce failures is to identify and recruit potential managers who are more willing in the future to accept an expatriate assignment in the first place. This study focused on students currently enrolled in hospitality management programs in the United States, as they represent the future leaders of the hospitality industry. The study investigated potential demographic variables, personality aspects, and background experiences to determine whether any were significantly associated with an increased willingness among students to accept an expatriate position when they join the industry in the future. A survey of students enrolled in 15 hospitality management programs in the United States yielded 819 responses that showed strong support for variables measuring self-ratings for openness, perceptions for learning opportunities associated with the expatriate assignment, and foreign travel. Implications for international hospitality companies as well as future research in this area are provided.

The Effect of Organizational Commitment on Word-of-Mouth Intentions in Recruitment in China

The purpose of this article is to investigate the relationships between three components of organizational commitment and word-of-mouth intentions among the staff employed in two hotels located in mainland China. A total of 120 hotel employees participated in a questionnaire survey. The results indicate that there are direct correlations between the three components of organizational commitment and word-of-mouth intentions. The effects of normative commitment in predicting the amount of word-of-mouth intentions is especially significant. Implications for the industry and directions for future research are presented.