Erdogan H. Ekiz

The effects of nepotism on human resource management: The case of three, four and five star hotels in Northern Cyprus

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effects of nepotism on human resource management (HRM) practices through the use of Turkish Cypriot hotel employees in three, four, and five star accommodation establishments in Northern Cyprus.Design/methodology/approach – Questionnaires were distributed to full time hotel employees in three, four, and five star hotels in Northern Cyprus. Of the 500 distributed, 257 usable questionnaires were retrieved. A judgmental sampling approach was used.Findings – The principal finding is that nepotism has a significant negative effect on HRM, job satisfaction, quitting intention, and negative word of mouth. The study also shows that HRM exerts a significant positive effect on job satisfaction.Research limitations/implications – This study reveals that nepotism is an unprofessional phenomenon that provides benefits merely to the family members or close friends. Therefore, nepotism paralyzes human resource practices and affects the level of satisfac...

ISSUES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF INTERNET HOTEL MARKETING IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Despite the continuously increasing number of published work on the use of the Internet in tourism and hospitality literature, little has been written specifically on issues faced by hoteliers in developing countries and how they could learn from other successful practices. Indeed, analyzing the well performing destinations would provide useful insights for hoteliers in less performing counterparts around the world so as to better exploit the advantages of Internet technologies within their own constraints. Using Northern Cyprus and Hong Kong as examples, this study attempts first to find out the typical issues and usage of Internet marketing in a less developed tourist destination—Northern Cyprus, and compare the Internet‐related practices carried out by hotels in another well developed tourist destination—Hong Kong. A set of self‐administered questionnaires were mailed to members of major hotel associations in both locations. Results revealed that hoteliers in Hong Kong used the services of professionals in designing their websites and launched their websites before their Cypriot counterparts. A discussion of the findings, implications, and limitations are also given.

Development of a tourist complaint constraint (TCC) scale.

Most early tourism scholars were from other, well-established disciplines and so used their backgrounds to explain the emerging tourism phenomenon. This may explain why so many of them directly applied marketing and management theories in general – and complaint behavior theories in particular – without considering the unique features of tourism. Given the increasing importance of complaints as a form of getting valuable customer feedback, it is imperative for managers in the tourism industry to understand the factors that affect how tourists complain. Therefore, this paper develops a new measurement scale, tailor-made to reflect the unique features of the industry. To develop this scale, 15 in-depth interviews were conducted, which generated an initial pool of 61 items that were then converted into questionnaire form. After analyzing 1822 questionnaires, a 15-item tourist complaining constraint scale with 5 factors (limited time, limited involvement, limited communication, unfamiliarity, and holiday mood) emerged as statistically reliable and valid. This paper sets out the procedures for scale development, discussion, implications, and limitations. This scale can help managers in the tourism and hospitality industry by illuminating the constraints affecting tourist complaint behavior.