JungHoon (Jay) Lee

An Exploratory Analysis of Soft Skill Competencies Needed for the Hospitality Industry

The identification of competencies needed by hospitality managers has been investigated since the 1980s. In all of the competency research related to management, essential competencies include skills that can be classified as soft skills. The purpose of this project was to have human resource professionals rate the importance of soft skill competencies found in literature and to determine the relative importance of the seven categories of soft skill competencies. The study combined new data with existing data to complete an exploratory factor analysis. This exploratory study found a five-component tool that had similarities to other models found in the literature review but also had unique differences to the prior research.

The Impact of Occupational Stress on Employee's Turnover Intention in the Luxury Hotel Segment

High turnover is one of the distinguishing features of the hotel industry and one of its remaining greatest challenges. This study sought to identify the reasons for the high level of turnover intention and examined one in particular—occupational stress. First, this study conducted a principal component factor analysis with varimax rotation to extract occupational stress factors. The principal component factor analysis divided the 23 occupational stress items into six factors: problems related to the home, problems related to task and pay, conflict with job responsibility, unfair treatment, shortage of support, and organizational culture. Next, this study used the regression analysis to ascertain the effect of occupational stresses on turnover intention and to identify the occupational stresses that have a more significant effect on hotel employees turnover intention. Results indicated that occupational stress factors predict hotel employees turnover intention. In particular, among the six occupational stresses, unfair treatment contributed most significantly to turnover intention. Hotel managers who familiarize themselves with these study findings will be in a better position to understand the important role of occupational stress in employee turnover.

Hotel Employee Work Engagement and Its Consequences

Although the popularity of employee engagement among business operators has inspired many practitioner studies, theory-based academic research from the organizational behavior perspective has been relatively limited, especially regarding how employee work engagement benefits employees themselves as well as their organizations. This study empirically tested a theoretical relationship model using the potential consequences of employee engagement in the hotel setting: intrinsic rewards, leader–member exchange (LMX), job satisfaction, and organizational commitment. Results of structural equation modeling showed that employee engagement was directly associated with all hypothesized consequences. This study also demonstrated that LMX mediated the relationships of employee engagement with job satisfaction and organizational commitment, while job satisfaction mediated the relationships between employee engagement and organizational commitment and between LMX and organizational commitment.

Customer Segmentation Based on Dining Preferences in Full-Service Restaurants

This study was designed to identify the factors affecting five groups pruned by customer decision factors (menu, atmosphere, price, health, and brand reputation) that customers consider when selecting a full-service restaurant. The analytical method applied in this study was Decision Tree Analysis. As Decision Tree Analysis enables a researcher to identify and target desirable customer groups, it is an ideal analysis to identify differences between groups. A total of 390 questionnaires were used for the data analysis. The result indicated that depending on the group, classifying variables were different. That is, five groups have their own unique attributes. The results of this research would be valuable for marketers or managers in the restaurant industry to understand targeting customer segmentation.

A study of brand prestige in the casino industry: The moderating role of customer involvement

This study explored the important role of brand prestige in the casino industry. More specifically, based on a literature review, it was proposed that (1) brand prestige positively affects three outcome variables: social value, customer satisfaction, and revisit intentions; (2) social value has a positive influence on customer satisfaction and revisit intentions; and (3) customer involvement plays a moderating role in this process. Based on the proposed hypotheses, a conceptual model was developed and tested using empirical data from 236 casino customers who had played casino games in the United States. Data analysis results showed that brand prestige is an important determinant of social value and customer satisfaction, both of which bear a significant impact on revisit intentions. Lastly, customer involvement plays an important moderating role in the relationship between brand prestige and customer satisfaction. The possible interpretations and managerial implications of these findings are provided in the last section of the article.

Relationship between Emotional Labor and Customer Orientation among Airline Service Employees: Mediating Role of Depersonalization:

Drawing on Hobfoll’s conservation of resources theory and Maslach’s burnout theory, this study proposed and tested a conceptual model depicting relationships among the two forms of emotional labor strategies, depersonalization and customer orientation (CO). The model also examined the mediating role of depersonalization in the relationship between emotional labor and CO. Multigroup analyses were conducted to examine moderating effects of job position and job responsibility. Data obtained from cabin crews, airport service staff, and call center representatives working for an airline company in Korea were used to gauge these relationships. Results of structural equation modeling revealed that deep acting affects CO positively while surface acting affects CO negatively. The results further suggest that these relationships are mediated by both reduced and increased depersonalization, and the strength of the direct relationships may differ by employee position and area of service work. Theoretical and management implications are discussed based on the findings.

Antecedents of Cultural Intelligence among American Hospitality Students: Moderating Effect of Ethnocentrism

ABSTRACT As interactions and markets become increasingly global, hospitality firms must retain culturally-intelligent managers and hospitality education must nurture its students so they are qualified to meet this demand. This study examines the relationship between the cultural intelligence (CQ) of American hospitality students and its possible antecedents: cross-cultural academic training, foreign language skills, daily intercultural social contact, and international travel. Using hierarchical regression analysis of data from 938 American college students enrolled in hospitality programs in the United States, our study demonstrated that these variables generally predict CQ with a few exceptions. Results of multi-group analysis further showed that student ethnocentrism moderates the relationships between the antecedents and CQ. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results and directions for future research are discussed.

Relationships among Senior Tourists’ Perceptions of Tour Guides’ Professional Competencies, Rapport, Satisfaction with the Guide Service, Tour Satisfaction, and Word of Mouth:

Tour guides are very important for elderly tourists, but very few studies have focused on their roles in the senior tourism market. Thus, this study proposed that senior tourists’ perceptions of tour guides’ professional competencies play an important role in the formation of rapport with the tour guide. Rapport is a concept to show a close relationship between the customer and the employee. Additionally, it was hypothesized that this rapport enhances satisfaction with the guide service, tour satisfaction, and word of mouth. Lastly, the moderating role of product knowledge was proposed during the theory-building process. The data were collected from 325 elderly tourists in Korea. The results indicated that professional skills and professional attitude have a positive influence on rapport with the tour guide, which in turn positively affects satisfaction with the guide service, tour satisfaction, and word of mouth. Furthermore, this study found the important role of product knowledge as a moderator.

A sociocultural perspective on expatriation willingness: The mediating role of cultural intelligence

ABSTRACT As expatriates’ lack of motivation to work overseas and firms’ ineffective screening and selection criteria for expatriates cause expatriation failures, identifying and recruiting candidates who are willing to accept future expatriate assignments has become an important strategic imperative among hospitality practitioners and educators. The purpose of this study is to identify antecedents of hospitality students’ expatriation willingness and demonstrate how the antecedents develop expatriation willingness. From a sociocultural perspective based on job resources-demands theory and selfefficacy theory, we hypothesized international travel experience, intercultural social contact in daily life, and cultural intelligence (CQ) are positively related to expatriation willingness. We also hypothesized CQ to mediate the direct relationship between international travel experience and expatriation willingness and between daily intercultural social contact and expatriation willingness. Results of structural equation modeling of the data from 370 students supported all the hypotheses in this study. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

CFA and soft skill competencies for entry-level managers*

Post-recession employers will look for individuals possessing skills that increase their sales and clientele through friendly service and boost their productivity through problem solving and communication skills. Although studies have identified important soft skills for hospitality managers, this research has taken a different approach, focusing on creating a baseline of essential soft skills for entry-level managers. Having this initial baseline will help the researchers provide greater reliability to the scale and a future tool for hospitality companies. In prior studies, the researchers developed a list of 107 competencies. A Delphi panel was convened and consisted of six HR professionals and six HR academicians. The Delphi panel confirmed the importance of the 107 competencies and added 9 competencies. Next, a principal components analysis was conducted on the soft skill competency items. The next phase of the research revealed a five-factor structure.