Kent F. Murrmann

A Pancultural Study of Restaurant Service Expectations in the United States and Hong Kong

The present study explored the relationship between cultural norms and customers’ expectations for service by means of a pancultural factor model of restaurant service expectations. A survey instrument was developed in a three-stage process using input generated from focus groups in both the United States and Hong Kong. The service encounter was the level of measure and the instrument emphasized the behavioral components of service. Data were collected from comparable samples in the United States and Hong Kong. A six-dimensional model of service expectations was generated. Subsequent analyses indicated that the two groups differed significantly in their assessments of importance for each of the six dimensions. The results provide meaningful implications for managing service quality and training customer contact employees.

Organizational Justice as a Mediator of the Relationships Between Leader-Member Exchange and Employees' Turnover Intentions

This article identifies the impact of interpersonal working relationships on employees justice perceptions and the effects of those perceptions on employees turnover intentions. LISREL results indicated that distributive justice was negatively related to turnover intentions, and procedure justice had a direct positive influence on turnover intentions. The results further showed that the quality of interpersonal working relationships between subordinates and supervisors promoted perceptions of fairness on the part of front-line employees. Both distributive and procedural justice played a vital mediating role in the relationships among Leader-member exchange (LMX) and turnover intentions.

Bluffing in labor negotiations: Legal and ethical issues

This paper presents an analysis of bluffing in labor negotiations from legal, economic, and ethical perspectives. It is argued that many forms of bluffing in labor negotiations are legal and economically advantageous, but that they typically constitute lying. Nevertheless it is argued that it is generally morally acceptable to bluff given a typical labor-management relationship where ones negotiating partner is familiar with and most likely employing bluffing tactics him/herself. We also consider whether it is an indictment of our present negotiating practices and our economic system as a whole that, given the harsh realities of the marketplace, bluffing is usually morally acceptable.

The Influence of Context Orientation on Job Seeker Perceptions of Recruitment, Person-Organization Fit, and Job Application Intention in the Hospitality Industry

Through this study the authors investigate the influence of culture, and more specifically context orientation, on job seeker perceptions of recruitment activities and messages, person-organization fit, and job application intention. Researchers sampled 403 college students majoring in hospitality and tourism management from different cultural backgrounds. The results indicated that context orientation was significantly related to both perceptions of recruitment activities and messages. However, context orientation was not found to be associated with perceptions of person-organization fit. Recommendations are offered to examine the perception of fit at different stages of recruitment and the consistency of the influence of culture throughout the recruitment process.

Noninvariant Measurement Versus Traditional Approaches for Studying Cultural Differences: A Case of Service Expectations

Current cross-cultural comparisons in hospitality and tourism research are largely based on differences in simple average scores. This method assumes equal weights for the items and hence fails to address cross-cultural differences in the relative importance of each attribute in comprising the overall evaluation. In this study, a comparison between United States customers and Hong Kong customers in restaurant service expectations is used to demonstrate that latent variable scores are more appropriate than simple average scores for cross-cultural comparisons. The two samples demonstrate differences in relative importance for some items measuring restaurant service expectations. By calculating the latent variable score both with and without factorial invariance, researchers can decompose cross-cultural differences into a component due to item responses, and a second component due to unequal item-construct relationships. It is demonstrated that meaningful cross-cultural comparisons are possible only when noninvariant items are carefully examined.

Planning and implementing an effective downsizing program.

Abstract Of primary concern to hospitality management before, during, and after a downsizing event should be the concerns and potential reactions of employees. The attitudinal and behavioral reactions of employees who work in a downsizing environment may be influenced by both the objective dimensions of this environment and employees subjective interpretations of this work setting. This article discusses some of these key objective and subjective factors that may be present in a downsizing organization and providing recommendations to managers relevant to the planning and implementation of a downsizing program that is designed to elicit less work-related stress and more positive (or less negative) behavioral and attitudinal reactions from employees.

Union Membership Trends and Organizing Activities in the Hotel and Restaurant Industries

This paper presents an analysis of union election activity within the hotel and restaurant industries for the period of January 1, 1977 through September 30, 1989. Data on National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certification and decertification elections reveal a decline in overall activity during this period for all major unions in these industries. While the percentage of elections won by the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union (HERE) has increased in the last year of analysis, other unions have exhibited a decline.

Supervisor Support for the Permanent Replacement of Economic Strikers

Sixty-one supervisors were surveyed to examine the importance of organization commitment, union approval, and quality of union-management relationship in explaining supervisor support for hiring permanent replacements in short and long strike situations. Organization commitment and union approval exhibited a unique negative relationship with support for hiring replacements in a short strike, and union approval exhibited a unique negative relationship with support for hiring replacements in a long strike situation.

Employee Attitudes Toward a Nonunion Grievance Procedure and Their Influence on Unionization

This paper reports on a study investigating employee perceptions of due process in a nonunion grievance procedure and its relationship to grievance system satisfaction, job satisfaction, and union voting intention. The results suggest that distributive justice and procedural justice may play equally important roles in overall system satisfaction and are highly related to employee intent to vote for or against union representation.

Characteristics and outcomes of grievance arbitration decisions in hospitality firms.

Abstract The establishment of a grievance arbitration process in the collective bargaining agreement remains the principal method for resolving contractual disputes in unionized settings in the US. This study presents an analysis of grievance arbitration cases in the hospitality industry published during the period from January 1985 through December 1995. It examines some of the unique characteristics of arbitration in this industry. Included is a discussion of the significant implications of arbitration cases for the training of managers and supervisors responsible for the application of the discipline process, and the resolution of disciplinary grievances.