Robert A. Brymer

Hotel Management and Marketing on the Internet: An Analysis of Sites and Features

Many hotel managers and hotel-operating companies are attempting to use the internet and worldwide web as an effective management and marketing tool. An exploratory survey finds thousands of hotel-related sites. Most such sites are hotel guides, chain hotels, and individual hotels, in that order. Current WWW hotel sites vary tremendously. Available functions of a web page include: travel information, reservations and payment, special promotions, links to partners, direct consumer feedback, employment opportunities, audio and video ads, gift certificates, shareholder information, newsletters, frequently asked questions, and a list of and links to individual hotels. The costs of establishing and maintaining a web site vary considerably, depending on the site-owners commitment and objectives. The most effective hotel sites are those that give the consumer the easiest, most rewarding access to relevant and related information. For any web site, there are five important considerations for its successful management: defining the mission, calculating the margins, addressing the mechanics, planning the marketing, and performing the maintenance.

Antecedents and Consequences of Organizational Commitment: A Comparison of Two Scales:

The structural properties of two measures of organizational commitment, the Organizational Commitment Questionnaire and the Organizational Commitment Scale, were examined to establish similarities and differences in the measures. Next, the antecedents of age, gender, marital status, leader-member exchange, and justice and the consequences of job satisfaction, life satisfaction, nonwork satisfaction, intent to turnover, and job involvement were examined in relation to each scale. Results indicated that the scales differed with respect to the components of commitment each measured and the strength of the relationships each had with the antecedents and consequences. Suggestions for when the use of each scale might be appropriate are provided.

Customer service employees’ behavioral intentions and attitudes: an examination of construct validity and a path model

Abstract Customer service employees ( N =386) from a variety of service-based organizations (e.g., hotels, restaurants, and retail stores) were sampled in a cross-sectional design to assess the construct validity and predictive utility of measures of: (a) perceptions of organizational support, (b) organizational commitment, (c) job satisfaction, (d) intent to quit, and (e) life satisfaction and to assess the appropriateness of use and the impact of these scales within a service-based context. The construct validity of the measures was assessed through the application of confirmatory factor analysis, while the predictive character of the proposed path models was assessed using path analysis. Results indicated that the measures of job satisfaction, intent to quit, and life satisfaction demonstrated acceptable construct validity within the service context sampled, while the measures of organizational support and commitment received mixed support due to problems with measurement error and item specification. The analyses of the path models revealed that: (a) perceived organizational support strongly and significantly influenced job satisfaction and organizational commitment, (b) job satisfaction had a unidirectional impact upon life satisfaction, (c) despite a strong correlation, job satisfaction displayed a limited predictive impact on organizational commitment, and (d) intent to quit was influenced by both job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Job satisfaction: what's happening to the young managers?

The nations hospitality schools are graduating a cadre of educated, professional managers. But many of them leave the industry. The dimensions of this problem are substantial … and a solution must be found

Relationships between felt accountability as a stressor and strain reactions: the neutralizing role of autonomy across two studies.

Felt accountability, conceptualized as a workplace stressor, has been gaining increased attention in terms of its importance for explaining variance in work attitudes and behaviors. Building on these investigations, the present research tests in 2 studies a conceptualization that positions job autonomy as a moderator of the relationships between felt accountability and strain reactions. In Study 1, the interactions of Felt Accountability x Job Autonomy on job tension and job satisfaction were investigated. As hypothesized, the results demonstrated that autonomy neutralized the dysfunctional effects of accountability for each outcome. Study 2 extended the findings from Study 1 by replicating the form of the interactive effects, with job satisfaction and emotional exhaustion serving as strain reactions. Implications, strengths and limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.

Employee Empowerment A Guest-Driven Leadership Strategy

Employee empowerment is an all-inclusive management philosophy that gives line employees the express authority to make decisions on the spot to resolve guest problems and complaints. Empowerment st...

Customer Service Behavior and Attitudes among Hotel Managers: A Look at Perceived Support Functions, Standards for Service, and Service Process Outcomes

A model of customer service behavior and outcomes was proposed and tested among managerial-supervisory personnel (N = 250) from 11 hotel properties within six large national and international hotel companies. Confirmatory factor analyses yielded a reliable approach to examine elements of customer service and outcomes in a service-based setting. Specifically, organizational support was represented by two independent dimensions of coworker support and supervisory support. A dimension of standards for service was presented and validated as a central mediating factor in the perception of service processes, along with customer (guest) orientation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intentions as outcome measures in a path model of customer service behavior.

A Constraint-Based Approach to Wine Tourism Market Segmentation:

This study investigated wine tourism constraints from a market segmentation perspective to understand the potential importance they may have on preference and behavioral intentions to visit wine regions. Using constraints scales customized to the wine tourism context, a factor-cluster segmentation approach generated five homogenous subgroups: Highly Constrained, Cost & Time Conscious, Family Togetherness, Unmotivated, and Minimally Constrained. Analysis of variance tests indicated that preference and intentions to visit wine regions were significantly different among the five clusters. In particular, two cluster groups representing Minimally Constrained and Family Togetherness were found to offer the most utility for further wine tourism market segmentation research. Implications for all cluster groups regarding unique sociodemographic characteristics and behavioral intentions were discussed. This study provides future academic research opportunities pertaining to the application of wine tourism constraints scales. Destination marketing organizations can apply these findings toward the development of effective target market strategies.

STRESS and Your Employees

When stress goes up, productivity goes down. Although they may not be able to eliminate it, hospitality managers can play an active role in reducing stress among their employees by following the guidelines set forth in this article

PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS AND PROFILES OF HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT GRADUATES

In 1988 the authors completed a survey analysis of 442 hospitality graduates from 11 hospitality programs to determine why some graduates remain in the industry and others choose to leave. This is a follow-up to that study and measures the personality characteristics of 106 of these graduates, with the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. The findings reveal similar personality characteristics among hospitality graduates and further supports the conclusions that academic preparation and quality-of-life issues are very important to industry retention and attrition of hospitality graduates.