Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2013), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 25 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-04-2013-0175

Editorial

Article Type:

Editorial

From:

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 25, Issue 5

The fifth issue of IJCHM in 2013 has eight research articles. In the first article, Edwin Torres and Sheryl Kline provide a typology of customer delight in the hotel industry. The most frequently mentioned terms include taking care of the guest’s needs, exceptional friendliness, professionalism of staff, employees going beyond the call of duty and problem solving skills. The delight types are fulfillment delight, charismatic delight, professional delight, comparative delight and problem resolution delight. The study findings suggest that hotel operators should identify the behaviors and actions that lead their guests to be delighted and should take appropriate steps in the selection and development of staff that will lead towards greater customer engagement. In the second article, Yim King Penny Wan examines the barriers for people with disabilities when visiting casinos at Macau. The study findings indicate that customers with disabilities face physical, human and financial barriers during their visit to casinos. The six commonly identified barriers are:the physical barriers in game playing;insufficient facilities and accessibility;insufficient space;entrance blockage;poor staff service; andinsufficient information and communication.This study offers specific recommendations for casino operators and government authorities with regard to specific physical, financial and interpersonal means to alleviate apparent difficulties faced by people with disabilities when visiting a casino.

In the third article, Taegoo Terry Kim, Gyehee Lee, Soyon Paek and Seunggil Lee explore the influence of knowledge-sharing enablers on knowledge-sharing processes and ultimately on organizational performance. The authors collected data from 14 top tier five-star hotels in Seoul, Korea. The findings confirm the importance of social capital in the context of knowledge sharing from the resource-based view. Structural, relational, and cognitive social capital affected knowledge collecting and knowledge donating, which in turn influence organizational performance. The study findings imply that hotels should find clues regarding how they can promote knowledge sharing culture for increasing employees’ willingness to collect knowledge from and donate knowledge to colleagues. In the fourth paper, Ziqiong Zhang, Zili Zhang and Rob Law examine how regional factors affect customer satisfaction in the food service sector across 52 regions in China. According to study results, there is an apparent difference in customer satisfaction across regions. Regional consumption level can positively moderate the relationship between food taste and customer satisfaction. Economic condition and population density has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between the physical environment and customer satisfaction. Multinational companies or corporations in China should account for regional influences when evaluating their performance based on customer satisfaction surveys. Standardization across a nation may not necessarily the best approach because the various regions of a nation may differ in terms of socioeconomic conditions.

In the fifth article, Nan Hua and Michael Dalbor investigate whether franchising influences restaurant firms’ financial performance consistently in the long term. The study addresses the financial impacts of franchise in the restaurant industry from a long-term and consistent perspective. Carrying out empirical tests over all ten-year testing windows that span 1980-2010 with quarterly data, study results suggest that franchising is an effective mechanism to systematically and consistently outperform non-franchise firms in the long-term. Limited-service restaurants also exhibit consistent and positive impacts on firm financial performance in the long-term, suggesting limited-service operations may be effective to enhance firm value and outperform competitors. The next article by Hyounae Min, Vincent Magnini and Manisha Singal examine the expatriate’s perceptions of the employer’s investment in the training. The authors collected data from 71 hotel expatriate managers stationed around the globe. Study results suggest that when an expatriate manager perceives that his/her company’s investment in expatriate training (PCTI) exceeds industry standards, such perception leads to enhanced work adjustment. PCTI is also found to significantly influence the expatriate’s general adjustment in the foreign culture, while organizational learning climate mediates the relationship between PCTI and both forms of adjustment (work and general). In addition to training programs, hospitality organizations should communicate to their expatriates the extent and importance of training investment to foster a positive learning climate that in turn improves adjustment.

In the next article, You-De Dai, You-Yu Dai, Kuan-Yang Chen and Hui-Chun Wu examine the relationships among transformational/transactional leadership style (TFLs/TSLs), organizational justice, trust, organizational commitment, and organizational citizenship behaviors (OCBs) in the context of international hotels in Taipei. The authors collected data from 358 staff members in eight international hotels. According to study results, TFLs/TSLs affect procedural and distributive justice significantly and positively. Managers using TFLs can induce trust of employees. TFLs positively affect organizational commitment through distributive justice and trust, while TSLs induces organizational commitment through distributive justice. This study suggests that TFLs and TSLs are identically important. The results can be used as the basis for improving human resources management in such a collectivistic culture as Chinese society. In the final article, Robin DiPietro, Yang Cao and Charles Partlow investigate customers’ perceptions and purchase intentions related to green practices in an upscale, green certified restaurant, on a university campus located in the Southeastern USA. The authors collected data from 600 participants. According to study results, customers claim to be knowledgeable about green practices but they still like to learn more about them. Female customers and people with higher education are more conscious regarding green practices. The study results imply that restaurant managers should develop specific marketing strategies and employee training programs related to green practices.

We hope that our readers find all eight articles published in this issue timely, relevant and useful.

Fevzi Okumus Editor-in-Chief