Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2014), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 26 No. 8. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-06-2014-0301

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 26, Issue 8

The last issue of International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management (IJCHM) in 2014 contains 11 research articles. In the first article, Hao Luo, Yang Yang and Rob Law employ data envelopment analysis models to evaluate the efficiency level and the change of efficiency of the hotel industry in major Chinese cities from 2001 to 2011. According to study results, the inefficiency of the hotel industry generally comes from the pure technical inefficiency. This study suggests that the benchmark analysis of efficiency is of great importance to cities with an unproductive hotel industry, as it helps them make critical adjustments towards the efficiency frontier. In the second article, Catherine Cheung, Haiyan Kong and Haiyan Song explore employees’ perceptions of human resources management functions, examine how these affect brand performance and tested the indirect influence of human resources management functions when mediated by job satisfaction in branded hotels in China. Their findings support the mediating effect of job satisfaction on the relationships between organizational career management, internal branding and brand performance.

In the third article, Kanwalroop Kathy Dhanda explores the area of carbon offsets and carbon neutrality within the context of hotels and resorts. Hotels and resorts interested in entering the offset market can use the findings as strategic information to bolster efforts to achieve legitimacy and viability this market. In the fourth article, Jin-Soo Lee, Seongseop Kim and Steve Pan examine the mechanism of cultivating relationships with valued customers at an upscale restaurant. Empirical findings from upscale restaurant customers indicate that confidence and social benefits positively contribute to relationship marketing investments, whereas special treatment benefits are not significantly related to relationship marketing investments. In turn, relationship marketing investments positively affect both gratitude and satisfaction; relationship marketing investments are also more associated with gratitude than satisfaction.

Tianshu Zheng examines whether the increase in hotel room capacity in the USA had a significant impact on nationwide aggregated weekly Revenue per Available Room (RevPAR) during the recession of 2007-2009, and forecasted average RevPAR, Occupancy and Average Daily Rate for 2013 and 2014. Study results suggest that the fast growth of room capacity during the recession was one of the main causes of the decrease in RevPAR. Eunju Suh and Matt Alhaery identify variables predicting predominant slot-players’ propensity to play table games, as well as predominant table-game players’ propensity to play slots. Logistic regression analysis was performed on the player data provided by a destination hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip. Comparisons of cross-gamers versus non cross-gamers indicate that the amount of play and gaming values of cross-gamers were much higher than those of slot-only players. Study results suggest that a player’s cross-gaming propensity can be predicted using gaming-related behavioral data.

Milos Bujisic, Joe Hutchinson and HG Parsa investigate the relationships between restaurant quality attributes and customer behavioral intentions. Three separate 3 × 2 factorial design experiments were conducted through 18 separate vignette scenarios for three levels of quality of three common restaurant attributes in two types of restaurants. The results indicate that the type of restaurant moderated the relationship between restaurant service and ambience quality and customer behavioral intentions. The article by Sara Campo, Ana M. Díaz and María Yagüe analyzes the relationships between innovation-based orientation, hotel results on the Spanish market, the moderating effect that the management’s perception of market turbulence and the atmosphere of crisis. Study results indicate that the tendency of a hotel to innovate does not contribute directly and positively on short-term performance. However, it does confirm its importance when improving the hotel industry in the medium and long-term.

Bartolomé Marco-Lajara, Enrique Claver-Cortés and Mercedes Úbeda-García analyze how the performance of hotels located on the Spanish Mediterranean coast (peninsular and Balearic) and Canary coast is affected by the degree of business agglomeration in tourist districts. Study results show that hotels situated at destinations with a higher degree of agglomeration are less profitable, probably due to the greater rivalry that exists among nearby competitors. However, in accordance with the theory of tourist districts, one could expect hotels located at destinations with a higher degree of agglomeration to be more profitable because of the greater externalities generated within the district. In the next article, John Lai, Steven Lui and Alice Hon explore the nature of the novel service encounter including the kind of creative acts frontline employees undertake during a novel service encounter. The authors triangulated research methods by combining interviews, field observations and a survey to collect empirical data. This article provides empirical evidence of the process of the novel service encounter and highlights the use of participant observation as a useful methodology.

In the final article, Jeffrey Beck, JaeMin Cha, SeungHyun Kim and Bonnie Knutson confirm the dimensions of revenue managers’ proactive work behavior in the lodging setting and examine the effect of organizational structure on the degree of proactivity in their work behavior. The four factor model was confirmed – voice, individual innovation, taking charge and problem prevention. Study results suggest that revenue managers who manage multiple properties appear to have greater proactivity than their single property counterparts. We hope that our readers find all the papers published in this issue timely, relevant and insightful.

Fevzi Okumus