To read this content please select one of the options below:

Hosting mega sporting events in the extreme hospitality context: Why do hotel employees engage so intensively in their job duties?

Mohamed Mousa (CENTRUM Católica Graduate Business School, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru)
Ahmad Arslan (Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland)
Katarzyna Szczepańska-Woszczyna (Department of Management, WSB University, Dabrowa Gornicza, Poland)

International Journal of Organizational Analysis

ISSN: 1934-8835

Article publication date: 31 May 2024

101

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to identify why hotel employees in the Egyptian context accept the extreme job duties resulting from hosting too many mega sporting events and what outcomes they experience as a result.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical data is based on semi-structured interviews with 36 hotel employees working in reservations, front desk and events management roles in four 4-star hotels located in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. Thematic analysis was subsequently used to determine the main ideas in the interview transcripts.

Findings

The findings show that hotel employees accept the extreme job duties resulting from hosting mega sporting events for the following four reasons: linking pay with performance, difficulty finding alternative jobs, proving their occupational identity and being subject to patriotism. Furthermore, this paper highlights that the engagement of hotel employees in extreme work conditions during such mega-sporting events might be detrimental to their mental health, resulting in increased cronyism and gender bias among them.

Originality/value

This paper is a pioneering study to specifically investigate how hosting mega sporting events influences the extremity of work conditions for hospitality sector employees. Prior studies (to the best of the authors’ knowledge) have not theorised and empirically analysed this specific topic, especially in under-researched settings, such as developing countries in the global south.

Keywords

Citation

Mousa, M., Arslan, A. and Szczepańska-Woszczyna, K. (2024), "Hosting mega sporting events in the extreme hospitality context: Why do hotel employees engage so intensively in their job duties?", International Journal of Organizational Analysis, Vol. ahead-of-print No. ahead-of-print. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJOA-12-2023-4138

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2024, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles