Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2012), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 24 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2012.04124eaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 24, Issue 5

This issue includes seven articles and one book review. The first article by Edward Brooker, Marion Joppe, Michael Davidson and Kathy Marles introduces an innovation typology specific to the Australian outdoor hospitality parks (OHP) sector. The authors carried out semi-structured interviews with OHP operators/administrators. According to the study findings, a small percentage of Australian OHP industry operators and executive officers showcase a level of innovation that is beyond incremental in character, but is not radical, revolutionary or disruptive.

In the second article, Jen-te Yang investigates the characteristics of a blue ocean strategy (BOS) in hotel companies in Taiwan. The authors collected data via semi-structured interviews with hotel managers. The study findings reveal that the features of BOS are identifying guest value perceptions, innovating distinctive added-value offerings, developing new market segments, branding and re-branding, creating a unique hotel ambience, adjusting distribution channels, and establishing strategic alliances. The study findings imply that hotel companies should create unique products and services for customers that strengthen their competitive positions in the marketplace of international tourist hotels in Taiwan.

In the third article, Marina Dias de Faria, Jorge Ferreira da Silva and Jorge Brantes Ferreira examine the relative importance that the visually impaired guests give to restaurant service attributes during leisure outings, and the relative utility they allocate to the various levels of these attributes. The study was conducted in two stages. The first stage consisted of exploratory research using focus groups; the second stage consisted of a questionnaire administered to 203 visually impaired consumers. The ideal restaurant profile for study respondents is one in which:

• •

  the menu is read by the server;

• •

  service is provided by empathetic servers;

• •

  low-intensity light and sound are used;

• •

  round tables are preferred over rectangular tables; and

• •

  the server can be summoned using a button.

The study contributes to the inclusion in society of the visually impaired as consumers by giving them a voice to express their needs and wants.

In the next article, Osman Karatepe proposes a model that examines career satisfaction as mediator of the effect of perceived organizational support on service recovery performance and job performance. Based on data obtained from frontline hotel employees with a time lag of one month and their immediate supervisors in Cameroon, the hypothesised relationships were tested using LISREL 8.30 through structural equation modelling. The study’s results suggest that managers should recognise employees’ good work or efforts continuously. They should also ensure that employees participate in decisions that may affect the service delivery process.

IpKin Anthony Wong, Hoi In Veronica Fong and Matthew Tingchi Liu investigate customers’ perceptions of four service quality aspects – service environment, service delivery, game service, and food service – in the casino setting among Chinese players. This study proposed a model through a 2 (gambler type: leisure versus hardcore)×2 (gender: male versus female) multivariate analysis of variance of the four casino service quality aspects. The results show significant differences between the two types of patrons on the four casino service dimensions. The findings extend the customer contact model and further our understanding in regard to the service quality perception in the burgeoning casino gambling industry in the Far East.

The next article examines performance outcomes of inter-organizational trust in franchisor and franchisee relationships in the fast-food industry in Turkey. Trust is found to be positively related to cooperation and satisfaction, and negatively related to transaction costs. The duration of relationship is negatively related to transaction costs.

In the final article, E. Hachemi Aliouche, Fred Kaen and Udo Schlentrich examine the risk-adjusted market performance of an overall franchise and three sub-sector franchise common stock portfolios from 1990 through 2008. Four sets of franchise sector portfolios were constructed, their returns were calculated, and their performances relative to three market benchmarks were evaluated using the Sharpe ratio and Jensen’s α. The results of the study support the theoretical hypothesis that franchising may provide superior advantages to investors and point to a possible “franchising anomaly”. Investors consider franchise firms to be less risky than the average publicly traded firms and therefore require a lower rate of return.

Finally, this issue also includes a book review by Robert Ford, which is on Tourist Destination Governance: Practice, Theory, and Issues. This book was edited by Eric Laws, Harold Richins, Jerome Agrusa, and Noel Scott.

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

Fevzi Okumus