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This paper aims to shed light on differences in the patterns of online rating behavior that Chinese- and English-speaking travelers adopt when making hotel reviews on TripAdvisor.

A dual analysis was conducted on 800 online reviews for eight hotel brands. The brands, which are currently operating in Bangkok City, are considered to be representative of their categories. The hotels were selected based on their abilities to meet the quantitative and qualitative requirements of the text mining strategy adopted in this study.

The results reveal that, with respect to all of the hotel service attributes (i.e. Service, Cleanliness, Room, Sleep Quality, Location, Value and Overall), the ratings offered by the English-speaking guests were higher than the Chinese-speaking travelers. Based on the qualitative analysis, the ten service attributes which had the most impact on traveler satisfaction were distinguished. These attributes were then classified into three broadly themed categories including intangible service, tangible service and staying experience. The results from the word frequency analysis also helps to clarify which features are drawing attention from travelers from different backgrounds.

This study contributes to tourism and hospitality literature by confirming certain differences in the online rating behavior of Chinese- and English-speaking hotel guests.

This study aims to understand the satisfaction and needs of eastern and western travelers as hotel guest, based on their experiences as seen in guest reviews and review topics.

Considering 2,965 and 1,035 western and eastern traveler reviews, respectively, from 47 countries, obtained from TripAdvisor listed-hotel in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap city in Cambodia, this study investigates the differences in hotel guest satisfaction and needs by using topic modeling (i.e. latent Dirichlet allocation [LDA]).

The results reveal differences in the online preferences, experiences, expectations and behaviors of hotel guests from different cultural backgrounds. Though western and eastern travelers appear to place similar emphasis on service, location, room and destination. The westerners more likely focus on meal and online reservation, whereas the easterners focus on hotel facility.

Reviews were obtained from only two cities in Cambodia, which is not an adequate representation of the diverse travelers visiting the country.

The comparison highlighting the similarities and dissimilarities between western and eastern traveler perspectives enable hoteliers to understand guests’ preferences and their hidden changes in (dis)satisfaction and leverage it to improve hotel service quality, increase occupancy and, thereby, maximize profits.

This study contributes to the literature on hotel guests’ experiences by presenting the difference in perceptions of service experience of western and eastern travelers, through topic modeling.

This study aims to develop an assessment scale for university service quality (university SQ) and examine University Service Quality assessment model (UNIQUAL) of higher education during the pandemic.

Two studies applied a mixed-method design to develop and validate the UNIQUAL scale. In-depth interviews and literature reviews were conducted to refine the initial dimensions and items of UNIQUAL in Study 1. Item analysis, EFA and CFA were then conducted to purify item refinement, scale refinement, purification and validation in Study 2. Finally, a confirmed UNIQUAL model was analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) using Smart-PLS 4.0.

The research confirms the four-factor structure of UNIQUAL, with a total of 16 items, to be a valid and reliable scale for the assessment of the service quality (SQ) of universities. Having adopted the bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) bootstrap approach to study 5,000 subsamples from 27 countries, the authors found “responsiveness” and “empathy” to be significantly associated and have positive relationships with students' satisfaction with university SQ. Furthermore, university SQ and satisfaction were mediated by “health and safety” concerns.

The newly developed UNIQUAL scale would be of value to educators and authorities of higher education to assess the SQ of their universities to enhance the effectiveness of student learning. The improvement in satisfaction with higher education's SQ ultimately helps in retaining both international and local students amidst concerns about traveling and studying during the pandemic.

COVID-19 has affected the private and public sectors worldwide. Millions of students have been affected by schools being shut down and substituted with distance-learning programs. Thus, the assessment of the quality of university services has become an important support mechanism for retaining the sustainability of higher education.

The UNIQUAL scale provides a conceptual model and validates an assessment tool. The research hypotheses confirm the relationship between university SQ and satisfaction from the perspective of international students.

This paper seeks to shift the focus to the implications of various quality management systems, as a pervasive feature of modern organisational life, for business excellence.

A mail‐based survey is conducted among a total of 150 UK‐based European Foundation for Quality Management‐affiliated organisations. This quantitative methodology sounds appropriate, given that there is a relative dearth of evidence regarding the nature of quality management systems as quality‐driven organisations pursue continuous improvement through such systems.

Together, International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) series and other total quality management (TQM) models were seen as helping organisations in the journey towards business excellence. Despite the apparently high level of interest in various forms of quality management systems, however, a major discrepancy was found between the rhetoric of these systems and the reality of their practice. For example, little evidence was found that the surveyed organisations were developing a more strategic approach to managing soft aspects of quality management. The results also highlighted the fact that the approach emerging in many organisations seems to be relatively the antithesis of that of the TQM‐driven organisations.

A fundamental limitation of this study relates to its research method and the fact that it draws its data from only a mail‐based survey. Therefore, additional follow‐up research in the form of case studies – qualitative methodology – should be conducted in order to examine more deeply and validate the survey results.

Specifically, despite being viewed as potentially a threat to quality management initiatives, indeed, the paper is in many respects a spirited defence of the distinctive contribution and value of ISO 9000 as a basis and stepping‐stone for TQM success.

This paper updates the earlier work and significantly highlights the move to broaden the aims and process of quality management systems by using international‐wide quality management frameworks.

This work analyses make or buy decisions from the transaction cost economics perspective and the resource‐based view of the firm. The aim is to analyse the extent to which the presumptions of the two theories are valid in the service sector in terms of specific assets.

The study was conducted on a representative sample of hotels in Scotland, UK. Each of the surveyed hotels was asked for information about 13 operations or hotel processes. A comprehensive model is developed that establishes the relationship between asset specificity and operation performance and hotel or business performance, moderated by the form of governance (make or buy). Moreover, the relationship between asset specificity and outsourcing in the hotel sector is also examined. The different hotel processes are classified according to the asset specificity. The factors that could lead to an increase in the outsourcing strategy are also analysed.

The results indicate that, the relationship between asset specificity and operation performance is weaker when the operations are executed in‐house. In the case of the relationship between specific assets and performance, the findings regarding non‐financial performance are not contradictory since it is slightly higher when the operation is outsourced. The factors determining an increase in outsourcing would be those related to the quality of the operation and to non‐financial performance.

Previous studies have not considered the relationship between specificity and business performance, which gives extra incentive to complement and expand the literature on service operations. Future research should analyze other theories on organisations and outsourcing. The findings should also be tested in other geographical regions and use sources of information other than the hotel managers.

The work generates knowledge and aids managers in their “make or buy” decisions for the principal processes in the hotel industry according to the asset specificity.

The paper develops a specificity‐outsourcing matrix and identifies each of the hotel operations. Apart from testing the model in the hotel sector, which is an important sector of the service industry, the work offers a better understanding of outsourcing decisions based on the two basic theories used in the literature on services management. The paper also makes an innovative contribution by analysing relationships between operation specificity and performance that are previously untested in the service sector.

Aims to propose possible solutions to the characteristically erratic demand fluctuations in the hotel sector by applying just‐in‐time (JIT) philosophy through the development of relationships with employment agencies.

Case study data was collected within seven London four‐star or five‐star hotel housekeeping departments and their associated external labour suppliers, the employment agencies, using in‐depth interviews, followed by documentary research and observation.

Points to a future interest in how to create and maintain good relations between three actors, in terms of the company, the recruitment industry and staff. This triangular relationship requires further empirical study in order to assess more fully the applicability of JIT principles to HRM in the hotel sector.

Identifies a range of human resource strategies which both build on and go beyond the models traditionally associated with the manufacturing context.

This paper aims to address the question whether or not quality‐driven organisations have, in practice, tended to adjust their performance appraisal systems to integrate total quality management (TQM) requirements.

To do so, the findings of an initial literature survey suggested the combined use of quantitative and qualitative methods for empirical research. The quantitative element consists of a postal questionnaire survey of 64 UK‐based, quality‐driven organisations on the topic of performance appraisal in the context of TQM. Key informants from ten of these organisations were subsequently interviewed in order to gather detailed information on the reasons behind their initial responses.

The results indicated that only a minority of the respondents were satisfied with their TQM programmes. But this comparative lack of success did not lead them to eliminate performance appraisal altogether, as advocated by Deming and others because of the role of systems‐level causes of performance variation.

One important question concerns the notion (expounded in much of the quality literature) that a vast proportion of the variance in individual performance is caused by systems‐level features. There is, however, little hard evidence for this view.

By acquiring the relevant knowledge and understanding of contextually‐appropriate performance appraisal and management, practitioners would be able to translate and mediate TQM requirements into performance appraisal criteria to maintain the integrity of organisational change initiatives aimed at long‐term business excellence.

The research provides a starting‐point for both TQM scholars and managers, and it can serve as a road‐map and a challenge to quality‐driven organisations.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a moderated mediation model to explain how corporate social responsibility (CSR) and ethical leadership influence knowledge sharing and job dedication through the mediating mechanism of positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness.

The research hypotheses were empirically tested using a survey of employees from the high-tech industry in Taiwan. The research constructs in this study were measured using five-point Likert scales modified from existing literature. The survey data were empirically analyzed with two-step structural equation modeling (SEM) and regression analysis.

The empirical results of this study reveal that CSR and ethical leadership positively relate to positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. Knowledge sharing is positively affected by positive affective tone whereas job dedication is positively affected by positive affective tone and cognitive meaningfulness. While the relationship between positive affective tone and job dedication is positively moderated by job demand, the relationship between cognitive meaningfulness and job dedication is negatively moderated by job demand.

This study elucidates the ethical influences from organizations (i.e. CSR) and leaders (i.e. ethical leadership) respectively to explain affective and cognitive processes involved in work situations. At the same time, by clarifying the moderating role of job demand, this study provides valuable implications for managers to effectively leverage job demand for increasing employees’ job dedication.

The purpose of this study was to identify technological innovation in libraries and further examine the knowledge source and their effects during the technology life cycle (TLC).

This paper discusses the technological innovation taking place in libraries. Patent citation analysis was used to capture the trend of technological innovation associated with libraries.

The findings are as follows: (1) library technologies are now in the ascent phase of their life cycles; (2) private companies from the United States, Germany, France, Japan and the United Kingdom are the top-five owners of intellectual property rights associated with library technology and (3) patent data along with knowledge and technology indicators can be interpreted in the light of library development. The knowledge source with the highest degree of scientific and technological orientation was identified as basic material chemistry. The major technological categories that have received the greatest knowledge effect from library-associated technological innovation are chemistry, electrical engineering, instruments, mechanical engineering, with other fields (civil engineering and furniture, games) being subject to less effect.

There are two research limitations in this study. First, the results use single informants, patents retrieved from United States Patent and Trademark Office, as the source of data. Second, this study uses patent citation measures for exploring the knowledge source and effect of technological innovation, these measures are only subjective for those new invention highly based technological advances. This study concludes that technological innovation for libraries will be characterized by an increasing role for science-intensive and interdisciplinary areas. This study also suggests that organizational learning facilitates innovation. Therefore, a library hoping to co-evolve with dynamic environment through technological innovation should improve its organizational learning processes.

Theories of technology-push and demand-pull were examined in relation to technological innovation taking place in libraries. The TLC analysis indicated that library technology is mainly in the ascent stage, suggesting that libraries have not achieved the strongest technological transformation. The findings suggest that the importance of demand-pull and technology-push vary over the TLC of libraries.

To survive in a dynamic environment library must be able to cope with increasing complexity and high-speed technological change. It is pivotal to integrate the views of users (as customers), software houses or design companies (as suppliers) as well as other libraries (as communities) into the sustainable development strategy of a library. In these contexts, libraries with the capacity to innovate will be able to respond to new demands faster and to invent and provide new services better than noninnovative libraries.

Analysis based on the technological innovation perspective to identify the future development of libraries is still lacking. This paper seeks to identify the technological innovation employed in libraries to accommodate the 21st century model of information-seeking behavior. This study identifies a variety of factors that have influenced the transformation of library services, and these include technology developments and new demands from library users. To illustrate the driving forces of technology-push in libraries, this paper examines holistic-patented technologies invented for libraries.

This study aims to determine the distinctive attributes of pet-friendly hotels, examine the importance versus the performance of each attribute, and test the effect of the performance of attributes on customer behavior.

This research applied qualitative and quantitative methods to explore the unique attributes of pet-friendly hotels. The importance-performance analysis was used to investigate how customers perceive the importance and the performance of each attribute, and regression analysis was used to examine how the performance of attributes influences customer behavior.

This study identified six distinctive attributes of pet-friendly hotels. Furthermore, the findings underlined the significance of pet-related activity support for pet-friendly hotel selections, and addressed an urgent need for the improvement of pet-friendly safety measures. Last, results showed the salient effect of pet-related activity support on visit and word-of-mouth intentions, and the strong influence of pet-centric facilities and services on willingness to pay premiums for pet-friendly hotels.

The findings provided useful insights into how hotel companies could effectively position themselves as pet-friendly from customers’ perspectives.

This research is among the first to determine distinctive attributes and adopt importance-performance analysis in pet-friendly hotel context.