The Practice of Graduate Research in Hospitality and Tourism

Kaye Sung Chon

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781135410971
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Improve your hospitality and tourism research abilities with this impressive collection of research methods! The Practice of Graduate Research in Hospitality and Tourism assists you in gaining insight into different facets of research design, conceptual development, research methods, and conclusions drawn from research in hospitality and tourism. As a professional, researcher, or graduate student in the hospitality and tourism field, you will benefit from this collection of chapters that represent examples of research trials conducted by graduate students in hospitality and tourism and are selected on the basis of the originality of the students'concepts, research methods, and interest of the work to graduate students. This informative volume will provide you and your students with up-to-date and effective ideas for researching topics within the field of hospitality. The Practice of Graduate Research in Hospitality and Tourism is an excellent supplemental textbook for research methods classes in graduate hospitality and tourism programs. The wide variety of chapters will stimulate discussions on research in hospitality and tourism from conceptual, secondary data, and primary data approaches. Some of the research articles you will explore in The Practice of Graduate Research in Hospitality and Tourism are based on different statistical techniques, research designs, and trends of subjects. Topics include:

• selecting service-oriented employees based on person-organization fit
• measuring the effectiveness of advertising on the Internet
• examining factors that affect food expenditures of U.S. tourists when they are away from home
• explaining the competitive structure of Japanese travelers'overseas destination plans
• determining the motivational needs of managers in the on-site foodservice segment
• providing adequate education on HIV and AIDS in the workplace for hospitality managers
• identifying influential variables of employee turnover in the food and beverage industryThe Practice of Graduate Research in Hospitality and Tourism serves as an important forum for initiating research and new ideas internationally. The carefully selected chapters of this essential text will provide you and your students with suggestions that will improve research competency as well as hospitality services to patrons.

PART I:
CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES

Chapter 1

Selecting Service-Oriented Employees Based on Person-Organization Fit

Mustafa Tepeci

INTRODUCTION

In the past two decades, many businesses have begun to emphasize improving customer service quality to increase customer satisfaction, which in turn influences customers’ behavioral intentions to return to a particular organization (Heskett, 1986). In highly competitive markets such as hospitality and service industries, service quality is a critical determinant of organizational success (Clow, 1993).

Increased competition and customer demand for quality will require hospitality companies to employ customer-oriented individuals who are committed to delivering high-quality service and performing the type of service customers demand. Because the customer/service provider interaction is such a vital part of the hospitality/service quality equation (Surprenant and Solomon, 1987), the hospitality organization’s success depends, to a large extent, on the characteristics of its employees. The impression made by the individual providing the service is especially important since customers have minimal cues for evaluating service quality versus product quality (Clow, 1993). Customer contact personnel are expected to be highly adaptable to many different customers and situations. Hospitality firms can distinguish themselves from competitors by delivering superior quality and exemplary service with a service-oriented workforce.

Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to discuss effective methods for selecting service-oriented employees based on person-organization fit. To achieve this objective, prior research that has identified characteristics of service-oriented employees has been summarized and effective human resource practices for selecting service-oriented employees are discussed.

REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Service Orientation

Service orientation has been defined as the disposition to be helpful, thoughtful, considerate, and cooperative when dealing with customers and associates (Hogan, Hogan, and Busch, 1984). Service-oriented employees are responsive to customers’ needs and they contribute to the morale of their work groups. They treat customers and co-workers with courtesy, consideration, and tact (Hogan, Hogan, and Busch, 1984). The service orientation of employees may increase both the quality of service and the overall performance of a company.

Dienhart, Gregorie, and Downey (1990) examined the service orientation of restaurant employees and managers employed by a pizza restaurant corporation. Based on data collected from a nationwide sample of 334 restaurants, 852 employees, and 309 managers, the researchers found that service orientation consists of three elements: organizational support, customer focus, and service under pressure. This study also explored how service orientation was related to other important job attributes: service orientation could be predicted based on job involvement, job satisfaction, job security, team orientation, and intention to quit. The results revealed that increasing job security, satisfaction, and involvement could improve employees’ service orientation.

Groves, Gregorie, and Downey (1995) revealed similar components of service orientation: personal focus, organizational support, and reduced service under pressure. Personal focus was defined as the tendency of a server to provide good service. Organizational support measured employees’ perceptions of management support for providing good service. Service under pressure was influenced by the expectations of customers and management for delivery of quality service during busy hours and stressful situations. Although the study reported no significant relationship between performing well operationally and having employees with a high level of service orientation, it illustrated how an organization’s human resource practices may affect service quality.

Several studies have shown a positive relationship between the service orientation of an organization’s employees and operational indicators. Dienhart, Gregorie, and Downey (1990) suggested that service-oriented employees are important to every job in a food service organization because they help create a positive image and increase the quality of life in the workplace. George and Bettenhausen (1990) reported a positive correlation between sales and positive customer relationships. Schneider and Bowen (1985) argued that service-oriented individuals stay longer and contribute to an organization’s commitment to service quality.

Hogan, Hogan, and Busch (1984) developed a personality measure from the Hogan Personality Inventory (HPI) that would help identify the service orientation of employees. The scales included in that measure, the Service Orientation Index (SOI), were adjustment, sociability, and likability. The SOI was an alternative to both cognitive and honesty testing, and it was developed as a measurement tool for assessing employees for high customer contact positions (Cran, 1994). The index consists of ninety-two “true-false” statements. The following are examples of items on the scale: I always practice what I preach; I rarely lose my temper; I always notice when people are upset; I enjoy helping people; and I never resent it when I don’t get my way. Cran (1994) found that the SOI was a valid predictor of on-the-job performance among a sample of 101 nursing aide staff in a hospital. They also found service orientation to be consistently and substantially correlated with overall job performance in studies of several different service occupations, including nursing home employees (n = 30), clerical personnel in a large insurance firm (n = 100), senior nursing students (n = 37), and truck drivers (n = 56).

Human Resource Management Practices for Achieving a Service-Oriented Workforce

Hospitality organizations generally employ two human resource practices to improve customer service: work redesign and training. Work redesign is the altering of jobs to increase both the quality of employees’ work experience and their productivity—such as moving employees from one job to another to provide them with variety and stimulation. The most common practice has been to train employees in desired social behaviors such as maintaining eye contact and speaking pleasantly (Cran, 1994).

Although organizations strive to hire the best candidates, they still need to invest time and money to train these employees. Training may give the organization an opportunity to distinguish itself from competitors. However, the trainability of individual employees—i.e., personal abilities, willingness to learn, motivation, and attitudes—also differs (Cran, 1994). An organization may have the best training delivered by the best facilitators, but if the organization has not selected the right people, training programs cannot produce the desired results. More service-oriented employees—those who are pleasant, polite, and helpful in dealing with others (Schneider, Wheeler, and Cox, 1992), and who possess a helpful, thoughtful, considerate, and cooperative disposition (Hogan, Hogan, and Busch, 1984)—will be more receptive to service training (Cran, 1994). These employees will perform their work more dependably and reliably, while requiring less supervision. It is easier to hire an employee who is already service oriented than to later invest resources in one who is not.

Many service organizations have tended to rely on training programs to improve employees’ service orientation and to intensify their commitment to customers. This tendency presumes that service orientation is an attitude that can be acquired by anyone (O’Conner and Shewchuk, 1995); however, this is not the case. Individual differences in personality and in service skills mean that some employees are better suited to high customer contact positions than others (Rosse, Miller, and Barnes, 1991; O’Conner and Shewchuk, 1995). Several studies have demonstrated that certain people have more of a service orientation than others do (Cran, 1994; Groves, Gregorie, and Downey, 1995; Hogan, Hogan, and Busch, 1984). Given this, selection plays a much more important role in creating a service-oriented workforce than do work design and training. Selecting individuals with appropriate levels of service orientation can help hospitality organizations deliver superior quality and exemplary service.

Selecting Service-Oriented Employees

One of the most difficult tasks a manager or entrepreneur faces today is finding the right person for the job. In service markets, where competitors strive to distinguish themselves through service quality (Partlow, 1993), identifying a potential employee’s level of service orientation has become an increasingly important basis for effective personnel selection and placement (Schneider and Schechter, 1991). Personnel staffing that selects individuals with appropriate levels of service orientation can help hospitality operations acquire an excellent service climate.

Previous literature on selecting service-oriented employees for hospitality organizations has focused mainly on developing, validating, and using various tests and inventories. This is largely because properly implemented preemployment psychological testing is an objective, reliable, nondiscriminatory, and noninvasive means by which an employer can inexpensively evaluate applicant attitudes that are predictive of job performance (Gatewood and Field, 1994). Testing can help employers quickly and accurately assess an applicant’s integrity, ease of supervision, willingness to follow safety procedures, and use of drugs or alcohol on the job. Another reason for the use of selection testing has been the growing body of research demonstrating that properly developed selection tests are both valid and legally defensible, and that many of the concerns about the fairness of selection tests were unfounded (Gatewood and Field, 1994; Harris, 1997).

Hogan, Hogan, and Busch’s (1984) study aimed to develop and validate a personality measure that would identify the service orientation of an applicant or employee. Sengstake (1993) tried to improve the measurement of service orientation by developing and validating a service orientation scale. Sengstake compared the newly developed service orientation scale (SOS) with Hogan, Hogan, and Busch’s (1984) SOI in a health care setting and found evidence of greater reliability and construct validity of the SOS.

Employee service orientation has also been measured through standard personality tests. These tests, such as the Big Five, Kuder Inventory, and California Psychological Inventory measure a person’s dispositional characteristics (e.g., extroversion and dependability). However, they have been criticized for their historic inability to predict job performance (Hunter and Hunter, 1984; Schneider and Schmitt, 1986). Using such personality tests and inventories is a difficult method of assessing an individual’s service orientation because these instruments attempt to quantify intangible constructs through the use of inferred data. Because personality tests are not derived from unique job analysis and not related to specific job tasks, they have not been able to significantly improve employee selection practices (Schneider and Schmitt, 1986).

Studies suggest that the Customer Service Questionnaire (CSQ) and Biographical Data (Biodata) are two instruments that measure service orientation effectively. Research on these assessment devices has shown encouraging results for selecting reliable and hardworking employees (Ineson, 1992; Dickinson and Ineson, 1993). These assessment devices enable organizations to collect information from a small group of applicants easily and quickly. The CSQ is a potentially useful and valid instrument because many of the qualities desirable in customer-contact employees are assessed by the CSQ (Dickinson and Ineson, 1993). It was designed to identify personality traits required by employees with a high level of customer contact. The CSQ identifies eleven personality traits that are grouped into four key areas: relationships with people, emotions and energy, thinking style, and need for social approval. The questionnaire provides a valid means of assessing whether people are trustworthy, fair-minded, and thorough in their work. Those persons gaining high scores are confident, clear, and sensitive communicators, and reliable and consistent in their effort.

Biodata explores an individual’s typical past and present behaviors or experiences in a referent situation likely to have occurred during his or her life. Biodata has been shown to efficiently predict a wide range of criteria (Nickels, 1994). Biodata is potentially well-suited to measure service orientation because it uses personal biographical information that is assumed to be predictive of future behavior (Asher, 1972). The information can be collected from application forms for current or potential employees. In a pilot study of the use of Biodata for selecting applicants for front-of-the-house positions in a hotel, Ineson (1992) found that 80 percent of a small sample (n = 51) of the current employees may have been classified correctly into good and bad worker subgroups by the combined use of CSQ and Biodata.

Shortcomings in Service-Orientation Assessment

The literature on selecting service-oriented employees has focused on the use of various assessment devices. However, their low validity and reliability, high costs, and time requirements have prevented hospitality practitioners from using these devices effectively. Researchers argue that personality tests are time consuming and impractical to administer (Gatewood and Field, 1994; Hunter and Hunter, 1984). Hunter and Hunter (1984) also criticized the personality measures’ inability to predict job performance. To select the “right” individual, the selection measures must be able to predict performance on the job. High employee turnover rates, 100 percent to 120 percent for some hotel positions (Forbes and Forbes, 1995/1996) and the resulting costs clearly reveal that there is a need for better techniques for selecting service employees. Little research has assessed the validity and utility of the most widely used methods for selecting hospitality service employees: interviews, application blanks, and reference/background checks.

In addition to service orientation, hospitality service providers require a wide range of competencies. Schneider and Bowen (1985) argue that service employees need interpersonal skills, behavioral flexibility, and empathy. Ulrich et al. (1991) suggest that increased employee commitment leads to increased customer commitment. Heskett (1986) asserts that one of the most important characteristics of the employee is the desire and will ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• About the Editor
• Contributors
• Preface
• PART I: CONCEPTUAL APPROACHES
• PART II: SECONDARY DATA APPROACHES
• PART III: PRIMARY DATA APPROACHES
• Index