Based on the proactivity literature I suggest a new construct: proactive helping behavior. Proactive helping behavior is initiated by the helper, anticipates future needs or problems of the recipient, is intended to have a discernible impact on the recipient in the longer term, and is carried out in a persistent fashion. I developed a new measure for proactive helping behavior and tested a preliminary model of its antecedents and consequences. Results from an empirical study involving 388 employees and their supervisors in a large luxury hotel in Singapore are presented and their implications for theory and practice are discussed.
This article proposes a macroeconomic-oriented method to forecast hotel room demand in Switzerland for the period stretching from the third quarter of 1974 to the fourth quarter of 2013. The method increases accuracy by weighting characteristics of the inbound tourists’ economies for their relative contribution. It adopts the VECM technique, which produces reliable forecasts in both the short and long run without making ex ante assumptions regarding the causality of the explanatory variables. The results indicate that the method outperforms alternative forecasting methods in both the short and long run. The analysis shows that in the short run hotel room demand depends on income in visiting countries but not on the real GDP of Switzerland while in the long run demand depends on the real exchange rate and the real GDP of Switzerland.
The purpose of this research is to identify the factors impacting customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the airline industry. We analyzed passengers’ perception of service quality during the pre-experience stage, the experience itself, and the post-experience. In parallel, we measured the impact of the price fairness on customer satisfaction. As far as the method is concerned, we asked to airline passengers to focus on their last airline flight. We received a total of 203 responses. As we had several latent variables, we used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method. Results show that the quality of service in the pre-experience stage (pre-flight) was perceived as more important than the quality of service during the flight itself. Moreover, the fairness of the price also influences customer satisfaction.
The purpose of this research is to identify the impact of airline passengers’ perception of service recovery on their satisfaction and loyalty. A questionnaire was distributed to airline passengers who had a problem during their last airline flight. As we had several latent variables, we used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method. As findings, we observed that in general, clients were not satisfied with the way that the service has been recovered. The most frequent reason for complaining was a problem due to flight delay, followed by a problem with the baggage, overbooking, and flight cancellation. Nevertheless, the findings reveal the positive impact of service recovery’s output/process qualities on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The output quality of the service recovery concerns the concrete resolution of the problem. The process quality of the service recovery concerns the overall procedure including the response speed, employees’ explanations, and empathy.
This two-volume book unveils trends, strengths, weaknesses and overall dynamics and implications of social entrepreneurship in the Middle East region, whilst identifying both opportunities and threats facing social entrepreneurship and supplements through a wealth of insights and examples inspired from practice and current applications.
This paper evaluates the main developments of revenue management (RM) over the past decade and discusses RM challenges and research prospects. It examines nine notable emerging themes: total hotel RM, big data analytics, distribution, rate integrity, RM and marketing strategies alignment, social media impacts on RM, RM system, applications of RM in nontraditional service sectors, and RM education and training. We argue that these developments have far-reaching implications for real-world RM practice and anticipate that the topic areas will continue to be popular for hospitality and tourism research in the foreseeable future.
This book is a compilation of recent articles written by leading academics and practitioners in the area of risk-based and factor investing (RBFI). The articles are intended to introduce readers to some of the latest, cutting edge research encountered by academics and professionals dealing with RBFI solutions. Together the authors detail both alternative non-return based portfolio construction techniques and investing style risk premia strategies. Each chapter deals with new methods of building strategic and tactical risk-based portfolios, constructing and combining systematic factor strategies and assessing the related rules-based investment performances. This book can assist portfolio managers, asset owners, consultants, academics and students who wish to further their understanding of the science and art of risk-based and factor investing.
Organisational control systems are a central phenomenon, yet despite their significance, top-down command-and-control approaches often dominate research. This surmise creates no problem in hierarchical organisations where everyone knows their work duties and what is expected of them. However, it becomes troublesome in knowledge work, where the sets of tasks carried out by any two members of the organisation differ significantly. The article offers conceptual insights elucidating control systems based on the notion of accountability; which help to raise awareness and mobilise efforts beyond the boundaries of long-established hierarchical control. Implications for the theory and practice of organisational control are discussed.
The objective of this paper is to examine the impact of avatars’ utilitarian and hedonic values on the different dimensions of e-service quality. Despite the existence of many studies focusing on the impact of the avatar on user’s online experience, there is a lack of research on the effect of avatars’ values on the different dimensions of websites’ perceived quality. We asked respondents to interact with an avatar and then fill in our questionnaire. We applied this process to 8 different service companies’ websites with an avatar already integrated. We received 945 questionnaires back. In order to measure e-service quality, we used WEBQUAL. As we had several latent variables, we used partial least squares (PLS), a variance-based structural equation modeling method. Results show that the utilitarian and hedonic values of the avatar increase significantly the perception of the website’s quality. The utilitarian value of the avatar impacts 9 of the 10 dimensions of e-service quality. The hedonic value impacts 5 of the 10 dimensions of e-service quality. The results of this study are relevant to the academic world, as we identified that the utilitarian value of an avatar can impact nearly all dimensions of WEBQUAL. Our results can also have immediate and direct implications for companies who want to improve a specific dimension of their website by the use of an avatar. Moreover, this study will be useful for developers of online agents in order to adjust the knowledge of their avatars to clients’ and users’ needs.
Strategy tools are a common element of tourism and hotel management courses, journal articles and textbooks. In this paper we explore why practitioners do not find tools useful and hence reject their use as a strategy practice. Drawing on a cross-case analysis of qualitative data from three hotel companies, key findings suggest that strategy tools may restrict the deployment of experience-based knowledge, strategy practices are legitimised by top managers' perceptions and the lack of strategizing activities inhibits the potential for tool use. The industry context, including the unique ownership-management structure and institutionalised practices, also significantly influences the use and perceived value of tools. Practitioners are recommended to reconsider the ability of strategy tools to facilitate debate and act as boundary spanning objects and tourism researchers are encouraged to further study how practitioners use and value tools in order to create new ones based on practice rather than only on theory.
