Guys!

Here you can find attached by file with the different articles I researched in Barcelona for Research skills! Should any of them be of importance for your future research, do not hesitate to contact me, ok?!!

Enjoy!

Overview of article summaries

CAN CONSUMERS BE PREDICTED OR ARE THEY UNMANAGEABLE?

Through the theories of different authors specialized in consumer behaviour, Jonathan Richardson shows that customers are changing their values due to different events around the World. Thus, this makes more difficult for marketers to segmentate the population and to create effective advertisements to attract them (also because people are saturated). And this is not everything; there is an emerging generation called “generation Y” as different and unpredictable as the generation X. As the author says, what hospitality organisations have to do is “forget market segmentation and aspects of traditional marketing theory. They need, instead, to provide enough variety, change, and updating of their offering, so that individuals can consume in whatever way they wish and without reference to a standardised expectation”. So in conclusion, consumers are less predictable than we thought and they may change their decision strategies from occasion to occasion. 

SERVING MORE SEGMENTS AND OFFERING MORE PRODUCTS (What are the Costs and Where are the Profits?)

As more segments and thus more service variety, implicate higher undistributed operating costs per available room and decreases in the net revenue and profitability. For this reason the occupancy must be higher to offset those increases. Hotels can attract additional business and increase room rates, and thus augment revenue, by providing more value-added services and targeting only those customers that the firm can best serve with its limited resources and those that will yield highest profits. The authors arrive to the conclusion that, despite the higher associated support costs, offering more products and services leads to higher revenues and ultimately higher operating profits. However, increasing the variety of customers served did not result in higher revenues even though this approach requires additional support costs.

MANAGING REAL AND VIRTUAL WAITS IN HOSPITALITY AND SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS

According to the authors, to minimize the negative aspects of waiting, managers have available the following three strategies: to manage the reality of the actual wait through the use of techniques that can help better match capacity with customer demand (1); to manage the perception of the wait by responding to how customers perceive the wait (2) and to make the wait invisible through developing virtual queues, which allow customers to participate in other activities while waiting (3). The challenge is to make sure that the actual wait or the perceived wait is well managed so that any negative aspects of this service experience caused by the wait are minimized. 

PERCEPTIONS OF SERVICE QUALITY IN NORTH CYPRUS HOTELS

This report studies the applicability of the perceived quality of service to European tourists in North Cyprus through the utilisation of the SERVQUAL and SERVPERF models. After obtaining the results of the study, the authors arrive to the fact that the model of SERVQUAL is a measurement of service quality based on the difference between the customer’s expectations of the quality they receive and their perceptions. On the other hand, SERVPERF is a performace-only measurement of service quality. SERVPERF scale sucessfully maintains customers reliability. Additionally, the results of the study have practical implications for North Cyprus hotel managers: In order to improve quality, they should pay attention to the physical facilities, ensure that employees are well trained and understand the level of service that the hotel expects...etc  

APPROACHING MANAGERIAL ETHICAL STANDARDS IN CROATIA’S HOTEL INDUSTRY

Studying the status of Managerial Ethical Standards (MES) in Croatia’s hotel industry, this article points out the non written policies and non formal programmes to check the integrity of individuals with discretionary authority, that employees do not clearly understand the concept of MES and prefer to work in an environment that has high ethical standards and that the costs of a poor ethical environment are high. So in conclusion, hotel managers must aim to create a rewarding ethical envinronment.

TRAINING TECHNOLOGY IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY: A matter of effectiveness and efficiency

The study points out that multimedia technology and high-quality programmes has decreased training costs and the amount of innaccurate information given to customers. In addition, easy-access training has increased the motivation to train but as conclusions, lack of time, high costs and the short life-span of current computer technology are the barriers to track innovative programmes. On the other hand, firms with the largest number of employees (250 or above) ranked classroom-style training as the most effective training method but proporty-level managers or training directors, request more innovative training methods.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN PERIPHERAL SMALL AND MEDIUM HOSPITALITY ENTERPRISES: Strategic analysis and critical factors

As the authors point out there are several reasons for the lack of use of technology in SMHOs (e.g. lack of training, the educational level and family arrangements of the SMHOs’ propietors, the deficiency of rational management and marketing functions...) and at the same time push and pull factors (external influences) force them to re-enfineer their business processes and utilize ITs. Despite the current lack of co-ordination between stakeholders, it seems that a certain level of co-operation will be essential in order to facilitate the ITs’ penetration to the benefit of peripheral locations.

TOWARDS A STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK

This paper reviews the existing strategy implementation frameworks and based on that proposes an initial one. Moreover, research findings from two international hotel groups are presented and their implications are discussed. The empirical findings of this study indicate that the variables identified through the literature review play important roles in designing and implementing strategies. Additionally, three new implementation variables can be included: external context, internal context and strategic process. The variables identified were found to be crucial in the implementation process of both projects. Changes in the strategic variables had an important impact on the use and effectiveness of the process variables, in both case studies