Editorial

Citation

Teare, R. (2006), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 18 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2006.04118faa.001

Editorial

This issue contains articles on business performance, organizational leadership, tourism marketing, challenges faced in emerging hotel markets and skills training in China.

In the opening article, Giri Jogaratnam and Eliza Ching-Yick Tse examine the entrepreneurial orientation of the Asian hotel industry. They report that organic style organizational structures are more likely to be found in entrepreneurially oriented organizations. However, they also found Asian culture and traditions do not lend themselves to the entrepreneurial approaches commonly used in Europe and North America and that without careful adaptation, they tend to undermine Asian business performance.

In the first of several contributions on organizational leadership, Amarjit Gill, Alan Flaschner and Mickey Shachar sought to determine the impact of transformational style leadership on levels of job stress and burnout. They found that employees in a range of different roles understood the causes of stress and recognized that the methods and leadership style used by managers play a key role in how stressful change activity is perceived. Personal reflections on the challenges of leadership are also featured in the viewpoint section. First, Graham Turner, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Flight Centre Limited, talks about his experiences of building, leading and sustaining an international travel business. Second, Jack Collis, a leading Australian business writer and speaker, reflects on the dual challenge of learning and leading that tends to characterize inspirational and effective leadership.

Alistair Williams poses the question: what might experiential approaches contribute to the hospitality and tourism marketing challenge? He argues that experiential marketing is a relatively new orientation, based on the portrayal of a pleasurable experience, with two key benefits: first a more meaningful insight on how consumers relate to a intangible product offer and second, an approach that aims to connect travel and holiday aspirations with the desired experience.

Veronica Velo and Cristina Mittaz compare the issues facing three international hotel chains, using case studies on new units in emerging markets. This approach enabled the authors to identify a number of common problems and these are identified, together with the implications for educators and trainers involved in preparing the local labour market to meet the requirements of international hotel operators.

Finally, Kong Hai-yan and Tom Baum profile four and five star category hotel front office employees in China. They found that the majority are graduates of tourism colleges and professional schools, attracted by the challenges and visibility of the front office role. However, their survey reveals that demand outstrips the supply of skilled front office staff and that not enough is being done in the workplace to retain and develop front office personnel.

Richard Teare