Editorial

Citation

Okumus, F. (2010), "Editorial", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Vol. 22 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijchm.2010.04122daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, Volume 22, Issue 4

In this issue, we have seven full research articles, one research-in-brief paper (RIB) and two book reviews. Papers included in this issue present empirical findings and discussions about career management, labor turnover, skills shortages, leadership competency, internal brand management, service quality and decision making factors. The first article by Michael C.G. Davidson, Nils Timo and Ying Wang presents empirical findings drawn from an extensive survey of labor turnover in the Australian accommodation sector. This study found that there are major costs attributed to labor turnover, which impact on hotel operating costs and profitability. Since literature on hotel labor and turnover costs is limited, this paper provides the first major study in the Australian context, adding new knowledge to our understanding of labor turnover and its cost impact on hotels. The second article by Haiyan Kong, Catherine Cheung and Hanqin Qiu Zhang explores the current situation of career management in China’s state-owned hotels and delves into employees’ perceptions of such activities. The authors collected data through focus groups and in-depth interviews. Their findings reveal that not all Western career management activities are practiced in China’s hotels. This paper was perhaps one of the first attempts to provide comprehensive information concerning China’s hotel career management.

The third article by Richard N.S. Robinson, Charles V. Arcodia, Christina Tian and Phillip Charlton utilizes a tracking approach to collate and investigate aspects of electronically-listed job advertisements for cookery-related vacancies in Australia’s northern state of Queensland. The authors found that the industry demand exceeds labor supply in Queensland. Moreover, the content analysis of the vacancies’ characteristics suggests that a range of job advertisement details, including remuneration, are infrequently supplied. The article by Susita Asree, Mohamed Zain and Mohd Rizal Razalli looks at the influence of leadership competency and organizational culture on responsiveness and performance of firms. The authors collected data via a survey of 88 hotels in Malaysia. They found that leadership competency and organizational culture have positive relationships with responsiveness. In addition, responsiveness has a positive relationship with hotel revenue. Their findings imply that leadership competency and organizational culture are important factors for hotels’ responsiveness to their customers. In the next article, Ceridwyn King examines the effect of internal brand management (IBM) practices on tourism and hospitality employees’ ability to demonstrate brand supportive behaviors. The author employed a quantitative research methodology and collected data via a self-administered online survey. While all paths were significant in the overall model, this study found differences when comparing front line and management models.

In the following article, Po-Tsang Chen and Hsin-Hui Hu empirically investigate how the determinant attributes of coffee quality, service, food and beverage, and extra benefits influenced customer perceived value in the coffee outlet industry. The authors collected data via self-administrated questionnaires from 834 respondents from chain and independent coffee outlets. This study found that factors of determinant attributes of service quality significantly influenced functional and symbolic dimensions of perceived value with the former being related with coffee quality, service, and food & beverage, whereas the latter is positively related with coffee quality, food & beverage, and extra benefits. The final full research article in this issue by Xin Jin, Thomas Bauer and Karin Weber empirically examines decision making factors that influence the visitors and exhibitors in exhibition-participation. Their study findings revealed five categories of factors that influence exhibition participation. This study provided some valuable theoretical and practical implications for theory and practice.

In the research-in-brief paper, Matthew Alexander, Kevin O’Gorman and Kati Wood explore consumer attitudes towards the potential implementation of compulsory nutritional labeling on commercial restaurant menus in the UK. The authors suggested that while some consumers might welcome the introduction of nutritional labeling, it is context dependant and without an appropriate education the information provided may not be understood.

We also have two book reviews in this issue. The first book review is on Advances in Electronic Business and the second one is on Crisis Management in the Tourism Industry.

We hope that our readers find all the articles published in IJCHM strong, relevant and useful.

Fevzi OkumusEditor-in-Chief