Thesis (MTech (Quality (Faculty of Engineering)))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 95-106). Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of English Language and Literature, August 2002. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Bibliography: leaves 305-335. Investigates the rapid expansion, growth, and perceived quality and viability of tourism and hospitality management education. Argues that there are doubts as to whether tourism and hospitality management education is changing according to the needs of industry and the requirements of future managers. An analysis of tourism and hospitality programs in Australian colleges and universities is conducted. Results from the analysis support the proposition for a change of direction in graduate tourism and hospitality management education, and demonstrate a general agreement in terms of content and structure.

Staff turnover is an endemic issue in the hospitality industry, worldwide. Voluntary staff turnover has been the focus of many studies in the past decades and many researchers have constantly intended to connect a number of variables to it. This study deals with a human perspective of staff turnover and the aim was to add to the understanding of staff turnover within the hospitality industry. This was achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with hotel workers in three and four-star hotels in Reykjavík, Iceland. The causes and impacts of the turnover was examined with qualitative method. Investigation of the factors influencing employees’ intention to leave their current organization and the impact staff turnover causes to the remaining staff was carried out. The results revealed that professional advancement is a critical predictor for the employees to leave, along with factors such as work content, personal reasons, organizational factors and the nature of the tourism industry. Furthermore, the impact staff turnover causes on the staff are factors such as social connections, increased responsibilities and time and energy consumption.

Em tempos de uma cultura consumista e de corrida frenética por desenvolvimento a “qualquer custo”, o ser humano vem provocando inúmeros problemas ambientais. Nesse cenário, o turismo e a hotelaria ecologicamente responsáveis são altamente desejáveis, se estabelecendo como um segmento de mercado que pode ajudar na redução da impactação ambiental. No entanto, também pode ajudar a aumentar a sobrecarga que o ambiente natural já recebe, ao enviar turistas pouco responsáveis em destinos e hotéis ainda não planejados para trabalhar de forma mais ambientalmente sustentável. Percebe-se um interesse em sustentabilidade econômica, mas ainda pouco ambiental no segmento hoteleiro. Desta forma, o presente estudo se propõe a analisar meios de hospedagem em relação aos seus desempenhos organizacionais e suas práticas ambientais, considerando a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: de que forma se estabelece a relação de práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria da cidade de Porto Alegre? Para tal, foi realizada uma survey com os meios de hospedagem de Porto Alegre, analisando se existe e que tipo de relação há entre práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria da cidade. As análises foram realizadas através de métodos estatísticos não-paramétricos. As práticas ambientais foram mensuradas em vinte indicadores e o desempenho organizacional foi analisado conforme embasamento nos sete critérios de excelência na performance do Baldrige National Quality Program (2009/2010). Os principais resultados apontam que existe uma relação de tendência positiva entre o uso de práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria de Porto Alegre, ou seja, os meios de hospedagem que possuem mais práticas ambientais tendem a possuir melhores desempenhos organizacionais. / In times of a consumer culture and the frantic rush for development at any cost, the human being is causing several environmental problems. In this context, tourism and hospitality industry that are ecologically responsible are highly desirable, establishing itself as a market that can help in reducing environmental impact. However, it also can help increasing the burden that the natural environment already receives when sheltering many tourists that are not responsible in destinations and hotels that are not already planned to work in an environmentally sustainable way. There is an interest in economic sustainability, but still little interest in environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry. Being that so, the present study makes an analysis of hospitality industry regarding its organizational performance and environmental practices, considering the following research question: in which way environmental practices and organizational performance are established in the hospitality industry of Porto Alegre? To answer to this question, a survey was conducted in the hospitality industry of Porto Alegre, analyzing if there was and what was the kind of relation between environmental practices and organizational performance in the hospitality industry of the city. Analyses were carried out using nonparametric statistical methods. The environmental practices were measured in twenty indicators and the organizational performance was analyzed according to seven criteria of performance excellence given by Baldrige National Quality Program (2009/2010). The main findings point out that there is a positive trend between the use of environmental practices and organizational performance in hotels in Porto Alegre, that is, the lodging facilities that have more environmental practices tend to present the best organizational performances.

Em tempos de uma cultura consumista e de corrida frenética por desenvolvimento a “qualquer custo”, o ser humano vem provocando inúmeros problemas ambientais. Nesse cenário, o turismo e a hotelaria ecologicamente responsáveis são altamente desejáveis, se estabelecendo como um segmento de mercado que pode ajudar na redução da impactação ambiental. No entanto, também pode ajudar a aumentar a sobrecarga que o ambiente natural já recebe, ao enviar turistas pouco responsáveis em destinos e hotéis ainda não planejados para trabalhar de forma mais ambientalmente sustentável. Percebe-se um interesse em sustentabilidade econômica, mas ainda pouco ambiental no segmento hoteleiro. Desta forma, o presente estudo se propõe a analisar meios de hospedagem em relação aos seus desempenhos organizacionais e suas práticas ambientais, considerando a seguinte pergunta de pesquisa: de que forma se estabelece a relação de práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria da cidade de Porto Alegre? Para tal, foi realizada uma survey com os meios de hospedagem de Porto Alegre, analisando se existe e que tipo de relação há entre práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria da cidade. As análises foram realizadas através de métodos estatísticos não-paramétricos. As práticas ambientais foram mensuradas em vinte indicadores e o desempenho organizacional foi analisado conforme embasamento nos sete critérios de excelência na performance do Baldrige National Quality Program (2009/2010). Os principais resultados apontam que existe uma relação de tendência positiva entre o uso de práticas ambientais e desempenho organizacional na hotelaria de Porto Alegre, ou seja, os meios de hospedagem que possuem mais práticas ambientais tendem a possuir melhores desempenhos organizacionais. / In times of a consumer culture and the frantic rush for development at any cost, the human being is causing several environmental problems. In this context, tourism and hospitality industry that are ecologically responsible are highly desirable, establishing itself as a market that can help in reducing environmental impact. However, it also can help increasing the burden that the natural environment already receives when sheltering many tourists that are not responsible in destinations and hotels that are not already planned to work in an environmentally sustainable way. There is an interest in economic sustainability, but still little interest in environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry. Being that so, the present study makes an analysis of hospitality industry regarding its organizational performance and environmental practices, considering the following research question: in which way environmental practices and organizational performance are established in the hospitality industry of Porto Alegre? To answer to this question, a survey was conducted in the hospitality industry of Porto Alegre, analyzing if there was and what was the kind of relation between environmental practices and organizational performance in the hospitality industry of the city. Analyses were carried out using nonparametric statistical methods. The environmental practices were measured in twenty indicators and the organizational performance was analyzed according to seven criteria of performance excellence given by Baldrige National Quality Program (2009/2010). The main findings point out that there is a positive trend between the use of environmental practices and organizational performance in hotels in Porto Alegre, that is, the lodging facilities that have more environmental practices tend to present the best organizational performances.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology: Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Faculty of Business at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2012 / In the light of the growing hospitality industry on one hand, and the limited space available at hospitality training institutions on the other, hotel schools are faced with the challenge of being able to identify students who will most likely be able to complete their courses and thus serve the industry. The practical element of hospitality studies is a defining characteristic that differentiates the subject from other business and management courses. Hotel schools therefore are required to be able to select students that are able to cope with the academic and practical requirements of hospitality courses. This research focused on analysing the current selection practices used by hospitality training institutions when selecting entry level students. The purpose was to identify success predictors and thus formulate an effective selection programme that incorporates the student‟s academic and vocational skills in order to reduce the student drop-out rate and increase the number of graduates entering the job market. The target population used for this research was hospitality management students. The criteria used were hospitality management students enrolled for courses with a qualification that is in accordance with NQF level 6 in Cape Town. The two schools that were used as the sample for this study were the IHS (International Hotel School) and the CTHS (Cape Town Hotel School), as they were found to be the only two schools that fit the criteria. The purposive sampling method was used in the form of semi-structured interviews that were conducted with the four academics involved in the student selection process at both institutions. Questionnaires were sent out to students and hospitality industry professionals to be completed. Information was also derived from the IHS and CTHS‟s data-bases to determine what the drop-out rates were at each institution. The findings revealed that the student drop-out rate was up to a significant 30%. A number of students were not well informed of the nature of the hospitality industry and the career path to which it lead when applying to study courses in hospitality. The findings also revealed that each school used different assessment criteria during the selection process. The selection process ranged from being a purely academic exercise to being a very extensive interview and assessment programme that tested both academic and vocational skills. Realising that it is vital to determine industry fit, the researcher made recommendations on tools that could be used during the selection process that would allow access to as many students as possible without resulting in a high drop-out rate. Utilising effective selection tools in the student selection process not only ensures a steady flow of suitable candidates, but also will ensure efficient hospitality professionals in the future to continuously supply the growing hospitality and tourism industry.

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Master of Technology Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology / The human resource department in the hospitality industry has a reputation for high staff turnover and labour instability due to various reasons, such as staff members who are not motivated and are not recognised for hard work. Another problem is employing unskilled staff, low staff remuneration, staff members not being trained and long working hours. The main research problem was: What were the reasons for the high staff turnover in the selected hotels of this research study? From the main research problem three sub-problems emerged the first being, Why does the selected hotels not understand what actually motivates their employees to stay on in positions? The other two sub-problems are stated in chapter 1. The main objective was to research the reasons why the selected hotels were experiencing such high staff turnover. According to Amos, Ristow and Pearse (2008:172), staff turnover can be from a combination of factors such as what the organisation pays, the working conditions, opportunities for promotion, the quality of supervision, and poor group relations, which makes it more or less appealing as an employer. The research design utilised a multi-strategy approach whereby both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered. The questionnaires were a quantitative data-gathering tool that provided the researcher with information relating to why staff turnover is so high in the selected hotels. Questionnaires were completed by human resource managers, senior managers, managers, supervisors and staff members. The qualitative data were obtained from the interviews and the literature review. Interviews were conducted with human resource managers (HRM) in the selected hotels to find out what problems they face and to find solutions to reduce staff turnover. The main findings were that many of those associated with the selected hotels maintain that hotel positions do not offer creative and intellectual development. Once people have understood the needs and demands of their particular job, their cultural learning and intellectual stimulation comes to an end quickly, causing people to lose interest in their jobs and look elsewhere. The main recommendations were that management styles and human resource practices should be applied to stimulate, communicate with and recognise staff potential. Money was not the main reason why staff resigned from their positions; rather it was the fact that managers were not acknowledging them for their hard work and that there was no growth within the selected hotels.

Thesis (MTech (Marketing))--Peninsula Technikon, Cape Town, 1997 / The quality of service that is currently being offered by restaurants in the southern suburbs of Cape Town does not consistently meet with the service expectations of consumers. This results in the formulation of a negative perception of service quality. A knowledge of customer expectations is critical in delivering quality service and largely determines the success or failure of service-oriented organisations. One of the maj or challenges facing restaurants is meeting or exceeding the everincreasing expectations of consumers as this determines whether consumers are satisfied or not. It is therefore important to assess the current state of service quality within restaurants. In this study the Servqual model, which is one of the most widely used tools in measuring service quality, was used· to assess the service quality within restaurants. The Servqual model is a questionnaire which can be modified in order to measure service quality within a specific service industry. The model consists of a set of twenty-two statements measuring the expectations of consumers and a matching set of twenty-two statements measuring the perceptions the consumers have of the service quality that they have been exposed to. The consumers then indicate their responses on a Likert-type scale, which accompanies each statement. There is no immediate solution to improving the poor perception of service quality that exists, as any service quality programme is a long-term process that needs to be systematically implemented.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology. / The paradigm shift from administrative to strategic Human Resource Management (HRM) has, arguably, necessitated the need for a more objective and quantitative HRM that shows how HRM interlinks with strategic organisational outcomes. Consequently, HR metrics, measurements and analytics can be tools, which can give HRM a status and position that is similar to other functional departments in organisations that provide numerical data. The purpose of this study was to explore HRM factors that are critical to determine strategic HR metrics. The purpose arose owing to documented scholarship, which argues that the current regime of HR metrics has no appeal to top management; is composed of too many metrics that are confusing; is suitable for traditional HRM; and does not give HRM a strategic status. The objective of the study was, therefore, to provide HR factors that link with strategic or organisational level outcomes and based on these factors, determine a metric that HR practitioners and top management can adopt as standard. The literature review had to be merged in a systems theory framework to develop the conceptual framework to start a grounded theory methodology. Within this methodology both secondary and primary data was collected and analysed. As part of its summary, the literature review included a meta study of prominent research on the HRM-firm performance relationship. The mini meta-analysis involved 27 studies whose mean coefficient of determination was calculated to show the strength of the variability in firm performance for which HRM accounted. This analysis revealed that HRM, on average, accounted for 31% of the variability in firm performance in the models that were used to investigate the relationship. An analysis was conducted of documents as part of a content analysis to collect secondary data, while questionnaires were used to collect primary data. The key finding was that the strategic HR factors are the HRM outcomes, namely employee engagement, commitment, satisfaction and embeddedness, while the HR metric that connects the HR factors and strategic outcomes is given as p=kH+c, where p is organisational performance, H are the HR factors, k is a constant of proportionality, and c is basic employee performance. It was also found that employee engagement had the most impact on organisational performance, relative to the other HR factors. As a result, the key recommendation made in this study is that organisations should use employee commitment, engagement, satisfaction and embeddedness to boost performance with special attention on employee engagement. The metric p=kH+c can be used to measure the level at which HR factors boost performance.