Between 2010 and 2014 there was a 25% increase in international visitors to the United States, which signifies an opportunity for leaders and managers with a global mindset to take advantage of the opportunities derived from globalization to increase competitive advantage. However, some organizations have not prepared executives and managers to operate in a global environment, which can lead to business failure. The purpose of this multicase study was to gain an understanding of what global mindset strategies hotel executives developed to increase competitive advantage. The target population consisted of the general managers, directors of sales, and directors of catering from 3 full-service hotels at two international airports in the United States who have developed and deployed successful strategies reflecting a global mindset. Porter's 5 forces model served as the conceptual framework for this study. Data sources for this study included semistructured interviews, company websites, advertisements, franchise disclosure documents, and observations. Based on coding interview transcripts, creating mind maps using software, and methodological triangulation of the data, 3 themes emerged: leverage brand resources, personalize services, and leverage staff diversity for service delivery. The implications of this study for positive social change include the potential to create a multiplier effect starting with increased staffing due to increased business volume and profits. The potential increase in competitive advantage may also help hotels prosper and help to ensure funds are available for the hotels to remain contributing businesses for local communities' tax revenues to benefit citizens.

<p>The environmental concern starts to be a key challenging issue for organizations nowadays. In fact, we find a growing trend towards “green” consumerism, which in turns affects companies’ strategy. The hospitality industry is not considered as one of the biggest pollution emitters, neither the one consuming the biggest quantity of non-renewable resources, but it is particularly interesting because of its increasing economic importance and the higher environmental concern it is showing. The whole process by which the hotels define policies, strategies as well as develop environmental practices in order to reduce their negative impact on the natural environment is named as Environmental Management. Those hotels that have followed this process and strive to be more environmentally friendly through the efficient use of energy, water and materials while providing quality services are defined as “green hotels”. Thus, in the present study we discover what motivated hotels in Sweden to become green, as well as the steps they followed in turning into green, including the definition of goals, the implementation of practices and the potential barriers that make this process difficult to execute.</p><p>In a first approach, we found in the literature review some theories related to the factors that influence companies to become green, as well as how to define a green strategy. In a second section, we focused on how the goals must be defined and which indicators can be used to evaluate the environmental performance. Finally, we presented possible barriers, relating this fact to the prioritization of objectives.</p><p>We led a qualitative approach by running semi-structured and structured interviews to the manager and one employee, respectively, of three different hotels in Abisko and Umeå. The results showed that the main reason why hotels become green is because of the pressure the stakeholders exert on them. The main steps hotels followed to achieve this objective were the establishment of plans and goals, involving the department´s level, its implementation (practices), review, evaluation and improvement of the environmental strategy. But this process is not easy; hotels have to manage with the big cost associated to become green.</p><p>At the end of the study, some suggestions will be given to hoteliers (e.g. define specific goals) as well as some suggestions for future researches (study of hotels from different cities of Sweden).</p>

<p>Vi och alla runt omkring oss drabbas av kriser, både som individer och som deltagare i grupper. Men vad innebär det när ett företag drabbas, vad kan vara en företagskris?</p><p>Syftet med denna rapport är att belysa vad som är en företagskris enligt vissa aktörer i hotellbranschen. Vi använder oss av aktörsynsättet eftersom det innebär att det är individerna som skapar sina egna verkligheter och att dessa verkligheter inte är bestående. För vår del innebär det att den definition av företagskriser som vi får från de personer vi intervjuar inte är en generell definition utan den gäller för just dessa aktörer just nu.</p><p>För att genomföra studien har vi tagit del av teorier inom bl.a. företagsekonomi och psykologi. Dessutom har vi intervjuat fem personer som arbetar på olika hotell i Gävleborgs län.</p><p>Det finns nästan lika många uppfattningar om vad en företagskris är som det finns teoretiker, men alla definitioner har vissa gemensamma beröringspunkter. Om vi utgår från teoretikernas uppfattning av företagskriser så är en företagskris en oväntad förändring som hotar företagets existens och som måste lösas under tidspress.</p><p>Även aktörernas olika innebörder på ordet kris har gemensamma drag, vår tolkning av deras svar är att en företagskris är en plötslig och allvarlig händelse som inte hör till den dagliga verksamheten. Dock finns det vissa skillnader i exakt vad aktörerna lägger in i sin innebörd.</p><p>Det finns många olika tolkningar av vad som är det bästa sättet att hantera en företagskris på, men de flesta teoretiker verkar anse att det viktigaste är att förebygga företagskriser så att de överhuvudtaget inte inträffar. Även om en del av forskarna anser att en företagskris kan vara något positivt som ger aktörer i ett företag en möjlighet att förändra företaget samt visa upp sin återhämtningsförmåga.</p><p>Något som vi började tänka på under arbetet med uppsatsen är hur mycket handlingsplaner och krisberedskap det finns i samhället. Främst tänkte vi på alla handlingsplaner för hur människor ska agera vid bränder. I de flesta allmänna utrymmen finns nödutgångar utmarkerade. I grundskolan åker eleverna till brandstationer och får utbildning i hur de ska göra vid en brand och på arbetsplatser genomförs det regelbundna brandövningar. Men det finns så mycket mer i samhället, t.ex. på flygplan och färjor finns det information om flytvästar och när de ska användas.</p><p>Den största lärdomen vi har fått från detta uppsatsarbete är hur individuellt allt är. Det gäller inte bara vilken innebörd ordet företagskris har eller uppfattningen om det bästa sättet att hantera företagskriser på utan det gäller allt i livet. Hur du väljer att agera i en viss situation är upp till dig och beror på de förutsättningar samt erfarenheter som du har.</p> / <p>We all experience and are affected by crises, both as individuals and as part of groups. But what does it means when a company is affected, what can be considered a company crisis?</p><p>The purpose of this rapport is to try to clarify what a company crisis is according to the actors of the hotel sector. We use an actor perspective since it views individuals as creators of their own reality and these realities aren’t permanent. For our study this means that the definition of company crises that we attain from the people we interview isn’t a general one, shared by the general public, but a definition that is only true for these people at this very moment.</p><p>To undertake the study we studied litterateur in among others business administration and psychology. In addition to this we have interview five people from different hotels in Gävleborgs län.</p><p>There are as many views on what a company crisis is as there are theorists but all definitions have some similarities. If we start with the theorists’ viewpoint, a company crisis is an unexpected change that threatens the very existence of the company and that needs to be resolved under time pressure.</p><p>The different meanings of the word crisis from the actors’ viewpoint also have some common features; our interpretation of their answers is that a company crisis is a sudden and serious event that’s not a part of the daily routines. There are however some differences in the individual actors’ specific meanings.</p><p>There are many different interpretations of what is the best way to handle a company crisis, but most of the theorists seem to believe that the most important factor is to prevent company crises from occurring at all. Even if some of these scientists believe that a company crisis can be something positive that give the actors in a company an opportunity to change the company and show their resilience.</p><p>Something that we have thought about during the course of this thesis is how many action plans and how much crisis preparation there are in today’s society. We are thinking foremost of all the action plans there are for how people should handle fires. In most public buildings there are EXIT-signs marking the fire exists. In compulsory school students make field trips to fire stations and get educated in how to act in case of a fire. Companies have fire drills with its employees on regular bases. But there is so much more out there, for instance information is given to passengers on board air planes and ferries on where the life vest are and on how to put them on.</p><p>The biggest insight this thesis have given us is how individual everything is. It doesn’t just apply to the meaning of the word crisis or how best to handle a company crisis but really everything in life. How you choose to act in a particular situation is up to you and depends on your knowledge and experience.</p>

Vi och alla runt omkring oss drabbas av kriser, både som individer och som deltagare i grupper. Men vad innebär det när ett företag drabbas, vad kan vara en företagskris? Syftet med denna rapport är att belysa vad som är en företagskris enligt vissa aktörer i hotellbranschen. Vi använder oss av aktörsynsättet eftersom det innebär att det är individerna som skapar sina egna verkligheter och att dessa verkligheter inte är bestående. För vår del innebär det att den definition av företagskriser som vi får från de personer vi intervjuar inte är en generell definition utan den gäller för just dessa aktörer just nu. För att genomföra studien har vi tagit del av teorier inom bl.a. företagsekonomi och psykologi. Dessutom har vi intervjuat fem personer som arbetar på olika hotell i Gävleborgs län. Det finns nästan lika många uppfattningar om vad en företagskris är som det finns teoretiker, men alla definitioner har vissa gemensamma beröringspunkter. Om vi utgår från teoretikernas uppfattning av företagskriser så är en företagskris en oväntad förändring som hotar företagets existens och som måste lösas under tidspress. Även aktörernas olika innebörder på ordet kris har gemensamma drag, vår tolkning av deras svar är att en företagskris är en plötslig och allvarlig händelse som inte hör till den dagliga verksamheten. Dock finns det vissa skillnader i exakt vad aktörerna lägger in i sin innebörd. Det finns många olika tolkningar av vad som är det bästa sättet att hantera en företagskris på, men de flesta teoretiker verkar anse att det viktigaste är att förebygga företagskriser så att de överhuvudtaget inte inträffar. Även om en del av forskarna anser att en företagskris kan vara något positivt som ger aktörer i ett företag en möjlighet att förändra företaget samt visa upp sin återhämtningsförmåga. Något som vi började tänka på under arbetet med uppsatsen är hur mycket handlingsplaner och krisberedskap det finns i samhället. Främst tänkte vi på alla handlingsplaner för hur människor ska agera vid bränder. I de flesta allmänna utrymmen finns nödutgångar utmarkerade. I grundskolan åker eleverna till brandstationer och får utbildning i hur de ska göra vid en brand och på arbetsplatser genomförs det regelbundna brandövningar. Men det finns så mycket mer i samhället, t.ex. på flygplan och färjor finns det information om flytvästar och när de ska användas. Den största lärdomen vi har fått från detta uppsatsarbete är hur individuellt allt är. Det gäller inte bara vilken innebörd ordet företagskris har eller uppfattningen om det bästa sättet att hantera företagskriser på utan det gäller allt i livet. Hur du väljer att agera i en viss situation är upp till dig och beror på de förutsättningar samt erfarenheter som du har. / We all experience and are affected by crises, both as individuals and as part of groups. But what does it means when a company is affected, what can be considered a company crisis? The purpose of this rapport is to try to clarify what a company crisis is according to the actors of the hotel sector. We use an actor perspective since it views individuals as creators of their own reality and these realities aren’t permanent. For our study this means that the definition of company crises that we attain from the people we interview isn’t a general one, shared by the general public, but a definition that is only true for these people at this very moment. To undertake the study we studied litterateur in among others business administration and psychology. In addition to this we have interview five people from different hotels in Gävleborgs län. There are as many views on what a company crisis is as there are theorists but all definitions have some similarities. If we start with the theorists’ viewpoint, a company crisis is an unexpected change that threatens the very existence of the company and that needs to be resolved under time pressure. The different meanings of the word crisis from the actors’ viewpoint also have some common features; our interpretation of their answers is that a company crisis is a sudden and serious event that’s not a part of the daily routines. There are however some differences in the individual actors’ specific meanings. There are many different interpretations of what is the best way to handle a company crisis, but most of the theorists seem to believe that the most important factor is to prevent company crises from occurring at all. Even if some of these scientists believe that a company crisis can be something positive that give the actors in a company an opportunity to change the company and show their resilience. Something that we have thought about during the course of this thesis is how many action plans and how much crisis preparation there are in today’s society. We are thinking foremost of all the action plans there are for how people should handle fires. In most public buildings there are EXIT-signs marking the fire exists. In compulsory school students make field trips to fire stations and get educated in how to act in case of a fire. Companies have fire drills with its employees on regular bases. But there is so much more out there, for instance information is given to passengers on board air planes and ferries on where the life vest are and on how to put them on. The biggest insight this thesis have given us is how individual everything is. It doesn’t just apply to the meaning of the word crisis or how best to handle a company crisis but really everything in life. How you choose to act in a particular situation is up to you and depends on your knowledge and experience.

The environmental concern starts to be a key challenging issue for organizations nowadays. In fact, we find a growing trend towards “green” consumerism, which in turns affects companies’ strategy. The hospitality industry is not considered as one of the biggest pollution emitters, neither the one consuming the biggest quantity of non-renewable resources, but it is particularly interesting because of its increasing economic importance and the higher environmental concern it is showing. The whole process by which the hotels define policies, strategies as well as develop environmental practices in order to reduce their negative impact on the natural environment is named as Environmental Management. Those hotels that have followed this process and strive to be more environmentally friendly through the efficient use of energy, water and materials while providing quality services are defined as “green hotels”. Thus, in the present study we discover what motivated hotels in Sweden to become green, as well as the steps they followed in turning into green, including the definition of goals, the implementation of practices and the potential barriers that make this process difficult to execute. In a first approach, we found in the literature review some theories related to the factors that influence companies to become green, as well as how to define a green strategy. In a second section, we focused on how the goals must be defined and which indicators can be used to evaluate the environmental performance. Finally, we presented possible barriers, relating this fact to the prioritization of objectives. We led a qualitative approach by running semi-structured and structured interviews to the manager and one employee, respectively, of three different hotels in Abisko and Umeå. The results showed that the main reason why hotels become green is because of the pressure the stakeholders exert on them. The main steps hotels followed to achieve this objective were the establishment of plans and goals, involving the department´s level, its implementation (practices), review, evaluation and improvement of the environmental strategy. But this process is not easy; hotels have to manage with the big cost associated to become green. At the end of the study, some suggestions will be given to hoteliers (e.g. define specific goals) as well as some suggestions for future researches (study of hotels from different cities of Sweden).

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Thesis (MTech. degree in Tourism And Hospitality Management)--Tshwane University of Technology, 2011. / Responsible tourism was adopted as a management strategy for the tourism industry (the hotel sector included) with a view to address the social, economic and environmental impacts of this industry. Responsible tourism guidelines were formulated by the South African government through the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) with a view to ensure adherence to the concept of responsible tourism by the sector. The study confirmed that hotels were indeed knowledgeable regarding responsible tourism; were implementing most of the guidelines that were formulated by DEAT; and found these guidelines useful and effective in their operations.

Magistro darbo tikslas - atlikus interaktyvaus marketingo teorinę analizę, parengti interaktyvaus marketingo modelį, tinkamą taikymui realiai veikiančioje įmonėje. Magistro darbą sudaro trys dalys: interaktyvaus marketingo teorinė analizė, interaktyvaus marketingo įdiegimo viešbutyje „Daniela“ galimybių analizė bei rekomendacijos, kaip sukurti viešbučiui „Daniela“ pritaikytą interaktyvaus marketingo modelį. Pirmojoje darbo dalyje yra atlikta interaktyvaus marketingo teorinė analizė, atskleidžiant interaktyvaus marketingo koncepcijos sampratą, nagrinėjami interaktyvaus marketingo strateginiai bei taktiniai sprendimai, identifikuojamos interaktyvaus marketingo priemonės. Antroje darbo dalyje atliekama apgyvendinimo paslaugų rinkos Lietuvoje analizė, taip pat analizuojami šiuo metu viešbutyje „Daniela“ taikomi interaktyvaus marketingo elementai. Trečioje darbo dalyje sukuriamas interaktyvaus marketingo diegimo modelis pritaikytas viešbučiui „Daniela“. / The aim of the master thesis is to prepare the model of interactive marketing and make it usable at the enterprise after theoretical research has been done. The master thesis consists of three parts: theoretical research of interactive marketing, analysis of Hotel „Daniela“ interactive marketing activities, and recommendations how to create interactive marketing model, adapted to Hotel „Daniela“ needs. In the first part of the master thesis the theoretical interactive marketing studies are being done and it includes the analysis of the interactive marketing conception, the strategic and tactical decisions and the tools of the interactive marketing are being introduced. In the second part of the master thesis the accommodation services in Lithuania business is reviewed, also Hotel „Daniela“ interactive marketing activities are analyzed In the third part framed model of interactive marketing for Hotel „Daniela” is presented.

Darbo objektas: konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai. Darbo problema: kokie yra konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai? Darbo tikslas – įvertinti Kauno miesto viešbučių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius. Darbo uždaviniai: 1. Apibrėžti konkurencingumo sampratą ir svarbą viešbučiams; 2. Išskirti svarbiausius įmonių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius; 3. Nustatyti viešbučių konkurencingumo ištyrimo lygį; 4. Nustatyti svarbiausius Kauno miesto viešbučių konkurencingumą lemiančius veiksnius; Darbo metodai: mokslinės literatūros analizė, anketinė apklausa, formalizuotas (struktūrizuotas) interviu, statistinė duomenų analizė ir kokybinė turinio analizė. Darbe suformuluotos išvados: 1. Konkurencingumas yra kompleksinė sąvoka. Viešbučių lygmenyje jis suprantamas kaip gebėjimas pritraukti ir išlaikyti vartotojus, parduoti paslaugas efektyviau nei tai daro konkurentai. Konkurencingumo svarba viešbučiams pirmiausia apibrėžiama gebėjimu sukurti šalies, kaip turistų pasirinkto kelionės tikslo, įvaizdį. 2. Įmonių konkurencingumą lemiantys veiksniai yra skirstomi į dvi pagrindines grupes: vidinės ir išorinės aplinkos veiksniai. Nustatyta, jog įmonių konkurencingumą labiau lemia vidiniai negu išoriniai konkurencingumo veiksniai. Vidiniai veiksniai grupuojami į „minkštuosius“, „kietuosius“ veiksnius ir aplinką, kuri dvi pirmąsias grupes susieja į bendrą visumą. 3. Viešbučių konkurencingumas – dar pakankamai nauja mokslinių tyrimų sritis, neseniai pradėta nagrinėti tiek teoriškai, tiek... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The target of the work: determinants of competitiveness. The problem of the work: what are determinants of competitiveness? The aim of the work: to estimate determinants of competitiveness in Kaunas city hotels. Objectives of the work: 1. To define the concept and importance of competitiveness of the hotels; 2. To highlight the most important determinants of competitiveness; 3. To ascertain the investigation of the competitiveness of the hotels; 4. To ascertain the key determinants of competitiveness in Kaunas city hotels; Methods of the work: analysis of scientific literature, questionnaire, formalized (structured) interview, statistical analysis of the data and qualitative content analysis. Conclusions: 1. Competitiveness is a complex concept. In hotels level it is understood as the ability to attract and retain customers, to sell services more efficiently than competitors do. The importance of competitiveness of the hotels is defined as the ability to create country, as a tourist destination, image. 2. Determinants of competitiveness of the enterprises are divided in two main groups: internal factors and external factors. It is find out, that internal factors determine competitiveness of enterprises much more than external factors. Internal factors are grouped into „soft“, „hard“ factors and the environment. 3. Competitiveness of the hotel is a relatively new area of research. It has been recently started to examine both theoretically and empirically. Published studies... [to full text]

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur hotell i Sverige arbetar med miljöfrågor idag, samt vilka möjligheter och begränsningar som finns för fortsatt utveckling av miljöarbetet. Genom kvalitativa metoder som intervjuer, observationer och litteraturstudier har författarna undersökt tre hotell och Destination Sigtuna, ett nätverk för hållbar turism, utifrån fyra fokuspunkter: noll slöseri, hållbara material, lokal och hållbar mat samt hållbart vatten. Alla de hotell som undersökts har en eller flera miljöcertifieringar, samt bedriver ett miljöarbete av eget engagemang. Miljöarbetet bedrivs i olika omfång, beroende av olika faktorer i omgivningen. De möjligheter och begränsningar som författarna ser för en utveckling av miljöarbetet är bland annat engagemang, ansvarskänsla, samt den lokala omgivningen. / The purpose of this paper is to examine how hotels in Sweden work with environmental issues today, and the possible opportunities and restrictions for a continued development of their environmental practices. The authors have examined three hotels and the organization Destination Sigtuna, a network for sustainable tourism, through qualitative methods such as interviews, observations and literature studies. The authors have focused on four categories; zero waste, sustainable materials, local and sustainable food and sustainable water. All the hotels in this paper have one or several environmental certifications, and conduct environmental practices through their own commitment. The practice is conducted to different degrees depending on a range of circumstances. The opportunities and restrictions that the authors see for development of environmental work are commitment, responsibility and the local surroundings among others.