<p>  </p> <p>This study aims to investigate three aspects of pricing strategy in the lodging industry. The three aspects are competition, consumer response, and entry-level employee pricing training. Competition forces hotels to adopt appropriate pricing strategies to differentiate their products from competitors. Consumer reaction is key to testing the feasibility of a pricing strategy and thus can instruct hoteliers on how to implement the pricing practice. Pricing training of entry-level employees ensures long-term pricing stability and efficiency. These three aspects together could provide a comprehensive framework that provide industry practitioners with pricing strategies and recommendations for competitors, consumers and employees. </p> <p>Firstly, we developed a game theoretic model to examine under what circumstance should hotels adopt add-on pricing. According to the results, add-on pricing could generally improve hotels’ revenue as compared to the traditional all-inclusive pricing. The optimal add-on pricing strategy for higher-valued hotels is to initiate the add-on pricing, regardless of whether competing hotels will follow or not. While, for lower-valued hotels, they should insist with the all-inclusive pricing even though competing hotels initiated the add-on pricing. </p> <p>Secondly, this study investigates consumer reaction toward add-on pricing in practice. Add-on pricing could trigger both positive and negative effects on consumers’ booking intention. Based on the Transaction-Acquisition Utility theory, this study empirically tested and showed that add-on pricing improves consumers’ booking intention as compared to all-inclusive pricing. Consumers’ perceived acquisition utility can be increased due to customization effect.  Consumers’ perceived enjoyment and information overload are the positive and negative driver toward perceived transaction utility. </p> <p>Finally, the third part of this study is to identify the factors that affect the training of pricing performance of entry-level employees in the lodging industry. Students enrolled in the Revenue Management and Profit Maximize course in spring 2022 at College of Hospitality, UNLV were recruited to participate this experiment. Based on the results, for entry-level employees, training outcome of data management and pricing basics, as well as employees’ pricing application skills are crucial to basic level pricing performance. When the pricing tasks become more advanced, besides data management and pricing basics, training outcome of inventory management also plays a role. In addition, in-person training could ensure higher training effectiveness for advanced pricing topics. </p> <p>This study provided a combined “distribution channel – consumer– employee” continuum of pricing in the hospitality industry. Theoretically, this study can shed light on examining hotel pricing strategy under channel competition, as well as understanding consumer behavior under Transaction-Acquisition Utility Theory. Empirically, this study offers industry practitioners a set of takeaways from strategy making, operation implementation, to employee training. <br>  </p>

In this dissertation, including three papers, I examine the business case for corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the hospitality industry. The first paper provides a systematic review of the business case for CSR based on 170 articles published in leading hospitality journals. The review paper serves as a literature review of this dissertation, leading to the second and third papers. In the second paper, I examine CSR as a strategic tool to offset corporate social irresponsibility (CSiR) in the hospitality industry. Findings indicate sector differences within the hospitality industry. The third paper examines corporate philanthropy, focusing on the notion of strategic philanthropy. Results indicate the predominance of strategic philanthropy especially in hospitality companies, compared to companies in other industries. Findings of the dissertation as a whole suggest the need for hospitality-specific business case for CSR. In practical terms, this dissertation provides better informed decisions for hospitality mangers in terms of using CSR as a corporate strategy to achieve competitive advantages in the highly competitive industry. / PHD / This dissertation examines corporate social responsibility (CSR), specifically, why hospitality companies engage in CSR and how they can achieve social and financial performance at the same time. The first paper reviews the relevant literature. And based on the findings and gaps in the extant literature, I conducted the 2nd and 3rd studies. In the 2nd paper, I examine whether hospitality companies do something good in response to something bad (to society). Findings indicate that hospitality companies do good to offset their wrong doing. However, it appears to be less salient in casinos and fast-food restaurants, which are controversial with the possible harms of operating their businesses to society. The 3rd paper examines corporate philanthropy, which can be considered as altruistic activities to help people in need. Arguably due to lack of resources in hospitality companies, corporate philanthropy in the industry seems to be used as a marketing-tool, increasing firm sales.

In the United States, turnover threatens the economic status of the restaurant industry. In 2016, the turnover rate for the fast-casual restaurant dining industry was 1.8 million people with approximately 3 million people working in the industry. Restaurant leaders struggle with solutions to help reduce the problems of turnover. Guided by the servant leadership theory, the purpose of this correlational study was to examine the relationship between empowerment, interpersonal support, and turnover in the fast-casual restaurant industry. A convenient sample of fast-casual restaurant supervisors (n =58) in the Midwestern region of the United States completed a survey with questions related to empowerment and interpersonal support from the servant leadership survey and questions from the turnover survey. The results of a multiple regression did not predict turnover F(8, 49) = .976; p >.05; R2 = .137). The effect size indicated that the regression model accounted for 14% of the variance in turnover. Empowerment (β = -.023, p = .916) did not relate any significant variation in turnover. Interpersonal support (β = .066, p = .146) did not relate any significant variation in turnover. Empowerment and interpersonal support could affect social change by enhancing the well-being of employees, which can encourage employees to provide better service in the restaurant business. Empowerment and interpersonal support include motivating factors in employee development, leading to volunteer and charitable contributions in the communities.

The hospitality industry has seen rapid growth through the last three decades. The hospitality industry in New Zealand is still growing steadily. According to the Ministry of Tourism (2008, para. 3), “Visitor expenditure is forecast (from 2008 to 2014) to increase from $13.73 billion to $19.05 billion per annum, an increase of 41.4%” (Ministry of tourism, 2008b). Therefore, in response to the needs of the industry, training providers have established a number of hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism degrees (O'Mahony & Sillitoe, 2001). However, previous studies have identified that hospitality management degrees tend to lack importance in the actual world (Harkison, 2004a, 2004b; Steele; 2003). Hospitality management students seem to rate the value of their degrees higher than do employees in the industry (Collins, 2002; Raybould & Wilkins, 2005). Therefore, there are gaps between the expectations and assumptions of students and those of hospitality professionals, which have led to problems in the hospitality industry. This study has taken three steps to identify: 1) how career expectations, assumptions and requirements differ between undergraduate hospitality management students and management employees in the hospitality industry; 2) The working histories of managerial employees and their perceptions of the industry’s needs; 3) Establish the perceived value of hospitality management degrees amongst hospitality management undergraduate students and the hospitality industry. To do so, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken, and questionnaires were collected from 137 undergraduates enrolled in a Bachelor of International Hospitality Management degree at AUT University and 74 managerial employees in the hotel industry. After an analysis of the data, the researcher examined and compared the results of both groups’ data with relation to the findings of the literature review. The following key points emerged from the research: most students expected that they would work in the hospitality industry after completing their course and supposed that their first work field would be in a Food and Beverage department at a management trainee level. The results of the survey show a match between students’ long-term career expectations and the working history of employees. Students also seem to understand the environment of the hospitality industry well. These results show that students organise well, planning for their future careers, and these results were similar with those of some previous studies (Brien, 2004; Harkison, 2004b; Jenkins, 2001). The results of this study identified similarities and differences of perceptions between undergraduate students and managerial employees in the hotel industry. Similarities of students’ perceptions and managerial employees’ perceptions are; • Commitment is rated as the most important factor in determining success, while personality is rated the most important attribute for an employee in the hospitality industry. • A degree in hospitality management is not recognised as an important qualification by students or employee respondents. Working experience is more important than a bachelor degree of hospitality management for a prospective employee. • Students and managerial employees believe that the hospitality educators know the industry well, although educators and employees have different understandings of career expectations. • Both parties believe that internship might help hospitality students’ careers in the industry. Differences of perceptions between undergraduate students and managerial employees are; • Students believe that knowledge of the industry and experience are the most significant factors for a new employee in the hospitality industry but employees indicate personality. • Employees believe that using initiative skills are the most important factor for an employee’s career development, whereas students answer communication skills. • Students believe that a hospitality management bachelor degree will contribute more to the hotel business but employees believe that having three years’ experience will contribute more. • Students consider that an employee with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality will receive higher starting salaries than someone without, but employees disagree. • Students suggest that a bachelor of hospitality management degree will affect opportunities for promotion, but employees do not share that opinion. This study found that even if students and managerial employees share some common opinions, many gaps still exist between them. Therefore, the researcher suggests recommendations relating to students’ expectations and assumptions of their job entry level, the working environment in the hospitality industry, the needs of the hospitality industry, and the value of a bachelors degree of hospitality management. Furthermore, the researcher identifies some limitations of this study and areas for further research.

The hospitality industry has seen rapid growth through the last three decades. The hospitality industry in New Zealand is still growing steadily. According to the Ministry of Tourism (2008, para. 3), “Visitor expenditure is forecast (from 2008 to 2014) to increase from $13.73 billion to $19.05 billion per annum, an increase of 41.4%” (Ministry of tourism, 2008b). Therefore, in response to the needs of the industry, training providers have established a number of hospitality, leisure, travel and tourism degrees (O'Mahony & Sillitoe, 2001). However, previous studies have identified that hospitality management degrees tend to lack importance in the actual world (Harkison, 2004a, 2004b; Steele; 2003). Hospitality management students seem to rate the value of their degrees higher than do employees in the industry (Collins, 2002; Raybould & Wilkins, 2005). Therefore, there are gaps between the expectations and assumptions of students and those of hospitality professionals, which have led to problems in the hospitality industry. This study has taken three steps to identify: 1) how career expectations, assumptions and requirements differ between undergraduate hospitality management students and management employees in the hospitality industry; 2) The working histories of managerial employees and their perceptions of the industry’s needs; 3) Establish the perceived value of hospitality management degrees amongst hospitality management undergraduate students and the hospitality industry. To do so, a comprehensive literature review was undertaken, and questionnaires were collected from 137 undergraduates enrolled in a Bachelor of International Hospitality Management degree at AUT University and 74 managerial employees in the hotel industry. After an analysis of the data, the researcher examined and compared the results of both groups’ data with relation to the findings of the literature review. The following key points emerged from the research: most students expected that they would work in the hospitality industry after completing their course and supposed that their first work field would be in a Food and Beverage department at a management trainee level. The results of the survey show a match between students’ long-term career expectations and the working history of employees. Students also seem to understand the environment of the hospitality industry well. These results show that students organise well, planning for their future careers, and these results were similar with those of some previous studies (Brien, 2004; Harkison, 2004b; Jenkins, 2001). The results of this study identified similarities and differences of perceptions between undergraduate students and managerial employees in the hotel industry. Similarities of students’ perceptions and managerial employees’ perceptions are; • Commitment is rated as the most important factor in determining success, while personality is rated the most important attribute for an employee in the hospitality industry. • A degree in hospitality management is not recognised as an important qualification by students or employee respondents. Working experience is more important than a bachelor degree of hospitality management for a prospective employee. • Students and managerial employees believe that the hospitality educators know the industry well, although educators and employees have different understandings of career expectations. • Both parties believe that internship might help hospitality students’ careers in the industry. Differences of perceptions between undergraduate students and managerial employees are; • Students believe that knowledge of the industry and experience are the most significant factors for a new employee in the hospitality industry but employees indicate personality. • Employees believe that using initiative skills are the most important factor for an employee’s career development, whereas students answer communication skills. • Students believe that a hospitality management bachelor degree will contribute more to the hotel business but employees believe that having three years’ experience will contribute more. • Students consider that an employee with a bachelor’s degree in hospitality will receive higher starting salaries than someone without, but employees disagree. • Students suggest that a bachelor of hospitality management degree will affect opportunities for promotion, but employees do not share that opinion. This study found that even if students and managerial employees share some common opinions, many gaps still exist between them. Therefore, the researcher suggests recommendations relating to students’ expectations and assumptions of their job entry level, the working environment in the hospitality industry, the needs of the hospitality industry, and the value of a bachelors degree of hospitality management. Furthermore, the researcher identifies some limitations of this study and areas for further research.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Hotel, Restaurant, Institution Management & Dietetics / Carol W. Shanklin / The purpose of this study was to identify factors affecting the decision process of African American students regarding the choice of hospitality management as a career. The significant influence of others, perception and awareness of the industry, resistance to servitude, and personal background were explored in the context of Omi and Winant’s Racial Formation Theory. Focus groups were conducted with hospitality management and business students to investigate the above constructs in-depth. Questionnaires were administered to students enrolled in College of Businesses at 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities who were majoring in hospitality management or some aspect of business. The results of the focus groups indicated that the students are aware that their race may determine what jobs they are offered in the hospitality industry, how rapidly they will be promoted, how society views them as individuals, and how society views an entire race when that particular race is found in low level jobs in large numbers or perception of an industry, and the pay scale. The students indicated that servitude is when one person has more power than someone else or someone is in control. Hospitality students were more likely to support the idea that the industry provides opportunities for advancements (χ2 = 33.64, df = 3, p < .001) and offer balanced pay in terms of race and ethnicity (χ2 = 14.49, df = 3, p < .01). For each servitude measure hospitality students were less likely to support notions of servitude in the hospitality industry than non-hospitality students. Non-hospitality students had a strong association with the idea that hospitality jobs are demeaning (χ2 = 10.16, df = 3, p < .05) and include positions that typically involved housekeeping and kitchen work (χ2 = 28.72, df = 3, p < .001). In general the data for African Americans revealed significant relationships between the outcome measure, career choice, and personal background (r = -.118, p < .05), awareness and perception of the hospitality industry (r = .116, p < .05) and significance of others (r = .164, p < .01) using two-tailed test.

The aim of this research is to explore the contextual characteristics of a particular group of Dutch restaurant owner’s (SSUSCROs) and practitioners, to examine how these contextual characteristics might be used in a professional hospitality education programme. This very small segment of the Dutch restaurant business (0,2-0,5% of the total restaurants) is known for its strong commitment to competitiveness, in delivering quality service and products. No previous research in The Netherlands had embarked on a search for connecting this specific category of practitioners to education. As owners of their restaurants, the SSUSCROs were aware of the potential contribution that participating in this research would make. The research was designed from a constructionist epistemological point of view. This means that the data supplied by the respondents, and the background and vision of the researcher provided an interplay. By using grounded theory methodology, theory is constructed from the empirical data. The main instrument for the primary research was in-depth, interviewing. Six retired and four practising restaurant owners, and a connoisseur of the business were interviewed in one to three hour depth interviews that were digitally recorded. The transcripts of the recorded interviews were analysed, applying the specific constructivist version of grounded theory methodology as described by Charmaz’s (2006). The research generated a grounded theory in the form of a narrative about the SSUSCRO social construct and its central theme ‘Living the business’. The narrative informs future practitioners i.e. students, about how they can prepare for possible future business ventures in the culinary restaurant business. Furthermore, it confronts future practitioners with the notion of particular contextual characteristics and value systems that need to be incorporated in order to successfully engage in and sustain a career in the culinary restaurant sector. Elements of the narrative, connected to Covey’s 7-Habits of Highly Effective People framework for personal leadership. The findings from this research confirmed the importance of providing students in hospitality management education with a approach towards professional development that is grounded in the social construct of a remarkable group of entrepreneurs such as the SSUSCROs. The conclusions suggested that faculty and academic management of hospitality management programmes need to become more knowledgeable about the particular nature of the discipline, and the specific category of practitioners researched here.

<div>To capture the dynamic nature of frontline employees’ subjective well-being (SWB) and turnover intention in the hotel industry, this study used Affective Events Theory (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996) and the unfolding model of employee voluntary turnover (Lee & Mitchell, 1994) to argue the short-term variability in SWB and turnover intention. Using the job demandsresources model (JD-R model) as the framework, this study examined the role of daily job</div><div>demands (challenge stressors, hindrance stressors, and emotional dissonance) and the role of daily job resources (supervisor support, coworker support, and job autonomy). Given that hotel employees work with different supervisors and co-workers and face various guest situations during each shift, these employees may face high work stress and workload. Furthermore, employees in this industry are often requested to perform non-routine tasks. Therefore, their work is highly associated with high job demands and resource variability. Moreover, the study results stress the importance of the moderating role of day-level job resources and the multilevel moderating effects of employees’ individual levels of resilience and self-efficacy. </div><div>The design of the study employed an experience sampling method. Participants were employees who are in guest-facing positions from food & beverage and front office departments in full-service or luxury hotels in the United States. Sixty-five participants completed a one-time baseline survey and a daily diary study twice per day for at least five working days, resulting in a total of 416 day-level observations. The data structure is day nested within each person. The multi-level data was analyzed by using multilevel linear modeling. </div><div>In summary, this study shows that SWB and turnover intention may not always be stable phenomena among hotel employees due to the daily influences of job demands and job resources. In addition, both personal resources and daily job resources were found to mitigate the negative daily influences of job demands. This study helps managers to better understand employees’ feelings on a daily basis and apply strategies for daily management of employee SWB and turnover intention.</div>

<p>In this dissertation, I investigated price dynamics in the hotel room-night market and attempted to explain pricing decisions from a market perspective. Since market dynamics of the hotel room-night market can be paralleled to those in the financial market, financial market models allowed for examination of various aspects of hotel room pricing decisions.</p><p>In the first study, advance-purchase discounts were estimated through application of an option pricing model considering property-specific attributes. Non-refundable advance-purchase discounts are a commonly used rate fence. One challenge to their implementation, however, is deciding upon the precise magnitude of the discount. Quan’s (2002) study on the price of room reservations is a good starting point, but it is a conceptual model that assumes away other property-specific factors. This study thus tested the idea that advance-purchase discounts are affected by various components, including the value of the right to cancel a reservation (e.g., cancelation option value) and the room- and property-specific factors in the hotel room-night market (e.g., uncertainty, reviews, and seasonality). The analysis supported this hypothesis and additionally revealed that advance-purchase discounts are smaller for rooms with high review ratings in a high-demand period. Interestingly, the divergence between advance-purchase discounts and cancelation option value components widened in a high-demand period, which implies a tendency by hotels to adjust their room rates rather than the amount of discount for customers who book their stay well in advance. Theoretically, this study thus contributes to finance literature by extending the application of the option pricing model to real options for non-financial assets. This study also contributes to the hospitality literature by demonstrating the effects of property-specific attributes on advance-purchase discount magnitude. The results also have implications to the hospitality industry by providing an analytical framework by which hoteliers can estimate property-specific advance-purchase discounts.</p><p>The second study concentrated on rate parity agreement’s effect on the hotel room-night market’s efficiency at reflecting product characteristics in room rates. This study examined the impact of rate parity agreement between hotels and online travel agencies by comparing hotel rates between Europe and the United States. This study found that room rates were less sensitive to property quality attributes under rate parity clauses. The reflection of property quality on room rates were less efficient when hotels have rate parity agreement with OTAs. Furthermore, the results supported the claim that rate parity exacerbates price increase in periods of high demand, which indicates possible collusion between suppliers (hotels) and distributors (OTAs). The findings provided theoretical implications by testing the market efficiency of the hotel room-night market and confirming the impact at the property level. This study also provided a perspective on pricing decision makers to understand how rate parity agreement influence their pricing decisions. Last, the findings provided support for recent policies in Europe that restrict rate parity agreements between hotels and OTAs.</p><p>The third study empirically examined hoteliers’ response to the demand by observing the price movement of two rates with different cancelation policies—free cancelation rates and non-refundable rates. By modifying Hasbrouck’s (1995) information share approach, this study examined the non-refundable rates’ contribution to the price discovery process. The perceived quality of accommodation by customers, one of the primary determinants of the price discovery process, was included in analysis. The results suggested that non-refundable rates were contribute more to the information variance than free cancelation rates did. The findings also suggested that consumers’ perceived quality and volatility influence non-refundable rates’ contribution to the price discovery process. The results also have practical implications for market participants, as they help to build an understanding of aggregated demand and its impact on pricing. Non-refundable rates are generally regarded as just one of many kinds of discounted rates, but the results of this study suggest that hoteliers should carefully consider the role that non-refundable rates play in their pricing strategy.<br></p>

<p>U doktorskoj disertaciji predstavljena je problematika poslovanja motela kao ugostiteljskih objekata i prilagođavanje postojećih poslovnih modela potrebama tranzitnih turista. U teorijskom delu doktorske disertacije predstavljena su glavna teorijska ishodi&scaron;ta koja se bave problematikom definisanja motela kao ugostiteljskih<br />objekata, tranzitnih turista i tranzitnog turizma, elemenata poslovnog modela, inovativnosti u ugostiteljstvu. U empirijskom delu doktorske disertacije predstavljeni su rezultati istraživanja dobijenih pomoću sledećih istraživačkih metoda: analiza podataka<br />na Veb sajtovima motela, opažanje, strukturirani dubinski intervju i dva anketna istraživanja, s potencijalnim gostima i aktualnim gostima motela u Srbiji. U perspektivnom delu doktorske disertacije predstavljeni si konkretni saveti za unapređenje postojećih poslovnih modela i kreiranje novog poslovnog modela<br />prilagođenog potrebama tranzitnih turista.</p> / <p>In the PhD thesis motels as hospitality facilities and adapting existing business models for the needs of transit tourists are represented. In the theoreti cal part of this thesis the main theoretical sources which deal with the problem of defining a motel as catering facility, transit tourists and transit tourism, elements o f business model, innovation in hospitality industrzy are represented. In the empirical part of the thesis are represented the results of the research obtained using the following research methods: data analysis on motel websites, observation, structured in-depth interviews and two surveys,&nbsp; with potential guests and guests of the motel in&nbsp; Serbia. In the prospective part of the thesis are shown concrete advisory advices for existing business models and for creating a new business model baised on the needs of transit tourists.</p>