Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach to measuring, tracking, monitoring and continuously improving service efficiency, availability and quality in hospitality operational settings. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed measure of service operational effectiveness (SOE) consists of three indicators. They include the availability indicator, the quality indicator, and the efficiency indicator. Findings - The paper finds that the proposed operational performance approach based on the SOE is consistent with the themes of performance measures and measurement reported in the literature. Research limitations/implications - In this paper, the proposed service operational effectiveness approach represents a serious attempt at quantifying the key facets of service effectiveness in hospitality operational settings. The validation of this performance assessment and measurement approach is worthy of future research. Practical implications - The paper sees that the approach advocated by the SOE has operational and strategic relevance to decision-makers of hospitality organizations. Field interviews with hospitality operating managers in different operating base cultures confirmed this. Originality/value - This paper presents a practical, systematic approach to the problem of enhancing service operational effectiveness in hospitality organizations. Relevant implementation issues associated with the proposed approach are also addressed. Interviews with operational managers representing different types and sizes of hospitality organizations in different operational cultures were utilized to provide initial validation of the proposed approach and to shed some light on relevant practical implementation issues.

The purpose of this descriptive study was to develop and validate a list of the skills and knowledge that will be necessary for the career preparation of college union executive directors who will be hired in Research and Doctoral I universities in the next decade, (2000 to 2010). The research design recognizes job congruencies and shared competencies between hospitality general managers and college union directors. In designing this study, three separate but interrelated research methods were employed. Those methods are (a) A series of focused interviews with experts in the college union field; (b) A review of existing data, including job advertisements for union director positions; results from the Association of College Unions International data bank; literature from the college union field; and literature from the hospitality industry, related to general managers' competencies; and (c) An original questionnaire that was designed using the data gathered from the first two techniques. The questionnaire was administered by mail to the research population, college union directors at Research I, Research II, and Doctoral I universities. Ratings on the 86 competencies from the survey were tabulated, measures of central tendency were computed and characteristics were ranked in order of importance to answer the research questions. Results indicated agreement among directors regarding the necessary knowledge and abilities for career preparation of union directors. No significant differences existed between responses from Student Affairs and Business/Auxiliary Affairs, or between male and female respondents. Significant differences were found between responses from directors at commuter and residential universities. Findings from this study will provide guidance for persons who are interested in preparing for a career as a college union director and for veteran professionals who serve as mentors to newcomers into the field. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the trends in co-branding, especially when one brand is linked with another brand through a business strategy, in order to investigate the factors that lead to co-branding as a strategic investment option in the hospitality industry. Of primary interest was whether co-branding strategies are significant issues in the hospitality industry. This study also investigated the relationship between explicit and implicit requirements and timing of entry for co-branding investment. The co-branding investment model developed for this study could be a valuable asset for the hospitality industry. The results of this study indicated that there were some relationships among implicit and explicit requirements and the timing of co-branding entry, especially the finding that restaurateurs who had a strong market share emphasis and long franchising experience were more willing to invest in co-branding. Also restaurateurs who were not satisfied with prior sales performance were more likely to invest in the co-branding concept. We also discovered that investors in co-branding, no matter whether early or late movers, are usually satisfied with the performance of their co-branded stores. This study clearly showed that co-branding investment activities were widely practiced among franchisees, regardless of how many years of experience they had, or if they were large, or small local companies. / Ph. D.

In the field of travel and tourism, scholars with interest in consumer behavior studies have explored different variables and linked them with the individual's behavior. Variables such as destination image, environmental awareness, service perception, preferences, and motivations for travel are commonly used to understand and predict destination selections and travel behavior. There is also enough evidence to suggest that healthy-living is positively associated with travel behavior. If any, little empirical research has been done to explore and examine the relationship between healthy-living and travel behavior. The guidelines to healthy-living have not been introduced in the literature of travel and tourism. This study is intended to shed some light on this issue and contribute to knowledge in this area. The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to develop a healthy-living attitudinal construct, and (2) examine the relationship between healthy-living behavioral and attitudinal constructs and selected travel behavior variables. Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis was undertaken to test the relationship between healthy-living and travel behavior variables. In addition, using ANOVA, the study examined if there were differences between healthy-living (behavioral and attitudinal) and socio-demographic variables; and by using Tukey's multiple comparison test, significant differences between the different groups were revealed. Finally, multiple regression analysis was undertaken with the objective to find the degree with which healthy-living alone influences travel behavior while socio-demographic variables are constant or controlled for. The overall findings of the study revealed that there seems to be a relationship between a healthy-living lifestyle and the individual travel behavior. However, the direction and strength of this relationship shows variations with respect to different dimensions of the healthy-living construct and selected travel behavior questions. The perceived importance of the interaction between healthy-living behavior and travel also implies that certain habits and practices of individuals may correspond to certain benefits and expectations that are both valued and obtained from travel experiences and at the destination site. Such information combined with demographic information may be of great help in understanding better the behavior of travelers to destinations. This research contributes to lifestyle studies in tourism and sheds further light on the complex nature of travel behavior. / Ph. D.

El texto completo de este trabajo no está disponible en el Repositorio Académico UPC por restricciones de la casa editorial donde ha sido publicado. / The purpose of this document is to improve inventory management processes and food processing at a restaurant in the region of Ancash by applying the 5S methodology and using specific indicators for the location and type of work. All this was achieved with the implementation of the menu engineering methodology, which consists basically of forecasts, linear programming, long-term orders, and inventory management. The proper operation of the new processes was experimentally validated. First, the main results were that the use of approximately 4.30 m2 of the work space allocated to unnecessary activities within the work area was optimized, increasing the number of processes that a worker can perform without moving more than 1 m from their work position. Despite the many studies existing on the methodology implemented, there is scarce material that focuses on its application in restaurants, as it is normally developed in industrial areas.

No description available.

Health and well-being have become one of the most important topics in organizational research. The Covid-19 pandemic has compounded the stress levels in all sectors across the world. The current environment has created unprecedented levels of employee turnover, in what economist have been calling the "Great Resignation," where individuals are not only quitting but are questioning their career choice and choosing to leave their profession altogether. This research utilized Conservation of Research (COR) theory and the Buffer Hypothesis (the notion that social support protects individuals from the negative impacts of workplace stress) to investigate occupational stress and well-being (i.e., burnout and job satisfaction) in the full-service restaurant segment. Prior research on occupational stress has investigated the buffering effect of support by focusing mainly on social support in general (support from friends and family), organizational support, supervisor support, and coworker support. This research is one of the first to conceptualize workplace support to include the role of customer-initiated support as well as organizational support, supervisor support, and coworker support in the occupational stress literature, specifically in the restaurant industry. Additionally, this study simultaneously investigated intention to stay with the employer and intention to change careers/career turnover. The results indicated that workplace stress positively impacts both dimensions of burnout: exhaustion and job disengagement. Subsequently, burnout was found to decrease job satisfaction, which was found to be an important driver of retention. Interestingly, job satisfaction was not significantly related to career turnover, suggesting overall job satisfaction is not enough to prevent career turnover and the buffering hypothesis was not supported. Results suggest that workplace support, including customer-initiated support, may play a different role in the occupational stress, burnout, turnover path. A discussion of the results, implications, and recommendations for future research are provided.

Divestiture activity within the restaurant industry has increased in the last twenty years, however there is a dearth of research investigating the subsequent effects of the phenomenon. In particular none of the studies in the literature, have specifically examined the effects of restaurant firms' brand diversification strategies and systematic risk on shareholder wealth when controlling for divestiture completions. This research extends the knowledge from previous work on corporate unbundling and brand diversification strategies to the unique restaurant industry. Drawing on agency theory, the long- and short-term effects of the resulting brand diversification levels on firm shareholder wealth following a divestiture is examined. In addition, the effect of systematic risk on shareholder wealth following a divestiture is investigated. The study is applied to one of the leading U.S. restaurant firms, Brinker International, Inc., since the company has completed a number of divestitures that have resulted in a reduction of its brand diversification. Time series data from 1994 to 2013 is used in the study. The Wharton Research Data Services database and Brinker International, Inc.'s Securities and Exchange Commission annual and quarterly filings are utilized in acquiring the data for the study. Data analysis for the study consists of a cointegration error correction model. Specifically, the study's methodology includes unit root tests, cointegration, vector error correction, and causality tests for the proposed hypotheses. The results indicate that there is a long-run equilibrium relationship between shareholder wealth, brand diversification, and systematic risk. In addition, a short-term positive relationship exists between Brinker's level of systematic risk and divestiture completion. In addition, a negative short-term relationship is found between Brinker's brand diversification and shareholder wealth with divestiture completion. However, no statistically significant relationships are found between brand diversification, systematic risk, and shareholder wealth for Brinker in the short term. Overall, the study's model for the short-term explains 23.63% of the variance in Brinker's shareholder wealth. This study provides various theoretical and managerial implications for the restaurant literature, as well as, provides a catalyst for future studies to expand on the relationships between brand diversification, systematic risk, and shareholder wealth for restaurant firms when considering divestitures.

The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate application of the contemporary business model of pop-up, or temporary, business locations in the food and beverage industry. Currently, entrepreneurs are using this business model to enter into the market without committing significant resources typically required when creating a permanent business. Despite the emerging popularity of this business strategy, the literature on this phenomenon remains sparse and there is a lack of theoretical cohesiveness when describing the pop-up food-related business model and where it fits within the entrepreneurship process. Thus, it is important that researchers identify how and why entrepreneurs utilize the pop-up business model, whether it is effective, and how others can use this process when pursuing their own business venture. This study used a grounded theory research design to achieve the research objectives. A total of 26 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with current and past pop-up food and beverage entrepreneurs were conducted to ascertain the challenges, benefits, and opportunities derived from using the pop-up business model. Based on the data collected, this study offers several implications. First, a framework, including themes and sub-themes, was developed to explain how the pop-up food and beverage business is used as a business model. Second, this dissertation found that food and beverage entrepreneurs use pop-up businesses differently than do other industries. Third, an organizational life cycle of the pop-up business model was developed, which deviates from organizational life cycle studies in other industries. From a practical perspective, this dissertation's framework provides current and future entrepreneurs with best practices for using the pop-up business model. Overall, the findings of this study provide a unique perspective of firm creation that can potentially reduce the negative perceptions of opening a food-related business in the hospitality industry.

Innovation in technology has been growing rapidly in recent years. Many restaurants have been utilizing different types of self-service technologies (SSTs) to enhance their operations and customer satisfaction. Despite, the rapid spread of SSTs in the restaurant industry, very limited empirical research has been conducted to evaluate the influence of SSTs type on customer dining experience. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the SSTs values that influence restaurant customers' satisfaction and their decision to continue to reuse SSTs. More specifically, this study utilized the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV) to examine consumers' perception of the SST values across different types of restaurant proprietary SSTs (kiosk, tabletop, restaurant mobile app, and web-based SSTs). In order to examine the hypothesized relationships, a quantitative research approach was utilized with the survey research method. An online self-administered questionnaire was developed in Qualtrics for each type of SSTs. The questionnaires were distributed utilizing Amazon mechanical Turk (MTurk). Data was collected in May 2019 from restaurant customers who previously used/experienced one of four SSTs. A total of 619 questionnaires were usable and retained for the data analysis procedures. PLS-SEM and PLS-MGA were utilized to evaluate the conceptual model. The results revealed that emotional values were the most significant SST values that influence customer satisfaction with the restaurant SST experience and continuance intention. SSTs customization features were positively related to customer satisfaction across all the SSTs included in this study. The theoretical and practical implications of the results were discussed as well as the limitations of the study and future research directions.