bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Positioning Analysis with Self-Organizing Maps
Authors: Mazanec Josef A.
Published: March 2007

Various techniques of multivariate analysis are applied to locating hotel chains' positions on perceptual maps based on consumers' views of those chains. Measuring and accounting for the many attributes used to develop positions is intensive and usually the analysis is segment-specific. Instead of complex methods that are hard for managers to apply, the use of self-organizing maps may be appropriate. The self-organizing map is a computer-based application of neural-network models that treat data as nodes with connections. Data are sorted to arbitrarily positioned nodes that represent a map of positions. In the simplest approach, the result is that the positions of hotels that fall on the same node are not different, while those that fall on adjacent nodes are different. In actuality, a hotel's position falls on one node sometimes and other nodes other times, depending on the market segment. The higher the frequency of a hotel's being located on a given node, the more focused its image. A hotel that finds itself widely distributed on many modes has a fuzzy image. An example of luxury hotels in Vienna demonstrates the hotels' positions for different guest segments.
The Service-Quality Audit
Authors: Luchars James Y. , Hinkin Timothy R.
Published: March 2007

Hotel companies have tried to implement service-quality-improvement programs with varying degrees of success. Far from being a fad, quality improvement by any name is an essential and continuous management responsibility. Although it is not possible to measure every aspect of the service encounter, most steps can be quantified and measured. More important, the cost of the failure to execute any of those steps can be calculated with reasonable accuracy. Using a service-quality audit, managers and quality-improvement teams can identify errors and determine their frequency, assign costs of fixing (or notfixing) the errors, and identify the steps to prevent them. As an example, the audit of a full-service hotel examined the costs of errors in transactions at the front desk. The most common error was failure to post late charges to the guest's folio, which cost the hotel an estimated $250,000 per year, considering the frequency of the error, the time spent correcting the folio, and the likelihood that an unhappy guest will not return due to that error. By addressing this and other errors, the hotel's management can improve the guest experience and control costs.
The Productivity Paradox of Hotel-Industry Technology
Authors: David Julie Smith , Grabski Severin , Kasavana Michael
Published: March 2007

Despite immense investment by hotel operators in information technology, evidence of improved productivity is scant, leading to discussion of a "productivity paradox." Part of the problem with the analysis of productivity in the service sector as a whole and in hotels in particular is how to measure productivity. For this study, the authors established a number of possible productivity benchmarks, such as speed of check-ins, reservations per labor hour, and rooms cleaned per housekeeping hour. Just nine hotel chains responded to the survey, but those chains represent some 4,000 hotel properties. No single measurement or set of measurements was used by the nine respondents. The study also assessed the respondents' expectations for productivity improvements and whether those expectations were fulfilled. Ironically, respondents did not always expect productivity improvements from the technology installation and were sometimes pleasantly surprised. The authors suggest that productivity may not always be the motivating factor for installing information technology. Instead, hoteliers are installing technology to improve the guest experience.
Antitrust Implications of Food-Service Franchising Agreements
Authors: Sherry John E. H.
Published: March 2007

Many chain-restaurant franchise agreements include a provision requiring that franchisees purchase from the franchiser certain food items and even food-preparation equipment. The franchisors reason that such requirements protect the quality of the consumer goods produced and thereby the reputation of a franchisor's products. Often those required purchases mean that franchisees must pay higher prices than if they were allowed to shop for equal-quality goods in a competitive environment. In a court case brought by franchisees against their franchisor, the court held (and was affirmed on appeal) that in certain instances such purchase requirements are in violation of antitrust law and represent restraint of trade where a competitive marketplace should exist. The appeals court considered that purchase-requirement arrangements can be justified to preserve the distinctiveness, uniformity, and quality of a franchisor's products, but only in the absence of less-restrictive alternatives. Specifically, the trial jury found that effective quality control could be achieved if the franchiser would simply describe the exact specifications of those nonproprietary items that franchisees might purchase from competing suppliers.
A Tax Primer for Bed and Breakfasts
Authors: Kelley Claudia L. , Marquette R. Penny
Published: March 2007

To be considered a business and not a hobby, a B&B must be operated with the intent of making a profit. Personal expenses must be clearly delineated from business expenses for tax purposes, and exclusive-use rules apply to most deductible expenses. Certain expenses may be deducted in full on the owner's tax return but others, such as start-up costs, improvements, appliances, and furniture-including eligible antiques-must be depreciated over time (some exceptions exist). Cash deposits collected to secure advance reservations require special tax treatment as do inventories of goods purchased for resale. B&B workers may be employees or independent contractors, and it's imperative to know the difference. The B&B's legal status will affect many aspects of its tax liability as well as that of its owners, partners, family-member employees, and shareholders. B&B owners and operators should be familiar with the IRS's Audit Guide for Bed and Breakfasts, which can help owners understand what may be asked of them in an audit and what third-party information is available to the IRS. The guide can also enhance the quality of B&B record keeping.
Four Seasons-Regent
Authors: Go Frank , Choi Tat , Chan Carole
Published: March 2007

When financial circumstances forced the sale of Regent International hotels, its trustees chose to sell the firm to Four Seasons hotels, selected from a number of potential suitors. The combination gave Four Seasons, which was well-known on the North American continent, an instantly expanded position in Pacific Asia, and also created the basis for expansion of the Four Seasons brand in Europe and Asia. With the combined brands, the company seeks to assert a strong market position in the luxury segment. An analysis of the firm's position against a theoretical framework indicates that Four Seasons is now situated to operate according to a global strategy, rather than its former, essentially regional approach. One aspect of the acquisition was that Four Seasons was able to create a separate partnership entity to hold Regent and Four Seasons real estate, thereby removing a drag on operating profits and turning Four Seasons into strictly a management firm.
Buying Center: Who Chooses Convention Sites?
Authors: Clark J. Dana , Price Catherine H. , Murrmann Suzanne K.
Published: March 2007

A buying center for site selection is the group within an association that selects meeting and convention sites. A qualitative, exploratory study of the configuration of players in 23 associations' buying centers found three general patterns of decision making, each with a number of variations. In the first general pattern an association board or executive committee controlled the decision, usually in consultation with the executive director or meeting planner. A second group of decision-making patterns finds the meeting planner or association executive choosing meeting locations, sometimes with input from members. A final pattern gives the association's annual-meeting committee or program committee the determination of where to meet. Some associations vary the process from year to year depending on the president's procedural preferences. Knowing how an association makes its decision on annual conferences can assist destination marketers and hotel operators to reach the persons who actually make the decision. It is worth noting that in many cases the association's meeting planner acted as a gatekeeper for information about a potential destination.
The U. S. Lodging Industry and the Environment
Authors: Stipanuk David M.
Published: March 2007

The historical record indicates that, from at least the early part of the twentieth century, the hotel industry has been involved in and concerned with environmental-management initiatives, if for no better reason than saving money and delivering reliable, quality service. The industry has almost continuously recognized both the importance of the environment and the impact of lodging operations on the environment. Moreover, as new technologies and knowledge have emerged in the area of environmental management, the industry has adopted them. At the same time, many properties could focus more strongly on environmental issues and the industry as a whole may have lapsed in its caretaker role during the 1980s' rush to expand. Nevertheless, based on the written record, the U.S. lodging industry has posted many positive environmental accomplishments in the areas of waste reduction, energy conservation, water consumption, and materials reuse and recycling, and by dedicating land to conservation and preservation purposes.
Sexual-Harassment Policies for the Workplace
Authors: Aalberts Robert J. , Seidman Lorne H.
Published: March 2007

In 1993 the Supreme Court ruled that, to be unlawful, sexual harassment need not be so severe as to cause psychological damage (although it must be more than merely offensive). As a result of the difficulty of defining hostile workplace environments, judges are no longer inclined to grant employers' motions for summary judgment to dismiss charges unless a firm has implemented a proper workplace sexual-harassment policy. An appropriate policy will include these components: (1) Procedures by which managers can get to know the ins and outs of the workplace, including an effective way to determine employees' concerns; (2) management support, including the wide dissemination of the written policy and procedures and an endorsement from top-level executives; (3) training that teaches supervisors to recognize sexual harassment and gives them the authority to address the issue; (4) procedures for a prompt and properly measured response to claims of harassment; (5) multiple avenues for filing a harassment claim within the firm's organization; (6) protection for victims and witnesses from retaliation; (7) preservation of confidentiality; and (8) ongoing monitoring of the firm's sexual-harassment policy.
Managing Hospitality Innovation
Authors: Jones Peter
Published: March 2007

Companies involved in new-product development use some or all of the following 15 steps to generate ideas and services: established objectives and strategies for developing new ideas (mission statement), the company's business structure, actual idea generation and screening, concept development, concept testing, business analysis, project authorization, product or service design and testing, process and system design and testing, marketing-program design and testing, personnel training, product or service testing, test-marketing, launch, and post-launch review. This article's four case studies, however, illustrate that firms do not typically need to follow all 15 steps. That is due to a number of factors, including product diversity resulting from the originality of the product or service; the level of legal protection available; the amount of capital investment available; and the maturity of the marketplace.
Expatriate Managaers
Authors: Shay Jeffrey , Tracey J. Bruce
Published: March 2007

This study examined perceived failure rates, reasons for failure, and desirable attributes for expatriate managers in the lodging industry. The survey results showed that perceived failure rates in the lodging sector are similar to those in other industries. However, the reasons for failure and the attributes required for hotel-management success abroad appear to be particular to the industry. Personal, family, and work-related issues may contribute to expatriate failure. People skills, adaptability, flexibility, and emotional maturity are the most desirable attributes for expatriate managers. The results suggest that comprehensive cross-cultural training may be an effective way to reduce expatriate failure and enhance success.
Hotel Devlopmnent in Myanmar
Authors: Hobson J. S. Perry , Leung Roberta
Published: March 2007

Following the takeover of the country by the military in 1988, the new government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) has been rebuilding the nation's economy using a Western-style market approach. Internal political problems and international concern with human rights have hampered the development of the country's tourism industry, however. So far, Western-based hotel operators have made only modest investments in the nation. Of some 23 hotel investments identified, all come from Asian countries, led by Singapore and Thailand. Given Myanmar's partial isolation and its slender educational resources, human-resources management is particularly challenging. Offsetting the attraction of low wages is the considerable investment needed for training and developing hotels' employees.
Property Owners May Be Liable for Defective Products Offered to Guests by a Third-Party Tenant
Authors: Sherry John E. H.
Published: March 2007

Based on the theory of strict liability the Florida Supreme Court ruled in favor of a plaintiff who sued a resort operator for injuries she sustained from recreational equipment that she rented from a commercial tenant of the resort. The resort owner and equipment-rental operator were closely allied regarding promoting the equipment to the resort's guests, and a lessor-leasee relationship clearly existed between them. Florida's supreme court determined that the strict-liability doctrine is not limited to manufacturers and distributors of defective products but also applies to commercial renters of such products. The court went on to hold the resort liable because it leased property to an outsider who rented sailboats and because the resort was actively involved in marketing those sailboats to the resort's guests. In fact, the resort's active marketing of the sailboats to its guests may have tilted the scale in favor of the finding of liability on the part of the resort. Also, the court inferentially alluded to an apparent-agency theory of responsibility based on representations of ownership and control normally associated with franchiser-franchisee responsibility.
Preventing Customer Altercations in Nightclubs
Authors: Berkley Blair J.
Published: March 2007

This paper uses function analysis to describe a systematic approach used by 27 Los Angeles-area nightclubs to enhance security efforts. Methods of reducing the probability of altercations include customer selection and training, environmental control, preventing intoxication, and employee training. Finally, the consequences of customer altercations can be minimized by quick response, careful customer handling, and efforts to improve community relations. Preventing customer altercations in nightclubs is difficult due to the degree of customer contact and participation; because club-going patrons have vastly different ego and mood-related reasons for going to a club; and because whenever crowds of people are mixed with the effects of alcohol, altercations seem inevitable.
Managed-Services Companies
Authors: Reynolds Dennis
Published: March 2007

Managed-services companies that provide their clients with on-site food service represent a large component of the chain-restaurant industry. These companies serve offices, factories, educational institutions, healthcare providers, stadiums, and correctional institutions. The market is a global one, dominated today by four major players: ARAMARK, Compass Group PLC, Marriott Managed Services, and Sodexho. The aggregate revenues of those companies were more than $17 billion in fiscal 1996. The use of branded products is a leading competitive strategy that each of those organizations employs to encourage growth, gain market penetration, and increase sales. However, each firm uses branding in different ways and to varying degrees, so that the balance between national and house brands maintained by the managed-services companies is actually a way to differentiate those firms. Compass and Marriott are concentrating on establishing their house brands (and also using national brands) while ARAMARK and Sodexho use whatever concept or brand best fits a client's preferences or particular situation, provided it can be profitable.
Selecting that First Job
Authors: Sciarini Michael P. , Woods Robert H.
Published: March 2007

From a preselected list of 20 items that may influence students' impressions of potential employers, 550 U.S. hospitality students from 19 schools ranked those factors and assigned those involving personal interaction the highest ratings. The most influential factors were (1) Experience with the company as a consumer; (2) Word of mouth from faculty members; (3) Word of mouth from alumni; (4) Company representative's personality; (5) Word of mouth from students; (6) Guest lecturers in class; (7) Company representative's appearance; (8) Company participation in job fair; (9) Three-month work experience, internships; and (10) Companysponsored tours. Least influential were company-sponsored scholarships, company videos, company-sponsored social events, and company information on the internet or worldwide web.
What Motivates Hong Kong's Hotel Employees?
Authors: Siu Vickie , Tsang Nelson , Wong Simon
Published: March 2007

Asked to rank ten job-related factors that might motivate them in their jobs, a sample of 1,245 hotel employees in Hong Kong listed the following three factors as uppermost: (1) opportunities for advancement and development, (2) loyalty to employees (company treats them with respect and trust), and (3) good wages. While the specific rankings of the top motivating factors changed slightly from department to department, the top factors were remarkably consistent. Moreover, Hong Kong hotel employees had more in common with North American hotel workers than either group did with U.S. manufacturing workers.
Small Lodging Operations in Costa Rica
Authors: Griffin Robert K.
Published: March 2007

This study examined seven small, randomly selected lodging operations in San Jose, Costa Rica. Managers were interviewed, facilities were toured, and operations were observed using a structured outline. It appears that factors which relate to the success of small lodging operations in San Jose include location, facilities, price, low debt, solid management, market positioning, promotion, advertising, guest-room comfort, service, guest relations, cleanliness, quiet rooms, security, and ambience. Since most managers of small properties have direct control over their facility's key success factors (other than specific location), good management stands out as the most important factor. In this study, good management decisions allowed properties with less-than-prime locations to outperform properties with superior locations.
Profit Measurement of Menu Items
Authors: Chan Wilco , Au Norman
Published: March 2007

The long-time calculation for gross profit of a menu item is selling price less food cost, but such other inputs as labor and energy are not negligible. Moreover, not only are labor and energy usually not included in the calculation, but food costs are often not updated frequently as menu items and recipes change, owing to the complexity of making the update. A survey of operators of Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong (freestanding chain restaurants, as well as restaurants in hotels and clubs) found that the respondents support the idea of updating menu costs and considering labor and energy expenses. However, the difficulties of measuring the inputs, including numerous uninventoried food items typical of Chinese cooking, undermine a more precise profit calculation of menu items in Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong.
Productivity Analysis
Authors: Reynolds Dennis
Published: March 2007

On-site food service has evolved into a major segment of the multiunit restaurant industry, with 1998 sales expected to exceed $80 billion. Surprisingly, productivity analysis of on-site food service is still performed using measures that fail to capture the complexity of today's operations. Traditional partial-factor productivity measures do not account for relationships among resources. Labor productivity, in particular, is often used as a surrogate for overall operational performance, without regard to other relevant variables. Aggregate and multiple-factor measures are more robust, meaningful measures than partial-factor measures for analyzing actual operational productivity. Moreover, multiple-factor productivity measurement allows managers to compare diverse operations. Using multiple-factor or aggregate productivity measures, as outlined in the article, allows managers to compare self-operated units with contracted operations, thereby providing a basis for such decisions as whether to outsource. Properly conceived and applied measures enable managers to evaluate the relationships between productivity and management policies. They serve as a barometer for monitoring the effectiveness of operational changes such as new production methods, integration of work teams, and implementation of new technology.
Lonely at the Top
Authors: Petrick Gabriella
Published: March 2007

A 1996 survey of 57 women executives in 48 multiunit restaurant companies found that virtually all came to the restaurant industry with management skills acquired elsewhere, rather than rising through the ranks using industry-specific knowledge. Moreover, although all respondents had graduate or undergraduate college degrees, none indicated that they held hospitality degrees. Advancement through the ranks to an executive position is no longer possible in the industry without formal education, according to these respondents. Not only did the respondents concur that the multiunit restaurant industry lags behind other industries in elevating women to the rank of CEO, but they saw little likelihood that the situation will change any time soon for themselves or their peers.
Endorsed Branding
Authors: Muller Christopher C.
Published: March 2007

A restaurant brand is more than a product with a catchy name and attractive packaging, although those are essential brand elements. A brand contains specific attributes and promises specific benefits to the customer. Brands are built based on quality products and services, flawless execution, and symbolic imagery. Firms can use any of three brand-management strategies—simple, monolithic, or endorsed. Many restaurant firms have developed strong simple or monolithic strategies. A chain that owns several apparently unrelated brands, as do Tricon or Darden, is using a simple strategy in which each brand stands or falls on its own merits without being helped or hurt by the company's other brands. McDonald's has used an effective monolithic strategy by prefacing product names with “Mc” to emphasize each new product's relationship to the brand name. Restaurant chains have yet to use the third strategy, in which one brand name connects several distinct but related products—an approach used effectively by lodging companies. Pizza Hut is approaching this strategy with its use of kiosks and delivery-carry out shops.
No Time Left for You
Authors: Berger Florence , Merritt Edward A.
Published: March 2007

A survey of 74 restaurant managers and operators in the United States highlights the importance of effective time management. Of 69 restaurateurs who use time-management techniques, 49 estimated that time management boosts their bottom line by at least 15 percent. Ironically, most of the managers rated the effectiveness of their time-management skills as only poor or fair. Effective time management begins with recording and analyzing the actual way that time is used. Recording activities in time intervals of 15 minutes and then sorting those activities according to the priority of the activities gives a manager a picture of where the day goes. From that analysis, a manager can determine the source of time wasters. Time-management techniques involve three key elements: breaking bad time-management habits; learning to delegate; and eliminating interrupters.
Tourism in South Africa
Authors: Ahmed Zafar U. , Heller Victor L. , Hughes Kevin A.
Published: March 2007

The good news for South Africa's tourism industry is that the nation has broadly diverse attractions, including many unspoiled natural areas, and a well-developed infrastructure. The bad news is that large portions of the population have heretofore been excluded from proper educational and economic opportunity-thus leaving the nation with an inadequate labor supply. Additional challenges include a weak economy and an inexperienced government, crime, and a private sector that is unaccustomed to cooperative endeavor. As a result, South Africa's tourism prospects are uneven. South Africa needs to develop its tourism industry to create jobs and bring in foreign exchange. While the nation remains a potentially attractive destination, tourists are not visiting in droves.
Keys and Hotel Security
Authors: Rushmore Stephen , Malone Carolyn
Published: March 2007

Locks and keys have been around since at least 2,000 B.C., but inns and taverns in the United States and elsewhere rarely used them until around the mid-1 820s. Then, advances in lever-lock systems and, ultimately, Linus Yale's invention in 1840 of the modern cylinder lock made guest-room security using locks and keys practical and affordable and, in the eyes of guests, nonnegotiable. At the same time, the rise of hotel burglaries-especially in the second half of the 19th century-made locks and security increasingly necessary. By the early 1900s innkeepers had hit on the idea of using key tags as advertising mechanisms, and before long a vast array of creative, practical, and exotic key tags were leaving their marketing impressions on travelers. At the very least, in the United States a key tag allowed the forgetful guest who carried a hotel key home to drop the key in the nearest mailbox for safe and postage-paid transit back to the hotel. (In Europe, key tags often were so large and cumbersome that a guest couldn't possibly walk out of the hotel with it by accident.) Ultimately, however, the industry recognized that even the simplest hotel identifier posed some security risk to the person bearing the key, and many hotels dropped that practice altogether. Finally, along came affordable computer technology and programmable key cards, which today are used in most large and brand-name lodging properties. A collection of keys from different eras and properties is on display in Mineola, New York, at the headquarters of Hospitality Valuation Services.
The U.S. lodging industry Today
Authors: Smith Randell A. , Lesure John D.
Published: March 2007

An analysis of Smith Travel Research's database of 35,000 hotels shows a general deceleration in the rate of growth of room revenue per available room (RevPAR). Although construction of new hotels is beginning to slow, the expected opening of more than 140,000 new rooms in mostly limitedservice and extended-stay properties will continue to be a drag on RevPAR in the face of static or declining demand. Operators of high-price hotels seem to be in a strong position, since their share of demand showed an impressive increase in 1998 and is expected to continue to grow. Most of the hotels built in the past five years are, on average, under 150 rooms in size and are located in suburban markets, near highways, or in small towns. Change in consumer demand has not kept pace with those developments, however, especially in the case of highway properties, which have lost market share to suburban locations. Although the industry remains strong in the near term, prospects may be dimming. The number of rooms is expected to continue to rise at a rate of nearly 4 percent annually, while the customer base has expanded at only 1 percent a year for the past ten years.
South Africa's Hotel Industry
Authors: Ahmed Zafr U. , Hellr Victor L. , Hghies Kevin A.
Published: March 2007

South Africa's hotel industry is in a state of flux, especially due to uncertainties surrounding the nation's upcoming (1999) elections, the current international financial crisis, and the logistical difficulties of implementing South Africa's 1996 Gambling Act. Nevertheless, South Africa has a relatively developed infrastructure and the most advanced economy in sub-Sahara Africa. Some 12,500 new hotel rooms may be needed by 2000, although some areas are or soon will be overdeveloped. Hotel development in South Africa historically has been left to domestic companies and consortiums. Today, however, most major international hotel groups have or are seeking a foothold in South Africa. Room rates are growing substantially, after years of being kept low, but some travelers are balking at such rapid rate increases. The prospects for legal casino gaming were expanded in 1996, but new controls, a cumbersome bureaucratic governing system, and provincial turmoil and lethargy have created bottlenecks in implementing the plan. Education and training of line-level workers is an ongoing problem, and college-trained hospitality managers are urgently needed.
Hotel Management Contract Terms
Authors: Johnson Karen
Published: March 2007

A study of 50 management contracts negotiated in 1997 and 1998 and covering 60 U.S. hotels found that the length of those contracts remains shorter than contracts negotiated in the 1970s and 1 980s. The mean term is just under 12 years, with one clump of contracts in the range of four to six years, and another clump at 20 to 24 years. Regarding early contract termination, the operator was entitled to penalty payments in two-thirds of the contracts in the event of sale, while a penalty applied in just one-third of the contracts in the event of foreclosure. All but one of the contracts provided for a base fee for the operator, typically 3 percent of some NOI figure; at high-volume hotels the average fee was 2.5 percent. While two offered no incentives at all, the remainder provided for incentives based on some performance measure. Nearly all contracts allowed the operator to charge for corporate or regional-office services-typically, a CRS fee or advertising expenses. The owner's right to approve budgets was almost universal, and three-quarters of the contracts gave the owner the right to review marketing plans. A big change from pre-1 990s' contracts is the demise of the operator's right of first refusal on sale of the hotel: only about one-fifth gave the operator the right to match any offer in the event of a sale.
Quality Certification in the Hospitality Industry
Authors: Nield Kevin , Kozak Metin
Published: March 2007

The quality-accreditation process known as ISO 9000, a longtime standard for manufacturers in over 90 countries, is gradually being adopted by hospitality companies. A survey of 34 ISO 9000-certified hospitality operators in the UK found mixed opinions regarding the benefits stemming from that accreditation. Studies in other industries suggest that certification should help a company improve operations, strengthen marketing, and boost staff morale. Although this survey also found that accredited hospitality organizations likely will gain operational benefits, the hoteliers reported a lesser likelihood of gaining marketing and human-resources benefits. Since ISO 9000 is based on formalizing operating processes, it makes sense that documenting those processes will return operational benefits. Benefits in human resources, however, can be achieved only if employees participate in the documentation process. It is likely that an increasing number of hospitality companies will choose ISO accreditation. This study indicates, however, that the ISO certification does not confer automatic marketing advantages to the companies that earn it.
Asphalt Jungle
Authors: Abbott Je'Anna , Fried Gil
Published: March 2007

This article discusses the landowner's potential liability to guests who may become crime victims in a parking lot, and describes crime-abatement actions that can be accomplished through facility design and prior planning. A 30-year-old design program called Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) can reduce criminal activities and has been recognized by some courts as evidence of reasonable care. The general principles of CPTED include natural surveillance (creating unobstructed sight lines and ensuring good lighting), access control (using gates and attendants), environmental control (building open stairways, eliminating dark corners, and avoiding isolated rest rooms), and security tools (intercoms, cameras). CPTED involves carefully selecting building features, materials, and systems to meet established passive security and active-security requirements. Other security measures include common-sense steps such as having security personnel in the parking lot as often as possible, using roving patrols, instituting crowd-management plans for large events, ensuring that signs will quickly and safely guide guests to their destinations, and conducting a periodic security audit to ensure that the facility's (and therefore the guests') security needs continue to be met.
Comparative Ethics
Authors: Stevens Betsy , Fleckenstein Andreas
Published: March 2007

The authors compiled seven true-to-life hotel-employee situations with potentially ambiguous ethical overtones. The scenarios involved stealing; sharing company secrets; racism; sexual harassment; violating hotel policies (two); and lying. Hotel managers and college students rated how ethical they considered the employees' actions to be in each scenario. Stealing money was roundly condemned, for instance, but the other assessments were not unanimous. In general, students were less likely than managers to view a situation as very unethical, although all the situations were viewed as unethical in some measure by both groups.
Applying Capacity-management Science
Authors: Sill Brian , Decker Robert
Published: March 2007

Using capacity-management science (CMS), a restaurant manager can make fact-based decisions on staffing and procedures to enhance both the guest's experience and restaurant profitability. The case of Browns Restaurant Group in London, England, provides an example of a CMS application. Managers at parent company Bass PLC thought Browns was not achieving its full potential. As project consultants, the authors applied CMS as follows. (1) Define the components of the restaurant production and servicedelivery system; (2) Measure the capacities of each component using work study and other measurement methods; (3) Measure the historical demand for each component by operating environment (e.g., meal period by day of week); (4) Calculate ideal capacity-usage levels by factoring steps 2 and 3; (5) Compare current usage with ideal capacity-usage levels and determine reasons for any variance; and (6) Establish working teams to rework any process, policy, layout, or capacity constraints that inhibit ideal performance. The analysis showed that Browns needed to increase its waitstaff for enhanced service, but could more than make up for that expense with a substantial reduction in kitchen work hours.
A Simple Measure of Restaurant Efficiency
Authors: Muller Christopher C.
Published: March 2007

Establishing an appropriate measure of production efficiency is difficult in service industries, especially in restaurants. In manufacturing, such measures are relatively easy to establish: count the number of items produced in a given period of time and compare that number to the rated capacity of the plant or its machinery. To develop a similar measure for restaurants, one must develop analogous measures. The unit of production is one complete turn of the service cycle, from the time the guest is seated to the time the table is reset for the next guest. The time period for measurement can range from a meal period to the entire time the restaurant is operating each day. By factoring the number of seats in the restaurant with the service-cycle time and the hours of operation, the manager can first calculate the restaurant's potential maximum capacity. Then, by counting the number of service cycles in a given period and comparing that to the maximum number of cycles, the manager can establish the ratio of capacity use. That number can be used as a gauge for analyzing the effects of changes in the restaurant's operation, such as, for instance, shifting demand to off-peak hours or shortening the service-cycle time.
Managed-services Companies
Authors: Reynolds Dennis
Published: March 2007

The on-site food-service industry continues to consolidate. Sales reached more than $80 billion in 1998, and may reach $81 billion in 1999. Growth in each of the on-site segments-which include food outlets in business and industry; schools, universities, and colleges; hospitals, skilled-nursing centers, and elder-care centers; correctional facilities; recreational facilities; and child-care centers-averaged 1 percent in 1998. On-site food service is still dominated by just three managed-services companies, ARAMARK, Compass Group, and Sodexho Alliance, which continue to differentiate themselves in terms of organizational structure, growth strategies, and market focus. To boost sales, the leaders employ such practices as multibranding, elaborate merchandising and marketing, and detailed market research. They are also integrating advanced inventory-management systems, management development, and creative labor-use practices, producing impressive cost reductions. Business-and-industry operations today are more akin to theme restaurants than cafeterias and, in another break from past practices, many eateries now offer service for multiple day parts. The menus vary often and not according to a cycle. The results include higher average checks and increased customer-capture rates.
Labor Scheduling, Part 4
Authors: Thompson Gary M.
Published: March 2007

After forecasting demand, determining staffing levels to meet that demand, and specifying which employees will be needed, a manager must still monitor the day's actual demand to ensure that the workforce schedule is serving customers' needs as intended. A key element in that determination is to assess whether the real demand is matching the forecasted demand. Moreover, that determination should be made as early as possible so that the manager can make mid-course corrections to the schedule, if needed. One way to make an early call about the day's demand is to develop graphs of the operation's historical demand for each day of the week and compare the current day's demand to those patterns. That comparison usually will give the manager a reasonably solid indication of what level of demand the operation will experience for the day. That indication, in turn, allows the manager to assess whether the demand forecasts underlying the day's schedule were accurate and, if not, to take necessary actions to adjust staffing levels. The greater the manager's certainty about the day's eventual demand level, the greater the possibility that the manager can make timely, on-the-spot adjustments to the workforce schedule.
Applying Geographic Information Systems
Authors: Joerger Albert , DeGloria Stephen D. , Noden Malcolm A.
Published: March 2007

By comparing composite geographic information against decision criteria developed by field research, an analyst can use geographic information systems (GISs) to determine optimum hotel-development sites. A GIS uses digital geographic information (often from many maps) to create a single composite map of sites that meet specified criteria, which can include the environment, demographics, infrastructure, and political boundaries. Those criteria are set according to a stepwise process that begins with defining the land-use problem and selecting the area to be examined. A key aspect of the process is to define the essential or limiting factors that control the outcome of the analysis. The final step is to compare the prospective sites against the diagnostic characteristics. A case study of Costa Rica shows how the GIS operates, comparing such limiting factors as appropriate soil characteristics and proximity to coastal areas, highways, and natural areas against the geographic characteristics of potential development sites. The authors developed the limiting factors based on surveys of existing hotel operations and of government agencies. The GIS analysis found just 4,400 hectares of suitable sites out of 39,000 hectares being studied. Of 19 existing hotels, just five were in locations deemed appropriate by the GIS analysis. Interestingly, those five showed better financial results than those properties not sited in optimum locations.
The Social Cost of Tourism
Authors: Dana Leo Paul
Published: March 2007

The experience of the Greek island of los presents a cautionary tale for those who would establish a sustainable-tourism industry that does not overwhelm or unduly alter the local culture. A before-and-after field study of los found that tourism caused the local culture and economy to change from its traditional agricultural orientation to one of catering to visitors. The result was that most traditional occupations, such as growing olives and raising cattle, were abandoned, with a concomitant deterioration of cultural institutions. The residents who were first to realize the new opportunities with tourists prospered, and soon others abandoned their traditional labor for the wealth brought by visitors. When the islanders shifted to the tourist trade, traditional enterprise began to fade. For example, when the textile factory closed and the demand for cotton dropped, farmers abandoned their cotton fields. Instead of cotton and grapes, the fields sprouted hotels and restaurants. As the farm-based economy deteriorated, the ironmonger found less work and even the coopers were eventually out of business. The collapse of agriculture eventually closed the olive presses and the mills. Even the kiln that produced whitewash for the houses closed.
How Hotel Attributes Deliver the Promised Benefits
Authors: Dubé Laurette , Renaghan Leo M.
Published: March 2007

Who can tell whether a hotel brand is delivering on its promises? Customers can, that's who.
Strtgic Approaches to Lodging Excellence
Authors: Dube Laurette , Renaghan Leo M.
Published: March 2007

Common threads for achieving excellence run through the cases of hotel chains and individual properties chosen as overall best-practice champions by their industry peers. Among the key factors: a clear vision of the operation's purpose and strategy for achieving long-term profitability. That means satisfying the guest, giving careful attention to the employee's role in ensuring excellence in guest service, and focusing on the facility itself (making sure rooms are clean, comfortable, and well appointed). Above all, the champion properties demonstrate their excellence consistently-every day, every stay-and that consistency is intentional, supported by employee training. Finally, excellence driven by consistency does not mean standing still, but is achieved by constantly seeking opportunities to improve their operations and facilities.
Best Practices in Hotel Operations
Authors: Siguaw Judy A. , Enz Cathy A.
Published: March 2007

A wide-ranging study conducted by researchers based at Cornell's School of Hotel Administration identified a diverse group of hotel companies that have implemented outstanding practices to improve operations. Some of the hotels and management companies selected as best-practice champions improved specific departments' operations, while others took a hotel-wide approach to improving operations. Several operators have sought out distressed properties with an eye to renovating the physical plant and upgrading operations. Another group of operators has implemented some form of quality-assurance system. The two specific functional areas that received the most attention were maintenance (including housekeeping) and the front desk, especially check-in and check-out. Respondents in this study reported an increase in guest and employee satisfaction, along with considerable profit improvements. Significantly, in several cases the hotels shared with employees the savings from revised work practices, particularly those that prescribe standard times for each activity.
Perfectionism in Asian Indians
Authors: Slaney Robert B. , Chadha Narender , Mobley Michael , Kennedy Sheila
Published: March 2007

Two studies explored the meaning of the construct of perfectionism in India. The first study examined the relevance of the Almost Perfect Scale, a measure of the dimensions of perfectionism, for 321 Hindu, Asian Indian students at the University of Delhi. A second study interviewed 5 students and faculty members at the University of Delhi who were selected as potential exemplars of perfectionism. The results of both studies are compared to the results for samples gathered in the United States, and their similarities and differences are discussed.
Feminist Identity Development
Authors: Hyde Janet Shibley
Published: March 2007

A review of the three articles on feminist identity development in this issue indicates that (a) the Feminist Identity Development Scale (FIDS) and the Feminist Identity Composite (FIC) perform similarly and acceptably in psychometric analyses, (b) no research has properly tested whether there are true stages of feminist identity development, and (c) existing scales do not specify scoring that permits the classification of an individual into a stage. Caution is urged in using the Downing and Roush model in practice, pending the accumulation of longitudinal evidence that true stages exist.
Admission Criteria to APA-Accredited Programs in Counseling Psychology Over 10 Years
Authors: Alexander Charlene M. , Heineman Carolyn J. , Zarin Melissa Shuman , Larson Lisa M.
Published: March 2007

This study was designed to investigate the extent to which the values of counseling psychology are present in the selection of applicants to counseling psychology doctoral programs and to determine the stability of these values over a 10-year period. A forced-choice paired comparison model revealed that preference for admissions criteria was relatively stable over time. Specifically, preference for an ethnic minority applicant was ranked first over a 10-year period followed by the research publication of an applicant and experience in counseling diverse populations. The present findings have implications for addressing the profession's evolving professional identity andfor the advising of doctoral applicants.