This article reports an experimental Delphi study of expert attitudes to management contracts in the Dutch hotel industry. The study was prompted by appreciation of the apparent trend towards the divesting of property by international hotel companies, which is also explored here. The purpose of the research reported was to ascertain expert views of the implications of such a trend for the Dutch hotel industry, which has a history of risk aversion and aversion to management contracts as a model for hotel operations. The Delphi approach allowed access to a variety of experts regarding different groups and stakeholder perceptions. The findings of the study, which is the first of its kind to address this question in the Dutch hotel industry context, suggest that there is an expectation of greater diversity in the financial arrangements for managing hotel operations, but no inclination to radically change the business practices that have hitherto characterised the Dutch hotel sector.
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The hotel industry is often thought of as something of a laggard in the implementation of sustainability initiatives. In this conceptual paper, we examine this assertion in a new context: models of hotel ownership and operation. We focus on current trends in the latter toward 'asset light' ownership/operation configurations, materializing in so-called hotel management contracts. It is established that whereas hotel management contracts usually favor the control and manage paradigm, add additional stakeholders and encompass stakeholder detachment, these characteristics of a separation of ownership and operation actually hinder instatement and application of the values-driven collaborative learning processes needed to further sustainable development. Finally, the need to follow up this conceptual discussion with empirical research - focusing on validating, refining and/or adding to the three key issues identified here - is highlighted and key issues for future research are identified.
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Change has become continuous, and innovation is a primary approach for hospitality, i.e., hotel companies, to become or remain economically viable and sustainable. An increasing number of management researchers are paying more attention to workplace rather than technological innovation. This study investigates workplace innovation in the Dutch hotel industry, in three- and four-star hotels in the Netherlands, by comparing them to other industries. Two samples were questioned using the Workplace Innovation survey created by the Dutch Network of Social Innovation (NSI). The first was conducted in the hospitality industry, and these data were compared with data collected in a sample of other industries. Results suggest that greater strategic orientation on workplace innovation and talent development has a positive influence on four factors of organizational performance. Greater internal rates of change, the ability to self-organize, and investment in knowledge also had positive influences on three of the factors—growth in revenue, sustainability, and absenteeism. Results also suggest that the hospitality industry has lower workplace innovation than other industries. However, no recent research has assessed to what degree the hospitality industry fosters workplace innovation, especially in the Netherlands. Next to that, only few studies have examined management in the Dutch hotel industry, how workplace innovation is used there, and whether it improves practices.
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