CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Women have come a long way in the workplace but still men continue to hold

most leadership roles. However, the unique culture and history that define the hospitality

industry have made the prospect of change particularly challenging. Although this pattern

continues to hold true in the hospitality industry, the last several decades have been a

period of remarkable change and growth for women in the field. In restaurants, hotels,

catering firms, resorts, and many other venues, women are becoming much more visible

in management roles and other key positions than ever before, and experts predict that the

opportunities for women in the industry will only increase as businesses struggle to keep

pace with growth and demand in the field.

The available literature pertaining to the study on “Situational Analysis of

Graduate Working Women in Selected Sectors of the Commercial Hospitality Industry” is

concisely reviewed under the following headings:

2.1 Career options for women in hospitality industry

2.2 Women’s career advancement in hospitality industry

2.3 Challenges faced by women in hospitality industry

2.4 Human resource practices in hospitality industry

2.5 Hospitality management education

2.1 Career options for women in hospitality industry

The hospitality industry by its very nature enables substantial employment

creation and provides enormous opportunity for women. Women and hospitality are

almost synonymous with one another. The scope therefore, is quite large for employment

of women (Patil, 2007).

The number of women who choose the hospitality industry as a career also has

increased, making women’s status in the industry even more of a concern. For example,

according to the enrollment records of Texas Tech University Nutrition, Hospitality and

Retailing (NHR) Department, among 47 hospitality graduate students enrolled in 2005,

there were 30 female students (Zhong, 2006).

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There are tremendous opportunities in the hospitality industry for women who are

prepared to work very hard in order to earn a good living. Women with their instinct to

care and nurture would find this a perfect field to excel in. However, hotel industry is not

as glamorous as it appears to be from the outside. There is a lot of hard work involved in

managing a successful hotel. This is one industry where even though one has a well

defined hierarchy, sometimes he may have to roll up his sleeves and pitch in. There had

been instances where even people in managerial positions had supervised room cleaning

in case of shortage of housekeeping staff (Karki, 2001).

The best thing about women is that hospitality comes naturally to them and so

they have a natural advantage in the service industry. According to Braganza (2007), Vice

President-Sales and Marketing, Kamat Hotels, India, the most important thing for a

person to be successful was hard work, relationship building and use of the three Ds -

Discipline, Dedication and Determination. Krishnan (2007), Executive Chef, ITC Hotel,

The Maratha, said she had always approached her career as a chef and never as a woman.

She believed that women brought to the kitchen a sense of sensitivity, passion and

detailing. Basu (2007), Mixologist, Beverage Consultant Director Stir Academy of

Bartending said she had worked in a bar without any issues or pressure 25 years ago. She

had not faced any negative experiences working behind the bar. She believed that the way

one worked, the body language, the way one held oneself and showed control and

confidence in what one did helped command respect.

Women have opportunities to be employed in four major operational areas in the

hotel industry which is a sector of hospitality industry-Front Office, Housekeeping, Food

Production and Food and Beverage Service.

The Front Office staff occupy an important position in the hospitality industry as

first impressions make lasting impressions. They are not only the first people any guest

interacts with when he or she enters the hotel but they remain a permanent point of

contact for the guests throughout their stay (Baker et al., 2004).

As one of the most integral departments within the hotel, the Housekeeping staff

are responsible for the immaculate care and upkeep of all guest rooms and public areas.

2

Traditionally, housekeeping has been dominated by women. This was done on the belief

that the hotel was an extension of the home and that women had the skills and

competencies to execute the function best (Andrews, 2007).

Regarding the Food Production department, cooking has stepped out of the

traditional kitchen and become a high-flying career. Good chefs command high salaries

and are amongst the highest paid professionals in the hospitality industry. Good chefs

have attained celebrity status (Kinton et al., 2004).

Food and Beverage serving and related workers require practical knowledge of

operations as even a small error can cause displeasure to the guest. Coordination of

activities of all outlets is essential to provide the guest with quality service at all times.

Teamwork is the watchword in any Food and Beverage Service department. A dedicated

and committed team, with able leadership, under ideal working conditions, helps in

fulfilling the establishment's ultimate goal of guest satisfaction (Sudan, 2007).

At present women constitute at least 33 per cent of employees in the hospitality

industry as stated by Sarika Kamble, Sous Chef at Ista, Bangalore. With regard to the

Indian hotel industry, women mostly wanted to be in the Front Office and so, men had to

go in departments which required more stress. Also a chef's job was very demanding in

the hotel industry as one had to deal with last-minute change in orders. Women were

generally more sensitive, and home-oriented, so it became difficult for them to take the

pressure. Men could handle that better because their home needs were well looked after

(George, 2000).

The main workforce strength of Front Office in Chinese hotels consisted of

graduates from tourism colleges and professional schools. A study carried out through a

survey in major tourist cities in China for a sample of 350 hotel employees pointed out

that the Front Office work was a challenging and demanding area and oral

communication was the most important skill. It was concluded that high-quality human

resources were lacking in the hospitality sector in China and it was essential for hotels to

develop professional development and further training in order to improve the skills of

staff in Front Office (Hai-yan and Baum, 2006).

3

Contrary to the statement by George (2000) that women mostly wanted to be in

the Front Office, Gayatri Vijaykumar (2007) stated that women had moved to

unconventional roles in hotel spas, kitchens, and as DJs and bartenders too. The hotel's

kitchen department was seeing an influx of women occupying various positions, and it

was performance rather than gender which counted. After intensive training in the

hospitality industry, employees will find themselves equipped to face challenges in other

industries as well. Be it the banking industry, BPOs, teaching, HR or telecom, women

trained in hospitality have left their footprints everywhere.

Some of the women who are pursuing a successful career in such unconventional

roles in the hotel restaurant, kitchen, rooms division and communications are: Shirin

Batliwala, Vice President, Food and Beverage, Taj Group of hotels who had joined the

industry three decades ago in Service department, when women were only being hired in

Housekeeping; Madhu Krishnan, Executive Chef, ITC Grand Maratha Hotel and Towers,

was trying to create opportunities for the differently-abled in the kitchen—an unheard-of

practice in an industry that survived on perfection. Other successful women in the

industry are Khushnooma Kapadia, Director, Marketing and Communication,

Marriott Group of Hotels, India; Aashima Sharma, Director, Rooms, Grand Hyatt,

Mumbai; Mithu Basu, GM, Corporate Communication and Public Relations, The

Leela and Huvida Marshall, General Manager, The Oberoi, Bangalore (Khatri,

2008).

The success in the career of Indian women can be partially attributed to the fact

that they are spending longer hours at their workplaces now compared to the time they

had put in three years ago, to get an equal footing with their male counterparts. Women

working in sectors like aviation, media, hospitality, banking, retail and IT were staying

back late in office, partly also due to improved working culture. Women got all the

crucial support from their husbands and in-laws, even if it meant late hours. The study,

brought out on the eve of International Women’s Day, further said what pleased the most

was the fact that notwithstanding the issues of safety and security, Indian working women

were putting in over 60 hours in a week, compared to 48 hours they had put in three years

back (Assocham, 2007).

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Women consultants in hotel industry are very few but the consulting business is

suitable for women. Cottrell (2007) has pointed out her own success of the company

which she had established at that time. She had started a consulting business in the

hospitality industry and grew to be a partner and the Managing Director of two ArtWalks,

in Little Italy and on the Embarcadero. These two annual events created more than $1

million in sales to artists. She has been a leader in industry organizations such as the

Hotel Sales and Marketing Association, Meeting Planners International and Society of

Incentive and Travel Executives. On the international level, she has served as

international president of the Society of Incentive and Travel Executives.

2.2 Women’s career advancement in hospitality industryThe statistics of the women in top management (General Manager) positions in

the lodging industry illustrates the situation that only 10% of the women are in such

positions (AH & MA, 2004). Woods and Viehland (2000) examined hotels having over

500 rooms and found that only 2.6 percent of those properties’ managers were women.

The number of women in general manager positions was even fewer. Artificial barriers

referred to as glass ceiling based on attitudinal or organizational bias in the workplace

prevented women from advancing to leadership position in their organizations (U.S.

Department of Labor, 1991).

Although a majority of students training for Hotel and Catering Management in

Britain were female, only a handful of women had attained the post of General Manager

in a major hotel. Women’s lack of success in line management within medium and large

hotels could be explained by examining the traditional career route to Hotel Manager,

characterized by a long apprenticeship, progress through informal contacts and high

geographical mobility (Guerrier, 1986).

Within the majority of organizations, there were differences in the distribution of

women and men throughout the workforce An alumni study of 712 Degree and Higher

National Diploma students who completed Hotel and Catering Management courses at 30

United Kingdom educational institutions in 1989 revealed that women were less likely

than men to have been given the opportunity to develop supervisory or management

5

skills. Women predominated in the UK workforce but remained under-represented in

management. It also pointed out that there were three mutually-reinforcing but distinct

elements which influenced the allocation or denial of particular work to women: labor

cost, sexuality and patriarchal prescription. Moreover women in “feminized” industries

and occupations may have to face more formidable barriers and prejudices when they

seeked to develop careers rather than jobs because of the entrenched roles already

allocated to women in such employment contexts (Purcell, 1996).

Woods and Viehland (2000) identified that half of the managers in hotel properties

were women. Their study was conducted with a sample of over 470 hotels comprising

5,447 individual managers. Specifically, the split between male and female managers was

54 percent to 46 percent. However, just over 15 percent of the General Managers were

women, and most of the women were clustered in just a few management positions

namely, Catering, Sales and Marketing, Personnel, Reservations, and Housekeeping. For

example, nearly 82 percent of the Catering Managers were women, and 74 percent were

Personnel Managers. By contrast, the percentage of women in two positions that typically

lead to the General Manager Job-Rooms (Front Office) Manager and Food and Beverage

Manager was nowhere near as high. While 53 percent of the Front Office Managers were

women, only 17 percent of Food and Beverage Managers were women.

The female senior executives’ perceptions of factors that influenced women's

career progression to top management positions in the Las Vegas casino industry

indicated that hard work, communication, interpersonal skills, job knowledge and

personality were perceived as the most important facilitators for women's progress to top

management positions. The tool used for the study was self-administered questionnaire

and the sample comprised of 160 female senior executives in the Las Vegas casino

industry. The "old boys' network," a lack of assertiveness on the part of the women and

male bias and stereotyping represented the highest-ranking constraints on the career

advancement of women in the industry (Weber, 1998).

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Other factors that impact women’s career development have been identified as

gender role and social expectations, women’s primary care-giving and homemaking

responsibilities, increasing availability of alternative work arrangements, current models

that lack diversity, career patterns that differ from men and hidden curriculum necessary

for success in a male-dominated environment (Bierema and Opengart, 2002).

Zhong (2006) conducted a study on the perceptions of factors that facilitated and

constrained women’s career advancement. Three significant gender differences-Equity,

Family Issues, and Advancement and four group differences-Equity, Family Issues,

Advancement, and External were identified as factors that facilitated and constrained

women’s career advancement in hospitality industry. Data for this study were collected

through an online survey from a convenience sample (N=226) including hospitality

students, educators and industry recruiters. The findings suggested that hospitality

education programs could make a contribution by revealing the existence of barriers and

gender issues in the industry.

However when the work experiences, satisfactions and psychological well being

of female and male managers in the hospitality sectors of Turkey were investigated, it

was pointed out that the existing problems in the industry were common to both male and

female workers and gender based differences did not exist (Burke et al., 2008).

When the discrepancies between men and women in the careers and salaries of 77

financial controllers in the hospitality industry was studied using an extensive

questionnaire, the findings indicated the discrepancies were due to the nature of work that

men and women performed and not based on gender. However jobs with higher status

and hence pay were being more likely to be held by men. Occupational segregation and

educational level emerged as the major factors although ongoing social attitudes towards

women’s employment had limited their progress (Burgess, 2003).

Though jobs with higher status and pay were held by men in the hospitality

industry, it was also noted that women had lower pay expectations at both career entry

and career peak than men. Iverson (2000) investigated the gender differences in pay

7

expectations. Participants were selected from a convenience sample of 116 college

students (61 women and 55 men) majoring in hospitality management. The survey

instrument used for the study was Hospitality Management Career Perceptions

Questionnaire. The reasons for gender differences in self-pay expectations at career entry

were job facet factors including cooperative co-workers and supervisors for women and

high status for men. The reasons at career peak were psychological empowerment

fostered by high pay expectation for men and women with the most dramatic effect found

among men.

Vianen and Fischer (2002) suggested that compared to men, women would feel

less attracted to management positions, especially top management positions, because of

their organizational culture preferences. Women were confronted with two barriers on the

way to the top, which were more restraining for them than for men. One was the women’s

first step into management. Few women would take this step partly because they had

weaker masculine culture preferences. The other barrier concerns the step from middle

management to top management. Women seemed less ambitious than men in pursuing a

top management career. It was suggested that if an organization truly wanted to assign

more women to top management positions, they should put effort into changing the top

management culture as well as try to attract women with high salaries and status. It was

concluded that both processes of selection and self-selection are responsible for the slow

advancement of women to top management careers.

However, at a higher hierarchical level, the perception of managers in the United

Kingdom hospitality industry regarding the changes that had occurred to the managers’

role during the last 15 years was that there was a shift from an operational to a business

focus and a blurring of the boundaries between hospitality and other service sectors

(Gilbert and Guerrier, 1997).

In conclusion, the factors which have an effect on the career advancement of

hospitality employees were found to be industry employment, firm size, organizational

culture, gender, age, education, and hospitality major. The career histories of 205

hospitality management employees were analyzed using event history analysis. Industry

8

employment, firm size, age, and educational attainment were found to affect the rate of

promotions; gender and a hospitality management major did not. The major did increase

the rate of lateral moves (Sparrowe and Popielarz, 1995).

In order to encourage and strengthen the career advancement of women

employees companies should share and promote good practice through industry

associations such as the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the International

Hotel and Restaurant Association (IH&RA), the International Hotel Environment

Initiative (IHEI), the Association of Independent Tour Operators (AITO) etc. Employers

should set up programmes and schemes encouraging women to move into non-traditional

occupations, invest in women's training, appoint them in managerial positions and re-

appoint them after years of less involvement due to family responsibilities. Employers

should set targets for the percentage of women in key management positions.

Organizational Codes of Practice should include guidelines of equal opportunities

measures and measures for the advancement of women (UNED-UK Committee).

2.3 Challenges faced by women in hospitality industry

Some of the major challenges that women have to face in the hospitality industry

are gender segregation, unsuitable working hours, working conditions, lack of sufficient

time for socializing, poor remuneration and difficulty of getting promotions.

The percentage of women who worked in the hospitality industry was high but

their function was dominated by unskilled, low-paid jobs. The study was carried out in 40

four-and five-star hotels. Fifteen managers and employees (9 female and 6 male) were

interviewed including one general manager. The study examined the extent to which

gender segregated men and women both horizontally, in terms of types of work, and

vertically, by promotion prospects. Women were paid less than men and filled positions

which were seen as a lower level of task (Cave and Kilic, 2010).

Women who were employed in the hospitality industry identified poor

remuneration and unsuitable working hours as major challenges. There was a significant

drop-out rate from employment in the tourism/hospitality industry in Ireland, which was

9

particularly obvious amongst women. A questionnaire was designed to incorporate

questions relating to current and previous employments, recent training/education and

personal details. The original study was sent to graduates by their respective colleges and

there were 444 respondents to the survey. The follow-up questionnaire in the current

study was sent to all those who had responded to the initial survey and who had provided

addresses (374). Those employed in the industry identified poor remuneration and

unsuitable working hours as the major issues in need of redress (O’Leary and Deegan,

2005).

Working conditions in the hospitality industry also posed a challenge to women. It

was identified that poor training was associated with workplace problems and improving

training was likely to reduce problems such as under-staffing and theft. Self-completed

questionnaires were used to collect data from staff, supervisors and managers in 27

Auckland hospitality-related workplaces. Of the 1,848 questionnaires distributed, 534

(29%) were returned completed. The study pointed out that dissatisfaction with working

conditions was worse which was evidenced by the inconsistency of responses between

staff, supervisors, and managers. With proper training and development, staff were likely

to stay longer making a career out of work that had an engaging appeal to those who

enjoyed a stimulating and complex environment (Poulston, 2008).

The type of problems women faced when working in five-star hotels in Turkey

which is a developing country, was investigated. The empirical data was collected via a

survey by using questionnaire from 571 women working in five-star hotels in Turkey.

The most important reasons for the participants to work in tourism organizations were

formal training and education in tourism, high interest in the industry and enjoyment of

working in tourism. The findings further revealed that lack of sufficient time for friends

and relatives, low wages and the difficulty of getting a promotion were the main job-

related problems for women (Okumus et al., 2010).

Further, when a comparison was made on the factors that affected women's

employment, including the legislative environment and access to training, it was found

that employers had only a limited awareness of employment legislation based on

10

European Directives and that stereotyped attitudes still acted as a barrier to the type of

jobs that men and women carried out in hotels. The results were based on a cross-national

survey and case studies of hotels to demonstrate differences and similarities in women's

employment patterns (Burrell et al., 1997).

Women also had to overcome the challenge of getting employed in particular

departments like bars and restaurants in hotels. The Punjab Excise Act, passed in 1914

during the British rule in India contained an archaic and anti-women provision that

prohibited the employment of women in duly licensed premises i.e. bars and restaurants

in hotels. The Hotel Association of India (HAI) challenged the validity of this legislation

before the Honorable High Court, declaring it to be ultra vires under article 226 of the

Constitution of India. The 92 year old legal section 30 of the Act was struck down by the

Delhi High Court thereby providing women equal opportunities for work in hotels across

the country. Thus the verdict said "It is undeniable that women have excelled in the

hospitality industry not only in this country but worldwide, and the feminine touch indeed

lends grace and elegance to the hospitality industry. Such grace and elegance is not

inherently suited to the male disposition” (Hotel Association of India, 2004).

Women experienced both structural and cultural constraints in attempting to

secure management careers in leisure but they remained optimistic about the future.

Aitchison et al., (1999) attempted to study gender equity in leisure management. Analysis

of the results indicated that the optimistic hope about the future may be misplaced in an

industry where women were encouraged to accept large amounts of senior management

responsibility for middle management salaries, where routes to promotion remained

unclear and where organizational culture was informed by the dominant “locker room

culture” of male sport.

The male-dominated environment in hospitality industry was another challenge

women had to face. Purcell (1993) concentrated on young people who completed Hotel

and Catering Management degree courses at Oxford Polytechnic in 1985, 1986 and 1987

and explored the similarities and differences in the employment orientations, transition

from education to employment and early career experiences of women and men. The

11

evidence suggested that, while changes in the industry and the increasing importance of

formal credentials challenged gendered custom and practice, it may be particularly

difficult for women to achieve equal opportunities in a male-dominated industry because

they were less likely to be recruited, developed and rewarded as career staff with senior

management potential.

Catherine and Pine (2003) found that female hotel managers in Hong Kong, like

their Western counterparts, were aware of the difficulties women faced in a male-

dominated environment. The study was carried out by distributing 200 questionnaires

(100 to males and 100 to females) to General Managers, Heads and Assistant Heads of

Departments in 75 hotels in Hong Kong. It was found that while both women and men

preferred male supervisors, men's preference was more definitive. Male managers also

preferred supervising male subordinates.

Woods and Kavanaugh (1994) found that more than 80 percent of men and

women perceive gender discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace as an

ongoing problem. They mailed the 49 - question survey to 1,550 hospitality managers, all

of whom had earned a baccalaureate or master’s degree from hospitality management

programs within the proceeding seven years. Fifty eight percent of the respondents were

women. Results showed that in many cases the reasons why most women graduates left

the hospitality industry was due to gender discrimination or sexual harassment.

There were a number of factors that influenced patterns of gender segregation and

desegregation in the workplace, including business strategy, employee demographics,

history and tradition, customer expectations and non-compliance with legislation. Also

disappointing lack of progress was made by women since legislative enactment in 1986.

The study was carried out in 14 hotels and the tool used was semi-structured interview.

The findings exposed that overall a minority of managers was seen to be advancing

women's employment opportunities (Knox, 2008).

Men and women were found to have the same levels of need for power and need

for personalized power. However, women had higher drives for socialized power than

men. For men and the sample as a whole, but not for women, job commitment, age and

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number of children were related negatively to needs for power and socialized power. The

results on job commitment suggested that men may suppress unfulfilled needs for power

to avoid feelings of job frustration. Women, who were used to having their expectations

unfulfilled in typical jobs, may not find it frustrating to maintain job commitment in the

face of unrealized power needs (Chusmir, 1986).

Kattara (2005) revealed that majority of female managers were not in situations

that would lead them to the positions of general managers, when he attempted to study on

the factors that prevented female managers from reaching the glass ceiling. A sample of

female managers in five star hotels was randomly selected, followed by an in-depth

interview conducted with 56 female managers. This sample represented 37.6 percent of

the total population. The stepwise multiple regressions showed that 35.5 percent of the

variance in the existence of challenges could be explained by four factors-gender

discrimination, relationships at work, mentor support and lack of network access.

The students' perceptions of factors that contributed to and constrained women's

career advancement and significant differences in the perceptions of men and women

were studied by Zhong and Couch (2007). Data was collected from a sample of 128

hospitality students in a large state university. The findings revealed that male and female

students agreed on the most important facilitators such as communication skills and hard

work. Female students viewed equity-related factors as the biggest constraints to

women's advancement, whereas male students rated family issues highest.

Sparrowe and Iverson (1999) examined whether there were gender differences in

income when controlling the effects of human capital (education), workforce

participation and occupational crowding among hospitality industry employees. Findings

were drawn from a random sample comprising 1 percent of all of the employees of the

hospitality industry in the United States. They found that gender-based income disparity

persisted suggesting that more pernicious forms of sex discrimination continued in the

industry. The results of another investigation (based on 682 surveys) on gender diversity

in the Turkish hospitality industry revealed that, in the male-dominated Turkish

hospitality industry, there was a significant gender effect for two of four demographic

variables and with respect to recruiting efforts and earning potential (Pinar et al., 2010).

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Women’s career advancement was also affected by work-family conflict. It was

found that the expectation of long hours was a significant barrier to seeking promotions

for many women in the industry (Malon and Cassell, 1999). It was assumed that women

traditionally would be involved in childcare and housework, which was viewed as their

responsibility and an expectation from the men’s world. Women in top management

tended to be single or married with few or no children. “Hospitality management is not a

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. job. Success in the industry demands long hours and requires a

great deal of crisis management and problem solving. These factors combine to create a

stressful and exhausting work experience” (Brownell, 1998).

Career advancement often meant leaving familiar towns, schools and relatives to

move across the country to a property that offers increased job opportunities. It was not

unusual for an individual to move three or more times on the path from department head

to general manager. There were opportunities in the rapidly growing industry, but people

must be aware of the requirements of long hours, stress and loss of quality time with their

families. These costs may be seen as not being worth the benefits of a hospitality career.

People in the industry must balance success and cost, and struggle with work and family

conflicts, especially those who are single parents (Brownell, 1998).

Although most young men and women were promoted based on performance, a

gender gap still existed in the rate of promotions and women were at a disadvantage

(Cobb and Dunlop, 1999).

Many studies describe gender-based pay differences. The employment of

American women in the hospitality industry had increased thus demonstrating that “the

hospitality field was rapidly becoming sex neutral” (Umbreit and Diaz, 1994). But

women still do not receive equal in terms of rewards (Woods and Kavanaugh, 1994).

The number of women managers has increased; however, they have not reached

equity with their male counterparts in salaries. In 1992, women managers earned 66

percent of male managers’ salaries and in the category of financial managers, women

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earned only 62 percent of men’s salaries. The gap in salaries has reduced in some fields,

but still remains large in other fields (Fagenson, 1993).

Sparrowe and Iverson (1999) examined the disparity of income in the hospitality

industry. A one percent representative sample of the U.S. hospitality industry population

was used to test their hypotheses. According to their findings, the presence of more covert

forms of gender discrimination within the hospitality industry existed. Women may

experience equity of representing at the management level in the industry but the income

is still lower than that of men. It was suggested that this disparity has existed for many

years and could not disappear overnight.

Apart from pay differences, when the other reasons for women leaving the

workplace were explored it was revealed that 47 percent of the women surveyed had

stopped working at some point in their career. Only 35 percent of the women who

stopped working cited rearing children as their sole reason for opting out. Sixty-two

percent of the women reported that their career focus had changed. Finally, 70 percent of

the women who left, eventually returned to work debunking the myth that women opted

out and did not return to the workforce. There were barriers that made it difficult to move

across organizations, especially if time was taken off between jobs (Cabrera, 2007).

Age factor is another constraint women have to encounter when working in the

hospitality industry. Ageism is arguably more pervasive in the hospitality industry than

elsewhere; a recent follow-up study confirms that hospitality organizations continue to

rely heavily on younger workers and show little disposition to capitalize on the

acknowledged benefits which older workers can offer. Consequently, these organizations

do not appear to be well placed to manage future developments in the labor market,

particularly in relation to obtaining managers (Lucas, 1993).

2.4 Human resource practices in hospitality industry

The literature reviewed indicated that there existed a strong relationship between

Human Resource Management policies and practices adopted and organizational

performance in the hospitality industry. Worsfold (1999) reviewed the nature of Human

15

Resource Management (HRM) and the extent to which it was adopted by the hospitality

industry. HRM in the hotel and catering industry was compared with other sectors of

industry. The literature concerning HRM and performance was briefly reviewed and it

was established that HRM can be of benefit in terms of improving company performance.

(HRM) policies and practices and organizational performance in the hospitality

industry, a study was undertaken by Hyaes and Fryer (2000). Based on open-ended

interviews with managerial staff and examination of management documents, the HRM

policies and practices adopted by a luxury hotel in New Zealand and its effectiveness in

quality context were studied. The main features of HRM policy and practice changes

were outlined along with changes in work design and organization structure. The changes

adopted had measurable positive effects on the key indicators of service used by the

organization.

The relationship between Human Resource Management (HRM) and performance

in the UK hotel industry was examined using data from over 200 hotels. The results

demonstrated that the relationship between HRM and performance was dependent upon

the business strategy the hotel was pursuing and that HRM was more likely to contribute

to competitive success where it was introduced as an integrated and coherent package, or

bundle of practices (Hoque, 1999).

The Human Resource Management (HRM) policies and practices were found to

have an influence on the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of employees. The fragments of

Human Resource Management (HRM) within the Hospitality Industry (HI) were

compared with All Industries and Services (AIS) in Great Britain. Data was collected

from managers from 160 workplaces in hospitality industry, by interview method. The

employee sample was based on 1,110 questionnaire responses. The findings indicated

that HRM in the HI provided an extreme example of the “retaining control/cost control”

approach to management, and a graphic illustration of very “hard” HRM in practice.

While HI employees were much more content with their lot than their counterparts in AIS

who were subjected to rather more “favorable” HRM policies and practices, other

indicators imply that there was also dissatisfaction (Lucas, 2002).

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The established relationships between ‘Human Resource Management (HRM),

the recruitment and selection procedures’, and ‘the training and development practices’

considered necessary to develop employee commitment when explored among 10-15

hotel General Managers/Human Resource specialists from hotels owned by the top 50

hotel groups ranked by ownership of bedroom stock using semi-structured interview

approach, the findings showed that while there was a clear desire for commitment, little

evidence was found of contemporary recruitment and selection methods commensuration

with the aim. In contrast, there was strong evidence of relatively sophisticated training

and development systems congruent with an HRM approach (McGunnigle and Jameson,

2000).

Singh (2006) stated that the process of recruitment had also undergone changes

according to the current trends in the industry. They hired people for their attitude and

then trained them for developing their skills.

The recruitment preference exhibited by Human Resource specialists in the

hospitality industry based on marital status was married men and unmarried women. The

reason was married men were generally more responsible and career-minded because

they had to look after their family. In the case of a married woman, it was difficult to give

full-time attention to her job. Her home, husband and children became more important

(George, 2000).

The hospitality industry revealed the inequity of the sexual division of labor and

such gender segregation operated in favor of males, with the majority of female economic

activity concentrated in the low-paid areas of the service sector. This was the finding of a

study by Biswas and Cassell (1996) which was conducted among 23 full-time members

of staff: 15 females and eight males using semi-structured open response interviews. All

the members of the management team were interviewed, of whom three were men and

three were women. The study pointed out the sexual stereotyping of the service

encounter, and in particular the personification of the service provider epitomizing the

service to the consumer.

17

The significance of training and development programmes that are organized by

the Human Resource Department was found to be evident. When the relationship

between demographic characteristics of hotel employees and job satisfaction and also the

importance of job variables was examined, it was found that there were significant

differences between demographic variables of employees and the six Job Descriptive

Index (JDI) categories. Data collected using questionnaire from randomly identified

samples of 200 existing and 200 resigned employees from five hotels suggested that

training and development programmes, particularly for newcomers and well-educated

employees, and a total quality management approach may help to improve job

satisfaction (Lam et al., 2001).

Despite the high level of qualifications held, 35 percent of women attributed their

perceived slow career progression to their own lack of relevant training and skill. Planned

development and training were viewed as evidence of being valued (Sparrowe and

Popielarz, 1995).

The attitudes and perceptions of established managers towards the training and

development of potential managers were crucial in understanding the position of women

in an organization. This finding was the result of an attempt to study hotel managers'

attitudes and perceptions and understanding about the informal influences and pressures

that may be deliberately or inadvertently communicated to women. The study was

performed by conducting interviews with 28 hotel managers belonging to 8 hotel chains

(Hicks, 1990).

The Human Resource policies framed need to be flexible and informal especially

in the hospitality industry. Hotel workplaces continue to be associated with high levels of

numerical and temporal flexibility and greater informality of HR policies (Knox and

Walsh, 2005). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with HR managers,

departmental managers, trade union representatives and a selection of employees from

housekeeping, front office, food and beverage outlets and banqueting in 14 large luxury

hotels. It was apparent that larger luxury hotels were adopting more systematic employee

management techniques and strengthening their internal labor markets through functional

flexibility initiatives. Such firms were also pursuing numerical and temporal flexibility

strategies, although in rather different ways.

18

Similarly the flexible working arrangements of women in the Scottish leisure

industry were studied. Case studies were compiled from 13 management interviews, four

focus groups and six on-the-job employee interviews. The results of a comparative case

study analysis of female work roles and participation in flexible working arrangements in

three contrasting leisure providers revealed that that gender role segregation existing in

generic, non-leisure specific jobs such as reception may be constraining equal

opportunities for women more than lack of family-friendly or flexible employment

policies (MacVicar et al., 2000).

When examining the pay structure in the hospitality industry it was evident that

inequalities existed. Doherty and Stead (1998) reviewed the general causes of pay

inequality in the hotel and catering industry. The study was based on information from

New Earnings Survey (NES) data. It was observed that within the hotel and catering

industry itself, variations were found in the pay in different sectors of the industry and

within occupational groups. The general conclusion was that the dismantling of the

Wages Councils, the fragmentation of pay structures and the contracting out of catering

services were all likely to cause deterioration in women's pay relative to men's.

Furthermore, the gap between the average pay of men and women was likely to compare

even less favorably in the future. The effect of this deterioration may be masked if

increasing numbers of men were forced to compete with women for low paid jobs in

service industries.

Head and Lucas (2004) studied how the employers of the hospitality sector dealt

with statutory employee rights and legal requirements. The attempt to examine employee

relations management in a non-union sector showed how employers in the hotel industry

remained relatively free to manage in an arbitrary and determined fashion, in spite of an

increasingly wide net of statutory employee rights. The survey was carried out in 120

establishments ranging from small family-run hotels to large chain hotels. A mailed, self-

completion questionnaire was used to collect data. The study revealed that employers

were not constrained from dismissing workers and failed to comply with many minimum

legal requirements or observed the law in spirit. “Determined opportunism” represented

an extreme instance of a “retaining control/cost-control” style of management.

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It was identified that, though Italy had a stronger legal framework to support

women, their job opportunities were limited and the favorable maternity rights, in

particular, appeared to be disadvantageous to women. By comparison, it showed how fast

economic transformation had increased opportunities for women in the United Kingdom,

but they tended to be in numerically flexible jobs which were vulnerable to economic

fluctuation (Doherty and Manfredi, 2001).

2.5 Hospitality management education

Over the past two decades, the number of hospitality management programs has

increased with the growth of the hospitality industry. This has led to an increased demand

for qualified hospitality professionals. The supply of managers has not kept pace with the

demand. Experience has been valued in the industry for a long time, but today, with the

complexity of the industry and the fierce competition, the need for new ideas of doing

business is highly appreciated, which makes education even more highly valued (Stutts,

1999).

The factors that played a vital role in shaping global hospitality education were

graduate standards, quality and quality assessment, research assessment, key skills and

learning and teaching including the impact of information technology. Amongst these

issues, information technology was identified as having the greatest potential impact to

bring about radical change. It was suggested that there was the capability to develop

global hospitality education brands. This capability was not confined to existing

education suppliers. Corporations, business schools and commercial management

development organizations may also be attracted by this opportunity (Rimmington,

1999).

The burgeoning opportunities for Catering Science and Hotel Management

students had pointed out that apart from hotels the students had a gamut of choices

including hospitals, call centers, telecom industry and airlines for seeking employment.

Foreign cruise liners too offered plenty of opportunities to students and they could earn

up to $ 800 a month, which hotels could not match. Also, a lot of women had started

thinking of catering as a respectable profession (Singh, 2006).

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When the link between industry competency requirements and the current

provisions for hospitality management education in India were examined, it was found

that a gap existed in terms of ensuring that the needs of industry were met by the ongoing

skills development of the workforce. Structured interviews were used with educationists

and industrialists to identify the key issues. The study identified the need for

collaborative development between the educational providers and industry, especially in

relation to the ongoing development of managers in the workplace (Jauhari, 2006).

The attitudes and perceptions of current undergraduate tourism and hospitality

students in Australia towards careers in the industry were studied. An online

questionnaire using a multi-dimensional and multi-item attitude scale was used to collect

data from 379 undergraduate tourism and hospitality students. The most alarming finding

of the study was that more than 50 percent of respondents were already contemplating

careers outside the industry. Of those with work experience in the industry, 38.1 percent

claimed that they will not work in the tourism and hospitality industry after graduation,

with 91.7 percent of these respondents' citing working experience in the industry as the

main reason for the decision (Richardson, 2010).

The main expectations of students from the tourism/hospitality industry who were

studying at the Akdeniz University School of Tourism and Hotel Management in Antalya

were examined. A questionnaire containing 16 closed questions and a multi-item attitude

scale was used among 689 students ranging from the first class to the fourth class. The

results generally showed negative perceptions and attitudes toward the tourism industry,

but some positive perceptions and attitudes were also apparent. Positive emotions were

usually mentioned by students who had chosen the tourism and hotel management school

within their first three rank orders in the university entrance exam, who had chosen the

school willingly and who had carried out their practical work experience outside Turkey

(Aksu and Koksal, 2005).

In order to examine the transition of Catering Science and Hotel Management

students from education to employment and to determine how well they appear to be

equipped to meet the needs of the hospitality industry, a comparison was made between

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alumni of Bachelor's Degree and Higher National Diploma (HND) course in terms of

their higher education and subsequent employment. Data was collected through self-

completion questionnaires, from 712 Hotel and Catering graduates who completed

courses in 1989. The findings revealed that HNDs were more likely to remain in the

industry, but there was evidence to suggest that it may be due to the narrower range of

opportunities open to them as a result of their more vocationally specialist qualification

rather than a stronger commitment to the industry (Purcell and Quinn, 1996).

Lu and Adler (2009) examined the career goals and expectations of Catering

Science and Hotel Management students. A sample of 503 undergraduate students from

Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) programs at four different universities in

China were surveyed. The study pointed out that a majority of the undergraduate students

were interested in pursuing a career in the hospitality and tourism industry and expressed

a desire for an advanced degree. Opportunities for personal development and high

salaries were found to be the most important goals for students to pursue studies after

graduation.

Regarding the career of women in hotel industry, it was observed by Aboobacker

(2004), Executive Chef, Hotel Le' Meridien that, though lots of girls enrolled for the

Hotel Management course, very few joined the industry on completion of the course.

Those who decided to stay put in the hospitality line of work had a preference for front

office or other desk jobs at the hotel. The working hours were not generally in acceptance

with a family life. They had to work anything between 12-18 hours a shift in the hotel

industry.

Finegold et al., (2000) investigated the links between national skill-creation

systems and individual career paths in three-and four-star hotels in United States (US),

the United Kingdom (UK) and Germany. The sample included forty-seven hotels

(thirteen in the UK, seventeen each in the US and Germany). Data was collected using

semi-structured interview with the hotel General and/or Human Resource Manager.The

results suggested that individual career development and outcomes, such as wages and

turnover rates were strongly influenced by the relevance to employment and degree of

standardization–of national initial vocational education and training systems.

22

Chung (2000) indicated that there was an immediate requirement for reforming

the curriculum of hotel management in Korean universities. The hospitality education

programs could address gender issues and contribute to the creation of a more supportive

industry environment for women (Zhong and Couch, 2007).

The limiting factor to successful growth of tourism and hospitality industry was

identified as the non-availability of sufficient skilled staff with appropriate technical and

interpersonal skills. Based on currently available statistics on tourism growth and related

employment figures, this study had attempted to highlight the potential lack of properly

educated and trained employees as a key limiting factor to successful tourism growth in

the East Asia Pacific region. The study revealed that properly devised and adequately

resourced education and training programmes were essential to provide such skilled staff

(Pine, 2001).

The educators and industry professionals should also advise hospitality

management students or employees on the career benefits of obtaining a bachelor's degree

and seeking position within large firms. A notable finding was that completion of a

bachelor’s degree raised the rate of promotions by 76 percent to 78 percent. An individual

with a bachelor’s degree and a major in the field is doubly advantaged in his or her career

progress (Sparrowe and Popielarz, 1995).

Overall view of literatures reviewed

The literature review discussed the theoretical framework for this study. It

provided an overview of growth of the hospitality industry and women’s role in this

industry. The literature identified the leadership skills and other factors that facilitate

women’s career advancement. Gender discrimination, sexual harassment, organizational

culture, work and family conflicts and the lack of mentors were identified as major

barriers that constrain women’s advancement. Previous research revealed gender

differences in perceptions of the factors that facilitate and constrain career advancement

for women. The importance of hospitality education programs was briefly insisted.

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