The process of establishing a competitive advantage is at the heart of competitive marketing strategy. However, a competitive advantage cannot be established without a clear idea of what constitutes the relevant competitive arena. Theoretically, there are strong arguments for seeing both these...

An extensive review of literature was conducted to see if there was evidence indicating there are differences in the management of hospitality organizations and manufacturing organizations. The literature was divided into three areas: organizing, staffing, and commanding. The results of the...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the challenges encountered when conducting qualitative research in foodservice operations and to discuss the strategies to overcome the identified challenges. Design/methodology/approach – The researchers conducted food safety observations,...

Guest history is a valuable service and marketing tool. In particular, it is likely to become a strategic device for the development of brand loyalty in the 1990s. Reports on a nationwide Australian study of 121 hotels′ use of guest history, and describes some of the key opportunities for...

Reviews alternative approaches to new product development and new service development. Compares them in the context of the flight‐catering sector which is particularly suitable for such comparison as it is made‐up of a supply chain involving three distinctive stakeholders food manufacturers,...

Organizations, particularly in the hospitality industry, are infinitely variable and because of this, there is not only a tendency to view the industry as a number of discrete units but also to consider catering as a separate function to hotel keeping. However, this stance is considered to be...

Reconciles the traditional view of hospitality operations based on process analysis, with the more recent output‐based model, by identifying four levels of hospitality operations management. Process analysis is appropriate for understanding operating systems; and output analysis for...

Informed by research projects undertaken at Nottingham Trent, this paper discusses the different HRM practices of some operators in fast‐food restaurants. Outlines the nature of service provision and some key determinants of the service offer. These help to categorize the types of service...

Purpose – This article aims to first summarize and explain major services operations research foci from the past century. Second, this article relates how hospitality scholars have conducted operations-related research with a particular focus on research related to hotels and lodging. Finally,...

Purpose – The purpose of the present study is to examine the effect of waiting lines on customers’ decisions between using a self-service alternative and using a service employee. As self-service technologies are expensive and time-consuming to design and implement, service providers need to...