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Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking Study
Get PDFThis document presents the results of the first Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking (CHSB) study of hotel carbon and energy data. To date this research represents the single largest publicly available benchmarking study of hotel energy usage and carbon emissions—one that will continue to evolve each year. The results are presented by geographic market and segmented in alignment with common industry benchmarking practices of occupancy and ADR to lay the groundwork for subsequent benchmarking studies and multivariate regression analysis that is market specific. In developing industry benchmarks, the aggregate data can be utilized for the benefit of internal and external audiences and to provide a more thorough understanding of attributes affecting energy usage and carbon emissions. Lessons learned can be applied to both internal and external stakeholder audiences with a goal of reducing the environmental impact of hotel operations
Insights on Hospitality, Retailing, and Commercial Real Estate: 2014 Cornell Retail Real Estate Roundtable Proceedings
Get PDFUndeniably, the retail industry spectrum is broad,” said roundtable chair Peng Liu, as he opened the inaugural retail roundtable, held in New York City in June 2014. An associate professor of real estate at the Cornell School of Hotel Administration, Liu added that real estate spans “from the overall economy and retail market trends to technology innovation and big data; and from retail leasing negotiations to shopping center investments and financing. The retail industry is an asset-intensive business with real estate playing a critical role.” Continued growth of internet-based commerce is one source of this phenomenon, and the rise of the internet has also created a new framework for many retailers, in which electronic operations and those at physical stores are blended with each other, as demanded by the customer
Consumer Racial Profiling in U.S. Restaurants: Exploring Subtle Forms of Service Discrimination against Black Diners
No full textIn this paper we advance scholarship on consumer racial profiling (CRP), in general, and the practice as it occurs in restaurant establishments, in particular, by presenting findings from a survey of restaurant consumers that was designed to ascertain the degree to which discriminate service is evident in Black and White customers’ perceptions and evaluations of their servers’ behaviors. We found no evidence of interracial differences in subjects’ perceptions of being the recipients of subtle server behaviors that are discretionally conveyed (e.g., recommend entrée, compliment food choice, joke with, etc.) or those that constitute standard markers of service quality (e.g., eye contact, smiling, expressing appreciation, etc.). We did, however, find some evidence of CRP in customers’ perceptions of their servers’ attentiveness/promptness. Additionally, we found that African Americans’ tend to subjectively appraise their servers’ performance less favorably than their White counterparts and this is the case even when other indicators of service quality are held constant. Findings taken as a whole suggest that servers’ extend similar cues of hospitality but do so in qualitatively different ways (e.g., less sincere) across racial groups. We discuss the implications of these findings and conclude by encouraging additional scholarship on the subtle nature of racial discriminatio
Pricing Competition and Channel Coordination in the Tourism Supply Chain with Optional Tours
No full textThe authors consider a tourism supply chain that consists of a tour operator in the source market and a local operator at the destination. The tour product is composed of predesigned tours and optional tours. Consumers are sensitive to the price and the availability of optional tours, represented as the ratio of optional tours. The authors analyses how the ratio of optional tours to predesigned tours affects each player’s equilibrium decisions given three different consumer attitudes towards optional tours. They find that, when the channel is coordinated and the ratio of optional tours is sufficiently large, the local operator may reduce commissions. To curb the impacts of lowering commissions, the authors introduce a tax mechanism aimed at optional tours. Numeral examples are provided to illustrate the pricing impacts of optional tours
Eco-efficiency of Service Co-production: Connecting Eco-certifications and Resource Efficiency in U.S. Hotels
No full textThis study investigates the relationship between eco-certifications (second or third party certified with an audit requirement) and resource efficiency in the U.S. hotel industry. Hotel properties become eco-certified by voluntarily conforming to environmental practice guidelines established by a certifying body, which assesses and recognizes the properties that meet their criteria. Eco-certifications therefore are key environmental sustainability initiatives that address both the internal operations and external customers. Based on regression analysis of 2,893 U.S. hotel properties for the year 2011, this analysis shows that eco-certified hotels maintain higher operational efficiency, as well as greater customer-driven resource efficiency, in comparison with properties with lesser or no eco-certifications. These results suggest that eco-certifications influence the resource consumption behavior of both the operators and the customers, although these effects are not consistent for all properties. The improvement from the operational effect is most pronounced in lower-tier properties, while the customer efficiency effect is most noticeable in upper-tier properties
Collaborate or Compete: How Do Landlords Respond to the Rise in Coworking?
No full textChanges in technology, attitudes toward work, and the new ‘shared economy’ have created an environment in which people have more options for how, when and where to work. Working from home, telecommuting, hoteling, and collaborative workspaces are on the rise nationally. According to 2010 Census data, 4.3% of the 137 million workers in the United States telecommuted compared to 3.7% in 2005.1 Technology has been a major catalyst, helping to disseminate knowledge, increase communication, and allow people more independence and control over their work and life. The ubiquitous ‘coffee shop entrepreneur’ that migrates from their home-based office to the nearest cafe has largely given way to a new group of start-up oriented individuals and businesses that recognize the need for innovative and functional space
REITs: Structure and Performance
No full text[Excerpt] REITs are attractive to investors, particularly institutional investors, due to their high dividend payouts and ability to provide more liquidity to the underlying market for direct real estate investment. This chapter analyzes the performance of real estate investment trusts (REITs). It compares the returns on REITs with those on more traditional asset classes, specifically bonds and mid-cap equities, and surveys the academic literature dealing with the diverse issues related to valuation. The chapter also examines the linkages between REIT performance and the behavior of the underlying real estate market. Because the chapter takes the perspective of a U.S.-based investor, it does not directly address the broader issues of global REITs
Strengthening the Employment Relationship: The Effects of Work-Hours Fit on Key Employee Attitudes
No full textToday\u27s hourly workers are facing revised work schedules and shifting hours, which may have critical implications for employment relationships. This study considers the impact of work-hours fit on key attitudes of hourly employees—perceived organizational support, job stress, work–family conflict, intent to turnover, and life satisfaction. We define work-hours fit as the difference between an employee\u27s desired number of hours and the actual hours worked, and we examine both the congruence of work-hours fit and the degree of misfit. We also examine the moderating impact of the type of misfit, defined as working too many versus too few hours. Results indicate that, in our sample, hourly employees are typically not working the hours they prefer. As predicted, work-hours fit impacts the attitudes we examined, and, when considering the type of misfit, congruence matters more for life satisfaction and intent to turnover. Results also indicate working too few hours impacts job stress and life satisfaction, whereas working too many effects work–family conflict. This paper demonstrates the importance of preferences, as a reflection of time/money resource trade-offs, and offers ways for employers to improve work–family facilitation and strengthen their employment relationships
Attitudes and Perceptions toward Affirmative Action Programs: An Application of Institutional Theory
No full textDue to the continuing controversy surrounding the use of affirmative action programs in organizational hiring and promotion practices, we conducted a study to model individuals’ attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions toward affirmative action (AA) programs considering social influences and an institutional theory framework. To conduct the study we surveyed 413 managers and supervisors from three large hotel companies in the pacific western and southeastern United States. Results indicate that institutional and social forces positively influenced participants’ general perceptions of AA in the workplace. Influences from social interaction exhibited a negative relationship upon attitudes toward the experience and practice of AA, specifically related to AA hires and organizational issues stemming from AA rather than the legislation itself
Brand Revitalization
No full textIn this essay, we discuss brand revitalization in the context of a revitalization process undertaken by of one of India’s iconic hotel brands: The Park Hotels. The leadership team of The Park Hotels, in collaboration with well-known brand-consulting firm Landor, undertook a two-year process to revitalize an already well-established brand in the face of severe competitive threat and changing customer tastes. This article presents a seven-step process for The Park’s brand revitalization effort, which begins with strategy and ends with implementation. The seven steps are (1) conduct a comprehensive brand audit, (2) determine the brand position, (3) develop the brand platform, (4) establish the brand beliefs, (5) evoke the brand experience, (6) develop the brand voice, and (7) launch the new brand. This essay, the first ever to lift the veil on a proprietary hospitality branding project, depicts how The Park addressed its particular strategic approach of tying together a set of distinctive boutique hotels with a unifying and inspiring brand position