Overview

In numerical and structural terms, the hospitality industry remains to this day one of predominantly independently owned enterprises, providing a particular locality with a range of appropriate food, beverage and accommodation services (Lee-Ross, 1999). These businesses are often small (Lucas, 2004), and may be considered family businesses or lifestyle choices regarding entrepreneurship. Many of these businesses stay the same size, whilst others grow and develop, the firm replicating the product or service in other locations further and further afield (Goss-Turner and Jones, 2000). In the past half-century a feature of the national and international industry has been the development of large hospitality chains, many emanating from US post-war prosperity and expansion, with brand extension strategies placing high in public consciousness company names such as Hilton, Holiday Inn and Pizza Hut. These large, multi-site, often multi-national corporations have unparalleled profile, and utilize their size and influence in areas such as economies of scale, quality assurance, customer recognition and standardization (Ritchie and Riley, 2004).

The expansion of service organizations like hospitality businesses has inevitable consequences for the organizational structure, reporting relationships and managerial competencies. Many such organizations adapted the principles of mass production and those of retailing services, consistent with the seminal work of Levitt (1972) and Schmenner (1986). This approach involves meticulous control and management of the supply chain from the sourcing of products, central purchasing and distribution to the operational elements of standardized menus, service delivery concept and system, pricing and uniforms. This chapter explores the employee development issues...