Investigating the Influence of Human Resources Management Activities on Customer Loyalty in the Hoteling Industry Using a Multilevel Approach
Subject Areas :zahra Nikkhah-Farkhani 1 , Mohammad shaykhzade 2
1 - university of Bojnord
2 - university of Bojnord
Keywords: Considering the fact that customer loyalty is regarded as one of the most important concerns of hotel managers, this study sought to investigate the influence of human resources management activities on customer loyalty using a multi-level approach. The statistical population of the study comprised of managers, staff, and customers of four-star and five-star hotels in Mashhad. Moreover, the statistical sample size of the research at the organization level consisted of thirty-four, one-hundred and forty, two-hundred and forty managers, staff, and customers at organizational, staff, and customer levels, respectively. On the other hand, Sam’s 12-item questionnaire (2008) and the 17-item questionnaire developed by Al-Rafiei et al. (2013) were used to measure the human resources management activities and the staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, respectively, whose validity and reliability was tested using the Content validity method and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. Finally, HLM 7.02 and the SPSS software were used to analyse the collected data. The results proved the positive influence of human resources management activities on the staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, and in turn, on the satisfaction and loyalty of the customers. Therefore, it could be argued that hotel managers can increase the loyalty of their customers by emphasizing human resource management activities and improving their staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, which would increase the profitability of hotels in the long term by reducing marketing costs.,
Abstract :
Considering the fact that customer loyalty is regarded as one of the most important concerns of hotel managers, this study sought to investigate the influence of human resources management activities on customer loyalty using a multi-level approach. The statistical population of the study comprised of managers, staff, and customers of four-star and five-star hotels in Mashhad. Moreover, the statistical sample size of the research at the organization level consisted of thirty-four, one-hundred and forty, two-hundred and forty managers, staff, and customers at organizational, staff, and customer levels, respectively. On the other hand, Sam’s 12-item questionnaire (2008) and the 17-item questionnaire developed by Al-Rafiei et al. (2013) were used to measure the human resources management activities and the staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, respectively, whose validity and reliability was tested using the Content validity method and Cronbach's alpha, respectively. Finally, HLM 7.02 and the SPSS software were used to analyse the collected data. The results proved the positive influence of human resources management activities on the staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, and in turn, on the satisfaction and loyalty of the customers. Therefore, it could be argued that hotel managers can increase the loyalty of their customers by emphasizing human resource management activities and improving their staff’s satisfaction and loyalty, which would increase the profitability of hotels in the long term by reducing marketing costs.
Al-Refaie, A., Foud, R., & Eteiwi, D. (2013). Examining factors affect passenger’s satisfaction and loyalty: A comparative analysis from Jordan airport. Advances in Information Sciences and Service Sciences – An International Journal of Research and Innovation, 5(3), 641–650
Abidi, O., Halil, Z. A. I. M., Youssef, D., Habibniya, H., & Baran, A. (2017). Diversity management and its impact on HRM Practices: Evidence from Kuwaiti companies. Eurasian Journal of Business and Economics, Vol. 10, No. 20, pp. 71-88
Agyeman, C. M., & Ponniah, V. M. (2014). Employee demographic characteristics and their effects on turnover and retention in MSMEs. International Journal of Recent Advances in Organizational Behaviour and Decision Sciences, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 12-29.
Ahmad Shah, Shamim. & AhmadWani, Muzafar.(2014 ) Impact of Conflict on Tourist Flow and Spatial Distribution of Tourists in Kashmir Valley, World Applied Sciences Journal, Vol. 31, No. 6, pp. 1160-1167
Alamsyah, Putra, Wardi, Yunia (2019) The Impact of Tourist Engagement and Tourist Satisfaction on Tourist Loyalty:A Literature Review, Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research, Vol. 124, pp. 931-937
AlSaiari, A.Q., Puteh, F., Mohamed Ali, A. J. (2020), Assessing Construct Reliability of Human Resources Management Practices (HRM) and Employee Loyalty: A Preliminary Evidence from the Omani Logistic Sector, International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 22-57
AlRafei, A.Q., Puteh, F., Mohamed Ali, A. J. (2020), Could Demographic Variables Impacting the Relationship between HRM Practices and Employee Loyalty? A Meta-Analysis Review, Human Resource Research, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 205-232
Anastasiou, S., Nathanailides, C. (2015) Customer Satisfaction and Effective HRM Policies: Customer and Employee Satisfaction, International Journal of Social, Behavioral, Educational, Economic, Business and Industrial Engineering, Vol. 9, No.1, pp. 260-263
Arici, Nagihan Çakmakoğlu (2020) The Mediator Role of Customer Satisfaction on the Effects of Employee Satisfaction and Service Quality on Hotel Performance, Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies, Vol. 8 ,No. 1, pp. 1-16
Armstrong, A., Francis, R., & Grow, H. (2017). Ethical issues in the employment of expatriate leaders in corporations. Journal of Economic and Social Development, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 71-80
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, Kogan Page Publishers
Basari, M. A., Shamsudin, M. F. (2020) Does Customer Satisfaction Matters? Journal of undergraduate social science and technology, Vol. 2 No. 1, pp. 1-15
Bashir, M., Jianqiao, L., Zhao, J., Ghazanfar, F., & Khan, M. M. (2011). The role of demographic factors in the relationship between high performance work system and job satisfaction: A multidimensional approach. International Journal of Business and Social Science, Vol. 2, No. 18, pp. 1-15
Boone, L., and Kurtz, D. (2013). Contemporary marketing, Cengage Learning
Bowen, J. T. and Shoemaker, S. (1998). Loyalty: A strategic commitment. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 39, No. 1, pp. 37-46
Boselie P, Dietz G, Boon C. (2005) Commonalities and contradictions in HRM and performance research. Human Resource Management Journal, Vol. 15, No.3, pp. 67–94
Bruhn, M. (2009). Relationship Marketing, Vahlen Munchen
Chen, Yen-Cheng, Tsui, Pei-Ling, Lee, Ching-Sung (2017 (The Effect of International Hotel Employee Loyalty on Customer Behavioral Intention in Taiwan, International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 76-81
Decha, Oraphan, Khlungsaeng, Wareeya, Bousri, Atidtaya, Pulphon, Sodsri (2020) The Role of Service Quality, Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty on the Effective Human Resource Management in the Pharmacies in Thailand: Mediating Role of Customer Satisfaction, Systematic Review Pharmacy, Vol. 11, No. 3, pp. 1-9
Devi, M. C., Elango, S. (2020) Impact of HR Practices on Employee Satisfaction and Employee Loyalty: an observed Study of private Sector hospitals in Trichirappalli City, Journal Of Composition Theory, Vol. 8, No.1 , pp. 277-2284
Deyalage, P.A. , Kulathunga, D. (2020) Exploring Key Factors for Customer Satisfaction in Online Shopping: A Systematic Literature Review, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 163-190
Dick, A. S., and Basu, K. (1994) Customer loyalty: toward an integrated conceptual framework. Journal of the academy of marketing science, Vol. 22, No. 2, pp. 99-113
Ehnert, I., Parsa, S., Roper, I., Wagner, M., & Muller-Camen, M. (2016). Reporting on sustainability and HRM: A comparative study of sustainability reportingpractices by the world's largest companies. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 27, No. 1, pp. 88-108
Geevarghese, Nirmalraj, R. J. T., Seeram, H., Veena, S., & James, B. (2018) Effect of Age on Employees’ Loyalty: a Study among the Executives’ of a Large Scale Public Sector Manufacturing Industry across India. International Journal of Engineering & Technology, Vol. 7, No. 3.1, pp. 9-12
Hamzah, Amir Azlan bin, Shamsudin, Mohd Farid (2020) Why Customer Satisfaction Is Important to Business? , Journal of undergraduate social science and technology, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 1-14
Hays, J. M., and Hill, A. V. (1999) The Market Share Impact of Service Failures, Production and Operations Management, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 208-220
Ineson, E. M., & Berechet, G. (2011). Employee Loyalty in Hotels: Romanian Experiences. Journal of Human Resources in Hospitality & Tourism, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 129-149
Ineson, E. M., Benke, E., & László, J. (2013). Employee loyalty in Hungarian hotels. International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 31-39
Jeong, Y., and Lee, Y. (2010). A study on the customer satisfaction and customer loyalty of furniture purchaser in on-line shop. Asian Journal on Quality, Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 146-156
Kamrul Islam Shaon, S. M., Rahman, M. H. (2015) A Theoretical Review Of CRM Effects On Customer Satisfaction And Loyalty, Central European Business Review, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 23-36
Katou AA. (2009) The Impact of Human Resource Development on Organizational Performance: Test of a causal model. Journal of Behavioral and Applied Management, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 335-356
Keaveney, S. M. (1995) Customer switching behavior in service industries: An exploratory study, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 2, No.1, pp.71-82.
Khuong, M. N., & Tien, B. D. (2013) Factors influencing employee loyalty directly and indirectly through job satisfaction-A study of banking sector in Ho Chi Minh City, International Journal of current research and academic review, Vol. 1, No. 4, pp. 81-95
Khuong, Mai Ngoc, Mai,Tran Phuong, Phuong, Nguyen Thi Minh (2020) The impacts of human resource management practices on employees’ motivation and loyalty, Management Science Letters, Vol. 10, pp.2673–2682
Kwizera, Emmanuel (2020) The Effect of Reward and Employee Satisfaction on Customer Satisfaction among Private University Students in Burundi, American Research Journal of Humanities & Social Science, Vol. 3, No.2, pp. 1-9
lfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., & Soane, E.C. (2013). The link between perceived human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international journal of human resource management, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 330-351
Met, M., & Ali, I. (2014) Investigating the moderating effect of demographic factors on the relationship between monetary motivation and employees' job satisfaction at oil and gas offshore production facilities in Malaysia. International Review of Management and Business Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 788-818
Mira, M., Choong, Y., & Thim, C. (2019) The Effect of HRM Practices and Employees’ Job Satisfaction on Employee Performance, Management Science Letters, Vol. 9, No. 6, pp. 771-786
Nisar, Q. A., Uzair, M., Razzaq, W., & Sarfraz, M. (2017). Impact of HR Practices on Employee loyalty and commitment: Mediating role of Job satisfaction. International Journal of Management Excellence, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 1067-1073
Ntavitavian, Ioanna (2019) Exploration and Analysis of Employee Satisfaction, Customer Satisfaction and Financial Performance as Determinants of a Hotel Success, Master of Science (MSc) thesis in Hospitality and Tourism Management, International Hellenic University, School Of Economics, Business Administration & Legal Studies, Thessaloniki, Greece
Pandey, C., & Khare, R. (2012) Impact of job satisfaction and organizational commitment on employee loyalty. International Journal of Social Science and Interdisciplinary Research, Vol. 1, No. 8, pp. 26-41
Phuong, Tran Thi Kim, Vinh, Tran Trung (2020) Job Satisfaction, Employee Loyalty And Job Performance In The Hospitality Industry: A Moderated Model, Asian Economic and Financial Review, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 698-713
Roberts, K., Varki, S., and Brodie, R. (2003) Measuring the quality of relationships in consumer services: an empirical study. European Journal of marketing, Vol. 37, No. 1/2, pp. 169-196
Schlechter, A., Thompson, N. C., & Bussin, M. (2015) Attractiveness of non-financial rewards for prospective knowledge workers: An experimental investigation. Employee Relations, Vol. 37, No. 3, pp. 274-295
Singh, P., & Twalo, T. (2015) Mismanaging unethical behaviour in the workplace, Journal of Applied Business Research, Vol. 31, No .2, pp. 5-15
Som, A. (2008). Innovative human resource management and corporate performance in the context of economic liberalization in India. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(7), 1278–1297.
Strenitzerová, M., & Achimský, K. (2019) Employee Satisfaction and Loyalty as a Part of Sustainable Human Resource Management in Postal Sector. Sustainability, Vol. 11, No. 17, pp. 45-91
Taahir, A.B., Ng, Y.S., Mohd Remie, M.J. (2020) The Impact Of Human Resource Management Practices On Employees Loyalty In Malaysia, International Journal of Information, Business and Management, Vol. 12, No. 3 , pp. 79-93
Tajuddin ,Wan Nur Syifa Wan Ahmad, Nayan, Syafiqah M. (2020) Rising customer satisfaction, Journal of Undergraduate Social Science and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 1-5
Tandon, U., Kiran, R. & Sah, A. (2017). Analyzing customer satisfaction: users' perspective towards online shopping. Nankai Business Review International, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 266–288
Vinayan, J. (2015) Vulnerability of HR Systems and Practices to Corruption: A Review and Research Agenda. Editorial Team, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 25
Voudouris I. (2004) The Use of Flexible Employment Arrangements: Some New Evidence From Greek Firms, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp.131-146
Waqas, A., Bashir, U., Sattar, M. F., Abdullah, H. M., Hussain, I., Anjum, W., Arshad, R. (2014) Factors influencing job satisfaction and its impact on job loyalty. International Journal of Learning and Development, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 141-161
Wright PM, Gardner T, Moyniham LM, Allen M. (2005) The HR performance relationship: Examining causal direction, Personnel Psychology, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp.409–446
Yao, T., Qiu, Q., & Wei, Y. (2019) Retaining hotel employees as internal customers: Effect of organizational commitment on attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of employees. International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 7, No. 6, pp. 1-8.
Yee, R. W., Yeung, A., & Edwin Cheng, T. (2010) An Empirical Study of Employee Loyalty, Service Quality and Firm Performance in The Service Industry, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 124, No. 1, pp. 109-120
Zeithaml, V. A., Berry, L. L., Parasuraman, A. (1996) The Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality, The Journal of Marketing, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 31-46
