Just‐in‐time labour supply in the hotel sector. The role of agencies
| Published date | 01 February 2005 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01425450510569328 |
| Pages | 86-102 |
| Date | 01 February 2005 |
| Author | Pei‐Chun Lai,Tom Baum |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
YOUNG RESEARCHER
Just-in-time labour supply in the
hotel sector
The role of agencies
Pei-Chun Lai and Tom Baum
The Scottish Hotel School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK
Abstract
Purpose – Aims to propose possible solutions to the characteristically erratic demand fluctuations in
the hotel sector by applying just-in-time (JIT) philosophy through the development of relationships
with employment agencies.
Design/methodology/approach – Case study data was collected within seven London four-star or
five-star hotel housekeeping departments and their associated external labour suppliers, the
employment agencies, using in-depth interviews, followed by documentary research and observation.
Findings – Points to a future interest in how to create and maintain good relations between three
actors, in terms of the company, the recruitment industry and staff. This triangular relationship
requires further empirical study in order to assess more fully the applicability of JIT principles to HRM
in the hotel sector.
Originality/value – Identifies a range of human resource strategies which both build on and go
beyond the models traditionally associated with the manufacturing context.
Keywords Flexible labour,Just in time, Hospitality services,Recruitment agencies,
Human resource management
Paper type Case study
Introduction
About two decades ago, Levitt (1972) proposed a new technique, the production line
approach, to improve service quality and efficiency in service industries. This
approach is well developed, particularly in the fast food sector, which uses
manufacturing techniques to achieve targets in relation to service quality and service
delivery (Levitt, 1972; Mehra and Inman, 1990; Schroeder, 1993; Ritzer, 1998, Bowen
and Youngdahl, 1998). According to Bowen and Youngdahl (1998), this
manufacturing-driven logic had provoked widespread debate ranging from
perceptions that it is ideal to totally inappropriate in the service industry. However,
they suggest that “service business need not abandon production-line thinking, but
they must shift their production-line paradigm (to a lean-production service approach)
as has occurred in much of manufacturing, itself” (Bowen and Youngdahl, 1998,p. 207).
They also illustrate a lean approach to human resource management in Taco Bell fast
food restaurant, which results in increased customer service focus and quality. This
paper discusses the possibility of utilising a range of human resourcing strategies
which both build on and go beyond the models traditionally associated with the
manufacturing context into a labour intensive service sector, the hotel industry.
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is available at The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister www.emeraldinsight.com/0142-5455.htm
ER
27,1
86
Received August 2003
Revised May 2004
Accepted June 2004
Employee Relations
Vol. 27 No. 1, 2005
pp. 86-102
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0142-5455
DOI 10.1108/01425450510569328
Hotels, “homes away from home” to travellers, provide four types of products and
services, in terms of accommodation, food, drinks and leisure/entertainment (Wood,
1997; Knowles, 1998). This sector operates a 24/7/365 system and many services, such
as room servicing, greeting, and waitering, cannot be substituted by technology. This
contributes to the labour-intensive nature of work in the hotel sector. Korczynski
(2002), among others, identifies five key attributes of services:
(1) intangibility;
(2) perishability;
(3) variability;
(4) simultaneous production and consumption; and
(5) inseparability.
These characteristics create a high level of integration between, on the one hand, the
operational delivery, marketing and financial viability of hospitality services and, on
the other, the human resources that are employed within the service delivery process
(Baum, 1995, after Mahesh, 1988).
Despite its 24/7/365 culture, the demand for hotel services and products is stochastic
and unpredictable both in terms of annual seasonal variations and within shorter time
periods. With its simultaneous production and consumption characteristics, the
challenge to management is how to maintain flexibility in relation to both scheduling
and reaction to demand fluctuations in hotel operations. Therefore, this paper also
discusses labour flexibility strategies which could be adopted in hotel management
practice.
To a certain extent, an assembly line model, which has five components within the
production flow including suppliers, materials, the production process, product
distribution and customer/end users, can be applied in the hospitality industry.
Guerrier and Adib (2001) argue that hospitality work consists of the production and
servicing of accommodation as an activity. For example, in the hotel housekeeping
department, the housekeeping team produce clean and tidy guest rooms on a daily
basis. In the restaurant, the main product offered is food and the chef “manufactures”
and “assembles” raw materials into final meals which are served to guests. However,
the products offered in the hotel sector do not only have tangible dimensions, but are
also intangible in terms of service delivery and it is this combination which creates
many of the challenges relating to work within the sector. Tangible products are those
elements that can be touched and felt, in terms of beds, food, drinks and meeting
facilities. The intangible services provided by hotel operations cannot be touched and
received, but are enjoyed in terms of the “experience”, which the customer encounters
during the service delivery process. The architecture and atmosphere, creating
“ambience” in a restaurant’s interior design, the smile from receptionist in a hotel, the
warm greeting in a “Mom and Pop” bed and breakfast, and the consistency and
predictability of chain hotels’ service may be included as intangible hospitality
products.
Within the constraints which apply in the hotel sector, in terms of product quality
concerns, demand fluctuation, and product perishability, the optimum challenge for
hotel managers is how to produce and/or deliver the right product and service at the
right time in the right way and without excessive waste of labour overhead costs and
JIT labour
supply in the
hotel sector
87
To continue reading
Request your trial