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CHAPTER 1
Overview
The main aim of the research is to assess the efficiency of the service quality and
customer satisfaction of five of the largest and widely recognised hotels in China namely
Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental Grand Hotel and
Shangri-la. These hotel groups are chosen because of the stiff competition in existence
between the five. The researcher aims to look into the perceptions of the hotel-
restaurants’ customers, staff and managers towards the values underpinning service
quality. Based on the existing literature, we need to justify if the hotel service standards
of the five aforementioned hotel groups are adequate and if there is a need for revision
groups to evaluate service, and these vary depending on the situation and the
circumstances” (1997).
assurance; and empathy. (2001) explained that the tangible aspects of service quality
comprise all that the client can see, touch, hear, and smell when the services are
delivered. It includes not only the physical output of the service, but also the physical
facilities, the equipment, and the appearance of personnel. Firms should consider
facilities design and promote a positive employee image to current and prospective
clients. Thus, tangibles basically involve physical facilities, equipment, and appearance
of employees (1998). On the other hand, reliability means the ability to perform the
knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence.
Finally, empathy means the caring and attention provided to customers ( 1990).
(2004) found in their investigation of the service quality of Hilton Hotels that
customer contact. (2004) further stated: “…quality service is related to the behaviour of
staff mainly with guests but also with each other to create – directly and indirectly – the
The relationship between management and employees, and how the manager
use resources is also cited in literatures as an important factor to provide service quality
in hotels. For instance, (2004) recommended the following to improve service quality in
hotels: management need to have more interaction with the hotel guests to understand
their needs and expectations; management need to delegate more responsibility to the
staff across the hotels so that they can make sensible decisions with the guests; staff
need formal training in service quality to deal with different types of guests and their
needs; and complaints and compliments must be circulated among the hotels so that
The problem with service quality may perhaps be related with gaps, or the
differences of perception of service quality among managers of the hotel and the
customers (2000). Within service quality, (2000) stated the some of the following factors
that could be affected by gaps: comfortable and welcome feeling; neat appearance of
staff; professionalism of staff; staff with multi-lingual skills; friendliness and courtesy of
staff; special attention given by staff; availability of staff to provide service; performing
the services right the first time; easily accessible reservation system; quick check-in and
check-out; cleanliness; quietness; security; room service; and high quality of food in
quality. Some of the other service quality attributes they identified include: guest room
values (comfort of bed pillows, atmosphere, room size, complimentary items, etc.); and
front office services (courtesy of employees, handling of complaints, thoughtful
consideration of a repeat guest, reasonable price, hotel tour guides, flexibility of hotel
Featured hotels in this study are five-star hotels. Five star hotels have above-
average responsibilities to service quality. According to (2003), five star hotels should
accommodation, facilities, services and cuisine”. Furthermore, they should also have
flawless guest services, giving guests the impression of being very well cared for by
Customer Service
purchase orders of a particular business company. And since most of the time the
transactions involve not only a single client or customer, especially in the case of huge
product and service providers, business establishments’ deal with sub-suppliers with
workload and time that the inventory managers handle defines the proceeding business
processes that follow and thus, predict and maintain the success and profit of the whole
of factors must be met by the business in order to achieve it. In order to integrate quality
in service provision, it is important that the organization has the right skills, resources
involvement of both company management and the employees must be present. In this
paper, it has been made clear that training alone is not sufficient for service quality. The
commitment, leadership and adaptability of the management towards change are also
important for quality service. The values and skills of the employees on the other hand,
loyalty, employee satisfaction and profit growth are some of the main advantages of this
business practice. In order to cope with the present business challenges, several
businesses have implemented different strategies that will enhance their respective
technology are some examples of the most commonly used strategies for customer
services.
Service delivery is an interactive and dynamic process that from the consumer's
point of view is much more than a passive exchange of money for a particular service.
service value -- either by serving themselves (as in getting food in a buffet restaurant
line or by pumping their own gas) or by cooperating and often working collaboratively
with service personnel (as in settings such as hair salons, motels, universities, or
Research Objectives
The researcher finds it necessary to conduct a study that will tackle the service
quality standards of three of the largest and widely recognised hotel operators in the
world namely Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental Grand
Hotel and Shangri-la. The general objective of the project is to compare the service
standards of the 5 hotel-restaurants and assess the adequacy and efficiency of these
standards. Specifically, this study will try to address the following objectives:
and Shangri-la.
3. To identify the opinions of hotel customers, as well as the opinions of
Research Design
this lieu, the research will use the descriptive approach employing a both qualitative and
quantitative research method. That is, a primary research will be carried out in the three
hotel-restaurants (i.e. Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental
Grand Hotel and Shangri-la) to assess the opinions of the hotel-restaurants’ customers,
will be developed with questions based on service quality attributes and values.
Theoretical Framework
The theoretical framework that will be used in the study is the Input-Process-
Output Model. In the IPO model, a process is viewed as a series of boxes (processing
elements) connected by inputs and outputs. Information or material objects flow through
a series of tasks or activities based on a set of rules or decision points. (1997) Flow
charts and process diagrams are often used to represent the process. ( 1997) What
goes in is the input; what causes the change is the process; what comes out is the
Figure 1.1
OUTPUT
INPUT
PROCESS
The IPO model will provide the general structure and guide for the direction of
the study. Substituting the variables of this study on the IPO model, the researcher
Figure 1.2
Conceptual Framework
· Clarification regarding the the the service quality of the five hotels in China
· Conclusion and Recommendations on the objectives of the study.
INPUT
PROCESS OUTPUT
· Quantitative Data: Perspective of the hotel managers, staff and hotel customers.
Assessment and analysis of acquired data through observation and interpretation.
Scope and Limitation
The study only scopes within China. The respondents will be strictly and should
be from the hotels mentioned above: Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton
Tiajin, Continental Grand Hotel and Shangri-la The scope of the sample, on the other
hand, will be based on purposive sampling which will be conducted on the three hotels.
Guests, managers and staffs from the three hotels will be surveyed.
In terms of literature, the scope of the study is both local and foreign literatures.
The issues scoped within the study include service quality and hotel service.
The study will only be limited to survey and literature review. Furthermore, the
responses of the respondents will be limited only to what the questionnaire asks.
Interviews with managers, on the other hand, will be considered as secondary data to fill
up for the study. This study will be purely descriptive and will only try to survey out the
this study will deal specifically with hotel and not on the general hotel service. This may
This study will also be significant to hotels, specifically five star hotels. The
survey of the study will help determine what five-star hotel restaurant customers prefer
in their service experience. It will also help employee management as it may pinpoint
barriers on quality service, which could mostly be related with the service delivery of
employees.
Structure
This management report will be divided into five chapters with related goals.
The succeeding chapter, Chapter 2, will present the concepts and assumptions
behind the concept of service quality, with special emphasis on its application in the
hotel and restaurant industry. By doing so, it is hoped that the nature, advantages and
disadvantages this management concept will be highlighted. Suffice to say, this chapter
The third chapter, meanwhile, will define how the research was carried out. It will
outline the research strategies applied in this study and why they were chosen. These
strategies include who and how the respondents of the study were selected, the data
collection methods and the data analysis techniques applied in this research. Issues of
evidence, trustworthiness and validity will also be given in this chapter as well as the
ethical issues that will be considered upon the implementation of this research project.
Finally, this chapter will wrap up with a projected time frame for the completion of the
project.
On the other hand, as mentioned previously, the researcher will try to determine
the efficiency of service standards in the hotel restaurants studied for this project, i.e.
Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental Grand Hotel and
each other, and the discussion in this lieu will be presented in the fourth chapter.
Basically, it is in this fourth chapter that the research objectives of this study will be
addressed directly.
Finally, the fifth chapter will present a summary of the findings of this study, as
well as the conclusions derived from the findings. The study will wrap up with several
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
concept of service quality, with special emphasis on its application in the hotel and
restaurant industry, will be provided in this chapter. A discussion on service quality will
be done so that the nature, advantages and disadvantages this management concept
will be highlighted. In particular, this literature review on the said concept will be done so
that the researcher’s knowledge on the subject will be further enhanced. This is
particularly important because enhancing one’s knowledge on the intended subject for
Further, even though a researcher may already possess good deal of knowledge about
his/her research area, a literature review will still prove useful as it will establish what
research had already been done that may be related to one’s research area and will
In this literature review, (1996) guides the researcher when they said that a
literature review may help in: finding justification for research objectives; avoiding
repeating works that has been already done; gaining noteworthy insights into the
Now, since all three companies are enlisted among the service industry sector,
my literature review will focus on existing theories, case studies, data sources as well as
If we will look around, we will realise that what dominates society are services.
Organisation and enterprises offering services are numerous, ranging the national and
local government who offer education, health, social security, police, the military,
transport, legal, information, and credit services, to the non-profit private services
groups (i.e. charities, churches, research foundations, mutual societies, and art
foundations) and for-profit services groups (i.e. utilities, hotels, airlines, architects,
Because of the dominance of service industry in the society (for instance in America,
almost 70% of employment is in the service sector), many service enterprises and
Service quality is generally viewed as the output of the service delivery system
(1998) added that service quality refers to customers' appraisals of the service
core (i.e. the provider of the service) or the entire service organisation. (2001) supports
this argument when he said that service quality can be reflected in both the manner and
the location of the service delivery. Accordingly, clients often make inferences about
service quality based upon tangible and intangible cues (i.e. the tangible and intangible
aspects of the service quality) observed during interactions with the service firm ( 2001).
Tangible aspects of service quality include all that the client can see, touch, hear,
and smell upon the delivery of the services, thus, it basically involves physical facilities,
quality is the service performance, which describes all aspects of the delivery of
services that include: reliability (i.e. the ability to perform the required service
billing and record keeping); responsiveness (i.e. the willingness of staff to provide
prompt and attentive service; accordingly, it is important to make customers feel the
customers need to know); assurance (i.e. ensuring that clients feel secure and safe
when they provide confidential and/or personal information and winning their trust); and,
empathy (i.e., the management or the service employee must see things from the
vantage point of the client, e.g. being available to the client when needed, providing
convenient hours, understanding specific client needs, giving personal attention, and
tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are bought. Meanwhile, service variability is
the quality of services depends on whom provides them as well as when, where, and
how they are provided. Lastly, service perishability constitutes the services that cannot
be stored for later sale or use. Some doctors charge patients for missed appointments
because the service value existed only at that point and disappeared when the patient
did not show up. The perishability of services is not a problem when the demand is
steady. However, when demand fluctuates, service firms often have difficult problems
( 1998).
Service quality tends to focus more on the intangible aspects, and because
intangible aspects don’t involve any product, the quality of services is measured through
the way it is being delivered by the service employee, which may either create
In high-contact systems customers can influence the time of demand, the exact
nature of the service, and the quality of service ( 1979). If consumers somehow become
quality of the service experience will likely be enhanced for the customer and the
organizational activities can gain competitive advantage through greater sales volume,
expenses, and enhanced customer loyalty (1979; 1990). Customers who actively
order to practice quality customer service. From customer studies to the application of
quality into customer service results to positive outcomes. While the benefits of quality
customer service have already been recognized, it is important to consider that quality
more demanding and knowledgeable than before. In turn, company management had
centered. Rethinking and reformulating the organization on the other hand, entail the
environment as well as the success factors of people (2000). Hence, in order to bring
out exceptional customer services within the company operations, the management
heavily on the management. While some company management send their employees
(1990), the manner to which management train, motivate and recognized their
employees results to a significant effect on the quality of customer service they deliver.
The level of commitment the management provides for instance has a direct impact to
common mistake for most management to think that they are highly committed in
servicing the customers with quality when in fact their commitment is only based on
the causal relationship of quality and satisfaction, it is commonly assumed that service
quality leads to satisfied customers ( 1994). In fact, early researchers (1984; 1985;
1987) had emphasised the link of service quality with customer satisfaction, which they
service.
In the survey of (1990), it has been noted that quality, customer satisfaction, and
important or very important. (1994) support this finding and argue that those companies
that are perceived to have high quality of services and goods had higher market share,
higher return on investment and asset turnover than companies with perceived low
and “repurchase intentions” of both existing and potential customers. Now, since service
intentions” of both existing and potential customers then simply put, service quality
On the other hand, (1999) said that customer criteria determine the definition of
quality and the variables that affect perceptions of quality, although these variables
could accordingly with circumstance, experience, and time. Accordingly, the total
perceived value of service comes from two sources: first, customers perceive value that
originates from the service act itself; and second, customers perceive value that
case of customers leaving a restaurant or hotel, that is, before a customer leaves a
restaurant or a hotel, they are typically asked if they are satisfied or not with the kind of
service they received; if their answer is a “no”, it is typically assumed that the service
was poor.
waitresses) recognition of the fact that at times, even the best service efforts they give
are criticised because there are times that the customer's perceptions of the service are
clouded by the customers’ present state of mind, such as if they are in a bad mood or
have had a disagreement with someone just before arriving at the restaurant ( 1998).
customer needs is the single most critical issue and determinant of service quality”,
customers because of its intangible nature – and this complexity triggers the complexity
of controlling or managing service quality. That is, since evaluation of service quality
tends to focus more on its intangible aspect as compared to the more tangible aspect,
this creates difficulty on the evaluators’ part because there isn’t any actual product
involved and the quality of services is measured through the way it is being delivered by
the service employee. The intangibility of services and the simultaneity of service
production and consumption make it complicated for customers to evaluate the quality
( 1987; 1985; , 1985) had already deduced that measuring service quality is difficult
because it involves too many intangible aspects that are complex to quantify.
between perceptions of a service and expectations for that service that should be used
Nevertheless, many still believe that certain models can measure the amount of
satisfaction that a customer need. In this lieu, two measurement models have been
The roots of the SERVQUAL can be traced back way back in 1978, when (1978)
argued that service is a complex bundle of explicit and implicit attributes, comprising the
peripheral services. In the later years, the SERVQUAL model of (1988) was developed,
tangibles, which include the physical appearance of people and facilities; empathy; and,
responsiveness). The SERVQUAL Model involves the Gap Analysis. A gap analysis
helps to identify the causes of service quality shortfalls in each or all of the dimensions.
needs; past experience; and, communications put out by the service company ( 1985).
On the other hand, conjoint analysis is a method for measuring consumers’
trade-offs among product attributes, including service attributes and service dimensions
better measures to service attributes and can cover and measure large numbers of
attributes depending on the type of conjoint analysis to be used ( 2000). For large
the traditional conjoint analysis can be used (2000). In this type of analysis “the
alternatives which are displayed as list or profiles of attribute” (2000). The responses
will then be analysed to be able to estimate the relative importance of attributes and to
be able to build positive models of consumer preference for new alternatives (2000).
Although standards and quality are two different words, there is perhaps a
A company that answers to the customer’s demand acquires benefits such as:
greater market share, higher growth rate, premium price, loyal customers, and highly
motivated employees (1974). Because quality is the main ingredient in a product that
that perceived quality is based on the perception of the customers. In fact, consumers
today are more willing to pay for quality (1990). Because of this demand for quality, a
standard should thus be set to prevent deviation from the quality that is needed globally.
The standard serves as a guide to organisations on what the customers want because it
An example of a standard that can influence quality is the ISO standards (e.g.
ISO 9000 and ISO 9000:2000) because these standards helps in the process control of
the conduct through the documentation or “feedback” that it generates to keep the
process in control ( 1995). (2004) explained that the key elements in ISO’s definition
governance, but it is more explicit than most social norms; and it differs from a
untested on many industries. Nevertheless, even though there are several research that
demonstrate ISO standards’ negative results (i.e. that the implementation of the
standards may result in the development of a static quality system, which increases
documented procedures may discourage critical thinking, while in many cases process
implemented badly) ( 1994; 1995; 1994), there are also research on the ISO standards
that enforced their beneficial sides (1993; 1994; 1993; 1991; 1997).
Further, during these times of continuous change and global competition, several
factors such as leanness, flexibility, adaptability and a capacity for differentiation are
deemed necessary for business survival but companies are restricted by the need to
conform by the sanctions of standards such as ISO standards (1999). Thus, in such
situations, standard bodies (or those who regulate companies by applying standards)
should accordingly use extreme caution and deal with specific problems that emerge
daily and with increasing frequency in this constantly changing world (1999).
In high-contact systems customers can influence the time of demand, the exact
nature of the service, and the quality of service ( 1979). If consumers somehow become
quality of the service experience will likely be enhanced for the customer and the
organizational activities can gain competitive advantage through greater sales volume,
expenses, and enhanced customer loyalty ( 1979; 1990). Customers who actively
order to practice quality customer service. From customer studies to the application of
information technology, several international businesses have confirmed that putting
quality into customer service results to positive outcomes. While the benefits of quality
customer service have already been recognized, it is important to consider that quality
Along with the changing business world, customers change as well, becoming
more demanding and knowledgeable than before. In turn, company management had
centered. Rethinking and reformulating the organization on the other hand, entail the
environment as well as the success factors of people ( 2000). Hence, in order to bring
out exceptional customer services within the company operations, the management
heavily on the management. While some company management send their employees
employees results to a significant effect on the quality of customer service they deliver.
The level of commitment the management provides for instance has a direct impact to
common mistake for most management to think that they are highly committed in
servicing the customers with quality when in fact their commitment is only based on
CRM aids the organization to stay abreast of its customers’ needs and concerns. In
time and appropriately to their customers’ calls. The approach on CRM covers all
enhance and retain its customers. Indeed, at present, CRM is regarded as the
Through this understanding, companies are able to establish deeper and more
customer demands and needs. As every customer need is different from another,
services’ characteristics and delivery systems. Second, one must identify the amount of
judgment that can be exercised by the customer contact personnel in defining the
concepts are standardized while others are able to provide various alternatives and
options (1980).
Some class of services does not only require a high level of customization but
also needs customer contact personnel to deliver the services to the customers. This
type of service provision is also known as prescriptive, where the focus of control is
transferred from the user to the provider. Professional services of the hospitality industry
as well as accounting, medicine, law and architecture are included in this category.
satisfy individual customer needs. This is one of the reasons why literature on service
industry pertains to the interaction between the service provider and the customer as
the reception they receive from the customers. Hence, hospitality personnel must have
serve as a mediator between the clientele and the structure of the industry. This role is
very much significant in obtaining the desired results of both the customers and the
business. In satisfying the wishes of the customers, the ethical and psychological
evidence that clients appreciate actual interaction with people; thus, the treatment
clients should receive from service providers must be different from what they receive
on daily routines.
makes it different from manufactured products. However, while interpersonal skills are
learned from, hospitality and customer service programs, the effectiveness and the
quality of service provided should go beyond eye contact and warm greetings (2001).
The generation of customer satisfaction should then be produced out of effort and good
rapport. Most people equate customer service with personal interaction, while few of
them realize the complexity of business systems involve in it. Without these helpful
systems, the smile or the warm greeting service employees provide will lead to minimal
results.
quality that strives for near perfection. The program constitutes a collection of methods
process through the use of disciplined and data-driven approach and methodology used
deals. Using the definition of quality in terms of value rather than in terms of defects, six
sigma quality management programs involves a general approach and a search for
internal and external customers and suppliers by integrating the business environment,
array of management system throughout the organization, geared to ensure that the
customer service, and others to focus on meeting customer needs and organizational
objectives (2000).
The best product and service providers continuously update and upgrade their
service deliveries in order to answer the demands of their customers. Customers have
the ever-increasing demand on getting their hands into the products which can lead to
change in business establishment if expectations are not met. Business firms invest on
researches that will define their target customer groups that they believed they could
serve best. Every business person is determined to know what kind of work they would
and would not do for their customers and, in turn, they carefully learn how to fulfill the
needs of each kind of customer in their target markets. (1996) emphasized the idea to
take advantage of the competitive situation not just by being better in how that product
gets sold, serviced, and marketed at the customer interface. It requires that companies
create breakthroughs in how they interact with customers, and design a way of
Also known as the value of receiving people wholeheartedly and treating them
attributable to the common conception that the value of attracting potential clients is
fact, the hospitality industry by itself is recognized as multi-billion dollar and still
progressing industry (1998). While this industry enables the provision of vast services
for the clients, work opportunities are also diverse. Indeed, the provisions of the industry
for the customers are as unlimited as its opportunities for employees. People are able to
work is different areas of interest while still be in a job within the industry. At present,
more workers are employed in service provision than in manufacturing, indicating the
In fact, about eight out of ten workers in China are in various sectors of the
care. In the China seventy percent of the country’s gross national product is covered by
service industries. By 2012, it is expected that this percentage will increase to ninety
percent (2004). Likewise, hospitality industry is among the major economic forces in the
UK as its enables growth and creation of job opportunities. According to the (2002), the
business has employed over 1.8 million workers who were distributed within 300,000
hospitality establishments, totaling to revenue generation of more than £64 billion. From
these records, hospitality has indeed become one of the most competitive businesses in
the world.
The intense rivalry in the hotel industry is probable to carry on increasing ( 2000).
Therefore, competition could bring about excess capability in the market. Moreover,
hotel managers are challenged with deterioration in leisure and business travel, stern
this framework, continued existence and productivity are indispensable and the
administration of revenue has developed into one manner to deal with this.
External Analysis
create and strengthen business relationships. While, these advantages are valuable
and essential to businesses, an owner may find himself in the midst of disaster as
of the oldest industries there is. This is because, long before the use of the term
hospitality management, people are already traveling for leisure or work purposes; they
are already going out to eat or shop. However, as the world continues to change, the
hospitality industry had started to grow and become more diversified. Considering the
accessibility and improvement hospitality services had undergone, the industry indeed
and tourism, and recreation. All of these aspects, although different, are related to one
involves a wide range of planning, organizing and controlling human and material
resources within the business of providing an avenue of good reception and hospitality
to customers (1998). The hospitality industry is said to be one of the oldest industries
that ever existed. People always had the need for a place to stay when traveling to far
places an individuals or groups often prefer eating outside than cooking at home.
instruments of total quality control. The instruments of total quality control shape a
(1988), and (1985) identified four empirically derived doctrines of Japanese total quality
control. The first is to have knowledge of the customer orientation. The subsequent
process is the customer the theory intends the company to consider aspects of the
industry in the eyes of the customer. Another is to supervise by fact, and utilize
statistical techniques so as to acquire objective and precise results. The third aspect is
involving process performance (actual results) and targets. And lastly, the theory
intends the company to have reverence for humanity, and employ participatory
specifically that employees can have a say to customer satisfaction and quality
stories. The seven basic quality-control instruments takes account of flow charts,
histograms, run graphs and control diagrams, scatter graphs, and stratification. The
systematic tables, matrixes, matrix data analysis, process decision program chart
(PDPC) study, and arrow figures. The advanced instruments contain design of
Internal Analysis
organizing directing and regulating human and material resources. These activities are
performed within the restaurant, travel and tourism, lodging, recreational management,
Though separated, these sectors are actually related to hospitality industry as they all
aim to provide generous and kind services to the customers (1998). The hospitality
industry basically involves hotels and other forms of accommodations, fast food outlets,
bars, retail stores, restaurants. These diverse segments of the hospitality industry made
the business grow and eventually into a highly competitive global business (2003)
Hospitality management has been a highly significant priority as it involves all the
with their clients and prospects. A good corporate hospitality program is beneficial as it
strengthens the relationship shared between the sponsor and its chief constituencies.
Hospitality management enables companies to spend time with them away from the
stress and pressure of the business, creating an environment that is conducive for
The continuing transformation from the traditional industrial framework with its
itself. Considering alternatives and ideals on the relationship between and among
employers and employees resulted to more adaptable pool of skilled staff members and
customers by applying and exhausting the resources available to the company should
behaviors of customers towards the products and services provided should be likewise
examined. Innovate, improve, and develop. It should be realized that the direct
relationship of quality to customer satisfaction is an accepted fact that can either make
reports and feedbacks that the company will acquire in reviewing the firm’s performance
to evaluate and assess the business operation and thus, should be similarly
understood.
Chapter 3
This chapter will be dedicated to the description of the methods and procedures
done in order to obtain the data, how they will be analyzed, interpreted, and how the
conclusion will be met. This section is to justify the means in which the study was
obtained and will help in giving it purpose and strength as it will then be truthful and
analytical. All these will help in the processing of the data and the formulation of
conclusions.
Specifically, this research will cover the following: the research design and
method, the respondents or subjects to be studied (which will include the sampling
method), the data collection instrument, and the data analysis. These will be presented
below.
Research Design
The research design chosen both qualitative and quantitative research, which
uses explanatory methods in describing the variables wherein the data, situations, or
other facts collected will be explained or correlated with other data. It is especially useful
when conducting a study wherein the data are immeasurable, such as feelings, beliefs,
thoughts, and others (2000). Furthermore, the study will be descriptive as it will focus
on the conditions set and the nature that surrounds the data and does not focus on the
In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies
for this study, the research process “onion” is used. This is because conducting a
research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central
issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions
and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the
researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be
interviews, thoughts on this question should belong to the centre of the research ‘onion’.
(2003) That is, in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the data needed to
answer one’s research questions, there are important layers of the onion that need to
be peeled away: the first layer raises the question of the research philosophy to adopt,
the second considers the subject of research approach that flows from the research
philosophy, the third examines the research strategy most applicable, the fourth layer
refers to the time horizon a researcher applies to his research, and the fifth layer is the
The Respondents
usually thought of to have the power over who the respondents of the study will be.
Such a task would have been easier, except a researcher cannot simply choose out of
whim; the subjects must be selected carefully with the intention of having subjects who
each posses characteristics that, when put together, will represent a community. It is not
only themselves whom these subjects will represent, but the bigger whole or the whole
population. The characteristics which the researcher has chosen them for will determine
which part of the community they belong and what part of the community they are
representing. Thus, the choosing of the subjects must be based on their characteristics.
In this study, it is necessary to collect information from hotel managers, staff and
hotel customers. The respondents will come from five different five star hotel in China
(i.e. Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental Grand Hotel and
Shangri-la). These hotels had criteria before they were chosen: they all implement
service quality.
For the sampling, stratified sampling will be used. To be able to use this, the
researcher must first divide the subjects into groups, which was done through
classifying which hotel these respondents belonged to i.e. Hilton Hotel in Beijing, Kunlun
Hotel, Sheraton Tiajin, Continental Grand Hotel and Shangri-la. Because of standard
service quality procedures, details and report about service quality and customer
satisfaction results were not immediately obtained, thus setting the target date forward a
little. However, the list was finally released and from that list, the researcher did some
random sampling which will satisfy the requirements by arbitrarily choosing such
names to be done.
After choosing these people, the researcher then has to present or distribute the
questionnaires to the hotel managers and staff. Ten questionnaires were distributed
each per hotel. The respondents were given some time before these questionnaires
were collected. Each hotel had the return rate of the following: 9, 8, 9, 7, 9, 10, 10, 8,
10 and 10. Thus, the total number of respondents is 90, which makes up the 90%.
In order to obtain the desired data, the researcher has chosen to use the
primary research data, which is to collect firsthand the data to be used for the outcome
of the research. In able to do this, the researcher must have a data collection instrument
to be presented to the respondents. Thus, the researchers have chosen obtaining data
page and distributing it to the respondents, expecting them to return the paper with their
answers on it. This is easier than other methods of data-collection (e.g., interview,
observation, etc.) as particular details may be hard to talk about during interviews and
The advantage of using the questionnaires method is that the respondents have
time to think of their answers, thus allowing smaller rate of errors. Also, concerning
delicate matters, the respondents may feel more at ease when answering
questionnaires as they are not required to speak with someone else in order to give
information. The disadvantage of the questionnaire method is when the respondents are
unable to read or write; then the questionnaire will be rendered useless by the
respondents as they may need interpreters for the questionnaires. Thus, in case such
that unlikely event may happen, then the researcher will have no choice but to quickly
switch to the interview method, wherein the researcher will be allowed to interact with
the respondent and ask the questions based on the prepared questionnaire.
To determine the perception of the respondents about the service quality and customer
satisfaction, the researcher prepared a survey-questionnaire. The respondents graded
each statement in the survey-questionnaire using a Likert scale with a five-response
scale wherein respondents were given five response choices. The equivalent weights
for the answers were:
Range Interpretation
The decision was made to use a questionnaire for the data collection for this
project due to the sensitivity of the information being obtained. It is important for the
respondents to be open and honest in their responses. The use of the questionnaire
provides the project owner with the ability to test the views and attitudes of the
respondents. The questionnaire was designed to allow the collection of specific
information about the participants to conduct statistical analysis, e.g. age, sex, social
status and society class.
In the interview, open-ended questions were used to obtain as much information as
possible about how the interviewee feels about the research topic. Interviews took
between one and two hours. The questions being used during the interview have been
based on the research questions for this project; they have been reviewed, refined and
approved by the project supervisor. The researcher designed a semi-structured
interview. Here, the researcher encouraged the interviewee to clarify vague statements
and to further elaborate on brief comments. The interviewer did not share his/her own
beliefs and opinions.
Data Collection
organizational setting. Both technical articles and “how to” articles were
2. One to one interview with the respondents. The interviews shall focus on
3. Focus group discussion with the management and staff of the five chosen five
star hotels. During the interviews participants will be asked about their
perspective hotels.
4. A survey will be conducted with another set of respondents in order to
investigate their satisfaction when using the services of the chosen five star
hotels
Data Analysis
In order to correctly interpret the data in such a way that its result will reflect
what the study originally intends to show then the researcher must employ the correct
and accurate way of data analysis. The method of data analysis then chosen for this
allowing them to be tabulated and analyzed through percentages. Tables may be used
to present these findings in order to show the raw data tabulations and the percentage
Thus, simple statistics can be done and applied, and it will be easier to
determine how school administrators and teacher reacted to standardized tests, the
factors that led to their decisions, and the effectiveness of standardized test to schools’
progress.
Summary of Action
attempt to show a simplified explanation on how the research took place as well as
explain the different stages it underwent. First, there was the choosing of ten schools
where the research was to be conducted, followed by obtaining the list of teachers who
will respond to the survey questionnaire and hotel managers were interviewed. These
possible candidates were randomly chosen with 10 recipients being chosen per hotel to
answer the questionnaire. The rate of return was high as 90% per hospital returned to
Once finished, the researcher attempted to collate the data through simple data
analysis, which involved the grouping of respondents to the hotels and thus being able