Does Training Influence Organisational Prformance in Hotel Sector

European Journal of Training and Development
Does training influence organisational performance?: Analysis of the Spanish hotel sector
Mercedes Ubeda-Garca Bartolom Marco-Lajara Vicente Sabater-Sempere Francisco Garca-Lillo
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EJTD
37,4
Does training influence

organisational performance?
Analysis of the Spanish hotel sector
380
Received 12 October 2012
Revised 20 December 2012
Accepted 16 February 2013
Mercedes Ubeda-Garca, Bartolome Marco-Lajara,

Vicente Sabater-Sempere and Francisco Garca-Lillo
Department of Business Management, University of Alicante, Alicante, Spain
Abstract
Purpose The aim of the paper is to identify which variables of training policy have a significant
and positive impact on organisational performance.
Design/methodology/approach A targeted literature review was conducted to identify and
collate a comprehensive range of human resource management and training
conceptualisations/investigations. This was the basis for the approach to contrast hypotheses. The
paper used a sample of Spanish companies and the method of analysis was regression.
Findings The results obtained in this paper do suggest that the training policy positively correlates
with organisational performance, both using objective result measures (productivity and financial
performance) and in the subjective measure of perceived financial performance and in intermediate
result measures.
Research limitations/implications The study was confined to the analysis of a single Spanish
region, and specifically referred to its hotel industry, which means that the results obtained must be
situated within that specific context examined. To this must be added that the data were collected from
a single source (CEOs) and, of course, it would have been more appropriate to use data from multiple
sources.
Originality/value From an academic point-of-view, the research initiative presented here is placed
within the new line of development for research into training and performance that tries to overcome
the restrictions faced in other publications, trying to go one step further in the search for more specific
connections between human resources and performance. From a practical viewpoint, this research
work could help hotel entrepreneurs in two ways: first, by providing evidence that the resources
allocated by hotel firms to the training of their staff have a positive impact on their profit levels; and
second, by showing which variables should be considered to achieve this relationship.
Keywords Training, Business performance, Human resources outcomes, Hotel industry, Spain
Paper type Research paper
European Journal of Training and

Development
Vol. 37 No. 4, 2013
pp. 380-413
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2046-9012
DOI 10.1108/03090591311319780
Introduction
The knowledge and skills possessed by an organisations workforce are becoming
more and more important to its performance competitiveness. The significant role that
human resource management can play in allowing a firm to remain competitive has
been increasingly recognised by scholars and practitioners alike in recent years.
Workplace learning and continuous improvement are now considered essential for an
organisation to remain competitive (Salas and Cannon-Bowers, 2001). According to
Kraiger (2003), successful organisations invest more in training and development than
unsuccessful ones. Human resources have become an important source of competitive
advantage in a world that is moving towards a knowledge-based economy (Pena and
Villasalero, 2010). Such arguments acquire even more relevance among service sector
firms. In this respect, Altinay and Altinay (2006) argue that service organisations need
intangible knowledge-based resources i.e. human capital to achieve a sustainable
competitive advantage within an industry characterised by its customers
ever-changing needs and expectations. Only well-trained, knowledgeable employees
can allow firms to offer superior guest experiences. Human capital (knowledge, skills
and behaviour) strengthens the importance of people-related competences that are
ultimately connected to the firms success (Altinay and Altinay, 2006; Wright and
McMahan, 1994) and, therefore, effective human resource management (HRM) and
training can be regarded as a new competitiveness area for small service firms.
The substantial yearly outlay made by firms on formal training and development
programmes is based on the expectation that their training investments will mean an
improvement in organisational performance or results (Dolezalek, 2005). Even though
training is only one of the instruments for employee learning, it is necessary to examine
the training investment evidence in order to know the extent to which training actually
pays off in terms of organisational effectiveness.
Criticism of training often stems from its vision as something faddish and
excessively expensive that does not transfer to the specific job or improve the bottom
line (Caudron, 2002; Kraiger et al., 2004). Training is also viewed as a cost centre that
needs to be controlled or downsized during lean times.
It consequently becomes necessary to look deeper into the relationship between
training policy and business results with a view to empirically confirm that investment
in training does have positive effects on business competitiveness and effectiveness. In
this respect, many of the empirical studies carried out during the 1990s and 2000s
supported the existence of a link between training policy and business results,
including the seminal works of Arthur (1994), Huselid (1995) and Delery and Doty
(1996), as well as those written by Boselie et al. (2005) and Combs et al. (2006).
Researchers have largely focused on the manufacturing sector so far. The literature
also highlights that most of the studies dedicated to the relationship between HRM and
firm performance come from the USA and the UK. Nevertheless, although HRM is
widely assumed to be positively related to organisational performance, additional
empirical evidence is clearly needed to support the HRM-performance link (Gerhart,
2005), as are investigations from different contexts (Ericksen and Dyer, 2005; Wright
et al., 2003). Furthermore, the service sector has traditionally been overlooked in HRM
research (Sisson, 1993; Lucas, 1996; Hoque, 1999a) because it was seen as a very
heterogeneous sector comprising such diverse areas as financial companies, retailing
operations, transport operations, and hospitality (Hoque, 1999b). This heterogeneity
became a serious obstacle to researchers and no attempts to investigate the service
sector could bear fruit unless specific control variables were properly developed and a
representative sample of organisations within the service sector was selected (Hoque,
1999a). In contrast, Cappelli and Neumark (2001) argue that investigating HRM in a
single industry has advantages.
Considering the above, the assumption that one set of HR practices will work
equally well regardless of the context seems rather unlikely (Gerhart, 2005); more
research is needed both in the service sector and in other contexts. Focusing research
not only on other countries but also on other non-manufacturing services can largely
help to fill this gap and deepen the knowledge of the relationship between HRM and
organisational performance. The present research seeks to establish the connection
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between training and business performance within the hotel industry of the Valencian
Autonomous Region (the third most important Spanish region as far as tourism is
concerned). Its aim is to check the extent to which the premises confirming the link
between training and firm performance are fulfilled in the Spanish hotel industry, and,
if that is the case, to identify the training policy aspects that contribute to the existence
of that link.
The paper is structured as follows. An initial theoretical review serves the purpose
of identifying the main models that relate training and performance, the study
perspectives about human resource strategic management, and their implications for
training policy. This review will additionally permit the formulation of not only the
theoretical model to be contrasted, but also the working hypotheses. A description of
our methodology follows, starting with a contextualisation of the specific territory
where the research work took place, the population that constituted the study object,
the process through which the sample was obtained and the information collection
method, after which the measures for variables used and the information analysis
method will be established. The paper concludes with a discussion of results followed
by a reference to the limitations faced and the future research lines derived from the
present study along with a summary of the main conclusions.
Literature review and hypothesis development
Human resource management in the hotel industry
This main purpose of this section is to describe how human resource management is
approached in an undoubtedly labour-intensive sector like the hotel industry. Its
success depends on the social and technical skills of its personnel, their ingenuity and
hard work, their commitment and their attitude (Anastassova and Purcell, 1995). It is
also true that the effective utilisation of human resources can give an organisation its
competitive edge in a labour-intensive industry (Schneider and Bowen, 1993; Mohinder
and Vinay, 2001). Nevertheless, despite the importance of human capital within this
industry, numerous authors highlight the fact that its human resource management is
not sufficiently developed and, more importantly, it is regarded as a low-priority
function for the business. That explains why the hotel industry lags behind other
sectors in this field (Price, 1994; Lucas, 1996).
Furthermore, hotel industry jobs are very often associated with negative features,
such as poor conditions, low pay, high staff turnover, problems in recruiting skills in a
number of key areas, a high level of labour drawn from socially disadvantaged groups,
poor status, absence of professionalism, etc. To this must be added that most of these
jobs correspond to front-line staff, who should precisely be the best paid, best trained
and most highly motivated employees so that they can offer customers a quality
service. However, these workers are actually the worst paid and least trained in tourist
firms (Guerrier and Lockwood, 1989; Deery and Jago, 2002). This apparent paradox has
been confirmed by various authors. For example, Mayhew and Keep (1999) mentioned
the following problems in tourist and hospitality HRM:
.
low wages;
.
over-representation of women and ethnic minorities in low-level operative
positions;
.
non-existent career structures;
.
.
.
.
over-reliance on informal recruitment methods;

employee recruitment and retention difficulties;
high labour turnover levels; and
lack of evidence of good HRM practices.
Similarly, MacDonald and Sirianni (1996) described two kinds of service jobs:
(1) large numbers of low-skilled, low-paid jobs; and
(2) a smaller number of high-skilled, high-income jobs, with few jobs located in
between.
Along the same lines, many empirical studies have revealed the poor employment
conditions in the tourism and hospitality sector, suggesting that HRM philosophy is
hardly followed and showing doubts about the consideration of human resources as a
source of competitive advantage in this industry (Kelliher and Johnson, 1997; Kelliher
and Perrent, 2001; McGunnigle and Jameson, 2000; Wilton, 2008; Smith et al., 2011).
Some authors like Gallardo et al. (2010) analysed the problems related to staff
recruitment and retention. In turn, Wood (1997) pointed out that the tourism industry
predominantly employs marginal workers, such as women, young workers, casual
employees, students, part-timers and migrant workers (Obadic and Maric, 2009).
Quite a different issue is whether these marginal workers among whom stand
out women and ethnic minorities have the same possibilities to reach managerial
posts or, instead, are confined to operational jobs. According to Mayling (2003),
Mooney and Ryan (2009) and Pinar et al. (2011) the number of women in tourism and
hospitality management positions appears disproportionally low with respect to the
overall level of female representation within the workforce even though women and
men of course have the same conditions to become effective business managers (Marco,
2012). This is why diversity management has been attracting more and more interest
among researchers recently (Burges et al., 2009; Devine et al., 2007; Kamenou, 2012;
Merilainen et al., 2009; Verbeek, 2012).
As for the reasons explaining these results, scholars highlight the following:
.
The predominance of SMEs (which lack the necessary means to implement good
human resource strategies) in tourism and hospitality.
.
Economic determinism (Riley et al., 2000) or the prevalence of the hard version
in human resource practices, which entails a short-term perspective on
managerial decision-making and strategy and ultimately the adoption of a
low-cost strategy (Guerrier and Lockwood, 1989; Hales and Tamangani, 1996). In
fact, many authors have demonstrated in their studies that the salaries of the
aforementioned marginal workers are lower (Garca-Pozo et al., 2012; Thrane,
2007).
.
Fluctuating demand, labour market characteristics, etc.
Nevertheless, some publications have shown an interest in investigating the impact of
suitable human resource management on hotel performance. These studies were
conducted over the past decade in domestic or multinational hotels in the USA
(Conrade et al., 1994; Ingram, 1996; Ingram and Baum, 1997; Chung and Kalnins, 2001),
New Zealand (Haynes and Fryer, 2000), Australia (Timo, 1999; Cheng and Brown, 1998;
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Timo and Davidson, 2002; Davidson et al., 2006), the UK (Worsfold, 1999; Price, 1994;
Lucas, 1996; Kelliher and Johnson, 1997; Hoque, 1999a, 2000; McGunnigle and Jameson,
2000; Watson et al., 2007), Singapore (Cheng and Brown, 1998), Bulgaria (Anastassova
and Purcell, 1995), Ireland (Nolan, 2002; Garavan et al., 2002), Slovakia (Lucas et al.,
2004), Barbados (Alleyne et al., 2006) and India (Singh, 2003).
Our purpose in the present research study focuses on analysing the extent to which
the implementation of a suitable training policy positively influences business
performance within a sample of Spanish hotels. The next section reviews the most
important studies dedicated to that relationship.
Theoretical models for the relationship between training and organisational
performance
The literature on strategic human resource management (SHRM) provides a number of
models that explain how training might lead to organisational outcomes, namely:
.
the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm;
.
the behavioural perspective; and
.
so-called cybernetic system models.
According to the resource-based view of the firm, the resources available to an
organisation can be a source of competitive advantage when it owns resources that add
positive value to the firm, that are unique and imperfectly imitable, and cannot be
substituted with another comparable resource by competitors (Barney, 1991).
Accordingly, human capital appears to be a resource that can provide a competitive
advantage insofar as human resource practices produce skilled employees who add
value to the firm and have unique inimitable skills (Wright and McMahan, 1994; Lepak
and Snell, 1999). The application of the resource based-view to training suggests that
the latter can be viewed as an investment in human capital that gives employees
unique knowledge, skills and abilities that not only add value to the firm, but also
enable the performance of activities required to achieve its organisational goals, thus
having a positive effect on business performance too (Ubeda-Garca, 2005).
The behavioural perspective pays attention to employee role behaviour as a
mediator between strategy and firm performance. Human resource practices should
thus elicit and reinforce the behaviours required by the organisations strategy. It is
necessary to identify which HR practices prove most effective in eliciting desired role
behaviours (Schuler and Jackson, 1987; Miles and Snow, 1984). Desired role behaviours
should then lead to positive organisational outcomes. The application of the
behavioural perspective to training suggests that training will result in positive
organisational outcomes insofar as it leads to employee behaviours suited to the
organisations strategy.
The last theoretical framework is represented by a set of models, known as
cybernetic system models or input-throughput-output models. Open system models
portray organisations transforming inputs from the environment into outputs. Wright
and McMahan (1992) present a cybernetic open system HR model where inputs include
employees knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs); the throughput corresponds to
employee behaviours; and output consists of productivity, satisfaction and turnover.
The cybernetic approach materialises in an open model for the HR system with
employee competences (inputs) leading to behaviours (throughputs), which in turn lead
to affective and performance outcomes (outputs). Of course, this transformation

process can only take place if employees are highly motivated and committed to the
organisations goals. Chalofsky (2008) explained it very clearly: a humane organisation
is a workplace living a value-based culture, caring about employees, caring about the
organisational mission, and committed to work, play, and community involvement. In
addition, a humane organisation has a service-oriented culture and tailors to the
specific individual needs of employees (treating employees as human beings with their
own personal values, goals, and needs). Dimitrovs (2009, 2010, 2012) works about the
sources of meaningfulness for hospitality employees equally deserve to be highlighted
in this respect.
When applied to training, cybernetic models suggest that training produces
organisational outcomes insofar as it leads to the competences (i.e. knowledge, skills
and abilities) needed to perform a behaviour which can impact on organisational
outcomes.
On the other hand, the literature on SHRM not only shows the aforementioned
theoretical models, it also provides alternative approaches to the link between HR
practices and organisational-level outcomes, which are often referred to as
universalistic, contingent and configurational perspectives these approaches can
equally explain different types of connections between training and
organisational-level outcomes.
The most basic approach is the universalistic one, based on which a number of
authors claim that some staff management practices are better than others. For
instance, Russell et al. (1985), along with Tersptra and Rozell (1993), identify
connections between selection, training and productivity; Bartel (1994), together with
Knoke and Kalleberg (1994), concludes that organisations that apply formal training
programmes improve their productivity; finally, Delaney and Huselid (1996) find
empirical evidence for the hypothesis according to which human resource practices
affecting employee skills, motivation and work structure positively correlate with
organisational results. Following this universalistic approach, those organisations that
provide more extensive training will definitely be more effective (Appelbaum et al.,
2000; Bae and Lawler, 2000; Batt, 2002; Gelade and Ivery, 2003; Saa and Garca-Falcon,
2004; Bartel, 1994; Wright et al., 2003).
Instead, supporters of the contingent perspective claim that training policies and,
consequently, their objectives clearly depend on the strategic orientation followed by
each specific firm (Schuler and Jackson 1987; Schuler et al., 1989; Miles and Snow, 1984;
Hussey, 1985). This view is shared by other authors such as Huselid (1995), Delery and
Doty (1996), Bae and Lawler (2000), Khatri (2000), Guthrie et al. (2002), Chan et al. (2004)
or Pena and Villasalero (2010). As far as training is concerned, the contingent
perspective suggests that extensive formal training will prove most effective when
used in combination with certain organisational strategies.
In accordance with the configurational perspective, a number of ideal HR practice
types or configurations can materialise in HR systems with a better performance
(Ostroff and Bowen, 2000). HR practices must be complementary and interdependent
within the context of high-performance systems, working together to develop value
and unique human capacities that can improve organisational effectiveness (Arthur,
1992, 1994; MacDuffie and Kochan, 1995; Youndt et al., 1996; Delery and Doty, 1996;
Hoque, 1999a; Alleyne et al., 2006; Vlachos, 2008). With regard to training, the
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configurational perspective suggests that it will enhance organisational effectiveness

to a greater extent if used in conjunction with other complementary HR practices, and
not on its own. Therefore, when firms invest in training, training must be consistent
with other practices:
.
careful screening of applicants for potential and trainability;
.
practices meant to decrease turnover;
.
use of promotion from within and internal labour markets;
.
adoption of performance-contingent incentive systems;
.
broad definition of jobs; and
.
provision of opportunities for employee participation (Baron and Kreps, 1999;
Lepak and Snell, 1999).
Our decision to adopt the universalistic approach in the present research study was
based on the fact that most of the studies devoted to a single human resource policy
have used this approach. Furthermore, the findings of Hoque (1999a) reveal that HRM
is universally relevant within the UK hotel industry.
After analysing the theoretical background that provides the basis for the study of
training policy, attention will now be paid to the research into human resource
management that has applied the universalistic approach. The research work carried
out by such outstanding authors as Ichniowski et al. (1997), Delaney and Huselid
(1996), Koch and McGrath (1996), Huselid (1995), Delery and Doty (1996), Bartel (1994)
and Russell et al. (1985) shows that the universalistic perspective finds empirical
support when independent human resource management practices are used. In other
words, a number of excellent or universalistic practices seem to have a consistently
significant and positive impact on organisational performance.
The aforesaid studies have also come under strong criticism especially for the
heterogeneity of practices selected as excellent. The works of Delaney and Huselid
(1995), Delery and Doty (1996), Koch and McGrath (1996), Ichniowski et al. (1997),
Pfeffer (1994, 1998), Becker and Gerhart (1996), Tharenou et al. (2007) can be consulted
in relation to this. Nevertheless, all these research works actually present training
policy as a universalistic practice (Table I lists the most representative studies where
training appears as an excellent practice).
Training has been conceptualised and measured in four main ways. On the whole,
the measurement of training has comprised absolute measures (e.g. amount of training
received by employees), proportional measures (e.g. percentage of trained workers),
content measures (e.g. type of training provided), and emphasis-related measures
(e.g. perceived importance of training within the organisation). Training measurement
varies across these categories. For example, absolute training measures have been
quantified as total training time (hours or days), total budget money allocated to
training, total number of trained workers or presence/absence of training as a
categorical variable.
Firms have traditionally based their approach to training on the transmission of the
abilities, skills and knowledge needed to perform the current job. However, in our
opinion, proper training should inevitably pay attention to workers attitudes in
addition to all the above. Therefore, the objective of training i.e. developing the
organisations human capital must consist in the transmission not only of techniques
Author/study
Sample
size
Aragon-Sanchez et al.
(2003)
Ballot et al. (2006)
457
Barret and OConnell

(2001)
Bartel (1994)
215
Bernthal and Wellins

(2006)
Black and Lynch
(1996)
Cho et al. (2006)

Delaney and Huselid
(1996)
Faems et al. (2005)
Ghebregiorgis and
Karsten (2007)
350
495
127
2,945
78
590
416
82
Guerrero and
Barraud-Didiere
(2004)
Ichiniowski et al.
(1997)
180
Kintana et al. (2006)
956
Koch and McGrath

(1996)
Ng and Siu (2004)
319
Rodrguez and
Ventura (2003)
Ubeda-Garca (2005)
120
Zheng et al. (2006)

Munoz and Salinero
(2011)
36
485
78
74
118
Response rate
(per cent)
Firm performance
Training has positive effects on quality (five
items, a 0:73).
Archival data Training has positive effects on value added per
worker
33.5
General training has a significant positive effect
on productivity growth (r 0:14 * *)
Archival data Implementation of formal training raised
productivity by 6 per cent per year
Convenience Training has positive effects on operating cash
sample
flow/net sales, operating cash flow/total assets,
profit margin, ROA, ROE
64
10 per cent increase in average education will lead
to an 8.5 per cent increase in productivity in
manufacturing and a 12.7 per cent increase in nonmanufacturing
36
Training has positive effects on turnover, labour
productivity and ROA
65
Training has positive effects on firm performance
(r 0:06 *) and market share (r 0:19 * *)
28
Training has positive effects on net profitability
(r 0:10), voluntary turnover (r 0:03) and
productivity (r 0:15 * *)
42
Training has positive effects on sales per
employee (r 0:01), grievances (r 0:05),
voluntary turnover (r 0:25) and absenteeism
(r 0:01)
12
Training has positive effects on productivity
(r 0:02), objective profitability (r 0:04) and
product and service quality (r 0:10)
60
Training has positive effects on production line
uptime and overall customer satisfaction
(r 0:44)
17
Training has positive effects on productivity
(r 0:04)
7
Training has positive effects on sales per
employee
62
1 per cent increase in marginal training induced
an increase in sales from 0.13 per cent to 0.32 per
cent
5.4
Training has positive effects on ROA, total sales
growth, sales per employee and turnover
19
Training led to sales per employee, employee
satisfaction (a 0:79), customer satisfaction
(a 0:70), owner/shareholder satisfaction
(a 0:71)
22
Training has positive effects on competence,
turnover, and employee commitment
20.6
Companies which carry out training activities are
more profitable than those which do not
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Table I.
Studies dedicated to the
relationship between
training and
organisational-level
outcomes
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37,4
388
and skills but also of the values through which human beings give sense to their work
and feel at ease inside the organisation. This sense of training is broader than its
classical meaning, as it refers to the complete long-term development of employees
competence; the concept of training that we adopt would therefore approach the
definition of human resource development offered by authors such as Nadler (1970).
Moreover, it is nearer to the human capital theory as well as to the resource-based view
of the firm, since a workforce that, apart from having a multipurpose character, is
socialised, integrated, committed to the firms culture, motivated, etc., cannot be
acquired in the labour market. Instead, it results from slow, incremental processes that
eventually provide the organisation with a competitive advantage that can hardly be
matched by competitors.
Although all the aforementioned studies have proved the importance of training
when it comes to firm performance, the link from training to performance remains a
black box because it is not yet possible to know which training policy variables cause
the strongest impact on business outcomes. That justifies our decision to use the
training processes based on the cybernetic system model in the present paper. Open
system models stress that training must be approached as a sequence of mutually and
closely integrated processes which, apart from being strategically and rationally
developed, fit logically together. The central argument in open system models can be
stated as follows: if a training process stems from an accurate needs analysis which
leads to an effective training design, the development of suitable training methods, and
measurable evaluation criteria, then there are better chances for:
.
the environment (i.e. the organisation) to respond with the desired inputs
(investment); and
.
the training system to offer maximum returns on the organisations training
investment.
An analysis consequently needs to be made for the purpose of identifying the
formative cycle stages which show significant positive results, both in human resource
outcomes and in customer satisfaction, productivity and financial performance[1].
The specific hypotheses to be tested in this research study are listed below:
H1. Training policy will have a positive impact on human resource outcomes
(HRO).
H2. Training policy will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction.
H3. Training policy will have a positive impact on perceived financial
performance.
H4. Training policy will have a positive impact on productivity.
H5. Training policy will have a positive impact on financial performance.
Figure 1 shows the theoretical model used in our paper to describe the relationship
between training policy and organisational performance.
The impact of training on organisational-level outcomes is mediated through the
direct effects caused by training on employee attitudes, behaviours and KSAs (human
resource outcomes).Using Ostroff and Bowens (2000) model was our choice here:
employees collective attitudes, behaviours and social atmosphere (HR outcomes)
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Figure 1.
Theoretical model linking
training and
organisational
performance
should influence organisational performance (customer satisfaction and productivity);

in turn, organisational performance should bring the organisation financial outcomes
(Becker and Huselid, 1998; Dyer and Reeves, 1995), mediating the link between human
resource outcomes and financial performance.
The model suggested is additionally based on a two-fold concept. Firstly, it uses a
stakeholders perspective (Boxall and Purcell, 2003) according to which firm survival
not only depends on financial competitiveness but also on its ability to legitimise its
existence both before society and before relevant organisation stakeholders
(e.g. employees and customers). And secondly, it adopts a shareholders approach to
the concepts of performance that emphasises that HR practices contribute to the
achievement of a sustained competitive advantage through enhanced skills and human
capital. Following this approach, organisations can maintain or create a sustained
competitive advantage though unique, rare, scarce, inimitable and valuable internal
resources. HR is thus a powerful potential internal resource that fits this general
resource-based view idea (Boxall and Purcell, 2003). From this perspective, HR
practices can:
.
increase the value of the human capital pool through its development (e.g. skills
training or general training); and
.
influence employee behaviour in the desired direction.
Therefore, the model assumes the repercussion of training both on an organisational
level (RBV) and individually (AMO framework).
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Methodology
The hotel industry in the Valencian Autonomous Region
This study was performed in the Valencian Autonomous Region, which represents 11
per cent of Spain in terms of population and economic weight although it only
accounts for 4.6 per cent of its surface area. Its 518-kilometre-long coastline more
than 22 per cent of the whole Spanish Mediterranean coast along with its
Mediterranean climate, characterised by mild, dry winters and hot summers with
approximately 100 days of sunshine a year, have allowed the Valencian Region to
develop an important sun and beach tourism infrastructure.
The territory of this Autonomous Region, which ranks third among domestic
tourism destinations and fifth among the favourite destinations of foreign tourists, is
made up of three provinces, namely Alicante, Valencia and Castellon.
Tourism plays a central economic role in both Spain and in the Valencian Region
and has consolidated as a strategic sector not only for its direct impact on the economy
but also for its transversality and the great pull and multiplier effect that it has on
other economic sectors. In fact, tourism generates 12.8 per cent of the regional GDP and
12.07 per cent of its employment and, most importantly, the Valencian tourism sector
accounts for 12 per cent of Spanish GDP.
A sun and beach model oriented to mass demand segments and offered at highly
competitive prices has prevailed in the Valencian Region for a long time. However,
despite continuing to show positive growth rates, a loss of market share has recently
occurred in favour of its main competitors within the sun-and-beach product line
especially Eastern Mediterranean countries with prices below those currently offered in
Spain, which have gradually come close to the prices existing in the tourists countries of
origin. Therefore, Spain in general and the Valencian Region in particular need to
increase their destination attractiveness levels. Two key factors stand out in this respect:
(1) the actual tourism space; and
(2) the variety and competitiveness of tourism product lines.
These factors are our main focus of interest in this paper. Generally speaking, a
destination with a high-quality accommodation supply will become more attractive to
upmarket tourists. Therefore, hotel firms are of paramount importance when it comes
to making progress in the consolidation of new tourism strategies that require certain
changes of paradigm within the business management culture. There is a pressing
need to invest in differentiation elements that can replace price as the most significant
source of competitiveness. Human capital qualification within the organisation
appears as to be main differentiation element.
Sample and data collection
Population. The total population of hotels belonging to the accommodation sector in
the Valencian Autonomous Region was collected from different databases
(e.g. municipal tourism supply, Turespana or the Iberian Balance Analysis System;
SABI to give its Spanish initials). After reviewing the data, the number of firms finally
selected to form part of the population for this survey amounted to 727. It is worth
highlighting that only hotels were taken into consideration for our study, and other
accommodation subsectors such as boarding houses, guesthouses, apartments,
campsites or rural houses did not form part of the survey.
The distribution of the study population by provinces appears in Figure 2; attention

was equally paid to the distribution of establishments by category shown in Table II.
Sample. Sample stratification followed the aforesaid two criteria (province and
establishment category) seeking to ensure that requirements for population strata were
fulfilled within the sample.
A total of 112 firms took part in the study, which accounts for 15.4 per cent of the total
population and an 8.6 per cent sampling error at 95.5 per cent for the survey as a whole.
The sample was finally distributed as follows:
.
58 hotels (51.78 per cent) from Alicante;
.
32 hotels (28.58 per cent) from Valencia; and
.
22 hotels (19.64 per cent) from Castellon.
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391
The average number of employees is 22 and the proportion of permanent employees

amounts to 61.8 per cent; 81.1 per cent of employees in the hotels analysed have a
full-time contract; 90.8 per cent of employees are Spanish; and the average turnover
rate is 16.4 per cent.
Data collection. Data collection was possible through a questionnaire on which a
consensus had been reached previously between experts in the human resource and
training areas and tourism sector professionals. The preparation of a preliminary
questionnaire led to a pre-test with 15 respondents, which made it easier to delimit the
items that were finally included in the questionnaire. This pilot study helped us to
Figure 2.
Territory location and
hotel population
Establishment category
One star
Two stars
Three stars
Four stars
Five stars
Total
Number of hotels
Population
Sample
116
183
253
157
18
727
18
28
39
24
3
112
Table II.
Population and sample
distribution by category
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validate the scales used to assess the training policy, which, despite being adapted
beda-Garca, 2005), proved to be
from previous works (Aragon-Sanchez et al., 2003; U
perfectly applicable to the hotel sector.
The validated questionnaire was submitted to the hotel CEO through different
ways. First, it was sent by post to all the hotels included in our study population, for
which a reminder was sent by e-mail ten days later. Together with the questionnaire
there was a stamped addressed envelope to return the questionnaire once it had been
filled in and a presentation letter that explained the objective of the survey to
addressees and guaranteed data confidentiality to them, as results would only be made
public in an aggregate way. Addressees were also offered the possibility to obtain the
survey results if the latter were of interest to them.
Taking into account the response rate, a selective sending was then made for the
purpose of covering the population strata; the difficulty of receiving a response from
some of them actually forced us to contact a number of establishments by telephone in
order to ensure their collaboration.
The collection of questionnaires requested by e-mail was carried out through the
web page of the Observatorio Turstico de la Comunidad Valenciana (the Valencian
Region Tourism Observatory). With this aim, each respondent was given a link with a
random code that could only be accessed by them and that allowed them to administer
their survey during the period established for that purpose. Data collection took place
during the months of September and October 2011.
Measurement of variables
Our aim in this section is to explain how the variables used in the empirical study were
measured.
Control variables
.
Hotel size and category. Firm size can influence the human resource policies
developed and, more specifically, the design of a training policy based on the
resources available for its implementation. This variable was measured as the
average number of employees who worked for the firm during 2011.
As for the category variable, it can also determine both the performance levels
achieved by the firm and its training policies. Hence our decision to classify hotels
into three categories: high (four- and five-star hotels), medium (three-star hotels)
and low (one- and two-star hotels). Two dummy variables were used in regression
models, one for the high category and the other one for the medium category.
.
Internal labour market. Companies with a closed internal labour market stand
better chances of enjoying the results obtained from a good-quality training
programme (Cappelli, 1995). Keeping the effect of the internal labour market
under control should help to gain an understanding of the direct impact that
training has on performance. For the purposes of the present paper, this variable
was measured using the proportion of permanent staff within the firm.
.
Formal training plan. The correct development of a training policy depends first
and foremost on its correct planning and on the existence of a formal training
plan meant to draw together formative activities inside the organisation. This
explains why the existence of formal training plans was equally introduced as a
control variable in the present study.
Efforts focused on training. The volume of resources allocated to training policy

development can largely determine training outcomes too. This variable was
measured as the percentage of resources with respect to its sales level that the
hotel had dedicated to staff training during the previous year.
Hotel strategy. As shown in the theoretical part, the contingent approach
establishes that the variable organisations strategy acts as a mediator between
training and business performance. Hence our decision to include it as a control
variable for the purpose of isolating the effects that strategy might have on the
results obtained. Two main procedures are usually available when it comes to
assess these strategies: using a nominal description of companies according to
the strategy followed and asking the organisations analysed to choose one
strategy or another themselves (Peck, 1994); and measuring the importance that
companies assign to various competitive factors (Segev, 1989).
The first option was chosen here, i.e. looking at each companys strategic
orientation in accordance with the proposals made by Porter (1980), for whom the
basic strategies were cost leadership, differentiation and segmentation. A
Likert-type 0-to-10 scale was used in the options given for each questionnaire
item, with values closest to 0 meaning that the company carried out a cost
leadership strategy and those closest to 10 reflecting its adoption of a
differentiation strategy (see Appendix 1). Regression models incorporated a
dummy variable for the differentiation strategy.
Training policy[2]. The questions related to this practice were distributed in
different thematic blocks so as to facilitate later analysis. The questionnaire can
be found in Appendix 1.
Studies on human resource management designed to establish relationships between

human resource practices and organisational performance use regression by joint
inclusion and the introduce method as analysis techniques. Our initial idea was to
include all the aforementioned variables related to training policy as independent
variables, but the fact that few observations were available together with the fear that
a very high number of independent variables might distort our results led us to carry
out a principal components factor analysis, using a Varimax rotation method, in order
to select the most suitable independent variables for our study.
Factor analysis[3] gave us three factors that accounted for 84.195 per cent of total
variance. Variables with higher scores in the first factor correspond to the following
objectives:
.
to increase employees participation within the organisation;
.
to develop the organisations multipurpose character; to motivate and enhance
satisfaction with work;
.
to have a better knowledge of the firms aims and culture; and
.
to transfer and share the new knowledge that is progressively generated inside
the organisation.
This explains our decision to call this factor training objectives (Cronbachs
a 0:972).
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As for the second factor, it accumulates the scores for most of the commonly
evaluated variables (the knowledge acquired at the end of the training stage; the
application of that knowledge to the working position; the assessment of training
methodological designs; and the correlation between real training needs and what is
actually implemented). Hence the choice of training evaluation as the name for this
factor (Cronbachs a 0:949).
Finally, the third factor includes the detection of proactive and reactive training
needs; the needs identified via staff requests; and, last but not least, the need to reflect
on the firms general planning before undertaking any formative activities, which
justifies the use of the expression training needs analysis to refer to this factor
(Cronbachs a 0:897).
Table III contains a summary of the independent variables used:
.
Financial performance. Information about earnings before interest and taxes
(EBIT) collected from the SABI database was used in our study.
.
Productivity. The quotient between sales and number of employees in the
previous year served to measure productivity.
.
Human resource outcomes. Our reference point is the degree of efficiency that
hotels assign to their training efforts, which implies contrasting the actual
objective attainment levels and the specific training activities developed by the
firm. It is assumed that training activities have a direct impact on the general
objectives established by the company both operationally and strategically.
These items appear in Table III and question 2.2 (Appendix 1).
.
Customer satisfaction. Seeking to know the extent to which the training imparted
had improved customer satisfaction levels, our respondents were asked to assess
the effects of that training (using a 0-to-10 Likert-type scale) (see Table III and
Appendix 1, question 2.2).
.
Perceived financial performance. Finally, an additional item was included in the
questionnaire with a view to complementing the objective measurement of
financial performance, where respondents had to give a score between 0 and 10
Variable
Hotel size
Hotel category
Table III.
Independent variables
Measure
The average number of employees who worked for the firm during 2011
High (four- and five-star hotels)
Medium (three-star hotels)
Low (one- and two-star hotels)
Internal labour market
The percentage of staff with permanent contracts in the firm
Formal training plan
Existence of formal training plans
The percentage of resources with respect to its sales level that the hotel
Efforts focused on training had dedicated to staff training
Hotel strategy
Cost leadership
Differentiation strategy
Training policy
Factor 1: Training objectives (Cronbachs a 0:972)
Factor 2: Training evaluation (Cronbachs a 0:949)
Factor 3: Training needs analysis (Cronbachs a 0:897)
Financial performance
EBIT
Productivity
Human resource
outcomes
Sales/number of employees
Increased motivation
Cronbachs a 0:945
Reduction of absenteeism
Improved staff ability to face changes
Better working atmosphere
Increased customer loyalty
Cronbachs a 0:841
Reduction in the number of customer complaints
and claims
Increased service quality
Increased productivity
Cronbachs a 0:945
Reduction of unproductive time periods
Improving the hotels competitive position
Increasing the profit obtained
Customer satisfaction
Perceived financial
performance
to show the degree to which they considered that the training imparted had
contributed to improving some performance aspects (Table IV and Appendix 1,
question 2.2).
Results
Studies on human resource management designed to establish the relationships
between human resource management and organisational performance have used
regression by joint inclusion and the introduce method as analysis techniques.
The five result measures mentioned above will act as dependent variables, namely:
(1) financial performance;
(2) perceived financial performance;
(3) productivity;
(4) customer satisfaction; and
(5) HR outcomes.
As for independent variables, they correlate with the scores obtained in the factor
analysis, i.e. training objectives, training evaluation and training needs analysis.
Regression analyses followed the identification of the dependent variables to be
used along with the independent variables later. Control variables appeared in the first
stage of all our regression series; variables of interest (scores corresponding to
extracted factors) entered the model during the next stage; and finally attention was
paid to the change in variance explained by the model that only incorporated control
variables. Since the variability proportion of the dependent variable was provided by
the determination coefficient (R 2), the increase experienced by that coefficient in the
passage from one model to another had to be calculated in order to achieve these aims.
Snedecords F helped to assess the significance of that increase i.e. the same one used
to determine the significance of the model as a whole. Table V summarises the results
obtained with regression models.
Type 1 regression models exclusively work with control variables. This suggests
that our result measures are affected to a lesser extent by those control variables than
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Table IV.
Dependent variables
(variables for results)
Table V.
Regression model
summary
Notes: * * *p , 0:01; * *p , 0:05; *p , 0:1
0.604 * * *
0.333 * * *
21.194
0.688 * * *
0.334 * * *
0.586 * * *
0.301 * * *
19.371
0.669 * * *
0.370 * * *
7.747
0.354 * * *
0.458 * * *
0.533 * * *
1.905
0.119
0.155
0.223 * * * 20.010
2 0.062
0.057
20.059
20.150
20.037
20.045
20.232 *
20.272 * *
0.068
0.025
0.391 * * * 20.055
2 0.027
0.130 *
0.068
0.081
0.258 * * *
0.307 * * *
2.487
0.206 * * *
0.067 * * *
0.118
0.088
20.091
20.406
0.033
20.061
20.261 * * *
0.012
2 0.052
0.043
1.685
0.106
0.266 * *
0.170
0.375 * * *
2.601
0.462 * * *
0.107 * * *
0.203 *
0.173
0.08
2 0.027
2 0.227 * * 2 0.495 * * *
0.022
2 0.047
0.053
2 0.075
Financial performance
Model 1
Model 2
0.313 * * * 2 0.045
Productivity
Model 1
Model 2
2 0.039
2 0.067
2 0.157 *
0256 * * *
0.073
0.000
0.120 *
0.122
Perceived financial
performance
Model 1
Model 2
0.123
Customer satisfaction
Model 1
Model 2
Three-star
hotels
0.131
0.130 *
0.151
Four- and fivestar hotels
20.017
0.024
2 0.015
Number of
employees
0.217 * * *
0.065
0.265 * *
Percentage of
permanent staff 20.079
2 0.052
2 0.162
Efforts in
training
0.010
2 0.021
0.002
Formal plan
0.467 * * *
0.112
0.376 * * *
Differentiation
strategy
0.183 * * * 2 0.069
0.208 * *
Training
objectives
0.550 * * *
Training
evaluation
0.516 * * *
Training needs
0.156 * *
F
6.990
18.100
6.028
R2
0.333 * * *
0.656 * * *
0.299 * * *
DR 2
0.323 * * *
Human resource
outcomes
Model 1
Model 2
396
Variables
(standardised
regression
coefficients)
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control variables lead to regression models with a significant R 2 only when the
dependent variables are HR outcomes, customer satisfaction and perceived financial
performance in other words, when subjective result measures are utilised. The
control variables with a significant positive b in all these cases are:
.
organisation size (number of employees);
.
existence of formal training plans; and
.
differentiation strategy.
Therefore, these initial models confirm that larger-sized hotel firms that draw up
formal training plans and adopt a strategic orientation focused on service
differentiation with respect to competitors present:
.
more strongly committed and motivated human resources together with a better
working atmosphere;
.
more loyal customers who lodge fewer complaints and claims as well as higher
service quality; and
.
a perception by the CEO of higher productivity, better competitive position and
greater profit.
Nevertheless, regression models that only contain control variables turn out to be
non-significant when used with objective result measures (productivity and financial
performance).
The increases in R 2 in the models are significant in the second regression step
(when the items related to the training policy are added) for all performance measures.
The following conclusions about our working hypotheses can be drawn from these
results.
H1 (Training policy will have a positive impact on human resource outcomes) is
confirmed because all three training policy variables show a significant positive b
(R 2 0:656; p # 0:01). This result is in keeping with those obtained in other works
(see Ahmad and Schroeder, 2003; Katou and Budhwar, 2007).
H2 (Training policy will have a positive impact on customer satisfaction) equally
finds support in our study, since R 2 0:669, p # 0:01 and training policy variables
present a significant positive influence. The same conclusion was reached in the works
of Gelade and Ivery (2003) and Zheng et al. (2006).
As regards H3 (Training policy will have a positive impact on perceived financial
performance) it would be tested because R 2 0:688, p # 0:01 and objectives as well
as evaluation and detection of training needs show a significant positive b. This
deduction appears in almost every work dedicated to these issues, such as those of
Tzafrir (2005) or Delery and Doty (1996), amongst others.
H4 (Training policy will have a positive impact on productivity) also finds support
in the present study, although it is worth highlighting that the significant positive b
corresponds to variables linked to training evaluation (b 0:258, p # 0:01) and
training needs detection (b 0:307, p # 0:01). R 2 0:206, p # 0:01 in this regression
model; in other words, despite being much lower than in the previous models, it still
remains significant. This result contrasts with those obtained in other works, since
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objective result measures were hardly ever significant. The study by Barrett and
OConnell (2001) represents an exception in the case of productivity.
Finally, H5 (Training policy will have a positive impact on financial performance)
is confirmed in our study because the regression model proves to be significant
(R 2 0:462, p # 0:01). This time, the training variables with a stronger impact on the
dependent variable are training needs detection (b 0:375, p # 0:01) and training
objectives (b 0:203, p # 0:1). Nevertheless, the item associated with training
evaluation has a positive though non-significant b. As in the previous case, the
confirmation of this hypothesis is not very common in empirical studies that bring
training and profitability together because the financial result measures used are
mostly subjective and no significant positive results are obtained with objective
measures either (Cho et al., 2006; Delery and Doty, 1996; Delaney and Huselid, 1996).
The study carried out by Bernthal and Wellins (2006) is one of the few exceptions to
this trend.
This paper has a twofold aim:
(1) to verify the existence of a relationship between training policy and
organisational results, and, if that relationship does exist;
(2) to identify the variables which make a greater contribution to those results.
The findings in the present paper actually suggest that training policy positively
correlates with organisational performance, both using objective result measures
(productivity and financial performance) and in the subjective assessment of perceived
financial performance as well as in intermediate result measures (HR outcomes and
customer satisfaction).
Our conclusions about the specific training policy aspects which influence
organisational performance in hotel industry can be found below.
The correct detection of training needs has a positive impact on all result measures.
This conclusion coincides with the one reached by Eerde et al. (2008): needs assessment
comprehensiveness is significantly and positively related to organisational
effectiveness. In this respect, a proper training needs audit must seek the following
aims:
.
to bring training planning and hotel general planning together;
.
to detect needs with a view to compensate for current lacks (reactive needs);
.
to detect potential needs that might be demanded in the future (proactive needs);
and
.
to consider the training needs highlighted by the staff.
The design of suitable training policy objectives positively influences all the
performance measures used with the exception of productivity. That is why the
training schemes developed by hotels should take into account a wide range of
objectives:
.
to increase productivity;
.
to adapt the staff to future changes;
.
to develop employee polyvalence;
.
to reinforce the organisations culture;
.
.
to provide motivation and achieve a better working atmosphere;

to increase the degree of staff involvement in the organisation; and
to develop learning on an organisational level.
Of course, if the training policy suggests a varied range of objectives meant not only
to compensate for reactive qualification lacks but also oriented to the development of
polyvalence, proactive needs and a greater level of staff involvement in the firm it
may also have a negative impact on productivity because it is a short-term
performance measure and many of the benefits likely to derive from the fulfilment of
these objectives would only have a repercussion in the long run.
Finally, the aspects related to training evaluation also reveal a positive impact on
the performance measures used, with the exception of the dependent variable
financial performance. The training policy developed must therefore be thoroughly
evaluated (in accordance with the postulates formulated by Kirkpatrick, 1998),
considering aspects such as:
.
methodological design;
.
knowledge acquired;
.
knowledge application to the workplace;
.
cost-profit ratio;
.
impact caused by training on motivation and working atmosphere; and
.
effects of training on long-term business evolution.
Numerous empirical studies have proved the existence of a link between training
policy and business performance (see Table I). However, most of them use a single item
of the training to be contrasted, as a result of which the link between training and
performance still appears as a black box. Our paper represents an attempt to solve
this problem through the implementation of more specific training actions which can
help to establish that positive relationship. Most importantly, some of the items which
had been used as training measures in other studies (for instance, the existence of a
formal training plan or the percentage of sales allocated to staff training) do not show
statistical significance in any result measures here.
Practical implications
That is why the present study could prove very useful for the Valencian Autonomous
Region hotel industry in our opinion. The traditionally prevailing sun-and-beach
tourism model has always led hotel companies to compete primarily via costs, and this
business reality also influenced the adoption of a certain management style by hotel
companies as far as human resource management is concerned human resources
ranked second on the list of important functional areas.
The fact that hotel companies did not need to adopt a product differentiation
strategy in order to obtain an advantageous market position traditionally slowed down
the development of human resource functions with respect to other productive sectors.
Nevertheless, this vision of business inevitably changed to a great extent after the rise
of other alternative cheaper Mediterranean destinations.
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Within this new context, it is of paramount importance for hotel firms to bet on
differentiation, and the training of their human capital can make a real difference. This
research work could help hotel entrepreneurs in two ways:
(1) it confirms the training-performance link, thus providing evidence that the
resources allocated by hotel firms to staff training contribute to improving their
profit levels; and
(2) this positive relationship between both variables takes place when the training
policy goes through the right stages and develops in the sense explained above
during each one of those stages.
In other words, our paper identifies the aspects related to training needs detection,
establishment of objectives, and training evaluation on which actions should be
undertaken in order to ensure training effectiveness. These results can consequently
help Spanish hotel firms in general as well as those based in the Valencian region in the
adoption of new human resource management and direction models meant to develop
the attractiveness of a specific tourism destination through a human capital that
outperforms the human capital available to other rival destinations.
Limitations
Two main aspects deserve to be highlighted with regard to the limitations faced in this
paper. First, the study was confined to the analysis of a single Spanish region and
specifically referred to its hotel industry i.e. the results obtained must be situated
within that specific context. And second, the results of this study are additionally
limited and constrained by the type of data utilised.
Resorting to objective measures (productivity and financial performance in our
study) is acceptable, but qualitative measures based on self-reported questionnaires
have an excessive weight in the present paper. Our decision was actually inspired by
Burgeois (1980) and Keats and Hitt (1988) for the former, managers views about the
meaning of the ratio and its measurement were as important as the informative content
itself, whereas the latter pointed out that objective measures do not suffice to grasp the
essence of complex concepts. In turn, Wall et al. (2004) found that subjective company
performance measures track actual performance measures very closely. Furthermore,
the data came from a single source (CEOs) of course, it would have been more
illustrative to use data from multiple sources, for example from the employees
themselves, in order to know their assessments and reactions to training (see Nishii
et al., 2008), from human resource managers (who design the policies), or from middle
managers (who enforce the decisions; see Guest and Conway, 2011).
The hypotheses were formulated on the basis of previous HR management theories
mostly developed in the USA and the UK which were later tested in the Spanish
context. What are the implications of this study for other countries with different
national institutions and business atmospheres?
The present study focuses on analysing the variables that are implicit in training
policy development and leaves aside other factors, such as the individual
characteristics of trainees or the instruction methods used, which also play a
relevant role in training effectiveness as some authors have already shown (Colquitt
et al., 2000, Tews and Tracey, 2008). Furthermore, only the effect of the training
variable on organisational results was contrasted here despite our awareness of the
fact that an important synergic effect can derive from considering the joint action of a
consistent human resource practice system (configurational perspective). However,
this is something beyond the scope of our paper.
All the limitations explained above actually represent potential new paths to continue
this research work. For instance, the study could eventually be tested in the whole of
Spain (dealing with the specific tourism idiosyncrasies inherent to its different regions)
or in other countries. It would equally be of great interest to contrast the results obtained
in this research work with comparable studies dedicated to other productive sectors.
Conclusions
Two key conclusions can be drawn from this study. On the one hand, the existence of a
significant positive correlation between training policy and the performance of firms
belonging to the hotel industry has been verified. On the other hand, our paper has
contributed to identifying the key training policy aspects that contribute to the existence
of the aforesaid correlation. In this respect, the research initiative presented here stems
from a new development framework for research into training and performance which
seeks to overcome the restrictions faced in other publications when trying to make some
progress in the search for more specific connections between human resources and
lvarez et al., 2004; Salas and Cannon-Bowers, 2001; Tews and Tracey,
performance (A
2008; Ng and Dastmalchian, 2011; Guest and Conway, 2011). This paper represents an
attempt to complement different theoretical models which has as its main purpose to
explain the relationship between training and organisational performance. Firstly, laying
the foundations to understand the importance of training policy from the perspective of
the resource-based-view of the firm; secondly, considering various (objective and
subjective) result indicators as well as measures of intermediate results, HR outcomes
and customer satisfaction (cybernetic model); and finally, making the research
operational through the adoption of a universalistic perspective.
Therefore, this paper establishes the guidelines according to which the hotel industry
must approach the development of a training plan so that it can have a positive impact
on the results indicators that affect all stakeholders. The training needs audit should
consequently be made on a broad basis, considering not only the immediate reactive
needs but also the needs that might arise in the future as a result of the hotel firms
strategic planning. It is additional important during this stage to collect the opinion of
workers, who can identify their formative lacks. With regard to the stage in which
training objectives are fixed, they must be broadly defined. Instead of being confined to
compensate the formative lacks associated with the current job, they should be oriented
to increase productivity and suggest objectives related to polyvalence development, help
employees to cope with changes, strengthen the organisational culture, improving
motivation as well as the working atmosphere or increasing the workers level of
participation within the organisation. Finally, one of the crucial aspects of training is
evaluation. The study results for this phase, which is correctly developed by very few
organisations, show that hotels should make an effort not only to assess the
methodological design of the course and the knowledge acquired after the training has
been completed which is the usual approach adopted by firms in this sector but also
include other variables such as the application of that knowledge to the workplace, the
cost-benefit ratio, the impact caused by training on working motivation, as well as the
effects that training has on long-term business evolution.
The Spanish
hotel sector
401
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402
Notes
1. It must be highlighted at this stage that the process can only develop through an effective
transfer from training to the workplace. Our paper has not deepened into this aspect because
it goes beyond the scope of our research. The paper by Gegenfurtner et al. (2009) does shed
light on these issues, though.
2. This study forms part of another larger research work. The specific questions related to
training policy appear in Appendix 1. Furthermore, these variables have to do with the
training process which occurs inside the firm because, in our opinion, this criterion considers
the quality and not only the quantity of training provided. For us, the same as for other
authors (Sels, 2002), more is [not always] better.
3. Factor analysis results are provided in Appendix 2.
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Figure A1.
Questionnaire
Appendix 1. Questionnaire
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Figure A1.
Questionnaire
Table AI.
Explained variance in the
factor analysis
11.390
1.810
1.113
0.487
0.417
0.370
0.263
0.239
0.210
0.184
0.143
0.102
0.076
0.069
0.060
0.041
0.025
67.001
10.650
6.544
2.868
2.450
2.177
1.547
1.408
1.233
1.085
0.841
0.603
0.447
0.408
0.351
0.240
0.148
67.001
77.651
84.195
87.062
89.513
91.689
93.236
94.644
95.877
96.962
97.803
98.405
98.853
99.261
99.612
99.852
100.000
Note: Extraction: principal components analysis
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
11.390
1.810
1.113
Total
67.001
10.650
6.544
67.001
77.651
84.195
S extraction
Percentage
Percentage
variance
accumulated
6.418
5.011
2.884
Total
37.752
29.479
16.964
37.752
67.231
84.195
S rotation
Percentage
Percentage
variance
accumulated
412
Component Total
Initial eigenvalues
Percentage
Percentage
variance
accumulated
EJTD
37,4
Appendix 2. Factor analysis
Training
objectives
General planning needs
Needs to compensate for current lacks
Future needs
Needs suggested by the staff
Objective: to increase productivity
Objective: to adapt to future changes
Objective: to develop polyvalence
Objective: to reinforce business culture and improve
working atmosphere
Objective: to motivate
Objective: to increase participation
Objective: organisational learning
Evaluation of methodological design
Evaluation of knowledge acquired
Evaluation of application to specific job
Evaluation of cost-profit ratio
Evaluation of motivation
Evaluation of long-term business evolution
Component
Training
evaluation
Training
needs
0.310
0.384
0.348
0.492
0.710
0.839
0.870
0.185
0.336
0.476
0.228
0.311
0.227
0.241
0.862
0.800
0.702
0.712
0.397
0.316
0.257
0.844
0.865
0.851
0.817
0.324
0.251
0.270
0.208
0.418
0.388
0.349
0.356
0.335
0.394
0.724
0.798
0.845
0.855
0.816
0.768
0.203
0.179
0.241
0.184
0.343
0.424
0.126
0.252
0.138
0.162
Notes: Extraction method: principal components analysis; rotation method: Varimax rotation with
Kaiser normalisation; the rotation converged in six iterations
Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy

Bartletts sphericity test
Approximate x 2
df
Significance
Corresponding author
Mercedes Ubeda-Garca can be contacted at: mercedes.ubeda@ua.es
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0.888
2,575.266
136
0.000
The Spanish
hotel sector
413
Table AII.
Rotated component
matrix
Table AIII.
KMO and Bartletts test
This article has been cited by:
1. Syed Zamberi Ahmad. 2015. Entrepreneurship in the small and medium-sized hotel sector. Current Issues
in Tourism 18, 328-349. [CrossRef]

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