Title: An investigation of the relationship between workplace practices and firm performance: evidence from hotel industry, China

Authors: Muhammad Waseem Bari; Meng Fanchen; Muhammad Awais Baloch

Addresses: School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China ' School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing, China

Abstract: Sustainable success and firm performance (FP) in the hotel industry highly depends on customer loyalty and workplace practices. However, the role of information technology (IT) in workplace practice's effectiveness and FP is not much investigated. The objective of the present study is to investigate the relationship between workplace practices [low transaction cost (LTC), tangible and intangible service (TIS), and customer oriented approach (COA)] and FP in the hotel industry, China, and mediating role of IT. Through convenience sampling technique, out of 280, 192 workers returned complete and properly filled questionnaires. Partial least squares, structural equation modelling approach is used. The findings confirm that workplace practices (LTC, TIS, and COA) have a significant relationship with FP and IT partially mediates this relationship. Importance-performance matrix analysis highlights the 'COA' as a most important practice to enhance the FP. Limitations and future research directions are discussed in the last section of the study.

Keywords: workplace practices; transaction cost; tangible and intangible services; customer satisfaction; PLS-SEM; firm performance; information technology; IPMA; hotel industry; China.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTM.2018.090349

International Journal of Services Technology and Management, 2018 Vol.24 No.1/2/3, pp.101 - 118

Received: 10 Nov 2016
Accepted: 11 Apr 2017
Published online: 13 Mar 2018 *

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