Tourism

Chapter 1

1.1  Background
In response to the rise of global competition and information technology revolution, Caccioppe (1998, 264) posits the said events as the root of empowerment. Empowerment is an act of building, developing, and increasing power, rather than simply the action of authorizing (Eylon, 1998). It centers on the discovery of each persons potential and its effects on personal and institutional growth. The power gained gives a sense of control on certain situations, and research shows that performance is better, and is even linked with stronger mental and physical health (Cacioppe, 1998, p. 266).

Psychological empowerment develops when roles and responsibilities are clearly outlined, employees fully grasp the jobs goals and significance within the whole organizational setting, mastery of skills is initiated, and appropriate job conduct is freely chosen (Thomas and Velthouse 1990) (Jaratt et al., 2005).

1.2  Need for Empowerment in the Hotel Industry  Sector
Mauritius has grown from an agriculturally based economy in 1968 to a diversified economy with growing tourism sectors, among others. Back in 1980, tourist spending was at US110 M, and in 2000, reached US475 M, also with tourist arrivals growing by 560 (Bank of Mauritius Statistics, 2000). In terms of Gross National Product, tourism income in 1980 was 7.2, compared with 20.6 in 2000. As of December 2002, it is estimated that there have been 700,000 tourists, providing US0.5 B to the country. Thus, the government prioritizes the development of hotels, and has seen a growth rate of 182 from 43 hotels in 1980 to 95, 20 years later. The tourism sector promotions emphasize the peoples friendliness, the shopping experience, the quality and variety of food, and the safety of the visitors. It has thus become the second most important source of foreign money, and it has been the main goal of the Mauritius Tourism and Promotion Authority (MTPA) to persevere in attracting high spending visitors whose economic significance are evidently greater than low spending visitors (Wing, 1985). To assist the government to attain this, the hotel industry has undertaken the challenge of quality management and improving their services to meet international standards, with some hotels gaining ISO 9000 accreditation. Nevertheless, in a 1999 survey by the Mauritian Ministry of Tourism and Leisure, a significant amount of tourists are dissatisfied, with the high food prices, limited variety of food served, and poor language and communication ability of the staff (Juwaheer, 2003).

Furthermore, as a state aiming to be duty-free in order to attract more tourists, the country has obviously prioritized the tourism industry. With this comes the need for quality service in the hotel sector, as these are evidently where tourists will feel the security and comfort they expect to receive from any country valuing its tourism. Thus, in order to keep their tourism afloat, as it is one of the four major sectors of the countrys economy, they would need to ensure that customer service provided by these second homes are exceptional. And as aforementioned, customer service is greatly influenced by the empowerment of the employees and other strategies that the management implements.

The general need for empowerment movements in the hotel industry are supported by several researches done on the correlation between the success of hotels, employee empowerment, and customer relations.

The continuous growth of the services sector of the world economy has given birth to customers that are more sophisticated, experienced and demanding. They demand services to be custom made to their unique needs with agility and flexibility. This is mainly seen in the tourism sector where todays hotel guests are more experienced than previous years and have finer opinions of what good service should entail. Thus, improving the quality of service has often become the main focus of corporate policies to create and keep customers (Chacko 1998, p. 133). Chackos research focuses on the organizational structure of hotels, seeing how the US hotel industry has reportedly high employee turnover, high manager burnout and stress, and intense rivalries as rooted from customers who are more high-maintenance. Management must be adapted to fit the 21st century, as customer needs, technology, and employee motives for work also change. A reason for the required change was a past disposition to strictly adhere to rules and regulations to do things right, and not in doing the right things to make guests happy. Another is the organizational confusion that arises from high levels of interdependence among different departments that usually work closely together. Conflict also arises because of mistaken ideas that there are imbalances in incentives and in the standing of various functional sections, and these are inclined to result to manager stress and burnout (Vallen, 1993).

In addition, the increasing similarity of hotel products and physical structures offered by most of same-level hotels, do not provide long-term competitive advantage. Thus, the remaining factor to distinguish the hotel is the quality of service directly provided to the guests by the employees. However, the management structures of some hotels fail to answer these new needs. If high level of service quality is the elected competitive tactic, then organizational structure that will result to empowerment of the staff should be exercised so that this would favor their chosen action plan (Chacko, 1998). Nevertheless, many strategies have been introduced to improve service. Some are quality circles and total quality management however, these only standardize service and still do not reach the needed result, which is increasing the opportunities for better customer relationships (Chacko, 1998).

Furthermore, Desombre (1998) supports the need for transformations in the hotel industry to gain excellent service. Since quality can only be evaluated by the experiences of the clients, it is becomes the realization of their expectations. One way for quantifying this is the establishment of star ratings, where the standard of service is parallel with the number of stars the hotel boasts. Lehtihen  Lehtinen (1991) mentioned that different tests are employed by customer groups to assess service quality, and these measures differ as decided by the context of certain situations. For instance, guests on business or on a holiday require the services of a five-star hotel, but they evidently have differing needs. The staff must then be able to perceive these unique needs and act accordingly. Cadotte et al.  (1987) gives two theories from consumer behavior surveys which can be used to investigate consumer satisfaction. First is the disconfirmation theory, where consumers form a sense of satisfaction based on stages of expectations, convictions, and intentions toward new goods or services that they compare against their previous experiences. The other is the expectancy-value theory, where the focus is on the difference between perceptions of the customer and their satisfaction based on the characteristics they value most. The benefits from these is that the management can be continually informed of the quality of the services they are giving, and may be able to know what departments must be modeled after, and where improvements must be directed (Desombre, 1998).

In addition, Hales details the following in this study. Employee satisfaction depends on the traditional quality of working life justification that satisfaction intensifies together with jobs that need more complex skills, grant value to the worker, give feedback, and most importantly independence (Hackman et al., 1975). The combination of customer and employee satisfaction, leads to better performance through recommendations within groups of people, and also through a boosted staff team spirit, more effort and less turnover and absenteeism, and innovation and ingenuity (Pfeffer, 1995). Moreover, the need for quality services arise from the service nature of the hotel industry, where employees are the labor costs to be made cheaper and human resources to be expanded and whose potential must be realized in the workplace.  Also, as with the latter definitions, employees are both resources, to be distributed in the most efficient ways, and human, who react to the manner they are being treated. Efforts at such management are always at risk of encountering a problem of unprompted reactions or stubbornness. Nevertheless, even the most supervised organizations necessitate a certain level of teamwork, accountability, ingenuity, adaptability and commitment on all levels of employees. Policies employed by management have long searched for methods of procuring both acquiescence and cooperation, and this has often been achieved with reaching a compromise between the enforcing of power and the allocation of independence (Hales, 1998, p. 88).

Hotels such as Ritz-Carlton, pledge in their credo to give the best service and facilities to their guests their motto simplifies this, by being men and women serving others. In addition, the hotel divulges on about empowering their employees, wanting them to create pride and joy in the work place, be involved in planning sessions that affects them, and creating a work environment of teamwork and lateral service. These statements are obviously indicative of the quality service the company promises to their customers (Davidson, 2003).

Thus, by being aware of the perceptions of service quality and the expectations of consumers as mentioned, the Mauritius hotel sector may be able to establish where their company stands against standards, and contribute to the countrys tourism industry.

There are various ways of empowerment strategies, and some are outlined here. These examples, together with empirical studies that have been performed on empowerment, all point to the goal of such programs customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction is the basis of organizational performance for most, if not all service sectors. Given these, empowerment programs are being suggested in the hotel industry, as to improve the services these institutions provide, and accord economic benefits not only to the company but also to the entire community.

1.3  Background of Mauritian Hotels
There are two hotels of interest that shall be compared in the current study. The first hotel, is U Dream Hotel, a four star beach resort situated on the sheltered bay of Palmar in the East coast, at Belle Mare in Mauritius. It has one kilometer of white sandy beach opening in the turquoise blue ocean, and is luxuriously ideal for holidays in the Tropics. It also caters for a clientele for seminars and meetings. The hotel consists of 296 rooms including 20 Presidential Suites with private access to the beach. Moreover, the hotel is amidst a wonderful garden full of coconut and palm trees and it has all the various amenities expected of a four standard star beach resort. Among others it has four restaurants including the beach grill and barbecue restaurant a spa with all facilities like hamman and sauna a kids club for children two tennis courts and three bars and a discotheque (U Dream Brochure, 2010).

The hotel staff consists of 18 Front office and public relations 130 Food and Beverages staff
68 from the Room Division 20 from Administration 29 from Maintenance and Garden 18 from Security 16 from Spa and Health and Fitness and 20 from Entertainment. The hotel has a yearly occupancy rate of 70  for the last three years and includes a 20 return rate of customers (Personal communication, U Dream Hotel Manager).

The second hotel of interest is Plaza Hotel, a five star hotel situated on the North Eastern Coast at Trou aux Biches in Mauritius. The hotel is at some fifteen minutes drive from Port Louis, the Capital City. It has 180 spacious rooms of 100mts square each. It has three restaurants two bars with live music entertainment every night. It has also a casino (Plaza Hotel Brochure, 2010). The hotel employs the following staff Front office and room division at 64 Food and Beverage Department at 192 Administration with 26 Entertainment at 18 and MaintenanceSecurity with 28 (Personal communication, Plaza Hotel Manager).

The U Dream Hotel serves as the treatment group, where empowerment training sessions have been delivered to several employees. On the other hand, Plaza Hotel shall serve as the control group, whose employees have not received any empowerment training.

1.4  Aims
The present study aims to determine the determinants of empowerment in the Mauritius hotel industry, and its influence on job satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

1.5  Objectives
Specifically, the following objectives were put forth in the research
1) To determine what factors significantly influence a hotel employees sense of empowerment.
2) To ascertain if there are significant differences in sense of empowerment between two hotels, as caused by empowerment training.
3) To discuss if there is a significant relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction.
4) To discuss if there is a significant relationship between empowerment and customer satisfaction.

1.6  Overview of the Dissertation
The study starts with a background of the study, laying down the aims and objectives of the research. The review of related literature is presented in Chapter 2 to be able to provide a solid theoretical foundation for the study. Chapter 3 then speaks about the methodological procedures which have been carried out for the research. The results and discussion are then presented in Chapter 4, relating the statistical results with the outcomes of previous related research. The last chapter summarizes the conclusions and recommendations which have been culled from the study, towards the improvement of the sense of empowerment of employees in the hotel sector of Mauritius.

Chapter 2

Review of Related Literature

2.1  Introduction
The review of related literature begins with the definitions of empowerment. It then proceeds with the theoretical framework of the study, Thomas and Velthouses (1990) Framework of Employee Empowerment. The strategies for promoting empowerment the relationship between the latter and customer satisfaction as well as empirical studies related to empowerment are likewise presented.

2.2  Definition of Empowerment
Defining what empowerment means is deemed the first step in introducing empowerment strategies in any organization. Various definitions include, but are not limited to, a motivational ideology of self-efficacy (Conger  Kanungo, 1988), increased meaning, competence, willpower and influence (Thomas  Velthouse, 1990), and a method of stimulating employees to willingly make use of their expertise (Cacioppe, 1998). In the end, Cacioppe says that it ideally results to excellent customer relations, employee satisfaction, and organizational success (Caccioppe, 1998).

Moreover, empowerment focuses on the discovery of each persons potential and its effects on personal and institutional growth. The power gained gives a sense of control on certain situations, and research shows that performance is better, and is even linked with stronger mental and physical health (Cacioppe, 1998, 266).

Empowerment is associated with the increase in management campaigns such as human resource management (HRM) and total quality management (TQM). Also, it seeks to promote creativity and unify the workers, in a society with bureaucratic work environments (Wilkinson, 1997, p.40). It strives to increase employee commitment through better teamwork, shared decision-making, and entrustment of accountability, which in turn nurtures pride, job satisfaction, and better work (Wilkinson, 1997, p. 43). Customer service also improves, as employees become more accountable and receptive to their customers (Cacioppe, 1998, 264). Thus, this reduces turnover, absenteeism, and the need for strict management, and in the long run giving a happier working environment where productivity is very efficient. It ultimately results into a situation where both the employers and the employees benefit from.

2.3  Theoretical Framework Thomas and Velthouses Framework of Employee Empowerment
Empowerment of employees can be attained by means of supporting processes that involve building of proficiencies and ambitions, contributing to community knowledge, and putting workers in charge of their workplace destiny (Sprietzer 1996). Thomas and Velthouse (1990) point out that empowerment must start with the self and its belief systems. The belief systems, which include the worldview and self-concept, must prompt behaviors aligned with the goals and methods of empowerment introduced into the organization. This needs to occur for both staff and managers within the organization. Table 1 lists the principles and outcomes correlated with empowerment.

Table 1. Evaluation of Empowerment (Wandersman et al., 2005)Principles Community-ownership  All facets of an assessment, from its aims and design, must be decided upon by the entire community, and they also choose how outcomes will be applied
 Inclusion - Stakeholders, employees, community residents, funding establishments, and program members, must all should directly take part in  judgments regarding the evaluation
 Democratic-participation  Evaluations must hold in high regard actions that highlight deliberation and legitimate collaborations amongst owners, in addition to the process needing to be transparent
 Community-knowledge  The communitys wisdom must be idealized by the methods used in the evaluation of empowerment
 Evidence-based-strategies  Scientific or factual proofs must be upheld in assessments
 Accountability  The evaluators must be held responsible for the programs directors and to the community Outcomes Improvement  The evaluations must result to transformations that will improve the program
 Organizational- learning  As a consequence, the companys culture and the individuals perceptions must be changed for the better
 Social-justice  The outcome of the evaluation must aid in procuring equitable shares of resources, opportunities, and bargaining strength, and also in eliminating social injustices
 Capacity-building  The impact of the evaluations must assist the organizations application of data to learn and their capacity to carry on their evaluation attempts

Thus, psychological empowerment relates to innate beliefs of having control of ones own future, of being competent to make selections about how, when and where skills are strengthened, and that once thriving, employees are assured that they will be provided avenues to apply learned knowledge. It is also considered as a way for encouraging enthused performance in every part of the organizations (Conger and Kanungo 1988), and builds up self-worth by virtue of recognizing and adapting conditions that contribute to powerlessness. Also, psychological empowerment arises from a clear delineation of the occupations duties, an awareness of the significance of ones contribution to the company, and a sense of freedom to be ones self in the workplace (Thomas and Velthouse 1990) (Jaratt et al., 2005).

Table 2. Dimensions of Empowerment
DimensionDefinitionChoicePresenting employees the ability and the privilege to select an alternative approach in executing their dutiesImpactThe employees should be able to feel that they are making an impact in achieving their duties, as this would show how the job can boost others livesCompetenceWhen duties are done well or are attempted at their best, then these influence the sense of accomplishmentMeaningfulnessThe duties must be perceived as something valuable, and the employees must be interested and find worth in their job

As given by Thomas and Velthouse (1990), empowerment is an innate drive of a person demonstrated in four cognitions displaying the attitude towards the work role. Spreitzer (1995) expounds on Thomas and Velthouses definition, putting forwards four dimensions of psychological empowerment meaning, competence, choice or self-determination, and impact. Table 2 lists these dimensions.

Meaning involves the value of a task goal or purpose, and its fit to ones values, beliefs, and behaviors.  There is an intrinsic interest in a task, where the belief is that work is an end in itself.

Competence refers to individuals feeling able to carry out their work tasks effectively. Stemming from Banduras (1986) work on self-competence, it is the level at which an employee perceives that he or she is able to perform the tasks with expertise. This is supported by social cognitive theory and empirical evidence where competence has strong direct effects on performance (Wang, 2009).

Self-determination deals with the causal source of a persons conduct or perceived independence to ascertain how to fulfill work duties. Choice is the feeling of independence in instigating and monitoring work, and reflects the standard of self-determination in work behaviors and processes. It is a crucial element of deep-seated motivation, resulting to learning, enjoyment, and fortitude in the face of difficulty (Wang, 2009)

Impact is the intensity at which a person perceives that he or she can have an influence on tactical, administrative, or directing results in the job. It is equated with great performance and a nonexistence of retreat from adverse circumstances. Persons who think that they have an impact on the system they are in and affect organizational results are inclined to be more motivated (Wang, 2009).

2.4  Strategies that Promote Empowerment
Bowen and Lawler (1991) defines empowerment as a management policy for allowing the power of decision making to be participated in by everyone, while Barbee and Bott (1991) define it as a move of entrusting significant duties to the people closest to the problem. Each simply suggests trends that are different from each other, the former telling of a shift in authority, as in the essence of empowerment, and the latter, a shift in accountability to show the authority of the empowered. In addition, there is a concern with empowerment as resulting to a loss of control of the management however, it should instead be seen as an adjustment of control along a spectrum of the outward power of the person, to inwardly induced self-control. The strategy to be taken must follow these ideas, to ensure that the employee is committed to his or her own empowerment.

Lashley (1994) suggests four empowerment methods based on managerial intentions. One is empowerment through participation, which deals with giving employees decision-making powers that were previously held by the management. Another is empowerment through involvement that allows for decisions to be left to the management, but contributions are encouraged from the employees as well. Consultations, and joint problem solving are the main tactics in this type. Next, empowerment through commitment attempts to use incentives that push employees to take more responsibility for a set of tasks, and is considered a combination of the two previous strategies.  Last is empowerment through delayering, and is more focused on the management rather than on the workers. The goal is to enable managers to focus on the sources of profits, better responsiveness to the needs of the consumers, on improved management expenses, and the fostering of entrepreneurship. Removal of several layers of managers (that is, removal of supervisors and the like) and managerial empowerment are the strategies involved here. Table 3 summarizes these four concepts (Lashley, 1999).

Table 3. Managerial meanings of empowerment (Lashley, 1999, p. 177)
Managerial meaningInitiatives usedEmpowerment through participationAutonomous work groups All-encompassing training Job enrichment Committee formationEmpowerment through involvementEmployee directors Quality circles Team briefings Suggestion strategies  Empowerment through commitment
Employee participation in ownership Profit-sharing and bonus programs Quality of working life policy (job rotation and growth)Empowerment through delayering
Job redesign Re-training Independent work groups Profit-sharing and bonus programs
Furthermore, several approaches are available for employee empowerment, and Lashley (1994) cites a starting idea provided by Bowen  Lawler. The latter suggest a hierarchy of empowerment that is correlated with the degree of employee involvement. First is the suggestion involvement, encompassing suggestions schemes and quality circles. It allows an organization to be responsive to, and benefit from the ideas and practical knowledge of the employees at the front line of service. Next is job involvement, and is based on teamwork, task appropriation, team leader selection and performance assessment. It involves employees in the sketching and clarifying of job details especially in the quality of service to be delivered. Last is high involvement, where the final performance of the company is held accountable for improvements of the organization (Lashley, 1994). The degree of employee involvement is determined by organization type and how it links with the five following components business strategy relations with the customer technology business setting and types of personalities. There are thus two suggested approaches given these factors.  One is the production-line technique, involving businesses with high volume sales and low costs, short-term customer relations, simple technology, predictable environment, and managers and workers who have low social desires and feeble interpersonal skills. However, empowered organizations are defined by unique goods and services, a foundation of long-term customer relations, intricate  nonroutine technology, volatile situations, and managers  workers who possess high social wants and compelling interpersonal skills (Lashley, 1994. Being aware of where the organization about to initiate empowerment programs stands, will help determine the extent of empowerment training they would enforce.

Yip (2000) provides an outline of an empowerment process management model by Kinlaw (1995) that seeks to ensure empowerment.  There are six steps in this process, starting with defining and communicating the value of empowerment to the company, followed by setting goals and measures to form the framework of each employees duties as they strive independently to fortify their own empowerment. Next is staff training, to help them adjust to their newly defined roles and also perform at par of the organizations aims for the program. The fourth step is to make adjustments to the structure of the company, to give a more level format, which promotes more independence and freedom to the employees, succeeded by adjusting the systems in place, for instance in arranging, compensating, promoting, instructing, hiring, in order to uphold employee empowerment. The last step is in assessing and making improvements to the measures taken into action, by observing the improvements and the beliefs of the employees.

However, the empowerment process can only be done well if the following kinds of information and knowledge are well understood the definitions of empowerment, the gains expected, the objectives of the program that will allow adjustments in order to cover all levels of employees, the strategies taken with a set of alternate plans for each staff member to identify with, the transformation with regards to the people with authority over the empowerment process, and lastly, the new  duties that must be adapted by the employees to ensure the success of empowerment (Yin, 2000).

Furthermore, certain conditions must be assigned to guarantee the programs success, some of which are the commitment of the heads of the organization, full participation of employees, customers, suppliers, and free correspondence. The leaders must know what works and what does not in their company, and more importantly, employees must also develop their own good judgment through possessing high methodical and problem solving skills (Yin, 2000).

According to Wilkinson (1997), empowerment is not one integrated entity, and thus different schemes are employed, depending on each managements needs for the company. However, they share a commonality and can be delineated in five types information sharing, upward resolution of puzzles, task independence, attitudinal shaping, and self-rule. Information sharing works in an upward or downward trend, the first by providing the employees with avenues to voice their concerns, and the latter with the letting the entire company know of goals, plans, etc, through newsletters, and team briefing. Upward problem solving related with the responsibilities of each employee to deal with the baggage that comes with the job.  Task independence deals with removing excess supervisors, or restructuring of work units into self-managing team. Attitudinal shaping follows, and it is where the employees are educated to feel empowered and have more confidence on the job. Last is self-rule, a rare strategy where decisions are no longer determined by the few. Employees gain a greater power over the choices of the organization (Wilkinson, 1997).

Cacioppe (1998) relates the Simply the Best program of the Burswood Resort Hotel (BRH), in Perth, Western Australia set for employee empowerment. Adopting a holistic approach, and it is outlined here in order to demonstrate the strategy the company took. It is categorized in three parts, and included securing the total dedication of the management, establishing a support system, and staff training (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Simply the best program (Cacioppe, 1998)
It is a necessity for the management to be first committed to any endeavor they wish to employ to their organization. This involves first and foremost, priming the managers of the company on the goals of their program, and training them how to be empowered too. It is only afterwards that they could motivate and sustain their lower-level employees, as Parker and Price (1994) indicate that only if managers are empowered and supportive of the employees, are the latter empowered as well. In addition, an empowerment team must be established, composing of staff and management members. Its role is to set the parameters of empowerment and foster both management and employee advocacy. The second aspect on the holistic approach deals with forming guidelines that would assist employees in their decision-making. Developed by the staff, managers, and the empowerment team, a protocol of sorts allow the employees to know what actions to do faced with the various incidents they may encounter on the job. Also, the support of the management is evident in asking employees to fill up suggestion forms, which the empowerment team discusses in detail. They also reward those with recognized empowered behavior, by providing participants with pins and certificates of completion, acknowledging empowerment actions in the staff magazine, and honoring an employee of the month. Lastly, training is necessary as it is the source of empowerment itself. Figure 2 depicts the training agenda adopted by the Simply the Best program used by the hotel. Training runs for three days, and incorporated role-plays, instructional videos, and group works, all aimed at fostering interpersonal, decision-making, and problem-solving skills of all staff (Cacioppe, 1998).
Figure 2. Training agenda (Cacioppe, 1998)

2.5  Relationship between Empowerment and Customer Satisfaction
Given the various definitions of empowerment as mentioned above, Cacioppe (1996) that ultimately, it should result to excellent customer relations, employee satisfaction, and organizational success (Cacioppe, 1998). The strategies also discussed are seen to be directed towards the success of the organization, which for businesses that rely on profits from the consumer, customer satisfaction is key.

Attention to employee empowerment in the service industry sector has been linked with majority of the central themes associated with common employment practices, such as in securing a competitive edge through a better quality of service (Lashley, 1999). The globalization of the market brings with it increased competition, and a more complex range of customer needs. Empowerment programs strive to address these challenges, starting from the root of the management, to the faces that employees show their customers (Appelbaum, 1999). With empowerment, organizations reap benefits from the inflation in customer ties as the latter are exposed to an esteemed, exceptional service. The employees are found to have increased productivity, enthusiasm, confidence, innovation, improved teamwork, and these are extended to the customers, especially for front of the line employees.

Figure 4. Standardization of customer service and control of employee performance (Lashley, 1999).
In Lashleys framework for empowerment (1999), he gives how the degree of involvement of the employee also correlates with the degrees of service a customer is expected to receive. Figure 4 shows this relationship. The four quadrants relate to the center of control, the degree of predictability and significance of tangibles and intangibles and how these help formulate an organizations employment strategy. Customer satisfaction is highly dependent on the services and products the company provides, the degree of standardization or customization, and labor intensity depending on these, is how the management will train their employees. At the top right is professional service, and its characteristics imply organizations, such as in the hotel sector, that assure a high degree of customized service requiring a high degree of discretion from the employees. Direct supervision is thus limited and the employees would need to rely on their own empowerment on how to interpret and supply their clients needs (Lashley, 1999).
The importance of frontline, customer-contact employees to excellent hotel service cannot be overemphasized. They are mainly responsible for personal customer service, service excellence, and customer contentment (Clark, 2009). Studies (Bowen and Schneider 1985 Singh 2000) agree that the job satisfaction, commitment to the job of these employees, and a shared companys customer-oriented principles, result to low degrees of role stress, and give the most superior standard of service. The leadership style exercised by the management greatly influences their employees behavior, specifically those relating to customer service.

Job satisfaction is the pleasant emotional condition arising from an assessment of ones duties as accomplishing the principles required of the job. This can be rooted from several sources, such as the relative comfort that the workplace provides, the trust that the management has on them, and the self-esteem that they can do their jobs to the best of their ability. Related to this is the employees commitment to service quality, which is instilled in empowerment programs. In addition, role clarity as provided in training is an important indicator of customer satisfaction. If the employees are educated with the entire scope and limits of their jobs, they would know how to act accordingly. These concepts encourage employees to provide good service, from an intrinsically motivated manner. (Clark, 2009, pp. 216-218).

Figure 5. ACSI Model (Davidson, 2003)
Given this, what is customer satisfaction To quantify it, Davidson (2003) studied the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) for the hotel sector, from the University of Michigan, USA. It is used as one of the gauges for industry success by determining customer satisfaction. The results of the survey are tallied with the hotels earnings and this has been use to forecast profits for the succeeding quarter. Figure 5 shows the ASCI model of customer satisfaction as formulated from perceived quality and value. The perceptions made all depends on the organizational climate the company employs, namely a climate for service, a climate for ingenuity, and a climate for human resources or employee security (Schneider et al., 1994), and in a hotel service context, the first is the most relevant (Davidson, 2003 Ramsaran-Fowdar, 2006).

Figure 6. The relationship between organizational culture and climate, service quality and customer satisfaction, and organizational performance (Davidson, 2003)
Furthermore, Davidson (2003) plots in figure 5 the relationship between organizational culture  climate, how it leads to service quality, then onto customer satisfaction, and ultimately, determines organizational performance. A company committed to its goal influences the employees own perceived customer satisfaction, and studies have shown that if these beliefs are positive, it suggests a customer satisfaction that is indeed higher in reality.

2.6  Empirical Studies Related to Empowerment
Biron  Bamberger (2010) studied the impact of structural empowerment on individual well-being and performance. They observed the effects of actual empowerment schemes aimed at the tasks done, the level at which self-efficacy intercedes the outcomes, and by looking at how to be discerning in bring about such initiatives. A simulated customer contact center was used, where student participants had to handle typical situations that the company face. Three setups were established, broad-scale empowerment, selective empowerment, and non-empowerment. The researchers found that when empowerment is focused on the individuals and what duties they have, it is an unsteady strategy and may actually be more risky for the company. Also, it is suggested that improving self-efficacy may be a way of decreasing feelings of strains such as burnout or exhaustion. When the workers believe that they have the capability to handle stressors and utilize resources to cope with the stressors, then they are less vulnerable to the pressures brought by their jobs. Biron suggests that a more discerning method of empowerment may result to the balance between encouraging independent fulfillment of duties and maintaining the control of the managers (Biron 2010).

In Clark et al.s 2009 study, they surveyed 279 hotels  the managers on their commitment to service quality and leadership styles, and frontline employees on their shared values, role clarity, job contentment, and dedication to quality. The researchers found management commitment to service quality has a forceful influence on empowering leadership. This result indicates that hotel managers committed to service quality may be more inclined to empower their employees, as they act as role models for their employees. If managers project their own commitment to giving quality service, they are able to influence their staff to act similarly. They are also more able to nurture their customer service values, conveying to frontline staff a better model of their roles in the hotel. Also, shared values and principles have a favorable impact on role clarity, job satisfaction, and dedication to quality. This finding stresses the need for aligning employee and organizational values.  Manager must be able to push for this important influence on employees by leading by example. Eloquently voicing out expectations also has a greater advantage as it may aid in increasing job contentment and employee loyalty to giving a quality service (Clark, 2009).

Hales  Klidas (1998) studied the empowerment in ten five-star hotels in Amsterdam through interviews and observations. They report that managers encouraged employee involvement in decisions and actions, showing their great trust and support to their staff. The hotels had some form of employee participation in departmental meetings, and a formal suggestion scheme in place. Nevertheless, in majority of the hotels, independence was restricted, and prevented take-charge decisions for employees faced with certain challenging situations. They found that the implementation of empowerment programs varied greatly in description, and not all were being carried out as had been idealized. This calls attention to the establishment of more effective employee empowerment schemes, to ensure that the goals of the company are met.

A study by Haynes  Fryer (2000) focused on the effects of human resource management in a New Zealand hotel that has taken new tactics to ameliorate their service quality. HRM is important for attaining prime service, and a favorable correlation is present between good HRM strategies and the performance of the company. With the transformations adopted, it is seen that improvement in customer service is the sole sector of the hotel industry that would distinguish a hotel from its rivals. An excellent customer service will result to customer satisfaction, thus giving financial benefits, and this will only be see if the employees as given the expertise they need. Recognition of the significance of the employees to the success of this strategy is seen in the Key Performance Indicators used by the hotel. Of the 14 criterions, four apply exactly to the employees employee satisfaction ranks first, staff training in second, the seventh place concerning with health and safety at work, followed by staff turnover. Similarly, the supporting values emphasize the human element, along with the other key stakeholders interests. People values are forefront of guest and of profit values when values are put forward to the management and the workers. Moreover, people values involve new HRM amendments such as a better focus in training and business tasks, career development, and staff fulfillment (Haynes  Fryer, 2000).

One focus of management is improving employee expertise. A skills matrix has been provided to line staff, presented through visual training boards depicting necessary skills. Meetings per department have also been accentuated, with a staff committee formed with representatives that have been voted per department. These committees (12 in total) were formed, and meet monthly with the HR Director and two HR managers. In addition, the entire staff is encouraged to attend regular general meetings, where the General Manager of the hotel gives out awards and incentives after his or her normal speech. These broad-ranging assemblies are put to use in order to fortify the vision and the principles within the new policies. In addition, duties have been overhauled in all departments to permit freer decisions when resolving guests concerns and to yield better adjustability in scheduling. It is actually in the companys vision to empower their employees in order to attain excellence and encourage advancement in all aspects of the service they provide (Haynes  Fryer, 2000).

After two years since the new set of HRM policies and practices were introduced, very encouraging results were seen. Employee satisfaction, quantified by the Employee Satisfaction Index (survey with ten questions), steadily improved from 3.76 (out of a perfect 5) in Mar 1996 and 3.79 in 1997, to 3.87 in April 1999. Sick leave progressed at a steady pace, from an average of 2.4 percent in the first nine months of 1998 to 2.2 percent over the same time in 1999, and staff turnover averaged 2.5 percent in the first nine months of 1999, significantly different against the 3.7 percent over the same period in 1998 (Haynes  Fryer, 2000). It was in the sectors of customer satisfaction and financial progress that gave the most encouraging results. The Overall Guest Satisfaction Index was boosted by 13.2 within a span of two years (from 1998-1999). The ratio of customers ranking good and excellent also progressed within these two years (Haynes  Fryer, 2000).

The New Zealand-based hotel has utilized HRM policies and strategies that are specifically for improving the skill levels of the employees and dedication to a goal of supremacy in service. The HRM strategy employed is closely associated with the goals of the company.  Nevertheless, the coverage for discretion remains limited even with the improvements on the personalization of the service, and the outcome of employee empowerment in allowing the staff to make decisions without hesitation and without the need to consult with supervisors. Considerations to the attitudes and feelings of the employees, and not excessive materialistic concerns, encourage the staff to partake in unceasing self-growth that is drawn from the self, to put in extra effort in serving their customers, and instill in them that the success of their hotel lies in the satisfaction of their guests, which can only be brought upon by excellent service (Haynes  Fryer, 2000).

Furthermore, Parsons (1995) wrote about the Novotel line of hotels (a chain of 270 hotels worldwide) and its Back to the Future project. The enterprise had one objective  to enhance the quality of service, by putting the decision makers as near to the guests and clientele as possible. It had three key components one is creating a fresh image, by planning a new logo, a new corporate style and a new hotel model second is massive investment in the widespread revamp of older hotels, and lastly, bringing a novel approach to the administration of the company, as with exercising a revolutionary idea at the time  bestowing total autonomy to the general manager of each hotel especially in working to empower their staff.

Parsons (1995) instigated his study after seeing the evolving wants and needs of the late 1990s new consumers. Deemed as the most momentous transformation was the designation of each hotels general manager as the matre de maison  the Master of his (or her) House. The new name empowered him to run his hotel exactly as he saw fit, and it was his sole responsibility how to market and promote the hotel. Also with this is the removal of the hierarchy that had dominated both regional management and hotel staff. A three  three strategy was implemented, where there are now just three levels of authority a single level between the GM and his most junior employee, and a single level between the GM and the chairman. The long reporting line between GM and chairman is removed, and he reports straight to the national MD, who in turn reports straight to the chairman.

An important element of the program is the commencement of three new instruction and development projects, under the scope of The School of Life, an all-inclusive internal training and development strategy that supplements certain UK Industry Standards like NVQ or Investors in People, where Novotel persists to be   dedicated to. It comprises of evaluation centers and multi-skilled training programs that empower the staff and managers to deal with decisions by ones own efforts. As a product of these transformations, several commendatory impressions have arisen. For instance, formal complaints were reduced, occupancy increased by 19 within a year, earnings increased by 15 from to the preceding year, and employee satisfaction and retention was better. These obviously imply the necessity of enforcing an organizational overhaul that focuses on the empowerment of their employees (Parsons, 1995).

2.7  Conclusion
Empowerment has risen from the globally competitive nature of all businesses at the present. With improved technology and smarter clients, organizations must adapt to these changes in order to ensure their success. One such approach to improve a service-based company is by producing a staff that is competent to uphold the organizations name. To do this, empowerment programs are a vital part of employee training.

In the context of Mauritius, a country known for its developing tourism industry, the empowerment of hotel employees is a necessary step to guarantee that tourists continue to feel welcome in the community, and bring in advantages that would keep their economy afloat. Strategies and case studies have been presented here, in the aim of a better understanding of the importance of employee empowerment.

Chapter 3

Methodology

3.1 Introduction
The chapter shall present the research approach, research design, sampling plan, instruments, procedure, and method of data analysis of the research.

3.2  Research Approach
Considering tedious steps involved in qualitative research, it is no doubt that is the most time consuming type of research. Qualitative research is interpretative in nature, due to the nature of the data sources (i.e. interview results, articles, manuscripts, observations) from which substantive meaning is gathered. Qualitative research searches out for an answer to the research question by adhering to a certain process.

Qualitative research requires the researcher to conduct a comprehensive study regarding a specific subject so that it could be examined more closely. This method of research entails researchers to go beyond answering the question why and focus on revealing as to how situations take place in a particular way. There are countless possible results that might be obtained from a qualitative research and the researcher must have an open mind in dealing with the participants. Qualitative research uses more flexible instruments compared to the ones used in quantitative methods (Babbie 2006).

Quantitative research typically deal with survey protocol, which lead to conclusions about a certain population. First, the researcher picks a sample group from the chosen group and evaluates the characteristics of those included in the selection. Quantitative studies deal with the qualities of a selected sample from the population and not the entire population itself however, conclusions are conventionally generalized to the population provided that a representative sample is selected (Maxim 1999). On the other hand, qualitative studies focus more on explicating the specifics. The quantitative method also makes use of more rigorous instruments in contrast with the qualitative approach. There is stability in the design of the research from start to finish. Statistical methods is a key trait of quantitative research.

One benefit presented by the quantitative method is the researchers ease of generating conclusions because of systematic data analysis. It is perceived as highly trustworthy because there are numerical proof as represented by statistics. Comprehension of problems becomes easier because the quantitative approach breaks down intricate problems into uncomplicated smaller parts, thus helping the researcher save time. Analysis of the surveys with the aid of statistical methods further adds to the reliability of the results since it reduces the risk of committing errors that could pose questions to the validity of the research study.

Despite the numerous advantages presented above for utilizing a quantitative approach in research, several disadvantages still exist. Primarily, the researcher has to remember that heshe does not possess total control over the research study because it pivots on the process of survey administration. For instance, the researcher would have to search for individuals who would voluntarily and willingly take part in the survey since heshe could not just force anyone to answer right away. A participants decision as to whether they would or would not take part in a survey is something that a researcher could control (Creswell 2008).
The approach to the current study is purely quantitative, primarily considering the time constraints, tedium, and expenses associated with qualitative studies.

3.3  Research Design
The research takes on a descriptive, comparative, correlational research design. It is descriptive because there is intent to measure the current levels of empowerment, job satisfaction, and customer satisfaction. Moreover, it is also considered comparative because one objective is to ascertain if there are significant differences in terms of empowerment between the two hotels, as a result of the empowerment training. Finally, the research is also categorized as correlational because the bi-variate relationship between 1) customer satisfaction and empowerment and 2) employee job satisfaction and empowerment were likewise determined.

3.4  Sample and Sampling Method  
Individual respondents are selected from a population, and the manner in which the selection is done is referred to as the sampling method. The current study made use of a non-probability sampling method in selecting the respondents from Dream Hotel, particularly purposive sampling. In this type of sampling, the respondent has to possess certain criteria for them to be considered for inclusion in the sample.

There were three groups of interest in the current study 1) U Dream hotel staff who have undergone empowerment training 2) U Dream hotel staff who have not undergone such training and 3) Plaza Hotel staff who likewise have not undergone empowerment training. 30 respondents were purposively sampled for each group, to merit the use of parametric statistical tests (Salkind 2000). The criteria for inclusion include 1) must be an employee of the hotel for at least a year 2) must either receive or not receive the empowerment training (depending on which group the respondents is assigned to) and 3) must explicitly express permission to participate in the study.

In addition, the total number of employees of Dream Hotel is 319. Of these, only about a third or 95 employees have undergone empowerment training. Thus, the 30 respondents represented about a third of this population of interest, making it a valid sample size for either group culled from Dream Hotel. There are 264 employees from Plaza Hotel, and of these, 30 were randomly sampled. Purposive sampling was not necessary since Plaza Hotel represented the control group, who has not received empowerment training. There was a need to match the number of respondents that were selected for Dream Hotel, since the use of the analyses of variance tests were most optimal when sample sizes were equal (Creswell 2008).

The researcher could have chosen one group each to represent each hotel however, certain extraneous variables need to be addressed. For instance, if two groups were used, there is a chance that U Dream Hotel really has a better people management culture compared to Plaza Hotel which means that the positive outcomes on empowerment cannot be attributed to the empowerment training program. Therefore, a control group from U Dream, who has not yet undergone training, must be enlisted as a sample.

Yet another group of interest are hotel customers, who have been chosen purposively as well. They must have had at least one service interaction with a respondent to the Empowerment Questionnaire, to be included in the sample. This has made possible the process of correlating empowerment of the employee and customer satisfaction scores.

3.5  Instrumentation
The task of carrying out survey research aims to discover concepts related to the subject in addition to what is already known about it. This system of data gathering is used to deeply investigate on the countless answers available which could also be drawn out from another set of population (Williams  Monge 2000). It is also used to adjust instruments in accordance to its attributes in psychometric terms. Determining what concepts to quantify and how each measurement should be undertaken is the primary focus in an investigative survey. Lastly, it is employed in order to reveal and identify fresh research possibilities (Salkind 2000).

There were two instruments which have been adopted for the present study. The first was the Empowerment Questionnaire adapted from Thomas  Velthouse (1990), which measured the facets of meaningfulness, competence, self-determination, and impact. These were measured on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from strong disagreement to strong agreement. The researcher likewise added content-valid questions for the subscales of job satisfaction, overall empowerment. The researcher asked the help of a subject matter expert to ensure that the items had face validity and content validity. The changes to the original questionnaire, based on the feedback from both the content validation and pilot study are discussed in the Procedure section, which follows.

The Service Quality Questionnaire was adapted from Parasuraman, Berry, and Zeithaml (1985).   However, not all of the clusters were used, since the Tangibles cluster was left out. The latter has to do with structures and facilities, and therefore, is not influenced by empowerment. Statements were measured on a 7-point Likert scale. Both instruments have acceptable validity and reliability indices (Thomas  Velthouse 1990 Parasuraman et al 1985).
Basically, the same procedures

3.6  Procedure
Secondary data from books, online sources, and journals were synthesized in the form of a review of literature. The appropriate questionnaires have been adapted, and pilot tested with an initial 5 respondent employees to ensure smooth flow. These 5 employees were purposively selected, ensuring that they were not included in the list of employees who were to be included in collating final survey data. 3 hotel employees were from U Dream Hotel, while the other 2 were from Plaza Hotel. This is to avoid the error that came with different versions of the instrument (i.e. the actual survey already involved the enhanced questionnaire which has randomly presented statements instead of clustered, labeled, variable groups see Appendix A.1 and A.2). Moreover, the customer satisfaction questionnaire has also been pilot tested with the help of 10 randomly selected customers of the two hotels, 5 coming from each one. This was carried out with the help of the front desk personnel who requested customers to fill out the original version of the SERVQUAL questionnaire upon check-out to give the hotel feedback on how to better enhance their services.    

Pilot studies are mini feasibility studies used by the researcher in preparation for the real study. This method is common in managing research studies that are scientific in nature. Pilot studies are conducted to learn the practicality of doing the research study. A researcher could do a trial run among a few respondents before actually conducting the study to the desired number of participants. Feedback obtained from these ten individuals could be used to make advancements on the survey and as an observation tool for viewing body language of respondents, which would have a lot to say about the survey administered. A number of benefits come along with pilot testing including being able to improve the survey greatly especially in terms of its design. It allows the researcher to save time and money. Usage of paper is reduced to the fullest extent since mistakes committed would be less thus the need to purchase it will be minimized as well (Oppenheim 1992).
The following changes have been made to the original empowerment questionniare designed for employees. First, the researcher drafted a short introductory portion, explaining why the study has been done. This is based on one of the respondents feedback that it would be better to explain the rationale of the study so that the hotel employees would take it seriously. A second modification was the inclusion of directions for Part I of the questionnaire, as the original version assumed that respondents are survey savvy and that they immediately understood what to do with the demographics portion. The directions were added for increased clarity. Next, the items in Thomas and Velthouse (1990) tool and the additional questions on job satisfaction and overall sense of empowerment were presented in a randomized manner. The original version presents these by cluster, with the variable name appearing before the statements that measured them. The variable labels were removed and the items presented in randomized order to reduce response bias (Oppenheim 1992).

Moreover, similar changes were made to the customer satsifaction questionnaire on the basis of feedback from the review of the subject matter expert and the 10 customers who have been randomly selected for the pilot study. Instructions were included in Part I of the questionnaire for increased clarity. The statements were also randomly presented to avoid response bias (Creswell 2008). The variable labels which informed the customer about what is the common theme variable corresponding to statements, were removed, with the same intent of reducing response bias.

The researcher also made use of primary data collection where surveys were administered to chosen participants. Surveys are deemed suitable and appropriate in gathering needed information because it can cover a wide range of participants that would guarantee reliable results in terms of statistics. The researcher opted to make use of adapted surveys in collecting pertinent data to obviate the need for establishing validity and reliability, which may be time consuming.

Administering surveys may take several methods namely via phone, e-mail, personal contact or snail mail. For this study, the survey was conducted personally by a colleague of the researcher in order to ensure a higher rate of response. It benefits the study greatly if a research representative is present at the time the survey is conducted so that the body language of the respondents could be monitored closely, which is very important since it has a lot to say about how efficiently the survey has been designed (Williams  Monge 2000). For instance, a sign of exhaustion on the part of the respondent is an implication that the survey might have been too long to be accomplished. Another advantage of such presence is the opportunity given to participants in being able to ask any questions that might arise while completing the survey. Overall, if the respondents have a clear understanding of the questions, they get to answer effectively, thus the surveys likelihood of being reliable is greatly increased (Williams  Monge 2000).

3.7  Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics of demographic variables and of the main clusters of empowerment, customer satisfaction and job satisfaction were computed. These included means, standard deviations, and frequency and percentage distributions. To calculate for correlations, the researcher utilized the Statistical Software for the Social Science (SPSS) version 15.0 program. The existing relationship between to exact variables tested was verified based on the correlation coefficient, Pearson r. A positive correlation amongst two variables is designated for numbers near 1 and a strong negative correlation for numbers near -1. A feeble and insignificant relationship is exhibited by numbers close to 0. The one-way analysis of variance shall be used to compare the two hotels in terms of the subscales of empowerment, overall empowerment, and job satisfaction. Moreover, the t-test shall be used for comparing significant differences between the two hotels in terms of the scales of service quality.

3.8 Conclusion
The research shall make use of a quantitative approach, using a descriptive, comparative, correlational research design. Purposively sampled respondents shall be enlisted from U Dream and Plaza Hotels. The researcher shall make use of descriptive statistics, Pearson r, t-test, and one-way ANOVA to address the objectives of the research.


Chapter 4

Results

4.1  Introduction
Chapter 4 is a presentation of the statistical results which have been garnered from the survey questionnaires deployed in the study. These are then analyzed along with the literature gathered from Chapter 2 from which pragmatic conclusions for U Dream and Hotel Plaza are derived.

4.2  Results
The results of the Employee Empowerment Questionnaire were based on the responses of 30 U Dream employees who have undergone employment training, and another 30 employees who have not undergone training, within the same hotel. In addition, there were 30 employee respondents who were from Plaza Hotel, and who have also not had such training. As mentioned, the researcher deemed it necessary to have a control group within U Dream Hotel to establish the fact that without the empowerment training, employees in U Dream more or less shared the same sense or level of empowerment which Plaza Hotel employees had.

The demographic profile of the respondents show that 53 of the control group from U Dream were males while the remainder are females. The experimental group has 40 males, and 60 females. The Plaza Hotel Group also has this percentage breakdown by gender. The mean age for U Dream was 27 years old while it is at 28 years old for the Plaza Hotel Group. Tenure on the average, is at 5.5 years for U Dream, and 6.3 for Plaza Hotel. All of the respondents are frontliners, belonging to the Front Desk and Food and Beverage Departments.

Employee Empowerment Survey Results

Table 1a. Descriptive Statistics Meaningfulness Cluster of Empowerment.
MeanStd. DeviationU Dream12.9773.43796U Dream 23.8220.27408Plaza2.9220.45308Total3.2404.57043
Figure 1. Descriptive Statistics Meaningfulness Cluster of Empowerment.

Meaningfulness has to do with the importance that the respondents attach to their work and that their activities are meaningful to them. On the average, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.97 (sd.44), suggesting they are neutral on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.82 (sd.27) indicating agreement. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.92 (sd.57) likewise indicating neutrality.

Table 1b. One-way ANOVA Meaningfulness Cluster of Empowerment.
 Sum of SquaresDfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups15.26527.63348.490.000Within Groups13.69487.157  Total28.96089  

The one-way ANOVA analysis for meaningfulness suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F48.49, p.00).
Table 1c. LSD Post Hoc Test Meaningfulness Cluster of Empowerment.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-.84467().000 Plaza.05533.590UD2UD1.84467().000 Plaza.90000().000PlazaUD1-.05533.590 UD2-.90000().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

The LSD test on the meaningfulness cluster shows that the second group who received empowerment training had a significantly higher mean on meaningfulness compared to UDream staff who have not received the training (MD.84, p.00) and against those staff from Plaza Hotel who have also not received such training (MD.90, p.00).

Table 2a. Descriptive Statistics Competence Cluster of Empowerment.

 MeanStd. DeviationU Dream12.8893.29306U Dream 23.7573.19399Plaza2.8447.33509Total3.1638.50528
Figure 2. Descriptive Statistics Competence Cluster of Empowerment.

Confidence deals with their overall confidence in doing their jobs, being self-assured with their capabilities to perform their work activities, and mastery on the skills necessary for their jobs. In general, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.89 (sd.29), suggesting they are neutral on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.76 (sd.19) indicating agreement. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.84 (sd.34) likewise indicating neutrality.

Table 2b. One-way ANOVA Competence Cluster of Empowerment.
 Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups15.88427.942101.040.000Within Groups6.83887.079  Total22.72289  

The one-way ANOVA analysis for competence suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F101.04, p.00).
Table 2c. LSD Post Hoc Test Competence Cluster of Empowerment.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-.86800().000 Plaza.04467.539UD2UD1.86800().000 Plaza.91267().000PlazaUD1-.04467.539 UD2-.91267().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

The LSD test on the competence cluster shows that the second group who received empowerment training had a significantly higher mean on meaningfulness compared to UDream staff who have not received the training (MD.87, p.00) and against those staff from Plaza Hotel who have also not received such training (MD.91, p.00).
Table 3a. Descriptive Statistics Self-Determination Cluster of Empowerment.

 MeanStd. DeviationUDream12.5547.26935UDream23.5547.26935Plaza2.4880.27476Total2.8658.55909
Figure 3. Descriptive Statistics Self-Determination Cluster of Empowerment.

Self-determination deals with being able to decide on ones own on how to go about ones work having adequate opportunity for independence and freedom on the job and having significant autonomy on the job. On the average, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.55 (sd.27), suggesting they are neutral on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.55 (sd.27) indicating agreement. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.49 (sd.27) which indicates disagreement.

Table 3b. One-way ANOVA Self-Determination Cluster of Empowerment.
 Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups21.422210.711145.669.000Within Groups6.39787.074  Total27.81989  
The one-way ANOVA analysis for self-determination suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F145.67, p.00).
Table 3c. LSD Post Hoc Test Self-Determination Cluster of Empowerment.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-1.00000().000 Plaza.06667.344UD2UD11.00000().000 Plaza1.06667().000PlazaUD1-.06667.344 UD2-1.06667().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

Table 4a. Descriptive Statistics Impact Cluster of Empowerment.

 MeanStd. DeviationUDream12.6880.40076UDream23.6213.34843Plaza2.6103.39268Total2.9732.59627
Figure 4. Descriptive Statistics Impact Cluster of Empowerment.

Impact has to do with the effect of ones in the department having influence in what happens in ones department and sense of control over the happenings in ones work group. On the average, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.69 (sd.40), suggesting they are neutral on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.62 (sd.35) indicating agreement. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.61 (sd.39) likewise indicating neutrality.

Table 4b. One-way ANOVA Impact Cluster of Empowerment.

 Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups18.99329.49665.310.000Within Groups12.65087.145  Total31.64389  
The one-way ANOVA analysis for impact suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F65.31, p.00).
Table 4c. LSD Post Hoc Test Impact Cluster of Empowerment.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-.93333().000 Plaza.07767.432UD2UD1.93333().000 Plaza1.01100().000PlazaUD1-.07767.432 UD2-1.01100().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

Table 5a. Descriptive Statistics Empowerment.

 MeanStd. DeviationUDream12.7333.69149UDream23.6000.49827Plaza2.6333.66868Total2.9889.75691
Empowerment has been measured through a single item which gauges the respondents perceptions of their overall sense of empowerment on the job. In general, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.73 (sd.69), suggesting they are neutral on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.60 (sd.50) indicating agreement. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.63 (sd.67) likewise indicating neutrality.

Figure 5. Descriptive Statistics Empowerment.

Table 5b. One-way ANOVA Empowerment.

 Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups16.95628.47821.672.000Within Groups34.03387.391  Total50.98989  
The one-way ANOVA analysis for empowerment suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F21.67, p.00).

Table 5c. LSD Post Hoc Test Empowerment.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-.86667().000 Plaza.10000.537UD2UD1.86667().000 Plaza.96667().000PlazaUD1-.10000.537 UD2-.96667().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.


Table 6a. Descriptive Statistics Job Satisfaction.

 MeanStd. DeviationUDream12.3773.32495UDream23.3097.37176Plaza2.3220.32192Total2.6697.56641

Figure 6. Descriptive Statistics Job Satisfaction.

Job satisfaction inquired about their general satisfaction on their jobs. On the average, the control group from UDream 1 received a mean of 2.37 (sd.32), suggesting they disagree on this facet of empowerment. Those who have received the empowerment training garnered a mean of 3.31 (sd.27) which also indicates neutrality. Moreover, Plaza Hotel respondents received a mean of 2.32 (sd.57) likewise indicating disagreement.

Table 5b. One-way ANOVA Job Satisfaction.

 Sum of SquaresdfMean SquareFSig.Between Groups18.47829.23979.778.000Within Groups10.07587.116  Total28.55389  
The one-way ANOVA analysis for job satisfaction suggests that there are significant differences among the means of the three groups on meaningfulness of the job (F79.78, p.00).
Table 6c. LSD Post Hoc Test Job Satisfaction.

(I) Group(J) GroupMean Difference (I-J)Sig.UD1UD2-.93233().000 Plaza.05533.531UD2UD1.93233().000 Plaza.98767().000PlazaUD1-.05533.531 UD2-.98767().000  The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.

Table 7. Correlations between Empowerment Clusters and Overall Sense of Empowerment.
  EmpowerMeaningPearson Correlation.387() Sig. (2-tailed).000CompetePearson Correlation.572() Sig. (2-tailed).000DeterminePearson Correlation.429() Sig. (2-tailed).000ImpactPearson Correlation.473() Sig. (2-tailed).000  Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The correlations between overall sense of empowerment and the various clusters that compose it suggest that all the sub-variables that make up empowerment are significantly and positively correlated with it meaningfulness (r.39, p.00) competence (r.57, p.00) self-determination (r.43, p.00) and impact (r.47, p.00).

Table 8. Correlations between Empowerment and Job Satisfaction.

JSEmpowerPearson Correlation.533() Sig. (2-tailed).000  Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

The foregoing table shows that sense of empowerment is significantly and positively correlated with job satisfaction, among employees of the two hotels (r.53, p.00).

Customer Satisfaction Survey Results

The results of the Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire are based on the responses of 60 employees, corresponding to the 60 employees who have answered the Empowerment Questionnaire. This matching was necessary since there was an attempt to correlate employees sense of empowerment and customer satisfaction.

Table 9a. Descriptive Statistics Service Quality Clusters of U Dream and Plaza Hotel.
 GroupMeanStd. DeviationRelaveU Dream4.1600.50213 Plaza3.1903.50088RespaveU Dream3.9673.63859 Plaza3.3000.66217AssaveU Dream4.3583.56737 Plaza3.2417.65483EmpaveU Dream4.0833.49712 Plaza3.0667.20692OverallSatU Dream4.5667.85836 Plaza3.8000.40684

Figure 7. Descriptive Statistics Job Satisfaction.
Looking at the service quality clusters of the two hotels, it may be gleaned that U Dreams reliability, responsiveness, assurance, and empathy have all been rated with slight disagreement, while those of Plaza Hotel have only been rated with neutrality. Overall satisfaction, however, has been slightly agreed upon by customers of both hotels.
Table 9b. T-values Service Quality Clusters of U Dream and Plaza Hotel.

 tSig. (2-tailed)Relave7.488.000Respave3.973.000Assave7.059.000Empave10.341.000OverallSat4.421.000
The t-values show that across all facets of service quality and customer satisfaction overall, UDream garnered a significantly higher mean compared to Plaza Hotel.

Table 10. Correlations Overall Customer Satisfaction and Empowerment.
EmpowerOverallSatPearson Correlation.391() Sig. (2-tailed).002  Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

Overall customer satisfaction and empowerment are significantly and positively correlated (r.39, p.00).
The succeeding chapter discusses these statistical results in light of the empirical outcomes of past, related studies.


Chapter 5

Discussion

5.1  Introduction
The discussion of the results shall be carried through an analysis of each research objective. The summary of the statistical results are first presented, and these are analyzed alongside the literature related to the the objective in question.

5.2  Discussion

Objective 1

Objective 1 To determine what factors significantly influence a hotel employees sense of empowerment.

For Objective 1, it has been found that all of the factors of meaningfulness, competence, self-determination and impact are all significantly and positively correlated with overall sense of empowerment. These results show that before employees can psychologically empowered and increase their level of willingness to work and their ability to function (Sprietzer 1996), there is a need to identify their attitudes and behavior towards internal and external factors which have to work side by side with the organizations empowerment strategies (Thomas  Velthouse 1990).

Therefore, due to the fact that psychological empowerment allows employees to establish and maintain their control over their preferences and opportunities, it normally paves the path for a more motivating and encouraging work setting within the organization (Conger  Kanungo 1988). Thomas and Velthouse (1990) as well as Jaratt et al. (2005) further suggest that psychological empowerment can only be attained when employees fully understand the nature and value of their work within the organization

Objective 2

Objective 2 To ascertain if there are significant differences in sense of empowerment between two hotels, as caused by empowerment training.

Objective 2 results indicate that the group who has undergone empowerment training had significantly higher scores on all facets of empowerment, including overall empowerment, customer satisfaction and job satisfaction.

Thomas  Velthouse (1990) proposed that psychological empowerment is a basic and essential form of individual reason and purpose, Spreitzer (1995) further widened this idea and stated that there are four factors which comprises psychological empowerment including choice, impact, competence and meaningfulness. The results of the study indicate that those who have been trained on empowerment have actually associated with the worth and importance of any task as well as its relation with their thoughts, feelings and attitudes. Moreover, they have formed positive self-perceptions and increased their self-efficacy.
Bandura (1986) and Wang (2009) also puts forth social cognitive theory along with experimental studies that competence clearly influences performance. Wang (2009) also suggests that choice is an essential factor of intrinsic motivation and that such independence associated with work can result to flexibility and further learning even in the midst of challenges. Those who have undergone empowerment training are also higher on the impact subscale. This refers to the degree of power and influence one perceives over operations and outcomes in their work. This is meaningfully related to an increased level of performance and motivation (Wang 2009).

Objective 3

Objective 3 To discuss if there is a significant relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction.

The outcomes of the study indicate that there is a positive, significant correlation between empowerment and job satisfaction. These results are consistent with the outcomes of the study of Parsons (1995) which involved a series of 270 international Novotel hotels and their Back to the Future project. The latter aimed to enhance their service quality through the use of three components- a new logo and design, a great deal of investment, and new management strategies. The organization sought to have control over all members, customers and operations while still allowing their employees to have a say in making decisions and planning processes they were also committed to providing excellent and adequate training for their employees. Consequently, it resulted into a higher accommodation rate of guests and tourists, less criticisms, and an increased level of overall satisfaction and retention among their employees. Therefore (Parsons 1995) conclude that empowering employees bring forth all sorts of advantages for everyone involved, from the employees to their organization and most importantly to their customers.

Cacioppe (1996) further believes that empowerment will eventually lead to a strong and well-established customer relationship, sense of fulfillment and satisfaction among employees, and overall success for the organization. Organizations have paid a great deal of attention to employee empowerment mainly because of the benefits that it can provide regarding performance and service (Lashley 1999) particularly in the present times when there is increasing global competition and customer demands (Appelbaum 1999). Because there is an improvement in the employees effectiveness and motivation in work, it eventually leads to better performance and customer relations.

Lashley (1995), Pfeffer (1995) and Hackman et al. (1975) argue that customer satisfaction is associated with employee satisfaction that is, when employees attain motivation and self-esteem, their productivity is significantly improved and eventually leads to better and more desirable products and services. Therefore, it is primarily the responsibility of the management of both hotels to implement systems that will further strengthen their human resources and create a sense of stability between having control over their employees while allowing them to freely accomplish their tasks (Hales 1998). A number of hotels including the Ritz-Carlton puts emphasis  on employee empowerment, allowing their employees to become motivated as well as achieve desirable and favorable outcomes within the organization which suggests how the hotel is exerting their efforts in their service quality for customers (Davidson, 2003). Such perceptions and awareness of quality as well as customer expectations may just as well generate a positive difference in the Mauritian tourism industry as attested to by the results of the study.

5.2.4   Objective 4
Objective 4 To discuss if there is a significant relationship between empowerment and customer satisfaction.
The results for the last objective shows that there is a significant and positive relationship between empowerment and customer satisfaction. Customers become satisfied depending on the quality of a companys products and services. From here on, the company will then decide how they can train and prepare their employees (Lashley 1999). Furthermore, the relationship that employees establish with their customers is very important(Clark 2009) as it has been shown from certain studies that positive relations result to less tension and more excellence (Bowen and Schneider 1985 Hartline and Ferrell 1996 Hartline, Maxham, and McKee 2000 Singh 2000). Furthermore, when the nature and purpose of their work is clear to them, it has been shown to eventually lead to satisfied customers. Such notions become the driving force for employees to present superior services (Clark 2009).

According to Davidson (2003) who closely examined the American Consumer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) designed for the hotel industry from the University of Michigan in USA, customer satisfaction has been associated with the overall performance of the industry and that customers recognize value and quality using the conditions and environment of an organization including those of for their services, for improvement, and for employee interests (Schneider et al 1994). In the hotel industry, though, the service conditions are given the most importance (Davidson 2003 Ramsaran-Fowdar 2006). It has also been presented that the current state and conditions of an organization greatly affect the quality of their service, therefore influencing the satisfaction of their customers and the accomplishment of their organization (Davidson 2003, p. 212).

Empowerment can be done through the involvement of employees in making organizational decisions by allowing them to contribute their ideas and suggestions. It can also make use of certain programs in motivating their employees to become responsible for their work or encourage the management to better concentrate their efforts on how they gain their earnings.

The results are consistent with those of Clark et al (2009). Among 279 hotels which were surveyed in the study of Clark et al. (2009), it was found out that managers who were committed to providing good quality to their customers were more likely to empower their employees as they become the actual models for their organizational goals. It also allows the managers to clearly express to their employees the important purpose and nature of their work and promotes effective interaction and satisfaction within the working environment (Clark 2009, pp. 224-225). In a study of Drehmer et al (2000) who studied activities of employee involvement among 1,000 manufacturing and service companies, it was shown that the involvement of employees was essential in improving the overall efficiency and productivity of the team.

In the study of Hales  Klidas (1998), though, it was reported that ten Amsterdam hotels with five star ratings implemented different strategies in empowering their employees and placed more control and limit to the freedom and preference of their employees which then shows the need for more strategies in carrying out empowerment among employees. Nonetheless, it also showed that the management clearly had an influence over how much the employees were engaged in organizational decisions and operations. On the other hand, Haynes  Fryer (2000) focused more on how human resource management (HRM) affected a five-star hotel in New Zealand and its approach to improving the quality of their products and services. With a series of interviews, it was shown that the hotel exerted major efforts on customer service which sets them apart from most of the neighboring hotels. The management believes that when their employees are actively involved and are properly trained to do their jobs, it results to both an increase in organizational performance as well as in customer satisfaction. Moreover, the organization focused more on the interests of their employees including their training, career opportunities and their overall satisfaction which the management believes to eventually result to good quality customer service and higher financial performance (Haynes  Fryer 2000). However, amidst such positive results, it has been recommended that a longer period of time should be allotted for the greater positive impact.

Chapter 6

Conclusion and Recommendations

6.1  Conclusions
The results of the study indicate the following
All facets of empowerment, including meaningfulness, self-determination, competence, and impact have a positive influence on overall sense of empowerment.

UDream hotel employees who have received empowerment training have a higher sense of empowerment, customer satisfaction, and job satisfaction compared to their counterparts in UDream who have not yet received training, and staff of Plaza Hotel who have likewise not received such training.

There is a significant, positive relationship between empowerment and job satisfaction.

There is a significant, positive relationship between empowerment and customer satisfaction.

Empowerment primarily revolves around the actual establishment and development of power instead of the mere permission or confirmation to use power of any sort. It also enables the ability and capacity of an individual to be realized along with the influence of such capability on overall growth and development. When power is acquired, it proves to have a useful and meaningful impact on various desirable outcomes, such as an improved level of employee performance as well as a healthier physiological state. Within U Dream, psychological empowerment is present since employees are able to clearly understand the full nature of his work as well as his responsibilities as a member of the organization, and this has been further reinforced through training.

In order for U Dream and Plaza Hotel to effectively implement empowerment strategies, it is necessary for them to first define what empowerment really signifies. Empowerment eventually leads to a number of benefits for the organization as well as their customers including the overall success of the organization, the contentment of their employees and the establishment of strong customer relationships. Because empowerment allows an individuals level of competence and ability to be recognized, it often leads to organizational and personal improvement.

The involvement of employees along with their suggestions and ideas can empower them and at the same time allow the organization to gain benefits from it. Additionally, when members are completely engaged in their work while the organization declares itself responsible for the management of their tasks and performance, better outcomes will be expected. Employee involvement, however, can only be achieved depending on the organizations business strategies, customer relations, technological resources, business background and current situation, as well as the attitudes of its members. When an organization is fully aware of their present condition, it will be able to effectively recognize the level of empowerment training that they require.

The outcomes of the present study likewise show that empowerment makes it easier for organizations to manage their employees with increased job satisfaction and business operations because of its positive influence to customer satisfaction. It provides employee motivation, participation, joint efforts, better performance and job satisfaction. Moreover it has improved customer relations within U Dream, with enhanced performance from the organizations employees.

6.2  Recommendations
The following recommendations are put forth from the results of the research
Empowerment programs should be utilized in the Mauritian hotel industry in order to provide benefits for both the hotel organizations as well as community members.

It is extremely necessary for the management to become involved in empowering their employees and to do such, they must be fully engaged in all the efforts that they exert, identify all essential goals and receive proper training for them to become positively empowered.

Members of both hotels can be empowered when they follow certain guidelines to achieve the satisfactory performance level as well as standards to which they can measure their performance with and certain rewards and initiatives to increase their level of motivation. Finally, adequate training should be provided, including a wide range of activities and resources to enhance certain skills and abilities among staff members.
 The empowerment process can be effectively accomplished within U Dream and Plaza Hotel when there is full cooperation from everyone that is involved, as well as an open and constant communication among such individuals. Various organizations use different empowerment strategies due to their different needs. Still, all these strategies consist of common factors including the exchange and communication of information, flexibility in problem solving, independence when working with tasks as well as the positive transformation of employee attitudes.

Further research may be deployed in other industries within Mauritius to lend credence to the outcomes of the current study.