Attitudes to environmental management held by a group of hotel managers in Edinburgh

Hospitality Management 17 (1998) 33 — 47

Attitudes to environmental management held by a group of hotel managers in Edinburgh David Kirk Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Queen Margaret College, Edinburgh EH12 8TS, UK

Abstract A postal survey of hotel managers in Edinburgh was designed to test associations between characteristics of the hotel (size, ownership and classification) and attitudes towards environmental management. It was found that there was no association between the characteristics of the hotel and the presence of a written environmental policy. In general, managers felt that the most significant benefits were related to improved public relations and better relationships with their local community. However, hotels with a written policy saw the greatest benefits in relation to financial and marketing benefits, indicating that those managers who had made a commitment to environmental management saw real commercial benefits. This was supported by the results of a binary cluster analysis, which demonstrated the presence of a natural grouping of those hotels with a written environmental policy who, in the majority of cases, held positive attitudes towards the environmental management. ( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Environmental management; Hotels; Edinburgh, Attitudes

1. Introduction Management of the environment now forms a part of the global political agenda. Events such as the 1992 Rio Earth Summit Conference (United Nations, 1993) have provided the nations of the world with clear targets to reduce waste and to control the atmospheric emissions of pollutants, such as carbon dioxide. Specifically, Annexe 2 of the Rio Conference develops Agenda 21, a programme which recognises that action must involve participation of all concerned in addressing the pressing problems of today whilst also preparing the world for the challenge of the next century. In this Annexe, countries are urged to promote cleaner production, through a more efficient use of resources, and by developing responsible entrepreneurs. Equally significant to the hospitality and tourism industries is the need for sustainable development. The World Commission on Environment and Development (1987), often referred to as the Bruntland Commission, provides a definition of sustainability S0278-4319/98/$19.00 ( 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 2 7 8 - 4 3 1 9 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 0 0 5 - X

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in relation to ‘‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’’. These global political agreements have resulted in environmental issues progressing from being the concern of minority green protest groups and fringe political parties to forming part of the manifesto of mainstream political groups (Young, 1993). It is a measure of the fact that the environment has now reached the centre stage of political thought when a book on the environment is published by the Vice President of the USA (Gore, 1992). However, it is generally recognised that global agreements, by themselves, will not induce change. Significant change will only result from local action taking by local government, local business and local pressure groups. Some of these local changes will be forced by international and national legislation, such as the European Directive on Packaging and Packaging Waste (Directive 94/62/EC), which sets targets for the reduction of packaging waste by the year 2001, namely the recovery of between 50 and 65% (by weight) of packaging waste. It will be enacted through national legislation throughout the European Union, such as the Environment Act, 1995 (Dixon, 1996) in the UK. Another example of the response to Agenda 21 is a campaign developed by the UK Government which aims to cut waste, save energy and natural resources, make effective use of transport, avoid pollution and create quality local environments (DOE, 1996). A number of Local Authorities in the UK are participating in this project (Anon, 1996). However, there is some evidence that action by Local Authorities has, to-date, concentrated rather more on planning issues than on economic development (Gibbs et al., 1996). In addition to legislative pressures, many companies have taken a pro-active interest in environmental management, through environmental policies, including the adoption of clearly defined systems and procedures. Guidelines are available for setting up environmental management systems in any organisation, the first stage of which is often seen to be the establishment of a written policy and the identification of responsible groups within the organisation. These procedures may be verified by external auditing organisations (BSI, 1992).

2. Environmental management and the hospitality industry Because the hospitality industry is not one which causes conspicuous large-scale damage to the environment, it has been fairly slow to respond to the need for environmental management. This slow response may also result from the fragmented nature of the industry — each hotel’s pollutants are but a small part of an overall whole. However, the industry will increasingly be affected by changes taking place. Particularly when linked to tourism development, there is an increasing demand for new projects to be assessed for environmental impact. For example, there is growing concern about the development of tourism based solely on financial return without consideration of the carrying capacity of an area particularly in relation to resources such as water and refuse disposal (Prosser, 1992).

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Although initially the hospitality industry was slow to respond to these demands, the 1990’s saw a number of important initiatives. For example, the International Hotels Environment Initiative was developed in 1992 (as part of the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum), when a number of the leading international hotel companies realised that they had a lot to gain from working together (IHEI, 1996). In the four years of its existence, the IHEI had developed a manual for managers (IHEI, 1993), a journal (the Green Hotelier) and a number of training aids for hotel companies. The IHEI is working with the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) to develop the European Community Network for Environmental Travel and Tourism (ECoNETT). There is a recognition by the WTTC that environmental issues will become much more significant to customers, pressure groups and legislators. They identify, as the key environmental issues: global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, acid rain, together with the depletion and pollution of land and water resources. They also make it clear that, although travel and tourism is not a major source of environmental concern, as the world’s largest industry it must play its part in sustainable development. The industry uses considerable amounts of energy for transport, heating, air-conditioning, swimming pools, laundry and catering, resulting in a number of negative effects, such as the reduction of energy resources, a contribution to global warming and a possible contribution to acid rain. Also, the release of ozone-depleting substances from packaging, fire-fighting equipment and refrigeration have an impact on the depletion of the ozone layer. Land and water resources are consumed by the industry and attempts to reduce the consumption of water and land must be investigated, through impact studies on new projects (WTTERC, 1993). Many of the leading organisations are now working together to produce advice for managers in the hospitality industry, jointly promoted by the IHEI, the International Hotel Association (IHA) and the American Hotel and Motel Association (AHMA) such as the ‘‘Environmental Action Pack for Hotels’’ (UNEP, 1995). Government bodies also provide advice, such as practical ‘‘what-to-do guide’’ for owners and managers (DOE, 1994). Clearly, there are a number of pressures on all industries, including the hospitality industry, to respond to the need to reduce negative environmental impacts. In relation to this motivation for change, there are five main motivators: legislation and codes of practice; fiscal policies; public opinion; consumer pressure; and financial advantages resulting from saving resources (Kirk, 1995). Shanklin (1993) indicates that debate has already started about the responsibilities of the hospitality industry, in relation to the reduction of solid waste, water consumption, energy consumption and air pollution, but that there is a need for more research, training of employees and changes to educational programmes. Based on three measures, ecotechniques, environmental sponsorship and eco-packaging, Ayala (1995) reports that the international hotel industry is not achieving its full potential for the development of the green resort. Zurburg et al. (1995), highlight the difficulties that many hoteliers face. In a survey of hoteliers, seeking their opinions about current environmental issues and what they were doing to address specific issues, they found that most hoteliers would respond to pressures from society and legislative changes and that many small hoteliers were concerned, but that they were unsure about what

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action to take. Similarly, Horobin and Long (1996) stated that a number of small tourism-related businesses reported that, whilst they were supportive of the principles of sustainable development, they often felt lacking in advice on practical measures which they could take, or felt that any measures which they could have would have negligible impact.

3. Environmental action It is generally recognised that the first and most important step towards environmental action in an organisation is the formal adoption of a written policy statement (Gilbert, 1993). The exception to this may be the case of environmentally aware entrepreneurs. In a survey of its members, the WTTERC (1993) indicate that a large proportion of companies were in possession of such a policy statement. They go on to stress how important it is that this policy is supported throughout the company, at all levels. Since the environmental policy statement plays a central role in the development of environmental management, it must be owned and led by managers. Brown (1996) illustrates alternative green strategies, based on a questionnaire addressed to general managers of hotels in the UK. Of the managers surveyed, 38% said that they had an environmental policy. A comparison was made of perceptions and awareness of managers both with and without a policy. It is disappointing to note that, in this survey, Brown reported that the presence of a policy had not in general resulted in greater action, such as environmental reporting. Most significantly, an environmental management programme, at least in the early stages, can reduce costs through greater resource efficiency (Iwanowski and Rushmore, 1994). For example, in the UK, the Department of the Environment (DOE, 1994) stresses the considerable financial advantages which can result from an energy management programme. They suggests that by taking simple low cost measures, hoteliers can produce an energy saving of 20%. Other benefits proposed for environmental management include marketing advantages, particularly with the rise in ‘‘green’’ consumerism (Cairncross, 1995; Elkington and Knight, 1992: 117—129). As an example, some countries or regions have developed hotel classification systems, based on environmental factors (Goodno, 1993). However, there is some evidence that customers are not prepared to pay more for environmentally managed hospitality products. For example, in a survey of frequent travellers in the US there was some ambiguity in the response of these customers. That is, whilst they subscribed to environmental management as a concept, they were not prepared to pay more for a hotel room operated in a more environmentally sensitive way (Watkins, 1994). Similarly, Jaffe et al. (1993) reported that foodservice customers were not prepared to pay more for operations which could demonstrate that they reduced waste. However, Gustin and Weaver (1996), in a survey of over 400 people in the US, showed that there is a developing market of people who are knowledgeable about the environment and who take this into account when making decisions about a choice of hotel.

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In addition to financial and marketing benefits, environmental management is also reported to provide other less tangible benefits. For example, it is reported that environmental management can have a positive impact on public opinion and public relations (Worcester, 1994). Since the local community is frequently involved in planning applications, a company which is sensitive to local concerns is more likely to be trusted in any proposed new developments (Elkington and Knight, 1992: 146—153). Other authors indicate that environmental management can have an impact on the morale of the workforce, given that many employees wish to work for a socially responsible company (Hopfenbeck, 1993).

4. The aims of the research This study was designed to investigate attitudes of hotel managers to a number of potential benefits arising from environmental management, including increased profitability, increased customer and employee satisfaction, improved relationships with the local community, improved public relations and the development of a marketing advantage. These attitudes were to be tested against characteristics of the hotel, specifically its size, ownership and classification. Another significant variable was thought to be the presence of a written research policy, which might be expected would improve attitudes towards the benefits of environmental management.

5. The survey A postal questionnaire was developed, addressed to the General Manager of hotels in Edinburgh. Hotels in Edinburgh were chosen as the sample, because of the availability of an accurate database and also because of the high profile of the City of Edinburgh in raising environmental awareness (for example, Edinburgh District Council, 1995; Gillon, 1996). In consequence of this level of interest in the environment, hotel managers might be expected to have a raised level of environmental awareness. The first part of the questionnaire aimed to identify some of the characteristics of the hotels. This included size (as measured by the number of rooms), ownership (specifically if the hotels were independent, part of a chain or a member of a consortium) and membership of any grading or classification scheme, such as those operated by the Automobile Association (AA), the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) and the Scottish Tourist Board (STB). In addition to indicating membership of these schemes, those who were members of a scheme were asked to indicate how may stars or crowns they held. The second section of the questionnaire related to the presence of a formal written policy on the environment and if there was one, the job title of the person responsible for implementing this policy, how long the policy had been in place and any examples of changes resulting from having this policy.

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The third section of the questionnaire sought the attitude of the hotel manager to some possible impacts of environmental management on their business. The specific statements used were: a programme of environmental management will: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

increase profitability; increase customer satisfaction; increase employee satisfaction; improve relationships with the local community; help with our public relations; give a marketing advantage over our competitors.

The statements were rated on a five point Likert scale, as follows: 5 4 3 2 1

— — — — —

agree strongly agree neither agree nor disagree disagree disagree strongly

The postal questionnaire was tested on five hotel general managers and, after one or two minor adjustments, it was sent (with a reply paid envelope) to all of the hotels in Edinburgh (excluding Guest Houses and Bed & Breakfast operators). This was based on a list provided by the Scottish Tourist Board, resulting in a total sample of 145 hotels. Initial replies were received from 54 hotels (37%). A follow-up letter increased the number of replies to 90, a response rate of 60%. An inspection of the list of non-respondents indicated that there were no obvious systematic errors related to ownership, size or rating. Of the 90 responses, 5 were rejected because, at the time of the survey, they were not operating as a hotel, giving a total population of 85 hotels. Analysis of the questionnaires was completed, using the SPSS for ¼indows statistical package.

6. A profile of hotels in the survey The analysis of ownership showed that the majority of hotels were independent (69%), as shown in Table 1. Because of the small number of hotels which formed part of consortia (4%) these were combined with chain-owned hotels in the later analysis. Table 1 Ownership of the hotels in the sample Type of ownership

Number

Percentage

Independent Consortium Chain

59 3 23

69 4 27

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Fig. 1. Histogram showing the distribution of the number of rooms.

This gave two groups, INDEPENDENT, representing 59 hotels (69%) and CONSORTIUM/CHAIN with 26 hotels (31%). In terms of size, there was a skewed distribution with a large number of small hotels (less than 20 rooms) and then a broad distribution of room sizes up to a maximum of 259 rooms, as indicated in Fig. 1. The median value of the number of rooms was 16. On the basis of this distribution the hotels were divided into two groups for further analysis, 46 hotels with less that 20 rooms (54% of the sample) referred to as SMALL HOTELS and 39 hotels with more than 20 rooms (46% of the sample) referred to as LARGE HOTELS. In relation to membership of classification and grading schemes, the overall breakdown is shown in Table 2. Of the hotels, 68% were in the scheme operated by the STB, 27% in the AA scheme and 9% in the RAC scheme. On the basis of the sample, hotels were divided in terms of external rating into two groups comprising 38 (45% of the sample) with 0—2 CROWNS/STARS and 48 (55% of the sample) with 3—5 CROWNS/STARS. As one would expect, there was a strong association between the size of the hotel and its classification. A Chi-square test on a two by two contingency table of size against classification gave a value of p(0.001 with a positive association between the LARGE HOTEL group and the 3—5 STAR/CROWN. Of the large hotels, 92% had

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D. Kirk / Hospitality Management 17 (1998) 33—47 Table 2 Membership of classification/grading schemes Scheme

AA

RAC

STB

Not classified 1 star/crown 2 star/crown 3 star/crown 4 star/crown 5 star/crown

62 2 4 10 4 3

77 0 0 5 1 2

27 6 12 20 15 5

Table 3 Length of time the written environmental policy had been in operation

Less than 6 months 6 months to 1 year 1 year to 3 years Over 3 years

Number

% (of those hotels with a written policy)

1 4 10 4

5 21 53 21

a 3—5 star rating, whilst 74% of small hotels had a 0—2 rating. There was also a strong association (p(0.001) between ownership and classification, based on a Chi-square test, with a positive association between CONSORTIUM/CHAIN and 3—5 STAR/CROWN. For example, 89% of chain- or consortium-owned hotels had a 3—5 star rating, whilst 57% of independent hotels were rated 0—2 stars. Of the respondents, only 19 (22%) claimed to have a written environmental policy. This is despite their location in Edinburgh, and the expectation noted above that the consequences of the Council’s policies, where awareness would be expected to be high. Chi-square tests demonstrated no association between the presence of a written policy with characteristics of the hotel, such as size (p"0.79), ownership (p"0.22) and classification (p"0.79). Of those which had an environmental policy, the majority claimed to have had this in place for over one year at the time of the survey, as indicated in Table 3. Because of the low number of responses, it was not possible to carry out any analysis of job titles of the person responsible for environmental management or of the changes which had been introduced as a result of this policy.

7. Attitude of hotel managers to environmental management For all attitude questions the modal score was 3 (equivalent to a ranking of ‘‘Neither Agree nor Disagree’’), but with a small positive skew towards the ‘‘Agree/Agree Strongly’’ end of the scale. Mean scores for each of the questions are

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Fig. 2. Distribution of mean scores for attitude questions.

Table 4 Mean response of hotel managers to attitude questions Question

Mean score

Increase profitability Improve customer Improve employee Improve community Improve public relations Improve marketing

3.27 3.31 3.24 3.47 3.54 3.21

Percentage rating AGREE/ AGREE STRONGLY 25 35 29 44 49 35

shown in Table 4 and as a bar chart in Fig. 2. All questions have mean scores between NEITHER AGREE OR DISAGREE and AGREE. The percentage of respondents who rated the attitude questions AGREE or AGREE STRONGLY are also shown in Table 4. To test if any differences between questions were statistically significant, Chisquare test were calculated for between all pairs of questions. In order to satisfy the requirement of the Chi-square test that there are at least five counts in each cell, it was necessary to reduce each set of responses to two categories. Therefore, for each attitude question, the sample was divided into two groups, those with a score of 3 or less (NEGATIVE ATTITUDE) and those with a score of over 3 (POSITIVE ATTITUDE). A matrix of results based on this analysis is shown in Table 5. This table indicates that there was a statistically different response between all questions.

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Table 5 Matrix of results from 2]2 contingency tables of each attitude question against the others, using the Chi-square test

Public Rel. Community Marketing Employee Customer

Profit

Customer

Employee

Marketing

Community

p"0.020 p"0.014 p"0.016 p(0.001 p(0.001

p(0.001 p(0.001 p(0.001 p(0.001

p(0.001 p(0.001 p(0.001

p(0.001 p(0.001

p(0.001

Observation of the contingency tables indicated which of the pair of questions had the highest proportion of ‘positive attitude’ responses, which is recorded in relation to the hirerarchy of Table 5. This indicates that the question related to improved public relations received more positive attitude ratings than all other questions. The next most positive question related to ‘an improved relation with the local community’, which had a higher proportion of positive attitude scores than all but the public relation question. Marketing was more positive than profitablity, employee and customer. The question related to an improvement in profitability was rated significantly lower than all other attitude questions. Following this analysis, it was decided to investigate if there was any relationship between the characteristics of the hotel and the response to the individual attitude questions. As described above, the hotel characteristics chosen were size, class, ownership and policy. It was decided to use a Chi-square test based on a 2]2 contingency table. As with the previous analysis, it was necessary to reduce the attitude scale to two responses in order to satisfy the requirement of the Chi-square. Two by two contingency tables of ATTITUDE against the characteristics of the hotel size, based on two groups (SMALL or LARGE), ownership (two groups INDEPENDENT or CHAIN/CONSORTIUM), classification (0—2 STAR/CROWN or 3—5 STAR/CROWN and policy (POLICY/NO POLICY) were prepared and analysed using the Chi-square test, giving results shown in Table 6. The results of this analysis show some interesting associations between characteristics of the hotels in the sample and attitudes to environmental management. Managers of large hotels, hotels with a classification between 3 and 5 star and chain or consortium hotels are more likely to see a positive public relations benefit from environmental management when compared to small hotels, hotels with less than a two-star classification and independent hotels. Managers of hotels who are part of a chain or consortium are more likely to see benefits in terms of improved customer and employee satisfaction, together with an enhancement of public relations. Perhaps the most interesting is the relationship between those hotels who have a written policy and attitudes towards the benefits of environmental management. Based on what was stated earlier about the central role of a written policy statement, it might be expected that those hotels which have already developed a written policy on the environment will have managers who are more aware of the real commercial benefits. This would

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Table 6 Results of an analysis of attitude versus characteristics of the hotel, using the Chi-square test

Public relations Profitability Customer Employee Community Marketing

Size

Class

Ownership

S 0.003 NS 0.757 NS 0.468 NS 0.176 NS 0.128 NS 0.003

S 0.012 NS 0.844 NS 0.851 NS 0.297 NS 0.263 NS 0.519

S 0.05 NS 0.740 S 0.017 S 0.001 NS 0.203 NS 0.164

Environmental policy NS 0.173 S (0.001 NS 0.481 NS 0.168 NS 0.702 S 0.040

S"significant at p"0.05 or less; NS"not significant.

explain the likelihood that those hotels with a written policy saw a greater potential for increased profitability and a marketing advantage, as demonstrated by the findings in Table 6. As a final part of the analysis of this data, it was decided to look for any natural grouping of these hotels based on their characteristics and attitudes, using a cluster analysis, a technique which can be used ‘‘to search for natural groupings in the data, to simplify the description of a large set of data’’ (Everitt, 1980: 7). The characteristics chosen for clustering were size, ownership, classification, environmental policy and an aggregate score of attitude to environmental management. Since all data have to be reduced to the same order and, given that policy is in the form of binary data (yes/no), all other data was reduced to a similar format: small/large, independent/chain, 0—2 star/3—5 star and policy/no policy. There is some criticism in the literature of the use of non-metric data in cluster analysis (Hooley and Hussey, 1995) and therefore in this case the technique is used to identify possible natural groupings with no implication that these have statistical validity. An overall measure of attitude was based on the aggregate score for all six attitude questions. On inspection of the aggregate scores, they were found to have a bimodal distribution with a score of 20—22 separating the two peaks of the distribution. On this basis, the overall attitude score was divided into two, those with an aggregate score of 20 or less (NEGATIVE ATTITUDE) and those with a score of over 20 (POSITIVE ATTITUDE). Cluster analysis was conducted on this binary data, using an agglomerative clustering procedure based on the ‘‘nearest-neighbour’’ algorithm (Everitt, 1980: 25), using SPSS for Windows. The resulting dendogram is shown in Fig. 3. This shows that the hotels divide into two natural groups, those with an environmental policy (Group 1) and those without an environmental policy (group 2). Given the small size of group

D. Kirk / Hospitality Management 17 (1998) 33—47

Fig. 3.

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1 (because only 22% of the sample of hotels had an environmental policy, it is not possible to draw too many firm conclusions. However, it does indicate that those hotels with an environmental policy form a natural homogenous grouping. Within this cluster, their are two smaller clusters. Group 1A consists of eight small independent hotels with 0—2 stars or crowns. In general (6 out of the 8), they also have a positive attitude to the environment. The other sub-group (Group 1B) consists of 11 chain- or consortium-owned hotels with 3—5 stars or crowns and, as with the other group a positive attitude to the benefits of environmental management (held by 8 out of the 11 hotels). Of the hotels without a policy on the environment, there were two natural clusters. Group 2A consisted of 36 hotels with a mixture of ownership, classification, size and attitude. Group 2B consisted of 30 small, independent 0—2 star hotels, also with a mixture of attitudes towards the environment. On the basis of this it is not possible to identify any strong natural associations in this groups based on attitude to the environment, size, classification and ownership.

8. Conclusion It is interesting to note that, at the time that this survey was completed (1994/1995), only 22% of the hotels in the sample had a written environmental policy, as compared to the figure of 38% reported by Brown (1996) for hotels in the UK with an environmental policy. Given the importance of Edinburgh as a an important heritage tourism destination (Gillon, 1996; Edinburgh District Council, 1995), it is interesting that the reported figure in this research is so low. It is also significant to note that there was no association between the presence of a written policy and characteristics of the hotel such as size, ownership and classification. Similar findings were found in a survey of Canadian hotels (Deng et al., 1992). Of all of the questions related to attitude, the potential for an improvement in public relations produced the most positive response, together with an improvement in the relationship with the local community. An improvement in customer satisfaction, a marketing advantage and an increase in profitability were rated least highly. This is interesting only because the later factors are more likely to lead to tangible benefits to the organisation rather than the former attitudes. However, hotels which had an environmental policy were more likely to associate environmental management with increased profitability and a marketing advantage, demonstrating an awareness of practical business advantages. It has been claimed that small businesses in the hospitality and tourism industries, although concerned about the environment, are less likely to know what practical steps to take in order to address this issue (Horobin and Long, 1996; Zurburg et al., 1995). This could explain the poor perception of real practical commercial benefits arising from environmental policy on the part of those hotels without a written policy. This association between the presence of a policy and a positive attitude towards environmental management is further indicated by a cluster analysis which shows the presence of a natural grouping within the hotels in the sample, comprised of those

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hotels who have a written policy and have managers who indicate a positive attitude to the benefits of environmental management. Further research would be useful in order to investigate in more detail these hotels and also to see if similar clusters could be demonstrated on a larger sample of hotels and using metric data. Clearly, these hotels could provide significant keys to the development of environmental awareness which could be disseminated to all hotels. It is interesting, for example, that it appears that this group of ‘‘aware’’ hotels are not just large, high class chain hotels. In fact, there were two natural subclusters — the large chain hotels (as might be predicted) but also a group of small independent hotels with gradings of up to 2 star. Both of these groups could provide evidence of good practice which could be spread to other hotels.

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