Professionalism: A contemporary interpretation in hospitality industry context

International Journal of Hospitality Management 50 (2015) 122–133

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International Journal of Hospitality Management journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijhosman

Professionalism: A contemporary interpretation in hospitality industry context Simone Cheng a,∗ , Alan Wong b a b

Department of Management and Marketing, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

a r t i c l e

i n f o

Article history: Received 5 December 2014 Received in revised form 4 August 2015 Accepted 4 August 2015 Keywords: Professionalism Emotional self-control Team-oriented attitudes Professional ethics Leadership by example Perfectionism

a b s t r a c t Professionalism is traditionally associated with classic professions such as medicine and law. With the growth of consumerism, numerous industries and occupations are striving for professionalism to enhance their status. This study addresses the conceptual ambiguity of professionalism by identifying the elements or criteria to achieve it in the hospitality industry. The perceptions of hotel practitioners from various work levels including junior staff, middle managers, and senior executives are explored through focus group interviews. Findings identify eight elements of professionalism, namely, passion, sensitivity, and open-mindedness to new trends, team-oriented attitude, competence and skills, emotional self-control, professional ethics, leadership by example, and perfectionism. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction “Professionalism” is a term traditionally associated with classic professions, such as medicine, law, engineering, and the sciences. However, with the development of the postindustrial or information society and the growth of consumerism, numerous industries or occupations, such as public service, education, and professional services, are striving to attain professionalism to enhance their status (Rawel, 2003) and meet the needs of knowledgeable consumers. In the contemporary era, nearly everyone wishes to become a professional. Financial planners, information technology workers, journalists, designers, and even babysitters portray and organize themselves as professionals (Noordegraaf, 2007). A wide variety of occupations are now striving to achieve professionalism. Several researchers highlight the growing importance of professionalism in the hospitality and tourism industries (Baum, 1989; Paraskevas, 2001; Torres and Kline, 2013). Considering its dynamic environment, service orientation, and high labor intensity, the hospitality industry has required its members to embrace the highest level of professionalism (Baum, 1989; Sheldon, 1989; Wong and Chan, 2010) and develop hotel management into a profession (Burgess, 2011). Christou (1999) also argues that the industry necessitates ever-increasing levels of professionalism. Paraskevas

∗ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (S. Cheng), [email protected] (A. Wong). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2015.08.002 0278-4319/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

(2001) and Chen et al. (2005) reveal that professionalism of the labor force of the hospitality industry is a prerequisite for success. Mak et al. (2011) also endorse professionalism as the key to achieve long-term viability and competitiveness in the industry. The need to develop professionalism is supported by studies on Irish tourism (Tourism Policy Review Group, 2003) and Chinese hotel industry (Wong and Chan, 2010). Hence, Pizam (2007) urges hospitality management schools to provide professional education. In the hospitality industry, facilities and physical design are regarded as the hardware of hotels, which may be easily duplicated by competitors. By contrast, the software, that is, the quality of the staff, cannot be effortlessly copied. Reliance on human capital has constantly been more significant in hospitality industry than in any other industry, even in an era of impressive technological advances. Although technological developments do allow for a slightly higher degree of sophistication in providing services, the hospitality industry is not as technologically astute as others are (Pizam and Shani, 2009). Considering that hospitality industry is a type of service industry that is labor intensive, performance of hotels is strongly dependent on employees (Masry et al., 2004). Customer service in the future will require an increasing degree of professionalism from both managers and front-line staff (Armistead and Kiely, 2003). In an attempt to improve service quality, numerous organizations are enhancing their employees’ professionalism through a wide range of training activities (Baum, 1989). Despite such recognition of the increasing importance of professionalism in the global hospitality and tourism industry, a review of the literature in this field indicates that only a limited number

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of studies on this concept have been conducted thus far (Baum and Reid, 1986; Sheldon, 1989; Ap and Wong, 2001; Coughlan, 2001; Burgess, 2011; Hussey et al., 2010; Mak et al., 2011). Hussey et al. (2010) criticize the insufficient knowledge on professionalism in tourism and confusion in the usage and meaning of the term. Perceptions of professionalism among practitioners (Baum and Reid, 1986) and researchers vary (see Slattery, 2002 for example). Accordingly, the topic must be examined by hospitality and tourism researchers. Scanning the scarce literature on professionalism in hospitality and tourism, a few studies that have investigated the concept and its components emerge (see Sheldon, 1989; Ap and Wong, 2001; Coughlan, 2001; Burgess, 2011; Hussey et al., 2010 for examples). Several deficiencies can be observed in these studies. First, although Sheldon (1989) was the first to examine the dimensions of professionalism in the hospitality industry, her study focuses on the industry level rather than on individuals. She suggests 12 criteria to define an industry as professional. A number of these criteria, such as the establishment of associations and organizations, licensure, complexity, self-employment, and high income, may not be applicable to individuals’ professionalism. Second, Coughlan (2001) focuses on acts relating to professionalism or its ethical codes, including justice, integrity, competence, and utility, ignoring other significant aspects such as attitude. Pizam (2007) argues that hospitality workers should demonstrate appropriate attitudes. Lee (2014) proposes attitudinal dimensions of professionalism such as the pursuit of knowledge, self-management, a sense of calling, and a customer orientation. Thus, the importance of an attitudinal component in professionalism is supported by certain researchers. Third, Burgess (2011) focuses on select job roles in hospitality, such as financial controllers, whose work is commonly regarded as identical to the classic accountancy profession. However, the work of financial controllers in hotels is completely different from other roles, which are mainly operational. This reality reduces the generalizability of the study results across the broad spectrum of roles in the hospitality profession. Similarly, Ap and Wong (2001) focus on tour guides. The limited scope of these studies suggests a need for further exploration of professionalism across a broad spectrum of hotel employees.

2. Objectives Reflecting on these gaps, the present study is designed to identify the dimensions of professionalism for individual hotel employees rather than the hospitality industry as a whole. As opposed to the aforementioned literature, which focuses on the personal traits of professional hospitality employees, this study seeks to explore the dimensions of professionalism. The aim is to understand the personal, attitudinal, and behavioral orientations required from individual employees and the capabilities they must develop to become professional members of the hospitality industry. Extending the work of Lee (2014), this study defines professionalism as a set of individual values, a behavioral orientation, a belief system, an attitudinal inclination, and an array of capabilities that advances both personal expertise and the social status of an individual’s occupation. Furthermore, this study discovers practitioners’ own perceptions of professionalism. To ensure that different points of view are gathered, hotel practitioners from various levels were invited to participate for two reasons. First, professionalism has long been emphasized in a leadership/management context. Numerous studies describe the concept as a core trait for managers/leaders in the hospitality industry (see Burgess, 2007; Wong and Chan, 2010 for examples). Thus, the viewpoints of managers and senior

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executives are noteworthy. However, the importance of professionalism among junior and non-managerial staff has been generally overlooked although an increasing amount of research on tourism education advocates its importance. Fournier (1999) contends that professionalism is not limited to management; more entry-level roles, such as restaurant and security, may also be professionalized. Therefore, the present study also incorporates the views of junior staff below supervisory level. Second, various studies have reported that managers and subordinates, as well as members of different generations, have different perceptions of professionalism (Chen and Choi, 2008; Park and Gursoy, 2012). Thus, the present study aims to consolidate these various viewpoints from different levels of practitioners, including junior staff, middle managers, and senior executives.

3. Literature review 3.1. Concept of professionalism The idea of professionalism originates predominantly from studies in the field of sociology in the 1930s (Hussey et al., 2010). These early studies emphasized professional values, identity, and behavior within a social system (Noordegraaf, 2007). Over the past 80 years, professionalism has significantly evolved and developed. Studies conducted in the 1950s and 1960s centered on the description of the regulation of professional groups and the traits of their members (Freidson, 2001). In the 1970s, researchers shifted their focus to the process of professionalization by measuring the progress of occupational groups toward becoming full professions through specific competencies or traits (Swailes, 2003). Lately, the focus has been on the normative value of professionalism as a multidimensional concept (Hussey et al., 2010; Lee, 2014). Nevertheless, the interpretation of professionalism has yet to reach a consensus (Sheldon, 1989; Hussey et al., 2010; Lee, 2014). The term “professionalism” is widely interchangeable with “profession” and “professional.” Early literature commonly uses the term professionalism to describe professional persons, such as lawyers and doctors (Nelson and Rutherford, 2009), whereas the ideas of profession and professional are viewed as identical (Lindop, 1982). In response to the transformation of society and the increasing sophistication of consumers, professionalism has been extended to numerous other types of occupations, resulting to diverged definitions of these terms. Helsby (1996) provides a clarified distinction between “being a professional” and “behaving professionally.” The former may confer status, reward, and public recognition, whereas the latter only implies dedication, codes of behavior, and a strong service ethic. Christou (1999) defines professionalism as a fine balance between providing efficient service and maintaining good financial results. Based on previous studies, Pizam (2007) defines it as an amalgamation of an array of appearance and behaviors, an assortment of technical and conceptual skills, a commitment to maintain competence in a given body of knowledge, and a set of internalized character strengths, values, and attitudes directed toward highquality service to others, concern for others, respect for the rule of law, and commitment to excellence. Lee (2014) defines professionalism as a set of individual values, a behavioral orientation, and a belief system that advances both personal expertise and the social status of an individual’s occupation. Professionalism is often related to technical skills (Paraskevas, 2001). Hall (1968) suggests that it has both structural and attitudinal aspects. The former denotes those characteristics that are part of the occupation, including such criteria as full-time work, establishment of a training school, formation of a professional association, and development of a code of ethics. The latter includes belief in

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service to the public and self-regulation, a sense of calling in the field, and a feeling of autonomy at work. Despite these inconsistencies in the meaning of professionalism, increasing professionalism is regarded positively because it leads to a rise in the skill levels and work standards. This growth results in material benefits to organizations (Paraskevas, 2001), a positive effect on customer satisfaction and delight (Torres and Kline, 2013), and improved job satisfaction for employees (Boyt et al., 2001). In addition, Cohen and Kol (2004) demonstrate that professionalism has a significant influence on organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). 3.2. Dimensions of professionalism Since the 1960s, several studies have sought to identify dimensions of professionalism. For instance, Barber (1963) proposes four critical qualities of professional behaviors, namely, (1) a high degree of generalized and systematic knowledge, (2) primary orientation to community interest rather than to individual self-interest, (3) a high degree of self-control through codes of ethics, and (4) systems of rewards as symbols of work achievement. Haywood-Farmer and Stuart (1990) summarize the major early studies and categorize professionalism into four major components, that is, knowledge base, job autonomy (i.e., task independence, closeness of supervision, and rules and regulations), social effect, and superiority. Lindop (1982) suggests eight attributes of being a professional, which are (1) claiming exclusivity, (2) doing something special for society, (3) professing certain socially useful skills and competences, (4) practicing according to publicly acknowledged standards, (5) enjoying privilege and responsibility in the offering of a service to the public, (6) exercising personal judgment, (7) protecting the public by guaranteeing certain minimum standards of competence, and (8) conducting and meriting recognition by way of pay and status. Recently, Hussey et al. (2010) criticize the lack of consistency in the dimensions and measurement of professionalism across these studies despite their similarities. Although the dimensions of professionalism vary across disciplines and fields, a review of the literature in fields of sociology, philosophy, medicine, and education reveals that several components are generally reported in traditional professions, such as medicine, law, and education. These factors include (1) specialist knowledge, (2) expert competence and skills, (3) expert qualifications and training, (4) job autonomy, (5) social orientation (altruism and dedication to society rather than self-interest), and (6) ethics and self-regulation. Table 1 summarizes these components as they have been identified in various occupational contexts. Despite these similarities, different dimensions of professionalism have been identified for different industries (see Table 1). This variation demonstrates the multiplicity of the components. In particular, compared with nonprofessional occupations, such as tour guides, high-status classic professions, such as accounting and specialized medicine, tend to have more diverse concepts of the components of professionalism. The operational nature of the roles and the characteristics of employment, such as low educational requirements and salaries, explain the dissimilarity. Different industries may have their own requirements for professionalism. In line with this view, Wong and Chan (2010) maintain that the industry setting affects the attributes of professionalism. A review of the tourism and hospitality literature identifies few relevant studies and no empirical work (Sheldon, 1989). Table 2 presents the attributes of professionalism summarized from studies on hospitality and tourism. Little agreement is evident even within the industry itself. The few available studies have deficiencies. Sheldon (1989) identifies 12 dimensions of professionalism, namely, (1) lengthy training or education, (2) code of ethics, (3) organization, (4) complexity, (5) altruistic service, (6) body of

knowledge, (7) people orientation, (8) licensure, (9) high prestige, (10) competence testing, (11) self-employment, and (12) high income. However, Sheldon (1989) emphasizes professionalism at the industry level. These 12 criteria are suggested to enhance the professionalism in the hospitality and tourism industry as a whole rather than that of individual employees. To improve individual employees’ professionalism, Ap and Wong (2001) propose three dimensions, namely, good product knowledge, good communication skills, and the right attitude (i.e., service oriented), which are relevant to tour guiding based on interviews with key members of training and licensing associations. Ap and Wong (2001) suggest that “professionalism involves the sense of making tourists happy, helping tourists form a positive impression of Hong Kong, satisfying tourists with his/her services so as to encourage repeat travel, obligation to provide quality service and meet guests’ expectations, and providing necessary, updated and accurate information” (p. 555). These dimensions are generic enough to fit well across all types of professions, but are incapable of reflecting the specific characteristics of an industry. Coughlan (2001) proposes four principles of professionalism in the hospitality industry, which are justice, competence, utility, and integrity; however, he emphasizes ethical codes and gives little attention to competence and appropriate attitudes. Hussey et al. (2010) suggest four dimensions of tourism professionalism, that is, altruism, a code of ethics, knowledge and specialist skills, and expertise. These components are regarded as generic elements of professionalism that can be applied to all types of occupations (as shown in Table 1). Nonetheless, these generic elements may overlook the specific needs of each occupation considering the varying job nature.

4. Methodology 4.1. Sampling and data collection Given its exploratory nature, this study adopts a qualitative approach to understand practitioners’ perceptions of individual professionalism in the Hong Kong hotel industry. Staff and managers working in the hotel industry at different levels constitute the target response group for this study. To examine their interpretations of professionalism, face-to-face interviews were used to collect data. To account for the influence of rank and job role, respondents with similar characteristics were grouped together. Consequently, six focus group interviews were performed to elicit the views of hotel practitioners from various backgrounds. Fig. 1 depicts the structure of the focus groups. In the first part, two group interviews were organized to obtain responses from the junior staff (below supervisory level). Following, two group interviews were structured for middle managers working in operations, and one group interview was held for middle managers from support departments. Finally, a group interview was arranged for senior managers and executives. To ensure that the views of practitioners from different levels were included, the data collection process was divided into three parts. First, junior staff respondents were recruited through snowball sampling. Junior staff members from various operational departments were referred by human resources managers of different hotels. Each hotel was requested to randomly select one junior staff member from each operational department, including front office, food and beverage, and housekeeping, to participate in the focus groups. All of the participants who were in entry-level positions or any positions below supervisory level for at least the

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Table 1 Dimensions of professionalism suggested in various industries. Authors

Hall (1968)

Kerr et al. (1977)

Bartol (1979)

Context

11 types of profession

Accounting

Computing

Remark

Wood et al. (2000)

Boyt et al. (2001)

Swailes (2003)

Cohen and Kol (2004)

Not-for-profit hospital

Professional services Based on Hall (1968)

Public sector

Nursing

Based on HaywoodFarmer and Stuart (1990)

Reconstructed based on Hall (1968)

√ √

√ √

√

Based on Kerr et al. (1977)

Dimension* Job autonomy Societal impact Ethics Commitment Professional associations as referent Knowledge Collegial maintenance of standards Sense of calling Professional identification Self-regulation Own superiority/selfconfidence Good communication skills Right attitude to service *

HaywoodFarmer and Stuart (1990) Medicine

√ √

√

√

√ √

√ √

√ √ √

√ √

√

√ √

√

√

√

√

√ √

√

√

√

√

√ √

√

Remarks: Several dimensions that have a similar meaning but different wording are grouped under the same dimension for easy comparison.

Table 2 Attributes of professionalism cited by hospitality and tourism studies. Authors

Sheldon (1989)

Ap and Wong (2001)

Coughlan (2001)

Hussey et al. (2010)

Context Attributes

Hotels Altruism Code of ethics Body of knowledge Complex occupation Long training/education Organized People-oriented Licensed High prestige Competence tested Self-employed High income

Tour guiding Good product knowledge Good communication skills Right attitude with respect to service

Hotel conventions Honest representation and actions Avoiding conflict of interest Offering or accepting only appropriate incentives Respecting legal and contractual rights Protecting confidentiality of privileged information Refraining from misusing solicited information Commitment to the protection of the environment Active pursuit of educational growth Respecting diversity

Tourism Altruism Code of ethics Body of knowledge Specialist skills and expertise

two years prior to the interview were considered junior staff. A minimum experience of two years was required to guarantee that respondents had a good understanding of the hotel environment and the requirements of their job and that they had demonstrated commitment to their roles. Including employees with such commitment would facilitate enhanced insight into ideal professional qualities and professional work practices in the hotel industry. Although 15 operational staff members agreed to participate in the face-to-face interview, only thirteen respondents attended. Participants were randomly assigned to one of the two focus groups held in a university in Hong Kong. Both groups included six or seven people; the interviews were held on two separate evenings within two consecutive weeks of April 2013. The second phase of data collection involved the recruitment of middle managers and senior executives. Invitations were distributed to target respondents who were members of a large industry forum in Hong Kong attended by hundreds of managers and senior executives. After they agreed to take part in the

interviews, confirmation letters were issued, followed by telephone calls to schedule the group meetings. A total of 29 practitioners ultimately participated in four focus groups. Two of the groups were for middle managers from operational departments (with participants in this category randomly assigned to each group) and one was for those in supporting departments, such as finance and accounting, sales and marketing, and human resources. Each interview session included six to eight managers from all of the three operational departments, including front office, food and beverage, and housekeeping. These focus groups were held on three evenings between March and May 2013 in a university in Hong Kong. The final group involved senior executives from hotel management offices and senior managers from supporting departments. Directors, resident managers, and general managers were considered senior managers or executives. This focus group, comprising eight senior staff, was held in a hotel function room in Hong Kong. To establish consistency between groups, the same moderator facilitated all of the six sessions.

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Fig. 1. Structure of focus group interviews.

To ensure a good distribution within the sample, employees working in both local and international brand hotels were included.

from supporting departments (i.e., group 6), and SS1a denoting the response of the first senior manager in the group.

4.2. Interview guide

4.4. Data analysis

To understand the participants’ interpretations of professionalism, an interview guide comprising six questions was developed based on the main themes emerging from the literature. The questions are as follows: Can you describe someone you know in the industry who works professionally? From your point of view, what is professionalism? What are the criteria for fulfilling professionalism? What kind of personal characteristics/skills can help someone to behave professionally? What kind of beliefs/values/attitudes is required to be a professional in the hotel industry? What kinds of behaviors represent professionalism? Ad hoc questions were also inquired during interviews to probe further into the ideas raised by the interviewees. A guarantee of confidentiality was given to the participants before the interview began, and all of the audio tapes were destroyed after transcription to ensure anonymity. All of the interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim into Chinese. The Chinese transcripts were then translated into English for coding and analysis. The English transcripts were checked and compared with the Chinese versions as well as the audio recordings before analysis to verify accuracy.

Data analysis adopted the methodology of grounded theory (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). A systematic procedure of open, axial, and selective coding was followed to allow themes and subthemes to emerge from the data. Data collection and item classification were performed simultaneously. The early coding phase intentionally kept flexible and reflective, allowing the data to stimulate thinking about the themes and maintaining the focus on emerging theory and the need for further data collection. The analysis was personally conducted by the authors. Interview transcripts were processed repeatedly to enable familiarization. Content and keywords were highlighted during this process. In addition, both the manifest and latent content were open coded from the transcripts. “In vivo” codes (Strauss and Corbin, 1994), which are terms derived directly from the source language to present the actual descriptors, were also abstracted directly from the transcripts to reflect the interviewees’ expressions from a larger perspective (see Table 6). During this process, comparative codes were identified and subsequently categorized in the axial-coding stage through an intense analysis.

4.3. Data coding

5. Results and discussion

The responses from the focus group interviews with junior staff were coded as JO1a, JO1b, . . . JO1f and JO2a, JO2b. . . JO2g. JO1a denotes the response from the first junior staff member in the first group interview (i.e., group 1), JO2a represents the response from the first staff member in the second group interview (i.e., group 2), and so on. The responses from middle managers were coded as MO1a, MO1b, . . . MO1f, and MO2a, MO2b, . . . MO2g; MO denotes middle managers from operating departments, and MO1a represents the response of the first middle manager from an operational department in the first focus group (i.e., group 3). Similarly, MO2a denotes the response of the first middle manager from an operational department in the second group (i.e., group 4). The responses from the focus group of middle managers from supporting departments (i.e., group 5) were coded similarly as MS1a, MS1b, . . . MS1h. Finally, the responses from the group of senior managers were coded as SS1a, SS1b, . . . SS1h, with SS representing senior managers

5.1. Sample characteristics A total of 13 junior staff and 29 middle or senior managers from different departments participated in the focus group interviews. The percentage of male and female respondents was 42.9% and 57.1%, respectively. At the time of the study, 31% of the respondents were aged 31 or younger, 47.6% were aged 31–40, 19.1% were aged 41–50, and 2.3% were aged 50 or above. In terms of work experience in hotels, 14.3% had less than three years, a quarter had three–five years, around one-third had six–nine years, and a further one-third had more than ten years of experience. Table 3 summarizes the profile of respondents. Of the whole sample, 28.6% worked in the front office, 21.4% in food and beverage, 19% in housekeeping, and 14.3% in sales and marketing. All of the junior staff (six males and seven females) were in entry-level or below supervisory level positions in various

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Table 3 Profile of respondents. Junior level

Middle level

N = 13 Gender

Male Female

Age

20 or below 21–30 31–40 41–50 51–60

Working years

Less than 3 years 3–5 years 6–9 years 10 years or more

Senior level

Total

%

N = 21

%

N=8

%

N = 42

%

6 7

14.3 16.7

7 14

16.7 33.3

5 3

11.9 7.1

18 24

42.9 57.1

0 11 2 0 0

0 26.2 4.8 0 0

0 2 15 4 0

0 4.8 35.7 9.5 0

0 0 3 4 1

0 0 7.1 9.5 2.3

0 13 20 8 1

0 31.0 47.6 19.1 2.3

6 7 0 0

14.3 16.7 0 0

0 4 12 5

0 11.9 26.2 11.9

0 0 1 7

0 0 2.3 16.7

6 11 13 12

14.3 26.2 30.9 28.6

Table 4 Distribution of departments. Operational departments (N = 29) Dept.

F&B

Housekeeping

Juniors level Middle level Senior level

4 4 1

3 5 –

Total

9 (21.4%)

8 (19%)

*

Supporting departments (N = 11) Front desk 4 7 1 12 (28.6%)

Management office (N = 2)

Total (N = 42)

*

Finance

Training

Sales & marketing

GM/RM

– 1 2

– 2 0

2 2 2

– – 2

13 21 8

3 (7.1%)

2 (4.8%)

6 (14.3%)

2 (4.8%)

42 (100%)

GM = general manager; RM = resident manager.

operational departments. The job scope of the respondents was generally wide, including junior waiters, housekeeping attendants, reservation agents, front desk agents, and concierges. Among the 29 senior staff, 18 were managers or senior executives from operational departments, whereas 9 worked in various supporting departments including finance, training, and sales and marketing. Two senior executives, one general and one resident manager, from the general management office also participated. Table 4 presents the distribution of participants from various departments. To ensure that the sample distribution was balanced among different types of hotel, both local and international brands were included. Just over one-third (35.7%) of respondents, including 5 junior and 10 senior staff, were working in local branded hotels at the time of the group sessions, whereas 64.3% (8 junior and 19 senior) worked in international chain hotels, such as the Hyatt, Holiday Inn, Regent, and Shangri La. At the time the study was conducted, only 4.8% of the sample worked in small hotels (fewer than 200 rooms), 73.8% worked in medium-size hotels (201–400 rooms), and 29.1% in large hotels (more than 400 rooms). Table 5 illustrates the distribution of hotel size and brand. Initially, the respondents discussed their perceptions of the importance of professionalism in the hotel industry. Professionalism was generally regarded as an essential element of hotel work. All of the interviewees mentioned that individual employees should demonstrate a consistent level of professionalism, from the front of house to the back office, from the bottom to the top, and from the new blood to the most experienced, because of the collective nature of the hotel industry. In the hotel industry, every single employee, regardless of his or her position, is responsible for achieving professionalism on an individual basis. Professionalism is necessary to support the team and to work together for a collective victory; thus, it is required throughout the entire hotel industry. For instance, one of the senior executives remarked that: Professionalism is important to the hotel industry. Its importance can be viewed from two sides, from the industry itself and the employees’ side . . . It brings a better hotel image, more profit, more revenue, and benefits to the hotel and the industry . . . Employees feel proud of their jobs and will get more job satisfaction and

commitment. In return, they will get pay raises and promotions. (SS1b: Importance to the hotel industry). 5.2. Dimensions of professionalism When we asked all of the respondents “what are the criteria for achieving professionalism,” a wide range of views was expressed. Six elements were identified by junior staff, that is, (1) passion, (2) sensitivity and open-mindedness to new trends/changes, (3) team-oriented attitude, (4) competence and skills, (5) emotional self-control, and (6) professional ethics. The middle and senior staff identified two additional and important elements, namely, leadership by example and perfectionism. The themes of these responses are summarized in Table 6. 5.2.1. Passion One of the fundamental elements described by most respondents was passion or enthusiasm for the job. This element may include being engaged in or respecting the work, enjoying the work, being dedicated, and being interested in serving customers. The following comments illustrate this theme: I think professionals should feel enthusiasm for their job because if employees love the job, all of them will be willing to serve the guests and show their empathy to guests. Even those guests who are troublesome and tough — they will still try their best to help them as if they were their friends or relatives. (JO1a: Love the job). They cannot provide a good quality of service to customers if the employees do not have the passion to serve customers . . . they cannot make customers happy if they don’t enjoy their work. (MO2e: Passion). Professional employees will be dedicated to their work and willing to make small sacrifices without calculating the cost, effort, and return from their work. (MO2b: Do not calculate the return from their work). Passion, a term that has recently became popular in the hotel industry, is viewed as the key to achieving professionalism. Gilmore

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Table 5 Distribution of hotel size and brand. Hotels with local brands (N = 15) Size of hotel

Small <200 rooms

Juniors level Middle level Senior level

– – –

Total

0

Medium 201–400 rooms 5 5 2 12 (28.6%)

Hotels with international brands (N = 27) Small <200 rooms

Medium 201–400 rooms

Large >401 rooms

– 2 1

– 2 –

5 10 4

3 2 1

13 21 8

3 (7.1%)

2 (4.8%)

19 (45.2%)

6 (14.3%)

42 (100%)

Table 6 Summary of the dimensions of professionalism and related themes for this study. Dimensions

Themes

1. Passion

a. Passion/Passionate/Enthusiastic b. Like/Enjoy/Love the job c. Respect the job d. Do not calculate the reward and willing to make small sacrifice a. Sensitive to changes/trends b. Pay attention to the competitors/market/industry/environment c. Open-minded to accept changes/challenges/innovative ideas d. Adoptable/Flexible to new things a. Team-oriented/Teamwork/Team spirit/able to work with others b. Support each other c. Focus more on company interest than personal interest a. Job-related skills and knowledge b. Product/work position knowledge and practical skills c. Core skill required by the department d. Experience e. Company knowledge a. Persuasive/negotiating skill b. Communication skill (upward/downward/horizontal/outward) c. Careful use of word a. Personal control/self-control b. Control/suppress own emotion/temper c. Do not show negative emotion to others/customers a. Moral standard/conduct/ b. Working ethics c. Know what is right and what is wrong d. Do not make any damage to the interest and financial performance of company a. Influential power/power to influence others/positive influence b. Leading others c. Role model effect d. Ability to lead other even in some entry level positions a. Constantly strive for excellence b. Desire for perfection c. Persistent attitudes in learning and improvement/working in a persistent way/persistently aspiring

2. Open-mindedness to changes

3. Team-oriented attitude

4. Competence and skills

5. Interpersonal skill

6. Emotional self-control 7. Professional ethics

8. Leadership by example

9. Perfectionism

Total (N = 42)

Large >401 rooms

and Gregoire (2001) suggest that enthusiasm is a dimension of professionalism in the field of education. Traditional human resources management theory contends that skills and knowledge can be trained, but attitude is not easy to cultivate or change. Accordingly, passion for the job and enthusiasm for giving service are considered key elements of professionalism. Similarly, Ap and Wong (2001) report on the importance of having the “right attitude toward the job” as a part of professionalism. They refer to the “right attitude” as having respect for service, a willingness to help, and empathy. 5.2.2. Sensitivity and open-mindedness to new trends/changes In the dynamic hotel industry, sensitivity to the changing environment and trends, such as new technology or changes in the global environment, was another theme commonly suggested

by interviewees. The hospitality industry is fast moving. The external environment of hotels creates numerous pressures for change (Kemp and Dywer, 2001). Customers’ desires and demands change rapidly, market changes and new operational procedures are introduced, and new hospitality products and equipment become available. The ability to continuously adapt to new situations and environments is vital (By and Dale, 2008; Okumus and Hemmington, 1998). For instance, Hong Kong has always been a popular destination for Japanese travelers, but with the changes in the global economic environment, the market has been shifting to the Chinese. Chinese travelers from the mainland have begun to dominate the Hong Kong tourism industry, but their preferences and habits differ significantly from those of Japanese travelers. Employees should be sensitive to changes and open-minded about new trends. For example: The lifestyle, the customer demands, and the trends in the hospitality industry keep changing; the world is also changing day by day. It is good for us to be up to date. . . we should connect to trends. (MO2a: Sensitive to changes/trends). Apart from being sensitive to change, professional hotel employees are also considered open to new and innovative ideas, creativity, and change. Such staffs display high level of adaptability and flexibility and willingness to follow new ideas without expressing frustration. Hotel employees who are resistant to change (e.g., the increasing use of electronic applications in the workplace) will find it difficult to remain content in their jobs. Kemp and Dywer (2001) identify a need to drive out any fear of change at all levels. A few of the participants mentioned: I had seen my colleague who is so scared to change . . . to use the new technological system, Pelican. She complains a lot about the changes and the new system, and even asked to change her responsibility to another area, which does not need to use the new system now temporarily . . . because she doesn’t want to change . . . and doesn’t want to learn new things, she hopes she can repeat her work in the same way again and again. (MO1b: Adaptable to new things). I would say you have to accept change and keep yourself open to changes because the world is changing, the customer is changing. They have new ideas, new requests, so you cannot just stick to your own ways of doing things . . . You have to come up with new ideas and change from old practices to new ones to adapt to a new ‘mission.’ You have to be very open about changing and willing to learn and to change. (SS1e: Open-minded to accept changes and innovative ideas). Similarly, another middle manager stated that staying up to date and coming up with creative ideas to exceed guests’ expectations while being open-minded enough to learn from other countries may help to achieve professionalism. In my own opinion, if you want to achieve individual professionalism, you should be open-minded, you should try to learn from other hotels, other countries, not only from Hong Kong, to see what we can do more and to see what others do better. (MO1f: Pay attention to competitors, market, and environment).

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5.2.3. Team-oriented attitude Another element described by most of the respondents across different work levels was team-oriented attitude. All of the interviewees agreed that teamwork and interaction among every single unit in a hotel is key to achieve professionalism given the collective nature of the hospitality industry. Customers may interact with a number of employees from different departments and levels during their stay. The following comments exemplify the views of staff at different levels toward teamwork. We may require employees in the future to be more cooperative and focus more on the care of others because the 90s generation has always been protected by their family and educated in such a protective environment, so sometimes they do not like to work with others or in a team or are even unable to work with others. (SS1d: Team-oriented). Teamwork is necessary for everybody in the hotel . . . sometimes a customer’s experience is based on the work of various departments and levels together. (JO2c: Teamwork). We get a lot of chances to communicate about our work and cooperate with other people, like the people in other departments, as we will have a lot of work we need to do together. (JO1c: Teamwork). A lot of employees do not have team spirit. They only think about their personal benefits, without caring about the interest of others or hotel when they are doing their jobs. (MO2e: Focus more on company interest than personal interest). Hotel employees do not work independently. Rather, the creation of high quality service relies greatly on teamwork (Ma and Qu, 2011). A team is a group of people with corresponding skills who are committed to a common purpose and are mutually accountable (Lewis-McClear and Taylor, 1998). Every single employee in the hotel industry, whatever their position, is responsible for achieving professionalism on an individual basis to ensure the success of the team as a whole. Professionalism of the entire industry cannot be achieved unless hotel employees have a team-oriented attitude. Sharpley and Forster (2003) contend that a sense of belonging can be gained by being part of a team, which can help the team identify and utilize the strengths of its members (i.e., employees). 5.2.4. Competence and skills Competence and skills have long been included among the major dimensions of professionalism, regardless of occupation or context, and core criteria. In the hospitality context, this dimension can be classified based on two aspects, namely, job-related skills and knowledge and interpersonal skills. 5.2.4.1. Job-related skills and knowledge. Job-related skills and knowledge are popularly viewed as an essential requirement for professionals. A review of the perspectives of hotel practitioners indicates that they consistently adhere to this view. Torres and Kline (2013) note that professionalism in the hotel industry includes knowledge, technical expertise, and mastery of the execution of essential job duties. Competence, as defined by Kay and Moncarz (2004), comprises knowledge, skills, and behaviors that should be “distinctive” and “grounded” within a particular profession. Every industry or occupation may have specific skills and required knowledge. In the hospitality industry, employees need to have competence in operational knowledge as well as the core skills of a particular department (e.g., check-in procedures), techniques for handling overbooking or room upgrades, local knowledge (e.g., good venues for dining and shopping and local tourist sites), and the ability to communicate in various languages. The following comments illustrate the views of respondents at different levels toward competence.

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Generally, I think having full practical skills and product knowledge are related to professionalism . . . you have to have the ability to solve the different problems of customers to show your professionalism. Therefore, core skills and knowledge in the work position and board knowledge in the travel and hotel field would be important. (JO1f: Work position knowledge and practical skill). Just like staff in waiter or captain positions, they should possess job-related skills and knowledge, such as selling techniques, trayholding skills, knowledge in food ingredients, and cooking skills . . . You have to have adequate product knowledge to be able to give recommendations to your customers and provide them with your own preferences or tell them what the signature dishes of your restaurant are. (MS1d: Core skills required by the position). The body of required knowledge is not limited to specific positions. Respondents identified other forms of company knowledge that are vital to achieve professionalism, such as the products or services offered by other departments, the long-term direction of the hotel, and even corporate knowledge. One of the respondents described the importance of company knowledge as follows: And for product knowledge, no matter whether they have to have a good understanding of the company, like of the hotel, they need to know about the different departments, maybe also the different levels. They have to understand the hotel itself and its products. (JO1c: Company knowledge). 5.2.4.2. Interpersonal skills. Many interviewees also described interpersonal skills as important in the hospitality industry. This finding is, again, consistent with the literature. Several researchers have suggested that developing interpersonal skills is vital for the hospitality industry (see Baum, 2002; Christou, 1999 for examples). The chief execution of Marriott Hotels has emphasized the significance of developing interpersonal skills to enable industry staff to support, encourage, lead, inspire, and listen to associates (Greger and Peterson, 2000). Specifically, interpersonal skills can be further divided into persuasive skills, which refer to abilities that are vital in communicating new products, negotiation skills, which pertain to language ability or the careful use of words, and communication skills, which include the ability to communicate with people at different levels. The following excerpts describe the different points of view of junior staff and managers. To deal with customers, we have to be careful with our words so that we will not trigger the emotion of sensitive customers. I had an experience like this before and the customer finally made a complaint to my manager claiming that I was impolite and rude to her. (JO1c: Careful use of word). Regardless of whether you are frontline employees, you would have to communicate upwards with your supervisors/managers or downwards with your subordinates and peers. Indeed, communication does not just involve communicating with different levels but also communicating between different departments and with external customers. (MO2g: Communication skill). 5.2.5. Emotional self-control Certain interviewees suggested that emotional self-control is also a critical element of professionalism. This element denotes the ability to control one’s emotions and conceal or manage actual feelings (Jung and Yoon, 2012). Self-control is seldom proposed as a component of professionalism in the hospitality and tourism research; however, it is imperative to individual professionalism. Emotional labor is described as one of the most prominent characteristics of the hospitality industry (Pizam and Shani, 2009). In this industry, employees have to interact with visitors frequently in their daily work. Employees’ emotions and moods implicitly

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affect customers’ experience; they can reduce service quality. As professionals, employees should be able to control their emotions, as described by one of the junior staff: Sometimes you smile at the guests even though you are not happy due to some unexpected incident that has happened in your life . . . You have to control that emotion even when you are in the back office, not facing the external customers. (JO2e: Control one’s self and suppress own emotion). As the interviewees suggested, personal emotions affect not only the service experience of external customers but also the mood of internal customers. As professionals, they should able to hide their personal feelings, especially negative ones, until they have completed their work. They should avoid bringing personal sentiments into the workplace and spreading destructive moods among colleagues. 5.2.6. Professional ethics Ethics are the generalized principles that guide a person’s evaluation of decisions or specific instances of conduct (Fox, 2000). Therefore, professional ethics prescribe the appropriate behavior in a specific profession. They can enhance the professionalism of individuals by indicating which behaviors are prohibited as well as expected (Gu and Ryan, 2011). Coughlan (2001) suggests four ethical codes for the convention industry, namely, justice, utility, competence, and integrity. On this theme, participants of this study expressed their concerns for ethics and morality in response to open-ended queries about “knowing what is right and what is wrong” and “the strong desire to do the right things and engage in moral behaviors.” One middle manager shared: Ethics and moral standard are very important. As we all know, we are responsible for not only our customers but also our company. Staff have to be ethical when dealing with customers . . . for examples, don’t expose customers’ private information to others (especially if they are people in the public eye) and don’t do anything that may damage the interests of the company. (MS1d: Do not make any damage to the company interest). Other respondents also stressed the importance of professional ethics. I think professionalism is working with professional ethics, such as justice and responsibility . . . and you should know what is right and wrong and what you can do and should not do. (JO2d: Know what is right and wrong). The literature presents a consensus on the importance of professional ethics. Most researchers agree that it is one of the dimensions of professionalism, particularly for classic professions such as law and medicine. Similarly, Ap and Wong (2001) propose setting a code of ethics for the tourism industry to control the behavior of practitioners. However, a review of the business ethics literature reveals that the hospitality industry is rarely mentioned explicitly in studies of ethical codes (Coughlan, 2001). Steven (1997) conducts a content analysis of the codes of 26 hotels and 16 management companies in America and illustrates that the hospitality industry appears to not have an ethical code. Coughlan (2001) criticizes the ethical codes and guidelines for being vague and lacking enforcement. This barrier hinders the hospitality industry from increasing professionalism. 5.2.7. Leadership by example Different from the junior staff, both the middle and senior managers highlighted the significance of leading by example and role modeling as an element of professionalism. Leading by example implies acting as a role model who proactively sets a positive example through one’s own behavior (Rich, 1998). Clark et al. (2008)

suggest that if role models (i.e., those who can influence peers) demonstrate a personal commitment to serving customers, they can also communicate the company’s expectations to employees. According to social learning theory, people acquire a large part of their behavior by observing and imitating others in a social context, and thus vicariously learn and modify patterns of behavior through the fundamental psychological process of modeling (Bandura, 1986). The importance of role modeling on group performance, efficiency enhancement, and citizenship behaviors is now well established in the leadership literature (e.g., Podsakoff et al., 2000). However, role modeling, in the form of a visible personal example, is commonly seen as leader behavior (Clark et al., 2008). Looking for this quality in the junior staff is perhaps surprising for managers in the hotel industry. The following comments exemplify the views of senior executives. [Someone with professionalism] needs to able to lead in the industry. He or she does not need to have significant achievements in his or her working area, but should be able to lead others even from an entry-level position to achieve high performance. (SS1a: Ability to lead others even in the same level positions). I think a professional hotel employee should able to influence others in a positive way, offering a little inspiration . . . or be an example to colleagues, proactively setting an example through his or her own behavior and demonstrating a role modeling effect to peers. (SS1f: Role model effect). Cumulative studies have linked the positive or negative behaviors originating from coworkers (Sherony and Green, 2002). According to social exchange theory, coworkers have a nontrivial and most effective influence on colleagues’ attitudes and behaviors because they interact with one another most often (Ma and Qu, 2011). Therefore, a desire among hotel management to see positive influence among subordinates, such as citizenship behaviors, and distinguish employees who can lead their colleagues in a constructive way through role modeling is not surprising.

5.2.8. Perfectionism Perfectionism is another element of professionalism illustrated by both managers and senior executives. This element denotes the disposition to impose a standard that demands flawlessly executed performance or an unsurpassable degree of accuracy and excellence (Flett and Hewitt, 2002). The positive form of perfectionism, which is called adaptive perfectionism, motivates employees to strive to fulfill their own high personal standards. Perfectionists are more likely to engage in behaviors that require going beyond one’s job description and be highly motivated (Clark et al., 2008). Therefore, adaptive perfectionism is often viewed as beneficial to the company. Respondents from the senior and middle manager groups stressed the significance of perfectionism and persistence. I think an attitude of perfectionism reflects one’s professionalism . . . Perfectionism stimulates one to work in a persistent way and aim for excellence and high quality of work. (SS1d: Strive for excellence). It is important to employees to have the wish to be perfect in everything they attempt. This attitude encourages them to offer insightful observations in the working area that benefits the company and to have a persistent aspiration in the hotel field. (MO2d: Desire for perfection). Nowadays, the majority of customers in the hotel industry expect flawless service. We cannot afford to have our staff making the same mistakes repeatedly. An attitude of perfectionism motivates employees to persistently seek continuous improvement and learning. (MO2a: Persistent attitudes in learning and improvement).

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Evidence that self-oriented adaptive perfectionism has a positive correlation with positive characteristics, such as conscientiousness, endurance, positive affect, active coping styles, and OCB, is strong (Stoeber and Otto, 2006). Therefore, adaptive perfectionism is reasonably regarded as an important component of professionalism. If employees are willing to practice steadfast perseverance in obtaining the best possible results in their work, service quality and employee performance can be enhanced.

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employees should give more attention to their emotional selfcontrol and work cooperatively with colleagues from various levels and departments. In addition, hotel employees are encouraged to take the initiative to learn new skills and knowledge (e.g., foreign languages, technological skills, and wine expertise) and embrace innovation to be prepared for future job changes and connected to emerging trends. 6.2. Implications for Hotels

6. Conclusion and implications This study has explored practitioners’ interpretation of professionalism in the hospitality industry. Based on the summary of the viewpoints of various respondents from different work levels in hotels, including junior staff, middle managers, and senior executives, passion, open-mindedness to new trends/changes, team-oriented attitude, industry-specific competence and skills, emotional self-control, and professional ethics are generally agreed as the elements of professionalism. Few of these elements are universal, in particular, competence and skills and professional ethics are commonly accepted dimensions of professionalism. Nevertheless, this study has determined certain elements that are distinctive of professionalism in a hospitality context, namely, team-oriented attitude and self-control, which may be particularly important given the service-oriented nature of the industry. Several elements of professionalism identified in other professions, such as altruism and job autonomy, were not described by the interviewees for two reasons. First, altruism may not be applicable to the service-oriented hospitality industry, which is distinct from the classic professions (e.g., medicine) that emphasize their social effect. Second, as society advances, numerous occupations are increasingly stressing job autonomy to stimulate employee motivation and improve service quality particularly in service-oriented occupations, such as retailing and banking. Thus, job autonomy no longer reflects the professional status of a sector. In addition to these seven elements, the middle managers and senior executives in this study identified two additional components to professionalism, which are leading by example and perfectionism. These two elements have seldom been suggested in other studies or in different industries. Subordinates and managers have different ideas about what constitutes professionalism. Managers or leaders expected out-role behaviors, going beyond the task requirements of the job. The junior staff focused on operational requirements and the abilities that helped them to perform professionally in their work area, such as emotional self-control, teamwork, passion, and competence and skills (i.e., a micro view on professionalism), whereas managers identified the out-role behaviors that can boost the whole company or industry (i.e., a macro view). Comparing these results directly with other studies in the hospitality industry is unattainable because literature on professionalism in hospitality is scarce, this study identifies the perceptions of a new generation in the hospitality industry. Based on the findings, recommendations can be proposed for the four main stakeholders in the hotel industry, that is, employees, hotels, hospitality schools, and the industry itself. 6.1. Implications for hotel employees Enhancing individuals’ professionalism has a positive effect not only on organizational performance (e.g., customer satisfaction) but also job satisfaction, career development, and personal growth (Baum, 2002; Boyt et al., 2001). This study identifies the importance of emotional self-control and team-oriented attitude to customer experience and organizational success. To achieve professionalism,

Increasing individual professionalism leads to organizational success. It can also improve the professional status of the hospitality industry (Pizam and Shani, 2009). Explicitly, individual professionalism improves productivity by helping a hotel operate smoothly, which can lead to an improved reputation, image, and word-ofmouth and an increase in profitability and revenue through a high level of repeat business. To enhance employees’ professionalism, an open-minded organizational culture should be developed that encourages the acceptance of new concepts or policies (e.g., novel operation manuals, up-to-date policies, and new service standards). This culture can help employees maintain competitiveness in the face of changing trends. In addition, support from the hotel in terms of compensation, reward systems, and investment in training can further enhance the professionalism of employees and subsequently the organization and reputation of the industry. Such support also demonstrates that the hotel has a culture that advocates employees’ professionalism. Moreover, programs for further development are recommended, including training, mentorship, team-building workshops, job rotation, and cross-exposure in sister hotels. Hotels may be able to increase professionalism by sending employees to attend association talks, particularly if they share and incorporate their ideas and give feedback to staff in different levels afterward. A widespread effort is not evident in the hospitality workplace to boost adaptive perfectionism, although it can be cultivated through training. Nevertheless, if managers can convey high performance expectations to subordinates and encourage them to set challenging goals for themselves, without penalizing them unduly for failing to achieve expectations, they can instill in subordinates an increased tendency in adaptive perfectionist behavior and cognition. 6.3. Implications for education institutes This study has identified several key criteria for professionalism. After the key elements of professionalism have been recognized, individual professionalism can be achieved through education and training, as recommended by several current researchers (e.g., Baum and Reid, 1986; Burgess, 2011; Pizam and Shani, 2009). Wong and Chan (2010) suggest that professional development programs and lifelong learning can help equip professionals. In particular, cultural sensitivity and awareness should be considered. Similarly, other researchers have emphasized education programs in which cooperation among educational institutions, individual firms, associations, and unions are critical in enhancing the professionalism of the entire industry (Mak et al., 2011; Sheldon, 1989). Specifically, Sheldon (1989) advocates certification or licensure under a set of standards, with effective monitoring and evaluation systems, as well as recognition. In summary, numerous researchers agree that a concentration on professional development can improve professionalism (Ap and Wong, 2001; Black and Ham, 2005; Hussey et al., 2010). Educators can start by instilling passion, team-oriented attitude, and perfectionism in students during the early stages of their program. Emotional self-control and the ability to interact with people from different levels of the organization can also

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be developed. Education institutes play a role in equipping the next generation with the competencies and skills required in the industry and developing them into enthusiastic employees with the right attitudes. In Hong Kong, students in secondary school only study traditional subjects, such as history and biology. If hotel studies can be introduced to students at an earlier stage, the right attitudes, such as teamwork, passion in serving, and perfectionism can be cultivated sooner. These students may adapt better to the industry and act more professionally than the older generation. Numerous methods can be applied to equip future hoteliers with competencies in hospitality schools. For instance, simulation units can be a tool for students to acquire practical skills, whereas internships can provide a real feel for the environment and working experience. In addition, field trips or site visits may further improve students’ industrial knowledge, whereas talks from industry practitioners can help influence attitudes. Exchange programs to broaden students’ horizons and help them to know people from different backgrounds may be targeted for more financial assistance. 6.4. Implications for hotel industry With the multiplier effect, professionalism can benefit the entire hotel industry. Employees’ professionalism can help improve the low status of the hospitality industry (Sheldon, 1989). An enhanced industrial image can help attract new blood and balance turnover. Therefore, the entire industry is responsible for developing individual employees’ professionalism; thus, players should work together to define professional standards for different types of hotels. Basic job-related competence and skills are the fundamental prerequisites of professionalism. Once employees have acquired these basic attributes, their ongoing personal development should be facilitated for them to be professional members of the industry. Having professional workers improves the quality of the workforce as well as brings limitless benefits, such as customer satisfaction and improved productivity and efficiency, to the hotel and the industry as a whole. Large international hotel chains have considerable resources to devote to staff development; thus, they should lead in shaping employees’ professionalism. Most of the time, they focus on training on working procedures and in-role behaviors (e.g., job-related skills and knowledge, emotional self-control, professional ethics) to maintain their hotel chain’s image worldwide rather than emphasizing personal development and growth. These hotel chains should shift their training focus, particularly to senior employees (i.e., employees who have obtained the basic operational knowledge and skills), to develop professionalism through the cultivation of the right attitudes (e.g., open-mindedness, team orientation, and perfectionism) and out-role behaviors (e.g., leadership by role modeling). In the process, they can lead the growth of a culture of professionalism. When an image of professionalism has been cultivated in larger hotel chains, the status of the entire industry can be enhanced and the smaller and locally branded hotels are willing to follow. 7. Limitations Several limitations of this study should be noted. As an exploratory research conducted to clarify and define the nature of the context, the study does not provide definitive conclusions. Subsequent studies are expected to be conducted to confirm and extend the findings. Only hotels in Hong Kong were sampled; together with the small sample size (42 respondents), the findings cannot represent the entire population, although extensive efforts were made to involve a diverse sample in terms of department, work level, and hotel type. Employees from different cultures may have a diverse interpretation of professionalism, contributing to

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