Service quality and business performance in branded UK budget hotels.

The purpose of the research is to examine how and why hotel managers conceptualise service quality and business performance in the context of the under-researched UK branded budget hotels. The aim of the research is to explore the conceptualisation, implementation and measurement of service quality and business performance. Furthermore, the research focuses on the contextual constraints that affect the implementation of service quality and business performance operations. In doing so, the research takes a realist qualitative multiple case study methodology. Within that methodology, the research uses a multi-methods data collection strategy in the form of 20 semistructured interviews with different budget hotel managerial levels, participant observation of operations and document analysis in a purposeful sample of five case study hotels. The results reveal that the impact of quality and performance initiatives on enhancing continuous improvement is a function of middle managers' practical approach to service quality and performance operations and the existence of a high degree of alignment and consistency between senior managers' approach with that of middle and first-line managers. Essentially, the study reveals a gap between theory and organisational practice. The results indicate that although managers acknowledge the importance of service quality and performance monitoring, their efforts are impeded by flaws in implementation and contextual constraints. The results reveal the flaws as lack of policy on quality, nonimplementation of action plans and a biased reward/incentive scheme. The contextual constraints are identified as competition, budgetary constraints, high team turnover and biased rewards. The contextual factors appear to force managers to ignore company policies on long term service quality and performance improvements in favour of short term profitability goals for which they are handsomely rewarded by the senior managers.This reveals contradictions between what the company portrays to the outside world and real practice. The results suggest that service quality and performance initiatives are sacrificed on the altar of profits as senior managers appear to hope for quality but reward financial performance. The results also identify a significant gap in UK literature and a consequent paucity in knowledge regarding the use of service guarantees as a service quality strategy in budget hotels. The research findings present useful implications for both practitioners and researchers for better management of service quality and performance in order to ensure continuous improvement at both the individual and organisational levels. It is concluded that budget hotel leaders should take responsibility for delivery on service quality and business performance. Similarly, academic researchers should dare not indulge in the luxury of engaging in endless theoretical discourses for their thematic focus should be resonantly on implementation.