Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels †MyAssignmenthelp.coma

Question: Discuss about the Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels. Answer: Introduction The article Responding to Online Reviews: Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels will focus on the response to online reviews in the hospitality industry. Four case studies were selected to highlight the issues in the specific industry. The interaction with the customers through social media will also be highlighted through this article review. The article, Responding to Online Reviews: Problem Solving and Engagement in Hotels by Sun-Young Park and Jonathan P. Allen, was chosen to work on his assignment. This specific article was chosen because it had focused on two opposite approaches for responding to the online reviews. It will be effective for this research because of the consideration of the four case studies of hotels. The article provided an appropriate way of critical review by contrasting between the hotels, which responded positively, and the others, which responded negatively. The criteria to compare between the management styles of the hotels were fulfilled by selecting this article. A comparative study was used to work on this exploratory research. It was effective in generating theories and relevant concepts instead of examining them. The important aspect is that the task of theory building in a research is a strategy to generate theories upon case studies, which are informative descriptions on a wide range of data. Research questions play a significant role in generating theory in the research within case studies and the upcoming data. The questions designed for this particular research focused on the was hotel executives handle online reviews; whether they respond to all the reviews irrespective of positive or negative; difference or similarity of hotel brands in their approaches to managing online reviews; the reason behind choosing a specific approach by the hotel executives to manage online reviews. The significant part in this article is that there are other researches, which have used only one case, whereas multiple case studies were analyzed in this. It was helpful in providing a strong platform for theory building. The high- end luxurious hotels were chosen for using as a case study in this research. The online review responses pattern was analyzed in these chosen hotels. It has paved the way for improving brand reputation and simultaneously facing the hurdles in engaging with the customers in the industry based on personal interactions. The study was based on the four hotels among which two were luxurious and the other two were upscale. Theoretical sampling was done to work on the survey and generate theory. It has shed light on the fact that they have the power to highlight the significant demarcations and the unnatural instances to focus on the constructive relationship. The probability at which the selected cases could vary depended on the rate of response by the hotels to online reviews. Therefore, the hotels were selected in such a way where two responded frequently to online reviews and the others were reluctant in responding, thus the samples were polar opposite to each other. The evidence and instances presented by the authors were appropriate in countering supporting the arguments raised in the article. To describe and analyze the interview in a better way the grounded theory approach was used by the author. This particular theory was used because it has a consistent form in generating theory among the comparison of case studies. The research questions were mostly open- ended to provide scope to the respondents in expressing their opinions freely. The concepts were supported with effective and careful reading of the transcripts by using those codes, which portrayed the original words of the respondents as closely as possible. The codes, which represented the behavioral conditions, interactions among the respondents, tactics and strategies used and the outcome based on actions were paid special attention. It was stated in the article that the major interest was centered on coding which had sought data in a systematic so that the data could be associated to the main category. A quantitative analysis of the problem was supported with the inclusion of the response rates to online reviews in the hotels in a one- year span (please refer to appendix). The use of both qualitative and quantitative data helped in adding value to the research. The arrangement of the four case- study hotels in the proper context was supported by paying attention to the entire pattern of review responses in the hotel industry. For instance, the study was carried out among 34- premium hotels were listed under TripAdvisor. A number of 5639 reviews, which were posted in the mentioned website, were accountable for addressing the hotels. Among those, there were 4148 positive reviews and 473 negative reviews. The use of these exact numerical values made the research more authentic and valid. It was realized that the research was carried out properly by maintaining the ethical values. However, there was a gap in the research, as the pattern in which the 34 hotels responded to online reviews was not found out. Among 34 hotels, seven hotels did not respond to the reviews at all and one hotel responded totally. The hotel managers portrayed an empowerment style for effective decision making in keeping up with the trust of the superiors. The internal communication style among the upscale hotel respondents was not mutual and organized. There were no regular meetings held at the organization regarding the issue of online review response. On the other hand, the internal communication style among the luxurious hotels was top- down where the superiors handle the online review response. Meetings are held regarding this matter and responses from the entire organization is taken into consideration. This difference in strategies used by the two categories of hotels opened a new way in this particular research. Conclusion After reviewing this article, it can be concluded that out of the four case studies selected, only one was considered to have used the strategic approach to online review response. Therefore, the importance training and learning regarding response to online review was stressed upon in this research. Bibliography Park, S. Y., Allen, J. P. (2013). Responding to online reviews: Problem solving and engagement in hotels.Cornell Hospitality Quarterly,54(1), 64-73.