Cornell University
Library
Cornell UniversityLibrary

eCommons

Help
Log In(current)
  1. Home
  2. Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration
  3. Centers and Institutes
  4. The Center for Hospitality Research (CHR)
  5. Center for Hospitality Research Publications
  6. Hospitality Managers and Communication Technologies: Challenges and Solutions

Hospitality Managers and Communication Technologies: Challenges and Solutions

File(s)
Brownell_202009_20Hospitality_20managers.pdf (1.87 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/71021
Collections
Center for Hospitality Research Publications
Author
Brownell, Judi
Newman, Amy
Abstract

A study on communication technologies among a convenience sample of 100 hotel managers found that email is both pervasive and intrusive, while other new media (i.e., instant messaging, intranets, wikis, and blogs) are only gradually gaining a foothold in the hotel industry. Although the volume of email was a concern for these hotel managers, even more challenging was the issue of ensuring that messages accurately conveyed both information and emotion. Respondents disagreed somewhat on how quickly one should respond to an email. While most thought a 24-hour turnaround was acceptable, others were willing to let matters slide longer—potentially incurring dissatisfaction from customers and coworkers. Even in such a small sample, respondents showed divergent attitudes toward the technologies based on their age, gender, and native language. For example, as compared to men, women were particularly unhappy with poor grammar and punctuation in emails they received. Young respondents differed considerably from older respondents on the challenge of clarity in received emails, and those for whom English was a second language were most concerned that they could send clear, grammatical emails. Respondents could appreciate the potential value of intranets and other new communication vehicles, but they reported little implementation of those technologies.

Date Issued
2009-12-01
Keywords
hotels
•
communication
•
email
•
media technology
Rights
Required Publisher Statement: © Cornell University. This report may not be reproduced or distributed without the express permission of the publisher
Type
article

Site Statistics | Help

About eCommons | Policies | Terms of use | Contact Us

copyright © 2002-2026 Cornell University Library | Privacy | Web Accessibility Assistance