Developing the Hospitality Industry Organizational Culture Scale: A New Zealand Case Study

Abstract

Defining and measuring organizational culture is of paramount importance to organizations. A strong organizational culture could potentially yield a sustainable competitive advantage. However, achievement of this is likely to be challenging to managers because a great deal of ambiguity surrounds this concept. Indeed, a review of the literature finds the scope of organizational culture to have been defined differently across various disciplines and industries, and this has resulted in the development of various scales for measuring and defining organizational culture. This thesis argues that the diversity in scales that have been previously developed for assessing organizational culture may not be fully applicable or appropriate for use within the hospitality context. Therefore, by highlighting the key factors affecting the business environment and the unique characteristics of the hospitality industry, the purpose of this thesis is to identify the scope of organizational culture, specifically within the hospitality industry, as well as to introduce a tailored organizational culture scale, which is aligned with the hospitality context. The research for this thesis employed a multidisciplinary and mixed-method research approach in order to develop a new organizational culture scale for the hospitality industry. The findings suggest that the hospitality industry has unique cultural characteristics that are distinguished from similar industries. The findings also suggest that cohesiveness is the most important cultural element of the hospitality industry. This thesis also makes recommendations with regards to how this newly developed scale can be used by the hospitality industry as a means to assess and strengthen organizational culture within organizations in this industry.