The Effect of the Perception of Cronyism in Hotels on Employee Motivation

Motivation is extremely important in hotels that offer labor-intensive services. Motivation is negatively affected by many human resource management practices, one of which is cronyism, the application consisting of unfair recruitment, transaction, promotion and wage elements in organizations. The aim of this study was to measure the effect of the perception of cronyism in hotels on employee motivation. In addition, this study also aimed to determine whether cronyism and motivation perceptions were linked and if the effects of cronyism on motivation differed in resort hotels and city hotels. Within this context, resort and city hotels located in the cities of Istanbul and Antalya in Turkey were determined as the application areas. The data were collected from the employees working in these hotels by using the survey technique. As a result, a total of 993 questionnaire were obtained. According to the findings of the study, which was analyzed using a statistical package program, the perception of cronyism from resort hotels to city hotels decreased, while motivation increased. In addition, three different cronyism dimensions, namely transaction, (recruitment and promotion) and wage were determined and it was found that they all negatively affected motivation. Additionally, it was concluded that cronyism's effects on motivation did not differ between resort and city hotels.