HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PRACTIVES AND PERFORMANCE IN THE ITALIAN HOSPITALITY ENTERPRISES

Purpose The aim of this paper is to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and performance in the Italian hospitality enterprise. In particular, it analyzes the extent of the adoption of human resource management, the existence of a formal HR strategy, and the development of the HR function in the Italian hotel industry in order to verify whether the effectiveness of HRM is contingent upon the approach to business strategy that has been adopted and whether the hotels which introduce a formal supported package of HRM practices outperform those have HRM practices, but not as a part of the organization strategy. Design/methodology/approach - Main literature studied this topic focusing the analysis on two framework: internal and external fit. In particular, we are going to use an adapted version of the Hoque's model (1999) in order to compare the Italian hotel industry with Hoque's sample (1999) of hotels in the UK and Alleyene, Doherty and Greenidge survey (2006) in the Barbados hotels. The research was done in two separate phases: in a first phase we selected a sample of 350 hotels; in a second phase we sent a structured questionnaire to the 350 hotels of the sample. Findings - While HR practices was more prevalent in Barbados hotels than in the UK sample, for the Italian hotels it has been found a result similar to UK. Then, external fit emerges as a fundamental key. A relationship between HRM and performance exists only among some hotels. Finally, looking at internal fit, there is evidence that higher performance has been found where HRM is introduced as a strategic part of their own business strategy. Research limitations/implications - Higher performance was found in situations where the hotel emphasizes quality enhancement and adopted a wide range of HRM practices, but it is impossible to be sure about the causes of this result. In fact, it could be that the use of HRM practices caused high performance or that high performing hotels have a superior propensity to innovate in HRM practices. Finally, it must be considered that the focus of the analysis was on larger hotels, as it is normal that their interest in HRM is higher than in smaller hotels. So, the results can not be assumed as representative of the hotel industry as a whole. Practical Implications - Hotels introducing HRM practices as a strategic part of their own business strategy should outperform hotels which introduced HRM practice just in a normal operating way. Then, the results concerning performance outcomes would seem to confirm the importance of introducing HRM practices as part of an institutionally strategic package. Originality/value - This was the first study focused on the relationship between HRM and performance in the Italian hospitality enterprise. Then, as we use almost the same model by Hoque (1999) and Alleyene, Doherty and Greenidge (2006) it was possible to find interesting comparative analysis. Finally, the results can be used by hotel decision makers to make their HRM practices more effective.