Revenue management performance drivers: An exploratory analysis within the hotel industry

Revenue Management (RM) is an important tool with well-accepted benefits and a rich analytical research stream. However, the research is missing a holistic examination that includes both the technical and social elements of effective RM. We propose nine drivers which contribute to effective RM and perform an empirical study to test these conjectures. More specifically, based on qualitative interviews and literature support, we develop a survey instrument tailored to the hotel industry to measure our constructs and apply both an objective and perceptual performance measure to determine the impact each of the nine elements has on RM performance. We find forecasting ability and organizational focus on RM both significantly positively impact RM performance, whether we measure RM performance either objectively or perceptually, providing evidence that both technical and social processes and structure impact RM. © 2011 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.