MASTER'S THESIS - DiVA portal1016910/FULLTEXT02.pdfimportant for the hotel industry success. (Nina Pološki Vokic, 2008). Firstly, Human resources are a significant component in service

MASTER'S THESIS

The Relation Between AcademicEducation and Employees´ Performancein Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi Hotels

Sanam AmariRozita Chenarian Kashani

2014

Master (120 credits)Business Administration

Luleå University of TechnologyDepartment of Business, Administration, Technology and Social Sciences

1

Abstract

Hospitality industry has been changing rapidly as a result of changing

economies, societies, and fast developing technologies "(Baum, Amoah, &

Spivack, 1997)."To cope with these changes, employees need various skills

and abilities. The industry will benefit from increased levels of formal

education and training" (O‟Mahony & Sillitoe, 2001). Hospitality educations

prepare students with the skill sets to succeed in this fast changing industry.

Encounter of the modern world, where in dominate knowledge and high

technology, forced that educated and well-informed employees became the

key factors for handling change and obtaining competitive advantage of

organizations . (Pološki Vokic & Grizelj, 2007). The aim of this research was to identify the relation between academic

education and employees‟ performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi

Hotels.

For this thesis a qualitative case study was chosen and for collecting the data

six managers of two hotels were interviewed. The data showed that, there is a

significant relation between academic education and employees‟ performance

in both hotels, therefore, it is better to hire educated employee for achieving a

higher employee‟s performance. Our study also found that an employee who

has related education with his work has a better performance, because,

scientifically, they know their work and its standard, which causes a higher

performance for them. Then, when it comes to job satisfaction, our data

revealed that the expectations of educated staff are more than their perception

in these hotels especially about salary and job promotion and providing job

satisfaction for these persons are much harder than uneducated one and also

an employee who is satisfied with his job has a better behavior and does his

duty much better than dissatisfy employees. Furthermore, most of the

participants in both hotels believed that employee who has academic

education knows work standards and tries to adapt with them and also tries to

implement them, meanwhile there is a positive relation between work

commitment and employees‟ performance.

2

Acknowledgments

First of all, we would like to thank our supervisor, Dr.Farshid for her help and

guidance. Her support helped us a lot on the way .we appreciate her for all the

efforts that have been done for us during this time. Furthermore we would like

to thank our supervisor Dr.Shahbaz Moradi, for supporting us during this

research.

Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to our family for their

unconditional love and support throughout the process of this research and

also we would like to thank all the other people who supported us through this

thesis.

3

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1: (Introduction)

1-1 Introduction.....................................................................................7

1-2 Background.....................................................................................7

1-3 Problem Statement.........................................................................10

1-4 Research goals...............................................................................13

1-5 Research questions........................................................................13

1-6 scope of research.......................................................................14

1-7 Thesis structure.............................................................................14

1-8 Key words......................................................................................15

Chapter 2(Literature Review)

2-1-Introduction..................................................................................18

2-2 Hospitality industry and employees.............................................18

2-3 Importance of educated employee in Hospitality industry............19

2-4 Education and Job performance...................................................20

2-5 Previous Research......................................................................21

2-5-1What is the relation between academic education and employee‟s

performance?....................…………………………………………....24

2-5-2 How is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ job satisfaction and their performance?..................30

2-5-3 How is the relation between academic education and employees‟

work commitment and their performance?.......................................33

4

2-6ConceptualFramework...............................................................35

Chapter 3 (Research Methodology)

3-1 Research purpose…………………………………………..……39

3-2Research approach...................................................................40

3.3 Research Strategy ………………………………………………40

3.4 Data Collection …………………………………………………42

3.5 Sample Selection………………………………………………..43

3.6 Presentation and Analysis of Data……………………………...44

3.7 Quality Standards……………………………………………….46

Chapter 4 (Data Presentation and Data Analysis)

4-1- Data presentation..................................................................49

4-1-1Hotel Parsian Evin……………………………………………49

4-1-2 Hotel Parsian Azadi…………………………………………..53

4-2 Data analysis……………………………………………………57

4-2-1 Within-case analysis: Evin Hotel ……………………………57

4-2-2 Within-case analysis: Azadi Hotel …………………………..62

4-2-3 4-2-3 Cross-Case Analysis…………………………………...67

4-2-4 RQ1: What is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ performance?.............................................................70

4-2-5 RQ2: How is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ job satisfaction and their performance?.......................70

4-2-6 RQ3: How is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ work commitment and their performance?....................71

5

Chapter 5 (Findings and Conclusions)……………....……………..

5-1- RQ1: What is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ performance?..............................................................73

5-2- RQ2: How is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ job satisfaction and their performance?........................74

5-3 RQ3: How is the relation between academic education and

employees‟ work commitment and their performance?...................76

5-4 Implications for Managers………………………………………77

5-5 Implications for further research ……………………………….78

5-6 Limitation of the study………………………………………….79

References…………………………………………………………..80

Appendix 1: Interview Guide……………………………………….90

List of Tables

Table 1.1.………………...………….……………………………….11

Table 1.2 …………………….………………………………………12

Table 2.1………………...……………..……………...………….22,23

Table 2.2…………………............................................................36,37

Table 3.1............................................................................................41

Table 3.2............................................................................................42

Table 3.3........................................................................................... 46

Table 4.1…………………………….............................................57

Table 4.2…………………………….............................................62

Table 4.3…………………………….............................................67

6

List of Figures

Figure 2.1………………………………………………………….....27

Figure 2.2…………………………………………………………….31

Figure 2.3…………………………………………………...….........35

7

Chapter one

1.1 Introduction

In this chapter the background of the subject matter for the thesis is offered

and after that a problem statement is introduced. Next, research goals,

research questions and scope of research will be presented and finally the

outline for this thesis and key words will be provided.

1.2 Background

Hotel Industry is one of the most important factors for the Tourism and

Hospitality Industry. Consequently the development in the Tourism and

Hospitality industry depends on development in the Hotel industry.

Human resources are as the most important enterprise property (Mayo, 2001),

As Amoah and Baum (1997) stress that: the human factor is essential for

developing the tourism sector and on the other hand, it creates the essence of

quality in tourism supply, and also, nowadays this is especially true for

hospitality and tourism industry and it cannot be unnoticed because of the

intensive work of this industry. McDonald & Hopkins (2003, as cited in

Pološki Vokic, 2008).

At the present time, in common with many other labor-intensive service-based

industries, hospitality and tourism product is people and it depends on

delivery of human factors (Baum, 1993, p. 3), but the quality tourism and

hospitality service needs skilled and educated service employees (Baum, 1995

in Baum & Nickson, 1998) and besides the researcher realized that the quality

of a country‟s tourism and hospitality industry is influenced by the education

level of tourism employees. (McDonald&Hopkin, 2003, p.156).

8

There are primary reasons why educated and knowledgeable employees are

important for the hotel industry success. (Nina Pološki Vokic, 2008).

Firstly, Human resources are a significant component in service and

hospitality industry which would influence on achievement or failure of the

organization and also significance for the performance of the nowadays hotel

industry (Abdul Hameed, 2011). This event happened because the economy

reformed from the industrial one to being more knowledge and service

oriented (G. Ivankovič & M. Jerman, 2010). Thus, formations and societies

are investing large amount of money on employee development (Abdul

Hameed&Aamer Waheed, 2011). For instance: ASTD (The American Society

for Training and Development) estimates that U.S. organizations spent

$125.88 billion on employee learning and development in 2009 (The

American Society for Training and Development, 2009).

Moreover, nowadays "Hospitality industry has been changing rapidly as a

result of changing economies, societies, and fast developing technologies"

(Baum, Amoah, & Spivack, 1997) and "To cope with these changes,

employees need various skills and abilities and the industry will benefit from

increased levels of formal education and training" (O‟Mahony & Sillitoe,

2001) and also hospitality educations prepare students with the skill sets to

succeed in this fast changing industry. (Kim, 2008) and also encounter of the

modern world, where in dominate knowledge and high technology, forced that

educated and well-informed employees became the key factors for handling

change and obtaining competitive advantage of organizations . (Pološki

Vokic & Grizelj, 2007).

Secondly, an important factor for hospitality and tourism industry is

employees, because industry declares itself as a “people industry”, dependent

on the competency and committed staff to deliver quality services with

stability (Baum & Nickson, 1998, p. 76).Other words, because the relationship

between guests and staff in the hospitality and tourism industry has a

significant impact on the tourist experience, high quality staff to deliver,

operate, and manage the tourism product are vital. (Amoah & Baum, 1997).

Now, if we want to have an overview on the employees‟ performance,

Abu Mollik, Majharul Talukder and Ali Quazi (2011) mentioned that an

employee with a higher educational level is anticipated to be more satisfied

and better in the job performance than his/ her colleague with a lower level of

education and also Mohammad Salim Zahargier and Nimalathasan

9

Balasundaram (2011) stressed that employees‟ performance (EP) is a

significant factor that helps to progress the outcomes and behavior of the

employees. It also helps to progress the efficiency of the organization.

Furthermore, when the literature on higher education and police is reviewed, it

is obvious that most of the literature recommends that higher levels of

education have significant influences on police behavior and attitudes and as a

result, they desire to do better job performance and of course when compared

to officers without higher education, they are more probable to be promoted

(Roberg et al., 2005).

At the end, we should mention that each organization which learning, training

and development are seen as a priority for their employees; it will be faced

with higher profitability and greater job satisfaction for staff. (Leslie et al.,

1998) and Abu Mollik, Ali Quazi, (2011) stated that it is anticipated that there

is a positive relationship with the employee job satisfaction and employee job

performance.

Champathes (2006) express that there is a direct correlation between

employee development and employee Performance. This improvement leads

to greater employee satisfaction with the job and commitment with the job and

thus is likely to increase employee performance. When employee performance

would increase, this will cause the organization successfulness. (Abu Mollik,

Majharul Talukder& Ali Quazi, 2011).

According to Blau (1998) academic education impact work commitment and

investment in employee development assists more commitment by employees

to the organization and, consequently, causes that the employees want to work

harder for increasing the organization‟s efficiency (Arthur, 1994; Woods & de

Menezes, 1998).

Then, Samad (2005) found that there is a relationship between organizational

commitment and job performance and understood that the relationship

between organizational commitment and job performance is moderated by job

satisfaction. So committed employees perform better at job if they are

satisfied with their job. (Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009).

10

1.3 Problem Statement

There are several researches that give emphasis to the significance of

employees as a critical success factor (CSF), with specific importance for the

hotel industry (Jones, T. A & Harris, P. J., 1995). This event happened

because the economy reformed from the industrial one to being more

knowledge and service oriented (G. Ivankovič, M. Jerman.2010). Therefore,

the human capital, innovations and the information technology became the

significance for the performance of the nowadays hotel industry. (G.

Ivankovič & M. Jerman, 2010).

As affirmation, human resources are a significant component in service and

hoteling industry which would influence on achievement or failure of the

organization (Abdul Hameed & Aamer Waheed, 2011). Thus, formations and

societies are investing large amount of money on employee development

(Abdul Hameed & Aamer Waheed, 2011), for instance: ASTD (The American

Society for Training and Development) estimates that U.S. organizations

spent $125.88 billion on employee learning and development in 2009 (The

American Society for Training and Development, 2009).

Employee development means to improve the capabilities of a staff and

organization as a whole so (Abdul Hameed & Aamer Waheed, 2011); and

since staff development leads to progress employees' performance and

consequently organizational effectiveness. Elena P. (2000) and also Baum

(2006) stated that education and training for all employees who are working in

tourism and hospitality industry could be presented as two important items

that will make the industry competitive and it will influence on employee

performance.

Therefore, there is a direct correlation between Employee development and

Employee Performance. This improvement led to greater employee

satisfaction and commitment and thus is likely to increase employee

performance. When employee performance would increase, this will cause the

organization successfulness. (Champathes, 2006).

Organizations which learning, training and development are seen as a priority

for their employees, they will be faced with higher profitability and greater

job satisfaction for staff. Leslie et al., (1998) and also Abu Mollik and Ali

Quazi (2011) stated that it is anticipated that there is a positive relationship

with the employee job satisfaction and employee job performance.

11

According to Blau (1998) academic education impact work commitment and

investment in employee development assists more commitment by employees

to the organization and, consequently, causes that the employees want to work

harder for increasing the organization‟s efficiency (Arthur, 1994; Woods & de

Menezes, 1998). Samad (2005) found that there is a relationship between

organizational commitment and job performance and understood that this

relationship is moderated by job satisfaction. So committed employees

perform better at job if they are satisfied with their job. (Hanan Al-Ahmadi,

2009).

In terms of the effect of education on employee‟s job performance, there are

different ideas and experiences in this field .Here we mention some of them

and we'll talk more about them in literature review. For instance:

Table 1-1

Author and Scholar ideas

Sarmiento and Beale(2007)

&AlAhmadi (2009)

Found a negative relationship

between education and job

performance

Thomas W. H. Ng, Daniel C.

Feldman. (2009)

They state that there is a positively

relationship between education and

task performance

Garver (1996)

He displays that there is an important

positive correlation between learning

activities and performance at work

Hanan Al-Ahmadi (2012)

He pointed out that education has

negative correlation with job

performances

Our research focuses to understand or find out the impact of employee

knowledge on their work performance and the organization.

The main reason that we have chosen this title for our thesis is because of

facing a number of hotels in Tehran like Simorgh, Espinas, and Evin where

are more popular and Customer-friendly, furthermore was observed that their

employees are educated, well-trained and English speaking.

12

On the other hand, encountered with the other hotels like Homa and Laleh

where don't have enough strengths in compare with previous hotels and also

the staffs are not helpful enough and moreover lack of trained, polite and

English-speaking employees are remarkable ,all of them causes that bring

negative word of mouth and result in losing customers (Golnaz Alambeygi

,2011).

The other reason for choosing this topic for our study is that we encountered

with many researches into human resources which have indicated that the

largest weakness in the field of tourism (and therefore in the hotel industry) is

the low level of knowledge. Gordana Ivankovič (2010, as cited in Jones, T.

A& Harris, P. J, 1995; Geller, A. N., 1984; RNUST, 2009). Here is shown a

few examples that refer to this matter:

Table 1-2

Author and Scholar ideas

Kusluvan (2000) the percentage of managers with

academic education in tourism and

hospitality is low, compared to the

other industries

Ladkin‟s (2002) only 15 percent of managers in

Australia had an academic degree

Jameson (2003) The hotel industry has one of the top

levels of skill shortages.

Ivankovič, M. Jerman .(2010) One of the most significant problems

in the tourism industry especially in

the field of hotels is the low level of

knowledge and information.

Statistical Center of Iran (2011) It has stated (According to the last

survey in 2011) that the population of

employees who are working in the

hospitality industry in Tehran is

52952and from these staff only 27942

persons has universities education

(related or unrelated)

13

These issues gave us the idea or a hint to be curious that, if education can be

one of the significant factors that impact on employees‟ performance and

subsequently on their performance in a hotel? Or lack of academic education

can be a problem for an employees‟ performance in a hotel?

And of course, there are very little research has been done in this area for

Iranian hotel industry and moreover there is no research about this matter in

group of Parsian hotels.

The outcome of the literature research causes to know that, what the influence

of education is on employees‟ performance in an organization.

1.4 Research goals

Based in discussion above the main objective of the research is to determine

the role of academic education on employees‟ performance in Tehran Parsian

Evin and Azadi Hotels?

The study is aimed to achieve the following objective:

To examine the relation between academic education and employees‟

performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi Hotels?

1-5 Research questions

1- What is the relation between academic education and employees‟

performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi Parsian hotels?

2- How is relation between academic education and employees‟ job

satisfaction and their performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi

Hotels?

3- How is relation between academic education and employees‟ work

commitment and their performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi

Hotels?

14

1-6 Scope of research

The scope of this research in terms of space and geography is located in

Tehran–Iran and Terms of time returns to summer and autumn 2013.

Meanwhile, due to the level of service quality and current situation in Iranian

hotel industry, we have to choose 4 and 5 star hotels in Tehran. Unfortunately,

due to disaffiliate most 4 and 5 star hotels in Tehran ,we had to choose two

hotels which they accepted to work with us , our study only was conducted on

4-star Parsian Evin hotel and 5-star Parsian Azadi hotel.

The scope of this study is focused on impact of academic education on

employees‟ performance and the study is delimited to managers of front

office, housekeeping, human resource and food & beverage departments.

1-7 Thesis structure

Chapter one: This chapter is included of problem statement, research

questions, research goal, scope of research, thesis structure and finally the key

words.

Chapter two: The literature review for the research will be presented.

Chapter three: Goes through the methodology for the thesis; how data will be

collected and how it will be analyzed.

Chapter four: Represents the empirical data and also analysis of data

collected.

Chapter five: Presents the findings for this thesis and discusses suggestions for

further research.

15

1-8 Key words

Education

Education is a process of teaching, training and learning, especially in schools

or colleges, to improve knowledge and develop skills. Definition of education

noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The Manpower Services Commission (as Cited in Armstrong, 1991, pp. 414-

415) defined education as:

Activities which aim at developing the knowledge, skills, moral values and

understanding required in all aspects of life rather than a knowledge and skill

relating to only a limited field of activity. The purpose of education is to

provide the conditions essential to young people and adults to develop an

understanding of the traditions and ideas influencing the society in which they

live and to enable them to make a contribution to it. It involves the study of

their own cultures and of the laws of nature as well as the acquisition of

linguistic and other skills which are basis to learning, personal development,

creativity and communication.

The DOE (as cited in Pinnington and Edwards, 2000, p. 185) defined

education as:

“A process and a series of activities which aim at enabling an individual to

assimilate and develop knowledge, skills, values and understanding that are

not simply related to a narrow field of activity but allow a broad range of

problems to be defined, analyzed and solved”.

.

The highest education is that which does not merely give us

information but makes our life in harmony with all existence.

Rabindranath agore

Education is the creation of sound mind in a sound body. It develops

man‟s faculty specially his mind so that he may be able to enjoy the

contemplation of supreme truth, goodness and beauty. Aristotle

Education is the development of good moral character. J.F.Herbert

16

Education is not a preparation for life, rather it is the living. Education

is the process of living through a continuous reconstruction of

experiences. It is the development of all those capacities in the

individual which will enable him to control his environment and fulfill

his possibilities. John Dewey

Meanwhile, we should mention that the meaning of education in our research

is academic education and education qualifications then three levels of

academic education that we consider are: Associate Degree, Bachelor and

master degree.

Performance

“…performance is associated with quantity of output, quality of output,

timeliness of output, presence / attendance on the job, efficiency of the work

completed [and] effectiveness of work completed” (Mathis & Jackson

2009:324).

Performance means both behavior and result. Behavior originates from the

performer and transforms performance from idea into action. (Armstrong,

2000).

Job performance is one of the indicators for improving the services industry.

Job performance refers to the behavior of employees that are expected in order

to the organizations goals (Campbell et al., 1993).

Rudman (1998) stated that" performance is concentrated on behavior or

purposeful work".

Wright &McMahan (1992); Wright Snell (1991) stated that:

We can conceptualize work and work performance as a system comprising

three main elements arranged in a linear sequence:

1 „inputs‟, including employee knowledge, skills and competencies (i.e.

abilities and attitudes), as well as other tangible and intangible „resources‟

2 human resource „throughputs‟ (i.e. activities that transform inputs into

outcomes, including, most importantly, work effort and other behavior);

3 „outputs‟, including outcomes from work behavior; i.e. results.

17

So, an employee provides work inputs in the form of knowledge, skills,

abilities and attitudes, applies these through effort and related forms of work

behavior, and produces a certain quantity of products or services of a certain

quality within a certain period of time.

In this research the meaning of performance is all the methods and results of

employees working are from the perspective of managers.

18

Chapter 2(Literature Review)

2-1-Introduction

The following chapter provides a review of literature which shows the studies

and experiments conducted with aiming to create a body of knowledge for

covering the problem statement. Consequently, at the end of this chapter a

conceptual model is resulted from the literature.

First, in this chapter we talk about these issues: Hospitality industry and

employees, Importance of educated employee in Hospitality industry and

Education and Job performance then after considering these issues, a number

of various studies concerning the research questions are provided, and then the

studies which have the most correlation are chosen and finally the conceptual

model is extracted from them.

2-2 Hospitality industry and employees

A current description of Hospitality mentions to the correlation process

between a guest and a host. “Hospitality Industry” refers to the companies or

organizations which are responsible for the basic needs of customer food or

drink and accommodation to people who are away from home. (Mr. Murray

Mackenzie and Dr. Benny Chan, 2009).

In tourism and hospitality industry, human resources are significant to offer

services, and human being is one of the most important factors for setting up

hospitality businesses (Seyyedali Routeh, 2012) and also hospitality industry

leaders pointed out that the essential tools of success for individuals entering

of hospitality industry are knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs). (Suzzette

Shaw Goldmon, 2011).

Human resources are the most important organization asset (Mayo, 2001).

At the present time, this matter is especially true for tourism and hospitality

industry and in common with many other labor-intensive service-based

industries, hospitality and tourism product is people (a dependent factor) and

it depends on delivery of human factors (Baum, 1993, p. 3), but the quality

19

tourism and hospitality service needs skilled and educated service employees

(Baum, 1995 in Baum & Nickson, 1998). As Amoah and Baum (1997)

emphasis, the human factor is essential to development of the tourism sector.



hotel industry (Jones, T. A & Harris, P. J., 1995; Geller, A. N., 1984). This

event happened because the economy reformed from the industrial one to

being more knowledge and service oriented. Therefore, the human capital,

innovations and the information technology became the significance for the

performance of the nowadays hotel industry. (G.Ivankovič & M. Jerman,

2010).

2-3 Importance of educated employee in Hospitality industry

Education and training for all employees who are working in tourism and

hospitality industry could be presented as two important items that will make

the industry competitive and It will influence on employee performance

(Baum, 2006).Nowadays, intelligent managers know that they can guarantee

their success, efficiency, and competitive advantages if they invest on

improvement and development of their human resource (Mousavi, 2004).

The quality tourism service needs capable and well trained service staff

(Baum, 1995 in Baum & Nickson, 1998). As Amoah and Baum (1997) stress

that: the human factor is fundamental to development of the tourism sector

since it constitutes the very essence of quality in tourism supply (Nina Pološki

Vokic, 2008).

The researcher realized that the quality of a country‟s tourism and hospitality

industry is influenced by the education level of tourism employees.

(McDonald&Hopkin,2003,p.156).



Firstly, in the era of knowledge, only qualified employees bring a competitive

benefit for a company (Phillips, 1997; Stewart, 2001; Obadic, Pološki Vokic

& Sincic, 2005; Pološki Vokic & Grizelj, 2007). For instance Connolly and

McGing (2006) say that, there are numerous samples of successful businesses

without educated or well-trained staff .However, this logic does not provide

20

that a well-trained graduate today cannot help to improve the business or

become more competitive.








2-4 Education and Job performance

Education level is positively related to task performance. (THOMAS W. H.

NG& DANIEL C. FELDMAN, 2009).

An employee with a higher educational level is anticipated to be more

satisfied and better in the job performance than his/ her colleague with a lower

level of education. (Abu Mollik, Majharul Talukder& Ali Quazi, 2011).

Employees‟ performance (EP) is a significant factor that helps to progress the

outcomes and behavior of the employees. It also helps to progress the

efficiency of the organization (Zahargier, M.S & Balasundaram, N, 2011).

Meanwhile, researcher found that there is a positive relation between human

capital and the performance of hotel; they noticed that a significant

relationship between formal education of employee and the business

performance of hotel enterprises can be recognized. Formal education is one

of the measures to assess the value of human resources (Drucker, P. & Nova

zbilja, 1992; Stewart, T. A. 1997).

In Taiwan, Tzeng (2004) found that there is a relationship between nursing

performance and nursing competencies, and recommended that for improving

performance of nurses, the education and training are essential.

When the literature on higher education and police is reviewed, it is obvious

that most of the literature recommends that higher levels of education have

positive influences on police behavior and attitudes (Roberg et al., 2005).

21

2-5 Previous Research

In this chapter, a number of various studies concerning the research questions

are provided, and then the studies which have the most correlation are chosen

and finally the conceptual model is extracted from them. The articles which

have been reviewed are revealed in following tables.

22

Table 2-1: a brief of the previous researches which are related to our study

Row Title Researcher Year

1 Human Capital As The

Critical Success Factor

G. Ivankovič,

M. Jerman:

2010

2

The Importance Of

Educated And

Knowledgeable

Employees For The

Hotel Industry

Performance: The Case

Of Croatia

Nina poloski

Vokic

2008

3

Employee development

and Its effect on

Employee Performance

a Conceptual

Framework

Abdul Hameed

&Aamer Waheed

2011

4 The Importance Of

Formal Employee

Education

In The World Of

Growing Uncertainty

İsmail Bakan

2000

5 Factors affecting

Employees’Performance

in Ready- Made

Garments (RMGs)

Sector in Chittagong,

Bangladesh

Mohammad Salim

Zahargier*,

Nimalathasan

Balasundaram**

2011

6 How Broadly Does

Education Contribute

To Job Performance?

Thomas W. H. Ng,

Daniel C.

Feldman

2009

7 Gede, Ngozi Tari1

and Lawanson,

Olukemi Anike2

2011

8 The Impact Of Higher

Education On The Job

Preparedness And Job

Performance Of Turkish

National Police Officers

Erhan Beyhan 2008

23

9 "Factors affecting

performance of hospital

nurses in Riyadh

Region, Saudi Arabia"

Hanan AlAhmadi 2009

10 Employees’ job

satisfaction and

performance in services

sector: Are they linked?

Abu Mollik

Majharul

Talukder*

Ali Quazi

2011

11 A Study of the Effects of

Educational and

Administrative-

organizational

Factors on the Students’

Work Commitment

Mohammad Javad

Liaghatdar,

Fatemeh Samiee,

Alireza adeghian,

Shokouh Shafaie,

Madineh likhani,

Bibi Vajiheh

Hashemi,

2012

12 The Effect Of

Organizational

Learning

On Organizational

Commitment,

Job Satisfaction And

Work Performance

Raduan Che Rose,

Naresh Kumar

&Ong Gua Pak

2009

24

2-5-1 What is the relation between academic education and

employees’ performance?



hotel industry (Jones, T. A & Harris, P. J., 1995; Geller, A. N., 1984). This

event happened because the economy reformed from the industrial one to

being more knowledge and service oriented. Therefore, the human capital

became one of the significant factors for the performance of the nowadays

hotel industry (G. Ivankovič & M. Jerman, 2010).

Modern hotel industry is faced with new challenges by current economy

which is made by intangible properties that are originated from the

knowledge. Nemec Rudež, H. (2006, as cited in G. Ivankovič & Jerman, 2010)

and this new knowledge which is considered as a competitive advantage

between competitors is produced by people (G. Ivankovič & M. Jerman,

2010).Furthermore, the quality, provision and operation of services in hotels

depend frequently on their employees thus it should not be very peculiar that

employees of hotels are the most significant critical success factor. Milost, F.

(2007, as cited in Ivankovič & Jerman, 2010)

Human resources are as the most important enterprise property (Mayo, 2001),

As Amoah and Baum (1997) stress that: the human factor is essential to

development of the tourism industry, and also, nowadays this is especially

true for hospitality and tourism industry and it cannot be unnoticed because of

the intensive work of this industry. McDonald & Hopkin (2003, as cited in


At the present time, in common with many other labor-intensive service-based

industries, hospitality and tourism product is people and these industries for

delivering services to the people dependent on the human factors (Baum,

1993, p. 3), but the quality tourism and hospitality service needs skilled and

educated service employees (Baum, 1995 in Baum & Nickson, 1998) and

besides the researcher realized that the quality of a country‟s tourism and

hospitality industry is influenced by the education level of tourism employees.

(McDonald&Hopkin, 2003, p.156).

25

Nowadays hotel industry, due to the force of service industry and Knowledge

economy, depends heavily on the quality (knowledge, skills and abilities) of

its employees and besides because the economic profits of tourism impact

extremely on some countries economy for instance: Croatian economy, So,

knowledgeable and educated employees are vital for its economy. (Nina




Firstly, in the era of knowledge, only qualified employees bring a competitive

benefit for a company (Phillips, 1997; Stewart, 2001; Obadic, Pološki Vokic

& Sincic, 2005; Pološki Vokic & Grizelj, 2007).








Moreover, Encounter of the modern world, where in dominate knowledge and

high technology, impelled that educated and well-informed employees

became the key factors for handling change and obtaining competitive

advantage for organizations . (Pološki Vokic & Grizelj, 2007) and also “To

provide the skills needed for effective competition in the rapidly changing and

increasingly competitive international economy, it will be necessary to

contemplate something in the order of a doubling of the proportion staying on

in full time education and training” (Northcott and the PSI Research Team,

1991, p. 152).

So, as stated above, in the past few years many organizations have understood

that for surviving in a world that is changing very fast with a variety of

changes which impress organizations such as: novel technologies, need for

higher efficiency, changing social standards, employee expectations and more

competition for jobs, now the employee‟s progress by education and training

of individuals are necessary, especially for new types of working and new

forms of job. (İsmail Bakan, 2000), thus, Continuing formal education and

development are two significant factors, so anyone who has the necessary

knowledge and skills can be encountered with the changing needs of business

26

(İsmail Bakan, 2000) and also Collin and Holden state that “an educated and

skilled workforce is essential for the effective functioning of an economy, the

competitiveness and wealth of a nation, as well as for the overall well-being of

society” (cited in Beardwell and Holden, 1997, p. 346).

Furthermore, the importance of employee‟s education is considered as

competitive advantage for both employees and organization which causes to

effectiveness on employees‟ and organizations‟ performance (İsmail Bakan,

2000). But despite all the issues Some country's hotel industry like Croatia

hotel industry has not yet recognized the advantages and opportunities of

hiring educated and knowledgeable employees and also they haven‟t reached

the level of awareness in hotel industry to identify the need for educated and

knowledgeable employees and the significant of investments in employees

training and development. Thus, in this situation for Croatian hotel industry in

compare of the other competitors, they could not expect for an important

percentage of world tourism arrivals, neither a sufficient percentage of higher-

quality tourists. (Nina Pološki Vokic, 2008).

As previously noted, employee is a significant component of the organization

and achievement or failure of the organization depends on employee

performance. Thus, formations and societies are investing large amount of

money on employee development (Abdul Hameed & Aamer Waheed. 2011).

), for instance: ASTD (The American Society for Training and Development)

estimates that U.S. organizations spent $125.88 billion on employee learning

and development in 2009 (The American Society for Training and

Development,2009).But on the other hand, numerous countries in the world

have no law for supporting employee‟s education or training, that‟s why

personnel who want to follow a course of study must depend on the

willingness of employers for supporting or paying employee‟s fees (İsmail

Bakan, 2000) and also many organizations do not care about their staff

development activities. They only emphasis on reaching the aims of the

organization. They do not be concerned about employee‟s development. So, if

company would emphasis on this issue, this would help in improving the

employee‟s skills (Chay et al., 2003).

Employee development is very important functions in Human Resource

Management. Employee development means to improve the capabilities of a

staff (Abdul Hameed. Aamer Waheed. 2011); and since staff development

27

leads to progress employees' performance and consequently organizational

effectiveness. (Elena P. 2000). Therefore, there is a direct correlation between

employee development and employee Performance. This improvement leads

to greater employee satisfaction with the job and commitment with the job and

thus is likely to increase employee performance. When employee performance

would increase, this will cause the organization successfulness. (Champathes,

2006).

Now, here we look at this proposed model which is derived of literature

review of past scholars that has been performed in various researches which

related to employee development (independent variable) and employee

performance (dependent variable). Finally employee performance will

eventually impact on the organizational effectiveness.

Employee development variable is included sub variables:

Skill Growth

Employee learning

behaviors

Figure 2-1 Abdul Hameed, Aamer Waheed. (2011). Employee

Development and Its Effect on Employee Performance A Conceptual

Framework. International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2

No. 13, 224-229.

Employee Development

Skill growth

Employee learning

Self-directed

Employee attitude

and behaviors

Employee

Performance

Organizational

Effectiveness

28

A successful industry can be achieved with interaction in progressing their

employees‟ performance. A vital factor which causes to progress the

consequences, behavior and characters of the employees is employees‟

performance (EP) and it helps to develop the efficiency of the industry or a

business (Zahargier& Balasundaram, 2011).

Performance namely both behavior and result. Behavior comes from the

performer and converts performance from thought into action. The behavior is

also a consequence in itself, the product of mental and physical work applied

to the task, which can be judged apart from the result (Armstrong, 2000).

There are several of factors which may be affecting the employees‟

performance. Each employee may have a different influence from different

things at the workplace. Their attitude and behavior can play a significant role

in their performance. Employees do not implement in a vacuum.

There is a variety of factors which may be affecting the employees‟

performance, such as:

• Individual Related Factors: INF (which is the combination of different

aspects i.e. value, beliefs, critical thinking, and anticipation of success and

work attitude);

• Job Related Factors: JRF (i.e. needs, self-concept, personal impact skills

competence, feedback, incentives);

• Organizational Related Factors: ORF (i.e. organizational culture, norms and

standards used at work, communication, supervisor and colleague support)

that affect their performance.

But, in our study, we have only considered one specific factor of INF which is

individuals‟ education and thus, only the influence of this element on

employees‟ performance will be surveyed and now here we refer to the results

of some researches which have studied this matter in different fields and

areas, for example:

Thomas W. H. Ng& Daniel C. Feldman (2009) concluded that Education can

advance core job performance by equipping persons with more knowledge

and consequently with this new capability their task can be fulfilled

successfully, for instance, students who has more knowledge and education in

accounting, can obtain the require capability to be a Certified Public

Accountant (CPAs) and promote in this field.

29

Gede, Ngozi Tari1, Lawanson& Olukemi Anike (2011)stated about the

finding of their research in Bayelsa State Ministry of Education that

educational level has influence on the performance of employees and this

finding supported the other study by Rugai and Agih (2008), who detected

that there is an important correlation between education and job performance

of teachers in Bayelsa State and they stated that teacher who are well trained

and has more knowledge, perform better than less trained and less

knowledgeable teacher and on the other hand, the employee‟s performance of

the Ministry of Education is very significant because, in the province , it will

positively influence in the efficient handling of education and finally attaining

high student performance by impressive teaching and learning in the class.

Therefore, the study suggested to employment eligible employees, and also to

attain a good performance for employees, it is better to train each person

particularly.

Erhan Beyhan (2008) surveyed that whether the performance of an educated

officer is better than an officer who does not have a higher level of education.

Nowadays, with growing complexity of police roles and increasing

expectations placed on police, this idea which mention about higher education

for police officers has become more essential than ever. (Baro & Burlingame,

1999). When the literature on higher education and police is reviewed, it is

obvious that most of the literature recommends that higher levels of education

have positive influences on officers‟ job performance and their attitudes.

(Roberg et al., 2005). Higher education impact on officers to have better

achievement during police academy training, be more flexible, and have a

better perception (Roberg et al., 2005). Furthermore, they want to have a

better job performance, are less probable to be involved in complaints, and are

more likely to be advanced in compare with officers without higher education

(Roberg et al., 2005).

As result, the study found that level of education has the significant impact on

officers‟ job preparedness and performance. Because the statistically

important influence of higher education on officers‟ job preparedness and

performance have been created, the two-year college degree requirement

should be instantly increase to a four-year college degree and should be

provided in the institutions of the TNP.

30

Tzeng (2004, as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009) understood that nursing

performance is linked to nursing qualifications in Taiwan, and recommended

that training and education are necessary for improving performance of

nurses, And also, Hanan Al-Ahmadi (2009) said that the results of his research

for hospital nurses in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia displayed that there is no

correlation between level of education and job performance of nurses which is

opposing the prior researches that show education has a positive influence on

job performance. The researcher in this study explains this negative

relationship by an impact of the restricted opportunity for progressing nursing

abilities and competencies, and lack of a qualified environment which

motivates nurses.


employees’ job satisfaction and their performance?

In the following, we will investigate the impact of academic education on

employees‟ job satisfaction and also the relation between employees‟ job

satisfaction and employees‟ performance that‟s why for surveying this matter,

we look at some articles which mention about this subject.

Mollik, A., Talukder, M., & Quazi, A (2011) surveyed the influence of

employee demographics on their job satisfaction and job performance in a

developing economy like banking institutions in Bangladesh, but we should

notify that Previous studies have found that there is a positive relationship

between job satisfaction and job performance in the banking sector in

Bangladesh (Mollik, 1988; Orpen, 1978; Fisher, 1980).

Mollik, A., Talukder, M., & Quazi, A (2011) used this model (figure 2-2) in

their research. In developing economy in Bangladesh where they prefer to

match job conditions with higher level education, these researchers anticipated

that an employee with a higher level of education to be more satisfied and to

be better in the job performance than someone with a lower level of education.

31

Incentive

Job performance

Figure 2-2 Mollik, A., Talukder, M., & Quazi, A, (2011). Employees’

job satisfaction and performance in services sector: Are they linked?

Paper presented at world Business and Economics Research Conference,

Auckland, New Zealand. Retrieved from

http://www.wbiconpro.com/414-Majharul.pdf

Age

Experience

Job satisfaction

Education

But, the result shows that the age of employees is significantly related with

their performance but not with their job satisfaction and also older employees

are the better providers to the financial sector‟s performance in Bangladesh.

Besides, the result indicates that, there is no relation between experience job

and job satisfaction and also job performance in banking institutions in

Bangladesh .The other finding of this study is that there is a significant

relationship between employee‟s education level and job satisfaction but

employee‟s education level is not related to job performance. And finally,

financial incentives positively affect employee‟s job performance and job

satisfaction for the financial sector in Bangladesh.

Furthermore, there is an important relationship between Employees‟ job

satisfaction and their level of performance and also the results revealed that in

the banking sectors in Bangladesh, to achieve higher performance, higher

education is not seen as a major factor. Furthermore, for hiring employees in

the banking sector, education has not been considered as a necessary

requirement.


32

Moreover , Leslie et al. (1998, as cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar

&Ong Gua Pak, 2009) stated that organizations which learning, training and

development are seen as a priority for their employees, they will be faced with

higher profitability and greater job satisfaction for staff . In the following this

theme, there are some studies which support the correlation between job

satisfaction and job performance (Judge et al., 2001; Politis, 2005; Suliman

and Iles, 2000; Wilson and Frimpong, 2004; Yousef, 1999). These studies

revealed that employees who are satisfied with their job are more probable to

be useful in their job (McNeese-Smith, 1997) and also deliver a good quality

service (Crossman and Abou-Zaki, 2003) and consequently will influence on

employees‟ performance. (Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar &Ong Gua Pak,

2009).

And so, we can refer to Knoop (1995, as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009)

that Job satisfaction causes a several outcomes between nurses like: more

efficiency, good quality of carefulness and attempt to stay in the organization

and on the contrary, Job dissatisfaction causes to reduce efficiency and poor

performance (Butler and Parsons, 1989; Robinson et al., 1991).

Hanan Al-Ahmadi (2009) said that the other results of his research for hospital

nurses in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia ,in accordance with previous research

results, revealed that there was a positive correlation between job performance

and overall job satisfaction for instance: Satisfaction with work, management,

connection at work, satisfaction with salary and chance of development in the

job, and circumstances in the work (Knoop, 1995; Borda and Norman, 1997;

Shader et al., 2001; Judge et al., 2001).

33


employees’ work commitment and their performance?

Finally, here we consider the impact of academic education on employees‟

work commitment and also the relation between employees‟ work

commitment and employees‟ performance that‟s why for surveying this

matter, we look at some articles which mention about this subject.

Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. (2012) said that in an organization work

commitment is an element that causes to the progress of regularity, sense of

responsibility, morality, and development of human relationships at work and

also in an organization , great degrees of work commitment causes to have a

high efficiency, fulfillment of human cultural, the management stability, the

economic regularity, the efficiency and the attainment of short-term and long-

term objectives of the organization and moreover , Decrease in absenteeism

and ineffective occupational behaviors (Rikletta, 2002), progress of efforts

and continuous attention to the work and job performance improvement

(Meyer, Stanley, Herscovitch, & Topolnvtsky, 2002) , that all of them are due

to work commitment of the people.

Work commitment is a kind of training for changing the manner and

attitudes of staff to develop their efficiency (Abtahi, 1995) and family is the

first place of teaching the work commitment for each person and also, in a

family, people are exposed to different situations and their work commitment

are formed by support and control of the family (Gupta, & Tyagi, 2009).

Consistent with the researches outcomes which have been done by Gupta, &

Tyagi, (2009), Trombetta & Rogers 1988), and Afje (1997), revealed that the

educational factor is the first element that affects the students work

commitment and also Blau (1998) stated that academic education impact work

commitment , as well as kuvaas (2003,as cited in Mohammad Javad

Liaghatdar et al. ,2012) that plans to continue training and education, Having

the desire to improve, cause to have higher the level of work commitment.

Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. (2012) said that the results of his survey

are that work commitment has played a critical role by in attaining personal

comfort and social progress, families are suggested to include commitment

and responsibility in their parenting plan from beginning, children are exposed

to a suitable education and training and also results revealed that education

factors affect the students‟ work commitment.

34

In the following this theme, According to several prior researches identified

that there is a correlation between organizational commitment and job

performance (Mathieu and Zajac, 1990; Al-Otaibi, 1993; Ward and Davis,

1995; McNeese-Smith, 1997;Yousef, 2000; Suliman and Iles, 2000 ; Arnett,

Laverie and McLane, 2002; Samad,2005), This positive relationship indicates

that more faithfulness for employees cause to attempt more at their work and

consequently lead to perform better and also have a better efficiency (Yousef,

1999) and also in Taiwan, organizational commitment and attempt to leave

was surveyed between 2,197 hospital nurses and the results showed that

organizational commitment is positively related to performance and

productivity ( Hanan Al-Ahmadi ,2009).

Hanan Al-Ahmadi (2009) also found that the other outcome of his research for

hospital nurses in Riyadh Region, Saudi Arabia, is a significant positive

relationship between job performance and organizational commitment for

nurses who work in Ministry of Health hospitals in Riyadh Region, Saudi

Arabia.

Kamarul and Raida ( 2003, as cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar

&Ong Gua Pak ,2009)Nowadays, an organizational commitment is very

significant and as it looked to be a motive force for job performance and also

this is an important variable for expressing the behavior which is related to

work and its influence on performance(Benkoff, 1997). Then, Samad (2005,

as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009) and also Carmeli and Freund (2004, as

cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar& Ong Gua Pak, 2009) found that

there is a relationship between organizational commitment and job

performance and understood that the relationship between organizational

commitment and job performance is moderated by job satisfaction, So

committed employees perform better at job if they are satisfied with their job.

Furthermore, the relation between organizational commitment and job

satisfaction has also been considered in several prior studies and the outcome

of their research revealed that an important correlation between the two

variables (Bhuian and Abul-Muhmin, 1997; Yousef, 2002; Yavas; Badur,

1999; Liou, 1995; Baugh and Roberts, 1994).

And finally, Champathes (2006) express that there is a direct correlation

between Employee development and Employee Performance. This

improvement leads to greater employee satisfaction with the job and also

employee commitment with the job and thus is likely to increase employee


35

Education

Job satisfaction

Employees

‘performance

organization successfulness. (Abu Mollik, Majharul Talukder& Ali Quazi,

2011).And also, Watkins and Marsick (2003) stated that, any organization that

staff training and development is a priority, the personnel of such

organizations are more satisfied with their job and more commitment to their

company and consequently they have better performance in their job. (Raduan

Che Rose, Naresh Kumar& Ong Gua Pak, 2009)

2-6 Conceptual Framework

Now, in this part the conceptual model is extracted from the most relevant

studies to research questions. According to the research questions there are

four factors to study our research.

Figure 2-3: conceptual framework

Work commitment

36

Table 2-2 a brief of the views and studies of the previous researches related to Research question and conceptual framework which is extracted from them.

R

Element

Research title

Author

year

Education

Employee development and Its

effect on Employee Performance a

Conceptual Framework

Abdul Hameed.

Aamer Waheed.

2011

Employee development and Its

effect on Employee Performance a

Conceptual Framework

Abdul Hameed

&Aamer Waheed

2011

The Importance Of Formal

Employee Education

In The World Of Growing

Uncertainty

İsmail Bakan

2000

Employees’ job satisfaction and

performance in services sector:

Are they linked?

Abu Mollik

,Majharul

Talukder*, Ali

Quazi,

2011

Human Capital As The Critical

Success Factor

G. Ivankovič,

M. Jerman: 2010

The Impact Of Higher Education

On The Job Preparedness And Job

Performance Of Turkish National

Police Officers

Erhan Beyhan

2008

How Broadly Does Education

Contribute To Job Performance?

Thomas W. H. Ng,

Daniel C.

Feldman

2009

37

Employee

performance

Factors affecting Employees’

Performance in Ready-

Made Garments (RMGs)

Sector in Chittagong,

Bangladesh

Mohammad Salim

Zahargier,

Nimalathasan

Balasundaram

2011

Element

Author

year

Job

satisfaction

Employees’ job satisfaction

and performance in services

sector: Are they linked?

Abu Mollik ,Majharul

Talukder*, Ali Quazi,

2011

Work

commitment

"Factors affecting

performance of hospital

nurses in Riyadh Region,

Saudi Arabia", International

Journal of Health Care

Quality Assurance

Hanan Al-Ahmadi

2009

38

Conceptual definition

1. The first factor is education, in all researches; they mention education as an

academic and university education.

2. The second factor is job satisfaction

Locke (1969 ,as cited in Mollik, A., Talukder, M., & Quazi, A, 2011)

have defined job satisfaction as “the appraisal of one‟s job as attaining

or allowing the attainment of one‟s job values, providing these values

are congruent with or help fulfill one‟s basic needs” .

We have chosen these concepts because they can answer our second

research question.

3. The third element is work commitment.

Mowday et al. (1982, as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009) describe

work commitment for an individual as a strong trust in the

organization‟s aims and standards; a strong desire to do a great effort

for the organization; and a strong desire to be an employee or a

member of an organization.

And also we should mention that we have chosen this meaning because

it can answer our third research question.

4. The fourth factor is job performance.

Brumbrach (1988, cited in Armstrong, 2000) “Performance means

both behaviors and results. Behaviors emanate from the performer

and transform performance from abstraction to action. Not just the

instruments for results, behaviors are also outcomes in their own

right – the product of mental and physical effort applied to tasks –

and can be judged apart from results.”, this concept can answer our

first research question .

39

This section provides an overview of the methods implemented in this thesis to

answer the research questions in chapter one and also in this chapter is

referred to the purpose of the research, research approach and strategy,

sample selection, data collection and analysis, validity and reliability.

3.1 Research purpose

Robson (2002, as cited in Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009) points out that

the research purpose is divided into three categories: exploratory, descriptive

and explanatory.

An exploratory study looks for to understand “what is happening; to seek

new insights; to ask questions and to assess phenomena in a new light”

(Robson 2002, p.59). Descriptive research „aim is “to portray an accurate

profile of persons, events or situations “(Robson 2002, p.59).

Explanatory research wishes to study a problem or a status for clarifying the

relations between variables.

This thesis purpose is descriptive .As we mentioned above the object of this

study is to describe or depict an event or a situation (Saunders, Lewis &

Thornhill, 2009) which is suit for this thesis because this thesis describes how

academic education relate to an employee‟s performance. On the other hand,

this study is also partly exploratory. Explanatory study as mentioned above

wishes to understand “what is happening; to seek new insights; to ask

questions. Robson (2002, as cited in Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2009).

Chapter 3 (Research Methodology)

40

3.2 Research approach

According to Saunders et al. (2009) mentioned about two types of research

approaches:

Quantitative concentrates on numerical data (numbers), but in contrast,

qualitative concentrates on non-numerical data (words, pictures).

In quantitative studies uses numbers and statistic, but in qualitative studies

collecting data in the form of words, pictures or descriptions (Yin, 2003).

Qualitative research approach usually uses for the cases that researcher wants

to have a deeper understanding of situation and phenomenon (Saunders et al.

2009).

The qualitative approach is suitable for this research, because the researchers

want to gain a deeper understanding of the relation between academic

education and employees „performance. To collect data for this study,

interview was selected, because it allows the researchers to get suitable

information from personnel and consequently they can have a better

understanding of the situation (ibid).

3.3 Research Strategy

Yin (2009) refers to five different research strategies for a research:

experiment, survey, archival analysis, history and case study. “A case study is

an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon in depth

and within its real-life context, especially when the boundaries between

phenomenon and context are not clearly evident” (ibid).

According to Yin (2009) opinion, the aim of case studies is to realize

complicated social incident and real–life events, also he adds the case study is

a research strategy which allows the researchers to study the questions such as

„how‟,‟ what‟ and „why‟ that we had it as a research question in chapter one

which are with „what‟ and „how‟.

1- What is the relation between academic education and employees‟

performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi?

2- How is the relation between academic education and employees‟ job

satisfaction and their performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi

Hotels?

41

3- How is the relation between academic education and employees‟ work

commitment and their performance in Tehran Parsian Evin and Azadi

Hotels?

Table 3-1: Relevant situations for different research purposes

Strategy Form of research

question

Requires control

over behavioral

events

Focuses on

contemporary

events

Case Study Case Study

How, why Case Study

No Case Study Yes

Source: Adapted from Yin, 2009, p.8

The research strategy which has been used in this thesis is case study. We

used case study because we wanted to gain a better understanding of the

relation between academic education and employees‟ performance in these

two hotels in Tehran and we also have used two case study in this research

because, this allowed us to compare the cases and also to see the differences

and similarities between the cases . Yin (2009) states that, five different ways

are known to use case studies, which our thesis focuses on one of them which

describes a real life events (ibid).

42

3.4 Data Collection

Yin (2009) determines six sources of collecting data for case study, which are

documentation, archival records, and interviews, direct observation,

participant observation and physical artifacts.

For this thesis interviews was chosen for data collection .The following table

shows the strong points and the weak points of this source.

Table 3-2

Six sources of Evidence: Strengths and Weaknesses (Yin, 2009)

Sources of Evidence Strengths Weaknesses

Interview

-Targeted: focuses

directly on

case study topic

- Insightful: provides

perceived causal

inferences

-Bias due to poorly

constructed

questions

- Response bias

- Inaccuracies due to

poor recall

- Reflexivity:

interviewee gives

what interviewer wants

to hear

Source: Adapted from Yin (2009), p.80

Yin (2009) stated that when a case study use in a research, interviews are very

suitable and efficient .The reason why we have chosen this method is that it

considers the research questions and also it is a good way to understand the

participant perspectives.

Interviews can be specified in different ways. For instance by telephone or

face-to-face, formal or informal, casual or in-depth and structured or

unstructured (Marshall & Rossman, 1999; yin, 2003). When a qualitative

43

approach consider in a study, it is better to use face-to-face interviews,

because in this way, the interviewer can solve easier the problems that

respondents have for understanding questions (Yin, 2009); therefore, this

study is conducted by face-to-face and semi structured interview.

In a field of case study research, yin (2009) proposed three different

interviews: open-ended, focus and structured. The open- ended interview is

very common to use and also has a minimum structure in compare of the other

interview methods. Meanwhile, in this method participants can freely say their

views and feeling and also this method let us have deep and accurate

information in the interviews.

In this method, there are a set of open-ended questions that will be answered

by each participant, but here with this kind of questions, interviews might be

different from each other, because, it is possible to change the order of the

questions during the interview (Saunders, et al, 2009).

We chose an interview guide with open ended questions to obtain deep and

accurate information at the time of interviews and also the participant can

freely give answer the questions .Our interview lasted between 40 to 60

minutes. All the questions of our interview guide come from the frame of

reference of the literature and other reason for using interview guide is to

explain the general definition of frame of reference. In the following, because

of increasing the validity; we have checked the interview guide with academic

individuals like our supervisors. In addition, all interviews were recorded by

audio-recording and all the data were gathered from six managers of Evin and

Azadi hotel in Tehran.

3.5 Sample Selection

In a qualitative study, there are three methods for selecting a sample:

Convenience sample, Judgment sample and Theoretical sample.

The sample method that we used for selecting the cases and participants are

convenience sampling, since we chose cases and managers that were

assessable for us (Saunders, et al, 2009).

44

In this thesis, who are interviewed, are six managers of these hotels.

In Evin hotel, three different types of managers have been chosen: residential

managers, housekeeping manager, human resource manager and in Azadi

hotel also have been chosen three different types of managers: residential

managers, housekeeping manager, food and beverage manager.

The reason why we chose these hotels is that officials accepted to have an

interview with their personnel and the reason for choosing the managers is

that they are more suitable choice for answering our research questions,

because they are associated with more employees. In addition, we have

chosen four and five star hotels, to determine differences between these hotels

in terms of answering to the research goal and research questions. we should

also mention that among the four and five star parsian hotels, only these two

hotels worked with us.

3.6 Presentation and Analysis of Data

Yin, (2009) stated that for analyzing a case study data collection, we are faced

with a different methods.

As stated by Yin (2003) general strategies for analyzing case studies divided

to three methods: relying on theoretical propositions, developing a case

description and thinking about rival explanation. The most favorite strategy to

Yin (2003) is relying on theoretical propositions and also this method is more

desirable of the other ways. The second strategy is to develop a descriptive

framework and the purpose of it is to organize the case study, this way is not

very desirable, but it is used when the first strategy is not suitable for the case.

For this study, because we don‟t offer any theory, we should use the second

strategy which is developing a case description.

There are three steps for analyzing qualitative data (Miles and Huberman,

1994):

1. Data Reduction

2. Data Display

3. Drawing Conclusions

45

Data Reduction: “Data reduction refers to the process of selecting, focusing,

simplifying, abstracting, and transforming the data that appear in written up

field notes or transcriptions."

Data display: "an organized, compressed assembly of information that permits

conclusion drawing..." (Miles and Huberman, 1994). In this step allows

researcher to compare the elements of the data and also recognize any

relationship which is obvious. These data can be displayed as text, chart or a

diagram.

Drawing Conclusions: indicate that the researcher begins “to decide what

things mean is nothing regularities, patterns, explanations, possible

configurations, casual and proposition”. (Miles and Huberman, 1994).

Conclusion drawing included the review of the meaning of data analyze and

the evaluate of their consequences. Verification is completely related to

conclusion drawing, it requires reviewing the data many times to verify the

conclusions (ibid).

All the data translated to English and reviewed, then displayed so that it is

consistent with the conceptual model.

Miles and Huberman (1994) stated that there are two methods for analyzing

data: Within-case analysis and cross- case analysis. In within-case analysis the

main reason is to compare the data which is collected from a single case with

the theory has been introduced in the frame of reference and, consequently, to

recognize similarities and differences. In cross- case analysis, each case is

reviewed individually, in addition, two cases compare to each other for

recognizing the similarities and differences. For this research we studied each

case individually and also compared two cases with each other. It means that

we apply both within-case analysis and cross- case analysis in our study.

46

3.7 Quality Standards

Yin (2009) stated that to establish the quality of a research, four things should

be considered. The four things are: construct validity, internal validity,

external validity and reliability, as shown in the table below.

Table 3-3

Case Study Tactics for Four Design Tests (Yin, 1994)

Tests Case study tactic Phase of research in

which

Construct validity -Use multiple sources

of evidence

- Establish a chain of

evidence

- Have key informants

review draft case study

report

- Data collection

- Data collection

- Performance

Internal validity - Do pattern-matching

- Do explanation-

building

- address rival

explanations

- use logic models

- Data analysis

- Data analysis

- Data analysis

- Data analysis

External validity - Use replication logic

in multiple-case studies

- use theory in single-

case studies

- Research design

- Research design

Reliability - Use case study

protocol

- Develop case study

database

- Data collection

- Data collection

47

Validity and Reliability

Construct validity Controls whether operational measures are in line with the

concepts which are being studied (Yin, 2009). In order to have the least

validity difficulties in this step yin (2009) suggested using multiple sources of

evidence, establishing a chain of evidence. This method cannot enhance the

validity of this research because; it uses only one resource for evidence which

is the data that will be gathered of interviewing the participant.

Yin (1994) states that internal validity deals with to identify, whether there is

a causal relation between events or variables. He also states that, there are

three strategies and tactics for internal validity which are mentioned in the

table above. One of these strategies is pattern –matching that compares the

observed pattern with predicted pattern or compares between the collected

data of a case study and the frame of reference of the literature. This study

uses this element of internal strategy for enhancing its validity.

Our research design includes two technics for analyzing cases (within –case

analysis and cross-case analysis), that‟s why, because of using two technics, it

causes to enhance external validity for this study. There is logic for each tactic

which Miles and Huberman (1994) mentioned about that: In within-case

analysis the main reason is to compare the data which is collected from a

single case with the theory has been introduced in the frame of reference and,

consequently, to recognize similarities and differences. In cross- case analysis,

each case is reviewed individually, in addition, two cases compare to each

other for recognizing the similarities and differences across the cases.

Yin, (2009) expressed that the main goal of reliability is to have the least

biases and errors in the study. He also mentioned that, there are two factors

which by considering them, the biases and errors are minimized and reliability

is increased. These two factors are case study protocol and development of a

case study database.

In this study, In order to increase reliability, the research instrument

(interview guide) which is used for collecting the data was reviewed by our

supervisor and also researchers initially consulted with officials for ensuring

about suitable and qualified participants for their interviews and research.

In the following, for reducing the biases in this study, the researcher will try to

have a proper tone and not to have non–verbal behavior and will try not to

48

explain and refer to the answer that they want to hear and also will try not to

confirm or deny any answers. We chose an interview guide with open ended

questions to obtain deep and accurate information at the time of interviews

and also the participant can freely give answer the questions and in addition,

all the interviews were recorded by a voice recorder.

49

Chapter 4 (Data Presentation and Data Analysis)

This chapter will present the empirical data. The data was collected from

interviews of six managers of two hotels in Tehran. For organizing the data,

data is structured based on our conceptual framework and the interview

guide. In the following, for analyzing data, the empirical data is compared to

the conceptual framework. We apply both within-case analysis and cross-

case analysis in our study. In the end, we will also respond to research

questions.

4-1 Data presentation

4-1-1 Hotel Parsian Evin

At first, a general question was raised, which was about the importance of

human resources in their hotel. All the participants answered that human

resources are very important factor for their hotel and they also believed that

this element is a major capital of their hotel and in addition, they mentioned

that human resources should be noted and considered for more efficiency.

Then, when we discussed about academic education for employees, all the

managers believed that these personnel have a better understanding of the

issues in their hotel and also this factor has a significant impact on the process

of employees' performance. Residential manager pointed out that educated

employees bring new thoughts and ideas into their system. HR manager also

believed that “educated personnel have better understanding and work

quality”. Furthermore, all participants discussed that, this hotel has a number

of older experienced employees and also there are a number of young workers

50

with higher education that they need more experience. These two groups

together will create better results. That‟s why it is much better to have

educated and experienced employees together in this hotel, because

experienced employees will offer or present their experience to educated

employees and vise verse, consequently the output could be remarkable and

great.

The other topic that we mentioned was employees’ job satisfaction. The

participants pointed out that job satisfaction for educated employees in their

hotel may not be at a high level, because their expectation are more than their

perception, especially about salary and job promotion. For instance

housekeeping manager said that “Due to educated employees‟ high

expectations, job satisfaction is very difficult to obtain”.

Residential manager and Housekeeping manager mentioned that, salaries is

not too high at this hotel and also there is not a big difference between

educated employees‟ salaries in different educational levels, and it is only

added if there is a job promotion for an employee. As a result, housekeeping

manager stated that “Educated people cannot meet their expectations in terms

of revenue”. ER and residential manager also expressed that educated

employees expect to have a job promotion in a short time and when it did not

occur to them, they become discouraged, and if that, a person who has less

educated ,their expectation is less too , So sooner becomes convinced and

satisfied. ER manager stated that the expectation of educated employees about

the job position in the hotel is too high and expect to be in a suitable status

and if the position is not appropriate for their education, they will become

discouraged and lost their motivation. For instance, he mentioned that they

have an educated person as a maid in housekeeping section, at first she was

satisfied with this position, but little by little became discouraged and lost

their motivation, later when we had an appropriate vacancy, we changed her

position. Residential manager also mentioned that “To a certain extent,

women are allowed to progress in their job in bonyad hotels “. For instance, a

woman cannot be a head manager of a hotel and this matter can lead to

dissatisfaction for an employee in a long time.

All three participants also believed that employees, who have related

education with hoteling, can be more satisfied with their job, because in this

area, their expectation is closer to their perception, and also they can quickly

adapt to their environment and can be easily trained and work, thus,

satisfaction gains faster, but for others, adjusting to new situations takes time

and this lowers a person's confidence.

51

When it came to work commitment, Residential manager said that "an

employee who has academic education knows work standards and tries to

adapt with them and also tries to implement them " . In contrast an uneducated

employees who does not know the standard of the work, try to justify their

own analysis and act according to their own perceptions, it is very hard for

them to adapt with this situation, and thus their work commitment is less than

educated employees. According to HR manager and Housekeeping manager,

work commitment is related to the upbringing and nature of personnel. These

two managers also stated that, work commitment does not have relationship

with education level of employees, but given that education can affect

individual behavior and social consciousness, so being said that, this factor

has influence on employees‟ work commitment but less than previous factors.

Housekeeping manager said that for instance employees who are inherently

commitment to the work don‟t need to monitor their work .They prefer to

work accurately and correctly, also they do not leave their workplace, as long

as the work is completed.

Moreover, all the participants believed that employee, who has related

education with hoteling, has a higher commitment to his work, because,

scientifically, they know their work and its standard. Therefore, they show

their interest to the work, as well as want to do it well, that all of these lead to

increase their work commitment. ER manager expressed that these personnel

are more interested to their work and they tend to progress every day, because

of this advance, their interest and their commitment will increase. The

following should be noted that, all three managers agreed that job satisfaction

makes an individual more commitment and more responsible to their work

and job. Residential manager said that for instance an employee who is

satisfied with his job may be stay at work till 5 o‟clock (it means 2 hours more

than usual) without any special expecting, just because his job is done right.

Housekeeping manager said that” job satisfaction which is made by encourage

and attention; impact more on commitment and performance”.

52

Finally, employees’ performance was investigated by researchers in this hotel.

Overall, the participants stated that academic education is an important factor

for their employees which improve employees‟ performance. Housekeeping

manager said “This factor has a positive impact on employees‟ behavior,

which improves their social interactions and behavior”. Residential manager

speculated that an educated staff accepts changes easier, could adapt

themselves to new rules and standards sooner and finally we can get a good

output of their performance. HR manager said that they do their job with the

best efficiency, speed and accuracy. He also added that these personnel accept

criticism easier than uneducated staff and they have a better control over the

critical situation. As a result, all of these conditions can lead to improve

employees‟ performance.

In the following, all three participants believed that, someone who is satisfied

with his job and his expectations has been fulfilled in this arena, display the

better behavior and performance. For instance, Residential manager said that

this person works great over 8 hours and he /she does not feel tired and

complain during the work. ER manager also said, in general, if the job is

suitable for someone who is educated, performance and effectiveness of his

work will be high. All three managers also stated that, there is a positive

relation between work commitment and employees‟ performance, it means,

whatever, employees‟ commitment is more; their performance is more

positive and more favorable. Moreover, participants believed that employee,

who has related education with his work has a better performance, because,

scientifically, they know their work and its standard, which causes a higher

performance for them.

Finally, we should mention that all three managers in this hotel believed that

all three factors (employees‟ job satisfaction, work commitment and

employees‟ performance) will follow a better process or a better result, if the

administrators and managers pay more attention to employees and their

performance and also consider an encouragement or incentive for valuable

work that the employees do. For instance, Housekeeping manager said that

employees salary doesn‟t match with their work, because of this, for taking a

better performance, Requires frequent injections motivate the employees, in

order to have more energy to do the work and show better performance. ER

manager also stated that a simple thanks to the work of employee cause to

have a more satisfied and more commitment employee and also we can expect

to have a better performance of that person. Housekeeping manager also

53

mentioned that training within the organization has an impact on individual

behavior and performance of employees. ER manager again stated another

matter that young workers are less experienced but the investment will be

easier on them, so in the future, we can have experienced worker and also he

mentioned that, whatever, these resources are younger but they are more

attractive to the visitors and consequently, our work efficiency will be higher.

Furthermore, all participants discussed that, this hotel has a number of older

experienced employees and also there are a number of young workers with

higher education that they need more experience. These two groups together

will create better results. That‟s why it is much better to have educated and

experienced employees together in this hotel, because experienced employees

will offer or present their experience to educated employees and vise verse,

consequently the output could be remarkable and great.

4-1-2 Hotel Parsian Azadi

Initially, in this hotel a general question was posed, which was about the

importance of human resources. Like Evin hotel, all the participants answered

that human resources are very important factor for their hotel. Residential

manager believed that the hotel staffs are our internal customers and their

satisfaction should primarily be considered. The other one mentioned that

manpower is of utmost importance, because, He /or she is responsible for the

provision of services in the hotel and most in need a guest in a hotel is a good

service , which be fulfilled by staff.

The next issue that we raised was academic education for employees, which

all the managers in this hotel stated that educated employees are more

efficient in a hotel. Housekeeping manager said that, in compare of

uneducated staff; they certainly have more ability to calm a guest when a

problem occurs. Residential manager stated that these personnel have a better

and positive point of views.

54

The other topic was employees’ job satisfaction. Housekeeping and

Residential manager expressed that, job satisfaction is obtained for

uneducated individuals when they are satisfied in terms of financial, but

Residential manager mentioned that now educated generations of this hotel do

not work simply because of financial need. Of course, maybe material needs

are one of their expectations for satisfying with their job, but they believed

that having Social interaction, job prestige and the psychological satisfaction

of employees are the main factors for being satisfied with a job and these

expectations are fulfilled with an academic education for an employee. For

instance, Residential manager said that, although I have 2 children and I am

very busy, by accepting this position at the hotel, in fact, I got for myself

daunting decision and of course with all the exhaustion because I am

psychologically satisfied, the conditions are acceptable to me. She also

mentioned that providing job satisfaction for educated employee is much

harder, due to higher expectations, because they need more attention and also

they need to be seen and heard by their managers. But uneducated employees

come to work because of financial need; they mostly will be satisfied by

financial way. The other point that Residential manager mentioned is that , in

the past the number of educated employees were low that is why, these

personnel could show easily their abilities and improve their job , but now

because most people are well educated ,the job promotion and job satisfaction

are achieved difficulty. Housekeeping manager pointed out that, university

education leads to increase the level of expectation and decrease the level of

satisfaction. An educated employee expect to have a suitable work position

and have a job promotion in a short time, if these items are not fulfilled ,it will

cause to decrease the job satisfaction. These personnel due to the high

expectations, at a time, they feel they have no hope of achieving their desires

and therefore will not be able to continue this hotel. Nevertheless, this

participant's attitude is toward supporting the theory. Food and beverage

manager also stated that “Educated people have higher job satisfaction”, for

instance, we have a number of educated employees in this hotel who are

satisfied with their job because due to their education can provide income for

themselves.

When it came to work commitment, Residential manager and Food and

beverage manager said that educated employees have a more comprehensive

view point and a better understanding of hotel standards and objectives.

Moreover, these personnel in compare of uneducated individuals are more

sympathetic, more sensitive and more commitment. Food and beverage

55

manager noted that, uneducated personnel are oblivious to the goals of the

hotel and also hotel properties and equipment, these persons only want to do

their job and go. Housekeeping manager believed that, work commitment is

not related to the education level of employees and it is absolutely inherent

factor and also is related to the working conscience of an employee.

The following should be noted that, all three managers agreed that job

satisfaction makes an individual more commitment and more responsible to

their work and job. An employee who is satisfied with his job is more loyal

and committed to his work. Residential manager said that if job satisfaction

for employees don‟t provide, work commitment will remain as a slogan. As an

example food and beverage manager stated that, in this section we had a chef

who did not perform their duties properly because he was not satisfied with

his salary, we tried to fix it and finally, employee were satisfied and since

then, his work was done correctly.

The last issue were studied by researchers in this hotel was employees’

performance. In general, all participants believed that academic education is

an important element for their employees which improve employees‟

performance. Residential manager said that educated employees try to have a

better performance till to be considered by their managers that could reach

their job advancement and promotion. Housekeeping manager expressed that

an educated staff indicates a better behavior, have a better control over the

critical situation and have better information in compare of uneducated staff,

for instance, they can easily speak English . All these cases cause to have a

higher performance which its reflection can be seen in guest satisfaction, So

that most of our guests say that this is the best hotel of Iran.



better behavior and performance. Food and beverage manager said that "an

employee who is satisfied with his job has a better behavior and does his duty

much better than dissatisfied employees ". All the managers also stated that,

there is a positive relation between work commitment and employees‟

performance, it means, whatever, employees‟ commitment is more; their

performance is more positive and more favorable.

Moreover, Housekeeping manager and Food & beverage manager believed

that employee, who has related education with his work has a better

performance, because he has better information and knowledge about his work

56

and certainly, this person can make better decisions in critical situations. On

the contrary, Residential manager does not agree that people, who don‟t have

a job-related education, do not perform well in their jobs. He mentioned that

having an interest in the work is the most important factor for obtaining a

good performance in this hotel, because, this employee can easier endure

difficult working conditions and also achieving enough energy by their

interest to work.

Finally, we should mention that all three managers in this hotel believed that

all three factors (employees‟ job satisfaction, work commitment and

employees‟ performance) will follow a better process or a better result, if the


performance and also encouragement or incentive for valuable work that the

employees do. For instance, housekeeping manager said that “Sometimes with

a little attention, sympathy or encouragement, we can see more energy in the

personnel. Therefore, these factors lead to satisfaction and impact on

employee‟s performance”.

57

4-2 Data analysis

4-2-1 Within-case analysis: Evin Hotel

In this part, for analyzing data, the empirical data for Evin hotel is compared

to the conceptual framework and in within-case analysis the main reason is to

compare the data which is collected from a single case with the theory has

been introduced in the frame of reference and, consequently, to recognize

similarities and differences.

Table 4-1: Data Display for Evin Hotel

Codes: + Data supports theory

/ Data supports theory partially

- Data does not support theory

Theory

Residential

manager

Human resource

manager

Housekeeping

manager

Job satisfaction / / /

Work commitment + /+ /+

Employee’s

performance

+ + +

58

The empirical data which collected from the interview supports theory

partially when it comes to job satisfaction. Whereas, Mollik, A., Talukder, M.,

& Quazi, A (2011) anticipated that an employee with a higher level of

education to be more satisfied and to be better in the job performance than

someone with a lower level of education. Moreover, Leslie et al. (1998, as

cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar &Ong Gua Pak, 2009) stated that

organizations which learning, training and development are seen as a priority

for their employees, they will be faced with higher profitability and greater

job satisfaction for staff . All the managers pointed out that job satisfaction for

educated employees in their hotel may not be at a high level, because their

expectation are more than their perception, especially about salary and job

promotion. One of the interviewee stated that “Educated people cannot meet

their expectations in terms of revenue”. The other managers also mentioned

that, salaries is not too high at this hotel and also there is not a big difference

between educated employees‟ salaries in different educational levels, and it is

only added if there is a job promotion for an employee. Furthermore the data

showed that educated employees expect to have a job promotion in a short

time and when it did not occur to them, they become discouraged. The results

showed that, this concept is not fully supported by the empirical data.

All three participants also believed that employees, who have related

education with hoteling, can be more satisfied with their job, because in this

area, their expectation is closer to their perception, and also they can quickly

adapt to their environment and can be easily trained and work, thus,

satisfaction gains faster, but for others, adjusting to new situations takes time

and this lowers a person's confidence.

When it came to work commitment, Consistent with the researches outcomes

which have been done by Gupta, & Tyagi, (2009), Trombetta & Rogers 1988),

and Afje (1997), revealed that the educational factor is the first element that

affects the students work commitment and also Blau (1998) stated that

academic education impact work commitment , as well as kuvaas (2003,as

cited in Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. ,2012) that plans to continue

training and education, Having the desire to improve, cause to have higher the

level of work commitment and also Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. (2012)

said that the results of his survey revealed that education factors affect the

students‟ work commitment.

59

Theory is supported by all three participants, but one of them supported the

theory completely and the empirical data which is collected from the others

support the theory to some extent or less than the first interviewee. One of the

participant said that "an employee who has academic education knows work

standards and tries to adapt with them and also tries to implement them " . In

contrast an uneducated employees who does not know the standard of the

work, try to justify their own analysis and act according to their own

perceptions, it is very hard for them to adapt with this situation, and thus their

work commitment is less than educated employees. According to two other

managers, work commitment is related to the upbringing and nature of

personnel. These two managers also stated that, work commitment does not

have relationship with education level of employees, but given that education

can affect individual behavior and social consciousness, so being said that,

this factor has influence on employees‟ work commitment but less than

previous factors.

Moreover, all the participants believed that employee, who has related

education with hoteling, has a higher commitment to his work, because,

scientifically, they know their work and its standard. Therefore, they show

their interest to the work, as well as want to do it well, that all of these lead to

increase their work commitment. One of the managers expressed that these

personnel are more interested to their work and they tend to progress every

day, because of this advance, their interest and their commitment will

increase. The following should be noted that, all three managers agreed that

job satisfaction makes an individual more commitment and more responsible

to their work and job, as, the relation between organizational commitment and

job satisfaction has also been considered in several prior studies and the

outcome of their research revealed that an important correlation between the

two variables (Bhuian and Abul-Muhmin, 1997; Yousef, 2002; Yavas; Badur,


Furthermore, Champathes (2006) express that there is a direct correlation






2011) ,And also, Watkins and Marsick (2003) stated that, any organization

that staff training and development is a priority, the personnel of such


60


Che Rose, Naresh Kumar& Ong Gua Pak, 2009). For instance, one of the

participants said that an employee who is satisfied with his job may be stay at

work till 5 o‟clock (it means 2 hours more than usual) without any special

expecting, just because his job is done right. Housekeeping manager said that”

job satisfaction which is made by encourage and attention; impact more on

commitment and performance”.

The empirical data supports theory when it comes to employees’ performance.

İsmail Bakan (2000) said that the importance of employee‟s education is

considered as competitive advantage for both employees and organization

which causes to effectiveness on employees‟ and organizations‟ performance

and also Gede, Ngozi Tari1, Lawanson& Olukemi Anike (2011) stated about

the finding of their research in Bayelsa State Ministry of Education that

educational level has influence on the performance of employees,

as well as , Thomas W. H. Ng& Daniel C. Feldman (2009) concluded that

Education can advance core job performance by equipping persons with more

knowledge and consequently with this new capability their task can be

fulfilled successfully.

Overall, the participants stated that academic education is an important factor

for their employees which improve employees‟ performance. One manager

said “This factor has a positive impact on employees‟ behavior, which

improves their social interactions and behavior”. The other one speculated that

an educated staff accepts changes easier, could adapt themselves to new rules

and standards sooner and finally we can get a good output of their

performance. Another participant said that they do their job with the best

efficiency, speed and accuracy. He also added that these personnel accept

criticism easier than uneducated staff and they have a better control over the

critical situation. As a result, all of these conditions can lead to improve

employees‟ performance.



better behavior and performance. There are some studies which support the

correlation between job satisfaction and job performance (Judge et al., 2001;

Politis, 2005; Suliman and Iles, 2000; Wilson and Frimpong, 2004; Yousef,

1999). These studies revealed that employees who are satisfied with their job

are more probable to be useful in their job (McNeese-Smith, 1997) and also

deliver a good quality service (Crossman and Abou-Zaki, 2003) and

61

consequently will influence on employees‟ performance. (Raduan Che Rose,

Naresh Kumar &Ong Gua Pak, 2009).This positive relationship indicates that

more faithfulness for employees cause to attempt more at their work and


1999). Then, Samad (2005, as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009) and also

Carmeli and Freund (2004, as cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar&

Ong Gua Pak, 2009) found that there is a relationship between organizational



satisfaction, So committed employees perform better at job if they are

satisfied with their job. For instance, one of them said that this person works

great over 8 hours and he /she does not feel tired and complain during the

work. The other one also said, in general, if the job is suitable for someone

who is educated, performance and effectiveness of his work will be high. All

three managers also stated that, there is a positive relation between work

commitment and employees‟ performance, it means, whatever, employees‟

commitment is more; their performance is more positive and more favorable.

Moreover, participants believed that employee, who has related education

with his work has a better performance, because, scientifically, they know

their work and its standard, which causes a higher performance for them.

62

4-2-2 Within-case analysis: Azadi Hotel

In this part, for analyzing data, the empirical data for Evin hotel is compared

to the conceptual framework.

Table 4-2: Data Display for Azadi Hotel

Codes: + Data supports theory

/ Data supports theory partially

- Data does not support theory

Theory

Residential

manager

Food and beverage

manager

Housekeeping

manager

Job satisfaction +/ + _

Work commitment + + _

Employee’s

performance

+ + +

63

The empirical data supports the theory about job satisfaction to some extent.

Whereas, Mollik, A., Talukder, M., & Quazi, A (2011) anticipated that an

employee with a higher level of education to be more satisfied and to be better

in the job performance than someone with a lower level of education.

Moreover, Leslie et al. (1998, as cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar

&Ong Gua Pak, 2009) stated that organizations which learning, training and

development are seen as a priority for their employees, they will be faced with

higher profitability and greater job satisfaction for staff .

Two out of three interviewees supported the theory and one of them didn‟t

support it.

One of the manager mentioned that now educated generations of this hotel do

not work simply because of financial need. Of course, maybe material needs

are one of their expectations for satisfying with their job, but they believed

that having Social interaction, job prestige and the psychological satisfaction

of employees are the main factors for being satisfied with a job and these

expectations are fulfilled with an academic education for an employee. She

also mentioned that providing job satisfaction for educated employee is much


they need to be seen and heard by their managers. But uneducated employees

come to work because of financial need; they mostly will be satisfied by

financial way. The other point that this manager mentioned is that , in the past

the number of educated employees were low that is why, these personnel

could show easily their abilities and improve their job , but now because most

people are well educated ,the job promotion and job satisfaction are achieved

difficulty. Nevertheless, this participant's attitude is toward supporting the

theory. The other participant also stated that “Educated people have higher job

satisfaction”, for instance, we have a number of educated employees in this

hotel who are satisfied with their job because due to their education can

provide income for themselves.

The other manager who has negative comment pointed out that, university






and therefore will not be able to continue this hotel.

64

The empirical data which collected from the interview supports theory

partially when it comes to work commitment. Two of three participants

supported the theory. Consistent with the researches outcomes which have

been done by Gupta, & Tyagi, (2009), Trombetta & Rogers 1988), and Afje

(1997), revealed that the educational factor is the first element that affects the

students work commitment and also Blau (1998) stated that academic

education impact work commitment , as well as kuvaas (2003,as cited in

Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. ,2012) that plans to continue training and

education, Having the desire to improve, cause to have higher the level of

work commitment and also Mohammad Javad Liaghatdar et al. (2012) said

that the results of his survey revealed that education factors affect the

students‟ work commitment.

Two of them believed that educated employees have a more comprehensive

view point and a better understanding of hotel standards and objectives.

Moreover, these personnel in compare of uneducated individuals are more

sympathetic, more sensitive and more commitment. One of these two

participant who supported the theory noted that, uneducated personnel are

oblivious to the goals of the hotel and also hotel properties and equipment,

these persons only want to do their job and go. Another participant believed

that, work commitment is not related to the education level of employees and

it is absolutely inherent factor and also is related to the working conscience of

an employee.

The following should be noted that, all three managers agreed that job

satisfaction makes an individual more commitment and more responsible to

their work and job, as, the relation between organizational commitment and

job satisfaction has also been considered in several prior studies and the

outcome of their research revealed that an important correlation between the

two variables (Bhuian and Abul-Muhmin, 1997; Yousef, 2002; Yavas; Badur,


Furthermore, Champathes (2006) express that there is a direct correlation






2011) ,And also, Watkins and Marsick (2003) stated that, any organization

that staff training and development is a priority, the personnel of such

65



Che Rose, Naresh Kumar& Ong Gua Pak, 2009). An employee who is

satisfied with his job is more loyal and committed to his work. Residential

manager said that if job satisfaction for employees don‟t provide, work

commitment will remain as a slogan. As an example food and beverage

manager stated that, in this section we had a chef who did not perform their

duties properly because he was not satisfied with his salary, we tried to fix it

and finally, employee were satisfied and since then, his work was done

correctly.

The empirical data supports theory when it comes to employees’ performance.

İsmail Bakan (2000) said that the importance of employee‟s education is

considered as competitive advantage for both employees and organization

which causes to effectiveness on employees‟ and organizations‟ performance

and also Gede, Ngozi Tari1, Lawanson& Olukemi Anike (2011) stated about

the finding of their research in Bayelsa State Ministry of Education that

educational level has influence on the performance of employees,

as well as , Thomas W. H. Ng& Daniel C. Feldman (2009) concluded that

Education can advance core job performance by equipping persons with more

knowledge and consequently with this new capability their task can be

fulfilled successfully.

In general, all participants believed that academic education is an important

element for their employees which improve employees‟ performance. One of

the managers said that educated employees try to have a better performance

till to be considered by their managers that could reach their job advancement

and promotion. One of the participants expressed that an educated staff

indicates a better behavior, have a better control over the critical situation and

have better information in compare of uneducated staff, for instance, they can

easily speak English . All these cases cause to have a higher performance

which its reflection can be seen in guest satisfaction, So that most of our

guests say that this is the best hotel of Iran.



better behavior and performance. There are some studies which support the

correlation between job satisfaction and job performance (Judge et al., 2001;

66

Politis, 2005; Suliman and Iles, 2000; Wilson and Frimpong, 2004; Yousef,

1999). These studies revealed that employees who are satisfied with their job

are more probable to be useful in their job (McNeese-Smith, 1997) and also

deliver a good quality service (Crossman and Abou-Zaki, 2003) and

consequently will influence on employees‟ performance. (Raduan Che Rose,

Naresh Kumar &Ong Gua Pak, 2009).This positive relationship indicates that

more faithfulness for employees cause to attempt more at their work and


1999). Then, Samad (2005, as cited in Hanan Al-Ahmadi, 2009) and also

Carmeli and Freund (2004, as cited in Raduan Che Rose, Naresh Kumar&

Ong Gua Pak, 2009) found that there is a relationship between organizational



satisfaction, So committed employees perform better at job if they are

satisfied with their job. One of the manager said that "an employee who is

satisfied with his job has a better behavior and does his duty much better than

dissatisfy employees ". All the managers also stated that, there is a positive



positive and more favorable.

Moreover, two of managers believed that employee, who has related

education with his work has a better performance, because he has better

information and knowledge about his work and certainly, this person can

make better decisions in critical situations. On the contrary, the other manager

does not agree that people, who don‟t have a job-related education, do not

perform well in their jobs. He mentioned that having an interest in the work is

the most important factor for obtaining a good performance in this hotel,

because, this employee can easier endure difficult working conditions and also

achieving enough energy by their interest to work.

67

4-2-3 Cross-Case Analysis

In this chapter, two cases which one of them is four star hotel and the other

one is five star hotel are compared to each other for recognizing the

similarities and differences.

Table 4-3: Comparison of Azadi Hotel & Evin Hotel

All the managers in Evin hotel ,when it comes to job satisfaction believed that

job satisfaction for educated employees in their hotel may not be at a high

level and supports theory partially, because they believed that the expectation

of these personnel are more than their perception, especially about salary and

job promotion. One of the interviewee stated that “Educated people cannot

meet their expectations in terms of revenue”. Furthermore the data showed

that educated employees expect to have a job promotion in a short time and

when it did not occur to them, they become discouraged.

Theory

Evin Hotel Azadi Hotel

Job satisfaction / /+

Work commitment /+ /+

Employee’s

performance

+ +

68

But although in Azadi hotel, one of the managers has negative point to this

matter but the other two have a more positive view to this issue. One of the

manager mentioned that now educated generations of this hotel do not work

simply because of financial need. Of course, maybe material needs are one of

their expectations for satisfying with their job, but they believed that having

Social interaction, job prestige and the psychological satisfaction of

employees are the main factors for being satisfied with a job and these

expectations are fulfilled with an academic education for an employee. She

also mentioned that providing job satisfaction for educated employee is much


they need to be seen and heard by their managers. The other point that this

manager mentioned is that , in the past the number of educated employees

were low that is why, these personnel could show easily their abilities and

improve their job , but now because most people are well educated ,the job

promotion and job satisfaction are achieved difficulty. The other participant

also stated that “Educated people have higher job satisfaction”, for instance,

we have a number of educated employees in this hotel who are satisfied with

their job because due to their education can provide income for themselves.

The other manager who has negative comment pointed out that, university






and therefore will not be able to continue this hotel.

When it came to work commitment in Evin hotel, Theory is supported by all

three participants, but one of them supported the theory completely and the

empirical data which is collected from the others support the theory to some

extent or less than the first interviewee. One of the participant said that "an


adapt with them and also tries to implement them " .According to two other

managers, work commitment is related to the upbringing and nature of

personnel. These two managers also stated that, work commitment does not

have relationship with education level of employees, but given that education

can affect individual behavior and social consciousness, so being said that,

this factor has influence on employees‟ work commitment but less than

previous factors.

69

In Azadi Hotel, Two of manager believed that educated employees have a

more comprehensive view point and a better understanding of hotel standards

and objectives. Moreover, these personnel in compare of uneducated

individuals are more sympathetic, more sensitive and more commitment. One

of these two participant who supported the theory noted that, uneducated

personnel are oblivious to the goals of the hotel and also hotel properties and

equipment, these persons only want to do their job and go. Another participant

believed that, work commitment is not related to the education level of

employees and it is absolutely inherent factor and also is related to the

working conscience of an employee.

Finally, when it comes to employees’ performance, all the participants in both

hotels stated that academic education is an important factor for their

employees which improve employees‟ performance.

In Evin hotel one manager said “This factor has a positive impact on

employees‟ behavior, which improves their social interactions and behavior”.

The other one speculated that an educated staff accepts changes easier, could

adapt themselves to new rules and standards sooner and finally we can get a

good output of their performance. Another participant said that they do their

job with the best efficiency, speed and accuracy. He also added that these

personnel accept criticism easier than uneducated staff and they have a better

control over the critical situation.

And in Azadi hotel, one manager said that educated employees try to have a

better performance till to be considered by their managers that could reach

their job advancement and promotion. One of the participants expressed that

an educated staff indicates a better behavior, have a better control over the

critical situation and have better information in compare of uneducated staff.

In both hotels, managers stated that someone who is satisfied with his job and

his expectations has been fulfilled in this arena, display the better behavior

and performance and also all participants believed that, there is a positive




Moreover, in Evin hotel participants believed that employee, who has related

education with his work has a better performance, but in Azadi hotel two of

managers believed that employee, who has related education with his work

70

has a better performance. On the contrary, the other manager does not agree

that people, who don‟t have a job-related education, do not perform well in

their jobs. He mentioned that having an interest in the work is the most

important factor for obtaining a good performance in this hotel, because, this

employee can easier endure difficult working conditions and also achieving

enough energy by their interest to work.

4-2-4 RQ1: What is the relation between academic education

and employees’ performance?

According to the surveys conducted and data analysis, there is a positive

relationship between academic education and employees‟ performance in both

hotels, which means an educated employee, has a better performance in

compare of an uneducated one. In this regard, it was said that this element has

a positive impact on employees‟ behavior and also causes to have high

efficiency in employees' performance. The findings of the study for both

hotels were the same about this relation and also their answers were match

with the theory in frame of reference.

4-2-5 RQ2: How is the relation between academic education

and employees’ job satisfaction and their performance?

For answering to this question ,which is the relation between academic

education and employees‟ job satisfaction, there is no straight answer for it,

because of different answers and ideas about this relation .we should discuss

about it. Most of the participants in both hotels believed that job satisfaction

for educated employees in their hotel may not be at a high level, because they

believed that the expectation of these personnel are more than their

perception, especially about salary and job promotion. They stated that

educated people cannot meet their expectations in terms of revenue in these

71

hotels and furthermore these employees expect to have a job promotion in a

short time and when it did not occur to them, they become discouraged.

But also, these participants mentioned that in a short period of time may

provide employee‟s satisfaction in this environment, but not in a long time.

On the other hand, though some of interviewee mentioned that providing job

satisfaction for educated employee is much harder, due to higher expectations,

but they believed that having Social interaction, job prestige and the

psychological satisfaction of employees are the main factors for being

satisfied with a job and these expectations are fulfilled with an academic

education for an employee and also one of them said that there are a number

of educated employees in this hotel who are satisfied with their job because

due to their education can provide income for themselves. As it can be seen,

there is no straight answer and the theory is not fully supported by the

empirical data.

Then, when it comes to the relation between employees‟ job satisfaction and

their performance all the managers in both hotels stated that someone who is

satisfied with his job and his expectations has been fulfilled in this arena,

display the better behavior and performance or an employee who is satisfied

with his job has a better behavior and does his duty much better than dissatisfy

employees.

4-2-6 RQ3: How is the relation between academic education

and employees’ work commitment and their performance?

Just like previous question, there is no straight answer for this inquiry too, but

about this matter most of the participants in both hotels believed that


adapt with them and also tries to implement them and also they have a more

comprehensive view point and a better understanding of hotel standards and

objectives. In contrast an uneducated employees who does not know the

standard of the work, try to justify their own analysis and act according to

their own perceptions, it is very hard for them to adapt with this situation, and

thus their work commitment is less than educated employees and also these

72


equipment, these persons only want to do their job and go. On the other hand,

some of participants believed that work commitment is related to the

upbringing, nature and working conscience of personnel and it is not related to

education level of employees, but given that education can affect individual

behavior and social consciousness, so being said that, this factor has influence

on employees‟ work commitment but less than previous factors. As it can be

seen, there is no straight answer for this question but most of the empirical

data are toward supporting the theory.

In the following, when it comes to the relation between work commitment and

employees‟ performance, all the participants believed that, there is a positive




73

Chapter 5 (Findings and Conclusions)

In this chapter three research questions will be answered in order to fulfill the

research goal. Here also the findings and conclusions from this study are

presented then implications for managers, implications for further research

and Limitation of the study are discussed.

5-1 RQ1: What is the relation between academic education and

employees’ performance?

As it mentioned in previous chapter, our survey and data analysis showed that

there is a positive relationship between academic education and employees‟

performance in both hotels, which means educated employees have higher

performance. in this study participants also stated that this factor has a

positive impact on employees‟ behavior, which improves their social

interactions and behavior and also an educated staff accepts changes easier,

could adapt themselves to new rules and standards sooner, do their job with

the best efficiency, speed and accuracy and finally we can get a good output of

their performance. Furthermore, these personnel accept criticism easier than

uneducated staff and they have a better control over the critical situation.

Now, after considering these issues, it can be considered by managers that it is

better to hire a person for their hotels who has academic education, because

this employee due to their better performance, will deliver a higher service to

their guests and consequently the efficiency and performance of hotel will be

enhanced.

74

Our study showed that, there is a significant relation between

academic education and employees‟ performance in both hotels.

It is better to hire educated employee for achieving a higher

employee‟s performance.

Our study also found that an employee who has related education with

his work has a better performance, because, scientifically, they know

their work and its standard, which causes a higher performance for

them.


employees’ job satisfaction and their performance?

Most of the participants in both hotels believed that job satisfaction for

educated employees in their hotel may not be at a high level, because they

believed that the expectation of these personnel are more than their

perception, especially about salary and job promotion. They stated that

educated people cannot meet their expectations in terms of revenue in these

hotels and furthermore these employees expect to have a job promotion in a

short time and when it did not occur to them, they become discouraged.

But also, these participants mentioned that in a short period of time may

provide employee‟s satisfaction in this environment, but not in a long time.

On the other hand, though some of interviewee mentioned that providing job

satisfaction for educated employee is much harder, due to higher expectations,

but they believed that having Social interaction, job prestige and the

psychological satisfaction of employees are the main factors for being

satisfied with a job and these expectations are fulfilled with an academic

education for an employee. As it can be seen, there is no straight answer and

the theory is not fully supported by the empirical data.

Now here we can discuss about this conflict to be clearer. The conflict which

created between the relationship of academic education and job satisfaction.

Of course some researchers like Liu and White. (2011, as cited in Mollik, A.,

Talukder, M., & Quazi, A, 2011) did not find any significant relationship

between education and job satisfaction of pharmaceutical staffs. But here as

we mentioned above some of participants said that these two factors has

75

positive relation, but most of the participants in both hotels believed that job

satisfaction for educated employees in their hotel may not be at a high level

because of higher expectation of educated employees which is the main factor

for job dissatisfaction in this research and most of their expectations are about

salary and job promotion which are not in a suitable situation in these hotels.

Of course, the participants mentioned that in a short period of time may

provide employee‟s satisfaction in this environment, but not in a long time. In

the Bonyad hotels, salary basis is based on social tariffs, which is very low

and on the other hand, due to the low number of hotels in Tehran and also in

Iran, it is difficult for employees to have a job promotion in a short time,

because may be at that time there was no vacant place for them and of course

these persons due to the low number of hotels are forced to stay in previous

position ,may be for a long time and also due to the lack of job opportunities

in the other place , they have to stay there ,but in this condition they are not

satisfy with their job.

The other issue that participants mentioned is that generally, job satisfaction

for individuals who are educated or uneducated will increase, if the


performance and also encouragement or incentive for valuable work that the

employees do. Then, when it comes to the relation between employees‟ job

satisfaction and their performance all the managers in both hotels stated that

someone who is satisfied with his job and his expectations has been fulfilled

in this arena, display the better behavior and performance or an employee who

is satisfied with his job has a better behavior and does his duty much better

than dissatisfy employees.

The expectations of educated staff are more than their perception in

these hotels especially about salary and job promotion and providing

job satisfaction for these persons are much harder than uneducated

one.

Job satisfaction for some individuals is achieved by Social interaction,

job prestige and the psychological satisfaction, not by material needs.

An employee who is satisfied with his job has a better behavior and

does his duty much better than dissatisfy employees.

76


employees’ work commitment and their performance?

As we mentioned in former chapter, there is no straight answer for this inquiry

too, but about this matter most of the participants in both hotels believed that


adapt with them and also tries to implement them, also they have a more

comprehensive view point and a better understanding of hotel standards and

objectives. In contrast an uneducated employees who does not know the

standard of the work, try to justify their own analysis and act according to

their own perceptions, it is very hard for them to adapt with this situation, and

thus their work commitment is less than educated employees and also these


equipment, these persons only want to do their job and go. On the other hand,

some of participants believed that work commitment is related to the

upbringing, nature and working conscience of personnel and it is not related to

education level of employees, but given that education can affect individual

behavior and social consciousness, so being said that, this factor has influence

on employees‟ work commitment but less than previous factors. As it can be

seen, there is no straight answer for this question but most of the empirical

data are toward supporting the theory.

Now here we can talk a little bit about those who did not believe to this

relation and they stated that work commitment goes back to nature and

upbringing of a person. Only we can add that, somehow this entry may also be

true, because many times, you may have seen educated staffs that are not so

committed to their work and vice versa uneducated staff who are so

committed to their work.

In the following, when it comes to the relation between work commitment and

employees‟ performance, all the participants believed that, there is a positive




77

Most of the participants in both hotels believed that employee who has

academic education knows work standards and tries to adapt with them

and also tries to implement them.

Some of participants believed that work commitment is related to the

upbringing, nature and working conscience of personnel and it is not

related to education level of employees, but given that education can

affect individual behavior and social consciousness, so being said that,

this factor has influence on employees‟ work commitment but less

than previous factors.

There is a positive relation between work commitment and employees‟

performance.

5.4 Implications for Managers

According to the data collection and findings of this research, there are some

implications for manager which management should consider.

To recruit educated employee to have a better performance for

employee and consequently for hotel.

To recruit employee with Job-related education to have a better

efficiency.

Because the educated employees cannot meet their expectations in

terms of revenue and also they simply do not get job promotion,

the administrators and managers should pay more attention to

employees and their performance and also consider an

encouragement or incentive for valuable work that the employees

do, until to have a more satisfied and more commitment employee

and also we can expect to have a better performance of that person.

They should also consider training within the organization which

has a positive impact on individual behavior and performance of

employees.

78

It is much better to have educated and experienced employees

together in the hotel, because experienced employees will offer or

present their experience to educated employees and vise verse,

consequently the output could be remarkable and great.

5.5 Implications for further research

The following topics could be focused on for further researches:

Only two hotels are discussed in this research, in order to achieve

better result and increase the validity of the research, it is better to

survey more hotels.

The respondents are limited to these hotels and also only 3

managers were interviewed in each hotel, for having a suitable

outcome, it is needed to have more respondents for the interview.

The managers of these hotels mentioned about some topics which

in this study do not refer to them but in our opinion it is better to be

added to our conceptual model for getting a better outcome. These

concepts are incentive, experience and training within the

organization.

To consider these item and survey the relation between them and

job satisfaction and consequently with employees‟ performance.

79

5.6 Limitation of the study

The respondents in this research are limited to two hotels which is

located in the city of Tehran.

This research only focuses on two hotels which are Evin and Azadi

Parsian hotels of Tehran. Meanwhile, due to the level of service

quality and current situation in Iranian hotel industry, we have to

choose 4 or 5 star hotels in Tehran but unfortunately because of

disaffiliate the other hotels, our study only was conducted on these

two Tehran parsian hotels.

Based on this article, the previous researches about this relation

between education and employees‟ performance were done but it

was so limited, when it came to the field of hospitality and hotel

industry; therefore researchers had difficulty about secondary data.

80

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Appendix 1

Interview Guide

Background information

- Name and title of respondent?

- What is name of the hotel?

- How long have you been in this hotel?

Open ended questions

1- What is your idea about the importance of human resources in your hotel?

2-What is your idea about the relation between academic education and job

satisfaction?

3-What is your idea about the relation between academic education and work

commitment?

3-a What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

having strong trust in hotel's aim and standard?

3-b What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

having strong desire to do great effort for the hotel?

3-c What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

having strong desire to be a member of the hotel?

4-What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

employees' performance?

4-a What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

behavior?

4-b What is your idea about the relation between academic education and

Results?

5- What is your idea about the relation between job satisfaction and job

performance?

6- What is your idea about the relation between work commitment and job

performance?

7- What do you think of the relation between job satisfaction and work

commitment?

Documents

MASTER'S THESIS - DiVA portal1016910/FULLTEXT02.pdfimportant for the hotel industry success. (Nina Pološki Vokic, 2008). Firstly, Human resources are a significant component in service