ADOPTING GLOBAL SERVICE TEAM PRACTICES IN UZBEKISTAN’S FIVE-STAR HOTELS: AN EMPIRICAL ASSESSMENT OF OPERATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Keywords:
Service Teams, Five-Star Hotels, Hospitality Management, Global Best Practices, Employee Empowerment, UzbekistanAbstract
The rapid development of Uzbekistan’s tourism and hospitality industry has brought new challenges in ensuring service quality at international standards. This study aims to explore the establishment of service teams in five-star hotels in Uzbekistan by identifying how global best practices in teamwork, communication, and service management can be effectively localized. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with hotel managers and supervisors, along with a review of international hospitality benchmarks, the research investigates the relationship between organizational culture, employee empowerment, and guest satisfaction.
References
Carbone, L. (2004). Clued In: How to Keep Customers Coming Back Again and Again. Prentice Hall.
Douglas, A. (2017). Staging the guest experience: Designing and managing the hospitality encounter. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 29(4), 1234–1252.
Douglas, A. (2019). Experience design in hospitality: Creating meaningful guest journeys. Journal of Service Design, 15(3), 22–35.
Gouthier, M. (2012). Measuring service excellence: A multi-dimensional approach. Service Business, 6(1), 45–63.
Herzberg, F. (1968). One more time: How do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 46(1), 53–62.
Kwortnik, R., & Thompson, G. (2016). Building and sustaining high-performing service teams in hospitality. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 57(2), 165–178.
Okumus, F., Köseoglu, M. A., & Dogru, T. (2020). Organizational learning and teamwork in hospitality: A systematic review. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 87, 102498.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V., & Berry, L. (1991). SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. Journal of Retailing, 64(1), 12–40.
PKF Hospitality Research. (2012). Trends in the Hotel Industry: 2012 Annual Report. Atlanta, GA: PKF Consulting USA.
Rahman, M. K., Lee, J. H., & Hwang, Y. (2022). Empowering service employees: A cross-cultural perspective on motivation and service quality. Tourism Management Perspectives, 44, 101024.
Solomon, M. R. (2016). Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being (12th ed.). Harlow, UK: Pearson Education.
Toister, J. (2017). The Service Culture Handbook: A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting Your Employees Obsessed with Customer Service. Wiley.
Tschohl, J. (2019). Achieving Customer Service Excellence. Best Seller Publishing.
Tuckman, B. (1965). Developmental sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63(6), 384–399.
UNWTO. (2023). World Tourism Barometer: Global Tourism Recovery and Outlook 2023. Madrid: United Nations World Tourism Organization.
UzStat. (2024). Tourism and Services Report of the Republic of Uzbekistan. Tashkent.
Valverde, M., Ryan, G., & Soler, C. (2019). Collectivistic work design and team performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 81, 25–33.
Yin, R. K. (2018). Case Study Research and Applications: Design and Methods (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
