Author: Yan, Zhuming
Title: Perceptions towards housekeeping quality from hotel staff : a case study of China
Advisors: King, Brian (SHTM)
Degree: DHTM
Year: 2020
Subject: Hotel housekeeping -- China
Hotel management -- China
Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations
Department: School of Hotel and Tourism Management
Pages: [12], 194 pages : color illustrations
Language: English
Abstract: Housekeeping quality has a direct bearing on a hotel's reputation and on customer satisfaction. This thesis investigates the factors that influence the housekeeping quality of four- and five-star hotels in mainland China from the perspective of Total Quality Management and the PDCA cycle. The purpose of the study is to reveal the common challenges encountered in housekeeping from the perspective of management, identify the factors that influence housekeeping quality, and come up with recommendations for eliminating the existing problems, thereby providing a reference point for the hotel industry and government policymakers. With Total Quality Management and the PDCA cycle as the framework, this thesis employs qualitative research methods to (1) investigate the problems found in the literature and in practice which influence the housekeeping quality of four- and five-star hotels in mainland China; (2) place the identified problems within the PDCA concept to develop a complete framework for the research of the factors influencing the housekeeping quality of hotels; and (3) provide recommendations for the management of hotel housekeeping. First, this paper reviews the application of Total Quality Management in hotels and the literature on hotel housekeeping, and uses in-depth interviewing to obtain the opinions of hotel housekeeping workers and managers about housekeeping quality. In the study, 47 employees at different levels were interviewed from 13 hotels in Beijing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Xiamen, Chongqing and Guangzhou, with the collected data amounting to approximately 180,000 Chinese characters. A content analysis approach was then applied and NVivo 11.0 was used to summarize and code the interview data. The factors influencing housekeeping quality were explored within the conceptual framework of the PDCA cycle. The study reached the following conclusions: Across the four phases of the PDCA cycle, the Plan phase has five axial codes, the Do phase four, the Check three, and the Act phase four. The coding content appears most frequently in the Act phase and least frequently in the act phase, suggesting that workers and managers are more aware of the problems in these two phases. The major factors influencing housekeeping quality include the practical technical training in the Plan phase, housekeeping interruptions caused by customer services and coordination for workloads in the Do phase, the exemption of qualified housekeepers from room inspections and the supervisory role of supervisors in the Check phase, and the recognition of awards and the offering of material awards in the Act phase. The PDCA phases of hotel housekeeping is a cyclic model permeated with Total Quality Management. The factors that influence the four phases all exert a significant impact on housekeeping quality control. The four phases are not independent of each other; rather, they form a management cycle. Based on the results of qualitative research and from the perspective of hotel management, this thesis proposes management recommendations for hotel managers and workers in terms of the four stages of Plan, Do, Check and Act.
Rights: All rights reserved
Access: restricted access

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://theses.lib.polyu.edu.hk/handle/200/10975