Hospitality Students Perceptions of Sustainability- myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theHospitality Students Perceptions of Sustainability. Answer: Introduction Hospitality industry is one of the largest industries in the world with a global contribution of $7.6 trillion (US) in 2016 having immense effect on social wellbeing being a key contributor to revenue and job generator (Statista, 2016). However owing to its nature, it proves to put a lot of pressure on the ecology. Sustainability is the idea which emphasizes that human activity ought to be mindful of its actions to ensure conservation of the ecological balance and natural resources. Deloitte underlined the importance of sustainability as, Rising populations and increasingly scarce resources will provide a challenging business environment in which sustainability will need to be embedded within all facets of the industry, rather than regarded as a standalone issue.(Deloitte, 2014, p. 41) This research aims to investigate the perception of students of hospitality and tourism, who constitute the future workers of the industry and in that context, the presence of potential gender based differences. The insight gained is expected to aid educators regarding how they should approach sustainability education to instil the concepts to the future generation, ensuring that the industry could be better equipped in operating by keeping in mind the idea of sustainability. Literature Review Eagle et al. (2015) reported on a longitudinal study targeting undergraduate business students understanding of sustainability in business and highlighted a tendency of subjects to remain oblivious to their own capacity for exacting change and potential impact they could have in tackling environmental and sustainability challenges and thus being unwilling to change lifestyles. Reid, Petocz Taylor (2009) addressed a very specific challenge that exists with regard to implementing a curriculum which tackles sustainability issues in business education courses. They revealed that while some students of business do have considerable depth of understanding regarding sustainability and its need, many were naive and unaware of the full extent of its implications. Some had a limited understanding of sustainability as merely the act of ensuring continuity. Although, they did find evidence of students who viewed sustainability practices as a moral responsibility towards coming generations. Focu sing on existing scope of sustainability education, Wiek et al. (2013), appraised the opportunities in international education on sustainability concluding that only one out of seventeen institutions fulfil them. They went on to present the challenges presented by The Global Classroom Experiment, a composite experimental curriculum designed to fulfil those criteria. The study revealed that challenges exist in levels of administration and faculty who need to develop skills to help guide students who need to be flexible enough in worldview to contribute as well to a successful program. Kagawa (2007), conducted a study investigating perceptions of university students on sustainable development in light of their life styles, examining the effect of gender and their courses being related to the environment. The study adopted a statistical approach to investigate the matter, concluding that gender difference in perception was statistically significant although the difference become insign ificant when grouping based on courses. The subject under study in this paper is the existing gap in knowledge of college students enrolled in hospitality and related courses to be specific, putting emphasis on tentative gender differences by studying how they understand sustainability and therefore how academics could approach sustainability education for these people to ensure a standard of education which integrates sustainability education with the coursework. Unlike Kagawa(2007), the paper uses a qualitative research design to approach the issue. Research Questions The objectives of the research deals with answering the following: How do these future workers view sustainability in context of the hospitality industry? Are there any difference in the perception about sustainability between the male and female subjects? Research Methods The research is based upon a qualitative approach. The data consist of answers to a set of ten open-ended questions by twelve subjects six of them male and rets female, who are pursuing college courses which are relevant to the hospitality and tourism business industry. The specific methodology used here follows the guidelines of grounded theory. The data corpus has been divided into two sets, one for male interviewees and the other for females. The questions addressed their views about sustainability, its role in the hospitality industry and their home country. Core theoretical concepts relevant to the research questions are thus developed based on the responses. Tentative links between those concepts are developed, followed by verification through re-analysis of the data in context of those concepts and links (Graue, 2015). This is achieved through coding strategy which included open coding, axial coding and selective coding (Birks Mills, 2015). Open Coding is the practice of identifying, categorizing and cataloguing concepts within the textual data which could lead to relevant theories within the context of the relevant topic under study (Glaser, 2016). Repetitive or synonymous words which could lead up to common themes are noted and documented. The identified distinct themes are then used for further investigation (Urquhart, 2016). Axial Coding is the practice of relating the identified categories or themes to one another with the aim of determining any tentative association or causal relationship from a generalized point of view (Zhang Wildemuth, 2016). Selective Coding is concerned with taking into consideration the identified relationships in the axial coding step and then trying to determine the core or principal category supporting some theory which addressed the research question (Smith, 2015). Findings and key themes The primary idea of sustainability was found to be attributed by the males using concepts such as continuation, recycling, maintain and environment. For example, participant #2, is quoted to be referring to sustainability as I think it means something that can be continued (International, 19, #2). Similarly, participant #7 said, Something that is permanent or that can be recycled (International, 22, # 7). Notice that such explanations are quite short and vague. It was observed that they lacked cohesiveness in their concepts about what kind of role and how sustainability could play in their industry. The following quotes depict the contrasting ideas that the males hold. Anything to maintain a sustainable profit. (International, 19, #2). Compared to his answer for what he understands as sustainability is, the participant is seemingly thinking around the lines of business and overlooking the environmental context of sustainability. Comparatively, participant #7, seems to at least have a more concrete idea of what sustainability is as viable sustainability practices as apparent from his answer, In industry, Solar-energy can be used as a major source of energy. Solar energy is sustainable energy. (International, 22, # 7). Participant 10 was found to identify the concept with maintaining business rather than ensuring environmental sustainability through business practices. Relating to sustainability and initiatives, he said, The ability to maintain certain levels for a long time. I think mainly it would be to build and maintain customer loyalty. (International, 25, # 10). Although participant #16 admitted to not having a very good idea about sustainability, he revealed to identify sustainability practices in the industry with green energy. The relevance of such practices according to him is stated as, otherwise greenhouse effect and global warming will get worse. (International, 24, #16). Therefore the focus although is correct from moral perspective, it is suggested that he might lack, the insight regarding the business aspect of sustainability practices in the industry. Participant #18 displayed detailed knowledge about sustainability concerns and also pointed out water and energy conservations as options of sustainability practice, however he again failed to aptly explain why he felt that sustainability is important to his industry save for being a socio-ecological ideal, saying just, Yes it is very important. The females responses were found to be more descriptive. The primary idea of sustainability was found to be attributed using concepts such as environment, long-term, protection, business and customer. Notable among the answers is the following quote, Yes. As people become more and more environmentally conscious, future businesses should consider it. Otherwise, people will remember it as a bad business and gradually stop using it. (International, 20, #22) Participant #22 therefore could successfully identify the appeal of sustainability practices to customers and given rising global awareness and concern, its value as a marketing strategy. Her summarization of sustainability, emphasizes it in light of how essential it is to balance ecological concerns with business operations and thus how environmental sustainability relates to economic sustainability of the firm as well. possibility to last and maintain without environmental damage. Sustainability must be considered for a firm to radian in existence for long. Changes in people's perceptions make it clear. (International, 20, #22) Participant #11 displays similar understanding, saying, If a business is doing something sustainably, it can get more good cmpetitive advantage than other business. (International, 23, #11) Participant #14, sums up sustainability as, coordinated development f economic, social, respurces and environmental protection (International, 24, #14). However when asked upon the specifics of sustainability practices that could be employed in the industry the female participants , the responses seemed to invoke answers which did not seem to be aligned with the ideas of sustainability they displayed to possess in their answers to related questions. Contrary to that, the female participants, were found to be unable to identify sustainability practices and associated sustainability initiatives in the hotel industry with meeting customer needs, diversifying, etc. Participant #14, answered, To improve the experience of customers, for example, in the food and beverage department, we can try the innovation of dishes, varieties and prices, which are more affordable. (International, 24, #14). Participant #13 said, regarding initiatives as, Diversify the business to meet customer needs (International, 25, #13). Again, Participant #11, said, it is a process that a hotel business keep doing something. For example, a hotel's remains unique from other hotels. (International, 23, #11) This statement when considered with her answer to sustainability, means that although she views sustainability in context of marketing advantage, she lacks insight regarding the ideals of ecological sustainability. None of the females could identify any of the existing sustainability initiatives in the hospitality, suggesting that even though they have concept of what sustainability entails, but lack insight about the operational aspects within the industry. Both the groups thus seem to be insufficiently educated regarding the matter but their gap in knowledge is focussed in differing areas. It is apparent that the male participants are more sensitive towards environmental sustainability and its implementation rather than the economic and social aspect of it. They also seem to have more coherent idea about sustainable practices. In contrast to the male counterparts, the female respondents seem to be more sensitive towards economic sustainability (Alhaddi, 2015). They seem to be more aware of how unsustainable practices could adversely affect business in the long run and the marketing benefits of sustainable practices. However they seem to lack awareness about practices which support sustainability. Conclusions The males were more likely to view sustainability as environmental and ecological imperative whereas the females emphasised that sustainability is a business imperative for the long run. The males seem to focus more towards sustainability initiatives which could be and ought to be employed such as recycling, water and food conservation, use of green energy. The females on the other hand, expressed a more theoretical understanding of the rationale behind sustainability than actual practical sustainability initiatives that are undertaken by governments and hotels. References Alhaddi, H. (2015). Triple bottom line and sustainability: a literature review.Business and Management Studies,1(2), 6-10. Birks, M., Mills, J. (2015).Grounded theory: A practical guide. Sage. Deloitte. (2014).Hospitality 2015: game changers or spectators(p. 41). Deloitte LPP. Eagle, L., Low, D., Case, P., Vandommele, L. (2015). Attitudes of undergraduate business students toward sustainability issues.International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,16(5), 650-668. Glaser, B. G. (2016). Open coding descriptions.Grounded Theory Review,15(2), 108-110. Graue, C. (2015). Qualitative data analysis.International Journal of Sales, Retailing Marketing,4(9), 5-14. Kagawa, F. (2007). 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