Research studies reveal that there is increasing competition in the hospitality industry. This implies that various players within the industry must retain existing customers and attract new customers in order to remain competitive. This involves offering quality services that meet the increasingly sophisticated customer demands. Tourists are demanding new and unique experiences. In order to address these new challenges, organizations are increasingly placing a lot of emphasis on teamwork. Therefore, an increasing number of organizations within the hospitality industry are establishing organizational teams. From this trend, I can deduce that knowledge sharing and team culture have an important influence on service innovation performance in the hospitality industry.
Organizational Teams
Members of organizational teams are increasingly sharing ideas and experiences among themselves. This has led to the development of new and creative products that enhance customer satisfaction. Therefore, there is consensus that knowledge is a key factor in the success of any business organization. Recent research studies have established that knowledge management and knowledge sharing are important ingredients of organizational success. Numerous research studies recognize the importance of knowledge management and knowledge sharing in supporting innovation within organizations (Hallin & Marnburg, 2008).).
Knowledge Management and Sharing
Knowledge management is a social process that encompasses various social and cultural factors. The ability of any organization to gain a competitive advantage depends of its ability to integrate employee knowledge, skills, and expertise with daily management practices. This involves the knowledge sharing and the transformation of such knowledge into practice. According to Bouncken (2005), sharing is the most important factor in the implementation of a knowledge management system within an organization. Other factors that also determine an individual’s participation in knowledge sharing include personality and organizational commitment. However, organizations can enhance knowledge sharing by introducing technology, motivating employees, and fostering a collaborative culture (Yang, 2007). Additionally, an organization can also enhance knowledge sharing through leadership and organizational communication. These strategies are effective for organizations operating in the hospitality industry because they enhance service innovation.
Hotels can improve the quality of services by enhancing employee knowledge about customer preference and improving the quality of services. The success of any organization within the hospitality relies on the ability to understand how employees can share knowledge. Therefore, organizations need to educate employees on organizational goals. In this case, the company can inform employees that it aims at offering the best services and the most innovative services in the industry through knowledge sharing. Above all, employees within the hospitality industry must appreciate that joint creative thinking increase customer satisfaction and enhance the quality of services (Karniouchina, Victorino, & Verma, 2006).
Despite the numerous opportunities in knowledge sharing, there are also a number of challenges. The general challenge is that employees may hoard knowledge. For instance, chefs may face a lot of competition and start to develop secret recipes. They may fail to share these recipes during team interactions. The other challenge is partial transfer of knowledge, where employees share a little information rather than all information. Most of the organizations find it quite difficult to eliminate hoarding of knowledge. Therefore, organizations must learn how to inspire employees to share their knowledge. Organizations can enhance sharing among members by creating a positive team culture that supports healthy collaborations.
There are numerous ways that hospitality organizations can implement knowledge sharing among employees and, between employees and customers. For example, a hotel can enhance knowledge sharing by establishing personal and direct communication. Consequently, the hotel creates a reliable method of knowledge transfer (Finnegan & Willcocks, 2006). Knowledge sharing allows customers and employees share important information regarding the quality of services. In the last two decades, there has been a shift from the production of goods towards the production of services. Consequently, the world is a predominantly service economy because service accounts for more than half of employment and output. Therefore, there is high demand for service innovation to the extent that organizations focus on designing new services or modifying existing services.
Team Culture
The success of most of the organizations within the hospitality depends on team work. Team culture refers to the simple rules, norms, roles and expectations that members of a team share and endorse (Chi & Holsapple, 2005). A culture is an abstract mental construct that offers members of an organization a common sense of identity. Hospitality organizations may derive a strong team culture using the overlapping characteristics of team members. Organizations may also derive a team culture by analyzing the patterns of interactions among team members. Therefore, team culture enables members of a group to evaluate themselves as well as establish team interaction. Strategic intent is an important factor than can enhance team work in innovation. It also enhances communication, social interaction, and motivates staff.
A team culture arises from the interactions between various members of the organization. However, the strength of team culture depends on the number of members of an organization share rules, expectations, and roles (Chen, Kirkman, Kanfer, & Allen, 2007). Even though it is not compulsory that members share these rules and norms, members should possess overlapping characteristics. An innovative team has a strong culture because joint member expectations facilitate innovative performance. In this case, the success of new services relies on the quality of an idea.
Managerial Implications
The research on the role of knowledge sharing and team culture on service innovation performance in the hospitality industry reveals the importance of employees. This analysis reveals why employees are the most valuable assets of a business organization. It is very clear that the best way hospitality organizations can achieve a high service innovation is through knowledge sharing. Moreover, a positive team culture implies that an organization has a high service innovation. This is because a team culture that has organizational support, cohesion, and cooperation can stimulate knowledge sharing. Such a culture also motivates and empowers individual members of organizations. Therefore, the organization will succeed in encouraging all team members to offer high quality of services (Cabrera, Collins, & Salgado, 2006). This implies that managers should show concern for both the needs of employees and customers.
The findings of this research can assist managers to understand the importance of soft elements of knowledge sharing and team culture. However, the mixed results of knowledge sharing imply that managers need to understand the relationship between various configurations of team culture and knowledge sharing. The strong effects of team culture and knowledge sharing suggest that managers should improve organization culture and enhance interactions. The fact that service innovation leads to customer satisfaction also suggests that managers need to create strong innovative cultures. Knowledge sharing and team culture enhance organizational performance because they present numerous opportunities for hospitality organizations. Therefore, managers should assign most of the resources in research and development, team work, and organizational learning. This will ensure that organizations understand the customer needs and develop services that meet such needs (Bouncken, 2005).
References
Bouncken, R. B. (2005). Standardization and individualization strategies of hotel brands: matching strategy to quality management instruments and marketing in Germany. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 13(3/4), 29–51.
Cabrera, A., Collins, W. C., & Salgado, J. F. (2006). Determinants of individual engagement in knowledge sharing. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17(2), 245–264.
Chen, G., Kirkman, B. L., Kanfer, R., & Allen, D. (2007). A multilevel study of leadership, empowerment, and performance in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(2), 331– 346.
Chi, L., & Holsapple, C. W. (2005). Understanding computer-mediated inter-organizational collaboration: a model and framework. Journal of Knowledge Management, 9(1), 53–75.
Finnegan, D., & Willcocks, L. (2006). Knowledge sharing issues in the introduction of a new technology. Journal of Enterprise Information Management, 19(6), 200–221.
Hallin, C. A., & Marnburg, E. (2008). Knowledge management in the hospitality industry: a review of empirical research. Tourism Management, 29(2), 366–381.
Karniouchina, E. V., Victorino, L., & Verma, R. (2006). Product and service innovation: ideas for future cross-disciplinary research. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 23, 274–280.
Yang, J. T. (2007). Knowledge sharing: investigating appropriate leadership roles and collaborative culture. Tourism Management, 28(2), 530–543.
