Chapter – 3

Research Methodology
 Research Methodology

CHAPTER- 3

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter gives details about the research design adopted and outlines the
methodologies used to accomplish the research objectives. It gives the research plan,
containing how the research was carried out, the measurement of the variables under
study, analysis tools used for testing the hypothesis, the sampling technique, data
collection plans and the justification for the same.

3.1 THE RESEARCH PLAN:

The research was planned so as to accomplish the research objectives in two phases.
The first phase developed the research idea into a research concept and involved
extensive literature review of published research papers and thesis, exhaustive
personal interviews with Hospitality Industry experts, as in General Managers, HR
Managers and Executive Housekeepers, as well as housekeeping employees, which
finally translated into testable propositions and development of a conceptual
framework of suggestions.

The second phase was about identification of the measurement tools used to measure
the variables, Analysis of data collected from various sources, to achieve the
objectives of the study and report the outcome.

Based on the objectives of the study and the research gaps, this study is titled as „A
Study of the Human Resource Management Practices for Housekeeping Employees in
Select Luxury Hotels in Pune‟.

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 Research Methodology

Fig.3.1: Presentation of the Research plan.

3.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

The Hospitality sector is a service – oriented sector, offering the intangible
component of service quality to the customer. It is vital to take care of the human
resources offering these services, such as the housekeeping employees who are
involved in providing in-room services to the customer. Hence, the HRM practices
pertaining to these employees who influence customer satisfaction and retention
needed to be studied in depth. This also required an understanding and assessment of
the expectations of the housekeeping employees, if they are being met, in terms of
HRM practices and which are the sore areas where the employees are dissatisfied.

3.3 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES:

1) To study the role of Housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels.
This objective aimed to examine in detail the role of housekeeping employees,
especially in Luxury hotels.
2) To study the demographic profile of housekeeping employees in Luxury
hotels.
It was felt necessary to know the demographic profile of housekeeping
employees in Luxury hotels in order to understand details about the

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distribution of the age-group, gender, education levels, marital status and

working experience.
3) To identify and assess the different HRM practices adopted for
housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels.
This objective aimed to identify and assess the different HRM practices
adopted for housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels, from the perspective of
the housekeeping employees as well as Human Resource Managers across all
segments of Luxury hotels.
4) To study the challenges faced by Human Resource Managers in the
management of Housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels.
It was critically important to study the challenges faced by Human Resource
Managers in the management of Housekeeping employees across all segments
of Luxury hotels.
5) To compare the different HRM practices for housekeeping employees
across the different segments of Luxury hotels.
After identifying the different HRM practices for housekeeping employees in
Luxury hotels, it was felt that a comparison of these practices across the
different segments of Luxury hotels will help to identify the differentiating
factors or commonalities in this regard.
6) To suggest a suitable framework of Human Resource practices for the
overall management of housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels.
A suitable framework of Human Resource practices for the overall
management of housekeeping employees in Luxury hotels needs to be
adopted, for which suggestions need to be made.

3.4 RESEARCH HYPOTHESES:

 Null hypothesis (H0): The hotel managements of the different segments of
Luxury hotels do not have well-defined HRM practices.
 Alternate hypothesis (H1): The hotel managements of the different segments
of Luxury hotels have well- defined HRM practices.
 Null hypothesis (H0): There is no difference between the Training and
development practices adopted for housekeeping employees across the various
segments of Luxury hotels.

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 Research Methodology

 Alternate hypothesis (H2): The Training and development practices adopted

for housekeeping employees differ across the various segments of Luxury
hotels.
 Null hypothesis (H0): There are no significant differences in the rewards and
recognition practices adopted for housekeeping employees across the various
segments of Luxury hotels.
 Alternate hypothesis (H3): There are significant differences in the rewards
and recognition practices adopted for housekeeping employees across the
various segments of Luxury hotels.

3.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY:

a) The study is limited to Luxury hotels i.e. three, four and five-star hotels in
Pune.
b) The time frame of the study is from 2013 to 2016.
c) The scope of the study includes the housekeeping employees and the Human
Resource Managers of Luxury hotels in Pune. The number of housekeeping
employees in three-star hotels was less, as the housekeeping services were
either outsourced or the housekeeping staff was on contract.

3.6 SELECTION OF HRM PRACTICES FOR THE STUDY:

The following HRM practices were selected for assessment in the study:

Fig. 3.2: HRM practices selected for assessment in the study

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 Research Methodology

The review of Literature in this study revealed that the HRM practices shown in fig.
3.2 have been researched by some Indian and foreign researchers in their studies, as
critical variables in keeping employees motivated and satisfied, thereby increasing
employee productivity in the Hospitality industry in general. It was essential to study
these HRM practices from the housekeeping employee‟s perspective in Luxury hotels
in Pune, as few researchers have carried out a study in this regard.

3.7 RESEARCH DESIGN:

An Exploratory and descriptive research design has been used in this study to achieve
the research objectives. As the name implies, the major objectives of this research was
to identify, explore and describe the various HRM practices for housekeeping
employees in Luxury hotels.

3.7.1 Sampling technique:

In order to collect primary data, Non-probability Quota sampling technique was used
to select the sample.

Table 3.1: Hospitality Personnel who were contacted

Respondents
Unit of hotel Respondents (Management)
(Employees)
Three, Four and General Managers, Human Resource Supervisors,
Five-star hotels Managers, Head of the Department Entry level staff

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 Research Methodology

3.7.2 Population and Sample:

There were two sampling frames designed to carry out this research. The first one
comprises the housekeeping employees from 27 three, four and five star hotels in
Pune. The second frame consisted of HR Managers of 27 three, four and five star
hotels in Pune. The list of hotels is provided at the end of this chapter and also in the
appendices.

The estimated sample sizes was based on the number of available housekeeping
employees at the managerial, supervisory and entry levels in the Luxury hotels and
the HR Managers of these hotels.

In this study, the projected sample was 49 HR Managers and 500 housekeeping
employees.
Table 3.2: List of Luxury hotels in Pune
Five Star Hotels Four Star Hotels Three Star Hotels
JW Marriott,Pune St Laurn Hotel Ambassador
Hyatt Regency The E Square Hotel Kohinoor Executive Hotel
Four Points By Sheraton Lemon Tree Hotel Cocoon Service Hotel
Hinjewadi
The O Hotel Courtyard Pune Chakan Ashish Plaza
Le Meridien Vits Hotel Hotel Madhav
International
Double Tree By Hilton Seasons - An Apartment Gandharva Residency
Hotel
The Hhi Deccan Rendezvous Hotel Studio Estique
Hotel Oakwood Premiere Hotel Aurora Towers Orbett Hotel
Novotel The Central Park Hotel Hotel Shree Panchratna
The Orchid Royal Orchid Golden Shantai Hotel
Suites
The Pride Hotel Ramee Grand Fortune Inn Exotica
Westin Ibis Citrus Hotels
Hyatt Pune Oakwood Premier Pune Hotel Royal Park
Radisson Blu Hyatt Place Pune Deccan Park
Hinjewadi
Vivanta By Taj Blue Keys Klub Hotel Parc The Oakwood
Diamond Estique
Sun-N-Sand Royal Orchid Central Le Royce - The Boutique
Pune Hotel

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 Research Methodology

The O Hotel Hotel Sagarplaza Hotel Ambience

Courtyard By Marriott
Hinjewadi
Courtyard By Marriott
City Center
Holiday Inn Hinjewadi
Executive
The Corinthians Resort Ginger Pune Wakad
& Club
Taj Gateway Hotel Woodland
The Centurion Hotel The Coronet Hotel
Fortune Inn Jukaso Hotel Sayaji
Sadanand Regency

Table 3.3: Population Size

Five star Hotels Four star Hotels Three star hotels
No. of Hotels 18 21 24
Sample selected 18 14 17
Actual hotels
14 06 07
responded
Estimated population 400 housekeeping 250 housekeeping 150 housekeeping
size employees employees employees
Selected housekeeping
270 140 90
employee sample
Actual housekeeping
174 44 36
employees respondents

3.7.3 Respondents of sample:

The respondents of the study included the housekeeping employees and Human
Resource Managers of three, four and five-star hotels. The assumption for inclusion of
respondents was as follows:

Inclusion Criteria:
The housekeeping employee should be a permanent employee of the hotel. Only
permanent, full time housekeeping employees who are on the payroll of the hotel
were included in the sample.

Exclusion Criteria:
Temporary and Contractual housekeeping employees were excluded from the sample.
A majority of the housekeeping staffin three-star hotels was appointed on contract
basis. There were few full time permanent employees in the housekeeping
department. Some of the three-star hotels have outsourced their housekeeping
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 Research Methodology

operation to an external agency. The staff from the agency and contract staff were
excluded from the sample.

3.7.4 Justification of the Sample Size:

The sample size was determined by referring to the model formulated by Robert V.
Krejcie, Daryle W. Morgan, “ Determining Sample size for research activities,
Educational and psychological measurement”, 1970, 30, 607-610 (Appendix- 5)
N is population size = 800
S is sample size = 266

The sample who responded back for this study is 266 out of a population of 800. 12
questionnaires were screened and found incomplete, resulting in a sample size of 254
housekeeping employees.
A sample size of 254 housekeeping employees and 27 HR Managers from five, four
and three star hotels was considered for the study.

3.7.5 Research Instrument:

A structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data.

Measures of Instrument:
The study was measured on the study constructs of HRM practices of Training and
Development, Performance Appraisal, Grievance Handling system, Career planning,
Job satisfaction, Communication and involvement, Compensation, Rewards and
Recognition, Motivation, Job support and Empowerment and Multi-skilling.

A 5-point Likert scale was used to measure the study constructs; responses to each
item were elicited on a five point scale ranging from 1 ( strongly disagree) to 5 (
strongly agree).It was used to assess the HRM practices as per the opinions of
respondents in the questionnaire, to yield consistent results.

A combination of closed and open-ended questions was included in the structured

questionnaire corroborating the various dimensions of HRM. The responses to this
survey provided data corroborating the research question. The information obtained
about the main variables helped to provide new insights regarding the topic, and how

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certain aspects could be corrected in order to match housekeeping employee needs

more closely.

Experience survey:
The initial stage consisted of identifying five, four and three-star hotels in Pune and
establishing the first contacts with experts in the sector, to identify potential study
participants. These participants were contacted personally and via e-mail. As a result,
a series of questions were formulated which were included in a structured
questionnaire.

Pilot study:
To maximize the reliability and validity of the questionnaire, an initial survey of a
small sample of housekeeping employees and 2 HR Managers of Luxury hotels was
conducted. The questionnaire was modified based on the suggestions received from
the housekeeping employees and the HR Managers included in the pilot study.

Layout of Questionnaire:
Part I: A questionnaire to assess the opinions of housekeeping employees with
respect to the HRM practices in Luxury hotels. This has two sections:

 Section A provides information regarding the demographic profile of

housekeeping employees.
 Section B provides information regarding the assessment of housekeeping
employees with respect to various HRM practices adopted.

Part II: A questionnaire for HR Managers of Luxury hotels regarding their

perceptions of the HRM practices for housekeeping employees.
 Section A provides information regarding the challenges faced by HR
Managers in the management of housekeeping employees.
 Section B provides information regarding the assessment of HR Managers
with respect to various HRM practices adopted for housekeeping employees.

3.7.6 Sources of Data:

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A. Primary data: The study was conducted in distinct phases using the
following sources of primary data:
1) Unstructured interviews: A qualitative methodology was used to explore the
management aspect of housekeeping employees, through personal
interviewsand discussions with HR Managers and Executive Housekeepers of
Luxury hotels, with the aim of identifying and clarifying the issues that can be
regarded as critical variables in the current dynamics of managing
housekeeping employees in the hospitality sector.
2) Questionnaire: A sample questionnaire survey of 266 housekeeping
employees in five, four and three star hotels in Pune, at various levels in the
housekeeping department, who were randomly selected on the basis of Non-
probability Random Quota Sampling and 27 Human Resource Managers from
these Luxury hotels was undertaken.
B. Secondary Data: Secondary data was collected through extensive review of
literature on the topic. Research papers from reputed journals and databases,
published articles, reviews and websites pertaining to the hospitality sector,
books, manuals and library resources were referred.
 Professional journals (Cornell Hotel & Restaurant Administration Quarterly)
 Online databases:
 JSTOR.Org
 Academic Onefile (Gale Cengage) - The British Library
 British Library Electronic Thesis online services- ethos.bl.uk.
 Google Scholar
 EBSCO
 Proquest
 Human Resource department- Records & policy manuals from hotels
 Library Resources - Newspapers, Business Magazines, Text books

3.7.7 Medium of Data collection:

Primary data was collected through e-mail, telephone, via a survey and personal
interviews. Secondary data was collected through Internet.

3.7.8 Data tabulation:

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After collection and feeding of data in Excel sheets, it was coded and then used for
analysis using SPSS software (version 22.0).

3.8 SUMMARY OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

The detailed research methodology was discussed in this chapter with regards to the
research design adopted. It outlined the methodology used to accomplish the research
objectives and test the hypothesis. It gives the research design, containing how the
research was carried out, the measurement of the variables under study, the sampling
technique, data collection plans and justification for the same.

The next chapter will cover the data analysis to attain the research objectives.

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