Exploring the Crisis Readiness Perceptions of Hotel Managers in the UK

Abstract

Organisations such as hotels ‘live’ and ‘evolve’ around and in an environment where stability is no longer the norm. In such a volatile environment, it is crucial for hospitality leaders to have a well-reasoned strategic plan, as well as to be flexible and farsighted enough to be aware when alterations to it are required. Preparing for the unseen calls for versatility, which is the very foundation of organisational crisis management. This exploratory study applied the construct ‘crisis readiness’ proposed by Reilly (1987) with the purpose of examining the relationship of organisation size, prior experience with crisis and managers' job level with crisis readiness within the lodging industry in the United Kingdom. The study is based on questionnaires sent to individual hospitality managers about their perceptions of their firms' readiness for crises. An online survey instrument was developed to measure perceived crisis readiness, from its managers' perspective. In the sample of hotel managers surveyed, the 93 respondents reported on agreement that their organisation is ready for crisis and moderate likelihood of their organisation experiencing a crisis. The study found strong support for the hypothesis that prior experience with crisis is associated with increasing crisis readiness perceptions and weak support for the hypotheses that increasing size and higher job levels are associated with higher perceived crisis readiness scores. Data on these relationships are useful in determining which factors play a part in improving a hotel's crisis management plans and offer suggestions for those hotels interested in increasing their readiness for crisis.

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