Award Date

Spring 2011

Degree Type

Professional Paper

Degree Name

Master of Hospitality Administration

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

Carola Raab, Chair

Number of Pages

60

Abstract

Restaurants experience many challenges, including economic uncertainty, competition, demographic shifts in target markets, changes in employee work habits, and such financial considerations as maintaining adequate cash flow. Controlling costs in the restaurant business is essential to the success or failure of the establishment. In the hospitality industry, labor costs are very high; in fact, they amount to approximately 45% of operating costs. The goal of this review is to promote further research into identifying the specific criteria that govern the relationship between the use of labor resources and the goal of operating efficiency, mainly with a focus on internal marketing as a means by which to control labor costs. This study lays out the relevant literature for understanding sources of labor costs, particularly as they relate to the potential of internal marketing as a source of efficiency. It then appropriately offers recommendations for controlling labor costs in terms of the cost of labor itself (i.e., human-resource management practices), those costs associated with disruptions in the service flow and sources of error or lack of motivation in service delivery (internal marketing), and costs that occur due to gaps between employee preparation and espoused strategy. It concludes with a discussion of implications.

Keywords

Labor costs; Restaurant management; Restaurants—Employees

Disciplines

Finance and Financial Management | Hospitality Administration and Management | Human Resources Management

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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