Award Date

12-2010

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality Administration

Department

Hotel Administration

First Committee Member

Kurt Stahura, Co-Chair

Second Committee Member

Carola Raab, Co-Chair

Third Committee Member

Hyun-Kyoung Chatfield

Fourth Committee Member

Ashok Singh

Graduate Faculty Representative

Robert Chatfield

Number of Pages

191

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify and measure the effects of Hofstede‟s cultural factors on escalation of commitment for hospitality managers among American and Chinese managers. Typical cultural factors include power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism and collectivism, masculinity and femininity, and orientation. Escalation of commitment refers to making decisions in risky circumstances. First, the effect of cultural factors on escalation of commitment was measured through antecedents (mediator variables). Second, the first effect of antecedents on escalation of commitment was measured through agency and negative framing effects. Structural equation modeling (SEM) found significant relationships between cultural factors and mediator variables, mediator variables and escalation of commitment and cultural factors and escalation of commitment. The comparisons between American and Chinese managers showed that some of the cultural factors and antecedents (mediator variables) were found to have different significant impacts on escalation of commitment. Implication and discussion were discussed in terms of employee training, job assigning, and close monitoring based on employee tendency for escalation of commitment. Limitations and recommendations for future research were also discussed in terms of unsatisfactory level of measurement reliability and variance explained by the research model.

Keywords

Agency; Americans; Chinese; Cultural factors; Decision making; Escalation of commitment; Hospitality industry; Hotel management; National characteristics; Negative framing; Risk-taking (Psychology)

Disciplines

Hospitality Administration and Management | Organizational Behavior and Theory

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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