Model of Quality Management Systems adoption in the hotel industry: A case study of hotels in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The article is the construction of a model of quality management system (QMS) adoption in the hotel industry grounded on a case study of multiple hotels in Zimbabwe. QMSs in the hotel industry are adopted to guarantee that certain levels of quality required by customers are achieved. Achievement of certain levels of quality can result in better customer satisfaction, which is important to ensure sustainable operations for hotels. The study was concerned with the late adoption of QMSs in the hotel industry due to a number of internal and external factors. This study is an extract from a PhD project, which investigates external and internal factors affecting QMS adoption in hotel industry. To attain the objectives, interviews were conducted with hotel managers and key stakeholders, while focus groups were conducted with hotel staff to outline the factors affecting the adoption of QMSs and to get general enablers for adopting these systems. Directed content analysis and NVivo 12 were used to analyse data. The Eisenhardt's Model of developing theory from case studies was used. The study draws upon QMSs from 1970s to 2020s. The main factors affecting adoption of QMSs were established and their interrelatedness established. The BASERA-MWENJE model of QMS adoption was developed. The model has not been tested, besides some parts of it, during work. Model differences and similarities were identified from literature to fortify the BASERA-MWENJE model of QMSs adoption. This model will be offered to the hotel industry and other industries in general to simplify and improve the adoption of QMSs under Zimbabwe's National Development Strategy 1 (NDS) to realise Vision 2030 ‘Towards a Prosperous and Empowered Upper Middle-Income Society’.