Knowledge management in tourism industry.

Abstract

This study seeks to explore into Organization Learning, Knowledge Management (KM) and Knowledge Sharing (KS) processes in the tourism industry. Prior researches have indicated that human behavior is a triadic reciprocality between personal factors, behavior, and environment [Wood, 1989]; [Bandura A., 1986]; [Compeau & Higgins, 1995]; [Glanz, 2002]. Therefore, this study seeks to understand how two hotels in the tourism industry, Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts and Carlson Hotels Worldwide, implement their organization learning, KM, and KS processes which could be affected by the three factors mentioned and what impact does these factors have on the processes.

Through interview sessions with management staffs in Human Resources department of Carlson Hotels Worldwide, management staffs in Information Technology department of Starwood Asia Pacific Hotels & Resorts and a survey which is sent specifically to Carlson Hotels Worldwide, we have gained insights in how both hotels are managing their Organization Learning, KM and KS processes. For example, the application of IT platforms to support learning, how they conduct their trainings to staffs, the flow of knowledge transfer within the organizations and challenges they have faced regarding the distributed locations of hotels. Through this study, we have identified the strengths and weaknesses of each hotel in terms of Organization Learning, KM and KS. We have also made some recommendations on how they can improve in these aspects mentioned above.