Critical success factors in UK and Dutch hotels.

Abstract

This paper focuses on a project designed to investigate the validity of the results obtained from a prior exploratory study undertaken to identify the Critical Success Factors (CSFs) in ‘UK Hotels Plc’ (Brotherton and Shaw, 1996). To place the study within its conceptual context the nature of CSFs, the origins of this approach and its application to hospitality and other types of business environment are briefly reviewed. This leads into the specific focus derived from the results of the (1996) study and provides the starting point for the empirical aspects of this study. The paper details the methodology adopted and reflects on some of the methodological issues associated with its comparative design. Following the presentation of the empirical results their significance is discussed and reasons postulated for those CSF aspects identified as convergent or divergent. Finally, the practical and research implications of these results, for both the specific hotel context of the study and those of more generic concern, are explored.