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Hodari Demian

Associate Professor

Main skills

Strategic Management

Main contract

Associate Professor

EHL Hospitality Business School
Route de Berne 301, 1000 Lausanne 25, Switzerland, CH

BSc HES-SO in Hôtellerie et professions de l'accueil - EHL Hospitality Business School

Corporate Strategy
Strategic Hotel Investments
Managing Underperforming Properties

2024

The impact of management structure on guest satisfaction in chain-affiliated hotels and the moderating influence of chain scale

Scientific paper ArODES

Margarita Cruz, Demian Hodari, Steffen Raub

International Journal of Hospitality Management, Vol. 117, Article no 103651

Link to the publication

Summary:

While extensive research focuses on the relationship between chain-affiliation and hotel operating performance, these results are inconclusive. We suggest this is because previous studies have largely ignored whether affiliated hotels are operated by the owner, the chain or an independent third-party operator. This is a critical aspect of hotels’ operating performance given that the disparate resources and potential agency problems across these management structures can affect the service provided by hotels, and ultimately guest satisfaction. Building on 79,000 guest satisfaction scores from 499 US chain-affiliated hotels between 2015 and 2019, our findings suggest that management matters. We found that chain-operated hotels deliver the greatest level of guest satisfaction while owner-operated hotels deliver the least. While this holds up for upscale and upper-upscale hotels, owner-operated hotels deliver the highest level of guest satisfaction in economy and midscale hotels.

2023

The cruise industry workforce crunch – generational changes in work values of job seekers

Scientific paper ArODES

Steffen Raub, Margarita Cruz, Jens Gorka, Demian Hodari, Lionel Saul

Tourism review, 79, 1, pp. 38-53

Link to the publication

Summary:

Purpose – In the wake of COVID-19, the cruise industry is experiencing an unprecedented talent management challenge. Extant research suggests a broad range of work values that may attract job candidates to the cruise industry. The purpose of this study is to assess whether there are significant differences in the importance ratings of these work values for the millennials, compared to those of the preceding generation X. Design/methodology/approach – With the support of a leading recruitment agency, the authors obtained responses to an online survey of 1,320 job candidates, of whom 830 were millennials. Using a quantitative approach, the authors asked them to assess the importance of eight work value domains. The authors ranked these domains for the millennials and for generation X and compared mean importance ratings using t-tests. Findings – The results of this study reveal that differences between millennials and generation X in the ranking of the eight work value domains do exist. The authors did not find support for any systematic differences in terms of ‘‘extrinsic’’ versus ‘‘intrinsic’’ work values. However, the results show that the importance of ‘‘ego-driven’’ work values (e.g. support, development, compensation, work–life balance and comfort) is significantly higher for millennials. Conversely, for the more ‘‘altruistic’’ factors, there are no significant differences between the two generations. Originality/value – Based on a very large sample of job candidates from the cruise industry, the results support the predictions of generational theories. The authors show that differences in work value ratings between generation X and the millennials exist. The authors also provide a novel perspective on the dimensions along which these differences materialize.

The impact of brand affiliation on asset values :

Scientific paper ArODES

the case of UK hotels

Ramya Rajajagadeesan Aroul, Demian Hodari, Giuliano Bianchi, Gwen Martignoni

Journal of property research, 2023, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 157-187

Link to the publication

Summary:

Using the hedonic pricing method, we study more than 400 hotel transactions in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2015 to determine the impact of brands on hotel market values. We initially find that hotel brands are negatively associated with hotel values in our sample. However, after controlling for endogeneity, we find that brand affiliation produces no significant impact on hotel transaction values. These results suggest that it is the characteristics of branded hotels, rather than the fact of being branded, that determine the transaction values. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies to examine the impact of brands on hotel values, and the first to account for the role of endogeneity when comparing the transaction value of branded and unbranded hotels.

2022

Soft brand or independent ? :

Scientific paper ArODES

evidence from the first decade of the soft branding, strategy in the U.S. market

Elisa K. Chan, Demian Hodari, Tianze Li

International journal of hospitality management, 2022, vol. 103, article no 103188, pp. 1-5

Link to the publication

Summary:

The supply of soft brands is expected to grow as the industry has continued to see new soft brand launches by major hotel companies. But because the number of properties branded as soft brands is still relatively low, previous studies have not specifically isolated them in order to determine their possible benefits. This research attempts to fill this gap by hypothesizing and testing the potential impact of such soft brands on hotel performance with the first decade of available data in the U.S. market. Both our inter-temporal, within-property analysis and our cross-sectional, between-properties analysis showed promising performance enhancement for hotels that adopted a soft branding strategy between 2008 and 2018.

2017

Hotel property performance :

Scientific paper ArODES

the role of strategic management accounting

Michael J. Turner, Sean A. Way, Demian Hodari, Wiard Witteman

International journal of hospitality management, 2017, vol. 63, pp. 33-43

Link to the publication

Summary:

In the current study, we contend that to enhance their competitiveness and performance, hotel properties need to develop and implement internal policies and procedures such as strategic management accounting that are consistent with their business strategies and account for changing competitive demands. We employ a sample composed of 80 hotel properties to investigate the key precursor of hotel property strategic management accounting use and its impact on hotel property customer and financial performance. The results highlight that market orientation business strategy is a key determinant of hotel property strategic management accounting use and illuminate the mediating influence of hotel property strategic management accounting use and hotel property customer performance on the relationship between hotel property market orientation business strategy use and hotel property financial performance. Recommendations are provided for both researchers and hotel managers concerning their future study of, or use of, strategic management accounting.

How hotel owner-operator goal congruence and GM autonomy influence hotel performance

Scientific paper ArODES

Demian Hodari, Michael J. Turner, Michael C. Sturman

International journal of hospitality management, February 2017, vol. 61, pp. 119-128

Link to the publication

Summary:

A principal-agent relationship exists between hotel owners and the management companies which often operate their hotels. In addition, they both act as principals to a mutual agent, the hotel's General Manager, who is tasked with trying to achieve each parties' objectives. Extensive research on hotel management agreements which govern the owner-operator relationship has demonstrated that these objectives are often incongruent. However, the property-level managerial and performance implications of their goal incongruence has not been empirically examined. This study analyzes these issues using a matched sample of surveys from both owners and operators across 64 hotels operated under hotel management agreements. Using structural equations modeling, we demonstrate that owner-operator goal congruence positively impacts hotel performance and that this relationship is both mediated and moderated by the hotel General Manager's autonomy.

The matter of encumbrance :

Scientific paper ArODES

how management structure affects hotel value

Demian Hodari, Panna Judit Balla, Ramya Rajajagadeesan Aroul

Cornell hospitality quarterly, 2017, vol. 58, no. 3, pp. 293-311

Link to the publication

Summary:

Hotel owners have two fundamental concerns: the financial operating performance of their asset and its selling price. While they often contract a hotel management company to operate the hotel through a lease or management agreement, common industry perception holds that such encumbrance decreases the sales price of hotel real estate assets. This implies that owners who outsource the hotel’s management may be sacrificing a greater selling price in exchange for improved operating results. While this is a critical issue for investors given that a their returns are largely dependent on an asset’s appreciation, the impact of different management structures on the sales price of hotels has not previously been studied. A hedonic valuation model was constructed based on 442 past hotel transactions in the United Kingdom between 2000 and 2015. Hotels sold encumbered by hotel management agreements and lease agreements were found to sell at a premium compared with unencumbered properties. The impact across different geographic areas and different economic periods was also examined. Hotels under management agreement achieved the highest premiums during times of economic expansion while lease contracts did so in regional markets. The findings suggest that owners need not necessarily refrain from signing management agreements or leases out of concern for their detrimental effect on their hotel’s sales price. It also provides a strong additional selling point for management companies and should reassure lenders who prefer to underwrite loans for encumbered assets.

2016

Entry modes : management contract

Book chapter ArODES

Michael Turner, Demian Hodari, Inès Blal

The Routeledge Handbook of Hotel Chain Management (pp. 157-170). 2016, Oxon, New-York : Routledge

Link to the publication

Selecting a partner hotel by the chain

Book chapter ArODES

Inès Blal, Demian Hodari, Michael Turner

The Routeledge handbook of hotel chain management (pp. 205-215). 2016, New York : Routledge, 2016

Link to the publication

Summary:

This Handbook aids in filling the gap by exploring and critically evaluates the debates, issues and controversies of all aspects of hotel chains from their nature, fundamentals of existence and operation, expansion, strategic and operational aspects of their activities and geographical presence. It brings together leading specialists from range of disciplinary backgrounds and regions to provide state-of-the-art theoretical reflection and empirical research on current issues and future debates. Each of the five inter-related section explores and evaluates issues that are of extreme importance to hotel chain management, focusing on theoretical issues, the expansion of hotel chains, strategic and operational issues, the view point of the individual affiliated hotel and finally the current and future debates in the theory and practice of hotel chain management arising from globalisation, demographic trends, sustainability, and new technology development. It provides an invaluable resource for all those with an interest in hotel management, hospitality, tourism and business encouraging dialogue across disciplinary boundaries and areas of study. This is essential reading for students, researchers and academics of Hospitality as well as those of Tourism, Marketing, Business and Events Management.

Feasibility study

Book chapter ArODES

Demian Hodari

Encyclopedia of tourism (pp. 350-351). 2016, [S.l] : Springer International Publishing

Link to the publication

2015

Strategy tools :

Scientific paper ArODES

contextual factors impacting use and usefulness

Angela Roper, Demian Hodari

Tourism Management, December 2015, vol. 51, pp. 1-12

Link to the publication

Summary:

Strategy tools are a common element of tourism and hotel management courses, journal articles and textbooks. In this paper we explore why practitioners do not find tools useful and hence reject their use as a strategy practice. Drawing on a cross-case analysis of qualitative data from three hotel companies, key findings suggest that strategy tools may restrict the deployment of experience-based knowledge, strategy practices are legitimised by top managers' perceptions and the lack of strategizing activities inhibits the potential for tool use. The industry context, including the unique ownership-management structure and institutionalised practices, also significantly influences the use and perceived value of tools. Practitioners are recommended to reconsider the ability of strategy tools to facilitate debate and act as boundary spanning objects and tourism researchers are encouraged to further study how practitioners use and value tools in order to create new ones based on practice rather than only on theory.

2014

Stress and the Hotel Spa Manager: Outsourced vs Hotel-managed Spas

Professional paper ArODES

Veronica Waldthausen, Demian Hodari, Michael Sturman

Global Spa and Wellness Summit, Décembre 2014

Link to the publication

Settling for less :

Scientific paper ArODES

the institutionalization of the hotel feasibility study

Demian Hodari, David Samson

Journal of hospitality financial management, December 2014, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 97-110

Link to the publication

Summary:

Hotel feasibility studies play an important role in the hotel development process as hotel developers, lenders, and operators all require an analysis of a hotel's projected operating performance and the ensuing financial returns. Such studies are rarely effective, however, at predicting future performance. Although scholars and practitioners have repeatedly recommended numerous improvements to correct their methodological weaknesses and improve their accuracy, few changes have been incorporated. This study's purpose was to identify the underlying reasons why the methodological improvements identified in previous studies have not been undertaken. The research employed a qualitative methodology based on interviews with leading hotel owners, developers, lenders, and consultants. The key findings of the research demonstrated that the way in which feasibility studies are used, the value the stakeholders place on them, cost and time constraints, and the limited incentives and accountability associated with improving underlying assumptions and methodologies are key drivers behind the marginalization and stagnant evolution of the hotel feasibility study.

Who's in Charge Now ? :

Scientific paper ArODES

The decision autonomy of hotel general managers

Demian Hodari, Michael Sturman

Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, November 2014, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 433-447

Link to the publication

Summary:

The general manager (GM) is the key position in a hotel, but the changing structure of the industry has altered the scope of the GM’s decision-making autonomy. In many hotels, the GM is an employee of a hotel operating firm and is effectively an agent of the operator or owner (and sometimes both parties). These principals have authority over several aspects of hotel operation, although the GM also has responsibility. A study of the GM’s role and authority in 115 upscale European hotels finds a mixed picture in decision autonomy, depending on the individual’s experience and education, as well as whether the hotel is independent or chain managed. Overall, independent GMs have greater autonomy in their properties than chain GMs, and highly experienced managers are often given greater autonomy by independent owners, while operating companies give greater autonomy to GMs who offer a combination of education and experience. With regard to individual functional areas, chain GMs have relatively greater authority in human resources, marketing, and strategy but limited autonomy in finance and operations.

2022

Guest satisfaction in chain-affiliated hotels :

Conference ArODES

the performance implications of chain, owner and third-party management structures

Demian Hodari, Margarita Cruz, Steffen Raub

Proceedings of the EuroCHRIE 2022 conference

Link to the conference

Summary:

While affiliation may provide operational benefits to hotels, the extant research is inconclusive. We suggest that this is because affiliation in and of itself does not generate the greater guest satisfaction on which operating performance largely depends. According to both Agency Theory and the Resource Based Theory of the firm, management structure should matter. We thus examine the impact of chain, owner and third-party operations on guest satisfaction in 499 hotels in the United States. In line with both theories, we find that chain-managed hotels outperform the others in upper-end, full-service hotels, but underperform in lower-end, limited-service hotels. As such, our findings suggest that RBT provides a stronger explanation for the performance differences than AT as the greater resources of chains were not necessary in lower-end hotels while agency problems should not be chain-scale dependent and thus AT does not explain the disparate results across scales.

2021

The impact of brand affiliation on hotel transaction value

Conference ArODES

Demian Hodari, Ramya Rajajagadeesan Aroul, Gwen Martignoni, Giuliano Bianchi

Proceedings of the 5th Hospitality Finance & Economics Conference

Link to the conference

Summary:

While the conventional wisdom holds affiliation to a brand reduces a hotel’s transaction price, this has not been demonstrated within the academic research literature. This is important because the potential trade-offs between the purported operating performance benefits provided by brand affiliation may be unnecessarily sacrificed in order to achieve a potentially higher sales price for the asset. This study investigates the impact of brand on transaction value by using an OLS regression with, importantly, a control for self-selection bias in order to determine if it is in fact the brand, and not the underlying property characteristics, which negatively impact a branded hotel’s sales price. This study found that before controlling for self-selection bias, brand affiliation produced a negative impact on hotel transaction value. However, such affiliation was insignificant after controlling for self-selection bias. These results suggest that it is the characteristics of branded hotels, rather than the fact of being branded, that determine the transaction value.

2016

Hotel performance :

Conference ArODES

the impacts of owner-operator goal alignement and GM autonomy

Demian Hodari, Michael J. Turner, Michael C. Sturman

Proceedings of EuroCHRIE 2016 Conference

Link to the conference

Summary:

Hotel are increasingly owned by one entity and operated under management agreement by another. The split between owners and operators poses potential agency problems as the two entities are often interested in conflicting objectives and the operator may not always take decisions in the owner’s best interest. The hotel general manager, meanwhile, is tasked with satisfying both parties’ objectives. This study investigated how owner-operator goal alignment, and the ensuing impact on GM autonomy, influences hotel performance. We surveyed matched pairs of owners (or their asset manages) and operators (their GMs). We found that while autonomy and alignment are both highly correlated to hotel performance, autonomy does not moderate or mediate the impact that alignment has on performance. Hotel owners and operators who have found a way to align their goals have thus demonstrated that such alignment can result in better hotel performance.

2014

Sustainability in the European hotel industry :

Conference ArODES

Towards a strategic orientation

Demian Hodari, Michael Sturman, Samrah Alshawi

Proceedings of euroCHRIE Conference 2014

Link to the conference

Summary:

Corporate Sustainability (CS) is increasingly a prominent topic within the academic and practitioner literature as increased regulation, competitive pressures and customer demands have increased its perceived importance at individual, org anizatio nal and industry levels Investments into CS are still suspect largely because of questions about the motivations underpinning its implementation, and its effect on hotel performance. While many studies focused on corporate, managerial and customer percepti ons about i t s importance, this study investigates the types, levels and benefits of CS implementation in the hotel industry. Based on a quantitative analysis of data from 85 hotel General Manager s , the study finds that CS activities are prominent amongst upscale/luxury hotels in Europe and do indeed have positive impacts on hotel performance. While environmental activities are more popular than social activities amongst hotels, hotels are moving tow ards higher levels of CS implementation and towards the inclusion of CS into their firms’ strategies.

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PEOPLE@HES-SO Directory and Skills inventory

Hodari Demian

Associate Professor

Main skills

Strategic Management

Associate Professor

PEOPLE@HES-SO
Directory and Skills inventory