Summary
Yield management is a technique that enables companies to understand and predict the behavior of customers in order to increase revenues (Jagels, 2006, p. 282). This method has been widely used in the hospitality industry (Reid & Bojanic, 2009, p. 13). This research is aimed at examining the use of yield management in Saudi hotels. It should be noted that the work of these organizations can be studied with the help of different research methodologies that rely primarily on empirical evidence. In this paper, it is necessary to discuss the research methodology, especially data collection procedures and techniques for analyzing these data. Apart from that, it is vital to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this methodology and explain why it has been selected among others. Moreover, close attention should be paid to the research philosophy that underlies the future study. Finally, it is important to explain the main objective that this research should achieve. These are the main issues that should be discussed.
Research Philosophy
There are several paradigms that can be applied to the hospitality industry; in particular, it is possible to distinguish such approaches as positivism, interpretivism, and critical social school (Henn, Weinstein, & Foard, 2009, p. 27). The differences between these approaches can be explained by the fact that scholars have different perceptions of knowledge, objectivity, and the goals of social research (Henn, Weinstein, & Foard, 2009, p. 27). To some extent, each of these frameworks has its advantages or disadvantages, and it is vital to evaluate these models and their applicability to future study.
Researchers, who work in the field of social sciences, prefer a paradigm called positivism. It is based on the assumptions that a study should focus only on those phenomena that can be accurately measured and represented in a numerical way (Henn, Weinstein, & Foard, 2009, p. 27). This paradigm is aimed at achieving the maximum objectivity of the study (McNabb, 2010, p. 16). As a rule, positivism implies that research should rely on quantitative methods such as statistical surveys or controlled experiments. This approach is particularly suitable in those cases when one has to examine the relationship between dependent and independent variables (McNabb, 2010, p. 16). These are the main aspects of this framework.
Interpretivism is another research philosophy that is applied by people who study the work of hospitality organizations. According to this approach, scholars should first focus on the opinions, perceptions, and values of subjects (Henn, Weinstein, & Foard, 2009, p. 27). Interpretivism presupposes that a researcher should be able to identify people’s understanding of the social world and their behavior. As a rule, the advocates of this paradigm usually give preference to qualitative research methods because they are usually more suitable for investigating the attitudes, and beliefs of respondents.
Finally, it is important to speak about critical social research. This model differs dramatically from positivism and interpretivism because this research philosophy attaches much importance to the goals that academic studies should achieve and the ethical responsibilities of scholars (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000, p. 9). The supporters of this paradigm believe that researchers should identify the drawbacks or different forms of injustice existing in the modern world (Alvesson & Deetz, 2000, p. 9). The critical task is to understand the challenges that individuals face and develop ways of overcoming these problems (Henn, Weinstein, & Foard, 2009, p. 28). It should be taken into account that this approach does not set specific requirements for the research methods that should be used. They can be both quantitative and qualitative. So, these are the main paradigms that may be considered.
The chosen research philosophy
On the whole, the proper selection of research paradigm is critical for the success of any study. At first, one should pay attention to the goals of the research should attain. The main objective is to explore the use of yield management in hotels that are located in Saudi Arabia. The most important task is to examine the ideas of managers who use this method. Furthermore, it is vital to examine the practices adopted by these professionals. In turn, it is not necessary to test a hypothesis and trace a relationship between different variables. Moreover, this research is not aimed at eliminating different forms of social injustice or finding solutions to a certain problem. This is why this study will rely on the interpretive paradigm because it helps to examine the attitudes, opinions and views of respondents. In contrast, objectivism and critical social schools do not fit the needs of this study. It should throw light on the following questions:
- How do business administrators in Saudi hotels use yield management in their daily work?
- To what extent does this technique help them increase the loyalty of customers and increase revenues?
- Are the respondents fully aware of the benefits that yield management can bring?
- What are the barriers that may prevent them from using this method?
Thus, the interpretive framework can best serve the purposes of this research. This is why it has been chosen.
Qualitative research
As it has been said before, the interpretivism paradigm strongly relies on the use of qualitative methods (Phillimore & Goodson, 2004, p. 157). These methods are premised on the assumption that there are certain social or behavioral phenomena that cannot be measured by numerical means (Decrop, 2006, p. 48). Among these techniques, one can distinguish observation, unstructured interview, and textual analysis (Decrop, 2006, p. 48). The use of qualitative techniques implies that it is almost impossible to achieve maximum objectivity. Overall, the main peculiarity of qualitative research methods is that they help scholars understand the attitudes, beliefs, and opinions of people who have agreed to participate in the study (Decrop, 2006, p. 48). In many cases, this information cannot always be measured in a quantitative way. This choice implies that a researcher wants to analyze the data provided by respondents and analyze the themes or problems that the participants refer to.
It is possible to use such a method as an unstructured interview that can throw light on the opinions, perceptions, and ideas of managers who work in Saudi hotels. Moreover, in this way, one can understand how these professionals apply yield management on a daily basis. This is why this method of data collection can be used. Additionally, it is possible to mention such a technique as textual analysis can be used to examine the official documents illustrating the applications of yield management. On the basis of information collected in this way, it will be possible to identify common experiences and opinions of hotel managers working in Saudi Arabia. Admittedly, qualitative methods are not suitable in those cases, when a scholar needs to test a certain conjecture or hypothesis (Hoyle, 2003, p. 22). Nevertheless, this technique can assist researchers in understanding the perceptions of respondents. These are the main aspects that one should take into consideration.
Strengths
The qualitative approach has several advantages that strongly appeal to many researchers who work in social sciences. It is particularly appropriate in those cases when a scholar has to look at a certain problem or question from different perspectives (Rubin & Babbie, 2009, p. 230). They greatly assist researchers when it is necessary to construct a hypothesis, rather than test it. It is possible to distinguish the following strengths:
- First of all, qualitative research enables scholars to evaluate and understand the nuances of people’s opinions, behaviors, and attitudes of the respondents (Rubin & Babbie, 2009, p. 230). This approach gives a depth of understanding, and this depth cannot be offered by quantitative research methods. This opportunity can be particularly important for the study of yield management in Saudi hotels.
- Secondly, this framework helps a scholar examine a certain phenomenon in a natural setting, and respondents will not have to be disturbed from their work. So, this technique can be convenient for the participants of the study.
- Thirdly, this technique helps the researcher to ask specifying questions that enable to make responses more accurate (Lewis-Beck, Bryman, & Liao, 2003, p. 552). This issue is particularly important when one speaks about unstructured interviews (Fly, 1991). In other words, one can speak about the flexibility of qualitative research.
- Additionally, this method can identify problems or questions that were not even considered before. It should be noted that qualitative research methods do not limit the responses of a person who can freely express his/her opinions. This is another advantage that should not be overlooked.
Weaknesses
It should be noted that qualitative research has several limitations that should not be disregarded. To a great extent, these limitations are related to the possible subjectivity of a researcher (Hatch, 2002, p. 9). One should pay attention to the following weaknesses of qualitative research:
- First of all, the findings that are derived in this way can give room to several interpretations, and it is possible that a researcher can distort data so that findings can fit his/her theory (Hatch, 2002, p. 9). So, qualitative techniques can lead to bias and subjectivity.
- Additionally, this approach is more time-consuming, and it is not convenient for researchers and especially respondents who do not want to be disturbed from their daily activities.
- Furthermore, it is possible to mention that a researcher can overlook some of the details provided by a respondent (Keegan, 2009).
- Moreover, one should remember that qualitative research implies direct contact between a researcher and respondents. The problem is that individuals can easily change their behavior in the presence of people who are not familiar with them. These are the weakness that one should not overlook (Adler & Clark, 2010).
These are the main risk that should be addressed during the study. It should be mentioned that this research will involve different methods, namely interview, textual analysis, and observation. For instance, textual analysis can be used to examine the documents related to the application of yield management. In turn, interviews will be used to study the opinions and attitudes of managers who are supposed to apply the principles of yield management.
References
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