Knowledge Management in the Hotel Industry Before and After the Entry in the EU: The Case of Slovenia

Abstract

Knowledge Management in the Hotel Industry Before and After the Entry in the EU: The Case of SloveniaThe paper deals with the impact of the EU entry on knowledge management in the hotel industry in Slovenia. For this purpose, the empirical research on knowledge management was carried out among hotel managers. It explored the changes in knowledge management between 2003 and 2006; that is before and after Slovenia entered the EU. The research revealed a progress in this period of time in knowledge management goals definition, transformation of not-owned into owned knowledge, inclusion of knowledge management in business reports, identification and elimination of the gaps between planned and actual knowledge. On the other hand, there was no further progress in the field of strategies and policy of knowledge management, perception of the importance of knowledge management's measurement, development of measures of knowledge management and diminishment of barriers to knowledge development. Further, several recommendations are suggested for hotel managers.

The effects of knowledge sharing and knowledge application on service recovery performance

“…Liyanage et al (2009) indicated that KA is the critical part of the KM process. It is at this stage that the value of knowledge is manifested (Rudež, 2010). As this study shows, front-line employees’ SRP is significantly and greatly influenced by KA.…”

“…Effective and successful KM in the hotel sector is essential to the success of hotels (Rudež, 2010). However, the hotel sector is far behind when it comes to existing KM practices (Hallin and Marnburg, 2008).…”

“…This finding is confirmed by Yun (2004) who argues that the hospitality industry adapts slowly to KM strategies due to the complexity of the concept, which requires certain skills in data mining, statistics and substantial knowledge of tourism and hospitality management (Hallin and Marnburg, 2008). Rudež (2010) stresses that a unique way to manage knowledge in the sector does not exist. The policies of hotels should contain several mechanisms connected with KM: mechanisms to measure knowledge development, mechanisms to measure knowledge gaps between planned and achieved knowledge, mechanisms to eliminate knowledge gaps, mechanisms to eliminate barriers to knowledge development and mechanisms to transform knowledge in people’s heads into company-owned knowledge.…”

Toward better understanding of knowledge management: Correlation to hotel performance and innovation in five-star chain hotels in Egypt

“…Various definitions of KM have been presented by scholars, emphasizing the importance of continued KM research (Groff and Jones, 2003; Mahaba, 2013; Neves et al., 2014; Rudez, 2010; Skyrme, 2002; Villar et al., 2014). However, there is neither clear consensus on the definition of KM as a process nor there is an established theme for KM research to classify or group the directions and findings of related research attempts.…”

“…As for KM application in the hotel industry, various research attempts are available. Rudez (2010) studied KM in the Slovenian hotel industry before and after the entry in the EU, studying the impact of the EU entry on KM in the hotel industry in Slovenia between 2003 and 2006. The research revealed a progress in this period of time in KM goals definition, transformation of not-owned into owned knowledge, inclusion of KM in business reports, identification, and elimination of the gaps between planned and actual knowledge.…”