research paper environmental sustainability practices …
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International Journal of Accounting & Business Management
www.ftms.edu.my/journals/index.php/journals/ijabm
Vol. 6 (No.2), Nov, 2018
ISSN: 2289-4519 DOI: 10. 24924/ijabm/2018.11/v6.iss2/87.99
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Research Paper
ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES OF HOTELS IN MALAYSIA
Dr. Khursiah Abd Aziz Universiti Tun Abdul Razak
Kuala Lumpur [email protected]
Dr. Mohd Saeed Siddiq Universiti Tun Abdul Razak
Kuala Lumpur [email protected]
Dr. NorKhomar Ishak
Universiti Tun Abdul Razak Kuala Lumpur
Abstract
Environmental sustainability remained among the current major world issues. Hence, hotel sector had to play their part in ensuring the sustainability of their surrounding environment. This study examined and explored the extent of alignment amongst four major internal processes related to environmental management, which were environmental management system (EMS), environmental management structure, environmental sustainable practices and environmental sustainable operations. This study used qualitative methods to explore the organizational support and human resources management practices on environmental sustainability practices of city and resort hotels in Malaysia. The data analysed were derived from personal interviews with General Managers, Executive Housekeepers and Human Resources Managers and documentations from five city hotels and five resort hotels that had participated in this study. The findings that were identified indicated that overall the hotels had developed Green Programs to encourage their guests to participate in the hotels’ environmental program. Overall, they indicated the importance of water conservations, waste minimization and energy savings activities. However, the hotels did not have environmental policy, even though green certifications such as EarthCheck, ISO14001, ASEAN Green Hotel certification had stipulated environmental policy statement as requirement. In term of level of support on environmental sustainable practices, overall the hotels had focused on some aspects of guest room design concepts oriented towards environmental sustainable practices. This study had set the limits on the depth and breadth of the concepts to be investigated as determined by the research objectives in case study setting. Hence, for future research, investigation could possibly focus from different perspectives such as from the environment conservation from the community perspective. Future studies that use multiple interviewers and the interviewers in data collection would have to provide training and mock sessions to ensure the uniformity in the information collection process. The study concluded by stressing the importance of leadership commitment in ensuring that environmental conservation efforts would be required for successful implementation of green programs. Key Terms: Environmental sustainability practices; environmental management systems; environmental management structure
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1.0 Introduction Sustainability is one of the most important issues currently facing our earth. Over the past decades, hoteliers have turned their focus to the importance of sustainability in the hospitality industry as it relates to hotel development and operations including the environmental, economic and social impact. Electricity, typically accounts for 60 to 70% of a hotel’s utility costs. Thus, it is worthwhile to re-examine the industry’s conservation efforts (Bruns Smith et al., 2015) (1). The higher energy and resources usage had placed undue pressure on the hotel organizations to conserve resources and to control their usage of energy and utilities. The tourism industry had been the third biggest foreign income contributor to the Malaysian economy. The tourism sector was one of the 12 National Key Economic Areas (NKEA) identified as one of the major contributors to the Malaysian economy. It had provided employment, widened business opportunities, and had contributed towards infrastructure improvement. The hotel or lodging segment, being a large portion of the tourism industry, had aided in the development of infrastructure such as transportation system and the expanding of small businesses and retail outlets. As indicated in a study by Pirani and Arafat (2014), the hotel sector was considered a fundamental part of the tourism industry and had impacted on the growth of the Malaysian economy through, for example, an increase of per capita income and the significant increase of number of workers (estimated 14% of total workforces) employed in the industry. The growth of the tourism industry would mean that the number of tourists had steadily increased. A study by Siti Nabiha et al., (2008) indicated that a massive influx of tourists could also result in negative environmental impact as it could have brought about the increased in consumption of energy, depletion of natural resources and greater waste generation. Thus, the higher energy and resources usage had placed undue pressure on hoteliers to conserve and control their usage of energy, utilities and resources. These in turn, would ultimately result in higher operational costs and lowering of the profit margin. These findings were supported in a study by Bohdanowicz, (2006) that revealed there was a relationship between the impact of environmental factors and energy consumption. The study estimated that 5% of resources and energy consumption were related to the impact of environmental factors. Environmental sustainability remained among the current major world issues. All industries, including the hotel sector, had to play their part in ensuring the sustainability of their surrounding environment. Environmental sustainability had always been one of the critical agendas discussed in the hotel sector. The implementation of environmentally sustainable practices in the hotel sector in Malaysia had become an issue of increasing importance and often the roles of the various stakeholders had to be emphasized. Specifically, the environmental issues in Malaysia were related to deforestation such as landslides, and water pollution; haze and air pollution, climate change and global warming. The tourism industry’s development which usually surrounds pristine, virgin and relatively less explored areas would be the focus of sustainability efforts. Thus, the hotel sector had to consider environmental impact factors, as well as organizational practices that would be environmental friendly. The environmental sustainability practices and system should be a part of a comprehensive strategy and framework that incorporated all programs including the business processes and the operations within the organizations. The implementation of the environmental sustainability practices required sequential steps to be taken. As a start, it would require the hotel organization to develop environmental sustainability objectives that should include environmental policies and strategic directions, plans and goals of the environmental sustainability practices. Also, the determination on the extent of employees’ involvement at all levels within each step, the implementation, review, evaluation and improvement plan and activities of the environmental sustainability practices. The whole process is termed as the EMSs. The senior management should play a key role in ensuring the synchronization and smooth implementation of the EMS.
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The purpose of this research is to examine the extent of the hotel’s environmental sustainability practices and the essential factors required to support those practices. The study covers two groups of hotels based on their location (city hotels and resort hotels); 5-star and 4-star rated hotels as they would likely have some degree of environmental sustainability practices and had been in operations for at least two years to ensure that their practices are relatively stable. The two-central phenomenon in this study comprises environmental management organizational factors and environmental sustainability supporting factors. Environmental management organization factors include four variables: environmental management systems (EMS); environmental management structures; environmental sustainable practices and environmental sustainable operations. Meanwhile, the environmental sustainability supporting factors include two variables: human resources management practices and employee competencies. Topics on hotel organizations’ environmental sustainability begun to be addressed as challenging issues as energy cost begun escalating and as consumerism and activist on environmental-friendly practices became strong. The hotel sector was and still is highly fragmented with enormous differences for example in ownership structures, sizes and locations, operational orientations, variety in point of sales outlets, multicultural employees and multi-nationality management. This research would attempt to address those knowledge gap by providing an in-depth insight into the environmental sustainability practices of a few cases on hotel organizations, considering the different characteristics and organizational factors. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 The Concept of Environmental Sustainability Environmental Sustainability started with the Stockholm Declaration of 1972, where several institutions of higher education endeavored to become more sustainable by signing the declaration. Environmental sustainability required volunteers in a multitude of fields that will be involved in complex environmental sustainable activities worldwide, frequently across sectors. Environmental sustainability practices as described by Sayre (1996) represented programs for developing, implementing, managing, coordinating and monitoring corporate environmental activities to achieve two goals: compliance and waste reduction. Sutton (2004) described environmental sustainability as the ability to maintain the qualities that are valued in the physical environment. Environmental sustainability practices, therefore could transform the way organizations operate. The current trend is to integrate sustainability into all the organizational activities. Making sustainability improvements would mean investing in time and energy. As a start, the hotel organizations would need to analyses their operations and measure performance to ensure environmental sustainable performance. 2.2 Environmental Management Systems (EMS) Environmental management system is a standard process for management that dealt with aspects on impact on the environment. It allowed an organization, to some extent, to control the impact of its activities, products or services on the natural environment. This was supported in the studies by Wilson and Sasseville (1999). EMS required a formal system and database that integrate procedures and processes for the training of personnel, monitoring, summarizing and reporting of specialized environmental performance information to internal and external stakeholders of the organization as reported by Melnyk et.al. (2002). Detailed baselines information on inputs (energy, water, materials, etc.) and outputs (waste, emissions, etc.) were also provided. EMS included a formal write-up on commitment and policy, planning, implementation, measurement and evaluation, review and improvement (Hersey, 1998). Sheldon and Yoxon (1999) described it as a system of moving data around an organization to enable informed decisions to be made regarding management, used data that the system itself generated, and thereby ensuring that business-relevant data would be applied to the management process.
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2.3 Implementation of Environmental Management Practices There were several reasons as to why hotel organizations implemented environmental management practices. Pizman (2008) indicated that the hospitality organizations were not involved in environmental sustainability for ethical reasons but were more interested in it as it would ultimately result in higher income. Cotton (2007) believed that the purpose of running a business was to increase the bottom line in the long run and adopt green practices might be a contributing factor towards that end. Studies from Chan (2008) and Chan and Wong (2006) showed that hotels’ environmental friendly practices would give positive impression on their guests and created positive public relations. There had also been an increase in demand by hotel guests for environmental friendly hotels (Butler, 2008). Erdogan and Baris(2006)further indicated that hotel organizations that had implemented EMPs would expect to reduce their environmental costs, or to improve their performance. A study by Bruns Smith et al. (2015) on environmental sustainability practices of 100 resorts in the United States, discovered that the common green practices that had been applied by those resorts were the use of water conserving fixtures and linen-reuse activities. Thus, the hotel organizations should continue promoting green hotel practices as it would help to reduce negative impacts on the environment and at the same time increase operational efficiency. Convention hotels were often confronted with problems related to deterioration of the environment due to the sheer volume of guests handled at any one point in time. It had been reported that convention hotels (both large and small hotels) produced enormous harm to the environment from excessive consumption of non-recyclable goods, and consumption of water and energy for heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (e.g. electricity and gas). They also release significant amount of pollutions into the air, water and soil (Bohdanowicz, 2005 (18) and Chan, 2005. Foster et al. (2000) indicated that the hospitality and tourism industry had been under pressure to become more environmental friendly because of increasing consumer awareness, increasing environmental regulations, more managerial concern with ethical practices, the desire to increase customers’ satisfaction, and the increase in maintenance issues related to design of building and the need for aesthetics. Thus, the Malaysian government had provided support for the drives towards green buildings and green technology, and in its 2010 budget, the priority was specified on environmental-friendly practices that relate to the procurement of goods and services activities. 2.4 The Environmental Sustainability Approaches of Hotel Sector in Malaysia The efforts of implementing environmental sustainability practices in the worldwide hotel sector had been on the increase. This was contributed largely by the growth in the tourism industry where the number of travellers and tourists had increase. A report by Tourism Malaysia (May 2015), indicated that there were currently 677 hotels with a total number of 92,827 rooms (both foreign and local brands) ranging from one to five-star ratings. The average hotel occupancy rate had increased to 62.4 % in 2012 from 60.6 % in 2011. This meant that the number of travellers and tourists had also increased. The increase in touristic activities had usually led to the negative impact on the environment, specifically the hotel environments that are located close to natural attractions. Hence, it is important for the hotel organizations to develop the environmental sustainability practices that would focus on water conservation, energy saving, and waste reduction. The energy usage of a hotel would be dependent on the type and size of the hotel, the building design and material, climatic conditions, geographical location, availability of energy sources, the energy efficiency of the appliances and equipment used, the type and size of facilities and sales outlet provided and the type and level of services the hotel offered (Bohdanowic, 2006).
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2.5 Organizational Support in Environmental Sustainability Practices Organizations asserted that they would be highly interested in environmental sustainability to improve their environmental management practices (Lieb and Lieb, 2010) (22). Therefore, organizational support was one of the most important aspects of the implementation and maintenance of any successful organizational initiatives, including the implementation of the EMS (Environmental Management Systems). Organizations should be able to become more sustainable through culture change. Martina and Griffiths (2010) recognized several important barriers and limitations for sustainability-related culture change, including organizational rigidity and the existence of organizational subcultures throughout the organization. The study showed that changes on the surface, for example through the publication of corporate sustainability reports, the integration of sustainability measures in employee’s performance evaluation, or employees training, would support a conducive context for changes in employees’ values and beliefs or even in their core assumptions. The successful designing, planning, implementing, monitoring, and controlling of environmental sustainability practices would be led by the senior management of the hotel organization. The quality of performance of those activities would be dependent on senior management having the prior experience with environmental sustainability system, structure and processes. General Managers with working experience in the hotel sector in more developed countries would have more knowledge and experience on environmental issues and ways of ensuring environmental sustainability. Hotel organizations environmental sustainability practices focused on the conservation of natural resources, protection of the ecosystem biodiversity, minimization of energy, waste and pollution, and the establishment of and reporting on key environmental performance indicators. Hotel organizations had been increasingly aware that the environment and its protection were crucial to the hotel sector development and performance (Bohdanowicz, 2005). The roles of General Managers would be critical in determining the appropriate approaches and ensuring the buying-in of the concept with the other organizational members. Bohdanowicz (2006) indicated two major directions that needed to be followed when senior management was planning on introducing environmental sustainability concepts and practices for the hotel sector. They were: (i) the involvement and the incorporation of responsible technical and behavioural practices and (ii) the emphasis and the highlighting on the necessity of initiating customers to participate in the “green” practice. 3.0 Research Design and Methodology 3.1 Research Approach This research used qualitative research method for the identification and selection of information-rich cases related to the phenomenon of interest. This method of selection was similar to the use of purposive sampling. The respondents for this study were the General Managers, Executive Housekeepers and the Guestroom Attendants as they could provide the required information to examine the study propositions. Before the process of selecting the hotels to be investigated, the following criteria were established: (i) two groups of hotels based on their location would be required (city hotels and resort hotels); (ii) the hotels had to be rated five-star and four-star; and (iii) had been in operations for at least two years. The criteria in selecting the appropriate number and type of cases to be included would be important to ensure that the hotel organizations would have some form of environmental sustainable systems, structure, practices and/or processes. 3.2 Selection of Cases During the study period, there were 4,072 hotels with 10 rooms in Malaysia (Tourism Malaysia 2016). Out of the 4,072 hotels, there were 95 five-star hotels and 146 four-star hotels as rated by the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia. These were the highly-rated hotels with first class facilities. It was determined at the beginning stage that a total of five city hotels and five
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resort hotels would be sufficient as cases to be examined in-depth. This decision was also made in view of the time and financial constraints. At the first stage of selection, a total of 20 five-star and 15 four-star hotels were identified to be included. The reason for selecting the five-star and four-star hotels was because; through initial review only these two groups of hotels would have some extent of environmental sustainable practices. Local independent and local and international hotel chains were included at this initial stage. The hotels were contacted via letter followed by telephone calls to the Human Resource Manager for authorization to conduct an interview with the General Manager, Human Resource Manager and Executive Housekeeper. The first point of contact with the participating hotels was made with the human resource managers. The Human Resource Managers were initially informally contact through letters transmitted via email explaining the study’s aims, the respondents to be interviewed and the interview procedures. The anonymity of organizations and respondents were ensured then, together with the promised-on confidentiality of information and data collected. 3.3 Types of Data Collected The data were collected using primary and secondary data. The primary data would be derived through fieldwork and observation where the researcher would be physically present at a site, had flexibility in deciding what data to collect and follow up and could organize the inquiry according to the information received rather than having to decide beforehand on a closed set of constructs of data elements. Such data/information would include: (i) the researcher’s drafts; (ii) hard copy of the interviews; (iii) reports/transcripts of what was said at the interview; (iii) observational records of the events (if appropriate); (iv) formulation of opinions on what had happened the way it had, why it happened that way, and how the respondents felt about it; and (v) transcripts of conversation between the researcher and protocols. Thus, the data would be collected through: (i) interviews, transcripts of conversations; (ii) videotapes and notes from field observations; (iii) published document; and (v) examinations of documents/records The primary data that would be required for this study would be information of the: (i) profile background of the respondent; (ii) profile background of the organization; (iii) environmental sustainable system; (iv) environmental sustainable structure; (v) environmental sustainable practices; (vi) environmental sustainable processes; and (vii) organizational factors related to environmental sustainable practices. Primary data was collected for a seven-month period, from January through July 2016, during the two sessions of field study. The primary data collection methods were used to derive information to enable the examination of the study propositions. Secondary data were collected throughout the study period. Information on the general background of the hotels, and the various EMS quality awards’ requirements were derived through published information on websites and government publications. Other information on the concepts under investigation would be derived from published research surveys (thesis and journal articles), unpublished dissertation reports, published data on statistical economic reports and information on the hospitality industry by Tourism Malaysia, Ministry of Tourism Malaysia, and the Malaysian Association of Hotels. For this case study research, all responses, except information on demographic profiles, would be cross check with records, reports and/or documentations where possible. For this study, the descriptive output form would be used to illustrate the data/information collected on the environmental sustainability variables via the transcripts from the in-depth interviews, the documentations and researcher’s reports from the observations. Table 3.1 illustrated the 10 types of concepts to be examined, the targeted respondents, and the data collection methods for each concept type. 3.4 Identification of Patterns and Similarities The presentation flow of data and information were based on the identification of patterns and similarities in the concepts. The following decision rule were used to identify patterns or
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similarities on each of the concepts measured. The confirmation of patterns and similarities were based on the two-following ruling: i) Acceptable Percentage: 50% to 100% ii) Range of Acceptable Ranking: 1 to 3
TABLE 3.1: Concepts, Respondents and the Corresponding Data Collection Methods
No Concepts Respondents Data Collection Methods
1 Environmental Management Systems
General Manager
Personal Interview, observation, and semi-structured questionnaire Verify through Documentation/Records
2 Environmental Management Structure
General Manager Cross check with Human Resource Management Manager
Personal Interview, observation, and semi-structured questionnaire Verify through Documentation/Records
3 Environmental Management Practices
Human Resource Management Manager Cross check with Executive Housekeeper
Personal Interview, observation, and semi-structured questionnaire Verify through Documentation/Records
4 Environmental Management Operations
Executive Housekeeper Cross check with Documentation
Personal Interview, observation, and semi-structured questionnaire Verify through Documentation/Records
5 Human Resources Management Practices
Human Resource Management Manager Cross check with General Manager
Self-Administered questionnaire Verify through Documentation/Records
6 Employee Competencies
Guestroom Attendants Cross check with Human Resource Manager
Personal Interview Verify through Documentation/Records
7
Cost Savings (cost savings on implementation of sustainability practices)
Executive Housekeeper Cross check with Records
Review of records/documentation of room area inventory and utility expenses.
8 Senior Management Profile
General Manager Semi – structured questionnaire
9 Executive Housekeeper Profile
Executive Housekeeper Semi – structured questionnaire
10 Guestroom Attendant Profile
Guestroom Attendants Semi – structured questionnaire
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4. Results and Discussion
4.1 Identifications of Patterns and Similarities
The following decision rule were used to identify patterns or similarities on each of the concepts measured.
4.1.1 Similarities in Environmental Management System
Table 4.1 illustrated the similarities in EMS used by the city and resort hotel groups. Of the 10 hotels, seven hotels had EMS, four hotels had their own worldwide systems called either LightStay, Planet-Friendly or Planet 21. One hotel used the regional certification termed as ASEAN Green Hotel, another one hotel used the Australian certification called the EarthCheck, while one hotel employed the Malaysian certification called Green Hotel. Of the other three hotels, one hotel indicated that it had not used any system. The other two had stated that they were working towards a system, but one hotel had decided to abandon the process of acquiring the green certification requirement.
TABLE 4.1:
Similarities in Environmental Management System
Rank
Type
Environmental Management
System
Number of Hotels (Cases)
1 Own Worldwide Chain LightStay Planet-Friendly Planet 21
4
2 Regional certification ASEAN Green Hotel 1 2 Australian certification EarthCheck 1
2 Malaysian certification Green Hotel 1
Subtotal 7 No system 1 Working towards ISO14001 1 Abandon ISO14001 1 Subtotal 3 Total 10
4.1.2 Patterns and Similarities in the Factors of EMS
In identifying patterns and similarities in the factors of the EMS, of the eight factors, only one factor which was on the availability of internal environmental management audit process, emerged in 50% of the cases examined and was also rank as one.
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TABLE 4.2:
Patterns and Similarities in the Factors of EMS
Rank Environmental Management Systems Percentage Level
1 Availability of Internal EMS Audit 50%
Very High
4.1.3 Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Structure
Table 4.3 indicated the patterns and similarities in environmental sustainable structure. There were altogether six factors that were used in measuring the extent of importance of the environmental sustainable structure. Of the six factors, five factors emerged in 50% or over of the cases, but only four were ranked from one to three. The following factors that was ranked as the highest with similarities in nine of the 10 hotels was on the availability of green team or green committee. Closely matching that component, which were indicated as also very high in eight of the hotel cases was on the composition of the green team/committee that comprised of many different departments and levels of personnel. Similarities were also detected in the scope of EMS committee responsibility and on the availability of management review team where 60% of the cases detected those two components both at very high levels.
TABLE 4.3:
Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Structure
Rank Environmental Sustainable Structure Percentage Level 1 Availability of green team or green
committee 90% Very High
2 Green team or green committee made up of many different departments and levels of personnel
80%
Very High
3 Scope of EMS committee responsibility 60% Very High 3 Availability of Management Review team 60% Very High
4.1.4 Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Practices
Table 4.4 illustrated the patterns and similarities in environmental sustainable practices. On the similarities in environmental sustainable practices, three similarities were found of the six factors used in determining the importance of the environmental sustainable practices. The top similarity which was detected in 60% of the hotel cases was on the aspects of guest room designs and concepts towards environmental sustainability which was also rated as high. The next two components which were on the depth and breadth of green practices, and on the provision of appropriate information on green practices to the employees were traced in 50% of the hotel cases and both components were very highly rated.
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TABLE 4.4:
Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Practices
Rank Environmental Sustainable Practices Percentage Level 1 Aspects of guest room designs and
concepts towards Environmental Sustainability
60% High
2 Depth and breadth of green practices 50% Very High
2 Provision of appropriate information on green practices to the employees
50% Very High
4.1.5 Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Operations
Table 4.5 illustrated the patterns and similarities in environmental sustainable operations. In identifying patterns or similarities in the environmental sustainable operations, there were six components used in measuring the concept’s importance. Of the six factors, four met the criteria of significance. Ranked at the top was on the extensiveness of waste minimization activities where 80% of the hotel cases indicated similarity. The next two components, ranked at second, were on the extensiveness of energy savings and the extensiveness in the recycling activities, where they were noted in seven of the 10 hotel cases. The next component which was ranked as third was on the extensiveness of environmental sustainable operational activities.
TABLE 4.5:
Patterns and Similarities in Environmental Sustainable Operations
Rank Environmental Sustainable Operations Percentage Level
1 Extensiveness Waste Minimization activities
80% Very High
2 Extensiveness of Energy Savings related to Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning HVAC activities
70% Very High
2 Extensiveness in the Recycling activities 70% Very High 3 Extensiveness of Environmental
Sustainable operational activities
60% Very High
4.1.6 Patterns and Similarities in Human Resource Management Practices
Table 4.6 illustrated the patterns and similarities in human resource management practices. Patterns and similarities were detected on all four components of the human resource management practices. The three top factors that were detected in seven of the 10 hotel cases were on the human resources planning, the staffing, and the performance evaluation functions. The compensation function was rated as second was identified in 60% of the hotel cases.
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TABLE 4.6:
Patterns and Similarities in Human Resource Management Practices
Rank Human Resource Management Practices Percentage Level 1 Human Resources Planning
Labour market, Internal and External Labour sources, Succession planning, Career planning
70% High
1 Staffing: Hiring criteria, Employee ethnicity
70% High
1 Performance Evaluation: Evaluation criteria, Assessment regularity
70% High
2 Compensation: Basic wages/salary, Types of benefits, Awards
60% Average
4.1.7 Patterns and Similarities in Guest Room Attendants’ Competencies
Table 4.7 illustrated the patterns and similarities in guest room attendants’ competencies level. The two competencies that were detected in 60% of the hotel cases were the basic competency and the social competency where both were top rated. The next two competencies which were rated as second in rank were the conceptual and the practical competencies were indicated in 50% of the hotel cases.
TABLE 4.7:
Patterns and Similarities in Guest Room Attendants’ Competencies
Rank Guest Room Attendants Competencies Percentage Level 1 Basic Competence:
Know history, objectives, business concept, and Environmental Sustainability policy of the organization
60%
High
1 Social Competence: Teamwork and support, Level of support in the organization’s Environmental Sustainable Practices.
60%
High
2 Conceptual Competence: Understand his/her responsibilities, Awareness of Environmental Sustainable Operations in the organization
50%
High
2 Practical Knowledge: Level of proficiency in oral and written communications, Level of job skills attained, Have experiences with Environmental Sustainable practices.
50%
High
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4.1.8 Patterns and Similarities in Organizational Factors
Table 4.8 illustrated the patterns and similarities in organizational factors. The top-rated factor where 80% of the 10 city and resort hotels combined indicated similarity was the star-rating. Eight of the 10 hotels indicated that they were rated as five-star. The second highly rated factor was on the number of hotel rooms. Six of the 10 hotels had over 400 rooms. Apparently, these two factors would more likely be considered in establishing an EMS.
TABLE 4.8:
Patterns and Similarities in Organizational Factors
Rank Organizational Factors Percentage Level 1 Star Rating 80% 5-star 2 Hotel Size 60% Over 400 rooms
4.1.9 Patterns and Similarities in General Managers’ Attributes
Table 4.9 illustrated the patterns and similarities in General Managers’ attributes. The results indicated two personal characteristics that were part of the General Managers’ attributes that were considered as important were his/her experience in the sector, and his/her education level. But, both factors were not significant enough since only 40% of the cases indicated them as important.
TABLE 4.9:
Patterns and Similarities in General Managers’ Attributes
Rank General Managers’ Attributes
Percentage Level
1 General Managers’ Experience
40% 20-29 Years
1 General Managers’ Education
40% Degree in other field International University
4.1.10 Patterns and Similarities in General Managers’ Knowledge and Awareness on EMS
Table 4.10 illustrated the patterns and similarities in General Managers’ knowledge and awareness on EMS. The results indicated one characteristic considered as important was the General Managers’ understanding on the strategic economic impact of EMS. This component was considered as important in 60% of the 10 hotels. Understanding this implication would be important in influencing the other components and in ensuring the continuity in the system’s implementation. The other components, even though they were highly rated, but only 40% of the hotels rated them as such.
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TABLE 4.10:
Patterns and Similarities in General Managers’ Knowledge and Awareness on Environmental Management System.
Rank General Manager Knowledge Percentage Level 1 Understand the strategic economic
impact of EMS 60% Very High
4.1.11 Patterns and Similarities in Executive Housekeepers’ Attributes
Table 4.11 illustrated the patterns and similarities in Executive Housekeepers’ attributes. The results indicated there were 3 factors that were top rated. They were on the Executive Housekeepers’ level of awareness on environmental sustainable operational activities, on their level of commitment to environmental sustainable operational activities, and on their level of understanding on the strategic economic impact of environmental sustainable operational activities. All three components were indicated in 60% of the hotel cases.
TABLE 4.11:
Patterns and Similarities in Executive Housekeepers’ Attributes
Rank Executive Housekeepers’ Attributes Percentage Level 1 Level of awareness on Environmental
Sustainable operational activities 60% Very High
1 Level of commitment to Environmental
Sustainable operational activities 60% Very High
1 Understand the strategic economic
impact of Environmental Sustainable operational activities
60%
Very High
4.1.12 Patterns and Similarities in Guest Room Attendants’ Attributes
Table 4.12 illustrated the patterns and similarities in guest room attendants’ attributes. The results indicated only two factors were highly rated and were found in 60% of the hotel cases. They were on their level of awareness on environmental sustainable operational activities, and on their level of support to environmental sustainable operational activities.
TABLE 4.12:
Patterns and Similarities in Guest Room Attendants’ Attributes
Rank Executive Housekeepers’ Attributes Percentage Level 1 Level of awareness on Environmental
Sustainable operational activities 60% High
1 Level of support to Environmental
Sustainable operational activities
60% High
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4.2 Identification of Significant Findings
Based on the findings on the overall alignment and the identification of patterns and similarities, the following significant findings were derived:
Significant Finding 1: Availability and Composition of Green Team/Committee.
In 90% of the hotel cases, regardless whether they have a formalized EMS or not, they had green team or green committee. This committee was chaired by the General Manager with the Chief Engineer was the advisor (due to their expertise in energy and water saving). All heads of department and senior staff would be members of the committee/team. The hotels would have developed a ‘Green Program’ to encourage their guests to participate in hotel environmental program.
Significant Finding 2: Extensiveness in Waste Minimization and Energy Savings Activities
Seventy percent and above of the hotels in the study indicated the importance of the waste minimization and energy savings activities. There were six factors used the determination of the level of environmental sustainable operational activities in the hotels. Of the six factors, two factors were consistently rated highly which were waste minimization (which include recycling) and energy savings activities. The popular waste minimization activity includes recycling of used bed sheets and towels into sheets for baby cots and used towels into hand and face towels; using of recycling bins for used plastic bottles, papers and glass materials and newspapers provided to rooms upon request only. The popular energy saving activity includes the used of energy efficient lighting such as LED light and electronic E-Ballast, using sensors and timer using magnetic key card system, installation of double-glazed window and outsourcing laundry services.
Significant Finding 3: Human Resource Management: Human Resource Planning, Staffing and Performance Evaluation
The human resource planning, staffing and performance evaluation functions were considered as important in seven of the 10 hotels in the study. Among the human resource planning function that received high rating were the availability of career path and career development programs, preference for local workers for supervisory positions, foreigner workers for operational levels, monitoring of local labour supply, preference for internal promotion, maintaining strong relationships with local colleges as a source of external supply. In the staffing function, the emphasized were on the criteria for hiring such as good attitude, communication skills, and ability to do the job, and work experience; the hiring and promotional procedures such as performance records, achievement of performance goals, and quality of performance. The performance evaluation function focused on the key performance indicators which would include the employee’s discipline, job knowledge, productivity, dependability, attitude, and teamwork; the regularity of assessment which would be twice annually, and the procedure for providing feedback which would include face-to-face discussion on employee self-assessment and supervisor’s assessment.
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Significant Finding 4: Inclination of the Resort Hotels to be more supportive of the Environmental Management Practices compared to the City Hotels.
The resort hotel group had indicated that full support was found in 7 of the 10 propositions. High extent of alignment was found in the association amongst the (i) EMS and environmental management structure; (ii) EMS and environmental sustainable practices; (iii) EMS and environmental sustainable operations; (iv) General Managers’ attributes and EMS; (v) human resource management practices and environmental sustainable operations; (vi) guest room attendants’ competencies and environmental sustainable operations; and (vii) EMS’s level of compliance to green requirements. No full alignment was identified in the city hotel group.
Significant Finding 5: Environmental Policy, Vision and Mission Statement.
Even though the resort hotel group had indicated high alignment in 7 of the 10 propositions, the formulation of those concepts such as the EMS, environmental management structure, environmental sustainable operations, had not necessarily been guided by the environmental policy, vision or mission statement. Only 1 resort hotel had an environmental policy which stated that the hotel would focus on the reduction of energy and water consumption, on minimization of waste emissions, that it was on an ongoing journey toward environmental sustainability, and that it was reconsidering its supply chain. Another resort hotel had mentioned environmental in its vision statement. It stated that, among others that it would value its place in the community and would cooperate to develop the relationships and to respect and protect the environment. A resort hotel had indicated however, that the ASEAN Green Hotel award had Environment Policy Statement as being part of the requirements for the award.
4.3 Overall Findings
Based on the identification of significant finding as revealed in 4.2 above. The following two overall significant findings were derived:
Overall Significant Findings 1: Strategic Approach of Environmental Management
The hotels in this study lacked the strategic focused on environmental management upon which the EMS, environmental management structure, environmental sustainable practices and environmental sustainable operations should have been developed. Environmental conservation efforts should have a long-term approach and efforts within the organizations should be properly coordinated and also coordinated with the surrounding communities. The hotels seemed to be more incline towards short-term approach to environmental management. The hotels in this study only focused on myopic operational issues. Nine of the 10 hotels had green team or committee that was responsible for environmental sustainable initiatives and to ensure that the activities would be carried out as planned. The focused of activities were mainly operational, such as energy and water usage conservation and waste minimization. The committee would review the resource usage and would provide suggestions on improving these activities.
Overall Significant Findings 2: Leadership Commitment and Continual Support for Environmental Management
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Hotel’s organization leadership that were committed and were aware on the importance of environmental conservation efforts were vital to ensure the sustainability of environmental management. One characteristic considered as important would be the leadership’s understanding on the strategic economic impact of EMS. Understanding this implication would be important in influencing the other factors that would ensure the continuity in the system’s implementation. Smith and Muller (2016) indicated four organisational enablers (leadership, rewards and recognitions, corporate sustainability strategy and innovation) and two sustainability drivers (regulations and stakeholder interests and access to capital) would create an environment conducive to a culture of sustainability.
5. Conclusion
The study was undertaken to examine and explore the extent of alignment amongst four major internal processes related to environmental management, which were EMS, environmental management structure, environmental sustainable practices and environmental sustainable operations. A comprehensive review of literature revealed that the focus of previous research was mainly on the requirements of the various green or environmental standards across the globe. Very few researches had considered the micro aspects on how environmental management is integrated within organizations’ processes.
5.1 Limitations and Suggestions for Future Research
This study had set the limits on the length and breadth of the concepts to be investigated as determined by the research objectives, but it does not mean that there were no other concepts of importance that could be considered. Future research investigation could possibly focus from a different perspective such as from the environmental conservation, or from the community perspective. This study focuses on the internal processes of environmental management within the organization and it takes an organizational approach. Thus, the concept of alignment amongst the concepts was important. Most of the cases had been unable or unwilling to provide information on cost-savings from their environmental sustainable operations. This information is important as it was intended to be used as the possible short-term indicator of performance effectiveness. However, it might also be unrealistic to use that information in comparing the performance amongst the cases in this study. A longitudinal study on very few cases might be more reliable using cost savings as performance indicator.
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