To understand this issue, interviews and questionnaires
were conducted from MNC hotels in Saudi Arabia. In-depth
semi-structured interviews with 6 General Managers (GMs)
and 6 Human Resource Directors (HRDs) were conducted;
this was followed with a Work Practice Questionnaire (WPQ),
where Saudi employees could extend the scope of the
coverage and identify the information that could not be
obtained by only interviewing the hotel managers. The
interviews provided the opportunity for understanding the
manager’s perspectives of how employees in the Saudi hotel
sector perceive HRM practices, and the application of those
practices in the sector. The questions were asked in the
interviews are:
Q1: What is the most important HRM practices used in your
hotel?
Q2: Do you use HRM practices as they are provided by your
parent company or do you make changes to those them to meet
the Saudi context?
The twelve (12) interviewees from 6 multinational hotels
were willing to participate in the study. The sample consisted
of: 5 Saudis, 2 Jordanians, 1 British, 1 Lebanese, 1 Indonesian,
1 Dutch, and 1 Egyptian. These were considered to be
decision-makers within Saudi hotels. The sample was chosen
as the GMs and HRDs were more knowledgeable about, and
experienced with, the management and HRM practices
implemented in their hotels. Importantly, the sample reflected
[19] considerations that the selected sample should have the
knowledge and experience of information important to the
research.
Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were used to
ensure that the same topic areas were covered with all
participants. However, participants were also encouraged to
talk freely about any issue related to HRM policies and
practices, and to describe and reflect upon their experiences.
The interviews were audio-taped in the participant’s office. No
participant’s private details were collected. The participants
were assured that they were free to withdraw at any time,
without prejudice, and that participation was voluntary.
Further, they were informed that the data are confidential and
anonymity was guaranteed. The audiotapes were transcribed
and content analyses used with transcribed data coded into
different themes.
After conducting the interviews and analysing the data,
the WPQ of Saudi hotel employees was used to assist in
answering the following research question:
Q3: Which HRM practices are more preferred in MNC hotels
by Saudi employees?
The WPQ was developed by researchers based on human
resource practice choices proposed by Schuler and Jackson in
1987, and used by [8], [37]. The WPQ scale represented the
most commonly used practices applicable to all organisations,
including hotel corporations in Saudi Arabia and consists of
five dimensions and 34 items. The dimensions include:
planning and the nature of the job (which is the process that
organisations use to combine various factors to form a job
which considers individual employee requirements);
recruitment and selection; performance and evaluation; salary
and wages; and training. Each dimension containes between 6
and 9 items. The WPQ is based on a five-point bipolar rating
scale. The items present two choices of HRM practice
statements, left and right on the scale.
Scores of 1 and 2 on the left indicated a strong agreement,
and agreement of the statement/practice, whereas scores of 4
and 5 on the right indicated strong agreement and agreement
of the statement/practice. Respondents were required to decide
as to which option they preferred. Further, they were informed
that there was no right or wrong answer, and that they should
indicate their choice by circling the preferred number between
the two HRM practice statements. The WPQ was written in
both English and Arabic. A total of 325 usable questionnaires
(out of 520) were completed by Saudi employees; this
response rate of 62 per cent was a good level of response.