International Hotel Manager as an Emerging Concept: A Review of Expatriate Management Literature and a Model Proposal

Abstract

Focusing on the concept of international hotel manager, the overall aim of this article is to build up a connection between issues in the generic literature of expatriate management and the notion of international hotel manager. In this sense, the study begins with a review of expatriate management literature in order to illustrate emerging issues. Interpretation of findings of literature search suggests that it is possible to identify four distinct groups of articles referring to (a) adaptation to different cultures, (b) human resource management (HRM) in the context of expatriate managers, (c) women expatriate managers, and (d) other related issues. The review of hospitality management literature, on the other hand, reveals that studies focus particularly on the definition of the international hotel manager concept and identification of skills and competencies of effective international hotel managers. Following this theoretical foundation, a process-based model for international hotel managers is proposed. This model is constituted by 4 main stages, including recruitment and selection, predeparture preparation, foreign assignment, and repatriation. Consequently, it can be suggested that this article highlights the crucial importance of the international hotel manager as an emerging concept, and reveals future research opportunities.