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Working within the front-of-house/back-of-house boundary: Room attendants in the hotel guest room space

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 February 2015

Bronwyn Boon
Bronwyn Boon*
Affiliation:
Department of Management, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Abstract

Context is an important but largely ignored dimension of quality service encounters. This paper contributes to the hospitality service industries literature by examining how the front-of-house and back-of-house boundary work (Nippert-Eng 1996, 2003) engaged by Room Attendants working within the hotel guest room space impact on the hospitality impression management performed. Qualitative data from fieldwork engaging with hotel employees located within the tourist resort of Queenstown New Zealand are used to explore the multiple fronts on which the front-of-house and back-of-house boundaries are simultaneously negotiated. The results suggest that Room Attendants negotiate the front-of-house and back-of-house boundary through objects – such as the guest room and articles belonging to the guest – and aspects of self– such as impression management, safety, socialising and self-responsibility for room checking. The results support the importance of considering context when seeking to understand the complexities associated with the (re)production of a reliably positive service encounter.

Keywords

hotelsservice encounterdramaturgicalfront-of-houseback-of-houseboundaries
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 160 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2007

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