Development and validation of a hospitality idiosyncratic deals scale

Abstract

This study explores middle and senior hotel managers’ perceptions of their own idiosyncratic deals (i-deals) and develops a scale to measure i-deals in the Chinese hospitality industry. The study uses a mixed research method consisting of a questionnaire survey of 675 middle and senior hotel managers and in-depth interviews with 20 knowledge workers in the hotel industry in mainland China. The findings reveal that there are three types of i-deals in the Chinese hospitality industry: (1) career and incentives i-deals; (2) task i-deals; and (3) flexibility i-deals. The study proposes and validates a three-dimensional scale of hotel managers’ i-deals, thereby enriching our understanding of the idiosyncratic terms of employment in the hospitality industry.