Patah, Mohd Onn Rashdi Abd (2017) Developing a career in the Malaysian hotel industry : a narrative analysis of the career experiences of local middle managers. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

The career pathways and aspirations of the next generation of hotel managers have not been previously documented or studied thoroughly, primarily because the majority of available studies have focused on the success stories of current hotel general managers. Many career-related studies have highlighted the importance of career development, and the purpose of this study was to address this gap in the research in the hotel industry by exploring the career pathways of middle managers through the understanding of their educational and training background, career experiences, factors that contribute and opportunities available for them.

A qualitative study, using interviews and narrative analysis, was conducted in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with 14 current hotel middle managers (the heads of hotel departments), 11 former middle managers and three hotel general managers. Participants were contacted via the professional social media platform, LinkedIn. Using Career Construction Theory (Savickas (2005) and its three components of vocational personality, life theme and career adaptability as the meta-theory, this research examined the career experiences of participants to understand middle managers’ career pathways and aspirations from their own career stories or narratives. Each interview was recorded and transcribed and the responses were then coded by using the Atlas.ti™ software.

The findings were used to discuss and address the research questions set for this research. The results were also linked to the managers’ career development opportunity structures, which may have influenced their decision to stay, progress or leave the industry.

Several contributions were highlighted which include the importance of education and training, the personal narratives of each manager on their work experiences, the varied extent of the available opportunities, and the skills development of the middle managers in this research. Overall, it can be concluded that the middle managers’ career aspirations were individually constructed, contextualised by the opportunities available to them, continuous learning experiences, skills development, changes in their life stages, support that they received and the extent to which they were successful in adapting the challenges involved in their career transitions.

Item Type:	Thesis or Dissertation (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor T Technology > TX Home economics
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Hotelkeepers -- Malaysia -- Kuala Lumpur -- Interviews, Hospitality industry -- Malaysia -- Kuala Lumpur, Hotels -- Malaysia -- Kuala Lumpur, Career development -- Malaysia -- Kuala Lumpur
Official Date:	December 2017
Dates:	Date Event December 2017 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Institute for Employment Research
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Lyonette, Clare ; Brown, Alan (Alan John), 1950-
Extent:	xiv, 288 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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