'Where Is My Wooden Key Card?': How Chain Hotels Embrace ESG/CSR Practices
(2024) SMMM40 20241Department of Service Studies
- Abstract
- The hotel industry's growth raises concerns about its societal and environmental impacts, prompting hotels to engage in various practices for environmental preservation, fair HR management, and community well-being among others. Previously reporting on such practices in their sustainability reports, hotel chains now feel a stronger obligation to adhere to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles due to the updated and reinforced regulations regarding social and environmental reporting mandated by the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Set to be disclosed in 2025, the format of the new ESG reports remains unknown; meanwhile, ambiguity persists in current reports, hindering us, readers from discerning individual... (More)
- The hotel industry's growth raises concerns about its societal and environmental impacts, prompting hotels to engage in various practices for environmental preservation, fair HR management, and community well-being among others. Previously reporting on such practices in their sustainability reports, hotel chains now feel a stronger obligation to adhere to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles due to the updated and reinforced regulations regarding social and environmental reporting mandated by the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Set to be disclosed in 2025, the format of the new ESG reports remains unknown; meanwhile, ambiguity persists in current reports, hindering us, readers from discerning individual contributions by hotels within chains. This leads scholars to engage in the 'disclosure-performance gap' debate, with studies yielding different outcomes. In response to the debate, this thesis tracked how ESG/CSR practices are translated across chain hotels, employing go-along interviews at a chain hotel located in a city in Southern Sweden. The findings, analysed with the help of the Strategy-as-Practice theory and the strategy framework, revealed a complex strategy of integrating ESG/CSR practices into the operations of the hotel's operational departments. In this strategy, the headquarters disseminate practices using language and myth, and departments within the hotel actively embed these practices by routinising them in their operations, continuously reflecting on their past initiatives, reciprocating their daily initiatives with other departments, and building resilience when faced with guest concerns. Nevertheless, the findings, confirming previous studies, demonstrate that the presence of a well-defined integration strategy does not necessarily eliminate the existing gap. The findings suggest that the hotel must comply with local standards and may face limitations in implementing certain practices advocated by the headquarters, such as local community donations. It also takes time for certain practices, such as procuring wooden key cards, to become fully widespread across all locations within the chain. However, these inconsistencies between the chain's reports and hotel practices could lead to ‘green hushing’ and deviations from practices like employee training. Recognising the significant environmental and social impact of hotels, chains should prioritise disclosing their practices at every establishment. Failure to do so may lead to persistent questions like ‘Where Is My Wooden Key Card?', even with stringent regulations under mandatory reporting, leaving room for discrepancies to arise. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9168894
- author
- Zeynalzade, Sara LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SMMM40 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- CSRD, ESG, CSR, Hotel Industry, Sustainability, Strategy, Practices, Routines, Strategy-as-Practice, Qualitative, Go-along, Reporting
- language
- English
- id
- 9168894
- date added to LUP
- 2024-08-05 14:23:29
- date last changed
- 2024-08-05 14:23:29
@misc{9168894, abstract = {{The hotel industry's growth raises concerns about its societal and environmental impacts, prompting hotels to engage in various practices for environmental preservation, fair HR management, and community well-being among others. Previously reporting on such practices in their sustainability reports, hotel chains now feel a stronger obligation to adhere to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles due to the updated and reinforced regulations regarding social and environmental reporting mandated by the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive. Set to be disclosed in 2025, the format of the new ESG reports remains unknown; meanwhile, ambiguity persists in current reports, hindering us, readers from discerning individual contributions by hotels within chains. This leads scholars to engage in the 'disclosure-performance gap' debate, with studies yielding different outcomes. In response to the debate, this thesis tracked how ESG/CSR practices are translated across chain hotels, employing go-along interviews at a chain hotel located in a city in Southern Sweden. The findings, analysed with the help of the Strategy-as-Practice theory and the strategy framework, revealed a complex strategy of integrating ESG/CSR practices into the operations of the hotel's operational departments. In this strategy, the headquarters disseminate practices using language and myth, and departments within the hotel actively embed these practices by routinising them in their operations, continuously reflecting on their past initiatives, reciprocating their daily initiatives with other departments, and building resilience when faced with guest concerns. Nevertheless, the findings, confirming previous studies, demonstrate that the presence of a well-defined integration strategy does not necessarily eliminate the existing gap. The findings suggest that the hotel must comply with local standards and may face limitations in implementing certain practices advocated by the headquarters, such as local community donations. It also takes time for certain practices, such as procuring wooden key cards, to become fully widespread across all locations within the chain. However, these inconsistencies between the chain's reports and hotel practices could lead to ‘green hushing’ and deviations from practices like employee training. Recognising the significant environmental and social impact of hotels, chains should prioritise disclosing their practices at every establishment. Failure to do so may lead to persistent questions like ‘Where Is My Wooden Key Card?', even with stringent regulations under mandatory reporting, leaving room for discrepancies to arise.}}, author = {{Zeynalzade, Sara}}, language = {{eng}}, note = {{Student Paper}}, title = {{'Where Is My Wooden Key Card?': How Chain Hotels Embrace ESG/CSR Practices}}, year = {{2024}}, }