Towards business excellence in the hospitality industry: A case for 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Iran

This study aims to develop and suggest a new 'in-house' quality improvement model for small- and medium-sized hotels. This model is assumed to be fast, simple, and effective for hospitality organisations because it includes the proven critical success factors of Kanji's excellence model. In addition, this article provides a better understanding of how different groups of frontline managers, chiefs, and employees perceive their readiness towards the business excellence culture and performance in 3-, 4-, and 5-star hotels in Tehran, Iran. The survey data used in the analyses include a sample size of 507 managers, chiefs, and lower-level employees. A one-way ANOVA analysis was used to test significant differences and business excellence performance of the proposed model. Using a self-administered Questionnaire, we found that most employees, chiefs, and managers in Tehran gave their lowest scores to quality culture practices and business excellence performance.