Moral Intensity and Service Delivery in the Hospitality Industry: The Value of Codes of Ethics

There are frequent ethical lapses and ethical dilemmas which are encountered by the hospitality industry employees at all levels in the hotel organizational hierarchies which result from the many day-to-day interactions with the guests and other stakeholders. This research is based on a literature-based exploratory overview research methodology and suggests that without the effective codes of ethics and a high level of moral intensity, a hotel cannot hope to be successful in an industry which is saturated for the most part and increasingly under the spotlight by the customers who seek the best value for money deals. The research thus aids the hotel service providers to assess the ethicality of their current service conditions from a customer’s standpoint. While the codes of ethics may be in place, these can in no way conceivably cover every possible contingency. Nonetheless the good judgment of the employees, based on ethics in the workplace, is indispensable to the delivery of service quality excellence.