Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; n. 32 (2019); 9-24
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Resumo: More and more, products' and services' quality appear as key competitive factors and thus, companies' quality management system becomes a critical issue for managers. However, although the adoption of ISO standards has been extensively studied in manufacturing companies, in services contexts research is still scarce, especially in some sectors. In this study, we analyze several issues related to the development and implementation of ISO-based quality management in the hotel sector. The research was developed through a case study conducted in a ve-star hotel located on the south coast of Madeira (Portugal). Data was gathered through interviews and internal documents. Results show that several diculties/obstacles had to be overcome, such as resistance to change associated with fear of work overload and bureaucracy, collaboration problems with other parties, and lack of knowledge about key issues. Nevertheless, through tasks systematization, new methodologies implementation, and extensive training of employees, the development of an ISO-based quality management system led to signicant improvements in several aspects, including eciency, productivity. Although the development of ISO-based quality management systems in the hotel sector implies several changes in managers' mindset concerning several issues (e.g. customer needs, innovation processes, marketing issues, human resources, knowledge management), properly implemented and certied systems can bring added value, through continuous improvement eorts, increased quality of services, among other benets. Our study contributes with interesting insights both to hotels' managers wishing to improve quality management systems and to the development of theory on quality management in the hospitality sector.
