The Influence of Institutional Environment on Quality Management in Hotels

The purpose of this investigation is to study the link between Institutional Theory and quality practices in three, four and five star hotels located in Galicia (in northwest Spain). This investigation aims to characterize the institutional environment of these hotels, which will allow the various determinants explaining the implementation of quality management practices to be measured. To achieve these objectives, a research model that links the pressures of the institutional context with quality practices, and the latter with legitimacy, was developed and used. A quantitative study was carried out in which the referred model was applied to a sample of the hotel population using the partial least squares (PLS) technique and Visual-PLS software. The primary results of this investigation show that the hotels are incorporated in an institutional context mainly marked by normative pressure. This pressure tries to determine the norms and values through the accreditation of their behaviour. However, legitimacy and social support are the result of the behaviour of the hotels under study. It is important to note that the originality of this work derives from the set of main contributions based on the theoretical framework, Institutional Theory, objects under study and geographical area (the higher rank hotels in Galicia); the socio-economic context marked by the economic crisis; and the type of hotel entities (private and profit making).