Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to examine hotel managers intentions to offer Internship to TVET Students June E. Clarke Lyons – PhD Delaware State

Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to examine hotel managers intentions to offer Internship to TVET Students

June E. Clarke Lyons – PhDDelaware State University

& David Njite – PhD

The University of New Orleans

U n i v e r s i t y LOGO

http://www.uno.edu/index.aspx


Introduction and Background Statement

The concept:

Experiential learning, does not have a standard or universally accepted definition

• It is important to providing the following:

• on-the-job training (Van Hoff, 2000)

• personal as well as professional development (Kolb, 1984)

• To enhance critical thinking skills and abilities (Sims-Muhammad, 2012)


Experiential learning implies:

• internship (Gault, Reddington, & Schlager, 2000; Moore, 2010) most common

• service learning (Moore, 2010; Cantor, 1995; Stanton, 1995)

• cooperative education (Gault et al., 2000; Moore, 2010)

• experiential education (Chapman et al., 1995; Conrad & Hedin, 1981; Druian et al.,

1980; Joplin, 1980)

• learning at work (Ellström, 2001)

• community service learning (Parker et al., 2009),

Purpose of Current Study


Examine the managers’ motivations to offer internships to college and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students in Jamaica. Specific Objectives

• Determine the salient beliefs that motivate hotel managers to offer internships to hospitality management college/TVET students in Jamaica.

• Identify the belief(s) managers value the most for offering internships

• Document managerial and theoretical implications of the findings.


Literature ReviewTechnical Vocational Education & Training

TVET

• Dates back to ancient times• In Jamaica, TVET dates back to the British rule

Important educational strategy (Tabbron & Yang, 1997; UNESCO, 2009)

TVET has a closer and more direct link with economic and professional development (Mouzakitis, 2010).


The Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry is considered a knowledge-based industry (Pizam, 2007).

This industry is labor intensive that requires and seeks well trained and experienced personnel (Purcell, 1993).

Internships provide opportunity for both knowledge and hands on experience


The Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB)

TPB (Ajzen, 1991) provides the paradigm for research and basis for explaining managers’ behavior

The TPB was developed (Ajzen, 1985) as a modification to the theory of reasoned action (TRA) (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980).

TPB suggests that three independent variables predict intentions

dWD ŽĚĞů

Behavior (B)

Intention to Offer

Internships (IOI)

Subjective Norm (SN)

Attitude toward the Behavior

(ATT)

Perceived Behavioral

Control (PBC)

Behavioral Beliefs (BB)

Normative Beliefs (NB)

Control Beliefs (CB)


Methodology- Research Methods

Sample and Sampling

• Population of interest: hotel managers in Jamaica .

• Purposeful sampling (Patton, 1990) and expert referencing used

• Twenty-five hotel managers working in the hotel industry in Jamaica.

• Data collected through individual Interviews.


Methodology - Research Methods

Instrument

• The questionnaire consisted of five sections

• Section 1-4: open-ended questions eliciting managers’ salient beliefs

Section 5: managers’ demographics


METHODOLOGY

Data Collection

Interviews conducted over a two-week period

Interview sessions were approximately 30

minutes

Interviews were digitally recorded

Data Analysis

• Content analysis techniques, a priori coding, descriptive data

U n i v e r s i t y L O G O

Results Demographic Profile of Respondents

Respondents Demographic

Respondents Description # of Respondents

Management Levels General Manager 3 Hotel Manager 1 HR Manager 6 Food & Beverage Manager 2 Executive Chef 1 Total 13Gender Male 6 Female 7 Total 13


Results

Managers Understanding of Internships

• An icebreaker question was used to initiate

the interview in order to determine the

managers’ salient beliefs and to acquire a

better understanding of what “internship"

meant to these managers.


Results of AnalysisSection one (1) Questions and Responses

Questions Responses /AnalysisWhat does it mean to refer to an activity as an internship? What exactly does an internship involve?

hands-on-learning, putting theory into practice. Training, Employmentpractical experience and exposure

Do you play a role in offering and providing opportunities for internship and how?

recruitment, selectionorientation, training, and schedulinglearning environment with support staff

About your actions to offer internship, what comes to mind?

fulfilling social obligation- molding young minds - providing career guidance- preparing and training human resources for the

operation and nation building


Results Section two (2) Questions and Responses

Questions Responses /Content AnalysisWhat are the consequences that come to mind regarding offering internship opportunities?

relationship buildingsupply of future employeesreduction in employment costAccess to new knowledgecompetency and knowledge improvement, among others

What are some consequences of not offering internship opportunities that you can think of?

not having the opportunity to train the students for future positions in the hospitality industry.

What are some other advantages or disadvantages to offering internship opportunities?

interns not able to apply knowledgethe time to train the studentssome interns not serious or not willing to commit self- due to a lack of interest or because - the internship is not salaried Not able to provide housing accommodation


Results Section three (3) Questions and Responses

Questions Responses What groups of people would approve of you offering internship opportunities?

hotel associationeducational and training institutionsfamily membersstudents/internsColleaguesministry of education, churches, and youth clubsOwner of the hotel operation

What groups of people would disapprove of you offering internship opportunities?

Line employeesIndividuals without formal educationMajority of employees – overall observation, no one would disapprove of their intentions


Results Section four (4) Questions and Responses

Questions Responses What factors or things would make it easier to offer internship opportunities?

educational institutions and interns being proactive toward the internship exercisecolleges visiting hotel and creating partnerships the time requested for the internshiptransportation and accommodationinterns work readiness and sense of responsibilityinterns displaying genuine interest, among others

What factors or things would make it more difficult to offer internship opportunities?

unavailable funds to pay the interns a stipendPoor academic performancePrevious interns leaving a bad reputation Lack of individuals to train and mentor interns

A few managers indicated that they could not identify any factors or things that would make it more difficult for them to offer internship


ConclusionManagers Strongly believe

Internship supports students’ growth and development

Internship opens doors to career opportunities

Ultimate Goal of Managers

To have strong job candidates who have been thoroughly sensitized to the industry

Managers noted, internship respond to the needs of the students and the industry which in turn benefits the country’s economy.


Conclusion

The findings are important to:Managers

Internship provides the individuals to function effectively in the hospitality industry.

Education institutions Teachers should prepare students for the job-training Established relationship and collaboration with the

industry.

Students who participate in internships Are able to prepare for and have more confidence in

future careers.


Limitations & Future Research

Limitations:

The study was limited to hotel managers in Jamaica

Data may not be generalized beyond this population

Future Research:

The structure of internship programs in Jamaica

Internship collaboration between educators and hotel

managers

The support system and infrastructure that are in place to enable quality internship


References Ajzen, I. (1985). From Intention to Actions: A Theory of Planned Behaviour. In Action-Control: From Cognition to Behaviour, edited by J. Kuhl and J. Beckmann, 11-39. Heidelberg: Springer.Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50, 179-211.Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (1980). Understanding Attitudes and Predicting Social Behavior. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Cantor, J. A. (199). Experiential Learning in Higher Education: Linking Classroom and Community. ASHE-ERIC Higher Education Report No. 7. Washing, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education (ED404949). Chapman, S., McPhee, P., & Proudman, B. (1995). What is Experiential Education? In The Theory of Experiential Education, edited by K. Warren, M. Sakofs and J. Hunt Jr, 235-247. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Co.Conrad, D., & Hedin, D. (1981). National Assessment of Experiential Education: Summary and Implications. Journal of Experiential Education, 4(2), 6-20.Druian, G., Owens, T., & Owen, S. (1980). Experiential Education: A Search for Common Roots. Journal of Experiential Education, 3(2), 5-10.Ellström, P. E. (2001). Integrating Learning and Work: Problems and Prospects. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 12(4), 421-435.Gault, J., Redington, J., & Schlager. T. (2000). Undergraduate Business Internship and Career Success: Are they Related? Journal of Marketing Education, 22(1), 45-53.Joplin, L. (1981). Defining Experiential Education. Journal of Experiential Education, 4(1), 17- 21.Kolb, D. (1984). Experiential learning: Experiences as the source of learning and development, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Moore, D. T. (2010). Forms and Issues in Experiential Learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 2010(124), 3-13.Mouzakitis, G. S. (2010). The role of vocational education and training curricula in economic development. Social and Behavioral Sciences 2, 3914-3920.

References Parker, E. N., Myers, N., Higgins, H. C., Oddsson, T., Price, M., & Gould. T. (2009). More Than Experiential Learning or Volunteering: A Case Study of Community Service Learning Within the Australian Context. Higher Education Research & Development, 28(6), 585-596. Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods (2nd ed.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.Pizam, A. (2007, December). Does the tourism/hospitality industry possess the characteristics of a knowledge-based industry? [Editorial]. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 26(4), 759-763. Purcell, K. (1993). Equal opportunities in the hospitality industry: Custom and credentials. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 12(2), 127–140.Sims-Muhammad, T. Y. (2012). A Preliminary Review of a Sociology Internship Course to Foster Critical Thinking and Awareness through Service Learning. International Journal of Business and Social Science [Special Issue], 3(2), 118-128.Stanton, T. (1995). Internship Education: Past Achievements/Future Challenges. In Experiential learning in schools and higher education, edited by R. J. Kraft and J. Kielsmeier, 142-151. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.Tabbron, G., & Yang, J. (1997). The interaction between technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and economic development in advanced countries. International Journal Educational Development 3(17), 323-334.UNESCO (2009). International Consultation Meeting on TVET, Bonn, Germany.Van Hoff, H. B. (2000). The international internship as part of the hospitality management curriculum: combining work experiences with international exposure. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Education, 12(1), 6-75.

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Applying Theory of Planned Behavior to examine hotel managers intentions to offer Internship to TVET Students June E. Clarke Lyons – PhD Delaware State