Managerial Responsibility, Environmental Practice, and Response Sets in a Sample of Chinese Hotel Managers

Abstract

This article reports the results of attempting to reconcile the findings of clusters derived from Chinese hotel managers' scores on the New Environmental Paradigm with understandings of managerial responsibility and reported hotel environmental practices. Though initial results seemed consistent, closer examination revealed problems relating to possible response sets to the questionnaire items. Given a society where “face” is considered important, the question is raised in the article as to whether this may operate as a complicating factor when undertaking such research. It should be noted, however, that special circumstances may be operating given the proximity of the hotels to polluted lakes.

本文以新环境范式 (New Environmental Paradigm [NEP]) 指数分析中国酒店经理对经营责任的理解，然后试图将从 NEP 得分获取的聚类结果综合，并报告酒店的环境保护实践。虽然初步研究结果一致，但细查后发现问卷题目可能存在反应定势的问题。鉴于中国社会重视“面子”，本文对反应定势会否对进行此类研究构成复杂因素提出疑问。然而，若酒店邻近受污染的湖泊，研究结果便有可能受此特殊情况所影响。

Keywords:

• Hotels
• China
• environmental pollution
• corporate sustainable practice
• 酒店
• 中国
• 环境污染
• 企业持续实践

Acknowledgements

This project was made possible with grants from the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Beijing International Studies University's School of Tourism Management, and the University of Waikato Management School. We thank these institutions for their support. We also appreciate the graduate students from Beijing International Studies University for helping in data processing.