Toward a theoretical understanding of occupational culture: meanings from the hospitality industry

Pryce, Josephine

Abstract

This paper examines the concept of occupational culture and how meanings from the hospitality industry contribute to expanding our theoretical understanding of this concept. The notion of occupational communities has received considerable attention in the literature. More recently research findings report the existence of occupational cultures. This paper argues that the two concepts are related but identifies a possible difference which can extinguish anomalies or uncertainties in associated debates. Support for the argument is gained from results of a qualitative study which indicated that there is a common occupational culture, which influences hotel workers to behave in a similar way regardless of the organisation they work for. A number of factors were identified that confirmed the existence of a hospitality occupational culture. These factors included: universal nature of hotel work; hospitality occupational attitudes; group longevity; and collegiality. From this it is proposed that there exists a hospitality occupational culture which transcends the culture of organisations within which these individuals work, which does not fully exhibit defining characteristics of occupational communities and which governs the behaviour and performance of hospitality workers. Such an insight adds to the paucity of literature and research on our understanding of the phenomenon of occupational cultures.

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1447-9575

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Common Ground Publishing

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DOI

10.18848/1447-9524/CGP/v09i03/49712