Effect of property management system components on perceived quality service delivery in the rooms division of selected hotels in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Abstract

In the modern era of business management environment, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has become part and parcel of service delivery. The application of ICT in the service industry has become an enabling tool for quality service delivery. The application of ICT, in particular, Property Management System (PMS) which aims to improve service delivery in the rooms division has been on the rise in hotels globally. However, empirical evidence on the effect of PMS components on perceived quality service delivery in Kenya is limited. This study therefore examined the effect of PMS components on perceived quality service delivery in the rooms’ division of selected hotels in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study objectives were to investigate the application, information aspects, integration and staff usability of PMS on quality service delivery in the rooms’ division of selected hotels in Nairobi County, Kenya. The System Theory and Information Systems Success Model guided the study. Descriptive and explanatory research designs were adopted in the study. The study targeted star rated (1-5) hotels with over two years of PMS use in Nairobi County. Targeted hotels were stratified according to the star-rated categories and one hotel was identified from each stratum using simple random sampling techniques. The study targeted five hotel managers and 154 operations staff. Simple random sampling was employed to select 5 hotels one from each category of the star rated classification. Census sampling technique was used to select one hotel manager from each stratum. Yamane formula was employed to determine the sample size of 111 respondents from the target population of 154 operations staff. Proportionate sampling was used to select hotel operations staff. Questionnaires were used to collect data from the operations staff while an interview schedule was used to collect data from the managers. Qualitative data was analysed using the content analysis method, while quantitative data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Cross- tabulation was used to test the relationship between the study variables. Multiple regression analysis indicated that PMS components explained 35.9 % (R 2 =0.359) of the variance on perceived quality service delivery. The study also indicated that information aspects of PMS (β=0.174, p= 0.001), integration of PMS (β=0.686, p= 0.001) and staff usability of PMS (β=-0.312, p=0.001) affected quality service delivery. Chi-square Pearson test (p=0.001) indicated that there is significant effect of PMS components on quality service delivery. The study found that 28.9% of the hotel operations staff were trained on PMS in colleges. The study concludes that the overall effect of PMS information aspects, integration and usability on perceived quality service delivery in rooms’ division is slightly significant (35.9%). The study therefore recommends a further analysis of the other components that account to 64.1% of service quality. Results from the interviews indicated limited integration in the hotel PMS and a lack of mobile phone applications. The study therefore recommends integration of PMS with other services to improve service delivery.