An Investigation of Asset Expenditure Management in Australian Hotels

Abstract

Australian hotels compete with hotels in other countries in the international tourism market and must therefore be in good physical condition to meet international and domestic traveller expectations. This highlights the importance of hotels maintaining a continuing vigilance with respect to ensuring asset related expenditure decision making is appropriately conducted. Such decisions are, however, complex due to their high dollar value as well as their cyclical, ambiguous and frequently irreversible nature. The broad aim of this research is to further understanding of factors relating to asset expenditure management practices in Australian hotels, a topic that has drawn little prior research attention. The thesis has drawn extensively on theories of agency theory and organisational power. The study adopted a mixed methods approach utilising two empirical phases. The first phase involved a series of face-to-face interviews with six different stakeholder groups representing asset managers, hotel lawyers, hotel auditors, hotel owners, hotel general managers, and hotel financial controllers. A total of twenty interviews were conducted. The second phase involved the administration of a questionnaire survey to general managers of Australian and New Zealand hotels with twenty or more rooms and a star-rating of three or more.