I interviewed my friend, Ms. Sophia Johnson, who works at Hotel Emma in San Antonio, Texas. She explained that she had never witnessed such an economic tragedy in her ten-year tenure as a public area attendant in the hotel industry. Based on her account, the hotel was booming before the inception of the COVID-19 pandemic because the occupancy rate stood at 81.6%. On weekends, Hotel Emma would have all its 146 rooms fully booked. Sophia narrated that they had little time to rest due to the clients’ increased demand for the services. Indeed, the hotel management thought of increasing the bed capacity to accommodate more visitors. Bondarenko and Xingyi (2021) agree with Sophia that Hotel Emma is one of the luxury hotels rated five stars in San Antonio. However, the COVID-19 pandemic hurt the hotel operations, lessening the occupancy level to less than 30% after implementing the containment measures. Essentially, the COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the hospitality sector in the United States, resulting in an unprecedented decline in the number of visitors to Hotel Emma, thus considerably reducing its revenues.
Before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hotel Emma utilized a flatarchy organizational structure to strengthen its culture. According to González-Rodríguez et al. (2019), a flatarchy arrangement flattens the chain of command and the hierarchy to give workers the autonomy in completing their tasks. Sophia highlighted that the hotel’s leadership, led by the president and other departmental managers, allowed employees to make independent decisions in their interactions with clients. Notwithstanding, they were expected to align with organizational culture and core values. On asking Sophia about pre-pandemic goal, she explained that every activity was directed towards improving customer experience. The management often made result-oriented choices based on the consumers’ and employees’ feedback. According to Sophia, the market culture was indispensable in inspiring the six culinary monographs used to celebrate the Spanish heritage in 2018. Therefore, Hotel Emma focused on offering a unique customer experience to maintain its competitiveness in the hospitality industry.
Under the pandemic, Hotel Emma maintained its organizational structure and culture, although it changed the mode of operations due to reduced demand for hospitality services. Sophia emphasized that nearly every segment, including food and beverage, accommodation, and recreation, witnessed a drop in sales. Reflecting the situation in other luxury hotels in the United States, the revenues of Hotel Emma declined (Gursoy & Chi, 2020). Sophia noted that an executive order issued by the Governor of Texas relating to limiting business capacity and implementation of various containment measures brought the hotel’s operations to a standstill. Nevertheless, the management resolved not to close the hotel but rather diversify its operations. The hotel’s vice president announced the creation of a line of specialty products, which visitors and guests could order and enjoy in their traditional homes. As a result, Sophia and her colleagues started delivering these food products to locals and visitors in their households. They also shipped foodstuffs across the United States based on demand. This new business approach helped retain employees in the hotel and ensure they received their salaries and entitled benefits.
I also interrogated Sophia concerning her job and how the COVID-19 pandemic affected it. In response to my question, Sophia explained that her primary duty as a public area attendant was to clean hotel entrances, lobbies, lounges, and restrooms and assist guests with city and hotel information. She also delivered foodstuffs and other items to the hotel’s guest rooms and public places. Corresponding to Sophia’s description, Gursoy and Chi (2020) define a public area attendant as an employee who promotes the positive image of a hospitality brand to visitors. He or she must be friendly, responsible, pleasant, innovative, and honest to address guests’ requests swiftly and solve any possible problems prudently. Consequently, the role played by Sophia in the hotel was vital in enhancing customer experience and satisfaction.
Sophia’s responsibility in Hotel Emma aligns with the concept of sociological imagination established by Wright Mills. According to Garoutte (2018), Mills pinpoints a significant connection between personal challenges and public concerns. Personal troubles refer to private difficulties experienced within a person’s personality and the range of his or her relationship with others. Conversely, public or social issues represent processes and organizations beyond personal control, entrenched in society instead of an individual (Garoutte, 2018). For example, Sophia’s work determines customer satisfaction and influences the possibility of friends’ recommendations to the hotel. If Sophia decides to be rude to the guests and visitors, they may respond by rating the hotel negatively, thus creating a wrong impression from the social perspective. Sophia expressed her concern relating to how her duties were sensitive to the growth of the hotel’s customer base. Indeed, she told me that the vice president often referred to her as the core engine of the hotel’s success. Therefore, employees must understand the existence of a connection between the individual experiences and the greater society to avoid personal mistakes that may hurt their brands.
Capitalism governs and guides business operations of the American hospitality industry. According to Thelen (2019), capitalism advocates for a complete separation of the state and the economy. It is a political-economic model embedded in the doctrine of individual rights that acknowledges that people can adopt their unique lifestyles without infringing the freedom and rights of others. In my cross-examination with Sophia, she highlighted that capitalism had offered opportunities to women. In her view, the separation between business and states helps entrepreneurs develop and implement specific policies, which accommodate females. Agreeing with Sophia’s perspective, González-Rodríguez et al. (2019) argue that the capitalism model exposes workers to innovative ideas by integrating persons from different gender and racial backgrounds. She believes that capitalist strategies have helped facilitate globalization, eliminate racial discrimination, and enhance gender parity in the labor market. Undeniably, opportunities offered to females have enabled them to exhibit their skills, thus leading to the rise of gender capitalism that focuses on enhancing women’s access to factors of production and promoting workplace equity.
Sophia also believes that capitalism is a just system of building the economy. It nurtures a culture of competition and inspires workers to advance their skills. However, Sophia stressed that capitalism had also increased inequality due to a lack of corporate investment in career training and development. Corresponding to Thelen (2019), Sophia thinks that top executives in the hospitality industry worry about investing in training their employees because of the high possibility of losing them to their competitors. As a result, females and people from less privileged families who cannot afford to pay for their further studies fail to qualify for promotions. Sophia also explained that the primary objective of capitalism is to maximize revenue. She gave me a rational reason why she does not complain when she sees uneducated athletes receive millions in salary or rewards while a graduate gets low pay. Sophia enlightened me that the ideology of capitalism categorizes individuals into classes based on their contribution to revenue generation. Unlike graduates whose work yields low income, athletes raise substantial amounts through sales of tickets and sponsors, thus justifying their hefty pay.
Based on the insights gained from the reviewed studies and Sophia’s responses, various standard rules of living characterize the American society. For example, specific institutions and policies such as banks, Small Business Act, and the Companies Act affect the commercial obligations, employees’ rights, and business model. According to Thelen (2019), America is more of a male-dominated rather than feminist society. As Sophia argued in one of her responses, the capitalism model has promoted gender and racial inclusion and diversity in the workplace. Nevertheless, it has failed to address the issue of income inequality mainly due to the collision of political and economic elites to manipulate capitalist policies. American society continues to evolve, and it is projected that commercial activities in different industries will relate to human behavior. Significantly, social and economic structures will shape the future of American society in various spheres of life due to ever-changing lifestyles and consumption behaviors.
The COVID-19 pandemic adversely affected the hospitality industry in the United States and globally. The implementation of containment measures and closure of borders brought the hotel operations to a standstill. The management of Hotel Emma was compelled to start home deliveries to sustain its expenses during the pandemic. Sophia and her colleagues were lucky that their employer never closed the business. Her responses to the interview questions offered critical insights into her role as a public area attendant and the implication of capitalism in the hotel and other sectors. As a male-dominated society and capitalist economy, the United States significantly integrates Mills’ concept of sociological imagination. Individual actions have either positive or negative consequences at the public or social level. Thus, among other stakeholders within American society, employees need to reflect on their behaviors and activities to ensure they promote rational business and social ethics. Irrefutably, American society’s future depends on the social and economic structures because they will influence and define commercial approaches, business ethics, and lifestyles
References
Bondarenko, I., & Xingyi, H. E. (2021). Hotels in objects of adaptive architecture: Design as a means of transferring the image of the past. Architecture, Civil Engineering, Environment, 14(1), 5-14.
Garoutte, L. (2018). The sociological imagination and community-based learning: Using an asset-based approach.Teaching Sociology, 46(2), 148-159.
González-Rodríguez, M. R., Martín-Samper, R. C., Köseoglu, M. A., & Okumus, F. (2019). Hotels’ corporate social responsibility practices, organizational culture, firm reputation, and performance. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(3), 398-419.
Gursoy, D., & Chi, C. G. (2020). Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on hospitality industry: Review of the current situations and a research agenda. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 29(5), 527-529.
Thelen, K. (2019). The American precariat: US capitalism in comparative perspective.Perspectives on Politics, 17(1), 5-27.