| The purpose of the current qualitative explanatory case study was to explain the impact of the 2007-2009 economic recession on individually-owned hotels in the state of Kansas. The study involved investigating the challenges faced by individual-owned hotel owners in managing business during the period of recession. The study also involved explaining successful support strategies applied by individual hotel owners who were not affected by the economic crisis. Twenty hotel owners from four regions of Kansas were involved in the study: northeast Kansas, northwest Kansas, southeast Kansas, and southwest Kansas. Analysis of interview responses from 20 participants resulted in four themes emerging: (a) born to be a leader of the family owned business, (b) declined occupancy due to recession, (c) cost cut, employees are the first and effective cut, (d) Customers are guests. The themes evolved from a pattern of connection of the owner to the hotel, pattern of connection of economic recession to the hotel, pattern of connection of employees to the hotel, pattern of connection of customers to the hotel. Significant conclusions include lack of leadership skills, lack of budgeting skills, lack of employee empowerment, and lack of customer relationship management. Recommendations include training in the areas of leadership, budgeting, employee management, and customer relationship management. Implications to further research recommendations are (a) comparison of leaders by inheritance and leader by profession in individual owned hotels, (b) to use a mixed method approach, and (c) to compare the performance of franchise-owned hotels to individually-owned hotels in the state of Kansas to analyze the impact of financial crisis. |
