Faculty & Research
The Safety and Security of U.S. Hotels. A Post-September 11 Report
By: Cathy A. Enz Ph.D. and Masako S. Taylor Ph.D.
Executive Summary: An inventory of the safety and
security features of 2,123 U.S.
hotels found an uneven distribution
of these key amenities in
various hotel types, with differences
relating to such factors as
hotel size, age, price segment,
hotel type and location. Although
safety features are essentially a
subset of security features, the
two can be distinguished from
each other. Safety considerations
involve protecting people, while
security factors embrace protecting
the hotel property and guests'
possessions, in addition to ensuring
employees' and guests' personal
safety. Safety equipment
includes items such as sprinklers
and smoke detectors, while
security features include electronic
locks and security cameras.
By assigning weights to the
two sets of items, the authors
created two indexes, one for
safety equipment and one for
security equipment. The higher
the hotel's score on each index,
the greater the level of its safety
and security equipment.
Analyzing the hotels' scores
on those indexes across several
different categories, the authors
found considerable diversity in
safety and security index scores
for various types of hotel. About
one-third of all hotels scored
relatively high on both scales (85
or higher out of 100), but 16
percent scored 25 or less on the
security scale. Luxury and upscale
hotels recorded the highest
scores for safety and security,
while economy and midprice
full-service hotels scored lower
than most segments on the safety
scale-even though a large proportion
have sprinklers. The age
of the property has a strong
influence on its safety and security scores. In general, the newer
the hotel, the higher its safety and
security scores. This is because
electronic locks, sprinklers, and
interior corridors are relatively
less common in old hotels (over
29 years) than in hotels built in
the last decade. The exception to
that rule occurs in luxury hotels,
which are renovated frequently
regardless of their age.
A hotel's location type has
considerable influence. Airport
hotels earned the highest safety
and security scores (because they
tended to have a full panoply of
safety and security devices), while
resorts were one of the lowestscoring
sectors (chiefly because
so many of them lack sprinklers
and electronic door locks).
While hotels' safety and security
indexes differed only slightly by
geographic region, one area that
did record relatively low security
(but not safety) scores is New
England. This may be a function
of the many small inns and
B&Bs in this region, properties
that typically score low on security
equipment.
The survey turned up
marked differences in the safety
and security indexes by property
type. All-suite properties, conference
and convention hotels, and
standard full-service hotels
tended to score high on the
indexes. On the other hand,
motels as a group had the lowest
safety and security scores, and
condos and (as mentioned)
B&Bs also scored low. A parallel
finding is that large hotels generally
scored higher than small
hotels on both indexes.
Calculate Your Hotel's Safety and Security Index
Your Comments Please
If this CHR Report made a positive impact on your management approach or business operations, we welcome your commentary. We would like to post your comments on our website. Please submit your comments to js372@sha.cornell.edu and rohit.verma@cornell.edu.
Download The Report
To view the whole report, please click on the link below
- The Safety and Security of U.S. Hotels. A Post-September 11 Report By: Cathy A. Enz Ph.D. and Masako S. Taylor Ph.D.
| If you have trouble downloading a pdf, and are able to install software on your computer, try upgrading to the latest version of Adobe Acrobat Reader to see if that allows you to read it. |
About Cathy A. Enz Ph.D.
Cathy A. Enz is the Lewis G. Schaeneman Jr. Professor of Innovation and Dynamic Management and a full professor in strategy. She recently served as Associate Dean for Industry Research and Affairs, and served as the Executive Director of the school’s Center for Hospitality Research from 2000-2003. Dr. Enz has published over eighty journal articles, book chapters, and three books in the area of strategic management. Her research has been published in a wide variety of prestigious academic and hospitality journals such as The Administrative Science Quarterly, The Academy of Management Journal, The Journal of Service Research, and The Cornell Hospitality Administration Quarterly. Dr. Enz teaches courses in innovation and strategic management. In addition, she developed The Hospitality Change Simulation, a learning tool for the introduction of effective change, which is available as an online education program of e-Cornell. Three additional courses in hospitality strategic management will be available through e-Cornell in 2008. Dr. Enz also presents numerous executive programs around the world, consults extensively in North America, and serves on the Board of Directors of two privately owned hotel companies. Prior to her academic activities, Dr. Enz held several industry positions including strategy development analyst in the office of corporate research for a large insurance organization, and operations manager responsible for Midwestern United States customer service and logistics in the dietary food service division of a large U.S. health care corporation. Dr. Enz received her Ph.D. from the Fisher College of Business at Ohio State University, and taught on the faculty of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University prior to arriving at Cornell in 1990.
For more information visit http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/research/facultybios/faculty.html?id=27
