Configuring service operations strategies in Iran's hotel industry (Case study: hotels and apartment hotels of Mashhad)

Operations management has attracted extensive research attention during the recent years, yet there is a dearth of research that examines the taxonomy of service operations strategies. Given the pivotal role of the tourism industry in the economic growth of many countries and unique touristic characteristics of Mashhad city in Iran, the importance and necessity of such researches are indisputable. The aim of this study is to make taxonomy of service operations strategies in Mashhad’s hotels and apartment hotels, to be a pioneering research in Iran. The sample group consists of 80 hotels and 65 apartment hotels. The taxonomy presented contributes to the development and enhancement of operations management theory, and demonstrates the current crucial place and importance of the nine structural and infrastructural service operations strategic decisions in Iran’s hotel industry. This study uses a k-mean cluster analysis to develop a classification based on 9 service operations strategy dimensions. The effectiveness of the classification scheme is tested by multiple discriminant analysis. Four strategic clusters were identified, each tending to emphasize on a different dimension. The outcomes of this research were proved to be different from those of others.