Hotel management in Cuba and the transfer of best practices
研究了国际酒店运营商在古巴市场应用普遍接受的管理原则时面临的挑战，基于2003-2004年在古巴的实地调研和八次深度访谈，发现某些西方最佳实践在古巴制度环境下有效，而另一些则产生负面效果。
Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to analyse the management challenges faced by international hotel operators when applying universally accepted management principles to the Cuban hospitality market. Design/methodology/approach The authors use both secondary and primary research sources based on fieldwork carried out in Cuba during the first semester of 2003 and a later visit during the months of December 2003 and January 2004. Eight in‐depth interviews were conducted with senior executives of Cuban, Spanish and French hotel corporations. Findings The paper presents a scenario where the state's role in the protection of the socialist revolutionary principles, combined with the need to adopt some market‐based management practices, constitutes a singular case in the world of hotel management. In the current Cuban institutional context, the implementation of some western best management practices can produce significant results, while others produce negative outcomes, and therefore, should be held back until the institutional context is changed. Practical implications The paper has implications for managers in suggesting that from a hotel perspective, the application of universally accepted best management practices must be carried out practice by practice and country by country. Originality/value This paper contributes to increased knowledge about the dilemmas of managing hotels in a still highly centralised socialist country but with an increasingly market‐based economy.