Purpose Following promising growth of the international medical tourism industry, competitions within the global market have escalated tremendously with increased involvement by numerous healthcare providers to acquire a share of its disposable income. The brand reputation would hereby play a determining role as a competitive strategy. Specifically, this paper aims to investigate the impact of social and marketing aspects on the brand image of medical tourism-based hospitals, alongside its relationship toward service quality. In turn, the influence of perceived service quality on satisfaction and the perceived value was examined, in view of further potential behavioral intention among medical tourists on healthcare providers in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through a survey questionnaire among medical tourists, with 596 successful cases collected via 6 major private hospitals at 3 popular Malaysian medical tourism locations. Data analysis was then performed using both SPSS and Smart PLS software. Findings The findings from the present study acknowledged the importance of both social (e.g. social media and word-of-mouth communications) and marketing (e.g. hospital advertisement and price perception) aspects toward establishing brand image among medical tourism-based hospitals. Consequently, the brand image would influence perceived service quality among medical tourists; further entail positive impact on behavioral intention, with satisfaction and perceived value as mediators between both factors. Following PLS predict analysis confirming this model’s high predictive capability, it demonstrated close representation to actual medical tourism scenario in Malaysia. Originality/value This study is one of the very few studies that explored the minimally investigated territory on the consequential importance of hospital branding within the medical tourism industry; specifically through extending the literature on the influence of social and marketing efforts toward the formation of brand image.

In this paper, we commence a new dialogue on cross-cultural research in tourism. Using Shenkar's (2001) metaphor of cultural friction as the analytical framework, we examine crosscultural service interactions between guests and service-providers in a luxury hotel. Cultural friction departs from, and extends, the notion of 'cultural distance', as it recognises asymmetry in social-economic conditions and considers the goals and the influence of control and power between the interacting parties. We use the Critical Incident Technique and Narrative Inquiry as the data collection technique and analytical approach respectively. The findings reveal that guests and service-providers use a number of strategies to exert power and gain control during their interactions, including subjective essentialism and stereotyping, to achieve their goals. The implications for tourism and hospitality management include providing cross-cultural sensitivity training to service-providers, ensuring a cultural-diverse employee composition, and to foster cross-cultural understanding amongst employees. We further suggest to develop strategies to facilitate effective cross-cultural service interactions based on evidence about cultural norms, expectations and behaviours from specific cultural groups. Further research is recommended to connect specific interactions between the interacting parties to examine whether the various strategies used leads to effective cross-cultural communication.

PurposeThis study highlights the instrumental role of the mission statement as a tool used by managers to shape value congruence to achieve enhanced employee performance levels.Design/methodology/approachA variance-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data obtained from a sample of 123 managers working in private organisations in Malaysia.FindingsThe management sensemaking approach is useful in mission statement research. Managers' involvement in clarifying the mission statement to various firm stakeholders, especially employees, is the strongest predictor of value congruency between employees and the firm, leading to improved levels of employee behavioural performance. Managers can influence value congruency through two processes: (1) guiding and shaping employees' values and (2) adapting the mission statement's contents.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies can consider the impact of managerial role modelling on employees' value alignment with the firm in longitudinal studies. Other aspects of alignment offer further research opportunities, for example, HR policy alignment and alignment of marketing and operation strategies with the mission statement.Practical implicationsManagers should move beyond treating the mission statement as a management tool. Instead, it is a firm philosophy that reflects managers' words and deeds and exemplifies their philosophical ideals.Originality/valueDespite three decades of research into the relationship between the mission statement and performance, the results have been mixed. Therefore, this study adopts a sensemaking approach to research the mission-performance relationship underpinned by the resource-based view (RBV) theory.

The aim of the article was to explore for stereotyping patterns in crosscultural service interactions. This research was set within the context of luxury hotel in Malaysia, where most of the service providers are non-Western. In-depth interviews and written diaries were used to develop deep narratives for the patterns of stereotyping adopted by the service providers. Predispositions, activations and applications of stereotypes were examined considering implicit theory and power distance. Associations between the service providers' culture and position and their tendency to activate and apply stereotypes were found. The findings highlight the increasing complexity in cross-cultural service interactions within the South East Asian region. This study provides management with insights into service interactions in the contemporary context of Asia, where socio/economic and cultural boundaries are blurring. Practical and theoretical recommendations are made for both management and further academic research on this issue, which has potential to influence guest satisfaction and ultimately business viability.

We examine the predictive power of individual differences based on the Five-Factor Model (FFM) for stress among undergraduate students in private universities in Malaysia. One hundred thirty-one undergraduate students from three private universities were surveyed. A partial least square structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was utilised to analyse the data. Our findings indicate that Neuroticism and Agreeableness positively predict student stress. Whereas openness to experience, conscientiousness and extraversion do not exhibit significant or sufficiently sizable predictions of student stress. Notably, female students are found to report higher levels of stress than males. Emotionally unstable students tend to be more vulnerable to forms of stress. Agreeableness signifies the predisposition to be kind and supportive instead of suspicious or an adversary towards people. Thus, highly agreeable students may expose themselves to discretionary stress to meet their classmates and tutors’ expectations. Our results are discussed. Further, practical and research implications are provided.