Human Resource Issues in a Small Island Setting The Case of the Maldivian Tourism Industry

Abstract

Abstr:act: ~s ~ap~r analyses the development of the tourism industry in the small island nation of the Republic of Mal~1ves, highhghtm~ the role of expatriate and local employment within the Maldivian tourism industry. It is argued that m ord~r for t~nsm to be sustainable, the prevailing focus on tourism development needs to be changed with more prommence giVen to human resource development -the core of the tourism industry.

Job involvement, commitment, satisfaction and turnover: Evidence from hotel employees in Cyprus

“…The seasonal nature of the industry has been accompanied by a decrease in core, and the increase and greater reliance on peripheral staff. Consequently, employees are less loyal, while employers' obsession with cost reduction and short-termism reduces their motivation to invest in training and development of the workforce, whether core or peripheral in nature (see for example, Adler & Adler, 2004;Baum & Lundtorp, 2000;Baum et al, 2007;Conlin & Baum, 2003;Shakeela & Cooper, 2009). …”

“…However, on a global scale, human resource management practices have a tendency to be characterized as ambiguous and inflexible (Conlin & Baum, 2003), often unplanned and unstructured, lacking a cohesive strategy. This approach, labeled 'adhocism' (Baum, 2012, p. 125), has profound repercussions for island destinations with regard to recruitment, retention, training and career progression (Adler & Adler, 2004;Baum, Hearns, & Devine, 2007;Baum & Lundtorp, 2000;Shakeela & Cooper, 2009).…”

Influence of Human Resource Management Practices on Employee Retention in Maldives Retail Industry

“…Many research in the field HRM were done on Bangladesh, Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand and India (Abdullah, et al, 2009;Thite & Russell, 2010;Mahmud & Idrish , 2011;Hassan, et al, 2013;. But since this research is constructed on Maldives there are no official publications carried out on this context as of now, however there are handful of studies conducted on other topics mainly concentrating on the Maldives tourism industry ( (Ministry of Tourism , Arts and Culture Republic, 2011;Shakeela, 2010).…”

“…Since this research is based on Maldives retail industry there are no official publications made on this industry, however a handful number of studies are conducted on the Hospitality and tourism industry of Maldives that generates the highest revenue for the country (Shakeela, 2010;Shakeela, et al, 2011;Ministry of Tourism , Arts and Culture, 2011). Nevertheless retail industry is studied among some of the developing countries such as India, Malaysia and within few European countries (Johari, et al, 2012;Fauzi, et al, 2013;Bhatla & Pandey, 2014;Singh & Jain, 2014).…”

Human Resource Policies: Striving for Sustainable Tourism Outcomes in the Maldives

“…The first tourism policy document, the First Tourism Master Plan (FTMP) (1983)(1984)(1985)(1986)(1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992) placed HRD responsibility on industry operators. However, industry operators regarded HRD as a cost rather than an investment, and considered HRD as a government responsibility (Shakeela and Cooper 2009). As the FTMP failed to address skill shortages in the industry, the South Asian Integrated Tourism Human Resources Development Program (1995) and the Integrated Human Resource Development Project (2004) were initiated by the government.…”