ABSTRACT
In numerical and structural terms, the hospitality industry remains to this day an industry of predominantly independently owned enterprises, providing a particular locality with a range of appropriate food, beverage and accommodation services (Lee-Ross, 1999). These businesses are often small, and may be considered family businesses or lifestyle choices regarding entrepreneurship (Lucas, 2004). Many of these businesses stay the same size, whilst others grow and develop, the firm replicating the product or service in other locations further and further afield (Goss-Turner and Jones, 2000). In the past half-century a feature of the national and international industry has been the development of large hospitality chains, many emanating from US post-war prosperity and expansion, with brand extension strategies placing high in public consciousness company names such as Hilton, Sheraton and Kentucky Fried Chicken. It has been estimated, for example, that there are 900,000 restaurant units in the United States, of which almost 300,000 are owned and managed by chain restaurants (DiPietro et al., 2007). These large, multi-site, often multinational corporations have unparalleled profile, and utilize their size and influence in areas such as economies of scale, quality assurance, customer recognition and standardization (Ritchie and Riley, 2004).
