Development of Approaches to Conflict Management in the Hotel and Restaurant Industry

Topicality. The effectiveness of hotel and restaurant businesses depends on various factors, including economic, socio-demographic and the overall level of prosperity in the country. The existence of a favourable, comfortable microclimate within the team or honest interaction with other market participants is an underestimated factor. Still, its influence can significantly upset the balance in work, lead to additional costs and lawsuits which can reduce the efficiency of activities and the quality of services, as well as shift the focus from development to the rapid elimination of imbalances. In the hotel and restaurant industry, conflict management is of particular importance, as the work of this sphere is closely linked to interaction with consumers. Customer loyalty, affection and likelihood of repeat visits depend on the speed and effectiveness of conflict resolution. Society and communication within it are transforming, so consumer needs and interests are changing rapidly, which means that approaches to conflict management cannot remain unchanged. Aim and research methods. This article is an original study of the transformation of approaches to conflict management in the hotel and restaurant business, taking into account the nature of their occurrence. Methods of analysis, generalisation, abstraction and comparison are applied. Results. This article determines the essence of the conflict and the nature of its origin in terms of the specifics of the work of entities in the hotel and restaurant industry. The main causes of conflicts between employees and customers, employees and employees (or departments), and between business entities are analysed, and the key peculiarities that distinguish all these forms of conflict and, accordingly, the differences in approaches to their resolution are identified. Conclusions and discussion. Different methods of resolving disputes between parties based on the principles of mediation and coaching are presented; the role of emotional intelligence in the dispute resolution process is determined. This study summarises how digitalisation can complement conflict management approaches at different levels of conflict emergence. The need to head up proactive conflict management is described and the generalised model is formed.