Sensing the virus. How social capital enhances hoteliers' ability to cope with COVID-19.

In this study, we propose a broad conceptual model that incorporates social capital dimensions and problem-solving routines to understand the determinants behind hotel managements' perception of and ability to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic-and thus, to innovate their service offering. We provide empirical support for the notion that, due to uncertainty about reopening after lockdown, the hospitality sector has found existing problem-solving routines to be of little use. Although the local community has been unable to form a shared vision around the pandemic, hoteliers have nevertheless relied on their network of relationships to sense the crisis and find their own ways to adapt. Interestingly, we find that overreliance on trustworthy relationships can diminish the ability to sense a crisis objectively. Our results not only shed light on sensemaking in the hotel industry, but also grapple with the theoretical nature of sensemaking as a socially constructed process.

Looking Through the Patients' Eyes: Measuring Patient Satisfaction in a Public Hospital.

OBJECTIVE: Patient satisfaction is a personal evaluation of health-care services that is often used as an indicator of quality of care. The aim of this study was to identify aspects of hospital care that affect patient satisfaction by examining the structural and convergent validity of an in-house questionnaire. METHODS: The sample consisted of 3320 patients discharged from an Italian public hospital. The questionnaire included items exploring communication with nurses and physicians, pain management, quality of accommodation, and discharge information. Data were analyzed using the Rasch model. RESULTS: From the patients' perspective, the number of response options was excessive and the questionnaire proved to have both medical and accommodation dimensions. Patients, on average, gave higher satisfaction scores to the medical dimension over the accommodation dimension. Higher satisfaction was associated with kindness and courtesy of the nursing staff, doctors' courtesy, and the quality of bed linen. CONCLUSION: The results support the administration of the questionnaire but suggest change in the hospital's analytical procedures in order to match the drivers of satisfaction as seen by the patients.