Final Research Paper-BP-INTS
-
Upload
brenda-perez -
Category
Documents
-
view
99 -
download
0
Transcript of Final Research Paper-BP-INTS
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
The Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
Brenda Perez
INTS 3300-001
Dr. Gail Bentley
Texas Tech University
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
Abstract
The purpose of this research paper is to create new insights and produce ideas for future
efforts and for further studies as well as create a reasonable and general perspective in terms of
understating the overarching question about the impact of fracking on families and communities.
The incorporation and integration of the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management and the
Organizational Leadership disciplines made this all possible in discovering the financial effects
of hotels and the general understanding between wages and fracking. The assimilation of peer
reviewed articles made the foundation of this research paper. The method of analysis that was
used in every peer reviewed article and the research paper was the quantitative research strategy.
The conclusions to the research paper stands that in a booming oil community the financial
impacts that fracking has on hotels is abundant and they are very diverse in different situations,
but nevertheless impacting the economy in one way or another regardless if its positive or
negative. Another conclusion that was found would be that there are ways to get residents from a
booming oil community to stay employed in the hotel industry rather than working for a fracking
company that pays higher wages.
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
The purpose of this research paper is to create insights into the all-encompassing question
about the impact of fracking on families and communities using an interdisciplinary research
process and Repko’s 10 STEP process. Since the research question is to broad to be satisfactorily
resolved from one single discipline there will be two disciplines that will provide the greatest
amount or research and information to the overarching question and they are the Restaurant
Hotel Institutional Management and Organizational Leadership disciplines. The focus question
of the research paper is, what are the financial impacts that fracking has on hotels and how will
people in a booming oil community continue to work for lower wages rather than getting hired
on to an oilrig?
Step 1: State the Focus of Your Paper
Petroleum engineers have used hydraulic fracturing as a means of increasing well
production since the late 1940s. Fractures can also exist naturally in formations, and this process
can widen both natural and man-made fractures. As a result, more oil and gas can be extracted
from a given area of land. Since there has been a recent growth in activity related to this method
of extraction, there has also been a great deal of debate about the opportunities and challenges
associated with this process. This is a complex issue and many fields of study provide a different
perspective on the various aspects. With the integration of the Restaurant Hotel Institutional
Management and Organizational Leadership disciplines a very complex question will be
discussed. The complex problem is, what are the financial impacts that fracking has on hotels
and how will people in a booming oil community continue to work for lower wages rather than
getting hired on to an oilrig?
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
STEP 2: Justify Using an Interdisciplinary Approach
There are many reasons why a community or a family would approve or disapprove of
hydraulic fracturing being done in their area of living. In order to have the best response and the
most informed answer would be by looking at the question through multiple perspectives since
this would be considered a complex question and is very controversial. No single discipline has
been able to or will be able to answer the complex problem sufficiently or lengthily. The
opportunities and challenges that a community has to pursue and overcome would be best looked
at through a business perspective and how the economy in that community would change as well
as how the leadership be conducted. Lastly, the hotel management approach to the situation,
which is how to keep family members, or residents of a community working for lower pay in a
hotel industry.
Step 3: Identify Relevant Disciplines
There were numerous of potential disciplines that could have been used to solve the
wicked problem, but to have a comprehensive answer only the most relevant disciplines must be
expended. There were three very applicable disciplines that were very debatable in which were
the most useful and they were the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management discipline, the
Organizational Leadership discipline, and the Media Strategies discipline. All three disciplines
provided a great and general perspective in terms of understating the overarching question about
the impact of fracking on families and communities. The RHIM discipline went into answering
questions like, what is the financial impact on the community and the rising opportunities for
businesses? The Organizational Leadership disciplines answered questions like, what is the role
of the leaders of the community to ensure the health and well being of families in a community
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
where fracking is used to increase oil and natural gas production? Lastly, the Media Strategies
discipline answered questions that could solve the wicked problem by understanding and
exploring, what effect does media and all its forms have on the public opinion of opportunities
and challenges associated with the practice of hydraulic fracturing. After considering all of the
disciplines the two that made more sense and would provide a larger framework of information
were the Restaurant and Hotel Management and the Organizational Leadership disciplines. The
reason for this is because these two disciplines have produced a greater body of research and
provide greater insights into the wicked problem.
Step 4: Conduct a Literature Search
Since the research question is too broad to be satisfactorily resolved from one single
discipline, the incorporation of two disciplines of study is essential. The RHIM and
Organizational Leadership disciplines will be the areas of study that will draw up the most
insights and scholarly literature. Also, the integration of all the information and current
knowledge about both will build up a more complete and broad understanding of the focus
question which is, what are the financial impacts that fracking has on hotels and how will people
in a booming oil community continue to work for lower wages rather than getting hired on to an
oilrig?
The first discipline, which is the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management is useful to
the paper and provides the greatest perception because this discipline is connected to keywords
like community, hotels, hospitality industry, revenue, wages, and families which has everything
to do with answering a large part of the research question. Ritchie, Crotts, Zehrer, & Volsky
(2014) noted that the tourism industry is one of the largest and most successful in the world and
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
it is greatly affected by a number of outside businesses. With that being said and evaluating what
those authors had to say it is clear to state that fracking will most definitely affect hotels business
within that community. Nicolaides (2006) also states that a having a good and productive
relationship between a manager/hotel business and employee is non-negotiable one especially in
a period where employees are desperately seeking self-development and higher paying jobs.
Employees want managers/hotel business that can lead by example and are able to comprehend
and realize their desires and associate the needs of the hotel business to their ideals and morals
while developing their skills in a workable environment with out dangers. This hospitality
industry insight is very important information for developing a complete answer to the focus
question.
The second and last discipline is Organizational Leadership and it is correspondingly
important into getting a more general and informed solution. The reason Organizational
Leadership is so important is because this is such a broad field and there are multiple views and
sources to get the right information from economics to general business insights. Paredes,
Komarek, & Loveridge (2015) found that new machineries combining hydraulic fracturing and
parallel drilling in oil and gas removal are creating a rapid growth of production. Citizens of
places where underground oil and gas residues are discovered want to know about the larger
financial, social, and environmental impressions of these undertakings that generate premium
income for some citizens. These authors also formulated that with some concepts on how areas
might use policies that could allow gas extraction to move frontward it might benefit property-
owners, as well as trying to establish some economic precautions for the broader community,
would be useful and could possibly also benefit other businesses around it. This article which is
associated with the disciplinary affiliation, Organization Leadership which was found during
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
conducting the literature search proves how this area of study is providing great information and
perspectives that will help this research paper overall.
Step 5: Develop Adequacy in Each Relevant Discipline
Adequacy will be developed from the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management and
Organizational Leadership disciplines, which will be discussed in detail. Developing adequacy in
each discipline is crucial in formulating a definite solution to the question about what are the
financial impacts that “fracking” has on hotels and how will people in a booming oil community
continue to work for lower wages than on an oilrig.
For the Restaurant and Hotel Institutional Management discipline the primary theories
and methods of research used were the core tourism theory and foundational tourism theory.
There is not a clearly stated guide that lets researches know which theories to use but those were
the main ones that were utilized. The Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management discipline is
interchangeable with the Tourism discipline and this field you can never just use one specific
theory or look at one way to make decisions. The methods of research used in this discipline are
mainly statistical analysis, surveys, and classification. Also, this discipline is mostly quantitative
research based because of all of the numerical data that is produced and what researchers base
their findings on. Furthermore, in James (2011) there was a specific phenomenon that was
discussed and asked the question, what are peak oil’s looming dramatic effects on the source of
energy and the consequence for civilization and tourism? This problem is very relatable to the
focus question of this research paper and peer review articles like this prove to be very useful
and provide great insights to this focus question.
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
For the Organizational Leadership discipline the primary theories and methods of
research used were grounded theory and systems theory. Grounded theory is a general method of
research and was incorporated in this discipline using quantitative research strategy methods.
Systems theory also uses the quantitative research method strategy and has provided a great
connection in Twomey & Farias (2014) article between the phenomena that was studied there
and the current focus question. The phenomena of that article was, the need to uncover business
practices, as demonstrated in “fracking” operations, discourage motivation, harmfully impact the
economy and the human wellbeing of citizens, and damage the environment. Fracking literally
blasts the foundation of the earth, and figuratively blasts the foundation of business. That article
provided a very relatable phenomenon to the current focus question. Also, the main methods of
research used in this particular study were mainly statistical analysis, surveys, and
categorization.
Step 6: Analyze the Problem and Evaluate Each Insight or Theory
The literature of each discipline is very important because the information that comes
from each source will help in answering and giving a complete understanding of the research
question. The Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management and Organizational Leadership are the
main disciplines that will help in understanding how different situations like fracking affect
business.
Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management
Ritchie, Crotts, Zeherer, & Volsky (2014) found that the lodging industry had a lot of
negative effects from the many disasters and downturns in America. They collected data and
based their data from a little more than 13,000,000 hotel rooms and over 50,000 rental properties
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
to measure and compare the financial impact of the disastrous oil spill that occurred in 2010 in
America. The results found that regions that were affected from the oil spill had a lower demand
for lodging facilities and the regions that were not affected had an increase. This particular study
also identified that the use of secondary data can be financially better option to look and compare
different hotels in different regions and compare profits and losses. The information that was
produced is very useful in understanding that disasters caused by oil, will cause the demand for
hotels to go down to some degree and in particular hotels will struggle to continue to be
profitable. The oil problem that had to be resolved brought in people from all over the world for
set period of time and the tourism and travel industry had most of it profit from that and not
much of anything else. The phenomena that will influence this study are how some geographic
regions and sectors of the lodging industry will not profit from an oil crisis or disaster.
James (2011) identifies that when the world has expended half its accessible oil the crude
oil comes to be called peak oil. The diminishing manufacturing levels of oil are leading to scarce
resources and have begun to show the effects like high prices and the changing of human
activities as well as affecting the travel and tourism industry dramatically. James (2011) also
goes on to state that the tourism industry is one of the biggest in the world. With high oil prices
in a community the prices on hotels must also increase and that does not always mean more
profit. The dangers of increasing rates go hand in hand with a declining clientele looking for
lower rates. Peak oil should not be taken lightly and a community needs to understand that a new
mindset should be developing. The decline of oil production will cause the price of oil to raise
therefore hurting transportation, and the entire tourism business. Since tourism is often treated as
an amenity it will not be a main concern in oil distribution. Therefore, causing hotels to lose
money and therefore affecting the community negatively. James (2011) also points out society
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
and the tourism industry need to be less dependent on oil so that communities all around won’t
fall into a recession.
Organizational Leadership
Mohanty, Nandha, Habis, & Juhabi (2014) examined the oil price shocks which matter
because they disturb spending by customers and businesses on certain key elements as well as
how they affect the United States Travel and Leisure industry and the financial aspects of things.
They found that oil price shocks and the tourism and travel industry are greatly dependent on one
another. The World Travel and Tourism Council also measure the travel and tourism industry as
the net user of oil. The method used in the study was the Fama-French model and the combining
of new data and figures into individual subsectors. The subsectors that were analyzed and
compared were airlines, hotels, entertaining service industries, and restaurants and bars. The
results vary across the subsectors but there was clear evidence in the correlation of oil price and
the travel and tourism industry. This study is extremely important in regards to the hotel sector
because it shows the impact that oil prices have on the industry financially. Most importantly it
gives regulators and corporate executives the information to find better and improved solutions
such as keeping the oil prices down for more profit and the well being of others.
Twomey & Farias (2014) noted that Fracking has been promoted by the government and
is continually funded without much acknowledgement of the dangers. The academic journal
points out how the oil and gas industry has destabilized the free market and the democratic
values of America’s well-being. There are also many laws that are in favor of the gas companies.
The article also goes out to justify the fact that oil and gas companies’ regulations are
insufficient, lack validity, and there is not a suitable protection system in place for the people
who are affected. Fracking also disrupts many different types of businesses by the potential
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
capability to contaminate the water they rely on. There is proof that fracking generates
employment to communities, but it also goes out to point out that casualty rate and the dangers it
bring to families. The United States of America has values and the core of business if much a
part of its success. Looking for alternative solutions will benefit the people of this country as
well as the future of the world. Fracking is simply a major risk to businesses and the overall
environment.
Step 7: Identify Conflict Between Insights and Their Sources
Identifying conflict between insights and their sources is very important because those
conflicts stand in the way of forming common ground and therefore achieving integration, which
is the main purpose of the entire research document. The first conflict that occurred in the
literature that was used to solve the problem about what are the financial impacts that fracking
has on hotels and how will people in a booming oil community continue to work for lower wages
rather than getting hired on to an oilrig were conflicting insight produced by authors from same
discipline. Some of the literature that was used created great conflict because even though some
of the information was coming from the same discipline, the information from each author that
was going to be used clearly opposed and had different insights. The second conflict that was
found was assumptions between insights. In the Organization Leadership discipline, ontological,
which is about the nature of actuality, is problematic because there is so much information
regarding fracking on the assumption of how it is good as well as how it is bad in small and in
big cities. Lastly, theories are also a source of conflict because in a single piece of literature there
was multiple theories for one discipline and it was very hard to understand the explanations of all
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
of them. In the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management discipline this was certainly
problematic because in Mohanty, Nandha, Habis, & Juhabi (2014) the main theory was the
Fama-French model but it conflicted with the other theories that were also mentioned like the
two-factor model, the multifactor model, and the SUR model. Overlooking and ignoring one or
more applicable theories could likely bias the research and produce an incomplete solution to the
problem.
Step 8: Creating Common Ground
The conflicts that were recognized in step 7 were conflicting insight produced by authors
from same discipline, assumptions between insights, and theories. Creating common ground is a
necessary objective and is a portion of the process of integration. Also, forming common ground
is needed to communicate across disciplines.
The first conflict, which is conflicting insights produced by authors from the same
discipline, should first create common ground by organizing and clarifying how some
phenomena’s interrelate and identifying the commonality between some of the different ideas
that were presented. In the Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management discipline there were
articles that were against fracking in communities and there were some that were very supportive
of fracking in city limits. To create common ground a modified map of the casual relations
would have to be made again to make sure nothing was overlooked.
The second conflict, which is assumptions between insights, should create common
ground by using the technique of extension and transformation. Starting with extension,
uncovering a commonality that both shares in how it is a positive and negative thing to have
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
fracking in communities must be done. The technique of transformation in the assumptions about
the good and bad on the subject of fracking can be resolved by modifying the assumptions. The
resolution is to alter them by placing them on contrasting ends therefore making it possible to
discover the positives and negatives of fracking and understand both sides better.
Lastly, the third conflict, which is theories, can be resolved using the technique
transformation. Creating common ground using transformation involves altering conflicting
theoretic assumptions. Looking at all of the theories and finding the commonality in them and
understanding how they all have a role in the literature would be how creating common ground is
supported.
Step 9: Construct a More Comprehensive Understanding
Since the research question is too broad to be satisfactorily resolved from one single
discipline the incorporation of two disciplines of study was an unquestionably must. The
Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management and Organization Leadership disciplines were the
areas of study that provided all of the information capable of proposing a new insight to the
wicked problem concerning fracking. The focus question of the entire research paper explores
what are the financial impacts that fracking has on hotels and how will people in a booming oil
community continue to work for lower wages rather than getting hired on to an oilrig.
The Restaurant Hotel Institutional Management discipline contributed immensely to the
proposal of the focus question. This discipline generated information about the pros and cons of
working at a hotel rather than a dangerous occupation and benefits of working in a hotel in the
long run. Nicolaides (2006) gives numerous reasons of why working in the hotel industry will be
more beneficial to the overall employee and the benefits that will be reflected on to the
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
community. One of the motivations for working in the hotel industry in a booming oil
community is the safe environment and workplace that accompanies that decision. As well as the
establishing of short and long term goals in regards to job security. In correspondence to job
security the opportunity for advancement is much vaster. As well as empowering employees and
helping them to succeed in developing their human skills, decision-making, and logical skills.
Motivating and encouraging citizens in a booming oil community to continue their advancing
careers in the hotel industry will benefit the community and the economy and their over all
safety.
The integration of both disciplines is very important, but from the Organizational
Leadership discipline comes some great insights. Ottenbacher, Harrington, & Parsa (2009)
discuss how hospitality is one of the oldest occupations and is deemed as one of the most
powerful economic activities in the world that associates itself with many aspects of human life.
The financial impacts that fracking has on businesses in a community are noteworthy. Fracking
has moments where it flushes in financial greatness into the economy which overall helps most
businesses in a community including the hotel businesses, but the dangers and number of deaths
associated with such industry can be made not worth while to a community. Twomey & Farias
(2014) definitely noted that fracking disrupts many businesses by potentially contaminating
water and compromising a community’s economic success if the oil was to un-expectantly
diminish without any other type of consolidation. Looking for alternative solutions to generate
revenue into an economy other than oilrigs is something that would be very beneficial to the
future of that community and the world.
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
STEP 10: Communicating the Results
The conclusion of the overall complex research problem has become clearer and there is
now a better understanding of the question at hand. With the incorporation and integration of
both my disciplines I have came up with a conclusion for the study. The focus question has now
been critiqued and examined for the proposal of new ideas and future efforts to have a better
understanding at what is at stake and what could possibly be a solution for future complications
in this area. The focus question was, what are the financial impacts that fracking has on hotels
and how will people in a booming oil community continue to work for lower wages rather than
getting hired on to an oilrig? The first part of the focus question talks about the financial impacts
that fracking has hotels and with all of the research I have concluded that the financial impacts
are very diverse in different situations. In a booming oil community when every thing is going
according to plan and there are no incidents there will be an increase in money going into that
community and the economy because they get paid high wages for the dangerous work they do.
At the same time good does not last forever meaning that with an industry that hazardous and life
threatening even with all the precautions there will be downfalls and tragedies will occur
resulting in an economic downfall. The depletion of oil in some communities also affects the
overall financial impact that will be distressing the community and affecting all businesses in
that area. If a community had a part of its economic income coming in from the business of
fracking and it somehow stopped because there was no more oil to be extracted, the hotel
business would be hurt directly. The reason for this is because if fracking is one of the great
producers of wealth in an economy and if all of a sudden that wealth stopped the hotel business
would be hurt because money brings in tourist and workers who are employed in the fracking
business. Once that specific oil business down turns the income of families in those community
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
drops therefore having a parallel effect on hotel business, which is a negative outcome. In
concluding the results the hotel business and financial ties, there is also empirical information
that argues that working in a hotel is more pragmatic and will have better consequences in the
long run compared to working on an oilrig for higher pay. Safety and the well being of the
providers of families it the main reason for working in the hotel industry rather than on an oilrig.
The comfort of being in a workplace where there are more safety guarantees should be an
incentive to work in the safe security of a building. Being employed for a company that offers
less pay should not be a motivation to skip that occupation all together. There has been research
that has found that there are greater benefits in working at a hotel for example, there is a better
opportunity to be promoted and that alone comes with a higher income and a greater sense of
accomplishment. As well as developing oneself and being empowered to delegate and help
others.
Conventionally, people seek to find the jobs with the highest pay and with that incentive
usually comes a high risk, this one that happens to be ones life. I believe that ones life should not
be dictated by not knowing if one is going to alive the next day because of the occupation they
hold especially if they have a family that they are solely providing for. With professional
development and hard work one can achieve a good and justifiable life in the safety of a building
all while continually acquiring new skills that will later in life equal to a higher pay and
canceling out the risks that a fracking position entertains.
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
References
Barclay, R. A. (2012). The best defense for fracking is a good offense. Natural Gas Electricity,
29(2), 28-30.
Crotts, J., & Mazanec, J. (2013). Case study: Diagnosing the impact of an event on hotel
demand: The case of the BP oil spill. Management Tourism Perspectives, 1(8), 60-67.
James, L. (2011). New tourism in a new society arises from "peak oil" An International
Multidisciplinary Journal of Tourism, 6(1), 165-191. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from
Hospitality & Tourism Complete.
Michelle Bamberger & Robert E. Oswald (2015) Long-term impacts of unconventional drilling
operations on human and animal health, Journal of Environmental Science and Health,
Part A: Toxic/Hazardous Substances and Environmental Engineering, 50:5, 447-459,
doi: 10.1080/10934529.2015.992655
Mohanty, S., Nandha, M., Habis, E., & Juhabi, E. (2014). Oil price risk exposure: The case of
the U.S. travel and leisure industry. Energy Economics, 41117-124.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.lib-e2.lib.ttu.edu/10.1016/j.eneco.2013.09.028
Nicolaides, A. (2006). Management versus leadership in the hospitality industry. Journal of
Travel and Tourism Research, 6(1), 29-38.
Ritchie, B. W., Crotts, J. C., Zehrer, A., & Volsky, G. T. (2014). Understanding the effects of a
tourism crisis: The impact of the BP oil spill on regional lodging demand. Journal
Of Travel Research, 53(1), 12-25. doi:10.1177/0047287513482775
Rush, P. V. (2010). The threat from hydrofracking. Journal: American Water Works
Association, 102(9), 26-30.
Running Head: Financial Impacts of Fracking & the Hotel Industry
Paredes, D., Komarek, T., & Loveridge, S. (2014). Income and employment effects of shale gas
extraction windfalls: Evidence from the Marcellus region. Energy Economics, 47(1), 112-
120. Retrieved March 23, 2015, from Science Direct.
Shever, E. (2008). Neoliberal associations: Property, company, and family in the Argentine oil
fields. American Ethnologist, 35(4), 701-706. doi: 10.1111/j.1548-1425.2008.00106.x
Twomey, D. F., Twomey, R. F., Farias, C., & Farias, G. (2014). Fracking: Blasting the bedrock
of business. Competition Forum, 12(1), 204.