Untitled

financial and human resources. Therefore, in the
course of developing and implementing specific
strategies for the hotel, the manager plays the
decisional work role of resource allocator. Finally,
the general manager furthers the leader work role
by continuing relationships with subordinates as an
integral component of the job and by choosing
which specific plans and programmes to implement.
As leader, the manager must contend with
the challenge of ensuring that subordinates fully
accept the plans and programmes outlined for the
hotel and are committed to working toward their
successful implementation. This requires that the
general manager pays careful attention to the work
roles of monitor and disseminator of information.
References
Mintzberg, H. �1973) The Nature of Managerial Work,
New York: Harper & Row.
Nebel, E.C. �1991) Managing Hotels Effectively, New
York: Van Nostrand Reinhold.
Nebel, E.C. �1993) À conceptual framework of the
hotel general managers' job', Hospitality Research
Journal 16: 27±39.
leakage
GLENN F. ROSS, AUSTRALIA
Leakages, sometimes referred to as withdrawals or
outflows, are that part of national income which is
not spent on domestically produced goods or
services. Much of the money earned by households,
for example, accrues to the public sector in the
form of taxes and customs duties; some is saved by
the households and some spent on imported goods
and services. These are the principal forms of
leakage. But whereas in most cases taxes and
savings remain in the economy for possible future
use, imports form a permanent loss of revenue out
of the country and are a deficit item in the
balance of payments.
The magnitude of the import leakages is
determined by the situation of the domestic
economy, in particular its ability to produce the
goods and services required both directly by
tourists and as a secondary consequence of the
development of tourism �see multiplier effect).
In turn, this depends upon the size of the economy
and especially the nature of the trading linkages
which domestic firms are able to establish with
each other. The situation is compounded if the
domestic firms are too small to supply the extended
market. Further, during both the construction and
operating phases of hotels and other tourism
establishments, the domestic economy may not
have the finance, expertise or ability to cope with
demand; thus foreign loans, engineering and
management companies may be used with a
consequential leakage of profits and management
fees abroad. This leakage element is compounded
if some local staff require to be trained abroad.
Another less obvious increase in leakages may
occur if there is a change in domestic consumption
patterns. As the economic benefits of tourism
filter through the economy, national income rises
and the income levels of a larger number of people
rise. In consequence, their purchases increase and
may change in nature from domestically produced
goods to items with a higher import content. This
in turn leads to further leakages. Leakages out of
national economies vary from as little as 10 per
cent to as much as 80 per cent, but these are
generally much higher in the case of local
economies. The principal reason is that local
economies are much more integrated into their
parent national economies than are national ones
with other national economies.
learning curve
learning curve 351
BRIAN ARCHER, UK
The relationship between the performance of a
particular activity and accumulated experience in
doing the same is known as the learning curve.
Performance normally improves as experience
increases. In a business context, whether tourism
or other, this relationship usually expresses performance
in terms of the cost of producing one unit of
output, and experience in terms of the accumulated
volume of output. Two phenomena normally
provide the basis for this relationship: learning and
economies of scale.
GEOFFREY I. CROUCH, AUSTRALIA