Business performance of spa industry : basis for strategic policy framework / Ferdinand C. Martinez. 6

Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 2014.;A dissertation presented to the faculty of the Graduate School of Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Business Administration. 56

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ABSTRACT: Statement of the Problem The study explored the business performance of spa industry to serve as basis for strategic policy framework. Specifically, the study answered the following specific questions: 1. What is the profile of spas in the Philippines in terms of 1.1 Type of spa operation, 1.2 Type of ownership, 1.3 Services offered, 1.4 Beginning capital, 1.5 Number of years of operation, 1.6 Income tax paid, and 1.7 Average yearly income? 2. What is the business performance of the local spas in terms of: 2.1 Product and Service Quality, 2.2 Collateral Services, 2.3 Business Obligations, 2.4 Potential Market, 2,5 Marketing Position, 2.6 Customer Satisfaction, and 2.7 Customer Retention? 3. Is there a significant relationship between the business performance of the local spas when grouped according to the profile variables mentioned in problem 1? 4. What are the critical issues that confront spa operations? 5. What strategic policy framework can be formulated based on the results of the study? Hypothesis The study tested the following null hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance: There is no significant relationship between the business performance of spas and the following profile variables: 1.1 Type of spa operations, 1.2 Type of ownership, 1.3 Services offered, 1.4 Beginning capital, 1.5 Number of years of operation, 1.6 Income tax paid, and 1.7 Average yearly income. Research Design The descriptive method of research was adopted for the study of the business performance of spa industry to serve as a basis for strategic policy framework. To define the descriptive type of research, Ariola (2006) stated that the descriptive research describes current events and that the research questions or problems raised are based on the appreciation of present phenomena, events, or state of affairs. The emphasis is on describing rather than on judging or interpreting. The aim of descriptive research us to verify formulated hypotheses that refer to the present situation in order to elucidate it. The descriptive approach is quick and practical in terms of the financial aspect. Moreover, this method allows a flexible approach, thus, when important new issues and questions arise during the duration of the study, further investigation may be conducted. Descriptive research on the other hand is a type of research that is mainly concerned with describing the nature or condition and the degree in detail of the present situation. This method is used to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the causes/s of a particular phenomenon. The aim of descriptive research is to obtain an accurate profile of the people, events or situations. With this research type, it is essential that the researcher already has a clear view or picture of the phenomena being investigated before data collection procedure is carried out. The researcher used this kind of research to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. Findings and Conclusions 1. Profile of Spas in the Philippines On the type of spa operation, the Day Spa comprised the majority of the type of spa with a total of almost fifty-three percent (52.94%) of the total number of respondents. About the type of ownership, most of the subject spa companies are operating as a corporation. On the services offered, the top three spa services are Swedish Massage and Body Scrub both on the first category. Both Reflexology and Facial Treatments in the second category, and lastly on the third equal category are Hot Stone Massage, Hilot, and Manicure and Pedicure. As regards to the beginning capital, those spa which has been in operation from 6 to 10 years obtained the highest frequency of 8 establishments which garnered an overall percentage of 47.06. On the income tax paid, the spa with income tax payment of below P100,000 obtained the highest frequency of 6 respondents of 35%. And lastly, with regards to the Average yearly income, 29% of the respondents have more than 5 million income which obtained the highest score of 5. 2. Business Performance of Local Spas For product and service quality, the respondents strongly agreed (4.94) that they provide continuous training to ensure good customer service. The weakest among the business performance is collateral services with an overall mean of 2.87 which is verbally described as good. About business obligations, spa companies fully complied with their government obligations and sure environment protection of the general public. The respondents strongly agreed that spas' potential marker is very good. On the marketing position, internal promotion, public relations, and spa event were considered very good by the respondents. For customer satisfaction, majority of the respondents strongly agreed that they feel good about the services offered and enjoy the ambience of the place. Lastly, with regards to the customer retention, most of the customers of the spa respondents were clients on amonthly basis which obtained an overall score of 114 or 33% of the entire responses. 3. Significant relationship between the business performance of the local spas and each of the profile variables mentioned in problem 1. Relationship of Type of Operation and Business Performance There is no significant relationship between the type of operation and the seven (7) business performance variables since all the computed p-values are greater than 0.05. This means that the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between the profile variable-type of operation and business performance variables is accepted. Relationship of Type of Ownership and Business Performance There is significant relationship between the type of ownership and the seven (7) business performance variable except in marketing position. Between the type of ownership and marketing position, the eta coefficient of 0.60 has a p-value of 0.045. This result is higher than the level of significance of 0.05. Hence, the p-value results indicate that there is a significant relationship between the 2 variables considered. Thus, the null hypothesis which states that there is no significant relationship between type of ownership and marketing position is rejected as the statistical results revealed that there exists a relationship between the 2 variables.

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