Career aspects of convention andexhibition professionals in Asia

Adele Ladkin and Karin WeberSchool of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hong Kong Polytechnic University,

Hong Kong

Abstract

Purpose – The study examines the career motivations, paths and challenges of convention andexhibition (C&E) industry professionals in Asia.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the key literature relating to life and workhistory research, career profiles and human capital, which is followed by a discussion of findings of anonline survey of C&E industry professionals in Asia.

Findings – Findings indicate that there is no specific career route/path into the industry, withexperience being generated in a wide variety of sectors, and primarily gained in management, salesand marketing roles. Professionals show a high level of career commitment and face a variety ofchallenges relating to environmental, customer and job demands.

Research limitations/implications – Data were collected from industry professionals from fourSouth-East Asian destinations only, thus it is important not to generalize study findings to Asia.Practical implications are discussed in relation to career development and employee retention,specifically in view of the variety of entry points into the industry, potential for job mobility, andchallenges to motivate and retain a committed workforce composed of different generations.

Originality/value – Appropriately educated and trained labor is essential for the success of therapidly growing C&E industry. Yet, despite the recognized value of superior staff and the wealth ofemployment opportunities, there is little understanding of careers in the C&E sector to date. Theresearch addresses this gap in the research.

Keywords Careers, Motivation (psychology), Jobs, South East Asia

Paper type Research paper

IntroductionCareer research/theory has received scant attention in the hospitality area in generaland in the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) area in particular.Especially, the convention and exhibition (C&E) sector has evolved into a highlyvisible and very important segment of business tourism, following significant growthin the past decades. Increasingly recognized by governments and National TourismOffices (NTOs) as a highly lucrative market (McCabe, 2008), Asia as a region has madeconsiderable attempts to capitalize on this market, with extensive investment ininfrastructure giving many Asian cities enviable convention and exhibitions facilities.

The provision of excellent employment opportunities is seen as another benefit theindustry can offer destinations investing in this sector. The wide variety ofemployment opportunities largely stems from the fact that the sector is very laborintensive. The quality of staff influences customer service that in turn can provide acompetitive advantage. Consequently, appropriately educated and trained labor isessential for the success of the C&E industry. Yet, despite the recognized importance ofthe C&E sector to destinations, together with the value of superior staff and the wealth

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Received 14 July 2009Revised 4 December 2009Accepted 31 January 2010

International Journal ofContemporary Hospitality

ManagementVol. 22 No. 6, 2010

pp. 871-886q Emerald Group Publishing Limited

0959-6119DOI 10.1108/09596111011063133

of employment opportunities, there is little understanding of careers in the C&E sectorto date, providing a rationale for research in this area.

This study aims to provide insights into the career development of C&E industryprofessionals in leading destinations in South East Asia. In particular it explores careerpaths by sector and level of responsibility, geographical and time mobility, careercommitment and career motivations and job challenges. In addition to the practicalvalue of exploring careers of industry professionals, this paper also contributes to thecurrent theoretical debate concerning careers in general.

Literature reviewFrom traditional to contemporary careersA career has been commonly defined as a series of jobs arranged over time (Riley andLadkin, 1994). In the broadest sense, a career is the outcome of structural opportunitiesmade available to an individual on the one hand, such as the size of the industry,organizational structure, and knowledge specificity, and human ability and ambitionon the other hand. The structural opportunities in an industry provide the frameworkfor any occupation, whereas individual ability and ambition determine how peoplemake choices presented by structural opportunities. In the past, a career was seenprimarily as the responsibility of the individual. Later, the focus of careers shifted fromthe individual to the organization (Gutteridge et al., 1993), whereas more recently,individuals have again become the driving force for their careers.

Traditional careers were based on hierarchical and relatively rigid structures. Pastcareer models centered on a linear direction of advancement, that is promotion(Rosenbaum, 1979), whereby the organizational hierarchy provided the ladder onwhich to climb. Consequently, career success was determined by an assessment ofupward mobility, with salary and social status functioning as success indicators.Career paths were clear, given the stability of structure and clarity of career ladders.

However, contemporary career theory argues that traditional careers based onhierarchy, progression, and a single organization are in decline (e.g. Eaton and Bailyn,2000; Hall, 1996; Handy, 1994), being replaced by the concept of a multidimensionalcareer that develops beyond the boundaries of a single organizational or occupationalsetting (Collin and Young, 2000). Ties with organizations are based less onexpectations of a relational, long-term commitment and more on transactional,short-term, financial exchanges.

At the same time, individuals define career success in different ways, includinginner satisfaction, life balance, autonomy and freedom, and other measures ofself-perception in addition to the traditional measures of income, rank, and status.They may achieve these outcomes by adopting non-traditional approaches, such as alateral move, a change of direction, organization, or aspiration. People can choose fromthese options, and there is no single way for reaching success, hence the termmultidirectional career paths. Consequently, a more modern definition of a career is “aprocess of development of the employee along a path of experience and jobs in one ormore organizations” (Baruch and Rosenstein, 1992, p. 478).

Career analysis – work history analysis and career profilesCareer analysis represents one of the main ways to explore careers and labor marketissues. Collecting information on individuals’ work histories creates a career profile of a

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particular person. When individuals are asked about their working lives, theinformation they provide can be used to create a detailed picture of their work history.Work history data can be collected on many aspects of a person’s working life. It can bequantitative in nature, for example, the number of jobs a person has held, the length ofeach job, and how many times he/she has moved jobs within the external or internallabor market. It can also be qualitative in terms of gathering data on career choice,ambition, and personal career motivations.

The collection of work history data has its origins in the life history approach, thedevelopment and use of which have been well documented (Dex, 1991). There are twomain ways of collecting work history data, either longitudinally over time or throughthe use of memory recall. The merits and difficulties of each of these are described infull by Dex (1991) while Ladkin (1999) discusses the collection of work history datausing the memory recall method. In terms of data analysis, the work history dataenables career profiles to be created which may be explored in aggregate form or asindividual work histories.

Career analysis in the hospitality industryIn the hospitality field, career analysis has primarily focused on the careers ofmanagerial staff in the industry. For example, Ladkin (2002), Ladkin and Juwaheer(2000), and Ladkin and Riley (1996) examined the career paths of hotel managers inAustralia, Mauritius, and the UK, respectively, with career mobility, career planning,and career strategies being the key areas of research interest. Numerous studies haveapproached career development from a gender perspective (Brownell, 1994), focusingon specific barriers faced by females in the industry and special skills required toovercome constraints for career advancement. The career development of femaleexecutives has been assessed by Weber (1999) in the Las Vegas casino industrycontext, Li and Leung (2001) and Ng and Pine (2003) in Singaporean and Hong Konghotels respectively, and Kattara (2005) in Egyptian hotels. In addition, several studieshave focused on career anchors of hospitality industry employees (Beck and La Lopa,2001; Ross, 1995) and career stress responses (Ross, 1997).

While not directly related to career analysis, recent research has assessedgenerational differences in work values between baby boomer, generation X (GenX)and generation Y (GenY) employees (Chen and Choi, 2008; Gursoy et al., 2008), withsuch differences likely to have a considerable impact on career development. Chen andChoi (2008) identified a series of work values (e.g. security, personal/professionalgrowth) that were viewed differently by different generations in the workforce, whichwere then related to recruitment and retention strategies. Similarly, Gursoy et al. (2008)focused on generational differences relating to effective leadership strategies andmanagement styles to increase employee morale and productivity, with a view torecruit and retain highly qualified staff.

Recently, research attention has also been directed to career aspects of hospitalityacademics, recognizing academics’ importance in shaping the next generation ofleaders, managers and employees in the hospitality industry. Beck et al. (2003) assessedcareer anchors while Weber and Ladkin (2008) examined their career profiles andstrategies.

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Career analysis in the C&E industryDespite the lamented dearth of research following early studies by Montgomery andRutherford (1994), and McCabe and Weeks (1999) on conventions services managers inthe USA and Australia respectively, some interesting work has recently beenundertaken on careers in the C&E industry in Australia that provides insights intoboth theoretical and practical elements of careers in the industry. From a theoreticalperspective, and through an examination of labor mobility in the industry, McCabe andSavery (2007) identify “butterflying” as a career pattern by exploring job movements ofprofessional conference organizers, employees in hotels and convention venues,purpose built convention and exhibition centers, and convention and visitor bureaus.Tracing the careers of the sample revealed that rather than having one particularcareer route through different sectors, respondents “flutter” between sectors accordingto opportunities and personal choice, building human capital as they go. The“butterfly” pattern can be identified as an extension and development of theboundaryless career model (McCabe and Savery, 2007).

From a practical perspective, McCabe and Savery (2007) and McCabe (2008) explorecareer development in the industry. McCabe and Savery (2007) examine careerprogression through the sectors and by job function and responsibility, and also theimpetus for job moves. McCabe (2008) assesses career planning and developmentstrategies of individuals. Her sample of 126 employees reveals that the industry isdominated by well educated females who follow a variety of career routes. Personalcareer planning and development strategies were also explored to ascertain howindividuals advance their careers. Findings reveal that strategies relate to both theinternal and the external environments; networking and the need to continually developskills over the span of one’s career is regarded as vitally important (McCabe, 2008).

Given the value of human capital to the successful continued development of theindustry, a further understanding of careers in the industry is beneficial to both theindividual in terms of career choice, opportunity and development, and the industry inrespect of how to attract, build on, and retain human capital. This paper adopts a workhistory approach to examine C&E industry professionals’ career profiles, together withtheir career motivations and job challenges, and on that basis offer recommendationsto further advance the standards of the convention industry in Asia.

MethodologyThe sample for this study was comprised of industry professionals from four key C&Edestinations in Asia, namely Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia (ICCA,2008; UFI, 2007). These destinations have heavily invested in first-class C&Einfrastructure and staff development, and promotion, and as a consequence are leadersin attracting substantial convention and exhibition business. A comprehensive searchfor contact details of industry professionals in these destinations was conducted,utilizing two major sources:

(1) Membership directories of the key industry association in each destination (HongKong Exhibition and Convention Industry Association (HKECIA), SingaporeAssociation of Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (SACEOS),Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), and Malaysia Associationof Convention and Exhibition Organisers and Suppliers (MACEOS)).

(2) Websites of key industry players.

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The final sample was comprised of 693 convention and exhibition industryprofessionals.

An online survey was conducted between January and March 2008 to gatherrelevant information for this study. The merits of on-line surveys are well documented(Sue and Ritter, 2007). A self-administered questionnaire was developed. It waspre-tested with industry professionals and academics first in its paper format forcontent issues, and in the subsequent online pre-test for presentation and technicalissues. Minor modifications in question wording were made to the instrument based onthe feedback received through the pre-tests. The final on-line survey was posted on adesignated university website. The sample was invited via email to participate in thestudy, and provided with the URL to access the questionnaire. The first email andsubsequent follow-ups were sent in early January 2008, mid-February 2008, and earlyMarch 2008 respectively. A total of 112 responses were received. Following eliminationof incomplete questionnaires, the final sample size was 104 respondents for a responserate of 15 percent.

In view of the potential non-response error, multiple measures were employed toassess its potential effect, based on a review of appropriate techniques (e.g. Armstrongand Overton, 1977; Collier and Bienstock, 2007). First, a comparison of early and laterespondents (first one-third versus last one-third of respondents) was conducted onselect demographic, employment and career variables. Results indicated that earlyrespondents compared to late respondents were older, in more senior positions, andidentified more strongly with their career in the industry than late respondents.Second, a follow-up was conducted with a sub-sample of industry professionals whodid not respond to the invitation to participate in the survey. Reasons for themdeclining to participate in the study were primarily related to privacy concerns giventhe detail required for the career analysis, in addition to time constraints. However,there were no other significant differences between respondents and non-respondentson the variables assessed.

The survey questionnaire consisted of three distinct sections. In section 1,respondents were asked about their background in terms of key demographics (age,gender, education, and nationality) and their current employment. Of particularinterest to this article is section 2 which inquired about respondents’ career history,with a specific focus on respondents’ last five positions. Details ascertained includedprevious jobs’ industry sector and level of responsibility, whether they involvedrelocation, and whether any action had been taken to move out of the industry,employing a closed-ended question format. In contrast, Section 3 adopted primarily anopen-ended question format allowing respondents to provide more detailedinformation on their career motivations (to enter and stay in the industry) and jobchallenges by filling in textboxes. However, commitment to their career in the C&Eindustry was measured on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly disagree”to “strongly agree.”

Data analysisSince the online questionnaire ascertained data to both closed- and open-endedquestion formats, both quantitative and qualitative data analysis was employed.Career profiles were developed in aggregate form by utilizing frequency analysis; withcross-tabulations and chi-square analysis providing further insights when

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cross-referencing the career profiles with demographic data. Independent samplet-tests and ANOVA were conducted to examine potential differences in careercommitment based on gender and generational affiliation.

To assess data relating to respondents’ career motivations and key job challenges,content analysis was employed (Krippendorff, 1980), drawing on multiple methods,including checklist matrices and “eyeballing,” First, following Miles and Huberman’s(1994, p. 105) “checklist matrices” framework, patterns and themes in the data werenoted, links with previous literature drawn, and categories identified that were relevantto the research question. Second, a technique commonly referred to as “eyeballing” wasemployed that required the repeated examination of responses to open-endedquestions, with the purpose of highlighting key phrases and assigning codes toidentify key thoughts and perceptions of each respondent. The data analysis, bothquantitative and qualitative, is based on data provided by 104 respondents.

Results and discussionDemographic profileThe sample comprised of 104 respondents. Of these, 52 percent of respondents werefemale, with the remaining 48 percent being male. In terms of age, the largest numberof respondents (42 or 40 percent) was aged between 36-45 years, followed byrespondents aged between 26-35 years (24 or 23 percent), and those aged between 46-55years (22 or 21 percent). More than one-third of the sample were Hong Kong/MainlandChinese (38 respondents or 37 percent), followed by Singaporeans (16 or 15 percent),Thai (15 or 14 percent) and Malaysians (8 or 8 percent). The remainder comprised ofsmall numbers of European (British, Dutch, French, German) Australian, New Zealand,and Canadian nationals.

Of particular interest here is that in terms of educational attainment, more than halfof all respondents had attained an undergraduate degree, with another quarter ofrespondents having completed postgraduate education, an indication that higheducational qualifications appear to be the norm for many of those working in the C&Eindustry in the selected destinations. The focus areas for these qualifications werebusiness (22), languages (7), and engineering (6).

Current employmentThe sample’s current job titles pointed to many respondents being in senior positionsin the industry, with more than half of all respondents having a senior job title,including CEO (5), director (18), general manager (10), deputy general manager (2),managing director (17), deputy managing director (1), and senior vice president (2). Afurther 32 respondents were in middle management positions. Exploring job seniorityfurther in terms of age, there was, not surprisingly, a significant relationship betweenthe two variables (x2 ¼ 7:25, df ¼ 2, p , 0.05). Respondents within the 36-50 yearsage range held the most senior positions (65.5 percent), compared to those aged 51years and above (20 percent) and 21-35 years (14.5 percent), suggesting that it is notnecessarily those who are oldest who hold the most senior positions. As would beexpected when examining career paths, those in the youngest age group (21-35 years)were more likely to hold middle to lower management positions (63.6 percent) thansenior management positions (36.4 percent).

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A significant relationship was also found between seniority and gender (x2 ¼ 8:75,df ¼ 1, p , 0.01), whereby males held more senior positions (66.7 percent), comparedto females of (33.3 percent). This finding follows a familiar pattern in terms of careersof female managers where despite industries being dominated by females (McCabe,2009), it is males who achieve higher career advancement and attaining more seniorpositions. Part-time work and career breaks are likely to have an influence in thiscontext, yet this was not further explored given the different focus of our study.

In terms of employment by industry sector, the majority of respondents wereworking as exhibition organizers (42 percent), followed by MICE industry suppliers (19percent), conference/convention/exhibition venues (17 percent) and professionalconference organizers (7 percent). The length of employment in the C&E industryaveraged about 13 years. More than one-third of respondents had been in the industrybetween 11 and 20 years, with about a quarter of respondents having worked in theindustry between five to ten years. About 10 percent of respondents had worked in theindustry more than 20 years.

Career pathsIn terms of career paths, the research explores how respondents’ employment haschanged over time. They show in aggregate form the various jobs that have beenundertaken prior to the current employment. This provides an indication of the sectorswhere people have gained prior skills and experience. Two aspects are presented,industry sector and level of responsibility. In both cases, the sample size declines overtime reflecting the fact that not all respondents have held five jobs. A total of 323 jobswere reported by respondents for the past four job moves up to the current job.

Career path by sector. Table I shows the career paths of the sample by industrysector. The sample is dominated by those currently working as exhibition organizers, atrend that followed through from the previous job. MICE industry suppliers alsofeature prominently as the current and previous job sectors. Although there are avariety of jobs held over time, a key finding is the large number of respondents whohave come to the sector from outside the C&E industry. There is seemingly no specific

Job area Present job Previous job Job 3 Job 4 Job 5

Independent professional conferenceorganizer/meeting planner 5 4 3 4 1Conference organizer – association 1 2 2Conference organizer – corporate 1 2 2 1Exhibition organizer 43 16 6 5 2Conference venue 6 4 6 4 3Purpose built – convention and exhibitioncentre 12 7 1 1 1Convention bureau 2Government – state/federal convention andevents department 2 4MICE industry supplier 20 15 5 3 3Other – in MICE industry 12 16 8 7 7Other – Not MICE industry 29 27 22 14Sample size 102/104 97/104 64/104 47/104 31/104

Table I.Career path by industry

sector

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route into the industry, with experience being generated in a wide variety of sectors.The reasons contributing to this phenomena warrant further investigation. Previousresearch in this area (McCabe, 2008), exploring a sample of C&E professionals inAustralia, indicates a high degree of intra-sectorial, inter-sectorial, and inter-industrymobility, resulting in many different job patterns but no one particular career path.Thus, results of this study confirm the previous findings, despite a focus on a differentgeographical region.

Career path by level of responsibility. Table II shows the career paths of the sampleby level of job responsibility. The sample is dominated by respondents in seniorpositions, thus, it would be expected that more junior roles would have beenundertaken at some point prior to these higher level jobs. This is indeed the case.Table II highlights three key points. First, within the industry experience is gained inmanagement, sales and marketing roles. Second, few respondents have gained anyprior experience in the function/banqueting area, whether as a manager, supervisor orin operations. This is in contrast to the hospitality industry in general, where exposureto and experience in the F&B area is typically/often a prerequisite toattaining/progressing to a position as a hotel general manager (Ladkin, 2002; Ladkinand Juwaheer, 2000). Third, there is a dominance of respondents whose prior jobs wereoutside the convention industry. Further analysis is required to establish in whichother industries C&E professional have gained relevant skills and experiences, andwhether there are significant differences based on gender, given that it is males ratherthan females who attain a proportionally higher number of senior managementpositions in the industry.

Geographic mobilityThe extent to which respondents relocated either intra/interstate or internationally,that is, their geographic mobility, was also examined. Results indicated that about athird of respondents had relocated to another state/city to take up a new position while

Job level Present job Previous job Job 3 Job 4 Job 5

Principal/CEO/managing director 29 8 6 3 3Partner 2 2 2 1Director 24 16 7 6 2Senior conference/exhibition manager 13 15 8 6 6Conferences/exhibition coordinator 3 2 3Account coordinator 2 2 1 1Venue – convention service manager 1 4 1 1Venue – convention service coordinator 1Venue – function/banqueting manager 1 1Venue – function/banqueting supervisorVenue – function/banqueting operations 1Venue – convention sales/marketing director 1 4Venue – convention sales/marketing manager 5 4 2Venue – convention sales/marketing executive 3 2 1Venue – new business development manager 1 1 1Other – 18 37 25 21 13Sample size 104/104 94/104 56/104 42/104 27/104

Table II.Career path by level ofresponsibility

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around 37 percent of respondents had relocated to another country to do so andthereby, further their career. International experience had been gained in Europe andthe US, and more recently in Asia, reflecting the increasingly global nature of theindustry. In terms of their profile, industry professionals who relocated internationallyto further their career were predominantly male (74 percent), aged 36 to 55 years (55percent), and currently in senior management positions (63 percent). These findings areconsistent with findings of previous studies that assess geographic mobility and itsimpact on career advancement (e.g. Brett et al., 1993; Landau et al., 1992; McCabe, 2008,2009; Weber and Ladkin, 2008).

Time mobilityThe length of time an individual remains in a particular job can also be considered areflection of that person’s career planning and development. Assessing time mobilityfor the C&E industry professionals in this sample revealed a mean average time of sixyears (median of four years) in the current job and a mean average time of 4.5 years(median of three years) in the previous job, with the average number of years in eachprior job declining. Thus, it would appear that C&E professionals are staying longer intheir more recent jobs than they did in their earlier jobs.

In order to gain further insights into potential differences in respondents’ careermobility, the median time spent in each job was explored in terms of seniority, gender,and age/generations (Table III). While there were no significant differences betweenrespondents of different levels of seniority and gender, there appeared to be differencesin terms of the time spent in prior jobs among the babyboomers, GenX and GenY, withthe former displaying the highest median time spent in each prior job, followed byGenX and finally, GenY, consistent with prior literature examining differingcharacteristics of generations, for example changing job patterns between differentgenerations (Sullivan et al., 2009). However, rather than pointing to generationaldifferences only, this finding may also be in part explained with the importance ofmobility in the early stages of a career, as has been shown in other industries, includingthe hospitality industry, where mobility plays an important role in advancing one’scareer (Ladkin, 2002). However, given the relatively small number of respondents in theGenY category in particular, no conclusive statements can be made here.

Career commitment and career motivationsRespondents displayed a high level of commitment to their career in the industry(mean ¼ 6:08, SD ¼ 1:13). There were, however, differences in career commitmentbased on gender whereby males displayed a higher level of career commitment thanfemales (t ¼ 2:08, p , 0.05, Mf=m ¼ 5:83=6:30). Furthermore, differences in career

Jobsa

Generation 1 2 3 4 5GenY 2 1 1 – –GenX 5 3 3 2 2Babyboomers 8 4 5 3 5

Note: a1 refers to the current job, 2 to the job prior current one, etc

Table III.Median years spent in

current and prior jobpositions

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commitment in terms of generations were established by one-way ANOVA (F ¼ 4:41,p , 0.01). Post-hoc Bonferroni tests pointed to a significant difference in careercommitment between respondents of GenY and Babyboomers, with the formerdisplaying a lower commitment to their career in the C&E industry than the latter(MGenY=BB ¼ 5:50=6:73).

Although possible reasons for these findings can only be speculative, it may be thatfemales have a higher propensity for family commitments, and as those primarilyresponsible for childcare their commitment to their career may be different than that oftheir male counterparts. Differences found between GenY and Babyboomer supportsprevious research (e.g. Sullivan et al., 2009) that points towards differences ingenerational attitudes towards a work life balance, with the former placing higherimportance on such a balance than the latter.

However, overall career commitment was strong, and further evidenced by the factthat the vast majority of respondents (84 percent) had never taken any action to moveout of the C&E industry into another industry sector. To better understand the reasonsfor their commitment to the profession, information was sought on professionals’motivation for entering and remaining in the industry. Reasons for entering theindustry were varied, but primarily referred to the dynamic nature of the industry, itsvaried and social character, and the challenges it presents. Drawing directly from thequalitative comments provided by respondents, examples of the reasons statedinclude:

. “It is a very interesting and challenging industry”.

. “Challenging and dynamic”.

. “Creative with many opportunities”.

. “Dynamic, interesting and provides chances to meet people from differentindustries”.

. “It is a fun and interesting industry and I wanted to meet lots of different people”.

. “Not a 9-5 office environment”.

The comments presented are representative of what many felt were the main reasonsthey entered the industry. Two common themes were evident. One is that theprofession is perceived to be interesting. It is not viewed as a boring job where tasksare repetitive and mundane, but one in which the working days might be varied. Thisleads to the second theme which is that the job is challenging. Due to the varied andinteresting job nature, industry professionals have to be prepared and ready to react tothe many different challenges that can arise. More insights into the nature of the threekey job challenges that industry professionals have to deal with on a daily basis werealso sought and will be discussed in the next section.

The challenging nature of the C&E industry also emerged as a major reason forrespondents to stay in the industry, mentioned by 21 respondents. Job satisfaction wasthe second most important motivator to stay in the industry, with 17 respondentsidentifying it. Third was the future prospects/potential of the industry (12), followed byits people-oriented nature (9). Again taken from the qualitative comments, reasons forwishing to remain in the industry include:

. “Change (never routine), people, challenging in many areas, travel required”.

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. “Daily challenges and seeing plans come to fruition and mostly success”.

. “Ever-changing working environment and challenges in work nature. Goodcareer to move up to Director and Shareholders level”.

. “Fun, fast growing and dynamic economic environment in Asia and Chinamakes the job very challenging and enjoyable”.

. “I enjoy working with like-minded people who work hard, play hard, are creative,well organized and result oriented. I continue to enjoy meeting interesting andinfluential people and leaders from all around the world, including the ones that Iworked with . . . ”.

. “Job satisfaction, recognition of contribution by the immediatesupervisor/company, promotion available . . . ”.

. “You will never get bored in this industry. Able to learn different industry, seethe latest products, services and trends. Meet with lots of vendors andprofessionals from different industries”.

The reasons that people remain in the industry appear to be similar to the reasons theyentered in the first place, with the added theme that the job is very satisfying.Similarities in the reasons as to why people were attracted to and remained in theindustry indicate that initial perceptions often proved correct. For people who enjoytheir working environments, the reality of working in the industry lives up toexpectations.

Job challengesIts challenging nature was identified as a major motivator for professionals to join theC&E industry. Thus, further insights were gained on the type of challenges industryprofessionals are currently facing in Asia. Almost all respondents identified not onlyone but a number of challenges they are facing in their current job. These challengescan be broadly categorized into environmental demands, customer demands, jobdemands, and HR issues. In terms of environmental demands, the keen competition inAsia was regarded as a key challenge, mentioned by 17 respondents, followed by thedemands of the constantly changing market environment (nine respondents). Relationswith customers, and in particular the need to address challenging customer demandswith the expectation of an immediate response was highlighted by 13 respondents.Challenges relating to the job revolved around the need for creativity and continuouslydeveloping new and innovative products (14 respondents), followed byfinancial/budget issues (nine respondents) and the need to relate well with so manydifferent people (seven respondents). Finally, as a subset of job demands, humanresources issues were deemed critical, specifically challenges related to “leadingsubordinates” (15 respondents), “relations with staff”/boss (14 respondents) and the“recruitment and retention of skilled and knowledgeable staff” (nine respondents).

ConclusionsThe exploration of career aspects of C&E industry professionals in key Asiandestinations presented in this paper reveals a number of issues relating to thedevelopment of human capital and labor markets.

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First, although there are no specific educational qualifications required for theindustry, a degree level education is held by the majority of respondents, specifically inthe area of business. Although it is not known if having a degree assists withemployment opportunities in the industry, it would appear that higher educationqualifications are commonplace. Further research is required to ascertain the value ofeducation to the industry, and with the increase in events-related degree courses toexplore if they are seen as a valuable contributor to career development.

Second, in relation to developing human capital within the industry, evidencesuggests that there are no obvious career routes, and skills and experiences aredeveloped through a range of different sectors and levels of jobs. This researchsupports the concept of “butterflying,” identified by McCabe (2008) in the context ofAustralian C&E industry professionals. Furthermore, there is strong evidence tosuggest that those working in the industry have developed their skills outside theconvention industry, indicating that generic skills and experience relevant for theindustry can be gained in a range of different labor markets. Whilst this provides awealth of career development opportunities for those interested in developing a careerin the industry, the lack of a defined career route may act as a deterrent to choosing theindustry as a career. Further research is required to test this assertion. In addition, asevidence suggests that careers in the convention sector are boundaryless, this hasimplications for the duration people may remain in the industry. Evidence relating toprofessionals’ career commitment suggests that people are very committed to theirprofession, but it is not possible to ascertain from the present research how longrespondents may remain in their chosen profession. What is clear however is that theindustry provides a wealth of career opportunities, and is therefore considered bymany as an attractive industry to join. Further research might investigate the types ofskills, education, and experience that create human capital for this industry.

Third, in terms of the ability of the C&E industry to attract to and retain individualsin the sector from other labor markets, evidence from our sample indicates that thosewho enter the industry are very much committed to working in the sector. Althoughindividuals move jobs within the industry to gain knowledge and skills to build theirhuman capital, they are committed to the profession. The perceived attractiveness ofthe industry combined with the lack of specific skill requirements indicates that thelabor markets from which to attract employees are large and varied. How best todevelop the careers of people in the industry in order to retain high quality labor is asubject for future research.

Fourth, it is clear from this and previous research (McCabe, 2009) that the industryattracts and retains employees of all age groups. Evidence suggests that employeemobility alters over the course of an individual’s lifespan, and is also related toseniority as people progress in their careers. The recruitment, retention anddevelopment of careers has been shown by this and previous research (Chen and Choi,2008; Gursoy et al., 2008; Solnet and Hood, 2008; Sullivan et al., 2009) to be influencedby generational differences. Thus, future research beneficial to the field could focus onestablishing how to best attract, develop and maintain such a diverse workforce withfundamentally different work values and approaches to their careers.

The implications of this research are threefold. First, for those considering a careerin conventions and exhibitions there are many different entry points into the sector,therefore the industry welcomes those who may be currently in other occupations or

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those who are currently finishing studies and looking to start a career. Althougheducational qualifications are non-specific, it does seem increasingly that new recruitsare graduates. Once in the industry, there are opportunities for changing jobs within orbetween the sectors and mobility, often globally, is an expected part of careerdevelopment.

Second, employers can be confident of a committed workforce who choose theoccupation for the challenges and rewards it brings. Perhaps the main challenge foremployers is to consider the different ways to manage, motivate and develop aworkforce representing different generations, each with unique characteristics andtraits. Furthermore, a constant challenge for employers is to find ways to attract andretain a professional workforce in the absence of a clearly defined career route. Humanresource strategies that draw on innovation and creativity may be required to ensurethose who join the workforce have opportunities for career development andadvancement, as discussed in previous research by Wong and Ladkin (2008).

Finally, there are currently global economic challenges that inevitable had animpact on the C&E industry, and as a result employment in the sector has become lesssecure with fewer opportunities available. Although many Asian destinations havefared better than competitive destinations in the North America or Europe, job lossesand a reduction in business have occurred. Inevitably, if employers are faced with theneed to reduce costs and a more challenging business environment, investment inhuman capital is reduced. The challenge is for businesses to maintain employeemotivation in challenging times to ensure the industry remains an attractive careeroption.

LimitationsData for this study was collected from industry professionals from four South-EastAsian destinations only, thus it is important not to generalize the findings of this studyto Asia. The small sample size is also acknowledged as a limitation, preventing furtherdetailed analysis as for certain areas of interest categories of respondents were toosmall to perform more advanced statistical tests.

Future research directionsThe research presented in this paper provides an overview of career aspects in therapidly developing C&E sector. Future research may target other specific countrieswithin Asia, in particular China, Japan, and Korea. These countries were ranked amongthe top 20 convention destination in 2008 (ICCA, 2008), and their respective capitalcities ranked among the top 20 convention cities in 2008 (ICCA, 2008). It would be ofinterest to determine whether career paths and human resource issues sharesimilarities or display differences in these MICE destinations compared to thedestinations investigated in this research. However, given potential language barriersand consequent difficulties in gathering data, there is likely to be a strong need for datacollection in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean respectively rather than in English.

Another future area of research may be to investigate in more depth theimplications of generational differences in terms of job motivations but also in terms ofpotential job challenges. In regard to the latter it is noteworthy that the requirementson the organization and execution of conventions and exhibitions have already and willcontinue to change dramatically in view of the differing characteristics of GenX, GenY,

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and the Babyboomers (Davidson, 2009), and insights as to the specifics of thesechanges will assist in the further professional development of the industry in the yearsto come.

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Further reading

Arthur, M.B. and Rousseau, D.M. (Eds) (1996), The Boundaryless Career: A New EmploymentPrinciple For New Organisational Eras, Oxford University Press, New York, NY.

Ladkin, A. and Weber, K. (2008), “Tourism and hospitality academics: career profiles andstrategies”, Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 373-93.

Corresponding authorAdele Ladkin can be contacted at: hmladkin@polyu.edu.hk

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