From Fixed Wages to Flexible Rewards: How Businesses in Post-communist Countries Navigate Tipping

Andrej Raspor – Faculty of Commercial and Business Sciences, Lava 7, 3000 Celje, Slovenia

Darko Lacmanović – University Mediterranean, Faculty of Tourism “Montenegro Tourism School” Josipa Broza bb, 81000 Podgorica, Montenegro

Nikola Vukčević – University Adriatic, Faculty for Mediterranean Business Studies Tivat, Luke Tomanovića bb, 85320 Tivat, Montenegro

Abstract: This article investigates tipping as a motivational factor in service indus­tries, examining the reasons behind tipping, such as gratitude and social norms. The research explores how tips, especially early tips and compliments, can improve service quality, and how tipping behavior is influenced by gratitude and perceived service quality. The study focuses on Slovenia, Montenegro, Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, using a detailed questionnaire to assess tipping’s motivational impact on employees. Statistical analysis, including ANOVA Eta Square and Tukey HSD Post Hoc tests, reveals a significant difference in the reward system concern­ing tipping regulations. However, no significant differences were found in guest satisfaction, quality of work, compensation, or group relationships. The findings suggest that the regulation of tipping influences the reward system’s effectiveness, making it a potential tool for managing work flexibility, though it has limited impact on other aspects of work flexibility. Tipping thus can act as a managerial tool in specific contexts.

8th International Scientific Conference on Recent Advances in Information Technology, Tourism, Economics, Management and Agriculture – ITEMA 2024 – Conference Proceedings, Hybrid (Zayed University, Dubai, UAE), October 24, 2024

ITEMA Conference Proceedings published by: Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans – Belgrade, Serbia

ITEMA conference partners: Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Maribor, Slovenia; Faculty of Organization and Informatics, University of Zagreb, Varaždin; Faculty of Geography, University of Belgrade, Serbia; Institute of Marketing, Poznan University of Economics and Business, Poland; Faculty of Agriculture, Banat’s University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine ”King Michael I of Romania”, Romania

ITEMA Conference 2024 Conference Proceedings: ISBN 978-86-80194-89-9, ISSN 2683-5991, DOI: https://doi.org/10.31410/ITEMA.2024

Creative Commons Non Commercial CC BY-NC: This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission.