Faculty Profile: Emily Ma

“Because I’ve lived in different countries and done hospitality research that spans different cultures, I bring a multicultural perspective to our students,” notes the Hospitality & Tourism Management (HTM) department’s newest professor, Emily (Jintao) Ma. Broader cultural awareness, she adds, sheds light on hospitality issues and practices both overseas and in the U.S. 

Professor Ma’s teaching and research focus on organizational and service behavior and improvement in hotels and restaurants. An associate professor, her recent research has explored altruistic and self-centered motivations of hotel employees, notably those who go above and beyond what’s expected in their roles. Altruistic behavior, she, adds, can significantly improve performance with customers and teamwork among fellow employees. Her research has also analyzed possible implications for travelers and stakeholders of China’s 2013 Tourism Law, which regulates malpractice in the tourism industry.

Professor Ma’s Ph.D. dissertation examined cross-cultural differences among hotel employees’ organizational citizenship behavior, i.e., their voluntary initiatives that go beyond an organization’s enforceable job requirements and job descriptions.

Professor Ma joined Isenberg’s HTM department last spring. Before that, she was on the faculty of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia.  She received her Ph.D. degree in Hospitality Management from Oklahoma State University in 2010. Her M.S. degree, in Hospitality and Tourism Management, is from HK Polytechnic University and her B.A. degree, in Tourism Management, is from Zhejiang University, in Hangzhou, China.