Study Of The Occupational Quality Of Wine Merchant In Hong Kong

劉思佳

Introduction

Wine production is both art and science， a blend of individual creativity and innovative technology （Linda， 2002）. However， wine production is also a business which requires professionals to run it. The wine industry in Hong Kong， not as long as in France or other western countries， has been developing since last decades. Same as other industry， customers use a variety of cues to infer the quality of goods and services. In general， these cues refer to specific features or attributes of a good or service as perceived by consumers （Holbrook and Corfman， 1985）. So， to adapt to the developing market and wine consumer， what kind of occupational quality of wine related personnel should have？ In order to understand the current situation of these personnel， this research will attempt to analyze in two aspects： occupational skills and professional ethics. Occupational skill is often shown by way of obtaining wine knowledge， work experience and selling skill， while ethics refer to personal recognition on Industry and code of conduct. The study will utilize both social scientific literature， other relevant documents and qualitative research to discover the current situation of personnel in wine industry in Hong Kong， therefore， three people were selected for conducting a in- depth interview. Through the analysis， the paper will discuss the occupational quality of wine merchant， more specifically， employee in wine retail shop in Hong Kong. As the literature review will show， academics have looked at how important that ones professional skills and ethics can influence the wine business. However， there remains a need for the demonstration from the point of view of related employees produced in this research essay.

Objective

This study aims to have a basic understand the current situation of practitioner in Hong Kong wine industry and also to give some suggestions for the future personnel based on the qualitative research and literature review. In order to build up practical guidance with listing quality for professional in wine industry， the study will focus on some real situations by asking existing issues and experience sharing that might give more feasibility and serviceable information for further studies

Background

In 2004， a businessman named Jim Thompson leased a set of old munitions bunkers in Hong Kong and converted them into wine cellars. And Mr. Thompsons firm， Crown Worldwide Group， was accustomed to their worldwide shipments furniture of stable business. It was a bold move. Few East Asians then had a chance to taste fine wine. Four years later， the bunkers had 100，000 bottles in store so that the Crown can attract those potential customers with lavish tastings other jolly social events. All this was despite a heavy sales tax that suppressed demand for wine in Hong Kong （The Economists， 2010）.

As part of overall public health measures， the taxation on alcohols is becoming an increasingly common practice in many different countries. However， the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region （HKSAR） Government is bucking the trend and lowered its duties both on wine and beer by 50 percent in 2007. In additional， except for spirits， HKSAR government finally made a decision on removing all duties on alcohol （Yoon and Lam， 2012）. Since then， 400，000 more bottles of wine have been crammed into Crowns bunkers， filling them to the brim and forcing the firm to build a vast new warehouse （The Economists， 2010）. Along the implementation of the policy， the wine market in Hong Kong will have a promising future.

The globalization of world markets has led to many changes in the nature of the products available to consumers. Two important dimensions of this change have relevance for the marketing of wine. First， the increasing number in the variety of products those are available to consumers at the end of the value chain. The second is a change in the very nature of the processes that bring products to consumers. The wine market is unique and it has been strongly influenced by the first but not the second of these dimensions （Duhan， Kiecker and Guerrero， 1999）.

In wine tourism， the quality of service is crucial， with many commentators now suggesting direct links with customer satisfaction （Cronin and Taylor， 1992; Gabbott and Hogg， 1997; Gwynne et al.， 1998）. Conversely， satisfaction is considered to impact on post-purchase perceptions， future purchase decisions and long term customer loyalty （Donovan and Samler， 1994; Heskett et al.， 1997）. Therefore， a well understanding to the current awareness of service quality and its importance to wine sales is essential （ONeill， Palmer and Charters， 2002）.

Literature Review

Hong Kong is representative of newly affluent markets developing throughout East Asia and as such can provide valuable insight into new markets （Speece， Kawahara and So， 1994）. At the end of the 20th century， Hong Kong has become Asian wine industrys center （Dewald， 2003） since Hong Kong government enacted the first duty-free policy of wine in 2008 （HKTB， 2015）， and it has been a huge dish for wine merchant – the number of wine shop chains as twice as many as they used to be in 2011（Debra M， 2013）. Hence， it can be considered that this highly prosperous metropolis is the gate of Asian wine consumption market （Lau， 2014）.

Following the fast development of wine industry， the competition between wine-distributing companies is becoming increasingly fierce in order to win the business. For wine merchants， occupational skill of their salesmen can influence customers decision， whether they did and what they set out to do is the standard by which customer measure products or services. （Diana B and Rick G， 1995）. Epstein and Ronald （2002） offered an excellent and comprehensive definition of professional competence which can also be applied in the wine industry：” the habitual and judicious use of communication， knowledge， technical skills， clinical reasoning， emotions， values， and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served” （p.227）. The occasional wine drinker， an additional 40 percent of the remainder， tends to like wine and might buy more of it if persuaded to do so （Moulton and Lapsley， 2001）. Thus， every employer of wine industry is looking for a specific set of skills to match the skills necessary to perform a particular job about wine selling （Hansen， R， 1996）， how to purchase and sell wine more effectively is the main subject which many wine-distributing companies use a lot of time to teach servers and managers by offering wine-service training （Mark M. G， 2006）. Epstein and Hundert （2002） offered an excellent and comprehensive definition of professional competence：” the habitual and judicious use of communication， knowledge， technical skills， clinical reasoning， emotions， values， and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served” （p.227）.

Moreover， professional ethics of wine retailing are as essential as personnels professional skills. A study shows that while making professional decisions， ones attitude and behavior will be affect by their professional ethics and values （American Psychological Association， 2002）. Professional ethics encompass the personal， organizational and corporate standards of behavior expected of professionals in wine merchant （RIBA， 2005）. As it is known that customers in a service environment can be exposed to a range of stimuli which can make them satisfy with the service experience of buying wine. Honesty， integrity and competency， and concern for others during merchant are the basic of professional wine industry stuff （RIBA， 2005）.

Therefore， Occupational quality of wine retail companys employee has been found mainly focus on professional skills and ethics base on the previous review of those academic articles.

Methodology

It is a way of thinking about and studying social reality （Strauss A， Corbin J， 1990） on which the study focus. Therefore， qualitative research matches with this research due to the time limits， the small amount of interviewees - wine retail shops employees， and a deeper understanding which is expected to have after this research.

Qualitative research includes three different kinds of data collection with human beings： （a） in-depth， open-ended interviews; （b） direct observations; and （c） written documents （Everitt B S， Howell D C， 2005）. Because of the limitation of time and human resource， three in-depth interviews were taken during the process of the study. The quality of qualitative data depends to a great extent on the methodological skill， sensitivity， and integrity of the researcher （Everitt B S， Howell D C， 2005）. As the front line of all the wine merchants， retail store is the most crucial resource for this research. Therefore， to make the data more reliable and comprehensive， three interviewees from distinct positions and with diverse years of working experience were selected： supervisor， vice-supervisor and director from different wine retail store.

When its time to set questions， several suggestions from McNamara（2009） have been taken consideration： （a） wording should be open-end （b） questions should be neutral enough to avoid evocative and judgmental wording that might influence the answers. According to the reference， the questions in interview are categorized in two aspects： Occupational skills and professional ethics， each aspect has 4 or 5 sub-questions which can make it easier to answer logically for interviewees. Occupational skill is divided into three categories： way of obtaining knowledge， working experience and way of selling， while professional ethics mainly focus on recognition of market， code of conduct and service consciousness. All the questions are based on not only the ethic standard but also the current situation of Hong Kong wine merchant. The purpose of designing the questions in this way is to make the interviewees have the willing to answer and do have something of their different wine working experiment to share.

Face-to-face interview were chosen for collecting information since the interviewees are very important information sources for the interviewer （Opdenakker R， 2006） and all the interviewees are working in Hong Kong. To make it more convenient for interviewees， the interview is taken from 7：30 pm to 8：00 pm to avoid interviewees' working time. The venue of interview is a cafe near Central Hong Kong where their companies are located. There are two interviewers during the interviews. One is for recording and the other is for interviewing which can make sure having good communication with interviewee and recording all the information from them. Video record is not taken during the interview since most of their answer is not complicated to record by notes.

Findings

Professional skill

In terms of professional competence， it has been defined as the habitual and judicious use of communication， knowledge， technical skills， clinical reasoning， emotions， values and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served （Ronald and Epstein， 2002）. Accordingly， the questions in interview concerning professional competence aim to study mainly three aspects， which are way of obtaining wine knowledge， work experience and selling skill.

Same as many of other industries， a professional qualification is the most direct proof of ones knowledge level. In wine industry， Wine and Spirit Education Trust is a British organization which arranges courses and exams in the field of wine and spirits. All of interviewees have joined in Wine academy and hold WSET level 3 certification， meaning that wine knowledge for them serves as a profession rather than leisure. Apart from this， on job training is another way for them to become more familiar with the industry. It is important to be reminded that formal school instruction is neither an exclusive nor a sufficient method of training the labor force （Jacob， 1962）. They participate the tasting course hold by company， and for them， its an efficient way to be motivated on work and to know how to better promote wines in their shop. According to our interviewees， social tie is also a crucial resource for people to enlarge their clue. Hanging out with friends who passionate or specialize in wine help not only to share news in the industry， but also to inspire them with new ideas on introduce wine to customers in a more pleasant way.

By discovering their career path， it can be concluded as two directions which are position promotion and company change. Firstly， the reason of choosing this industry at the beginning is that they believe that the wine market is developing very well in Hong Kong thanks to many reasons， such as government policies， consumers interest etc. Since their subject in university was not related to wine， they all started as a sales assistant in the retail shop. Then with more working experience and more professional training outside and inside the company， they got promoted step by step to senior sales assistant， supervisor， assistant store manager and finally store manager. Secondly， as some individuals are much more likely to respond positively to an enriched， complex job， once they found a better company in the same field， they usually decided to switch. When selecting a new job， they usually look at the company size， employer， benefits and the word of mouth inside the wine industry in Hong Kong. Besides， working for a new employer requires certainly new capacity. However， they all consider the difficulties as challenges， which can help them to improve professional competence as well as career background. One of our interviewee replied us concerning the future career path that it is necessary to get more knowledge on wine， but more importantly on store management. It is true that mastering a higher position in retail shop asks for diverse administrational skills， for instance， storage management， employee management and bottle controlling， distinguish fake wine and some even aim to learn from action house. Therefore， many of them have a plan to complete a management degree in the future. Furthermore， in order to motivate employees， company is willing to foster elite among their staff rather than hire from outside; this is why the tuition fee can be sometimes sponsored by the company.

When it comes to sell wine， it differs apparently from other daily commodity. Unlike clothes or food， wine is a product which is not indispensable for everybody. Most of wine consumers have their own preference and personal view. Regardless of the specific tools and methods a firm adopts or what quality experts an organization follows， managing for quality and competitive advantage means a firm must become customer-oriented （Cynthia， 1996）. Coincidentally， all of our interviewees choose customer-oriented sales but not profit-oriented. The first question asked when a customer come into shop is to know their preference， red wine or white wine， dry or sweet， also wine from old world or new world. Some of companies set a procedure of selling： 30 seconds greeting， standing around the clients， always answering in format and specific terms， asking if clients need delivery service. For retail shop employees， the working standard contribute to provide a better service， build a high quality company image; most significantly， reach the target profit.

Professional ethic

Professional ethic not only views as moral conduct and value preferences，but also impact ones vocational behavior though their code of conduct （Dose， 1997）. Hign standard of professional ethic of employee has benefits on building up a health market participants and increase customers confidence to the market（CFA， 2010）. Self-discipline from humanistic belief can avoid misconduct and even illegal business behavior. Thus for apply in the wine industry， the question on occupation ethic has focus on three factors， recognition of market， code of conduct and service consciousness.

To understand the market situation could help practitioner has clear picture of their position. As the wine market continues to become worldwide， employees need to recognize the updated information about product or regulation from different country. All the interviewee found that wine market in Hong Kong has been developing as a prosperous period in 2003-2007， and then trend of wine market in Hong Kong remains steady climbing in recent year. Although the market has not prosperous as 10 years ago， Hong Kong still remains its uniqueness and important position to the world as the Hong Kong government announce to removed all tax and duty （Yoon and Lam， 2012）. （Duty-related customs were removed in February 2008， and according to the government figure， 3，550 new wine-related companies were set up after the deregulation.） Increasing international wine merchants build up their business in Hong Kong in order to wine a place in Asian wine market， leading more intense competitive price and marketing in wine market. Also because of wine information and price become more open and transparency due to the advanced information network. Interviewee expressed when profit margin relative decrease that wine company and staff now need to seeking way to remain their profit. As studies shows that individual development and potential can be encourage during stress working process as a humanistic belief （Maslow， 1954）， employees often come out with more idea to enhance their sale and work performance during the ‘hard time（Roberts， Borden， Christiansen& Lopez，2005）. On the other hand， the price-performance ratio becomes higher to the customer， which will benefit for wine retailer to build up a longer term business with customer. Moreover， the fierce competition enhance practitioners improve themselves has more competitiveness， not only for the current job duties and also for their future career path. However， from other point of view， increasing wine distributors creates jobs opportunities in Hong Kong， also leading a unforeseen result of shortage of professional labor in wine market.

As the interviewee presents， pricing of wine is basically determined by the market. However， there is still various elements effort the pricing as called additional value， for example storage condition， employees professionalism， after service （delivery）. In order to earn profit in this completely competition market， wine merchant try their best to minimums the cost and maximum clients purchase. More important， wine sales as a human capital share their experiences proactively and retain a good relationship with the consumer and the suppliers. One interviewee has point out the idea of making wine more likes commodities for more customers to enjoy aimed to expand wider consumption market. It has also found that as professional sales， customer-oriented and profit-oriented should not be select but need to be balance. “We aim to gain a maximum margin under the precondition of not harming customer interest”， said the interviewee. Collect customer data by membership system and bonding package sales is also a comment marketing tools in wine industry. Staff must keep clients information confidentiality as to protect human privacy， which shows their professionalism conduct.

Professionalism states maintain a high standard code of conduct in industry during professional activities （Buchholz， 1978）. In wine industry， misrepresentation always happens in false or misleading wine information， which leading customer misunderstands on wine information or give a wrong image of a winery and product. According to the interview， misleading sales is bad for company and staffs impression. It would probably gain a one time off profit but harm for the further development. Nevertheless， counterfeit issue has been exist in wine market， even now in mainland China， product team or sales has to learn Such as identification real or fake wine. Thus the source of wine as genuine or unknown is one of the key factor for the wine merchant， due to the situation， more of the wine sales would not mentions the source on their wine unless they were proud of it as signed ‘Ex- chateau as a big selling point. Last but not least ， One interviewee also share a hidden issue in industry： some wine merchant evasion of tariffs when delivering the wine orders to China areas illegally. Due to the boosting consumption from mainland customers， China business has take big part of wine market in Hong Kong ， some wine merchant willing to take the risk by faking the price on duty declaration or offer door to door delivery services from Hong Kong to China in an illegal way. Misconduct on business or illegal action can be effect ones professional life（CFA， 2010）， as a professional practitioner， all the interviewees show they will never suspect on this illegal behavior.

Conclusion

At the end of the study， professional skill and ethics are combined to conclude the professional quality of employees working in the wine retail shop. Professional competence is reflected by ones wine knowledge level as well as selling skill， meanwhile， ethic is discussed through recognition of wine market in Hong Kong， code of conduct also service consciousness. According to the objectives of this study， to build up an effective career in wine industry， “know how” and “know why” should be managed on the individual side. “Know how” refers to career competencies： skills， expertise， capabilities， tacit and explicit knowledge; “Know why” indicates values， attitudes， internal needs， identity and lifestyle （Yehuda， 2003）. As wine industry in Hong Kong needs to improve market integrity and standardize of wine merchant since misconduct market behavior were still be found in the market. It also requires continuously professionals with the market growing under a certain speed. Therefore， for those who have the intention to join the industry， it is worth to be prepared on the two aspects studied in this research. To learn more， academics （Jones， C. and DeFillippi， R.J.） added the following elements in order to complete the structure： “know whom” （networking， relationships）， “know what” （opportunities， threats）， “know when” （timing of choice and activities） and “know where” （entering， training and advancing）， which can be considered as the direction of further research.

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