Abstract—This paper represents a conceptual analysis and development of a theoretical model for investigating the strength of service delivery as a mediating variable on the relationship between human resources management practices and customer satisfaction. The study would employ questionnaire survey to gather data for testing hypotheses. The proposed survey study would draw sample from customers of hotels located in Kano metropolis, Nigeria. The proposed study has the potential for creating a new knowledge and improvement of professional practice in the hospitality industry. Index Terms—Human resource management practices, service quality, customer satisfaction, hospitality industry I. INTRODUCTION Customer satisfaction is an important concept in marketing mainly due to the impact it has on some important organizational outcomes such as customer loyalty and profitability [1], [2]. Customer satisfaction refers to the customer's overall evaluation of the performance of a service [3]. It was also defined as the customer fulfillment response, which is an evaluation as well as an emotion- based response to a service [4]. Customer satisfaction is important to the survival of any business, especially those operating in highly competitive markets and industries where close substitute products and services exist and repeat patronage is only guaranteed when the customer is satisfied at the first encounter with the business [5]. Satisfied customers are usually retained and probably remain loyal to the firms and dissatisfied customers seek for other firms that could offer them services or products that will satisfy their needs and aspirations [6]. Therefore, customers are supposed to be satisfied when given product or service creates utility (satisfaction).Different scholars realized that with improvement of customer satisfaction a firm will find customers that are more loyal [7], [8]. Customer satisfaction is the collective outcome of the customer’s perception, evaluation, and psychological reaction to the consumption experience with a product or service [9]. Studies posit that customer satisfaction leads to repeat purchase, loyalty, retention, positive word of mouth and increases long term profitability for the organization and Manuscript received December 9, 2016; revised April 20, 2017. A. J. Bambale is with the Department of Business Administration and Entrepreneurship, Bayero University, Kano, P.M.B. 3011, Nigeria (e-mail: ajbambale.bus@buk.edu.ng). K. Goni is with the School of Accounting, Finance and Quantitative Studies, Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation Malaysia (e- mail: kuwatagoni@gmail.com). customer [10]. A satisfied customer might become a repeat buyer and his overall satisfaction has a strong positive effect on customer loyalty intentions [11]. A non-satisfied customer would prefer to buy the product or service elsewhere [12]. Moreover, a satisfied customer spreads positive words-of-mouth and also becomes a loyal customer [13]. I therefore follows that positive word-of-mouth is a good predictor of new customers to business [14]. Service quality has become a major area of attention for researchers and professionals because of its huge impact on performance of firms. For example [15] argued that customers prefer and value companies that provide high service quality. Customers judge service quality relative to what they want by comparing their perceptions of service experiences with their expectations of what the service performance should be. Therefore, service quality is a key to the survival to all service organizations. Service quality is the extent to which a service meets customers’ needs or expectations [16]. If expectations are greater than performance, then perceived quality is less than satisfactory and hence customer dissatisfaction occurs [16]-[18] Defined service quality as the difference between customer expectations of ‘what they want’ and their perceptions of ‘what they get’. Service quality can thus be defined as the difference between customer expectations of service and perceived service. [19] Argued that definition of service quality by [17], seems to be the most useful. Importantly, [20] redefined SERVQUAL in terms of five dimensions including: (1) Tangibles: “the appearance of physical facilities, equipment’s, personnel”; (2) Reliability: “the ability to perform the promised service dependably and accurately”; (3) Responsiveness: “the willingness to help customers and to provide prompt service”; (4) Assurance: “the knowledge and courtesy of employees and their ability to inspire trust and confidence”; and (5) Empathy: “the caring, individualized attention the firm provides its customers”. Human resource management practices (HRMPs) is defined as a system that attracts, develops, motivates, and retains employees to ensure the effective implementation and survival of the organization and its members [21]. These practices are also conceptualized as a set of internally consistent practices designed and implemented to ensure that an organization’s human capital contributes to its achievement [22], [23]. Literature reveals that HRMPs have direct or indirect link to positive financial outcome, organizational outcome or client satisfaction and human resource outcome [24]. Also, customer satisfaction is found to be positively affected by service quality [25], [26]. In Is Service Quality Going to Integrate Human Resource Management Practices (HRMPS) and Customer Satisfaction in Hotel Industry? A. J. Bambale and K. Goni International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 3, June 2017 243 doi: 10.18178/ijimt.2017.8.3.736