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Nazym Seitova

Nazym Seitova

Email: n.seitova@qmul.ac.uk

Project title

Investigation of technostress coping mechanisms in the hospitality and tourism sectors of the emerging economy

Project description

Digital technologies promise enhanced organisational effectiveness, creativity and innovation, but they also bring intrusions, complexity and fears that can induce “technostress,” undermining employee well-being, engagement and performance.
The COVID-19-driven acceleration of digitalisation has intensified these pressures in traditionally high-touch sectors—particularly hospitality and tourism in emerging economies—where infrastructure, regulatory gaps and cultural barriers exacerbate strain. While prior studies have mapped environmental drivers of technostress and its detrimental effects, they have largely overlooked the coping strategies that employees and organisations employ.
Grounded in the Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping, this project explores how individual and organisational mechanisms intertwine to manage technostress. Through semi-structured interviews with front-line staff and managers across city hostels and five-star luxury chains, it will trace the application conditions and effectiveness of these strategies.
The research will assess whether existing stress-management frameworks suffice in low-digital-adoption contexts and how organisational practices can complement individual coping. In particular, it will investigate the interplay between employee and organisational strategies and their joint impact on employee performance outcomes.

Research Interests

My research interests lie around themes represented by my doctoral thesis, which is about technology induced anxiety and ways of coping in the less represented backgrounds such as hospitality and tourism industries in emerging economy countries.

  • Hospitality and Tourism Management, Digital Transformation & Technology Management, Organizational Behavior & Human Resource Management, Cross-Cultural & Development Studies

Supervision

Biography

Nazym Seitova is a PhD candidate at the School of Business and Management at Queen Mary University of London. She holds an MSc in Tourism (Distinction) from the University of Sunderland (January 2021) and a BSc in Tourism with First Class Honours from Ulster University (December 2017).

Prior to joining Queen Mary, Seitova worked as a Senior Lecturer in tourism and hospitality at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University in Kazakhstan, which ranks among the top three universities nationally and holds accreditations from respected bodies such as FIBAA, ACCA, CIMA, and ICAEW. In this role, she developed and introduced comprehensive syllabi for newly launched modules from spring 2022, including: Delivering Service in the Hospitality Industry, Hotel Lodging Management, Food and Beverage Catering, Bar and Beverage Management, and Customer Service and Loyalty Creation. She also integrated Hotelogix PMS into the Hotel Lodging Management curriculum and was an active member of the Academic Quality Committee, overseeing the quality of module syllabi in the tourism and hospitality specialisation.

Seitova’s previous academic experience includes working as a Research Assistant at HTMi, a private Swiss university in Lucerne, from July to December 2017. There, she taught international students (Years 1–3) subjects such as Writing Research and English for Business Purposes. She also supervised BSc students on internships as part of a dual-diploma programme with the St. Regis Hotel, Astana, and guided students through their Senior Research Projects for three consecutive years at M. Narikbayev KAZGUU University.

Centre and Group Membership

Publications

  • Seitova, N. (2023) Dark tourism impact on tourism typology. IX International Scientific and Practical Conference Proceedings. 11-12 of May 2023, National Aviation University, Kyiv, Ukraine.
  • Seitova, N. (2022) International Growth Strategies and Challenges of Asian Hotel Companies: The Case of Lotte Hotel Inc. Tourism Today: the College of Tourism and Hotel Management, 21, pp. 136-151.ISSN 1450-0906.
  • Seitova, N. (2022) Analysis of current innovations in Yotel Hotels, Singapore, Services in Russia and Abroad, 16, 1(98), pp.188-202.
  • Seitova, N. (2021) Evaluation of potential knowledge transfer between PEIs and SMEs of hospitality and tourism industry in Singapore.APACCHRIE Main Conference Proceedings 2021: Paper presentation. 4 June 2021, pp. 803-835.
  • Seitova, N. (2017) Analysing the Effects of Conflict on Team Performance in an Entrepreneurial Project: A Case Study of Swiss Hospitality Institute (SHI). The International Hospitality and Tourism Student Journal, 9.
  • Seitova, N. (2013) The significance of Heritage Tourism in the UK. Contemporary Issues in Hospitality Student Journal, 4.

Completed research project sponsored by the Kazakhstani government:

  • Seitova, N. (2022) Analysis of the potential of industrial tourism development in Kazakhstan for Kazakh Tourism National Company JSC.
  • Partially presented in the international scientific and practical conference “DEVELOPMENT OF KAZAKHSTAN TOURISM AT THE GLOBAL LEVEL: PROBLEMS AND PROSPERITY” in Turkestan, Kazakhstan in April 2024. 

More recent and future conference presentations:

  • British Academy of Management Conference PhD symposium the Nottingham Trent Business School. Presentation title: Technostress and Coping Mechanisms in Organisations:Integrative Systematic Literature Review. 2 -6 September 2024
  • Durham University Business School Doctoral Conference: AI and Digital Technologies in Business. Presentation title: Technostress and Coping Mechanisms in Organisations in emerging economy :qualitative study. 5-6 June 2025
  • 41st EGOS Colloquium 2025 in Athens. Paper presentation at sub-topic 84: Organizational Creativity and Innovation: Are Technological Advancements Catalysts or Constraints? 3-5 July 2025

Media

  • Faculty semi-finalist of 3 MT competition at Queen Mary University of London awarded by doctoral college in 2025
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