WFL Hotel Problems - Case Study Example

WFL Hotel Name Date Course Introduction WFL is a Hotel that is based in Hobart and has been in operation for the last 40 years. The management has put in place measures to ensure that the needs of the customers are met. Improvements have been made over the years in the key areas for the purposes of ensuring that the needs of the customers are met. The Hotel Industry in the country is quite competitive and hence the need for continuous improvements. Meeting the needs of the customers is important in ensuring that an organization is able to retain as well as attract new customers (Segal, 2011). WFL is mainly dependant on the tourists as well as clients from India and China. The ability of the hotel to operate for a long period of time is an indication that it has a wide customer. The data also indicates that the hotel is facing some growth and development. The hotel however has some weaknesses and problems that need to be solved so as to enhance its position in the market. There are also various opportunities that can be utilized by the company in order to deal with the problems. The paper thus discusses the problems as well as opportunities for improvement together with their ranking. Discussion Problems WFL is faced by various general problems as well as problems that are specific to the logistics perspectives, data management perspectives and ICT strategic perspectives. The hotel staffs in charge of the management usually carry out inspections after a few months. This may affect the hotel as some of the customers have already complained of the quality of the rooms. The frequency of carrying out inspections is too long at the hotel. The hotel has received complaints that some of the rooms are too old and others are not sound proof. Such problems can be traced to the frequency of the maintenance at the hotel. The public transport is located far from the hotel and hence hindering the visit by the customers who do not have their own vehicles. The hotel also lacks a vehicle that can be used to drop or pick the customers from the bus stop which is located about 600 meters away. The marketing strategy that is being used by the hotel is not good enough. This is considering that the marketing is dependent on a third party or tourism and travel companies. Marketing is an important aspect for any business and it determines its ability to attract the customers (Oakshott, 2012). The resource that is being allocated to the marketing process is also limited at the hotel. The car park at the hotel is also small and it may lead to future congestions at the hotel. The hotel lacks investors which has negative impacts on its growth and development. The competition in the market is also high which affects the market share of the hotel. Problem solving diagram In term of the logistics perspectives, the hotel is also facing a problem in terms of the delivery of goods. It takes up to three days for the goods ordered to be delivered. This is too long and the hotel may end up with shortages in case it receives a high number of customers. The method of communication with the suppliers is through the use of the emails and this is not effective as it may also lead to delays. The inventories of the company are controlled manually and this is also a problem that may affect the hotel. The use of manual methods is prone to a lot of errors which may end up affecting the operations of the hotel. The risk of the hotel running out of inventory is high as a result of the promotion that has been put in place. The lack of an effective inventory management system has the potential of affection the operations of an organization (Brooks, 2014). The store at the hotel is small and hence impacting negatively on the process of monitoring and managing the inventory. In terms of the data management perspective, the hotel is facing problems with arranging, archiving and searching the emails. This is due to the high number of emails as a result of the reliance on emails during the communication process. The problem has a negative impact on the communication process with the stakeholders. Data management problems can affect the relationship between the organization and the clients. The inventory data at the company is usually tracked manually through the use of a paper form. This method is less accurate and it is also slow. It increased the paperwork as well as the workload for the employees of the hotel. In terms of the strategic ICT perspective, the hotel faces a challenge in the infrastructure. The hotel does not have adequate hardware and software to carry out different functions. Only one desktop computer is available at the hotel. The hotel also lacks other technological gadgets that can be used for enhancing its operations. Although the hotel has a website, it lacks the features that may enable the customers to make their booking and payments online. The vendor selection is a problem at the hotel and it has led to increased costs. The vendor providing the Wi-Fi infrastructure charged unreasonable fees to the hotel. The staffs at the hotel do not have adequate information technology skills. This has negative impacts on the use of information technology at the hotel. It is due to this reason that the level of technological use at the hotel is still low. Most of the activities at the hotel are carried out manually. All the ICT services at the hotel are outsourced and this may impact negatively on the costs at the hotel. Outsourcing of the services may be expensive for an organization (Mulhearne & Vane, 2012). The data of the organization may also be compromised when the ICT services is outsourced. Opportunities for improvements The hotel has an opportunity to put in place measures to promote its brand image. This will play an important role in terms of ensuring that it is able to deal with the intense competition at the market. Competitive packages should be offered by the hotel in order to increase its market share and attract more customers. The hotel also has an opportunity to expand its infrastructure in order to serve more customers. This includes increasing the number of rooms as well as the size of the car park. The maintenance of the infrastructure of the hotel should also be carried out every month so as to solve any problem immediately. Repairs should also be carried out immediately on the rooms that are too old and the rooms that are not sound proof. In order to improve on its delivery of service to the customers, the hotel needs to purchase a van that can be used for picking and dropping the customers to the bus station. This will ensure that more customers without cars are attracted to the hotel. The reliability of a service is an important aspect that determines the ability of an organization to retrain and attract customers (Krugman & Wells, 2013). The hotel has an opportunity of putting in place an aggressive marketing strategy. This can be carried out through the use of social media and the internet. Most of the companies currently use the social media for marketing purposes due to the high number of customers. The hotel has an opportunity of opening a social media page for the purposes of marketing as well as interacting with the customers. Attracting investors is an important aspect that should be implemented by the hotel. The hotel has an opportunity of forming partnership or joint ventures with the major brands. This will ensure that the hotel is able to get an investor and implement its development projects. The use of technology should also be put in place for the purposes of managing and monitoring the logistics of the hotel. An inventory management system should be introduced at the hotel. The use of the system will improve on the accuracy and efficiency of the inventory management process. An integrated supply chain management system should also be introduced at the hotel. This is system will play an important role in streamlining the supply chain. The time taken for gods to be delivered will greatly be reduced. The current 3 day period can be reduced to less than 24 hours. The use of manual method as well as paperwork will be eliminated with the introduction of technology. The online communication should be introduced in order to reduce the challenges that the hotel is facing in terms of handling the emails. The use of technology to manage the supply chain and the inventory plays an important role in ensuring that unnecessary delays are eliminated (Brooks, 2014). The relationship between the suppliers and a company is improved through the use of technology. The hotel needs to invest more on the information technology. The employees of the hotel have to be trained on the use of information technology. This will improve on the use of information technology at the hotel. Training of the employees will also eliminate the need for outsourcing the ICT functions. This will ensure that the hotel is able to save more money by utilizing its own human resources. The hotel also needs to invest in the development of the information technology infrastructure. More hardware and software should be purchased by the hotel. The use of information technology will play an important role in terms of encouraging the interaction between the hotel and the clients. An online booking and payment system should also be developed by the hotel. The use of this system will enable the customers to make the booking directly from the hotel as opposed to making the bookings through the other companies and agents. The system will also ensure that the cost is lowered for the customers are able to book the rooms at their own convenience. The level of accuracy is improved through the use of technology (Oakshott, 2012). The hotel has an opportunity to advertise for tenders and bids when it comes to some of the activities. This includes the provision of information technology services. This is for the purposes of ensuring it selects the best vendors who charge reasonable process. It is usually important to work with well known vendors so as to ensure that the service provided is of high quality. Ranking of problems and opportunities Rank Problem Impacts Opportunity to solve the problem Probability of solving the problem 1 Poor marketing strategies and channels. Failure to create awareness. Establishing of a social media page and using the internet. High 2 Lack of online booking and shopping. Increased costs to the customers. Introducing the online booking and shopping system. High 3 Problems with the management of bulk data in the form of emails. Affects communication with stakeholders. Introducing an information technology system. High 4 High levels of completion. Reduces the market share of the hotel. Introducing innovative and competitive services. High 5 Lack of investors. Hinders the growth and expansion of the hotel. Entering into a joint venture as well as partnership. 4 Lack of frequent inspections. Poor quality of rooms. Frequent inspections and maintenance. High 5 Use of manual techniques to manage the inventory Leads to inaccuracies. Introducing an inventory management system High 6 Delays in receiving products from the suppliers Leads to inconveniences to customers. Introducing a supply Chain management system. High 7 Lack of adequate infrastructure. Leads to inconveniences and congestions. Expanding the car park and building new rooms. High 8 Lack of adequate information technology infrastructure. Creates more paperwork and manual tasks. Purchasing more hardware and software. High 9 Lack of adequate knowledge on the use of information technology and outsourcing of ICT functions. Leads to inaccuracies in the data increased costs. Training the staff members on the concepts of information technology. High 10 Lack of public transport to the hotel. Hinders the visit by customers without vehicles Purchasing a van to drop and pick customers to the bust stop. High 11 Unreliable ICT vendors Increased costs. Introducing a competitive system. High Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that the hotel is facing some problems that may affect its operations. The hotel has been operating for a long period of time but it has made little changes. It is evident that the hotel; has not fully embraced the concepts of information technology as well as automation. However, the major problem facing the hotel is the lack of proper marketing strategy. It is evident that the use of technology as well as automation will solve most problems facing the hotel. The improvements in the inventory as well as the supply chain will impact positively on the growth and development of the hotel. It is evident that the hotel will be able to become more competitive with the implementation of the solution as well as improving on its quality of services. References Segal, S, 2011, Corporate Value of Enterprise risk management: The next step in business management, Vol 3, John Wiley & Sons. Oakshott, L, 2012, Essential Quantitative Methods for business management and finance, Palgrave Macmillan. Brooks, W, 2014, The International Business Environment, Prentice Hall. Mulhearne, C, & Vane, H, 2012, Economics for Business, Palgrave-Macmillian. Krugman, P, & Wells, R, 2013, Economics, Macmillian. Read More