Why Hospitality Is Considered to Be Reciprocal in Nature - Assignment Example

Running Header: Multi-task project Student’s Name Institution Instructor Course Date Multi-task project 1. Explain what is meant by the post-modern view that the provision of hospitality is essentially about providing an experience? The term hospitality despite continuing to elicit mixed reactions regarding its interpretation as an experience in the near future most scholars in the modern world have come to concur. This has been proven by the original nature of the act of hospitality which has equal terms as other acts that would invoke a vivid experience. The term experience is basically defined as something that one would personally encounter, live through or even undergo and basing on most hospitality acts their main aim is to read the minds of the customers and be able to achieve dreams and fulfill expectations (Berridge 2007). An excellent hospitality act has the ability to create notions that would convey enjoyments, inner emotions and inner feelings that on the outside world would seem intangible and characteristics that would seem pale. The service encounter that the customer gets slowly unfolds to a resultant experience through the initial encounter. An example to this would be a satisfaction with a serviced or product or even a dissatisfaction to a customer would unfound to an experience to this customer that would linger in his mind for large proportions of his/her life depending on the strength of the satisfaction or dissatisfaction. Examples to this would be merging food service with a common type of music in a café to build an exciting dining experience for your customer; this would be a memorable experience that would completely change the café positively. A dentist would also think of creating a jungle motif for his/her office that would create a wonderful experience for his customers and this hospitality would lead to a humongous flow of customers in his/her job who would all be eying this rare experience. 2. Explain, using examples, why hospitality is considered to be reciprocal in nature. Despite the act of hospitality acting as a memorable experience to the minds of the millions who receive it, has also been proven to elicit a reciprocal form in nature. In as much as the guest would want to be accorded the best of hospitality experiences, the host also have his/her own expectations when giving out that hospitality (Brunzel 2000). The host as proved in most quarters is in the same set of mind as those of the guest that the high expectations of providing the best of hospitality experiences ought to go with a certain form of reward. In regard to its reciprocal nature is the provider’s part of hospitality being anything from earthly and spiritual gains. Earthly gains were gained by the friendship way of the host and his guest be it trust, loyalty or even other means. An example to this would be the guests will to repay the act of hospitality accorded by his host with whatever generosity they possessed that ranged from telling tales, bequeathing gifts or even repaying the hospitality with whatever form of cash they had big or small. The host was also rewarded by gaining personal honor as it demonstrated his/her power to protect the ‘defenseless’ against harm (Cameron 2000). Another example is that exhibited by the Hindus where they believed that an act of hospitality could fulfill higher ideals like a passage way to heaven or even other higher privileges of the after-life. 3. Discuss whether women’s role in providing hospitality in contemporary hospitality settings can have an ambiguous nature due to its historical links with sex and prostitution in some societies. The ambiguous nature of women providing hospitality can be proved by the way in which travelers have had socializing experiences with them. Through ages for a couple of centuries the main component of hospitality that has been given by the women has been basically hospitality based on sexual favors (Chappel 2000). Traditionally women rarely had engages in travel and this was majorly done by men where most men travelled with the main intention of reproduction with marital unions often been formed from these travels. Most societies in the world clientele view female servers who come into direct contact with strangers or guests as contaminated because most of the societies view them as dirty in their work. A good example is the Sri Lankan country where women who work in the guest relations roles are seen as people with loose morals because of the nature of their jobs that force them to engage in promiscuous behaviors with the guests that they serve. Despite this stereotype being rare in the western world, the fact that hospitality given out by women is something that revolves around some form of sexual nature cannot go unnoticed. The nature in which the woman’ s hospitality is referred to as ambiguous is because the nature behind the hospitality is not merely based on just the normal hospitality of providing the services but an explicit sexual nature is behind every form of hospitality that a woman provides. Even in the modern world today, the receptionists in the hospitality industry continue to escort guests to their rooms, occupy the same space with them and further have an affable relationship with their guests and this could cause misinterpretation to the male guests in regard to the receptionists’ behavior. 4. In Topic 4 it is argued that the “commodification of hospitality creates a natural tension between hosts/servers and guests in terms of consumption”. What are the arguments for and against this statement? In the recent years, the face of hospitality has changed from the ancient norm of providing services to the guests expecting no monetary returns to an objective of profit maximization. This has led to the loss of the spontaneous nature of hospitality according to some scholars and led to a growing natural tension between the hosts and the guests. The bond of trust that had been initially put by the natural nature of hospitality of giving, receiving and sharing of food is slowly fading away by the changing nature of hospitality in the modern world where prices for food are put and consumption of the same controlled (De Botton 2002). This is a contrast nature to the private hospitality that is slowly being surpassed by the growing commercial hospitality. This growing tension is created by the contrasting nature of the commercial and private form of hospitality. A guest who is received in a private hospitality and pay for the services would want to fully benefit from the service accorded and would want to see his money give him/her the perfect quality that is worth the money that he/she has given out, but this has been a contrast in terms of the commercial hospitality where the hospitality industries are in the view of employing measures of economic rationalization to maximize on any profit making opportunity at hand and this results to consumption limitation by the industries and various regulatory procedures. This has created growing tensions between the hosts and the guests due to the disappointed faces that have been left on the faces of the guests since most have been in the opinion that they receive less of what they actually pay for. Most holiday makers on obvious terms do want to have ‘the times of their life’ without any limitations being put on their behavior or their consumptions and so the natural nature of commercial hospitality is a contrast to the expectations of this people and hence the occurrence of a certain degree of tension is inevitable when dealing with this kind of people. All in all despite this tension occurring, it is important in one way or another if the behavior of most people while on holiday is something to go by. Most people act outrageous while on holiday, particularly outrageous behaviors regarding sexuality, excessive drugs and alcohol. They engage in all sorts of unethical behavior, act in all sorts of disorderly manner and do all sorts of offensive things on disposal including illegal prostitution and other illegal sexual acts. All this vices would not be practiced in a private host’s premises, but only happens because the guest feels he/she has paid for the service and so the rowdy behaviors are tolerated to some extent (Erdley & Kesterson 2002). This would on the other hand support the commercialization of hospitality to a certain extent since the limitations of consumption and the industry’s procedures retains the initial nature of hospitality that would be violated by some guests behaviors incase their said rights were fully accorded. 5. Explain what is meant by the statement that ‘consumption of food is related to identity’? Research has proved that the consumption of food can act in some form as a way of establishing some identity in one’s self. In regard to a customer trying to look for means for sensation seeking, he will wander at all costs, holidaying enjoying all types of complex entertainment, eating all forms of crunchy and junk foods and being conscious of his fashions with the main aim of establishing his/her own identity. There are certain social, psychological and cultural ways that may influence one’s behavior of consumption and as a certain historian named Greg Richards put it ‘we are what we eat’, most people will travel at all costs trying to look for the foods that will define their true beings. His research argued that the strength of the gastronomy as a resource of culture has the utmost ability to transform and acclimatize by all means whether it’s through creolization, localization or even globalization. 6. What did Jack Carlzon mean when he coined the phrase ‘moments of truth’? When speaking about these moments of truth, Jack Carlzon puts it as basically the times when the customer gets in touch with the people or systems that are giving out the service. He appreciates the customer and puts him as the pivotal force behind managing a business. The limited type you get with your customer ought to be the greatest moment and every communication between you and your customer ought to be perfect since those moments will greatly determine your company’s success (Lashley 2007). These moments of truth will also be determined by the power of your employees to make sound decisions that will have a positive impact to your customers. 7. Describe the different types of performative labour introduced in topic 7 and provide an example of each. The major type of performative labor includes the recognition labour which is a personal service where an appeasing experience is provided to the guest. It generally involves recognizing the guest’s individual selfhood which is not just about smiling but also expressing some form of concern for the guest’s personality and for his/her anticipation that mainly occurs when hosts respond almost immediately to every need asked for by the customer. This may involve luxurious service in hotels or basically the literal recognition of the guest and urgently acknowledging and fulfilling his/her demands and the hotel may also repay a certain guest for his/her repeated visits to that hotel. The next of these perfomative labors is the emotional labor where the hospitality employees are required to have both the technical and mental skills and are also expected to elicit different measures of feelings that would appease the guests. These service providers carry with them a heavy burden of risk, ideological conformity and impression management. An example would be a receptionist regardless of his/her mood is expected to put on a cheerful face through smiling and other body language to appease the guest or customer. The next of the performative labors is the aesthetic labor which is the notion of trying to permeate the behavior of employees with a certain expressive form so that the service encounters conform to a certain predetermined styles. Here employees mobilize, develop or even commodify these aspect through the process of recruitment, selection and training and later transforming this into skills which are aesthetically geared to generate a style of a certain encounter in service (Mac Ginley 2004). The last of these is the physical labor where the servers’ bodies are displayed by uniforms and the form in which servers’ feel about their bodies at work. An example to this would be a certain performance like a dance of service. 8. Discuss using an example whether Hofstede’s values of cultural variability is useful in explaining how the etiquette of eating in one culture may be different or similar from another (e.g. how Chinese food is served at a restaurant in comparison to a Western meal) According to Hofstede’s values of cultural viability it is indeed true that his argument would greatly help in distinguishing different etiquettes of eating across different cultures. In regard to countries with a high power distance, it is expected that the employees of these nations hold a lot of respect when feasting with their employers or elders unlike countries with a low power distance where both the employer or elders and the employee are almost on equal terms and so it is expected that none holds any big consideration on how the other is feeding. On the other hand, people from individualistic in nature countries will tend to be more individualistic in nature even in their eating unlike the countries from the collectivism in nature countries where eating will mostly be done in groups. This will lead to a contrasting nature in terms of etiquette since most countries in the dependant countries will have specific times when their meals will be taken and their procedural form of eating is also unique unlike the more individualistic in nature countries where meals are taken at individuals will without the consideration of other group members at work or at home. In addition, the issue of Confucian dynamism may also affect the etiquette in which meals are taken. Countries where this scores highly and cling onto their traditions will tend to have their meals in almost the same way and times whereas those that score lowly in this area will be void of any particular way of eating with almost everybody going his/her own way with the etiquette being basically individualistic in nature. 9. Reading 9.2 argues that various underlying structures (eg. uniforms) within the hotel setting can lead to sexualisation of labor and consequently to sexual harassment of employees. Describe three ways in which service labor may be sexualized in a hotel setting. Service labor may be sexualized in different forms basing on the type of uniform that a certain company has employed. A company may authorize the wearing of skin-tight clothes or mini-skirts as the official wear in their places of work and this may lender the feminists’ receptionists vulnerable for sexual harassment (Brotherton & Wood 2000). . Due to the general nature of the hospitality work which is a face to faces work and on most occasions the persons performing the act are in a one on one direct contact with their guests and hence are all bound to the person he/she is serving. The over emphasis by some employees on their outside appearance rather than the factual/verifiable reality introduces some uncertainty into the hosts and guests expectations and satisfaction to a certain degree that are all dependant on one another (Meethan 2001). In a hotel setting the receptionists may receive some form of sexual harassment by the uniforms they wear; the guests may seduce the receptionists into sexual activities. Describe using your imagination what you think will be the innovations that offer greater customer satisfaction in the year 2020, in any one or all of these areas: accommodation, food and beverage service, entertainment and security. Some of the greatest key innovators that will be the driving force in the above named areas will be mainly the technological advancements. This will include democratization of information through various channels that may include the internet where food may be ordered for and paid for through the internet. Consumers also should become more discerning with the expectations for more advanced products and services skyrocketing. In the accommodation arena, some of the innovations that are expected to fulfill customer expectations includes among others the local newspapers and magazines in the in-rooms being selected according to preference with the digital audio world being pre-programmed to the taste of the customers. All accommodations should possess phones to frequently call people and places which should be automatically downloaded from a digital assistant. The introduction of E-learning for guests and also the co-branding of catalogues with favorite products that will be easily available for purchase will go all long way in enhancing customer satisfaction by the year 2020. The rooms’ innovation should also include room appointments such as art, linen and décor that must be configured to suit the individual’s guest’s needs. The walls should also have customized arts with showers pre-programmed to preferred temperature that will suit the customer’s expectations. The food and beverage industry is expected to have a room services menu that ought to be different from room to room as they should be tailored to individual guest’s preference. The food and beverage will also proffer selections from local restaurants that will be expected to be offered via room service and also the mini-bar must be stocked with the most favorite brands. All these will go a long way in enhancing customer satisfaction by the said year if all these innovations are fully implemented. References Berridge, G, 2007, understanding experiences: Events, design and experience, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Brotherton, R & Wood, R, 2000, In search of hospitality:theoretical percpective and debates, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, UK. Bunzel, D, 2000, Real numbers, imaginary guests, and fantastic experiences: the Grand Seaside Hotel and the discursive construction of customer service, University of Western Sydney. Cameron, D, 2000, Good to talk? Living and working in a communication culture, Sage Publications Ltd, London Chappel, S, 2000, Perspectives in tourism and hospitality, Adelaide, Document Services, University of South Australia. De Botton, A, 2002, The art of trave”, Hamish Hamilton, New Delhi. Erdley, M & Kesterson,T, 2002, IBM Business Consulting Services’ Vision for the Hospitality and Leisure Industry, IBM Future Series, New York, NY. Lashley, P, 2007, Hospitality: an introduction. Hospitality: a social lens, Elsevier, Sydney. MacGinley, R, 2004, The Golding Centre for Women's History, Theology and Spirituality, Golding Centre, Australian Catholic University. Meethan, K, 2001, Tourism in global society: place, culture, consumption, Palgrave, Hampshire. Read More