Operations Management: Analysis of a hotel - Essay Example

?Operations Management- Analysis of a Hotel Executive Summary The hotel industry is a very competitive industry, where the visitors have the options of choosing from a wide variety of hotel, motels, etc. each having their own unique selling feature. Each hotel has to prove itself by offering the highest quality of services and to retain its customer base. The hotel business has become similar to any corporate entity where all marketing aspects have to be reviewed and monitored to in affect maintain the brand image of the hotel. The image the hotel portrays is as important as the services it provides. Offering elaborate food menus, large number of rooms and other services such as bar facilities, conference and wedding halls and other recreational facilities are all reasons why the hotel has attracted tourists from all over the world. However, all the established hotels are constantly making changes to their operations to make them more profitable. They have identified niche markets rather than appealing to a mass audience. They have started using segmenting and targeting strategies to become more attractive to their market. Supply Chain Management is the most important aspect when it comes to delivering high quality of service. Strategic partnering with the vendors helps ensure that the hotel always gets what it wants, when it wants. It is this partnering that makes the hotel stand out and constantly satisfy their customers’ needs. However, the extent to which this works is still debatable. Introduction The hotel is a highly profitable and popular privately owned five star, located in the center of city which has a high level of tourists, both domestic and foreign. Notable facilities that it offers are a large number of rooms, some with in-suite facilities, two dining rooms which combined can hold up to 400 people at 1 time. While the two bars, are one of its star attractions, one open to the public with access from the street, the other being a cocktail bar catering specifically for residents, but open to the public (Shaw). The hotel also has spaces available to cater to specific events such as weddings and conferences. A proper management hierarchy is responsible for looking after the operations of the hotel. Every aspect of the hotel is double checked to ensure that a high quality of service is provided at all times. Specific Features of the Hotel The hotel boasts a wide variety of things that would be attractive features for the visitors. Each of these will be discussed in more detail in the following sections. It is important to understand that they have been described keeping in mind the perspective of the hotel itself. Location The most suitable location for hotels depends on the ‘markets’ - the types of guests - for which they are intended to cater. Some people like to stay right in town; other people prefer to be on the town outskirts but want to be within “easy reach” of shops and other local amenities, whilst yet other people prefer more secluded, quieter areas. But our target mix would be a combination of business travelers as well as holidaymakers/vacationers. In addition, the hotel is able to accommodate both domestic business people (from other areas of the same country) as well as business people visiting the country (in various hotels, international tourists require additional services). Prime location of this hotel makes it more attractive as customers can get to any part of the city with ease. The Bar The Bar is always an important part of a hotel for both residents and non-residents. Moreover, the management has made the bar open to guests also since availability of this service to nonresident might also be of importance, particularly to business people with nonresident “guests” of their own to be entertained at the hotels at which they are staying. For a more unique experience, the design and layout has been made around a theme where even minute details have been selected with precision so that the consumers feel a uniform feel throughout the room. Function Rooms/Conference Rooms This is an important aspect that this hotel caters to. Most businesses look for convenient locations to have their meetings and conferences and a hotel in the center of the city is the ideal location. Not only can they leave the event planning to the hotel management, but the location makes it easier for overseas employees to attend the conference easily. At present the three different rooms cater to different size of parties and hence it makes it an extremely profitable and attractive feature. The ‘a la carte’ menu has been rated as one of the finest in the city and that always adds an additional plus point to the hotel. Bedrooms/Suites Finally, the hotel presents its customers a choice between 250 rooms each overlooking the city skyline and each having its own unique quality which comes with its price tag. The rooms have been furnished with all the necessity items that would make the visitors stay more comfortable. With comfortable bed mattresses, shining bathroom fixtures, clean linen and curtains and the full functional mini-fridge and TV visitors are provided with top quality through-out their stay. ­­­­ The Analysis of the Hotel One of the most important aspects of the hotel is the quality of food that is served to the customers. The management makes sure that only the freshest and purest ingredients enter the premises which can be used to prepare the finest cuisines for the customers. The head chef and his helpers hand pick most of the produce every morning from the nearby food market. Proper trained managers are hired to run the hotel. They have experience in the field and are experts on how to satisfy and enhance customer relationships. The employees that are hired go through an extensive training course that ensures that they know how to please the customers and make their stay more comfortable. They are told to be properly dressed at all times to give a more professional image to the hotel. The hotel has recently improved its security measures to concerns of many visitors. This includes hand held metal detectors and installation of more security cameras through-out the resort. Selected Operations One of the most important areas that hotels need to focus on would be the supply chain, or procurement of the resources. Although many hotels focus on this part excessively, they rarely have standardized rules and procedures that make their quality totally unmatchable and unique. The service supply chain, as described in the Winter 2003 Stanford University Newsletter, The Supply Chain Connection, "encompasses service parts, the infrastructure, the service personnel, and the associated knowledge." Supply chain management is challenging because it requires extensive time and the collaboration and cooperation of many internal and external parties. Over the years, more and more emphasis has been put on hotel management as this field has become increasingly popular. Managers are calculating profits and effects on the bottom lines as any other corporate entity. However, the key responsibility remains satisfying their guests which means that customers will return for further stays or recommend the hotel to other potential guests. An underlying objective would be to maximize the satisfaction, in order to get a more positive rating or grading which “is the separation of hotels according to verifiable objective features of the services offered, such as the availability of meals, whether there is a night porter service, and so on.” Supply Chain partnering and collaboration has meant that now the hotel is aware of all the resources coming into the facility and is constantly ensuring a high grade of service to its visitors. The hotel makes an effort to get the freshest foods and the best quality furniture and fittings to make sure that the customers get treated to an exquisite experience whenever they stay at the hotel. Possible Difficulties and how they might be overcome? Co-ordination among the members of the supply chain is a very big question mark. Companies who fail to do this suffer the greatest. More specifically, if our Hotel management does not keep in constant contact and communication with all the suppliers/vendors, it may mean delays in delivery and dis-satisfaction of the final customer. The management will have to ensure a constant supply of proper goods if it wants to maintain its reputation. Over the years more and more emphasis has been put on not only making the supply-chain more efficient but more environment-friendly. Some customers pay a lot of attention to this and if they don’t like the amount of work done on this, they are likely to switch to a competitor. The first step towards attaining this would be to benchmark it against Marriott, which has become a pioneer in this field. “Marriott is engaging its top 40 vendors to supply price-neutral greener products across 12 categories of its $10 billion supply chain. While some of the first products to be rolled out included pens from recycled plastics and environmentally-friendly towels which reduce water use, the company has not addressed the carbon footprints of its suppliers or other climate specific issues. We also conduct a worldwide annual inventory of our hotels’ energy and emission data and benchmark overall environmental performance against our competitors through such tools as International Tourism Partnership’s Environmental Bench.”1 After the benchmarking process is done, then the hotel can break down where it is not performing and improve. It is important to note that the hotel must keep reviewing and improving their standards to remain competitive (Davis 2002). Having international standardization and certificates will increase the overall image of the hotel also provided that the quality is maintained. Lastly, we have a problem on over reliance on supplier. Although the underlying principle behind Supply Chain Management trusts the suppliers however in many instances delays and poor quality of product means that the hotel cannot live up to its high standards and leads to customer dis-satisfaction. Effective partnerships with the suppliers are recommended for this situation where the profitability of the hotel, transmits to the profitability of the supplier/vendor. Supply chains can be mapped by commodity (such as the supply chain associated with temporary labor), by the product or service that is provided by an organization (such as the supply chain associated with providing hotel service to the leisure traveler), or by relationship (such as the supply chains associated with physical, financial, relational, and/or informational flows).2 Key Findings After the conclusion of our analysis, there have been a few findings which are potential threats and opportunities for the hotel. Our analysis showed that the current operations of are lacking in certain areas, where some facilities can be increased to become more attractive to visitors. Research suggests that hotels should incorporate and use the regional culture as a theme to make themselves more attractive to foreign visitors. This would be a good option for specific rooms for guests who are looking to experience the new culture of the region. Once again, this should be done moderately, as some guests may not wish to be over powered by the culture. Additional things, services can be added to make the whole experience a more positive one. A coffee house would be very beneficial for business customers, as this would give a more professional appeal than a bar. Moreover, many people want to relax with a hot beverage rather than a cold one. Some experts have even said that having facilities that cater to young children such as nurseries and play areas make the hotel more attractive to the “family-visitor”. While it may be argued that the potential revenue increase is lower, the attractiveness of a hotel is measured based on the services that are being offered. One possible threat is the lack of innovation in the hotel. Over the past few years, there has been little or no innovation in the services or management solutions. This can be a drawback, and may be eroding their bottom-line. Innovation of all types should be encouraged to become more competitive in hotel industry. Bibliography Davis, Mark. (2002). Fundamentals of Operations Management. Irwin/McGraw-Hill, 4th ed. Shaw, Nigel. Fundamentals of Operations Management. Heriot-Watt University Read More