The Developing Manager in Tourism Management - Assignment Example

The Developing Manager (Tourism Management) Tours and Travel management is considered an integral part of the hospitality industry. Hospitality literally means inviting and hosting people from different places, with diverse cultural backgrounds and at the same time carrying on the business activity. Welcoming guests is all pervasive and is central to human civilisation and the lifestyle in different parts of the world. The management in general of any organisation having a stake in hospitality industry is supposed to be aware about the sensitive nature of the business. But in case of Clouds Tours and Travel, things do not appear to be in line with these sentiments. Task-1 Travel & Tourism business is known for its potential and peculiarities. This industry is very much dependent on a range of factors like economic, socio-cultural and environmental. The behavioural aspect holds key to the overall character of the organisation. Clouds Tours and Travel is a group of companies having six tour agencies, serving customers in different segments. In this type of business, customer loyalty is very important as the existing customers serve as the brand ambassadors for the company and its services. The role of leadership therefore becomes very crucial in devising strategies for the achievement of developmental goals of the company. Leadership is something which allows an individual or an organization to lead. Leadership qualities are not just an asset for the individual, but it also helps other members of the organisation or the team. If the manager is found to adopt an aggressive and autocratic approach, as in case of the Clouds Tours and Travel, the company is bound to suffer in terms of a congenial working environment. Hodgson (1987) states that the task of management comprises of two main components, namely I. Management: Which mainly comprises of the administrative part of managing the routine affaires of the organisation II. Leadership: Which has the potential of shaping the direction of the organisation Underlining the key differences in these two components Hodgson (1987) states that ‘Management is about doing things right, whereas leadership is about doing the right things’. Three main styles of management are defined as1; Autocratic: Managers with this style prefer to have their way and they are least bothered about the suggestions of others around. Managers in Clouds Tours and Travel seem to believe in this type of management only, which is resulting in lot disgruntlement amongst the subordinates. Democratic: Managers with such style of management prefer to take the final decision after due consultation with others around. Their main line of action is to create some sort of unanimity in the final decision. Laissez Faire: Such types of managers prefer to take things in easygoing manner. Instead of taking an initiative on their own, they will wait for others to set the ball rolling. It needs to be emphasised here that an effective manager is the one who holds a balanced mix of these three types of qualities. A number of researchers, scholars and writers have come out with differing styles and behavioural aspects of leadership and relevant theories. Three key theories defining leadership skills are underlined as; The trait theory: It talks about the traits or qualities of a leader. This theory is based on the assumption that the person is more important than the situation. Reithel and Finchs (2007) suggest that personality characteristics of an individual have an important role to play in developing the leadership skills. Honesty, integrity, loyalty, and diligence are some of the traits defining the leadership qualities. The Behavioural theory: This theory was best characterised by Douglas McGregors X/Y theories. McGregor defined Theory X style of management believes that average human beings have inherent dislike for work, and they require to be coerced, controlled or directed to get things done. On the other hand Theory Y style of managers believed that if proper working conditions are provided, average human being prefers to take fullest responsibility (Bolden et al, 2003). The contingency theory: As the name suggest, this style of leadership talks about different styles of management and leadership in varying circumstances. According to this theory one particular style of leadership doesn’t necessarily suit all types of situations. Interpersonal communication happens to be a key component of the leadership and management of any organisation. Such skills are certainly very important for the marketing team as it has to deal with different types of people. In addition good interpersonal communication also helps in maintaining a peaceful and vibrant working environment inside the organisation. The process of communication is derived from the Latin word “Communs”, meaning commonness of experience All living beings use Communication to transfer their thoughts, ideas and messages. Seeing, Watching, observing, staring may sound all the same at a glance, but they all communicate different things to different people depending upon individual differences, values, beliefs, attitudes, personality and perception. Communication as such, is a dynamic process of exchanging thoughts, ideas, information, feelings, messages, attitude or knowledge amongst two or more persons through a predefined set of symbols, icons and signs called language. It is worthwhile here to mention that the choice of words and the medium play an important role in effective communication. In these times of globalisation diversity is considered an important factor in defining organisation culture. Dickens (1994) contends that the business case for managing diversity offers a way to operate equal opportunities as a strategic issue, a core value linked to organisational competitiveness. Diversity not only comes in the form of culture and values, but it also consists of several other visible and non-visible factors, which include personal characteristics such as sex, race, age, background, culture, disability, personality and work-style. Harnessing these differences is bound to create a productive environment in which everybody feels valued, their talents are fully utilized and organisational goals are met. Task-2 Smith (2008) states that management as such has become a far more democratic process today with managers required to win the trust of staff, suppliers, customers, shareholders and a host of other stakeholders. This in turn signifies that an effective manager is supposed to have a leading edge in deciding about a number of issues. Well, in case of Clouds Tours and Travel the attitude of managers is certainly not in line with the accepted principles of management as it is resulting in regular customers parting ways and subsequently dip in revenues for the company. Irrespective of the nature and specialisation of company, it can be said for sure that, ‘people’ form the core of its activities and therefore, the behaviour and character of these very ‘people’ will affect the overall character of the organisation. The performance level of this workforce depends upon the types of motivations provided by the organisation. If a company encourages its managers and team leaders to delegate the powers and responsibilities amongst their team mates, in order to instil inspiration and encourage learning in the team members, it is bound to provide motivation for the team members to do well. Such delegation also creates a positive ambience in team spirit. The company also monitors the outcomes of delegation, because inappropriate delegation might lead to reduction in team spirit, egoistic attitudes and lack of effective interpersonal communication. A tour and travel agency is essentially a place where customers drop in primarily for two reasons; They need to make bookings for their pre-planned holidays They are on the lookout for a place to unwind with friends and family and seek assistance of the travel agency In both the cases, it is very important that the travel agency is able to present an ambience to its customers, which not only helps the customer in enjoying the company of helpful tour and travel guides but also helps the travel agency in gaining goodwill. Unfortunately in case of Clouds Tours and Travel the ambience being presented to the customers is certainly not helping the customer is fulfilling any of the above two requirements, which in turn is resulting in a sliding loyal customer base for the company. It needs to be emphasized here that engaging the customer and informing him or her about the products or services on offer is extremely important for them to make a choice. There might be regular customers fully aware about the schemes and services, but even those customers love to get pleasant surprises in the form of new schemes or new attractive destinations. Being unfriendly is certainly an unpardonable act towards the customers. In today’s competitive times, making special provisions for motivating the workforce have become all the more important for the companies as well as for the individual. The lack of any positive motivation by the management often results in an automatic provisioning of negative motivation. Besides monetary gains and career progressions, providing training and development opportunities to the employees also helps the employee in learning couple of new things, which in turn help the employee in their career progression and reach out to the management ladder. In Clouds Tours and Travel, the employees are robbed off even this small gesture. Motivating factors affect the levels of commitment amongst the employees for their organisation and these very factors lead to turnover intentions amongst the employees. The high turnover percentage in Clouds Tours and Travel is an example of lack of positive motivational triggers and a mismatch between the organisational objectives and those of the individuals. Terry & Franklin (1994) say that competence for a managerial job is the product of both inherited and acquired qualities. Therefore the team leader is supposed to be a good learner, so that he can capitalize on the stronger points of the team while trying to minimize the effects of weaker points. Task-3 Key skills for being a manager in Mr. Williams’s business are; Good interpersonal communication skills to deal with the customers as well as the co-workers in the company Good knowledge about the latest trends in tours and travels business together with some first-hand information about the competencies of rival companies Faith in the abilities of subordinates Ability to take up employee welfare related issues with the management Acceptable styles of functioning amongst the workforce and willingness to delegate the responsibilities amongst deserving subordinates Personal SWOT analysis My strengths include A firm believer in participative style of management Sound knowledge about the tour and travel business Good learner I do have weaknesses as well. Some are; Prefer to have a perfectionist approach Little ambitious The opportunities which I see here include; Functioning of this organisation is in a mess and the only direction now it can go is upward Recessionary trends appear to be receding by the day Hospitality sector is one of the most promising But there are some threats as well, which have the potential of disturbing the equations. Some such threats are; High employee turnover rates, which means I will have to work with lesser number of supporting hands, which might show up in the overall efficiency of the organisation The revenue figures and profit margin of the company is on its southward journey. With the fierce level of competition in the hospitality industry, it will be an arduous task to bring about a turnaround Comparison of the Analysis done so far Clouds Tours and Travel is certainly in a difficult situation owing to a number of factors related to its workforce, management, the market share and customer loyalty. In the absence of suitable motivating factors the workforce appears to have given up, which holds the key in taking on competition. My Objectives and Targets The immediate priority is to put the house in order i.e. do away with the arrogance and aggression. This requires formal training and development of the workforce. Secondly, the company needs to get in touch with those loyal customers who have deserted the company owing to some unpleasant situation prevailing within the company Thirdly, we need to come out with some attractive schemes for widening our customer base. How my skills will support the organisation After taking over the charge it will be my duty to prove myself as an effective leader. This implies that; I’ll be able to elicit the contributions from all concerned I’ll be able to organise the team members by assigning them the responsibilities, In addition delegating will also be an important element of strategy as it will help in; The team’s working as a cohesive unit The team leader paying due attention to the needs of each team member and the team leader in turn getting due respect from team members The team leader not working with a presumptive mind in favour or against anybody My career and personal development plan needs Maxwell and Watson (2006) carried out study on the HR management strategies prevailing in the Hilton hotel group and highlighted the difference between line managers and human resource specialist, to list out the difference in their approaches. The survey points out that if not taken seriously, a line manager, not having enough knowledge about the HR aspect might lead to bringing conflicting situation and losses to the organisation. Well, my endeavour would be to avoid such a situation. I will be working my way towards becoming a team leader without adopting a biased approach and not allowing team members to consider their own ‘self-interests’ above the interest of the organisation, because I know for sure that my career will progress only if the organisation progresses. References: 1. Bolden, R; Gosling, J.; Marturano, A. and Dennison, P. (2003). ‘A Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks’. Centre for Leadership Studies, UK. Available online at http://www.leadership-studies.com/documents/mgmt_standards.pdf (Jan 25, 2010) 2. Dickens, L. (1994). ‘The business case for women’s equality: is the carrot better than the stick? Employee Relations 16 (8). 3. Maxwell G A & Watson S (2006) ‘Perspectives on Line Managers in Human Resources Management: Hilton International UK Hotels’ International Journal of Human Resource Management 17 (6) 1152-1170 4. Reithel, Scott M. and David M. Finch (2007). Leadership: Nature Vs Nurture. Chief Learning Officer, February 2007. MediaTac Publishing Inc. 5. Smith, Nick (2008). To the management born? The Institution of Engineering and Technology. Available online at http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/issues/0805/management.cfm (Jan 26, 2010) 6. Terry, George R. and Franklin Stephen G. (1994). Principles of management. Richard D. Irwin Inc. USA. 7. Tutor2u (2010). ‘People Management Styles’. Available online at http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/people_management_styles.htm (Jan 26, 2010) Read More