The Risk Management Process Business Strategy and Tactics at Marston Lodge - Case Study Example

Running Head:Managerial Systems and Operations Management Competition is the norm in the 21st century; a company that is not staying competitive in the current business world risks the chance of being kicked out of the market. A company that would like to survival in the market must ensure that it holds abreast the market trends. Some of the changes that are common in the market include: technological advancement and the necessity to attain quality with minimum costs. Quality goods and services will attract customers to the company and ensure its continued thrive in the market. However, if the customers are discontent with the value of services and goods they get from the company they will quit. No organization will ever want to have disgruntled customers, to achieve efficiency a plan is needed to improve the productivity of the company. Introduction Sometimes an ad hoc approach may be used on simplest grounds that may need very small changes. Outlined plans must be initiated to analyses the risks that are associated with a particular implementation strategy in accomplishing the drafted project. The last option to be considered is the effectiveness of the project to the organization, these acts as an assessment into the real functionality of the project in aiding organization performance. This paper analyses some of the problems faced by Marston Lodge, which in the long run inhibit its performance in the market. The paper will critical assess the impacts of these problems and come up with significant solutions that will cushion the problems. A detailed plan will exhibit what will assess the associated costs and the approach that will be taken when initiating the project. Last the end of the paper will depict how the technological project impacts on the levels of performance in the Hotel; this will consider the needs of employees and management towards attainment of quality production (Koontz & Weihrich, 2010). Case scenario Evaluation Marston Lodge is an example of an organization that is operating under minimal production levels. Numerous complaints hailed towards the company. For instance, long queues and poor conditions of the rooms depict that management and the employees are not taking seriously their jobs and working towards attaining the set objectives of the company. This thwarts the efforts of the hotel on profit maximization. The longer Marston Lodge keeps without addressing these challenges, the faster it degrades an eventually becoming bankrupt. What is also evident from the case scenario is the fact that Marston Lodge is using many funds to train its employees yet productions levels in the company are at its lowest. It increases pressure on its resources that should be skewed towards restoration. As much as employee training is crucial to the company, circumstances must dictate when sponsorship is to be awarded. Employees do not exhibit coherence; this is evident when cleaners complain about their working conditions amongst themselves. In each department there should a supervisor whose prime role is to analyses the resource that is needed in their respective departments. The fact that there is more demand on towels than they are available in the company points an accusing finger at the role of management (ISRD group, 2007). Lack of an ICT foundation is a major problem which is facing Marston Lodge; this makes it hard for customers to book rooms in advance (Cameron, 2005). The resultant effect is the long queues which are portrayed on counters to be served manually. This increases the production costs of the Lodge making it attain the minimum profits which on other occasions may transform into losses. Marston Lodge lacks proper program coordination on its production activities. For instance, the kitchen management considers sourcing the local produce in bits instead of making orders for products be delivered in bulk to the Lodge, since this will in turn the costs of purchasing in small quantities due to economies of scale advantages (Culp, 2001). Decision making is another problem that stems out in the Lodge; there is no profound order of management which is exhibited in the company. For instance, each department is solely reliant on its own rules. This has eaten out the coordination of the company into great depths. In addition the stakeholders of the company like Mr. Oman have completely let go the Lodge, they do not show any support. Mr. Oman is only interested in the own activities and would ask for accommodation when his best sport goes to that region. As much as management is appointed to be in charge of the Lodge the major stakeholders should show solidarity and boost the morale of the management in creating a fully operating Lodge encompassed by massive profits; it will satisfy all stakeholders in the long run (Cruz-Cunha& Varajao, 2011). Above all the major factor that needs to be considered in this case is the quality of production and the techniques of service delivery in the Lodge. It will entirely encompass the foods and drinks offered in the Lodge, customer service services and the manner in which the employees coordinate to attain efficacy in the lodge. The hotel depicts a number of discrepancies because of the nature of its operations. All these, factors are missing in Marston Lodge that begs the question whether the company is making any profits from its operations. The kitchen department should consider purchasing high quality raw materials than just buying from the local market. As much as the local market may on some occasion’s stock high value goods, chances are high that 60% of those products are of the low quality (Duckert, 2011). Risk Matrix Risk analysis gauges the implementation of a new project. It will enable the company to assess the impact of any occurrence during the design stages of a project. Hence, the company will be able to mitigate any losses that may arise (Mahadevan, 2010). Marston Lodge, its approach to introduce an ICT project would develop a risk register matrix as below:- A qualitative approach is used to analyze different types of risks by depicting their sources and the impact of their occurrence. The matrix above it is illustrated that the risks are weighed on a scale to know which particular risks are detrimental if they occur. Thus, the matrix gauges the risks on the severity complex and the probability of occurrence. Some of the best tools that can be used to collect data on risk management include questionnaires, interviews observation and analysis of prior documents created by other organization performing the same project. Risk management involves a number of steps that need to be undertaken. Risks emanate from very many sources in project management. They may include internal and external type of risks. The internal risks are those that are directly inflicted by the organization and its staff members. External risks emanate from the external environment. Work breakdown structure The above work breakdown structure depicts the decomposition of various components in the ICT project which is to be adopted by the Lodge. The WBS is the resultant stage which follows the planning stages of project development. Each department is allocated its mandate in accordance with the WBS. It makes a greater portion of the work since task management will be easily drafted as compared to those situations that lack WBS (Jagels, 2006). The project team must encompass some key personalities in the Hotel like the owner and top management. Recommended project team Musalem Al Arami; Owner;Thomas Cranford; hotel manager; James Thomas; operations manager; Daljit Singh – Head receptionist; David Johnson – Bar manager; Sonia Prentergrass – Head of facilities management; KiriBawe – ICT manager; Darren Dawes – Hotel maintenance manager; John Smith – Head of hotel security; ZaynorPolowski – Hotel Business manager and External experts. The list encompasses those managers who stand in positions or departments that will be immensely affected by the ICT project. Project analysis and installation is a component which will impact the whole company. For effectiveness to be attained then, stipulated team must comprise all the individuals in the hotel to represent the views of their members and farther address any concerns or alterations that they feel which aid the process. On some occasions it may be necessary for them to give their opinions on the problems they encounter in their daily routine. Such ideas will be utilized by the technical teams. Operations Management Operations management involves the process of managing resources which are used in project management and production in an organization. Operations management is a very important organ when it comes to analyzing those resources that are to be employed in the organization. For instance in our case scenario, the operations manager will balance a number of staff undertaking the project and ensure that normal activities in the hotel are performed. Consequently he has to ensure that the project takes place at a minimum cost while at the same time taking care of quality (Stair & Reynolds, 2012). Process design It is the same concept which is outlined by product/service design. A design process postulates that the stages outlined during the planning are effectively followed; this will in turn enable the exploitation of resources within a set budget. Hence, process design is a timeline that is emphasized by the operation managers to ensure that there are uniformity and order in project implementation (Project Management Institute, 2013). Process design matrix Since this is a project process in the Lodge. Some of the components analysing the process flow, during the undertaking of the project, are; throughput time that is referred to as the time that a given unit moves through the project. Work in process, it is the number of units that are in the process and utilization which refers to the actual ratio of the output from a given process to the design capacity of the same process (Ronen & Pass, 2008). Layout and flow Operation managers are responsible for the way the materials that will be responsible for the facilitation of the project will flow from each department. It is the operations department that will institute communication of the different experts who will undertake the project. The layout that must be adopted by the Lodge ought to take into consideration the following factors: time, cost and resources of the hotel. For instance, it must reduce the time spent in trying to access the resources in the project, and the cost of the organization must be at the lowest for efficacy to be attained (Meredith & Mantel, 2012). The hotel management in this case study adopted a process layout which proves to be the cheapest and more flexible, the reason behind this is that all the stakeholders in the company possess varied skills, thus to harmonize them they hand to take a common approach to ensure coherence in their jobs (Verret, 2008). Problems faced by the Hotel and anticipated solution with the new project Poor customer service The hotel has poor customer service techniques; this is evident in the way the customers stand on long queues waiting to be served and the general poor conditions. Apart from poor conditions, is the way in which the waiters serve the customers? Even from the view of the employees themselves the services the hotel offers are very poor, and customer satisfaction is not attained at all. Customers end up complaining immensely to management about the poor services who in turning a deaf ear to the complaints (Ofallon & Rutherford, 2011). In order to improve customer services, the new ICT platform will aid in curbing down a number of these factors. For instance, customers will be allowed to book accommodations online. It will reduce the levels of congestions in the counter. Also, record keeping is a very important concept which will be allowed on the new ICT platform; thus there will be no inventory shortcomings as is evidenced by the number of towels lacking in the hotel. The new project will see the attainment of a number of activities that never did under the manual systems. It is because technology has proved to be an important feature in business management. Poor communication and coordination Currently, the company is poorly structured to allow for effective communication to be achieved in the Lodge. Departments exhibit this by the way they fail to undertake their roles. For instance, the operation management does not recognize when inventories in the company are diminishing. Another instance illustrating poor communication is the case of the Kitchens head; Kathryn Hughes goes around in the local market to collect supplies instead of consulting the operations manager on which is the best means or platform to acquire necessary goods. Also, the top management is not fully informed of the hotel functionalities, this is because they do not establish a strong link with the junior employees. ICT is the best solution to this problem; the project will allow all managers to coordinate their departments under the emblem of the general manager (Heldman, 2011). The general manager will in turn be able to coordinate all the activities happening in the Hotel because they have the required data. Role of Risk Matrix and WBS A risk matrix depicts the likelihood of the occurrence of certain risks just before the commencement of the project. It will be like a premonition, and it will help the hotel management to prepare for mitigation (Kanda, 2011). WBS depicts the chronological order in task assignment hence breaking down the workload for easier manipulation. Without these elements it will be an uphill task to monitor the progress of the project without forgetting any step and assessing the impacts of any of the step undertaken. Thus, these processes play a major role in the success of a project implementation and development. Conclusion From the case scenario, it is evident that a success is a multi-facet component; it must comprise a number of factors. However, the best measure of success is attributed to quality and efficacy. Without a quality management, no customers will turn up in the business; it will mean that, in the long run, the business will close, but to achieve quality efficiency must be embraced. Work flow analysis is also a major component when it comes to project management. It essentially aids the reduction of wastages and dalliance which may arise in the process. Operation managers should come out to defend company resources against inappropriate wastages. High wastages lead to high costs. Reference list Cameron, I. T. 2005. Process Systems Risk Management. San Diego, Ca, Elsevier. Http://Www.Sciencedirect.Com/Science/Book/9780121569327. Cruz-Cunha, M. M., & Varajao, J. 2011. E-Business Managerial Aspects, Solutions And Case Studies. Hershey, Pa, Business Science Reference. Culp, C. L. 2001. The Risk Management Process Business Strategy And Tactics. New York, John Wiley & Sons. Http://Public.Eblib.Com/Eblpublic/Publicview.Do?Ptiid=117687userid=^U. Duckert, G. H. 2011. Practical Enterprise Risk Management: A Business Process Approach. Hoboken, Nj, Wiley. Heldman, K. 2011. Project Management Jumpstart. Hoboken, Nj, Wiley. Jagels, M. G. 2006. Hospitality Management Accounting. Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons. Http://Public.Eblib.Com/Eblpublic/Publicview.Do?Ptiid=257556. Kanda, A. 2011. Project Management: A Life Cycle Approach. New Delhi, Phi Learning Private Limited. Koontz, H., & Weihrich, H. 2010. Essentials of Management. New Delhi [U.A.], Mcgraw-Hill. Instructional Software Researchand Development (ISRD) Group. 2007. Structured System Analysis and Design. New Delhi, Tata Mcgraw-Hill Pub. Mahadevan, B. 2010. Operations Management: Theory and Practice. Upper Saddle River, Pearson. Meredith, J. R., & Mantel, S. J. 2012. Project Management: A Managerial Approach. Hoboken, Nj, Wiley. Ofallon, M. J., & Rutherford, D. G. 2011. Hotel Management and Operations. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Project Management Institute. 2013. A Guide tothe Project Management Body of Knowledge (Pmbok Guide). Ronen, B., & Pass, S. 2008. Focused Operations Management Achieving More With Existing Resources. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley. Http://Site.Ebrary.Com/Id/10296061. Stair, R. M., & Reynolds, G. W. 2012. Principles Of Information Systems. Australia, Course Technology Cengage Learning. Verret, C. 2008. 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