Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Department of Hilton Hotels and Resorts Analysis - Assignment Example

 Hilton Hotels Introduction Hilton Hotels & Resorts which is previously acknowledged as Hilton Hotels is a renowned name in hotel industry. The hotel is well known for its global leadership in hospitality industry. The hotel has been continuing the business successfully in excess of 92 years. The innovative products, stylish hotel rooms and quality services which the hotel provides are considered to be the key reasons of its success in the industry. The most typical facet of Hilton can be identified by taking into concideration the facilities that are delivered to the customers. The comfortable travelling service, stylish restaurants, superior hospitality services as well as its commitment towards global community ultimately made the hotel globally renowned (Hilton Worldwide, 2012). It has been viewed that Hilton possesses significant number of hotels and resorts in different parts throughout the globe that offer remarkable as well as quality hospitality services to its worldwide customers. Moreover, it offers lots of other astonishing facilities to its customers, such as deliverance of world class fitness rooms, spa bath and meeting rooms among others. These qualities of the hotel eventually created a great positive impact within the mind of the customers around the globe. Hilton’s hotels and resorts are situated in most preferred as well as attracted holiday destinations and for this particular reason a huge number of customers visit Hilton (Hilton Worldwide, 2012). Thesis Statement In this paper, the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) department of Hilton Hotels and Resorts will be taken into concern. Moreover, with the help of SWOT analysis, a strategic plan will also be prepared in order to grow the business of Hilton. Distinct Features of CSR of Hilton The CSR department of Hilton primarily focuses upon four distinct areas such as generating prospects for professional growth, celebrating cultures, intensifying communities as well as living sustainability that guide its social responsibility across the globe. CSR department of Hilton generally creates an opportunity for its entire workforce with the intention of improving their professional growth. Moreover, the department endeavors to deliver remarkable facilities to its customers for achieving dynamic guest experience as well as promoting diverse corporate culture. Hilton’s CSR department mostly provides remarkable opportunities in the communities so that a better economic growth could be achieved by a considerable level. It has been apparently observed that CSR department of Hilton has been creating excellent job opportunities by hiring fresh new talents to fulfill the community requirements. Moreover, Hilton’s CSR department provides extra efforts to prepare better programs and products that can comply with the customers’ needs and protect the global environment. The CSR department of Hilton understands the significance of protecting global environment for a better tomorrow in order to sustain in this competitive hospitality industry (Hilton Worldwide, 2012). Hilton’s CSR department comprehends the significance of generating hospitality employment prospects. The CSR department of Hilton generally prepares different sorts of programs as well as services for protecting the global environment and preserving the world in an efficient manner. In this similar context, the most outstanding service which provided by Hilton is the establishment of ‘Double Tree Hotels’. This particular idea has been used by Hilton for the prime objective of providing effective learning service to the children belonging to local schools as well as youth groups. It has been observed that the ‘Double Tree Hotels’ of Hilton is considered to be the fastest growing hotels in establishing green lodging programs. Moreover, the CSR department of Hilton group greatly emphasizes upon protecting the environment by conducting successful environmental studies. The department efficiently conducts the environmental studies by travelling to several science centers as well as museum. Thus, the aforementioned factors ultimately make the hotel as well as its CSR department distinct as compared to others (Hilton Worldwide, 2012). Current Direction of the CSR In relation to the current direction of the department, it has been viewed that the CSR department of Hilton hotel is creating a remarkable impact upon performing effective social responsibilities in order to protect the global environment for last few years. Hilton has been rewarded with ‘Carbon Saver Gold Standard’ award in the year 2012 for efficient lessening of carbon emissions as well as managing all of its hotels worldwide. In this regard, the CSR department of Hilton implemented a sustainability measurement mechanism named ‘LightStay’ which principally analyzes various operational practices such as housekeeping, food waste, usage of paper products, transportation, air quality and chemical storage. It has been observed that one of the exclusive aspects of LightStay i.e. the ‘meeting impact calculator’ determines the ecological or green impact of any meeting held at a property of the hotel. Specially mentioning, in the year 2010, the hotel saved US$74 million of utility cost by reducing 6.6 percent of energy usage, dropping 7.8 percent of carbon output, lessening 3.8 percent of water usage as well as decreasing waste output of 19 percent. While analyzing the current direction of the CSR department of Hilton, it has been apparently observed that one of the hotels of Hilton i.e. Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort was awarded by the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry CSR Label. The award has been provided because of the contribution towards building a responsible as well as sustainable business community, particularly in the Emirates (Justmeans, 2012). SWOT Analysis Strengths The strengths of Hilton’s CSR department are quite identifiable. In general, the CSR department is regarded to be a core operational sector in an organization which poses direct impact upon the brand value. Moreover, the department is responsible for creating goodwill among the people. In this regard, the CSR department of Hilton remains much focused upon creating job opportunities, providing more prospects especially to new talents and also delivering effective training to its entire workforce for enhancing business performance. One of the strengths of CSR department of Hilton is the efforts made by the hotel in order to reduce the negative effect of carbon emission that plays an imperative part in devastating the global environment. The main strength of CSR department of Hilton can be identified as the adoption and implementation of several measures, such as the mechanism of LightStay for developing a better and an eco-friendly environment (Hilton Worldwide, 2012). . Weakness Apart from the strengths, the hotel also faced a major weakness relating to CSR aspect. In this regard, it has been viewed that a few hotels of Hilton have been connected to prostitution in China and Ireland. By considering this matter, it can be affirmed that this crucial weakness can impose adverse impact upon the business reputation of the hotel to a significant level (Justmeans, 2012). Opportunities According to the recent studies, it has been observed that the tourists or the visitors are much concerned about social and environmental responsibility. In this similar context, it can be stated that various CSR initiatives of Hilton such as LightStay could provide the opportunity to strengthen its competitive position over the chief business market competitors in future. Moreover, the deliverance of effective training to the employees regarding CSR related activities could also provide an opportunity for the hotel to improve its operational effectiveness to a significant level (Justmeans, 2012). . Threats One of the major threats affecting the CSR department of Hilton is about its connectivity with the aspect of prostitution, particularly in the regions of China and Ireland (Justmeans, 2012). Crucial Areas for Strategic Plan The SWOT analysis shows that there are certain areas that are crucial in preparing an effective strategic plan for Hilton. The imperative areas include environment, deliverance of effective training and creating job opportunities for the people. In this context, environmental factor is considered to be a great factor in respect of preparing a strategic plan. This is due to the reason that the visitors in recent days are much worried about social and environmental responsibility by a greater extent. Creating environmental awareness among the visitors can be quite crucial while preparing a strategic plan for Hilton. The necessity of providing effective staff training as well as strong leadership is also a significant factor relating to strategic planning. The creation of job opportunities for the people must be included in the strategic planning in order to perform social responsibilities as a CSR initiative (Crowther & Aras, 2008). Explanation of the Importance of the Chosen Areas Selection in Strategic Plan The chosen areas such as the environment, staff training and employment opportunities are quite essential in developing a strategic plan for Hilton. All these areas are essential for preparing a strategic plan. The environmental development is a major function that is performed by the CSR department of any organization. In recent days, environment is considered to be an important factor from CSR perspective. Conversely, staff training is needed in order to achieve a sustainable business growth and avoid the factors which harmfully affect the customer relation. In this regard, effective leadership can play an imperative part in creating an efficient workforce and enhancing the job responsibility. Finally, creating remarkable employment opportunities as a CSR initiative can increase social responsibility and hence large number of visitors can be attracted. Therefore, all the aforesaid factors can be considered as essential relating to the strategic planning for Hilton (Crowther & Aras, 2008). There are numerous theories relating to CSR such as Instrumental theories and Integrative theories that can be taken into consideration in order to support the above discussion. In this similar context, Instrumental theories are considered to be a strategic tool for achieving higher economic growth. Without solving the problem of unemployment, proper economic growth cannot be achieved. Thus, with reference to strategic planning for Hilton, enhancing job opportunities has been considered as one of the chosen areas. Hiring fresh talents would enable Hilton to create more competitiveness in the business market. Conversely, Integrative theories convey the process of integrating the business with social demands. The development of business growth fundamentally depends upon the social factors. To continue the business efficiently, the CSR department of Hilton must perform and fulfill the social demands at large (Garriga & Mele, 2004). Evaluation of the Success of Strategic Plan The success of the CSR strategic plan can be measured with the help of certain significant aspects. In this context, the CSR initiatives can be measured on the basis of the contribution made towards human welfare. Under this aspect, the focus is mainly based upon whether the strategic plan is able to meet the needs of the society, workers as well as suppliers or not. The social responsibilities are essential for creating business sustainability. Conversely, social responsibilities can also be considered as another aspect that can measure the success of strategic planning. The activities regarding contribution in community as well as different social projects are the relevant ways to measure the performance of the strategic planning. Moreover, the success of the strategic plan can be measured by creating awareness about environmental development amid different people (EurekaStreet, 2012). Conclusion Hilton Hotels and Resorts are viewed to be a renowned name in the hospitality sector. It delivers attractive, quality services to its valuable customers. Hilton’s main mission is to provide superior hospitality services to its large base of customers throughout the globe. The CSR department of Hilton group is incessantly making significant efforts in order to create environmental awareness among different people. CSR of Hilton has been performing social responsibilities by emphasizing upon delivering effective training as well as forming employment opportunities to different people. In order to perform better social responsibility, a superior and a well-structured strategic plan is necessary for Hilton. In this regard, the chosen areas such as the environment responsibility, employment opportunity and effective training as a form of strategic plan can provide a new direction for growing the business of Hilton rapidly. However, the success of the strategic plan can be measured by generating awareness about environmental development and contribution made towards human welfare among others. References Crowther, D., & Aras, G. (2008). Corporate social responsibility. London: Bookboon. EurekaStreet. (2012). How to measure corporate social responsibility. Retrieved from http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=875 Garriga, E., & Mele, D. (2004). Corporate social responsibility theories: mapping the territory. Journal of Business Ethics 53, pp.51–71. Hilton Worldwide. (2012). A legacy of innovation. Retrieved from http://www3.hilton.com/en/about/index.html Hilton Worldwide. (2012). Travel with purpose. Retrieved from http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/corporate-responsibility/ Justmeans. (2012). Hilton worldwide’s UK hotels awarded carbon saver gold standard. Retrieved from http://www.justmeans.com/press-releases/Hilton-Worldwides-UK-Hotels-Awarded-Carbon-Saver-Gold-Standard/9795.html Justmeans. (2012). How neglecting CSR can be bad for your brand. Retrieved from http://www.justmeans.com/How-neglecting-CSR-can-be-bad-for-your-brand/35357.html Read More