The Langham Melburn Australia - Macro- and Micro-Environmental Analysis - Example

hе Langham Меlbоurnе Аustrаliа rероrt Name: Institution: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Macro-Environmental Analysis (External)-PEST Analysis 3 Micro-Environmental Analysis (Internal) - Porter’s Five Forces 5 Internal Organization Analysis 7 Organization Leadership/Structure 7 Business Strategic Planning 7 Customer Focus 8 Workforce Focus 9 Operations Focus 10 Results 12 Conclusion 13 Appendix 14 References 14 Introduction The Langham Melbourne is branch of the great Langham luxury hotels which started in 2005 after the Sheraton Towers Southgate was renamed as Langham Melbourne. It is a five start hotel and is located on the Southbank Promenade. It offers a great place for visitors to eat and to have leisure. It has around 387 guest rooms and suites. It is thus a good place for any visitor coming to the area. This report gives a detailed analysis of the economic, political and social status of the hotel. This is discussed below. Macro-Environmental Analysis (External)-PEST Analysis Macro-economic factors in an economy arena important aspect to any company. The best tool to use in this analysis is the PEST analysis (Vrachnas 2012; pg 56). In this context, we shall mainly focus on the political, economic, social and technological factors affecting Langham Melbourne. There are a number of political factors affecting Langham Melbourne. The tax policy of Australia to start with, has requirements that the hotels in Australia must accomplish. Corporations and companies are required to pay a capital gains tax to the authorities. Any profits gained buy a corporation or a com-any are supposed to be taxed according to corporate taxes laws. They are calculated at a 30% flat rate and it is normally done before it is distributed to shareholders and stakeholders. The Langham in Melbourne also is liable to pay a 10% value added tax to all goods and services it deals in. This tax is also called goods and services tax. The hotel is also liable to pay a property tax. This is levied on all residential, industrial and commercial property. Payroll taxes are also payable to the government by all employers. In this case, the hotel is liable to pay this bill which is payable when the total Australian wages exceed the current NSW monthly threshold (Vrachnas 2012; pg 66). Employment laws also play a big role in shaping employers acts in Australia. As an employer, the Langham Melbourne is liable to all the laws regarding employees and employers. The current laws regarding employees and employers are drafted in the 1st January 2010 fair work act. The management team of the Langham Melbourne has thus to follow all of the rules so as not to be in conflict with the authorities. In terms of the environment, the hotel is also liable to follow all the laws as stated in the Australian centre for environmental law as set in 1991. In addition to that, it is also to follow the environment protection and biodiversity conservation act of 1999. Australian government also has a number of trade restriction and tariffs that companies and corporations should accomplish (Vrachnas 2012; pg 76). Considering the economic status of Langham Melbourne, the hotel has had good progress in regard to economic development and has even won several awards in Australia and worldwide as fast growing company. In 2011, the hotel won the world’s best reward. This is a reward given to only economically growing and well established ventures. The Australian interest rate was last recorded as 2.75 % in May 2013. The average interest rate for Australia is 5.44% for the past 23 years. On the other hand, the inflation rate of Australia is at 2.5% in 2013. This is an increase from 1.6% in 2012. This figure however, fluctuates from month to month and may reduce or rise in the next coming months. The Australian exchange rates stand at 1.04 Australian dollars per USD. This is a favourable rate to operate with (Vrachnas 2012; pg 96). The Langham Melbourne management team has a good time in dealing with the social factors of Australia. This is because; Australia has good age distribution, good career attitudes, good community safety, a favourable population growth rate and good health consciousness. In addition to this, the technology level of Australia is good in comparison to other countries. This is seen from the number of inventions and innovations that are discovered in the recent past (Vrachnas 2012; pg 189). Micro-Environmental Analysis (Internal) - Porter’s Five Forces This kind of analysis considers the internal forces that affect the business. In this case, it considers the threats in the market seen in terms of substitute products, customer levels and power, the power of the suppliers of goods and raw materials, the potential for entry of competitors into the economy and competition levels in the economy. All these factors determine the strategies of a company in terms of growth and development (Vrachnas 2012; pg 56). The competition level of hotels in Australia as per now is not too high. The Langham Melbourne has five competitors based in Melbourne that can be stiff competitors as they are all five star hotels. These include Swanston hotel, Rendezvous hotel, Novotel on Collins hotel, crown casino and entertainment complex and the hotel Windsor. All these can easily take over customers from the Langham. In addition to these, there are other international hotels in the surrounding such as the palace hotel, raffles hotel, grace hotel, Australia hotel and others. There are about 35 international hotels that can be stiff competitors to the Langham if there are poor strategies for improvement (Eccleston 2007; pg 22). In another perspective, there is also the risk of other entrants to come into the market. This is because the hotel industry is not a closed industry and thus any person can venture into the business (Eccleston 2007; pg 122). This is also very possible taking into consideration that over the past few years, the tourism industry in Australia has been growing tremendously. This can easily attract new businesses into the sector. The Langham Melbourne thus needs to put into place strategies that will help it to remain the best hotel in the industry. In terms of the power of suppliers, the Langham Melbourne has a good sense of supplies that is guaranteed by the Langham group of businesses. The Langham Corporation ensures that there is constant supply of good and raw materials which ensures that reservation and room booking services go on 24/7. To manage this, the group uses a global distribution system that allows connectivity to agents worldwide for communication purposes (Eccleston 2007; pg 43). This fastens delivery of messages and goods to the hotel. Considering the power of customers, the hotel has a good number of customers. This is evident from the fact that they were voted in as those with the best services worldwide and in Australia in 2011. Due to the god reputation, most customers who have never gone to Australia tend to go straight for the Langham. This is a good trend and needs to be maintained. However, a few customers have complained over the internet of poor standards of service at the Langham Melbourne. They said that they did not get what they expected to find. This shows that the standards thus need to be looked at keenly. The management team is supposed to look into the issue and correct the situation (Eccleston 2007; pg 22). The last element to be analysed in the micro-environment is the threat for substitute products. This is not as such a major threat and can easily be dealt with. This should be looked at together with the issue of losing customer loyalty and trust. The management team needs to conduct a market analysis and realign the business such that it appeals to the customers. Once they have won customer loyalty and trust, then the introduction of a new substitute product by a competitor will not be a threat to them (Atkinson 2012; pg 135). Internal Organization Analysis Organization Leadership/Structure The Langham Melbourne is a branch of the great Langham hospitality group. The Langham hospitality group is a big group that is managed centrally with its base in Hong Kong. The group is headed by a managing director and a chief executive chairman of the group. He is assisted by a chief executive officer and a number of vice presidents overseeing the progress of the different departments in the group. Like all the other branches of the Langham group of hotels, Melbourne is headed by a chief executive officer who reports to the office in Hong Kong. The office in Hong Kong normally has the board of directors headed by the chief executive officer and the chairman to the board. The Langham Melbourne then has managers in the respective departments who ensure smooth flow of events and work (Atkinson 2012; pg 25). Business Strategic Planning The Melbourne hotel, together with all the other related hotels is under the earth check program. This program is managed by the EC3 global Earth Check organization and offers independent auditing and monitoring service. It helps them to benchmark themselves against other hotels in the industry thus improving on their services. Earth Check program offers company review in regard to industry, sector, and country and climate zone. This program has four stages against which each hotel in passed in to ascertain the necessary standards are met. These include such things as measurement, management, reduction and validation or certification. In addition to the benchmarking work, this program helps a company to address such things as risks, improve on its efficiency, maximize on the guest experiences and minimize environmental footprints. This program also ensures that the Langham Melbourne hotel together with all other hotels operate according to the set standards. This classifies hotels in different levels of certification. This includes; the gold check status and the silver check status. In this case, the Langham Melbourne has the silver status. This means that it has gone through the Bronze status and then proceeded to the silver status (Eccleston 2007; pg 29). Customer Focus The Langham Melbourne is one of the best and well performing hotels of the Langham group. This is evident from the fact that they won the 2011 Australian business award for service excellence. This was an overall rating across the public, private and non-profit organizations to ascertain the service standards level. Langham Melbourne emerging as a winner shows that they have good service to customers. According to the 2011 trip advisor’s survey and rewards, the Langham Melbourne won the traveller’s choice award as the top city hotel. The fact that it is a travellers’ choice hotel, it thus has good services to customers (Eccleston 2007; pg 22). To ensure the customer service system is up to date, the hotel has set up a global distribution system that allows connectivity to over 500,000 agents who are to direct customers as required. They are also to give advice where necessary. Any customer queries and suggestions are supposed to be taken by the agents. This strategy ensures that customers do not suffer when looking for services. In 2009, 2010 and 2011, this hotel has won the world’s best travel and leisure award. This shows that it is really a good place to be and therefore has good services to customers (Conley 2010; pg 146). Workforce Focus In terms of employee focus, the Langham Melbourne just like any Langham hotel focuses a lot on employee satisfaction as they believe that they are their core resources enabling their success. Their objective in this regard is to become the most proactive employers in the hospitality industry. To ensure that they have skilled and qualified employees, they put great emphasis on training and career development (Atkinson 2012; pg 96). Employees’ personal and professional well-being is also their core value. To add to this, they value and believe in fairness to all employees together with trust, respect and integrity. These form a basis for employee loyalty to the hotel. Efficiency at the hotel is also sought through teamwork and effective organization structure. The hotel management also values different cultures and diversity of people. They thus do not discriminate against anybody in regard to employment opportunities. Innovation and creativity at the place of work are also great values that the management is trying so hard to achieve. They look forward to such things to boost the value of the operation of the business (Conley 2010; pg 136). The hotel also ensures that they have fair working environments. This boosts employee morale at the work and promotes employee royalty. To do this, the hotel management ensures that there are equal employment opportunities to all in the society. They also regulate their terms such that there are fair employment terms (Atkinson 2012; pg 125). Good employee communication is also a virtue they strive to acquire together with workplace bargaining. They also encourage good codes of conduct according to their rules at the place of work. In order to ensure that there is professionalism at the hotel, the management team designed the Langham curriculum certification program. This ensures that there is improvement in skills and knowledge among the employees. This program covers both the soft skills development as well as the technical knowledge development. To ensure quality training is achieved, there is an annual training needs analysis. This one ensures that they make amendments where necessary to ensure they deliver a satisfying training to employees. Operations Focus Any business venture or corporation requires good focus on the operational needs and requirements that will enable it to grow and maximize profits. In this case, the Langham Melbourne has put in place rules and regulations that guarantee smooth operation and high standards (Atkinson 2012; pg 78). To this, they ensure that the interests and desires of the stakeholders are studied and interpreted carefully in open dialogue so as to satisfy every shareholder. This ensures that they invest more into the business instead of pulling out. More investments ensure that the business has a god amount of cash and capital to use. The management team also goes into the business of looking into the individual things that will determine the best character for the hotel before implementation of the ideas. In terms of service and product delivery, the management team makes sure that they only output and deliver what will be guaranteed as the best quality by their customers (Conley 2010; pg 96). They therefore have to go into activities of rating their products according to set standards and rules. Having high quality goods and services ensures that they have good reputation among the customers a thing that ensures that they have good profits. To ensure this, they have good supervision teams and management structure put in place. Another important aspect that ensures smooth operation of the Langham Melbourne is the conformance with the universal standards of the Langham group of companies. These standards were set according to the hotel expectations and standards as set worldwide. These standards are however adjusted to suit with the geographical and cultural variations in the different locations. As with the Langham Melbourne, it is well configured according to the geographical positioning and culture. It also operates at the highest possible international standards as all the hotels of the Langham group operate at international standards (Atkinson 2012; pg 92). All departments at the Langham Melbourne are supposed to operate in unison together with the other departments so as to achieve the required profits. All technical systems and operational profiles in the different departments are configured such that they operate smoothly. Before the hotel is opened after a maintenance period, the hotel management team headed by the executive officer ensures that all machinery and technical systems have been installed and are working as required. This ensures that there is smooth running of the hotel after it is opened officially. Another thing that ensures smooth operation of the hotel is to create good relation with the public. This ensures that if there is unrest in the community, the business is not interfered with. This is achieved through participation in community programs and partnerships. The management team identifies a program in which it invests in partnership with another organization the makes a follow up to make sure that the program benefits the public (Atkinson 2012; pg 42). Staff selection is also another thing that ensures smooth operation of a company. In this regard, the hotel recruits only qualified staffs members to serve in their areas of specialization so as to form a team that can deliver quality service. Individuals with the potential of becoming future leaders of the hotel are normally identified at an early stage and given the required training to see if they achieve the required level of performance, management and codes of conduct. This ensures that the leaders of the hotel are usually knowledgeable people with the day to day operations of the hotel. This ensures that there is quality delivery of service at the hotel. It also ensures that only fit and qualified people are given the management responsibility. Having a skilled management team also ensures that the management team recruits only qualified and skilled junior staff to work under them. All these ensure quality delivery of goods and services at the work place (Conley 2010; pg 37). Results The management team of the hotel, by virtue of being formed by visionary leaders, is very much geared towards good results. As results for such a venture are mainly measured in terms of revenue, the hotel has good strategies for maximizing on the revenue (Conley 2010; pg 78). To start with, it has good supply and distribution systems. The supply for goods ensures that they have capability to host any number of visitors any time and also to have a 24/7 real time reservation system online. The Langham group uses a global distribution system that allows connectivity to over 500,000 travel agents who assist in hotel booking and information access. They also have worldwide coverage reservation lines that enable quick customer booking and enquiries (Atkinson 2012; pg 29). This service also allows customers to use any language worldwide. This gives them an added advantage to capture customers from all over the world. In addition to this, the hotel has an official website that allows quick booking and reservation services. This is mainly done though the iStay program implemented recently. The hotel also has a strategy to maximize revenue per the available rooms. This will ensure not only an increase in revenues but ensuring that all customers are satisfied at the hotel. To achieve this, the management team introduced the best in class training, dynamic revenue management policies and constant monitoring of the hotel’s booking pace availability of rooms and the pricing (Atkinson 2012; pg 22). Conclusion In conclusion, the Langham Melbourne hotel is thus a good place to be as a visitor. This is evident from all the services and goods in terms of quality food it offers (Conley 2010; pg 36). Being an employee at such a place is also advantageous as the management team ensures that their employees receive quality training and also promote career development through education advancement. This can help you as an employee to achieve good international accreditation that can enable you to work in any international venture. In my view, it is the best place to be as a visitor and as an employee. Appendix 1.1 The main countries for visitor visa Grants Country of origin Number of individuals given visa’s 2011 -2012 New Zealand 867184 United kingdom 744932 China 677105 United states of America 407508 Japan 353751 India 239851 Malaysia 267224 References Anderson, K., & Adelaide, U. o. , 2009,Australia's economy in its international context , the Fisher lectures, Adelaide , University of Adelaide Press. Atkinson, L. ,2012,Melbourne, Hoboken , John Wiley & Sons. Australia, C. ,2011,Australian income tax legislation 2011, North Ryde, CCH Australia. Bajada, C., & Schneider, F. , 2005,Size, causes and consequences of the underground economy , an international perspective, Aldershot , Ashgate, cop. 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