Service Design and Delivery of Commercial Hospitality - Coursework Example

Compare and Contrast the Service Design and Delivery of Commercial Hospitality That Is Intended To Be Standardised (i.e. Mass Market) With That WhichIs Intended To Be More Customised To Meet the Individual Needs Of Customers Tourism and hospitality industry is duly considered to be a significant entity, which remains focused towards the economic development of a nation. This industry is majorly involved in the provision of standardized quality of hospitality services to the customers. However, by looking at the present state of business market competition, a prediction can be made regarding the high level of competency prevailing between the small, medium and large players within this industry. Over multiple generations, this industry has always relied upon its customers in the field of revenue generation (British Hospitality Association, 2014). However, the rapid change in customers’ tastes and preferences has certainly contributed in raising business market competition by a considerable extent (Pizam & Holcomb, 2013). In alignment with the increased level of competitiveness, the tourism and the hospitality organizations have to invest significant portion of their time and resources towards the development of appropriate service provision strategies through which they can place their brand image within customers’ mind. However, multiple situations can be witnessed wherein numerous attempts made by the major tourism and hospitality organizations turn out to be complete failure. Certain predictions in this context point out towards the existence of appropriate loopholes within the service delivery patterns of such hospitality organizations (Hassanien & et. al., 2010). The existence of these sorts of loopholes eventually turns out as huge losses both in terms of finance and reputation (Atsutsey & Tandoh-Offin, 2013). With this concern, the discussion in the essay will majorly focus towards comparing and contrasting the service delivery patterns within multiple tourism and hospitality organisations for finding out the types of services that will require appropriate standardization and customization. The discussion will also put emphasis on analysing the techniques through which the standardized and customised services can be utilized for attracting greater count of customers. Tourism and hospitality organisations in this present day scenario significantly rely on their respective service type creativity for attracting customers. As a result, the structured set of services that provide by the hospitality organisations should be made standardised and customised from time to time depending on the changing market patterns. One instance in this context can be provided regarding the star ratings of the hospitality organisations that at one point of time acted as a sign of luxury and sophistication depending upon its count (Hudson, 2008). This grading system eventually developed a judgmental perception within the customers that a higher rated hospitality organisation will provide greater quality of luxury and services, whereas a lower rated hospitality player will specifically cater to few acceptable services. However, this perception appears to be fading off in the present market scenario where people have started understanding the practicality behind the star ratings (Datar & Chowdhry, 2010). From a logical sense, the gradual decline of star count rating technique appears to be justified due to the fact that it is only meant for projecting an attractive image of the organization rather than improvising the luxury and service quality for the customers (Monteiro & Sousa, 2011). Commercial hospitality organisations offer a wide range of services to their customers starting from the provision of food to quality entertainment. In simple words, the customers of a hospitality organization will have to pay both for the consumable products as well as for all the associated service activities (VisitEngland, 2011). Understanding the gravity of the situation, the UK quality control based organisations have intended towards standardising all the hospitality organisations with an AA rating. In alignment with this rating, utmost attention will only be provided in maintaining the product and/service quality of hospitality being provided to the customers rather than the facilities that fall under the independent jurisdiction of the hotels (VisitEngland, 2011). While comparing the different elements of standardised and customised service design and delivery, it is quite essential to acquire a brief idea about the notions of service design and service delivery. In this context, from a theoretical perspective, it can be affirmed that the idea of service design is principally regarded as an approach of designing the services in an effective manner of the hospitality organisations for complying with the needs of the customers. On the other hand, the perception of service delivery is regarded as one of the potential activities of the hospitality organisations based on which the services are delivered in accordance with the service design adapted by the hospitality organisations. The varied services of hospitality industry that are intended to be standardised hold high level of variedness as compared to the services that need to be customised. The reflection of such variedness can be witnessed within the elements of service design and delivery. A specific reflection in this regard can be obtained within the cleanliness factor, which is regarded as one of the prime elements of standardised service design and delivery. A comparative aspect of this element can be gained against the customised foods delivery design (Berkeley Scott, 2010). Justifiably, the cleanliness element forms the base of quality assessment procedure, which is structured for meeting individuals’ needs of the customers. Whereas, bringing about change within this element just projects an attempt of projecting something new to the customers. Thus, cleanliness is a mandate whereas implementation of cleanliness with new mean delivery pattern such as Silver service is a variability factor, which is meant to serve the independent needs of the customers (VisitEngland, 2011; Berkeley Scott, 2010). Furthermore, cleanliness element encompasses a wider dimension of aspects such as cleanliness within the dining areas, bedrooms, rest rooms and other public access areas that often help in attracting customers by a major extent. However, the change within the meal delivery pattern encompasses cleanliness and creativity associated with a specific service. This can be duly considered as a major comparison factor prevailing between the standardised and customised service design and delivery in relation to cleanliness element (VisitEngland, 2011). Specially mentioning, the comfort factor relating to hospitality based organisations, is regarded as the second most crucial element of service design and delivery, which is needed to be standardised. The comparison of this factor with respect to standardised and customised service design as well as delivery can be made in terms of determining the strategy of maintaining friendly relationship between the hospitality staff members and the customers (Ransley & Ingram, 2012). From a contrastive view, it can be affirmed that both of these elements are specifically meant for providing the customers with a memorable experience. However, their implementation pattern holds high level of variedness. For instance, provision of appropriate levels of comfort to the customers is a mandate for every hospitality organization in terms of getting standardised. However, every hospitality organisation has its own way of providing comfort to the customers, which certainly holds comparative variability in relation to both service design and delivery segments. It is projected that the customers of the hospitality organisations will be considering both of these elements for developing a positive perception of the hospitality brands (Daniels College of Business At University Of Denver, 2013). Another comparison that can be found within both of these elements is regarding the boundaries of the service areas of which these two elements form a part of. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the comfort element of standardised service design and delivery performs the functions associated with bedding, furniture design along with arrangement, room ambience and other related facilities that need to be standardised (Ransley & Ingram, 2012). The personal hygiene factor can also be taken into concern as an important factor for conducting a comparative analysis between standardised and customised service delivery as well as design while designing new food menus for the customers. Provision of appreciable hygiene within the segment of service design and delivery forms a major standardising aspect, whereas the development of new food menus for the customers forms an element of service design and delivery, which needs to be customised (Knowles, 2012). As a matter of fact, both of the above discussed elements hold wide variability. However from contrastive aspect, it can be stated that personal hygienic elements also find existence within the development of new food menus by the hospitality organisations that are meant to satisfy the personal necessities and preference of the customers (Daniels College of Business At University Of Denver, 2013). As per the dimensions of both the elements are concerned, it can be inferred that an appropriate hygiene element being a part of standardised service encompasses multiple functional factors. These include maintenance of personal hygiene of toiletry, towels and bathroom fittings among others that often get categorised as credential. However, maintenance of hygiene within the new food menus only projects a sole unit of all the encompassed entities within the personal hygiene element (Knowles, 2012). The quality of service being provided by the hospitality organisations also gets categorised as an element of service delivery and design that needs to be standardised. As a matter of fact, it can be also be compared against the Silver service, which eventually forms an element of service design and delivery that are worth customizing. If seen from a management perspective, it can be inferred that a hospitality organisation might attain success in attaining the loyalty of the customers by creating a memorable service experience within their minds (Cousins & Coskett, n.d.). However, the contrastive aspect lies in the fact that bringing about certain change within the service design also lays a tremendous impact on the perception of the customers towards any hospitality brand. A reflection of such happening can be witnessed within the silver service technique, which is a new service delivery style introduced by the hospitality organisations for mitigating the prevalent loopholes within the existing butlery system. It is worth mentioning that the hospitality organisations can be rated on certain quality factors including lounge services, customer pick up along with drop services, fooding and entertainment among others. However certain specific constraints of such associated standardised service design and delivery elements can also be found within the silver service that in turn form an element of customised service design and delivery (Cousins & Coskett, n.d.). Regardless of the above aspects, a valid conclusion can be reached by comparing the hospitality dress code, which forms a vital element of the standardised service design and delivery. This particular element is also identified to get customised by the hospitality organisations with the aim of projecting their uniqueness as compared to their respective business market competitors (ASCENTIS, 2010). If seen from a logical perspective, it can be affirmed from a broader understanding that both the above stated elements can be duly considered as imperative factors contributing in hospitality growth. This aspect also encompasses multiple other elements associated with standardised service delivery and design. For instance, in order to meet the specific requirements of the customers, the hospitality organisations have to maintain high level of hygiene. However, for undertaking appropriate brand promotion, it is a mandate for the hospitality organisations to make suitable modifications within the dressing patterns of the staff members (Root, n.d.). Infrastructure also plays a decisive part in ensuring the growth of the hospitality organisations by a considerable extent. As a matter of fact, this can be accounted as an indirect element of service delivery and design, which is worth standardising. This element holds high accountability as being a comparative aspect, which forms a major element of service delivery and design that is worth customising (Flynn & et. al., 2007). Likewise to the above discussed aspects, both of these elements play a major role in terms of meeting the personal requirements of the customers to a major extent. However, from a logical perspective, both of these elements hold some sort of linkage between them. This linkage can be elaborated in a manner that the functionality of the hospitality staff members at a certain level depends upon the structures of the infrastructure of the hospitality organisations (ASCENTIS, 2010). Thus, not much contrastive data can be attained by comparing these two aspects. For instance, the creative element, which forms a part of customised service design, also gets referred in this context. The hospitality organisations can include creativity within the infrastructure element as well as other functional aspects such as staff training modules. This eventually forms a bridge between standardised and customised service design and delivery in relation to infrastructure factor (Ransley & Ingram, 2012). By taking into concern the above discussed aspects, multiple suggestions can be made regarding new service design and delivery that are needed to be standardised as well as customised. Thus, it will be vital to mention in this similar context that the hospitality organisations belonging to this present day scenario majorly reply upon the use of technology for fulfilling the personal requirements of the customers (Berkeley Scott, 2010). As a matter of fact, it is worth mentioning that specific utilisation of technologies within service design and delivery is worth standardising. However, the technology implementation can also be utilised as a uniqueness factor within the hospitality organisations at large (Hotel Marketing Strategies, 2014). Though technology can be duly considered as one of the vital elements relating to standardised and customised service design and delivery, still it holds high level of variedness in terms of its implementation necessity and the techniques for implementing the same. This can be justified with reference to the fact that the hospitality organisations can use advanced technologies for attaining higher amount of customer loyalty and preference. However, different hospitality organisations might implement advanced technologies within their varied functional areas. Thus, this instance helps in projecting the main contrastive point between the two elements stated above (Berkeley Scott, 2010). It is worth mentioning that multiple other contrasting elements within the standardised and customised service design and delivery can be apparently identified. In earlier discussion, specific details have been mentioned regarding the comparison of quality factor with innovative service design. However, the real time implementation of such aspects requires the execution of specific strategies with the intention of meeting the needs of the hospitality customers in a much effective manner (Bespoke Bureau, 2014). In relation to the above context, it is to be affirmed that the implementation of appropriate band management strategy within the service design and delivery should also be standardised in an effective manner. However, the standardisation can be made depending on the level of effectiveness of the strategies being implemented. In this regard, a comparative line can be drawn based upon the design of the strategies being implemented by the hospitality organisations with the intention of meeting the individual needs of the customers in the best possible manner. Thus, creativity within the implantation of varied strategies within the functional aspects of the hospitality organisations can be duly considered as a crucial element of the suggestive service design and delivery, which is worth customising (Flynn & et. al., 2007). Irrespective of the above elaborated elements, service pricing can be categorised as another crucial aspect, which is associated with the standardised and customised service delivery and design. Justification regarding this aspect can be provided by taking consideration of the fact that pricing has always been a major aspect based upon which customers have projected their perceptions regarding the hospitality brands (Dittmer & Keefe, 2008; Lashley & Lincoln, 2003). Thus, appropriateness of the implemented pricing policies by the hospitality organisations within the segment of service design and delivery is worth standardising. Likewise, attainment of effective service pricing strategies also form competitive criteria for the hospitality brands in terms of attracting higher count of customers along with promoting price leadership. Thus, this aspect projects its comparativeness against the mandate of its implementation, acting as an element of service design and delivery, which is worth customising (UniFocus, LP, 2012; Kinton & et. al., 1999). Apart from the above discussed aspect, the effective pricing element can also be compared and contrasted against the associated elements such as service quality and luxury. Justification regarding this statement can be provided depending on the fact that different hospitality organisations tend to implement varied pricing strategies based upon the types and quality of services that they provide to their potential customers. As a matter of fact, such differences might eventually result in developing a negative perception within the minds of the customers (International Journal of Facility Management, n.d.). Likewise, maintenance of ethicality within the functional structure of the hospitality organisations must also be duly considered as an important element of service design and delivery, which is ought to be standardised as well as customised at large. However, the implication of this suggestive element can be found as a supportive factor through which the hospitality based organisations can comply with the personal requirements of the customers in the best possible manner (Mintel, n.d.; Davis, 1998). Thus, it can be concluded that the above discussed facts appear highly informative towards elaborating the types of hospitality services that should be standardised as well as modified. Moreover, significant differences can be found to persist between the varied elements of standardised and customised service design along with delivery. In addition, the overall discussion also encompasses the comparison of the elements belonging to such standardised and customisable services that projects high level of variedness from one another. However, the discussion also encompasses multiple identified links between such elements that are worth exploration. Certain specific provided facts also encompass the ways based on which the hospitality organisations can effectively use such linkages for implementing mass marketing and brand endorsement techniques. It will also be vital to mention that the standardised service design as well as effective deliverance of commercial hospitality services will not only aid the hotels to attain maximum profitability, but will also support in attaining superior competitive position over their respective chief business market competitors. Multiple facts have been presented throughout the discussion regarding the necessity of bringing about suitable modifications within the staff training programs as imparted by the hospitality organisations within the UK. Moreover, specific level of preferences has also been provided focusing on the development of intellect and flexibility within the staff members along with the managerial individuals. This is mainly because of making them capable enough in terms of handling critical issues or conditions that might emerge out of a sudden. References Atsutsey, R. & Tandoh-Offin, P., 2013. Developing Service Delivery Standards for the Hospitality Industry in Ghana. 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