HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT SAMPLE
Introduction
Quality control is to be stated as an important factor for building a successful business, especially in the hospitality industry, which ensures that the quality of service provided exceeds consumer expectations.
Service quality management in the operation management system of the hospitality industry is an act that is responsible for overseeing the tasks and activities that are required to maintain excellence in the given market. In this report, a detailed analysis of the issue faced by Cruise Ships in operation management in maintaining service control is discussed in detail.
Review of Literature
A brief introduction to the concept of operations management and its significance in the hospitality industry
Peinado et al. (2018) have mentioned in their literature that the aspect of operations management is perceived to be a discipline that was established to mitigate various management problems that might be seen in companies operating within the manufacturing or service industry.
Data found from the study has shown that within the last few decades companies dealing in the service sector have created an increasing number of jobs and in that context, with the growing popularity of service delivery and operations, the significant practice of operations management has become significantly important in the contemporary age.
It has been further discovered by the research that operations management in different sectors such as industrial or service sectors are conducted following various methods and for example, manufacturing companies primarily hire individuals who have relevant skills in quality management, and routine management. On the contrary, companies operating within the service sector tend to hire workers who have relatively more skills and knowledge in various sectors of operations.
Kumar (2022) has mentioned in the book that a service organisation has to respond to the needs and demands of customers and also satisfy the same through the means of a profound service delivery process. The study has further given examples of such organisations that are included in the list of such service organisations and hotels or the hospitality sector is one of them.
If the definition of operations management is to be gathered, then it might be stated that an operations system is one in which various activities are conducted to effectively transform a group of inputs into a useful outcome through the means of a successful transformation phase. It has been further discovered that the fundamental inputs within a system of operations management are capital, material and labour. Activities that might be involved within the landscape of operations management include organising various work, measuring performance, managing inventory, quality control, scheduling work and planning production.
Therefore, from the given evaluation that has been obtained from the study, it might be stated that the significance of operations management within the service sector organisations similar to the hospitality industry is quite crucial.
Rutherford (2021) has mentioned in the literature that several issues also tend to arise within the hospitality sector or within the hotels concerning operations management and the same put a significant amount of pressure on hotel managers as the challenges faced by them concerning the operations do not allow them to retain customers.
Therefore, the study has also provided some relevant recommendations that might be adopted by hotel managers to ensure that their operations are effective and don’t cause challenges that might further lead them to lose business.
It might be taken as an example, the traditional reservation organisation is required to be prepared to respond effectively to competitive challenges by extending the resources and skills of workers. It might be helpful for organisations to ensure that the challenges they have been facing in managing their operations are mitigated effectively and that they get to improve the quality of their services offered to the customers.
The study has further stated that the aspect of technological aspects meaning the advancement in the same has also played a significant role in creating obstacles for the hospitality industry and negatively impacts customer relationship management.
Kansakar et al. (2019) have further discussed the challenges regarding operations management in the field of technology and how the implementation of same within the modern-day hotels has created challenges for employees who are not accustomed to various technological innovations.
The study has further stated that the leisure and hospitality industry is one of the fundamental driving forces of the global economy and the widespread integration of new technological advancements has reshaped the way through which services used to be provided to customers.
However, the same has also brought a significant number of challenges for the hotels in managing their operations as the majority of global hotel chains had to implement adequate technological skill development programmes for manual employees to enhance their skill sets. Moreover, as a result of the lack of technological knowledge of the workers, the service quality of the organisations could have been impacted to a great extent and that is a singular contributing aspect of the businesses failing to fail in retaining their customers.
Mmutle and Shonhe (2017) have mentioned that the aspect of customer satisfaction and managing their expectations by meeting the needs of the people are perceived as some of the most vital strategic components to the sustainability of any enterprise.
It has been argued in the literature that the said aspects along with effective operations management are perhaps the only way for the hospitality industry to retain their customers as it helps them to provide the best service to their guests. In that context, they are required to manage their operations to a great extent so that the hotels get to meet these two criteria as mandating the quality of operations might be the only way to meet the success they aspire to.
The study further demonstrated that the favourable management of operations within the hospitality industry might include, effectively planning and forecasting the number of guests that might stay, inventory management based on that, preventing overbooking and more.
Ali et al. (2021) further mentioned that the hospitality industry is a growing business landscape and within the said business landscape the most fundamental aspect that determines its success is service quality.
It has further been discussed that in the contemporary age, fulfilling the demands and requests of customers is regarded as the greatest challenge faced by this organisation since within the hospitality industry the guests are not just part of the consumption process, as they often have a preset perspective regarding service and quality. Henceforth, if the organizations or businesses working within the given industry don’t set a significant standard for their operations management and provide the best service to their pre-decided notion then that would leave a significantly negative impact on the business.
In that context, the study has discussed fundamentally 4 dimensions such as responsiveness, empathy, and tangible and assurance as the main components that help enterprises to improve their service quality accumulating these 4 components successfully in their operations management will help the hospitality industry to satisfy their guests successfully.
Hence, the fundamental conclusion of the study has agreed with the objective of the subject matter in this study, which is to prove that service quality within the hospitality industry might be the only variable that helps to assess whether or not a business will fail or succeed.
Content analysis
Implementation of service control in operations management in the hospitality industry may positively impact the productivity level and performance of an organisation through excellence in service quality.
The impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on the hospitality industry especially on Cruise ship lines has been felt, where consumer behaviour has changed based on safety and health-related concerns which led to an about 3% of growth decline in 2020 (Vlasceanu and Tiger 2021).
Figure 1: Decline in services of Cruise ships after the Pandemic due to poor customer service
(Source: Vlasceanu and Tigu 2021)
From the above graph, it has been shown that there has been a significant decline in Cruise ship bookings straight from 66% to 38% in 2020, as the hospitality industry has been unable to provide the expected safety protocols and meet consumer service expectations.
This service control issue of not providing the consumer with excellence in services has led to a decrease in the productivity of the industry and also led to low performance in service quality. Moreover, in the spread of the Covid-19 Pandemic on a global level, about 3,212,262 passengers have been infected by the Covid-19 virus while in cruise ships, which has been a result of a poor risk management system implemented in the industry and has shown poor service control and consumer service performance (Radic et al. 2020).
Since the cruise industry is crisis-prone, the perception of an unpredictable event and lack of a risk management system in the operational function may lead to a negative impact on consumer expectations and highlight the deficiency of the industry having low service control measures and policies to meet their needs.
On the contrary, it has been seen that improvements in service control measures in the operational management system have reflected positively on the business of cruise ships in the hospitality industry.
It is seen that the use of Robots, Artificial Intelligence and Service Automation (RAISA) has improved the service quality and service experiences among the stakeholders in the hospitality industry. In cruise ship experiences RAISA has brought about personalized services and the use of technologies which has led to improving the quality of services to an exceptional level leading to efficient customer service and an increase in consumer satisfaction (Naumov 2019).
Figure 2: Improvement in customer care and service quality using RAISA in the hospitality industry
(Source: Naumov 2019)
Furthermore, the use of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Stakeholder theory implemented by the cruise ship’s organizational management has led to improvement in employee productivity and commitment which has resulted in an effective quality management system in the industry.
The use of CSR strategies may be aimed at producing high-quality services towards improving processes and lacking to meet the stakeholder’s expectations and leading the operations management system in bringing innovative performance and strengthening the organization’s competitiveness (Franco et al. 2020).
Figure 3: Increase in Service quality through CSR strategies
(Source: Franco et al. 2020)
From the above graph, it shows that the Cruise ship industry has been able to incorporate successful CSR strategies in operation management which has led to increases in the improvement of service quality by 91.4%.
The perceived quality expectations of the consumers are correlated with the satisfaction level of the consumers on a cruise ship in the hospitality industry which results in satisfactory behavioural actions and an increase in revenue for the organization.
For example, Ambassador Cruise Line in the UK has implemented an experienced operation management team that has resulted in setting high standards in service quality management. The company has closely worked with International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in implementing health and guest safety protocols which define high standards of cleanliness and hygiene onboard according to the UK Government Task Force guideline to maintain the standards in service quality expected (Ambassador Cruise Line. 2022).
Applicability
The application of theories in the operating system of the cruise ship hospitality industry helps in gathering insight into the territory and formulates strategic decisions to be competitive in the market.
The implementation of theories in the operations management process of the company may result in producing an analytical tool for forecasting and planning the service quality maintenance to provide the needs and requirements of the consumers to gain financial profit. The theoretical analysis also provides the company with a detailed structure for the formulation of a plan for providing service quality management based on demand and supply, booking and revenue management (Lin et al 2022).
System Management Theory
The use of the system management theory approach may provide cruise ship companies in the hospitality industry with gathering an alternative method towards management and planning about developing service control in operations management.
The implementation of System Management theory in the hospitality industry may benefit by involving strategic planning to gain a better understanding of organisational functioning and direct towards management of change. Through the implementation of system management theory, the organisation may implement new programs or initiatives toward service quality control based on consumer expectations to improve organisational performance in the industry (Dahlgaard et al. 2018).
Figure 4: System Management theory approach
(Source: Dahlgaard et al. 2018)
For example, Carnival UK Careers Cruise ship line has implemented the Systematic Management theory approach to develop a planning structure for improving service quality which has resulted in improving revenue for the company and meeting the needs of the audience’s expected level of service quality.
Customer Service Theory
The use of Customer Service theory may provide cruise ship companies in the hospitality industry in gathering a defined structure to develop service quality in specifying the necessary components relating to consumer satisfaction. Cruise services have utilised the implementation of Consumer service theory in operation management which has led to gaining insight into public health concerns and imposing change in quality management and service quality improved based on consumer perceived value (Li et al. 2022).
The utilisation of the Customer Service theory has benefited companies such as AIDA cruise in the USA by associating service quality with consumer behaviour and perception, which has resulted in increased brand awareness and helped in improving the decision-making process among the target audience. The analysis of the theory in the operation management of the company may relate to improving the service quality and control which in turn may also result in improving the quality of customer service based on consumer experience (Abu et al. 2020).
Herzberg’s Motivation-Hygiene Theory
The application of Herzberg’s Motivation-hygiene theory may enable the cruise ship company in the hospitality industry in increasing employee satisfaction through the identification of motivation and hygiene factors practised in operation management.
The two-step Human Resource Management (HRM) theory of Herzberg may help the company in identifying employee recognition, achievement and advancement growth based on motivator factors along with working conditions, salary and security of employees through motivation factor.
The application of the two-process HRM theory may benefit the company in eliminating job hygiene stressors, employee empowerment and increasing the level of job satisfaction in the workforce (Khuong and Linh 2020).
Figure 5: Herzberg’s two Factor Theory
(Source: Khuong and Linh 2020)
Cruise People Ltd. have benefitted by applying Herzberg’s Two Factor theory approach in operations management which has led to improving employee satisfaction and an increase in commitment to provide consumers with service control and customer service to meet expectations.
Conclusion
It may be concluded from this report that the use of theories such as Motivation-hygiene theory, system management theory and customer service theory may be applied in the cruise ship company’s operation management system to improve the quality of customer service and increase consumer satisfaction.
The utilization of the Stakeholder theory in the CSR strategy development for improving service quality may provide the companies with a structured analysis of perceived values of stakeholders’ expectation of service control and quality in the hospitality industry.
References
Abu-Nahel, Z.O., Alagha, W.H., Al Shobaki, M.J., Abu-Naser, S.S. and El Talla, S.A., 2020. Human resource flexibility and its relationship to improving the quality of services.
Ali, B.J., Gardi, B., Jabbar Othman, B., Ali Ahmed, S., Burhan Ismael, N., Abdalla Hamza, P., Mahmood Aziz, H., Sabir, B.Y., Sorguli, S. and Anwar, G., 2021. Hotel service quality: The impact of service quality on customer satisfaction in hospitality. Ali, BJ, Gardi, B., Othman, BJ, Ahmed, SA, Ismael, NB, Hamza, PA, Aziz, HM, Sabir, BY, Anwar, G.(2021). Hotel Service Quality: The Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction in Hospitality. International Journal of Engineering, Business and Management, 5(3), pp.14-28.
Ambassador Cruise Line. 2022. Ambassador’s Story | Ambassador Cruise Line. [online] Available at: <https://www.ambassadorcruiseline.com/newsroom/our-company/> [Accessed 19 October 2022].
Dahlgaard-Park, S.M., Reyes, L. and Chen, C.K., 2018. The evolution and convergence of total quality management and management theories. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 29(9-10), pp.1108-1128.
Franco, S., Caroli, M.G., Cappa, F. and Del Chiappa, G., 2020. Are you good enough? CSR, quality management and corporate financial performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 88, p.102395.
Kansakar, P., Munir, A. and Shabani, N., 2019. Technology in the hospitality industry: Prospects and challenges. IEEE Consumer Electronics Magazine, 8(3), pp.60-65.
Khuong, M. and Linh, U., 2020. Influence of work-related stress on employee motivation, job satisfaction and employee loyalty in hospitality industry. Management Science Letters, 10(14), pp.3279-3290.
Kumar, R., 2022. Operations management. Jyothis Publishers.
Li, Z., Wang, X., Li, X. and Yuen, K.F., 2022. Post COVID-19: Health crisis management for the cruise industry. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 71, p.102792.
Lin, P.C., Shu, M.H., Hsu, B.M., Hu, C.M. and Huang, J.C., 2022. Research Article Supply Chain Management System for Automobile Manufacturing Enterprises Based on SAP.
Mmutle, T. and Shonhe, L., 2017. Customers’ perception of service quality and its impact on reputation in the hospitality industry.
Naumov, N., 2019. The impact of robots, artificial intelligence, and service automation on service quality and service experience in hospitality. In Robots, artificial intelligence, and service automation in travel, tourism and hospitality. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Peinado, J., Graeml, A.R. and Vianna, F., 2018. Operations management body of knowledge and its relevance to manufacturing and service organizations. Revista de Gestão.
Radic, A., Law, R., Lück, M., Kang, H., Ariza-Montes, A., Arjona-Fuentes, J.M. and Han, H., 2020. Apocalypse now or overreaction to coronavirus: The global cruise tourism industry crisis. Sustainability, 12(17), p.6968.
Rutherford, D.G., 2021. Hotel management and operations.
Vlasceanu, C.F. and Tigu, G., 2021. Cruise industry: Enhanced health and safety protocols. In 7th BASIQ International Conference on New Trends in Sustainable Business and Consumption.
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