Sustainability refers to a form of progress or development that is capable of meeting both the current needs and the demands of the future generation (Blackburn, 2007). Despite being an international hotel company, Assouplir lacks an effective sustainability plan that can help the company to remain operational both at present and in the future.
There is a need for Assouplir to develop a sustainability plan especially at this time when the hospitality industry is experiencing increased competition from other players in the industry.
For instance, Assouplir is likely to face a lot of competition from Bunker Accommodation which is also an international midscale business accommodation brand. The following recommendations would be of much importance to the board of directors and CEO of Assouplir.
As explained by Blackburn (2007), it is important to evaluate both the current and future purchasing practices and policies in all the different products and services offered by the company. The main aim of undertaking this process is that it enhances the experiences of the guests and also drives the value of the company.
Besides, it supports the efforts of the company towards achieving sustainability (Bressers & Rosenbaum, 2003). Secondly, the operational brand of the company should be revised to facilitate the adoption and sharing of both external and internal practices. It is also important to measure and report the progress of the company as it strives towards achieving sustainability.
This process requires the management tool to be extended in all brands of the company. This allows the company to monitor and report the programs, design and commitment processes that identify opportunity areas for driving innovation and efficiency. There is also need to build engagement and educational programs for the different brands such as online learning, web contents and training modules.
There are a number of strategies or measures which can be adopted by the CEO and the board of directors of Assouplir in order to enable Purnima brand to successfully portray an image as a world leader. For instance, it is important for the board of directors to comprehend that the constantly changing behavior of the guest may have a direct effect on what Purnima brand is ready to offer.
It is the responsibility of the board of directors and CEO of Assouplir to ensure that Purnima brand is flexible in terms of its ability to take into consideration the specific expectations from the guests. The management of Assouplir should also understand that guests come from different places and thus the brand should be capable of accommodating them.
This can be easily achieved by integrating different cultures basing on style, dining and space. The management of Assouplir can easily enhance the image of Purnima as a world leader by developing different skills that cover various aspects of hotel development and management such as construction, renovation, design, new technology and sustainable development.
The tools used by the frontline staff of Purnima brand should be easier to work with. The levels of staff training needs to be improved to enable them manage the daily operations of the hotel and also enhance their skills in marketing and distribution (Williams & Buswell, 2003).
In order to improve the level of revenue, Assouplir should provide its brands with powerful management and distribution tools and also come up with fresh job monitors and advanced technology. These are some of the possible recommendations that provide a very good strategy of overcoming increased competition from the newly established brands in the hospitality industry (James, 2005).
The best use of different forms of social media can provide a significant boost to the growth of Purnama. For instance, social media like Facebook can be used to distribute information on package deals and specials offered by the brand. There are other numerous benefits which Purnama is likely to enjoy as a result of using social media.
As such, Purnama should increase the use of social media to enable the brand achieve faster development. Since Purnima brand was built in response to increasing demands for upscale business accommodation and accommodating oversees travelers, social media can enable this brand to benefit from a number of analytics and insights which can allow the brand to fine-tune the content.
Social media also provides an opportunity for Purnima to target its messages to specific customers or audiences and also monitor investment returns (Brown, 2008).
Purnama can easily identify the number of people interested in its advertisement and the potential customers through the social media. There will facilitate faster spread of the content posted on the social media like Facebook. The latter allows the post to be shared immediately to very many people.
Other social media such as Pinterest, Tumblr and Twitter are also very good means of communication mainly because they are built around a culture which involves forwarding of messages. Purnama can make full use of social media by going a step further and identifying other methods of attracting and retaining customers.
These methods should be far beyond what other competitors like Bunker Accommodation have already employed. For example, Purnama can develop communication devices with different formats or technology like bulletin or chart boards (Greasley, 2008).
These will enable customers to share information regarding the products and services offered by Purnama, facilitate sharing of service experiences and also provide ambiance critiques.
The board of directors and the CEO should understand that the use of brand pages as a means of gathering information is an appropriate way of attracting potential clients to join the Facebook pages of the brand. It is also as a way of encouraging the current fans to visit the page frequently (Weinberg, 2009).
According to the arguments posed by Weinberg (2009), social media also make it very easy for the brand to collect valuable information from customers. This information can help Purnama to gain new insights regarding consumer needs, trends and experiences that determine their level of satisfaction.
The success of the marketing activities of the brand can easily determined by using feedback from customers. This can provide an opportunity for Purnama to refine its strategies and eventually enhance its performance.
All these recommendations are likely to reduce the level of competition that Purnama may face from its competitors. Specifically, the use of social media as a marketing tool is likely to increase customers’ awareness regarding the products and services offered by the brand and consequently increase its market share (Salver, 2009).
Moreover, formulation of an effective sustainability plan will also make sure that Purnama is able to cater for the current needs of its customers and the needs of the future generation. However, some significant competition is likely to emanate from Bunker Accommodation.
This is because the services offered by this brand are similar to those provided by Purnama brand. In addition, Bunker Accommodation has received a considerable boost in terms of capital and potential efficiencies provided by Marriott International Inc.
References
Blackburn, W. R. (2007). The sustainability handbook: the complete management guide to achieving social, economic and environmental responsibility. London: Earthscan
Bressers, H. & Rosenbaum, W. A. (2003). Achieving sustainable development. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Brown, G. (2008). Social media 100 success secrets: Social media, web 2.0 user- generated content and virtual communities; 100 most asked mass collaboration questions. New York: Emereo Pty Ltd.
Greasley, A. (2008). Operations management. Los Angeles: Sage.
James, S. (2005). Hospitality: Australia. Ultimo, N.S.W: Career FAQs.
Salver, J. (2009). Brand Management in the Hotel Industry and its Potential for Achieving Customer Loyalty. München: GRIN Verlag GmbH.
Weinberg, T. (2009). The new community rules: Marketing on the social web. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly.
Williams, C., & Buswell, J. (2003). Service quality in leisure and tourism. Wallingford: CABI P.