Front Office Standard Procedures and Quality Management Dissertation

Introduction

The dissertation will show the importance of quality management in front office in hotel industry. The dissertation will show the effects of quality management systems in front office, organization culture and human resource practices that should be employed in the front office. The type of front office e management that is practiced in any hospitality industry player has a great impact on the image of the organization. A significant performance witnessed in the hospitality industry is due to the front office management. Some believe that the standard procedures practiced in the front office are a key factor in the success of a hotel.

This research will take a look at how different standard procedures are employed in the front office of the hotels. It will further look at how this quality management procedures impact the business performance of hospitality industry especially in hotels. For this research a five star hotel will be considered and compared. Bearing in mind the huge coverage of quality management styles of any particular restaurant or hotels, this study is limited to discussion only on the understanding and comparison of front office standard procedures in five star hotels and restaurants in the UK.

Despite having many benefits some hotels hopes not to take front office management very serious because they feel that the front office is just like any other office in the organization. However, bearing in mind of the role they play in ensuring success of the organization, it is prudent for any serious hotel industry player to take this very serious. This is because, the world is converging into a small village and multinationals with the best services are taking up the market. No customer will walk into a hotel and have time with unwelcoming environment.

Statement of the problem

The hotel industry has become the focus of nati0onmal and international traveling. It is front office plays an important role of showing that the restaurant is the best and a customer can patronize with less difficulty. Hotels handle a large number of customers both local and foreign the service they offer or the impression they give at first instance leaves the customers with a certain taste about the restaurant.

To be precise, front office, of a hotel industry is about branding of the hotel. And branding of the hotel is essential if the hotel has to succeed. It requires effective standard procedures which are sound in order to produce the best services to people patronizing the hotel.

Customers will always have relationship with the brand of a hotel. There will be no brand of any hotel if the hotel does not have effective and sound front office. We cannot talk of quality of any restaurant without the front office. There is an increase to the understanding of customers of the importance of receiving best services for their money and it is this services that will bring the customer back. If any restaurant operator wishes to succeed in the business, they will have to consider a front office as a branding of the hotel. The hotel industry is always surviving because of the front office they have. This paper intends to find out the role played by standard procedures that have been employed by hospitality industry for branding purposes of the hotel.

Purpose of the dissertation

The purpose of this citation is to provide information that will make a restaurant to become competitive in the ever dynamic market. This citation will provide a great opportunity for hotel industry players to understand the front office standard procedures and the impact they have on branding of the restaurant. The quality of service offered starts with the impression the customer will receive from the front office. Focusing on the five star hotels is one effective way to study the hotel industry and get to understand the need for standard procedures in the front office for one to have quality services.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how quality management will be used in front office and coming up with standard procedures in the United Kingdom. This will enable the hotels to attract and retain customers to ensure the sustainability of the business. Based on this dissertation hotel industry companies will have a better understanding on how to capitalize on quality management in the front office to increase their market share at the same time ensure that their future survival is guaranteed. This dissertation will also provide possible solutions on how to improve on front office procedures as a way of quality management.

Importance of the research

Quality management has grown in many industries at a faster rate and any restaurant or hotel that is not taking this with seriousness it deserves will find themselves out of business. The front office gives a customer a picture on what type of services that are offered by the hotel. A customer satisfaction on the services offered by the hotel is only perception and if at first instance the customer crates a bad perception on a hotel other services may be very good but thy will not be valued. This means that the future success of any business will rely on the front office standard procedures that are employed by the hotel. If any hotel needs to have good and good results, they must consider quality management as a way of improving their business. The information required for quality management in the business should be incorporated in the standard procedures in the front office.

The study has brought a lot of light in the understanding of the importance of standard procedures in front office in quality management and how it has grown for many years from closed business and how this change impacted the hotel.

Secondly it has enhanced understanding of the various reasons as to why most of the people in hotel industry has adapted standard procedures in front office for quality management but through the study certain factors have been identified which contribute to this. It has helped in understanding various areas which need to be improved in the front office in order to increase the hotel branding.

Through the study most of the quality management in the front office can develop strategies which can be used to market the hotel which suit the needs of the patrons. This is because the needs of the customers have been highlighted. The findings can be used as basis of developing products which best suit the customer needs by the hotels. Also it can be used by the hotels to gain competitive advantage over the rivals.

Research objectives

The research objectives of this dissertation will be;

• Enquiring about standard procedures that are employed by hotel industry for the front office.
• To find out about quality management in the industry and how it is affected by the front office.
• To find out branding and how it is carried out by businesses.

Research question

The research question that this study seeks to answer is as follows:

• What is the impact of standard procedures in the front office on the performance of hotel industry?
• How are standard procedures in the front office implemented hotel industry?
• How is standard procedures in the front office implemented other industries?
• What are possible relationships between standard procedures in the front office implemented and market share?
• What are possible relationships between standard procedures in the front office implemented and their profitability?
• Does quality of service improve if standard procedures in the front office are implemented?

Rational of the topic

The study will be of help to the researcher, by demonstrating him/her importance of standard producers in hotels quality management and on how they affect growth of the business. This is because standard producers in front are pillars of quality management for hotels. Researching and assessing the standard producers in front office will enable the researcher, industry players, hospitality students and regulators understand quality management and how to control. The study of its determinants by the researcher is important because it will help him/her grow professional.

Research methodology

There are two methods of research/ data collection in research papers: that is quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative method is applicable where the problem is known, the problem is based on theories and can be measured in numbers. The analysis can be done on tables, graphs, pie charts, gnatt charts and other statistical theories and it relies on assumptions. There are a number of methods which are under quantitative methods. These include surveys, experiments and quasi experiment. Qualitative method is different from quantitative because it is used to measure human feelings, attitudes and perceptions.

In this research question both methods will be used. This is because most data will be collected from books and history internet resources. The problem of this research question is how and which direction the research problem will take. There is always a connection between the research from the research question and the methods or the collection tools used, since it influences the conclusions and the recommendations. Qualitative method will be used to collect the writers opinions, attitudes, perceptions and feelings on the on the relationship between standard procedure in front office and quality management. Quantitative method will be used in collecting actual facts in numerical at the same time; analysis of the data will be done in the form of tables, graphs and other statistical tools.

In this study secondary research will be used and consists of documents and sources that contain data and results from the primary research conducted. It involves the making of reports, and exists in the form of books, and journals. Secondary research may include the publications of the primary research results.

The methods used for conducting the research and survey of this paper were mostly through the internet. Online libraries, online books, and articles were consulted for gathering the required and essential information. These days everything is done via internet, from the transactions of businesses to the imparting of education. The internet is the most commonly sought and easiest method of accessing latest possible information these days. Gone are the days when people went around looking for good libraries in city centres, and searching for the books of their interests for carrying out researches.

The greatest advantage of using the internet to access information is that it possesses ample amount of information al at once, and there is no physical hassle involved in searching matter. Rather, everything is easily accessible all at the same place, and there is no fatigue after writing papers. All the material required by an individual, regarding any subject whatsoever, can be obtained from the internet. And all of it is authentic. There are also some trash websites which do not contain authentic information, but if one knows of such cites to avoid, then a problem does not arise. This is why the only source picked for this paper was also the internet, and its various offerings and sources of information.

Online Libraries

There are thousands of libraries online, which one can access through the internet and World Wide Web. There are various websites which offer material from libraries related to the required subjects of one’s interest. These libraries would provide with written material which one can consult and rewrite in one’s own words, for ease.

Online Books

Online books are an authentic source of information also, as they provide all latest and necessary information required subject-wise. Once again the “search engines” of the internet are consulted, once the names of the books required are typed, one can access the material from them to be written in the papers they are producing. You can seek out electronic texts by typing in the subject of your concern (“Online Books”, 2008).

The significance of online books lies in the fact that a person does not have to go to visit libraries physically anymore, and the availability of such written matter help save time and energy of individuals. The books that are accessed online may not be present as a whole; rather, their abstracts may only be given at times. Sometimes you need to subscribe to various sites for access to the complete books. But mostly, a substantial amount of information can be gathered from the reviews or abstracts given. The previews given are at times only of a few selected pages from the book, and some of the pages are missing from in between. It is just like reading the book on a screen, with inclusion of even the contents and the index and glossary, etc. page numbers are also given included as in the case of traditional text books.

The information collected for this paper was also from these online books, which are also called e books. They are basically not in the hard copy form, but are present on the monitor for access of reading.

Articles

The internet contains trillions of articles and there are various directories that provide with the sources one needs. The articles are easily accessed through the search engines one has chosen for research. Currently, “Google” is the most authentic and commonly used search engine, and the articles available here were accessed for this paper’s completion too. All the names of the authors of the articles, and their references are also mentioned inside the articles which are being read, and that makes referencing easier. One can easily make the bibliography of the paper too, with the information provided in the articles. There are a variety of online texts available for viewing, for example, the ‘High Wire Press’ of Stanford University is the largest archive of free full-text science on Earth (“High Wire Press, Stanford University”, 2008).

Books

Most of the materials to be used in this report will be collected from books. Many books have been written covering issues on standard procedures in the front office but the research questions has not been covered. Books will offer me with good general information that will assist me to complete this project. Most books have bibliography from the back where more information about quality management

Organization of the study

The first chapter is an introduction to the research. This chapter outlines the purpose of the dissertation and lays the ground for the dissertation by telling briefly importance of quality management in hotel industry. This chapter also discusses the brief methodology employed briefly and states the research question that this study will revolve around.

The second chapter is the literature review and will have a critical review of the existing literature on the subject of generally about standard procedure (definitions, historical review etc), quality management and performance of the hotels that use it.

The third chapter is on the methodology employed during this research. This will briefly cover the research methodology and will discuss how the study was done. The case study ethical considerations and other related issues will be discussed in detail in this chapter.

The fourth chapter will be the results and findings chapter. This will discuss the data that will be collected. The findings will be highlighted here and this chapter will have graphs, tables and charts to visually depict the results. This chapter will lay the ground for analysis and discussion of the results.

The fifth chapter will be on discussion and conclusion. This chapter will first discuss the results of the findings. The results will be analyzed and viewed in the light of existing literature. This chapter will also bring the answer to the research question of this study. In the end, the research will be concluded with some recommendations targeted towards standard procedure in the front office in the hotel industry.

Limitation of the study

There are several limitations associated with the use of the study. Some of these limitations are as follows; the researcher will normally have the greatest task of being able to anticipate all the factors that will be associated with the issue of quality management in different hotels in order to be in a better position to design research approach. The other limitation will be that the methods of interviewing will purely rely on how articulate the research as he rely solely on secondary sources. Also the data analysis to give a generation of findings will not be transparent or even replicable

The research study was conducted in the best way possible to allow positive discussion of the research findings hence arriving at appropriate conclusions. However in carrying out the study there were various limitation s which were faced, the major limitation being the location in which the data was collected from, it was concentrated on topic could have provided reliable information for the study.

Literature review

Quality management

One particular approach to improved organizational performance and effectiveness is quality management as inspired by Japanese. Total quality management can be defined as a way of life for an organization as a whole, committed to total customer satisfaction through a continuous process of improvement and the contribution and involvement of people.

The successful organization should as a mater of policy is constantly seeking opportunities to improve the quality of its products and/or services and processes. The organization must also couple quality with a required level of productivity. Quality management represents a total system and as such increasingly embraces quality circles as a broader mans of addressing the demands for quality. However, how far quality management and how far it is truly affecting management and the quality of management. Quality cannot be ‘managed’ in the traditional that is supervise and control sense of the word because it involved factors such as commitment, purpose, vision and trust that are not amendable to mechanistic prescription. Quality can, and must be, managed. In hospitality industry quality management, however, must be encouraged to evolve. Components of quality management includes

• A total process involving all operations and management units in the organization and led from the top;
• The customer as king with every strategy, process and action directly related to satisfying customers needs;
• A greater emphasis on rational information collection analysis using modern technology where appropriate;
• An emphasis on a different approach to looking at the costs of poor quality by examining all processes in the organization which add to costs;
• A greater involvement of people recognizing that they are a great untapped resource in most companies;
• Teamwork as crucially important, involving multi-discipline and multi-level working to solve problems and to meet customers’ needs and
• The requirements for creative thinking and the ability too think beyond the immediate job or work environment.

The importance of people

Quality management emphasizes the importance of people as the key to quality services of any sector. Human resource management and quality management are converging to give total quality in the hospitality. It is lack of communications and awareness that causes failures and costs. There has been too much reliance on systems. Although systems are necessary, they are only as effective as the people whose design them. Changes in the traditional organization structure of total quality service.

Quality management requires the creation of a corporate identity and a supportive environment especially in the front office. It involves setting the highest standards for quality at a lowest cost; effective training including teambuilding throughout the organization; integrating systems and technology with people’ and the motivation, participation and commitment of staff at all levels of the organization. Proper attention to human resource issues is an essential rooted in a supportive quality of working life culture.

Front office work standards of organizational effectiveness are not achievable fully developed and committed people to all levels within an organization. New technologies new systems and new concepts’ may, of themselves, produce some improvement in effectiveness and hence competitiveness but even in the short tem the improvement will be stunted without an organization culture which engenders commitment of people across the organization.

The aim of standards procedure is to create a fear-free organization in which employee involvement is pursued vigorously. It generates a high degree of reciprocal commitment between the needs and development of the individual, and the goals and developments of the organization.

The success of standards procedure

Standards procedure are inevitably best in quality management, however, there are negative comments and criticism about it success in the front office as well as doubts about its value. However, there are many success stories which gave evidence of its benefits and effectiveness. No technique has ever spread so far so fast- or so wide. The successes, and many other industries, however are empathic evidence the quality management results.

In Hotels quality management is becoming a complete misnomer as it moves into the arena of success. To achieve this transition the challenge for the future is to harness latest developments and thinking in this field.

• Quality should represent two things in today’s business, customer satisfaction and continual improvement. Customers demand satisfaction and expect more. It is no longer sufficient to merely satisfy customers; they need to be delighted, both internally and externally.
• Today’s competitive business performance requires the setting of clear mission, objectives and measurement to deliver these levels of customer satisfaction. A balanced company-wide approach is needed. The way forward is to achieve their missions.
• Teamwork is replacing the organizational hierarchy but teams need to be able to perform well with good team leadership and quality processes to work with to achieve their missions.
• Complicate this with the new environmental initiatives numerous standards, and then flexible, dynamic management systems are need more than ever.
• Fact based decision making – Decisions made on certain product or service should be based on facts rather than opinions. Direct discussion with the customer / consumer will result to getting the right and required information. This information should then be analyzed and interpreted using statistically approved methods.
• Efficiency-Efficiency means pushing to improve, which is referred to as continuous improvement; the second is the involvement of everyone in the organization; and the third is a goal of customer satisfaction, which means looking only at the quality of final product services – to looking at the quality of every aspect of the process that produces the product or services.
• Innovation; the technology required to be used must be evaluated so that the venture objectives are attained. This includes not only features of the product or services; it also includes attention to the processes that will be required to produce the products and/or the services that will be required to deliver the service to customers.
• One way to think about quality is the degrees to which performance of a product or service meets or exceeds customer expectations. The difference between these two, that is performance–Expectations, is of great interest having been met. If these two measures are equal, the difference is zero and the expectations have been met. If the difference is negative, expectations have not been met., whereas if the difference is positive, performance has exceeded customer expectations

Let’s look at one specific are in more detail – business excellence the importance of performance measurement.

Quality Control

This is the overall system of activities that measures the performance and attributes of a service or process or can also be defined as a set or procedures that are intended to ensure that all services that are performed adheres and follow to the defined set of rules and regulations. At the same time quality refers to the ability of services to consistently meet or exceed customer requirements or expectations. Different customers will have different requirements, so a working definition of quality is customer- dependent. One way to think about quality is the degrees to which performance of a product or service meets or exceeds customer expectations. The difference between these two, that is performance–Expectations, is of great interest having been met. If these two measures are equal, the difference is zero and the expectations have been met. If the difference is negative, expectations have not been met., whereas if the difference is positive, performance has exceeded customer expectations.

Customers expectations can been broken down into a number of categories, or dimensions, the customers use to judge the quality of a service. Understanding this helps the organizations in their efforts to meet or exceed customer expectations. The dimension used for services are somewhat different form those used for goods.

Hoteliers must remember that when delivering services should be of high quality and must meet all the requirements. If the services are substandard it can affect the health of the consumer and destroy the reputation of hotel. Any hotel set up has a set of objectives which will have to be achieved through seriously working on these objectives and this is attained through quality management. One of the objectives is to offer and sell products and services of high quality standards; hence they should work towards achieving this. Customer satisfaction is due conformance to the requirements, degree of excellence and exceeding customers’ expectations in the industry.

Importance of quality in modern business scenarios

Successful management of quality requires that managers have insights on various aspects of quality. These include defining quality in operational terms, understanding the costs and benefits of quality, recognizing the consequences of poor quality, and recognizing the need for ethical behavior.

It is true that all members of a hotel have some responsibility for quality, but certain parts of the organization are key areas of responsibility. The top management has the ultimate responsibility for quality. While establishing strategies, for quality, top management must institute programs to improve quality; guide, direct, and motivate managers and workers; and set an example by being involved in quality initiatives. Examples include taking training in quality, issuing periodic reports on quality, and attending meetings on quality.

Procurement: the front office has the responsibility for obtaining goods and services that will not detract from the quality of the hotel’s services. Operation has responsibility to ensure that processes yield services that conform to design specifications. Monitoring processes and finding and correcting root causes of problems are important aspects of this responsibility.

Front office has the responsibility to determine customers’ needs and to communicate to the appropriate area of the hotel. In addition, it has the responsibility to report any problem to the services. Front office staffs are often the first to learn of problems of the hotel. It has the responsibility to communicate that information to the appropriate officer, deals I reasonable manner with customers, work to resolve problems, and follow us to confirm that the situation has been effectively remedied.

Then importance of quality includes reduces costs associated with customer complaints – if the quality of products or service is of high quality and standards, the consumers will not complain but continue to buy the product, likewise if the product and service are of low quality, the consumers will continue to complain, and even return the product for replacement or refund.

Another importance reduces the costs that are associated with more research- When consumers keep on complaining negatively about a particular product, they will stop buying it, likewise to the wholesalers and retailers. The manufacturers will be forced to carry out some research to find out what might be the problem. But if the product is okay and the consumers are not complaining, there will be no need to carry more research as the product is already accepted in the market.

Maintains customers- Once the customers realize that the service are of high quality, they will stick to it, and will automatically stick to the seller where they bought that product from. The business will maintain those customers for a long time unless there is a change in the product or service which may make the consumers run away.

The costs and benefits of maintaining the quality standards

Improved profitability and competitiveness – Once the quality of the services are of high quality, there will be high demand for them. The firms offering these services will make good profits from the sales. This will also create room for competition among the competitors of the same service in the market.

The hotel reputation is maintained – when customers know that a particular hotel starts to offer a good service and maintains the quality standards, they continue buying their products at all times. This will boost the name of the hotel in the market. The hotel will have to try and maintain this reputation by continuing to offer and sell products and services of high quality standards.

Discourages counterfeiting of services since the consumers have identified that a particular service is of good quality and gives him/ her satisfaction needed, they will not go for the counterfeits.

The service stays longer in the market because the consumers like it, because its taste has not been tampered with for a long time. Customers will keep on asking for it and its demand will continue to be high even when the prices are increased.

Tensions hotels face in meeting the quality standards

Hotels face a lot of tensions and challenges in meeting the quality standards. Those who try to evade in meeting the quality standards have met stiff penalties which have affected their businesses. The following are some of the tensions firms face;

New technology – Once a new technology has been introduced, it comes with its benefits and challenges. Staff has to be trained, new machines have to be installed and money has to be used to carry out all these activities. This kind of undertaking is what most firms wish not to undertake.

Costs of maintaining quality – Maintaining quality of services can also be very expensive. The consumers can complain about a particular product, and this will force the hotelier to change the front office standards.

Competition – Competition amongst the firms in the business world is very healthy. This competition will lead to other firms for the high quality standards than other competing firms. This will make these many firms to compete for the same. However, this can be a big threat to many firms, which will force others to close down their businesses.

Government regulations – the government can set up rules and regulations which are not friendly or not acceptable to the business community. Those forms which do not follow these set of regulations will face full force of the government law. This can be a big threat to the businesses, for those who will not comply. Some firms may bribe the government officials on this issues thus inflicting harm to the other firms which are complying to the rules and regulations of the government.

Specific roles within a business surrounding quality assurance

Firms have responsibility of ensuring that there is quality assurance always. They will have to do this by ensuring the following;

Maintaining and adhering to quality standards- They must make sure that they follow all the rules and regulations set up. This will ensure that all products and services are of high quality standards.

Use or sell products of right quality standards – The firms should always make sure that the products they are offering and selling to the consumers are of high standards. Whoever who sells counterfeit products will be breaking the law, offering poor services and affecting the lives of the consumers if the product is edible. They have to remember that when consumers discover that they are buying counterfeit products from them, they will immediately stop going there and look for an alternative place.

Identifying the tastes and preferences – the firms have to identify the tastes and preferences of the consumers. This will enable them to know which kind of product to make at the same time adhering to the quality standards.

Advertising the products and services – The firms have the responsibility of advertising their products and services to the customers convincingly, with more emphasis on its quality. They should not mislead the consumers as this will come to affect the business negatively at later times.

Hotel industry Authenticity

In locating authenticity the involvement of boundaries are not limited only in the form of space. But it can also occur in the form of time (Kelner et al, 2000).

Authenticity of hotel can also be located in specific actors. Specific actors can be individuals or collectivities. In the case of authenticity based on actors there are two forms such as: the distinction between us and them, the concept which distinguishes the subject from object. The other concept of authenticity is based on the distinctions between the authentic and inauthentic locals. Expectations which are generating authenticity can take two forms. One is regarding the specific images of the object that is viewed.

Depending on the views of the hotel consuming the image, authenticity is constructed in many ways. The traditional western imagination of the third world influenced the strategy involved in the marketing of the concept of the ‘other’ by the travel literature through the portrayal of the local people as authentic (Ira Silver, 1993).

Cohen argues that for some patrons alienation may be the motivation factor. At the same time for others alienation may not be a motivating factor. Cohen proposed a typology for representing the difference between different patrons and the different forms of hotels. It is a well understood fact that some patrons are motivated in search of real or authentic, but regarding their purpose there is confusion. It is yet to be clarified through debates. (Cohen, 1988).An authentic experience may be required by the patron. But when the question of confrontation with reality arises, the concept is consuming and this leads to add the view of the viewer or patron. (McKercher, B & du Cros, H 2002, p.76).

While discussing about the concept of authenticity in hotel, the concept of authenticity must not be approached rigidly. Authenticity must be perceived as a concept with multifaceted influence over the patron and the environment influencing the patron. Almost every influential factor in the life of an individual is involved in the experiences felt by the patron. The cultural, religious, linguistic, geographical, and socio economical factors are influential in shaping the perception of a patron about the authenticity. The various approaches such as the objective, constructive, and the existentialist approaches of authenticity tried to analyze this concept in detail. Even after such a detailed analysis there is still scope for debates with regards to the concept of authenticity in hotel.

Distance is involved in the process of tour and the distance may simultaneously involve the time also. Other factors such as culture, language, religion may also play very crucial role in deciding the authenticity. In the context of the global economic conditions and highly dynamic information and communication technology, the hotel also has undergone tremendous changes. The transformation of cultural values to the price of a hotel product is part of the commoditization process.

This commoditization process is part of the commercialized industrial sector of hotel. Even in this context the patron will have his/her own approach towards the authenticity of hotel, irrespective of the commercial value of the hotel product in the commercial market decided by the economic environment prevailing in the industry. Especially in the case of cultural hotel and pilgrimage hotel, the patron’s attitude will not be much affected by the commercialization of the hotel product.

The individual’s perception towards his own surroundings, the space, and time will be influential factor in deciding the authenticity of hotel, pertaining to the views of that individual. Personal attitude, Social awareness, perception of humanity and the universe as a whole etc influence the approach of a patron towards the objects of hotel.

The self of the individual will be approaching the new surrounding at the patron place in the most convenient way possible for his mind. To an extent this is possible due to the act of symbolization. Symbolically the products of hotel are approached so that such objects will have values according to the perception of the touring individual. In such cases the decisive factors are those factors which are influential in monitoring and guiding the perceptions of the individual.

Methodology

Introduction

The aim of this research is to identify the standard procedures in the front office present in today’s hotel industry, and to find out how such procedures help brand the hotel to the world. The hospitality world is advancing so much these days that the quality management is being affected negatively.

Any researcher faces the dilemma of choosing the most suitable approach to meet the aim and objectives of a study. Therefore this chapter becomes one of the most important chapters. A wrong approach may render the objectives and significance of the whole study insignificant. However, there is no one best approach to follow since the choice of process is different to each research as well as the objectives themselves. Besides choosing the most suitable methodology also depends on the availability of resources.

This chapter seeks to discuss and justifies the methodology used in this research. It starts by describing the research process and its objectives. It moves to discuss what maybe the most relevant approaches, research designs, and data collection methods and data analysis. After this, the most suitable methodology for the current research can be selected. The chapter ends by concluding the main points raised and sets in place the methodological approach for the study.

The Research Process

The purpose of conducting research is to find a suitable solution for a specific and immediate problem that is confronted. Research is generally assumed to be a complicated task which is actually not if the various parts or phases of the research are clearly understood. This research project is basically a well-structured process which has a beginning, intermediate part and the end. In today’s world, research is alternatively being termed as logical reasoning.

The problem formulation was the first and the most important step of the research process for this study. The problem was defined clearly and specifically, as an ill-defined problem may result in an ineffective solution. The problem was properly translated into a research topic and the reason why the research was required was also spelt out. Secondly, an exhaustive revision of the theoretical and empirical framework within the related review of literature was made. The literature review was based on secondary research conducted by reviewing various journal articles, books, research evidences of past research and of course the worldwide web.

This step helped the study by generating and refining the research objectives. Another step was the research approach and design of the research. This step covers the way in which data were collected to answer the research objectives. This step also influenced the data collection method. The data were collected according to the chosen method. Finally, the data were analyzed, interpreted and presented in this research.

Research Design

The design of the research plan determines the tools and techniques that are employed for conducting the research. Normally the research design is broadly classified into exploratory research, descriptive research and causal research.

Exploratory research helps in the identification of the presence of potential opportunities. The data for this kind of research is obtained from books, journals, magazines etc. Descriptive research is generally conducted after the above research. As the problem is clearly defined in exploratory research, the quantum or intensity of the problem is identified in descriptive research. In causal research, the cause and effect relationships between two variables are analyzed. This research followed a descriptive design due to its suitability to answer who, what, when, where and how questions.

Research Design can be simply defined as the structure followed by the researcher. Research Design is the important component or key ingredient which holds all the various elements of the entire research. A design is elaborately explained by using a succinct data which further enables in the summarization of a complex or difficult design structure in an efficient manner.

As far as the current research with respect to this paper is concerned, exploratory research is relied upon as gathering information on the particular topic selected is easy.

Types of Design

There are basically three types of research design. They are quantitative design, qualitative design and the mixed method design.

Quantitative design is further classified into three types. They are Experimental Design, Quasi-experimental design and Non-experimental Design. Experimental design is conducted to establish a cause-effect relationship. This method helps in the evaluation of a particular outcome simultaneously having a control on the other factors which influence the outcome.

Quasi-experimental design is a process in which pre-existing groups are considered to carry out the research. However, while using this kind of research design, it is mandatory that the characteristics of the selected pre-existing group are described in detail.

Non-experimental design again is classified into three types namely, correlation, descriptive and casual comparative. Correlation is used for prediction and it aims at establishing a relationship between two sets of variables. Descriptive methods just describe the existing phenomena without any change. Casual comparative method is used to prove the cause-effect relationship.

Qualitative design is a design methodology which provides the researcher with in-depth information which is easy to comprehend. This design method uses subjective information to describe the context of the research. Purpose, Focus, Reality, Values, Orientation and Viewpoint are some of the characteristics of Qualitative Design. In both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and analysis procedures each has their own strengths and weaknesses according to. There a relationship between the data collection methods and the out come result obtain which is affected by the methods and procedures used. Mixed-method design is a combination of both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Data Collection Methods

Data is a collection of related observations, facts or figures. A collection of data is called a data set, and each observation a data point. As already discussed, data collection can be done either by collecting first hand information i.e. primary research or from already existing records i.e. secondary sources. Primary data is collected using research instruments like questionnaires, mails, telephonic interviews etc. Secondary data is collected from already available sources such as published papers, journals, magazines, reports, company literature etc.

In order to produce this dissertation paper, secondary sources was relied upon. In the context of this project, data is employed from hotel industry players and other academic sources. The reason for using these sources is that data are reliable and have received the necessary approval prior to publication. The reason is that secondary data when compared to primary data, it allows for a large volume of data to be analyzed. The quality of attribute to secondary data is also a merit to the use of secondary data. Also it is easy to collect and less time consuming. As information in the secondary sources is readily available, it can be compiled quickly.

Data analysis

Method in which the data is measured is very important in order to get an understanding of the results of the research work. This is the reason there is need for an accurate measurement framework since is measurement is not accurate it will mean that there will not be a thorough analysis of the data. In this case in order to come up with analytical framework for the measurement of the data different approaches were compared and since anti-positivist approach was used in research design it is the approach which is used in this case.

The data used in analysis will be from secondary data; this is to ensure that the collected data is correct and can be relied upon. Secondary data which is very essential will be collected through use of past surveys and research works which have been done by other researchers in the field. The other information will be drawn form internet sources and text books. (Kaski, 1997)

The data collected will be analyzed by use of the exploratory qualitative method of data analysis. In exploratory qualitative analysis whereby the data was analyzed using the Microsoft word, the researcher divided the data into different categories which enabled the use of different excel methods to interpret the data accordingly. Percentages were derived which were used to interpret the data which was used to answer the research questions. This is because it allows the researcher to use different ways to interpret the data based on the different themes. Methods which were highly used to interpret the data included pie charts, bar graphs and tables. (Kaski, 1997)

A good analysis will depend on how well one reads and understands the data that would have been collected. This requires one to have good reading and understanding skills. Creation of categories will also be necessary in data analysis. These categories will help in easy analysis of data in a faster way. At this point, the data will have to be linked to the actual research project to make sure that everything blends with the other. Once the data or information flows, a conclusion will have to be made on the whole process of analysis.

After evaluation of the different approaches the content theory analysis was chosen, the reason being that the content analysis approach was a systematic, replicable technique which is used for compressing many of the words in the research work. The data will be coded in charts ands to enable easier interpretation of the data. This enabled the researcher to have a clear picture of the main problem and an in sight on how the problem can be easily solved. The theory will be used to analyze the data whereby the data will be coded into various themes. The themes will then be arranged accordingly and then analyses will be done on e ach theme one after the other. (Kaski, 1997)

Content analysis will enable the researcher to get the relevant information in an easier manner and it will be easier to interpret that information accordingly. The reason behind choosing the following method is that it enables the researcher to analyze the information in a simple way and enables the users of the information to get a clear understanding of the data collected. (Martin, 2008)

The important part of the data analysis was the coding process whereby the data was categorized into themes. The coding process enables the researcher to quickly retrieve and collect all the text and associated data with some thematic idea so that the researcher can examine together and compare cases, hence coming up with the appropriate information required. (Martin, 2008)

Data Validity and Reliability

Another important aspect that is worth discussing in this context is the quality of research. The quality of the research project depends on the validity of the information and the conclusions that are arrived at. In order for the research to be of high quality, it is necessary that the reasons for conducting the research is clearly understood at the first place.

Data Validity can be defined as the accuracy or precision of the data that has been collected. As stated above, data validity in turn is connected with the quality of the research. Another aspect which is a part of data validity is the reasonableness of the collected information. Reasonableness can be explained as to how sensible the collected data is. Data Reliability is referred to as to how honest or trustworthy the collected data is.

However since this project relied upon secondary sources for data, subject bias may have affected the reliability of result since some of the economic data may have been polished to encourage trade and investments as if every thing is well. It is important to note that sources of data are very credible and publish only audited economic data. Therefore this problem may be minimal here if not completely absent.

The observer error and observer bias were also minimized since the researcher of this study was responsible for the collection of data and was done with optimum diligence. The analysis of data was well structured and repeated a number of times to achieve the reliability needed.

It can therefore be said that the research project is highly reliable since much care was observed to ensure a high level of consistency and accuracy in the research process. Errors are very minimal if not totally absent.

Conclusion

The main aim of this chapter is to guide the researcher through the actual process of research in a sequential manner. The topic of the research that has been selected does not support the gathering of data through primary research as the data that is required is mostly historical and can be obtained only by going through various printed materials like books, journals which already exist. This kind of gathering information from already existing material is called secondary research. The data, so gathered is further analyzed in order to arrive at a proper decision based on the entire research.

The issues of ethics were highly considered since any kind of research work should ensure that the ethical part of the research work is highly considered since it can render the research works useless. For these reason issues of privacy and protection of the company information that provided the information was highly considered.

Results and discussions

Discussion

Research information was collected from the Hilton a five star hotel. The information was collected from websites and other books. This enabled use of the information which was not biased in any way. There were thirty sources which were relied on. The information which was collected was mainly focused on the question under the study. The analysis of the information was based on the following issues, market share in the industry were put into consideration as compared to other players type of procedures implemented by the company. The testing of the research questions was analytical since all the information was not from primary sources.

Presentation of the results

Comprehensive research was carried out in order to prove or disapprove themes which come up during the literature review. Based on the analytical frame work these section is focused on the results and discussions for the study which were found out. All the findings of the study from the previous chapter were analyzed and discussed in depth in order to come up with the exact meaning of the data collected. Then the data is related to the question of study to come up with the necessary information for answering research questions which guided the study (Tierney, 2008).

The data which was collected was analyzed keenly to ensure that there was a clear picture which was drawn from the data. Based on the analysis of the data the conclusions were drawn from what was found out and also recommendations on what should be done or the steps which should be taken were made.

Discussion of Findings

In the discussion of the research data findings, the results which were obtained from the study are correct since the data was based on propositions and from the discussion of the data the propositions are proved right, though at some circumstances they might have been influenced by different factors. I believe if research is taken again the results may be a bit different but with certain similarities and may be more precise.

Adoption of standard procedures and policies at front office in Hilton

The company uses standard procedures in the front office and they engage themselves in quality management in various areas of operations of the organization. Standard procedures in the front office in the company are used to cater for the customers’ needs, government needs, and suppliers’ needs and the financial needs of the organization.

Standard procedures in the front office:-The success of Hilton is due to intelligent, talented and highly qualified staff in the front office and management teams. It’s also building new solution to attract the brightest and effective new employees, and retaining old staff by offering shares, promotion and bonus options. This is also influenced by the front office of a hotel. The management style is more like autocratic and to some extent controllable as management is required to report their performances on a weekly basis for evaluation in terms of organization commitments.

The company is an equal employment opportunity and their employees are taken care of in areas of wealth and safety. This is equivalent to what the market is offering therefore the company is offering a salary which is at the market rate and it is acceptable by employees. In recruiting the senior management the company does not consider only qualification. In addition they consider experience and progression among the employees.

They have various benefits which they offer the employees so that they can keep them in the business without moving. These benefits they offer include pension schemes, private health care, share options, company car, and discount to friends and family members. All employees in senior management level including medium and lower level employees are employed in pensionable terms. In order to make employees comfortable, the company has profit performance related bonuses for sales employees.

Hygiene, health and safety:-In ensuring that hygiene and healthy standards are kept Hilton has implemented safety standards for their employees as well as cooking standards have been highlighted that ensures the food produced and distributed in the chain are healthy and safe for consumption. They have ensured that the kitchen that is used in the production of food is of high standards are well prepared with well laid down standard. The front office has engaged themselves with there patrons in providing information that is:-

• Consistent and free of contradictions.
• An honest and transparent information that act as a motivation to the customers to continue patronizing there business.
• They have become open in the provision of information and made it easier for consumers to have the correct information.

They have taken the consumers concerns seriously and they have engaged themselves in activities that are important to the society. They have ensured that there is proper information to the members of the republic. The wider populations have expectations of companies provide a lead on issues of correct information in relation.

Patrons are unlike quality experts do not have such much information but the little information they have they learn to be responsible. Hilton has come up with standard procedures in the front office especially the in relation to the services of the company. This alone increases the customers’ confidence in the company products, which eventually leads to continuous patronizing the company services. The impact of the company on the customer, employment policies, and financial performance of the company over a period of years has changed and the graph below shows changes in performance as they continued to embrace standard procedures in the front office.

As standard procedures in the front office toward employees and environment are increasing at beginning the growth of profits slows down. This was seen as an expense toward the company that reduces the performance of the company. It is normal the company adopting standard procedures in the front office to see slow in the growth of the company.

Hilton and their customers

On any given day, Britons opts for a rapid and contemptible service at a Hilton, devoid of giving either its speed or its prudence a second consideration. However the Hilton’s force for consolidation, homogenization, and tempo has fundamentally malformed Britons’ diet, landscape, financial system, and labor force, time and again in insidiously negative ways. Hilton offers services to the customers that are trouble-free, and as long as one can refuse to accept the tactics they use to support you to eat too much, such as meal deals, super-sizing and two-for-one offers.

Competitive analysis

Buyer Power

The Company faces the threat of buyers shifting their loyalty to other rival companies. This phenomenon according to porter is referred to as backward integration. To curb this threat, Hilton has come up with three generic strategies to counter this threat.

1. Cost leadership: – It has reduced the price of some its foods including the cost of offering services.
2. Differentiation strategy: – The Company has come up with services that are differentiated from the rival firms.
3. Diversification- diversify in various areas in the UK

Supplier Power

Hilton is faced with the threat of the suppliers being able to control the price of some of the equipment they use. The manufacturers of various foods and spices that may come up with stringent price control measures. The labor laws are also stringent and the workers are so unionized that treating of employees in a fair and equitable manner is inevitable. To counter this force, the company extends its supplier chain making the prices of for instance of low foods to come down.

Barriers to Entry

The other force challenging the industry is entry of new companies with similar services. This would pose the threat of neutralizing the company’s profits as well as its market share. The generic position that the company has taken has been cost leadership.

Rivalry

This force emanates from other companies within the same industry. The threat here is these companies capturing the market. However, the company’s framework/ strategy have been reducing prices whenever faced with such a threat.

Threat of Substitutes

From the economist point of view, threat of substitutes arises when the demand of that good is likely to be affected when the price of the substitute changes. This elasticity of price has formed a real force that the company has to fight if it has to be sustained in the near future.

Marketing and front office procedures

Hilton exceptional growth have been determined to its well known brand which has been created by using different marketing strategies, targeting all groups and serving all communities with its products and services.

Adapting front office procedures has improved productivity and branding of the Hilton. The adoption of standard procedures has not only improved the profitability of the hotels but it is a cost effective way of managing the hotel. The quality of service for the hotel has been revolutionized by the standard procedures that are adapted at the front office. Front office has been said to play an important role from collection of revenue, reservation of facilities, attracting customers to the services of the restaurant and many other good things associated with the company.

Hilton hotel has played an important role by providing competitive in the hospitality industry. The front office at Hilton hotel has helped to create a communication between the outside world and the hotel management. The model that has been adapted in the hotel that provides a competitive advantage over other companies includes;

• assess the awareness of total quality;
• establish and participate in joint improvement teams with customers and suppliers

People management is judged by now the organization releases the full potential of its people by:

• integrating corporate and HR strategy
• assessing the match between people’s skill and organizational needs
• establishing and implementing training programmers
• achieving effective up and down communication

Policy and strategy are assessed by how the organizations policies

• reflect the fundamentals of total quality
• test, improve and align business plans with desired direction
• account for feedback from internal and external sources

Human Resource and standard procedures at Hilton

More than ever, the human resource strategies, objective, systems and processes of the organization must be integrated and synchronized with the overall Hilton policies, objective, systems and processes and the rest of the organization. Human resource as one of the key success factors in implementing the standard procedures in the front must be able to support and not detract the company from it. Hence, the personnel selection, training and development, and performance appraisal processes should be seamlessly integrated into the whole organizational structure ad systems to ensure that all these systems are working towards the same goal: creating uncontested market space and making the competition irrelevant.

The objective of the selection process for any type of hotel is selecting the best “individual suited for a particular position and the organization” (Mondy & Noe, 2005). Hence, for Hilton the goal of the organization’s selection process should be selecting the best individual suited for the vacant position and have the necessary capability to help the company in its quest in making the competition irrelevant.

On the other hand, the performance appraisal system is a “formal system of review and evaluation of individual or team task performance” (Mondy & Noe, 2005) “to determine who should be promoted, demoted, transferred, or terminated (Anthony, Kacmar & Perrewe, 2002). Several of the factors that affect the effectiveness of an appraisal system are job-related criteria, performance expectations, standardization, trained appraisers, continuous open communication, performance reviews, and due process (Mondy & Noe, 2005, pp. 270-272). Managing employee performance is one of the more difficult and complex activities within an organization. Unlike the other resources of a business, the human resource is not very easy to control: people think and act accordingly.

These benefits are central to why the performance appraisal system was developed in organizations: employees need to be motivated and developed in order to perform their jobs effectively and efficiently. Furthermore, the appraisal system of a company can also be used to “determine who needs formal training and development opportunities” (Anthony, Kacmar & Perrewe, 2002). In the end, all of these will result to a better equipped human resource. Hence, for Hilton its performance appraisal system is redesigned to fit the standard procedures implemented at the front office of the company. As a vital component in motivating its employees, the human resource performance appraisal system of Hilton should not operate in a vacuum, rather it must support the goal of developing organizational competencies to make the competition irrelevant.

What had Hilton done for its worldwide human resource management is admirable – it developed HRM practices to sustain the Hilton office (Winfield, 1994). However, today it is no longer enough. The four goals as promoted by the company’s existing human resource management practices are “employee commitment, workforce flexibility and adaptability and quality” (Winfield 1994) in their strategy perspective are only several of the factors needed in creating an uncontestable market as opposed to the current practice.

Hilton strategy

The changing environments as presented by Hilton in its presentation for its financial results for 2008, to fully realize the benefits of the quality management front office standard procedures must be created and implemented.

Total customer experience is now the “new differentiator” (Mascarenhas, Kesavan & Bernacchi 2006,) which is exactly the point in the front office standard procedures. Hilton, in its current and future business environment, must deliver total customer experience. However, there is a need for care in interpreting each customer’s total experience: “Obviously, by definition, customer total experience is customer-dependent and hence, is different for each customer. If compared with other service outlets such as restaurants or banks, there is potential for great diversity in customer experience, because the customer may seek a wide variety of different services or products. Each stage of this consumption-journey involves an experience that the provider must try to optimize and the customer must satisfied (Mascarenhas, Kesavan & Bernacchi 2006). The key therefore is to attain an accurate understanding is can be brought by effective front office.

Summary

This chapter on data presented was used to show the data which was collected from secondary sources. The analysis of the data was made based on the different themes which had been established in data collection. These themes were analyzed based on the topic of study, from this analysis then conclusions on the findings were drawn. From the discussion in this chapter it was found that there were certain factors which contributed much to the increase in the number of number of customers.

Analysis and Conclusion

Conclusions on the topic of study are based on the findings which have been observed from the study. The study shows that it is true that the front office standard procedures implemented influences quality management.

It has become clear from the results obtained that Hilton apply well defined standard procedures for front office. They have handed over responsibilities of all kind of tasks mainly to front office; this feature shows the adoption of total quality management. It becomes a responsibility of the hotel to check upon the standard procedures implemented. The monitoring of the entire process of implementation is also a very important responsibility of management towards its customers.

Because the study has limited written resources it will be very difficult to determine whether it is representative. It must also be acknowledged that what is written about here is subjective and may different from true practice of many hotels. It is also not always possible to be certain that it gives a fair reflection of the way things are in real life.

Quality management has resulted in great benefits and has had effects for the hotels. Increased market share, greater performance in the stock market and customer satisfaction are just but some of the benefits of such front office standard procedures implementation. However challenges are also associated with its implementation in the hotel industry. The standard procedures have led to more than jobs being lost and slow in jobs creation.

Significance of the study

The study has brought a lot of light in the understanding of the standard procedures value in the front office of a five star hotel and how it has grown for many years. Secondly it has enhanced understanding of the various reasons as to why most hotels implement these procedures but through the study certain factors have been identified which contribute to this. It has helped in understanding various areas which need to be improved Hilton market share.

Through the study most of the hotels can develop front office procedures which can be used to develop products which suit the needs of the customer. This is because the needs of the customers have been highlighted. The recommendations made will give a way forward for improvements to be done on the hotel industry. This is because with the implementation of the recommendations by the hoteliers the industry will be improved.

Recommendations

In order for the hotel industry to be patronized by the many people the quality of the service should be improved to meet the standards of the other competitors. Quality improvement is the only way in which the hotels can be developed to match the international competition. The hotels can carry out investigations which will help in learning the different strategies which are used by their rivals the foreign industries in development of the products. Through the use of the knowledge gained it will be possible for the hotels in UK to develop services with similar qualities from competitors even better ones something which will enable the hotel industry in UK to increase the demand for the hotels hence the increase in the market share.

The hotel industry should implement strategies which will enable the industry to increase its market share in the general industry. Some of the strategies which can be used by Hilton are through adoption of procedures at the front office which will enhance awareness of the hotel for instance the use of technology improving efficiency which will increase the revenue and market share in the market. Through this the industry will gain more roots in the market hence attract many customers to patronize them

The industry should improve their products and develop ways which will be used to prove to the customers that their services are as better as the foreign ones. This can be done through the development of marketing strategies which will increase awareness of the people’s knowledge of the hotels services and the improvements which have been made. Through comprehensive marketing strategies it is possible to change the perception of the services hence increase the demand.

The companies should work towards improvement of the quality and reliability of the front office since this are the main factors which contribute towards many of the people patronizing the hotel. The improvement of the quality of the service can be achieved through use of various strategies for instance invests in training of their front office staff. They can be taken to other countries for training through which they will learn on the ways which they can improve the quality of their products.

The skills and the knowledge gained for the training can be implemented in the industries and through this the quality of the services can be improved and even can be far much better than the one for the foreign companies. This would be a good strategy for the companies since it is something which will be used for long since knowledge does not get wasted.

The hotel industry can also adopt a strategy whereby it can join up with the foreign companies in such a way that they will have equal share. This will mean that the management and the workers half will be from foreign industry. Through this it will be possible for the workers and management to learn the different methods and strategies which the foreigners brand their services. This will result to improvement of the quality of the services and management will learn a lot on how tot improve the quality. The improved quality will result to the increase of the demand of the services.

Conclusion

The research objectives which promoted this discussion were the following as mentioned in the introduction of this dissertation.

1. To ascertain whether the standard procedures at front office have impact on quality management
2. To know exactly what is implement as standard procedures in the front office
3. Coming up with a solution to the problem I regard to what should be done to raise the demand for the hotel services.

After conducting a literature review and analyzing Hilton hotel, the three propositions emerged to steer this discussion. The results were complied and interpreted using analytical framework all propositions were seen to be proved accurate and supportive of the existing theory, evident in the literature review. From the propositions it was clear that the hotels needed quality improvement in order to match the quality of the substitute something which will give them a better competitive advantage in the industry. In conclusion it is appropriate to mention that the validity of these propositions is not under any question and they have been proven correct.

Summary

The chapter has drawn the major research findings and the conclusions which have been drawn from the findings. The findings are the ones which are going to be used to work on the area of the study. It has been found that there are certain factors which have contributed much to the quality management in hotels Though the most five star hotels are perceived to be of high quality the many they have develop strategies of improving the quality of the services in order to meet the needs of the customers hence increase market share for the products as well as make competition irrelevant. Through implementation of the strategies which have been mentioned under the recommendations the industry has improved and gained a competitive advantage over the rivals which are foreign companies.

The confidence will further be enhanced through comprehensive standard front office procedures which the industry will be engaged in to ensure that they has gained a competitive advantage. The overall outcome of the implementation of the strategies will be to increased customer satisfaction which will result to increase market share in the market.

References

Aaker, D.A. (2001), Managing Brand Equity, Free Press, New York, NY.

Abbott,P., & Lewry, S., (1997), front office procedures , Social Skills and Management, Butterworth Heinneman. Web.

Anthony, W., Kacmar, K., & Perrewe, P. 2002, Human Resource Management: A Strategic Approach, 4th edn, South-Western, Ohio.

Baker, S., Bradley, P., & Huyton, J., (1994), Principles of front office Operations, Cassell. Web.

Boella, M., & Pannett, A., (1999), Principles of Hospitality Law, Cassell. Web.

Braham, B., (1999), hotel front office, S. Thornes. Web.

Clutterbuck, D., (1994), Making Customer Count: A Guide to Excellence in Customer Service, Management Books. Web.

Cohen, Erik. 1972. “Toward Sociology of International Hotel.” Social Research 39(1):164-82.

Culler, J. 1981. “Semiotics of Hotel.” American Journal of Semiotics 1:127-40.

Daniel, Yvonne Payne. 1996. “Hotel Dance Performances: Authenticity and Creativity.” Annals of Hotel Research 23(4):780-97.

Dix, C., & Baird C., (1998); Front office Operations, Longman. Web.

Drucker, P. F. 2002, ‘The Discipline of Innovation’, Harvard Business Review, August, pp. 95-102.

Ira Silver, (1993); Annals of Hotel Research, Volume 20, Issue 2, Pages 302-318).

Hayes, J., & Dredge, F., (1998), Managing Customer Service, Gower Publishing Ltd. Web.

Hughes, George. 1995. “Authenticity in Hotel.” Annals of Hotel Research 22(4):781-803.

Kelner, Shaul, Leonard Saxe, Charles Kadushin, Rachel Canar, Matthew Lindholm, Hal.

Ossman, Jennifer Perloff, Benjamin Phillips, Rishona Teres, Minna Wolf, and Meredith Pease, A., (1994), Body Language, Sheldon Press. Web.

Woocher. 2000. Making Meaning: Participants’ Experience of Birthright Israel. Birthright Israel Research Report. 2. Waltham, MA: Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, Brandeis University.

Mascarenhas, O., Kesavan, R. & Bernacchi, M. 2006, ‘Lasting customer loyalty: a total customer’, vol. 23, no. 7, pp. 397-430.

McKercher, B & du Cros, H 2002, Cultural Hotel: the partnership between hotel and cultural heritage management, Haworth Hospitality Press, New York 115.

Mondy, R. W., & Noe, R. M. 2005, Human Resource Management, 9th edn, Pearson Education, New Jersey.

Ng, P. T. 2004, ‘The learning organisation and the innovative organisation’, Human Systems Management, pp. 93-100.

Weaver, D & Lawton, L 2006, Hotel management, 3^rd edn, John Wiley & Sonds, Milton, Qld.p. 285.

Winfield, I. 1994, ‘Toyota UK Ltd: Model HRM practices?’, Employee Relations, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 41-53.

Wooldridge, A. 2007, ‘The Final Thoughts of Management’s Big Thinker’, The Wall Street Journal, vol. 31, no. 125, p. 12.

——–.1988. “Authenticity and Commoditization in Hotel.” Annals of Hotel Research 15:371-86.