Outsourcing is an important business process that helps an organization to define the areas that can be used as a competitive advantage (McIvor, 2010). If companies have a chance to use outsourcing with a minimum risk to the staff and the overall situation on the market, they should use it. However, often, the companies are forced to outsource their services to overcome the challenges.
In the case study under consideration, a hospital makes a decision to outsource some services because of the existing financial pressures. In having the outsourced work performed within the hospital (Patnaik, 2015), several advantages could be identified. The majority of all advantages were connected to the possibility to increase the level of satisfaction of the staff. As a rule, workers enjoy the possibility to work under the conditions when they have a feeling of attachment to something.
People got the jobs they liked. They developed the relations that were closed to the family ones. As soon as the workers are satisfied with the working conditions, they are able to produce high-quality work and achieve the results that are expected. There could also be a low level of possible product contamination because a certain group of people should be responsible for all required details. Finally, if people were inspired and organized, the desire to make more necessary improvements could take place with lower financial costs (Chen, Liu, Hua, 2014).
In case a different hospital makes a decision to outsource its food services without having the work performed in-house (Patnaik, 2015), several problems could be identified along with the rationale offered. On the one hand, the employees can lose the required connection between their work, hospital, and satisfaction (Schniederjans, 2006). People may be less inspired by the idea to work properly. On the other hand, the financial position of the hospital may be considerably improved due to the possibility to spend less money on in-house needs and gain control of some other activities that need some improvements.
The peculiar feature of service outsourcing is the presence of positive and negative aspects at the same time. The possibility to reduce costs may result in the necessity to consider the needs of employees. Competitive advantage can influence the quality of services in general and lead to the complaints from the users of hospital services. Finally, the possibility to fill in working places may lead to the creation of a possibility to be weak in regards to the competitors that offer the same services. That is why it is necessary to check each aspect of outsourcing before accepting it and clear up if the workers of the hospitals, who want to believe that their professional relations can be compared to the family ones, are ready for the changes.
In the housekeeping situation discussed in the case study where employee turnover became a problem, it is not reasonable just to forget about outsourcing. Workers should be eager to offer their services to a team. In the case, housekeeping employees suffer from isolation at work and lose that required portion of feelings when they are connected to the hospital they have to work. That is why it is recommended to have only the department director or its manager being outsourced (Ciotti & Pagnota, 2005).
It sounds more effective to consider outsourcing in housekeeping management in order to achieve several benefits. For example, having an outsourced manager means saving money due to the possibility to reduce payroll taxes and gain certain financial benefits. Besides, employees are provided with an opportunity to be more connected to the hospital and develop the required family atmosphere that can reduce the turnover percentage and increase the quality of the services in the nearest future.
Outsourcing is also an ability to pay more attention to various guest services and the marketing sphere. As soon as an outsourced person wears a hotel uniform, any guest has a reason to believe that it is a part of a team and possesses all the necessary characteristics to be in a team (Jones, 2007). Outsourced managers try to demonstrate their best attitudes and focus on the guests’ demands regarding the possibilities of hotel workers. It is a new look at the same challenges that cannot be neglected.
Finally, outsourced managers in the housekeeping department cannot be neglected because this type of managers demonstrates more effective solutions in regards to a variety of unpredictable and volatile situations. The investigations prove that outsourcing is the solution for the volatility that can take place in the hotel industry (Jones, 2007). Sometimes, people cannot understand what move should be taken to succeed.
The workers from the outside are not tied to the traditions of the organization. They make use of the experience and knowledge gained. Outsourced workers in the housekeeping situation want to understand the situation but not people that work in an organization, and that is one of the main reasons why it is better to consider outsourcing even if it leads to employee turnover being a problem.
To find out the rationale for asking another hospital to join the laundry service means to define the benefits that can attract the attention of the whole team. For example, it is possible to pay more attention to the idea of teaming up (for the employees in the laundry department and other departments of the same hotel) and the possibility to become more competitive or even avoid competitions because of the idea of outsourcing.
Taking into consideration the basics of the Porter’s Five Forces Model, the possibility to hire people from another hotel may increase the bargaining power of suppliers and increase the possibility of rivalry among the competitors in the same sphere of business. The way of how management is organized in a company defines the quality of economics and marketing offered by the same organization.
The head of the hotel should be able to define the role of such connection and understand that it is more profitable for the team to be partly outsourced from another hotel to have the options and buy cheaper laundry services, change the cleanliness standards, and make use of the reasonable price that become stable within a short period of time. Sometimes, people cannot notice an evident thing that the possibilities to save money, improve services, and enjoy a variety are the outcomes of the same process. It is just necessary to define the process and take the steps to achieve success. The effectiveness of the laundry services depends on how soon the hotel can choose an organization to outsource several employees and observe the results that can be achieved.
References
Chen, F., Liu, Y., & Hua, G. (2014). LTLGB 2012: Proceedings of international conference on low-carbon transportation and logistics, and green buildings. New York, NY: Springer Science & Business Media.
Ciotti, V. & Pagnotta, B. (2005). The other side of outsourcing. Healthcare Financial Management Association. Web.
Jones, T.J. A. (2007). Professional management of housekeeping operations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
McIvor, R. (2010). Global services outsourcing. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Patnaik, S. (2015). Operations management. Raleigh, NC: Lulu Press.
Schniederjans, A. (2006). Outsourcing management information systems. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Inc.