The hotel management Essay

The process of hotel management is a multifaceted unit that should be approached in the right way regarding the circumstances while the goals may vary in terms of the short- or long-term perspectives and expected outcomes. In this respect, the manager should predict the effect of the goals and the interrelation of short-term and medium-term goals.

As suggested in the study by Ingold, Yeoman, and McMahon-Beattie (2002), “knowledge of the effect of price changes” is an important element of yield management. “The short-term demands include day-to-day operational issues of quality service and controlling costs and revenue” (Pizam, 2005, p. 405).

In this respect, short-term goals may be aimed at fitting the budget while medium-term goals may require more expenses such as staff training that conflict with the budget.

Demand with regard to short-term and medium-term objectives (Sheela, 2007, p. 81), changes in the market (Moutinho, 2000, p. 260), prices and product (Kumar, 2010), timing and pricing strategies (Adams, 2006, pp. 131-132) may be considered the most important areas where the difference between short- and medium-term objectives can become a reason f the conflict as they are outlined for different periods and require different approaches while a manger should strive for the highest quality of services and highest revenue.

Though some uncertainty is evident in medium-term planning, it is an integral part of the hotel management (Evans, Campbell & Stonehouse, 2003, pp. 13-14); besides, the main difference between the short- and medium-term objectives is the level of certainty/uncertainty due to the possibility to predict some changes in the market, demand, the overall economic and financial situation in the country and the world.

As suggested in the study by Clarke and Chen (2007), the short-term and long-term effects are reached due to effective management whereas the goals set should be attained with regard to the conflict that may occur between short- and medium-term objectives.

At the same time, Mullins (2001) claims that unit mangers are the people responsible for short- and medium-term goals unlike the long-term goals. Wood and Brotherton (2008) report that the technology implementation cannot be considered one of the short-term-goals while each step in implementing advanced techniques can be considered a short-term objective.

In this respect, the conflict may occur due to resource management issues when the same staff member should obtain information necessary for future progress and do day-to-day job which can be impossible because of time limits.

The hotel management is based on a number of very important factors that may influence its rating, profitability, and the overall success compared to competitors. The actions of the manager should be aimed at making the hotel more profitable via providing services of the most appropriate quality to the people that can afford to pay for such services.

In this respect, staff training becomes one of the key factors in this issue because incompetent staff members may impact the perception of services and the work of the hotel and its management by customers. As such, we should find evidence of how the staff training interactions may potentially influence the revenue of a hotel.

“The goal of the four staff departments… is to provide specialized support for operating departments…” (Hales, 2005, p. 158). The staff departments, in this case, are meant under the departments that include human staff whereas the operating departments constitute for the services provided to customers in the form of rooms, clean towels, golf courses, food, and other aspects that may influence the customers’ perception of the hotel.

However, the key word in this statement is the ‘specialized’ because the staff should know how to do their job and why they have to do it perfectly implying the influence of one little word said to the customer changing the rating given by this customer to hotel.

As suggested in the study by Ransley and Ingram (2004), “the amount of money necessary in a new hotel development will be determined inter alia by the scarcity of skilled labour within the local environment” (p. 242). In this respect, the skilled staff is an integral part of the effective hotel management that influences positively on a hotel’s profitability.

The issue of eco-tourism is discussed in the study by Jayawardena (2002) who suggests the idea of staff training for particular areas of tourism such as eco-tourism as the staff members should be aware of the basic principles and follow the elementary rules and conservation values.

At the same time, Bardi (2010) raises the question of computer literacy of hotel staff and insists on all staff members that are to work with computer programmes should know how to deal with those on a regular basis; besides, the training sessions may be official or informal and be held at the workplace as consulting or guidance (pp. 114-115).

The study case offered by Tum, Norton, and Wright (2006) presents the Prestbury House Hotel and the history of its success when new owners managed to improve the quality of the facilities and bring it into a brand-new level with the help of a “management training centre” (p. 169); the annual turnover is demonstrated as evidence of interrelation between the staff and rating and profitability.

References

Adams, D. (2006). Management accounting for the hospitality, tourism and leisure industries: A strategic approach (2^nd ed.). Padstow, Cornwall: Cengage Learning EMEA.

Bardi, J. A. (2010). Hotel front office management (5^th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Clarke, A., & Chen, W. (2007). International hospitality management: Concepts and cases. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Evans, N., Campbell, D., & Stonehouse, G. (2003). Strategic management for travel and tourism. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Hales, J. (2005). Accounting and financial analysis in the hospitality industry. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Ingold, A., Yeoman, I., & McMahon-Beattie, U. (Eds.) (2002). Yield management (2^nd ed.). Padstow, Cornwall: Cengage Learning EMEA

Jayawardena, C. (2002). Tourism and hospitality education and training in the Caribbean. Kingston: University of the West Indies Press.

Kumar, P. (2010). Marketing of hospitality and tourism services. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Moutinho, L. (2000). Strategic management in tourism. Wallingford, Oxon: CABI.

Mullins, L. J. (2001). Hospitality management and organisational behaviour (4^th ed.). Harlow, Essex: Pearson Education.

Pizam, A. (2005). International encyclopedia of hospitality management. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Ransley, J., Ingram, H. (2004). Developing hospitality properties and facilities (2^nd ed.). Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Sheela, A. M. (2007). Economics of hotel management. New Delhi: New Age International.

Tum, J., Norton, P., & Wright, J. N. (2006). Management of event operations. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Wood, R. C., & Brotherton, B. (2008). The Sage handbook of hospitality management. London: SAGE Publications Ltd.