Managing the Hospitality Experience - Assignment Example

Name: Professor: Course: Date of Submission Question 1 Creation of an Enjoyable Experience for a Customer in Hospitality Industry Customer service is a major determinant of restaurant performance especially in the hospitality industry where customer satisfaction is paramount in retaining customers for a return business. Feedback from customers helps restaurants gauge their levels of services and potential areas of improvement (Stevens 2012). Creation of an enjoyable experience for a customer in a restaurant is determined by the encounter of restaurant attendants with the clients and it begins from the welcoming note through to the communication with the customer including billing. Customer’s order needs must be full met through the service, for instance when someone orders hamburger the restaurant attendant should enquire if the customer needs it plain or smothered with something like sauce. In addition, the restaurant menus should be clear, flexible and with options for the customer to choose from. This has a potential of satisfying the customer because he is limited not to eating only what is available but that suits his desire. Moreover, billing should be detailed and clear without any discrepancies for the customer to understand the bill. In case of a mistake in the bill the restaurant attendant should correct it right away and make an apology instantly. Furthermore, customers do not like being disturbed by waiters while catching up communication with fellow mates in the restaurant and therefore it is important for waiters to conduct themselves with a lot of etiquette in case they need to get clarification from the customers after placing an order. Waiters ought to keep comments for themselves about customers conduct while enjoying meals or services in the restaurant because some comments may be derogative to the customer however positive they might be, for instance, comments like you are fast eater or you have a beautiful mate. Moreover, the time that a waiter takes to serve a client after placing an order is also critical in creating enjoyable experience to a customer (Walker 2007). For instance, if a customer places an order for a meal and then the waiter informs him that the meal is going to take 10 minutes to prepare then it ends up coming after 30 minutes there are likely chances that the waiter will have starved enough not to enjoy the meal. In the same case customers expect service attendants to deliver exact service or product as described in their menus without any deviation. Furthermore, creation of enjoyable customer experience in hospitality sector that delivers health and wellbeing services like recreation and fitness implies giving out services that brings out customers relaxation through engagement in pleasurable activities that do not pose risk of injuries. For instance, a person who is attending yoga sessions should exhibit difference after obtaining such services in how he looks and signs of relaxation should be explicitly visible as indicator of enjoyable experience. Question 2 Sexualised Labour and its Prevalent In the Contemporary Hospitality Industry Sexualized labour may be described in various forms such as sexually appealing employees especially ladies being used by an organization in exploiting their physical appearance while serving customers especially in the hospitality industry. It can be comparable to emotional and aesthetic labour and is further classified into distinct levels based on managerial interactions with workers in form of passive sanctioning of sexualized worker including organization strategic management. According to Ford, HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Michael+Craig+Sturman%22"Sturman and Heaton (2011) there is very thin line between selling service and selling sexuality especially in the work place sexuality where employees’ appearance is overemphasized as form of customer attraction. Moreover, sexualized labour takes the form of domestic minor sex trafficking of citizens employed to provide commercial sex acts in exchange of money for the benefit of the organization. Furthermore, sexualized labour is also applied as strategy of attracting one gender especially in pubs and night clubs where beautiful young ladies perform as strippers. In the contemporarily hospitality industry, sexualized labour has become a legalized source of income in some western countries, for instance exotic dancers at New york city strip club are protected by law and have set minimum wage. In addition the strip dancers form the main source of attraction to most clubs and are critical in achieving competitive edge through their sexual appeal. Consequently forms of sexualized labour such as domestic minor sex trafficking are threatening the American youths as the business of prostituting minors is increasingly viewed as not only source of income but also prestigious. According to Ezawa (2009), increased cases of girls aged below 17 years old were reported in Washington by US department of Justice between September 2009 and February 2011 and 12 years was considered to be the average entry into prostitution. The hostess profession in Japan is also turning out to be form of sexualized labour where young women struggle to secure jobs of entertaining men who pay hugely to enjoy the services at the pubs (Ezawa 2009). In addition, the young women are working in snack bars and pink salons where they offer sexualized services to male customers who are forbidden from harassing the female attendants sexually. These jobs are reportedly to be paying more compared to jobs where women are required to apply education and specialized skills in service delivery. According to Ezawa (2009), most of the Japanese hostess clubs rely on selling of sexuality by utilizing the demand by young japenese women to live celebrity lives and earn more with little strain. Question 3 Consumption Trends in Contemporary Australian Society and Market Opportunities These Trends Present To the Hospitality Industry Consumption trends in contemporary Australian society present numerous opportunities to the hospitality industry. Some of the trends include health and wellbeing consciousness and the emergence of Australia as wine drinking nation. According to Germov and Mclntyre (2013), consumption trends indicates increased consumption of wine as a preferred choice of drink compared to beer a culture that is characterized by more wine production than consumption. In addition, there is increasing trend in health consciousness as more Australians are overweight and smoking prevalence is very high therefore calling for increased physical activity as more emphasis are placed on maintenance of good health and wellbeing to prevent chronic illnesses. IBISWorld (2013), there is an opportunity for service diversification for hospitality industries as more Australians become health conscious and shift focus to personal fitness and wellbeing activities. Increased spending towards leisure activities motivated by increased income is another remarkable consumption trend in Australia. Increase in domestic tourism has been linked to proportionate increase in income a trend that creates more opportunities for expansion in the hospitality industry occasioned by increased demand for recreation and luxury activities. The increased trend in health consciousness emphasised by abstinence from smoking and heavy drinking in Australia creates demand for an alternative pleasurable activities that has a potential of helping people to rehabilitate completely (Germov & Mclntyre 2013). This presents the hotels and restaurants with an the opportunity of setting up more fitness centres and recreational facilities just to tap on this lot that is no longer visiting these places for drinking rather than wellbeing reasons. Consequently, population of aged Australians is predicted to rise exponentially by year 2015 and thus the demand of functional foods for purposes of managing weight and cholesterol levels (Euromonitor International 2008). This situation creates a demand for healthy and flexible menus in the hotels and restaurants so as to meet the needs of the aging population that is struggling to reduce potential health risks. Furthermore, Germov and Mclntyre (2013) asserts that, hotels and restaurants are increasingly focusing on particular foodstuffs specifically the whole fruits such as berries, peanuts, oats and oranges all of which are believed to have high antioxidant contents and have potential of reducing risk of stroke. The increase in household budgets occasioned by economic recovery and the mini baby boom has increased the demand for health and wellness baby foods that are perceived to have additional health benefits. The hospitality industry has an opportunity of diversifying its income generation through focus on baby foods that are deemed to be healthy in order to effectively serve this emerging market. Question 4 Hofstede’s Values Of Cultural Variability And Ways In Which They Determine The Expectations Of Hospitality Services, Products And/or Procedures Differences Between A Group of Australian Guests and Japanese Guests Hofstede’s values of cultural variability include power distance, individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity. Based on such values the expectation of hospitality services, products or procedures may vary in a number of ways between a group of Japanese and Australian guests. Over the past decades, a massive number of Japanese tourists have been visiting Australia for an intense holiday spending and contributes a larger percentage to the country’s hospitality industry profits. According to Huib, Tom, and Pernilla (2009), power distance is a critical factor in determining customer service relationship in any organization and any country with a high power distance score it is treated cautiously. For instance, Japanese guest are expected to receive a higher customer service in Australian hotels than the Australian guest because the later has a lower power distance score compared to Japan and perception of status is a sensitive issue as customers are treated as kings. In addition, Japanese guests are likely to receive quality services or treated with high esteem than Australian guests because Japanese drive the hospitality industry of Australia by spending more money on short holidays for tourism activities. According to Hofstede (2001) masculinity value is applied here because Australian economy would be adversely affected if Japanese tourists withdraw. Japanese guest will be expecting to get familiar service or product in hospitality industry while Australian guest will expect to test new products and services in the same industry. This is because Japan has a higher uncertainty avoidance compared to Australia and countries with such a high degree of uncertainty avoidance have risk-averse customers who do not like uncertainty. Furthermore, Australian guests will highly expect to get hospitality services or products that are geared towards improving their self as individuals and not as a group as compared to Japanese guests. This is because Japanese guests have lower individualistic score of 46 compared to Australia’s of 90, thus supporting the expectation of selfish services than collective ones (Hofstede 2001). Australian guests are expected also to have strong loyalty towards particular hospitality services than Japanese because of the higher individualist score. This supports increasing trends in health consciousness by Australians through personalized services like health fitness services. Question 5 Innovations That Would Offer Greater Guest Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry In 2020 The increasing trends in globalization has not only affected strategic planning of organization in the hospitality industry but also intensified the competition within the sector, a situation that forces organization to innovate ways of meeting customer satisfaction in order to survive. Innovations in the technology will be paramount in attaining greater guest satisfaction by year 2020 in the hotel industry. For instance, technologies that will facilitate guests to have options of selecting rooms that fits their interests by providing a platform where guests completes check-in processes on their mobile devices including secure payment transactions for purposes of expediting the whole process instead of relying on the third party to conduct booking on behalf clients. The integrated solutions will also be able to display real-time floor plan of the rooms in the hotel indicating the vacant and reserved rooms. In addition, Ford, HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Michael+Craig+Sturman%22"Sturman and Heaton (2011) assert that such technologies will also provide modern LED television tailored to facilitate interactive guest-room experience including cloud computing platforms that provide reliable and scalable bandwidth for guests to enjoy high speed internet connectivity. Innovations geared towards creation of interior designs and overall architectural look of the hotels and restaurants has a potential of creating greater guest experience in the hospitality industry in the future. For instance, an expert in architectural designs for leisure and hospitality sectors designed the rooms of one of the best hotel in United Kingdom using prefabricated bedroom pods that were built innovatively to represent a feel of a luxury yacht cabin where most customers visiting the hotel were reported to have encountered overwhelming experience (Shaw,Williams & Bailey 2012). There is need for more innovations on the hotel, pubs and restaurant interior and exterior designs in order to match with technological innovations. Environmental innovations are also critical in hospitality industry given the increasing trends on sustainable development occasioned by globalization concept. By year 2020 the hospitality industry will be forced to comply with environment standards operations without compromising luxury service delivery to the target guests. During this time, recycled materials and products from sustainable sources will be critical as form of compliance and retaining the standards to ensure increased customer satisfaction because contemporarily consumers will be expecting to enjoy and associate themselves with eco-friendly services focusing on the value for money (Ford, HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Michael+Craig+Sturman%22"Sturman & Heaton 2011). Moreover, focus on setting up hotels and restaurants with a mix of traditional and modern services and products depicting cultural heritage situated in tranquil areas may be another form of environmental innovation that has potential of improving guest satisfaction. The design of hotel rooms and restaurants that focuses on offering services that resemble the authentic architecture and flair including lifestyles of the respective destinations may offer greater customer satisfaction as guests are exposed to enjoy and experience the cultures. For instance hotels and other tourist destinations may be forced in future to expose guests into authentic cultural experiences tailored according to their demands in order to increase satisfaction levels. Wursten, Fadrhonc and Roersoe (2009) assert that, the act of welcoming guests into India’s private homes where they attend fascinating cultural ceremonies will enable them to gain interesting insights into ancient cultures that will lead to improved guest satisfaction in future. Furthermore, re-thinking of franchising may be another form of innovation prerequisite for customer satisfaction especially the hotel sector where the strength of a brand remains paramount in addressing guest needs. However, there will be need for a strong franchise management agreement in order to make sure the services and products are standardized to meet the expected customer needs. References Ezawa, A 2009, ‘Women’s Work and Japan’s Hostess Culture’, New York times, 11 August, 2009, viewed 9 November 2013, Euromonitor International, 2008, Health and Wellness in Australia, Nov 2011, viewed 9th November 2013, < http://www.euromonitor.com/health-and-wellness-in- australiaHYPERLINK "http://www.euromonitor.com/health-and-wellness-in-%09australia/report"/report> HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Robert+Clayton+Ford%22"Ford,R, HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.ke/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22Michael+Craig+Sturman%22"Sturman, M, Heaton, P, 2011, Managing Quality Service In Hospitality: How Organizations Achieve Excellence In The Guest Experience, Cengage Learning, Boston Germov, J & Mclntyre, J 2013, ‘The Rise of Australia as Wine Nation’, The conversation, 5th June 2013, viewed 9 November 2013, http://theconversation.com/the-rise-of- australia-as-a-wine-nation-14875 Hofstede, G 2001, Culture’s consequences: Comparing Values Behaviors, Institutions and Organizations Across Nations, Sage publications, London IBISWorld, 2013, ‘Industry insights, IBISWorld Newsletter, February 2013, Viewed 9 November 2013,HYPERLINK "%20Viewed%209%20%09November%202013,%20%20%3chttp://www.ibisworld.com.au/newsletter/news.aspx?id=3c1b250a-%093520-4c78-bd7a-3a0a14a80853" HYPERLINK "%20Viewed%209%20%09November%202013,%20%20%3chttp://www.ibisworld.com.au/newsletter/news.aspx?id=3c1b250a-%093520-4c78-bd7a-3a0a14a80853" HYPERLINK "%20Viewed%209%20%09November%202013,%20%20%3chttp://www.ibisworld.com.au/newsletter/news.aspx?id=3c1b250a-%093520-4c78-bd7a-3a0a14a80853" Stevens, D 2012, Brilliant Customer Service, Pearson UK, New Jersey Walker, R 2007, The Restaurant: From Concept to Operation, John Wiley and Sons, New York Shaw G, Williams, A, & Bailey, A 2012, ‘Uncovering Innovation Processes In the hotel industry’, Advanced Institute of Management Research,viewed 9 November 2013 Wursten, H, Fadrhonc, T & Roersoe, P 2009, ‘Culture and Customer Service’ ITIM International, viewed 9 November 2013, Read More