Paradise Links Resort - Change Management in the Hospitality Industry - Case Study Example

CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY (Student Name) (Course No.) (Lecturer) (University) (Date) Executive summary The success or every organization depends on the strategic or change management put in place to drive the organization. The hospitality industry is very sensitive to management practices considering the type of people within the industry. The emphasis of this report is to evaluate the organization restructuring of the hospitality industry to ensure the success of the business. The discussion takes paradise Links Resort; port Douglas in Queensland as the case study to evaluate the reorganization and restructuring impact the business performance. Consideration of strategic management is given to Human Resources, who in-turn take a supportive role and is the change agent as well as empowering the direction for change. The report outline the various data collection methods and results that best describe the transformation in Paradise Links Resort, which can also applied to other hospitality industries to ensure successful management and profitability of the business. Table of Contents Table of Contents 3 Introduction 4 Methodology 5 Primary data 5 Secondary data 6 Limitations 7 Results 7 Discussions of results 9 Current image of the industry 14 Conclusions 14 References 15 Introduction This report considers critical issues in change management, restructuring and reorganization, which are relevant to every hospitality industry. Transformation management methods are very important for any hospitality business that wishes to success in acquiring and retaining customers throughout the seasons. The strategy has been proven to be one of the most effective ways of managing businesses that are very competitive at regional and international level, such as the hotel business. The same case applies to Paradise links resort that needs to remain operational and profitable in the business (Wise, 1988, 10). The drive for this specific report is to bring on board the critical issues in change management that is relevant for Paradise Links Resort for the business to remain operational and profitable. The studies used to produce this report trace back to the year 1998. The studies from the previous year arise to enable a look at the transformations that have taken place in the hospitality industry under the ever-changing global economic environment. Changes in which the industry is managed can be influenced by the external or internal factors, in other words, described as the macro and micro factors (Eastham, 2001, 18). In the lodging, just like those available at Paradise Links Resort, change is predictable because of mobile forces of capital resources, structure of the industry, performance of the investment and operational performance. Accoedin to University Of Queensland (2002), Paradise links resort has in the recently suffered competition from the coming of other hotels in Queensland that almost crippled the business to its knees. Therefore, the research identifies organizational elements that influence the performance of the business. The finding in the study provides critical elements for consideration when managing the business with the increasing competition. The limitation of the study is that the studies and opinions that provide information for the compilation of the report may be valuable but not applicable to the contemporary hospitality industry. Such information will be substantiated to make them relevant to current change in managing the industry. Methodology To bring an effective evaluation of the ownership and management structure that influences the hospitality industry, both the key and minor data are used to address various management issues. Primary data This includes all the relevant sources that contain information concerning management strategies in the hospitality industry. The sources include; networking hospitality industries, services provided by the enterprise, a major group of hotels within and close to Queensland, and business delegations. The first data collection method is through gathering relevant information on the tourism industry in Australia and narrowing down to the hospitality business around Queensland. The information is taken from the companies that contribute to marketing of the hospitality business around Queensland as a tourism destination. The information gathered includes the role, so the enterprises in promoting tourism sector, strategic management to ensure sustainability, and revolutionary changes to achieve customers preference (Boer, Thomas & Webster, 1997, 24). The second category of primary data involves collecting data from the major group of enterprises that engage in the same hospitality industry business. Just like Paradise Links Resort, the companies also play a major role in promoting the industry in the same region. Therefore, the enterprises must be sharing some of the facilities and strategies that ensure their success and to drive the economy of the region. Some of the enterprises have established international ties with other hospitality industries to borrow some of the management strategies changes that make them successful (Wise, 1988, 27). The regional and international networking for the third data collected to analyze various changes in the industry and how they affect the business operations. to determine the level at which Paradise Links Resort relate to other businesses, inquiries are made from the business marketing strategies and joint activities that the hospitality enterprises engage in at regional and international level (Eastham, 2001, 72). University Of Queensland (2002) state that, the Hospitality industry mainly deals with service provision; therefore, it is necessary to collect information concerned with the quality of service and how it differs from Paradise Links Resort services that are applied by the business management. The services include those applied to restaurants, lodging, and outdoor services. However, most of these services are not adequately covered due to poor record keeping (Philip,1999, 24). The information gathered using the primary data collection methods are aimed at establishing adequate knowledge and evaluation their standards to match the needs and customers’ expectations. Secondary data Secondary data are data collected from already published materials rather than present studies and are used in the compilation of the report rather than present study data collections. The practice includes the exploration of both the internal and external data that provide information on the changes that take place within Paradise Links Resort. Some of the materials relevant to the study are obtained from online sources and collections book collection in the library. The books from the library are mainly publications on tourism and travels, marketing and management. Moreover, a number of articles and journals were also helpful in giving some recent information on changes in the hospitality management. Publications by other business enterprises within the hospitality industry are also some of the big sources providing information for the report. Limitations The challenge experienced in obtaining information using the described methodologies was a deficiency of the relevant people required to give precise information concerning the management of Paradise Links Resort. The source of information that were considered to give relevant and adequate information failed to provide the elaborate results of all that is stated in the report. Additionally, it is necessary to point out that some of the information considering the previous management of the enterprise is treated as confidential hence are not accessible to the public. To develop a clear understanding of the management and previous challenges during operation, it is important that every information be availed so that the cause of the problem can be identified (Eastham, 2001, 163). Results In order to answer the question and meet the objective of the report, it is necessary to ascertain the appropriate empirical data for analyzing the findings. The analysis is key to understanding and gaining knowledge for establishing recommendations and conclusions for the changes in management strategies and the level of impact. Considering the research method applied in the study, the data groupings are in the following categories. Packages offered by Paradise Links Resort, Hospitality service provisions, Collaboration between different stakeholders in the hospitality industry and the general management practices (Boer, Thomas & Webster, 1997, 142). To start with, the package offered by the hospitality industry can influence the success or failure of the enterprise such as Paradise Links Resort. The package that is adopted by the business is meant to fulfill the customers’ demands and expectations. Depending on the drive for the visit, the package should get designed in such a way that the customers are in a position to willingly pay for the products and services on offer. The result obtained through research realized that Paradise Links Resort is not offering adequate packages for the customers (Haaga, Ammattikor & Lacle, 2013, 83). Other findings revealed that the enterprise need to have a strong change in management and precise implementation of the changes be done. It was realized that the Paradise Links Resort executive team had come with some of the decisions to see changes that would ensure the success of the business. According to the data realized, the management failed to proceed with the changes and not considering the internal participants of the changes and how the changes would be implemented for the results to be realized (Philip,1999, 34). Service provision at the hotel did not factor in the current service provisions in the market. This made the business to lose customers due to lack of adopting the external factors influencing the hospitality industry. As identified in the introductory section of this report, the contest of changes within the organization is the time limit in which the performance in operations must be stabilized. Therefore, is can be said that, for Paradise Links Resort to face transformation in the management and operation procedures, the enterprise must have reached the ultimate of its establishment (Haaga, Ammattikor & Lacle, 2013, 114). Discussions of results To some extent, traditional management practices can be said to have taken over the control of managing and controlling operations at the Paradise Links Resort. Realizing the deterioration of the business performance, the stakeholder’s effort to come with good management practices is driven by redefining the business mission and vision statement. Managing the implication of the enterprise for better performance involve restructuring and redefining the functional performance of the business operations (Wise, 1988, 82). To add on that, the fundamental elements of change is to take the entire team through the qualms affecting the performance of the business and managing the changes that bring revolution to the business. most importantly, it is necessary to realize the general objective of revolutionary changes as one that major on operational performance. One issue that influences the performance of Paradise Links Resort is communication and goal setting. Breakdown in communication between the management tea and other staff members formed part of the management failure. With the new changes in place, the hotel staff appreciated the new strategy of effective communication between the management and the junior staffs. Effective communication provided effective leadership in managing the enterprise and bringing the workers together to develop a sense of belonging. Compared to the previous management and operation systems, completing tasks was quantifiable, and because of that, achieving some of the organizational goals was minimal. While introducing the new changes, every employee was engaged through adequate information concerning the organizational structures and expected performance (Wood & Brotherton, 2008, 153/162). The contemporary hospitality industry is aggregated into strict management corporations with the current operational performance being the result of the organizational changes. The success of the hospitality industry is managed by the quality of the products and services being offered. When considering the micro and macro transformation in Paradise Links Resort, the customers have to get quality service that they are spending their revenues. With quality services, the business can retain customer and ensure good revenues from the operations. According to some of the data realize, the management system only maximized on revenues. The quality of service for the hospitality industry is to give the clients what they want since they are paying for it, or the ability of the product or service to exceed the customers’ expectations. Failing to meet customer expectations represents one of the reasons that made the enterprise reduce the number of visiting guests (Boger & Cha, 2011, 52). Communication is necessary throughout the change process in a way that includes all employees during the transition process. The employees are to understand how the work will be changing and the expectations that they are supposed to fulfill. to engage the employees in change management, the stakeholders can inquire from the employees the expected challenges and their experience with the new changes (Philip,1999, 93). Through this, the enterprise can avoid the unmitigated challenges realized during data collection to investigate the impact of old and new management practices. For the new management to take effect appropriately, the business requires the support of the upper management. In the previous management, the failure of the business emanate from the top management’s failure to facilitate the implementation of the changes. The executive may make decisions to choose chose the appropriate paths to implement those long-term changes that are aimed at meeting the business goals, but the change agents are the ones responsible for making the short-term transition within the business (Haaga, Ammattikor & Lacle, 2013, 119). Therefore, it is the responsibility of the micro staffs or the junior staffs to implement the changes on the ground to ensure the business success. The macro staffs are there to pass on the change and come with strategies that motivate and empower the employees to carry on with the changes. Major restructuring in the hospitality industry should be carried out by the team of executives leaders, who are also considered as the key stakeholders in the business. The executive leaders take an active role in influencing the business operations both external and internal level by formulating or developing strategic plans for the change process (Medhekar, Wong, & Hall, 2015, 152). While uncertainties are a major fear while developing changes in the hospitality industry, peripheral input by various departments in the business can provide an insight required to for the preparation of the employees with information and guidelines for the new changes. The first person in the business to be engaged is the hotel general manager and departmental managers. Since the managers are the one closely concerned with daily operation of the business, their opinions may be helpful towards making decisions for the implementation of the change plans and management practices to ensure the performance of the business. The key stakeholders can also find appropriate information from the Human resource department (Boger & Cha, 2011, 103). Taking this approach is important for the hospitality industry considering the fact that it mainly deal with human services. Moreover, during the implementation of the new management and operational strategies, the transition team may recognize some areas that may have resulted in the previous mistakes or unexpected consequences that may be critical in planning for effective execution of the new changes. The performance of the hospitality industry is strongly related to customer service provisions. Research shows that, given an opportunity for customer interaction, there is a high risk of the hotel collapsing when the services are poor or does not match the customers’ expectations. The kinds of service being provided are also some of the contributions to change management that are expected to bring a positive improvement. After a quantitative debate on the new strategic management plan, the business committee agreed on the possible systematic information that were made during discussions on how to improve the business. The organization structure can be defined as the hierarchy, employees profile, roles and responsibilities of different personalities working in the industry. The structure enables the hotels to carry efficiently and effectively the daily activities. Classification can be done according to departments, revenue centered department and front or back of the house departments (Wood & Brotherton, 2008, 41). Revenue centered are the department where of food preparation, beverage services, while front and back house services deal with welcoming and accommodation of the guests respectively. The ownership of the hotel is either individual, public cooperation or a joint venture. The apex of the hierarchy is the director followed by the general manager whose role is to coordinate and manage the whole company (Haaga, Ammattikor & Lacle, 2013, 125). According to Icon Group International, Inc. (1999), the General Manager can have an assistant or other departmental managers such as the food and beverage manager, housekeeping manager and security manager, which applies to big hotels. The food and beverage manager are in charge of the operation in the kitchen, restaurants, catering services, lounge bars, stewarding and banqueting. Waiters are responsible for service delivery work under the supervision of the captain and the assistant food and beverage managers. Other relevant departments in the industry include engineering, security, human resource, sales and marketing, procurement and accounting. To discuss the current structure and the contemporary hospitality nature. the industry can take on the characteristics of globalization, security and safety, diversity, services, technology, price value and demographic changes. The contemporary issue in terms of globalization indicates that the world has become a free society where people travel freely from one region to another (Boger & Cha, 2011, 137). The number of domestic and international tourism has been on the rise that has contributed to the significant increase in the global tourism expenditure. The Scope of the hospitality industry is to ensure customers security and safety in the new places they visit. Most regions in the world have experienced terrorist attacks, kidnapping assaults and robberies. The industry has seen the need to increase the security and disaster plans to curb any threat. Technological advancements have been made in the means of traveling such as airlines and ships to prevent threat incidences (Wood & Brotherton, 2008, 94). Current image of the industry The hospitality industry, just like the Paradise Links Resort, is undergoing radical change to meet the dynamics of customers’ needs. The traditional theories of management and service provision are now advancing in knowledge and skills that create innovation in the industry. The industry employees are adequately trained in organization and management skills that give then the power to carry out product and food innovations, quality service delivery, content marketing and presentation. The industry engages in environmental and cultural exploration to meet the customers’ expectations (Brotherton, 2003, 62). Conclusions Restructuring and reorganization of the hospitality business contribute to the core management in the behavior and performance of the organization. It is more important to recognize human resource department as a source that need to provide direction for the transformation taking place within the organization. By embracing the undeterminable changes to planning for the unexpected competitions, there is a need for humility within the successful agent of change, which is the management personnel. The adoption of the changes by the Paradise Links Resort resulted to the calculated current operational performance the success of the business in future. Acoording to Icon Group International, Inc. (1999), the contemporary hospitality industry has gone through many transformations to try to meet the demands of the rising number of business clients. The transformation in the industry is set to keep the relationship between the clients and the company through good service delivery. The contemporary changes are to create a suitable environment in which the hospitality industry has to provide more with slight assets in order to secure their growth. Customers have become dynamic in one way or another since the expectations are built around personal needs (Brotherton, 2003, 153). Globalization has created a new market growth that influence the hospitality industry, and the industry must capitalize on the new developments. Recommendations The existence and sustainability of the hospitality industry call for professionalism and ability to adapt to the new changes by monitoring customers behaviors to ensure quality service delivery. The future of the hospitality industry can be hypothesized by analyzing the past and the present customers comportment (Medhekar, Wong, & Hall, 2015, 293). Moreover, Environmental management and sustainability are global issues today. Being the largest industry in the economy, the future trend is to see the industry adopt eco-lodging and take part in environmental affairs. Technological advancement should be taken by the industry so that they can provide internet services and do marketing through virtual and physical social networking. Maintaining national and international ties is the advantage of the continuous success of the hospitality industry. References Boer, A., Thomas, R., & Webster, M., 1997, Small business management: a resource-based approach for the hospitality and tourism industries. London , Cassell. Boger, E. P., Cha, Che., 2011, HMGT-405 Resort, Club and Convention Management: University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hotel and Restaurant Mangement. Lansing, Michigan, American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute. Brotherton, B., 2003, The International hospitality industry structure, characteristics and issues. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Eastham, J. F., 2001, Food supply chain management: issues for the hospitality and retail sectors. Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann. Haaga-Helia Ammattikor keakoulu, & Lacle, Randall., 2013, Management perception of service quality in the hospitality industry. HAAGA-HELIA ammattikor keakoulu. http://www.theseus.fi/handle/10024/63150. Icon Group International, Inc., 1999, Hospitality industry in Australia: a strategic entry report, 1998. [Paris], Icon Group International. Medhekar, A., Wong, H. Y., & Hall, J. Y., 2015, Innovation in Medical Tourism Service Marketing. Philip Worsfold., 1999, HRM, performance, commitment and service quality in the hotel industry. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 11. University Of Queensland., 200, Journal of hospitality and tourism management. Hospitality & Tourism Complete. Bowen Hills, Qld., Australia, Australian Academic Press. http://search.ebscohost.com/direct.asp?authtype=cookie,ip,url,athens&db=hjh&jid=%22RKJ%22&scope=site. 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