Total Quality Management Process at Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant - Case Study Example

Running header: Budgeting and Financial Planning Student’s name: Instructor’s name Subject code: Date of submission TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT AT FINE DINING HOTEL AND RESTAURANT Introduction Ever business has the intention of making profits. In this regard, organizations must strive to ensure long-term success by ensuring customers remain satisfied by the organization’s offering. In a bid to ensure this becomes a success, all the organization’s members ought to be involved in the continuous improvement of the organization’s processes, services, products and the culture in which the organization works. This paper looks at the total quality management process by looking at how Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant implemented changes that led to overall improvement in the organization’s offerings hence enhancing its ability to compete in the market hence becoming a destination of choice for many in Sydney (Delora, 2000). In so doing, the paper will look at the total quality management process before comparing it with the traditional management styles. The paper then looks at the original Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant before the change was effected. The process change at the hotel is analyzed as well as the effect this had on the hotel’s operations hence transforming it into what it is today. Total quality management This is a strategy for continuous improvement of performance at every organizational level as well as all areas of responsibility. This involves a combination of fundamental management techniques, current improvement efforts as well as specialized technical tools under a disciplined structure that focuses on continuous improvement of all processes in the organization. Total quality improvement achieves any broad goals including cost, schedule, quality as well as mission need and suitability. The overall goal of Total quality improvement however is that of improving customer satisfaction (Foster, 2004) . In order for a TQM change process to be successful and hence achieve its objectives, it is worth noting the following; i) Quality is defined by customer requirements ii) The organization’s total management will have direct responsibility for quality improvement iii) The increased quality will result from systematic analysis and hence improvement of work processes iv) TQM is a continuous effort carried throughout the organization Compare and contrast traditional management styles Traditional management styles could be compared to a military style kind of management. In other words, they were very hierarchical, disciplined and organized. They were kind of I am the boss, what I tell you you do, no questions kind of management that strictly followed a direct chain of command. In this regard, the management’s ability was derived from the power of position and this did not call for much application of any soft skills if any. In addition, traditional management focused on internal activities while quality only had a meaning that was internally defined. In this regard, services or products provided by the organization were assumed to be of good quality only when the organization has done its best in producing the good or service. However, this is unlike total quality management whose main focus is the customer and the ultimate decider of quality is the customer. In traditional management, fitting into customer requirement was not considered a major requirement but delighting them was. In traditional management, bad quality products were thought to be due to workers failing to do their job correctly. However, TQM assigns the responsibility of quality improvement on senior management. There was no team work in traditional management. However, as stated above, total quality management is an organization wide movement that calls for unity in the organization in ensuring continuous quality improvement. Team building including cross functional teas is a feature of total quality management with the teams providing necessary momentum to the implementation process hence propelling the system forward with little resistance. While traditional management was anchored on quality checking, TQM focuses on qualityassurance with quality being inbuilt into the system. This ensures that products and services are assured to be in good quality and this applies such decisions as narrowing down the supplier base in a bid to improve on quality.Unlike traditional management styles, TQM makes decision on facts and figures hence identifying problems correctly hence solutions are well planned. TQM is about cyclic thinking and continuous with improvements being small, stable and continuous in nature (Kaizen) and the events are used in team building, brainstorming and decision making. Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant is today one of the best places to be in Sydney owing to its top quality foods as well as services. However, this has not always been the cases. Initially, the hotel was at the verge of closure owing to the poor quality of food it offered as well as poor quality of services which so the customer numbers decline gradually. Customers used to complain of the bad language used by the waiters, sometimes food used to be burnt or overcooked and the food did not taste good at all. In addition, the hotels room services were not good either. Guests used to complain of the bad quality of guest reception, slippery floors, no lights in some rooms as well as poor quality of beddings and bathroom items provided in the hotel. After a few years, the guest numbers at the hotel had gradually declined such that the hotel was only serving half its capacity (Jared, 2011). This worried not just the management but also the employees who were worried about their job security as well as shareholders and investors who were worried about the returns on their investments. Surely, something had to be done in a bid to salvage the hotel from going under. Total quality management at Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant The hotels management decided to do something to salvage the hotel’s future. This started with a series of meetings which mainly involved top management with the aim of revealing what was ailing the hotel. A number of organizations wide brainstorming sessions were carried out in order to get employees input. As a result of the meetings, the management decided to introduce suggestion/ complaints boxes in strategic places within the hotel with an aim of discovering what the hotel was not doing right from the customer’s point of view. According to the management, the customers were the best placed to initiate the so much desired change since they were the recipients of the services that the hotel offered. The management also thoroughly studied its operations including its organizational structure with an aim of discovering what it was doing wrong. As a result of the above efforts, the management discovered thatits service offerings to the customers were wanting. The food the hotel offered to the guests was also found to be of poor quality sometimes. A research conducted by the management also revealed that the hotel had also been left behind by other hotels in introducing new services hence the reason the customer numbers were declining. For instance, a number of local hotels provided superior quality music as well as free internet services in their rooms but this were lacking in Fine Dining Hotel and Restaurant. It was also discovered that past efforts to bring about change in quality at the hotel were all short-lived and the hotel had been suffering periodic declines in customer numbers after every few years. As such, there was need for a change that would be continuous in a bid to maintain customer numbers at all times. In this regard, it was decided that everyone in the organization including the customers unlike in the past when change was being mainly left to the employees. In addition, everything in the organization’s process had to change from the time the customer checks in or books the hotel to the time he/she leaves the hotel (Hussein, 2010). For instance, all the reception staff as well as waiters had to be retrained on how to handle guests. A new department on customer service and public relations was created with the sole purpose of addressing customers concerns on a day to day basis. The Hotel also made changes in its organizational structure and work flow schedules in a bid to ensure that the quality improvement process remains continuous for the benefit of the customers. In this regard, the post of chief chef was introduced. He was charged with the responsibility of ensuring that guests are served with high quality food while waiters followed a specific code of conduct. The hotel also created a quality assurance department charged with the sole responsibility of ensuring the quality improvement process remains continuous while identifying areas of improvement on a daily basis. In addition, this department would come up with quality standards and ensure these are in line with customers need and are followed throughout the organization at all times (Johansen, 2008). Finally, new management systems were put in place in a bid to improve on customer’s convenience. For instance, new cashier and accounting systems were procured while all the other processes were made easier for the customer. As a result of the above changes, the hotel has become one of the best hotels in Sydney and has in fact enlarged its capacity by opening branches in other cities in Australia. Due to everyone always being alert on areas that need change within the hotel, the hotel is always the first to introduce changes that are beneficial to the customers. According to one of the hotel’s employees, the hotel leads while others follow. This is an example of how total quality management that is driven by the top management and which is geared towards meeting the customers’ needs for quality can change an organization’s fortunes. Conclusion As stated above, organizations should strive to meet customers’ needs at all times if they are to be successful in achieving their goals of profitability. Given that customers’ needs continually change, the quality improvement in organizations needs to be continuous. Otherwise success resulting from non-continuous change will also be short-lived. As such total quality management as has been seen in Fine Dining Hotels and Restaurant should be a continuous process. In addition, such process should involve all the organizational stakeholders if it is to be successful and should be led by the organization’s top management. In addition, total quality management should be primarily geared towards improving the quality of the organization’s offering to its customers as has been observed in the hotel. The implementation of total quality management has been the reason behind the success of the hotel as well as its recovery from the verge of collapse. In conclusion, total quality management brings about the overall organizational success by focusing on satisfaction of the ever-changing customers’ needs on a continuous basis as opposed to the other traditional management techniques. References: Delora, M2000, Total quality management: Origins and evolution, The TQM magazine, Vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 378-384. Foster, T2004, Managing quality: An integrated approach, London, Rutledge. Jared, B2011, Principles of marketing, New York, Tailor & Francis. Hussein, B2010, Management science, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Johansen, B2008, Contemporary issues in management, London, Prentice Hall. Read More