Management in Hilton Hotels - Assignment Example

?Business Report in Hilton Hotels Table of Contents 0 Introduction 3 1 The Competing Values Framework 4 2.0 The Organisation 6 2 Overview of the Organisation 6 2.2 Critical Analysis of the Organisation 6 3.0 The Challenge and Its Impact upon the Organisation 8 3.1 Description of the Challenge 8 3.2 Impact of Challenges 9 4.0 Recommendations 10 5.0 Conclusion 11 6.0 References 13 1.0 Introduction The most significant human activity is to manage things in a right and coherent manner. It has been evident that since the time human being began to form social organisation in order to accomplish their aims and objectives, they could not accomplish this task as an individual. Managing has been important in order to ensure coordination of individual efforts. With the increasing reliability upon the group effort by the society and the increment in the organised groups, it has been found that the task of the managers has been increasing in importance and complexity. Since then the management theory has underpinned the way managers manage complex organisation. Therefore, it can be said that management is the process of designing and upholding the environment where the individual who are working collectively in groups efficiently accomplish their aims. There are various objectives of the management. One of them is to ensure that the organisational goals and targets are being met in the lowest possible cost and without any kind of wastage. There are primarily five management functions. They are ‘planning, organising, staffing, leading and controlling’. There are various management theories such as the scientific management school, the management science school, the classical organisational theory school, the behavioural school, and the recent development in management theory such as systems approach, team building theory contingency or situational theory and chaos theory. The contingency or situational theory is linked to the Hilton hotels as the main challenge for the hotel is to take its hotels to a greater height and expand its operation in international markets. It needs to beat the growing competition that are providing better facilities and hence are increasing their efficiencies in the service industry. There is a close link between the challenge of Hiltons and the contingency theory. The situational or the contingency theory tries to explain that whenever the decision is taken by the management they must take into consideration all the aspects of the current situation and must instantly act upon those aspects that are important to the situation (Olum, 2004). 1.1 The Competing Values Framework The framework evolved out of the research in order to determine the key factors of the organisational effectiveness. The theory was processed by Quinn and Rohrbaugh in the year 1983. There are two sets of dimension comprising four major quadrants that represent opposite and competing assumptions. The first set of dimension ranges from flexibility and discretion on one hand to stability and control on the other hand. The second dimension consists of internal focus and integration to external focus and differentiation. According to Quinn and Cameron, the quadrant has been labelled as Clan, Adhocracy, Hierarchy and Market cultures. The clan culture is similar to an extended family. This type of organisation focuses upon the employee involvement, empowerment, cohesion, participation, team work, corporate commitment to the employees and self managed teams. The adhocracy culture focuses on the dynamic, creative and entrepreneurial organisation. These kinds of organisations thrive in an ambiguous, turbulent and uncertain environment. In case of hierarchy culture, it is assumed to be a formalised and structured bureaucracy. It values reliability, predictability, efficiency and standardisation. The market culture is goal oriented and intensely competitive. It tries to put more emphasis upon the market share, profitability, penetration, productivity and wining (Lincoln, 2010). Source: (East Carolina University, n.d.). However, Hilton Worldwide falls in the third quadrant of the Competing Values Framework, which has been demonstrated above. The main challenge for the company is to increase its market share and expand its business in both domestic and international market. The company can be characterised as market oriented. 2.0 The Organisation 2.1 Overview of the Organisation Hilton Worldwide offers the travellers the best accommodation, value and services. It was in the year 1919, in Cisco Conrad Hilton bought his first hotel. After that the hotel has been expanded geographically and various facilities have been introduced in order to enhance the experiences of the guest. The hotel has been successful in becoming a leading global hospitality company, spanning the lodging sector from hotels and resorts to extended stay suites and mid priced hotels (Hilton Worldwide, 2010). There are around 530 resorts and hotels that are located across 76 countries in six continents. Among its industry, it was Hilton who had first developed the idea of franchising hotels and launched its first airport hotels as well as initiated first multi-hotel reservation system. It was successful in becoming the first U.S. coast-to-coast hotel chains. The team members of Hilton are part of the global family helping to enhance the journey of the travellers every day (Hilton Hotels and Resorts, 2011). 2.2 Critical Analysis of the Organisation According to the contingency theories HRM strategies need to be merged with explicit business competitive strategies in order to enhance the organisational performance. It has been known that human resources play a vital role in the Hilton hotels to achieve the goals of the organisation. The concept of fit denotes a close linkage of the HRM strategies and the business strategies in such a way that will help the organisation to retain and motivate its employees (Huang, 2001). According to the contingency or situational theory, whenever the managers make any decision they need to consider all the aspects of the current situation and act accordingly. The views of Pennings state that there are three elements of an organisation that are important, i.e. structure, technology and environment. The contingency theory aims at aligning the organisational structure with the nature of technology of the organisation work and the environment in which it operates. The companies operations seem to be somewhat related to contingency theory. It has been evident that the group of Hiltons represents more than just the day-to-day operation of quality hotel assets. In order to align the organisational structure with the environment it is imperative for any company to keep developing strategies in order to cope up with the change and serve its customers well. Hilton seems to have recognised its responsibilities towards its stakeholders and environment where it operates. It is trying its best to improve its social as well as environmental performance. It tries to maintain transparency with its stakeholders by continuous disclosure of the company’s activities and performances in order to demonstrate its commitment to be a responsible hospitality company. It plans to keep investing resources and time in order to sustain its responsibility activities and initiatives. Its objective is to lead the industry with such kind of programs and products that will deliver both great experience and protect the world where everyone lives (Hilton Worldwide, 2010). It is also trying to work towards an ecologically and socially sustainable society with the aim to incorporate these activities into the company’s functions. It was evident that in the year 2010, Hilton Worldwide, which is the leading global hospitality company and Tata Consultancy Service, which is a leading IT service consulting and business firm announced to have a multi-year agreement in order to help accelerate and augment the technology strategy of Hilton Worldwide. The company’s goal has been to continue its strong history of innovation by working with the best technology leaders. It can be stated that by integrating itself with the technological leaders will helps them to stay strategically and competitively ahead of its competitors (MSN, 2010). By integrating with TCS, the company is able to free its workforce in order that they can concentrate to renovate the hospitality sector (MSN, 2010). The company launched its new corporate name and logo. The name itself signifies the company’s global breath and reach and reflects the rich heritage, its vision for the future and its commitment to render excellent service. The company’s new name and logo communicates how Hilton conducts business and how it plans to gain company goals (Mclean, 2009). 3.0 The Challenge and Its Impact upon the Organisation 3.1 Description of the Challenge The Hilton Group is well recognised as one of the leaders in the hotel, gaming and hospitality industries. It has also expanded its operation such as ownership of the companies that manufactures its furniture. The Group has also invested in various online reservation travel enterprises. Despite the company’s strength and strong position in the industry, it poses threats and weaknesses. It has been anticipated that the company may face workers strike and other relevant disruption in its operation because of the political and legal disruptions. However, the main challenge for the company is to increase its market share and expand its operation in both domestic and global markets. With these the other biggest challenge is to maintain strong balance sheet. Since there are opportunities for the company to take advantages of the emerging markets along with the business class and mid priced markets, therefore the company needs to devise a strategy to take advantage of these opportunities and take them as a challenge. 3.2 Impact of Challenges The attractiveness of the market share position varies according to the market structure and nature of competition. At times, the decision to increase the market share can be quite valuable for the companies in the long run. However, at times it becomes too important to disinvest or to reduce the market share with the short term goal of increasing the profits (Catry & Chevalier, 1996). However, the challenge of increasing market share tends to have a positive impact upon the industry. It will help in increasing the overall profitability of the organisation as the hotel industry seems to be highly competitive and in order to beat the competition Hilton needs to shape its strategies accordingly. The overall sales are also expected to increase with the increased market share. Challenges provide opportunities to the companies to grow and develop with the aim to withstand any kind of tough situations. An organisation if are able to overcome the challenges that persists then it can build confidence among the stakeholders and the company itself to take even the below par performing companies to greater heights. If Hilton doesn’t takes into consideration the challenges that lie ahead, then it will never be able to beat the competition which will in turn reduce its position in the market. The rivals may establish themselves in those emerging markets where there are chances of growth if Hilton doesn’t take any action towards the upcoming challenges. It is the cornerstone of success for the organisations. 4.0 Recommendations In light of the challenges that the company face, it can be recommended that the company focuses on the kind of technology it is using and the requirement of organisation according to the changing time period. It needs to keep itself updated with all the modern technologies and put more emphasis upon the R&D in order to understand the trends in the hotel industry. For expanding its operation, it needs to have a proper knowledge about the country in which it decides to open its branches. PESTEL analysis would help in this regard. According to the contingency theory there must be good fit between their structure and condition in the external environment. Since the business environment is quite uncertain, there is transition in the ways the companies operate their business. This is obvious and most vital as changes will occur. However, the companies need to cope up with the changes and need to structure its organisation in that way (Daft, 2009). The company in order to expand its operation should also focus on the place strategy other than the product, pricing and promotional strategies. The management of Hilton needs to provide proper training to its staffs in order to motivate them to work well and help in the accomplishment of the overall goals of Hilton. Service-Profit-Chain framework can be recommended for Hilton in order to understand the relation between the service and profit in a better way. It takes into account both the customers and the employees perspectives and demonstrates the cycle of how motivated and satisfied employees may serve their customers well and may help to increase the overall profitability. 5.0 Conclusion Management is the process of getting things done by people who operate in the organised groups. There are multifarious functions and objectives of the management such as planning, staffing, controlling, organising and directing. There are various theories of management that help in understanding how the companies need to structure themselves in an attempt to meet the needs of the changing and unanticipated demands of the organisation. Among the various theories of management, contingency theory has been chosen because Hilton’s challenges match with the theory. Hilton has been one of the leaders in the hotel industry. It has spread its operation in various geographic regions of the world. However, it wants to expand its operation in both domestic and international markets. Therefore, it needs to focus on its existing organisational structure and try to identify its lacuna in order to overcome the weaknesses. Competing values framework is one of the important tools for determining the organisational effectiveness. Among the four dimensions in the grid, Hilton comes under the market oriented grid that lies in the third quadrant of the framework. The contingency theories suggest that HRM strategies need to be combined with specific business competitive strategies in order to stimulate the organisational performance. The human resource of Hilton plays an imperative role in the success of the organisation. However, in light of the changes that take place in the organisation, they need to be trained and motivated via various means with the aim to perform well. Introduction of Service-Profit chain has been recommended to achieve the goals and overcome its weaknesses. 6.0 References Catry, B. & Chevalier, M., 1996. Market Share Strategy and the Product Life Cycle. JSTOR. [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/pss/1250388 [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Daft, R. L., 2009. Organisational Theory and Design. Cengage Learning. East Carolina University, No Date. Flexibility and Discretion. Competing Values Framework. [Online] Available at: http://www.google.co.in/imgres?imgurl=http://www.bibliomining.com/nicholson/images/ltrendka_img_0.jpg&imgrefurl=http://digital.lib.ecu.edu/collaboratory/%3Fp%3D337&usg=__eX1IyOhaIry0fg9QyICwNARgkQA=&h=364&w=663&sz=68&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=OuHoInqFSozjyM:&tbnh=83&tbnw=152&ei=yfAvTbrKGcbIrQfyvb3BCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcompeting%2Bvalues%2Bframework%2Bimages%2Bsite:edu%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D710%26bih%3D369%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=93&vpy=83&dur=6445&hovh=166&hovw=303&tx=148&ty=83&oei=yfAvTbrKGcbIrQfyvb3BCA&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=8&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0 [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Hilton Worldwide, 2010. About Us. Hilton Worldwide. [Online] Available at: http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/aboutus/index.htm [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Hilton Worldwide, 2010. About Us. Sustainability. [Online] Available at: http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/aboutus/sustainability.htm [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Lincoln, S., 2010. ‘From the Individual to the World: How the Competing Values Framework Can Help Organizations Improve Global Strategic Performance’, Emerging Leadership Journeys, Vol: 3, Iss: 1, Pp. 3-9. MSN, 2010. Hilton Worldwide Signs Multi-Year Agreement with Tata Consultancy Services. News Center. [Online] Available at: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/news/article.aspx?feed=PR&Date=20101221&ID=12532346&topic=TOPIC_LICENSING_MARKETING_AGREEMENTS&isub=1 [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Mclean, V., 2009. Hilton Worldwide Launches New Corporate Identity. Hilton Worldwide. [Online] Available at: http://www.hiltonworldwide.com/landing/ww_announcement.htm [Accessed January 14, 2011]. MSN, 2010. Hilton Worldwide and Accenture Announce Multi-Year Technology Services Agreement. News Center. [Online] Available at: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/news/article.aspx?Feed=BW&Date=20101214&ID=12508970&Symbol=US:ACN [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Olum, Y., 2004. Modern Management Theories and Practices. Introduction. [Online] Available at: http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/AAPAM/UNPAN025765.pdf [Accessed January 14, 2011]. Read More