Managing Hospitality Experience - Assignment Example

Running header: Multi-task Project Student’s name: Name of institution: Instructor’s name: Course code: Date of submission: Multi-task Project Question 1: Explain what is meant by the post-modern view that the provision of hospitality is essentially about providing an experience? Give two examples to illustrate your answer. (5 marks) The economy of today has been described as very experiential. It therefore necessitates the creation of memorable and powerful personal experiences for customers and guests to be satisfied so that they can feel the need to return (Erickson 2004). The Merriam­-Webster dictionary defines an experience as “something personally encountered, undergone, or lived through”. In the customers does not entirely focus on service and facilities. It entails creating unforgettable events that customers will go through or encounter personally. Hospitality is essentially about providing experiences and not service as it used to be thought in the past. Experiences in hospitality are all about creating meaningful relationships between guests and hosts (Hemmington 2007). One example of creating an experience and not merely providing a service is ensuring that customers do not simply buy food and drinks. They should be provided with unforgettable meal experiences that are full of surprises that will get them to come back. Another example is providing guests with personal events that will add value to their lives by ensuring that the staff behave like hosts and that they turn simple things such as a heritage into an unforgettable event or a museum visit into a stimulating adventure (O'Connor 2005). Question 2: Explain, using examples, why hospitality is considered to be reciprocal in nature. (5 marks) Hospitality is considered to be reciprocal in nature because in the hospitality sector, hosts should give guests the experiences that are worth the money that has been paid by the guests. Hospitality should compensate guests by ensuring that the get value for their money. The reciprocal nature of hospitality is brought out by the fact that the guest and the host are inevitably linked (Hobbs 2001). They mutually depend on each other. For example, the guest is expected to submit to the authority of the host, accept and respect what has been offered. The host is expected to protect the interests of the guest by providing security and experiences that the host will not forget (O’Gorman 2005). Hospitality is also reciprocal in nature because hosts will prepare a variety of experiences that are intended to be offered to guests. The guests will seek these experiences that are on offer with the aim unforgettable times and experiences. The hosts need the guests and the guests need the hosts because it is a give and take situation. No party benefits from the other unfairly. For example, the guest will pay money and the host will provide experiences for the guest (Löfgren 2008). Question 3: Discuss whether women’s role in providing hospitality in contemporary hospitality settings can have an ambiguous nature due to its historical links with sex and prostitution in some societies. (6 marks) In the contemporary hospitality industry, a lot of women are employed at different capacities. Most of the positions that they are given are the lower level jobs such as receptionists, waitresses and room attendants. Women have suffered from issues such as sexual harassment within the industry ever since they began working in it. An ambiguous nature in the hospitality industry may refer to guests not being sure what services are offered and what prices are paid for them. An example is when one pays for accommodation, does the amount of money paid allow him to behave in a sexually inappropriate way with the females who provide room service. This is the ambiguity that the role of women in providing hospitality is faced with. Historically, sexual provision has been perceived as part of the service expected from the women in the hospitality sector. Women servers have therefore experienced sexually harassment and social stigma and they still continue to do so due to the ambiguity of their roles within the sector (O’Gorman 2005). The role of women in the hospitality sector should not be ambiguously linked to sex unless otherwise stated. Women should be respected for the roles that they have been assigned and should only be expected to carry out professional duties that are in line with the requirements of their job description. Sex is not one of them. The historical misconception that females within the hospitality industry may provide sexual services to guests has led females within the sector to undergo a lot of suffering in the form of sexual harassment and abuses, even in contemporary times. The concept of the bedroom within bars and restaurants is also creating an illusion that women servers are there to provide sexual services to customers. This can create ambiguity about the role of women in the industry. Contemporary services such as the body sushi meals provided in certain restaurants whereby guests eat their meals from the body of a nearly naked woman have also created ambiguity in the role of women in the industry (Mcllwain & Mitler 2005). The contemporary hospitality industry uses the sexual appeal of women in a number of ways as a selling point. This can confuse many guests about the nature of services being offered and what services they should get for the prices they have paid. That is why some guests are known to perceive women servers as being willing to provide sexual services so as to promote the hospitality services further (Van Gennep 2004). Question 4: In Topic 4 it is argued that the “commodification of hospitality creates a natural tension between hosts/servers and guests in terms of consumption”. What are the arguments for and against this statement? (6 marks) Commodification of services refers to the making of services to appear like commodities that ought to be consumed only in measured amounts. When hospitality is commodified, services are simply given as mere commodities that have been paid for by the customers and are only being offered for that reason, and not to create unforgettable experiences (Mcllwain & Mitler 2005). Commodification has been known to create tension between hosts and guests in terms of consumption. Some of the arguments for this include one that advocates for the provision of easily identifiable products and services such as food and drink and accommodation. This will definitely amount to commodification and is likely to brig conflicts between the hosts and the guests. This is because guests today expect value for their money. They expect to be given unforgettable experiences and not mere simple services (Löfgren 2008). Some of the arguments against this come from the hosts themselves. Some hosts expect that guests should accept and appreciate what has been offered to them and should not demand for more from the host (O'Connor 2005). The hosts believe that what they provide is enough and they should not be asked for more unless they are compensated for it. This has also caused a lot of tension between the hosts and the guests who seem to expect much more from each other (O’Gorman 2005). Question 5: Explain what is meant by the statement that ‘consumption of food is related to identity’? Give two examples to illustrate your answer. (4 marks) Consumption of food is related to identity in the sense that different foods originate from different parts of the world. These foods are therefore associated with people who come from these regions that the foods originate from. If people come from a certain region that is synonymous for a certain type of food, then that food is commonly taken as their identity. It represents them and their cultures. For example, when selling Chinese food, a restaurant can also sell the cultures that are associated with Chinese foods so that the customers can get a real Chinese experience. For example, the foods can be served in a Chinese setting, with Chinese cutlery and crockery and Chinese hospitality. Another example is the manner in which a particular group of people consume their food. For example, Islamic men are known to sit on the floor and eat together, regardless of their social status. This is their unique identity. The way they consume their food can be used to identify them uniquely. This will uniquely identify the food as being Chinese because it is accompanied by Chinese cultures. Another example is people from a certain regions consuming food originating from their region (Mcllwain & Mitler 2005). Question 6: What did Jack Carlzon mean when he coined the phrase ‘moments of truth’? (3 marks) Carlzon simply meant that customers now understand the essence of value based on the experiences that they receive. He was talking about new strategies that can be used in the customer driven economies of today. The moment of truth is when he turned three Scandinavian airline businesses around after appreciating the value of the customer to any business. He meant that focusing on leadership and customer service so as to empower the frontline who deal with customers to ensure that they deliver very strong moments of truth by providing unforgettable customer experiences that will make them come back (O'Connor 2005). Question 7: Describe the different types of performative labour introduced in topic 7 and provide an example of each. (5 marks) The first type of performative labour is recognition labour. This entails providing care and customization so as to personalize the experience of a guest in a hotel for example. This requires that the individual selfhood of the guests is recognized by the hosts by expressing genuine interest in their personality and legitimizing, anticipating and responding to their needs immediately. An example of this entails knowing the names of the guests, their children or pets (Hobbs 2001). Aesthetic labour involves a supply of attributes and capacities that are possessed by workers as they enter employment. It involves making employees to appear to have attributes such as being warm, polite, hospitable, professional, confident, attentive and friendly. An example is when receptionists conduct phone conversations in a smiley mood (Hemmington 2007). Emotional labour involves managing ones feelings so as to create a publicly observable bodily and facial display. An example is when servers pretend to feel certain strong emotions by displaying appropriate outward gestures (Löfgren 2008). They therefore serve the guests by pretending that they understand their situation and have gone through it at some point in their lives. Physical labour has been described as the actual use of servers’ bodies to provide services. It is experienced when servers are involved in spontaneous, repetitive, enticing and energetic movements of their bodies when providing services. Examples include all the physical activities that servers are involved in such as serving the guests physically by bringing them food and drink and providing room service among other physical activities (Erickson 2004). Question 8: Discuss using an example whether Hofstede’s values of cultural variability is useful in explaining how the etiquette of eating in one culture may be different or similar from another (e.g. how Chinese food is served at a restaurant in comparison to a Western meal) (5 marks) The hospitality industry experiences a lot of people from diverse cultures. It is therefore important to be aware of these cultural differences so as to be able to understand how different cultures can be accommodated in the hospitality industry. It is important for all players in the hospitality industry to be inter-culturally sensitive so that they can serve the clients well. For example, Hofstede notes that in Sri Lankan culture, the head of the family is served first. This should therefore be taken into consideration when serving clients from such a culture. It is important for the servers to therefore understand the importance of providing the clients with services in accordance to their cultures. Another example is the Chinese culture where families sit around one table and eat together, sharing dishes and food. This is because their culture is highly collective. This should be taken into consideration when serving them food because that is one way of understanding their eating etiquette. Islamic men on the other hand are known to sit on the floor and eat together, regardless of their social status. This shows that they are low power distanced. All these cultural differences should be taken into consideration when serving customers (Hobbs 2001). References Erickson, K 2004, ‘Bodies at work: Performing service in American restaurants’, Space and Culture, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 76-89. Hemmington, N 2007, ‘From service to experience; understanding and defining hospitality business’, The Service Industries Journal, vol. 27, no. 6, pp. 1-19. Hobbs, T 2001, ‘Hospitality in the First Testament and the ‘Teleological Fallacy’’, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 3-30. Löfgren, O 2008, "The secret lives of tourists: delays, disappointments and daydreams." Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 85-101. Mcllwain, C, & Mitler, C 2005, Cross-cultural communication: how culture affects communication, Insight Media (distributor), New York. O’Gorman, K 2005, ‘Modern Hospitality: Lessons from the Past’, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 141-151. O'Connor, D 2005, ‘Towards a new interpretation of hospitality’, International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 267-271. Van Gennep, A 2004, The rites of passage, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London. Read More