The Contemporary Hospitality Industry - Assignment Example

The Contemporary Hospitality Industry Table of Contents Task A. Research Report describing the Hospitality Industry 3 a)The Structure of the Hospitality Industry 3 b)Review of the Organisations and Professional Bodies in the Hospitality Industry 5 c)Evaluation of the Staffing Structure and their Responsibilities in the Hospitality Industry 7 d)Analysis of the Current Image of the Hospitality Industry 11 Task B. Review of Recent Development 15 a)Variety of Issues Affecting Hospitality Industry 15 b)Justification and Analysis of the Future Trends of Hospitality Industry 17 References 20 Task A. Research Report describing the Hospitality Industry a) The Structure of the Hospitality Industry Scale Scope and Diversity of the Hospitality Industry The present structure of hospitality industry constitutes different sectors that can be characterised into three major segments such as private or commercial, public as well as voluntary or non-profit organisations. When assessing the scale of the hospitality industry, it can be observed that the sector has accomplished a momentous growth of strengthening its capital market over the past few decades. Owing to its consistent and rapid growth, the hospitality industry is also known as a major contributor for Gross National Products (GNP) today where it has been observed to play a pivotal role in encouraging regional developments along with employment opportunities. As per the recent economic performance of the industry, it has been observed that the core hospitality market has been estimated to earn an annual turnover of GBP 90 billion on an average, employing almost more than 2.4 millions of employers in its different business practices all over the world (British Hospitality Association, 2010). In relation to diversity, it can further be recognised that the hospitality industry of the present business world, has been inclined towards delivering increasingly heterogeneous services being influenced by the changing needs of people, globalisation effects and also due to the relocation or migration among different cultures. According to the present scenario, the increasing diversity within the hospitality workforce has been considered as one of its major strengths to satisfy the diverse needs of its customers (National College of Business Administration, 2009). 1.2 Organisational Structure of Different Hospitality Organisations Source: (National College of Business Administration, 2009) According to the recent transformation of the hospitality industry, it has been recognised that the structure of hospitality industry involves a range of commercial, public and voluntary organisations that principally involves food and catering services along with other housekeeping and maintenance facilities. It is worth mentioning in this context that the hospitality industry involves a range of business functions that incorporate fooding facilities and/or accommodation facilities (National College of Business Administration, 2009). b) Review of the Organisations and Professional Bodies in the Hospitality Industry Private or Commercial Hospitality Industry Private or commercial hospitality industry encompasses wide range of organisations engaged in the deliverance of multiple services including fooding and catering services, lodging facilities as well as travel and tourism sectors among others. According to the present scenario of the hospitality industry, it has been observed that a range of private or commercial sector outlets tend to offer fooding and catering services at relatively cheaper cost to a larger proportion of the local as well as tourist customers. These outlets mainly comprise fast-food centres, restaurants, cafés, pubs and bars among others which offer different services as per the expectations of their potential customers. In general, the fooding and catering service organisations are operated by small managerial groups or individuals in the global context. The fooding and catering services organisations also involve employees on a hierarchical structure including chefs, trainee chefs, head waiters/waitresses, fellow waiters/waitresses and other housekeeping workers. In the similar context, the accommodation service providers in the hospitality industry involve a range of business activities that are principally focused towards rendering accommodation or lodging facilities to the potential customers. These types of hospitality services tend to offer its accommodation services through the engagement of reservation teams, operational managers along with other supporting members such as waiters and housekeeping workers (National College of Business Administration, 2009). Professional Bodies The global hospitality industry incorporates varied professional bodies that are principally focused on offering extensive support and assistance to the organisations operating within the industry. Correspondingly, few of the major professional bodies and their roles have been mentioned hereunder. British Hospitality Association (BHA) British Hospitality Association (BHA) is often regarded as one of the major trade associations acting as a controlling body in the global hospitality industry. BHA is one of the leading representative professional bodies which deliver extensive support to the hotels, fast-food service providers as well as restaurant businesses in terms of capital, resources and also by directing their code of conducts to perform ethical operations (British Hospitality Association, 2013). Local Authorities Caterers Association (LACA) In the global realm of hospitality industry, the professional authority mainly tends to represent and develop the performances and initiatives of the members associated in the hospitality services industry. The association also involves representing School Food Industry and facilitating membership authority to various groups of marketers, service providers, consultants as well as different organisations belonging to the private sectors (LACA Ltd., 2011). Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) The Hospital Caterers Association (HCA) is regarded as another governing professional body which is highly focused on promoting and developing of the standards and principles of hospitals as well as healthcare establishments along with promoting healthy fooding services in other hospitality organisations. Through its operations, the association tends to support and provide healthcare catering services along with assist the hospitality industry players in developing provisions that concentrates on providing healthier catering services (Hospital Caterers Association, 2013). c) Evaluation of the Staffing Structure and their Responsibilities in the Hospitality Industry Being a labour intensive industry, the staffing structure in the hospitality sector is often stated to be a fundamental aspect which includes various management professionals and hierarchies who are being selected according to their skills and competencies. Contextually, the global employers in the industry tend to engage staff from different cultural and racial backgrounds. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the staffing requirements in different hospitality organisations differ according to the services and roles of the particular organisation. Again, in relation to the fooding and catering service providers such as restaurants, pubs and fast-food outlets may involve a limited workforce as per their requirements in terms of operational functions. In the similar context, the accommodation service providers such as hotels and tourism organisations, lobbies and other hospitality institutions involve diverse workforce in order to deliver its different types of services being influenced significantly by the globalisation effects. Contextually, the accommodation service providers generally incorporate operational managers, front office managers, supervisors and operative staff (Whitelaw & et. al., 2009). In general, the staffing structure of the hospitality industry incorporates managers, supervisors, craft staff and operative staff. Each division of staff involves different roles and responsibilities to provide a diverse range of hospitality services to their potential customers. Managers The personnel engaged with managerial functions in the hospitality sector, tend to involve different roles of running as well as managing the staff, their performances and the quality of services rendered by the organisation. These groups of professionals engage various responsibilities. Few of the major responsibilities of the managerial level employees in the hospitality sector are: Preparing workforce schedule Conducting employee training and development activities Monitoring and setting budgets as well as controlling expenditures Ensuring transparent and quality working procedures are followed by the supervisory employees Ensuring that employees are paid according to their wage structure Monitoring of services that are provided to the customers Complying with relevant legislations and adequate standards of the hospitality services Source: (Pearson Education Limited, 2010) Supervisors The responsibilities of employees recruited in the supervisory level of hospitality sector employees involve the primary role of following the decisions made by the managerial level professionals and monitoring the services rendered within the organisation are in accordance with the set standards. Few of the major roles and responsibilities of the supervisors in hospitality industry have been listed below. Identifying and satisfying customer requirements Receiving orders and delivering appropriate services at time Supervising operative staff concerning their roles and responsibilities Dealing with customers’ complaints Monitoring staff and ensuring that work procedures are followed efficiently Reporting appropriate records to the senior managerial individuals Source: (Pearson Education Limited, 2010) Craft Staff The craft staff represents the group of individuals who are trained to achieve adequate skills and competencies of providing hospitality services to the ultimate customers. These levels of employees are often regarded as the core assets of hospitality industry being responsible to obtain higher degree of customer satisfaction through their services. In this context, the chefs in the restaurants or fast-food outlets can be regarded as the craft staff, who are often bestowed with the responsibility to prepare innovative culinary items for the potential customers as per their tastes, preferences and demands. Moreover, the bar tenders who prepares drinks can also be regarded as the craft staff of the hospitality organisations engaged in serving the customers and thereby ensuring their satisfaction (Pearson Education Limited, 2010). Operative Staff The operative staff are the major group of employees who are directly involved with performing operational functions within the organisation. The major responsibility of the operative workforce is to perform daily tasks, as per their schedules and to ensure that the organisational functions are performed smoothly, which is essential in preserving employee satisfaction motivating them towards rendering better quality services to the customers. The major responsibilities of the operating staff in different hospitality organisations have been provided hereunder: Waiting Staff – Serving foods and/or drinks to the customers Reception Staff – Maintaining and providing adequate support to the customers Reservation Staff – Receiving orders and making reservations for the customers Housekeeping Staff – Maintaining and cleaning rooms which can attract the customers Sources: (Pearson Education Limited, 2010) d) Analysis of the Current Image of the Hospitality Industry According to the present day context, the hospitality industry can be considered as one of the rapidly transformed segments as compared to other business areas. With regards to its recent developments, the industry has been observed to provide an effective support to various nations acting as a major source of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and employment option. The current image of the global hospitality industry can be identified as one of the emerging business sectors which has enabled many global marketers to achieve a sustainable and competitive position in the international realm. Contextually, effective technology strategies, operational standards as well as implementation of advanced service facilities rendered by the global hospitality organisations are the few crucial factors which have contributed towards its continuous growth over the past few decades. It is in this regard that by encouraging its customers to travel and experience diver cultures, the global hospitality industry has not only facilitated the pace of global diversity, but has also increased the significance of innovation in various business sectors (Cornell University of Hotel Administration, 2012). Notably, the emerging trends in the hospitality industry can be categorised into different sections. Few of the major strategies and implementations of the modern hospitality organisations have been discussed below. Customer Relation and Satisfaction Strategy According to the developmental concerns of the global hospitality service and facility providers, strategies focusing on customer relation and their satisfaction are primarily concentrated on preserving and continuously improving the service quality along with maintaining a higher degree of employee satisfaction. It is believed in this regard that highly satisfied and loyal employees shall render greater productivity towards obtaining the organisational goals and therefore assist in attaining the benefits of customer satisfaction. Correspondingly, building a strong customer relation also facilitates the modern hospitality organisations to achieve competitive advantages through better customer and employee engagement which enables these market players to satisfy the desires and expectations of the buyers with greater efficiency and thus achieve a sustainable position in the increasingly competitive global environment (EYGM Limited, 2012). Diversity Management Strategy Managing diversity within workplace is considered as one of the major strategies, which has been recently implemented by the modern hospitality organisations. According to the present day context, an effective diversity management strategy facilitates the hospitality organisations to attain a larger group of global customers deciphering distinct tastes and preferences in an efficient manner. Moreover, the strategy has also been observed as quite effective for the global hospitality organisations to enhance their performances. Managing workforce diversity in the hospitality industry further enables the organisations to achieve competitive advantages through engaging employees from different cultural backgrounds which is also observed to be a recent trend in the hospitality industry (EYGM Limited, 2012). Integration of E-Commerce The inclusion of technological advancements in the business process can further be considered as a crucial strategy often implemented by the modern hospitality organisations. Contextually, it can be observed that the integration of e-commerce has been facilitating the organisations to easily connect with their potential customers located in different regions around the world. The strategy has also proved effective for the organisations to enhance their performances in terms of building stronger customer relationship by conducting e-reservation facilities. Moreover, using social media can also be observed as a common strategy used by the modern hospitality service providers which has facilitated them in strengthening their market presence through effective branding and likewise engaging a larger number of potential customers across the different global regions (Cornell University of Hotel Administration, 2012). Task B. Review of Recent Development a) Variety of Issues Affecting Hospitality Industry Concentrating on the recent performances of the global hospitality industry, it can be observed that the market players in this particular sector have been successful in achieving a promising growth and extensive development in various disciplines progressing towards a more complex and all-inclusive managerial approach. It has been majorly due to this reason that the industry has demonstrated ample number of business strategies which has further enabled the industry to attain a substantial growth. However, these implemented strategies are also not without its challenges which have apparently given rise to certain issues concerning operational, managerial as well as legislative functions performed by the modern hospitality organisations. Operational Issues Operational issues in the global hospitality industry can be considered as one of the major and commonly witnessed challenges which not only hinder the smooth progress of these organisations but also tend to limit the industrial contribution to economic growth prospects. The operational issues in the respective industry can be identified in three major areas such as shortage of potential labours, cost containment as well as increasing competition. Shortage of skilled labour as well as shortage of adequate resources has often been categorised as one of the major causes for operational issues witnessed by the hospitality organisations. It is worth mentioning in this regard that the labour shortage issues witnessed by the hospitality industry frequently occur due to the inadequate human resource policies, insufficient wage structures as well as inflexible working hours causing employee dissatisfaction which in turn hinders the organisational efficiency to render quality services and therefore obtain customer satisfaction by a large extent (Jin-zhao & Jing, 2009). Managerial Issues In the similar context, managerial issue within the hospitality industry is also regarded as a major challenging factor in its recent performances. The global hospitality service providers affected by ineffective measures of retaining employees as well as improper management within the organisational functions to inculcate innovation can be identified as a major contributor to managerial issues witnessed by these companies. Moreover, the increasing complaints of employee harassment as well as ineffective working schedules have further caused major sustainability concerns that can be observed in the present trends of hospitality industry. It can also be observed in this regard that the centralised decision-making structure still followed in small and medium sized hospitality organisations tend to hinder employee satisfaction as it restricts employee engagement as well as innovation, causing higher attrition rates along with expanding gap between the services rendered and the customer preferences (Crowell & Moring LLP., n.d.). Legislative Issues According to the present business scenario, the hospitality service providers are frequently involved in different legislative issues which are mostly concerned with employee treatment or environmental hazards. To be specific, the legislative issues concerning fair wages, equal employment rights along with various environmental concerns have been the major affecting factors that can be witnessed in the recent performance of hospitality organisations. Moreover, the industry had also faced different challenges of policy violation practices in term of providing quality based healthy services to its potential customers and transparency in conducting the various hospitality services (Barth, 2008). b) Justification and Analysis of the Future Trends of Hospitality Industry Present Justified Predictions for Potential Trends in Hospitality The rapid growth and transformational changes in the present hospitality services can be observed as principally aimed towards achieving continuous development in its future performances. For instance, the hospitality organisations often tend to deliver higher degree of quality assurance and value of their services by incorporating different development strategies. With this concern, the extensive integration of technological advancements can be considered as the major contributing factor in terms of enhancing the quality as well as value of the hospitality services. It is in this context that the adequate usage of technological equipments in the hospitality services can be identified as one of the emerging trends, which has substantially enabled the organisations to identify the needs and desires of the global customers more effectively and thus, gain improvements in reducing the gap between customer preferences and services delivered. According to the present trend of the organisations in hospitality industry, it can be observed that the use of social media has been a major supportive element which has perpetually facilitated the organisations to promote their diverse range of services across a larger group of potential customers and also in building stronger customer relationship to satisfy the need of sustainable growth (Jin-zhao & Jing, 2009). Moreover, the rapid development in the vacation ownership has been observed as a major trend of the present hospitality services. The organisations in this industry are likely to empower brand position by conducting different marketing and promotional strategies in the global market. It is in this context that the hospitality organisations have been integrating brand promotion activities through the effective incorporation of different marketing strategies which has in turn facilitated the industry towards satisfying a larger group of potential customers for their exceptional services. In addition, the strategy of global expansion of the business units can also be regarded as a major trend of the multinational hospitality services providers. To be illustrated, Marriott Vacation Club, Disney Vacation Club, Hilton Hotels and Hyatt Hotels among others are the few major global hospitality service providers which can be observed to be increasingly inclined towards implementing expansion strategy with the aim of obtaining better competitive advantages in terms of larger market share, enhanced brand recognition, augment brand value and facilitated customer base (Jin-zhao & Jing, 2009). Impact of the Predicted Trends and Developments in the Hospitality Industry Based on the above discussion, it can be apparently observed that the present trend of the hospitality industry is highly focused on three major areas, i.e. technological involvement, brand promotion as well as continuous expansion of the business units. These trends have further been observed to impose significant consequences which can strongly influence the sustainability of global hospitality organisations. For instance, technological advancement trends in the hospitality industry has been influencing the business performances of hospitality organisations in terms of enhancing productivity and reducing additional operating costs which in turn assisted in facilitating the profit margin of these global players. However, subjected to its effective inclusion, rapid technological advancements can also hinder the organisational performances causing managerial issues related with change implications rising complexities within the organisational process (Ikkos, 2004). In the similar context, the strategic inclination of hospitality industry towards brand promotion has also facilitated the organisations to achieve a larger customer base and market share, attaining better brand recognition in the global market. However, such trends can also be observed to cause increased operational costs by necessitating various marketing activities in order to influence customer perceptions. Contextually, the expansion of business units is also an emerging trend of the global hospitality organisations which has substantially enable them to obtain long term sustainability prospects in the industry. On the other hand, the relocation of business units in different geographic areas can also hinder the organisational operations due to the unstable economic position of the host country and a greater diversity in the customers’ preferences (Ikkos, 2004). References Barth, S. C., 2008. Hospitality Law: Managing Legal Issues in the Hospitality Industry. John Wiley and Sons. British Hospitality Association, 2010. Economic contribution of UK hospitality industry. Direct contribution. [Online] Available at: http://www.bha.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/BHA-Economic-Contribution-of-UK-Hospitality-Industry-Final-.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. British Hospitality Association, 2013. What is the British Hospitality Association? About. [Online] Available at: http://www.bha.org.uk/about/#cookie_accept [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Cornell University of Hotel Administration, 2012. Eight Trends for the Hotel Industry. Hotel Year Book 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/about/pubs/articles/documents/HYB2012_outlookCornell.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Crowell & Moring LLP., No Date. Hospitality Industry Practice. Files. [Online] Available at: http://www.crowell.com/files/Hospitality-Industry-Practice-Crowell-Moring.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. EYGM Limited, 2012. Global Hospitality Insights. Top Thoughts of 2012. [Online] Available at: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Top-thoughts-for-2012/$FILE/Top-thoughts-for-2012.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Hospital Caterers Association, 2013. Chairmans Message. About the HCA. [Online] Available at: http://www.hospitalcaterers.org/welcome.php [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Ikkos, A., 2004. Issues and Challenges in the Hospitality Industry for 2004 - The Greek Practice and Prospects. JBR Hellas Ltd. [Online] Available at: http://ebookbrowse.com/gdoc.php?id=225844961&url=133d257402e90a464b1c6aad36352869 [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Jin-zhao, W. & Jing, W., 2009. Issues, Challenges, and Trends, that Facing Hospitality Industry. Management Science and Engineering, Vol. 3, No. 4, pp. 53-58. LACA Ltd., 2011. About Us. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.laca.co.uk/about-us [Accessed March 07, 2013]. National College of Business Administration, 2009. The Global Hospitality Industry. Effective quality management in the global hospitality industry. [Online] Available at: http://ncba.ie/student_and_teacher_resources_files/The_Global_Hospitality_Industry.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Pearson Education Limited, 2010. Exploring the Hospitality Industry. Hospitality and Catering. [Online] Available at: http://www.pearsonschoolsandfecolleges.co.uk/FEAndVocational/HospitalityAndCatering/BTEC/BTECLevel2Hospitality/Samples/StudentBookSamplePages/BTECLevel2FirstHospitalityChapter3DRAFT.pdf [Accessed March 07, 2013]. Whitelaw, P. A. & et. al., 2009. Training Needs of the Hospitality Industry. 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