Studying Hospitality and Events in Higher eduaction - Essay Example

This is a ten page Harvard citation style essay with eleven works cited. The objective of this essay is to present a bid proposal for the conference: ‘Studying Hospitality and Events in Higher Education’ which is to be held on 9 May 2012. The objective of this essay is to demonstrate an understanding of the hospitality and event operations specific to venue selection for conferences. Different perspectives to different industry queries will be explored. The elements of human resource management and emotional intelligence with application to the hospitality and event operations personnel in organizations will be explored. The significance of conferences in the hospitality and event operations industry will also be explored. The best candidate for lodging and accommodation for the conference which is to take place on 9 May 2012 is the Days Hotel Luton. It is more expensive than the other options but well worth the additional cost. The Days Hotel Luton is centrically located upon the Channel Viaduct. The Days Hotel Luton also provides access to those who are physically challenged. The Days Hotel Luton has a five star rating out of six which is the highest rating of all of the options in this group (Britain Express.com). The second choice is the Best Western Menzies Strathmore. The rates start from 49 pounds and 50 pence. The location is centric to all forms of transit. The Best Western Menzies Strathmore has 152 rooms which would probably make it the most likely candidate for the convention which is to be held on 9 May 2012. The Chiltern Hotel would be the next most likely candidate as it is located right outside the airport. The room rate is at 49 pounds and 50 pence per night. There is also an ample parking facility. The space within this parking facility may be rented and a portable structure may be erected for the 9 May 2012 on the site. This portable structure implies a greater risk but it also would allow for a greater allocation of resources towards security, safety, health, food, beverage and post dinner entertainment. A tent structure may be used for the conference, this innovation would allow for lower expenses. The reallocation of resources could be applied toward other conference concerns (Chiltern Hotel). The fourth option would be recommended as the Quality Hotel on Dunstable rd. The Quality Hotel has easy access from the M1 motorway Junction 11 from the south. It is located on the A505. The rate of Quality Hotel’s accommodations is fairly reasonable starting at 32 pounds 50 pence per night. This hotel is a three star facility. With all of these options it may be possible that a discount may be applied to the academic community of the University of Bedfordshire. One of the objectives of this essay is to demonstrate the ability to optimize the resources allocated to this conference by minimizing the number of man hours allocated to human resources in this conference which is proposed on 9 May 2012 (Burke and Soubeiga 2003). It is also the objective of this essay to demonstrate the importance of emotional intelligence by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed options for the conference: ‘Studying Hospitality and Events in Higher Education’ which is to be held on 9 May 2012 (Halsell et al. 2011). Security, health and safety precautions must be incorporated into this bid proposal (Tarlow 2002 , p. 35). The economic benefit to the community which encompasses the University of Bedfordshire community must also be considered. If the elements of the supply chain which services the University of Bedfordshire and the conference:’ Studying Hospitality and Events in Higher Education’ may be interlinked, it would be able to provide a budgetary savings to the event. If a not for profit cause could be attached to the event, community contributions and pro social behavior may be enabled to offset the budgetary expenditures (Getz 2000). Both the conference : “Studying Hospitality and Events in Higher Education’ and the University of Bedfordshire are umbrella industries with a variety of supply chain elements, perhaps some of the elements may be made to coincide (Adriana 2009). The local effects of the proposed conference must be considered in the planning of this bid proposal (Presbury & Edward 2005). The best benefit that could be gained from the planning and the presentation of this conference is experiential (Getz 2000). In the endeavor of purveying catering and accommodation services to not for profit and commercial events, the client reserves the time and space allocation requisites ahead of time with the sales and marketing personnel. The clients usually have two types of requests. These requests are the following: 1. Food and beverage requisites. 2. Lodging and accommodation requisites. The human resource requirements must be sufficient in order to satisfy the clients’ requisites without the obtrusiveness of excessive inter staff interactions. The objective of the administrative staff of the food and beverage departments, along with the lodging and accommodation departments is to minimize the number of man hours which may be allocated to the clients’ requisites (Burke and Soubeiga 2003). The administration staff of the food and beverage departments along with the lodging and accommodations departments must be oriented towards optimum client satisfaction. The most effective administrators are able to calibrate the needs of the staff and coordinate the needs of the guests. A portion of the skills required by the hospitality and event operations administrators in the expedient and efficient management of the staff requisites and the guests’ requisites involves emotional intelligence. The most effective hospitality and event operations administrators are those who are able to assess the strengths and deficiencies of their staff and to coordinate the requisites of the guests accordingly. These management skills are associated with emotional intelligence (Halsell et al. 2011). The most cost effective manner of assessing the capacities of the staff in the hospitality and event operations enterprise involves simulation modeling. Simulation modeling is a capacity which enables the replication of the characteristics, inputs and outputs of an enterprise through computer assisted modeling. These computer models may be applied to employee preparation and training. The computer replicated model assists by demonstrating the properties of the initial model by statistical distributions, object depictions and mathematical relations. The Monte Carl system is an example of computer assisted modeling techniques. The model which is being represented by the computer simulation may be classified as discrete, continuous or combined. A discrete occurrence happens when the initial model remains static across time periods. This system is applied in the hospitality industry with regards to food service. An employee task such as food preparation or greeting the client as the client arrives are examples of discrete events. An example of a continuous event would be monitoring and adjusting accordingly the ambient temperature in a lodging accommodation. An example of a combined event would be to monitor and duplicate the reaction of a thermostat in a lodging establishment’s accommodations (Feinstein & Park, 2002). The only component of the hospitality and event planning operations with respect to conferencing that cannot be simulated is the element of risk. Risk is a future event which due to its statistical probability must be interacted with as if it has already occurred. Risk cannot be measured without the interaction being placed in a future context. Emotional intelligence is of the utmost significance in the event planning operations manager’s role (Tarlow 2002: 35). Meeting and event planners may endeavor as long as nineteen hours a day during the planning and implementation stages of events (Bureau of Statistics 2008). Research has shown that the augmented workload of the event and meeting planners during peak periods is caused by a reduction in the number of personnel. In any given organization, there is one meeting and event planner per five organizational personnel (International Association of Exhibitions and Events 2009). Hospitality and event operations are umbrella industries which are composed of other industries as elements of their systems (Adriana 2009). The total of the supply chain elements which compose the hospitality and event operations industry is considerable. There has been a demand in the hospitality and event operations industry which requires of the meeting and event planners a consistent set of characteristics. The demand has caused many institutions of higher learning to propose a curricular structure which includes the meeting planning certification curriculum. Many of the academic candidates for graduation in this area of study are required to administrate the details of a hospitality or conference event before graduation. In order to achieve certification, the certified meeting professional (CMP) must fulfill the requisites of the plan of study. Quite often, an organization may need to delegate the responsibility of planning and presenting the conference to a certified meeting professional (Convention Industry.org n.d.). The following must be considered in planning and presenting hospitality event operations and conferences: The resource of time which can be dedicated to presenting hospitality events and conferences. The elements in the supply chain of the hospitality and event operations organization. Safety and regulatory concerns. Labor regulations governing the hospitality and event operations industry (Burris 2009). Enabling prospective certified meeting professionals is the objective of hospitality and event operations training. The dilemma which exists is that there has been insufficient research on the characteristics which are required of the certified meeting planners of today, in order to convey those characteristics to the certified meeting planners of tomorrow. The question remains: How to instruct emotional intelligence to future meeting and conference planners? There exist two perspectives in the instruction of emotional intelligence. The primary perspective which is designated the Ability model is founded upon the hospitality and event operations professional being able to formulate their decisions after having learned systems of evaluating and mediating interpersonal situations. The secondary perspective is the Mixed model which some perceive as a form of personnel programming. The Ability model of instructing emotional intelligence has been discovered to be much more acceptable as a training and and emotional education venue. The Mixed model approach to emotional intelligence has been perceived to detract from individual creativity and spontaneity (Halsell et al. 2011). The Hotel Operations Training Simulation (HOTS) is an example of the effectiveness of a computer enabled model. The computer enabled model in the Hotel Operation Training Simulation (HOTS) contains a program which consists of eighty room elements. The Hotel Operation Training Simulation (HOTS) is applied in conjunction with a textbook based analysis of the hospitality and event operations establishment. Groups of students formulate and implement mathematical formulas which include the suggested average daily room fee, expenditures and budgetary constraints. This approach provides the prospective candidates for the certification of meeting and event planner with a replication of the actual operations of the hospitality and accommodations establishment (Feinstein & Parks 2002). Conferences are significant elements in the hospitality and event operations sector. Conferences highlight a location’s social and cultural texture. Conferences also enable commercial establishments to derive quantitative and qualitative benefits from the interpersonal activities conducted at the conferences. These interpersonal activities from which quantitative and qualitative benefits are derived may be related to the following areas: Sales and marketing endeavors. Instructional pursuits. Communication. Administration. Commerce. Conferences are the most sustainable areas of the hospitality and event operations sector. The main objective of the conferences is the dissemination of information. The conferences require adequate planning and implementation, in order to be efficiently and effectively produced. Inadequate planning of conference events may lead to economic deficits. These economic deficits may be realized as a result of low participant attendance. Inadequate planning may also result in detrimental cultural and social effects. These detrimental cultural and social effects may include pedestrian and vehicle traffic bottlenecking, increased incidences of criminal activities and community discomfort (Presbury & Edwards 2005). In a survey which was conducted with fifty three participating event operations managers, research has demonstrated that there are five domains of skill which are required traits. These required characteristics of the event managers are the following: 1. Juridical competency. 2. Administrative and economic competency. 3. Competence in representing the organization to the public and various media. 4. Sales competency. 5. Ethical competency. Research has also demonstrated that the six qualities which are most sought after in aspiring event managers are: 1. Foresight. 2. Transactional and transformational administrative skills. 3. The ability to respond quickly and effectively to changing situations. 4. The ability to effectively interact with and represent the elements of an organizational structure of the hospitality and event operations sector. 5. Sales and marketing ability. 6. Good interpersonal skills (Arcodia & Barker 2002). Conclusion There is still a great amount of research which has yet to done in the hospitality and event operations sector with regards to conferences. This growing body of knowledge will continue to undergo metamorphoses as a function of time. The discussions and arguments which encompass the hospitality and event operations sector with regards to conferences will continue to be of the utmost significance. Many conferences enter into one of the four following areas: 1. Recreational events. 2. Commercial events. 3. Cultural events. 4. Educational events. There are a large amount of not for profit organizations in the area of conferences. The conference may be a source which inspires unity in the local community. The conference may also promote artistic and cultural appreciation. The conference may have the objective of enhancing the community’s well being and fostering a healthier environment. Not for profit organizational causes and endeavors inspire the community to contribute with many types of volunteer and pro social contributions. Event operations management with regards to conferences has evolved into a specialized field of study. The hospitality and event operations sector is an umbrella industry which is composed of many other elements. There is a demonstrated need in the body of knowledge which encompasses the sector of hospitality and event operations for increased academic contributions, in order to enable the future generations of hospitality and event operations administrators to become more efficient and effective (Getz 2000). Works Cited Adriana, B 2009.’Environmental supply chain management in tourism: The case of the large tour Operators’ Journal of Cleaner Production, 2009, Vol. 17, Issue 6 pp. 1385- 1392. Elsevier Ltd. http://www.elsevier.com/locatejclepro Arcodia, C & Barker, T 2002. ‘The Employability of Graduates in Event Management: Using Data from Job Advertisements’, Masters Degree Thesis, University of Queensland http://www.espace.library.uq.ed.au/eserv.php?pid=UQ:10174&dsID=ca_to_jobdds.pdf Bureau of Labor Statistics 2010. Occupational Outlook Handbook. http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes131121.htm Burke, EK & Soubeiga, E 2003. ’A real- world workforce scheduling problem in the hospitality Industry: Theoretical models and algorithmic methods’ University of Nottingham Burris, J 2008 ‘Outsourcing within the Event management Industry’ University of Arizona http://next.eller.arizona.edu/courses/outsourcing/Fall2008/student_papers/final_papers/ Jill%20Burris.pdf Convention Industry Council 2011. ‘Convention Industry Council Announces the July 2011 CMP Class’ http://www.conventionindustry.org/Newsroom/PressReleases2011/pr09272011.pdf Feinstein, AH & Parks, SJ 2002. ‘Simulation Research in the Hospitality Industry’ Development In Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 29, 2002 http://sba.web.wayne.edu/-absel/bkl/vol29/29aj.pdf Getz, D 2000.’Developing a Research Agenda for the Event Management Field’ Events Beyond 2000: Setting the Agenda Proceedings on Conference on Event Evaluation Research and Education http://torc.linkbc.ca/torc/downs1/Events2000.pdf#page=16 Halsell, SS, Blum, S & Huffman, L 2011. ‘From school desks to front desks: A comparison of Emotional Intelligence levels of hospitality industry professionals’ Journal of Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism Education, Vol. 10, No. 2 http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/johlste Hotels Bedfordshire- Luton http://www.superbreak.com/go/IN185/hotels/hotel/1616/0-01-2012/1-nights/1-rooms http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/bedfordshire/stay/BE10472.htm International Association of Exhibitions and Events 2009. State of the Industry Report. http://www.iaee.com/resources/public_event_resources Presbury, R & Edwards, D 2005 ‘Incorporating Sustainability in Meetings and Event Management Education’ International Journal of Event Management Research, Vol.1, No. 1 http://www.utescholarship.lib.uts.edu.au/iresearch/researchpublications/bitstream/handle /2009003187OK.pdf?sequence=1 Tarlow, P 2002. Event risk management and safety. John Wiley and Sons: New York Read More