Management in Hospitality and Tourism Industry - Essay Example

Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) s Personal Development Portfolio (PDP) A personal development portfolio entails the keeping of your portfolio skills. Rughani (2001, p. 24) defines personal development portfolio as a detailed approach to critical reflection and self knowledge, a process in which all aspects of strategic management in hospitality and tourism industry come together. According to Rughani (2001), as you explore strengths and weaknesses, you will discover who you are and grow into maturity as the person you want to be. This is because you develop your own view of the world and determine how you will live in it and shape it. The paper will outline my PDP for the module strategic management in hospitality and tourism industry. The action plan is based on reflection, values, awareness, planning, and goal setting for personal development. Discussion In week one, we were given the overview of the module strategic management in hospitality and tourism industry. The module focuses on the strategic aspects of hospitality and tourism industry, as well as examining the current and emerging issues that I will face in the work environment. At the end of the module, I was informed by the instructor that each one of us will have to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of hospitality, tourism, finance, people, operations, and marketing, as well as entrepreneurism. The module will be taught through various ways including tutorials, lectures, self-directed learning, journals and case studies, textbooks, scenario-based learning, discussion forums and peer-to-peer learning, module webs, and seminars. The learning of this module needs to be assessed through coursework and phase tests, and not the traditional exams. In week two, I learnt about strategy. Chandler (1963, p.13) asserts that a strategy is described as a long-term goals of a firm and the allocation of resources to attain these goals. I was able to summarise the strategy of an organization in a ‘strategy statement.” A strategy statement needs to have a goal, scope and the particular advantages. For instance, the firm uses training and development an employee retention strategy. Besides, I will need to establish the core issues for an organisation’s strategy in relation to the exploring strategy model. The model outlines those situations that require strategic thinking as termed as ill-structured (Rumelt, 2009, p.198). The model enabled me to fully examine the concept of strategy and the role it plays in the guidance of organizations. I was also able to distinguish that corporate strategy is the overall strategy of company. Business strategy outlines the current situation that the business is in and how it will compete in the current market. On the other hand, operational strategies are geared towards enhancing the firms operation such as managing people, processes and resources. I also understood that people are very crucial in any firm. I also appreciated the contributions of various academic disciplines such as finance, environmental studies and information sciences and theoretical lenses to practical strategy analysis. A seminar case study discussion was also very crucial at this point. In week three, I was able to learn that there are various components of the tourism and hospitality industry, but the two major ones are hotels and restaurants that provide food, accommodation and beverage services. Besides, I learnt the major characteristics of the tourism and hospitality industry including being seasonal in nature something which the manufacturing industry does not experience. During week four, I braced myself with the current issues such as the financial crisis and terrorism and how they have negatively impacted on the tourism industry. I also understood the internal and external environments of doing business by using SWOT analysis, which is a list of the firms Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. I also used PESTEL analysis; the Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis to determine opportunities and threats in the organization’s environment. Lastly, I used the Porter’s five forces model to determine the internal and external environment. Through these tools I was able to note the issues and the changing face of internal and external management and came up with the best way forward. I also attended to the seminar hotel role play: Mariott. In week five, I learnt about strategic choices. Most organisations learn about their competitors by having knowledge of what they are offering, thus assisting them to make their services, products and marketing stand out gaining competitive advantage. It also enables them to set their prices competitively. Organisations need to widen their corporate portfolios to touch very market segment both locally and internationally. In relation to extending themselves internationally, they need to develop internationalisation strategies in order to increase the market share. According to (Amabile, 1996, p. 1), creativity is the production of useful and noel ideas in any domain, while innovation is considered as the successful implementation of the creative ideas. Firms need to be creative and innovative by coming up with a differentiation strategy for products and services, in addition to setting their prices competitively. They also need to formulate ways of motivating their staff so as to increase job performance and employee retention. Most firms pursue strategies through organic development, acquisitions or strategic alliances by means of coming up with strategic management teams which will enable the firm to compete the firm compete on a global scale. There was a seminar discussion and personal development portfolio review thereafter. Week six entailed some reading of the covered material. On week seven, I learnt about growth and corporate strategy. I established the alternative strategy options such as market penetration, product development, market development and diversification. I was able to distinguish between various diversification strategies like the focus strategy and cost leadership, and evaluated the diversification drivers including uniqueness and competitive advantage. The seminar analysed the effectiveness of various tools that were adopted. In week eight, I was able to gain knowledge in international strategy. I was able to make an assessment of the internationalisation potential of various markets in Europe, America, Asia, and Latin America. I also indentified sources of sources of competitive advantage in international strategy such as the production system, human capital, customer clusters, company-wide orientation, and localisation is international markets (Kiron & Shockley, 2011), through global sourcing and exploitation of local factors. The four main types of four main types of international strategy include global strategies, complex export, simple export, and multi-domestic, as well as the transnational strategy that fits in between global strategy and multi-domestic strategy (Whittington & Scholes, 2011). I was also able to rank markets for entry or expansion by taking into consideration the attractiveness, culture, distance and competitor retaliation threats. This was in addition to making an assessment of the benefits of various market entry modes, including joint ventures, foreign direct investment, and licensing as shown in the figure below. Figure 1: Showing modes of international market entry (Whittington & Scholes, 2011). In week 9, I learnt about the relationship between technology and strategy. Technology has tremendously propelled the hospitality and tourism industry to greater heights. The recent advancements in technology have made booking, travelling and service delivery to be greatly improved, besides the huge economic benefits. For example, the advent of the internet has made communication to be much easier and reliable. More people are now investing in information technology to enhance service delivery in the tourism and hospitality sector. As a result, the stakeholders are reaping significant benefits. In relation to strategic issues in managing technology, resource-based views of organisations have been formulated. In this view, general technology development strategy needs to be incorporated. For instance, all activities in the firm need to be integrated in the technology production chain. The purpose of strategic technology management is to make a contribution to the enterprise’s value by assisting to ensure cash flow unto which this value relies on will be sustained and continue to grow. It also helps firm gain sustainable competitive advantages (Erickson et al., 1990). In week 10, I learnt about the relationship between innovation and entrepreneurship. I noted that innovation and entrepreneurship discuss what established business entities, new enterprises and public service institutions require to know in order to succeed in today’s economy. This continued all through week 12 and 13. In week 12, I noted that the process of developing strategy requires extensive market research and planning. I learnt that intended strategy is an intended course of action that is thought to be appropriate in attaining predetermined corporate goals, while emergent strategy development modifies the existing strategy (McGee, Howard & Wilson, 2005). I also identified the intended processes of strategy development in organisations including such as the role of strategic leadership. In week 14, I noted that the difference between the managers and leaders is that while managers plan, organize, and coordinate the activities in the business, leaders would inspire and motivate. A leader innovates while a manager does administration. I also noted that the characteristics of a good leader include the following: proactive, a good communicator, respectful, open-minded, enthusiastic, risk-taking, organised, and consistent. In week 15, I noted the there are various aspects related to corporate governance and CSR (Ethics). The universal ethics can inspire a firm’s behaviour irrespective of where it carries out its operations. The new globalised, networked economy that is founded on coordinated management of knowledge has set an evolutionary trend in motion for an increase in the level of ethicality, thus generating a braking effect on the ethical considerations of corporate behaviour. In week 17, noted the various roles of human resource manager such as recruiting and hiring staff, keeping of staff records, and providing employee training and development opportunities, as well ensuring the workers have the right pay and benefits. In week 18, I learnt about organisation behaviour. I identified the role of people management and organisational strategy, as well as the process of learning in organisations. This helps to align the people with organisational goals and objectives such as building an effective two-way communication between the workers and the managers. In week 19, I learnt about the management strategies in hospitality and tourism sector. For example, I gained substantial knowledge on what is required to strategically manage culture. In week 20, identified the major individuals involved in strategising, including top management, strategy consultants, strategic planners and middle managers. Finally, in week 21, I evaluated the various approaches to strategizing, including analysis, issue selling, and decision-making structures. A self reflective account of how feedback was used A personal development portfolio assists you to synthesize into your studies, activities and service as a student. From my tutor’s feedback, I was able to ask myself under what conditions do you need to come up a strategy? I noted that it is depended on the scope of operation, business level, stage of maturity, and scale of operation. Furthermore, I utilised my tutor’s feedback to learn how the strategy clock works. In that perspective, business strategies need to be concerned with searching for competitive advantage and sustainable advantage in the markets at the business level other than at the corporate level. A business strategy also needs to be considered in terms of strategic business units. Consequently, managers need to take into consideration in the manner in which business strategies can be sustained through strategic capabilities, as well as the ability to attain a ‘lock-in’ with the buyers. From the tutors feedback I was able to note that differentiation strategy improves the competitive position as compared to five forces through creation of higher entry barriers as result of customer loyalty, provision of higher margins, decreasing the buyer power, and establishment of customer loyalty thus lessening the threat from substitutes. I used this feedback to establish the sources of competitive advantage that include superior assets, superior capabilities and key success factors, thus coming up with a competitive model as shown below (Abrhiem, 2012). Figure 2: Showing a model of competitive advantage From the feedback, I also noted that the major functions of management include; planning where the management analyzes the external and internal factors that affect the business; controlling where the performance standards are set basing on the objectives of the firm, evaluating and actual performance of the firm; organizing the available resources to ensure that the implemented course of action that were determined by the process of planning; and directing which includes that the management is able to influence the behaviour of the employees to ensure that the company attains its goals. I established that in relation to management and leadership, the tutor informed me that the similarities between leaders and managers include both of them offer effective leadership by ensuring that all the implemented policies are appropriate and working; both have good social skills because they are tasked with leading and directing the people. Both have the ability to manage an organization or a group of people which involves directing efforts to a particular group of people. The feedback from the tutor was very crucial to my personal development portfolio. I was able to adjust my study plan two weeks prior to the test so that I have time to review previous tests on the subject; and related studies. Consequently, I will use my study time to read one chapter ahead of what I have been taught in class so that I get to understand every topic well at the time it is being taught in class. This will enable me to be conversant with questions that are asked both in class and in exams ahead of the module topics. A narrative overview on PDP and evidence for future career plan From week 1 to week I2 I was able have a whole overview of what the module requires you to grasp ranging from learning about strategy in week 2, to various components of the tourism and hospitality industry in week 3, to the internal and external working environment in week 4, I learnt about strategic choices in week 5, to international strategy in week 8,to the various aspects related to corporate governance and corporate social responsibility in week 15, the various roles of human resource manager in week 17, organisational behaviour in week 18, and lastly, an evaluation to various approaches to strategizing in week 21. This will enable me to have the prerequisite employability skills in the hospitality and tourism sector. This was in addition to my SWOT analysis: Strengths: articulate, reliable, purposeful, creative, determined, self-expressive, resourceful, orderly, efficient, honest, realistic, investigative, considerate to others, punctual, meet deadlines, show motivation and also motivate others, optimistic, methodological, good coordinator, open minded, and a good time manager. Weakness: overambitious, I get stressed when am too tired. Opportunity: continuing to with further education, team building skills, and well organisation. Threats: money, recession, and over competitiveness The possession of all the above qualities would fulfil my dream of working for a tour agency that is more inclined to operating in the English premier league since my personal interest is watching the English premier league. In addition, heritage site tour also fascinates me a lot thus drawing my attention to working there too. They will find my skills crucial to their growth and development. Reference List Abrhiem, T. 2012. “Products and Services: Creating a Sustainable Competitive Advantage by in Business and Management Review Vol. 2(6) pp. 34 – 45. Amabile, T. (1996). Creativity and Innovation in Organizations. Boston MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Chandler, D. 1963, Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of American Enterprise, New York: MIT Press. Erickson, T. J., Magee, J. F., Rousse, P. A., & Saad, K. N. (1990, April 15). Retrieved April 7, 2014, from Managing Technology as a Business Strategy: http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/managing-technology-as-a-business-strategy/ Kiron, D., & Shockley, R. 2011. Creating Business Value with Analytics MIT Sloan Management Review September 15, 2011. McGee, J., Howard, T., & Wilson, D. (2005). Strategy: Analysis & Practice. Berkshire: McGraw-Hill Education. Rughani, A. (2001). A GPs Guide to Personal Development Plans. London: Radcliffe Publishing. Rumelt, R. (2009). Evaluation and Strategy: Theory and Models. Los Angeles: University of California. Whittington, J., & Scholes. (2011). Exploring Strategy. London: Pearson Education. Read More