Imperial Hotel Case Study

This case study examines the challenges faced by The Imperial Hotel in London, focusing on ineffective leadership and management. It analyzes the root causes of the issues, including poor monitoring and control procedures, and explores solutions proposed by the new General Manager. The study delves into the importance of effective leadership, performance management, and cross-departmental collaboration in achieving business success.

IMPERIAL HOTEL
STUDY CASE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ANALYSIS OF THE INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM..........................................................................1
Overview of the issue..................................................................................................................1
Commenting on Peter Farnsworth’s initial suggestions..............................................................2
Solutions for the listed problems.................................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
In the hotel industry of UK, there is intense level of competition among firms operating
within and thus, they are required to run their business in such a way that competitive edge over
others can be gained. As per the given scenario, present study is based on The Imperial Hotel,
London which basically belongs to UK. It is a well-known international branded chain of hotels
that comes under the category of 4 Star Hotels. In the UK, firm is having 25 hotels and the one
which is in the London is having capacity of 500 bedrooms. The hotel is situated in the heart of
London’s West End which is serving international business and tourists guests with high quality
services (Imperial Hotels: Imperial London Hotels, 2018). According to the given case, at
present, Imperial Hotel has appointed a new General Manager, Peter Farnsworth who has
analysed many issues there like high turnover of staff in all the departments, poor staff morale
and very low guest satisfaction.
Main issue which is going to be highlighted and discussed in this report is ineffective
leadership and management by previous Heads of Department and supervisory staff including
poor monitoring and control procedures. It has been observed by the new General Manager that
most of the supervisors and managers as well as previous head of departments have failed to
monitor the standard of work and thus, there is gap in good management which is supposed to be
filled by attracting talented managers and leaders. Peter Farnsworth has given some initial
suggestions so that problem can be effectually managed and positive as well as fruitful outcomes
can be gained. By analysing the problem in detail and commenting on Peter Farnsworth’s initial
suggestions, suitable set of resolutions will be provided here to make business of The Imperial
Hotel run smoothly with gaining high profits and sustainability.
ANALYSIS OF THE INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM
Overview of the issue
Given case has highlighted the issue of ineffective leadership and management by
previous Heads of Department and supervisory staff including poor monitoring and control
procedures that is being faced by The Imperial Hotel because previous Heads of Departments
(HODs) as well as supervisors and managers were not able to monitor the standard of work that
was supposed to be carried out by divisions like kitchen, reception and housekeeping. It can be
justified in a way that the major issues at present in firm are related to reception only with
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respect to check in/out timing, speed/ efficiency, accuracy of bill itemisation and
helpfulness/information offered (Kok and McDonald, 2017). Also, the reporting practices being
used by them were not correct as whatever information they were passing to higher authorities
was not correct as many guests complained that there is disconnect between what is reported and
what has happened in reality. Further, Peter Farnsworth has analysed that there is huge gap in
good management that should be there in the hotel which according to him could be solved by
attracting highly skilled and talented managers and leaders in the organisation who would turn
round the performance of business.
According to the new General Manager, previous management was somewhat
impoverished as it was being practiced to be purely task oriented which means complete
emphasis was on the completion of tasks and meeting set deadlines only behind which no
consideration was given on how the work was going on. This is the clear indication of poor
leadership as well as management (Oshagbemi, 2017). Also, Peter Farnsworth thinks that there is
high need of coordination and collaboration in between departments which was not present and
thus, it led The Imperial Hotel to reduced sales and profits. Apart from that, many guests have
complained regarding poor communication which made them face issues in the hotel. Therefore,
in order to improve the functioning of business by resolving the prevailing issues in organisation,
Peter Farnsworth has suggested many solutions which if implemented can lead firm to attain
higher growth and success as he is expecting to have dramatic improvement in 12 months with
high change in performance of business (Winkler and Wagner, 2017).
Commenting on Peter Farnsworth’s initial suggestions
The new General Manager in The Imperial Hotel, London has given various initial
suggestions that if organisation would apply, these can lead business to overcome the issues it is
facing and attain positive results. These suggestions are like leading with example, reviewing
monitoring procedures and IT support, incentivise supportive management and devising the
cross-department collaboration. According to him, these are the ways by which issue of
ineffective leadership and management in various departments of hotel can be improved (Bratton
and Gold, 2017). The suggestions given by Peter Farnsworth would prove to be helpful if they
will be implemented effectually in the organisation. However, among all, based on the priority,
leading by example would prove to be the best as there is high need to first hire talented
managers and leaders in firm who can lead their teams well by setting examples of their own and
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influencing them to do the same. As many HODs have left the organisation with retirement of
previous General Manager as well as most of managers and leaders failed to get standard quality
of work done as their monitoring was poor, so, to have new, skilled and talented people on their
place is of utmost importance (Li and Liu, 2018).
Further, performance of existing HODs and supervisory staff can be checked in terms of
reviewing their controlling and monitoring procedures that they use for managing their teams.
This review will help in assessing the areas where they are lacking with strong points.
Accordingly, Peter Farnsworth can take decisions based on making the strong areas of HODs
and supervisory staff better and overcoming their weaknesses. Along with that, by reviewing the
monitoring procedures used in hotel, he will come to know that what changes are exactly needed
to be brought (Megeirhi and et.al., 2018). This will help The Imperial Hotel to have a better
process of controlling where close monitoring of activities done by staff will be done which will
support in gaining in-depth insight of the issues and resolving the same. Apart from that, as
suggested by Peter Farnsworth, taking support from IT department will also help as this will
assist in keeping the records of employees with respect to what they have performed on the basis
of which suitable decisions will be made (Sheehan, Grant and Garavan, 2018).
After that, based on priority, devising cross-departmental collaboration will prove to be
an effective suggestion as one of the major issues found by the new General Manager is that of
lack of alliance in between different divisions of The Imperial Hotel, London. According to him,
this is highly crucial for the departments to work as a team so that desired and fruitful results can
be gained as with same, performance of all will get improved that will lead to increased
productivity, sales, profits and growth of business respectively (Tarí and et.al., 2017). Therefore,
it can be said that if there will be effective collaboration in between staff of different
departments, hotel can gain a competitive edge over others with sustainability and high goodwill.
However, to incentivise supportive management which is also one of the initial suggestions of
Peter Farnsworth may not be a feasible option as it can improve the performance of some staff
members who are already working hard but on the other hand, individuals who are already not
performing well may take their work for granted (Idowu, Omirin and Koleosho, 2017). Thus,
there is risk associated with same to gain negative results in return like lazy and overconfident
workforce, hampered quality and speed of operations, feeling of biasness and partiality among
employees, etc.
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Solutions for the listed problems
There are many solutions that can be recommended for the listed problems i.e. ineffective
leadership and management in The Imperial Hotel due to poor monitoring and controlling of
HODs and supervisory staff. As Peter Farnsworth has given many suggestions, these can be
implemented by using appropriate measures. For the purpose of bringing suggestion of lead by
example into action, hotel is required to hire talented managers and leaders who can influence
their team members with what they do. Thus, for the same, hotel is required to do recruitments
from appropriate sources and need to select the best suitable candidates for managerial positions
so that they can lead team members effectively to bring the best out of them (Macdonald, 2017).
The recruitment and selection process followed in organisation needs to be highly effectual so
that right candidates will be hired who will bring organisation to great success and growth in
market.
Along with that, for reviewing the monitoring procedures, different performance
appraisal techniques can be used by Peter Farnsworth like Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scale
(BARS), Critical Incident Method, Forced Choice Method as well as 360 Degree Feedback. On
the basis of results gained through these methods, proper training and development sessions can
be organised for supervisory staff as well as HODs to improve their existing skills, knowledge
and abilities (Kok and McDonald, 2017). Also, to boost their morale, various rewards and
recognition can also be offered to them like firm has made staff incentive schemes such as
providing £200 for Employee of the Month. Further, gaining support of IT department will be
helpful to update the systems of employees with latest and advanced software so that they can
update their records in a systematic way without making any errors. With this, quality of work
will be improved and guest’s satisfaction will be increased as there will be effective
communication through same and clients will get correct information on time with solved
queries (Oshagbemi, 2017).
Apart from that, for devising cross-department collaboration, Peter Farnsworth can
arrange suitable workshops and activities like role-plays that will create spirit of teamwork and
people working in different departments would understand the importance and value of same.
Moreover, there are some other ways too which if applied by the General Manager may lead The
Imperial Hotel to attain high growth and success with improved level of production, sales and
profits (Winkler and Wagner, 2017). One of these ways is to adopt Human Relations Theory of
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Management given by Elton Mayo according to which the most influencing factor for increasing
productivity in firm is to maintain healthy and strong relations with employees. It can be said
that if management will maintain good relationship with employees, their willingness to perform
well gets increased and so, the productivity of business (Perry, 2017). For this, various initiatives
can be taken by the General Manager of The Imperial Hotel like involving them in decision
making process of organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that The Imperial Hotel of London is facing
many issues in business where one of the major one is ineffective leadership and management by
previous Heads of Department and supervisory staff including poor monitoring and control
procedures. It can be said that if The Imperial Hotel would not give due emphasis on this issue,
to stay in the market with sustainability would not be possible. Thus, for earning high profits in
business, it is crucial to have effective leadership as well as management so that employees can
be made efficient enough to perform their work in such a way that overall targets of hotel can be
achieved in the most effective manner. It can be articulated from the analysis made on problem
that there are various ways and suggestions through which existing issue of ineffective
leadership and management can be improved in organisation. The solutions which Peter
Farnsworth has suggested were to lead by setting example, reviewing the monitoring procedures
and IT support, incentivise supportive management as well as devising cross-department
collaboration.
All would prove to be effective if implemented by him in the organisation. However, to
incentivise supportive management may involve risk of making employees overconfident as well
as they can take authorities to be biased and partial which may lead to create negativity at
workplace. It has been assessed from the study that to improve leadership and management in
The Imperial Hotel, London with leading by example, suitable and effective recruitment and
selection techniques will be required and for reviewing the monitoring procedures, using
performance management methods like 360 degree appraisal will play a significant role. Also,
providing effective training and development sessions and using management theories like
Human Relations Theory would help organisation to increase motivation and morale of
employees working there that will enhance the collaboration in between different departments.
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Ultimately, this will lead to improved communication, increased productivity and thus, rise in
profits which will help hotel to sustain for longer span of time.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Idowu, O.B., Omirin, M.M. and Koleosho, H.A., 2017. Factors affecting outsourcing decision of
Facility Management services of some selected hotels in Lagos Metropolis. Lagos
Journal of Environmental Studies. 9(1).
Kok, S.K. and McDonald, C., 2017. Underpinning excellence in higher education–an
investigation into the leadership, governance and management behaviours of high-
performing academic departments. Studies in Higher Education. 42(2). pp.210-231.
Li, Y.Q. and Liu, C.H.S., 2018. The role of problem identification and intellectual capital in the
management of hotels’ competitive advantage-an integrated framework. International
Journal of Hospitality Management.
Macdonald, D., 2017. 21st Century Skills for Non-Profit Managers: A Practical Guide on
Leadership and Management. Business Expert Press.
Megeirhi, H.A. and et.al., 2018. Does team psychological capital moderate the relationship
between authentic leadership and negative outcomes: an investigation in the hospitality
industry. Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja. 31(1). pp.927-945.
Oshagbemi, T., 2017. Leadership and Management in universities: Britain and Nigeria (Vol.
14). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
Sheehan, M., Grant, K. and Garavan, T., 2018. Strategic talent management: A macro and micro
analysis of current issues in hospitality and tourism. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism
Themes. 10(1). pp.28-41.
Tarí, J.J. and et.al., 2017. Does quality management improve performance or vice versa?
Evidence from the hotel industry. Service Business. 11(1). pp.23-43.
Winkler, K. and Wagner, B., 2017. The relevance of knowledge management in the context of
leadership. Journal of Applied Leadership and Management. 5(1).
Online
Imperial Hotels: Imperial London Hotels. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/en/>.
Perry, G. L., 2017. Human Relations Management Theory Basics. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.business.com/articles/human-relations-management-theory-basics/>.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.imperialhotels.co.uk/en/
https://www.business.com/articles/human-relations-management-theory-basics/
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