The functional structure allows owners

Question 1
The term “line manager” has its origin in the culture of the huge assembly lines where humans
and machines were producing goods at a mass scale. During these days, line managers were
functional with an intention to add a mechanical dexterity in the working regimens of the
humans. It was an essential post to check and balance the efficiency of the human ware with the
hardware of the machines (P.Usha, 2013).
Under its present context, line managers play the role of a sheet anchor, when we decipher their
job profile in a Travel Agency or any business related to the hospitality industry. The theories of
organizational behavior and HRM places line managers as an integral layer between the owners
and the employees. The functional structure allows owners, and planning division to set the
organizational goals and line managers interact with the employees on a day to day basis to meet
out the short term goals and integrate the outputs with the long term goals.
The flow of the customers is uncertain in the tourism industry because it is not the basic
necessity of human beings. During the case of an overflow, line managers play a crucial role in
organizing and training temporary staff for the operations. In order to set up a homogenous level
of the skills and services, Line mangers, identify the gaps of the knowledge for the new entrants
and compensate them with adequate training.
Line managers also play a crucial role in checking and balancing quality control measures. It is a
part of their job to come up with various tests and other methods to check the quality of the
delivered goods and the satisfaction levels of the customers based on their feedback. Line
managers can set up new targets for individual employees with an intention to meet the bigger
objectives of the organization under limited resources.

Question 2
Outlines of the roles and objectives under the present stage
While working as a frontline executive in a travel agency. The analysis of the required job
profile in accordance with the organizational objectives goes as follows.
Brief Analysis of the organization: The current organization is a travel agency, introducing the
elements of an IT startup by utilizing big data tools and other methods of the inventory
management to bring down the cost of the services while competing in a price-sensitive market.
The organization follows a hierarchy where subordinates report to their seniors.
Inventory of the Present Human Resources
The skills inventory of the organization is consists of language guides, tour operators, front
office staff and IT experts looking after the transformation of various processes into a digital
interface.
The management inventory of the organization has a team of tour operators with separate
specialization in outbound and inbound tourism. Along with a knowledge pool of the experts, the
organization hires them on the basis of the contract, during the peak seasons (Ryan, 2012).
Forecasting of the demand and Supply
The demand for the employees in the “core sector” or the marketing division and others is
consistent in nature. Each year, the company is hiring new employees with an intention to scale
up its business in small steps. The demand for the employees in the arena of the implementation
is fluctuating; it keeps on changing with a seasonal flow.

Estimation of the gap in the manpower
With the arrival of IT-related tools, the agency is currently passing through a phase of transition
where they are focusing on the training of the core employees with the intention of IT
enablement. This is a phase of transition where the culture of temporary hiring is finding a way
and concerns related to cost-cutting are creating a problem in the consistent supply of the
workers.
Formulation of the final action plan
In order to meet the future requirements of the manpower supply, the organization should come
up with pools of employees. For instance, they can generate a knowledge pool and conserve the
tacit knowledge of the organization. Apart from it, a core group of employees can handpick
employees to carry out operations from a temporary employee pool.
Monitoring, control, and feedback
Line managers can conduct direct surveys with the customers and check their satisfaction levels.
Apart from it, internal audits can be performed to check the efficiency and work done by various
employees. This exercise can help the line the managers in setting up justified targets for the
employees and keep a check on the quality-related norms.
Question 3
Under the present circumstances, the screening for suitable temporary employees can be
considered as a permanent exercise for the agency because of a lack of supply of talented
individuals. As far as the core team is concerned, Line managers can adopt the technique of