Quality Management Analysis: Airbnb's Challenges and Improvements

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Airbnb's quality management practices, focusing on the problems the company faces and potential solutions. It begins by outlining current issues, such as customer dissatisfaction due to booking frauds, poor customer service, and legal challenges. The report then examines Airbnb's capabilities and competencies to address these issues, emphasizing the need for improved IT infrastructure, feedback mechanisms, employee training, and enhanced security measures. Furthermore, the report assesses the impact of quality management techniques, particularly Kaizen, on delivering consistent and effective quality management. It highlights how Kaizen can be used to eliminate waste, improve teamwork, and enhance customer satisfaction. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of a systematic approach to quality management for Airbnb to maintain its market position and ensure long-term customer loyalty.

Managing quality for hospitality,
tourism and events

TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY :................................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
Outline the problems being currently experienced by Airbnb Inc..............................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................3
Examine to what extent Airbnb Inc. has the right capabilities and competences to improve the
quality..........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................5
Assess the impact of techniques could have on Airbnb in terms of delivering consistent and
effective quality management.....................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES:...............................................................................................................................8

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Quality management is one of the essential aspect within company for improve its
existing performance, process, product and services. Effective management of quality process
provides long term satisfaction and customer loyalty. In the hospitality sector, with help of
various techniques of quality management such as Keizen, bench-marking etc company can
easily improve their performance and quality of product and services. The current study is based
on the management of quality of product and services in the hospitality organization that is
Airbnb. Several techniques has been effectively discussed regarding quality management in this
study.
INTRODUCTION
In the hospitality sector, customers plays a very crucial role in order to increase the
profitability and market share of business. In order to gain effective revenue, corporation in this
sector have to improve quality of services and product which it delivers to its customers.
Effective management of quality in the hospitality and tourism sector is very important so as
customer retain within corporation for long time. It is a systematic process through which
management as well as personnels in the company get engaged with the activity of improvement
in quality of product and services (Assarlind and Gremyr, 2016.). The current report provides the
detail knowledge and understanding about techniques and tools of the quality management with
respect of case study Airbnb. The problems which is facing Airbnb and significant capability and
competences to improve the quality of services has been also addressed in this report.
MAIN BODY :
TASK 1
Outline the problems being currently experienced by Airbnb Inc.
Airbnb Inc. is an online company that is related to hospitality sector and operates
in all over the world. It is known for providing high quality services to their customers. This is
the reason why they are able to gain market share and customer base. But, in a research done, it
was found that in the recent era, Airbnb Inc. (Smith and Puczkó, 2014). is facing several
problems regarding customer satisfaction and services. This is a major concern for them as there

has been reduction in customer satisfaction and sales. It is because of increase in frauds related to
ticket booking on website. Also, the quality of services has been highly affected due to increase
in frauds and spams. Ineffective safety and security measures have made it easy for hackers to
get more involved in doing spams and frauds. It was found that 11 million bookings were
cancelled at the last moment due to this. It has created a feeling of fear among customers about
getting victim of fraud (Davis, Alcott and Pantelidis, 2018). This has resulted in decrease in
sales and profits of Airbnb Inc. Moreover, it leads to reduction in the market share.
Another problem that Airbnb Inc. was facing is a downfall in customer satisfaction. This
was because of ineffective availability of services. The customers were not getting that quality in
service for which they have paid. Also, they were not expecting that quality of service will be so
low. This created a bad experience among them. Besides this, in case of cancellation, customers
didn't get proper refund and Airbnb Inc. was not helping them in this process. Other than this,
there are many problems and issues that are faced by Airbnb Inc. Furthermore, they are not able
to maintain an effective customer relationship management. It has led to decrease in customer
satisfaction thus not able to retain them (Hallmann, Zehrer and Müller, 2015) Along with this,
due to poor customer experience, Airbnb Inc. employees are behaving very rudely to them.
Customer problems are not being properly solved by company.
Airbnb Inc. is facing issues with customer reviews. It has been receiving poor reviews by
trust pilot with regard to customer service and bookings. This was due to cancellation of large
number of bookings by Airbnb Inc. at last minute. There were several reviews taken from
customers in which it was found that when a customer booked flight tickets a few weeks ago, it
was cancelled by Airbnb Inc. They didn't give any apology or explanation regarding why it was
cancelled. This was very awkward for customers as Airbnb Inc. was not properly cooperating
with them (Suhartanto and Triyuni, 2016). A second example that can be taken is Airbnb Inc.
paid refund after going through a very complicated and long process. This made the customers
frustrated.
There are many other problems faced by Airbnb Inc. One of them is legal issues. As
Airbnb Inc. is an online platform that provides various hospitality services. In many areas, it has
faced legal issues related to rental house. For example – in New York, a person cannot rent their

apartments for short periods unless they also live in there. It is the violation of law and also, a tax
issue.
These problems were being faced Airbnb Inc. that affected their performance as well as
growth. Also, the quality of services was getting reduced. They were not having proper security
measures so that frauds and spams can be reduced. Airbnb Inc. developed poor relations with
customers that affected their sales and profits (.Sainaghi, Phillips, and Zavarrone, 2017) Apart
from this, to solve these issues there was not proper polices or procedures. Thus, they were not
able to solve those issues effectively. These problems overall affected efficiency and growth of
Airbnb Inc..
TASK 2
Examine to what extent Airbnb Inc. has the right capabilities and competences to improve the
quality
Airbnb Inc. needs to solve their issues so that quality of services can be enhanced. It will
help them to maintain good relations with customers. With this, they will be able to retain them
and gain their trust. For this, first of all, a proper planning must be done on how to improve the
rising number of problems (Kim and Bonn, 2016). Also, strategies and methods must be
developed. Company must implement information technology infrastructure so that website can
be made more secured and protected. Policies must be created to solve the spam issues. It must
contain all terms and conditions so that these can be effectually followed. This will create a
platform for Airbnb Inc. on how to improve the service quality. Moreover, a feedback process
must be developed so that customer feedback and reviews can be taken. It will help in
identifying the loopholes and areas where customers are facing problems. For this, measures
must be taken so that it can be effectually solved. This will help in maintaining the service
quality and increasing customer satisfaction (Alonso, Bressan and Krajsic, 2015).
Besides this, Airbnb Inc. must develop policies and laws so that proper actions can be
taken. It will help employees to take actions according to the problems. Also, there will be a
proper system through which problems can be solved. Airbnb Inc. must maintain track records of
customers and data so that in case of any problem, data can be accessed and immediate actions
can be taken. However, it will establish a procedure through which quality of services can be

improved. Moreover, Airbnb Inc. can provide training to employees in order to make changes in
a way of delivering services to customers (Gursoy, Uysal and Baloglu, 2014). This will enable
in providing better and quick services. Furthermore, it will be easy for employees to recognise
customer’s needs and providing services accordingly.
Strong and effective security measures can be implemented. This will help in reducing
frauds and spams. Also, it will ensure data privacy of customers. Implementing firewalls and
routers will help in reducing unnecessary traffic so that the chances of fraud will get reduced. It
will gain trust of customers as they will be able to access the website easily (Masiero, Nicolau
and Law, 2015). A separate division must be developed so that all the problems related to refund
can be reported by customers. Along with this, methods must be created so that refund process
can be completed in short period of time. It will be beneficial for Airbnb Inc. to solve it easily by
following a proper method.
Improvements in customer relationship management must be made so that problems can
be solved immediately. This will help in maintaining strong relations with customers. Also, it
will lead to retain them by increasing their satisfaction. It will help in improving the quality of
services. Besides this, for solving the problem of last minute ticket cancellation, alternative
options must be developed (Andersson, Getz and Mykletun, 2014). These options can be
provided to customers in this case. It will be useful for Airbnb Inc. to provide services that have
been chosen by the customers.
Airbnb Inc. can also create strong relations with other countries so that laws and
regulations can be effectually followed. For this, Airbnb Inc. must develop policies according to
laws of countries. Airbnb Inc. can set standards for measuring the service quality. This will
benefit in making changes in services to maintain their quality. By bringing overall change in the
process and methods, Airbnb Inc. will be able to expand their operations. Also, by following
legal procedure of countries, company can provide services accordingly. They can establish
office in different countries so that customers can be given with basic services.
Thus, by following these methods Airbnb Inc. will be able to increase service quality.
This will enable company to redesign their process so that issues can be solved in a systematic
way (Smith and Puczkó, 2014). Also, by implementing security measures, company will be

able to reduce spam and frauds. It will help in gaining satisfaction of customers. With this, it will
be easy for Airbnb Inc. to compete in market for long term. Also, it will increase their sales and
profits.
TASK 3
Assess the impact of techniques could have on Airbnb in terms of delivering consistent and
effective quality management
Kaizen
Kaizen is the Japanese word for improvement. It refers to the activity that continuously
improve all functions and involve all personnels from the CEO to the line workers within the
corporation. It is generally used within the company for eliminate wastages from the
manufacturing process and operation functions. In a simple word it can be said that it is the long
term approach to work that desires to achieve small and incremental changes in the process
within the company. The major objective of this system or approach is to improve the quality of
product and services by eliminating the wastages and additional items from the production and
manufacturing process in the company.
As per the given case scenario, Airbnb is facing issue regarding the quality of product
and services. Recently, cited venture has been receiving many poor reviews on the Trustpilot
with regards to their provision of booking and customer services. In such situation, by applying
the various techniques of quality management and improvement, cited venture can effectively
improve quality of services and provide effective customer satisfaction. With assistance of this
technique within the company, each member can collectively involve within the improvement of
current business strategies, practices, policies and performance (Bo and et.al., 2015). Airbnb
company can easily overcome the issue regarding poor customer service with help of this
technique. The major advantage of Kaizen philosophy is to increase efficiency and team work
within the company. This technique promote team work because in this aspect al member and
employees collectively share their efforts and contribution to improve the quality of production
and eliminate wastages from the process. With help of all member's participation within the

process of production and manufacturing, quality of product and services can easily improve and
wastage can eliminate from the process of business. Airbnb can also able to increase safety
within the business by implement this method in the business. In addition to this, employees
satisfaction can also enhance with help of this technique. Thus, it can be said that by implement
this Keizen method in the business, Airbnb company can improve quality of services and
improve poor customer service. Continuous improvement can occur within the Airbnb company
by implement Keizen technique. It can be incredibly beneficial to business unit and it can
encourage the development of team work.
Benchmarking
Benchmarking is one of the business process and performance metrics to industry bests
and best practice from other corporations. It is technique of measurement of the quality of
corporation's policies, product, programs, strategies etc of company to other corporation. In a
simple words it can be said that benchmarking is a systematic process and technique to compare
the company's performance with other organisation in the market. With help of this technique,
corporation can easily analyse its existing performance and process with other company in the
market. The major objective of this technique is to understand and evaluate the current position
of a business or organisation in relation to the best practice and to identify area of improvement
within the company (Chaudary, Zafar and Salman, 2015 ). There are various kinds of
benchmarking techniques such as internal, competitive, functional and generic. It is very
important for company to select best method of benchmarking for measuring the performance of
business.
In the present case scenario of Airbnb, the benchmarking technique can assist to venture
in improving its quality and efficiency of product and services. With assistance of this method,
Airbnb can easily compare its existing performance, policies, strategies and practices with other
corporation in the same sector (Haider and et.al., 2015). This method can help to venture in
acknowledging the current performance of business with the other corporation. It also assists in
identifying area of improvement within existing business product, process and services. In this
case, manager of the Airbnb can use competitive benchmarking method for compare its business

performance with other company. It is the direct competitor to competitors comparison of
product, services, process and method.
CONCLUSION
From this entire report it has been concluded that quality management within the
hospitality and tourism sector is very important for deliver effective customers services. There
are several methods that can help to Airbnb company in order to improve the quality of product
and services. With help of these techniques such as Benchmarking, Kaizen etc company can
easily compare its existing performance with other organisation and improve quality of product
and service.

REFERENCES:
Books and Journals :
Alonso, A.D., Bressan, A. and Krajsic, V., 2015. Perceived benefits and challenges to wine
tourism involvement: An international perspective. International Journal of Tourism
Research, 17(1), pp.66-81.
Andersson, T.D., Getz, D. and Mykletun, R.J. eds., 2014. Festival and event management in
Nordic countries. Routledge.
Assarlind, M. and Gremyr, I., 2016. Initiating quality management in a small company. The TQM
Journal. 28(2).pp.166-179.
Bo, M. W. and et.al., 2015. Quality management of prefabricated vertical drain materials in mega
land reclamation projects: A case study. Soils and Foundations. 55(4). pp.895-905.
Chaudary, S., Zafar, S. and Salman, M., 2015. Does total quality management still shine? Re-
examining the total quality management effect on financial performance. Total Quality
Management & Business Excellence. 26(7-8).pp.811-824.
Davis, B., Alcott, P. and Pantelidis, I.S., 2018. Food and beverage management. Routledge.
Gursoy, D., Uysal, M. and Baloglu, S., 2014. Handbook of scales in tourism and hospitality
research. CABi.
Haider, H. and et.al., 2015. Sustainability evaluation of surface water quality management
options in developing countries: multicriteria analysis using fuzzy UTASTAR method.
Water Resources Management. 29(8). pp.2987-3013.
Hallmann, K., Zehrer, A. and Müller, S., 2015. Perceived destination image: An image model for
a winter sports destination and its effect on intention to revisit. Journal of Travel
Research, 54(1), pp.94-106.
Hjalager, A.M., Kwiatkowski, G. and Østervig Larsen, M., 2018. Innovation gaps in
Scandinavian rural tourism. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 18(1),
pp.1-17.

Kim, H. and Bonn, M.A., 2016. Authenticity: Do tourist perceptions of winery experiences
affect behavioral intentions?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality
Management, 28(4), pp.839-859.
Masiero, L., Nicolau, J.L. and Law, R., 2015. A demand-driven analysis of tourist
accommodation price: A quantile regression of room bookings. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 50, pp.1-8.
Sainaghi, R., Phillips, P. and Zavarrone, E., 2017. Performance measurement in tourism firms: A
content analytical meta-approach. Tourism Management, 59, pp.36-56.
Suhartanto, D. and Triyuni, N.N., 2016. Tourist loyalty toward shopping destination: the role of
shopping satisfaction and destination image. European Journal of Tourism Research, 13,
p.84.