Analyzing Management and Leadership at Hilton Hotel: A Report

This report offers a comprehensive analysis of management and leadership practices within the Hilton Hotel chain. It begins by exploring classical management theories such as scientific management and administrative theory, and then examines their application within Hilton's operational framework. The report delves into various leadership styles, contrasting transactional and transformational approaches and their impact on employee motivation and organizational sustainability. Furthermore, it identifies both internal factors, including mission statements, organizational culture, and leadership styles, and external factors, such as competition and economic conditions, that influence management styles and structures. The report also highlights the importance of sustainable management within Hilton, examining its commitment to environmental, social, and economic outcomes, and its alignment with global sustainability goals. The report concludes by discussing current and future management and leadership skills essential for success in the service sector, particularly within the context of the Hilton Hotel.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:................................................................................................................................................3
Learning outcome 1: Classical management theories and leadership styles................................................3
1.1. Scientific Management Theory:...................................................................................................3
1.2. Administrative theory:.................................................................................................................3
1.3. Classical management approach in Hilton:..................................................................................5
1.4. Leadership style:..........................................................................................................................6
Learning outcome 2: Internal and external factors that influence management styles and structure in a
service industry context...............................................................................................................................7
2.1. Internal factors:.................................................................................................................................7
2.2. External factors:................................................................................................................................8
2.3. Sustainable management:.................................................................................................................8
Learning Outcome 3: Current and future management and leadership skills for the service sector.............8
Learning Outcome 4: Management and leadership skills in service industry context................................10
Conclusion:...............................................................................................................................................11
References:................................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction:
Hilton hotel is one of the largest hotel chains in the world with 6110 properties that consist of
971,780 rooms. It has celebrated its 100 year of hospitality in 2019. Being the most hospitable
company in the world through creating heartfelt experience for the guests, meaningful
opportunities for the employees and high value for the owner is the mission of the company.
Sustainability has become a core concern in the tourism and hospitality industry. Like many
other global hospitality brands, sustainability is one of the core concerns of Hilton. The purpose
of this report is to demonstrate how leaders and managers in tourism and hospitality industry
transform their businesses through strategic approach to sustainability.
Learning outcome 1: Classical management theories and leadership styles
Over the decades there are various management theories and approaches have been developed to
describe the ideas setting the usual rules on how to manage an organization. Management
theories are the collection of ideas which set fort general rules on how to manage an
organization. They demonstrate how supervisors and manager relate to their business in the
knowledge of its objectives, the execution of effective means to accomplish the goals and how to
motivate the subordinates to offer their best efforts in achieving the organizational goals (Limor,
2019).
There are various notable classical or traditional management theories including scientific
management theory, administrative management and bureaucratic organisations.
1.1. Scientific Management Theory:
Scientific management perspective is the first among the classical perspective of management.
Frederic W. Taylor proposed one best way to do things. Scientific theory is applied to low level
routine and repetitive tasks which could be management at supervisory level as according to this
theory, managers are superior intellectually to the average employees as well as they have a
positive responsibility to supervise their subordinates and organize their tasks.
According to Taylor, scientific management theory is based on the following four principles:
1. A manager or supervisor should develop a best methodology for each task scientifically.
2. The best individual should be selected to perform the task and ensure that best training is
given.
3. It is managers’ responsibility to ensure that best person perform the task using the best
methodology.
4. Managers should ensure that the worker is responsible only for the actual job
performance (Robbins and Coulter, 2012).
1.2. Administrative theory:
The general administrative theory is one of the contemporary classical management theories
which is based on traditional or administrative principles. Henry Fayol is considered as the father
of modern management for his contribution in the classical management field, mainly focusing
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on the operational approach through 14 management principles and emphasizing 5 basic
functions of managers’ performance (Sridhar, 2017).
Table 1: 14 management principles
Based on Sridhar (2017) and Robbins and Coulter (2012)
According to Henry Fayol, there are five basic functions of management performance (Robbins
and Coulter, 2012). A manager or supervisor should address these functions (figure 1) based on
rationality, logic and consistency (Sridhar, 2017).
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Figure 1: Five management functions
Based on Robbins and Coulter (2012)
Planning- A manager must need to be capable to make plan, develop business goals and ensure
the accomplishment of goals.
Organizing- It is managers’ responsibility to organize the job task in a systematic and structured
way.
Commanding- Managers must need to hold the supervision roles so as to ensure that they
supervise their subordinate and inspire them to achieve organizational goals effectively.
Coordinating- It is managers’ responsibility to harmonize the work procedures and activities
and ensure that each organizational unity enrich work of another.
Controlling- Some general rules and policies should be placed and managers should control the
activities of the company with those rules and policies (Robbins and Coulter, 2012).
1.3. Classical management approach in Hilton:
Hilton hotel applied the traditional management theories in their operations successfully. In the
line with the classical management approach, Hilton management practice focuses on line
supervision in their hotel operation where hotel managers play the key supervision role and
different departmental managers play specific supervision role in order to ensure that the best to
perform the task. There is a division of work in Hilton, which consists of differentiation between
managers and leaders. The general managers are in command for daily operation. In addition to
supervision, the management is responsible for planning, organizing commanding and
controlling (Hilton, 2020). Hilton management approach seek and practice the processes that
ensure improved quality while increasing quantity of outputs. The company consistently offers
training and development program to the employees which is suggested by the traditional
management approach.
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1.4. Leadership style:
In addition to management theories, there are various types of leadership styles which also play
crucial role in organizational structure and culture as well as organizational sustainability. The
leadership style is crucial in employ motivation and process of work within the organization
needed to achieve sustainability (Kotler, 2009). Leadership can be broadly classified into
transactional leadership and transformational leadership:
Transactional leadership:
Transactional leadership style sets a clear set of goals and objectives for their followers as well
as the use of punishment or reward so as to influence compliance with the goals set (). This type
of leadership focuses on motivating their followers in the direction of established goals through
clarifying roles and task requirement. In addition, they stimulate the managers to achieve
success. The positive motivational incentives as well as negative reinforcement are the trade for
transactional leaders. However, these types of leaders work withing the existing organizational
structure and shape their work according the organizational culture. Negotiation is their key
weapon in attaining sustainability goals (Dorfman et al., 2012).
Transactional leadership play the crucial role in the success of Hilton. Hilton leadership allows
the managers to participate in decision making regarding hotel policies. There are numbers of
performance management policies including rewarding, punishment, as well as training and
development so as to ensure that employees can cope with organizational structure and culture
and perform according to the set policies to attain sustainable performance (Hilton, 2020).
Transformational leadership:
These types of leaders are classified along the traits of being charismatic, being team oriented
and being human (Dorfman et al., 2012). The traits of transformational leadership can be key to
providing that catalytic leadership needed in hospitality organization to ensure sustainability ().
Transformational leaders offer and articulate a sense of mission and an inspirational vision based
on values and encourages followers to drive to achieve that mission and visions (Judge and
Piccolo, 2014). According to Muralidharan and Pathak (2018), transformational leadership style
is consisted of the following four components:
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In addition to transactional leadership, the transformational leadership also plays the crucial role
in the success of Hilton. This type of leadership is practiced in the upper-level management of
the company where a sense of mission and an inspirational vision based on values are created
and different motivational policies are planned to encourage followers to drive to achieve that
mission and visions (Wang and Patiar, 2016).
Learning outcome 2: Internal and external factors that influence management
styles and structure in a service industry context
Both internal and external factors have significant influence on the management styles and
structures in any business context as they have huge effect on the success and failure of a
business entity. Managers must need to recognize and respond to the both internal and external
factors that affect their organisations (Shahzadi et al., 2018).
2.1. Internal factors:
Internal factors refer to the factors, event, system, structure as well as the condition inside the
organization which are generally under the control of the company. In the context of Hilton
hotel, there are numbers of internal factors which influence the management structure and styles
within the company. The key internal factors include the mission statement, sustainable
management, organizational culture, and leadership styles (Shahzadi et al., 2018).
Management approach: Hilton management practice focuses on line supervision in their hotel
operation where hotel managers play the key supervision role and different departmental
managers play specific supervision role in order to ensure that the best to perform the task. The
company consistently offers training and development program to the employees which is
suggested by the traditional management approach (Hilton, 2020).
Leadership style: Leadership style plays a crucial role in determining the management styles
and structure in Hilton. Hilton leadership allows the managers to participate in decision making
regarding hotel policies. There are numbers of performance management policies including
rewarding, punishment, as well as training and development so as to ensure that employees can
cope with organizational structure and culture and perform according to the set policies to attain
sustainable performance (Hilton, 2020).
Innovation: Guest-centric innovation is the DNA of Hilton. The company continually look
forward to build and sustain relationship with customers through innovative service delivery.
Therefore, the management styles and structure of the company is developed and sustain within
the company in a way which can deliver exceptional service delivery (Hilton Annual Report,
2019).
Organizational culture: Hilton organizational culture is based on its award-winning culture
which has significant influence on its management practice. The organizational culture of Hilton
is based on the simple idea that being the best place to work for the employees so they can
provide their best service to the guests (Hilton, 2020).
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2.2. External factors:
External factors include those factors which occur outside the company and beyond the control
of the company, yet can cause change inside the organization. The example of external factors
includes customers, competition, the economy, technology, political and legal condition, and
socio-cultural condition. These types of factors have significant influence on the operations,
growth as well as long-term sustainability, therefore managers need to monitor and adapt to
external environment continually (Shahzadi et al., 2018).
2.3. Sustainable management:
Sustainable management can be described by both internal and external factors that influence
organizational structure and management styles. The sustainable management has become a
cornerstone of business and its sustainability. It refers to the management practice to manage the
impact of an organization on the three bottom lines including people, planet and profit so that all
three can prosper in the future. Sustainable management practice ensures long-term viability of a
business. Sustainable management can take different forms such as reducing business impact on
environment, improving work quality, etc. (Silva et al., 2020).
The management is important for the commitment of the company to follow sustainable strategy,
feeding a culture guided to the environmental, social and economic outcomes. The management
styles and structure of the company in any industry context must need to be attentive to the
external changes and be able to manage them sustainably. Proactive management practice is
therefore needed to outline a long-term perspective which can mitigate risks and enhance
opportunities (Asif and Searcy, 2014).
The sustainable management practice of Hilton contributes to sustainability goals which
positively affects communities and planet. The sustainable management of Hilton is in the line
with its core strategy, ‘travel with purpose’. Travel with purpose policy of the company unites its
organizational functions around a set of global issues connecting its business to society,
concentrating its efforts where the highest social and environmental impact can be found. The
sustainable management practice allows the company to help global community in a meaningful
way to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Hilton CRS Report, 2019).
The sustainable management issue influences the management and leadership styles of Hilton.
The CEO and President of the company is responsible for sustainable management related issues
and decisions of the board of directors of the company. The Executive Vice President (EVP) is
responsible for the sustainable management strategy, travel with purpose. All the managers and
supervisors of the company need to comply with these strategies so as to attain the goals of
sustainable management (Hilton CRS Report, 2019).
Learning Outcome 3: Current and future management and leadership skills
for the service sector
Hilton hotel has been operating in hospitality industry for over 100 years. Throughout its history,
the management leadership played crucial role in its success. However, the company will have to
ensure that its leaders and managers comprises some key skills in order to meet current and
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future needs, specifically the sustainability management demand. These types of factors have
significant influence on the operations, growth as well as long-term sustainability, therefore
managers and leaders should have to required skills to monitor and adapt to drivers of changes
continually (Shahzadi et al., 2018).
Hard skills and soft skills:
For effective operations of an organization, it needs appropriate management and leadership
skills which can be classified into hard skills and soft skills. Hard skills are mostly technical
skills and they are teachable. The examples of hard skills include strategic planning, economic
analysis and strategic design. On the other hand, soft skill refers to a cluster of personal qualities,
attitudes, habits and social graces which make someone an effective manager or leader or co-
worker. Soft skills are mostly interpersonal skills including communication, team development,
leadership development, collaboration and time management (Beheshit, 2018).
Hard skills are essential for leadership and management role. However, soft skills have been
getting more and more significance in service industry are hospitality organization prefer to have
managers and leaders who possesses sharp emotional intelligence, critical thinking, personal
awareness and a sense of service (Pizarro, 2020).
In the context of today’s changing business context and the challenges service organizations will
have to face, the following skills will be crucial for the managers and leaders:
Social intelligence: The ability to deal with any potential challenges in any context is an
essential skill for leaders and managers. Leaders will high social intelligence have strong
conversational skills, the ability to understand others, the ability to build strategic partnership
with peers, and the ability to navigate different social environments. The social intelligence skill
is essential in creating meaningful and successful relationship with people (Pizarro, 2020).
Creativity and problem solving: Creativity is another soft skill that will play crucial role in
meeting the challenges in the future. Managers and leaders with creative skills can develop ideas
and experiment with solutions to address the challenges. Creative managers like to take risk
which in turn allow them to discover novel opportunities for innovation and growth.
Digital literacy: Considering the digital revelation and the prospected development in the digital
platform, digital literature is another current and future soft skills for managers and leaders in
service sector industry. Today, technology is an ever-evolving skill which is essential for the
managers and leaders in any industry. Digital literacy refers to the ability to use information and
communication technologies to find, evaluate, create and communicate data, needed for both
cognitive and technical skills. Leaders and mangers in the hospitality industry needs digital
literacy skills in order to be more productive and work collaborative and remotely using the
digital tools effectively.
Working and collaborating remotely: The trend of virtual work or working remotely is
increasing significantly. For example, alternative workplace such as homes or share workplace
have increased by 173% since 2005.
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Practical perspective: The dynamic business environment in the hospitality industry,
specifically the hotel sector is characterized by technological innovation and an increasing
diverse workforce. In this context, managers and leaders must need to take practical perspective.
Manager and leaders with practical perspective skills realistically assess the available options,
systematically consider the features and characteristics of those options and make efforts to
understand the perspective and interests of the other related stakeholders. They like to avoid
making the less informed decisions through taking a more deliberate approach. They are further
capable of overcoming the constraints of time and emotions, while creating opportunities to find
interactions based on shared interests (Percy, 2019).
Considering the skills and competencies needed for the managers and leaders to meet the current
and potential future challenges and grad the opportunities, Hilton Hotel adopt a mix strategy to
address the skill gaps. The company look outside the organization and hire new employees with
the right skills. The company further build required skills internally, retaining its existing
employees to prepare them for new roles and changing roles. A continuous training and
development program helped the company to ensure that employees possess the right skills they
needed.
Learning Outcome 4: Management and leadership skills in service industry
context
Managing change is the most challenging aspect of business irrespective to its nature or size. In
order to ensure long-term sustainability, organization needs to implement change. In fact, change
has become an unavoidable business process (MacArthur, 2019). However, change
implementation is not an easy task. Effective management and leadership role are must in
ensuring the successful implementation of change within the organization as change involves the
adoption of different goals, approach, framework, and strategies (Kirchhoff et al., 2020).
Change management in Hilton:
Like any other hospitality organizations, Hilton hotel goes through different planned and
unplanned change where management and leadership play the most crucial role. The examples of
changes in Hilton include loyalty program, room key technology and cutting environmental
footprint (Hilton, 2020). The management and leadership are positively involved in driving
positive changes. The organization leader of Hilton offers leadership, guidance and motivation
needed to change the operation of the company so as to outperform the competitors and ensure
long-term sustainable performance.
The dynamic business environment in the hospitality industry, specifically the hotel sector is
characterized by technological innovation and an increasing diverse workforce. In this context,
managers and leaders must need to take practical perspective. Manager and leaders with practical
perspective skills realistically assess the available options, systematically consider the features
and characteristics of those options and make efforts to understand the perspective and interests
of the other related stakeholders. They like to avoid making the less informed decisions through
taking a more deliberate approach. They are further capable of overcoming the constraints of
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time and emotions, while creating opportunities to find interactions based on shared interests
(Percy, 2019).
Based on the case of Hilton, the following management and leadership processes in
implementing change in the organization are outlined below:
Creating a new vision for the future: On of the most important role of leadership in change
process is to create a new vision for the future that does not already existed. In term of planned
change in Hilton such as innovation, the CEO of the company create a change vision for the
future. The management and leadership process involves with setting goals which are realistic,
clear and achievable (Lamo, 2019).
Creating an environment of trust: Hilton leaders create an environment of trust where their
followers feel heard and free to speak up. Leader treats their followers at all levels as
exceptionally as their guests are treated. Trust, goals, development, recognition and relationships
are the five key behaviors of Hilton leaders that create an environment of trust (Lamo, 2019).
Creativity and problem solving: Managers and leaders with creative skills develop ideas and
experiment with solutions to address the challenges. Creative managers like to take risk which in
turn allow them to discover novel opportunities for innovation and growth and execute change.
Conclusion:
The purpose of this report was to demonstrate how leaders and managers in tourism and
hospitality industry transform their businesses through strategic approach to sustainability. Like
many other global hospitality brands, sustainability is one of the core concerns of Hilton. Hilton
management approach seek and practice the processes that ensure improved quality while
increasing quantity of outputs. Considering the skills and competencies needed for the managers
and leaders to meet the current and potential future sustainability challenges and grab the
opportunities, Hilton Hotel adopt a mix strategy to address the skill gaps. The company look
outside the organization and hire new employees with the right skills. The company further build
required skills internally, retaining its existing employees to prepare them for new roles and
changing roles. A continuous training and development program helped the company to ensure
that employees possess the right skills they needed.
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