Hospitality Industry: Operational Roles, Skills, and SWOT Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operational roles within the hospitality sector, using the Dorchester Hotel as a case study. It identifies key roles such as front desk services, housekeeping, accounting, marketing and sales, facilities management, human resource management, security, and customer relationship management. The report then delves into the essential skills required for success in these roles, including communication, problem-solving, multitasking, teamwork, and cultural awareness, highlighting the significance of these skills for the Dorchester Hotel's employees. Furthermore, the report assesses the environmental factors impacting the development of hospitality businesses, followed by a SWOT analysis of the Dorchester Hotel, evaluating its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and how this information can inform decision-making. The report also addresses current and future trends in the hospitality sector and provides relevant references.

Contemporary
hospitality

Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................................10
TASK B.........................................................................................................................................11
P4. Investigating range of different operational roles within hospitality sector...................11
P5 Determining the skills required for roles within hospitality industry and current skill
shortage.................................................................................................................................13
TASK C.........................................................................................................................................15
P6. Assessing the environmental factors which is effecting the development of company in
Hospitality sector..................................................................................................................15
P7. Undertaking SWOT analysis for business and reviewing the way it can inform decision
making..................................................................................................................................17
P8. Implications of current as well as future trends in hospitality sector.............................20
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................21

Introduction
The report will present the different range of operational roles in the hospitality industry
and also determine the various skills which are needed for performing this role effectively in the
company. Dorchester is the luxury hotel industry which is owned by the Brunei investment
agency. Study will defines the various environmental factors which affect the development of the
firm and also evaluate the various strength, weakness, threats and opportunity of the company
and also determine that how it can inform the decision making to the management of the
Dorchester.
TASK B
P4. Investigating range of different operational roles within hospitality sector
Hospitality sector is very big and has number of operations. It consists of number of
functional units which is responsible for performing specific tasks. In context of Dorchester
hotel, an organisation consists of number of departments where there are different operational
roles are performed by employees. The range of operational roles which are performed within
hospitality sector are :
Front desk services : It is the core operational role within hospitality sector which mainly
includes greeting the guest. Employees welcome guests and they also interact directly with

customers. Role of employees in front desk is to provide welcome guest, attend phone calls,
confirm reservation of room for guests, handle the complaints as well as queries of the
customers. In addition to this, role of front desk employees is to maker customer feel
comfortable (Filimonau and Brown, 2018).
In context of Dorchester hotel, The role of front desk employees also includes managing
the other departments in an organization. Important role of front desk workers is to manage the
customer services. It is the duty of front desk employees to provide customer with complete
information of product or services provided by an enterprise.
In context of Dorchester hotel, it is very much important for management in firm to
provide training to employees in front desk as this they are the people with whom customer fist
meet. Training will assist employees in developing the skills as well as it will also assist workers
in enhancing their personality which is very much essential in order to develop good impression
on the mind of customers. In addition to this, main operational role of workers in front desk
department is to allocate as well as distribute rooms according to the instruction given by guests
during the time of reservation. In context of Dorchester hotel, role of employees engaged in
delivering front desk services is to maintain the strong relationship with client as it is very much
essential in order to positively influencing them to make frequent visits.
Housekeeping : It is the most important as well as integral part of hotel operations.
Housekeeping operational role include cleaning of the rooms as well as common areas in hotel.
Housekeeping is considered to be as one of the crucial role as it helps in providing guest with
good experience. Role of employees in housekeeping department is to maintain the hygiene as
well as cleanliness in hotel. It is the duty of employees in house keeping department is to provide
the customer with room services.
Accounting : In context of Dorchester hotel, role of the employees in accounting department is
to maintain the record of all business transactions. In addition to this, main role of accounting
operation s in Dorchester hotel is to control the cash flow. It is the duty of accounts department
in an organization to track business transactions including payrolls, accounts receivable or
payable. Role of accounting operation in Dorchester hotel is to assist an enterprise in improving
financial performance (Batle, Orfila-Sintes and Moon, 2018). Primary role of accounting
department in the hotel is to maintain books of accounts.

Marketing and sales: In context of Dorchester hotel, role of marketing operation is to promote
the products or services offered by organization. Role of marketing is to help an organization in
building a brand and gaining customer loyalty. Marketing activity is mainly performed in order
to attract customer. Role of marketing is to positively influence customers to buy specific
products or services. It is the main role of marketing to convert prospects into buying guests.
Role of marketing is to covey the message. In addition to this, other role of the marketing is to
conduct research and assist business entity in gaining the information about taste and preferences
of customers.
Facilities management : In context of Dorchester hotel, It is the operations which includes
repair of the electronics and other machinery in hotel. Facility management in hotel industry
include complex operational activities. In addition to this, main role of employees engage in
facility management is to make ensure that all the guests are well accommodated during their
stay in the hotel. Role of facility manager is to ensure proper maintenance of rooms as well as
hotel.
Human resource management : It is considered to be as important operation in hotel. Human
resource management activity is mainly concerned with managing people. In context of
Dorchester hotel, the important role of manager in an organization is to recruit highly talented as
well as skilled employees (Davis, Alcott and Pantelidis, 2018). Main role of human resource
manager in Dorchester hotel is to provide training to employees. In addition to this, function of
human resource department is to ensure compliance of laws. Their role is to maintain the
records of all employees working in an organization. In addition to this, important function of
human resource manager in an enterprise is to analyze the performance of employees. Their key
role is to solve the performance related issues.
Security : Role of security is to ensure the safety of guest during their stay at hotel. In context of
Dorchester hotel, function of security is to ensure the safety as well as security of workers and
guests. In addition to this, other important role of security in hotel to formulate policies, organize
training programs in order to promote the security as well as safety of guests as well as workers.
Role of the security in Dorchester hotel is to provide safety instruction to workers in relation to
the handling of equipment. Role of security is to perform risk assessment in Hotel so that
accidents can be avoided.

Customer relationship management or support service : Role of employees in customer services
department is to provide all important information to guest related to the services which can be
helpful for them in order to make their stay comfortable (Camilleri, 2018.). Function of
customer services representative is listened to guests and assist them by accommodating their
request. Customer services is considered to be as important operations which drives an
organization towards success. In context of Dorchester hotel, it is required by organization to
provide the t special training to employees engage in customer services, as this tactic will support
an organization in delivering professional services to guest.
P5 Determining the skills required for roles within hospitality industry and current skill shortage
The hospitality industry includes various roles for performing its business operations
effectively such as front desk service, housekeeping, and marketing and sales as well as human
resource management. All of these roles require a number of skills for performing their job
efficiently towards achieving the desired level of result from the market place. There many of
skills which required for the employees of different department of the Dorchester hotel required
to become successful in terms of accomplishing the business objective of the firm(Noone, Enz
and Glassmire, 2017).
Communication skills: Communication skill is significant for all the roles of hospitality
industry. For example, the front desk employee of the Dorchester hotel because it is the person
who speaks first with the guest in the hotel and over the phone daily, so it is essential that they
speak clearly and maintain a positive tone with the customers which results in increasing the
productivity of the firm. Human resource management employee also require the better
communication skill for maintaining the healthy working environment in the Hotel because they
maintain the better coordination among the employee and manage the better relationship between
the management and staff. The communication skill also require for performing the role of
House-keeper because they required communicating well with hotel guest and anticipating their
needs. It requires resolving any issues or complaint that a guest may have with a room that does
not meet the guest standard. The operation marketing and sales employee staff also need better
communication skill for effectively attracting with the customers towards the improving the
brand image of the firm(Masa’deh, Tarhini and Algudah, 2018).
Problem solving skill: This skill also consider as the important for the front desk employees
because they solves the various problems of the customer. The problems could be a minor such

as a request for restaurant as well as it could be big problem such as a guest whose reserved
room is not wheelchair accessible as requested. If employees respond creatively to these
challenges then it will results in gaining good review for Dorchester hotel. Problem solving skill
also require for performing the role of human resource manager because they solve the various
conflict situation in the business environment of the Dorchester hotel.
Multi- tasking skill: The operational roles of the Dorchester hotel also require this skill for
accomplishing the desired level of results. The house keeping employees are always need
multitasking skill because they perform various activities such as answering phone calls, greet
guests, answer questions and checkout customers. Multi-tasking skill is essential for performing
the job of human resource manager because they need to plays various roles in the Hotel
Dorchester such as making HR policies, employee performance management and payroll
activities. For performing the role of marketing and sales employee of the Dorchester hotel, they
requires the multi-tasking skill because employees perform various roles in terms of increasing
the customer loyalty towards the hotel as well as increasing the brand image of the hotel in the
market place for which they need the multi-tasking skills which results in improving the overall
performance of the business unit(Robinson, Cameron and Crotts, 2016).
Team work skill: The success of every industrial unit is largely depends upon the better team
work skill of its employees. For performing the front desk service employees role, team work
skill are needed because sometimes they have to work with the other employees at the front desk
to handle a difficult problem in the Dorchester hotel and they also need to work with the other
department of the firm such as parking and management to ensure that the customers are
satisfied with their services. Apart from this human resource manager also require the team
working skill for performing their job towards the attainment of the business objective of the
hotel. Human resource manager need to work with the other departments of the Dorchester hotel
for maintaining the business activities of the Hotel towards increasing the profitability of the
firm. Marketing and sales department employee also requires better team work skill because they
work with the other functions of the hotel for improving its brand image in the hospitality
industry which ensure then long term success of the hotel.
Culture awareness: This skill is essential for all the operational role of the hospitality industry
because in the Hotels most of the customers are the tourist which comes from the different type
of the culture backgrounds. For dealing effectively with customers all the employee of the

Dorchester hotel should be aware about the different cultures for gaining the higher level of
consumer loyalty from them which results in improving the overall performance of the
Dorchester Hotel(Alhelalat, 2015).
TASK C
P6. Assessing the environmental factors which is effecting the development of company in
Hospitality sector
Pestle analysis is considered to be as effective technique which can be utilized by
management in Dorchester hotel for assessing the macro environmental factors which has direct
as well as significant effect on business operations. It is the technique which will help an
enterprise in developing an effective strategy for providing an appropriate response to change in
different variables of environment (Demirel, Iatridis and Kesidou, 2018). The different factors
which can have effect on the business operations of Dorchester hotel are:
Political factors: These variables includes changes in the political conditions in the nation,
amendments in the rules created by political parties related to the industry. In context of
Dorchester hotel, as organization is operating business globally, political instability in the
country can create major barriers in the smooth running of business. In addition to this, due to
political instability in the nation an enterprise might face difficulty in delivering the goods or
services to customers at specific locations. It is required by management in Dorchester hotel to
ensure that all the norms are followed, as this tactic will assist an organization in smooth running
of business. Changes in the regulation by the political parties also have great influence on the
operational decisions taken by the leaders or managers in an organization. Some regulation
formulated by the political party such environmental regulation might force firm to bring change
in its operational practices. Ion context of Dorchester hotel, It is required by management in an
organization to design the operations considering the regulations as it will assist firm in
maintaining the long term business sustainability.
Economic factors: It involves the changes in economic conditions of nation, inflation, income
level of an individual, Increase or decrease in tax or exchange rate etc. Changes in the economic
factors have direct as well as significant effect on the profitability of an organization. In context
of Dorchester hotel, decrease in the exchange rate has profit an enterprise which the transnational
benefits. On the other hand, increase in the tax rate has lead to the decline in the profitability of

an organization. Changes in the economic factors also have significant influence on investment
decision of company (Dedeoğlu, Aydın and Boğan, 2018.). It also has great influence on the
buying capacity of firm. Managers in Dorchester hotel is required to make purchases when the
prices of the products are low, as it will assist an organization in saving of money. Firm is
required to keep some amount of money from the profit as reserve, as it will aid business entity
in fulfilling the needs of business during the time of economic crisis.
Social factors: It includes changes in the trends, taste and preference of customers etc. Changes
in social factors have significant influence on the operational decisions by manager or leader in
an organization. In context of Dorchester hotel, changes in the social factors have direct
influence on the decision of manager or leaders related to development of new product. It is the
factor which have significant influence on the demand for the products or services offered by an
enterprise (Chan, Okumus and Chan, 2018). In context of Dorchester hotel, due to the continuous
changes in the taste and preferences of customer business entity is facing difficulty in
maintaining balance between demand and supply. But in increase in traveling activities and
tourism trends has provided firm an opportunity to increase sales and profitability.
Technological factors: It includes advancement in the technology. Technological advancement
has provided Dorchester hotel an opportunity to bring improvement in the quality of products or
services. It has also provided firm an opportunity to mark online presence. Advance technology
has provided business entity an ease in promoting their products or services at large scale. In
context of Dorchester hotel, advancement in technology has assisted an enterprise in increasing
the working efficiency and productivity. It has aided firm in reducing cost of operations. But the
same time, advancement in technology has given rise to stiff competition in the market, due to
which Dorchester hotel is facing the difficulty in maintaining the concentration on core business
functions. Changes in technological factors have significant influence on both marketing as well
as operational decisions taken by manager or leader ion Dorchester hotel (Wang, Hung and
Huang, 2019.).
Legal factors: It includes changes in the laws formed by government. Changes in the legal
factors have significant effect on business operations of companies. In context of Dorchester
hotel, as an organization is operating business globally, failure to comply with the legislation can
have adverse effect on the business sustainability. Changes in the norms have direct as well as
significant influence on the decisions of the management related to the implementation of new

system or operations within the organization. It is the factors which has great effect on the
business policies and plans of company.
Environmental factors: It includes changes in environmental law, weather conditions,
occurrence of natural disaster etc. Changes in environmental factor has great effect on the
business operations of firms. In context of Dorchester hotel, changes in the environmental
variables have significant influence on business operations of organizations. Bad weather
conditions might restrict business entity from delivering the product or services to customers
(Masa’deh, Tarhini, and Algudah, 2018.). Whereas, During the
good weather condition increase in number of visitors at specific destinations can provide firm
an opportunity to generate high revenue as well as sales.
P7. Undertaking SWOT analysis for business and reviewing the way it can inform decision
making
Swot analysis is a framework which is used to analyze the competitive positioning of the
company in its business environment. Through this tool we can find out the strength, weakness,
opportunities and threats of the Dorchester Hotel.
Strength: Dorchester recognizes as one of the leading firm in its industry and it has the
numerous strength which helps to thrive its business in the market place. The strength of the
company not helps them to protect its market share but also help in expanding their business in
the new market place(Solnet, 2016).
 Superb performance in the new market: Dorchester Hotel industry has builds expertise
for emerging into new market which provides the higher level of success to the hotel in
the new market place. The expansion helps the organization in terms of building a new
revenue stream and diversifies the economic cycle in the market place in which it
operates its business activities.
 Good return on capital expenditure: Dorchester is more successful at execution of new
project and generated good income on capital expenditure through building new revenue
streams.

 Strong free cash flow: The Dorchester has strong free cash flow which provides the
resources in the hand of the company to expand their business activities into new
projects.
 Reliable supplier: The Hotel has a strong base of reliable supplier of the raw material
which enabling them Dorchester to overcome its supply chain issues and ensure the
higher productivity of the firm.
 Enjoy online reviews; The Dorchester improved its brand image through online reviews.
It has the online web site of its hotel industry through which customer can take the
appropriate information about the hotel and also provides the online reviews about the
hotel services in terms of improving the customer services of the hotel.
Weakness –
 Need more investment in the new technologies: Through the scale of expansion and
different geographies the firm is planning to expand more its business operation,
Dorchester require to invest more money in technology to integrate the process across the
industry. Right now the technological investment is not at par with the vision of the
company(Paunović and Jovanović, 2017.).
 Not able to take challenges: At the present time the Dorchester has not being able to
handle the challenges through the new entrants of the segment and has also loss the
market share from the market place. Dorchester needs to build the internal feedback
mechanism directly from sales team on ground to reduce these challenges.
 High attraction rate in work force: As compare to other companies in the hospitality
industry Dorchester has a high attraction rate and also spent lot of money in training and
development of the employees as which is more as compared to its competitor company.
 Very little online marketing promotions: Dorchester also has weakness; as it operates
vary low business activities online for promoting its business globally through online
activities. It does not have any online source for promoting its goods and services at the
international level for its promotion in the market place(Ruth, 2015).
Opportunities
 The strong free cash flow provides an opportunity to invest its business activities in the
new project as well as product segment. Dorchester Hotel can invest more in the
technological advancement as well investment in terms of launching of new product in

the market place. It also provides an open window to Dorchester to expand their business
globally.
 Through investing money into the online platform, Dorchester can gain more customers
from online channel and it also creates new sales channel for the firm for increasing the
productivity of the firm in the market.
 New environment policies also create a level playing field for all the players in the
industry. It provides a big opportunity for Dorchester to drive its business more
successfully and gain higher level of market share in the new product category (Mawe,
2016).
Threats
 As the Dorchester operates its business operation in various countries which affected by
the currency fluctuation, especially in the unstable political climate which has the number
of countries across the world.
 Rising material can also be posing a threat to the Dorchester hotel’s profitability.
 Technological advancement can be a big threat for the Dorchester industry in medium to
long term future. If the technological advancement is adopted by the competitor company
then it is also a serious threat for the Dorchester.
 The stable profitability of the Dorchester also creates the number of competitors in the
industry from last three years which result in decreasing the market position of the
company in terms of less profitability as well as less productivity(Staples, 2016).
Through above Swot analysis also help the Dorchester hotel industry to take the various
decisions towards the success of the firm. Company has the strong position in the market
place which help the management to take the strategic decision about expanding its business
activities globally. The swot analysis shows that the Dorchester has the strong financial
position in the market place which breaks the new entry of the competitors in front of the
business. The Swot analysis present that company need to invest more money in the
technological advancement which guides the management in terms of taking better decision
about that which result in higher productivity of the firm. management can take decision
about the attraction rate of the work force in terms of managing the over investment in the
training and development activities of the firm, as it is higher as compared to other
competitors in the market place. Above swot analysis it has found that Dorchester has very

low online marketing promotion, it provides the information to the management of the Hotel
in terms of taking good decision about investing in the online marketing promotion activities
of the Dorchester which results in improving the overall performance of the firm(Loo and
Comtois, 2015). Thus, swot analysis plays an important role in informing the management
decisions of the Dorchester Hotel industry.
P8. Implications of current as well as future trends in hospitality sector
Current trends in the hospitality sector includes the safety and security trends, the
industry concern with security has increased greatly due to several terrorist attack. The security
and safety of all type hospitality business operation is critical such as personal safety of customer
must be first priority. The diversity is the example of future as well as the current trend of the
hospitality industry. For example, Dorchester operates its business in which customers comes
from diverse range of groups which provide a great opportunity to the company in terms 0f
understanding new culture experience(Schuckert, Liu and Law, 2015). It is important for the
hotel to understand and appreciate the different culture in order to enhance the nature of the
business which results in increasing the productivity and profitability of firm. Technology also
defines as the driving force of the change which presents opportunity for greater efficiency and
integration for improved guest services. Technology become an hospitality business operation in
the development of the strategic resources and is consider as a tool to increase the
competitiveness in the market place and the effective use of the information technology provides
the significant operational improvement of the Dorchester Hotel industry. The demographic
changes also affect the business activities of the hospitality industry because the global
population is continuously increasing as well as the trend of using hospitality services also
changes according to the need of the customers(Staples, 2016).
The future trend such as greater adoption of the green practices, sustainability has
become increasingly important to the hospitality industry as well as the customers. With
innovative practices such as installing solar powered pool heaters and offering locally sourced
toiletries, Dorchester can find more creative and cost effective ways to make their facilities,
events and other services green as possible which results in improving the brand image of the
hotel in the industry(Kim, Lee and Fairhurst, 2017).

Conclusion
The above study has been summarised with that the success operational roles of
Hospitality industry contributes their efforts towards the success of the business. The pestle
analysis of the hospitality industry has great impact on its business operation in terms of both
positive and negative. Report also concluded that the swot analysis is the significant tool which
informs the decision making of the company.

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