Case Study: Analyzing Challenges Faced by The Imperial Hotel, London

This case study examines the operational challenges faced by The Imperial Hotel in London, focusing on issues within the front-of-house departments including the restaurant, bars, reception, and conference/banqueting. It analyzes the impact of poor communication, lack of teamwork, and inadequate use of information technology on productivity and customer satisfaction. The study evaluates strategic decisions made by the new General Manager, Peter Farnsworth, and proposes solutions such as staff training, improved IT systems, cross-functional team building, conflict resolution, and performance-based rewards to enhance employee performance and improve overall hotel operations. The conclusion highlights the importance of leadership in fostering a positive work environment and achieving customer satisfaction.

Case Study - The Imperial
Hotel

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PROBLEM ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Hospitality Management is one of the important branches which focus on the smooth
running of all operational activities in the hotel industry and related departments for effective
customers' engagement and overall performance management. This consists of application of
principles and concepts in context of hospitality sector and includes front office operations,
human resource management, food and beverages, accommodation, entertainment facilities and
more (Van der Haar and et.al., 2015).
This assignment is based on the case study of The Hotel Imperial, London and its
challenges that are faced by their respective teams in performing the tasks properly that has
affected their productivity and profitability as well. It is located at London's West Side and will
emphasis on their services to mark their growing expansion at both national and international
levels to attract the potential clients and guests.
This will describe about the problems and challenges that has been plaguing this hotel's
front house employees' including administration of several arenas such as restaurant, bars,
reception and conference and banqueting. Moreover, it will also put insights on the low
implementation of information technological tools with usage of internet in their information
systems for conducting the administrative tasks. Along with, it will include a description on the
viability of few strategic decisions made by their newly appointed General Manager, Peter
Farnsworth, who followed proper discussions with each department of head to closely work on
dealing with the daily challenges and struggles faced by the workforce. Lastly, there will be
inclusion of propositions that are oriented towards betterment of their department of front-office
in effective manner.
PROBLEM ANALYSIS
From the problem details it is analysed that the key factor which has caused such
mismanagement is that the front of house staff members are not serious towards their job
responsibility. The lack of team spirit and coordination between team members as well as cross
cultural teams is making the situation worse. The staff members of reception held the prime
responsibility to update the information of consumers so that other front house staff can work
accordingly (Killumets and et.al., 2015). However, IT system is not used with its full efficiency
thus their occurs a miscommunication between all three teams which are working in shifts at
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reception. The recommendations given by Peter Farnsworth are necessary to improve the
performance of Imperial Hotel. The team members who are working at reception are not able to
communicate the exact information or the updated records. It may be possible that they are not
aware with the modifications made by previous teams. To resolve this problem it is necessary
that Imperial Hotel must conduct a training session for all the front house staff members.
`With training session every team member of reception will be able to use IT system and
will update the records of guest and property at the same time without shifting it to team
members of next shift. Along with the technical difficulties it is also possible that these staff
members are not willing to update information thinking that next shift will do the task. This
shifting attitude create misunderstanding between all other teams as well. Thus, the condition can
be improved if along with IT training hotel also implement some strict guidelines and changes in
policies (Reilly and et.al., 2016).
For example a rule must be made that if any change is required to be made then it should
be made at the same time when it occurs. If responsible employee do not update record and shift
it to next team then organisation must take strict action against it. The strict disciplinary action
will create a tendency among employees to complete their responsibility with accuracy. Another
innovative approach which can help Imperial Hotel to reduce the miscommunication is to use
centralise management system. The hotel can train all front house members such as reception,
restaurant and conference.
The training will enable these members to access the information system so that they can
themselves find out the records without being dependent every time on reception team (Shujaat,
Manzoor and Syed, 2014). The information technology department of the organisation must also
interact with front house staff members so that they can know what difficulties they are facing
with IT system. If staff members face any difficulty with IT system then, it must be resolved
immediately. Another suggestion given by the General manager Farnsworth regarding cross team
building exercise is very essential.
Currently the different departments of front desk are not having any coordination. They
working as an independent unit. However, for achieving customer satisfaction and improved
level of performance it is necessary that all teams must learn the working approaches and
benefits of cross team functionality. In order to build such teams it is important that all team
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members must realise their responsibility as well as the importance of other functional units as
well (Hill, Offermann and Thomas, 2018). For instance when reception members makes any
mistake in records then the same mistake is reflected in other units like restaurant or conference.
The employees do not realise the significance and adverse effect of such issues. Thus, it
is important for the team leaders that they motivate and explain the team members about the
benefits and requirement of such cross culture teams for operational activities of hotel. However,
it is not easy to implement this suggestion of Peter Farnsworth in organisation because team
members will follow the leaders and there are conflicts in the leaders as well. Thus, Imperial
Hotel must first focus on resolving these conflicts. The primary cause of conflicts between teams
and leaders can be the dissatisfaction from the organisation.
The leaders may feel that their efforts are not recognised or appreciated as compare to
others so they do not work with more efforts or efficiency. The same concept is followed by the
team members as well. In order to compete with others reception and every other front
department do not provide coordination and support to cross culture teams (Salas and et.al.,
2015). Thus, the first step which must be taken by the Imperial Hotel is to resolve these inter
functional conflicts which are responsible for the inefficient outputs from the team members. The
major cause of conflicts may be difference of opinion or feeling of insecurity because of distrust
on organisation.
The hotel must address the issue and must win the trust of each employee that their
efforts are recognised and there is no need to compete within teams. Though healthy competition
is beneficial for the growth of organisation but it must not be achieved at the cost of team
conflicts. Hotel can make attempts to win the trust of employees and to encourage them so that
they can work with cross cultural teams. Fransworth's suggestion of bonus review can help to
resolve conflicts.
Despite being providing incentives at team level, department level and entire organisation
level the staff members of front house is not have serious attitude towards improving their
performance. It is also analysed that they even misbehave with consumers (Chuang, Jackson and
Jiang, 2016). To resolve this problem Imperial Hotel must conduct a monitoring committee. This
committee must review the performance of every individual. If they are found guilty in such
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inappropriate behaviour then similar to reward system organisation must have disciplinary
system so that strict actions can be taken for such mistakes.
At present team members does not have any fear of being punished or termination and
thus they behave as per their own mindset. The team leaders play a significant role in such
organisational behaviour. Thus, Imperial Hotel can also review on the choice of its team leaders.
The leaders must be selected on the basis of performance but company must also take reviews
from the team members. It is also possible that employees are not satisfied with the existing
reward system of organisation. For this purpose the company can take suggestions from all the
employees regarding improvements which they expect in reward system (Karaoui and et.al.,
2017). Peter must also ensure that these rewards are provided by fair means.
The team leaders of each department in front house can support their favourite and can
promote their names for rewards on the grounds of nepotism instead of on the basis of
performance. Such strategies can demotivate the employees and they may not be willing to give
their efforts in improving services (Negative Effects of Conflict Within an Organization, 2018).
If these strategies do not bring success then, Imperial Hotel can also consider the new
recruitments. The selection of more skilled and managed people can definitely improve the
performance of organisation. Apart from these improvement strategies hotel can also make its
reward system more attractive. For instance if any consumer gives positive feedback for any
member then he or she must be appreciated among all others. It will inspire others also that if
they will work effectively then they can also achieve growth and appreciation.
There is lack of coordination between all members which brings the dissatisfaction
among customers regarding services entire organisation. To address this issue the Imperial Hotel
can also develop training and development sessions. Through these sessions the organisation can
develop skills such as team work, communication and innovations among its staff members. The
front staff members must be given such trainings so that they can learn the significance of team
work and the interaction with each other can also resolve the personal dispute between team
members (Salas and et.al., 2015).
Another effective strategy which can be used by the Imperial hotel to increase
coordination and dedication among team members is to shift the teams at regular intervals. For
instance currently the reception team and restaurant team have same members from long ago.
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Each team member believes that their role is superior and thus they neither interact with other
departments nor help each other as a single team. For solving this issues organisation must
change the teams and leaders in rotation. It will help each individual to understand the
difficulties faced by other teams as well as to develop emotional attachment with all other
members of company without limiting their interaction with only few team members. This
approach can be highly effective and successful to develops coordination between different
departments.
These strategies will be highly effective for the Imperial Hotel to enhance the
effectiveness of team work. The improved team performance and knowledge of information
technology system through training and development will help organisation to achieve customer
satisfaction as well as to meet the future success targets. These methods will also improve the
organisational culture of hotel which has great impact on the performance of human resources (5
Effective Metrics for Measuring Team Member Performance, 2018).
CONCLUSION
It has been summarised that the employment of strategic decisions by their GM
not only accelerated the effectiveness of overall working practices to satisfy their customers and
clients, but also offered flexibility in workspace that led to an amicable atmosphere and
improved the overall performance level of all the employees. Furthermore, it has promoted the
holistic viewpoint by adopting the cross functional approaches with an impact on the complete
outlook of their employees and customers as well. In addition to the above, it impacted the
working styles of employees in context of these administrative responsibilities in terms of
productivity and behavioural aspects.
This has also led to a dramatic alternation with respect to ethical standards and has given
priority to confidentiality of their guests. Moreover, there was a vivid discussion on the
enhancements of the interrelationships between the varied departments that has impacted the
connectivity in positive manner. It was clearly demonstrated that the team building activities
were promoted to create a spirit of loyalty, trust and respect for each other. Along with, the
management arranged various exercises at regular interval of time to enhance the interpersonal
relationships on the whole, which has benefited this hotel in attracting the targeted audience
effectually and maintained the ambience in appropriate manner. Lastly, they identified their
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lacking in the digitalisation techniques and thus, an up-gradation of their IT systems like keyless
entry etc. was done to bring innovation by giving training in regard with the same.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chuang, C.H., Jackson, S.E. and Jiang, Y., 2016. Can knowledge-intensive teamwork be
managed? Examining the roles of HRM systems, leadership, and tacit knowledge.Journal
of management, 42(2), pp.524-554.
Hill, N.S., Offermann, L.R. and Thomas, K., 2018. Mitigating the Detrimental Impact of
Maximum Negative Affect on Team Cohesion and Performance Through Face-to-Face
Communication. Group & Organization Management, p.1059601118776835.
Karaoui, L., Habre, M., and et.al., 2017, December. Interprofessional Simulation and Impact on
Self-Assessment of Teamwork. InPHARMACOTHERAPY (Vol. 37, No. 12, pp. E157-
E157). 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA: WILEY.
Killumets, E., D’Innocenzo, L., and et.al., 2015. A multilevel examination of the impact of team
interpersonal processes. Small Group Research, 46(2), pp.227-259.
Reilly, S., Miller, K., and et.al., 2016, September. Surviving the impossible-the positive impact
of team work in a seemingly unsurvivable overnight situation. In ANAESTHESIA (Vol.
71, pp. 28-28). 111 RIVER ST, HOBOKEN 07030-5774, NJ USA: WILEY-
BLACKWELL.
Salas, E., Shuffler, M.L., and et.al., 2015. Understanding and improving teamwork in
organizations: A scientifically based practical guide. Human Resource
Management, 54(4), pp.599-622.
Shujaat, S., Manzoor, A. and Syed, N.A., 2014. Impact of Team Work on Employee
Satisfaction. IBT Journal of Business Studies, 10(2), pp.71-80.
Van der Haar, S., Li, J., and et.al., 2015. Evolving team cognition: The impact of team situation
models on team effectiveness. European Journal of Work and Organizational
Psychology, 24(4), pp.596-610.
Online
5 Effective Metrics for Measuring Team Member Performance, 2018 [Online] Accessed through
<https://risepeople.com/blog/5-metrics-team-member-performance/>
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Negative Effects of Conflict Within an Organization, 2018 [Online] Accessed through
<https://bizfluent.com/list-5996525-negative-effects-conflict-within-organization.html>
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