Imperial Hotel London: A Case Study in Improving Guest Satisfaction

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This case study analyzes guest satisfaction issues at the Imperial Hotel, London.

CASE STUDY – THE IMPERIAL HOTEL,
LONDON
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INTRODUCTION
Every organization achieves the objectives through the proper management process and thus
management can be termed a process of doing or getting things done with the help of the
people at the organization. The management helps to satisfy the needs and requirements of
the customers by converting the raw resources into finished goods and services. Management
adds value to the organization, with the coordination of all the team members and available
resources, the organization could easily reach attaining their organizational goals.
In the case of the hotel management, it is important that the human resource must have the
qualities of management because at the hotel the customers' interaction with the staff of the
hotel plays an essential part. The work efficiency and the progress of the hotel can only be
measured by the efficiency Human Resource Team and staff.
This case study is about the problem of poor guest satisfaction which is faced by the business in
London that is The Imperial Hotel. In this report, various solutions to the problem of poor guest
satisfaction will be provided with the help of the management theories, various procedures,
and the process of effective management. Few justifications of resolution to the problems will
also be discussed here for better understanding.
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CURRENT SCENARIO AT THE IMPERIAL HOTEL, LONDON
It is being analyzed that the problem of guest satisfaction is increasing because of the
participation of customers or guest in the delivering services that are being influenced by the
working environment of the service performance. Due to this problem of poor guest
satisfaction, the benchmark of the imperial hotel is being fallen down to less than 10% as
compared to the average of the company (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016).
The new manager of the hotel, Peter Farnsworth calculated the other problems related to the
problem of poor guest satisfaction that is being discussed hereunder:
 The undesirable culture of working
 The rapid increase of higher staff turnover
 Unproductive leadership
 Underprivileged teamwork
 Other problems (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016)
There are various complaints of the customers or guests at regular bases such as poor quality of
the room as well staff, the regular problem of check in and out of the guests, rude behavior of
reception staff, and wrong calculation of final bill. These problems are affecting the image of
the hotel (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016). There is also a problem recognized by customers in terms
of accommodation facility provided to them ta hotel (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016). Many
customers complained that the washrooms of rooms are not properly cleaned, there is also a
technological problem, air conditions and with other equipment at the hotel.
For resolving various problems of customers at imperial hotel London, a new manager has been
suggested some techniques and processes for better customer satisfaction.
Some suggestions are, guidelines for staff members regarding customer’s expectations,
providing proper training and development for performance improvement of staff, analyzing
the customer’s problems in detail etc (Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016).
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Solving the problem of poor guest satisfaction by reviewing management theories
As Peter Farnsworth suggested solutions to the problem, he mentioned that by analyzing
customer's problem in detail and satisfies them with managerial efforts but only this strategy
would not help to work efficiently at a hotel.
According to the different management theories of hotels it is suggested that hotel staff is an
essential part of an organization that helps in achieving the goals and objectives (Martín et al.,
2018). The performance of staff members directly affects customers or guests, because guests
only want better services from hotel staff and thus this factor is deeply responsible for the
growth of the hotel. Therefore is important to find out the exact problem behind the poor
performance of employees (Martín et al., 2018).
The poor performance of employees could be due to low motivation level in them, they must
not be getting any driving factor to work effectively and with lack of motivation, it Is very
difficult to resolve the problem of poor guest satisfaction.
Motivation can be said an individual's energy that helps them to work to achieve the goals and
objectives of a particular thing or purpose (Martín et al., 2018).
FIGURE 1: BASIC MOTIVATIONAL MODEL
[SOURCE: MARTÍN ET AL., 2018]
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The above model states different stages of motivation, in which the person’s needs and
expectation is one of the essential drivers for generating motivation in them (Dedeoğlu et al.,
2018). It is also been calculated that without motivation employees could work efficiently and
thus here motivation must be missing in employees that are affecting their behavior towards
the organization.
It is also been stated that the crucial factors for motivation must be tangible in nature, for
example, wages, better working environment, salary, benefits, incentives or other important
elements that can work in increasing motivation in employees (Dedeoğlu et al., 2018).
For explaining this section deeply, more theories are being discussed here to support answers
such as Maslow’s Hierarchy Theory, Herzberg Two-Factor Theory, Mayo Theory, Theory X and
Theory Y etc.
Maslow’s theory explains that people at working place always want more and more as their
basic needs get fulfilled, the same in the case of the employees at the imperial hotel (Stoyanov,
2017). Here at Hotel the wants of the people depend on what they already have with them, if
they already had basic needs, they are working in the good environment, their salary is being
paid according to their expectations, and then there must be other factors that are influencing
their performance (Stoyanov, 2017).
The factors might be a lack of understanding between the employees, the absence of social
interactions etc. thus an improvement in these areas could improve the performance of the
employees as well overall functioning of the organization.
The other theory is Herzberg Two-Factor Theory; this theory is related to job satisfaction and
motivation of employees at the imperial hotel (Sanjeev and Surya, 2016). The two factors that
are given importance in this theory are maintenance factors and hygiene factors that are
essential for the progress of employees at the hotel (Alshmemri et al., 2017).
To support the further discussion, mayo’s theory and theory of X&Y are also been discussed,
Mayo’s theory explains that social needs of the person are also as important as economic
needs of a person (Miner, 2015). This is being stated in this theory that, manager or head of the
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imperial hotel must also focus on the social needs of employees rather than just focusing on
economic needs. If social need would be fulfilled than this will automatically satisfy employee’s
needs along with the needs of customers and organization (Miner, 2015).
The next theory that can benefit the organization in improving performance is the theory of
X&Y that is being provided or introduced by Douglas McGregor (Lawter et al., 2015). In this
theory, two different aspects have been explained that exactly defines the situation at the
hotel. Theory X explains that employees have skills and abilities to perform better but they
show laziness and do not work according to expectations. At the imperial hotel, London, the
manager must focus on creating the environment through which he can get the work done
from employees. This will help in bringing effectiveness to the work (Lawter et al., 2015).
Whereas theory Y explains that employee’s shows willingness to perform their tasks and duties
with full concentration, they only need professional guidance through management head
(Lawter et al., 2015). Through applying this theory in management, the manager can improve
overall performance only the responsibility of manager here is to guide in the right direction for
efficient and effective working results (Lawter et al., 2015).
Thus the above theories that are used by inculcating motivation in employees at the imperial
hotel will help hotel manager to get the work done effectively through employees and different
motivation as well as job satisfaction theories will help the organization in resolving the
problem of poor guest's satisfaction.
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Effective management procedures and processes are being used at Imperial hotel London, to
analyze and resolve poor guest satisfaction problem
Different stages of active management system are being explained here for the better
performance of employees and to remove the poor guest satisfaction problem:
1. The first stage of this process explains the Discovery factor, in which the focus of
manager of the imperial hotel is on finding the problems in the working environment,
process, procedure etc.
2. The second stage includes planning of the methods and strategies that are to be
followed at the imperial hotel after finding out the main issues and problems (Peltier,
2016). Planning will include different aspects and activities that are to be followed by
employees for satisfying the organization’s needs
3. Development stage at the imperial hotel includes monitoring and analyzing the working
performance of employees to improve or develop their working outcomes (Hopkin,
2018). Here the manager of the hotel will focus on providing training and development
session to employees so that they can effectively help in the progress of the
organization
4. After fulfilling the needs of the organization through the development of the required
processes and procedures, manager pay attention to the implementation of final
working activities that could further help in enhancement of working environment
(Hopkin, 2018)
5. The last stage of effective management procedure includes rediscovery, in this stage
manager, focuses on different aspects which are creating a problem in management
procedure and decide to remove them from the system. Many new processes and
theories are further adopted at this stage after analyzing the working environment
(Hopkin, 2018). Thus at the imperial hotel, the system is rediscovered by minimizing the
bad impact of some mistakes and in this manner, employees improve their working skills
for the betterment of the organization (Hopkin, 2018)
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For concluding the above stages of management theory it is being stated that imperial hotel
aims to achieve success by implementing these five stages such as Discover, Planning,
Development, Implementation, and Rediscovery.
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Justifying methods that are being used for solving the problem of guest satisfaction at
imperial hotel
In the above discussion, it is being analyzed that employees at the imperial hotel are not
performing according to the expectation of customers. Thus because of this issue, many
problems are arising and for that many solutions are provided with support of various theories.
Here justifications of resolutions are being explained further:
Motivation for employees
The motivation for employees is one of the most important factors that help in improving
productivity at the imperial hotel. Motivation can be provided to employees by the manager to
encourage them for better performance. In the process of motivation, this is the duty of the
manager to identify and appreciate better work of employees by any means that is non-
monetary or monetary (Koster, 2017). Employees at the imperial hotel must focus on improving
organization's productivity so that they can get appreciation in terms of increased salary,
benefits, higher position, authority, and many other satisfying factors (Koster, 2017).
Training and development
Training and development is the most important technique that can help in better productivity
at the imperial hotel (Dhar, 2015). Training and development program will help employees to
increase their skills and abilities and it also provides an opportunity for employees to learn
many new techniques methods regarding the working conditions of the hotel. Providing T&D
will also help them to tackle the problems at the hotel and to serve customers according to
their expectations (Dhar, 2015).
Operative monitoring system
For minimizing the impact of mistakes done by employees it is important to monitor and
evaluate their performance on a regular basis (Keily et al, 2017). Monitoring also helps in
finding out main issues and thus through this process manager at the imperial hotel can work
on eliminating unnecessary tasks and drawback of procedures followed at the hotel.
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The total quality management system
For satisfying the customer's needs and wants, this method is being used at the imperial hotel;
in this method, importance is given for improvement of the quality of products and services
(Ross, 2017). This method helps the manager at an imperial hotel in assisting their employees
about the benefits of TQM, that they can focus on minimizing and removing extra cost and
unproductive activities for improving products and services quality. Thus employees at the
hotel take advantage of this technique and focus on resolving the problem of guest satisfaction
at the hotel.
System of feedback
Feedback is always termed as the best method to rediscover issues, at the imperial hotel, this
method has been used by the manager to know the expectation of customers. Through this
technique, the manager focuses on taking feedback from customers in whom they state their
problem and thus work on fulfilling the needs and requirements of the customer (Torres et al.,
2015). Through this method, the imperial hotel can easily resolve the current problem of guest
satisfaction at the imperial hotel.
CONCLUSION
Thus this to be concluded from the above report that the problem of guest satisfaction is being
resolved with the support of various techniques and justification for those methods have been
provided in the last section of the report. Various training and development program can
provide opportunities to employees for enhancement of their learning and the feedback
provided by the customer regarding imperial hotel services will help employees to improve
their performance with the aim of achieving targets of the hotel by resolving the main issue of
poor gust satisfaction.
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