Imperial Hotel London: Front Office Challenges and Solutions Report

This report examines the challenges faced by the front office department of the Imperial Hotel London, a five-star establishment, focusing on communication breakdowns with guests and the inability to promptly resolve their queries. The analysis, conducted by a new Head of Department in collaboration with the General Manager, explores the use of Information Systems (IS) Theory and Tuckman's Teamwork Theory to address these issues. The report identifies problems in the front office, reservation, banqueting, bar and restaurant, and inefficient IT systems. It then applies Tuckman's stages of team development (Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing) to foster better coordination and resolve conflicts. Furthermore, the report details the advantages of using Information Systems Theory, including its ability to analyze consumer behavior and improve operational efficiency. It also acknowledges the disadvantages of this approach, such as its complexity and potential for slow implementation. The report concludes by highlighting how the proposed strategies can ensure smooth hotel operations and maintain its reputation.

IMPERIAL HOTEL LONDON

Table of Contents
Introduction..........................................................................................................................................2
Problem Analysis.............................................................................................................................2
The usage of Information Systems Theory with Imperial Hotel to ensure its smooth functioning.4
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................5
Books and Journals..........................................................................................................................5

Introduction
The front office department of Imperial Hotel is facing issues due to lack of communication
with their guests and not being able to resolve the queries of the guest. Being a successful five star
hotel it is necessary for the organisation to maintain their status and reputation. A new Head of
Department of Front Office and Reception, working closing with the General Manager, is aware of
the conflict issues within the department as well as with the other departments within the hotel and
intends to undertake a stand to manage the conflict quickly and efficiently. The below report
explores how he is going to manage and explore the options to solve the issue. Also, the report
showcases the strategies and analyses the problem from every angle to create a system that would
resolve the issue immediately and would ensure smooth operations for the organisation.
Problem Analysis
Front Office:
#Reception Issue - The Hotel Imperial facing problem at reception due to lack of proper
Communication with their guests and not able to resolve their queries regarding hotel premises.
Generally the front office manager is responsible to coordinate their team in such a dynamic way to
rendering their services by greeting their guests with an appropriate manner.
#Reservation Issue- While conversation with their guests, issue occurred with the calls &
Interruption between their communication by technical error. The person who appointed as a
Reservation manager is not able to giving all necessary information of the Imperial hotel such as
having rooms with the appropriate bed-type, availability of premium rooms, a suit, preferred views,
preferred floor etc.
#Banqueting & conference Issue- The fundamental part of Hotel Imperial is that the team is not
focusing on deliver their excellent services, by utilising their available premises to discovering their
guests by making enquiries for getting maximum bookings at the hotel for meeting as well as
hosting events & corporate parties.
#Bar & Restaurant Issue- The Hotel Imperial does not follow competitive market strategies like
providing membership discount, Happy hours or seasonal & additional discount. They are not
maintaining their staff with proper coordination for bar & Restaurant.

#Inefficient IT System: The poor data issues can be detect by the hotel Imperial, They are not
updating their software with the latest technology hence it's impacting on their smooth functioning.
Hospitality is providing 24*7 in the hotel industry thus all the systems are connecting through IT
department so they must be taking action to improve technical quality which is very essential.
#Property management System: Hotel Imperial is having good amenities with indoor & outdoor
facilities like dining area, GYM, Swimming pool, parking, Bar & Restaurant. But they are not
maintained their property with proper management, through which they might be providing better
accommodation for their guests.
Team Working Theories(Tuckman Theory)
In every organisation Team work plays an important role for successful business. There are various
stages of Team Work Theory, which should be follow by the Imperial Hotel to improve their
services & build better coordination among all the team members for smooth functioning. They
should be resolving their problems through Team-work Theory by Tuckman which is helpful for
efficient use of IT system, reservation & premises management system or front office
staff(Reception, Conference & Banqueting, Bars & Restaurant).
Resolving Problem by the Stages of Team-Work are as under-
1.Forming Stage: Under such stage a team development is forming which is initially starting with
an orientation & induction of their team members to cope up with their assigning job profiles
towards organisation. During this stage they might be discuss Time line of project goals, individual
goals, ground rules & team member's skills of Imperial Hotel, & also consider over the background
& interest of the team members. This stage is focuses on the work which has been allotted to the
team members. The Group of Imperial Hotel should familiarize themselves, roles & responsibilities
are to be formed. It is helpful to developing relationship & understand who is reporting to whom
and what part each individual plays.(Castro and Mylopoulos, 2012)

2.Storming Stage: This is the stage where the Imperial Hotel should taking corrective action into
consideration by recognise conflicts & problems facing through their poor team work due to
inefficient use of IT system, premises management, front office & reservation and resolve them by
giving certain task to accomplish group goals with achieving individual goals to fulfilling the
purpose of “Team-Spirit” which is helpful to enhancing work power & improving their various
performance or a productivity. (Pawlak, 2011)
3.Norming Stage: At this stage team members are able to understand the “power of unity” hence
they are self motivated towards their job roles. Thus, Hotel Imperial should apply such team work
theory. Under this stage members are appreciated by their team performance thus they are try to
enhance their skills, knowledge & interest for improving their working conditions & environment
due to having competitive strategy with the purpose of maximum utilisation of available resources
for giving fruitful results. (Avison and Fitzgerald, 2013)
4.Performing Stage: When Hotel Imperial reached at such stage they would be leading towards
success. In this stage the team members are very confidential, inspired & familiar enough with their
certain job roles by operating various functions without any supervision. If team members are
unable to reach at such stage & doesn't try themselves to make it possible then they usually fail to
overcome by given problems.
The usage of Information Systems Theory with Imperial Hotel to ensure its smooth
functioning
Information Systems Theory: To get an understanding of information systems, it has become
necessary to conduct rigorous and relevant Information Systems research. The research is set on the
foundation of robust and strong theory. However, the Information systems field manages to have a
rich and long tradition when it comes to developing or appropriating the theories while the
examination of central disciplinary themes. The theme include Information systems business value
and information systems life cycle with the use of political and social factors. (Tuckman, 2016)
It has seen as a major challenge when it comes to identify appropriate theories that later
needs to be used in works. The lack of knowledge about its basis and how it should be managed and
controlled creates a hindrance in getting the satisfaction along. The theory establishes itself as a

supportive system for an organisation and management. Along with it, any number of operations
can be managed with the usage or practices of this theory. The advantages of theory include it
effectiveness in operations management, overcoming various organisational situations that might
affect its reputation etc.
Advantages of using Information Systems Theory:
1) The theory accepts consumers decision as the core functioning of an organisation. These
consumer decisions are necessary to make any changes within the production process. It
requires the studying of necessary trends and their analysis for being aware of the customer
decision making skills. Also, it interprets itself as very informative analysis and research that
is going to help the organisation with different issues. Such as their capacity to produce their
goods and how effectively the operations are working within the organisation. The
Information Systems theory might help the Imperial Blue hotel to identify its problems and
work accordingly to rectify them while observing the consumer behaviours.
2) The major benefit of theory is to observe and identify the roles and behaviours of managers
and leaders in which it has proved itself as a brilliant approach.(eLone and McLean ,2012)
The functions of leader and a manager describe how effectively the organisation is operating
under their command and what troubles they are facing if the organisation is going as per
their requirements.
3) The theory explores the importance of employees skills with the organisation. It is important
for the organisation to have skilled employees and in case of Imperial Blue Hotel it is
necessary for the organisation to have such employees that holds effective communication
skills and are able to make themselves shape according to the needs and demands of their
consumers or guests.
4) The property management system requires regular management and security in Imperial
Blue hotel. The information theory system itself prove as a system which is better at
managing and securing the system required for organisations smooth operations. The
Information theory system can manage the PMS of imperial blue effectively with leaving no
trace of threat and safety breakdown from any outside resources. This will also ensure
hotel's overall security of its management systems with leaving no trace of any fraudulent
activities as the system ensures tight security and safety. (Tuckman and Jensen, 2017)

Disadvantages of using Information Systems Theory:
1) The information systems theory is sometimes a slow and ineffective approach while finding
minor faults created by the system. These faults need to be identified separately as the
approach itself has no base to find out minor problems.(Maples, 2018.)
2) The theory is very complex in nature and requires and amount of team members to manage
and imply its rules and regulations.
3) It has seen the at various places this theory has failed to prove itself as an effective problem-
solving theory or its foundation are weak.
4) It is important that the theory of information systems is implied with utmost attention
otherwise it can create troubles and the make the organisation's strengths weak.
5) The leader of an organisation needs to ensure that the theory manages to fit within his
leadership style of working otherwise it can create differences in both of their implications
within the system.
CONCLUSION
The above report explores how the new head of department with in close cooperation of General
Manager of Imperial Blue hotel is going to manage and explore the options to resolve the issue his
organisation is facing. The front office department of Imperial Hotel is facing issues because of the
lack of communication with their guests and not being able to resolve the queries of the guest.
Being a successful five star hotel it is necessary for the organisation to maintain their status and
reputation. The report showcases the strategies and analyses the problem from every angle to create
a system that would resolve the issue immediately and would ensure smooth operations for the
organisation.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Tuckman, B.W. and Jensen, M.A.C., 2017. Stages of small-group development revisited. Group &
Organization Studies.2(4).pp.419-427.
Maples, M.F., 2018. Group development: Extending Tuckman's theory. Journal for Specialists in
Group Work.13(1). pp.17-23.
Tuckman, B.W., 2016. The Tuckman teacher feedback form (TTFF). Journal of Educational
Measurement.13(3).pp.233-237.
Castro, J., Kolp, M. and Mylopoulos, J., 2012. Towards requirements-driven information systems
engineering: the Tropos project. Information systems.27(6).pp.365-389.
Pawlak, Z., 2011. Information systems theoretical foundations. Information systems.6(3). pp.205-
218.
Avison, D. and Fitzgerald, G., 2013. Information systems development: methodologies, techniques
and tools. McGraw Hill.
DeLone, W.H. and McLean, E.R., 2012. Information systems success: The quest for the dependent
variable. Information systems research.3(1).pp.6