Exploring Flexibility in Management: Article Review and Discussion

This discussion board post presents reviews of two articles, one academic and one non-academic, focusing on the theme of "Management is the pursuit of flexibility." The academic article, from the Journal of Operations Management, examines managerial challenges in professional services, specifically in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector, highlighting the need for customization and adaptation. The non-academic article from Telegraph.co.uk discusses the importance of flexibility in saving the British tourism industry, emphasizing change management and the ability to respond to external challenges. The post draws parallels to the student's professional experiences, illustrating how customization and adaptability are crucial in different industries. This post is a contribution to Desklib, providing insights and analysis for students studying leadership and management.

Student Name:
Academic Article: Examining the characteristics and managerial challenges of professional
services: An empirical study of management consultancy in the travel, tourism, and
hospitality sector
Journal: Journal of operations management
Author/s: Alistair Brandon-Jones, Michael Lewis, Rohit Verma, and Matthew C. Walsman
Date: March 2016
Discussion Topic: “Management is the pursuit of flexibility.”
The article “Examining the characteristics and managerial challenges of professional
services” is a study to assess the numerous traits crucial to the field of tourism and
hospitality. The study suggested numerous challenges that the tourism and hospitality sector
faces while executing various functions, such as addressing hierarchy, taking close note of
the flat hierarchy and hiring of staffs. The article claims that the tourism department cannot
work on a standardized reference point since there is no evident commonly identified
autonomous mark of quality.
The study pertain to the given topic as it aims to achieve a grasp over the way a consultancy
service industry works particularly to those pertaining to the travel and tourism sector. The
article is in accordance to the topic and intends to address the subject of flexibility that are
required by a manager in the tourism and hospitality industry. The article manifests that ‘one
size fits all’ does not apply to the consultancy services, particularly the tourism and
hospitality industry
The previous organisation in which I worked had customization its services for different
customers based on their usage of their phone data plan. As part of the telecom sector, we
catered to different customers based on their requirement. A customer with high usage of data
were given special attention while a customer with the minimum plan were being catered by
the call-centre executives since their requirement were of the basic nature.
References

Brandon-Jones, A., Lewis, M., Verma, R. and Walsman, M.C., 2016. Examining the
characteristics and managerial challenges of professional services: An empirical study of
management consultancy in the travel, tourism, and hospitality sector. Journal of operations
management, 42, pp.9-24.
Student Name:
Non-Academic Article: Flexibility is the key to save the tourism industry
Website: www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/
Author/s: Digby Jones
Date: March 2001
Discussion Topic: “Management is the pursuit of flexibility.”
The article discusses the devastating impact on the British tourism sector as its own tourists
are increasingly visiting other countries, while its own tourism footfall is falling. The article
agrees that the industry is highly susceptible to challenges that are beyond its control. The
country is experiencing deficit in the tourism sector as the negative of the country is
spreading across the world leading to a reduction in the tourists flocking the country. In the
light of the circumstances, the government need to be spontaneous and take corrective
measures to control the situation.
The article directly pertains to the topic of management adopting flexibility, and claims that
change management is absolutely indispensable for the tourism sector. The authors suggests
that the tourism sector should be willing to embrace any change and should evolve itself
continually in order to stay in the business.
In my previous organisation, the management always acted in accordance to the changing
circumstances, and called for regular meeting to address the present crises in hand. The
spontaneous decision taken helped in managing the adverse situation and steered the
department from the looming urgency.
References

Jones, D. (2001). Flexibility is the key to save the tourism industry. [online] Telegraph.co.uk.
Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/4485983/Flexibility-is-the-key-to-save-
the-tourism-industry.html [Accessed 15 Aug. 2019].