An Evaluative Report on Quality Management in the Marriott Hotel Chain

This report provides an in-depth analysis of quality management practices within the Marriott Hotel chain. It begins with an introduction to total quality management and key performance indicators, then explores the services offered by Marriott, including accommodation, dining, and event venues. The report details Marriott's quality management processes, such as determining guest service desires, staff training, and the use of models like the Five Gap model and the Critical Incident Technique to measure and improve service quality. It also examines how Marriott adapts to changing consumer preferences through customization, instant feedback mechanisms, and the use of e-commerce. Finally, the report considers the impact of these changes on guest service management, emphasizing innovation, marketing excellence, and the importance of maintaining high-quality service to foster customer loyalty. The conclusion reinforces the significance of quality management in the competitive hospitality industry.

Evaluative Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Services provided by Hotel.........................................................................................................1
Quality management in the Hotel...............................................................................................2
Ways through which Hotel adapts itself to the changing consumer preference ........................7
Impact of Changing consumer preference to guest service management...................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals .......................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Total quality management is a approach used in business which seeks to improve the
overall level of performance and quality which is required to meet the customer expectations.
This can be achieved in business when overall quality is integrated and key process are properly
used in the company. Key performance indicators are also a tool which can be used to measure
overall level and standards of performance by companies(Schönsleben, 2018). Marriott hotels
were launched in 1983 and they are one of biggest brands and having 8,000 hotels across world.
This report is based on the quality management process in the Marriott hotel and how this brand
is adapts itself with the changing needs and preferences of the customers. After that how such
changes impact the overall management of services of their guest in Marriott Hotel.
Services provided by Hotel
Marriott hotel is one of very popular chains of hotels having there presence worldwide.
They have their presence in the Forbes list, in the list of best Companies and they have also
received the position of fourth best company in UK by The Times in the year 2009. They are
dealing into various services which they are providing to their customers which are discussed
below:
 High range of services: Marriott Hotel is dealing in various services which are offering
accommodation, spa, dining, fitness facilities, ambience according to customers
requirements, proper venue for meetings, venue and weddings. This hotel is serving
customers in UK, Canada and various other parts of world. This brand ensures that they
are able to maintain certain level of quality standards in whatever they are offering to
their customers(Ross, 2017).
 Pursuing excellence: Marriott has been able to develop a reputation which is a original
goal for their business that they are bale to provide excellent quality in their service. They
focus on detail of the services in which they are dealing into.
 Core value of the hotel: since the establishment of this hotel Marriott has always laid
proper emphasis on their core values which they are providing to their customers. Core
value has been that customers are guests for them and since then each staff members of
1

Marriott is involved into treating the customers the same way which is required to be
done. Training is provided to their employees in the same way.
 Diversity & Inclusion: These two are the most important two aspects on which Marriott
is focussing on to achieve the overall strategic goals. They are having a world wide
presence so they try to adapt to various cultural Changes in the country which they are
dealing. They try to identify what are the behaviour and living pattern of people and then
according to that they try to modify their services.
 Social and Sustainable impact: Marriott Hotel is trying to do good in each and every
direction by creating a sustainable and positive impact on their customers in all the
services which they are dealing.
Quality management in the Hotel
It is essential for brands operating in the hotel industry that they are able to exceed the
expectations of their customers. This is very important as whenever a customer is making choice
of a hotel the major factors to be considered are quality, reliability, variety in the services of
hotel and prices at which the services are being provided. It is not only important for companies
that they are able to attract new customer but at same time they are able to retain their existing
customers for a long period of time(Neill, Sohal and Teng, 2016). There are many different
aspects which have to be considered in the Hotel industry for managing the overall quality of
services which is discussed below:
 Determining various service which are being desired by the guests of the hotel.
 Development of procedures to be delivered to their guests.
 Properly consider what are the service which are being desired by the customers.
 Providing adequate training and empowering the staff members that they are performing
their work accordance with certain quality standards.
 Whenever and modifications are being done or revision in the way services are being
offered than such implementation of revised systems should be done as early as possible,
which means the lead time between planning and implementation have to be always
minimized.
 The way services are being delivered and the value is perceived by the ultimate customer
has to be continuously monitored and checked by the hotel.
2

Delivering high quality services is something which is major challenge for the hotel managers
and the amount of customer satisfaction is the main indicator of the quality of service in this
industry.
 Measuring Quality The Hospitality industry:
The Five Gap model:
This is a model which is used to define various objectives of Quality management. This gap
model of service quality is related to customer satisfaction and their feeling of perception. If the
customer is bale to perceive that the services are able to meet their overall expectations(Neill,
Sohal and Teng, 2016). In context of Marriott hotel the hotel will always make attempts that
they are able to find any deviations in the expectations and actual service being provide by them
to their customers. This will help in analysing the loopholes and making attempts that what can
be various improvements which cane be done by them in their service.
3

The Critical Incident Technique:
 This is also a technique which is used to recognize what is actually happening in the
“moments of truth” and after that various results which are gathered from the samples
after there has been deep investigation being done(Lăzăroiu, 2015). This information is
very helpful in providing useful and help; in overall quality improvement. In this Marriott
hotel will try to identify the actual work which is being done in this hotel there are many
aspects which are to be critically analysed in this technique which are:
 Maintaining positive relation with the customers
 Usage of resources by the hotel in an optimized manner.
 Monitoring overall compliance and adherence with various policies and procedures being
laid down by the company.
 Solutions being developed to various problems which cat as a barrier in the smooth
functioning of the various operations and functions of hotel(Hammer 2015).
 How much successful hotel has been in maintaining a learning and positive climate in the
hotel, both for their overall staff member and their customers whom they treat as their
guests.
4

Perceived Quality service model:
 This is also a quality related model which can be used by various Companies in the hotel
industry(Hąbek and Wolniak, 2016). This is a supportive tool which is used by them in
understanding what are various factors which affect perceived quality of the service of
business. In this model with context Of Marriott hotel they will try to find out the
expected quality of the customer and then after they have availed the service feedback
will be taken on the actual experience of them. Such feedback will help in identifying
what is the actual experience and if it is positive or negative. If there are nay gaps then
that has to be filled by them. Such model is very helpful for ensuring continuous
improvement of service in the Marriott hotel.
5

Other tools used for improvement of Quality:
 Apart from the measurement of external and internal factors, there are many other tools
which can be used to monitor overall quality of product and services which are provided
by the companies. Especially in the hotel industry there has to be detail market
evaluation, research of the target segment of customers and then after that various
services have to be formed in accordance with their expectation and requirements. This
will help in improving the image of company as compared to other competitors in the
market.
Ways through which Hotel adapts itself to the changing consumer preference
Changing customer patters in society:
 More demanding customers: The customers in the present scenario have become very
demanding such that they are having large number of choices which makes them demand
more. There has been increase pressure on companies that they have to respond to such
changes so that they are able to survive in their competitive environment. In context of
Marriott group of hotels, the brand makes efforts that they are able to increase the quality
of services which is actual experienced by their customers(Hąbek, and Wolniak, 2016).
 Customization of services: The era of providing customers highly customized services
has began. In all the various industries companies are making attempts that they are able
to firs identify their customers requirements and then according to that they try to frame
their products or services. In case of Marriott Hotel the company tries to identify the
demands of their guests which can vary from a king size of bed, type of pillow, view
from the hotel room, ambience of the dinner and many more such customized facilities.
An option is provided to their customers before they are doing their bookings so that they
can decide upon various facilities which they want the hotel to provide them.
 Age of instant Feedback: Today the era is of taking instant feedback from the
customers. This is done by all the famous brands which are concerned for the quality
which they were able to provide and their customers were able to perceive. The amount
6

of customer satisfaction is very important for such companies sop that they are able to
maintain their brand image in comparison to other competitors in the market.
Impact of Changing consumer preference to guest service management
Customer preferences are always dynamic they can never be same. This is a factor which
is related to the human aspect and individuality of customers(Fonseca, 2015). This is the reason
why all companies try to consider this aspect whenever they are trying to maintain quality in
their services or products which they are dealing in to. In context of Marriott hotel also the hotel
has been able to establish a successful brand image because of the highly customization of
services which they are offering to their customers:
 Embracing change: Innovation is a tool which is used by Marriott group of hotels in
shaping their overall services which they are providing to their customers. With the
changing needs of customers Marriott is trying to implement various changes in their
company with the help of their target segment of customers and feedback which is the
first priority of the management staff of this hotel(Kafetzopoulos, Gotzamani and Gkana,
2015).
 E-commerce: With the changing technology internet has started playing a major role. In
case of Marriott Hotel the company is trying to use various sources of digital media tools.
They have created a website which helps in doing reservations by their customers.
 Increased quality of service: With the tools of quality management it becomes
important that overall quality has to maintained in the services which are being provided
by them to their guests.
 Marketing excellence: Marriott has been able to create excellence in their overall
marketing efforts such that company has been able to integrate their selling and
marketing efforts together by focussing on some important aspects which includes
revenue management, channel strategy, e-commerce tools, stellar marketing support. The
global marketing resource of Marriott is designed in a way that they are able to build up
successful brand equity, generation of demand, creation of customer loyalty by delivery
of right message at right time, preference optimization of revenue,
7

CONCLUSION
Quality management and its overall importance is growing very fast in the changing
scenario of hospitality industry. With the growing competition in the market and each company
is involved in providing quality service to their customers, it becomes important to have a
competitive advantage to ensure long term survival. Above report is based on the process of
quality management in the company and how companies are bale to do continuous improvement
in the quality of their services. There are various models which have been developed for this
purpose which cane be used by them and implemented so that adequate standards of quality are
being maintained in the services.
8

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Kafetzopoulos, D., Gotzamani, K. and Gkana, V., 2015. Relationship between quality
management, innovation and competitiveness. Evidence from Greek
companies. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 26(8), pp.1177-1200.
Fonseca, L.M., 2015. From Quality Gurus and TQM to ISO 9001: 2015: a review of several
quality paths. International Journal for Quality Research (IJQR), 9(1), pp.167-180.
Hąbek, P. and Wolniak, R., 2016. Relationship between management practices and quality of
CSR reports. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 220, pp.115-123.
Hąbek, P. and Wolniak, R., 2016. Relationship between management practices and quality of
CSR reports. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 220, pp.115-123.
Hammer, M., 2015. What is business process management?. In Handbook on business process
management 1 (pp. 3-16). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
Lăzăroiu, G., 2015. The role of the management consultancy industry in the knowledge
economy. Psychosociological Issues in Human Resource Management, 3(2), pp.71-76.
O’Neill, P., Sohal, A. and Teng, C.W., 2016. Quality management approaches and their impact
on firms׳ financial performance–An Australian study. International Journal of
Production Economics, 171, pp.381-393.
O’Neill, P., Sohal, A. and Teng, C.W., 2016. Quality management approaches and their impact
on firms׳ financial performance–An Australian study. International Journal of
Production Economics, 171, pp.381-393.
Ross, J.E., 2017. Total quality management: Text, cases, and readings. Routledge.
Schönsleben, P., 2018. Integral logistics management: operations and supply chain management
within and across companies. CRC Press.
9