Service Quality Report: Sunderland International Hotel Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of service quality at Sunderland International Hotel, a three-star hotel in Canary Wharf, London. It begins by emphasizing the importance of measuring and managing service quality within the hospitality sector, highlighting its role in gaining customer confidence and competitive advantage. The report then recommends the 'Just in Time' approach for managing service quality, focusing on its benefits for cost reduction and efficiency. It also discusses the impact of service delivery methods on employees and managerial implications. Finally, the report proposes a Customer Feedback System (CFS) framework to monitor and continually improve service quality, covering principles such as customer focus, leadership, and continuous improvement, and recommending the SERVQUAL method. The report concludes with a call to action for Sunderland International Hotel to prioritize service quality to increase customer loyalty and profitability.

SERVICE
QUALITY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY ..................................................................................................................................1
1) Importance of measuring and managing service quality along with recommending
appropriate service quality method........................................................................................1
2) Service delivery methods used by an organisation along with its impact on employees and
managerial implications..........................................................................................................6
3) Customer Feedback System (CFS) framework that organisation can utilise to monitor and
continually improve service quality.......................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCE ................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Service quality is specified as the product of the efforts which are carried out by each
employee within an organisation in order to satisfy the requirements and needs of customers. It is
designed as excellence which is perceived by the clients. Each customer expects standardised
services in return of money they have paid. Service quality evaluates the extent at which service
is delivered by comparing the expectation level of customers (Mok, Sparks and Kadampully,
2013). Those businesses which meets the expectation level of customers posses high service
quality. This assignment is based on Sunderland international hotel which is situated in Canary
Wharf, East London, UK. Sunderland hotel is rated three stars on the basis of their services and
customer feedback. Facilities offered by hotel includes Spa, Gym, Conference room, banqueting
hall and wedding venues. This report involves value of measuring and managing service quality
and the methods associated with quality management methods. Beside this, impact on employees
and managers due to current service delivery practice is discussed. At last an effective customer
feedback system framework is developed which helps in improving and monitoring service
quality.
MAIN BODY
1) Importance of measuring and managing service quality along with recommending appropriate
service quality method
Service quality within hospitality sector becomes one of the vital aspect in gaining
customer confidence and competitive advantage within marketplace. This is the reason service
quality within hospitality industry offers a great opportunity to differentiate one business with
another. It is treated as a critical success factor in building positive reputation of industry in
highly competitive market. A standardised hotel offers eminent quality services to their
customers and guests which benefits hotel in enhancing their revenues and profits in a desired
manner. High Service quality offered by Sunderland international hotel will results in achieving
customer satisfaction, Contributes in building positive image, enhanced customer loyalty,
increased profitability and high competitive advantage within specified time period (Hermann
and Flecker, 2013).
Service quality measurement can be variable for different people. One example is that
some customer prefers high luxury and standardised service whereas other prefer affordable and
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required service. This means their way to measure quality of service is different. Importance of
managing and measuring service quality in respect with Sunderland international hotel is
mentioned below:
Managing service quality
Appropriately managing the quality of services and products is essential to assure the
excellence of business in satisfying the requirements of customer. Along with it, it helps in
achieving organisational goals in a desired manner. Quality management in hotel is very
important to enhance customer base, business growth and revenues. It assesses the applicability
of a service in further improvement according to the needs and expectations of customers (Izogo
and Ogba, 2015).
The importance of managing quality service:
 Ensures superior quality services and products: Managing quality of services
appropriately results in high durability, reliability and performance of business. Quality is
a vital aspect which differentiate one business form another within high competitive
market. Managing quality on regular basis ensures changes in process and systems which
leads to standardised products and services. Quality management delivers a high quality
products with the help of TQM and Six sigma by eliminating elements which doesn't add
value within service. Sunderland International hotel will be successful only when
management put more focus on quality not on quantity. This is because standardised
services enhances satisfaction level of customers due to which business growth in a
desired manner takes place.
 Increases customer loyalty: Along with increasing customer base, satisfying the desires
of existing customer is important for an organisation in order to achieve high growth rate.
This will improves the customer loyalty of concerned business. Customer prefer to
interact with those businesses only in which desirable services and products are offered in
a proper manner. A simple way to satisfy a customer is to fulfil its expectations by
managing the services properly. This results in increased customer loyalty (Kaura, Durga
Prasad and Sharma, 2015). In case of Sunderland international, if hotel wants to enhance
their customer loyalty they need to gather relevant data which specifies needs of clients in
better way. In accordance with that they need to manage and improve the quality of their
services as high quality service leads toward satisfied and loyal customers. This will also
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increase the customer base of hotel because of positive feedbacks of existing and loyal
customers.
 Assures higher productivity and enhanced revenues: Managing quality of services on
a timely manner by collecting feedbacks and revenues results in satisfied customer. This
in return increase the clients base. Importance associated with managing service quality
in accordance with Sunderland international hotel is that cash flow of hotel will increase
and healthy working atmosphere will be created. Due to this, employees will be happy
and overall productivity of hotel will enhance (Hooper, Coughlan and R. Mullen 2013).
 Helps in reducing inventory and waste: Importance of managing quality services is that
it enables workforce to work appropriately inside and outside organisation. Outside
aspect is that only those resources and material are ordered which are needed. Due to this,
extra amounts associated with material is cut. Inside aspect is that needed resources are
used in a desired manner according to the expectation of customers. This will results in
reducing inventory cost and wastage of Sunderland internation which will results in
increased productivity.
Measuring service quality:
Measuring service quality is important to evaluate the performance of a business within
marketplace. There are several tools, theories and methods which helps an organisation in
measuring the quality of their services in an appropriate manner. Measuring quality of services
which are offered to customers by Sunderland international results in development of their
business and service. Measurement of service quality involves infrequency of measurements and
large manual work to carry out measurement.
Importance of measuring quality of service:
 Measuring quality service assists in creating two way communication among agents and
management of an organisation. This helps in specifying where improvement is needed
and in how much extent (Huang and et. al., 2014).
 It brings the attention of quality manager in Sunderland international towards inefficient
processes, policies and operational conflicts which results in reduction of revenue and
profitability.
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 Another importance of measuring service quality in context with Sunderland international
hotel is that it helps in identifying improvements and training needs which maximizes
customer satisfaction and interaction.
Service quality management
This encompasses several processes which are required to access the service quality as
per the expectations of customers (Sivakumar and Dong, 2014). It has become a crucial issue
within hospitality sector as poor quality services posses a bad impact on the growth of business.
This management specifies the desirability of a service by which improvements in future can be
carried out. SQM offers an opportunity to Sunderland international hotel for enhancing
satisfaction level and loyalty of customers.
Principles of service quality management:
Basically there are 5 principles which are associated with service quality management. It
will helps Sunderland international hotel in improving their performance within market. Below
mentioned principles will guide quality management team of hotel in right direction:
 Customer focus: First principle associated with SQM is appropriate focus on customers.
It involves customer services and their needs. This principal emphasize on the fact that
Sunderland hotel must understand the needs and expectations of its customers. For ex., in
hotel Sunderland, customer faces issues like long waiting time, unsatisfied service and
bad interaction with working staff. To solve this, manager needs to consider the needs of
customers appropriately and train staff to behave in a polite manner with customers. This
will benefit Sunderland in revenue rise, reduced wastage and enhanced customer base. If
proper consideration to customer is not given this will reduce revenue and business
growth of hotel.
 Leadership: This principle is concerned with the leadership management of hotel.
Sunderland hotel must have clear vision, objectives and employee support in achieving
objectives. Appropriate leadership need to incorporate high motivation and adopt
initiatives to enhance the engagement of employees in order to cater the requirements of
customers. Inactive leadership results in lack of communication due to which
mismanagement within hotel can takes place.
 People involvement: By becoming more efficient in carrying out their business
operation, Sunderland hotel can build confidence in their stakeholders by maximising
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their services and output (O’Cass and Carlson, 2012). If employees involvement will be
less this will result in improper utilisation of resource along with mismatchment of hotel
operations. For ex., If Services offered to customers will deteriorate, then quality of
service will decrease as hotel is facing staff turnover. Hence, employees welfare needs to
be given priority for providing quality service
 Process approach: It is concerned with effectiveness and efficiency. Well managed
process will benefit Sunderland international in reducing costs, eliminate wastage and
improves consistency among employees. For ex., Approaches such as Total quality
management, Just in time, inventory reduction can be adopted. If employees are not
properly involved, quality of service will degrade and loss in business can be faced
(O’Cass and Carlson, 2012).
 Continual improvement: This principle of QSM states continuous improvement in
services must be the main objective of a company. Benefits associated to Sunderland
hotel due to this is increase capability to gain new opportunities, improved working
potential. For ex., If focus of hotel is not on continuous improvement then this will results
in decreased profitability and market shares.
Service quality management methods: There are some methods which are associated with
service quality management. In context with Sunderland, these are mentioned below:
 SERVQUAL: It is the basic method of managing the subjective components of service
quality. By this an organisation acknowledges the feedbacks and reviews of customers
regarding the services provided by them. In accordance with that quality manager in
Sunderland can incorporate required changes and services offered by hotel such as food,
accommodation and leisure time can be managed according to the requirements of
customers.
 Just in time approach: It is a common service management technique and methodology
which helps an organisation in increasing their efficiency, reduce costs and cut wastage
by ordering materials and resources at the time of requirement. In case of Sunderland
international hotel, JIT will allow the manager in ordering materials such as food
commodities, raw eatables, electronic items, bedsheets and other things at the time of
requirement only. By this wastage will be reduced and profitability can be maintained.
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 Six sigma: It is a methodology which is used to manage service quality in an appropriate
manner. This strategy is able to improve the quality of service by analysing, identifying
and eliminating the cause of defects (Yee and et. al., 2013). It is a set of action which is
capable to improve quality of service which results in improved competitiveness. It will
help Sunderland hotel in eliminating those elements which doesn't add value to the
services.
After analysing above discussed methods, it is recommended that the best way to manage
service quality is to use just in time approach. This will helps Sunderland in managing their
funds and expenses in an organised manner. Resources and material will be ordered at the time
when that service will be in demand. Due to this, a proper management schedule will be prepared
and expected service will be given to the clients. Requirements of services change from time to
time, ordering materials in bulk results in wastage as outdates services are not preferable. This
method will allow Sunderland in managing their service quality in according to the changed
needs and preference of customers (Lee and Yang, 2013).
2) Service delivery methods used by an organisation along with its impact on employees and
managerial implications
As per the case study of Sunderland International hotel it is established that it is a three
star hotel operating in Canary Wharf, UK. It has 10 minutes walking distance form Dockland
railway station which is beneficial for hotel in increasing their guests presence. Hotel
management offers executive, premier and standardised rooms to their customers in accordance
with their affordability. Hotel also provides conference rooms for business meetings and banquet
halls for wedding functions. Along with this, other service practices offered by Sunderland
international hotel are:
 A formal dining area where lunch and breakfast is served at Brasserie.
 Restaurant and bar during lunch time along with range of international & local cuisines.
Hotel management have also refurbished the rooms, reception area and restaurants. Due to this,
200% increase in bookings of rooms and events have been encountered. But along with this,
issues and complaints of customers is also increased.
Problems and issues faced by customers: Individuals are not satisfied with the services offered
by hotel management and staff. Waiting time while checking-in has increased. Proper
compensation is not given to customers for the difficulty they faced. Shortage of staff to manage
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bookings, appropriate accommodation problems due to understaffing, behaviour of employees
was not polite (Vamstad, 2013).
Impact on Front-line employees and their engagement towards work
Front-line employees are those individuals working in an organisation which have the
duty to answer phone calls or helping customers in person. Front-line employees of Sunderland
hotel needs strong and effective interaction skills and provided appropriate training to manage
grieved and upset customers. Main Front-line workers in Sunderland international hotel are
receptionist, waiters, cashier, housekeepers. Impact on front-line employees and their
engagement due to shortage of staff and increased arrival of customers are mentioned beneath:
 Receptionists and cashiers: Earlier, number of arrivals were less due to which proper
consideration was given to customers by front-line employees regarding their needs,
preference and queries (Moutinho, Albayrak and Caber, 2012). But as customer base of
Sunderland hotel increases after refurbishment, it is not possible for receptionists, waiters
and housekeepers to focus on every single customer. Due to more number of arrivals on
single time, receptionists and cashiers feel exhausted while performing their business
operations which results in slow working process. This has resulted in increased check-in
waiting time and customers are not satisfied with it. Workload of receptionist and
cashiers have increased but due to shortage of staff, they need to perform activities like
providing information to guests, listening their queries, receiving payments and
feedbacks with limited workforce strength due to which mismanagement takes place.
This has resulted in reduced engagement of receptionist and cashiers while performing
their work duties. No rewards and appraisals are given to them which will acts as a
motivation to carry out work effectively. They are not satisfied with policies of hotel
management and managers as these employees believe that no one cares about their
welfare.
 Waiters: In case of waiters, they needs to serve customers according to their expectation
and preference. But as needs and demands of an individual changes after short time
interval. These employees needs to give proper consideration towards their taste,
preference and living standard so that desirable services can be provided. But as arrivals
in hotels & events increased up-to 200% and employee turnover is high. These front-line
employees are not able to perform their functions at a satisfactory level. Waiters at
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restaurants and bars are not delivering eatables and drinks appropriately. Sometimes
wrong order is deliverer to customers. In other case, due to crowded front-desk in bars
and restaurants, booking table became difficult and time consuming (Osman and Sentosa,
2013). Because of shortage in staff, managing tasks become hard and engagement level
of waiters is reduced. People have several queries regarding their services, due to this
they are not satisfied while performing their job and planning to quit job. Their work is
not appreciated and no bonus is offered to this, this is also the reason of reduced
engagement of employees.
 Housekeepers: It is the responsibility of housekeepers to clean rooms, cloth sheets,
toilets and furniture in a appropriate way. But as number of customers have increased
and employees in housekeeping department has reduced, managing work in desired
manner is not possible (Dado and et. al., 2012). Quality of service offered by
housekeepers is poor as rooms are not cleaned properly. Even after complaints registered
by guests, satisfactory response is not given. This is because of increased workload and
employee turnover. Due to these issues, housekeepers are not able to perform their duties
desirably and their engagement is reducing day by day. Working potential of front-line
employees after refurbishment has reduced to a great extent. Wages given to them are
less. Employees are not willing to give their best performance due to exhaustiveness,
increased workload and less value within hotel.
Managerial implications: It is specified as practical use of observation and information while
taking practical decisions within an organisation. It is related with investment, distribution
system, managing workforce and finances with a company. As per case study, it has been
identified that manager in Sunderland international hotel checks reviews of trip advisors once in
a month. Managers working their have specified employees to refer complains of customers
directly to them. Some negative feedbacks and reviews are given by customers on social media
but due to increased events, manager and management team is not able to give response to these
customers on a timely basis.
 According to employees, hotel manager is not providing them proper guidance and
training to perform their activities properly. Employees feel that management is not
offering them proper facilities. To overcome these issues, managers and management
team in Sunderland hotel needs to provide effective training on regular basis which will
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improves the working potential of employees to a great extent. By this employees will
learn new ways to provide services to customers at satisfactory level (Casidy, 201).
 Workers working in Sunderland international hotel complains that no welfare programme
and initiatives such as bonus, appraisals and incentives are offered to them for their
handwork. Due to this their work carrying capacity and productivity has reduced.
Implementing welfare schemes and providing incentives on the basis of performance is a
good tactics which hotel managers can adopt to motivate their employees. In hope of
rewards they will give their best performance and positive reputation of hotel will
increase within marketplace.
 Around 60% employees are part- timers and prefers to switch their job when proper
consideration is not given towards their welfare. Also, management team is paying them
less amount for their increased workload (Chow, 2014). These issues has resulted in
failed service culture within hotel. To eliminate this problem, top management needs to
recruit employees on permanent basis and provide them satisfactory wages. This will
encourage workers to cater the demands of customers in an appropriate manner.
 Another problems faced by staff members is that there is no organised way to recruit
workers. Random persons are recruited and no training is given to them due which
overall productivity of Hotel has reduced. To resolve these issues, management and
managers in Sunderland need to take appropriate decisions. Proper standards must be
enforced and upheld by the management team while recruiting employees so that
unsatisfactoriness among employees can be reduced to a considerable extent.
3) Customer Feedback System (CFS) framework that organisation can utilise to monitor and
continually improve service quality
Customer Feedback System
It is an organised or central way for companies or organisation to take customer
complaints, ideas, suggestions or requests and turn that ideas or suggestions into products. In
Sunderland International Hotel, customer feedback system refers to web applications or portals
designed, with the help of them it take ideas from customer feedback and turn them into future
services or developments of the organisation. By this way the company know about the
customers interest and providing the services or products according their needs and demands.
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