Crisis Management and Leadership Skills in the Service Sector

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of leadership and management in the service sector, with a specific focus on the hospitality industry and Hilton Hotel as a case study. It reviews classical management theories, explores different leadership styles applicable during the pandemic, and identifies crisis management strategies employed by the chosen organization. The report compares and contrasts crisis management and leadership styles, evaluates the organization's current approach, and investigates internal and external factors influencing crisis management. Furthermore, it analyzes the impact of crises on organizational structures, assesses current management skills, discusses future skill requirements, and critically examines changes in management styles due to crisis management strategies, change management and its affect on leadership skills in service industry.

Leadership and
Management for
Service Industries

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
TASK ..............................................................................................................................................4
Review of different classical management theories in relation to hospitality industry to
hospitality industry......................................................................................................................4
Explain the roles of a leader and different leadership styles applicable during the pandemic
using a chosen hospitality organization......................................................................................5
Identify and review a crisis management and leadership style in the chosen hospitality
organisation.................................................................................................................................6
Compare and contrast crisis Management and leadership styles in your chosen hospitality
organisation.................................................................................................................................6
Evaluate a specific organisation’s current crisis management and leadership style at your
chosen hospitality organisation using a typical example............................................................7
Investigate the internal and external factors that influence crisis management in leadership....7
Analyse the internal and external factors that influence the impact of crisis and structures in a
selected service industry organisation identifying strengths and weaknesses............................8
Present a critical view on specific changes in management styles, using crisis management
Strategies.....................................................................................................................................9
Assess current management and leadership ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills providing evidence from
specific service sector examples.................................................................................................9
Discuss future management and leadership skills required by the service sector and how these
can be achieved...........................................................................................................................9
Discuss the importance of the impact and how the pandemic has transformed crisis
management and leadership skills required in the service sector..............................................10
Critically analyse how specific management skills have been influenced and changed by
internal and external factors in a selected service industry organisation..................................10
Compare and contrast different service industry organisations crisis management systems and
leadership in implementing change using one established Change management Model.........11
Analyse how change management affects management and leadership skills and styles........12

Critically evaluate how, in response to change, management and leadership skills of crisis
management in the service sector have developed...................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
Leadership basically refer to a ability and capability of individual person which is utilized
by within company. But in aspect of management it is defined as the group or set of entities
which is used by higher authorities for managing the whole employees effectively. With help of
the concept of both leadership and management organization easily sustained their vision,
mission and objectives for long time. Here the chosen organization is Hilton Hotel for
understanding the concept of leadership and management (Abubakar, Megeirhi and Shneikat,
2018). The company was established in 1919 by Conrad Hilton and the head office of this
organization is situated in United Kingdom. The report will be covered review of the different
classical management theories in relation to hospitality industry, Explain the role of a leader and
different leadership styles applicable during the pandemic using a chosen hospitality
organization.
TASK
Review of different classical management theories in relation to hospitality industry to
hospitality industry
A classical management theory is one type of management style which is utilized by the
manager of Hilton for managing the lower level employees effectively. In classical management
theory mainly three types of styles is considered by the manager of organization in workplace
area. Those theory are Bureaucracy theory, Administrative theory and Scientific theory.
The first one is Bureaucracy theory and according to this theory here management is
used strict rules and regulation for managing the employees effectively. This theory is also
considered with effective division of employees according to their specialization and educational
qualification. Due to this the various activities of organization are easily run in smooth manner
for long time. The second one is Administrative theory and according to this theory here
management is focusing on fulfilling the needs and desires of the employees in time. Due to
fulfilling the desires and needs of the employees in time authority is able to maintain proper
communication with them for long time. The third one is Scientific theory and according to this
theory here manager of Hilton is focusing on enhancing the work efficiency and productivity of
employees. For increasing the productivity of employees manager effectively break the

assessment into smaller parts and due to this the stress in the minds of employees are highly
decreased.
From the analysis of above theories it concludes The theory which is used by this
organization for running their functions smoothly is Scientific Management Theory. Due to the
effective utilization of this theory management easily solved various issues which is faced by
them. Due to COVID pandemic most of the employees are try to discontinue their jobs from this
organization due to insufficient training, wage and communication. For solving these issues the
concept of this theory assists the organization effectively in aspect of providing advanced
training and salary them for long time.
Explain the roles of a leader and different leadership styles applicable during the pandemic using
a chosen hospitality organization
The role of leadership is basically defined as the set of different types of activities which
is carried by manager within organization for motivating employee's effectively. With help of
encouraging employees are able to sustain their objectives and productivity for long time. The
activities which comes under the category of leadership roles are creating vision, motivating
people to common goal, team dynamics etc. But in COVID pandemic the economy of the
organization are totally disturbed which leads to increase high workload on lower level
employees. The other problem which is faced by employees is that their financial support are
highly decreased which is essential for their basic needs (Ahern and Loh, 2020). During the time
of COVID pandemic manager or management of Hilton hotel used these leadership roles for
providing proper guidance and training to their employees. Due to the effective use of this
leadership roles management easily increased the team spirit feeling in the heart of employees.
Then in this way Hilton is able to deliver their products and services to users at international
level with best quality for long time.
The leadership style is the combination of specific methodologies which is used by the
manager of Hilton for maintaining coordination with all levels of employees effectively. Due to
maintaining effective coordination job roles and responsibilities of employees are accomplished
in time and in effective manner. The various types of leadership are Authoritative style,
Democratic style, Delegative style, transformational leadership etc.
In aspect of authoritative style here the conception of top down by the manager within
organization to provide effective guidance from every members of team if needed. In this style

manager have their own decision which did not permit any type of input from their subordinates.
In aspect of democratic style participation of employees are highly involved in the various
decisions which is taken by higher authority or leader. Due to the involvement of employees in
various activities the overall productivity of firm are highly increased and able to deliver best
quality service to users in long term. In aspect of delegative style, here manager is focusing on
developing the potentiality and ability of employees with help of facilitating challenging task to
them.
From the analysis of above leadership style it concludes that the manager of Hilton hotel
is used the democratic leadership style for sustaining the productivity of employees during
COVID pandemic. Due to the effective use of this type of leadership style the manager and the
employee's are able to accomplish their job roles and responsibilities at fast manner which leads
to increase their economic growth effectively in COVID situation also.
Identify and review a crisis management and leadership style in the chosen hospitality
organisation
In the aspect of both leadership and management style the selected organization faced
various crisis during the time of in their business activities and services (Appiah, 2019). Those
types of crisis are financial problems, workplace violence, technological crisis, conflict
between employees etc. In the aspect of financial problems, due to decreasing sale and
popularity in their product and services the revenue of this firm are highly reduced.
In aspect of workplace violence due to receiving low wage by employees in COVID
pandemic they are not able to do their job roles and responsibilities effectively. Due to this the
conflict between leader and employee's are highly increased and also decreased the productivity
of organization.
In aspect of technological crisis, due to the impact of COVID pandemic organization is
not able to run their activities smoothly because at that time employees are not aware about new
technology. For solving this issue management facilitates effective training to their employee
regarding the use of various technology.
Compare and contrast crisis Management and leadership styles in your chosen hospitality
organisation
In aspect of democratic leadership style it plays the major role in the activities of
organization and employees in aspect of both positive and negative aspect. In positive side due to

the effective use of this type of leadership style the manager of Hilton easily sustained the
productivity of employees at maximum level during the time of COVID pandemic also. This is
possible only with help of providing advanced equipments and other resources to them. The
other benefit is that due to facilitating various types of resources the motivational level of
employees are easily increased at maximum level. But in negative side the procedure of this type
of leadership style is very lengthy and due to this the decisions are made in slow manner by
higher authority. Due to poor and ineffective decision and training by top level management, the
skills and abilities of employees are not properly developed.
Evaluate a specific organisation’s current crisis management and leadership style at your chosen
hospitality organisation using a typical example
From the above analysis the main crisis which is highly faced by organization is
technology crisis (Cai, Loon and Wong, 2018). Because during the time of COVID employees
did not get effective training from the higher authority regarding the use of technology. Due to
the use of outdated technology and ineffective training employees are not able to use the
company resources in optimized manner and also not able to accomplish their task in time. For
solving this issue management facilitates effective training to their employee regarding the use
of various technology. Management also decide to adapt latest equipment's like artificial
intelligence etc.
Investigate the internal and external factors that influence crisis management in leadership
Internal factors -
 Feeling of security – It means during the time of COVID pandemic the security and
safety for employees are highly decreased in their job. For reducing this problem it is
necessary for management that they must facilitate safe infrastructure and decent wage to
their employees which leads to increase the goodwill of organization in customer mind
for long time.
 Type of organization – In context to Hilton hotel, it is comes under the category of
divisional structure. According to this structure the activities and work of whole
organization are divided into systematic manner. But in COVID this structure is totally
disturbed in form of losing communication.
External factors -

 Technological factor – For overcoming and reducing the impact of COVID 19
management of Hilton hotel need to adapt latest equipments such as AI technology. With
help of utilizing this these type of technology firm is able deliver their services to users in
fast manner.
 Social factor – In context to Hilton, due to facing COVID situation manager of this firm
is required to understand the current culture and preferences of their clients effectively. It
leads to develop strong positive relationship with consumers for long time
Analyse the internal and external factors that influence the impact of crisis and structures in a
selected service industry organisation identifying strengths and weaknesses
Factors which influence the crisis management
 Communication – Effective communication assist the organization for decreasing adds,
threats and other issues for the management of Hilton. It also provide support to
employees within organisation for receiving meaningful data.
 Strategic planning – Strategic planning is totally depend on the desires of management
and performance of manager and lower level employees (Covarrubias, Gutiérrez and
Philippon, 2020). Effective strategic planning for reducing risk in legal functions
effectively.
 Information technology – Due to the effective use of modern or hi tech equipments
management easily gained reliable and efficient data in right time for taking right
decisions.
Strengths and weakness of above factors
Strength -
 Use of technology – It assist the manager for utilizing various tools like internet, mobile
phones and other devices for running the functions of company in systematic manner.
 Communication – Due to keeping effective communication the overall profit and market
share of organization are easily increased at higher rate within low time.
Weakness -
 Misconducts behaviour - Due to the covid crisis the company leaders and employees
may indulge in illegal activities like bribes, frauds etc. which also can cause loss to the
hotel.

Present a critical view on specific changes in management styles, using crisis management
Strategies
Crisis management strategy is basically a framework which is used by the organization
for taking right decision in the activities of business and also for maintaining their goals. The
steps which is considered in this strategy are described below -
 Collecting data – Here management analyse the current trend and traditions of various
food items with help of collecting data from various sources.
 Setting goals – After collecting data organization set various goals and objectives which
is achieved with help of this strategy.
 Team formation – In this stage team are formed with help of gathering talented
employees (Garza-Reyes, Betsis and Kumar, 2018).
 Take actions – It is the final step in this strategy and here final decisions are
implemented by organization for solving the problems of COVID 19 and customers.
Assess current management and leadership ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ skills providing evidence from
specific service sector examples
Hard skills is defined as those which is used by leader or manager within organization
for sustaining the productivity of firm and employees for long duration. Due to the effective use
of hard skills Hotel Hilton is able to sustain their competitive advantage in market for long time.
The hard skills which is required by the manager of this company are IT skill, management
skill and presentation skill.
Soft skills is just opposite from hard skills and with help of this skill the leader of this
firm is able to sustain reputation in minds of customers and in market for short duration. With
help of effective utilization of soft skills manager of this firm is able to able to solve the
problems of customers quickly. The soft skills which is important for manager are
communication, teamwork and intra-personal skills.
Discuss future management and leadership skills required by the service sector and how these
can be achieved
Future management and leadership skills needed by leader -
 Intra-personal skill – With help of effective intra-personal skills the manager have the
potentiality and ability for keeping strong positive relationship with all customer

segments. It also assist the leader for identifying the real problems and feeling of lower
level employees quickly.
 Information technology skill – Regarding IT skill it is highly important for manager for
analysing the data quickly and also for performing their job role in fast manner. With
help of effective IT skills manager is able to monitor the performance of lower level
employees on regular basis.
From the above analysis it concludes that with the effective analysis of these skills manager is
able to sustain the success rate of company at maximum level for long time.
Discuss the importance of the impact and how the pandemic has transformed crisis management
and leadership skills required in the service sector
The COVID 19 situation has changed the evert in aspect of life from personal to
professional life to every individual. But fact is that opportunities are come from the incident of
COVID 19 in aspect of enhancing the overall productivity of employees and organization
effectively. Leaders are facing different type of choices in aspect of supporting the innovation
growth in short duration (Goh and Okumus, 2020). They are identifying and quickly addressing
the areas of opportunities created by the dynamic landscape. The leaders are building foundation
for development in order for remaining the competitive. The covid pandemic has completely
changed the style adopted by the leaders earlier in the hotel as they have to communicate with
lower level employees for managing the organization effectively.
The difficulties which is created by the incident of COVID in aspect of solving the
sustainable tourism are economic, social and environmental issues and paying attention to the
improvement of tourists experience and addressing the needs of the hosts. In context to Hilton
Hotel which is facing crisis due to COVID 19 is highly benefited from this with help of
facilitating customers the tourism facility which addresses the environmental problems.
Critically analyse how specific management skills have been influenced and changed by internal
and external factors in a selected service industry organisation
Communication – From the above analysis it is understood that during the time of COVID
communication is highly effected between employee and employer and employer or employee
and customer. It means due to this impact informations are not properly shared with consumers
which leads to decrease company productivity.

Use of technology – Due to the impact of COVID 19 manager of this organization is to adapt
new technology according to current trend and tradition. In this way the work efficiency of
employees are easily increased within short duration.
Compare and contrast different service industry organisations crisis management systems and
leadership in implementing change using one established Change management Model
Hilton Hotel Intercontinental hotel
Crisis management In context to Hilton, here
management used advanced
technology for delivering best
quality product to their clients. It
also assist them for increasing the
work efficiency of employees.
Here management used
talented and skilled workforce
for solving the problems of
customers quickly. Skilled
employees also assist the firm
for running their activities
smoothly.
Leadership style In context to Hilton hotel, here
management used democratic
leadership style for motivating
their employees and also for
keeping flexibility inn work.
The management of this
organization are used
autocratic leadership style
for accomplishing the task of
employees in time
(Holmemo, , Rolfsen and
Ingvaldsen, 2018).
Change management
model
Here management used Lewins
change model for run the whole
activities of business in smooth
manner. It is basically a methods
which consist of three steps
unfreezing, changing and
refreezing.
Here authority utilized
Kotter's model which is
carried by management for
serving best quality service to
users. The stages which are
involved in this model are
create urgency, putting team
together, develop vision and
strategies, communicate the

change vision, remove
obstacles, setting short term
goals and others.
Analyse how change management affects management and leadership skills and styles
After the analysis of above information it concludes that Change managements is
important for embracing new methods, procedure and technology. The change management is
dealing with resistance directly (Khosravi, Newton and Rezvani, 2019). But in case if manager
wants any type of change they need to listen the suggestions and problems of their employees
effectively. Change management also assist the managers for creating the shared vision, clarity
and alignment of the procedure in business organization. The leaders will have to tie the change
to specific goals as they will be easy to track the change in the business.
Critically evaluate how, in response to change, management and leadership skills of crisis
management in the service sector have developed
After evaluating all above information it concludes that organization change management,
leadership style and crisis management plays the important role for increasing the overall
performance of organization. Due to considering all these points the management of Hilton hotel
easily understand that which type of strategy is beneficial for sustaining the goodwill of
organization in difficult situation also. Due to the use of effective leadership style and marketing
strategies organization is able to increase the reach of their various services and products in other
locations with in low time.

CONCLUSION
After the analysis of above data, it concludes that the concept of leadership and
management plays the crucial role for sustaining the vision, mission and objectives for long time.
Due to the effective use of this concept higher authority is able to maintain strong coordination
with each and every employees effectively during the time of conducting any type of project or
task. With help of effective leadership and management the work efficiency and productivity of
employees are easily sustained at maximum level for long time. Effective leadership also assists
the workers within organization for completing their job responsibilities and duties in decided
time and in attractive manner.

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