Room Division Operation Management Analysis: Sofitel Hotel Operations

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of room division operation management, specifically focusing on the Sofitel London St James hotel. It begins with an introduction to operation management and its application in the hospitality industry, highlighting the significance of the room division in generating revenue. The report then delves into the functioning of sub-departments within room division management, including front office (reception, reservations, guest relations, and bell desk) and housekeeping (linen and laundry, guest room cleanliness). It defines the roles and responsibilities of key positions such as the Room Division Manager, Front Office Manager, and Executive Housekeeper. The report also examines the legal and statutory regulations relevant to the hotel industry, including premises licenses, insurance, health and safety, and fire safety. Furthermore, it critically identifies yield management and revenue management strategies, explaining how they can be used to increase occupancy and Average Daily Room Rate (ADR). The report concludes with a summary of the findings and references used throughout the analysis.

ROOM DIVISION OPERATION
MANAGEMENT
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK...............................................................................................................................................3
State the functioning of the sub departments of Room Division management...........................3
Define the roles and responsibilities of rooms division position within Sofitel.........................5
Determine the legal and statutory regulations within the hotel industry....................................7
Critically identify the Yield management and revenue management and how it can increase
the Occupancy and Average Daily Room rate (ADR)................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
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INTRODUCTION
Operation management is a business approach through which an organisation build high
level of efficiency for the business (Barnes, 2018). The functions of management are related
with designing, monitoring and controlling the process of production and redesign business
operations through which an organisation can effective produce and manufacture goods and
services. Room division is an essential service which is provided by hotels through which they
can generate maximum revenues than other divisions. There are several functions which are
carried out by room division management, some of the managerial activities which are
performed are: front office, room reservations, guest services, communication , housekeeping
security and other related services. Sofitel London St James is a 5 star hotel in London, United
Kingdom. This luxury hotel is based on 1,25,000 sq ft which was established in 2002. The aim
of the hotel is to focus towards sustainable development. This project report is based on the room
division operation management and how hospitality industry perform their function and
managerial activities through which they can gain competitive advantage.
TASK
State the functioning of the sub departments of Room Division management
Room division management are function which are performed by the hospitality industry
through which they can provide services to their customers through which maximum customer
satisfaction can be met. The services which are provided with the help of room division
management includes front office and house keeping services. The functions of room division
management are explained below:
Front office sub departments:
The duties of front office department is to provide guest services and constantly develop
their services through which they can meet requirements of their guests (Choi, Cheng and Zhao,
2016). The front office department acts as the representative of the hotel as thus they focus on
maintaining good sound relation with clients through which they can meet demands of their
customers.
 Reception- It is one of the most crucial segment of front office management as they are in
regular touch with the guest from their arrival to their departure time from their hotel.
The role of the reception department is to welcome the guest, register their details and
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allot their rooms to their guests. The also acts as coordinators as they connect the guest
with the housekeeping services through which the hotel can meet the demands of their
guests. The receptionist department also focus on collecting valid visitors ID which acts
as a proof of their nationality and their residency. For the job role of receptionist, Sofitel
have appointed a competent and talented person who is capable of building and
maintaining an interactive communication with guest.
 Reservations- The reservation desk focus on maintaining the reservation rack and
managing all booking and reservations which are priorly done by the guest (Choi,
Wallace and Wang, 2018). The aim of the reservation desk is to sell the rooms through
advertising the services and offers provided by the hotel or with the help of travel agents,
business, airline crew and others. The reservation department of Sofitel focuses on
keeping a track on all the reservations which are made by their guest on prior notice.
 Guest relationship- The Guest relationship manager or department focuses on
maintaining positive and healthy relationship with their guest through which they can
meet demands and satisfaction of their customers. This department helps in saving time,
attract qualified candidates through which they can attract and hire best employees who
are competent to meet the customer demand. The Guest relationship manager of Sofitel
focus on maintaining a healthy and positive interaction and relationship with their guest
through which they can deliver maximum customer satisfaction.
 Bell desk- This department plays an important role in the functioning of front office
department as they are the face of the hotel who interact with the guests. The functions
and roles which are performed by bell desk departments is to carry the luggage guests,
deliver newspaper to rooms, maintain documents of guest check-in and check-outs and
other services. Sofitel bell desk focus on delivering all necessary stuff to their guest
through which they can interact with their guest and meet their demands (Gralla,
Goentzel and Fine, 2016).
Housekeeping sub departments:
Housekeeping sub departments focus on providing services such as cleanliness and other
room services through which they can meet demands of their customers and this department is
also considered as the backbone of the whole department as they have direct interaction with
guests.
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 Linen and Laundry- All the bedsheets, towels and other linen materials are collected and
stored in the linen room by housekeeping department through which they can maintain
cleanliness in the rooms and provide essential material to heir customers. The functions
which are performed by housekeeping department for laundry services are related to
washing, ironing, dry cleaning and other services are provided by house keeping
department department (Khanna, 2015). The linen and laundry services of Sofitel focus
on providing clean and hygienic linen services through which they can maintain utmost
safety of their customers.
 Guest room cleanliness- This service is provided by the house keeping department which
focuses on providing room cleaning services to their guest through which they can
maintain clean rooms and it can also help in building goodwill in the industry. Thus, it
also helps in interacting with guest and establishing effective two way communication.
The room cleaning services of Sofitel focuses on maintaining clean and safe rooms
through which through which they can provide best quality services to their guests.
Define the roles and responsibilities of rooms division position within Sofitel
The Room Division Manager is liable of executive house keeping and front office
management which includes job roles, such as reception, reservation services and night
management. The room division manager is responsible to lead the team through which they can
meet the requirements of their guests. There are several roles and responsibilities which are
performed by the Room Division Manager related to the front office and housekeeping
department through which they can attract numerous customers and meet their requirements
which help hotel in building goodwill and gaining competitive advantage (Kornish and
Hutchison‐Krupat, 2017).
Front office positions:
Front office manager- The front office manager ensures that all the tasks and duties are
performed effectively and they focus on maintaining an coordination between the management
and their guests. The roles and responsibilities which are performed by the Front Office Manager
of Sofitel are stated below:
Roles and responsibilities of Front office manager of Sofitel-
Some of the roles and responsibilities of front office manager in Sofitel are mentioned
below:
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 Evaluation of job performance- The front office manager is liable to monitor the
performance of their personnel through which they can identify performance gap and take
corrective measures through which the hotel can enhance overall productivity of their
organisation. Sofitel front office manager focus on monitoring the performance of their
employees and give them regular feedbacks through which they can effectively
participate in organisational activities (Reid and Sanders, 2019).
 Maintain effective communication with other departments- The Front Office
Manager of Sofitel focuses on maintaining effective two way communication through
which they can share all valuable information which is required to perform all activities
effectively through which the hotel can meet the requirements of their guests.
 Work within allocated budget- The main task of Front Office manager of Sofitel is to
plan all activities and implemented them within the specific and assigned budget.
Through working in the budget they can utilize their resources effectively and overall
organisation can gain competitive advantage.
 Create performance report- By creating and maintaining the performance report, it
helps Sofitel to reward their employees based on their performance and also helps in
providing them important feedback through which they can enhance the performance of
their employees which will help in meeting the demands and requirements of their guests.
Housekeeping positions:
Executive housekeeper- The Executive housekeeper directs, monitor and control all
operations which are performed by the house keeping department. The Housekeeping Executive
ensure that all desired standards are met by the department. As an Housekeeping Executive of
Sofitel, they focus on managing priorities, solving conflicts, support their staff and ensures that
all activities are performed effectively under their supervision (Rumble, 2019). The roles and
responsibilities which are performed by Executive Housekeeper of Sofitel are stated below:
 Plan and coordinate all plans and activities with the staff- The Executive
Housekeeper of Sofitel plans all activities and coordinate them with all the staff
members. The Executive Housekeeper plan all activities and programs which needed to
be performed by the hotel through which all staff members can contribute in meeting the
demands of their guests.
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 Establish procedures and standards- As an Executive Housekeeper of Sofitel, the basic
function which needs to performed is to set standards and define procedures which help
to give clarity to their staff in performing the assigned job role effectively.
 Monitor and ensure all desired standards are met- The Executive Housekeeper of
Sofitel monitors the performance of their staff through which they evaluate the deviation
or gaps in performance and provide them constructive feedbacks through which all staff
members can perform effectively and contribute in providing quality services to their
guests (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018).
Determine the legal and statutory regulations within the hotel industry
The legal and statutory regulations followed in Sofitel and within the hotel industry are
stated below:
 Premises Licenses- A premium license is a permanent license granted for a specific
location through which several restricted activities can be performed with the permission
of the government and legal bodies. With the help of premises license several activities
can be carried out, such as: sale of alcohol, provision of regulated entertainment and sale
of late night food and refreshments and other services. In respect to Sofitel, the premises
license
 Premises Insurances- This legal agreement helps to protect the property from damages
which can occur due to fire, theft and other natural calamities. This insurance help the
industry to get their location insured through which they can protect their premises from
such disasters.
 Health and Safety at work- The healthy and safety Act is a legislation act which states
that organisation is liable of protecting their employees and their members (Slack, 2018).
With implementation of workplace safety and health protocols, it helps an organisation in
reducing cost, reducing employee turnover and absenteeism.
 Fire safety- This legal regulation states that all functions must be performed by using
safety measures through which the organisation can maintain safety of their employees.
This legal procedure states that all individuals must be protected from danger and
hazardous circumstances.
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Critically identify the Yield management and revenue management and how it can increase the
Occupancy and Average Daily Room rate (ADR)
Yield management:
It is variable pricing strategy which is based on understanding, anticipation and through
influencing behaviour of the consumer through which they can maximise revenues and profits
from fixed time limited resources. This strategy focuses on selling products to right customers
and marketplace at right time by using right pricing strategy (Toffel, 2016). Revenue
management is the implementation of the analytics through which company can predict
consumer behaviour and meet their requirements. In context of Sofitel, Yield management refers
to selling right room at right price to right guest through which maximum customer satisfaction
can be met.
Elements of Yield management
 Yield- It refers to the percentage of income which can be secured if 100% of rooms
which are available are sold at their full rack rate. The hotel can calculate yield with the
help of dividing revenue realised by revenue potential.
 Revenue realized- This refers to the revenue of the room which is earned and thus it can
be calculated by deducting actual rate of the room from the number of rooms sold.
 Revenue potential- This component of yield management refers to the revenue of the
room which are sold on the basis of the rack rate which is set by the management.
Occupancy and Average Daily Room Rate (ADR)
For the accomplished of best and high revenues, staff of the hotel must give efforts
through which they can maximise the occupancy. The revenue management defines the goals
and objectives through which they can implement effective strategies which help in performing
assigned tasks and job role using constructive approaches. Optimal occupancy can be stated as
an objective for which longer and sustainable results can be generated. This also helps an
organisation in earning maximum revenues and form policies through which they can perform ad
execute all the yield and revenue management strategies in the organisation or hotel industry.
The first and basic fundamental which supports the revenue management is forecasting through
which a rough estimate can be created (Xiang, Yin and Lim, 2015). The occupancy of room rates
and analysis of current data of consumer activity can be traced with the help of monitoring
primary intelligence from historical data. The another major factor which plays a crucial role in
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the occupancy and daily rates is the pricing strategy. The pricing strategy helps in analysing the
service quality which is provided by the hotel. In respect of Sofitel, the management of the hotel
is focused on managing all the inventories and resources of the company through which
management can help and direct employee's to deliver quality services to all of their guests. In
respect to Sofitel, it can be analysed that all the activities of management are performed with the
motive of maximising the revenues for the organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that the functions and activities which are
performed by the hospitality industry help them in performing the functions of room division
management through which the can organisation can gain success from their operations. The
functions of operational management help business in meeting the customer demand and overall
efficiency of the business can be enhanced. There are several services which are provided by the
room division management through which the hotel industry can provide housekeeping and
front office services to their guests. It can be concluded that by providing quality services to the
guest, Sofitel and other hotel industry can gain competitive advantage and maximum revenues
can be earned.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
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Choi, T. M., Wallace, S. W. and Wang, Y., 2018. Big data analytics in operations
management. Production and Operations Management. 27(10). pp.1868-1883.
Gralla, E., Goentzel, J. and Fine, C., 2016. Problem formulation and solution mechanisms: a
behavioral study of humanitarian transportation planning. Production and operations
management. 25(1). pp.22-35.
Khanna, R. B., 2015. Production and operations management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
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Management. 26(4). pp.633-651.
Reid, R. D. and Sanders, N. R., 2019. Operations management: an integrated approach. John
Wiley & Sons.
Rumble, G., 2019. The planning and management of distance education. Routledge.
Slack, N. and Brandon-Jones, A., 2018. Operations and process management: principles and
practice for strategic impact. Pearson UK.
Slack, N., 2018. Essentials of operations management. Pearson UK.
Toffel, M. W., 2016. Enhancing the practical relevance of research. Production and Operations
Management. 25(9). pp.1493-1505.
Xiang, W., Yin, J. and Lim, G., 2015. An ant colony optimization approach for solving an
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pp.335-345.
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