Analysis of Supply Chain Strategies in the Hotel Industry

This report provides an overview of supply chain strategies within the hotel industry, analyzing the interplay of industry frameworks, managerial focuses, and internal processes. It examines three primary supply chain paradigms: lean, agile, and hybrid, detailing how each approach is applied to enhance efficiency, responsiveness, and competitive advantage. The report further explores the critical relationship between hotel industries and their suppliers, highlighting the implications of supplier interactions on product quality, delivery, and cost, and discusses the challenges and solutions related to supply chain coordination and efficiency. A reflection assignment is also included, discussing the benefits of teamwork and the application of learned concepts to real-world scenarios.

Running head: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Table of Contents
Supply chain strategy.......................................................................................................................3
Reflection assignment......................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................8

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Supply chain strategy
The aim of this report is to provide a view on supply chain strategy of the hotel industry.
Supply chain refers to the system of entities, activities, persons, information and other resources
that are involved in transporting products from the retailers to customers. The supply chain
strategy refers to the combination of functions as well as activities throughout the business value
chain for fulfilling the value proposal of the business to the consumers in the marketplace
(Barney 2012). Therefore, it indicates as an iterative procedure that assesses the cost-benefit
trade-off of the business operational components.
The supply chain strategy of the organization within a particular industry is mainly
shaped by the interrelation among the four elements that includes-
Industry Framework- It relates to the interaction of customers, suppliers, economic factors and
technological developments that influences competition within a particular sector (Beske 2012).
The four drivers within this model that affects the supply chain structure includes-
Variation in demand-It affects the stability of production assets workload and is the major driver
of efficiency in production.
Product lifecycle- The lifecycle of the product becomes shorter in response to advancement of
technology. Consequently, the companies are forced to increase the product development and
renew their portfolios.
Mediation cost of the market- The mediation cost of market refers to the cost that are linked with
the disparity between the demand and supply of products.

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Relevance of asset cost to total business cost- It becomes vital in industries where companies
profit has high correlation with asset utilization rate.
Exceptional value proposal- It requires clear knowledge about the competitive positioning of the
company with respect to their supply chain. It also helps the organization in differentiating from
their competitors and also aids in wining customer orders.
Managerial focus- It emphasizes on the efficiency performance indicators despite the
competitive positioning that is defined by the companies. In other words, this approach also
encourages organization in focusing on seeking efficiencies, which might conflict their value
proposal to consumers.
Internal process- This refers to the supply chain process, which means proper connection within
the activities of supply chain (Cho et al. 2012). Some of the vital factors that are encompassed by
internal process are utilization of asset and area of decoupling point. The decoupling point refers
to the value chain process where the commodity takes unique characteristics for group of
consumers.
The supply chain strategy can be illustrated by creating an analogy based on four paradigms as
given below:
Lean Supply chain- This paradigm essentially focuses on reduction of waste for increasing
value added and fulfill the requirements of the customers. For the hotel industry, the lean
paradigm is a practicing exercise for maximizing their internal efficiency (Monczka et al. 2015).
It facilitates the customers for accessing quality service by enhancing reduction of cost and
enabling economic manufacturing of low quantities. In order to provide value to consumer, this
approach seeks various ways of reducing demand variation by using their assets effectively.

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Therefore, hotel industry does demand evaluation by taking into consideration all factors of
demand derivation including business environment, seasonality etc. For example, Starwoods and
resorts Worldwide applies lean supply chain practice on their operation, which helps them in
gaining$100 million profit to their bottom line as it adds value through simplifying, streamiling
and optimizing operations.
Agile supply chain- As the requirements of customer vary continuously, supply chain flexibility
is necessary to future changes. With respect to the operation manager of a specific hotel, this
paradigm is vital in meeting customers changing preferences and addressing the demand
volatility challenges (Stadtler 2015). Therefore, agility is significant in creating the ability to
respond to unpredictable market changes as well as increased environmental turbulence level in
terms of variation in services. In hotel industry context, few agile practices in supply chain
strategy are:
 Increasing occurrence of new packages
 Improving services offered to customer
 Implementing IT for co-coordinating as well as integrating activities
For example, Naza Tallya hotel apllies agile supply chain practice for meeting the requirement of
customers and maximizing profitability level.
Hybrid supply chain- The combination of lean and agile practices is referred to as hybrid supply
chain. This strategy is appropriate for the organization that attempts to become mass consumer.
Moreover, adoption of this strategy helps the industry in maintaining competitive advantage over
their rivals.

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Most of the hotel firms adopt hybrid supply chain strategy in order to maximize profit
and attain competitive advantage against their rivalries. Successful supply chain strategy entails
distributing the right commodity to the right customer from the suppliers. For example, Marriott
international adopts hybrid practices in order to ensure consistent service around the globe.
The hotel industries interaction with their suppliers has huge implication on the supply
chain management. It has been opined by Seuring (2013), the buying organization should be
aware of their actions for building strong relationship with supplier. Therefore, the interaction of
hotel industry with their suppliers has huge implication on the quality of product, on-time
delivery and the product cost. They tries to maintain good interaction with their suppliers in
order satisfy their customers and expand their business. Therefore, strong relationship with
suppliers produces higher quality products, which in turn increases consumer satisfaction.
Additionally, it leads to on-time delivery of products and this minimizes their inventory and
attains customers trust. They makes huge contribution in innovating product, which helps the
industry in attracting more customers (Zhu Sarkis and Lai 2013). They also enhance competition
level within the industry based on pricing and quality.
Some issues arises when the hotel industry interacts with their suppliers and this
adversely impacts on the financial performance. The problem mainly arises due to lack of
coordination between hotel management and the suppliers. In addition, the decision that team
takes along the supply operations sometimes creates problems. Even if the coordination is
perfect, delay in production as well as procurement creates issues in supply chain operations.
One solution in reducing delay in supply chain is by reducing order –to- delivery time, which in
turn helps the hotel industry in combating with the fluctuations in supply chain. Moreover,
focusing on customer demand through POS (point of sale) collection of data and EDI (electronic

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data interchange) helps the hotel industry in reducing distortions in communication. Even lower
prices of products helps the hotels in attracting more customers in the market.
Reflection assignment
Effective teamwork has huge significance in both the individuals and organization.
Working in a team helped me in accomplishing the organizational targets and increased my
efficiency. It improved my communication skill and sharing of ideas increased my knowledge. It
also allows all the members including me to use my skills in making the supply chain operations
faster. While working in a team, I was able to understand my strength as well as weakness. In
addition, efficient communication with the team members helped me in facing the challenges
that comes within organization and facilitated me in solving the problem efficiently. It also
improved my relationship with other team members. Overall, while working in a supply chain
team increased my productivity and improved my performance.
Group work improved my creativity in the supply chain operations of this industry.
Apart from this, working in the group facilitated me in understanding the customer’s and other
employee’s behavior and their preferences. At times, intrinsic conflict occurring due to
individual thinking among the members in group also discouraged me in sharing my views about
implementation of work. Moreover, it also helped me in gathering more knowledge from the
experienced employees of the organization. In addition, discussing with other members in group
helped me in innovating new ideas about producing and delivering the product to the customer.
As the target was given to each individual, it helped me in achieving it within the
specified time frame. It also facilitated me in focusing on the strategic goals that is related to cost
or value. Furthermore, the knowledge gained from the group work also helped me in managing

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the supply chain operations effectively. It also helped us in analyzing the products and trends of
the consumption patterns. Adoption of new technology within the organization also reduced all
the members’ workload. One of which includes implementation of lean six sigma. This helped
me in gaining knowledge about the practice, which focuses on the customers and transfer of
solutions in all the organizations in the global market.
Therefore, working in team or group increased my efficiency in work and knowledge
about different subject. It helped me understanding people more easily and increased my
patience. I have learned to become more focus in work and apply new ideas effectively.
Therefore, teamwork helps the organization in gaining competitive advantage and maximizes
profitability level.

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References
Barney, J.B., 2012. Purchasing, supply chain management and sustained competitive advantage:
The relevance of resource‐based theory. Journal of supply chain management, 48(2), pp.3-6.
Beske, P., 2012. Dynamic capabilities and sustainable supply chain management. International
Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 42(4), pp.372-387.
Cho, D.W., Lee, Y.H., Ahn, S.H. and Hwang, M.K., 2012. A framework for measuring the
performance of service supply chain management. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 62(3),
pp.801-818.
Monczka, R.M., Handfield, R.B., Giunipero, L.C. and Patterson, J.L., 2015. Purchasing and
supply chain management. Cengage Learning.
Seuring, S., 2013. A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain
management. Decision support systems, 54(4), pp.1513-1520.
Stadtler, H., 2015. Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and
advanced planning (pp. 3-28). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.

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Vlachos, I. and Bogdanovic, A., 2013. Lean thinking in the European hotel industry. Tourism
Management, 36, pp.354-363.
Wang, Y.F., Chen, S.P., Lee, Y.C. and Tsai, C.T.S., 2013. Developing green management
standards for restaurants: An application of green supply chain management. International
Journal of Hospitality Management, 34, pp.263-273.
Xu, X. and Gursoy, D., 2015. A conceptual framework of sustainable hospitality supply chain
management. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 24(3), pp.229-259.
Zhu, Q., Sarkis, J. and Lai, K.H., 2013. Institutional-based antecedents and performance
outcomes of internal and external green supply chain management practices. Journal of
Purchasing and Supply Management, 19(2), pp.106-117.