HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT By: Student Name         Course + Code Tutor Institution City, State Date    

Table of Contents

Introduction. 3 Inventory Management Operational Issues. 4 Overview of Wagamama Inventory Management 4 Propositions of Wagamama Inventory Management 5 Justifications of Wagamama Inventory Management Propositions. 6 Product Development Operational Issues. 7 Overview of Wagamama Product Development 7 Propositions of Wagamama Product Development 8 Justifications of Wagamama Product Development Propositions. 9 Risk Management Operational Issues. 10 Overview of Wagamama Risk Management Policies. 10 Propositions of Wagamama Risk Management Policies. 11 Justifications of Wagamama Risk Management Policies Propositions. 12 Conclusion. 13 Reference List 14  

 Introduction

The concept behind operation and service management in the business refers to the strategies deployed by an organisation to compete effectively in a given market. It is for this reason that any initiative adopted by any firm strives to ensure that customers’ satisfaction is optimally achieved through the deployment of various goals in the production department (Brandon-Lai, et al., 2016). As will be seen, the extent to which the quality of operation and service management is operated would define the overall success of that firm. In this analysis, a key factor of production as described in technology is used to address different elements of operation and service management. These will mainly revolve around the layout suggested by the technology implementation, the speed of service delivery and the quality of product provision. As has been noted, technology has been on the forefront of creating different levels of competition (Kaplan, et al., 2015). Various scholars assert that technology is the underlining key success factor in most business operations. Nevertheless, the discussion in this analysis is contextualised on Wagamama Hotel firm which has integrated lots of technology in managing customer orders (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). In essence, once a waiter/waitress picks an order from the customer, a system implemented in the firm displays the same to the chefs who in turn prepare orders in the form of meals in a precedent order (Boella and Goss-Turner, 2013). Upon a close look at the operations in Wagamama Hotel, it is evident that there are critical operations and service management aspects that need to be addressed. Practically, these elements are instrumental in solving some erroneous practices in the hospitality industry that has made many firms unattractive due to order mishandling by different department staffs (Wilson et al., 2008). Wagamama is one of the hotels that have recognised and appreciated technology entirely.

Inventory Management Operational Issues

Overview of Wagamama Inventory Management

Wagamama Hotel seems to have successfully integrated technology in is inventory management system (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). Integration of IT in the administration of stocks improves the operational efficiency by ensuring that customers’ orders from the table are serviced within the shortest period possible. Additionally, the quality is maintained as the chefs working in the kitchen are highly trained with different levels of expertise in the hospitality industry (Slack, et al., 2010). All of these elements make the firm a pace-setter for other hotels in its locality. From one end, it would be argued that Wagamama is efficient in its service provision as aided by the system. However, the inability of the system not to account for every product used in preparing a customer's meal could present lots of loss in revenue when preparing financial records in a given fiscal year (Ceder, 2016). The firm could have concentrated excessively on increasing sales but forget to account for the inputs that facilitate high revenue generation. From a business point of view, such a practice would have no relevance in promoting growth and development of the firm. Personally, I would consider having both ends of production in inventory management accounted for to have an independent business venture. Concentrating on quality and other elements of product provision would describe the output aspect of stock management, which in this case is catered for by the system in place. On the other hand, all the materials (in this case being ingredients) should also be monitored (Wang, et al., 2015). That would aid in tracking losses of different nature. It has been noted that mismanagement of technology has led to the loss of revenue through corruption practices.

Propositions of Wagamama Inventory Management

It would be of essence to acknowledge and commend Wagamama Hotel for its implementation of an order system. It would show that technology is not limited to some firms which deal with high-end technology applications (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). As a matter of fact, technology can be applied to any business model of operations so long as the needs of the firm have an automation possibility and high probability of successful implementation. Stating that technology would be inapplicable to the hospitality industry would be a very incomprehensive statement full of assumptions (Rasul, et al., 2016). Technology is an all-rounded business integration practice for profit-oriented institutions. Nevertheless, having a technology system meant to aid in inventory management should encompass accountability of all modules of stock. As briefly mentioned, Wagamama has enormously put its efforts on satisfying its customers using the Order Management System, which is very understandable in the hospitality industry. However, they fail to incorporate the input elements throughout their production cycle in the system, which results in the lack of total accountability and comprehensiveness in their model (Morrice, et al., 2016).  From a personal point of view, the technology implemented in that firm should also be in a position to technically account for the inputs of production. In other terms, the Order Management System should consider having an additional module which would see the chefs record the ingredients they used when preparing a meal for a certain order. From a technical point of view, Wagamama's Order Management System only accounts for efficiency in the output of a production process but fails to acknowledge the inventory aspect of inputs in facilitating quality service delivery to its customers (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). Nevertheless, having the proposed additional module in the system would be of immense benefits to Wagamama Hotel (Disney, et al., 2016). 

Justifications of Wagamama Inventory Management Propositions

As stipulated in operations and service management, layout design is a paramount element of inventory management. The defects of the Order Management System tend to take that direction of an ineffective plan in Wagamama as a hospitality firm (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). As will be noted, the hospitality market is very selective when determining the suitability of a company concerning its market offering and services (Fitzsimmons and Fitzsimmons, 2014). In other words, the layout of services and products in a firm within the hospitality industry plays a crucial role in determining the level of service quality as suggested by the same design (Hill and Hill, 2012). For instance, Wagamama has amicably accounted for its physical design which sees most of its customers feel satisfied with the spacious and colourful dining tables (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). The kind of dress code adopted by Wagamama's staff suggests a high level of service provision professionalism, something which is very instrumental in winning first-time customers to the firm's premises. Similarly, the kind of language used by the waiters and waitresses also happens to describe an essential element of layout in that business (Barrows and Powers, 2008; Shu, et al., 2015).  The same design plan should be adopted in redefining the input aspect of inventory management. Operations and service management principles directly relate design of equipment and other production facilities to inventory management. Therefore, any initiative in the form of technology or policy advancements should adhere to such policies. That ensures that inventory management is accounted for exclusively. It is as a result of the accountability that a hospitality company can achieve profitability and reduce cases of lost revenue (Heizer, Render, and Munson, 2016). For example, Wagamama could be enjoying benefits which have not yet gotten to the peak figures due inventory mismanagement (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). 

Product Development Operational Issues

Overview of Wagamama Product Development

The description of the Order Management System in Wagamama is as described in the introduction phase of this analysis. However, some important points should be noted about product development in the particular firm. To begin with, the product development, in this case, being ordering and preparing of meals, is catered for by two levels of staff; the kitchen and service department (Oracle Hospitality, 2015; Martin 2016). Traditionally, these two departments would come into contact when maintaining a particular order placed by a customer. What happened was that once a customer found a suitable and preferred sitting position, a waiter or waitress would approach them as they pick the client's order (Oracle Hospitality, 2015). Afterwards, the waiter or waitress would physically present the order to the kitchen department as they await other orders which could be ready....