Hospitality Operations Managemnet Research Assignment (Essay Sample)

HOSPITALITY OPERATIONS MANAGEMNET
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Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u 1.0 Introduction PAGEREF _Toc499611951 \h 32.0 Operational Issues PAGEREF _Toc499611952 \h 33.0 Theories Explaining Operational Issues PAGEREF _Toc499611953 \h 44.0 Evaluating Propositions PAGEREF _Toc499611954 \h 65.0 Explaining Suppositions PAGEREF _Toc499611955 \h 76.0 Improving Productivity PAGEREF _Toc499611956 \h 87.0 Recommendations PAGEREF _Toc499611957 \h 108.0 Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc499611958 \h 109.0 References PAGEREF _Toc499611959 \h 12
1.0 Introduction
Operations management is an important aspect of a business organisation that helps in designing and monitoring major production processes. It requires the manager to promptly optimise on the utilisation of scarce resources to achieve maximum profits. Operations management is also concerned with control of the entire organisational process from acquisition of raw materials to the manufacturing or processing into finished products. For effective operations, the process needs to incorporate other support services like technology and customer relations in its activities. An operations manager is tasked with making critical organisational and investment decisions relating to production strategies, product design, quality control and inventory management (Smith, Maull & Ng 2014: 242-269).
Alongside other organisational functions like marketing, finance and human resource practice, operations management helps in the coordination and evaluation of major production processes. This nature of operation has since been explained using various theories, some of which include; business process redesign, six sigma, reconfigurable manufacturing systems and lean manufacturing. These theories can be used to identify and control operational issues within an organisation with a view of maintaning strategic growth objectives.
2.0 Operational Issues
Operational issues are factors that hinder efficient execution of production process thus reducing level of a business performance (Gunasekaran, Irani & Papadopoulos 2014: 806-823). Some of the operational issues that can be experienced in hotel management include low quality meals and accommodation services, poor customer service, wastage issues, work cultural aspects, management and control issues and delays of services. This report discuses on wastage issues and how it can controlled in an organisation.
Wastage issues entails non-value adding activities in any production process. If not eliminated, these activities contributes to wastage of an organisation’s time and limited resources while not improving the value of any product. For example, when serving cake for a customer, moving the item from one table to another is a wastage issue while cutting it might add value to customer’s satisfaction. Also, delays in preparing meals or serving customers excessive quantities are wastage issues. As a result, strategies like just in time production and lean management can be incorporated to help in controlling waste issues in hotels.
A good operations channel should be able to identify and track waste channels to avoid their accumulations and resulting consequences on other efficiently operating aspects. Thus, it is conventional to track down the wastes to their original causes and design techniques that can be used to improve this situation. For example, whenever wastage has been caused by delays in serving, the management should enquire and ensure that number of hotel staff and other resources are enough to accommodate all their customers. On the other hand, wastages due to excessive quantities of meals served can be corrected by strict adherence to the meal ratio proportions. Operations management should consider consistent evaluation of production processes and storage facilities to avoid repeated wastages that may result in customer frustrations and financial losses to the organisation (Gunasekaran, Irani & Papadopoulos 2014: 806-823).
3.0 Theories Explaining Operational Issues
Consequently, an organisation can implement operation management theories to identify and control these wastages. Incorporation of theory of six sigma will help in restricting the production of poor quality meals. This is because the theory utilizes a measurement strategy that is more focused on a product’s quality development and procedures for product variations (Drohomeretski et al. 2014: 804-824). Through the DMAIC and DMADV techniques, waste issues can be controlled and maintained at lowest levels where, DMAIC process consists of activities relating to definition, measuring, analysis, improvement and control of production systems while DMADV entails definition, measure, analysis, design and verification of respective production system processes.
A hotel can also implement lean management to minimise waste accumulations while maintaining same production strategies. This process helps in identifying wastes resulting from overburdening of hotel attendants or lack of uniformity in production. By embracing lean manufacturing, an operations manager acquires strategies aimed at increasing value of products while eliminating any non-value adding activity (Fullerton, Kennedy & Widener 2014: 414-428). It is also important for an operations manager to identify major sources of wastes in their production process. Some of the most common ways through which the hotel can lose production time and limited resources include; relocation of materials that are not actually required in production, unclear inventory records, time wastage in movements and change of roles, unnecessary interruptions during meal preparation exercise, overproduction of items beyond customer demands and spending too much time in inspecting defects.
The hotel can also implement reconfigurable manufacturing system for monitoring rapid changes that may affect production. This theory simplifies a production process into six steps that form key determinants in managing operations during this exercise. These include; modularity, need for integration, flexibility, scalability, convertibility and diagnosability (Koren, Wang & Gu 2017: 1227-1242). Therefore, a hotel management can utilize this theory to ensure that customer requests are thoroughly scrutinized and evaluated through the steps before serving.
4.0 Evaluating Propositions
It is important to implement a compatible operations management technique in a business as a way of streamlining production process to satisfy customers’ needs. Therefore, a good operations management team aims at providing new products that satisfy the dynamic customers’ demands. For example, offering unique accommodation packages, variety of meals and recreational facilities. Operations manager also needs to plan on financial expenditures and budgeting to ensure continuity of business even during economic fluctuations. Business organisations need to build value propositions according to the prevailing business and marketing designs (Roth et al 2016: 1473-1488). This would also require redesigning of internal operations, business models and logistics.
Consequently, marketing managers need to evaluate their promotional techniques that can help in building a brand and expanding customer networks. For example, media advertisements, blogs and engagement of customers in social networks like Facebook and Pinterest. Furthermore, due to new technological developments and competition in the hotel industry, it is important to design proper operational methods that can be used to improve performance, like installation of free W-Fi and Video conferencing halls for business meetings. Propositions are also important in understanding an organisational culture and learning how to properly integrate them to achieve customers’ satisfaction. This might help in creating a reputable brand that promotes the hotel’s name to extended markets.
Operations managers help in improving efficiency by increasing productivity ratio. This is achieved by maximum utilisation of scarce resource to achieve desired utility (Roth et al 2016: 1473-1488). Since they are tasked with a responsibility of controlling production procedures and movement of resources from one location to another, they must ensure that principle of least costs is maintained. This prevents backtracking of activities since involvement of many attendants in meal preparation may cause confusion and makes it difficult to trace back the procedures. Therefore, an efficient operation process needs to be predictable and executed in definite steps so that other people can be assigned same duty in absence of a colleague.
5.0 Explaining Suppositions
As a way of monitoring waste issues, an operations manager should minimise inventory by utilising just in time and economic order quantity strategies. This helps in creating space for more production and relieves the hotel storage and preservation costs. Other importance of controlling waste issues include; protecting an organisation from adverse effects of economic fluctuations. This is because, a proper waste management procedure will help in monitoring quantities of items produced. On the other hand, fluctuations can be caused by inaccuracy in forecasted demand and actual demand of customers. Furthermore, excess inventory can be properly managed through intensive marketing and supplies to customers in advance (Ramanathan &Gunasekaran 2014: 252-259). For example, excess cakes from a hotel can be supplied to retailers. While maintaining a certain level of inventory, the hotel can improve quality of its products by utilising more resources in designing fewer products of higher value.
Proper management of excess resources ensures a steady supply of raw materials thus maintaining continuous production. An opera...