————————————————- Case Study ————————————————- Brief Description of the Organisation – The International Hotel Group The International Hotel Group The International Hotel Group started business with two small boutique style hotels in Melbourne, Australia. Over a period of 15 years it has grown to now comprise a chain of 20 hotels across 5 different countries in the Australasian region.
This growth was a result of an acquisition of a small hotel chain and establishment of some new properties, mainly in Australia. The group employs cultural specialists and prides itself on its multicultural expertise that assists with its success in welcoming guests from all regions of the World. The group is owned and financed by a large consortium of international business people and several large investment companies. It is in a strong financial position for expansion The Group now employs 1000 staff in full time, part time and casual positions.
The Head Office, located in Melbourne, houses the management team for the group. The vision for the Group is to expand geographically to provide a quality boutique alternative in key locations across the Australasian region, whilst maintaining its reputation for exceptional personalised service. ————————————————- Brief Description of Organisation Structure The Head Office of The International Hotel Group houses the Chief Operating Officer and the Strategic Management Team, the Chief Financial Officer and he Finance Department (finance officers are allocated a number of hotels to service), The Human Resources Manager and Assistant (the system is devolved with HR representatives in each hotel), The Development Team who manage building contracts and maintenance and The Marketing and Sales Team – a team of 15 culturally capable managers and staff and the frontline management team that form the main liaison team of the company. Marketing and sales staff are constantly travelling to visit the Hotel Groups and may be seconded to a hotel or country for 6 months in the period leading up to acquisition or commissioning of a new hotel.
The majority of staff employed by the Hotel Group are located in the hotels. This includes Manager and Deputy Manager, hotel coordinator and administrator/events manager and all the staff who cook, clean and wait in the hotel. ————————————————- Risk Management The Hotel Group acknowledges that there are many risks associated with running safe and happy hotels. They have identified 10 key risks that include business risks as well as OHS risks and have clearly developed policies and procedures. Some of these risks include: * Financial risk in the event of natural disaster Risk of disease outbreak either in the host country or in the hotel * Economic downturn that impacts of tourism and hotel demand * Environmental challenges posed during purchase of old hotels * Risk of injury to hotel guests * Risk of injury to hotel staff All Directors, managers and supervisors induct staff with policies and procedures and all new staff are required to present what they have learned about the organisation approximately half way into their probation period – either during a staff meeting or within a 1:1 interview. The presentation is recorded to demonstrate the induction is complete.
The Hotel Group has a committee structure for OHS consultation. Each Hotel has a Manager who convenes the local level 3 OHS committee. This meets monthly and seeks consultation from all staff. The Committee conducts a 3 monthly inspection of facilities. Head office also convenes a level 3 committee and conducts 12 monthly office inspections. The next level committee (Level 2) is at the Hotel Managers level and the top tier Level 1 committee comprised of Senior Management and representatives of Head office, and the Hotel Managers groups. In the past year the Hotel Group has had one negative incident to deal with.
As part of their acquisition of existing hotel chains they have had to deal with public outrage about a possible environmental threat. One hotel that was purchased within a chain is positioned on the edge of a rainforest. The forest provides a stunning backdrop to the hotel and the group had plans to expand the hotel by building cabins in the forest. This would have been a wonderful place to launch the new conference feature but the ‘Project’ Rainforest’ has been very controversial with local environmentalists and is still not resolved. The new Director will have to deal with this issue prior to the launch. ———————————————— Key Organisational Goals The key organisational goals for the next five years are to: 1. Increase the number of properties by 15% over the next 5 years 2. Break into new markets e. g. new international regions 3. Expand into the larger hotel market 4. Maintain quality service reputation during expansion 5. Attract & retain high quality, experienced staff 6. Ensure all facilities are maintained to world class standards 7. Provide a unique hotel experience for all guests ————————————————- Marketing Objectives . The Hotel Group will focus on growing their reputation for quality service and improving whole ‘hotel experience’ for the customer 2. The Hotel Group will have demonstrated recognition as the specialist in the boutique hotel business 3. The Hotel Group will implement design strategies to ensure consistency of experience across the hotel chain 4. The Hotel Group will introduce a segmented approach to marketing to appeal to higher income and medium income markets with the main focus on the higher income. ————————————————- Organisational Values Statement . Team work is the key to success. 2. Customer service is what we do best! 3. We endeavour to show respect to all people, be supportive of our co- workers and work towards achieving the organisational goals. 4. We are all in this together and focussed on being the best chain of boutique hotels in the world! 5. We value clear communication and the right to express our opinions in a polite and pleasant manner and we extend this right to others. 6. We endeavour to support others by observing all appropriate legislation and guidelines and ensure that our hotels are safe environments. ———————————————— Sales Figures The Hotel Group sales figures are very strong in the summer months but not good in the winter months. Sales in this case refers to the number of hotel room bookings for each quarter. On an average during Spring and Summer, hotels are operating at a capacity of 90 % of rooms are filled at least 6 days/week. There are still some opportunities on the weekends as the hotels are used by business customers so mid-week bookings are strong. In the Autumn and Winter seasons, bookings are down to 70% of rooms filled only 5 days/ week. ———————————————— Plans for Immediate Future The Hotel Group is investigating expansion into new regions, possibly Pacific Islands Region, New Zealand and Indonesia/Malaysia. Preliminary evaluation of the opportunities has identified the Pacific and New Zealand regions as promising areas for further expansion in the next 12 months. The Hotel Group is also planning to value add to its Hotel experience by establishing expertise for events management, in particular conference facilities for small- medium size conferences. ————————————————-
New Staff Appointment A Director has recently been appointed to provide leadership across the organisation. This Director will have responsibility for communicating to the organisation a vision for the future in regards to the conference specialisation within the Hotel Group and will address the needs of the organisation to rise to the challenge and provide the service that is required. This Director has decided to conduct a weekend retreat consisting of senior management tasked with canvassing creative options to facilitate the group moving forward over the next five years.