Research Articles Base: Hotel Industry In The United Kingdom

Research Proposal On The Impact Of Skills Shortage In The UK Hotel Industry On The Services Provided By Hilton Hotels

The Impact of Skills Shortage in the UK Hotel Industry on the Services Provided by Hilton Hotels     Introduction             Hospitality industry in UK that is continuously growing in the 21st century. This industry encompasses hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, fast food retail, bars, and catering. It has been characterized in recent decades by the development of an increasing range of highly segmented products and services. Overlapping tourism and leisure services, with a growing business services component, it is a highly competitive global industry (Rowley et al, 2003, 9). Hospitality is a major force in the economy, creating growth and jobs. It employs 1.8 million people in nearly 300,000 establishments and has a total turnover exceeding £64 billion (BHA, 2002). Hospitality and tourism has become one of the world’s most fiercely competitive businesses. The hotel industry is the linchpin of the United Kingdom’s leisure-related service sector: a big business with enormous growth potential. It also contributes to the country’s attractiveness as an international business destination (Lovegrove et al, 1994). However, the other side of this picture is the reality that it is not effectively coping up with the changes posed by the need to enhance the skills of workers. The hotel industry remains a low skill area of employment where skills are increasingly required to adapt to changes in technology, product range and the social, legal and commercial environment (Rowley et al, 2003, 9). Moreover, the sector has a record of suffering from a chronic shortage of recruits with food preparation skills, wastage from the sector of those with vocational skills and qualifications. Likewise there is a widespread evidence of vacancies which are hard to fill. Britain receives some 25 million overseas visitors a year, spending nearly £13 billion, but these numbers have been broadly static for several years, revealing problems of competitiveness which government and the industry need to address (BHA, 2002).             But it does not mean that the industry is doing nothing. According to the British Hospitality Association (2002), with the support from the government, it is discussing the skills shortage problem through a number of routes, including the annual Careers Festival and special schemes under New Deal. It is a prime contributor to social inclusion and widening participation. Moreover, it urges hotels to concentrate on funding mechanisms. The funding of vocational education in hospitality, especially in further education colleges, must be increased to reflect the fact that the industry is producing jobs of the future; the simplification of the qualifications structure for hospitality must be addresses; and the knowledge of food and practical cooking skills should be a requirement of all stages of the National Curriculum (BHA, 2002) According to Teixeira and Mishel (1993) “If we build the workers, jobs will come” (69) That means that improving the skills of the work force will produce high-performance workplaces, substantial increases in productivity, high-wage economic growth, and so on. This study shall then examine how skills shortage in the UK hotel industry affects the services provided by the hotels. For this research, the Hilton Hotels shall be presented as the case study.   Background of the Study Senior representatives from Europe’s leading hotels have concluded that one of the biggest challenges currently facing the hospitality industry comes from recruiting and retaining skilled employees if the sector is to avoid a serious skills shortage in the next few. Recruitment, retention and career development are among the most serious issues facing the hotel business (Andersen, 2000). Moreover, staff turnover in the hotel industry rise over the past few years and suggested that the appeal of a career within the hotel industry is declining for many young individuals as it competes with opportunities in newer, fast-moving industries (Andersen, 2000).             Changes in how workers obtain qualifications is evolving and, perhaps, is rising skill requirements (Bowers & Swaim, 1994, 82). The shift in the mix of qualifying skills toward those learned in school or formal company programs suggests that demands shifted toward more general and cognitive skills. More educated workers are much more likely to hold jobs requiring qualifications than are less educated workers. In large part, this result merely reflects the importance of educational credentials for professions and other occupations requiring college degrees. But the link between schooling and job qualifications is more pervasive. Workers with a high school diploma or college are more likely than less educated workers to learn qualifying skills through enterprise-based training after leaving school (Bowers & Swaim, 1994, 82). As skills in workplace are significant to any industries, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) identifies business-related variables that drives changes in skills requirements (Rowley et al, 2003, 10). It falls into four main categories–changes in the customer base, increased competition, concern with sustainability, and change in production processes.               Furthermore, the BHA sets skills requirement to employees. The vocational skills requires expertise in food production and preparation, stock management, and cost control; the generic skills cover the managerial skills, particularly small business management, communication, problem-solving, selling skills, literacy and foreign language competence; and the competence deriving from attitude to work such as enthusiasm, commitment, and the will to learn (Gill et al, 2003, 11).             Indeed, the UK hospitality industry is facing a growing shortage of qualified and long-term staff at all levels. People are a vital component to any service industry and the hospitality business, like others, must recognize and respond to factors which impact on the recruitment and retention of staff. Technology and the changing needs of customers have altered the business as well as the skills that are required to work within the sector. The successful hoteliers of the future are going to be those who recognize the importance of personal development, training and education as well as financial compensation to acquire skilled professionals who will add long-term value to their business. Objectives of the Study             The primary objective of this study is directed towards the determination of the impact of skills shortages in the UK hotel industry on the services provided by Hilton Hotels. To address this objective, the researcher will identify the current recruitment strategies of hotel, since literature shows that the hotel industry is having difficulties in their internal and external recruitments due to shortages in skills. Moreover, the researcher will discuss the skills requirements by hotel employers. This study will also examine the skills gaps and deficiencies and how these affect the performance of the hotel business. Likewise, it is necessary to study the current practices in company training and development that are supposed to contribute to the enhancement of the employees’ skills.             This study will also examine the state of services provided by the hotel industry in the UK. Here, customer satisfaction will be discussed. The researcher will find out if hotels are addressing the needs of its customers. This is necessary for the further understanding as to what extent these customers play significant role in designing strategies intended to improve the skills of the employer. The case study of Hilton Hotel will then come into picture.             Finally, and importantly, this research will provide recommendations on how to solve the problem of skills shortage.   Research Problems This researcher finds the necessity for a study that specifically tackles how skills shortage affects the services provided by a company. Specifically, this study intends to explore the significant impact of this problem to Hilton Hotels. It will present the differences in terms of services provided by the Hilton Hotel before and during the spread of skills shortage in the industry. Moreover, this study will try to answer the following queries: 1.      What are the internal and external factors that have contributed to the growing skills shortage in the hotel industry. 2.      How do company training centers deal with this problem? 3.      What are the effects of skills shortage in the performance of a business? Overview of the Research Design             For this study, primary research and secondary research will be used. Primary research will be conducted using anonymous questionnaires that will be sent to selected employees of Hilton Hotel. The researcher will also be conducting focus group interview with managers and administrators. The questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected. As stated above, this research will partially base its findings through quantitative research methods because this permits a flexible and iterative approach. During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modified, based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues about the acquisition and questions as they arise, and allows the investigator to drop unproductive areas of research from the original research plan. In a quantitative research design, associations between variables and causality are established. Thus the correlation between the skills shortage and the overall performance of Hilton Hotel will be determined. This study will also employ qualitative research method because it intends to find and build theories that would explain the relationship of one variable with another variable through qualitative elements in research. Through this method, qualitative elements that do not have standard measures such as behavior, attitudes, opinions, and beliefs within Hilton Hotel will be analyzed. Furthermore qualitative research is multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. The data collection instrument will be a structured questionnaire that will be based on Likert scale. A Likert Scale is a rating scale that requires the subject to indicate his or her degree of agreement or disagreement with a statement. By rating scale we mean the scales that are usually used to measure attitudes towards an object, the degree to which an object contains a particular attribute, (Like or dislike), toward some attribute, or the importance attached to an attribute. The focus group interview, on the other hand, will be conducted with the consent of the management of the Hilton Hotel. The data will be analyzed and compiled for the correlation of the hypothesis. An indicator of the control group will be the individuals at the Hilton Hotel. The data will then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the difference would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would suggest that the hypothesis is null, that is, that the skills shortage has no impact to the services provided by the hotel.   Reference: Andersen (2000). It’s a people business. Press Release. October 24. Available at [www.hotelbenchmark.com]. Accessed [04/09/03]. British Hospitality Association (2002) British Hospitality Association’s Chief Executive Industry Revies—2002. Accessed at [www.bha-online.org.UK]. Accessed on [04/09/03]. Bowers, N. & Swaim, P. (1994) Recent Trends in Job Training. Contemporary Economic Policy, Vol. XII.   Lovegrove, N. C. et al. (1998) Why is labor productivity in the United Kingdom so low? The McKinsey Quarterly, No. 4.   Rowley, G. et al. (2003) Employers skill survey: Case study-Local and central government. Employment Studies Research Unit, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol.   Teixeira, R. A. & Mishel, L. (1993) Whose skills shortage – workers or management? Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. 9, Summer.                   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Research Proposal On The Impact Of Skills Shortage In The UK Hotel Industry On The Services Provided By Hilton Hotels

The Impact of Skills Shortage in the UK Hotel Industry on the Services Provided by Hilton Hotels Introduction Hospita...

OPENING OF A BRANCH OF HOTEL ( TRANSITION FROM IRELAND INTO UK )

Introduction               United Kingdom, UK, will be a good location for a business in the hospitality industry specifically the hotel sector. The UK hospitality industry which includes hotels, restaurants, tourism, travel services, and gambling, employs about 2 million people and contributes around 4% of UK’s GDP, making the industry an important source of wealth and job across the United Kingdom. According to British Tourism Authority, there are over 22,000 hotels, motels, inns and guesthouses all over UK. The hotel sector in UK has distinct categories such as luxury, business, resort, townhouse, and budget properties each with own characteristics.             A large Irish hotel will have a good expansion opportunity in UK. Because of the high recognition of the people in the hotel industry, there will be no shortage in the workforce. Also, tourism is a significant industry in the country; in 1999 over 25 ½ million visitors came to the UK and this number is forecasted to grow every year which will give opportunity for the hotel to attract more potential customers. Moreover, advancements in technology in UK such as hotel facilities and the internet will help boosts profitability in the UK market.   Doing Business in UK             As a business that originated from Ireland, the hotel will definitely undergo some changes as it opens a business in UK but will not have a herd time adapting to the business environment and culture in UK. However, since UK and Ireland are just neighboring countries with Northern Ireland a part of UK, the business culture, lifestyle, and habits of the people in Ireland are not very different from the people of UK aside from the fact that UK and Ireland are both European country. UK’s basic cultural, ethical and business value and business values is important to any organization, especially in a business service like a hotel, in conducting business.             A hotel business may include the food and beverage business, services and accommodations, resort, entertainment and gaming which are attractive to the UK market aside from the attractiveness to tourists of the places in UK such as London and Edinburgh as well as famous destinations in UK like the Buckingham Palace, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. Also, there are many international companies and businesses in UK so business travelers are likely to be part of the market of a hotel industry. People of UK are renowned for their politeness and courtesy; they are also traditionally reserved and avoid display of emotions. In UK, punctuality is very essential and they strictly follow established rules and practices, thus decision-making is a slow and systematic process. While in Ireland, employees should be informed first of how their tardiness can harm the organization (, 2006) before they become punctual.   Most UK companies have relatively flat organizational structure and the principal decision-making unit is the board of directors while in Ireland, there is a lack of bureaucratic structure (2006). Teamwork is very important but the feeling of individual accountability for implementation and error exists. The bosses in UK take the role of a coach, supportive and courageous to his subordinates. Partnerships and unincorporated bodies type of companies from overseas can not register in UK; the country only allows foreign investors with company structures such as limited by shares, limited by guarantee, private unlimited company and public limited company (, 2006). Unemployment rate in UK has increased by 0.3 % during the last quarter of 2005 (, 2006) which means that if a company like a hotel will settle in UK, it will demand for labor and will provide job opportunities to the people of UK. In UK, an employer has responsibilities to employees like stakeholder pension provision, trade union recognition, data protection, health and safety provision, minimum ret breaks and rest periods (, 2006). All businesses in UK comply with working time limits of 48 hours a week providing a minimum rest break of 20 minutes per six hours. Since a hotel usually employs working students 16 to 18 years old, this age bracket must only work 40 hours with a minimum rest break of 30 minutes every 4.5 hours. In Ireland, the same rules regarding working hours apply with Ireland’s 1996 (, 2006). Majority of employees are not allowed to work more than the limited working time set by the UK law. Moreover, UK employees must be paid at least the national minimum wage. The minimum wage for adults 22 years or older is £5.05 per hour while young workers 16 to 17 years old are paid £3.00 per hour. Development rate of £4.25 per hour is applied to workers 18-21 years old and to new employees during their first six months at work (, 2006). Employees in UK may work permanent full-time, part-time or contractual. Employment contract can be verbal or written but it is advisable to make the contract written which includes the terms and conditions, job description and staff rules.             UK is a known developed country with good transportation infrastructure important to a hotel business. UK has developed roads that provide easy access to major cities within UK and in other parts of Europe (, 2006). However, when employees will move from Ireland to UK, they will experience a higher cost of living and more of a social structure in UK than in Ireland. Recommendation When investing in a country, investors see to it that the country where they will expand their business has good transportation, distribution system and infrastructures, factors which are important in doing business to provide the business ease of transaction to customers and suppliers, communication reliability and other facilities. It is also needed to look on some personal factors that are relevant to attract and retain employees and professional workers. In UK, a hotel business would be likely to succeed due to UK’s attractive market and having met the factors necessary for the expansion of a hotel business. UK had met the factors for labor, infrastructure and access to market. However, a hotel from Ireland should expect to spend project costs and living expenses in UK a little higher than what they spent back in Ireland. References:     Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

OPENING OF A BRANCH OF HOTEL ( TRANSITION FROM IRELAND INTO UK )

Introduction United Kingdom, UK, will be a good location for a business in the hospitality industry specifically the hotel se...

Innovation Technology

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of hotel innovation technologies, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding the analysis of this topic and at times fail to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it. By delving into this project paper, the author intends to have better insights into how hotel innovation technologies are thought up, formulated and then imparted down into the hotel. The author hopes to have an in-depth understanding as to how the hotel innovation technologies enable hotel establishments to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense. In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focused upon i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to hotel innovation technologies where it was renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity came under strategic thinking and formation as the author considered the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in order to better understand the issues being discussed.     SUMMARY This essay utilized the Hilton London Paddington in London, England and its hotel innovation technologies as the model to review its present features and functions and how they dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the hotel information technologies were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess these hotel innovation technologies with regard to their suitability to critical situations, during which the internal capabilities of these hotel innovation technologies in relation to the strategy being followed by the Hilton London Paddington was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of hotel innovation technologies of Hilton London Paddington was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these hotel innovation technologies with those of others. Gaps in the capabilities and features of hotel innovation technologies were then identified. Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the hotel innovation technologies of Hilton London Paddington as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.     INTRODUCTION   In the advent of modernization in the realm of Information Technology, it is important for hotel establishments, whether small-scale or large-scale, to keep themselves updated to the latest trends so as to keep their competitive value of their products and services in the global market. One obvious trend involves the use of various Information Systems and Innovation Technologies in order to improve the business operations of most companies.  Hotel innovation technologies pertain to gadgets or systems that lead to the efficient and effective implementation of the hotel’s policies and tasks necessary to satisfy their customers, employees, and management.  Hotel innovation technologies focus on the careful management of the processes involved in the production and distribution of the hotel’s products and services. More often than not, small hotel establishments don’t really have the capabilities to implement hotel innovation technologies. Instead, these hotels engage in activities that various schools of hotel and restaurant management typically associate with upgrading and improving their services (1994). This report focuses on various Information Systems and Innovation Technologies that have significantly improved the efficiency of the business operations of Hilton London Paddington upon successful implementation. There are also tips suggested on how Hilton London Paddington manages its Information Systems upon their implementation.   REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE The domestic and foreign hotel business is among the fastest growing economic sectors in UK. In fact, the domestic and foreign hotel business by itself is recognized as multi-million dollar and still a progressing business in UK. The domestic and foreign hotel business is among the major economic forces in the country as its enables growth and creation of job opportunities. The domestic and foreign hotel business has employed over a million workers who were distributed within various hotel establishments, totaling to revenue generation of billions of dollars. From these records, the domestic and foreign hotel business has indeed become one of the most competitive businesses in the world ( 1994). Important changes in the understanding and management of innovation technologies of most domestic and foreign hotels have been developed in the past 10 to 15 years. Various researchers, practitioners and policymakers now acknowledge that innovation technologies can be conceptualized from a functional perspective and that appropriate interventions involve the development of alternative measures to cope up. It was also noted that the establishment of a conducive hotel environment for tourists to enjoy and relax have served effectively in lowering the prevalence of un-satisfaction among tourists. At present, this philosophical shift has extended to various settings, including UK. Domestic and foreign hotel owners and entrepreneurs here have recognized that some tourists do not appreciate so much the quality of service that their hotels and restaurants offer. Hence, these tourists may have the tendency to shy away from visiting UK and its other great cities because of this bad impression they have. For decades, researchers have tried to discover the elements of innovation technologies among tourist establishments such as foreign and domestic hotels. And while they might have been able to identify certain essential elements of innovation technologies, they have yet to determine the elements that common tourists pay particular attention to. However, it has been shown that negligence of innovation technologies produces consequences that foster bad impressions from tourists. Strong evidence suggests that innovation technologies and its negligence engage in a reciprocal relationship that has a short and long term effect on the tourist’s future opinion regarding the service quality of hotel establishments. One of the criteria for identifying if a tourist establishment such as hotels is of high in innovation technologies is whether it has an impressive environment with fully operational facilities meant for the relaxation and enjoyment of the tourists and visitors. A deficit in basic services, as well as skills related to making the tourists and guests fully accommodated, significantly impairs a hotel’s ability to encourage more and more tourists to come over to their place. When compared to high quality serviced foreign and domestic hotels, low quality serviced foreign and domestic hotels have lower performance rates, lower income and are less likely to be known all over the place. As a consequence, low quality serviced hotels often experience a lifetime of problems in employment and publicity, and they are likely to become bankrupted even at a developmental stage ( 1988). Overview of Hilton London Paddington   Hilton London Paddington aims for sustainable growth as a broad market leader in the hotel industry of UK as well as for segment leadership. In both cases, the hotel services of Hilton London Paddington will play a crucial part. Hilton London Paddington is able to establish its broad leadership usually by acquiring other strong hotel establishments and their services, which are then combined into a new, larger hotel. Offering training to its employees, improving the company operations, and the introduction of new innovation technologies then reinforces the positions of the various hotel services of Hilton London Paddington. This practically results in economies of scale that is able to create a distribution network for the hotel services of Hilton London Paddington. If a market is already in the control of other hotel establishments, Hilton London Paddington devotes its attention towards the development of a premium segment with its various hotel services and innovative technologies ( 1995).             The mission of Hilton London Paddington is to secure the growth of the business in a sustainable manner, while at the same time constantly improving the company’s profitability. The strategy to achieve this involves four elements: <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Striving in order to reach a leading position in attractive markets </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Focusing on securing a competitive share of the hotel market segments. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Working in order to improve the company’s efficiency and cut costs in operations. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Continuous growth through selective acquisitions for as long as they are able to create shareholder value. </li> Hilton London Paddington’s Customers Gone are the days when tourists have to find a place to temporarily stay for hours. Today’s tourists want to become as productive as possible while in their favorite tourist destinations and interact with different individuals and groups from various parts of the world. The technological advancement in hotel technologies has allowed tourists and guests at Hilton London Paddington to access communication tools in new settings. Because of this rigorous and hectic schedule of tourists and guests, it became imperative for them to indulge in relaxing hotel services to help them ease the tiredness after a day of visiting great tourist attractions.   Operatives A. Materials Management Workers in this group have responsibilities in communications, recordkeeping as well as operations scheduling. The materials management team of the winery is subdivided into key personnel. Cargo and freight agents. These people track cargo and freight shipments of tourist lodging in at Hilton London Paddington. They may come from airlines, terminals or from shipping docks. They are in charge of keeping the records of missing and destroyed items from tourists. These people are able to sort the numerous cargos of baggage from tourists based on their destinations. They also establish payment scheduling with tourists and arrange the pickup schedule and delivery of freight. Couriers and messengers. These people are assigned to deliver important business documents and packages of tourists lodging at Hilton London Paddington to other people. They keep records of deliveries and get the recipient’s signature. These people travel by car or just by foot when making nearby deliveries. Production and planning clerks. These people do the coordination of the flow of information, work as well as the materials. These are done usually on a production or work schedule basis. They also the gathering of critical information for reports. B. Purchasing and Buying  Buyers and purchasing agents of Hilton London Paddington are tasked to evaluate technology suppliers on the basis of price, quality and service support. They review catalogs as well as industry and company publications in order to help them in their search for the right technology suppliers. Fortunately for them, a majority of this information can be easily accessed in the Internet. They also do some researching about the reputation and background of the technology suppliers and may also do some advertisements regarding the foreseen purchase actions in the hope of soliciting bids. At meetings and conferences, they perform the examination of hotel technology products and services, the evaluation of the productive and distributive capabilities of technology suppliers, and the discussion of business considerations that have the possibility of influencing the purchasing decision. As soon as all valuable information about the technology suppliers is gathered, the placement of orders and contracts are started to be awarded to those technology suppliers who are able to meet the needs of the purchasers. The typical contracts range for several years and may even have the stipulations of the range of prices, which would allow the purchasers to reorder whenever necessary. C. Production Planning Production planning is a necessary function within Hilton London Paddington. In most hotels in UK this process is often very difficult because of the fast rate of change and the occurrences of unplanned events. Hilton London Paddington uses several methodologies depending on the rate of demand of the customer and the price of the technology. Nevertheless, the objectives of Hilton London Paddington for every transaction do not change: efficiency and effectiveness. Production planning is being implemented by Hilton London Paddington in order for its activities and resources to be coordinated over time. This enables the hotel to achieve its goals with minimal resource utilization. Production planning also enables Hilton London Paddington to monitor the progress of their plans at regular intervals and maintain their control over operations. Production planning within Hilton London Paddington involves four elements: scheduling, labor planning, equipment planning, and cost planning. <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Scheduling involves the specification of the beginning, the length or the duration, and end of the planned activities. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Labor planning involves allocating the necessary personnel and delegation of responsibilities and resources </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Technology planning involves identifying the types and needs in terms of equipments. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Cost planning involves determining the costs and the possibility of their occurrence. </li> </ul> Management The Hilton London Paddington Board of Directors and management believe that sound principles of corporate governance are critical to obtaining and retaining the trust and respect of stockholders, employees, other stakeholders and the public. The Hilton London Paddington board serves at the discretion of stockholders and works to represent their interests by enhancing business strategies and practices for the creation of long term stockholder value. Governance Summary <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The board consists of three standing committees: Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> A majority of board members are independent of the company and its management; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The Audit Committee of the board has established policies consistent with the newly enacted corporate reform laws for auditor independence; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The independent members of the board meet regularly without the presence of management; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The charters of our board committees clearly establish their respective roles and responsibilities; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The company has a clear code of ethics and all employees must affirm their acceptance of this code. The code of ethics includes a conflict of interest policy to ensure that key corporate decisions are made by individuals who do not have a financial interest in the outcome separate from their interest as company officials; </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> The company actively monitors compliance with the law and the global financial policies and practices over critical areas. These areas include internal controls, financial accounting and reporting, fiduciary accountability and safeguarding of our corporate assets. </li> </ul> INFORMATION SYSTEMS and INNOVATION TECHNOLOGIES Hilton London Paddington implements these specific information systems and innovation technologies in order to improve their business operations.   A. Transaction Processing System This information system is tasked to collect and organize operational data of Hilton London Paddington’s activities (1990). For example, a typical banking operation by the hotel involves transferring 0 from the account of their client to the hotel’s checking account. This would seem like a single operation to the hotel, but in reality this transaction consists of two steps: debiting the clients account by 0, and crediting the hotel’s checking account by 0. If the debit operation succeeded and the credit did not, then the 0 would disappear. The Transaction processing system combines these two operations and groups them into a single transaction. This is done through the production of copies of the data in question, and these copies are then made to run the operations on the copied data. When both commands have successfully completed, the changed data is written back to the system in a single operation. If one of the operations fails, the copied data is simply discarded, and an error is reported. For many years transaction processing was the domain of information systems, especially since they these information systems were able to guarantee that any changes to the database would be completed. This worked well for most companies, and they could all even run on top of a database with a single client-server. However, in recent years this model has also become more difficult to maintain. As the number of transactions grew in response to various online services, a single database proved to be very inefficient. Also, most online systems consist of a whole suite of programs operating together, as opposed to a strict client-server model where the single server could handle the transaction processing. Nevertheless, this type of information system will significantly bolster the business operations of hotel establishments when successfully implemented. B. Management Support Systems 1) Decision Support System This information system goes beyond one-way presentations and sharing of applications to enable a focused exchange of ideas over the Internet or an Intranet. Researches have proved that electronic brainstorming is able to generate more and better ideas (1995). This is brought about by the combination of parallel idea generation and the utilization of focus group discussions and tools for the organization of ideas. Therefore, decision-making is done with a higher degree of consensus and a higher likelihood of implementation success. Meetings within Hilton London Paddington would only take less than a fraction of time as expected. But more importantly, everyone walks away with the minutes of the meeting in hand, regardless of where they are. Also, because the tools are web-based, the hotel’s management can choose the proper setting for the meetings, whether to place the clients in a conference room, set up a distributed meeting or a mixture of both. The management can decide whether the meeting should be done in real-time or whether the clients can participate and contribute their ideas only when their schedule allows them to. Either way, Hilton London Paddington is assured of getting the same focus and productivity while at the same time having a significantly greater flexibility in terms of scheduling. 2) Executive Information System (EIS) The Executive Information System begins with the identification of problems. These include the gaps between the desired and actual states that cannot be easily closed easily because of the new knowledge that needs to be produced to support the decisions and actions needed to close them (1992). There are generally three (3) classes of such problems: ·         problems occurring in hotel business processes; ·         problems occurring in hotel knowledge processes; and ·         problems occurring in hotel Knowledge management processes. Problems occurring in the hotel business processes cannot be resolved through the use of Knowledge management solutions, but through knowledge processing solutions. The other two classes of problems, however, can be solved through the use of Executive Information System services. This Information System will identify, formulate, and evaluate the knowledge processing and knowledge management problems This is the most important service that the EIS provides for Hilton London Paddington.  Failure to solve a business process problem within the hotel, for instance, may not be caused by a problem in the organization and structure of the hotel’s organizational knowledge processes. Instead, it may be possibly caused by a failure in solving an extremely difficult business process problem, even though available knowledge processes are working just fine. There are certain instances, however, that it is not always very clear what the nature of the problem is, even if a knowledge processing problem exists. For example, the fact that the knowledge needed to support a particular decision is not there may be possibly caused by the fact that the knowledge exists, but is currently unavailable because of a poorly operating knowledge sharing process. Another possible explanation is that it could be caused by the fact that the process of the development of new knowledge claims is not open to most organizational participants. The bottom line is the process on how the problem is formulated and diagnosed. Because of its experience in the development of the underlying conceptual foundations of Knowledge Management, the Executive Information System is able to identify, formulate and evaluate knowledge processing and knowledge management problems within Hilton London Paddington.     3) Expert System The Expert System is meant to solve real problems of Hilton London Paddington which normally would require hiring a human expert to solve them (Harvey, 1990). Building the Expert system therefore first involves the extraction of the crucial information from a human expert. Such knowledge is often characterized as heuristic in nature. However, the extraction of relevant information from an expert in a way that can be used by a computer is generally a difficult task. Therefore, a knowledge engineer is needed to do the job of extracting this knowledge and building the expert system knowledge base. The first attempt in the construction of the Expert System would unlikely be very successful. This is partly because the human expert generally would find it very difficult to express the necessary knowledge and rules needed to solve the problem. Much of it is almost subconscious, or appears so obvious that most human experts don’t even bother mentioning it. Knowledge acquisition for the Expert System would involve a big area of research, with a wide variety of techniques that also need to be developed. However, the Hilton London Paddington first developed an initial prototype based on the relevant information extracted in the interview of the human expert, then made some refinements on it based this time on the feedbacks coming from both the human expert and from the potential users of the Expert System. In order to do such refinements from the prototype it is important that the Expert System must be written in such a way that it can easily be inspected and modified. The system should be able to explain its reasoning and also be able to answer questions regarding the solution process. The system updating must not involve rewriting a whole lot of codes. It must include simply the addition or deleting localized chunks of knowledge. The most widely used knowledge representation scheme for expert systems is rules. Typically, the rules do not have certain conclusions, but there is some degree of certainty that the conclusion will hold if the conditions hold also. Statistical techniques are often used to determine these certainties. Rule-based systems, with or without certainties, can be easily modified, thus making it easy to provide helpful traces of the system’s reasoning. These traces can be further used in providing explanations of what it is doing. Expert systems have long been used to solve a wide range of problems in domains which include medicine, mathematics, engineering, business, law and education. Within each domain, they have been used to solve problems of different types. Types of problem involve diagnosis (e.g., of a system fault or student error); design (of computer systems); and interpretation (of, for example, geological data). The necessary problem solving techniques tend to depend more on the type of the problems rather than on the domain. C. Hotel Automation System The Hotel Automation System of Hilton London Paddington provides the incorporation of important hotel documents of all types through the integration of images into the Automation System (1993). The System include applications such as word processing, database, and mail, all of which are able to access image documents. The storage of document images is made possible through the utilization of a variety of storage media such as microfilms and optical disks. An image access subsystem, on the other hand, provides to each of the Hotel Automation applications the uniform access to images stored on all of the media. The image access subsystem can then be used as a hardware controller to handle some of the complex events in the retrieval of images from the image storage devices. A relational database system must be used in order to organize the stored images so as to provide flexible access to the images and to isolate any effects of reconfiguration of the image storage system. METHODOLOGY There are two main reasons for selecting the Hilton London Paddington for the information audit. The first reason being that the author previously had an on the job training for two months on that hotel. Therefore, the author has been able to obtain plenty of accurate data. A second reason is that by researching on how and to what extent the information system is used and the attitudes towards it, the author would have a better view on the organization and add this experience to his continuous learning curve.   As the author of this report already established the confidence of the Hilton London Paddington, the method chosen was mainly based on a ‘researcher as employee’ observation. The participant observation was covert at first and the diary method was used to register the use of information technology at the hotel and the relating behavior of the users and customers.             The author spends half of his working time either negotiating contracts with agents and corporate clients or working from home. The time for observation between February and May was limited and therefore the uncovert observation technique was also applied. Unstructured informal interviews with five employees, two members of the management, the owner, two hotel guests and one travel agent were conducted. Some of the interviewees were interviewed more than once. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: THE HILTON HOTEL MINDSET Excellent hotel service quality is a must. Hotel service quality generally pertains to a tourist’s perception over a hotel’s quality of services being offered. Based on the author’s interviews with the management and selected hotel staff of Hilton London Paddington, the hotel believes that people or tourists tend to interpret the services in their surroundings without realizing it. This interpretation is based on the visitors’ needs and preferences that will allow them to function more efficiently. This makes up the visitor’s overall experience or perception. This is the reason why Hilton London Paddington puts a premium on excellent service quality because it suggests awareness but not conscious awareness. The service quality is naturally enhanced when tourists could identify with specific hotel characteristics that they need or are important to them. Thus, the perception or experience in terms of service quality of the visitor is significantly related to the environment they wanted to be in. For Hilton London Paddington, excellent service quality equates to the degree of efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of their policies and tasks necessary to satisfy their customers, employees, and management. Their hotel service quality focuses on the careful management of the processes involved in the production and distribution of products and services. More often than not, small hotels in UK don’t really have the capabilities to directly determine the quality of their services to their clients or customers. Instead, they engage in activities that various schools of management typically associate with service quality management. These activities include the inspection of their products, service development, production and distribution. However, in Hilton London Paddington service quality deals with all operations done within their premises. Activities such as the management of purchases, the control of inventories, logistics and evaluations are often related with their excellent service quality. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, service quality in Hilton London Paddington includes the analysis and management of internal processes. Service quality in Hilton London Paddington can be subdivided into three main categories. These are: A. Convenience Hilton London Paddington’s dedication to service quality easily leads to the satisfaction of its customers. Making a particular foreign and domestic hotel convenient to its customers and visitors is not an easy task, and credit must be given to the Hilton London Paddington’s management who always pursue the best service quality and craftsmanship in the name of convenience. B. Health / Safety / Sanitation The raw materials and ingredients that are used in the production of beverages and other delicacies in Hilton London Paddington are able to meet the high quality standards and specifications. Even the packaging materials are also subjected to strict quality standards. In line to the hotel’s policies in food and product safety, appropriate measures are taken in the preparation of all food and drinks to prevent the possible contamination. Hilton London Paddington also implements the principles of the HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points) system in order to show their testament to their dedication to service quality. The food and beverages that their customers eat and drink are prepared using nothing but the original and unparalleled recipes. To achieve a sweet taste, fresh aroma, bright color and clarity, only the purest ingredients are used.   C. Affordability of Services Normally, Hilton London Paddington bases its pricing strategies on several key trends that continuously shape the global marketplace of the foreign and domestic hotel industry. One particular trend is labeled as “premium-tization”. This phenomenon causes the polarization of different markets. This would then trigger the consumers to demand and pay much higher prices for perceived service quality. However, discounting in prices is also simultaneously taking place, therefore squeezing out the middle range. More often than not, Hilton Hotels undergo internationalization which leads to a tighter squeeze for shelf space. This will in turn leave them as winners. It is for this reason why Hilton London Paddington values the “premise sector” so much because this would allow tourists to try their services at low risk and price.           Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Innovation Technology

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of hotel innovation technologies , the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability...

Environmental Analysis of Travelodge, UK

TRAVELODGE HOTEL UK         Travelodge hotel is certainly one of the best hotel in United Kingdom because of many reasons specifically their price, clean and convenient location, accessibility, quality services, and comfortable rooms for individual and family needs. It is easy to tell about their features unless otherwise you have tried to visit it yourself if you plan to stay in United Kingdom you can easily find each many location in their country. Travelodge Hotel has 460 branches across United Kingdom and many other branches are still coming, as you can see the customer preference has made this hotel a very successful business during the past and present years. ·         Their pricing strategy is everyday a low price since they do not charge per individual but per room rental, and everything a customer’s need for accommodation is basically included.   ·         Customers can also choose to pay additional function room that includes Café Bar, Internet Access, and Fine Dining room etc.   ·         Travelodge Hotel offers services that you cannot find in other hotels including;   24 hours reception, choice of free parking and chargeable parking area, 100 percent smoke free zone. (This hotel have an area for smokers), Meeting facilities for large groups or companies, Gas station and motorway service area, ATM machine and many others.       The government has given them a complete trust with the entire necessary permit to operate inspecting each and every hotel branch safety and comfortable features in lighting, water sewerage and electrical system that is why customers can be sure that the place is safe during their stay. The hotel is backed up with a government trusted support because of employee generation. Their company contributes largely to economic growth in every key city because of the quality of services and tax performance they are generating.       These services that they offered have been totally appreciated by their customers that they keep coming back. Essentially they have reach the market on its highest peak and they planned to stay on top through continues sales marketing and advertising strategies that they have used during their past operation which has been successful using the internet and other media. They have also taken advantage of technology in fact 6.5 million people stayed in Travelodge Hotel their online internet service has been very busy in taking customers reservation and booking as well as their branches in all areas. last year using the online reservation system.  Their success leads to advancement and expansion. If I am going to ask what I would want to be included in a hotel accommodation would be the following if applicable; ·         Sports function like Gym, Basketball court, Tennis court, Swimming pool etc. ·         Indoor activities like Indoor Shopping, Mini Stage, Theater or Cinema. ·         Children’s room or playroom       I believe the following recommendation can also help to entice their customers to want to stay more in this hotel but probably it would take more funding and wider space to develop such facilities but a hotel with this kind of services is definitely a great advantage in the eyes of their clients.        When we talk about the Travelodge performance and its determining external forces in customer’s point of view would definitely show a positive result since they have already established a good reputation in eyes of the public and its customers. Their promotional and marketing campaigns are highly successful to gain and penetrate exponential regular customer based clientele.                 Travelodge Hotel have adapted a systematic marketing approach through which they have penetrated the growth and development of their market based customers through geographic expansion of hotel branches in the entire United Kingdom to gain more and more customers. They have taken advantage of great services available for customer satisfaction, price value and diversified marketing and promotion scheme.        With the kind of services and value the Travelodge Hotel have been offering, they do not worried much about the competition because the indication of customer focus is to rely basically on the diverse services that the hotel is offering until today and their customers option is highly determined and validated in various option they can choose from. Therefore the customer preference is highly prioritize from low income to the highest income level to meet their budget and this has become their strength. If there ever a close competition in the hotel service industry the management is ready to strategize and change to a more competitive advancement using their best resources which they have gained in more than twenty years of existence.                           Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Environmental Analysis of Travelodge, UK

TRAVELODGE HOTEL UK Travelodge hotel is certainly one of the best hotel in United Kingdom because of many reasons specifically th...

Thesis Chapter 1 on Outsourcing in the Hotel Industry in UK

CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND   Overview of the Study The hospitality industry in UK is continuously growing in the 21st century. This industry encompasses hotels and other accommodations, restaurants, fast food retail, bars, and catering. It has been characterised in recent decades by the development of an increasing range of highly segmented products and services. Overlapping tourism and leisure services, with a growing business services component, it is a highly competitive global industry (Rowley et al, 2003, 9). Hospitality is a major force in the economy, creating growth and jobs. It employs 1.8 million people in nearly 300,000 establishments and has a total turnover exceeding £64 billion (BHA, 2002). Hospitality and tourism has become one of the world’s most fiercely competitive businesses. The hotel industry is the linchpin of the United Kingdom’s leisure-related service sector: a big business with enormous growth potential. It also contributes to the country’s attractiveness as an international business destination (Lovegrove et al, 1994). However, the other side of this picture is the reality that it is not effectively coping up with the changes posed by the need to enhance the skills of workers. The hotel industry remains a low skill area of employment where skills are increasingly required to adapt to changes in technology, product range and the social, legal and commercial environment (Rowley et al, 2003, 9). Moreover, the sector has a record of suffering from a chronic shortage of recruits with food preparation skills, wastage from the sector of those with vocational skills and qualifications. Likewise there is a widespread evidence of vacancies, which are hard to fill. Britain receives some 25 million overseas visitors a year, spending nearly £13 billion, but these numbers have been broadly static for several years, revealing problems of competitiveness which government and the industry need to address (BHA, 2002).             But it does not mean that the industry is doing nothing. According to the British Hospitality Association (2002), with the support from the government, it is discussing the skills shortage problem through a number of routes, including the annual Careers Festival and special schemes under New Deal. It is a prime contributor to social inclusion and widening participation. Moreover, it urges hotels to concentrate on funding mechanisms. The funding of vocational education in hospitality, especially in further education colleges, must be increased to reflect the fact that the industry is producing jobs of the future; the simplification of the qualifications structure for hospitality must be addresses; and the knowledge of food and practical cooking skills should be a requirement of all stages of the National Curriculum (BHA, 2002) According to Teixeira and Mishel (1993) “If we build the workers, jobs will come.” That means that improving the skills of the work force will produce high-performance workplaces, substantial increases in productivity, high-wage economic growth, and so on. Changes in how workers obtain qualifications are evolving and, perhaps, is raising skill requirements (Bowers & Swaim, 1994, 82). The shift in the mix of qualifying skills toward those learned in school or formal company programs suggests that demands shifted toward more general and cognitive skills. More educated workers are much more likely to hold jobs requiring qualifications than are less educated workers. In large part, this result merely reflects the importance of educational credentials for professions and other occupations requiring college degrees. But the link between schooling and job qualifications is more pervasive. Workers with a high school diploma or college are more likely than less educated workers to learn qualifying skills through enterprise-based training after leaving school (Bowers & Swaim, 1994, 82). As skills in workplace are significant to any industries, the British Hospitality Association (BHA) identifies business-related variables that drive changes in skills requirements (Rowley et al, 2003, 10). It falls into four main categories–changes in the customer base, increased competition, concern with sustainability, and change in production processes.   This study shall be focusing on the outsourcing in the hotel industry in UK. Outsourcing (or contracting out work) started in the manufacturing business in the early 1980s, primarily as a means of cutting back staff and saving on wages. Often a task is considered for outsourcing if the work performed by a consultant would require hiring additional staff if it were done in-house. In addition, work handled by a former employee who may perform a specific service is also considered as outsourcing. The decision to outsource is mainly based on cost, set-up time, and the availability of expertise. According to current literature, outsourcing is a trend that will continue. There are many benefits to outsourcing, including freeing up management resources, sharing costs, creating integrated networks, building new organization structures, training staff, and interfacing with other information systems. Outsourcing is changing the way HR departments operate. Firms that traditionally performed all HR activities in-house are increasingly relying on outside vendors. In fact, about 93 percent of all HR departments recently reported outsourcing at least some of their work (Greer, et al., 1999). While more administrative HR activities such as payroll and benefits are generally deemed acceptable candidates for outsourcing, there is much disagreement regarding the outsourcing of other HR activities that are more closely tied to the core competencies of a firm. One such area is training (Kapp, 2000). Certainly, there is little doubt that training plays an important role in the success of many organizations (Bassi & Van Buren, 1999). Companies such as Dow Chemical, Edward Jones, Dana Corporation, and Southwest Airlines are generally regarded as industry leaders, in large part because of their commitment to employee growth and development. Despite this, firms are increasingly outsourcing training and development activities (Buckley, 1996). Statement of the Problem This study intends to investigate the occurrence of outsourcing in the hotel industry of UK. Specifically, the study intends to answer the following questions. 1.                            What aspects of housekeeping do hotels outsource? 2.                            What are the outsourcing techniques used by hotels? 3.                            How effective has outsourcing have been for the hotels? 4.                            What are the effects of outsourcing in the performance of the hotels in UK?   Hypothesis The study seeks to test the following null hypothesis: “Outsourcing has significantly affected the performance of hotels in the United Kingdom.”   Scope and Limitations The study intends investigate the effects of outsourcing on the performance of hotels in the United Kingdom. For this study, primary research and secondary research will be used. Primary research will be conducted using anonymous questionnaires that will be sent to selected managers of hotels based in the UK. The questionnaires will be used to collect quantitative data and the interviews will be used to provide qualitative insights into the data collected. The data will be analyzed and compiled for the correlation of the hypothesis. The data will then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the difference would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would suggest that the hypothesis is null, that is, outsourcing has significantly affected the performance of hotels in the United Kingdom.   Significance of the Study This study will primarily benefit the new recruits, and employers/human resource professionals of the hotel industry in UK.  The new recruits, especially those intent on a career in these companies will find out what is expected of them by the industry, what future does these companies has for them, and what they have to do to be competitive career-wise, in this type of industry.  As for the employers, this study will show if future recruits of these hotels can meet their expectations and goals.  Through feedback, they would be able to voice out their concerns regarding the quality of people they need to cope with their demands and the ever-changing needs of the industry.             This study would also be of help to those market scientists who are interested in finding out the social implications of the boom and the bust phases of the industry. Moreover, educators can gain from this study, as they find the connection between how they have designed their curriculum and what are the actual needs of the industry.  In that way, they would be able to make immediate changes, if necessary, or continued improvement of their programs, through further studies.             Furthermore, human resource specialists, will have a better understanding of the needs of their industry and what the graduates of the academe can offer to them in terms of type of training and skill.  Any deficiencies in skills training can then be addressed by both the academe and the industry so that there won’t be any labour shortages in that field.             Finally, this study would benefit future researchers in this kind of  industry, education, human resource management, business and the social sciences since it depicts the future of these companies through selection and development of new recruits. Dissection of the Dissertation The dissertation shall be divided into five chapters in order to provide clarity and coherence on the discussion of the effects of outsourcing in the hotels of United Kingdom. The first part of the dissertation will be discussing the problem uncovered by the researcher and provide ample background on the topic. The chapter shall constitute an introduction to the whole dissertation, the hypothesis, and the statement of the problem in order to present the basis of the study. Moreover, the chapter shall also have a discussion on the scope of its study as well as the significance of the study to society in general and specific effects on the management of firms. The second chapter shall be discussing the relevance of the study in the existing literature. It shall provide studies on outsourcing and the hospitality industry in UK. After the presentation of the existing related literature, the researcher shall provide a synthesis of the whole chapter in relation to the study. The third part of the study shall be discussing the methods and procedures used in the study. The chapter shall comprise of the presentation of the utilized techniques for data collection and research methodology. Similarly, it shall also contain a discussion on the used techniques in data analysis as well as the tools used to acquire the said data. The fourth chapter shall be an analysis on the tabulated data. After the said tabulation, the data are statistically treated in order to uncover the relationship of the variable involved in the study. With the said data, the chapter seeks to address the statement of the problem noted in the first chapter. The last chapter shall comprise of three sections, the summary of the findings, the conclusions of the study, and the recommendations. With the three portions, the chapter shall be able to address the verification of the hypothesis stated in the initial chapters of the study.   References: Bassi, L.J., & Van Buren, M. (1999). “Sharpening the Leading Edge,” Training and Development Journal, 53: 22-33. Bowers, N. & Swaim, P. (1994) Recent Trends in Job Training. Contemporary Economic Policy, Vol. XII. British Hospitality Association (2002) British Hospitality Association’s Chief Executive Industry Revies—2002. Accessed at [www.bha-online.org.UK]. Accessed on [04/09/03]. Buckley, P.A. (1996). “Nonpermanent Work Arrangements and Outsourcing,” Manufacturers Alliance Economic Report, ER-388-December. Creswell, J.W. (1994) Research design. Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage. Greer, CR., Youngblood, S.A., & Gray, D.A. (1999). “Human Resource Management Outsourcing: The Make or Buy Decision,” Academy of Management Executive, 13: 85-96. Kapp, K.M. (2000). “Moving Training to the Strategic Level With Learning Requirements Planning,” National Productivity Review, 19: 27-33. Lovegrove, N. C. et al. (1998) Why is labor productivity in the United Kingdom so low? The McKinsey Quarterly, No. 4. Rowley, G. et al. (2003) Employers skill survey: Case study-Local and central government. Employment Studies Research Unit, Bristol Business School, University of the West of England, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol. Teixeira, R. A. & Mishel, L. (1993) Whose skills shortage – workers or management? Issues in Science and Technology, Vol. 9, Summer.         Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Thesis Chapter 1 on Outsourcing in the Hotel Industry in UK

CHAPTER 1 PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND Overview of the Study The hospitality industry in UK is continuously growing in the 21st century...