Managing Hotels Effectively

Eddystone C. Nebel is the author of Managing Hotels Effectively: Lessons from Outstanding General Managers, published by Wiley.

Preface xvii

Acknowledgements xxi

Introduction xxiii

The Gm Research xxiii

HE Gms xxiv

Unifying Theme xxvii

References xxviii

Chapter 1 The Environment of The Hotel Business 1

THE GLAMOUR OF IT ALL 2

The Hotel as History 3

The Hotel as Excitement 4

The Hotel as Theater 7

A City Within a City 8

A Vocation 8

THE PACE OF A HOTEL 9

Hotel Cycles 10

Open for Business 8,760 Hours per Year 10

Scope of Operations 12

The Unpredictability of Problems 14

The Immediacy of Problems 16

The Need for Dedication 18

THE COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT 18

Hotels Are Commodities 19

Permanent Overbuilding 20

Rooms Are Perishable Products 21

Forecasting Demand 22

CONCLUSION 24

REFERENCES 26

QUESTIONS 26

Chapter 2 Service, People, and Profits in the Hotel Business 28

SERVICE COUNTS 28

Service Is tangible 31

Setting Service Standards 32

Service Consistency 35

Atitudes Toward Service 36

PEOPLE SERVING PEOPLE 36

Guests 37

Employees 39

Managers 46

OWNERS, PROFITS, AND MANAGERS 48

Absentee Owners 48

Corporate Input 50

Profits Versus Service 50

Profits During Good Times and Bad 52

CONCLUSION 53

REFERENCES 55

FURTHER READING 55

QUESTIONS 55

Chapter 3 An Overview of Strategic Planning 57

THE NATURE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING 57

Strategic Planning Defined 57

Distinguishing Characteristics of Strategic Planning 58

THE STRATEGIC PLANNING HIERARCHY 59

Strategic Planning and the Corporate Organization 60

Corporate-Level Strategic Planning 61

Business-Level Strategic Planning 61

Functional Level Strategic Planning 62

Strategic Planning and the Individual Hotel 62

THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS 63

Overview of the Strategi Planning Process 64

Setting Organizational Goals 66

Formulating a Strategic Plan 70

Strategy Implementation 76

Evaluating Strategic Plan 78

The Tine Horizon of Strategic Planning 79

CONCLUSION 80

REFERENCES 82

QUESTIONS 82

Chapter 4 Planning in Hotels 84

THE HOTEL PLANNING CONTEXT 84

The Hotel Planning Time Horizon 86

The GM's Role in Strategic Planning 87

SETTING HOTEL GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 89

Determining Markets to Serve 90

Setting Service and Quality Standards 91

Other Goals and Objectives 93

Productivity Goals 93

Human Resource Goals 95

Profitability Goals 95

Developing a Hotel's Culture 97

FORMULATING A STRATEGIC PLAN 98

An Aggressive Strategic Plan 100

A Time for Retrenchment and Turnaround 105

CONCLUSION 109

REFERENCES 109

QUESTIONS 110

Chapter 5 Hotel Organization 111

AN OVERVIEW OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN 111

The Elements Of Organizational Structure 112

Specialization 112

Departmentalization 115

Authority 118

Line Versus Staff Authority 118

Span of control 119

Coordination of Activities 122

Static Principles of Organizational Design 125

Chain of Command 125

Unity of Command 127

Delegation 128

THE HOTEL FUNCTIONAL ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN 130

A Mid-Sized Hotel's Organizational Design 130

The Rooms Department 130

The Food and Beverage Department 133

Sales and Marketing 134

Personnel 135

Accounting 135

A Large Hotel's Organizational Design 137

Strengths of the Functional Organization 139

Weaknesses of the Functional Organization 139

CONCLUSION 141

REFERENCES 142

QUESTIONS 142

Chapter 6 Coordinating the Activities of a Hotel 144

THE NEED FOR INTERDEPARTMENTAL COORDINATION 144

THE EXECUTIVE OPERATING COMMITTEE 146

OTHER HOTEL COMMITTEES AND MEETINGS 150

The Variety of Hotel Committees and Meetings 151

Meetings and Communications 151

CONCLUSION 156

REFERENCES 156

QUESTIONS 157

Chapter 7 Hotel Staffing 157

THE HOTEL STAFFING SYSTEM 159

Job Design 159

Employee Selection 160

Training and Development 165

Performance Appraisal 168

Employee Compensation 170

CONCLUSION 170

REFERENCES 171

QUESTIONS 171

Chapter 8 Motivation 173

UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE 173

MOTIVATION AND WORK 175

Assumptions About People 176

A Changing View of Workers 177

The Motivational Process 179

INDIVIDUAL NEEDS 180

Theory X and Theory Y 180

A Needs Hierarchy 182

The Need for Achievement 185

Worker Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction 187

MOTIVATIONAL PROCESS 189

An Expectancy Theory of Motivation 190

Goal Setting and Management by Objectives 195

Equity as Part of the Motivational Process 198

Behavior Modification 200

JOB SATISFACTION AND JOB PERFORMANCE 201

Does Satisfaction Lead to Performance? 202

Does Performance Lead to Satisfaction? 202

Some Practical Considerations 203

Views of Hotel GMs 205

CONCLUSION 205

REFERENCES 207

QUESTIONS 208

Chapter 9 Communication IN HOTELS 210

THE INTENSITY OF COMMUNICATIONS IN HOTELS 210

THE KEY ROLE PLAYED BY COMMUNICATIONS 213

TIPS FOR BETTER COMMUNICATION 216

It's Easy to Get into Trouble 217

Misunderstanding Slow Service 219

Ms CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF COMMUNICATING 220

Putting Yourself in the Other Person's Shoes 221

Rushing to Judgment 221

No Such Thing as an Interruption 221

You Can Learn Only When Someone Else Is Talking 224

If You Do All the Talking You'll Also Have to Do All the Thinking 226

CONCLUSION 226

REFERENCES 227

QUESTIONS 228

Chapter 10 Leading People 229

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP 229

Leadership in Hotels 230

What Is Leadership? 232

LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND SOURCES OF POWER 233

Leadership Traits 233

Sources of Leader Power 234

LEADER BEHAVIOR 236

Authoritarian Versus Participative Leadership 237

Pros and Cons of Authoritarian and Participative Leadership 238

Factors Affecting Leadership Style 239

GM Leadership Behavior: Authoritarian Versus Participative 240

Consideration and Initiating Structure 243

The Management Grig 243

Factors Affecting Leadership Style 244

GM Leadership Behavior: Task Versus People 245

GMs Attention to Detail and Follow-up as a Leadership Trait 248

CHOOSING A LEADERSHIP STYLE 248

flower Maturity Affects Initiating Structure and Consideration 249

Choosing a Leadership Style 249

How GMs Act 250

How to Choose Between an Authoritarian and a Participative Leadership Style 251

Choosing a Decision-Making Leadership Style 251

GMs and Decision Making 254

CONCLUSION 256

REFERENCES 258

FURTHER READING 259

QUESTIONS 259

Chapter 11 Leading Organizations 261

AMERICAN DOMINANCE CHALLENGED 261

CHARACTERISTICS OF A JAPANESE BUSINESS 263

Theory Z 265

TYPE Z ORGANIZATIONS 265

Why Type Z Firms Are Top Performers 267

THE ART OF JAPANESE MANAGEMENT 268

Interdependence and Junior-Senior Relationships 268

An American Example of Japanese Management 268

Superordinate Goals 269

JAPANESE MANAGEMENT IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS 271

Turnover and Its Consequences 271

Specialized Career Paths 272

Holistic Relations and Trust 273

Collective Decision Making and Collective Responsibility 273

IN SEARCH OF (AMERICAN) EXCELLENCE 276

Attitudes Toward People 277

Values and Meaning 278

Management by Wandering Around 281

Hotel GMs Searching for Managerial Excellence 282

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT AMERICAN LEADERS 285

Strategy 1: Attention Through Vision 286

Strategy 2: Meaning Through Communication 286

Strategy 3: Trust Through Positioning 287

Strategy 4: Self-development 286

CONCLUSION 291

REFERENCES 292

FURTHER READINGS 292

QUESTIONS 293

Chapter 12 An Overview of Controlling Hotel Operations 294

FEEDBACK CONTROL 295

Simple Feedback-Control Process 295

Where Feedback Control Cannot Be Used 296

Feedback Control in Hotels 296

CONTROL TACTICS 298

Results Accountability Controls 298

Specific-Action Controls 299

Personnel Control 300

CHOOSING THE RIGHT CONTROL STRATEGY 301

Specific-Action Controls 301

Results Control 304

Personnel Control 305

CONCLUSION 307

REFERENCES 307

QUESTIONS 308

Revenues

Chapter 13 Controlling Results: Hotel Revenues and Costs 309

THE BEGINNING FORECAST 311

Occupancy Forecast 311

Department Forecasts 314

FORGING THE ANNUAL BUSINESS PLAN 317

Group Consensus at The Regal Hotel 317

Making Difficult Choices at The St. Charles Hotel 322

The Final Business Plan 323

MONTHLY CONTROL CYCLE 323

The Thirty- To Ninety-Day Forecast 323

The Monthly Forecast 324

The Profit and Loss Forecast 329

The Ten-Day Planning and Control Cycle 331

CONCLUSION 336

REFERENCES 337

QUESTIONS 337

Chapter 14 Control: Getting Employees To Do Things Right and To Do the Right Things 338

SPECIFIC-ACTION CONTROLS: GETTING EMPLOYEES TO DO THINGS RIGHT 338

Introductory Training: The "Dos" and "Don'ts" of Working for a Living 339

Doing Things Right on the Job: Housekeeping Room Attendants 341

Specific-Action Controls for Managers 343

Systems of Specific-Action Controls 346

Direct Supervision as a Form of Specific-Action Controls 348

PERSONNEL CONTROL: GETTING PEOPLE TO DO THE RIGHT THINGS 349

Telephone Training: Simple Training for a Critical Skill 349

Guest-Relations Training 350

Total Employee Training 354

Employee Relations Programs 356

Employee Programs 356

Employee Surveys 359

Employee Turnover 360

CONCLUSION 361

REFERENCES 364

QUESTIONS 364

Chapter 15 The Ms' Background an Personal Characteristics 336

The GMs' Backgrounds 367

Formal Education 367

Strengths and Weaknesses of the GMs' Formal Education 370

Choice of a Hotel Career 371

Types of Experience and Career Progression 372

Major Career-Decision Points 375

Future Ambitions 378

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GM 378

GMs' Outlook About Their Jobs 379

Tough Job Decisions 379

Recent High and Low Points in the GMs' Lives 381

Likes and Dislikes of Being a GM 382

Views About Family 383

Self-evaluation 383

Others' Evaluation's 384

PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE IDEAL GM 385

Needs and Drives 386

Attitudes and Values 387

Interpersonal Orientation 388

Temperament 389

Cognitive Orientation 390

CONCLUSION 392

REFERENCES 395

FURTHER READINGS 395

QUESTIONS 396

Chapter 16 The Day-to-Day Activities of Outstanding Hotel Managers 397

THE CHAME LENGES LENGES OF THE GM'S JOB 398

Job Demands and Relationship Demands 398

Short Run Demands 398

Intermediate-Run Demands 399

Long-Run Demands 400

The Roles a GM Must Play 401

Managerial Roles as Operational Controller 402

Managerial Roles as Organizational Developer 404

Managerial Roles as Business Maintainer 405

The GM as Information Focal Point 405

WATCHING A HOTEL GM MANAGE 406

A Typical Day 407

Characteristics of Managerial Work 412

Hotel GMs Perform a Great Amount of Work (Mintzberg's number 1/Kotter's number 1) 413

Hotel GMs Perform a Wide Variety of Activities (Mintzberg's number 2/Kotter's number 2, 3, 4) 413

Hotel GMs Make Many Small Decisions on Current Issues (Mintzberg's number 3/Kotter's number 5) 415

Hotel GMs Have Extensive Dealings With the Outside World (Mintzberg's number 4/Kotter's number 6 and 7) 416

Hotel GMs Spend Their Work Days in Intensive Verbal Communication (Mintzberg's number 5 / Kotter's number 8) 417

Hotel GMs Allocate Their Time by Reacting to the Events That Take Place Around Them (Mintzberg's number 6/Kotter's number 9) 418

Additional Aspects of Managerial Work 423

Conclusion 425

References 427

Further Readings 427

Questions 428

Appendix 429

General Manager Questions 429

Divisional Head Questions 430

Index 433