Hospitality Organizations: Structure and Design

Hospitality Organization Overview

• Module focuses on understanding hospitality organizations, hotel management structures, organizational functions and designs, and strengths and weaknesses of functional organizations.
• Tourism students should be knowledgeable about hotel organizations for effective supervision and management.

Objectives

• Examine the organizational structure of the hotel industry
• Identify primary functions performed by each department
• Differentiate line functions from staff functions
• Explain organizational structure elements
• Describe Functional Organizational Design
• Explain strengths and weaknesses of functional organizations

Hotel Organization Introduction

• The classical European model highlights the chef (kitchen head) and maître d'hôtel (service master).
• Hotel structures now emphasize specialization and service delivery effectiveness.
• Organizing divides total work into doable activity groups.

Hotel Organization

• Organizing efficiently combines members' work.
• Organizing creates coordinated and unified teamwork.
• Organizing monitors effectiveness in reaching organizational targets.
• Modern hotel organizations have linear line and staff structures.
• Departments are identified by function, not title, job titles and duties can vary.
• Lodging facilities are set up for rooms, food and beverage.

Organizational Chart

• Hotel's key people include front desk, cashiers, host/hostesses, housekeeping.
• Key goal of guest satisfaction is dependent on first-line staff.
• Kemmons Wilson gave himself the title Innkeeper, reflecting a welcoming attitude

General Manager

• Innovation of Holiday Inns contributed to success
• The title General Manager replaced older titles in the 1970s.
• Aloof front office clerks can impact hotel success, especially with holiday guests wanting personalized experiences
• Inexperienced staff lacking in language may struggle with requests

Line Functions

• Line functions involve regular employee-guest contact.
• Found in Rooms and Food and Beverage Divisions
• They commonly provide hands-on service and are face to face with consumer
• Housekeeping and security are line functions

Staff Functions

• Staff functions are behind-the-scenes with minimal guest contact.
• Staff are involved in influencing quality of guest's stay.
• Engineering is a staff function influencing guest experience by supporting other departments.
• Security and housekeeping can be staff functions.

Organizations for the Modern Era

• Modern business structures resemble the Roman Catholic Church's pyramidal design.
• Organizations are affected less by presentation, more by internal/external stimuli response.

Hotel Management Organization

• Hotel management organization is a tool to manage resources to meet objectives.
• Manager heads the hotel, roles are top, middle, and lower level.
• Combined human/physical resources effectively achieve goals.
• Organizations are separated in departments, success relies on each other.
• Minimizing differences among departments is management's job.

Ownership

• Begins at the top of pyramid, managing unfolding organization as corp or legal person
• Corporations can be promoted by single group and local hotel, or controlled by wide groups
• Marriott Corporation has a management company named Managed by Marriott (MxM), North America's largest operation nearly 700 hotels in the U.S. and Canada.

MxM is influenced by three guiding principles

• Performance, which captures excellence in sales, distribution, and operations
• People, represent the unparalleled depth and breadth of MxM's talent
• Partnership, which expresses relationship-focused approach to doing business. Corporations have rights/responsibilities buying, selling, hiring, and paying taxes with limited liability. Building owners may or may not operate the hotels themselves.

The General Manager

• Management titles may vary from hotel to hotel within corporate levels from CEO< CFO< COO.
• At the unit level, general manager (GM) commonly used, or may reflect the corp like the hotel, depending if they own the operation.
• The GM is the most responsible for the organization accountable for entire operation.
• GM deals with ownership via area vice president or marketing directors.
• GM's rely on an assistant manager for administrative responsibilities in rooms department, especially important for the hotel never closing.
• Executive-on-duty programs relief, slow periods such as holidays in commercial hotels rotate between entire management staff to department heads

Support Departments

• Large hotels support the GM with expertise of law, employment, taxes, marketing etc
• Staff positions support the manager and operating deparments with human resource needs account settlements
• They can engage with guests from time to time
• Food and beverage manager has direct operation responsiblity as a manager.
• Operations are the food and beverage F&B and rooms department

Rooms Division and Food and Beverage (F&B) Department

• Food preparation overseen by the chef, eating areas by restaurant managers which can be given title 'maire d'hotel
• Parties are handled by catered managers, assigned to the marketing often, and beverage outlets, or assigned to beverage outlets to bar mangers
• The importance of F&B has been declining, nearly as half 1960’s and equal rooms, now account for total 20% of sales.
• Dollar decline led charts to be reshuffled. Middle manager and assistant jobs dropped.

The Resident Manager

• Is labelled the house manager/resident manager. Counter is opposite F&B. All those departments report to this one and reports via this position to staff
• Every department reports to this position Finding employees who can preform face to face contact is important, coordinate presenting of multiple departments is crucial.

Housekeeping

Responsibility for the delivery of the hotel's clean rooms. Status and supervision is from resident manager. Duty includes physical job's, serving the guest rooms, and cleaning. Floor and housekeeping work is performed in isolation.

Employee Payment

• Floor housekeepers are among the most inferior. This is due to low payments.
• Supplemental tips that help is more helpful to those other than crew
• It attract lease educated that have recently immigrate
• It can be issue due to minor maintenance which leads to staff job stress
• Occupancy is also factor due to disappearances of work.
• Cleanliness is a value point and hard work can get results
• Organisational housekeeping is an essential management manager. Requires room.s

Reorganization of Industries

• Reorganization proceeds throughout industries due to social changes due to stay ahead of business
• Tasks are added and removes based on the mangers understanding and position with the keeper
• After the skill is recognised management skills is required Housekeeping may not have the same roles between department related to valet
• Also depend on swimming fish features. May have key duplication from different departments others fall to traditional resident like, which accounts for the difference
• Standard is to hold the house manager in the department

Security

• Budgets allow for greater amount of workers due claims.
• Good quality had great appeal.
• Duties are to protect person and property.

Incidents

• Security incidents are important for reputation including injuries
• Can reduce amount of injuries via staff's ability to handle
• Also taskes care of luggage and prostitutes
• Maintained logs, cooperates police, interfaces with others.
• Can reduce amount of injuries via staff's ability to handle
• Can reduce amount of injuries via staff's ability to handle

Other Departments

• Hotel manager is responsible for other departments from tenants that rent out property
• May own offices or be tenant himself Negotiation also falls to management
• Negotiating lease and rental contracts fall to the hotel manager's office, supported by hotel staff positions in law and accounting

Rooms Manager

• Service operations falls to managers duties, includes rooms and housekeeping
• If management it can be deleated, including supervision of guest service including clercks, cashters, and information.

Room Reservations Manager

• Reservation is via the intent in arriving in the future and must go through a process by the manager
• Are also direct letter and phone calls
• Travel is also a stream of data that the managers need to look over

What information is communicated?

• It includes arrival time for how long also includes facility in the front office
• A clerk to expect arrival through group and balanced room
• The reservation department keeps records of who is arriving, at what time, and for how long. The information, including the type of facilities wanted, must be communicated to the front desk clerk to anticipate the guest's arrival.

Uniformed Services

• Over the year it included luggage and bell service
• Now it is bell and door persons and even with those numbers declining
• Travel decreased due to less luggage or a smaller work force

Tips and Services

• If services provide this can give hotels first good impression
• The service is via uniformity, and service level
• Modern department heads = managers.

Manager of Guest Service

• Full service structure of the staff is by one final level
• With assistant clerks the front office clerks oversee this.

Front Office

• Is identified in the lobby. References and reference as hub and heart.

Hotel Communications

• Relations also relate to each other departments and instructions is to come from guest
• Guest interact with housekeeping and desk. complaints or remedies are also applied by hotel staff
• The front named is closed to the door but can also serve as a name for a better defined area or services
• The receptionist is still a term used outside of America in other areas

Guest services

• Titles must be more described related to function.
• Title include: room sales, the room management service the accounting.
• Hotel agents have duties and commit reservations
• Accounting is also present amongst the clerks A basic rule it not followed because everyone doesn't have one boss.
• Management can be difficult due to personal encounters.

The Front Office

• Changes are in new way of lodging
• Is a banking service. As a hotel, all service provides a key to all new comer and goings through the hotel.

Concierge

• Positioned in USA, that have a staff more in the France region
• Comes from the term with service.
• The guard service as a key to all new comers and goings through the hotel.
• Various are included as the service
• May not also be hotel and is a position to the hotel staff
• They also may have a technology staff that also manages computers that manage customers issues

Telephone

• The amount of phones in hotels is uncharacteristic
• Social charges reduce the amount of need in personnel that can be useful to staff size

Employee Services

• Services from the hotel rooms are limited
• The electronic can also charge the payment automatically
• Most important can be chief operator size.

Elements of Organizational Structure

• Organizational structure aims at people channeled for productive activity
• Specialization can create managerial control of tasks, workers are assigned by needs
• Is created for activities and efficiency coordination
• Functional lines can also create efficient organization

Factors to consider during Organization

• Authority must dictate who goes with the org.
• Span comes with subordinates
• Wide span if its a flat organisation

Organizational and Teamwork

• Coordination is important to avoid issues in the hotel org.
• Goals and duties must create teamwork
• Duties should be subdivded

Principles of Organizational Design in Hospitality Industry

• Delegation, unity and command are important.
• Unity, with team is helpful and not conflicting
• The chain if command says there must be a responsible superior with a hierarchy of management
• The hotel operations flow smoothly from upper management to lower management to meet needs
• Can affect Communication between organization and managers

Department of Responsibility

• Hotel Manager or Director of Operations
• Director of Marketing / DOSM
• Controller
• Director of Engineering
• Director of Housekeeping

Revenue Team

• Also requires an experience executive manager

Employees duties as responsibility for guests in stocking, and reporting

• Includes, beliman and managers, and any attendees Hotels does not make bed or cook but they aim for loyal customers through services The manager is to make service to cash flow and assist on guidelines like They may manage the book with assistance

Delegations

• Unity is to serve what must be ordered to be completed fully and with correct resources Success is measured by what happens overall and not what one deptaetmnt does via service which ensures good productivity
• Can have specialisation to have increased productivity, and is better in the department The manager also can develop his own behavior
• Fostering efficiency requires teamwork within the departments Needs great leadership but can affect and is important

Customer services

• Departments must customer service focus, this includes strategy and activities
• Individual special must deliver great products as a course.

Department heads

• Hotel organisation demands a strong delivery even with skill range and category
• Experience can be different through departments

Hotel degrees

• Could be culinnary and has an industry service level
• Also personnel service with multiple managers