Hotel Management Lecture 5 PDF

HOTEL MANAGEMENT Lecture 5: Organizational Design: Elements and principles Organizational Design The Elements of organizational structure If the efforts of people in organizations are to be channelled toward productive ends, structure must be given to their activities. Organizational Desi...

HOTEL MANAGEMENT Lecture 5: Organizational Design: Elements and principles Organizational Design The Elements of organizational structure If the efforts of people in organizations are to be channelled toward productive ends, structure must be given to their activities. Organizational Design Whenever a manager decides to make an organizational change, he or she usually must take five elements into account: 1) Work specialization 2) Departmentalization. 3) patterns of authority 4) Spans of control 5) Methods of coordination (1) Specialization If there is more than one way to accomplish something, management must make a conscious decision about how to divide tasks among workers. At one extreme is the case of little or no specialization, where an individual worker is responsible for all of the tasks required to complete a job. (1) Specialization Specialization holds out the possibility of greater worker productivity and managerial control over tasks. Dividing complete jobs into smaller subunits tends to increase the need for coordinating the activities of numerous workers, each involved in separate, specialized tasks. Also, over specialization can result in jobs so narrow that workers lose interest, motivation drops, error rates increase, and quality suffers. (2) Departmentalization As organizations grow in size, managers are faced with the need to group certain jobs in order to ensure efficient coordination and control of activities. Most restaurants departmentalize, with food preparation and food service as separate functional departments. This is a logical and practical solution. 2) Departmentalization Preparing and serving food is achieved through distinctly different kinds of work; Both the process and the function of the two activities are different. Forming departments along functional lines is the most common method of organizing a business. (3) Authority Every time managers restructure a job or group into different departments, they are faced with the question of how much decision-making authority to grant individual workers, managers, or departments. Organizations are never totally centralized or decentralized with regard to decision making; rather, they tend toward one direction or the other. (3) Authority  A number of factors must be taken into account when deciding what pattern of authority is best for an organization. Managers must take into consideration: 1. The experience and personality of subordinates 2. The environment in which they work (Is it stable or rapidly changing?) 3. The business strategy to be followed 4. The management style with which they feel most comfortable. (3) Authority Line executives have responsibility for business units that provide products or services to customers and account for the revenues of the business. In a hotel, the rooms and food and beverage departments account for most revenue. On the other hand, staff departments are set up because the principles work specialization and departmentalization suggest efficiencies from such an organizational design (3) Authority The personnel and engineering departments of a hotel are examples of staff units. Once set up, however, staff departments sometimes cause organizational problems. How much authority should functional staff executives have over line executives? At one extreme, line executives could be given total authority. At the other extreme, staff executives, in their specialty areas, could be granted authority over line executives. (3) Authority Two intermediate examples: I. Line executives are required to consult with staff specialists before making a decision; II. Line and staff executives are required to make joint decisions. Whatever the situation, top executives like GMs must arbitrate line-staff disputes when they develop. (4) Span of Control Span of control relates to the number of subordinates reporting to a supervisor. The ideal span of control is dependent on: Task similarity: the more similar the tasks of subordinates, the wider the span of control can be. Training and professionalism: the more trained and skilled a subordinate, the less supervision required and the greater the span of control can be. Task certainty: the more routine and predictable work tasks are, the greater the span of control can be. (4) Span of Control Frequency of interaction: if relationships require frequent interaction, the span of control must be narrow Task integration: the more a supervisor must integrate and coordinate the tasks of subordinates, the narrower the span of control must be. Physical dispersion: the more widely dispersed subordinates are, the fewer a manager can properly supervise. (5) Coordination of Activities Problems arise when organizations do not properly coordinate their activities. In simple organizations of only a few people, coordination is usually not a major concern. Problems develop, however, as organizations grow in complexity. (5) Coordination of Activities work specialization and departmentalization are organizational responses to the growth of a business. As duties are subdivided, it becomes increasingly important to coordinate the activities of individuals and groups toward common goals. The kind of coordination required depends on how tasks and activities are linked. (5) Coordination of Activities These linkages result in different kinds of interdependence between individuals and groups: Pooled interdependence refers to activities that can be performed with little interaction between individuals or groups. Sequential interdependence occurs when one task’s output is a second task’s input. The guest check-in process is an example. The output of a front desk becomes an input to the accounting department in the form of a guest billing record or folio. (5) Coordination of Activities A well-planned system linking the rooms department and the accounting department is vital for this activity to go smoothly. Proper coordination is ensured through detailed planning, scheduling, and standardization. Coordination also requires identification of the linkages that exist between activities. Static Principles of organizational design This experience is distilled in a number of principles that have been identified. While these principles do not hold in all circumstances, they are important and should be understood and applied where appropriate. I. Chain of Command This principle holds that everyone in an organization should have a superior to whom he or she is responsible. It should be possible for any employee to trace his or her way up the organization chart’s chain of command all the way to the GM. I. Chain of Command The typical pyramid shape of an organization chart is a consequence of the chain of command and the span of control concept. Chain of command is a powerful concept. It provides structure in an organization by setting forth a system of subordinate- superior account ability for everyone. I. Chain of Command The chain of command affects communication within organizations for both subordinates and superiors. If a GM wants to make a change in housekeeping, chain-of- command considerations mean he or she should communicate with the rooms department manager, who in turn will speak to the director of housekeeping. I. Chain of Command The traditional chain-of command structure in a hotel has the baker responsible to the chef and the chef responsible to the food and beverage director. Accordingly, the baker should communicate with the chef and not directly with the food and beverage director. I. Chain of Command Experienced hotel GMs often break this principle, but in a way that is not harmful to the hotel. Some problems in hotels sometimes requires hotel executives to issue orders directly to subordinates two or more levels down in the organization. II. Unity of Command This principle states that each employee is responsible to one and only one superior—that is, each person has only one boss. Unity of command is violated in most organizations.(HOW?) A safety officer who reports to the personnel director might correct a food server, whose boss is the restaurant manager for a safety violation. The server feels as if she has two bosses. This common problem occurs as organizations grow in size and task specialization takes place. II. Unity of Command Specialists in safety (or accounting, personnel, data processing, and soon) often do have authority, in their specialty area, over workers who do not report directly to them through the chain of command. Problems can develop because of conflicting orders from more than one boss. The solution is not to eliminate specialization and staff positions but rather to ensure, by closely coordinating activities. The GM plays a key role in coordination throughout the hotel. III. Delegation Young managers often find delegation a difficult task to master. A subordinate’s ability to successfully carry out an assignment depends in part on the clarity of his or her superior’s delegation instructions. Delegation can range from assigning a minor task to a subordinate to granting complete responsibility for a major undertaking. It’s important for both superior and subordinate to understand and agree on the level of responsibility, the freedom of action, and the amount of authority that accompanies a delegated task. Each level of delegation is useful in different circumstances. III. Delegation  Here are examples of orders that result in different degrees of delegation: o Gather information for my decision. o Set out two or three alternatives; I’ll then choose. o Make a recommendation for my approval. o Make a decision, but inform me of it before proceeding. o Take action, but inform me of it before proceeding. o Take action on your own; it’s not necessary to communicate with me regarding this matter. III. Delegation The extent to which authority is delegated depends in part on the experience of the subordinate. Young, inexperienced subordinates can expect only limited delegation until they have proven themselves. The amount of authority delegated usually increases as trust between superior and subordinate is built.