Description
Book SynopsisCovering the fundamentals of hotel management, this work provides hospitality professionals with the theories, background, and practical skills they need to be successful general managers. It is based on interviews with 53 general managers from hotels of varying size and management approach.
Table of ContentsPreface 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
