Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
What is known about Strategic Management, TQM, and TQS is widely published in
journals and scholarly papers by student and quality management experts. Though
widely cited, many individual confuse the integral aspects of each topic. For example,
strategic management may be confused with strategic planning or that Total Quality
Management is not the same as Six Sigma; the argument being the former is generalized
and broad while the latter is specific and holistic to the management ideal to the current
business environment.
Strategic Management
As stated, the definition can vary between experts on the subject. To illustrate, Steiss
defines strategic management as the "processes in whereby goals and objectives are
identified, policies are formulated, and strategies are selected in order to achieve the
overall purpose or mission of an organization" (2000, p. 1). Most recent and widely
known in many industries is Gregory Dess' et al's definition of Strategic Management.
Dess states "strategic management consists of the analysis, decisions, and actions an
organization undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantages" (2005).
Strategic Management occurs when firms proceed from a planning stage to development
stages in a strategy. In other words, strategic management is the process of
operationally guiding the strategic planning of a process or program.
Though different in wording, the sentiment of the two statements above is clear.
Analyzing, decision making, and reaction are factors needed to be successful at strategic
management. Where these aspect become complementary with Total Quality Service
and Total Quality Management are a matter of guesswork for many trade professionals.
What must be understood is that by implementing strategic management in a TQM
focused firm enhances the dimensions of the program; and in many cases, vice versa.
important aspect of the service industry - the customer. As Barrows et al states "an
information system is any means of collecting information and translating that raw
information into an intelligible, usable summary form. The final element is that the
report must go to the right management person to be useful" (2012).
Servicescape: Another responsibility of the strategic manager is to guide the customer's
perception of the service. On occasion and in many cases in the hotel sub industry of
hospitality, servicescape, the tangible aspect of the service industry environment, is a
definitive factor in the customer's perception. The look, the feel, the smell of the facility
is a real and important aspect of the customer experience. As managers, the strategy of
making a one of a kind experience is the difference between a customer and a returning
customer, between a product and a successful product.
One example is the Heavenly Bed introduced by the Westin brand. Marketed in 1999,
this bed has made the hotel brand synonymous with comfortable beds, so much so that
the hotel has create a line of bed products for at home usage. The servicescape created
by the beds have netted over $8 million dollars in bed purchase profit in 2004 and
countless of millions of dollars in hotel revenue. In an agreement with Starwood Hotel
and Resorts Worldwide, owners of Westin and Delta Airlines respectively, the he
Heavenly Bed concept has also been introduced into Delta Air Line' international and
transcontinental flights (Levere, 2013). This strategic merger of quality assuredly now
makes the Westin bed brand a benchmark in travel and leisure.
Continuous Improvement: This aspect of TQS is quiet vague and general in its definition
making it hard for strategic management to focus on one single service aspect. In
focusing on the cyclical nature of hospitality improvement, management must first
analysis what needs to be improved. This can be done through guest surveys during or
after the guest's interaction with service personnel. The next logical step is to eliminate
the root causes. As Chron.com writer Tara Duggan explains that by not "eliminating the
root cause of a problem generally causes it to surface elsewhere" making the process
more labor intensive for management to control (n.d.). By classifying the problem it is
easier to not make the same mistake and to find contributing factors from other
processes that effect the organization. Emphasizing the need for improvement is
necessary in the service industry. The hard part is focusing on area of opportunity.
Top Management Commitment and Visionary Leadership: Bennis and Nanus explain
that managing and leadership are two different functions and define each. To lead is "to
influence others and create a vision for change" while managing "means to accomplish
activities and master routines" (Northouse, 2010, p.11). The cohesion of the two
functions are as important as they are alone. Top management's commitment employs
trust in the employees and leadership alike. Once that trust is created it is easier for
employees to accept change and leadership to hand down their vision for completion.
Visionary leadership employs the best from its management, helping management focus
on the strategic analysis, decisions making, and actions necessary for the plan to work.
Service Culture: Otherwise known as Company Culture in other industry, are the values
and shared visions of a service oriented firm. The key to success for this aspect of Total
Quality Service is engrained in the management of the firm. Employees follow the lead
of management so it is integral for managers to embody the values of the firm and
explain the importance of why they do so and why others should too. Setting the tone is
the strategy in which managers must take to make service culture a success. Since size
and scope of the firm is a concept that is important in strategic management and TQM
alike the service culture will evolve and transform the company and its employees.
Employee Satisfaction: This aspect of Total Quality Service is influenced by continuous
improvement of the firm, top management commitment and visionary leadership, and
service culture. There are two customers a manager must the external customer and
internal. The external is the obvious customer who is a guest and pays for the service.
The internal customer is the employee and their happiness is fundamental to the service
industry as well. The happier an employee the more efficient they become. Management
achieves this by committing themselves to their employees. As Barrows et al states,
manager should "treat the employees as they'd like to have the employees treat the
guests. The intention is that employees follow management's example" and quotes J.
Willard Marriott on his views on employee satisfaction "you can't make happy guests
with unhappy employees" (2012, p. 684-685). How employee happiness is secured is a
task for human resource management.
Human Resource Management: This aspect is most in many cases the key aspect of
achieve the service firm's goals. Without reliable and knowledgeable employees the key
functions of the firm could not run, systems would fail, and customer needs would not
be meet. In fact there would be no customers to focus on. The hardest part of a Human
Resource Managers position is the high turnover of employees within the industry of
hospitality. Skilled employees rotate with experience or leave the industry all together,
often time leaving due to the hourly nature of pay. Retention then is the ultimate goal of
the Human Resources department and for the strategic management of the firm.
Barrows et al explains that retention involves a number of essential concepts to include
job description-personnel matching, favorable employee first impressions, stress of job
importance, and training (2012, p.591). Through encouragement, a strong corporate and
service culture, and concepts that garner employee satisfaction, Human Resource
Management can located and retain the skilled human capital it requires in this
industry.
Union Intervention: The idea of union intervention is strikingly similar when comparing
the two comprehensive systems. Union intervention is a problematic matter in a firm's
philosophies of strategic management. Employee satisfaction through human resource
management intervention is an essential part of this concept. The better the employee is
treated the less they are likely to unionize with an organization other than the firm.
Barrows et al states that many companies avoid unionization by utilizing compensation
much higher and lucrative than a union could offer. This undoubtedly requires manager
to utilize strategic management skills to raise support in favor of the firm and passively
have employees participate in a program that helps the firm gain control.
Integration of union organizations in the fabric of the company's culture and it social
partnerships clearly arouses strategic management in the process of how to provide for
the company's human capital while still gaining revenue on that capital. Strategic
management concentrated firms are focused on ensuring that the partnership between
firm and union organization at the micro and macro levels of management stay on favor
of the firm.
Sureschcandar does ascertain that it is possible for management and unions to coincide
within a business environment (2001, p. 8). Service union organizations like Unite Here
Customer Focus: The service industry's position is to strategically understand and
employ action to the needs of the customer. Strategic management of the other eleven
specific dimensions culminates to the overall direction of the facility and the services
that facility renders so that the customer is focused on. Since the needs of the customers
are always changing and ever continuous and that strategic management is a constant
process for management, ensuring the two are in sync is nearly impossible. By focusing
on the customer, the two management systems marry becoming less vague and their
approaches to a successful customer experience are strengthened by the managerial
involvement.
Through exploration of academic readings and processes utilized by the hospitality
industry it can be concluded that both strategic management and Total Quality Service
are very similar and in many cases can draw on each other's strengths to enhance either
philosophy. The ultimate goal of Sureshchandar et al's dimension of quality service and
the basic definition of strategic management in hospitality is to define a problem,
formulate a solution, and implement those solutions all with the intent to produce a
successful outcome. That outcome, at it true final endpoint, is the competitive advantage
of a market share. The difference is that strategic management is an overall general
system while Total Quality Service is industry specific.