______ University
Business and Hotel Management School
Module Coordinator: ______________________
BS 3180 Hospitality Management in Practice
Matriculation Number:
Executive Summary
Managing a business’s resources is an important part of every company’s management process. Every company manag’s its resources in a unique way, but it is key to have a process for managing a variety of resources including human resources, capital resources, inventory and more. This paper focuses on and evaluates the way in which resources are managed at the Gourm India Restaurant located in Lucerne Switzerland. This paper was written in order to evaluate and understand to which type corporate culture of Post hotel is related according to Charles Handys theory, as well to figure out how is it implemented and how does it work within the according to the theory of self-management, or Holacracy.
Introduction
Resource management is a means of controlling the resources that a company has, and heavily effects both its success with consumers and its total cost. By controlling how resources are used, the company can increase efficacy and minimize profit loss.
This can in turn increase the employee’s investment in the company, and increase cooperation, communication, commitment, active decision making (Rudd, 2009). To outline and define the way in which self-management impacts a company’s day-to-day operation and larger resource management plan, Brian Robertson (2010) create the Holacracy Consititution which lays out the core principles and practices of a Holocratic business.
As soon as researcher completed his internship at in the Gourm India Restaurant located in Lucerne, Switzerland, he had an access to the information and a sense of comradery with the management and employees needed to collect the data that forms the research platform for the following paper. The writer uses primary and secondary sources, in combination to complete the research and in order to determine how self-management, according to the theory of Robertson, is implemented within the restaurant, and how this impacts the company’s overall success. For the secondary sources both course material and researched and resourced articles related to the topic were used. More specifically, course material included material and knowledge gained during the semester while studying. As a primary source, manual observation of self-management in practice were collected and recorded over the course of the internship for use within this examination. It will demonstrate that self-management can increase the efficacy of resource management within the restaurant environment, if correctly implemented.
The Gourm Indian restaurant in Lucerne Switzerland is widely considered the best indian restaurant in the city (Trip Advisor). The restaurant consist of 55 people dining area downstairs and approximately 90 seating’s upstairs for groups such as Kuoni travels, Stars travels and Make my Trip travels. Located on a relatively busy street, in a mid-sized strore front, the business actively attracts both tourists and local Swiss consumers. The employees are well respected by the clientele, and actively engaged in the business’s success.
Literature review
According to the platform written by Robertson for the use of self-management, or holacracy, allowing employees to self-manage does not represent the absence of management, but rather the increased ability to allow teams to discover their own best processes rather than micromanaging their actions and reactions. (Robertson, 2010). This impacts not only the way that human resources are managed but the larger supply chain, and use of tangible resources as well (Depireux, 2014). This is because each individual is specialized within their role, and understands not only what they need to do, but the resources that are required to complete their job intimately, which can when used as a resource management system greatly reduce waste.
This theory of resource management, especially with relation to the management of human resources, was derived from the work of Arthur Koestler (1967), who held that a holarcy, was a government, or organizational style that relied on “holons” or unites that are self-governed and self-reliant, but which are also fully dependent on and dedicated to the greater whole, or larger organization they are a part of. This makers them both self-regulating and autonomous, while also making them subject to the needs and management of the larger whole.
Company’s that implement self-management are then capable of using roles as the building blocks of resource management, and by allowing teams to self-organize ultimately achieve a lean manufacturing process (HolocaracyOne, 2015). This is because it “enables just-in-time responsiveness to tensions and opportunities at every level of the organization” (HolocaracyOne, 2015). This is especially important in a small business which cannot afford to absorb the cost of wasted resources that are lost to a lack of sensitivity to the company’s exact resource needs.
Perhaps most notably, using the self-management system allows each team members to work within their area of strength, completing tasks to which they are personally best suited and avoiding areas of personal weakness (Robertson, 2010). This is significant because people are generally faster at tasks that are within their area of strength, but slower at tasks that are outside their area of strength. As such, allowing team to self-manage and to divide work according to the strengths and weaknesses of individual team members increase the fluidity of the teams work process, while saving both time and other resources.
This style of management however does not come without a certain set of risks, and it should be noted that some authors resist the system. Specifically, William Tincup (2014), outlines multiple flaws in the holocratic system which can pose a problem when it is used as the primary resource management approach. First, he notes that there is not a clear hierarchy, or chain-of-command in place when something goes wrong. Second, he notes that holocracy assumes that all employees are self-starters, and will self-manage in an efficient way, but that some people need leadership and to be delegated to in order to be productive. Third, he notes that there may be a weak culture, or a lack of a clear value system. Finally, he points out that that it may not be easily scalable as the business grows. While holocracy is overall well supported, these weaknesses should be kept in mind as we define the implementation and impact of the self-management system in the following paper.
Methodology
The writer used as a primary source observations of the implementation of self-management in the workplace, which were collected in the restaurant, during the course of the internship, and which allowed the researcher to collect data on effectiveness and implementation.
During December 2015, observations were made of the interactions between employees and one another, employees and management, and employees and consumers to see how the self-management process impacted work-place efficacy, use of resources, and profitability. Observations were made of multiple teams and on multiple shifts.
Shifts observed were, generally, from 9:45 to 14:00 and then from 17:00 to 23:00, to observe both morning and evening customer interactions, because the business is very different during these two periods of increased customer service.
Results and Analysis
Self-management is not common in most corporate resource management plans at this time, and even less common in the restaurant and hotel industry, so there is are no case studies that directly demonstrate the dynamics observed through the researcher’s work. However, the collected data indicates that it is effective in the hospitality and restaurant industry, because it increases the effectiveness of human resources, while minimizing the waste of resources acquired through the supply chain.
While there was a manager present, he primarily supported the employees’ ability to work in the roles that they were assigned by the team. He was less a delegator and manager and more of a facilitator for the goings-on of the business. He also actively counteracted one of the noted downfalls of the self-management system, which is a lack of chain-of-command. For example, my manager had given me the responsibilities to make decisions according to facts and figure provided by the senior managers and take decisions at the situation wisely. There was once crucial time when the customer was not satisfied due to the lack of taste in his food and secondly he felt that he was not served properly in as it was during peak hours. The customer made a big scenario in the restaurant and also complained to the manager. The team took serious action against this consequences and I personally apologize and changed his dish. The customer was pleased due to our apologies as well as during the end of the meal he was served with complementary tea. By allowing me to self-manage this situation, the customer felt well severed and the manager was not needed to deal with the issue.
Also, the manager was not needed for the reordering of basic supplies like toiletries, condiments and other supplies. This is because the team could self-manage and reorder these as need. This prevented ordering unnecessary items, and cut costs and waste significantly. This would not have been possible if a manager, who was less familiar with what was used and needed because he was overseeing rather than actively engaging with supplies, was the one in charge of these resources.
As can be seen in Appendix A, there as a general checklist for how each shift should accomplish tasks, or what tasks should be completed, but these tasks were not assigned to a particular team member, instead the team self-managed to ensure that every element of the checklist is successfully accomplished.
Further, the team had weekly meetings with the manager. This allowed an important check-in point to understand how the resources were being managed, how the team was interacting, and to determine what needed managed in a different way, or delegated more specifically. It also allowed the team mates to discuss what tasks and resources they were currently handling, and what they would like to be allowed to take charge of. This allowed the way human resources, and physical resources were managed to evolve, and to take on a stronger format as people’s strengths and skills were used to their fullest extent.
This meeting is especially important to the larger implementation of self-management because it keeps everyone connected, and clear on the roles and responsibilities within the bigger picture.
Conclusion
After all of the qualitative data was collected and analyzed by the author, the following conclusions were drawn about the success of self-management as a resource management system, especially as it relates to the resources management system that was discovered through the investigation of both primary and secondary sources, collected during the generation of this report. All companies have a unique set of management procedures for resources, including human, financial, capital and supply chain related resources, which shape the way in which the business functions, and especially how efficient it is. According to the research the Gourm India Restaurant located in Lucerne Switzerland, which was the internship location for the researcher, largely depends on self-management as a means of organizing its human resource and its supply chain. This management system allows the employees to feel invested in the business, and to operate within their unique areas of strength.
However, the researcher would like to highlight that according to Robertson’s theory and outline for the basic tenants of self-management, he Gourm India Restaurant currently demonstrating a strong sense of the basic tenants and practices, while still using a traditional management hierarchy to establish a chain of command, and to allow for delegation when necessary. This means that while self-management is the primary resources management approach, it is not a true self-governing system in the way that Robertson’s literature had intended. For example, if an employee is not actively seeking ways to be useful, and to implement his talents within the restaurant, the manager can assign him tasks, or reprimand him. Whereas, in a true holarchy, he would be subject to the decision that the team made around his status, rather than the enforcement of a manager’s decision. Also, should there be an emergency in the supply chain, the employees can report it to the manager, and the manager will see it through, rather than being independently responsible for those issues.
In this way, it feels like the Gourm India Restaurant is really transitioning between the old way of doing things, or a traditional management hierarchy, and a new way of doing things, through self-managed teams and supply chains. In the opinion of the writer, the company could increase its efficacy further by completing this transition and focusing on implementing the human resources in a way that speaks to each individual’s strengths, interests and knowledge base.
The researcher would also like to draw attention to the challenges that were faced in generating this report. The data is all subjective and qualitative. First, this is because the data was all drawn from observation. The researcher did not have access to financial documents, or other quantitative measures that are kept by upper management to demonstrate the impact that this change, or transition, is having on the company’s actual resource management efficiency. Another problem is that the literature review is not comprehensive. It does not discuss all the theoretical foundations, or the opposing views of team management. There simply is not space and time, within the confines of the current project, to complete such a task. Finally, the writer would like, in future research, to compare the efficacy of the self-management system in the restaurant and hotel industry with the success that has been seen in implementation in other industries, but the data from other companies was not readily available to complete such an analysis within the confines of the current project.
The topic of resource management is specifically interesting and significant to the writers current course of study, and future career because his focus on the hospitality industry, and desire to enter management demand a full understanding of how to manage both human resources and the larger capital and financial resources of a business in order to maximize not only its profitability, but also its customer satisfaction and loyalty. This research has demonstrated that organizing self-governing teams, and implementing a self-management system is one effective way to do both. The writer would like to increase awareness of this resource management system, and use it in the future to help the businesses he is involved in find success.
References:
Holacracy One. (2015). Discover a Better way of Working Retrieved from http://www.holacracy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/holacracy-whitepaper-v4.1__1.pdf
Koestler, Arthur (1967). The Ghost in the Machine. Penguin Group.
Robertson, B. (2010). “Holacracy Consittution” Retrieved from http://www.holacracy.org/constitution
Robertson, B. (June 2007). "Evolving Organization". Integral Leadership Review 7 (3)
Rudd, O. (2009). Business Intelligence Success Factors: Tools for Aligning Your Business in the Global Economy. John Wiley & Sons.
Tincup, W. “The Six Problems with Holacracy. Retrieved from http://fistfuloftalent.com/2014/01/six-problems-holacracy.html
Appendix A:
