Introduction
A couple J. Willard Marriott and his wife, Alice Sheets Marriott, founded Marriot Hotels in 1927. This was after the two opened a root beer stand to serve residents who needed a cold drink, and a place to relax after a long day. The two later expanded their business to create a chain of restaurants and hotels in different cities. Their first business was in Washington DC. The first hotel under their name was the Twin Bridges Marriott Motor Hotel located in Virginia, and it was opened in 1957. J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr. saw the company navigate international markets as they went global during his fifty year as the chief executive officer. In 2012, he handed over his responsibilities to Arne Sorenson. He took on the role of the Executive Chairman. The company split into two in 1993 to form Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation. Marriot international was restructured in 2002 to focus on hotel management by spinning off some of its duties (Johnston 90).
Over the years, this organization has evolved and provides various services to its customers. The organizations vision is “To become the premiere provider and facilitator of leisure and vacation experiences in the world. On the other hand its mission is, “To enhance the lives of our customers by creating and enabling unsurpassed vacation and leisure experiences.” Guided by this mission and vision, different leaders in the organization have strived to ensure that they are the best in the market. They do not only seek to provide quality care for the customers, but also take the welfare of their employees seriously. Marriott International ran over 4000 hotels in 71 different countries with 146,000 associates. Some of the key services provided by the organization to its customers known as Guests to the organization and its employees include Social events like weddings, fund raising gatherings, anniversaries and conferencing. They also provide lodging services as their Extended Stay Ownership Resorts with Luxury Lodgings and special packages.
Organization structure
The organization runs various franchises in different countries where stakeholders are independent owners of where vendors decide how to run the business. In most cases, the organization franchises most of its properties. However, there are few that are run by the organization. The structural dimensions of the organization vary with the country it is operating. This can be explained according to its formalization, different degrees of specialization, centralization, the personal ratio and hierarchy of authority in different levels of the organization.
In terms of formalization, the structure of Marriot International is bureaucratic. The organization has a set of rules and procedures that guide managers on how they need to run the organization. Job descriptions within the organizations are defined in a closed manner; hence there is little change on what one does at different organizational levels. Everything is done according to specified rules and procedures. The organization is highly specialized as different departments do different functions. Different departments have specific duties, with each job description fitting into various departments. This makes it easy to control the activities of each department, and accountability is easy as everyone knows what their departments are in charge of doing (Johnston 100).
The organization is highly decentralized as managers in different head offices in its global branches have the authority to make major decisions regarding the operations in their branches. Though the job description is highly formalized, the managers have total control over the activities that take place in their head offices. The top management ensures this is the case, to avoid having a lot of work to decide on in the organization’s headquarters. Different department heads can make crucial decisions when faced with any situation without necessarily having to contract the head office for permission to do this. The organization recognized the need to have a decentralized organization due to different work environment in different countries where they have businesses. Decentralization helps the organization come up with the perfect service suitable for the cultural demands of the place they are operating. In terms of hierarchy of authority, the organization has a well formed structure, whereby the different managers’ report to their superiors.
Service process
The existence of any hotel in a competitive industry requires unique traits and characteristics that distinguish the services provided by your facility from those of your competitors. This is one of the driving forces in the hotel industry and each hotel tries to create a name for them using different ways. However, the success of the business depends on the internal and external characteristics and environment. This is the case with the hotel industry, but because this is a hospitality business the relationship between the customers and the employees need to be explicit. This is in the sense that the customers need to get maximum services worth their money and the employees need to be willing and happy to serve the customers. The Marriott International, INC makes sure this happens by using different service management processes that help them deliver quality services to their customers and the same time maintain their employees. This is possible with the use of different slogans and service provision means as their famous "Spirit of Service" where they focus on making the customer’s satisfaction their priority. This way they ensure that their employees are fully aware of their duties to serve their customers to their satisfaction. The service mind-set of the business is also another factor that drives it to its success (Johnston 90). The service process is crucial in understanding their operations. It is therefore, crucial to look at its booking process, their service mindset, service guarantee and slogan.
- Booking procedures
The process of booking rooms in the Marriot hotels is not a complex one as the customers are able to access the different websites of its branches on the internet, and they can then check out its facilities (Miller 78). There are links where the customer is directed on how to book a room with every available room and its price available. The other booking procedure is through the phone where the customers get to talk with the customer care or the front desk and inquire if there are any available rooms. They can then be filled in with the details of the rooms, and they decide the best that suits them then thy can book a room. In online booking, one has to give their email addresses to make communication easier. The customer has to give his or her details via e-mail to help make the booking valid. However, there is a high assurance of the confidentiality and safety of the customer’s details as they only apply to the booking procedure and not used for anything else.
- Service Mindset
There is a tendency nowadays where businesses copy paste the activities and services of other business they are competing with in the industry. However, the ability of a business to provide unique services to its customers is fast becoming a trend that is the core to many businesses. This is done through simple service practices that satisfy the customers. It is only possible when the business has ways of making the delivery of goods and services to its customers in a unique manner that will be effective and efficient. The courtesy and efficiency provided by their employees are what makes the hotel famous and keeps the customers happy. The friendly manner with which the employees operate is mind-blowing as they maintain a level of respect and courtesy that make everyone happy and content with their services. The service mindset concept is based on simple facts that the delivery of goods and services in a quality manner helps improve the worth of any business and delivery of services in an un-courteous manner and low quality services diminishes the worth of the business in the eyes of the customers. It is, therefore, a priority in the management to maintain a high level of quality service provision and courtesy in order to keep the worth of the international company high at all times. The quality of services provided by the hotel is kept at a high level through regular assessing and monitoring activities where the customers give their opinions (Handy 67).
- The "Spirit of Service" slogan
This is a slogan found in all the Marriott International, INC franchises, and it is all about the services provided to the customers by the business through its employees. The slogan defines the business operated by the Marriot hotels and provides in depth information of the required procedures to make this possible. It is an important business concept in its day-to-day operation. It makes the delivery of services to the customers a great interaction where the customer feels satisfied with all the things he or she gets when in the hotel. The concept tries to make sure that the delivery of services is directly to the customers and meets their expectations. This is, however, not possible if the employees do not form part of the whole process. This is because the employees are the people who encounter the customers and their relationship and behaviors portray how the management handles the service delivery concept. They are the people who fulfill the needs of the customers and make a business flourish. The idea behind this slogan is to serve the people from diverse backgrounds by making sure they have employees who come from different nations, speak more than 50 languages and work under the Marriott banner in 70 countries and territories around the world. The main concept here is to make the customers feel at home and bring their culture to their rooms where they feel like they are in a hotel room, in their own countries. This is because of the diversity in religion, language, tradition, and cultures.
- Service guarantee to customers
The need and demand for guaranteed services to the customers play an important role in setting the organizations priorities. This is because the organization will have to put the interests of the customers first making the demand for guaranteed services a powerful tool to maintain a clear focus on the strategies needed to keep the hotel in line with the demand for goods and services. The organizations must identify ways of delivering good quality services to the customers and make it a guarantee, that customers will have services tailored to their specifications and needs. To achieve this, they make sure that the employees know their roles and responsibilities when dealing with the customers. The management makes sure that they define the duties of each employee to make the workforce efficient. The concept behind the service guarantee is the need for a system where the management can identify problems with the workforce and formulate ways to deal with the problem. This also helps create loyalty with the customers who have the assurance of quality service delivery and keep them coming back. To make sure that this is guaranteed they have policies like the P&P and SOP, (Policies & Procedures) and (Standard of Policies Procedures respectively). They have a policy where they give the customers an assurance that they will provide quality services, but if at the end of their stay they do not feel satisfied then they can always demand a refund. This way they make sure that the customers believe in their abilities to provide quality services (Miller 123).
Employee relation
Employees are valuable to any organization as its success depends on its employees. Marriot international recognizes the value of employees, and they have various employee relation platforms to ensure that the employees are satisfied with their work. Various programs seek to promote quality service delivery. The organization has various training programs that build employee capacities on different levels. They give the employees a chance to further their training in an effort to provide them with a chance to improve their chances of advancing positions in the future. These training programs include; Impact Leadership, Business Acumen and Effective Training Skills. The organization also has a policy where employees feel free to go to a supervisor, whether their immediate or any supervisor of choice to voice any concern they may have. This helps promote employee relations with the management. The aim of this policy is to develop employee trust in the capabilities of managers to deal with different issues concerning them.
The organization has to ensure that ethical practices are applicable in its operation. Being in the hospitality industry, the organization has to adhere to ethical practices in everything they do. The organization has a set of codes put into place to guide employees on various steps necessary to act in ethical ways, to ensure that everyone complies with ethical practices. People who go to their hotels and lodgings in search of different services have to give their personal details before they are booked. As an ethical practice, the organization safeguards this information and cannot disclose it to any other person. They know that the information is sensitive, and other people may misuse it. It, therefore has a non-disclosure system where no one among its staff has the right to give out any information about their clients to anyone. The employees have to sign a compliance form where they agree to follow the organization’s code of conducts. This includes all the specifications on business codes of ethics. Those found violating the codes of conduct face disciplinary actions as stipulated in their contracts (Miller 78).
Regulatory bodies
Every organization has to adhere to the rules and regulations stipulated by various regulatory bodies in their field of operation. One of the bodies that the organization has to follow it’s regulate is the Trades description body that regulates advertisement contents. The other body is a credit card order and the data protection body that ensures those in the industry maintains privacy in regards to customer details. The other body is the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) that seeks to safeguard the customers and employees from any threat from fire. Health and Safety at Work Act is also another important body in the industry that the organization should comply. This not only seeks to safeguard the health interests of the employees, but also those of the customers. It provides guidelines on how to avoid risky situations. Environmental agencies also have regulations that an organization must adhere to. This ranges from operating in an environmentally safe manner to participating in the upgrading of the environment.
Service cycle
Interview
Interviewer: hello, I am John; I would like to ask you a few questions about your organization. I hope you do not mind
Human resources manager: Of course, not, I am Malcolm
Interviewer: Can you please tell me how long you have been working with Tudor Hotel?
Human Resources manager: I have been with the organization for the past ten years.
Interviewer: That’s a long time. I understand the organization has various quality service procedures that employees must adhere to in provision of services to clients. Can you please give us an insight of how you manage to ensure runs according to the quality system?
Human resources manager: Marriot Inc. has various policies put into place to ensure that Guests have everything they want. One of them is the fall points system that provides an insight on areas that needs rectification. The feedback system also provides an overview of what we need to improve on. Whenever we get feedback, we analyze what the customers say, and then take the necessary steps to change what they have issues. I can also site the unique system applied in different regions to fit their market demands and cultural preferences. This ensures that customers get everything they want whenever they are located.
Interviewer: That means you are keen on customer satisfaction. Your organization is also famous for its operation in the hospitality industry. Please explain how you operate
Human resources manager: we simply ensure that everyone does what he or she is required to do at the exact time. Accountability is also important to a success. The hospitality industry requires commitment from employees and the management. We build on the ability of our employees to deliver quality services to our guests.
Interviewer: thank you very much Mr. Malcolm.
Works Cited
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York: AMACOM, 2003. Print
Miller, John. Complex adaptive systems an introduction to computational models of social
life. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2007. Print
