Boutique hotels in hospitality industry are made up of organisations that deal with guest courteously, standard quality drink, food and lodging services in combination or alone. The current and emerging best-practice of the major quality management practices and techniques is the perfect level of packages that guests expect and want at every time is the organisation personnel challenges in this sectors. (Ford et al, 2010). The greatest importance to be consider in this hospitality industry is quality. Mill (1996) identify customer satisfaction should be base on the aim of quality service.
There have been several approaches to the development and quality of several organisations throughout the history of the quality movement, dedicating solely to setting quality standards. (AbuKhalifeh, A. and Som, A (2012).) in order to keep and ensure the expected quality by today’s tourist and customers, attention need to be focus in hotel conformity quality with design and quality design. Dragicevic, M. (2013) The needs of the clients can be implying by the presentation concept of services or products directed from design quality. Tourist satisfaction demands can only be meet up by hotel management if included in its design, which means that demand needs to be built into the services and productions
Market research needed to determine which customers require special attention demands and who their customers are. The first aspect can be completed by conformity quality with the design because it symbolises the level to which the service and product meets the market demands. in order to achieve and keep client’s satisfaction needs, the quality represents not only need a continuous demand research but management capabilities such as constant improvements pursuing approach (Grzinic, 2007).
Boutique Hotel management work can involve in many projects, from programs of large refurbishment to concepts of new menu; from large corporate events to small dinner parties, from long to short terms lodging services. Putting all these into consideration, this report envisages the Boutique hotel managements to undergo competency from hotel management diploma courses with aims of explore highly standard formal knowledge in the field of educational institutions, in relation to what is required and competencies. (Tas 1988; Yang & Chen 2009; Chung-Herrera 2003; Nolan et al. 2010; Siu 1998) and more in relation to the desired perceived gaps and competences delivered (Cheung et al. 2010; Huang & Lin 2010; Brophy & Kiely 2002; Hawkins et al. 2012; Jauhari 2006). these were critically reviewed area and information can have examined to project management relation (Association for Project Management 2006; Project Management Institute 2008), with event organisation benefits potential. (O’Toole & Mikolaitis 2002; Bowden et al. 2010; Allen 2009; Wei 2012; Williams 2012), and hotel industry particularly focuses. Project management in the application of skills, knowledge and techniques to implement efficiently and effectively, with strategic competency to link project results to business targets and compete better in the market (PMI 2013)
Hotel concept management
Hotel industry and project management consultancy has no direct literature connection, so this report will look into checking hotels general managers and other players in hotel industry, to bridge the research gap and determine if there is necessity to explore this further. There is need to investigate the attribute importance of project management skills in hotel industry and determine if there’s benefits in include hotel management courses specific training. (Norrie and Walker, 2004) Available literature can be review with expansion on the methodology used in the report with process of checking into some general managers of 5 star hotels and discuss on the review with further research highlighted services and products. In order to determine customer demands special attention, and market research required. According to the demands of clients, the quality of conformity approach would ensure the constant pursuing of improvements (Grzinic, 2007).
Quality management practices is the achieving objective techniques connected
continuous improvement and consumer satisfaction. It optimises the effectiveness and efficiency of a system while usually concerned with maximising the production system efficiency in traditional management practices. Hence, the quality management practice is the difference between the approaches of two managements with aim to internalise the consumer satisfaction concept in the organisation different activities (Norrie and Walker, 2004). Region, management meeting review and location of boutique hotel will determine which practice should the organisation adopt as any of them offer valuable satisfaction for the customer and framework for understanding of quality improvement. Kotler (2010) identify that each program has its own advantages as organisations can make use of more than one.
As part of everyday life activities, quality standard is something most people use and accept. Standard is a common establishes specification language that contains precise different criteria that region, national and international body made obtainable to the public to be used as a rule, a definition and systematically works along with laws. BSI Education, (2008). It works by serving organisation to meet up with international and EU standard regulation laws as this consultation require worldwide operations that cover Europe, Africa and Asia. TAP, (2009). Some standards can be applying to process, product and services within specific sector while others, such as environmental management standard (ISO 14001).and quality management standard (ISO 9001) can be across many sectors. Standard is very vital with ability of safety provision guarantee (ETSI, 2012
Quality Management Practices
Confidence in the ability of organisation to deliver the service consistently with desired product meeting the expectation and needs, to ensure the customers requirements quality management practices met in both externally and internally. (Summers, 2000). Efficient optimum cost of available information, technology, resource materials, and human use can determine how well a precise improvement program is integrated and implemented depends on overall business strategies success. Organisations that embrace the methodology program because of just marketing tool or peer pressure are less likely to flourish than firms that view programs as valuable development tools (Kotler, 2010).
Quality-Performance Model
Internal Quality Processes Consistency of process inputs
Operational Performance (cost, delivery)
Quality Management Practices
Profitability
Product/Service Quality Performance Conformance, Features, Performance,
Market operations Side.
Source: Sousa, R., Voss, C. (2002). Quality management re-visited: A reflective review and agenda for future research, Journal of Operations Management, 21(1), 1-18
The ISO 9000 standards allow suppliers to prove their aptitude to meet customers’ needs and thereby benefit from purchaser’s confidence as illustrate in the quality performance model. The capacity to deal simultaneously with price competition factors, time, flexibility, innovation and quality will determine by the modest performance of organisation in global consumer markets (Summers, 2000) Higher consumer satisfaction will result from total quality management practices that increase the quality awareness, increased personnel participation, enterprise result improvement, and cost reduction. Application of continuous improvement concept can achieve through competitiveness. Therefore, continuous improvement and consumer concepts satisfaction are the basis for the subsequent strategies. (Khanfar,2011). hotels performance can influence quality management practices adopted. Hoteliyo handbook (2014). Recruitment in hotel industry can have better achievement rate if potential manager had gain competence in certain areas. Tas (1998). Relevant attribute can directly link to the success of project management (Cooke-Davies 2002, Turner et al. 2006).
Conceptual Strategy Model
The Six sigma practice was developed to improve and measure high-volume production procedures with target goal to eliminate and measure waste by attempting to attain close perfect results. It is a disciplined, methodology and data-driven approach for removing defects (deviations driving toward six standards between the nearest specification limit and the mean) from product to service (Pyzdek and Keller, 2010).
Total Quality Management (TQM) highlights in every aspect of the business quality with aims of long terms quality development service and products. It breaks down every activities or process and highlights that each detracts or contributes from productivity and quality of the organisation (Summers, 2000). Feigenbaum (1991) describes TQM as an incessant effort to meet the customer requirements agreed at the lowest cost through the employee’s full participation with goals to create a corporate quality culture (Sandholm, 2000). It is necessary to check about the products quality through quality inspection, quality assurance and quality control as a last step the quality management developed (Williams, 2003).
Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) describe by the American Society for Quality as ongoing effort to improve products, processes or services. (Williams, 2003). These efforts seek improvement incremental over time or breakthrough development all at once.it is more on the process of improvement quality but not focus as much on creating a culture of corporate quality. Attempt implementation to develop a system that is never satisfied quality by reducing time-consuming, low value-added activities through improve work systems and processes. Summers (2000) describe continuous improvement as a attitude that focuses on processes of improving to enable firms give customers what they require every time. Summers (2000) continues to proclaim that this customer process, focused oriented tactic to doing business results to delight for the customers and employees and increased satisfaction for both
International Standard Organisation (ISO) quality standards contain process standardisation. Is being adopted by many organisation such as single quality standard adoption ISO 9000 which is the international recognised quality standard (Heizer and Render 2008).it cover all organisation’s aspects activities, including; key process classified, defining responsibilities and roles, its objective and policies with documentation requirements. It also covers meeting customer requirements, resource requirements, communication, communication, training, and design processes, process planning, production, purchasing, and service, audits, management review, customer satisfaction and improvement processes with importance of understanding (Hoyle, 2006).
Lean Operation is a practice quality management originating in car manufacturing corporation and can also effective in hotel set up with main viewpoint to concentrate effort and time on refining and identifying steps in a valuable deems customer operation and to eradicate wasteful steps in a process (Lee, Olson, Lee, Hwang, & Shin 2007). It heavily relies on management observation of processes as well as efficient and clean work spaces importance. (Irani, 2011).
For example, customer may hold the valuable of clean hotel room. It is the goal of lean to eradicate the steps that the customer is not ready to pay for, and at the same time can be eradicated from the process without effect cause to the end service or products. Just-in-time focus on rapid, as well as inventory reduction to provide operation improvement with supply or receive only needed materials at most needed time (Heizer & Render, 2009).
Benchmarking is the quality management practice that involve corporate continuously measuring itself and comparing against business leaders worldwide to provide for rational performance guideline goals and gain information Agus, (2008). formulate a tools for an organisation strategies and goals by comparing system of the key performance metrics against the renowned leader or strongest competitors in the field with information use to direct development programs () Some number of chain and independence hotels have chosen a Balanced Scorecard (BSC) adaptation or approach with objectives of grouping critical success factors or key result areas into four major dimensions, i.e., the internal process dimension, the employee dimension, the financial dimension and the customer dimension, (Quintano, 2009). All the dimension should have perceived to be equally important balanced within each dimension,
Hotel Quality Management Practices and Performance
Performance is being about the involvement in efforts to the results achieved, because it provides the strongest bond to the tactical goals of economic contribution and organisation customer satisfaction (Salem, 2003). measurement systems and Performance management system are developed as a means of maintaining and monitoring control of organisation, which is the procedure of ensuring that an organisation chases action strategies that lead to the overall attainment objectives and goals, with the goals should be a direct demonstration of the strategic and mission of organisation mission (Hubbard, 2009). what drives the financial results is monitored by looking at the hotel performance, in terms of efficiency of operations, how the competitors are doing and whether the budgeted results achieved by the hotel for the market. (Melia,2011).
improvement efforts need to be integrated and coordinated (Quintano 2009), there must be concentration on meeting the needs of customer by yielding efficient rate from high quality products (Lovelock & Wirtz, 2007). Lots of hotels want to deliver a high quality by focus on the aspect of quality and also obvious some customers make a purchase decision because of higher or a different quality with aim of hotels is to increase the turnover and higher occupancy. the quality came into the effort of establishments, because it is the aspect buyer can compare and often judges a purchase decision. Organisation need to know how to satisfy the customer needs
Quality Management Practices for boutique hotel
The impact on the hotel performance will determine extent to which the quality management practices adopted, it is very important to specify the degree to which the use management practice. (5: very large, 4: large extent, 3: moderate extent, 2: small extent, and 1: Not at all) in order to deliver a generalised respondent of perception. Means ratings rating >4.5 implied that the practice was adopted at a very large extent, means rating >3.5 but <4.5 meant that the practice was at a large extent, means rating >2.5 but <3.5 meant that the practice was adopted at a moderate extent, means rating >1.5 but <2.5 implied that the practice was adopted to a small extent and mean ratings <1.5 implied that the practice was not adopted at all. () The verdicts are shown in the following Table;
PRACTICE
MEAN
STD.DEVIATION
Six Sigma
1.08
0.381
ISO Standardisation
2.33
1.387
Continuous Quality Improvement
2.65
1.273
Lean Operations
2.82
1.479
Total Quality Management
3.33
1.036
Benchmarking
4
1.164
Table Source from: Quality Management Practices, Research data, 2014
The correlation coefficients, r
TQM
LEAN OPS.
ISO
SIX SIGMA
B.MAR KING
CQI
Level of Guest Satisfaction
0.209
0.336
0.316
0.103
0.339
0.127
Willingness of guests to recommend the hotel to others
-0.168
0.175
0.200
0.106
-0.064
0.169
Guests willingness to return
0.044
0.026
0.237
0.082
-0.069
0.027
Credit collection period
0.155
0.277
0.348
0.073
0.243
0.212
Hotel occupancy rate
0.235
0.124
0.320
0.012
0.22
0.193
Hotel revenue per room
-0.078
0.23
0.323
0.070
0.258
0.280
Reservations efficiency
0.289
0.142
0.229
-0.012
0.111
0.201
Food and beverage costs efficiency
0.108
0.124
0.216
0.062
0.274
0.146
Check in Check out efficiency
-0.048
0.097
0.127
0.004
0.274
0.066
Staff turnover
-0.070
0.060
-0.030
0.100
0.093
0.025
Training and recruitment procedures
0.011
0.113
0.105
0.094
0.140
0.157
Performance appraisal
-0.061
0.148
0.153
0.153
0.234
0.115
Source: from: Impact of Quality Management Practices on Performance, Primary data, 2014
The report sought to find out the degree to which the practices of quality management embraced by the hotels performance impacted metrics which group into dimensions of four major, i.e., the employee dimension, the customer dimension, the financial dimension and the internal process dimension (Quintano, 2009). All the dimension is equally balance and important. A scale of 5 was used (Very large extent, 4: large extent, 3: moderate extent, 2: small extent, and 1: Not at all) illustrated in the table to analyse correlation resulted in the correlation coefficients, r was done to create the extent to which each impacted practice on the metrics performance (if r +/-5; Very large extent, +/- 4: large extent, +/- 3: moderate extent, +/- 2: small extent, and +/- 1: Not at all) (Kotler, P, et al, 2010).
The results show that of all these adopted hotel quality management practices, with six sigma had the least impact on customer satisfaction, while benchmarking can have solid impact on customer satisfaction with result size of 0.339 trailed by lean processes 0.336, though, to a moderate extent. Analysis of regression shows the relations of the variables as Level of customer Satisfaction (y) =3.17+0.03TQM+0.104, Benchmarking+ (-) 0.09 CQI, Six Sigma+0.14, Lean Operations+0.093 and ISO+0.076. Customer post-purchase reflect on evaluation of products purchase, given quality pre-purchase expectations significantly indicated by the value of P significance level less than the of 5%. (Kotler, P, et al, 2010).
Benchmarking influenced satisfaction of customer as it defines the organisation’s best practices that will lead to superior performance success (Chi Lai, et al., 2011). It’s an important tool to shape the strategy of organisation and reaching a possible modest advantage. it has been an progressively significant management tool performance that can be use to allow managers to both monitor and improve aspects of organisation operational performance (Francis, et al., 2002). With aims of acquiring from outstanding organisation to discover ways to delays, trim costs and improve customer satisfaction. The willingness of customer can influence the adoption of ISO standardization, 0.200, which found positive and recommend the boutique hotel to others customer than any other quality management practice. The interactions analysis of these indicate variables that customer willingness to recommend the boutique hotel to others (y) = 4.70 + 0.30 TQM + 0.09, Six Sigma+ (-) 0.19, Lean Operations+0.21 ISO+0.21, and Benchmarking+0.091CQI (Chan, 2011).
There is huge importance in quality hotel business practice, according to ISO 9001, 14001 and 22000. The Quality Management practices, Environmental Management System, and Food Safety Management System standards has enormous significance in the practice of hotel business. Positive influence of ISO 9001 on business performances agreed by worldwide professional in hotel design (Dragicevic, 2013). The adoption of ISO standardisation with an outcome size of 0.237 from quality practice on performance table has great impact on customer willingness to return while lean operations, 0.026 and benchmarking-0.069 had the least effect on customer return visits. Further regression equation study of the interaction resulted customer willingness to return (y) = 4.13 + (-) 0.71 TQM + (-) 0.064, Six Sigma+ (-) 0.131, ISO+0.104, Lean Operations+ 0.285 and Benchmarking + (-) 0.035CQI. (p value=0.023, t value 2.334). ISO significantly appearing statistically standardize with reduce number of complaints, higher employee commitment, reduced production costs and increased demand (Dragicevic, 2013). Calisir et. al. (2005)
TQM practices 0.124, lean operations, 0.277 and ISO standardization, 0.348 were found to have credit collection effects order in medium period. It is the evidence that impacts of ISO Standardisation of 0.320 on hotel room occupancy is moderately followed by TQM practices of 0.235 means that the influence is to a small extent while the six sigma had no occupancy influence. A regression study on the table shows hotel occupancy rate (y) = 3.824 + (-) 0.281 ISO+ (-) 0.191, TQM + (-) 0.192, Six Sigma+0.020, Lean Operations + 0.372 and Benchmarking +0.052CQI, showing a numerical important positive relationship between hotel room occupancy and ISO standardisation (p value =0.006). (Chan, 2011).
Conclusion
The research drive to this report was to establish the quality management practices in boutique hotel with plans of effective practice model positively effective in Europe, Asia and Africa. The study findings indicate benchmarking to be adopted in a large extent while ISO Standardisation, Continuous Quality Improvement and Total Quality Management, to a moderate extent and Six Sigma happened to be the least adopted practice. these adoption practices found to impacted on performance with none found to performance impact to a large extent but determination of what competencies were relevant for the regional management of projects and events in the hotel industry ()
Hotel management consultant consider quality services a practice to customer satisfaction. Contented and happy customers recommend and return to the hotel, hence improved attractiveness which converts to profitability (Kotler 2010). It was discovering from the report that quality management practices have been adopted moderately and diligently with a small extent in order to improve performance and ensure customers satisfaction with practice adopted to a large extent is benchmarking, still the quality of hotel and its products give critical success factor of competitive advantage. Despite the performance development measurement systems in the hotel industry, various professional still blame the reluctance of the hospitality industry on rely solely in financial measures and use of balanced measures. (Brander-Brown and McDonnell, 1995; Atkinson and Brander-Brown, 2001; Harris and Mongiello, 2001).
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