Overview Of Hotel Marriott Tourism Essay
Marriott International, Inc.is a worldwide operator and franchisor of a broad portfolio of hotels and related lodging facilities. Founded by J. Willard Marriott, the company is now led by son J.W. (Bill) Marriott, Jr. Today, Marriott International has about 3,150 lodging properties located in the United States and 67 other countries and territories.
Marriott International was formed in 1992 when Marriott Corporation split into two companies, Marriott International and Host Marriott Corporation.
In 2002 Marriott International began a major restructuring by spinning off many Senior Living Services Communities (which is now part of Sunrise Senior Living) and Marriott Distribution Services, so that it could focus on hotel ownership and management. The changes were completed in 2003.
In April 1995, Marriott International acquired a 49% interest in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company LLC. Marriott International owned Ramada International Hotels & Resorts until its sale on September 15, 2004 to Cendant. It is the first hotel chain to serve food that is completely free of Tran’s fats at all of its North American properties.
In 2005, Marriott International and Marriott Vacation Club International comprised two of the 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.
On July 19, 2006, Marriott announced that all lodging buildings they operate in the United States and Canada would become non-smoking beginning September 2006. “The new policy includes all guest rooms, restaurants, lounges, meeting rooms, public space and employee work areas.”
Marriott International announced today the signing of four additional hotels for its portfolio in India, bringing the total to 29 properties now under construction or in planning in India. When all are opened by the end of 2013, Marriott International will have 40 hotels under management in the country; today, Marriott manages 11 hotels in India represented by five brands
Marriott International will introduce its moderately-priced Courtyard by Marriott brand in Vietnam, under a management agreement announced today with CY – Ham Tan Resort Limited Company. When opened in 2012, the property will be the first high-quality, internationally-branded mid-tier hotel in the area.
ORGANIZATION CULTURE:
Handy suggests that we can classify organisations into a broad range of four cultures. The formation of ‘culture’ will depend upon a whole host of factors including company history, ownership, organisation structure, technology, critical business incidents and environment, etc.
The four cultures he discusses are Power’, ‘Role’, ‘Task’ and ‘People’. The purpose of the analysis is to assess the degree to which the predominant culture reflects the real needs and constraints of the organisation.
Strong Culture
“Culture is the life-thread and glue that links our past, present, and future.” – J.W. Marriott, Jr.
Fair treatment of associates and to providing advancement opportunities
“Do Whatever it Takes to Take Care of the Customer”
Actively supports community and volunteerism
Pay extraordinary attention to detail
Creativity
Pride in their physical surroundings
Our people are the most important asset
Environment that supports associate growth & personal development
Reputation of employing caring, dependable associates, who are ethical and trustworthy
Home-like atmosphere
Performance-reward system
Pride in name, accomplishments, & success
“Courtyard is a very popular brand in India and is expanding rapidly,” said Rajeev Menon, area vice president for India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Malaysia. “It offers excellent value in the mid-tier market that is currently underserved. The hotels adapt well to the lifestyle needs of both its domestic and international guests.”
COMPARISON WITH HOTEL INDUSTRY:
In the world of hospitality the customer reigns supreme. In order to remain competitive it is essential for hoteliers not only to meet consumer expectations, but also to exceed them. Hilton International – the hotel part of The Hilton Group plc that also includes betting and gaming, and Living Well Fitness Centers – realized that in order to deliver the quality service associated with the brand, it needed to invest in the training and development of staff who are essential to ensuring that guests have a good experience during their stay.
ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE SUITABLE TO ITS CULTURE:
The overall structure of the Marriott is tall, however
within each different department there are both tall and flat
structures.
Marriott finds that its own properties are often a source of innovative new practices. As a result, the company has adopted formal and informal communication channels to encourage employees to share best practices. For example, through a quarterly program called the Worldwide Business Forum, managers in Poland can learn from practices in Peru.
TASK 3:
Human Resources
This department in a business ensures that the associates have a
comfortable relationship with their managers, so that they are more
motivated in their jobs. This involves providing the staff with the
professional abilities to take on more jobs. Staff are encouraged to
study for non work related subjects. This means that the management
allow each member of staff to have a variety of responsibilities, so
that they can improve in different areas. Staff training is viewed as
very important and large amount of money is put into the training and
development project. It tries to motivate subordinates to work harder,
this makes the job security effective for that individual. Therefore,
the staff provides excellent customer service. The Human resources
department is considered to spend more money to provide facilities for
staff personnel development and training, in order to make staff more
efficient. However as the human resources department has a low staff
turnover rate of 9%, this means that recruitment costs are much lower
compared to departments like the food and beverage.
Human resources makes sure that each member of staff is treated
fairly, and advices the staff on the certain things they can do and be
involved in to improve themselves. This department ensures the health
and safety of each individual, guaranteeing that the environment they
work in is not dangerous. This department looks for the well being of
all the associates in the hotel. Human resources gives training, which
tries to increase staff motivation and loyalty within the organisation
so that they will become more efficient in what they are doing.
DEPARTMENTAL STRUCTURE:
The overall structure of the Marriott is tall, however
within each different department there are both tall and flat
structures. the human resources department has far fewer
subordinates (only 6 people) and therefore it does not have many
managers, assistant managers and supervisors compared to the food and
beverage department. Therefore it can be said that the human resources
department is a flat structure. Within the Marriott organization
structure every member of staff has a detailed job description, knows
his/her manager. It is a formal structure with clear lines of
communication.
THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER AND AUTHORITY WITHIN DEPARTMENT:
There is a line of command from top to bottom of the hierarchy within
an organization. Information is communicated from each managing head
or director, and any orders are passed through this chain. Orders pass
through many different people within the hierarchy. For example a
“manager” sends information to an “assistant manager” within a certain
department, and then it is sent to a “supervisor”. Then they would
send the various messages to the “worker” in that department. This is
an example of how messages are sent down the chain of command with a
department in the Marriott. This type of structure can be effective as
it helps give a clear understanding to staff to whom he/she is
responsible.
STYLE OF LEADERSHIP OF THE HEAD OF FUNCTIONAL DEPARTMENT:
This is the number of subordinates directly supervised by one person
(manager). A narrow span means tight supervision, less discretion and
therefore less chance of making mistakes. A narrow span may mean more
levels in the hierarchy and therefore a greater chance of promotions.
A wide span of control reduces supervision and leads to greater
delegation. The span of control can change depending upon certain
circumstances. These can be seen below:
* The more difficult the supervision tasks as checking work can be
hard and time consuming, the smaller the span of control. Another
reason why supervision
tasks can be challenging maybe because the subordinates are not
specialised in their job.
* A small span of control maybe necessary if communication with
subordinates is time consuming.
* The better the supervisor, the more people he or she can supervise
and as a result there will be a wide span of control.
It can be seen from the organizational structure of the Marriott that
each department manager has some sort of span of control. It can be
said that the overall structure of the Marriott has both narrow and
wide spans of control, for example in the food and beverage department
there is a wide span of control as there are several restaurants and
therefore the number of people the worker controls is much more.
However within the human resources department there is a much narrower
span of control as there are only six people in the department.
PROPOSALS:
The longer the chain of command within an organization the
more difficult it can get for messages to get sent across. Messages
can get lost or distorted as they travel across the chain of command.
This problem has been prevented within the Marriott by having daily
meetings with departments so that each member of staff knows what
he/she is doing.
TASK 4
MOTIVATIONAL THEORIES:
Theory M: Motivating with money
Hourly workers are not motivated by programs designed to increase their enthusiasm and loyalty-they are motivated by being paid what they’re worth. Here is a motivational program that establishes a direct link between productivity and pay
Marriott recognizes and rewards loyalty and performance over time. Virtually all promotions are from within and transfers and special assignments go to those who have clearly earned them with their consistent performance in serving the guest’s interests. Various perks, benefits and compensation are awarded to those who consistently demonstrate a ‘guest obsession’. Tuition reimbursements are used to attract the best workers; good health benefits are aimed at attracting and keeping those with families; and dozens of timely smaal perks are used to add to personal thank yous, which leaders at all levels make a point of giving.
GOAL-SETTING THEORY:
Goal-setting theory refers to different types of goals motivate us differently.
Using a massive, five-year database of its own employment history, Marriott found that the cost of certain rewards was offset by lower turnover. And so it took a comprehensive look at its entire rewards program to align compensation and benefits with its associates’ needs; improve attraction and retention; enhance productivity; and increase its return on the billions of dollars it invests annually in people and achieve its required goals. It did this while demonstrating the bottom-line impact of the resultant strategy.
EMPLOYEE COMMITMENT:
High-performance businesses actively manage their talent, matching the right people with the right jobs and hiring for fit rather than for specific skills. As a result, these companies are rewarded with engaged, productive and creative workforces.
From recruitment to training and support to retaining employees, Marriott stands out because it focuses on the entire talent development chain. Hiring by gut instinct is frowned upon; instead, hiring managers use a quantitative, predictive model that combines an assessment of candidates’ job skills with an evaluation of their attitudes and values-attributes that Marriott considers more important than specific skills or experience.
Marriott’s success with employees at all levels makes for great press. The company regularly appears on lists of best companies to work for-for example, in the top 100 rankings for both Fortune (eight consecutive years) and Working Mother (15 years). And the company’s voluntary turnover rates are among the lowest in the industry.
Part of the reason can be found in Marriott’s benefits and compensation packages. “Our largest group of employees is housekeepers-largely women with families,” explains Keegan. “We’ve found that medical benefits are a critical driver of retention-it keeps our turnover low.” But that’s only part of the story. Training, career opportunities and the cultivation of emotional ties all play important roles in helping Marriott retain employees in an industry marked by high turnover.
Once it makes a hiring decision, Marriott devotes considerable resources to training and developing its people at every level. Senior managers attend a four-week, in-house executive development program designed to help them cultivate a broad, externally focused point of view. For hourly workers, the emphasis is on structured, task-driven, on-the-job learning. The company even incorporates a training budget requirement into its contracts with franchisees and managed-property owners. Career-growth opportunities are another key to high retention rates. Nearly half of the company’s managers were promoted from within the ranks of hourly workers.
Marriott keeps its managers engaged by providing many opportunities for development and advancement. Senior executives have spent an average of 22 years with the company, while their direct reports have an average tenure of 15 years. The company prefers to promote from within and provides cross-functional opportunities for key senior managers as a way to cultivate its future leaders.
Another reason for employee loyalty-and another important intangible-is the emotional connection workers have to the company. Marriott conducted research that showed that this connection was based largely on employees’ belief that Marriott treats them fairly. Marriott found that its survey results surpassed industry benchmarks, leading company executives to believe that their employees trust the organization’s leadership to look out for their best interests. HR Khief Keegan: Hiring managers use a quantitative, predictive model that combines an assessment of candidates’ job skills with an evaluation of their attitudes and values-attributes that Marriott considers more important than specific skills or experience.
