CASE STUDY

SHAZIA NAWAZ MADIHA KHAN RABIA SAJJAD USMAN AFTAB HUBAIB MALIK (MBA 2K12 B)

HOTEL BELLA VISTA

IMPROVING COMMUNICATION AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION AT A HISTORIC HOTEL

Introduction
Kamran daytime manager at a Hotel Bella Vista located close to one of Islamabad's commercial hubs didnt know what to think after he got a call from his infuriated General Manager soon after his shift for the day had begun. Mr. Aziz, General Manager at the hotel, had received a complaint from an important client disgruntled with the arrangements for a conference to be held the same day just after few hours. From the time it started its operations, it was considered to be one of the most prestigious hotels of Islamabad, but mismanagement in recent events resulted in dissatisfaction of customers that made the repute of hotel questionable. A recent deal, with leading political party which went sour, made General Manager really concerned about the root causes of decline in clientage of the hotel and the ways to regain the trust of customers.

Commitment to Excellence

Hotel Bella Vista located in close proximity to one of Islamabads commercial hubs. The hotel construction was started back in 1982 and it was inaugurated later in 2010. Construction had been an ongoing process but the hotel staff was able to serve its customers satisfactorily

receiving minimum complaints. It serves its customers with banquette halls, lodging and conference facilities. Situated in the heart of Islamabad, it has foundation on the attributes of quality, customer satisfaction and value. It has a mission statement clearly defining the goals to become the best in the region so the management is constantly striving to become a bench mark gaining competitive advantage. To run hustle free business hotel is currently employing a staff of 140 people. Functional departments include sales & marketing, Food & beverages, Finance, Front office and IT. All departments have a head positioned as manager who leads the people working in a particular department.

During the first two years, it became difficult for the hotel to create its market share and good reputation. Management faced diverse problems concerning customers satisfaction. Customers had a common complaint that they didnt get the same service level as in the start and that the hotel was losing the level of hospitality. Hotel conducted many highly important business conferences during the last few years and it faced difficulties in managing the events. Due to the lack of required results, hotel is losing its market share gradually. Its competitors like Margala, Marriot, Serena and Crown plaza are rising up. So there is a need to look closely the root cause of the problems. Top management of the hotel is of the view that they are trying hard to get their customers satisfied by their services. Apparently there is the situation that everything is at its place and all are working well in a single direction.

Management style

Currently the General Manager of organization is Atif Riaz, day shift manager Muhammad Kamran & a night shift manager Faizan Khan. Faizan took high pride in his work, he had been

with this organization when it was just a fast food outlet, and from there it had changed into a restaurant and then into a hotel finally reaching its current state in 2010. So as Kamran, being a part of organization from vey long is an asset of hotel Bella vista.

Both the day & the night shift managers have their own duties & are accountable for them. Usually the day managers are paid higher than night mangers as the former had to perform more duties & responsibilities. This difference in salaries & responsibilities create an atmosphere of competition between the two. One is always in an attempt to compete with other & to perform better than other. This internal competition may cause the hotels image to be in danger.

Day and Night shift Managers

At 14/11/11, general manager, Atif Riaz, asked Faizan to arrange a conference of a political party that had to be held after one week i.e. 21/11/11 at 5 pm. As many high profile politicians and journalists were attending the event, Mr. Riaz wanted to have extra ordinary arrangements due to tremendous opportunities associated with the event. It could turn out to be great marketing opportunity attracting new customers and opening new business venues.

He was very pleased to supervise such a big deal. He immediately checked the quotation of the party & found the availability of conference hall, relevant arrangements, multimedia projectors & everything mentioned in the quotation. He was quiet satisfied with the availability of resourcesHe formed a team of 15 personnel from his staff. His team comprised of employees from diverse background for example some from Kashmir, Gilgit, and Peshawar and so on. The employees had different ages and different languages. For many, Urdu was not their primary

language. It became difficult for him to communicate with the employees especially in emergency situations as they usually took time to understand. So was at that particular day.But with all his efforts and efficient supervision he was able to make the conference hall clean, decorated and technology smart.

At 20/11/11 he first assured that all arrangements were being done according to the quotation and then showed them to General Manager, Atif Raza. He was very happy as he succeeded to prove his capability to General Manager and to get pat at the back. But 5 hours before the end of his shift he got a call from the interested party to have some changes in the quotations. They were of the view that they needed 10 projectors instead of 5. Faizan was satisfied with the arrangements mentioned in the initial quotation. But now there was a change. So he had to arrange additional 5 projectors before the conference.

At that very moment, he was happy that General Manager had seen and appreciated his arrangements. He was of the view that he had nothing to do with the changes in the quotation. It was the responsibility of day manager to cope up the changes. So he sent a text to a day shift manager to arrange additional 5 projectors .The day shift manager, Kamran, tired of whole day work, ignored text message. Next morning, the day of conference 21/11/11, unaware of change in quotation got busy again in routine work. At 12 pm some individuals from interested party came to check the arrangements and they were surprised to know that arrangements were not according to new quotation. Kamran was also surprised & was worried about how to handle them. He was not in the position to arrange 5 projectors instantly as in the city like Islamabad many hotels, restaurants and other venues are constantly being using same resources simultaneously for such events.

Image and identity

The customer, who was dissatisfied, was alarming not only for him but also for the hotels image. Kamran was supposed to be answerable to General Manager about meeting the changes in customers quotation as night shift manager, Faizan, has conveyed him about the changes (no matter he read the text or not). This miscommunication destroyed the hotels repute in the eyes of the customers. As a result many people who were visiting the hotel first time got not only disappointed but also spread the word about inadequate services of the hotel.

Questions
1. Did Faizan choose proper medium for communication, if not, why? 2. What could be an appropriate medium for conveying such an important message? 3. Should Kamran ask Faizan about the arrangements before the conference? 4. Should General Manager be more concerned regarding arrangements elaborate with reasons? 5. Is there ethical dilemma or ethical lapse in this case, give reasons? 6. Should the interested party make changes in quotations for such a short deadline, if yes, why? 7. How should Faizan deal such a diverse team? 8. What are the communication challenges and barriers Faizan faced in handling diverse team? 9. What solutions might Faizan consider in addressing these challenges and barriers? 10. What are the challenges and solutions for effective communication?

References

William, Barry and communication barriers, Food safety project, 2011, p.1-7

Patrick Mayock, 5 trends shaping hotel industry, Global report, 25 June 2012, p.1-2

Michael Bonsor, Improving communication at five star hotel, Claridge Hotel case study, London, 2010, p.1-4

TEACHING NOTES

Communication Challenges and Barriers

In this case conflict in interest and miscommunication results in the destruction of overall impression of hotel. Some of the challenges are:

Selection of medium: Faizan sent a text message to convey the changes in quotation and arrangement of additional 5 projectors. Text messages are usually being ignored especially by professionals. So choosing text message to convey information was itself a barrier. Role of General Manager: General Manager did not ensure at the day of conference that arrangements are being done properly. Being an in-charge or head of the organization general manager was responsible for the reputation of the hotel. Not ensuring the arrangements and asking both day and night shift manager created a communication gap. Role of interested party: The party changed the quotations few hours before conference. It demanded to meet the changes in quotations in such a short deadline. The political party wanting urgent changes to be fulfilled and not communicating the things at right time made the position of hotel management awkward. Importance of feedback: Faizan intentionally chose inappropriate medium for conveying message and did not bother the response. As he was not interested in conveying the message to make Kamrans position doubtful in the eyes of General Manager. He did not ask Kamran whether he received message.

 Language barriers: Faizan has to deal the employees from different regions, having different languages. Not all the employees spoke Urdu as their first language. They spoke Kashmiri, Pashto, Balti and Punjabi. It made verbal communication a challenge for Faizan and other team members. Generational barriers: Faizan had team comprising of employees of various age categories. The work values, attitudes and vocabulary of younger generation may not be consistent with older employees. So such differences affect communication between employees of different generations. Cultural barriers: Every area has its own culture. Cultural differences in handling emergency situations, technical stuff and all such things were challenges for Faizan. He had to deal with the team members from diverse backgrounds. Ethical lapse or Ethical dilemma: Faizan knew that if important information was not conveyed to Kamran it would damage not only Kamrans position but also hotels repute. Eve then he did not inform him properly which shows that there was an ethical lapse. Besides knowing one thing to be wrong Faizan did it intentionally.

Solutions to Challenges and Barriers

All the managers should be seriously considering the ways to use effective communication in order to refrain from these types of problems in future:

Should be in regular contact with the event arrangement parties in order to tackle emergency situations. Management should be trained to work with team, keeping aside all their personal issues.

 The importance of messages and use of proper medium to send the message should be taught. Arrangements for important events should be checked and rechecked timely because quality is not the duty of a single person in fact its the duty of everyone. Tolerance should be created for others. Proper induction programs should be there in order to eliminate the diversity problems. Feed back is really important in every type of communication and it should not be ignored in any case by any of the staff members. Faizan must learn some simple words in employees primary language to show interest in employees. Code of ethics must be there to assist employees in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in making right decisions. Faizan must identify the cultural beliefs of the employees and understand the barriers to communication and try to resolve them.

Recommendations

Hotel Bella Vista management should subordinate their personal interest over organizational interest because their success is associated with organizational success and their failure is associated with organizational failure. Conflict of interests can lead toward organizational failure and in turn their failure. So everyone must ensure it that important information is communicated to right person at right time. There shouldnt be any ambiguity regarding communication of information. It is communication that gives an organization an edge over their competitors, hence ensuring the survival of the fittest.

In Pakistan an organizations competitive advantage is increasingly reliant on the usage of its communication channels. The communication that is going on within the business premises and outside the business has a great impact on the businesss goodwill. Communication is getting increasingly complex and volatile due to the rapid pace of change in the communication mediums; hence an organizations continued success is increasingly reliant on its ability to adapt to change.

Hence, in order to compete with Margala, Marriot, and Serena and Crown plaza there is a need to look closely the root cause of the problems. There is a need to work on effective communication programs, implementation of code of ethics and team work.