Springs Hotel has been in operation in the hospitality industry for two years since inception. Lately, the hotel has reported decreased sales due to its inability to attract customers and to compete with other companies in the market. From a careful internal assessment and customer feedback, poor quality of service is the main factor leading to low sales. The issue of lack of employee skills and training has been identified as a bottleneck.
A bottleneck of skills in the service industry is likely to have adverse effects on the quality of service because employees are important resources in a business (Cox & Schleier, 2010). Employee skills affect individual performance on the job and unlike in production or manufacturing, the quality of service rendered is a main determinant of sales and customer retention. Skills and competences also determine the capacity of a company to integrate technology in its operations and improve performance. Therefore training is critical. One of the missions of many service companies is the commitment to be the best in the market or be the service provider of choice within a certain defined market. Accordingly, the main objective is usually that of growth and profitability.
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Organizations are usually market oriented and their position in the market and industry influences the way the objective is realized (Hutchin, 2001). Therefore, for the hotel, lack of people skills is major operational constraints that hinder the realization of business objectives. The bottleneck of lack of employee skills and training can be improved to enhance the worth of service delivery in the medical industry. One of the important things to consider in handling the bottleneck is to employ training and development. In essence, the hospitality company should approach the bottleneck from the perspective of strategic human resource development. As seen, human resources play a critical role in a service company. The manner in which service companies manage their services has directly to do with human resource management especially in terms of training and development, employee motivation, compensation, among others (Kandampully, Mok & Sparks, 2001). Therefore, with the service model of the hotel, in which customer service is highly crucial, the bottleneck of poor employee skills can be handled through a strategic approach to human resource management, which would entail relevant and regular training and development.
The application of the theory of constraints has considerable impact in the hospitality company in terms of reorganization of resources for improved performance. The removal of the bottleneck led to a change of policy, improved the business process and facilitated the achievement of more of the company’s objective. Moreover, the company was able to demystify the nature of constraints in a business, which is not limited to product business models. Bottlenecks can either relate to physical characteristics, policy issues, or even the market orientation (Hutchin, 2001). With the successful improvement of the process, the company was now able to focus on exploiting other competences. Due to the fact that a bottleneck affects a single component of the business process (Cox & Schleier, 2010) , its removal or improvement implies that the company is able to pursue its goals with increased efficiency and productivity. In addition, a successful application of the theory adds capacity to the business to effectively handle future bottlenecks.
The theory of constraints has shown that while companies have complex business processes in which various components work to the achievement of goals, some single parts of the process can act as bottlenecks and affect the entire process and the realization of objectives (Cox & Schleier, 2010). The theory provides the methodology of identifying and improving/removing the bottlenecks as well as problem solving tools and performance measurement techniques.
References
Cox, J. & Schleier, J,. (2010). Theory of constraints handbook New York: McGraw-Hill.
Hutchin, T,. (2001). Enterprise-focused management London: Thomas Telford.
Kandampully, J., Mok, C., & Sparks, B,. (2001). Service quality management in hospitality tourism, and leisure New York: Haworth Hospitality Press.
