Operational and Strategic Decisions in Hospitality. Lessons from an Action Research Process
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Operational and Strategic Decisions in Hospitality. Lessons from an Action Research Process Amaya Erro-Garcés 1
& Laura Ramírez-Ávila
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# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2019
Abstract The aim of this article is to find measures that reduce personnel costs in a catering company through the optimization of routes and tasks for staff to increase the efficiency of the company, and to transfer these measures to the sector as a whole. This paper is based on action research methodology which facilitates both taking action and creating knowledge or theory about the action analysed. Findings demonstrate that the solution focused on minimization of the workers’ operations and optimization of routes does not solve the problems identified in the company. The flexibility of action research allows adaptation of the focus on the needs of the company, and both the problem and solution are redefined. Thus, a discovered relationship between operational and organizational management is the main outcome obtained in the research. As a result, six proposals are described: clarifying task assignments, improving organizational management and the estimation of provisions, optimizing routes, reducing personal services, and improving human resources policy. It is concluded that the performance of both manager and employees is influenced by the organizational strategy. Keywords Action research . Productivity . Optimization . Catering company . Operations
Introduction According to Eurostat, the service sector is the most dominant sector in the economy. It is defined as the “current and future motor for growth in Europe” (Eurostat 2019). In this context, the tertiary sector represents almost 75% of Spanish production and is responsible for two thirds of all jobs in the country. The service sector groups many subsectors with different activities. One of them, which is the focus of this article, is the hotel sector and, more concretely, the catering sector. As stated by the Spanish Association of Franchisors (2018), the hotel sector has a great impact on the country’s economy. In 2017, it contributed to 8% of the national GDP. With regard to employment, the hotel * Amaya Erro-Garcés [email protected]
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Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus Arrosadia s/n, 31006 Pamplona, Navarra, Spain
Systemic Practice and Action Research
sector generates around 1.6 million job vacancies each year (Aragonés 2017). Therefore, it can be seen as one of the most important Spanish activities. On the other hand, it should be considered as a complex sector and, consequently, its organization and management are not simple. Most of the problems handled by this sector are related to human resources management. The main difficulty is dealing with growing demand. As Garrido (2017) stated, “according to the EPA data (Active Population Survey), the service sector contributes to 75.6% of Spanish employment while before the crisis it was 9 points fewer”. The increasing importance of the hotel sector and its growing demand lead to two
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