Case Analysis of Portman Hotel Case Study

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Portman Hotel Company

Diagnosis

Business Goals and Accomplishments of PV (Personal valets) System

The Portman Hotel Company

The Portman Hotel Company is acknowledged as being one of the prestigious and luxury hotels in the expanse. PV system is now set to increase its service level for the guests to ensure that it far exceeds the service level provided by its competitors. In particular, the main business objective of the PV system was to provide quality service to the guests as the PVs were specially trained to understand the personality-based needs of the consumers. The PV system was purposed to change the organization of the hotel altogether with the objective of making it more effective and alluring as compared to its competitors. In particular, conventional luxury hotels in America had different personnel for undertaking different duties such as cleaning rooms, stocking up the mini bars, cleaning the hallways and so on. Different tasks were assigned to different staff members. The PV system in particular was set to accomplish all of these services through the personal valets. At the Portman Hotel, the personal valets performed all the duties ranging from cleaning the toilets to serving the royal guests.

Original Design of PV System

In its way of operation, the PVs reported to the director of guest room services through the five supervisors who came from each team. In turn, the responsibility of the director was to prepare his personnel for the arrival of the guests, monitoring and approving the schedules of the PVs, liable for their payment and compensation also in addition to responding to the problems of the guests. The duty and responsibility of the PV was to greet the guests as they registered and checked into the hotel, proceed to show them their rooms and also clarify the manner in which the hotel functioned. The PVs were also expected to be available on call throughout the period the guests stayed at the hotel. Majority of the tasks undertaken by the PVs were akin to those of a butler. Some of them included ironing a guest's shirt before his or her morning meeting, preparing drinks and even drawing a bath for the guest. In addition to this, the PVs were also tasked with cleaning of the rooms, undertaking minor maintenance of the hotel areas, cleaning the hallways, right upto restocking the minibars in each of the rooms (Heckscher, 1989).

Problems with the PV System -- Implementation or Design

The major problems facing the managers of the Portman Hotel Company was disagreement amongst personnel, lack of determination to work by majority of Personal Valets (PVs), and poor control and lack of discipline by hotel's management. In analyzing the problem with dissonance amongst the PVs, the theory of fundamental attribution error best highlights its causes (DeLamater, 2006). In the case study of Portman Hotel, the floaters were perceived as being inconsiderate and indisciplined. The management of the company also blamed them for wasting time and stealing tips. Rather than grooming them to be the part of the company, Portman Hotel made them feel like outsiders and did not make them realize the importance of team spirit (DeLamater, 2006). In fact, it was not the problem of the personnel in implementing the 5-star plan. Rather, it was the company's fault in failure to create a strong and resilient relationship with their personnel and customers. This particular theory is significant in the sense that it imparts knowledge to several businesses that exaggerate the impact of the dispositional features of human behavior, and at the same time overlooking the influence of situational factors that boost constructive or undesirable behaviors. It is imperative to take note that if all the floaters acted in the same manner, then they would be culpable for the situation that they were in. If the supervisors and other Personal Valets perceived floaters as assisting, purposeful individuals and not slaves, then they could have been more grateful and dedicated towards their work. This disagreement amidst the personnel emanated from the failure of the organization to acknowledge and appreciate them. The consequence of this is that personnel became dissatisfied which decreased their impetus and integrity, and in turn adversely affected the sales and returns of the company (Price, 1994).

Another issue perceived in the Portman Hotel case is the lack of determination, self-confidence, and optimism from the Personal Valets. In particular, the theory of expectancy can shed light on this issue. The theory infers that a person or personnel within the set-up of an organization will prefer to behave in a manner that maximizes the level of control but at the same time minimizes the level of pain (Chiang et al., 2008).

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In this case study, the value engaged by the PVs diminished when the expected tips from the guests dwindled. The motivational force was not adequate to improve employees' consummation (Gallardo, 2010). In addition, the company deteriorated much further when the personnel spent more time undertaking the assigned responsibilities such as cleaning, compared to the time they spent providing personal services to the guests (Chiang et al., 2008). The outcome was that, the personnel were unable to form a healthy and cordial relationship with the guests. Therefore, the company could not earn higher tips from the guests (Chiang et al., 2008).

The problems being experienced by The Portman Hotel Company is due to the design of the job and not its implementation. According to Simons (2005), the job design takes into account four different dimensions. These include accountability, span of control, support, and influence. In this case, the Portman Hotel requests its personnel to overwhelm the clienteles and guests by the specialized, jovial and instantaneous reaction to every request made. In order to give such high level of performance, the four aforementioned dimensions have to be in support and in consonance with the plan of the hotel, which is not the case in Portmann Hotel. For instance, Simons (2005) asserts that the dimension of span of control denotes the variety of resources for which a worker is handed decision-making rights and liberties.

As for Portman Hotel, the span of control is very limited. This is inferred from the fact that the resources given to the PV are inadequate, restricted and not under their control. The employees are obliged to work on particular hours with specific personnel. In addition, the PVs are not permitted to take decisions but are expected to satisfy the needs of the clienteles to ensure an enjoyable experience for them. On the other hand, Simons (2005) outlines the dimension of accountability as the variety of trade-offs influencing the measures employed to assess the achievements of a manager. Despite the fact that jobs in numerous hotels are described intently, PVs are expected to undertake all kinds of tasks. These range from performing characteristic duties of housekeeping to gratifying the consumers with the highest customer service level all the time. In turn, this implies that there is high dimension of accountability where PVs have an extensive independence to perform tasks in relation to unanticipated consumer needs.

The Problem solving by the 5-star

The 5-star system did not deal with the problems of the organization. When this plan was executed, the Portman Hotel Company experienced more issues. The plan decreased the turnover after which the management reacted by firing the PVs. On the other hand, the PVs considered the 5-star system to be insufficient and blamed Scott and his plan for improper planning. In addition, incessant blame was placed on the different groups of individuals within the organization and also the management of the organization rather than the 5-star plan system of the Portman Hotel System. There are certain shortcomings with regard to the 5-star plan. The low occupancy implies that some PVs were declining to work and floaters were introduced. These individuals operated on different floors each day and that raised the problem of division of tips. The other PVs considered the floaters as lackluster and sluggish, whereas they found it difficult to learn the layout of new floors each day. Another shortcoming was lack of discipline by the Management. In the case, lack of direct supervision and monitoring from Scott was taken advantage of by the personnel.

However, on the other hand, the PV aspect of the 5-star plan was appreciated by many consumers. In addition, Portman Hotel's no rules policy for guests and use of PVs distinguish them in the luxury hotel market. This implied increased occupancy of 100% and that Scott had to employ more personnel to meet the increased demand. Also, the administrative expenses were increasing due to too many hierarchy levels and the business was still not making profits as expected. The lack of training of the PVs instigated several complaints and turnover of PVs was at 50% for the first year.

Action Plan

In the contemporary, the PVs of The Portman Hotel Company are low in their morale. The clienteles and guests are dissatisfied with the services rendered and the management of the establishment is concerned….....

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