Dissertation Title -...

Dissertation

Shimmer Au – 107012484 – Hospitality Business Management 1

Dissertation Title:

Internal and External Communication

between

Organization, Employees and Customers

in Hong Kong Hotel Industry

Hospitality Business Management

Shimmer Au

107012484

Tutor – Ray Pine

08/04/2011

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Content Page

1. Executive Summary

2. Context and Objectives

3. Instrumental Literature Review

4. Methodology of Investigation

5. Findings and Analysis

6. Conclusion

7. References

8. Appendices

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1. Executive Summary We human beings communicate all day every day. We spend over 70 % of our working hours sending or receiving messages: speaking, listening, writing, reading, pushing keys on computers, watching the television screen. Since we communicate so much, we ought to be pretty good at it. But we’re not. There are probably as many opportunities to be misunderstood as there are people with whom we communicate. Different people interpret what we say in different ways, and not necessarily in the way that we meant, and others do the same with what they say to us. Many of the problems we have on the job --- and in our personal lives, too --- involve same type of communication failure. (Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources)

In addition, hospitality communication in the workplace is always an important issue which is constantly addressed by employers and staff alike. Excellent communication is a vital issue, because customers are paying not only for the product - the food, the room or the facilities - they are also paying for the service. And service is just as much about communication as it is about skill.

Mainly, hospitality communication covers two important areas: customer service, and 'behind the scenes' staff and management interaction. Good communication in both areas is essential for the high standards of operation everyone expects in the industry.

The Importance of Hospitality Internal Communication between Staff and Management:

Management should take the time to explain and train their employees to always maintain a warm, welcoming and professional environment in the workplace, not only where customers are concerned, but also among the staff themselves. Management can do a lot to promote a positive atmosphere for the staff; a nice staff room with facilities for workers to relax during their breaks will let them know they are valued, that the boss cares about them. This small investment will pay off by having loyal staff who are willing to give a little extra because they feel it is appreciated. Good communication between management and staff will be passed down the line in the form of good communication between staff and

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guests. Making sure that staff has all the 'tools of their trade' to do their job to the highest standards is a two-way thing - employees have to communicate clearly and on time what they need, and management should listen and make sure they are well informed of all their staff's requirements and needs.

Smiling, happy staff is one of management's most important assets in the hospitality industry. Therefore, people who are looking at a career in this sector should know that the skills required include 'people skills' - understanding, patience, the ability to perform well as a team, and, above all, a positive disposition. Bad tempered people have no place in the hospitality industry - it's a place where people come to relax and enjoy themselves. A happy and relaxed atmosphere is what anyone entering the facility should immediately feel, and if staff and management can communicate this at all times, they can be assured that their guests will be coming back for more.

The Importance of Hospitality External Communication in the Customer Service Level:

A client may have a bad day, or be in a bad mood, but a genuine smile from the receptionist and a warm welcome from all the staff might just change their outlook for the rest of that day and the days to come. The same applies for the waitperson at the restaurant, the housekeeping or maintenance staff, or any other employee that comes in contact with the guests. A caring, positive atmosphere makes the difference between just a place we pass through and a place our guests will remember.

Employees in the hospitality industry must remember that "service with a smile" is not just a logo - it's what clients expect. It requires a positive attitude 100% of the time, even if you are having a bad day or you are tired - the customer is paying for your smile, not your frown. It requires patience when dealing with customers from overseas who have a hard time making themselves understood in English. It requires 'putting up' with grumpy people or ones whose manners are not always impeccable - because, up to a certain point, 'the customer is always right'. These are situations that staff learnt to deal with and they take pride in the professional manner in which they handle 'difficult customers'.

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Other important aspect of hospitality communication with customers is providing clear and useful information when asked by customers. Restaurant staff should know the menu inside out, understand special dietary requirements, know about the source of the ingredients they are serving, etc. Reception staff at the hotel should be up-to-date not only with the facilities and services that the hotel offers, but also with all the other information travellers need: activities, transport, eating and entertainment, and opening hours of shops and agencies. It is part of the service, and guests appreciate well-informed and courteous staff - it can make a difference between "just another day" and a memorable day.

(The Importance of Excellent Hospitality Communication)

2. Context For the hospitality industry, service plays an important role to carry out all the activities and messages between company and customers. No matter how good the product or food is, how impressive the architecture is, poor service ruins the ambiance and everything. Besides, employees represent the company all the time as what they speak or act, all these are directly relating to company. They are very important for the company because most the time of their work are facing customers. Communication is the general term that sums up the sending and receiving of messages. The way employees communicate can make or break a company. Think of the difference between courteous surly employees and the messages they convey to guests. We want to do business with people who can communicate the company philosophy to guests and give outstanding service. This all takes communication, which is the lifeblood of companies. It is critical that the front-line associates know the company mission and goals and how they are going to meet them. This information is a formal communication and is given in via meetings, personal correspondence, e-mail, notice boards, and so on. Supervisors are vitally important as they are the ones who explain the mission, goals and company policy to their associates. (Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources) Internal communication between company and employees is essential

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besides training the service method and telling them the company rules. It helps employees to smoothen their work. Effective internal communication increases the employees’ sense of belongings, responsibility and understanding of company. It can also encourage and enable employees to plan for new ideas and effectively implement them. For the external communication, listening to guests is very important. Usually, they want to talk to employee because they are complaining about something and want to tell someone how angry and disappointed they are and how they deserve better treatment and they want someone to listen. The amazing thing is that if we do hear them out with a sympathetic ear, more often than not we will defuse their anger. Eventually, we can get them to suggest what they would like us to do about it or something entirely different -- and we will have made a friend for our hotel. So hotel should not probably think of themselves as senders but also receivers. This helps company to understand where they can improve greatly. (Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources) On the other hand, it relies to public relation and marketing sectors. This involves building and maintaining a positive relationship with the media (television, print, website, etc) and customers. This includes, but is not limited to, drafting and dissemination of press releases, organizing press conferences and meeting with media professionals and organizing events for the media as a group. Marketing communication is a great deal more than simply about advertising. Getting the right messages to the right people is perhaps one of the most important factors in determining the success. Effective external communication improves organization’s reputation and gains more business from different sources. (Marketing Communications in Tourism And Hospitality) 2.1 Objectives (a) Identify the internal and external communication strategies used by

the company; (b) Identify how good communication helps employees to finish their

work effectively;

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(c) Identify how good communication helps company to gain more customers; and

(d) How company can use the effective communication as an advantage to its business.

3. Instrumental Literature Review 3.1 Book (1) “Business Communication Today”, (Tenth Edition), Courtland L.

Bovee, John V. Thill, Pearson, printed in 2010. This book provides how the organization achieves success through effective business communication. It also helps the company master team and inter-personal communication.

(2) “Effective Internal Communication”, Second Edition by Lyn Smith and Pamela Mounter, Kogan Page, printed in 2008. This book talks about how to put internal communication skills into practice and that could provide insights into organizational and management behaviour and programmes, and could also provide the ammunition to improve either in imaginative hands. Internal communication is now one of the main concerns because business objectives are delivered by people. By having a collaborative, co-operative and energized work force willing to give their best to the organization makes an organization (including a hotel) much more likely to be successful. How important is it for the organization and all its supervisors to provide an environment where people feel listened to, valued and respected? Where employees feel their investment of time, personal commitment, good will and intellectual and physical capital is recognized and rewarded? I come to realize how these tangible and intangible stuffs affect the company and all these are related to internal communication.

(3) “Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management”, James E. Grunig, IABC Research Foundation, printed in 1992.

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This book talks about the effective planning of communication programmes and how it contributes to the company. It tells what characteristics an excellent public relations department should have and what conditions make excellent public relations possible.

(4) “Human Resources Management: Theory and Practice”, Second Edition by John Bratton and Jeffrey Gold, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, printed in 1999. This book provides the human resource management models and teaches how a company can apply these theories to its daily operation. It also tells the correlation between communication and employee involvement.

(5) “Managing Hospitality Human Resources”, Fourth Edition by Robert H. Woods, the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute, printed in 2006. It guides me to understand more about human resources management in hospitality. First, this book details useful information on human resources development activities such as orientation, socialization, training, and evaluating employee performance. These affect employee and then employee will influence the hotel because they are part of the hotel’s asset and one of the keys to success. On the other hand, it discusses the importance of motivating employee performance and how it strengthens the relationship between hotel and employee. In addition, it suggests how a hotel can structure both incentive and benefit programmes to encourage greater productivity and performance. An effective incentive programme calls for good administration. Besides, it talks about the importance of health and safety issues, employee assistance programmes, turnover and employee discipline. I come to learn how those areas will affect the relationship between hotel and employee.

(6) “Marketing Communications in Tourism and Hospitality”, Scott

McCABE, Elsevier Limited, printed in 2009.

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It holds that marketing communications is a great deal more than simply about advertising. Getting the right messages to the right people is perhaps one of the most important factors in determining the success of this sector. Indeed marketing communications forms its own sub-field of study within the discipline of marketing. Besides, I learn more about the services marketing triangle. It highlights the relationships between organizations, customers and employees. This model identifies the important role of people in the delivery of services. It also shows the linkages between the groups responsible for developing, promoting and delivering the service. The model enlightens me that organization, employee and customer remain very important parts where a hotel should be enabling the promise, making the promise and delivering the promise.

(7) “Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic Planning for

Personnel Management”, Second Edition by William J. Rothwell & H.C. Kazanas, Human Resource Development Press, printed in 2003. This book provides information on employee communication programme which helps a company to know more about the employees’ situation and also for judging their working performances.

(8) “Strategic Management”, Second Edition by Philip Sadler, Kogan

Page US, printed in 2003. This book provides several human resources strategies and marketing strategies. It also helps organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of present strategies.

(9) “Strategies and Tactics”, (Ninth Edition), Dennis L. Wilcox, Glen T.

Cameron, Pearson International Edition, printed in 2009. This book mainly tells about the public relation, like how to communicate during a crisis, strategies for responding to crisis, customer relation and employee relation.

(10) “Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources”,

Fifth Edition by Jack E. Miller, John R. Walker and Karen Eich

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Drummond, John Wiley & Sons, printed in 2007. In this study, not only can I get to know what I need to make it through the course, but also the realities I will be facing in my future supervisory job. More important, I can gain the knowledge and insight that will help me to grow as a supervisor to develop the skills, and personal qualities I need, and to work out my own management style. I focus on the chapter about effective communication in the hospitality industry. After this study, I have better understanding about the importance of good communication, types of communication and communication process. Besides, I know more about the obstacles to good communication, how symbols and body language help people send and receive the message, how to listen and how important listening is within employees and hotel, employees and customers, and what things a manager can do to make meetings effective. It enlightens me on both internal and external communication as to how to do better in internal communication and external communication in an organization and my future career.

3.2 Website Blurtit.com (2011) “What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of

Face-to-Face Interviews” [Online] Education -> Universities -> MBA.

Cc.gatch.edu (2011) “Questionnaire Design” [Online] Classes -> cs6751_97_winter -> Topics. It lends me a vision to design a questionnaire with comprehensive steps for this project. First, it shows me how to define the objectives of a survey which is so important that good objectives may attract respondents’ interest and enlist their part in the survey. Second, it illustrates the way to design a questionnaire with various types of questions to ask. Last, it teaches readers the way of administering the questionnaire and managing the results.

Personneltoday.com (2011) “Employee Support for Older People’s Care: Questionnaire Results”[Online] Assets It teaches me the format of questionnaire analysis result, like what

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should include in the analysis.

Ezinearticles.com(2011) “The Importance Of Excellent Hospitality Communication” [Online] Business -> Management I realized how important the internal communication and the external communication are after reading it.

4. Methodology of investigation For the research method of this study, interview with a hotel employee is the first research method used. It is because the employee can express his feelings toward company direct through personal interview. This is more effective in the sense that through interview, a company can get to know what its employees are thinking about the internal communication of their own company and the important things the employees are concerned about with their company. Personal interview enables a direct response from employees and brings out the importance of internal communication. Interviews allow ample time for employees to express their feelings freely. Using interviews can also guide the employees to talk more, freely and deeply about the areas of interest in the survey. The main advantage of face-to-face or direct interview is that the researcher can adapt the questions as necessary, clarify doubt and ensure that the responses are properly understood, by repeating or rephrasing the questions. The researcher can also pick up non-verbal cues from the respondents. Any discomfort, stress and problems that the respondents experience can be detected through frowns, nervous taping and other body language, unconsciously exhibited by any person. All those are otherwise detected in a telephone interview or questionnaire. So face-to-face interview helps the interviewer to get the desired results from the interviewees and observe the latter’s facial and bodily expression. By reading those non-verbal cues of the respondents, the interviewer can easily understand what the respondents want to tell them about. (blurtit.com, 2011)

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On the other hand, questionnaire is used for the employees on the internal communication side and the customers on the external communication side. Questionnaires are an inexpensive way to gather data from a potentially large number of respondents. Often they are the only feasible way to reach a number of reviewers large enough to allow statistically analysis of the results. A well-designed questionnaire that is used effectively can gather information on both the overall performance of the test system as well as information on specific components of the system. If the questionnaire includes demographic questions on the participants, they can be used to correlate performance and satisfaction with the test system among different groups of users. (cc.gatch.edu, 2011)

Questionnaire has advantages over some other types of surveys in the sense that it is very cost-effective when compared to face-to-face interviews. This is especially true for studies involving large sample sizes and large geographic areas. Written questionnaires become even more cost effective as the number of research questions increases. Besides, questionnaires are easy to analyze. Data entry and tabulation for nearly all surveys can be easily done with many computer software packages. Questionnaires are not uncommon to most people. Nearly everyone has had some experience completing questionnaires and they generally do not make people apprehensive.

In addition, questionnaires reduce bias. There is uniform question presentation and no middle-man bias. The researcher's own opinions will not influence the respondents on answering questions in a certain manner. There are no verbal or visual clues to influence the respondents. Questionnaires are less intrusive than telephone or face-to-face surveys. When a respondent receives a questionnaire in the mail, he is free to complete the questionnaire on his own time-table. Unlike other research methods, the respondents are not interrupted by the research instrument as some people might be scared when answering questions before a stranger like an interviewer.

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5. Findings and Analysis of Survey by Questionnaire

1. Internal Communication in Hong Kong Hotel Industry: Questionnaire Results

Background: This questionnaire was designed to assess the current internal communication situation and systems in the hotel industry of Hong Kong. The target group is the employees who have been working in the industry. Hotels can also listen to their employees through this questionnaire to gauge and then improve their current internal communication systems. Scope of Questionnaire: Completed responses to the survey were received by e-mail from 50 employees who are working in various hotels in Hong Kong over the past two months. The respondents are mainly the old classmates of my previous IVE programme, i.e. Higher Diploma in Hotel Management, with the rest being their colleagues.

Gender Analysis:

The gender split of the respondents covered by this questionnaire was 66% male and 34% female. The bias in favour in of male respondents may be attributable to the fact that fresh graduates of hotel management usually work at Rooms Department as a bell boy or at Food and Beverage (F&B) Department as a waiter for their first job with a relatively long working hours and of physically demanding job nature. Fewer opportunities are open for fresh graduates of hotel management to join the Sales and Marketing Department or the Finance Department in hotels. As a result, a higher proportion of male than female graduates have joined and been staying in the hospitality industry.

Age Analysis:

The respondents to the questionnaire fall into 4 different age groups:

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Having a healthy relationship with employees’ colleagues and seniors:

To a large extent, a healthy relationship of respondents with their colleagues and seniors usually reflects the former’s good communication with the latter. The questionnaire provides for 2 options:

(A) Yes ; or (B) No

Results:

(A) Yes : 70% (B) No : 30 %

Analysis: 70% respondents have a healthy relationship with colleagues and seniors. This to a large extent shows that their communication with colleagues and seniors is good in their daily operation. That certainly helps them finish their job in an effective and efficient way.

Feeling free in expressing own view point in hotel:

Knowing what the respondents feel about the freedom in expressing their own view point at work is very important to the hotel. It indirectly shows their satisfaction level with their hotel and helps the hotel to make improvement in relevant aspects. The questionnaire provides for 2 options:

(A) Yes; or (B) No

Results:

(A) Yes : 26% (B) No : 74%

Analysis: The result tells that quite a lot of the respondents don’t feel free when expressing their own view point at work. That means their

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Analysis: 30% of respondents used to express view point to their hotel once a month at most sounds a good phenomenon. It implies they can find their suitable channel and time to share their thoughts and feelings with their hotel. However, 66% of respondents simply express their view point to their hotel once for or over half a year. Unfortunately, 4% of them never air their opinion to the hotel. Seemingly there is still ample room for improvement in the provision of proper channel for them to share own opinion at work. The hotel management may need to look into the reasons behind this problem.

Management of organization is willing to listen to employees:

To reach perfect internal communication, an organization bears a great responsibility. A good organization shall be one which is listening to its employees and getting to know more about what they want by doing more if it really wants to develop a sound relationship with and high morale among staff members. The questionnaire provides for 2 options:

(A) Yes; or (B) No

Results:

(A) Yes : 26% (B) No : 74%

Analysis: The result indicates that the majority of the respondents think their hotel management is not listening to them. This means their satisfaction level with internal communication is low and they want improvement in that aspect.

Satisfaction with the whole internal communication system of hotel:

To have a good internal communication system, both organization and its employees should work hard on it. Satisfaction level of employees in

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they should consider setting up proper channels to listen to their employees’ opinion and feedback at work.

Summary of Result

Over half of the respondents are male because they are my old classmates who are fresh graduates from IVE last year. Most of them took up their first job as a bell or waiter in the hospitality industry while female graduates usually dislike those type of tough work. Those respondents usually are juniors, but some of the respondents are their experienced counterparts or seniors. Given the composition of both juniors and seniors, the respondents’ answers are representing enough. Although most of them are having a healthy relationship with colleagues and seniors, the majority of them don’t feel free in expressing view point to the hotel management and thus seldom express their opinion at work. Unfortunately, over 70% of them think the hotel management doesn’t listen to its employees. In general, around one-fourth of the respondents are satisfied or very satisfied with the whole internal communication system of the hotel with which they are. To conclude, internal communication remains a short-term or even long-term issue worthy of greater consideration by the hotel management. The hotel management should take it serious and do more to develop and maintain a sound relationship with its employees and high staff morale, all conducive to the good image, reputation and business of the hotel.

2. External Communication in Hong Kong Hotel Industry: Questionnaire Results

Background:

This questionnaire was designed to assess the current external communication situation and systems in the hotel industry of Hong Kong. The primary target group is the guests who stay in Hong Kong’s hotels frequently and volunteer to share their point of view in such aspect. Hotel management may consider listening to customers through this

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questionnaire and then fine-tune its present external communication systems. Scope of Questionnaire: Completed responses to the survey were received by e-mail from 50 overseas customers staying in Hong Kong over the past two months. Respondents range from my parents’ friends, relatives and some customers flying in town who have stayed or been staying in Hong Kong’s hotel.

Gender Analysis: The gender split of the hotel customers covered by this questionnaire is 54% male and 46% female. The bias in favor in of male customers might be due to the fact that there are more businessmen rather than businesswomen while there remains little gender split of overseas travelers to Hong Kong. Age Analysis: Overseas visitors responding to the questionnaire fall into 5 different age groups: (A) 20 years or below; (B) 20 to 29 years; (C) 30 to 39 years; (D) 40 to 49 years; or (E) 50 years or above The age ranges of the customers surveyed are as follows: (A) 20 to 29 years : 14% (B) 30 to 39 years : 38% (C) 40 to 49 years : 28% (D) 50 years or above : 20%

The graph below shows the distribution of customers across the specified age groups:

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Analysis: Most of the respondents stay in hotel at interval between a month and 3 months. This shows that they, being frequent travellers, often stay at hotels and thus should understand well the relationship between hotel and its customers.

Purpose of customers’ staying in hotel:

Understanding the purpose of customers’ staying in hotel is useful. It is because the communication methods used by hotel for the businessmen and the travellers are not the same. The questionnaire provides for 2 options:

(A) Businessmen; or (B) Travellers

Results:

(C) Businessmen : 70% (D) Travellers : 30%

Analysis: The comments on the external communication of hotel from both businessman and traveller respondents are collected. 70% of respondents are businessmen which remains the most frequent guests of

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Frequency of customers' stay in hotel

1 week

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hotel from overseas. Hotel management should consider the needs and interests of that prime target group when deciding future external communication policies.

Receiving promotion from hotel regularly:

Promotional messages/materials and advertisements are useful marketing tools to attract more customers to a hotel. Hotels can invite more customers to their hotels if they use them strategically and fully. The questionnaire provides for 2 options:

(A) Yes; or (B) No

Results:

(A) Yes : 58% (B) No : 42%

Analysis: Over 40% of respondents gave a negative answer to the question asked. That implies hotels might not have put enough effort in that aspect. They should come up with more promotional events/materials and advertisements to attract their old customers and those potential customers they are eyeing on if they are to boost their business.

Channels through which hotel promotion reach customers:

The popular channels through which customers of a hotel receive promotional messages/materials or advertisements of the hotel enable the hotel to know what channels work and which new channels they should be exploring to get their promotional messages across their customers, new and old, in future. The questionnaire provides for 5 options:

(A) E-mail; (B) Website; (C) SMS; (D) Newspaper/Magazine; or

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(A) Yes; or (B) No

Results:

(A) Yes : 76% (B) No : 24%

Analysis: Hotels have done a good job in that aspect. Nearly 80% respondents know there is feedback system for them. It is very useful for the hotel to know where it is good at and where it needs improving.

Customers’ satisfaction with the feedback system:

Customers’ satisfaction with the feedback system is important to a hotel. It is because the relationship between hotel and customers relies heavily on the feedback system. The hotel must realize how the customers think about it. The questionnaire provides for 5 options:

(A) Very satisfied; (B) Satisfiend; (C) Acceptable; (D) Dissatisfied; or (E) Very dissatisfied

Results:

(A) Very satisfied : 13.2% (B) Satisfiend : 26.3% (C) Acceptable : 37% (D) Dissatisfied : 20.5% (E) Very dissatisfied : 3%

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customers who are aware of the existence of feedback system, only around 40% of them feel dissatisfied and very dissatisfied with the system available to them. Obviously, there is ample room for improvement in the feedback system. To conclude, external communication could be a short-term or even long-term issue to hotels. They should face up the deficiencies and find possible ways out to satisfy customers’ needs for improvement in such area.

(questionnaire design), (personneltoday.com, 2011)

3. Interview with staff

Interview Analysis

For the interview about internal communication, I have set a total of fourteen questions to go into greater details of it. The interviewee is Kelvin, one of my old classmates of previous Higher Diploma in Hotel Management Programme at IVE, who has been working with Langham Hotel in Hong Kong.

As Langham Hotel is under a large hotel group, it is a perfect example for studying the internal communication system. Kelvin is a bell attendant and the post requires a lot of communication with both colleagues and guests. He has been working with the hotel for over half a year. He has already had an understanding the internal environment of the hotel. His answer of Q4 shows that some basic employees’ benefits are very important to hotel staff like him. These benefits encourage employee to work harder and enhance their sense of belonging to the hotel indirectly. Kelvin’s good relationship with colleagues substain his retention in the hotel. He feels free in expressing his view point since he realizes the management is listening to its staff including him given the availability of a sound internal communication system by the hotel. Under the system, questionnaires are provided to employees for free expression of their suggestions to their department head. Such practice proves a positive gesture to and a respect for employees. Besides, Kelvin wants the management to show even more concern and care about employees despite his already good comment on the hotel in that regard. That is important to him as a good communication is reciprocal. On the side of external communication, Langham has done a good job. It requires its

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employees to ask the guests for their satisfaction level with the hotel service by way of providing comment cards in the hotel room. The practice shows the hotel’s respect for guests and treasure of guests comments and suggestions for continuous service improvement. Furthermore, the ansers of Q13 and Q14 suggest that good compensation system and incentive programme is conducive to a boost to employee’s sense of belonging and morale.

6. Conclusion

After finishing this dissertation, I have learnt much useful information about the significance of the relationship of internal communication and external communication of a hotel. I come to realize that hotel organizations must make improvement in the following areas if they are to be successful in term of service quality and business.

The service marketing triangle highlights the relationships between organizations, customers and employees. It identifies the important role of people in the delivery of services. I know more about the relationship among them after reading it.

The link between the management of the organization and its employees is conceived as ‘enabling’ the promise. The management is responsible for explaining and training employees about the nature of the service it wishes to provide to customers, because employees play a critical role in the production of the service. The orientation to service quality is defined through internal marketing communications. The management is responsible for delivery of consistent quality services through good strategic and tactical decision making in relation to human resources, operations and marketing.

For making the promise, the management engages in external marketing efforts in order to communicate a relevant brand image which is consistent with the internal marketing. This is referred to as ‘making’ the promise in terms of communication of quality and value. It is through this process of communication with customers that expectations are set – a promise of the services to be delievered. All forms of external communications with customers prior to the delivery

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of the service fall into this link between the management and its customers.

For delievering the promise, the delievery must match the promises made through the external communication. Organizational decision making must work to make the promise realised. A whole range of factors can impact upon the successful delivery of the promise, so it is important that organizations have plans in place to mitigate for service failure. An aspect of these plans might also be included in training of employees in their ability to respond to failures in the delivery of the promise. This is called ‘interactive marketing’ because the delivery of the hospitality service forms an encounter.

(Marketing Communications in Tourism and Hospitality)

On the other hand, I have come across quite a lot of difficulties in this study by questionnaires and interview since I am a novice at designing and using them. First of all, I decided to use questionnaire after taking into account factors like the limited resources available and the need for protection of respondents’ data privacy. A questionnaire can be quite cost-effective to administer. Although preparation may be costly, other means of data collection in survey will incur similar preparation expenses. The relatively low administration cost of questionnaire per respondent include postage, photocopying, etc. Time is alo an important resource that questionnaires can maximize. If a questionnaire is self-administering, such as e-mail questionnaire, potentially several hundred people could respond just in a few days. It would be impossible to get a similar number of usability tests completed in the same time span. Also, questionnaires are easy to administer with due regard to confidentially. Often confidentiality remains a must to ensure participants will respond more frankly after all. Examples of such cases would include studies that need to ask embarrassing questions about private or personal behaviour. After that, I had to decide the sampling group. It sounded easy at first but it was not, because I had to take many aspects into consideration. Next I needed to see those questionnaire samples and sourced a good one on sample questionnaire website, and then set up the questionnaire through five processes on questionnaire design website by myself. Then, I had to collect all the questionnaires by respondents known to

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me by e-mail. After receiving all the questionnaires, I have to engage in analysis before working out the findings and drawing conclusion therefrom. As a novice, I had to search the format of questionnaire analysis online.

On the other hand, I have also used interview as another means of survey. It provided me with greater details about the internal communication of a hotel. On completion of this study, I come to realize that adequate means of motivation to employees is very important to a organization. The term ‘motivation’ refers to what makes people tick: the needs and desires and fears and aspirations within people that make them behave as they do. Motication is the energizer that makes people take action; it is the why of human behavior. In the workplace, motivation goes hand in hand with productivity. Highly motivated people usually work hard and do superior work. Poorly motivated people do what is necessary to get by without any hassles from the boss, even though they may be capable of doing more and better work. Unmotivated people usually do marginal or substandard work and often take up a good deal of the organizaion’s time.

(Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources)

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7. References

Books:

Courtland L. Bovee, John V. Thill (2010). “Business Communication Today”, 10th ed., Pearson.

Dennis L. Wilcox, Glen T. Cameron (2009). “Strategies and Tactics”, 9th ed., Pearson International Edition.

Jack E. Miller, John R. Walker and Karen Eich Drummond, (2007). “Supervision in the Hospitality Industry Applied Human Resources”, 5th ed., John Wiley & Sons.

James E. Grunig (1992). “Excellence in Public Relations and Communication Management” , IABC Research Foundation. John Bratton and Jeffrey Gold (1999). “Human Resources Management: Theory and Practice”, 2nd ed., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Lyn Smith and Pamela Mounter (2008). “Effective Internal Communication”, 2nd ed., Kogan Page. Philip Sadler (2003). “Strategic Management”, 2nd ed., Kogan Page US. Robert H. Woods (2006). “Managing Hospitality Human Resources”, 4th ed., the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute.

Scott McCABE (2009). “Marketing Communications in Tourism and

Hospitality”, Elsevier Limited. William J. Rothwell & H.C. Kazanas (2003). “Planning and Managing Human Resources: Strategic Planning for Personnel Management”, 2nd ed., Human Resource Development Press.

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Websites: Blurtit.com (2011) “What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Face-to-Face Interviews” [Online] Education > Universities > MBA. Last accessed on 16 Mar 2011 at: http://www.blurtit.com/q734868.html

Cc.gatch.edu (2011) “Questionnaire Design” [Online] Classes > cs6751_97_winter > Topics. Last accessed on 19 Mar 2011 at: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/classes/cs6751_97_winter/Topics/quest-design/

Ezinearticles.com (2011) “The Importance Of Excellent Hospitality Communication” [Online] Business -> Management. Last accessed on 23 Mar 2011 at: http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Importance-of-Excellent-Hospitality-Communication&id=4626698

Personneltoday.com (2011) “Employee Support for Older People’s Care: Questionnaire Results”[Online] Assets. Last accessed on 19 March 2011 at: http://www.personneltoday.com/Assets/GetAsset.aspx?ItemID=3263

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8. Appendix

8.1 International Questionnaire Result (a total of 50 respondents):

Introduction

I am a final year student of the Degree Programme of Hospitality Business Management of Sheffield Hallam University who is working on a dissertation on “Internal and External Communication between Organization, Employee and Customer in Hong Kong Hospitality Industry”. As an employee in the hotel industry, you are cordially invited to play a part in this survey by filling in the questions of this interview. The aim of this questionnaire is to collect respondents’ opinion on the internal communication in the hotel industry of Hong Kong solely for academic purpose. Your valuable comments may also help the hoteliers to improve their relationship with their employees indirectly. The information you provide in the interview will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL and destroyed after completion of this survey. Please e-mail the completed questionnaire to my e-mail address: [email protected]. Your kind assistance in the completion of this questionnaire is much appreciated.

1. Which department do you work in?

□ Rooms (Front Office, Concierge, Housekeeping) 32

□ Human Resources 2 □ Sales & Marketing 1

□ Food & Beverage 14 □ Finance 1

2. How long have you been working with this hotel?

□ Less than 1 year 30 □ 1-2 years 9 □ 3-5 years 8

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□ More than 5 years 3

3. Do you think you have a healthy relationship with your colleagues

and seniors?

□ Yes 35 □ No 15

4. Do you feel free in expressing your view point on a matter in your

organization?

□ Yes 13 □ No 37

5. How often do you express your view point in your organization?

□ 1-2 weeks 3 □ 1 month 12 □ Half year 20

□ More than half year 13 □ Never 2

6. Do you think that management of your organization listen to its

employees?

□ Yes 13 □ No 37

7. How satisfied are you with the whole internal communication

system of your present hotel?

□ Very satisfied 2 □ Satisfied 12 □ Acceptable 18

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□ Dissatisfied 15 □ Very dissatisfied 3

Personal Information

1. Gender:

□ Male 33 □ Female 17

2. Age group:

□ 20 or below 2 □ 20-29 37 □ 30-39 8

□ 40 or above 3

3. Monthly Income:

□ Less than $9,999 22 □ $10,000-19,999 24

□ $20,000- 29,999 3 □ More than $30,000 1

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8.2 External Questionnaire Result (a total of 50 respondents):

Introduction

I am a final year student of the Degree Programme of Hospitality Business Management of Sheffield Hallam University who is working on a dissertation on “Internal and External Communication between Organization, Employee and Customer in Hong Kong Hospitality Industry”. As a hotel customer from overseas, you are cordially invited to play a part in this survey by filling in the questions of this questionnaire. The aim of this questionnaire is to collect respondents’ opinion on the external communication in the hotel industry of Hong Kong solely for academic purpose. Your valuable comments may also help the hoteliers to improve their public relation and marketing aspects indirectly. The information you provide in the questionnaire will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL and destroyed after completion of this survey. Please e-mail the completed questionnaire to my e-mail address: [email protected]. Your kind assistance in the completion of this questionnaire is much appreciated.

1. How often do you stay in hotel?

□ 1 week 6 □ 1 month 21 □ 3 months 21 □ Half a year 2

2. What is the purpose of your stay in hotel?

□ Business 35 □ Travel 15

3. Do you receive any promotion from hotel regularly?

□ Yes (please go to question 4)29 □ No (please go to question 5)

21

4. Which channel do you receive the promotion from hotel?

□ E-mail 4 □ Website 18 □ SMS 1 □ Newspaper/Magazine

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6 □ TV

5. Do you know is there any feedback system of your hotel for you to

express your opinion?

□ Yes(please go to question 6) 38 □ No 12

6. How satisfied are you with these feedback systems?

□ Very satisfied 5 □ Satisfied 10 □ Acceptable 14

□ Dissatisfied 8 □ Very dissatisfied 1

___________________________________________________________

Personal Information of Respondent

1. Gender:

□ Male 27 □ Female 23

2. Age group:

□ 20-30 years7 □ 30-40 years19 □ 40- 50 years14 □ 50 years

or above 10

3. Monthly Income:

□ $10,000-19,9992 □ $20,000- 29,999 17 □ $30,000-39,999 14

□ $40,000-49,999 11 □ $50,000 or above 6

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8.3 Interview Transcript:

Introduction

I am a final year student of the Degree Programme of Hospitality Business Management of Sheffield Hallam University who is working on a dissertation on “Internal and External Communication between Organization, Employee and Customer in Hong Kong Hospitality Industry”. As an employee in the hotel industry, you are cordially invited to play a part in this survey by filling in the questions of this interview. The aim of this questionnaire is to collect respondents’ opinion on the internal communication in the hotel industry of Hong Kong solely for academic purpose. Your valuable comments may also help the hoteliers to improve their relationship with their employees indirectly. The information you provide in the interview will be kept strictly CONFIDENTIAL and destroyed after completion of this survey. Your kind assistance in the completion of this questionnaire is much appreciated. Questions to the interviewee put with answers “I” for interviewer and “E” for interviewee Q1 I: Which hotel are you working with? E: I am working with the Langham Hotel. Q2 I: What is your post? E: Bell attendant. Q3 I: How long have you been working with this hotel? E: I have been working with this hotel for half a year.

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Q4 I: What attract you to work with this hotel? E: It’s a 5-five hotel easily accessible by all means of transport. There

is more vacation leave offered by this hotel than its counterparts in hospitality industry. Equally attractive are the comprehensive medical benefits and bonus.

Q5 I: Please describe your relationship with your colleagues? E: We look like a friend because we work together as a team. So I have

already built up a good relationship with them. Q6 I: Please describe your relationship with your supervisor? E: It is just normal relationship between us. Q7 I: Do you feel free in expressing your view point on a matter in your

hotel? E: Yes, I feel free in doing so. Q8 I: Do you think that the management of your hotel is listening to its

employees? E: Our hotel management is willing to listen to its employees as they

can express their point of view through an established internal communication system.

Q9 I: What do you think about the present internal communication system

of your hotel? E: The system sounds quite good. The staff can either express their

point of view on the questionnaire or make any suggestion to the department head direct who will in turn put forth staff comments and suggestions to the top management for consideration.

Q10 I: Can you suggest any way of improvement to the present internal

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communication system of your hotel? E: The already sound system aside, I hope the management adopts a

proactive approach to show concern and care about the staff. Q11 I: Are you required to ask the guests of your hotel for their comment on

the hotel service? E: Yes, we are required to ask our guest “How was your stay?” Also we

have provided the hotel comment card in the room so that the guests can write down their comment on our hotel service.

Q12 I: Do you think that the management of your hotel is listening to its

customers? E: Yes. The hotel is willing to listen to our customers. If guests have

any comment on our hotel service, they can write down their suggestions in our hotel comment card. Then the hotel management will analyze those comment card and take action by giving instruction to relevant department in order to make improvement.

Q13 I: Are there any compensation system and incentive programme

provided by your hotel? E: For the compensation system, time-off-in-lieu, travelling allowance

(e.g. an additional allowance of $20 if coming on duty at 0600 hours), etc. For the incentive programme, award of Langham mileage (for free offer of hotel accommodation at any Langham hotel ) if commended by colleagues or by guests.

Q14 I: What do you think about these systems/programmes? E: I think this compensation systems and incentive programme can boost

the sense of belonging of staff.

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