- Hotel room
- Pool
- Gym
- Conference facilities
- Restaurants’/ Coffee bars
- Sauna
- Ballrooms facilities
- Tourist Information Provided
- Tickets Booked (Magical Mystery Tour & Beatles Story etc.)
- Valet Parking
- Guest Luggage Storage
- Full English & Continental Breakfast
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Product Launches
- Weddings including Civil Ceremonies
- Training Courses
- Networking Events
- Parties (Engagement, Birthday, Anniversary & Retirement etc.)
- Fashion Shows
- Hypnos Beds
- Hypoallergenic Bedding Available
- Iron & Ironing Board
- Hair Dryer
- Complimentary Bottle of Water
- Complementary Wi-Fi
- Complementary Ethernet Connection Internet
- Interactive Flat screen TV with Satellite Channels, Movies, Music & Web Browser
- Monsoon Shower over Bath or in Shower Cubicle
- Tea & Coffee making facilities
- Laptop Safes
- Toiletries
- Individually controlled Air-conditioning
- Direct Dial Telephone
- Work Desk
- Balconies (Available in a selection of rooms for £20 supplement)
- Armchair
- Original Piece of Beatles Artwork
- American Express
- MasterCard
- Maestro
- Visa
- Account to Company on completion of Credit Check
- Complimentary Wi-Fi
- Air-Conditioning
- Gift Shop / Gallery
- 24hr Reception
LHM consists of these activities to work on their customer’s requests and to appeal to more customers, which grants them a profit. Linda Hawkins mentioned; “These activities are the core to their business. Without these activities, their business would cease to exist as these activities bring in their customers, who pay a good price to get the necessities they have looked for.”(17) These activities appeal to a wide range of people. For instance, the gym will attract the local community, especially staff from Heathrow airport, who may be too busy to go anywhere else. Conference facilities will attract businessmen and businesswomen, as LHM has an advantage of being right next to Heathrow airport, consumers will have quick access to business fundamentals. Hotel rooms are strictly for customers who are staying for a night or more, this is an advantage for LHM, as people who stop over for a night or more, consumers will stay in the nearest place to the airport and will be serviced by the best amenities.
Tesco’s mission statement on Tesco’s customer service website is; “Create value for customers to earn their lifetime loyalty.”(18)
This implies Tesco's mission statement is creation of value for customers to enable them earn their lifetime loyalty. This is based on the fact that success depends on people especially the ones who shop with them and also the ones who work with them. They achieve this by regularly asking customers and staff to point out areas of improvement. This also indicates that they want to be the best in the business when compared to other competitors. They are in existence, as they want to create ‘value’ for their consumers with assistance from the community, fulfill their requirements, and have a good customer loyalty relationship over their existence, which is seen when they mention ‘earn their lifetime loyalty.’
- Wanted and needed around the world
- A growing business, full of opportunities
- Modern, innovative and full of ideas
- Winners locally whilst applying their skills globally
- Inspiring, earning trust and loyalty from customers, their colleagues and communities
(19) (20)
Their new Core Purpose is: We make what matters better, together. It is true to where we came from but more relevant to today and to the kind of company we want to be. A mission statement sets out the general purpose of a business. It helps employees work towards a common goal and is a service of motivation for staff. (20)
Tesco’s vision is; “Their vision is for Tesco to be most highly valued by the customers Tesco’s serve, the communities in which Tesco’s operate, their loyal and committed staff and their shareholders; to be a growth company; a modern and innovative company and winning locally, applying their skills globally.”(20)
Tesco’s mission statement is aimed at motivating the staff and giving a simplified objective about what they aim to achieve. From the mission statement Tesco want to earn respect from its customers by providing a good service, and being loyal to its staff and customers. Also they state that as a company they wish to grow and modernize and start open up into new markets.
Tesco is a general merchandise and global grocery. Its activities include groceries & wine, finance & insurance, entertainment & books, phones & broadband, Tesco direct and online stores. It has its headquarters are in Chestnut, United Kingdom, and is the grocery market leader in the U.K. It has stores across Asia, Europe and North America.
Insight-Improving the customer offer
Listening to customers in a wide variety of ways is a key to what a business does. Engaging with customers through a range of focus groups and ongoing research trackers, and actively seek feedback on what is good or not so good, such as through their Every Comment Helps scheme in the UK. Online and social media make it easier to listen and respond to large numbers of customers in real time, through Tesco’s web chats, Facebook and Twitter. The insight from all of these conversations increasingly feeds into the customer offer so that Tesco’s can continually drive incremental improvements for customers.
Tesco’s loyalty schemes, such as Club card or Tesco Member card in China, are not only great for the business’s customers but also provide data insight to enables the business to continually improve the shopping trip. (22)
Buy- A great range of products in food, general merchandise and services;
Tesco’s work with their suppliers and development of their brands to bring a great range to their customers. The relationship with their suppliers is the foundation of Tesco’s customer offer. They work with a broad range of suppliers, from global produce suppliers and international FMCG companies to local suppliers who provide products for a single region in one of Tesco’s markets. Tesco’s sell over £1 billion of local products annually in the UK and, across Europe; their series of 'meet the buyer' events helped us to stock hundreds of new local products this year. With their established private label program, Tesco’s produce great quality Tesco brands at a range of price points, from Everyday Value up to Finest. Tesco product brands also have established market positions. In services, they often work with specialist partners to their best product offerings. For example, they created a joint venture bet Tesco’s, Vodafone and Tesco Hungary this year, and Tesco Bank insurance underwriting is primarily provided in partnership with Ageas Insurance Limited. (22)
Move-The right products at the right time.
Their network of distribution centers ('DCs') and advanced technology support a modern, efficient and cost-effective supply chainman efficient distribution system starts with understanding which products their stores need. Tesco’s does these in two ways. First, Tesco’s forecast what customers will buy, using sophisticated, detailed models to consider variables such as seasonality, Tesco’s rather forecasts and likely response to promotions. Second, their ordering systems automatically update in real time based on what customers do actually buy, so that Tesco’s can quickly and accurately supply stores with the right products at the right time.
Tesco’s also use transport other than lorries such as their train services in the UK, which save 15,000 tones of CO2 per year. Continually striving to make every part of the process productive, through primary distribution, Tesco’s use their network to pick products up from some of their suppliers and transport them to their depots, which can be more cost-effective than individual suppliers delivering to customers. Tesco’s also use their return journeys from stores to depots to pick up waste materials which Tesco’s sell for recycling. (22)
Sell- The best shopping trip whether in store, online or a combination of both, Tesco’s pride themselves on delivering a great shopping trip for their customers, week in, week outdone of Tesco's Values is 'No one tries harder for customers', and this can be seen in how Tesco’s strive to improve the shopping trip. This represents every element of the customer shopping experience, including price, range, quality, availability and service. Their loyalty schemes are key to the customer offering, thanking customers each time they shop at Tesco. Tesco’s take a multi-format approach to their store network, to be able to meet their customers' needs for different types of shopping trip, from large Extra stores that offer a full range of food, general merchandise and services, to Metro and Express convenience stores. 'Selling' refers to a broader and broader range of activities as Tesco’s develop their multi-channel offer. Tesco’s launched a grocery home shopping service in the UK in 1997. Since then, Tesco’s have grown this business to over £2 billion of annual sales, launched grocery home shopping in South Korea, the Republic of Ireland and the Czech Republic, and launched further online businesses, such as Direct, Clothing and Entertainment. Tesco’s are increasingly offering customers the option of combining stores and online with Click & Collect, which makes the most of their convenient store locations, giving customers an easy way to pick up products ordered online. (22)
The major supermarket chains’ share of our food shopping has been growing rapidly over the past few years. They have also been diversifying into different sectors, types of shops and completely unrelated products and services such as finance and travel. Supermarkets now sell everything from music downloads to legal advice and medications.
In fact, in July 2013 Tesco announced plans to turn its out-of-town supermarkets into ‘exciting retail destinations’ offering everything from yoga classes to cookery courses. Its new superstore in Watford will be the first to trail the new approach featuring a 600 sq.ft. free ‘community space’ for local groups as well as a nail salon, and will also be the first to have a Giraffe restaurant, Harris & Hoole coffee shop and Euphorium bakery – all brands in which Tesco has a stake – under one roof. (23)
A Guardian investigation (25) in December 2010 found millions of customers were being hit with unexpected costs when using their Tesco plastic abroad. Unknown to many of its cardholders, Tesco had started using its own exchange rates to convert overseas purchases into sterling, which were much worse than standard Visa and MasterCard rates used by rival cards. In February 2011 Tesco backed down and announced that, "in response to customer feedback and to improve transparency", it would be bringing its exchange rates into line with the rest of the industry.
As both of these organisations are in different businesses areas (Tesco is in the grocery business whereas LHM is in the hotel chain), their purposes and existence will definitely be different. Tesco’s is in the secondary and tertiary sector whereas LHM is in the tertiary sector only, which means Tesco’s provides products and merchandise as well as a service along with LHM. The purpose of Tesco’s indicates that they show more appreciation towards their customers and they are dedicated to have a high customer loyalty internationally. Whereas LHM aims to make a profit solely by meeting their customer’s needs just like Tesco. We can already see a difference in that LHM only care about making a profit whereas Tesco’s aim to dedicate their time into making sure they have a strong relationship with their customers and that the environment and their customers are happy. This gives a positive aspect to Tesco as they show their dedication towards their customers on the other hand LHM are completely profit driven so the only reason they are showing their hospitality towards their customers is due to the fact that they want profit and profit only.
Tesco’s provide their customers with good quality products, which allow their business to meet their aim of providing quality products, this is very different compared to LHM as they are a hotel and their aim is to deliver accommodation to their guests. However both businesses do aim to provide their customers with the best possible service, as they do want their customers to return to their business. Tesco’s main purpose is to provide the public with eco-friendly, fresh and sustainable products. Whereas LHM are interested into providing a hospitality service. Both businesses deliver activities, which allow them to convey their purpose- without their activities, both LHM and Tesco’s will not work well. Tesco’s retail products and they speak out their mission of being very loyal to their customers, however, LHM run accommodation services and facilities which allow their guests to relax which allows them to reach their purpose.
For Tesco to meet their objective of “Really want to encourage customers to bring their own bags,” they must run a couple of campaigns to show their ambition. This is why Tesco should hold campaigns because it would give them a subject to interact with the public and tell them about different ways of saving the planet and gain customer loyalty. Tesco’s activities appeal to their customers, as they also want to be environmentally friendly, once they have gotten to know what their goal is. This shows that Tesco’s receives advantages as a business perspective and as a social and ethical point of view. However, LHM does not show any interest of them being ethical by the activities they have provided on their website.
Tesco has to do activities, which will attract customers and help them to convey their purpose. If they don’t do these activities then it will be harder for Tesco to convey its purpose. By providing their customers with fresh, sustainable and organic goods, this allows Tesco to meet their aim of “making effective products.” For LHM to achieve their purpose they must do their activities because without them customers will not be attracted to their hotel. LHM must have these certain activities because without them LHM wouldn’t provide a satisfactory service to their guests and they wouldn’t work properly as an organisation. The activities that LHM offer permit the public limited company to assist the customer’s needs.
Competition means an opposition between two businesses whether that may be for customers or market. (31)
In this section, I will be analyzing the different competitors that LHM and Tesco have to deal with and how they make their services open to everyone so that more people actually decide to go to their businesses rather than their competitors’ business.
There as five hotels that are situated in the same area as LHM on Bath Road and this is because the area is very close to Heathrow Airport. This allows the businesses to gain business as they know that when tourists come to London, they would prefer to stay in a hotel near the airport thus making is easier to travel. All five businesses realize how important it is to be near Heathrow Airport which is why they have exemplified the fact that they are close to Heathrow so their consumers know. Apart from this, the activities that all the hotels do increase the competition. LHM’s main competitors are Radisson Edwardian and Sheraton Skyline as they are all 4 star hotels, as is LHM. This map shown below show the Bath Road, where all of the hotels are situated. The arrows show where the rival hotels are:
LHM’s competitors are listed below:
Even though all the hotels provide basic luxuries such as wireless internet and meeting facilities, it is the extra things which make them differ from each other. For example, Radisson Edwardian has got a spa, which is a certain luxury which customers will admire. Radisson Edwardian has thoroughly thought of their tourists, as after a long journey they will need to recuperate and for them to do this they may need a massage etc. I think that John is correct as all the other hotels do not provide a spa which could indeed affect their sales. John has also shown that their business is profit driven, so they only provide this spa so that they can increase their sales. In my opinion I think that Holiday Inn and Premier Inn are in serious danger compared to their competitors due to the low amount of services they provide. If they offered activities such as a fitness centre or an indoor pool, I am certainly sure that they will see a huge impact on their sales. Customers will also be appealed to LHM’s activities as they do provide an indoor pool and a gift shop, which will appeal to families.
There is also competition on how much the customers have to pay for their rooms. Premier Inn has the cheapest rates, which will appeal to people who have a tight budget and would like to save money. However for people who like to enjoy facilities they would probably not choose Premier Inn, instead they would probably decide to stay at the other hotels. LHM offer an expensive rate of £339 for an ambassador suite per night. Even though this is highly expensive, customers who have a high standard will choose this hotel as they will believe that due to their high price, their service will be the best. On the other hand there are also many other high standard hotels who offer a cheaper price. I believe that LHM should either reduce their prices or they should add something extra which will make customers more appealed to LHM. For instance, they could offer their customers free Wi-Fi internet or a discount if they buy something from their hotel.
On the other hand, LHM offers a high price due to the range of luxuries they provide for their customers. For instance, LHM provide their customers with an indoor pool, sauna and a leisure club whereas the types of rooms that LHM deliver to their customers are also to a high standard. For instance, LHM provide a variety of rooms from deluxe rooms, deluxe suites and ambassador suites which withhold a variety of functions, to suit a variety of people (families and businessmen). On the other hand Holiday Inn, have only provided two types of rooms, which are relatively the same but, have different sizes. This suggests that people would not be so convinced to stay in this hotel as LHM, as Holiday Inn does not supply the same quality as LHM.
The restaurants that each hotel has provided are varied to attract different customer’s needs. For instance, LHM have offered their customers different cuisines, which is appealing to customers as they know that have a choice of a variety of options. LHM are the main source of providing different ethnic foods unlike Radisson Edwardian who only offer their consumers Henleys Bar & Restaurant, Bijou Bar and The Brasserie which are all British cuisines. This shows that the competition is strengthening for LHM as they are offering a range of cuisines to satisfy their customer’s needs. This is a unique selling point for LHM, as they know that consumers are interested in trying new things, which adds to the appeal of staying in LHM. However LHM does compete with Sheraton as they have provided different types of cuisines to attract customers. But Sheraton does not go as extensive as LHM who provide more cuisines which would appeal to more customers. Premier Inn does not offer a wide range of restaurants which could damage their image and reduce their customer’s intake. In my personal opinion, Premier Inn should add restaurants from different cuisines so more customers will be appealed to their hotel. I am definitely sure that their popularity will boost and their profit will increase dramatically. LHM and Radisson Edwardian are both 4 star hotels yet LHM have gone out their way to add more cuisines whereas Radisson Edwardian have kept to British cuisines, as it is easy to make and it is also easy to provide as their food for each restaurant will be similar. This shows that LHM is reaching out to their aim of “High levels of guest satisfaction” (13) whereas Radisson Edwardian has kept their cuisines the same.
The five hotels all provide meeting and conference facilities. This shows that they are attracting businessmen and businesswoman to stay in their hotel and hire a meeting facility to use. Once again Premier Inn has showed that they are the least. This shows that they are risking their chance of gaining more profit; however this is a low-budget hotel so they won’t provide the same amount of luxuries as the rest of the hotels. Holiday Inn and Premier Inn are 3 star hotels which show that they have lower standards compared to the rest of the hotels. This shows that Holiday Inn is not as concerned as beating LHM but rather Premier Inn. This shows that the amount of meeting rooms that Holiday Inn which held up to 130 people attracted businessmen more compared to Premier Inn where it only seated 75 people. The highest competitor for LHM is Radisson as they hold up to 700 people for conferences and meetings, which shows that they are more impressive in business terms. This gives a psychological effect on the consumer as they will feel that the more rooms they offer, the busier the hotel may be. This suggests that the hotel is worthy of holding a meeting there, due to the lavish services they would receive.
LHM are the only business which shows that they care about the environment as well as the community, which gives the customers a positive aspect of the hotel, which will make them stay there instead of the other hotels. Premier Inn have done a lot to be environmentally friendly which also gives them a progressive aspect in which they actually do care about their business as well as the environment.
The rating that are shown, show that Premier Inn has the best services. This may be due to the fact that this is a low budget hotel and they have succeeded many people’s expectation, where they may have thought Premier Inn would not have been satisfactory. This shows that Premier Inn is a high competitor towards all the other hotels. However, I believe that the biggest competitor for LHM is Radisson Edwardian, due to the fact that they are both 4 star hotels. This shows that LHM have to offer their customers more meeting and conference facilities have more activities which would give them a USP.
Above is the map of Tesco and its competitors on Bevedre. Tesco is a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer with over 6,550 stores all over the world. The countries where Tesco can be found are the following “Mainland China, Czech Republic, Hungary, Republic of Ireland, Japan, Malaysia, Poland, Slovakia, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States.”(1) The fact that Tesco is known worldwide shows that it provides high quality products and that they are making a good profit.
Tesco is the number one retailer in the UK and the supermarket leader in the world. But, two other supermarkets in the UK are trying to compete to become number one. One of them, Asda, is the UK’s second grocery retailer behind Tesco due to them offering low prices to customers. Tesco offers a club card, which has now become the world’s most successful retail loyalty scheme. This shows that Tesco is willing to build a personal relationship with its consumers whereas Asda does not do this and only lower their prices once in a while. The third largest supermarket after Tesco and Asda is Sainsbury’s. They compete with them because their online services make it easier for customers to actually purchase their groceries. Tesco and Asda also have online services for their customers, which are very successful. Online shopping is the new way to shop and this is obvious because all three of the major supermarkets have now acquired official websites, which you can purchase goods off. The chart below shows Tesco and its two main competitors and other small ones.
Tesco’s competitors and their services are listed below:
By looking at all the competitor’s mission statements, it is clearly obvious that Tesco’s main competitor is ASDA as they aim to pursue “To be Britain's best-value retailer exceeding customer needs always” (37). This means that they are targeting the same market, which means that they will be highly competitive towards each other. Whereas the other businesses aim to dedicate their time to make sure that their consumers get the best in terms of their beauty. However, the other competitors are also worthy competition as they also provide high quality products.
Tesco provides the second cheapest products to their customers, which will attract them into buying their products. This is also effective for Tesco as cost margins will be lower, therefore leading to lower costs and if the products do not get sold, there will be lower losses and the profit margins will be higher compared to other businesses. The prices of Tesco products are not too far-fetched when comparing to other competitors, therefore showing that Tesco is targeting people who need high quality products for a cheaper price. In this sense Tesco does not have to compete as much with other competitors, when talking about price range as they do have the cheapest rate. This attracts customers as they like the idea of saving money. However, some people may argue that ASDA is more expensive due to the standard of their products.
By looking at the competitors activities, Tesco is competing very well as they show that they are being more compatible. This is a benefit for Tesco as they know people are more interested in buying products which are high quality, reasonable quantity, low priced and ethical. I believe that Tesco’s, ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s all aim at the same target audience as they all are general and grocery merchandise retailers which makes them all compete against each other, which overall helps them to achieve their main aim, which is to gain a profit.
Tesco and Sainsbury’s provide their customers with an opportunity to save money by earning points on their points card every time they visit any store of the same brand. This demonstrates that Tesco and Sainsbury’s is thinking outside of the box, as they know that people want to save money and they will take any opportunity they can get and test it out to make sure that it is perfect for them. Tesco is also the only business which does seasonal shopping. This shows that they are attracting different age groups to help boost their sales.
In conclusion, Tesco is challenging well with their competitors as they deliver cheaper products which are of great value. Even though ASDA and the other organisations offer the same products but Tesco sells them in the cheapest price possible. However Tesco is competing very well because they are highly renowned as a multinational organisation which aims to help save money, the community and the environment. The idea of being environmentally friendly and caring for the community appeals to customers as they know that it is the right thing to do, as well as providing the best products in the most reasonable prices. Tesco should also promote their organisation in as many ways as they can like celebrating Tesco’s age.
LHM’s and Tesco’s competitors aim to make a profit. But Tesco aims to offer their customers with a range of high quality products in an ethical manner as well as high quantity and the most compatible prices. Whereas LHM competes with its competitors with the various quantities of services and facilities they make available and how comfortable their organisations are.
LHM challenges its competitors by presenting their guests with a range of facilities, reducing their rates and displaying them the best hospitality service they can offer. As LHM is a hotel, they challenge their competitors by offering them accommodation to a high standard. Their purpose is to interest visitors and regular clients. On the other hand, Tesco competes with its competitors to attract the general public who are interested in grocery and departmental items, to purchase their products. Similarly, Tesco also wants to challenge their competitors by providing them high quality products which they can use on a regular basis. However, Tesco competes with its competitors for maximum sales of their products, whereas LHM challenges its competitors by offering them short-term accommodation. LHM and Tesco also earn their profits in different ways. For instance, LHM gain their profit from the services and accommodation they have provided their customers whereas Tesco earns their profit from the customers obtaining their products.
As being close to Heathrow airport is a unique selling point for all of LHM and its competitors, they highlight the fact that they are situated near it. They stress this point because they want to appeal to visitors who need a comfortable service and who are quite close to the airport. Tesco also gains more profit as they appeal to a wider audience. Their target market is not only the adults or children but the general public. As being committed, compatible and ethical is a big topic in the news, Tesco has cleverly showed that they care for their workers by raising salaries and adding bonuses.
Both LHM and Tesco provide a range of services. They do not just stick to their main activity but they actually have diversified and branched out. This is a good way to beat competition because by providing a range of services this will attract more consumers. By doing this, LHM and Tesco will be able to achieve their customer satisfaction aims. Also by meeting this aim, they are increasing their profit which can help them to either become number one or stay number one.
Another thing they both use equally well is quality. LHM do this by providing the highest quality services to their consumers to give them a good image – this way they meet their aim for customer satisfaction. Additionally, Tesco sell good quality products and this is known as their ‘finest’ range. This is Tesco’s higher standard of food and groceries and is an extremely easy way to generate profit.
LHM and Tesco differ when it comes to price. LHM’s prices are fairly high but still reasonable as they are paying for the range of services that they offer. This is different from Tesco as supermarkets compete with price. Despite the fact that Tesco care about the quality of all of their products, they still try to offer the cheapest most competitive prices so that they can beat the competition.
The other difference is the location. Tesco is an international business which means that they have stores situated all around the world. London Heathrow Marriot is a local business which means that they only have that one hotel around the area. LHM is located on Bath Road which is very close to Heathrow Airport. Along the Bath Road, as I have mentioned above, are all the hotels which provide competition for LHM. This is different for Tesco because Tesco is an international business so it is able to expand their business more and open up branches around the world.
In conclusion, LHM and Tesco try to compete with their competitors with a range of methods. LHM are shown to be competing very well with their competitors as they display that they are serving luxurious items of various facilities, guest rooms and conference facilities. On the other hand, Tesco competes with its competitors by offering the cheapest products, which are compatible, high quality, reasonable quantity, and ethical and they do seasonal shopping to help vary their target audience. Even though LHM and Tesco do have particular areas to improve, but so far they are competing very well.
In this section, I will be investigating whether LHM is meeting its aims and objectives and what they could do to accomplish them if it’s not being met. The aims and objectives of LHM are listed below:
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“Sales of 20 million pounds
- GSS of 75% of customers satisfied with the overall service
- Labour turnover of 25%” (13)
- “High levels of guest satisfaction
- Marriot profitability and owner return on investments
- To have associate satisfaction
- To have labour turnover of 25%” (13)
“Labour turnover of 25%” (13)
Firstly, LHM’s aim is “To have labour turnover of 25%” (13) although it is currently sitting at 18%. This shows that this turnover has a positive impact on LHM. As LHM’s labour turnover is currently at 18%, LHM are doing the accurate things and making right choices for the aim. To prevent the employees from resigning they need to have. From the following list, here are some of the things that LHM have to think about when caring for their employees:
- Motivation
- Staff training and development
- Team work
- Fair pay rates
- Staff benefits
- Workplace environment
Due to the fact that LHM’s labour turnover is at 18%, this shows that LHM have thought about their decisions sensibly. They know what is at stake. This shows LHM’s decision-making is very sensible. When employees are making their decisions on whether to stay at LHM or not, there are numeral factors which will influence this decision. E.g., they want to make sure that they like working here in this business and if there are genuine prospects for progression in their career. LHM have obviously done all of these things to make sure that they do stay. LHM have shown though their website the importance of keeping employees happy. The fact that their employees are staying shows that their employees like the way that they work. This gives the employees the feeling that Marriott cares about them. Their employees may also feel that their leadership is effective and their management style is appropriate, as they know how to attract customers into their business, due to the various activities they offer. Furthermore, the amount of pay that is offered by Marriott is higher than equivalent jobs such as Sheraton Skyline. This makes the employees want to stay as they know that they might not get the same pay bound anywhere else, or they may not get the same amount of bonuses as them. Moreover, the communication between the staff and Marriott management may be very strong; this gives the employees the sense that they are involved within the business.
If LHM wants to improve their labour turnover even more, they could perform effective exit interviews. Exit interviews are an effective way of recognising parts of concern inside a business. If there are any similarities between the reasons of departure, Marriott knows exactly what they have to do to improve their turnover. I believe that the most treasured employees that LHM has are commonly the ones that have been there the longest. This is because they have learnt a variety of skills that is useful to that business and they know how everything works in a concerned situation. This includes awareness and understanding of their guests, which is directly appropriate to Marriott. This is the reason why that Marriott should make sure that they keep them the most, as they know all the knowledge about the hotel. To make sure they stay, Marriott should offer them higher promotions, wages and bonuses.
“Sales of £20 million” (13)
Secondly, LHM objective is to have “Sales of £20 million” (13), but it is currently just under this budget. This means that they not met their financial target therefore Marriott could be at a loss of revenues. As Marriott is not meeting this objective, it will be even harder for Marriott to meet its other aims and objectives. For instance Marriott aims to have “owner return on investments” (13), shareholders may not want to carry on investing in to the business as they may feel that Marriott are not satisfying their customers to help them get sales. This implies that they may feel as if they can spend their money elsewhere, where it is more valuable.
For LHM to improve its sales, they must do various things. For instance, Marriott could compare its sales and marketing plan towards its competitors. They could look at various techniques of how they attract guests through advertisements. These advertisements may include commercials from the television, billboards, newspapers and leaflets. Marriott should look at each marketing method separately and carefully, to see which one will boost their revenue the most. Another way of marketing is through social networking websites, this is because most people use these websites to interact with people from around the world. This is a great advantage for Marriott as people from theses social networking websites will see the adverts and most likely talk about them. This gives Marriott a greater chance of expecting more guests.
LHM should also keeping contacting guests who have previously stayed at the hotel. This is because they are more likely to return because they know Marriott’s reputation and can they can also provide recommendations. Furthermore, LHM should ask their guests before they leave to fill out customer feedback forms; this will allow LHM to find out exactly what they are doing wrong and how they can improve its status. LHM should also try to aim to gain new customers. For instance, as LHM emphasise that they are near Heathrow airport, they should team up with them to offer promotional deals so customers will be attracted to LHM. This will give LHM some recognition globally, so this gives LHM a boost as people around the world will see this promotion and would want to stay there.
In my insight, I think LHM should participate in hospitality trade shows, which will allow LHM to increase its reputation in the hotel industry. LHM will be able to inform prospective guests about their hotel with flyers, which will highlight their contact information. As LHM’s employees are happy with Marriott’s work ethics, it will be easier for them to focus on accumulating hotel sales.
Due to the fact that Radisson Edwardian offers more activities than LHM such as the Pegasus Spa, guests will be more attracted to them rather than LHM. This is why LHM should add more activities to boost their popularity. Some guests have also found that some of their services are not to the best quality. This implies that LHM has to work on its standards, so previous customers will come back again and they will also recommend their hotel to more people. This overall allows more sales to come in and yet have more profit.
“GSS of 75% of customers satisfied with the overall service” (13)
Finally, LHM’s aim is to have a “GSS of 75% of customers satisfied with the overall service” (13) and this aim is achieved as it is currently sitting at 78.3%. This means that the guests of LHM are exceptionally happy with their overall stay. This may be due to the accommodation, activities which are to a luxurious standard. The guests of LHM constantly interact with the staff as they depend on them for a diversity of needs. As LHM has exceeded their target, this shows that their workforce is working adequately.
For LHM to increase this percentage even further, they need to do various features to gain their approval. For example, LHM need to carry on training their employees so they know the importance of presenting guests with good customer service. To motivate the employees, LHM should offer them an award such as a weeks’ worth holiday. Due to the fact that the employees are still learning valuable points on making their guests feel valued, the guests will instantly feel the priority that they have been given. Furthermore, LHM should evaluate their employees such as their immediate supervisors; this is because they need to see if their employees are giving their guests the best treatment. If there are some employees that don’t live up to their high expectation, LHM should provide them with more training in customer service. This will make LHM’s workforce a lot stronger and they will be able to communicate with their customers a lot better, which will make them feel happier about their stay there.
LHM should also get customer feedback and when they do fill it out; offer them a reward such as a discount on one of their facilities, for their next stay. This will give the customers a feeling that they are special, and builds a good customer loyalty relationship, which will instantly make them choose LHM next time they are planning to go on holiday. In the survey, LHM should ask questions about their experience in their hotel, the employees and then ask them to rate their hotel about their customer service. They should also have a comments section where the customers could add things that LHM could improve on. LHM should then go on to use these surveys as materials to make them a stronger organisation. If a guest mentions a negative aspect of the hotel, LHM should try and fix this problem immediately. They could use online hotel recommending websites like Trip Advisor and look up the negative hotel reviews and try to act on the feedback as soon as possible, so the customers will be satisfied and the hotel ratings would increase for LHM because they acted on customer feedback.
E.g. The following is a screenshot of a negative review on Trip Advisor where a customer sent a review on the 27th of January, 2014. The customer mentions that they weren’t satisfied with the gym facility and that it was “very smell, run down and not very clean.” They also mentioned that their children were using the pool and it wasn’t very clean, the hotel room was okay nothing special although the sink was broken and the place should e benefitted from a cleaning. They were satisfied with the staff but the sense of the place “needed significant levels of work.” (49) This shows that LHM still has a few faults they need to improve on and that they could reflect on the feedback given by customers on online websites that recommend hotels like Trip Advisor.
(49)
“Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.” (50)
Ethical trade delivers genuine commercial benefits, like: Improved customer perception; Cost; Recruitment and Legality. LHM carry out many activities, which indicate that they are ethical, as being ethical has been a cause of concern to society nowadays. LHM being ethical allows them to attract more people, which further increase their profits. Doing this gives LHM a benefit of being represented as strongly determined and gives a positive view of LHM as it they look after and care about their community and environment as well as their business.
- Replaced light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs
- Installed low-flow showerheads and toilets
- Introduced water/energy saving linen program
- Operates the most ENERGY STAR® certified properties in the
- industry, as part of Marriott’s portfolio of brands
- Involves its global workforce in eco-volunteerism
- 100% Recycled Note Pads
- Pens made from 74% Recycled materials
- Eco-Friendly Water Service
- Meeting Room Recycling, where available
- On-Line Event Menus
- Organic Flowers (upon request)
- America’s Second Harvest, where available
- Recyclable Box Lunch Program
- Paperless billing (51)
LHM does these activities as their purpose shows that they want to ‘Serve’ the public. Their mission statement also mentions that they want to “be the world’s leader in hospitality services and it achieves that through its spirit to serve culture” (15). This means they want to look after their society and those who are in it- which includes the environment, people and the world. This gives a positive view of LHM as their guests will believe that they will do their upmost best to save the planet.
Visitors to the London Heathrow Marriott hotel recharging their batteries before or after a long flight can now recharge their cars too! LHM showed their commitment to environmental responsibilities by activating their two Electric Car Charging Stations on Friday, 27th April. LHM joined forces with car giant Renault along with Zero Carbon World who donated the Electric Charging Stations to the hotel, and demonstrated exactly how these stations worked. As a worldwide leader in the lodging industry, Marriott understands the importance of the moral and ethical responsibility of protecting the environment for guests and future generations, as well as conserving natural resources and reducing energy costs. (51)
General Manager of the London Heathrow Marriott said: "Environmental issues are at the forefront of everyone's minds, and we at the London Heathrow Marriott are very pleased to show our commitment to these issues by supporting green transport initiatives." (50) At the event, Howard Thomas, Z.E. Product Manager, Renault UK, commented, "As the leading manufacturer of electric cars and vans, Renault is delighted that Marriott Group is supporting the adoption of electric vehicles in the UK through initiatives such as the installation and promotion of its two new charging points, courtesy of Zero Carbon World, at its prominent Heathrow site. The environmental and cost benefits of running an electric vehicle compared to the average fossil-fuelled vehicle are widely recognised, so we hope that this is just the first step of their journey with electric vehicles as the public's interest in them continues to grow." (50)
Zero Carbon World has donated charging stations to the hotel and leisure industry to support the development of a national charging infrastructure. Founder, Kevin Sharpe, said, "We are delighted with the Marriott's commitment to conservation issues and have been thoroughly impressed with the proactive and steadfast commitment to installing electric vehicle charging stations. We hope to see more charging stations installed at other Marriott locations over the coming months." (52) LHM is offering free electric car charging and parking for anyone staying at the hotel that has an electric car.
Through LHM’s website they have showed that they behave in an ethical manner in a number of ways. LHM have introduced these practices due to the benefits of being ethical for the business as well as the environment and the community. The main reason for LHM being ethical is due to the fact that being ethical is a big topic in the news. So when consumers realise that LHM has shown that they are being ethical, they would want to stay there rather than somewhere where they are not principled. This shows that LHM will be gaining more customers from more people due to the diversity of being morally correct. Once customers realise that we being ethical towards the world, they will stop and think about the benefits we have bought upon and they would feel that we are doing the right thing. This will make them want to stay in the hotel more than the other competitors. This links into LHM’s aim of “Marriot profitability and owner return on investments” (13). This is because once more customers stay in LHM that means they will gain more profit and they will most likely recommend this hotel to other people which once again brings more customers which means LHM will gain more profit.
The reason for investing money into ethics is because LHM know people will value the idea of them being ethical and that they are not selfish to provide services and activities to people. This builds a good reputation for LHM as the fact that they are helping the world in a beneficial way will please their consumers. This will lead the consumers to back to LHM and this will increase their profit, which helps them to achieve their aims. The idea of LHM being ethical builds an image and a reputation towards their business. This also gives customers the idea that LHM have a right attitude to the world. LHM has “Installed 28,000 environmentally-friendly light bulbs” (53); this reassures their customers that the services they provide are not producing greenhouse gases. This is also cheaper for LHM as it will save them money, because of better waste-management procedures they have implemented. When I was phoning Robert Smith he claimed that “As an organisation we strive to reach our full potential of gaining profit. This is why we have done little things that can benefit us. However, we have done this cleverly as we know that customers like the idea of being ethical, so we have installed many services to make it look as if we are being ethical. Overall, this is beneficial for LHM and the environment” (13)
LHM do many things to become a greener business. Some ethical activities include “Increased recycling rate to 69%, Diverted all waste to a waste-to-energy plant, Eliminated disposable products” (54). These activities show that the company is highly concerned with carbon footprint. The reason that they are highly concerned with carbon footprint is because they want to reassure to their customers that the services they provide are not producing greenhouse gasses. As global warming is a worrying matter, future guests will be pleased that LHM are doing a variety of things to help the world become a `greener` world.
Marriott has been highly rewarded from being ethical towards the community and their workers by winning the following awards:
- The Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) Recognizes Marriott for Social Responsibility Leadership
- Marriott International has been named a member company of the FTSE4 Good Index Series for 2011
- US Postal Service Gives Marriott the “Green Stamp of Approval”
- Marriott Hotels No.1 In The UK Hotel Sector In The Sunday Times “Top 25 Best Big Companies To Work For”
- A Tradition of Trustworthiness – Marriott Recognized as One of the World’s Most Ethical Companies
- Marriott’s Women Executives Help Lead the Way
- Marriott Rises on Fortune's 2012 '100 Best Companies to Work For' List
(52)
This shows that they are not discriminating any of their employees as they have employed people from different backgrounds and the awards that they have won have shown that they treat everyone equally. Due to the equality that LHM has shown, their employees wouldn’t want to quit their job and go to another competitor, this makes LHM aim of “labour turnover of 25% “(13) easier to achieve. This further implies that the fact that their employees would like to stay working for them, they will still carry on working to the best of their ability, which helps them to carry on gaining profit. This once again makes it easier for LHM to meet their objective of “Sales of £20 million” (13). This will make LHM’s investors happy due to the fact that they will still get their return of their investment and still gain a profit; this leads LHM to achieve their aims of having associate satisfaction. This shows that LHM does not face much external pressure as they have showed that they can be ethical in a number of ways.
I think LHM are benefiting from being ethical as this builds a great reputation for them. Even though it may cost a bit more money to do a few things, it will all be worth it as the customers will feel happy that LHM are being morally correct, so they will want to come back. This helps LHM to achieve their objective of “Sales of £20 million” (13). Being ethical allows LHM to have an improved brand and business recognition. LHM will be a lot faster at achieving their aims and objectives by being ethical. For instance, their employees who are extremely happy to be working at LHM will not want to quit so LHM will meet their aim of “High levels of guest satisfaction” (13) as their employees will be motivated to carry on working hard. So their labour turnover would decrease.
What went well?
Time management was a crucial part of this controlled assessment. We had to complete unit one activity one”What is a business and what businesses do?” In numerous fifty minute lessons in which we wrote about LHM and our chosen business aims and objectives, purpose and activities, competition, ethics and the extent to which LHM have achieved their aims and objectives. At first it seemed very easy and achievable soon after I came to know this was going to be a challenging task, where there was a lot of research needed to be done, so I started off by creating a planning table. The planning table helped me to achieve all the work I needed to do prior to the deadline, where the controlled assessment began. I think it was a great idea to construct a planning table as it helped my structure my time effectively at school and at home. I was also kept motivated by my planning table as the deadlines for each section had a short span of time between them which made me determined to get my work completed before each deadline. This is because I identified that if I do not meet my deadline for one section, I was going to fall behind and my work would not be at its best quality. Meeting my deadlines for each activity was simple I even tried to complete the next activity and finish it a few days before its deadline, which gave me the confidence that I was on track. I used time practically to make sure I type quickly, because I knew I had to type a lot in a specific amount of time.
Improvements:
At first I was worried that I may not do as much as work at school than I can do at home, because at home I am focused and I know my goal and how to get to it by checking everything, making sure my sources are reliable, gathering information and making sure the quality of my work is sustainable. Although, at school I kept looking out for sources all over the internet which I can include in my controlled assessment. I highlighted a variety of things stated in my coursework. On the other hand it would have been beneficial to me if I started to hand write my notes which I was going to include in my controlled assessment. This could have saved me time and instead I could have done more research and gathered more information and sources. Another thing I could have done was; I fell behind due to my competition coursework because it was particularly difficult. And it made me concerned about my typing speed. For the next controlled assessment, I will definitely make sure that I have everything planned to precisions, before the controlled assessment begins. This is because I do not want to hesitate when I am typing up my work and fall behind due to my lack of speed which decreases my chances of my completing my work on time.
What went well?
I think my personal organisation was very good during this task. Once again I knew that personal organisation was a vital part in this activity, because once you are unorganised you will fall behind. That is why I tried to keep myself organised throughout this task. I knew that I was going to get rewarded with easy marks if I made sure that I was organised, so I made sure that I had everything before each lesson. Due to the exception of the purpose and activities section, I had all the notes that I needed to make sure that my work would be the best that it could be. My personal organisation is also shown through my research folder. For instance, I made sure that my research folder was split into sections where I sorted my sources in to each activity, making sure that I showed the relevant sources. This helped me as I didn’t have to keep searching everywhere for one particular section. My research folder contained the notes and research that I used in my controlled assessment. It contained LHM and Tesco’s aim, objectives, purpose, activities, competitors, ethics and the extent of which LHM have met their aims. Another way my personal organisation could be seen is in my bibliography. I knew that I would get awarded easy marks if I used a range of sources. This is why I used a variety of sources from books, websites, financial reports, articles, interviews, visits to businesses and phone calls. I have separated them into different sections, where it would be easier for the examiner to look for the different sources I have used. This simple layout also made it easier for the examiner to know where I got this source from; as I have separated I also devised myself a timetable so I knew exactly when I had to complete something by a specific date. This allowed me to keep balance of what I was doing and it also made me realise when I had to speed up, when I was going too slow. This allowed my motivation to build up.
Improvements:
However, I could have been a bit more organised from the very beginning. For instance, I didn’t split my research folder into sections, which made it difficult for me to actually find where specific things were. I think if I thought of this idea at the start, it would have been a lot easier for me to find particular things while writing my coursework, which means I probably could have had more time to add things. Once I thought of the idea of splitting my research folder into sections, I knew that I should do this with my bibliography as it would have been easier for the examiner to see where positioned certain sources. I also thought that this would help me to gain more marks for the choice of my presentation. To improve my personal organisation for the next task, I should make sure that I have every single section, even if it is challenging, before I go into the lesson. For me to do this I should ask my teacher for help if I don’t understand anything. This is because I have learnt from this task is that once you are behind, stress starts to build up, which makes you worried and you might make silly mistakes which could lose you valuable marks.
What went well?
I knew that using a wide range of sources would be easier for me to gain simple marks so I have used a range of sources from books, articles, financial reports, interviews, emails, phone calls and a couple of more. This shows that I have used a wide range of sources, which helps to make my work look like that it has been thoroughly researched. These diverse sources have been very beneficial as it helped me to make valid judgements when thinking about how LHM and Tesco could make improvements to their business. The data I found out was from areas such as aims, objectives, purposes, activities and more. As I have obtained most of these sources from their own corporate websites, this makes my sources reliable as I know that they would tell the truth. As I have written a lot, I knew that I had to have a lot of sources to back my work up. This is why the range of sources has helped me to make my work look more accurate. Throughout my work relevant sources have been used and I have used these sources in the correct way, which helped me to support my ideas. I picked precise points from the sources that I have used, instead of using the whole thing, therefore this shows that I have investigated thoroughly and I have only used significant points to back my work up. If I didn’t have any research and data, it would have been difficult to write up in the controlled assessment. For instance, the data I collected from the financial reports was beneficial as I could tell the difference between the revenues that certain business were making compared to its competitors.
Improvements:
At the beginning of the task, obtaining information was quite difficult for me as I didn’t know where to look exactly. But once I found out about their corporate websites, it was easier gathering information from then on. Next time, I will know exactly where to look for data and I won’t waste much time on trying to look exactly where to find this information. I believe that if I knew where to look precisely at the beginning I could have gained more information instead of wasting my time. For the next task, I should be able to be faster at gathering my information. I probably could have used a few more references from magazine and leaflets. Magazines would have enabled me to gain customers reviews about the products or services from each competitor, this would have allowed me to make a better judgement on which competitor is receiving the best reviews. Using leaflets would have allowed me to find out more about the businesses core values and what they aim to do as a business and how they will support the community. This would have helped me to generate more ideas on how each business could improve and beat its competitors. Moreover, I could have done a couple of interviews with customers from LHM and Tesco to see what they think of their business and what they could do to improve. This would have given me different perspective of their businesses. I also could have used more graphical data such as pie charts. This is because graphical data provides a better sense of what competitors are doing. For example, when looking at graphs you can easily compare the costs of the company and its competitors. This would have allowed me to get a better judgement on how LHM and Tesco could increase its profit.
What went well?
Throughout this task, I was interacting with members of my class about the businesses. I found this part very useful as it made it easier to gain ideas on what to write in certain parts of my coursework and it also helped me to speed up the process of gaining information. We would all find out the same ideas and at class we would discuss these ideas and we would write down anything that we didn’t know. We also joined together to do the interviews which made it easier for us as we all had a variety of questions to ask, which would be helpful as we gained more information like this. As we shared our information as a group, this made sure that we accessed the correct information. We also used our own time out of school to discuss our ideas. We helped each other to organise our information and when we plan to complete each section by. As we have used our own time, this shows that we co-operated well as a group and we were hard-working on completing this task. Having someone to talk to about my work helped me a lot as they would tell me when I am going off track or if I am behind. They would also help me when I was stuck on a particular point, leading me to expand to a variety of ideas. As a group we supported each other and we were not impatient, as we knew that this activity was challenging and we needed every bit of advice. We also helped each other to stay resilient, especially if we found one section difficult. This shows that we worked well as a team and we wouldn’t have any difficulty working together next time. We discussed many things which could help to speed up the process of gaining information and the presentation of our work. We followed the same timetable which helped us as every time we discussed about our work, we were on the same part, so we wouldn’t be confused. We all had ideas on how to improve our work which was an advantage as we all took those ideas and made it into one, which can be seen in areas such as our bibliography. We decided to split that into different sections which would be easier to see where we got particular elements. We also thought of a variety of ways on how we could use this data, which allowed our work to be well structured and thorough. As we were analysing our data we gave each other some suggestions about how we could calculate the benefits and disadvantages of the business and its competitors. Finally, we deliberated about improvements that LHM and Tesco could do to aim for all types of customers and gave each other advice on how to improve our judgement.
Improvements:
On the other hand, we could have tried to discuss on specific things that we all found challenging. For instance we all found the purpose and activities section quite hard, but we chose to ignore that as we didn’t want to face this hard challenge. But we have learnt that this was not the correct thing to do as the longer we keep it uncompleted, the harder it will be for us to complete later. This is why for the next task we will try to complete every single task even if we do face some obstacles along the way. For us to do this, we need to produce some ideas on how we could possibly generate some thoughts on the particular area which we found difficult. For example we could create a mind map where we write simple ideas and then later we could have expanded them into many different ideas. In my opinion, we could have speeded the process of gathering information from the range of sources even faster. This is because we all went to the same interviews and we all gained the same information. Next time, we will split into small groups where we would go to separate interviews after school we will explain what we have found out to each other. This further indicates that we may have had more chances of gaining more information which could have helped us even further and we probably could have added more valuable points. I also think it would have been beneficial of me if I spoke to other groups who were investigating Tesco’s competitors. This could have saved me valuable time as I wouldn’t have had to research their activities and purposes. I could have used this time efficiently by gathering information about difficult areas such as purpose and activities.
What went well?
I think my presentation was very good during this activity. I believe that this was the easiest part of gaining easy marks as you mainly had to be consistent with your presentation all the way through your work. I made sure that I had the same font and size throughout my work to make it look neat and so the examiner won’t get confused on what I am writing. I made my font size eleven; this is because I know this size is not too big or not too small, this will make it easier for the examiner to read without hesitating. I also used the same font-Calibri-as it is simple to read so it would have been easier for me to read when I was checking over my work. I also separated each section into paragraphs by giving them clear headings and along the way I even added sub headings to make sure it was easy to identify on what I was trying to discuss. As I have written in a lot of detail about certain points, I thought that it would be useful to separate each point into sub headings, as sub headings allow me to expand and go into depth about the heading. By separating each point into paragraphs, it will give the examiner the impression that I am talking about one particular topic in each section, so he/she will know when I am about to begin a new topic when I have started my new paragraph. My presentation was consistent throughout my controlled assessment, for example, I have only used the colours black and blue. The headings were written in blue as it stands out and the examiner will know when I am about to write the next segment. Using the colour black will also make it easier for the examiner as it is not too bright to frustrate the examiner’s eyes. These two colours contrasted well as it is clear to see when I was beginning my new point of a different section. Another way my clear presentation can be seen is through my bibliography. For instance, all the references that I have written throughout my work has been split up into sections to make it look eat and it will also be easier for the examiner to see how many sources that I have used for each section. My research folder is also presented in a neat and clear way. This is because during the controlled assessment I needed to go over my notes but I knew that it was going to take a long time to go through my notes to see what I have written. This is why I have sectioned each particular segment so through the controlled assessment it would be easier for me to look at what I have. I chose to do this because if I didn’t position my research into sections, I would have less time to write the actual work in the short space of time I had.
Improvements:
I was also confused about referencing my work but once I knew the layout of the bibliography and how to source it in my work, it was easier for me to reference my work. In my opinion, if I already knew the layout of the bibliography at the beginning it would have saved me a bit of time because I had to constantly change it as I kept getting it wrong. This probably lost me quite a bit of time which places me in a disadvantage as I could have used that time to expand on certain parts of the controlled assessment such as the comparison of purpose and activities. To make my work look even more presentable I could have used a couple of graphs to show the amount of profit or loss that LHM and Tesco had compared to its competitors each year. This would have backed up my points in the competition more effectively. Moreover, it could have helped me to have a clearer sense of how each business could improve its tactic to gain more profit. For the next activity, I will make sure that I will be creative and think of different ways of presenting my data which will help me to back up my points efficiently and it may gain me more marks. By using logos it could have made it easier to acknowledge which business I was talking about and it would have been easier to show which business I was comparing.