Strategic Management Within Total Quality Service

Introduction

Organizations undergo developmental phases from the time of inauguration to maturity. Managing the progress steps is critical in the growth of companies. Adopting principles and tools of strategic management is essential for organizations since they provide an opportunity for effective milestone forecasting and planning while influencing leadership development. When firms are affected by physical, financial, and environmental challenges, they employ strategic development to streamline their operations and mitigate possible issues. Additionally, planning, analysis, assessment, and monitoring of activities and operational frameworks that lead to the attainment of goals and objectives are expectations of a progressive strategic plan (Bagheri, 2016). Therefore, implementing emerging technologies, digital innovations, and customer satisfaction systems is arguably one of the principles of achieving a strategic management plan. Hospitality is competitive, given the investments and systems automation adopted within the operations. Although the industry experiences high competition under digital innovations, the quality and sustainability of service are under-utilized, hence the need to implement effective strategic planning to streamline focus and growth.

Tools and Principles of Strategic Management

Planning is an imperative foundation in the strategic administration of organizations. Businesses that demonstrate quality and competency of service usually employ strategic management systems within their operations. The process provides a blueprint that defines simple, manageable, attainable, and realistic milestones under a guided timeframe for an organization to realize within an implementation cycle. Bagheri (2016) maintains that a firm must utilize various strategic management principles and tools to achieve forecasted indicators. Strategic management approaches are imperative when providing effective service, quality, and value positioning.

Achieving values and quality within an organization requires a consolidated strategic focus. An effective organization strategy configures the utilization of value chain and stakeholder analyses to set up operational standards for a firm to gain a competitive advantage. Notably, empirical examination helps an organization underpin environmental requirements when manufacturing. Therefore, to ensure that strategic planning milestones are achieved and to attain a competitive edge, company executives employ human resources planning, enterprise resources management systems, and digital technology (Bagheri, 2016). Furthermore, organizations develop and implement modern frameworks to manage stakeholders’ perceived and achieved value and quality. Realizing value and quality positioning requires executing progressive strategic management systems for growth.

Balanced Scorecard

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is a strategic management toolkit that helps transform organizations to accomplish milestones. Türüdüoğlu, Suner, and Yıldırım (2014) aver that BSC interprets the mission and strategy of a firm into realistic goals where specific measures are derived from achieving set targets. The authors further state that BSC captures quantitative indicators and qualitative factors that are significant for hospitality sector operations. The strategic management tool influences performance and quality in the industry since the relevance of tangible and intangible assets have exceedingly improved. In addition, the authors maintain that when BSC is used in the hotel industry, it establishes stronger performance indicators, which enhance financial outcomes. The BSC model is relevant in the hospitality sector because it strengthens management strategies through the cause-result relationship (Türüdüoğlu et al., 2014). Therefore, as a company attempts to accomplish its mission and objectives, it leverages challenges likely to occur through BSC to achieve growth.

Kaizen

The Kaizen tool provides a step-to-step improvement system in an organization. The approach is to achieve quality and value in the workplace. The strategy is based on continuous improvements, developing a strong team spirit, and incremental progress in scheduled tasks. Rauch, Damian, Holzner, and Matt (2016) illustrate that lean kaizen management is not common in the hospitality sector but can be achieved through integration. Yukai resort in Japan applies Lean Kaizen to help realign employees to needy departments. For instance, dinner and breakfast are buffeted, which minimizes costs while allowing waiters to support the kitchen or laundry, reducing staffing requirements (Rauch et al., 2016). The authors maintain that gradual developmental changes unified in the philosophy of Lean Kaizen can inscribe quality and value in operations and products, leading to customer satisfaction. This strategic management tool is essential in developing a platform for attaining quality and value for products and services in the hospitality sector.

Six Sigma Frameworks

Organizations in the service sector focus on attaining sustainability through quality and value systems. Saad and Khamkham (2018) discuss the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) model as an integrated approach for reducing defects and variations in a company’s operations. According to the authors, integrating total quality management and LSS leads to better quality and value. Thus, to ensure environmental standards are met, companies implement safe sourcing systems, efficient distribution mechanisms, and simplified product development phases that enhance quality and conserve the environment. LSS supply chains are adopted as platforms that stimulate supply chain processes to deliver quality products to the end user cost-effectively (Saad & Khamkham, 2018). The LSS model prioritizes swift operations that enhance waste elimination, such as value identification and sequencing. It focuses on cost reduction through eradicating waste while utilizing workers’ capabilities. Therefore, the model relies on the knowledge in a firm and breaks down systemic barriers that hinder employees from applying statistical problem-solving systems using a step-to-step guide (Saad & Khamkham, 2018). The model supports aspects such as organizational structure, leadership, link to suppliers, effective communication, and quality commitments, which are important performance indicators.

Assessment and Performance Management

Goal-oriented organizations schedule assessments of their processes to establish quality and performance levels. Measuring organizational activities or operations is vital in maintaining quality and value. Performance management is a critical aspect of strategic planning approaches since it inspires standards within company operations as builders towards quality and value. In addition, Scroggins (2015) notes that staff motivational techniques, such as promotions, challenging work environments, and compensation packages, influence an organization’s performance. Therefore, assessing employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders is an essential initiative in achieving the operational goals of a company.

In addition, developing standards and industry best practices is a significant part of strategic management. Common practices such as leadership, planning, people management, information, and process administration have been benchmarks for quality and comparative advantage. Industries such as hospitality are expected to employ standardization metrics in managing quality and value due to the nature of their activities (Molina-Azorín, Tarí, Pereira-Moliner, López-Gamero, & Pertusa-Orteg, 2015). Observing standards and industry best practices is a substantial prospect of strategic planning and can be attained through periodic exercise and process assessment as a performance management approach.

Stakeholder Mapping

Stakeholders within an organization can influence operations to achieve or hinder value creation and quality. Managing stakeholders’ needs is an important strategic planning principle since it directly correlates with cost and value positioning. Bagheri (2016) outlines stakeholder mapping as an important tool that helps to evaluate and manage stakeholder networks. The framework assists in classifying stakeholders based on their interests, such as political, social, and economic, for secure processing and management. Therefore, stakeholder mapping is significant in understanding the strategic position of an organization. The framework can also be employed in the hospitality industry to manage material sourcing and supplier trends, among other aspects. Appreciating stakeholders’ relative position is essential in delivering quality and total value for firms.

Organizational Culture

Organizational culture refers to distinctive competencies, innovative outlooks, and orientations that define a company’s approach to operations. It is a strategic management tool influencing quality and value (Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2015). When employees commit to their firm’s culture, the quality of operation is enhanced, which leads to growth. Szczepańska-Woszczyna (2015) elaborates that organizational culture acts as a tool that bounds the intention of employees to achieve excellence when reflecting on their company’s image. According to the author, an organizational culture that supports innovation focuses on managing uncertainty, improving communication systems, and enhancing decision-making. For a successful culture to be cultivated in a company, principles such as corporate strategy, pro-innovation structures, and human resources management systems are essential. A pro-innovation organizational culture facilitates the sharing of knowledge, development of skills, tolerance, and respect for both conformist and non-conformist attitudes within a firm (Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2015). Such integrated approaches are imperative for quality and competitive advantage in the market. Accordingly, organizational culture sets out criteria for determining positive attitudes and values for employees to attain organizational goals.

Theoretical Foundation

The theory of strategic management is attributed to various positive developments in and growth of organizations. Strategic management theories explain how to improve information flow, enhance people’s behaviors, and ensure that motivational elements are handled within models that bring success and growth (Scroggins, 2015). For example, the human motivation theory seeks to understand employees’ motivational structures. The theory predicts an individual’s perception of work processes. According to Scroggins (2015), its main concern is to understand the behavioral characteristics of individuals to make a prediction. The theory is related to studies such as social sciences and cognitive, physiological, and behavioral models. Scroggins (2015) elaborates that it seeks to articulate behavior traits that have a link with the basic biological functions of employees and their cognitive capabilities. The relevance of the theory in strategic management emanates from the perspective that understanding people’s behavior and their motivational elements can help establish structures that influence them positively for growth and value.

The human motivation theory is classified into several subcategories: incentive-based intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, humanistic, and arousal-based. The incentive model demonstrates employee inclinations to rewards. Intrinsic and extrinsic incentive motivation theory explains employee motivation systems from either external or internal sources. For instance, if an employee is appreciated for performing exemplarily, he or she is likely to be intrinsically motivated. The same applies to physical rewards, such as gifts or tips, which extrinsically motivate workers (Scroggins, 2015). Hence, rewarding employees is an important practice that maintains quality within a sector. The arousal model suggests that individuals are linked to their desire to either increase or decrease their stimulation intensity (Scroggins, 2015). Employees regulate their arousal by participating in activities that excite or relax them. The theory is significant to strategic management since it provides a platform for ascertaining whether job tasks or procedures have arousal elements that can yield a comfortable work environment. The arousal theory is linked to an organization’s business and performance systems. Although Scroggins (2015) argues that the model cannot be used to demonstrate job satisfaction and commitment, he illustrates that it is appropriate when approached from a perspective of stress reduction. The model is relevant in the hospitality industry, where most services and operational procedures are repetitive and can be a source of workplace stress due to limited challenges. Human motivational theories are critical in strategic management since they influence the quality of operations, leading to value and customer satisfaction.

Implementing quality in the workplace, especially in the hospitality sector, requires fulfilling stakeholders’ needs. The humanistic motivational theory reveals that human behavior and motivations are based on cognitive capabilities (Scroggins, 2015). The author links the model to the needs theory conceptualized by Abraham Maslow. Scroggins (2015) highlights Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as essential for firms in establishing quality standpoints. The theory illustrates the needs of stakeholders through a bottom-up approach and states that higher needs can only be attained after the lower ones. To increase workers’ performance per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, companies must ensure that their employees achieve self-actualization through positive workplace policies and procedures. Thus, strategic management plans should consider how stakeholders’ desires and employees’ needs would be met to encourage growth and gain a competitive advantage.

Strategic management is centered on the basic tenets of handling partnership interests. According to Jones, Hillier, and Comfort (2016), stakeholder theory demonstrates the interest of entities involved in company operations, such as shareholders, customers, suppliers, employees, and society. Therefore, while managing contracting interests, it is significant that quality approaches are used to attain sustainability. For instance, to maintain prominence within operations, an organization must ensure that the quality of materials and the entire value chain conform to the set standards. Stakeholder theory can be integrated to manage sustainability approaches for quality of service in the hospitality sector. According to Jones et al. (2016), stakeholder theory demonstrates that firms can be sensitive to the concerns of stakeholders, such as customers, suppliers, and society, to gain long-term business relationships, which enhances sustainability. Arguably, organizations that invest in stakeholder management and generate discourses on possible distractors, such as inter and intra-political and environmental issues, realize quality and sustainability.  

Leadership as a Tool of Strategic Management

Leadership has a significant impact on the strategic management of organizations. Strategic leadership defines success and growth for companies. One of the important roles of leadership in firms is to provide a focus for their operations. Jabbar and Hussein (2017) explain that an effective leader offers a strategic vision for a company. The vision builds stimuli for all the operations of the firm. According to the authors, leadership contributes to structuring organizational goals to attain the strategic vision. A significant role of leaders is achieving the company objectives through the mission provided (Jabbar & Hussein). The authors further illustrate that leadership influences the quality of thinking, thereby developing paradigm shifts to workable or innovative programs that achieve quality and value. Thus, leadership is critical in facilitating and structuring work processes that benefit employees and deliver quality and value to customers.

Every company’s success lies in its workers’ motivation and satisfaction. Leadership plays a significant part in designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating work systems for employees. Implementing progressive human resources policies and procedures leads to a sustainable, resilient, and motivated workforce. Szczepańska-Woszczyna (2015) posits that companies require managers who organize and engage employees to achieve the forecasted goals. Effective leadership applies motivational techniques to have high-performing and committed teams. Various leadership styles, such as transactional and transformational, stimulate workers’ intellectual performance (Szczepańska-Woszczyna, 2015). Importantly, leaders drive a company’s quality and value positioning by implementing motivation systems, managing knowledge acquisition, and controlling workers’ turnover intentions.

The relationship between stakeholders is an important aspect of the growth of a firm. Leadership manages the competing connection between company stakeholders. For instance, strong leadership ensures expectations of customers are met by  choosing quality material supplies, effective operational processes, and pricing strategies. A good leader provides alternative models to manage a product value chain that yields quality and value. Stakeholders’ needs are essential to attain a strategic plan. Therefore, leadership is a vital link that resolves the divergent interests of stakeholders and the organization.

The contemporary hospitality sector faces stiff competition, which requires effective management. Langvinienė and Daunoravičiūtė (2015) aver that providing quality and valuable service are the main areas of competitive advantage in this sector. The authors add that customer needs, innovation, and adequate pricing are the modalities that drive growth in the industry. In addition, Langvinienė and Daunoravičiūtė (2015) maintain that evaluating the performance of a business strategy is key to quality and value positioning in hospitality. The authors’ analysis through a business excellence model (BEM) reveals that leadership is critical in managing quality and value in the sector. The principles of strategic focus, measures of employee motivation, and stakeholders’ interests apply in the hospitality industry since it is service intensive and, thus, requires strategic leadership. Providing a deliberate direction through a clear mission and objectives while managing stakeholders’ relationships in the hospitality sector is a significant leadership role that can promote an organization’s growth and competitive advantage. 

Conclusion

The hospitality sector has high competition levels, which creates the need to implement effective strategic planning to enhance focus and growth. Strategic management principles, practices, and tools, such as Balance scorecard, Lean Six Sigma, and Kaizen, are relevant in providing quality and value in the industry. Strategic management practice is necessary to guide firms’ procedures since it provides simple, manageable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound milestones for growth and development. Additionally, quality and value positioning for companies require conceited efforts integrated between executives and employees. Strategic planning ensures the consolidation of synergies between management and workers while mainstreaming the efficiency and effectiveness of operations for sustainability. However, effective leadership is critical to achieving the milestones set within the strategic planning systems. Organizational leadership should implement the right approaches to enhance a positive culture and fulfill stakeholders’ needs to gain a competitive advantage.

 

References

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