Introduction
This article is an analysis of principles that have been discussed in the 6th chapter of Competitive policy dynamics by Warren. The chapter talks about resource development. It explains the stages through which resources follow while undergoing the procedure of development. The level of contribution of the property to performance of the business as a whole is different at the diverse phases of development and this is analyzed in detail in this chapter. One of the major resources that the organization needs to develop is the human resources. This means the people who are in the organization. Human beings are a very vital asset that any business possesses. This is because people are the ones who participate in the day to day running of the organization. This therefore means that if the human resource is performing well in the organization, that is, the productivity of the human resource is satisfactory, the productivity of the whole organization will be satisfactory too. The organization might be having very productive machines but if the operators are not working at the optimal level then the output of the machine will also not be optimal. Other resources also exist in the organization. They include premises, machines and other assets like motor vehicles among others. Financial resources are also very vital in a business and we can not ignore them (Warren 2002).
The business we are going to analyze is a hotel and it offers services like accommodation, conference facilities, food as well as recreational facilities like swimming pools, playing grounds for children, bars, restaurants, gym, and nightclub among others. The resources that the hotel possess include; gym facilities, buildings, Kitchenware, staff, vehicles for hiring among others.
Service marketing is different from products or goods marketing in the sense that in product marketing, the customer gets goods which are tangible and in the event that there is any default in the good or the customer is not satisfied with the good, it is possible for the customer to return the good to the seller and provide evidence of the defaults in the good that led the customer rejecting the good. Such evidence include an expiry date on the cover of the good which shows that in deed by the time the customer bought the good it had expired and the seller or the marketer of the good will be satisfied with the client’s complain and give the customer another good that will satisfy him (the customer).However in service marketing, the client can not provide evidence that can show that in deed the service was provided poorly and because of this the service giver may feel that the customer’s complain is not genuine and in the process a dispute may arise leading to the customer going home unsatisfied and the service provider will lose the customer. Furthermore, the customer may go on and spread bad comments about the service provider and as a result the service provider will lose more clients and hence the market share will drastically shrink. Thus, service marketing is not based on how successful the marketing is but also on how thriving were the operations of the service within. Consequently, the operations of the business play a chief role in presenting and allowing the clientele to experience the best quality service (Garry 2005).
If a department in the service of the business operations fails then the other service sectors will follow to be unsuccessful and will result in leaving the consumer unsatisfied with no wish to return and experience the same service again.
As a result, it is important that employees as well as managers be trained in service operations in order to provide a high quality service which eventually would bring more customers and more income.
Further, the report will discuss using life examples on how sectors of service operations and marketing are connected and why their success is vital for a flourishing business. The models used in order to analyze a negative and positive service operations of a business will include; the Servuction Model and the Service Triangle.To illustrate this we will use two experiences one a client and another by an employee and we will show how their dissatisfaction affects the performance of the entire organization (Fred 2009).
Experience 1
Model Used – The Servuction Model
This model shows how several factors are used to influence the service experience to both the customer and the service provider. In our case the service provider is a beach hotel. The model includes; the customer, other customers, service providers, services cape and the invisible systems of the business.
The Experience – An evening fight in a hotel
A customer enters a hotel and goes straight to the reception. The place seems to be a bit busy and the receptionist appears to be overwhelmed with the large number of clients who continue coming in as the night approaches. The customer speaks French and the receptionist does not seem to understand the language well. The customer want to inquire about a booking he had made earlier in the day by means of the internet and be given the direction and the key to the room he had booked. Due to communication breakdown the customer appears to be frustrated and insults the receptionist who feels frustrated too and insults the customer in English. The customer understands the insult and a fight starts between the two. Other customers feel terrified and start running away from the hotel and as a result several customers get injured. Some hours later the news of the incident are aired in the television and other customers counsel their booking in the hotel (Daly, Fisher & Jackson 2004).
Evaluation of the model used in the experience
The model illustrates how unqualified staff can cause losses in an organization. This is because the problem started because the receptionist did not understand the language of the client and to add on that the client did not apologize to the client for the frustration he had caused to him (the client) and show the client someone who could have helped him (the client) and instead he retaliates to the client’s insult and causing all the problem. The incident causes injuries on some clients and as a result other clients council their books leading to loss of revenue to the organization. The news is also aired on the television and more potential customers avoid booking the hotel and grounds of their security. As a result the organization loses pat of its market share to its competitors and hence more revenues are lost (Howard 2007).
Experience 2
Model Used – The Market-Focused Management Model
This representation believes that everything revolves around the customer. Therefore, it focuses on various elements of the company that are responsible for the service delivery. These components include; the service strategy, the employees and the systems. Moreover, the model is presented in a form of a triangle diagram, known as The Services Triangle.
The Experience – Customer shocked by the Service and the Atmosphere
It is early in the morning and an employee who had been absent due to an injury he sustained in the course of his work arrives at the workplace. The injury was caused by an explosion of a gas cylinder in the kitchen which made the employee to jump outside through the window from the first flow and fractured his leg. The management argued that the blast was caused by the employee and therefore he should pay the hospital bill himself and also he should pay for the damages caused by the explosion. On arrival to the job the employee is assigned a new job as a waiter and the employee feels as if his services to the organization are being undervalued. The employee spends the entire day stressed and as a result does not serve the customers well creating a lot of disorganization in the hotel which Leads to a lot of complaints from the customers. Some of the customers walk away to other hotels to seek for better services. As a result the hotel losses some customers to its competitors and also some revenues are lost in the process (Hoffman & Bateson 2006).
Evaluation of the Model Used in this Experience The model above shows how action by the management can lead to employee dissatisfaction and which in turn can lead to poor work by the employee and as a result the customers end up being dissatisfied with the service they receive in the organization. Lack of motivation on the side of employees caused by actions of the management can lead to underperformance by the employees hence adversely affecting the performance of the whole organization. This relationship can be shown by the flowchart below. The resources are interrelated in such a way that they depend on each other. This means that in the event that one resource, for instance, the human resource or the employees underperforms or is inefficient, the other resources will not be used optimally leading to general inefficiency in the organization.
Resources’ contribution in an organization
One of the topics that the chapter talks about is recognizing the fact that resources contribute in a different way to an organization while they go through dissimilar stages of development. In the context of our hotel of study, the fact can easily be observed. This is because there are dissimilar kinds of assets in the organization. For instance, human resources behave differently when it comes to the levels of input. According to the theory of learning curve (Stingster 2009), the productivity of a member of staff varies as the person gains experience of the work he/she is doing. At first the person goes through the orientation stage where the other workers, especially the seniors give details to the person on how he or she is supposed to carry out the job. At this stage the person’s productivity is almost zero. As the person continues working and gaining experience, he starts being more productive and the productivity increases as the person continues staying on the job. This explains why many companies require experience before giving someone a job. The knowledge curve starts with a low productivity level at the initial years and increases until it reaches climax and as the person starts aging his productivity starts falling again.
Alternatively, the other assets like motor vehicles and other such resources starts having very high productivity levels at the initial years and the level of productivity falls slowly as the asset starts depreciating due to wear and tear. The productivity of financial assets like capital depends on the productivity of the other assets, especially the human resources. This is because the return on capital is dependent on the performance of the business as one.
The second topic studied in the chapter is the importance of knowing as well as controlling the pace at which assets or resources develop.Such resources include staff, assets customers as well as products. If the manager has prior knowledge of such variability, he is able to carry out a proper planning so that the organization can get the maximum possible output from a resource before the productivity of the resource start declining. By doing this the organization is able to get the maximum possible returns from an investment in an asset or a resource (Warren 2002). For instance, the managers can plan the recruitment process in a manner that there is no given time when a substantial number of workers are leaving the organization at ones. This is because if that happens the employees who will come to replace the outgoing ones will be very unproductive and therefore during that period the productivity of the business as a whole may be too low to an extend of not meeting the customer’s demand. Such a situation can lead the organization to loss both profitability and part of the market share which had cost the organization a huge quantity of money to maintain. For the other assets it is also important to alternate the purchasing period of the assets so that their productivities do not decline at the same time to give rise to the same problem discussed earlier (Tumfweko 2003).
The other topic discussed is the resources that deteriorate rather than appreciating.Such assets comprise machinery, equipment among others. As discussed earlier care must be taken to make sure that the assets do not end their lives together thereby halting production. This can be achieved by purchasing assets of different lifespan so that at no given time such assets can become obsolete at the same time. This will also help the business to make maximum use of an asset at the time when its productivity is high to maximize its return.
The other area the chapter talks about is how to attract and retain potential customers and staffs before they are active, that is, before other firms in the industry attract them. This can be achieved only if the management is proactive enough to predict trends in both the labor and goods market. The tools that can help them achieve this are staff with good knowledge of forecasting techniques and good equipment for forecasting like computers and the relevant soft wares.
The chapter also talks about the consequences of strategic decisions which have long- term impacts on the organization. Such impacts can either be positive or else negative. Some of the decisions which can have long-term positive effects on the organization are; cost cutting decision which can easily drive competitors out of market and also a result of research and development which can take many years for the competitors to achieve. It might be a new product whose formula is difficult to be made by other organizations.
It also analyses the continued contribution of personnel in the business after they leave the organization. This can be in terms of giving advice to existing staff on situations which they had gone through while they were still in the organization when such situations recur. In terms of customers, they can market the services by word of mouth to potential customers hence enabling the organization get more customers and increase its market share. This has been proved by renowned marketers to be the cheapest way of marketing the services of a company (Thomas 2003).
Lastly, there is a strong connection between the strategic framework of the business and resource development. This is because resource development is normally done in conformity with the strategic goals of the organization. This means that the resources are developed in a manner that will make them contribute towards the organizations ability to achieve its corporate goals (Zahid 2008).
Conclusion
In conclusion resource development is a complex issue and it can not be tackled by one manager alone. It requires the effort of all the managers, that is, every departmental head and their juniors to make it successful. This is because they are different in the organization and they are found in different departments. However, the resources depend on each other and failure of one of the resources affects other areas of the business.
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