CASE ANALYSIS The Portman Hotel Company Group D1 Samarpita Dutta, Alok Jain SP, Ganesh Shanker Anand,

Karan Kapoor, Venu Madav Madura

Problem Definition How to improve the effectiveness of Personal Valet (PA) system at Portman Hotel Company?

SWOT Analysis

Strengths Personal Valet system was new to American Hospitality industry- Competitive Advantage The employees were called as associates boosting their morale and ego. More responsibility entrusted on the employee increasing sense of ownership Associates were expected to multi-task thus better skill and knowledge

Weakness Company was disorganised and less formalized Management Lenient towards low performers Personal Valets did not have a clearly defined role Low coordination among the team members due to presence of PVs and Floaters Improper sharing of workload due to presence of Slouches Too much responsibility on Scott made him look inefficient

Opportunity Market was on lookout for revolution in the way hospitality industry operated. (Portman for the first time adopted Asian Level of Hospitality in Northern America) Increasing level of occupancy (Close to 100% by November 1989) Showed sign of Industry boom.

Threat PV system was labour intensive rather than system intensive Portmans tariff were slightly higher than the other San Francisco Hotels Fluctuating seasonal demand, making employee recruitment difficult New players such as Mandarin and Nikko were also trying to adopt Asian style of hospitality

Environmental Analysis

Political Factors Presence of too many employee unions in San Francisco affecting decision making of management.

Economic Factors Higher wage rates in US Boom in American hospitality industry observed

Cultural Factors Asian style of hospitality a new concept in American hotel industry (Change in work culture observed) Employees found it difficult to adjust to new style of working (Both as cleaners and attendants)

Critical Factors Customers Dissatisfaction Employee Dissatisfaction (among the PVs) Uneven workload to PVs

Detailed Analysis

Customer Dissatisfaction

The customers were not happy with the PV system since many experienced such system for the first time. Sometimes the customers were made to wait which made them unhappy. High wage rates in US made it difficult for Portman to recruit more PVs like in Asia and so there was only one PV per guest. The floaters were not doing their job properly sometime and this also led to the dissatisfaction of customers. Also customers were confused about how much tip to be placed and an attempt by hotel to inform the customer in this regards created customer dissatisfaction.

Employee dissatisfaction

During high occupancy the 5 star PV teams were given floaters. There were lot of complaints about the floaters that they were kind of stealing their portion of tip and even though they didnt work well. Also the Portman hotel was highly departmentalized. The PVs words were not taken seriously by staff in other department like the porters, kitchen staff etc. which slowed down the working of hotel operations which in turn resulted in the dissatisfaction of the customers. PVs had to do all the work leading to lack of clarity in their job responsibilities. They were given a lot of responsibilities but not given enough authority. PVs also need to be empowered to take decisions and delegate some of the routine tasks to other department employees effectively. Due to company policy of not laying off the slouches, more work load was imparted on more meticulous workers, thus bringing down the quality. Extra load to PVs during high occupancy

During the months of Aug to November and during May to June the occupancy is high and the ratio of PVs per guests is less. So the guests are not given the special attention required and are usually disappointed with the level of service. This is also a difficulty faced by HR department as employee requirement fluctuated throughout the year.

Plan of Action Floater system should be eliminated as this would not only demotivate PVs but also interrupt smooth working of PVs (PVs will not be able to develop good relations with guests as continuity is missed out) Peer rating system should be implemented to discourage free riders. Healthy competition among different PV groups should encouraged and groups should be awarded periodically. Contract labours should be employed to manage high occupancy during peak time.