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8/12/2019 Alamo Thesis
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ABSTRACT
Tide:
QUALITY OF FRONT OFFICE SERVICES OF HOTELS IN TARLAC CITY
Researcher:CriseldaO.Alamo
Degree: Master of Bsi!ess Admi!istratio!
Adviser: Eli"a#et$ A. Amrao% &BA
The study made an in-depth assessment of the quality of front office services of
selected hotels in Tarlac City namely: Gran ri! "conotel# $a %a&a Rica 'otel# Central
ar( 'otel and TS) 'ostel from *oth the conceptual standpoint and that of service quality
measurement
The study identified the profile of the selected hotels as to location# num*er of
rooms# num*er of hotel employees# type of clientele and years in operation and the level of
hotel guests+ e!pectations and hotel guests,actual e!perience of the quality of front office
service performance across all five service quality dimensions tangi*ility# relia*ility#
responsiveness# assurance# empathy./ The e!istence of service quality gaps 0ere also
identified and the possi*le solutions and recommendations 0ere proposed/
1n general# the results of the study revealed that 2relia*ility3 dimension 0as sho0n
to *e the strongest service quality dimension for 'otel B# C and D and for 'otel A4
2tangi*ility3 dimension 0as the least important dimension/
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Chapter ,
1'" R5B$"% A6D 1T7 BAC8GR5)6D
1ntroduction
The *ottom line of a firm+s mar(eting strategies and tactics is to ma(e profits and
contri*ute to the gro0th of the company in order to adapt in this fast-paced and
increasingly competitive mar(et/ Customer satisfaction and quality in products or
services are some of the concerns affecting all organi9ations# *e it large or small# profit or
non-profit# glo*al or local/ %any companies are interested in studying# evaluating and
implementing mar(eting strategies that 0ould aim at improving customer retention and
ma!imi9ing share of customers in vie0 of the *eneficial effects on the financial
performance for the firm/ Glo*al competition in relation to customer retention is forcing
companies to turn to quality in order to survive/ erhaps the most important reason for
pursuing quality is that quality pays/
As many industrial sectors mature# competitive advantage through high quality
service is an increasingly important 0eapon in *usiness survival/ The hotel industry has
certainly not *een e!empted from increased competition or rising consumer e!pectations of
quality/ The hotel industry in Thailand is currently undergoing a dramatic transformation and
e!periencing heightened competition/ The Thai-*ased hotels have increased their competition
and no0 instead of having only a nice room to dra0 cuatomen in# they offer %high quality staff+
as an amenity/ Guest satisfaction is the hifhctfpriority foro0ners and managers competing
0ith hundreds of others# and oomiden1 a hotel to ftay in ipoosattaya# ;
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hotels+ front office staff/ or(ing as a front office staff offers a 0ide level of challenges and
opportunities to providers of services/ ith the onslaught of the information age# hotel
guests have *ecome (no0ledgea*le a*out 0hat to e!pect in terms of front office services/
'otels no0 need to adapt to the needs of the guests and should *nng innovative 0ays of
responding to the needs and demands of customers to achieve quality service/
Tarlac City# *eing one of the premiere tourist destinations in Central $u9on#
hilippines# is a culturally diverse hu* famous for its delicious food and large plantations/ 1t
has hotels that are in e!istence for many years/ This implies that the hotel industry in the city
is profita*le/ The yearly arrival of domestic and foreign tourists ma(es the hotel *usiness
via*le/ This fact presents a great necessity for hotel providers here in this locale to put more
emphasis on achieving high level of quality service at all times focusing more in the services
*eing provided *y the front office department
=ront office department of a hotel sets the first and last impression to the guests/ 1t is
the department that comes into contact 0ith clients/ They are responsi*le in 0elcoming
guests to the accommodation section> meeting and greeting them# ta(ing and organi9ing
reservations# allocating chec( in and chec(-out rooms# organi9ing porter service# issuing
(eys and other security arrangements# passing on messages to customers and settling the
accounts/ But still challenges in the delivery of front office services seem to *e inevita*le/
According to the study of eissinger ;
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some hotels tall short in meeting guests+ e!pectation/
revious researches e!plored customer satisfaction regarding the service quality
of all areas in the hotel so that the hotel can assess the customers+ e!pectations/ This
study utili9ed five factors of service quality namely: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness,
assurance and empathyfor the identification of the level of quality of front office services
only# and tried to e!plore the customers+ e!pectations of the quality of service and
customers3 perception of the actual quality of service performance provided at selected
hotels in Tarlac City/
The end goal of this underta(ing might provide some insights into ho0
customers rate the service quality and assess customers+ satisfaction 0hich 0ill
eventually contri*ute to the efforts directed to improving the quality of front office
services/
Statement of the ro*lem
The study aimed to loo( into the quality of front office services of hotels in
Tarlac
City/
Specifically# this study sought to ans0er the follo0ing questions:
,/ hat is the profile of the hotels in Tarlac City as to:
,/, $ocation
,/; 6um*er of Rooms
,/? 6um*er of 'otel "mployees
IAType of Clientele
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,/@ ears in 5peration 2hat is the level of hotel guests+ e!pectations and hotel guests+
perception of the actual quality of front office service performance of selected hotels in Tarlac City
identified in terms of:
;/, Tangi*ility
;/; Relia*ility
;/? Responsiveness
;/ Assurance
;/@ "mpathy
?/ 'o0 is the discrepancy *et0een hotel guests+ e!pectations and the hotel guests+ perception of the
actual quality of service performance e!plained
Significance of the Study
The study 0ill *e significant to the service industry as it 0ill contri*ute to further
understanding of important service quality attri*utes and may contri*ute to the understanding of
a specific hotel service specifically front office services and may provide recommendations for
the improvement of that service/
The findings of the study have a great value in helping the hotel administrators# hotel
managers# front office personnel# hotel guests# as 0ell as future researchers/
To the 'otel Administrators# it 0ould serve as a *asis on the (ind of programs and policies that
might *e complemented to improve the service quality of hotels/
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Chapter ?
%"T'5DS 5= ST)D A6D S5)RC"S 5= DATA
This chapter 0as devoted to the description of the methods and procedure that ere done in order to
o*tain the data# ho0 they have *een analy9ed# interpreted# and ho0 the conclusions 0ere made/ This section
&ustified the means in 0hich the study ha *een conducted/
Research Design
The descriptive method of research 0as used in this study/ Descriptive research method
is designed to gather information a*out the quality of front office services of selected hotels in
Tarlac City across all service quality dimensions/ 1n the hand*oo( of Tarlac State )niversity
Graduate School ;
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,
convenient accessi*ility and pro!imity to the researcher/ They 0ere selected *ecause they 0ere the easiest
to recruit for the study and the researcher did not consider selecting su*&ects that are representative of the
entire population/ The num*er of guests in different hotels in Tarlac City is &ust too large that it is
impossi*le to include every one of them/ The researcher chose to use this sampling technique *ecause it is
fast# ine!pensive# easy and the su*&ects 0ere readily availa*le/
Ta*le , revealed the frequency distri*ution of hotel respondents 0ho 0illingly participated in the
study/
Ta*le ,
=requency Distri*ution of 'otel Respondents 0ho 0illingly participated in the study
rfae nevefF8im of tach of the hotels as(ed ?< guesta to ans0er the lBpart of the ceooonaire
upon their arrival to e!plore the guests3 e!pectations to0ards the five > mcnsv58 of service quality
0ithout them (no0ing that there 0ould *e another set of fatttosiro 0ith same components that 0ould
*e given to them art ;./ The same poop of guests 0ere as(ed to ans0er art ; of the questionnaire
to e!plore the customers+ perception of the actual quality of service performance/ ;H guests of 'otel B
returned the completed questionnaire upon departure ;/,IJ. follo0ed *y 'otel A guests 0ho
returned ;E ;,/EIJ.# 'otel D guests returned ;@ ;
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returned *y the guests of 'otel C ,E/EIJ./ A total of ,
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?
guests 0hich includes the gender# age/ nationality# occupation# purpose of trip and frequency
of visits/
Before the distri*ution of the questionnaires for the respondents to ans0er# the
questionnaire has *een discussed first *y the researcher and the front office managerN
supervisor to e!amine the first draft of the questionnaire and any am*iguities over terms and
questions have *een corrected *efore the scheduled pilot test/ Any suggestions coining from
the management for the *etterment of the design of a suita*le questionnaire Oerved as a great
help for the researcher/
i8iinti0aliti0 Relia*ility
The instrumentation employed for this research 0as modeled after the S"RML)A$ scale
developed *y arasuraman# Peithaml & Berry ,HH
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voluntary *asis and all information provided 0ould *e (ept private and confidential/ Luestionnaires 0ere
distri*uted onh to those 0ho agreed to participate in the study/ The researcher then *riefly e!plained the
nature and requirement of the survey to the receptionistN front des( cler( of each of the fourparticipating
hotel# 0ho administered the questionnaires to the guests/
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Chapter @S)%%AR 5= =16D16GS# C56C$)S156S A6D R"C5%%"6DAT156S
All data gathered 0ere analy9ed# interpreted and 0ere synthesi9ed in this chapter/ The
findings *ased on the pro*lems identified 0ere presented including the conclusions dra0n and
the recommendations proposed *y the researcher/
This is a study that made a descriptive analysis of the service quality of the front office
services provided *y the selected hotels in Tarlac City/ 1t utili9ed five factors of service quality
namely: tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy and made an effort to e!plore
the hotel guests e!pectations and hotel guests+ actual e!perience of the quality of hotel front
office services/
Summary of =indings
,/ rofile of the 'otels in Tarlac City as to $ocation# 6um*er of rooms/ 6um*er of
'otel "mployees# Type of Clientele# ears in 5peration.
The assured mar(et of 'otel A and 'otel B are usually coming from trav elers assing
*y the %ac Arthur 'igh0ay/ 'otel Cs close pro!imity to la9a $uisita Center# guarantees also
a potential mar(et/
'otel B3s ratio of the total num*er of rooms offered to its total num*er of BBployees is almost
,:,
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,
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,
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,
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,, i/. staff providing services 0ith XSmileX# ii/. employees 0illingness to help iii/.
safe feeling of customers in transaction# iv/. customer+s *est interests at heart and v/. employees
communicating effectively/
The findings sho0ed that the overall level of perception of hotel guests of 'otel C 0as
lo0er for all the five dimensions of service quality than e!pectation/ 'otel C guests e!pected a
lot in the +assurance3 dimension having the highest mean rating /,./ This study revealed that
employees 0ho are 0ell-(no0ledgea*le of the hotel+s product and service offerings and their
a*ility to convey trust and confidence to guests 0ill definitely yield customer satisfaction/
+Assurance3 dimension 0as the component that received the highest gap score of Y
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,,,
dimensions indicating hotel guests+ e!pectations e!ceeded *y front office service providers/
1mprovements are highly suggested for tangi*ility component 0hich received a negative service quality
gap of -0.08.
Condiuion
1n vie0 of the a*ove mentioned findings# the follo0ing conclusions 0ere therefore
dra0n:
1. The findings revealed that 2assurance3 dimension raised the highest level of e!pectation#
0hereas the 2responsiveness3 dimension fulfilled the highest level of perception/ The
respondents vie0 that hotel front office staff 0ho possess the required (no0ledge to
perform their assigned tas( and those 0ho are trust0orthy 0ill yield to customer
satisfaction/
2. Customer+s confidence on employees# safe feeling of customers in transaction and
courteous employees 0ere usually the concern of guests of 'otel A indicating the
no ciiy 'at propsK orientation *efore the performance of the assigned duties or
rapYWJihiliticB pi the hotel staffspecifically the front office personnel/ +Tangi*ility+
dimension for 'otel A 0as the least important dimension 0ith a negative gap #
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,,;
0illingness to help# iii/. safe feeling of customers in transaction# iv/. employees
communicating effectively and v/. customer3s *est interests at heart
Consistently delivering quality service covering all five dimensions should
al0ays *e in their top priority/ Dissatisfied guests 0ould for sure affect their re-
patronage intentions/
E/ 2 Relia*ility 0as sho0n to *e the strongest dimension of satisfaction for 'otel
B/
'otel C and 'otel D/ Therefore# it is highly suggested that the front office staff
ahould retain these helpful traits and s(ills li(e getting things right the first time#
*eing dependa*le# sincere in solving guest pro*lems# provide services as
promised md accurate records 0ith the vie0 of attaining quality services/8vrommvadaltans
Based on the conclusions of this study# the follo0ing recommendations are here*y
presented/
'otel A should consider investing on improving the equipments used in from office
services li(e the computer terminals 0ith hotel reservation systems installed for fester
transactions/ %ost importantly# the physical evidences 0ould *e the front office staff# to
possess good personality and are al0ays 0ell-dressed/
;/ To address the need to improve lo0 scored components li(e 2staff getting things
right at the same time# 2dependa*le and 2provide services as promised/ 'otel B#
'otel C and 'otel D3s front office management should address the need to assign 0ell-
trained# e!perienced# courteous and efficient front office staff 0ho 0ill man the (ey
posts or stations in their respective front office departments/
?/ 'otel B# 'otel C and 'otel D front office agents should al0ays ma(e the
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,,?
initiative to inform guests 0hen services 0ill *e performed/ The employees+ 0illingness
to help the guests is also highly suggested to *e practiced *y front office service
providers at all times/
/ Bottlenec(s in delivering quality front office services can *e avoided if there are
opportunities for training# education and seminars that are designed to enhance one3s
(no0ledge and s(ills in respect to one3s area of speciali9ation/
@/ Communication and customer service trainings 0ould greatly help front office
Sof 'otel B# C and D in meeting the e!pectations set *y their guests/
E/ =ront office management can systemati9e the delivery of front offioe service#
ma(ing ture that facilities and amenities are all availa*le and in good 0or(ing
XU
condition for*oth the service providers and guests+ convenience during transactions/
A guest feed*ac( form 0ould *e very helpful to front office management to assess the level of front
office services provided *y them and to *etter understand guests in a 0ider perspective/ This is 0ith
an end goal of providing some insights into ho0 customers rate the service quality 0hich 0ill
eventually contri*ute to the efforts directed to improving the quality of front office services/
7/ The focus of the front office manager and staff should al0ays *e in (no0ing and anticipating guests+
needs in order to meet their e!pectations and *e a*le to consistently carry out quality service not &ust
for first time guests *ut more importantly to their frequent guests/
Boo)s
Baidi/ 4ames A/ ;
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,,
Binham# hilip/# Ritta $ampola 4ames %urray ,H7;./ 'otel "nglish 5!fordergamon ress/
Blac(0ell# D/ Roger# %illiard# / aul "ngel# =/ 4ames ;
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,,@
Roldan# Amelia S/ ;
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,,E
Luality# Mol/ ,;# 6o/ @# pp/ ;I7-;H,
%ac8ay# 84// Crompton# 4/$/ ,HH