Currently emphasis is placed on the development of competencies as a vital point in HR management, seen in terms of performance in a given work context, in our country and fundamentally in the tourism sector, its definition and management is imminent.
In postgraduate training, the student's approach to contextual reality is essential and that he can verify the need to mobilize diverse knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and aptitudes that are required to be able to provide a coherent solution to the problems of today's world.
Undoubtedly, the situational method recovers special functionality and it is through the case studies that the individual manages to delve into the complex relationships that are established, today, in the workplace and in the particular problems of a specialty.
development-professional-labor-competencies-economic-area-tourist-companies-cubaTherefore, this work presents a set of 5 cases resulting from the Accounting-Financial Management consultancies that have been carried out in the tourist pole of Varadero.
- The scientific problem is: the lack of cases that favors the process of training job skills for professionals in the economic area in tourism companies.
OBJECTIVES, METHODS, TECHNIQUES and SCIENTIFIC NEWS.
The objectives that we set ourselves with this work are:
- Identify the main problems that the economic area co-exist in our territory. Evaluate different solution proposals.
For the design of the work, the analytical-synthetic, dialectical-holistic method was used and to determine the theoretical foundations based on the analysis of different related investigations that exist worldwide, the induction-deduction method.
From the empirical methods, the interview and observation were used, in the first case to teachers from various schools and to polo professionals.
Statistical methods: descriptive, inferential.
Finally, the bibliographic review, the analysis of the scientific literature related to the subject and the analysis of the final reports of the accounting consultancies were used as research techniques.
Its novelty is given by the cases themselves and their applicability, which allows us to glimpse regularities and specificities in the territory and the way of solution.
There are various definitions of competencies:
"Set of knowledge, skills, attitudes and values, combined, coordinated and integrated in ACTION, acquired through PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE (Formative and non-Formative), which allows the individual to SOLVE specific PROBLEMS, creatively and independently, in CONTEXTS SINGULARES ”(1)
(Acosta, 2008)
For its part, the Cuban standard defines it as: Synergic set of knowledge, skills, experiences, feelings, attitudes, motivations, personal characteristics and values, based on demonstrated suitability, associated with superior performance of the worker and the organization, in correspondence with the technical, productive and service demands. It is an essential requirement that these competencies are observable, measurable, and that they contribute to the achievement of the organization's objectives. ”
CURRICULUM BASED ON PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES.
- It is defined as a curriculum applied to the solution of problems in an integral way, which articulates general knowledge, professional knowledge and work experiences It is developed on the general scheme of analyzing needs, establishing competencies and developing the curriculum Competences are related, from the professional point of view, with the modes of action, with the functions to be fulfilled by the professional contained in the profile.
The competences are learning acquired in context, of a complex nature, are manifested in performance, are evaluable, point to transversality and are defined.
It can be defined for each disciplinary knowledge, cultural environment and the daily life in which the person operates.
We must focus our interest on those that allow the individual to adjust to living in the environment in which he develops.
- They are complex learning because each disciplinary knowledge has its epistemological framework, and the context is constituted by the physical, historical, social environment, etc… with which people establish relationships and on which the meaning and value of what there depends happens.The competition identifies the expected results of the student at the end of the learning process.The result of the application of a competition is manifested as an execution that must be efficient, since it shows the ability of an individual to do something, and do it well, more that to demonstrate their knowledge The first intention of competence-based education is to contribute to generating usable knowledge outside of each discipline and outside of school (Rey, 2005)
We believe that the formation of competencies requires the presence of problem situations, capable of mobilizing resources for their resolution while being oriented towards specific learning, that is, similar contexts in which their work will take place.
Job proposal:
Subjects: Postgraduate in Accounting-Financial Management (GCF) and Postgraduate in Audit and Control.
Topic: Internal and external audit by the competent bodies.
Recipients: Executives, reserves and professionals linked to Accounting-Financial Management, members of the control committee in tourist entities.
Courses to apply: Postgraduate and Diploma courses linked to the GCF and Internal Control.
Objective:
Identify the indicators in the guide of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic for accounting-financial audits and those in the MINTUR guide.
Evaluate these indicators in organizational practice.
Evaluate solution proposals.
Previous knowledge:
- Conceptual Framework for Internal Control Basic accounting elements.
Concepts to consider:
- Accounting-financial process.Internal control process.Profiles of positions in the economic area.Resolution 297/2003 of the Ministry of Finance and Prices and Resolution 26/06 of the Ministry of Audit and Control.
Time for preparation and algorithm to follow:
- Orientation of the case and the essential contents of the topic. (30 minutes) Accuracy of the working method and the time they must use Explain the questions they must answer individually (10 minutes) Study of the theoretical contents and analysis of the case individually (1 hour) Assessment of the individual results in small groups. (1 hour) Group integration of the results through discussion in workshop or plenary session. List reduction and weighted vote may be applied. (1.30 hour)
Case I.
The advisory team of the School of Hospitality and Tourism, in matters of accounting-financial management, is engaged in the task of evaluating the progress of internal control at the Oro-Rubí hotel, located in the tourist pole of Varadero, the problems encountered that justifies this action is that the purchasing manager finds food products in the company car at the exit of the hotel that are not purchased in the commercial network and is detected by the new economic instability in cash in cash. retroactive.
The hotel belongs to the Rio chain, its main mission is to offer quality services to international tourism in the wedding segment.
The facility is 5 stars, has a total of 980 rooms, operates with foreign administration and has been in operation for more than 10 years.
It has an approved workforce of 160 workers who have remained stable over time, making it a staff with experience in the sector, except in the case of the economic boss who requested the termination and the specialist who is currently working only 6 months in the hotel although he has vast experience in the activity.
The key processes defined by the hotel are:
General Direction, Accounting-Financial Management, Human Resources, Commercial.
To make a diagnosis of the internal control in the facility, we start with the review of the single audit file, the minutes of the control committee, the minutes of the purchasing committee, interviews with workers and sampling carried out in some areas (using the guide of check of the General Comptroller of the Republic and the inspection guide of the Ministry of Tourism).
The results found were:
The folder containing Resolution 297:
- It is not made according to the regulations for the components of internal control, specifically what is regulated in a control environment. In the minutes of the internal control committee there is no record of the month of January, February and October of the current year. No agreements are made (minutes 1,2, 7) and no agreements made are checked.
Procurement Committee Minutes:
- It is only updated until June / 2010. The pre-invoices of the products to be purchased are not attached to the minutes for analysis and approval as established by one or more suppliers. Until March, the purchasing committee was members of the Accounting and economic, from that month only the director, head of purchases and head of services, not participating the involved areas that cover the requests.The minutes do not reflect an analysis of the behavior of the budget in purchases that reflects liquidity for make purchases or not. There are related members in the minutes that do not belong to the purchasing committee and the reason for their participation is not reflected in the minutes. There is no analysis of attendance in the minutes.
Interview with workers:
- The workers complain about errors in the payment of the payroll, the delivery of diet and per diem. The workers are not clear about the vision of the organization. The materials that are distributed by the offices are not signed by the person who receives them, but by the person who distributes them..
Sampling carried out in some areas.
Animation area:
A large number of rolls of cloth are found in a place that the workers call a warehouse and it fulfills these functions even though it is not registered as such.
Spa:
The prices placed on the tablet do not correspond to those that the tourist company must offer.
Fuel:
The roadmaps are not updated.
Goals:
- Identify failures in internal control.
- Proposal to include control actions in crime and corruption prevention plans.
- Assess levels of responsibility
Questions:
- Do you consider the procedure of the consulting team correct? Evaluate and make the pertinent recommendations in order to improve internal control. Explain what suggestions you would make to the new main economic company to avoid this problem at the cash desk and to the control committee.
Case II.
The Hotel Primavera del Caribe with a total of 420 rooms in total; the central building comprises 85% (357 inhabitants), the rest are houses for 15% (63 inhabitants). Said hotel facility is owned by the Cuban Government, subordinate to Grupo Hotelero Caimán SA, in an administration contract with the Puente Chain. It occupies an area of 8.7 hectares and is located on the beachfront.
The corporate purpose is to provide, promote and market accommodation, gastronomic, recreational services (nautical and terrestrial) and others typical of hotel activities, within the framework of Grupo Hotelero Caimán SA in freely convertible currency, and with the corresponding authorizations in currency. national, under the collection and payment mechanisms established in the country.
As a mission, the facility has established to satisfy the needs and expectations of couples tourism as an all-inclusive four-star hotel, with a product distinguished by the efficiency of accommodation, catering and recreation services, promoting the values of honesty, professionalism and historical-cultural Cubans, in a privileged geographical position.
The hotel aims to achieve the following vision: to be recognized by Tour Operators as a benchmark four-star hotel for the efficiency and quality of services, based on the honesty and sense of belonging of the workers and for its capacity, autonomy for continuous improvement of your product and benefits of your workers.
Description of the situation presented:
At 10:30 AM on February 19, 2010, a control action was carried out in the grocery store area with the following objectives:
check
- Existence of the material liability certificate of supplies in use.
- Act of appointment of the Co. Rolando García Soler.
- Minutes of authorized personnel to be in the warehouse area.
- Act of firms authorized to extract merchandise.
- Inventory plan.
- Correspondence between physical and registered on stowage cards.
The technique used for the verification was documentary (documentary reconciliation).
During the development of the control activity, a climate of understanding and acceptance by the peers was appreciated, there was provision for the reported aspects such as:
- The appointment of comrade Rolando García Soler is not updated.
- The report with the personnel authorized to enter the warehouse area, although it is in a visible place, is not updated.
- A 10% physical inventory test was performed to see the correspondence between the pallet cards - request made - physical existence.
Below is a table of the physical inventory test (10%).
Code. Product Description Floor Warehouse (u) X (u) Total physical (u) Contab. (u) Dif. (u)
58274637 Cristal Beer 172 1680 2 1854 1853 1
84649119 Refined Oil 34 137 7 178 178 0
84652089 Sausages 29 0 0 29 29 0
84600356 Mayonnaise 17 0 0 17 17 0
24163347 Spaguettis 81 0 4 85 84 1
86122825 Lentils 100 0 0 100 100 0
24664523 Ron HC AB 8 47 0 55 55 0
19387550 White Wine 17 72 0 87 89 2
48280235 Café Serrano 6 5 0 11 11 0
Objective:
Assess internal control in the inventory area and its involvement in accounting.
Tasks to perform.
- What are the main effects on the control activities component? Propose three measures that contribute to the improvement of control activity in the warehouse area.
Case III.
The Costa Caribe Hotel with a total of 385 rooms available is one of the Costa Brand Hotels belonging to the Omega Group Hotel Company with an administration contract with the Centauro chain, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Tourism. It occupies an area of 8.3 hectares and is located on the beachfront, located on the North Highway KM 1 ½, 145 km from the José Martí International Airport in Havana.
The corporate purpose is to provide, promote and market accommodation, gastronomic, recreational (nautical and terrestrial) and other services related to hotel activities, within the framework of Grupo Hotelero OMEGA SA in freely convertible currency, and with the corresponding authorizations in currency. national, under the collection and payment mechanisms established in the country.
As a mission, the facility has established satisfying the needs and expectations of families as a four-star, all-inclusive hotel, with a product distinguished by efficiency in accommodation, catering and recreation services, promoting the values of honesty, professionalism and historical-cultural Cubans, in a privileged geographical position.
This hotel facility has had a high economic, political and social importance for the Omega Group, for that reason since its inauguration on October 31, 1999, it has been operated by Cuban personnel until last year, when its administration was contracted to Centaur. It has been positioned as one of the Group's most profitable hotels in the country since its foundation and served as a point of reference for the creation of the Costa Brand. In 2001, he was selected for the implantation of Business Improvement. Among its fundamental achievements is the implementation in 1998 of a continuous improvement program in the quality of services, in tune with the demands and demands of international tourism.This project was part of the Omega-oriented program that uses Strategic Planning as an effective and necessary instrument of business management. The Improvement process passed with very good results, the Hotel being selected as a Reference Center in the Diagnosis Stage. The Improvement was interrupted in 2003 and resumed in 2005, after the Accounting Certification.
Description of the situation presented
A total of 9 workers worked in the accounting department of this entity on October 15, 2008, led by Mr. Osvaldo Marrero. The fixed assets subsystem has been serviced by Alicia Domínguez since June 1 of the same year. She has the correct relationship by groups of all the fixed and average assets in use of the entity, according to the Tangible Fixed Assets Control Model (AFT). There is an AFT periodic checkup plan, these are carried out bi-monthly. Each area has a list of its AFTs, as well as the Material Responsibility Act signed by one or more managers. According to the Accounting Department, in Block 3, Floor 5 where the waitress Damaris Soler has worked since July 4, 2008, the following AFTs are found:
Item Code Description Qty Price Value
1 353720 Daewoo WOO FR-063R 10 145.00 1450.00 Minibar
2 353710 PHILLIPS TV Model 20HT 4331 / 78H (20 ”) 10 167.92 1679.17
3 353760 INHOVA Safe 10 205.00 2050.00
4 353140 Headboard for Bed 1.35m 10 131.55 1315.50
5 353450 Box Spring w / legs 10 174.40 1744.00
6 353170 Upholstered scissor chair 20 86.80 1736.00
7 353330 Center Table 10 98.80 988.00
The AFT Coffee Table is distributed in the rooms:
Habit. Code Description Qty Price
3510 353331 Center Table 1 98.80
3511 353332 Center Table 1 98.80
3512 353333 Center Table 1 98.80
3513 353334 Center Table 1 98.80
3514 353335 Center Table 1 98.80
3515 353336 Center Table 1 98.80
3516 353337 Center Table 1 98.80
3517 353338 Center Table 1 98.80
3518 353339 Center Table 1 98.80
3519 353340 Center Table 1 98.80
In the physical check, the following was found:
Habit. Code Description Qty Price
3510 353331 Center Table 1 98.80
3511 353332 Center Table 1 98.80
3512 353333 Center Table 1 98.80
3513 353334 Center Table 1 98.80
3514 353335 Center Table 1 98.80
3515 353336 Center Table 1 98.80
3517 353338 Center Table 1 98.80
3518 353339 Center Table 1 98.80
3519 353340 Center Table 1 98.80
Not proving documents of low, deterioration, transfers, discharges, missing of the active Coffee Table. The last physical count was carried out at 100% of the AFTs in Block 3, Floor 5 in December 2007.
The kitchen assistant Héctor Acosta has a VEF-206 radio of personal property in his workplace, when inquiring for authorization for its introduction, the following note was found:
September 10, 2008
Year of the 50th anniversary of the Revolution
To whom it May concern:
By this means, on the date you subscribe, being 14:45, colleague Héctor Acosta Vega with the position of kitchen assistant is authorized to enter the installation of a VEF radio model 206, with N / S 24354, bound for your work area, for an undetermined time. For the record, they sign this:
Enildo Corzo Martinez
J´ Seguridad Hotel Costa Caribe Héctor Acosta Vega
Kitchen assistant
There is confirmation, according to Submayor de Activos Fijos, that the entity has fully depreciated assets. The Final Adjustment Commission is made up of 5 workers from different areas and meets every six months. After approval of the final adjustment, the following entry is made:
Account No. Account Name Must Have
375 Depreciation of Tangible Fixed Assets XXXXX
240 Tangible Fixed Assets XXXXX
The Commercial Department requested the placement of a video player for the reception of daily activities. When the transfer of the same from the Animation area was approved, the operation was registered in the following model.
MINTUR
Hotel Costa Caribe
MOVEMENT OF TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS
Area: Animation Department
Fixed Asset Description: LG-GC97M Video
Remigton Air Conditioner with No. Inv. 852433, which is located in the Food and Beverages Sub-Directorate, is inventoried, according to file 069 dated August 20, 2008, as a transfer due to technical defects to the Maintenance Department.
When checking the physical existence of AFT in the Commercial Department, it was found that the Red Upholstered Wooden Sofa is inventoried with Inv. 810263 and No. Inv. 822653, both in perfect condition with the Hotel logo.
The UNISOFT Computer System presents a balance in the Balance Sheet as of September 30, 2008 of 64,000 CUC, it was acquired in July 2006 for that value but it was not possible to implement it.
goals
- Identify good and bad practices in the treatment of fixed assets. Contribute to students reaffirming ethical values that guide their work conduct, according to the principles of internal control.
Questions to solve the problem
- What violations of Internal Control have been committed in this case? Point out those responsible for them. Cite the possible risks of crime, corruption and illegalities that arise when committing these violations. How to solve the problems related to Internal Control in this facility? What is the correct action in each case?
Case IV.
The Hotel Costa Azul with a total of 280 rooms available is one of the Marca Costa Hotels belonging to the Grupo Éxtasis Hotel Company with an administration contract with the CIMA chain, which is subordinate to the Ministry of Tourism. It occupies an area of 7.3 hectares and is located on the beachfront.
The corporate purpose is to provide, promote and market accommodation, gastronomic, recreational (nautical and land) and other services related to hotel activities, in freely convertible currency, and with the corresponding authorizations in national currency, under the collection and payments established in the country.
As a mission, the facility has established satisfying the needs and expectations of families as an all-inclusive four-star hotel, with a product distinguished for its efficiency in accommodation, catering and recreation services.
The hotel aims to achieve the following vision: to be recognized as a benchmark four-star hotel for the efficiency and quality of services, based on the honesty and sense of belonging of the workers and for their capacity, autonomy for the continuous improvement of their product and benefits of its workers.
This hotel facility was inaugurated on October 31, 1999, it has been operated by Cuban personnel until last year, when its administration was contracted to CIMA.
Description of the situation presented:
A reservation was made for 50 rooms of clients of the Marycostas agency for a 15-day stay, this agency has contracted prepaid services. Last summer offers were made by the hotel at a public rate, with prices lower than those of Marycostas, for which said agency requested a new signing of the contract; This caused that at the entrance of the clients the advance payment of the agency had not been received, because the signing of a new contract was pending.
After two months, the colleague in charge of the billing had not carried out the same, and therefore had not been presented to the management, which, when carrying out its controls, claims the hotel for not presenting the invoices when they have already made the transfer payment.
When reviewing the topic, it is detected that if the payment had been made and it had not been posted to the correct account.
Objective:
Assess internal control in the reception area and its involvement in accounting.
Tasks to perform.
- What are the main effects on the control activities component? Propose three measures that contribute to the improvement of the entity's control activity in the affected departments.
Bibliography: the one recommended for students to solve the proposed case studies.
- Resolution No. 297/03 of the MFP on Internal Control and Resolution No. 26/06 of MAC "Methodological Guide for Management Audit". Manual for the development of consulting and accessory economy, Annex 6: Self-control guide for companies that are preparing to receive system audits to obtain accounting endorsement from the Ministry of Finance and Prices.
Bibliography:
- Resolution No. 297/03 of the MFP on Internal Control and Resolution No. 26/06 of MAC "Methodological Guide for Management Audit". Manual for the development of economic consultancies, Annex 6: Self-control guide for companies that they prepare to receive the system audits to obtain the endorsement of the accounting by the Ministry of Finance and Prices. Accosta Corzo, Estrella. Labor competencies and their alignment with the organizational strategy. Monographs, 2009.
