Management by processes in the hotel accommodation area. Cuba

The lack of rigor, the daily routine, the insufficient use of the methods and tools, which regulate and evaluate the procedures in hotel services, are some of the factors that affect the quality of tourist facilities. In hotels there is a manual where the services carried out in the accommodation area are generally regulated. In which the management by process is not always taken into account in the accommodation process, which prevents a successful performance and has as a consequence that the level of demand is not the same; as well as the quality of the services.

management-by-process-in-the-area-of-hotel-accommodation-cuba

Brief historical review of the emergence of process management.

Until the 17th century, the artisan was the center of the development of industrial activity. It is in 1776 that the division and specialization of labor arises. Already in the 20th century, the theory based on the scientific organization of work was developed. that aims to optimize the productivity of resources, in such a way that each worker repeatedly carried out a task of the production process, while also carrying out a specialization in direct supervision and control of work (Avanza CL, 2004).

Also at the beginning of the 20th century, Henry Ford created chain work. The principles of division of labor are applied to management and the basis for subsequent budgetary control is created (De la Cruz J., 2000).

After the Second World War, there was a high increase in demand, thus favoring mass production. By this time, organizations develop tools related to budgets, marketing and planning for their management, which fundamentally allow them to adjust and optimize production (De la Cruz J., 2000).

As early as the 1950s, decision-making was based exclusively on the forecasting of expenditure and statistical control of processes became more relevant, allowing the measurement, control and improvement of product quality and process capacity (Harington HJ, 1993). In addition, it evolves towards Total Quality Management, whose main aspects are customer satisfaction, continuous process improvement and the importance of the participation of the people who make up the organization (Rodríguez de Roa A. and Sendín J., 2003).

In the 1980s, two major approaches emerged in quality management. On the one hand, Quality Assurance, and on the other, Total Quality Management, which aims to improve management. Organizations begin to have a global vision of processes as a way of transformation and adaptation to a dynamic and constantly evolving environment. The process is defined as a set of mutually related or interacting activities, which transform input elements into results. Figure 1. Illustrates this concept.

By analyzing the processes, organizations are oriented to the needs and expectations of their clients.

Several authors think that companies and organizations are as efficient as their processes are (Trischler, 1998; González Méndez (2002); Negrin Sosa et al, 2002 / a /, 2002 / b /, 2002 / c /, 2003; Nogueira Rivera & Negrin Sosa, 2002; Hernández Lugo & García Gómez, 2001), which has encouraged some entities to become aware of and have reacted to the inefficiency represented by departmental organizations, enhancing the concept of the process and working with a vision of objective in the client.

Since the last decade, some measures and transformations have been developed in the country that have introduced changes to the Cuban economic model and have been implemented to respond to the negative impacts that the loss of its markets and main trading partners have had for Cuba, the tightening of the North American economic blockade and the impact of the world economic recession accentuated at the present time, which have had various degrees of influence on industrial and service companies. Currently, multiple authors highlight the need to manage companies based on the processes that make it up, suggesting that behind the fulfillment of each objective is the performance of a set of activities that, in turn, are part of a process.

In this way, the concepts of process management and process management become relevant (Harington HJ, 1993).

Process management. Conceptualization.

The processes that take place in organizations can be classified into three fundamental categories: Strategic Processes, Operational or Operational Processes and Support Processes. Focusing attention on operations and within the same category establishes priority and secondary processes, the latter being those that support the implementation of the priority ones.

Strategic Processes: They are the processes responsible for analyzing the needs and constraints of society, the market and companies, and based on the analysis of all this and the knowledge of the possibilities of their own resources, issue the appropriate guides to the rest of the processes. of the organization and thus ensure the response to the aforementioned needs and constraints.

Key Operational Processes: These are the processes that have direct contact with the client, in fact they are the processes from which the client will perceive and value quality.

Support / support processes : These are the processes responsible for providing the organization with all the necessary resources, in terms of people, machinery and raw materials, so as to be able to generate the added value desired by customers.

The methodology establishes that the operational processes are the keys. The issue of the selection of key processes has been extensively dealt with by Amozarrain (1999) and by Nogueira Rivera (2002). González Méndez (2002) offers an additional classification considering that there are macroprocesses or supraprocesses and simple processes depending on the number of activities and departments involved and the importance of the process. This author also states that every organization has a central macroprocess that is the one that synthesizes the representation of its mission, value chain and general strategy.

According to González M. (2008) there are three levels of grouping of processes:

Supraprocesses- Processes- Subprocesses.

Supraprocess: set of related processes interrelated with each other and organized according to a common objective for the provision of a service. A supraprocess can be integrated by processes of different classifications (Realization, Support and Direction).

Process: set of interrelated activities that, from one or more inputs of materials or information, give rise to one or more outputs of materials or information with added value. "It is the natural way of organizing work."

Sub- processes : part of a process, which is interrelated with it and is made up of one or more activities whose results are clearly defined within the process to which it belongs and its classification may be the same or different from its process.

According to Zaratiegui (1999), the success of any organization increasingly depends on its business processes being aligned with its strategy, mission and objectives. Hence, the process approach, after many years of application, is now a very useful tool.

Amozarrain (1999), defines in detail the fundamental concepts: process, relevant process, key process, sub-process, system, procedure, activity, task, which are related to the management approach and are necessary to consider to facilitate their identification, selection And I study.

Essential flow process: Orderly and logical sequence of activities carried out by one or more people in an organization, that characterize the main function that they carry out, generating income from sales or services rendered, or that are directly related to the provision of a service, aimed at customer satisfaction.

Nogueira Rivera (2002) states that there is a consensus to focus the study on the key processes; that is, in those that have a significant impact on strategic objectives and have a strong impact on customer expectations or consume a significant part of the company's resources, pointing out that these processes have a sole responsibility and can be improved, since either gradually, adopting a philosophy of continuous improvement, taking authors such as: Ishikawa, 1985; Deming, 1989; Lorino, 1993; Goldratt, 1995 / a / and 1995 / b /; Stoner, 1995; Grieco, 1997; Harrington, 1997; Suárez Mella et al., 2001, or by radical changes in case significant improvements are required, applying the techniques of process reengineering as proposed by: Hammer and Champy, 1994; Krajewski and Ritzman, 2000.

Taking into account the criteria developed by: Lorino, 1993; Harrington, 1997; Trischler, 1998; Zaratiegui, 1999; Amozarrain, 1999; Ortega Rodríguez, 2002; Nogueira Rivera, 2002, it is possible to summarize that the focus on processes is based on :

• Organizational structuring based on customer-oriented processes. Shifting organizational structure from hierarchical to flat. Functional departments lose their raison d'être and there are multidisciplinary groups working on the process. Employees are more focused on needs. of your clients and less in the standards established by your boss. Use of technologies to eliminate activities that do not add value.

Some of the advantages of its application are the following:

• It aligns the objectives of the organization with the expectations and needs of the clients. It shows how value is created in the organization. It indicates how the flows of information and materials are structured. It indicates how the work is actually carried out and how the supplier relations are articulated. client between functions.

Among the tools to support the introduction of the process management approach, the Process Map is one that achieves the greatest consensus and acceptance among the authors consulted.

Process maps are very useful for a quick understanding of the processes that a company develops. According to Zaratiegui (1999) these can be classified into:

• General process map of the company. Map of a specific process.

The general process map of the company must reflect all the processes that take place in organizations, so that they can be classified into three fundamental categories: Strategic Processes, Operational or Operational Processes and Support Processes. Zaratiegui (1999).

• Strategic : Policies and strategies, product design, etc. Operational : Production, marketing, after-sales service, etc. Support: Purchases, personnel management, etc.

Maps representing specific processes are very useful for:

• Know how jobs are currently carried out Analyze the steps of the process to reduce the cycle time or increase quality Use the current process as a starting point to carry out process improvement projects Guide new employees Develop Alternate ways of doing work at critical moments Evaluate, establish or strengthen indicators or measures of results.

This type of map shows a simple view of the process, where each part is visualized and the interfaces are indicated, considering input, process, and outputs. At the same time, it is a tool of great methodological utility to instruct personnel and detect when information is being duplicated or has unnecessary value, since by graphically representing events where interfaces, resources, critical points, priorities can be quickly observed, etc.; of a specific organization, will clearly identify the physical and informational flows that occur between the different areas of the organization.

For Luis Benavides, from the website www.calidadlatina.com, one of the basic quality tools used to support process improvement is the flow chart or process map, which schematically represents the input and output flows, such as also the sequence of activities with their respective flows that are carried out to achieve a defined objective.

According to the criteria offered on the website www.ogp.gobierno.pr, process maps can be grouped into two fundamental types:

• The crossfunctional process map The flowchart map.

If the steps or tasks of the process are carried out in the same unit of work, then the flowchart may be the best alternative. The flowchart is a schematic photograph of a process in which symbols with arrows are used to represent the steps in sequential order.

1. Amaya J. 2004. Manuals of norms and procedures. Monographs. Com

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PUBLICATION (Part II)

Title:

INTRODUCTION

Tourism is the most dynamic sector of the world economy in recent years. Competition between companies in the sector has increased as a result of capturing the preference and managing the satisfaction and loyalty of the clients who receive tourist services (OMT, Barometer 2007), Starting in the 1960s, the tourism sector began a profound transformation and has gone through various stages, with the sole objective of creating a product that is in keeping with the nature of our island, exploiting above all the historical, artistic and cultural wealth that we have, the exceptional natural attractions, which show the world the peculiarities of our people and the social reality we live in. To achieve this, business management applied to tourism activity becomes an important tool for achieving success.

In the first part of this work, a historical review of the emergence of process management was released, where the concepts of Process Management were discussed. Process Maps, flow charts, were described as a tool to support the introduction of the Process Management approach. In this second part we will deal with Process Management in the hotel activity, conceptualizing and characterizing the Accommodation Process and the functions of the Housekeeper and Reception sub-processes.

The following material aims to inform them of the importance of applying management by process to the hosting process, which will contribute to updating the Operations Manuals taking into account the results obtained in an initial diagnosis, where the main deficiencies and failures that impede successful performance in this area.

In fact, the most privileged area in a hotel is that of accommodation, in which management can be perceived by the client, and therefore new management models focused on clients are needed to significantly raise the level of service. for this one. One way to achieve this purpose, in hotel entities, is the use of effective methods for the improvement of hotel processes due to the need to optimize available resources and achieve a rational and productive use of them. At the international level it has been applied in large companies and with very high results, but in Cuba this is incipient. Hence the topicality and importance of this material,as a small contribution to the search for more and more satisfied tourism that allows working tourism workers to appropriate knowledge and generalize the best experiences, with the collaboration of factors that have an impact on the work of the Accommodation Area.

Improving the quality of hotel services is a prioritized objective of the Ministry of Tourism, which in its Official Quality Policy has stated that "all tourist entities and facilities and their staff act according to the satisfaction, expectations and requirements of their customers, based on the hospitality that distinguishes us through the principles of management and continuous quality improvement. Considering as a priority the systematic and rigorous efficiency and effectiveness of the processes, the motivation and continuous training of workers, the commitment to ethical values, essential to empower Cuba as a safe and preferred tourist destination in the Caribbean, contributing thus to the development of our country »(Benavides D., 2008).

The Quality Policy of the Ministry of Tourism sets out as key objectives:

1. Having a tourist product that meets the expectations and requirements of our customers, through the establishment of quality management systems that meet the requirements of the International ISO 9000 Standards. Ensure compliance with current standards related to hygiene, accessibility and security in tourist services, through compliance with national regulations, respect for society and the environment.

• To develop a tourist product that highlights the cultural heritage of our country, consistently incorporating the elements of image and communication, gastronomy and animation, the indigenous and distinctive values ​​of our people.

1. Have qualified human resources, with high revolutionary morale, motivated and committed in their respective functions to the role that tourism plays in the development of the country (MINTUR, 2008).

In the Professional Training System for Tourism, FORMATUR has to support work in hotels, so that everyone can certify their SGC by ISO 9001 - 2000. The Hospitality and Tourism Schools belonging to the sector have the responsibility of training and training of students and staff working in tourism, developing a teaching that responds to the principle of Learn-Doing as a modern training philosophy and support constant business improvement. Quality management is not a priority in all hotels. Quality is not managed, in such a way that a coherent and systematic set of actions are taken to solve problems, failures and to promote favorable situations that allow customer satisfaction,improving the quality of services within the hotel, eliminating gaps in the quality of services that may still exist, which has an impact on customer satisfaction.

We propose to introduce you to tools that allow you to review the Operations Manuals that regulate work in the Housekeeper and Reception Departments in the different hotels, taking into account the specificities of said departments, with the aim of standardizing the work and making it used to correct the gaps and difficulties of the services in the Accommodation area, in correspondence with the requirements of the mission and vision of each hotel.

Taking into account that the best commercialization of a tourist facility is done by the clients themselves, as a result of satisfying their expectations, the Housekeeper Department and the Reception Department of each hotel must agree on the need to carry out a diagnosis with the objective of detecting the main deficiencies that prevent their successful performance and creating a document that allows standardizing the procedures of each area, applying Process Management.

When reviewing the existing Operations Manuals where the function of the different jobs in the Accommodation area is described in detail, as well as the work procedure and the relationship with the other departments, applying Process Management to update the Operations in the accommodation process of each Hotel Chain, the facilities will be in a position to improve efficiency and quality in the provision of the service.

The short-term implementation of the Operations Manual where Management by Process is applied will have practical value since it will standardize the Accommodation Process in all hotels, and will aim to establish rules and procedures, adapting it to the atypical conditions of each facility, constituting a guide for the realization and control of the Housekeeper and Reception sub-processes. The application of the manual will allow the work in this area to be homogenized.

As a consequence of the application of the manual, the quality of the services in the Accommodation area must be improved, failures in the service will be anticipated and reduced, which will improve the perception and image of the services and will decrease the complaints and claims for the concept of not quality decreasing costs and increasing profits acquiring this manual an economic value.

This material is supported by a study carried out that corresponded to a non-experimental investigation, using methods, techniques and tools such as direct observation, surveys, brainstorming, Nominal Group, Kendall coefficient and other qualitative techniques. Domínguez M. (2008). Methodology for the Management of the Accommodation Service at the Hotel Escuela Turquino. Thesis in option to the title of Master in Tourism Management. Hotel Management Mention. Slaughters.

The process management of the hotel activity is the way of managing the entire organization of the hotel company, so that they constitute a sequence of activities aimed at generating added value on an entry to achieve a result, and an exit which in turn satisfies the client's requirements (Amozarrain, 1999), Figure 2.

From the definition of the processes, productivity will be increased through:

• Reduce unnecessary internal costs (activities without added value). Shorten delivery times (reduce cycle times). Improve quality and value perceived by customers

When analyzing the hotel company, it is advisable to classify its processes into: Strategic Processes, Essential Flow Processes and Support Processes according to, Negrín Sosa (2002), diagramming them in such a way that all the interrelationships established between them are reflected. The identification and study of essential flow processes constitute one of the fundamental pillars for development in companies.. For the determination of these key processes, the integrated selection approach is used (Sosa LM, 2005).

The key processes are those that have values ​​above the total average calculated for being the ones with the highest scores in each of the categories. (Sosa LM, 2005). This, in turn, helps the hotel company culture to gradually transition from a functional approach or concept to a process approach. (Matos H., 2005).

Accommodation is a very old service, which has its origins in ancient Rome. Giving accommodation means giving room and assistance to a person and entails the supply of food and beverages.

Actions in the accommodation area lead to obtaining the maximum occupancy of an establishment with the highest average price possible, with maximum customer satisfaction and maximum efficiency, professionalism and friendliness of staff, using an acceptable level of resources.

The Management of Accommodation has as general objectives:

• Providing quality customer service, fast, error-free, that achieves satisfied, repetitive and loyal customers to the hotel brand.Ensure the profitability of the hotel, effectiveness and efficiency of operations, eliminating unnecessary tasks, improvisations, duplications through economic control of the processes, promoting increased sales, energy and water savings, care and rational use of means and materials. Ensuring the safety of people, property and real estate, protecting the environment. Achieving the necessary versatility of personnel.

The rooms within the hotel establishment represent the most important and significant part of the accommodation. They are the basic product for which the client pays for their accommodation. Whether or not we can sell our production depends on the conditions in which we offer them (Gallego JF, 2002). The quality must be expressed by the presentation and maintenance of the rooms, decoration, furniture, linen, cleaning, together form the essential points to qualitatively qualify them. The better the offer in this regard, the more likely it is that the customer will be satisfied and honor us again with his visit. Achieving maximum production, with the best quality and minimum cost, will be the goal of housing management (Martín JI, 2002).

A better use of the human and material resources that we use in the accommodation area will mean obtaining its maximum performance. So the

The presence of the client in the establishment gives rise to a series of procedures and activities that may affect, to a greater or lesser extent, all the hotel departments. There must also be very close communication with the maintenance service, not only when breakdowns occur, but also for preventive maintenance operations to be carried out to enable proper operation (Gallego JF, 2002).

The identification and study of essential flow processes constitutes one of the fundamental pillars for the development of unique skills in operations, these processes being defined as: “Orderly and logical sequence of activities carried out by one or more people in an organization, that characterize the main function that they perform, generating income from sales or services provided, or that are directly related to the provision of a service, aimed at customer satisfaction ”.

It should be noted that there is no "catalog list" of processes, so it is up to each area to determine its own processes based on: its customers.

In the accommodation area, process management is carried out, which leads to:

- A coherent process structure represents the operation of the area.

- An appointment of process managers, who must supervise and improve compliance with all the requirements and objectives of the assigned process (costs, quality, productivity, environment, occupational health and safety, morals).

- A system of indicators that allows evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of processes both from the internal point of view (performance indicators) and externally (perception indicators).

The processes of the different areas are in turn made up of sub-processes, which can be useful to isolate the problems that may arise and enable different treatments within the same process, which will be carried out by the procedures, which are the specific form to carry out an activity. In many cases the procedures are expressed in documents containing the objectives and scope of an activity; what should be done and who should do it, when, where and how it should be done; what materials, equipment and documents should be used; and how it should be controlled and registered (Amozarrai M., 2000). Figure 4.

The activities are all that can be described with verbs in the life of the hotel company, and the following activities can be cited as an example in the case of the accommodation area: Planning, organizing, controlling the entry of VIP clients, Controlling losses and breakages in the rooms, control and collect supplies on the floors, turn on the lights in the hallways, draw curtains and open windows during the cleaning of rooms, etc.

An activity is a set of elementary tasks carried out by an individual or group, which use a specific experience, homogeneous from the point of view of their cost and efficiency behaviors that allow them to supply an output, to an internal or external client., made from a set of inputs. Activities are everything that people in an area and / or hotel company do, hour after hour and day after day (Avanza CL, 2004).

Each person involved in the process should not always think about how to do better what they are doing (division of labor), but why and for whom they do it; since the satisfaction of the internal or external client is determined by the coherent development of the process as a whole rather than by the correct performance of each individual function or activity. (Medina A., 2004).

Taking into account what was stated in previous sections, we can state that the Accommodation constitutes an Essential Flow Process, which in turn is made up of two Subprocesses Receiving and Housekeeper.

It is necessary that the processes and their threads are well documented and that they include how the tasks will be carried out. In this sense, the best way to carry out the different activities must be sought, and that they are always carried out the same by all the personnel involved in their execution.

Basic Reception Functions :

The Reception is made up of two parts: The “Front Office” or counter area, and the “Back Office” or administrative office. All the activities that are carried out in the Reception department make up a Sub-process within the Essential Accommodation Flow Process as explained above.

Basic Functions of Housekeeper:

- Keep rooms and areas for internal and common use clean, well equipped, and with the proper functioning of facilities and customer services.

- Provide a fast and efficient service, anticipating the customer's wishes and always offering an alternative.

- Give a personalized service, sensitive to details, and friendly and courteous treatment.

- Carry out administrative operations that guarantee the proper functioning of the hotel.

The housekeeper department, like the other departments, is closely related to each other. We can see in the representation of the Housekeeper Subprocess as the output of the Reception Subprocess is its input, below we describe the fundamental activities that take place in it and the output of the Housekeeper Subprocess is observed, Annex 3.11 Representation of the Subprocess of Housekeeper.

Processes must be rigorously reflected in documents that are commonly called procedures. .

It is well known that there are clear processes within which are known to your employees at all levels. Represent the flow charts, make the sub-process cards. All the procedures found within the Manual must be objectively and technically identified, giving it the importance that each one deserves within the production or operational process.

CONCLUSIONS

1. A brief historical overview of the emergence of Process Management was shown. From the criteria of different authors, the conceptualization of Process Management, Management by Process was deepened. The bibliographic consultations carried out allow us to recognize the usefulness of the process approach as a valuable management tool, the benefits of using Process Maps as support tools for the practical implementation of this approach. Management by Activity Process is studied Hospitality, the fundamental functions of the Housekeeper and Reception Subprocesses, belonging to the Essential Accommodation Flow Process. The graphics of the Accommodation Essential Flow Process and each one of the Sub-processes that comprise it are presented. The advantages of clear processes are highlighted,well documented and standardized. The usefulness of the Process approach is recognized as a valuable management tool and the benefits of its incorporation into the Operations Manuals as a support tool for the practical implementation of this approach in the Management of the Accommodation Area.

Bibliography

• Amozarrain, M. (1999). Process management. Editorial Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa, Spain. Advanza CL (2004). Background and current approach to process systems. P Editor: Castilla y León Regional Government Department of the Presidency and Territorial Administration General Directorate for Citizen Services and Administrative Modernization ISBN 84-9718-264-2; pp23-25.Benavides, D. (2008). Diagnosis of the quality of services at the Hotel Villa Trópico. Diploma work in option to the title of Bachelor of Tourism. Universidad de Matanzas, 2008.Besú E. (2007). Accommodation Management Course. Master in Tourism Management. FORMATUR.Domínguez M. (2008). Methodology for the Management of the Accommodation Service at the Hotel Escuela Turquino. Thesis in option to the title of Master in Tourism Management. Hotel Management Mention. Slaughters.Frías Jiménez, R.: “Los Delfines” Business Improvement File. 2001Martín JI (2002) "In search of Excellence: The EFQM model in the Community of Madrid". Madrid's community; pp103-110.Matos H. (2005). Tourism Development in Varadero. News and Prospects. Presentation I National Workshop "All Inclusive". Marketing of sun and beach destinations ». Varadero.Medina, A. (2004). Current trends in measuring the satisfaction of internal customers. A study proposal. No. 3. Tourist Challenges. Cuban magazine of tourist investigations, University of Matanzas "Camilo Cienfuegos") Vol. 3: 3; pp 2-7.MINTUR (2008) Strategy for Quality of Tourism Services. FORMATUR. Professional training system for tourism. Negrin Sosa, E. et al. (2002 / b /).Methodology for the improvement of hotel processes (September).Sosa LM (2005). Establishment of indicators in the process management methodology. Faculty of Industrial Engineering-Economics. Slaughter University.

Author data:

Name: Mayra Domínguez Suárez

Degree Studies: Bachelor of Higher Education. Physical Specialty (1981) Higher Pedagogical Institute (ISP) "Juan Marinello". Slaughters.

Work center: School of Hospitality and Tourism "José Smith Comas" (EHTV). Varadero.

Address: Calle 34 y 3ra. Varadero. Matanzas province. Cuba

Email: [email protected]

Scientific Category: Master in Tourism Management. Hotel Management Mention (2008). University of Matanzas «Camilo Cienfuego».

Teaching Category: Main teacher

Present position: Professor of Floor Management (EHTV).

Other courses received and approved: Diplomas taught ´´Customer-Oriented Service´´ and ´´Trainer of Skills´´ by the Corporate University ¨Sandals´´ of Jamaica and the Diploma ´´ Management of Tourist Companies´´ given by the University of Matanzas, Higher Postgraduate Course in Hotel Management, National eHotel Course, different Postgraduate courses, etc.

Years of Work experience in Teaching: 34 years (8 years in F: O: C), (2 years IPUEC), (12 years IP, VCE), (12 years EHTV). Currently I continue working in EHTV, in which I I work as a teacher in the Accommodation Department, with an experience of 11 years as a Housekeeper at the Hotel Escuela. During this stage and taught the Accommodation module in diploma courses at first level and intermediate levels, Postgraduate course, Postgraduate Courses, Bachelor of Tourism, Housekeeper courses, Supervisor courses, conferences and I teach the Course of eHotel (Hotel Management System) Housekeeper at the Varadero Tourism Center and teachers from other provinces. I participate in Workshops and Consultancies in different Hotels on site.

Years of experience in the Tourist activity: 12 years.

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