Hospitality Operations Management
Assignment Remit
You are required to write an essay (3,000 words), illustrate your evaluation with examples. In your short report you investigated the presence of bottlenecks and possible reasons for variability.
In this essay we want you to select a process within a hospitality department and;
Critically evaluate the application of theory about how processes and resources can be managed so that productivity and customer satisfaction are maintained.
It is important to have a context in mind because the most appropriate theory will be influenced by the nature of the context. You need to investigate what journals say about the link between productivity and customer satisfaction / quality. You need to investigate what affects productivity and how you can configure your resources and processes to be productive and provide the customer with what satisfies them.
You are strongly urged to read the article below before starting on your essay.
Grönroos, C. & Ojasalo, K. (2004) Service productivity: Towards a conceptualization of the transformation of inputs into economic results in services, Journal of Business Research, Vol. 57, No. 4, pp. 414–423
Don’t forget to carefully read the assessment criteria later in this document.
Format
This is an individual assignment in essay format, 3,000 words. This essay must be submitted in PDF format.
To submit your assignment online, your file must be in one of the Acceptable file formats listed below. An unacceptable file format will NOT be marked.
Acceptable file formats Non acceptable file formats
1. Microsoft Word® (.doc / .docx)**
2. Microsoft PowerPoint® (.pptx, .ppt, .ppsx and .pps)
3. Microsoft Excel (.xlsx)
4. Adobe® PDF ****
5. WordPerfect® (.wpd)
6. PostScript (.ps/.eps)
7. HTML (.html)
8. Rich text format (.rtf)
9. Plain text (.txt)
10. Hangul Word Processor file (.hwp) 1. Word Online/One Drive (Office 365)*
2. Apple Pages (.pages).
3. Microsoft Works (.wps) file types.
4. PDF files of images or PDF files which do not contain
highlightable text (ex. a “scanned” file, which is often simply a picture of text, is unacceptable).****
5. OpenOffice (.odt, .doc, .docx)***
6. LibreOffice (.odt, .odp, .odg)***
7. Microsoft Publisher (.pub)
8. Google Docs via Google Drive™ (.gdoc)
*Note: Turnitin does not accept files that are created or have been edited in Word Online/OneDrive (Office 365) (e.g. when accessing Microsoft Word via your browser: MicrosoftOnline.com/OneDrive). Therefore, first make sure you have Microsoft Office installed on your Computer or MAC. Then open the file in the installed program Microsoft Word and edit the document (e.g. add a space or full stop). Next, click File, Save As and save the file using a new filename. When submitting your work via UCB Online make sure you have selected the file with the new filename.
**Note: Turnitin will not accept Microsoft Word 2007 macros-enabled (.docm) files. Also Turnitin will not accept password protected files.
***Note: Turnitin will not accept .odt files created and downloaded from Google Docs online. Turnitin will also not accept .odt files created in LibreOffice or Open Office. Turnitin will not accept “.doc”files created using OpenOffice/LibreOffice since OpenOffice/LibreOffice “.doc” files are not 100% Microsoft Word equivalent.
****Note: PDF documents must contain text in order to be submitted. PDF files containing only images of text/text that cannot be highlighted will be rejected during the upload attempt. For instructions on how to check and/or convert your file to an acceptable PDF format, click here.
Grading Criteria
The College’s Generic Grading Criteria for HE work at Level 6 (Honours) level will apply to this assignment.
In addition you are required to consider the following guidance points which are there to help you structure an effective piece of work. Guidance on essay and report writing is available under ‘Academic Matters’ in your Student Handbook. In addition note the presentation standards specified in the Student Handbook concerning margins, font and layout.
For your guidance you are required to note the following:
You MUST focus closely on the question set throughout your essay.
You are not expected to mention every operations management topic. Some theories or topics will be more important than others in your chosen context.
Your introduction should clearly indicate the theoretical focus and industry context that you are intending to adopt to answer the question set.
‘Signpost’ the discussion throughout in relation to the question set.
It is vital you incorporate and apply relevant operations management models into your discussion.
Applied and adapted models/diagrams to illustrate industry problems, issues, scenarios and potential solutions are encouraged.
We expect strong evidence of independent reading in particular a good range of contemporary journal material to be incorporated into your essay to support clear lines of argument.
It is expected that references to academic texts will include only those available in the library or available via UCB e-resources. If you have used information beyond these resources you will be required to identify them and provide a short explanation in the reference section identifying the library source used and rationale for its inclusion. This supportive information is to your benefit to demonstrate your research activity, provide reassurance as to its integrity and thus be reflected in a balanced and fair assessment of your efforts.
Use your industry or customer experience effectively, however avoid lengthy descriptive narrative.
References in the text should underpin lines of argument to make your discussion persuasive and reliable.
Include up to one page at the end that answers the four questions below. This is NOT part of your word count and we expect students to answer at least the first three questions:
o What have you learnt from this assignment?
o What did you find easiest about this assignment?
o What did you find the most challenging?
o What aspect of the assignment would you most value feedback on?
Plagiarism
Please note that this assignment is an individual piece of work and should represent your own individual effort. College policy in case of plagiarism will apply.
In preparation for your final submission Turnitin facilitates the submission of draft work which you can self-check using the originality function. This matching software is useful to use to ensure that you have appropriately acknowledged/ referenced the sources used.
Feedback
• Written – the feedback sheet is a mechanism for providing students with comments and feedback on their work. Appropriate comments will be ticked or underlined. Overall comments and specific recommendations for improving work will normally be given at the end. The final grade will be shown at the top of the sheet. The feedback may be typed or handwritten.
• Oral – if you have a query on the grade awarded to a piece of coursework or the feedback provided on it, please make an appointment to meet with your module lecturer. During this time, the lecturer can go through the assignment with you and address any concerns that you have. You may also receive additional oral feedback during lecture or seminar time.
Additional Support for students
• Academic Skills Support – all UCB students can get help with their academic work in the Academic Skills Centre (ASC, room 110) whatever your level of study.
• Year Manager/Tutor – on your timetable there is a tutorial hour where your Year Manager/Tutor will be available to provide help and advice on any matters which may affect your work and progress.
• Module Lecturers – it is common for a module to be taught by a team of teachers, who together will deliver lectures and seminars, help you understand your assignments and mark your work. It is also useful to make a note of Subject Advice Sessions in the ASC when a module lecturer is available to respond to your queries
• Language Support – the Language Support proofreading service is available free of charge to students who do not speak English as their first language.
Information Access
• Student Handbook – this provides referencing, report and essay writing guidance. You will have access to it through UCB Online.
• Library & E-Resources -the Library provides you with an extensive range of online resources to support your studies. It is worth remembering that almost all of the online resources which UCB offers contain material which is not freely available on the Internet. These include journals, EBooks, business information, market research, news sources and more.
