Develop Hotel Management Strategy Map To Visualize Goals
What is a strategy map? Is it just a nice presentation demonstrating company goals? Well, some top managers and business owners think so. In fact, this is not true as an effective strategy map shows both goals and ways to achieve these goals. Besides, some strategy maps are very difficult to understand since they contain complex terms and formulas from strategic management theory. An effective strategy map must be easy to understand even for a person without even elementary knowledge of strategic planning. Such a person should see goals and how these goals will be reached. All the rest is unnecessary. An effective strategy map and shows cause and effect ties between goals and measures. For example, if a strategy map contains just one goal of making much money and no ways to implement it this will be a useless document. At the same time, if such a strategy map demonstrates how this goal will be implemented and what needs to be done in several stages, this strategy map can be considered effective. In
this article well talk about hotel management strategy maps.
First and foremost a hotel should develop comprehensive and realistic strategy. It means that strategic goals have to be ambitious and achievable at the same time. On top of that, making a lot of money can be hardly called a strategic goal. A strategy is about future vision, and hotel industry is not an exception here. Thus, a good example of strategic goal would be gaining particular percentage of market share, improve and loyalty of existing customers and attraction of new ones, improving hotel business image and recognition throughout the world and of course increasing profits. Of an effective hotel management strategy map will show what needs to be done to achieve these goals. Balanced Scorecard is perhaps the best tool to design strategy maps that demonstrate cause and effect ties.
All financial goals can be implemented if some improvements are performed in other spheres. As known, Balanced Scorecard consists of four categories which are interrelated: financial, customer, internal business processes, learning and growth. A hotel strategy map will show cause and effect ties between all categories and key performance indicators that each category contains. For instance, in order to increase revenue (financial), it is necessary to attract new customers (customer) which is possible on lee through introduction of new services and improvement of internal procedures (internal business processes) while this is only achievable through improvement of personnel professional level (learning and growth). This simple example demonstrates cause and effect ties between Balanced Scorecard categories and key performance indicators. For example such key performance indicator as customer loyalty directly affects revenue growth since loyal and satisfied customers are more likely to stay and the same ho
tel again. Thus, the hotel strategy works in the long term which contributes to competitive advantage in the market. It needs saying that Balanced Scorecard will perfectly work and the hotel will improve its performance only if improvements in the four categories are achieved. This means that the hotel should be ready for changes.
All Such Business Transactions Carried Out Through Internet Is Called E Commerce
Ecommerce is the way of conducting of business communication and transactions through computer networks. Ecommerce is the buying and selling of goods and services, and the transfer of funds through digital communications.
Ecommerce is precisely correspondent to a market place in the Internet. Ecommerce mainly comprises of the buying, selling, distributing, servicing and marketing of products on the Internet and other computer networks. It involves online marketing, e-marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic funds transfer, and supply chain management, automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Presently, it is one of the most important features of the Internet. Ecommerce is exchange of goods and services electronically with no barriers of time or distance. Over the last five years, Ecommerce has expanded very quickly and is expected to proceed further at this speed or faster.
The boundaries between the “electronic” and “conventional” commerce is gradually disappearing as more and more businesses shifting sections of their operations onto the Internet.
Ecommerce or Electronic commerce between businesses is referred by Business to Business (B2B) either than between a business and a consumer. Rather than customers or suppliers, B2B businesses mostly deal with hundreds or even thousands of other businesses. Vast competitive advantages over traditional methods are provided by carrying out these electronically transactions. Ecommerce is often cheaper, faster and more convenient than the traditional methods of trading services and goods, when properly implemented.
In Electronic Data Interchange or EDI form, electronic transactions have been around for quite some time. Each customer and supplier is required by the Electronic Data Interchange to set up a dedicated data link. To set up multiple and ad-hoc links for companies e-commerce provides a cost-effective method. Development of electronic marketplaces led by Ecommerce brings together the potential customers and suppliers to conduct mutually beneficial trade.
[Top]Century Business Methods Used Today Are The Problem, Not The Solution
Throughout the 20th century, various business methods for operating and developing the company have been contrived and refined, becoming the conventional business methods that we use today. We improve management and effect business change by laying new contrived business methods and structures over the methods in place. Even with all the improvements, we continue to have fundamental problems with re-organizations, intangible assets, accounting limitations, cost control, information management, alignment, etc. Even with all the business organization and management methods, we still have not found the one right method to organize and manage the company business.
Until now. Result-performance Management, newly launched in 2008, provides the one right method to organize and manage the business in the 21st century company, and leave problems with 20th century business methods behind.
Conventional business methods are the generally-accepted wrong ways
Over the past decade, we implemented breakthroughs like business process re-engineering, business transformation methods, business performance management, and enterprise resource planning. But, these turned out to be just new names for conventional business methods to do the same old things.
Why are there so many different business methods to do the same thing? Why isn’t there just one right business method? It is simply because all of these different business methods are wrong methods, and we do not know the one right business method. Since all the different business methods we use are wrong, we can only define the right method by identifying the wrong methods that are generally-accepted. The basis for our management and accounting methods is not that they are the fundamentally-sound and understood right business methods, but that they are the generally-accepted wrong business methods. When we come up with the one right business method, it will be known and accepted, and all of the wrong business methods will be obsolete.
Conventional thinking prevents the new breakthrough needed
Since the beginning of business, no one has ever stopped to think, “Are the business methods that have always been used the best business methods”. We accept existing business methods as the basis and try to improve the methods.
New business methods contrive ways to alleviate the symptoms of fundamental problems inherent in the way things have always been done. This we can do ad infinitum without ever solving the problems. How many methods do we have and how many books have been written about corporate governance, business organization, change management, investment management, capital development, performance management, cost and value accounting and management, solution alignment, intangible assets, business collaboration, etc. Why do we keep coming up with new business methods, if previous business methods were supposed to have solved the problem?
Management improvement books are written using the existing body of knowledge or published record as the valid basis. Many of the books cut, reorganize, and paste what has already been written. Other books describe innovative ways enterprises are coping with contrived business methods. These approaches prevent new breakthroughs and can, at best, produce some incremental improvement.
Conventional 20th century business methods do not organize and manage the business
The problem is that conventional business organization and management methods do not organize and manage the business. Instead we contrived business methods to organize and manage people, departments, functions, activities, duties, positions, tasks, and numerous other entities. Each business method defines these entities in its own way. Each method is laid over the business obscuring the actual business and compounding the problems of business change. The many different business methods describe the company with different entities and definitions creating information complexity and proliferation of information systems.
The organization structure is laid over the business. The business changes, while the organization structure remains rigid, building pressure for reorganization and upheaval. Other business methods and structures are laid over the organization structure. The actual business lies hidden under a proliferation of methods.
We need one right way to organize and manage the business
We need to step back and take a completely new look at the basics of our company business and build the one right method to organize and manage the business. Conventional business organization and management methods manage contrived entities, but fail to specifically define the business and manage specific business entities.
The business definition is investments in capital as solutions of worth utilized for costs and effectiveness of performance to produce value and quality in results. Conventional business management methods do not identify and manage the three entities that define the business and must be managed:
1. Results: Specific economic outputs of value and quality produced at any level from business performance
2. Capital: Specific invested capital available as solutions to be utilized in business performance
3. Performance: Utilization of a specific solutions of worth to incur costs to produce specific results
These three entities are used in Result-performance Management (R-pM) to organize the company. Any other entities used must be defined in terms of results produced, capital investments as solutions, and performance in solutions utilized to produce results.
The business organization changes naturally as results are added, changed, or deactivated. The business organization changes with each new capital investment to implement solutions or to discontinue old solutions. Human capital personnel and capabilities are deployed as solutions where they have the capability to manage and produce results. Other capital is deployed as well as specific solutions to be utilized in performance to produce a result. The business organization changes with each redeployment of a solution to be utilized in performance to produce a result.
R-pM is the new breakthrough needed to organize the business
R-pM is a new breakthrough that defines the results that enterprise management wants to produce and adds and deletes results as needed. R-pM defines the capital utilized as solutions in performance, to show how costs are incurred. R-pM deploys solutions to be utilized in performance to the results to be produced to show total performance costs against the result value created.
Once the organization is simplified, R-pM manages the enterprise in three dimensions for ongoing advantage
1. Result: Manage economic output to reach revenue goals
2. Performance: Manage invested capital in performance to reach profit-margin goals
3. Management: Manage operation and development goals by time period for return and strategic value
R-pM develops new capital solutions over time to create value in new results. R-pM governs the company business performance over time to create strategic value.
R-pM is one simple integrated business method for 21st century management
R-pM removes conventional business complexity and provides one simple integrated business method that eliminates re-organizations, intangible assets, misalignments, ad-hoc development, change management, and unknown costs. R-pM enables strategic value creation, result value-quality chains, transparent governance, innovation technology management, beneficial development, cost and value accounting, result-performance optimization, business collaboration, consulting professionalism, solution-sharing, and many other advantages prevented by 20th century business methods.
When we employ R-pM, we have the one fundamental right business method to organize and manage any enterprise for 21st century management, and leave all the obsolete wrong business methods and unsolvable 20th century problems behind.
Business Slogans
Businesses want to be ranked #1 in the eyes of their customers; they want their businesses to be talked about. However, there are many businesses in the same industry, targeting similar markets, fighting for the same potential clients’ attention. The same is true for politicians: they compete with each other for the same voters.
If you want your customers to select you instead of somebody else, you need to be different. It is not enough just to be different, but also different in a way your customers will appreciate. For instance, if you are the only one in your industry packaging the items in a blue case … this will make you different; but maybe is something your clients don’t care much. On the other hand, if you are the only one in your industry offering free shipping, chances are that you will be at the top if the rest of your service also matches your clients’ expectations. You have to find what makes your business unique (usually called “unique selling proposition” in marketing terms) and tell everybody.
The question now is how to articulate your “unique selling proposition” in a way that your clients and potential clients will not only understand, but effortlessly remember. The solution is: use a slogan. A slogan is a short sentence that explains what makes you unique. Good slogans are easy to be remembered, they stick on people minds. A slogan makes it easier for your business to be remembered and talked about. It can help setting your business in a privileged position in a competitive industry.
Finding the right slogan is both a difficult and easy process. While it is difficult to come up with good slogans, it is easy to recognize good ones. You, as business owner, can easily recognize if a slogan is appropriate for your business. No one else knows more than you about your business. The question is who can come up with the slogans? You could involve your employees for instance. After all, they know the message that you want to transmit … In fact, they know it so well that they most probably suffer from the “Curse of Knowledge” syndrome. The curse of knowledge means that they know so much about your business’ unique selling proposition that for them, an also for you, it is difficult to realize what it feels like not to know it. Any slogan crafted under the curse of knowledge syndrome effect will not take into account that potential clients do not know yet about what makes you unique.
Therefore, the slogan development process must include outsiders. You need sloganeers that are not affected by the “curse of knowledge”. They can provide you with their slogan suggestions and you can recognize what works for your business. It works best when the process follows an iterative refinement: sloganeers suggest slogans first, then you tell them what works for your business and what does not and sloganeers provide suggestions again. This way, your preferences are taken into account in successive slogan suggestions. It is hard to tell how many slogans suggestions you will need. Usually, business owners get the right slogan after 20 – 30 slogan suggestions, but more may be needed.
You have done already the hard work of building your business and differentiate from your competitors. Now, all you need to do is to communicate in an effective way what is especial about you, what makes your business unique. Find some outsider sloganeers and get a slogan for your business; it is a small investment with a huge return.
[Top]How To Start Online Business Advertising
Now that you have started your business, have you ever thought what to do next? Have you ever wondered how to advertise your business? Whether your business is new or you have already established your business, one thing is for sure, you keep away from the online world as this is where all the buzz is happening. Therefore, you need to have an online presence. As a beginning, you need to have one of the best business websites in terms of design, content and usability. Once you have designed and hosted your website, you have to take the initiative to advertise your business online. But dont rush into this task and embark upon it. Plant out meticulously. Begin with understanding what the goals of your business are, do you aspire to establish your brand and do you desire to have an increasing number of leads for your company? Consider these questions all the time as you move towards your Online Business Advertising strategy. Also ensure that the goals of your business are measurable to later check their progress and if required you can modify your strategies to obtain the required results.
Once you are clear about the objectives, next you have to ensure that your business website has the elements that are required by modern advertising. For instance, is your business website attractive and easy to use? Does your website have useful and quality content? Does the website have a good simple design? Does it have a mobile version that can be accessed effortlessly from a tablet or mobile phone?
One more important feature to online business advertising is making use of blog to give visitors with particular information, ideas, tips, videos and general information on industry. Make sure you have sharing buttons on your Website Business to help in spreading the word about your business because rankings on search engines are to some extent influenced by the number of times the content is liked and how much it is shared. Also, ensure that your blogs are shared on social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn and many others. Social media has a very wide reach, and helps to increase traffic to your business website thereby creating an awareness of your business to countless people.
The above are some very simple, economical yet effective ways of getting started with online business advertising. This is just a guide to just start and as you explore more into the online advertising world, you will discover new ways of business advertising online!