1.

Executive Summary

This assignment is primarily based on one function, which has been

reviewed through a leader’s eye. This assignment is a blend of
theories and its practical implementation in ITC Hotel Maratha,
Mumbai, India. It was not a big function but very cautiously handled.
In the study, the organization culture of the ITC Hotel is explained in
a short. It will focus on successful management of the event with the
aid of planning and communication. It reviews the culture of the
organisation and describes the personalities of the team members.
Firstly, there were many teams to play their role towards one goal.
Afterwards, this study talks about the team members and their
personality. Similarly, the motivation level of the employee also
varied and it is aptly compared with motivational theory, like
Maslow’s, Adam’s, and Hertzberg. It is also featured how a leader
lead his team with his own style.
The study also revealed that planning requires clearly defined goal
to achieve the target. This planning process was the backbone of the
whole event. On the other hand, communication too plays a vital
function in the organisation and this event, language was one of the
barriers in effective communication. The hotel preferred formal
communication in down the line and vise versa.

A small theoretical analysis backed by own observation really helped

to form better idea of knowledge. The conflict is indicated one of the
problem in organizing the event; nevertheless it is a lesson for
everyone.

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 2. Introduction

People are creative, social and complex in nature which make huge
contribution beyond ‘labour’ to a society or civilization. They are not
commodities. They are resources in an organization. Therefore, to
accomplish a goal in an organisation, primarily, one has to harmonise
and coordinate the group of people effectively. The aim of this
assignment is to demonstrate the leadership and performance
management of people within the hospitality industry.

I would like to review a function where I have successfully managed

the group of people in ITC Hotel The Maratha, The Luxury Collection,
Mumbai, India. Although there are many issues to illustrate the
event, initially it discussed the organization culture, the team and the
team members and how this team helped to accomplish the function.
Afterwards, it explained how one person led, planned and
communicated with the team. This includes leadership style, action
plan and various form of communication .The study also featured the
financial aspect of the event abruptly.

Apart from that, the event is also allied with the implementation of
theory into practical work. However there were some unpleasant
situations from where one can learn a lot of things. This will count as
an invaluable asset through out the life.

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 3.The Main Body:

The Event: Successfully accomplished a gala lunch for launching

new wines in India.

Venue: Dumpukht Restaurant, ITC Maratha, Mumbai, India.

Guest profile: Wine Connoisseurs, GM, F&B Managers of India and

abroad

Total Pax: 175 My Role: Restaurant Captain

This prestigious event was highly rated in India. I was fortunate to be

part of this functional team and the organization.

3.1: Organisation Culture:

According to Mullins, organisation culture can be defined as “the

collection of traditions, values, policies, beliefs, and attitude that
constitute a pervasive context for everything we do and think in an
organization”.

The organization culture has a huge impact on employee’s job

satisfaction and performance too (Silverstone, 2004).

I have worked in ITC Maratha, The Luxury Collection; Mumbai, India

during 2006 to 2008 .This hotel comes under ITC group of hotels
(welcome group) with the collaboration of Starwood Company.
Significantly, the ITC Maratha was considered the best hotel in India
in 2004, though it started its journey in 2001.
ITC welcome group is mainly based on Indian hospitality style (guest
is god).This reflects in their logo with ‘Namaste’, traditional Indian
welcome style. On the other hand, ITC Maratha also stands behind
the society in public welfare and they have strong environment policy
to save the environment.
Every moment of truth is viewed through six sigma philosophy (see
appendix).Every employee are qualified enough to play their role
properly. The management considers the employee as internal
customer. There is always perpetual endeavor to enhance the
employee welfare and customer satisfaction. In this organization staff
responds to organizational value. There were equitable systems of
reward based on positive recognition.
In the ‘Dumpukht’ restaurant, there was very friendly atmosphere.
The sense of belonging always was there in the employees’ mind.
There was flexible working hours with job sharing with other
employee. Every employee was assigned to a particular job. That

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person is first person responsible (FPR) for that job only. For this
function, one cross-functional team was formed to improve the
productivity. I personally felt a psychological bond to the restaurant.
It can be evident that ITC follows the role culture, where
organization is separated into various roles. Role is often more
important than individual.

3.2: Describing The Group and The Members:

There are many ways to define the group. The essential feature of a
group is that its members. According to Mullins,
“any number of people who interact with one another; are
psychologically aware of one another; and perceive themselves to be
a group”.
Teams or group are formed to enhance the effectiveness of the
organization, it also helps employee to make better their working life.
(Molleman, 2005).
There are two kind of groups; formal and informal. Organisation
forms a formal group or team, and informal is formed automatically
based on same culture, personality, religion, etc. In the ITC Maratha
hotel, on the basis of the employee personality, a relation or network
was formed with organization. This relation control the employees’
and organizational goal.

no.of staff

f&b Service
Kitchen
Engineering
sales& marketing
housekeeping

The team for the event with sub- team

During this event, there were few teams. These teams are a
collection of professional hospitality personal from different
department. The team members were well-aware of the goal and the
cohesiveness of the team was good.

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 The group for this event was also formed with different people from
different department (team).like kitchen, engineering, housekeeping,
food and beverage service etc.

In the restaurant, one team (f&b) was formed with the following
members:
One restaurant manager
Two captains
Ten waiters.

3.2.1Personality of the team members:

Restaurant manager was a good motivator, driver and a good thinker,
but he was not so innovative. As a result, our team morale was
always high and had ‘can do’ approach at all times. Sometimes, it
fails to meet the requirements in terms of budget.
Both the captains (including me) were very extrovert and dominant
in nature. I personally felt high tension which resulted sometimes
negatively in my work.
Few of the waiters were very new in the job, so there was always
group dependency worked within them. But few waiters were very
conscientious which is linked to high level of job knowledge and
performance.

Especially, people from housekeeping and engineering they were

introvert in nature. Kitchen people were aggressive and had low self-
concept control. Most of the team members were patient, relax and
easy going. This may be evidenced that the members in our team
exhibit a belief in shared aims and objectives, a sense of
commitment, a feeling of mutual trust and dependency, the open
expression of feelings and disagreements.

3.3: Motivation of The Members:

Motivation is typified as an individual phenomenon, which is

multifaceted (Mullins,1985).

In all aspects keeping staff motivated is good for the business.

Especially in the service industry, workers who are well motivated,
will definitely provide a better level of customer service, keeping the
customers happy, which directly reflects in revenue. As for example,
if a waiter is motivated well, he will definitely try to give his effort to
sell more food and beverage with pleasant present ability rather than
doing boring same job everyday. Moreover service industry is all
about people where motivation is the key to success.

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 At any given time, person (as employee) have many needs, few are
biogenic (physiological driven), few are psychogenic (psychological
driven).
A need becomes motive when it is raised to a certain level of
intensity. There are few well known motivational content theories –
theory of Abraham Maslow, Fedric Herzberg, Sigmund Freud and
Adam’s equity theory, which helps us to identify and motivate the
staff (see appendix for the motivation theory).

The policy of ITC Hotel towards employee motivation:

Basic needs: A fair wage, a meal and accommodation facilities.

Safety needs: Job security, safe working conditions, pension

schemes.

Social needs: Met by introducing team work and providing club

membership.

Self-esteem needs: This is about how others see us at work and can
be provided for by rewarding staff with status symbols like cars,
offices and new job titles.

Self-actualization: Achieving your full potential, ITC ensure that

promotion is possible and that there are opportunities to grow.

3.3.1Motivation for this event:

The strategies were formulated to motivate the employee for this

event, which include

 Role and goal clarity,

 having the knowledge and skill or having the opportunity to
acquire them,
 having sufficient autonomy and delegated authority to finish
the job
 having a good knowledge of what the organisation or
department is trying to achieve and how the individual’s work
fits in this
 quality standards and defined deliverables etc.

In the context of this event, employees were motivated verbally in

the short meeting or briefing reminding them their excellent skill to
finish the job. Unofficially we also announced one staff party after
successfully completion the event. After the event we officially thanked
all the staff involved into the event. The GM of the hotel personally
gave appreciation letter to the staff, which really motivated the entire
employee for the next event.

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 Most of the team members were well motivated but there were one
experienced staff who was not happy about his promotion in the
hotel. As a leader I found hard to motivate them.

On the other hand, being a leader, I could not force the employees to
be motivated, but, if I know what their employees want from work, I
tried to create a coordinated work environment, including coaching,
skill development, and rewards, that help employees motivate
themselves.

3.4 Leading The Team:

The one of the prime factor in group motivation is leadership.

Leadership is initiating and guiding and working with a group to
accomplish change. (Larraine Matusak 1996).According to Useem,
leadership is a matter of making differences. According to
Gardner(1990) leadership is“the process of Persuasion or example by
which an individual (or leadership team) includes a group to pursue
objectives held by the leader and his or her followers”

There is a saying, “Management is doing things right and Leadership

is doing the right thing’’. Whether leadership is learnt or inherent
quality not important but significantly, leadership can bring about
many things in a group or organisation. Some organisation restrict
the leader’s activity for the betterment of the organisation (see
appendix for model)

There are different styles to lead the team. This style is the
degree to which directive and supportive behaviour the leader have.
Leadership style depends man to man. Every individual presents
style of leadership that fits his intrinsic characteristics and
motivation.

3.4.1Leadership style what I followed in this event:

a) Help the team to identify its motive.

The goal was clear to all the team members. The outcome of their
efforts was specified.

b) Set the scope and limit of the team.

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All team members knew what they should handle according to
their responsibility. It helped to focus on the target.

c) Show the belief: The discussion about the event was continuing in
‘briefing’ for few days. The main purpose of the briefing was to
show the faith on the staff through the words.

d) In the preparation of the event it was necessary to show that I

really rely on their experience, potential and intellect in the
completion of the team works.

e) Define the role: Every team members including me know their

individual role to play; specifically they know what my role as a
manager and vise versa.

f) Being a supporter: Supporting the team in need and every time is

a big opportunity to guide the team effectively. Consequently,
team members can work with energy without any fear. It becomes
easy to get respect from the members too.

g) Being a facilitator.

h) Always share thought amongst the team.

3.4.2Reflection on this leadership:

It was a learning experience to lead the team for this event. Since it
was a very high profile function there were always special attention
to each and every work and work force. To utilize the motivated work
force I had to channelise the resources in right direction-what is one
of the main functions of a leader. Eventually, being an innovator,
implementor and pacifier, I realised that leadership needs the
commitment, thought, planning and preservence .somewhere I was
lacking in few qualities like temperament, prompt decision making
etc.

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3.5: Planning of The Event:

Planning is a psychological process of thinking about the activities to

accomplish a desired goal. It is one of the important management
functions. Without planning an organization can not run properly.
There are ways to plan out for different organization and different
events.

Planning creates the bridge between from where the organization is

and where wants to be.

3.5.1 Following are the some actions taken in planning of this

event:

a. Ensuring the plan was realistic (really capable of doing their

own job or not).
b. Formation of cross functional team: one team was formed from
every representative of different departments to ensure the
plan was realistic and collaborative. There was one internal
(own departmental) person in ultimate responsibility for the job
of the every team to enact in timely manner.
c. There were right people for right job so that the work could be
done in efficiently and timely.
d. We divided the whole programme into small different part for
each department, like kitchen, engineering had particular role
to play.
e. Always communicate and follow-ups to the action plan.
Because if people know the action plans will be regularly
reviewed, implementers tend to do their jobs properly.
f. If there were any special requirement for the function, arrange
that well in advance.
g. Inform the sales and marketing team to highlight this event
into media so that employee also feels proud to work in this
function.
h. Resources (Budget): Budget included the people, materials,
technologies, money, etc. which were required to implement
the strategies or processes in action. The costs of these
resources are often depicted in the form of a budget.
i. During this planning process feedback of the preparation
always collected to evaluate the direction of action plan.

It was a ‘learning experience’ for me. With the help from small team
leader (first person responsible), we formulated the plan .It helped
us to define what to achieve, how and when to achieve. The whole
event did not go through completely according the planning .The
planning process particularly helped in time management and

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resource management. However planning determines the success
rate of the event which was fruitful.

3.6: Communication:

Communication is a process between two party where main idea to

exchange their desired information correctly. Communication is
rooted everywhere. Like: in the processes of organising, affecting the
effectiveness of processes and, in the process of strategy
implementation.

‘Elements in communication process’ Retrieved on

November 10,2008,website:http://www.learnmanagement2.com

“The most important thing in communication is to hear what is not

being said”.-Peter F Drucker

A) Effective Communication in the hotel: It is the key tool to achieve

success in any organization. It is related to time, choice of
channels, message structure, mode and delivery style .There are
some barriers for this, like: language, culture, system design, use
of jargon etc. Stress - People do not see things the same way
when under stress. What we see and believe at a given moment is
influenced by our psychological frames of references - our beliefs,
values, knowledge, experiences, and goals. Then it became a
barrier.

Effective information is very important in organization, because it

improves the productivity and generates the mutual
understanding environment between the employee and
management.

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 “Top executive from Forutne 500 companies rate communication
skills as the most important quality for business leaders”.-Business
Selection New York Times.

Cockburn, A(2002),Modes Of Communication. Retrieved on

11/11/08 from the Website: www.agilemodeling.com

3.6.1Communication in this event: The communication was the

combination of various kind of hot, cold, upward and downward
communication. As for example,

Upward Communication: Beneficial to the organisation as it develops

employee’s feeling of participation and it also provides feedback to
the organisation. i.e. - Employee to manager

Downward Communication: Major purpose is to establish a corporate

atmosphere; also it gives instructions in an organisation.
i.e. – Manager to employee

Menu planning was formulated with the chef, consulting face to face,
which was very effective(hot). In this event, diagonal communication
was mostly followed to communicate with various departments
(communication between restaurant captain and housekeeping
supervisor) in various levels.

we used the intranet, memo, letter, meetings to convey the

message. The most frequent mode of communication was phone
conversation.

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 Downward communication primarily used for giving instruction and
motivate the employee. Though the message sometimes became
distorted as it passed through various level.
Like: one information is given by the GM when it reaches to the
front line employee, may distorted in between. (GM-departmental
head- outlet manager – captain-waiter---a long process)

Interdepartmental communication through sending mail was not so

effective. It was taking too long time to implement the work after the
message passed. Language was one of the barrier, because few staff
in various department was more used to use their vernacular
language, which might not understand by others. Even few were not
much familiar with English too. Though the management always tried
to get feedback from employee, but employees were not so
interested to improve the communication.

However in the ITC Hotel people mostly preferred formal

communication.

List of Services for employee communication what were used in the

event:

 Internet and Intranet Content

 Executive Speeches
 Articles
 Advertorials
 Press releases
 Brochure copy
 Newsletter
 Senior management memos
 Special publications

3.7: Quick look of the financial aspect of the event:

After setting the objective, we set the financial plan of the

resources, equipment, material and activities which needed to
achieve the target in time. The preparation for this event carried on
for more then 15 days. Hence, the total cost of the event started
counting in the financial agenda much earlier not from the event day.
Our financial planning involved:
a) Quantified the amount of resources, like labour, equipment,
material, energy etc, There were total 20 staff from various

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department which was included in staff budgeting (attached in
appendices).
b) Calculated the total cost of each type of resources, particularly I
learned how to calculate the labour cost.
c) Summarized the total cost into “Budget”. Discussing budget is
beyond the scope of this assignment.

No of Wages/hour Total working Labour Cost

employee hours(in 15
days)
20 ₤6 15×08=120 120×06×20=₤1440

Hence total labour cost: ₤1440

Various cost Amount in ₤

Labour cost 1440
Food cost 300
Energy cost 1000
Beverage cost 500
Miscellaneous expenses 1060
Total cost of the event: ₤4340
Total estimated income: ₤10000 Total actual income: ₤11575
Total profit for the event :( 11575-10000)=₤575

This programme was not for making good profit rather than it was a
good platform to show cases our organization in global platform.

As it was very high standard function, all equipment and material

were expensive and high quality. Few of the material like special
flower arrangements, special invitation cards etc had to outsource.
The budget of kitchen also went high as it had to be the food and
wine pair.

3.8: Reflection of the event and Lessons learned:

The event completed efficiently with a sound feedback, but I

experienced a conflict in the organization, which created a hindrance
to perform better.
Specifically conflict rose in between F&B Manager and Executive
Chef. Interestingly, the conflict affects the whole event in negatively
and positively .It was negatively affected on the work environment.
On the other hand it helped to increase productivity of people.
Conflicts could increase the capacity of the affected staff, as it may
be motivating factor to them. Every member of the organisation
posses a role set, which is an association of individuals who share
interdependent tasks.

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According to me, there were various reason behind conflict like
personality clashes, struggles for power, favor and role definition.
Under this condition subordinates found themselves in a conflict with
the formal organisation’s department and with each other .People
tend to forget the organisation as a whole, they narrowed down their
function in .Both the department’s employee generated their personal
control and became stricter to their work. The aggression and
attitude of the employee changed for the employee of the other
department. Some problem due to conflict what I realized:
a) Provoke personal abuse. b) Delay to take decision c) Divert energy
and time from main issue d) sense of responsibility declined
The worst part of this situation was, both the individual was not
ready to resolve the matter permanently for the sake of the
organization. They were professional enough to run their own
department, but more individualistic in front of the organisation.

I personally involved in that conflict, but I learned how system or

process worked ahead of individual. Apart from that how leadership
can influence on the employee, which was also a lesson for me.
Though there was conflict going on ,but the quality of the work did
not hamper, even implemented better. That was the central power
(discipline) which helped to restrict the conflict in a sphere. So,
discipline and proper communication are very vital to keep the
conflict away from the organization.
Eventually conflict can help organization to move forward or can be
utilized as source of creative tension to take better decision.

3.8.1Outcome of the event:

Evaluation process of the event :

-Guest Feedback: Positive guest feedback helps in motivation.

- Good co-ordination observed amongst various departments in

context to the event.

- Appreciation from top management was a motivational factor and

it justified the leadership skills demonstrated

- Due to the success of this event the global wine shippers confirmed
their next function in ITC hotel which was scheduled in another hotel
organisation.

The outcome this event was positive and successful.

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Efficiency of the teams was measured by:

- taking feedbacks from the employees after the completion of the

event.

- Observation of the performance of the team members while at

work.

- Arranging personal employee development sessions in order to

train them and measure their productivity.

- Arranging various types of detailed tests or exams to identify

employees knowledge about his/her work.

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 4: CONCLUSION

This assignment is a representation of people management in a

hotel in India. It is a manifestation of leadership qualities through
accomplishing the event. The communication was far more effective
as it was mostly face to face communication. It can be demonstrated
at various stages in the flow of the event. Communication plays a
critical role in leadership demonstration. Lack of communication can
influence the vision for success – achievement of desired goal. It also
demonstrated the leadership, performance productivity of the team
within the organisation. I also tried to reflect upon the situation in
my words, though that may not be agreed with others.

During the preparation of the assignment I came across numerous

theory, idea, definition etc. It is very hard to complete so vast area in
this assignment properly. Few of the theory have been put into the
text, which are really needed to complete the agenda. However, it is
truly a journey where learning is an experience.

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 5.Appendix

Sixsigma: It is an operational philosophy to minimize the mistake.

Abraham Maslow’s theory:

Abraham Maslow developed ‘hierarchy of needs’ which states that

there are various level of needs. And each of the need is very
dominant unless and until it is satisfied, then only next level of need
arises as motivational factor. According to him there are 5 levels of
need, (see appendix for model) such as:

1. Basic needs: for food, drink and shelter (physiological need)

2. Safety needs: protection against danger, threat, deprivation
3. Social needs: the need for belonging, acceptance,
friendship(Affiliation need)
4. Esteem needs: reputation, status ,self-esteem
5. .Self-actualization: the need for developing one's own potential
for continual self-development

**Alderfer theory is a redefined version of maslow’s thory. It says

that the level of need may vary; it is a continuum instead of
hierarchy of need.

Hertzberg’s theory:

Fedric Hertzberg developed a ‘two factor’ theory that differentiate

between the dissatisfiers (hygiene factor ) and satisfiers(motivational
factor).The absence of dissatisfier is not enough ,there must be
satisfier present to motivate .

*Hygiene factor: supervision, working condition, company policy,

salary, technical problem etc

*Motivating factor: Growth, achievement, advancement etc.

Adam’s theory: Adams states that employee always compare how he

has been treated with other employee. Adam also identifies 6 types of
behavior factor resulting inequity.

Equity Theory acknowledges that subtle and variable individual factors

affect each person’s assessment and perception of their relationship
with their relational partners (Guerrero et al, 2007).

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Maslow’s Hierarchy Of Needs(n.d) Retrieved on november 04,2008
from website:http://www.wikepedia.org/wiki/image.

Different constituent part of leadership(n.d)Retrieved on

november10,2008,from website: http://www.obsidian.co.uk/images

6: Bibliography

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