An investigation into the challenges faced by a multinational hotel in delivering service excellence

Abstract

Purpose: The primary objectives underlying the purpose of this dissertation are concerned with identifying the tools that are predominantly used to measure service quality in a multinational hotel, determining the impact on service delivery caused by each different geographic locations, analysing the affect on customer satisfaction, and lastly exploring the major challenges impacting service excellence. Design and Methodological Approach: The design of the research is focused around a qualitative approach that takes the form of a case study. The researcher conducted four interviews with four managers of different Corinthia hotels in order to gather supplementary data that adds strength to existing knowledge and literature in the field of service quality. Results and Findings: Succeeding the analysis of results, it was concluded that the importance of providing a high quality service cannot be understated. In order to achieve customer satisfaction, and ultimately service excellence, management must enforce the use of service quality tools to overcome the challenges associated with closing the customer gap. Such challenges are primarily concerned with maintaining consistency, recruiting competent staff, and sustaining engagement. Research Limitation: For the purpose of this dissertation, the core limitation related to time and feasibility constraints. The researcher was unable to take a larger population of Corinthia hotels due to time restrictions and additionally, travelling overseas was deemed unfeasible. Recommendations: It is crucial for firms servicing the hospitality industry to pay close attention to the personal service provided to each individual customer. This research therefore highlights the importance of engaging with customers in order to overcome the issues that arise due to discrepancies between customer expectations and their perceptions of the service provided by the organisation. It is not sufficient to meet customer expectations, rather they must be exceeded in order to achieve service excellence, especially in the hospitality industry. Originality/Value: Service quality has been researched by many practitioners since the early 1980’s. Furthermore, the Corinthia Group has also been investigated in past research. However, there is a gap in the research with regards to service quality in the hospitality industry, and the Corinthia Group has not yet been used as a case study in this field of research.