Mr.

Abdul Kader, Director Operation of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel was thinking about the forthcoming strategy for their hotel since Pan Pacific Sonargaon took the better part in Airport Facility with respect to Sheraton. This made market share to go down by 15% from 53% overnight. The director marketing couldnt even submit a satisfactory business strategy by the last two months.

The Balaka Restaurant and Bar served as a great linkage for Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. Guests really changed their decisions roughly by 11% every time in selecting their desired hotel. However, Managements lack of vision and knowledge made Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel take over 30% of the business in the market. Other hotels are also taking over the market share, now question arises where does Dhaka Sheraton stand?

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel is the first renowned International five-star Hotel in Bangladesh. It proudly stands in the citys most desirable location and has modern amenities and friendly, personalized services for its customers. Sheraton has 288 guest rooms and suites ranging from deluxe, premium deluxe and Executive club floors (ECF) and five different categories of suites and restaurants. The hotel is a proud owner of Outstanding American Company in Bangladesh award for its excellence in being hospitable in the Industry. Dhaka Sheraton has SPG ( Starwood Preferred Guest) points, the worlds best and most exciting frequent guest program which has no blackout dates, no expiration dates and there is also a free flight and a free night. It also has Atrium Lobby, Exclusive New Wing offering new dimension in Corporate Hospitality, reinforcing the concept of Stay in style. Dhaka Sheraton has also introduced an exclusive Executive Club Lounge on the 11th floor where club floor guests can float away in luxury and lavishness.

1937 1940 1949 1960 1965 1985 1995 1998

Company was founded by Ernest Henderson and Robert Moore. Got Listed on New York Stock Exchange. Purchase of Two Canadian hotel chains and further expansion. Got into Latin America and Middle East. 100th Sheraton opened its doors.

Operated in Peoples Republic of China. Introduction of Four Points by Sheraton Hotel. Starwood Hotels and Resorts acquired Sheraton.

It is located 16 kilometers from Zia International Airport. Shoppers will appreciate their close proximity to the many new shopping centers, department stores, and city restaurants. It is located just three kilometers from Ramna Park and the Prime Ministers Office and ministerial Residence.

The location of the Hotel can be identified from the following Exhibit-

Restaurant and Lounges at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel:

The BarAtmosphere: Relaxed Cuisine: Bar Menu Setting: Wine/Beer The Tea LoungeAtmosphere: Lobby Cuisine: Coffee Bar Setting: Casual Italia Bar & BistroAtmosphere: Poolside Cuisine: Italian Setting: Cafe Bithika RestaurantAtmosphere: Elegant Cuisine: Regional/ International Setting: Casual The Vintage RestaurantAtmosphere: Lavish Cuisine: Eclectic Setting: Fine Dining

Outdoor Swimming pool

Steam Bath

Beauty and barber

Tennis Courts

Ramna ParkJogging

Sightseeing

Squash Courts

Travel Desk

Conference rooms, exhibition and banquet facilities, local/international seminars, weddings

Health Club

Gift Shops

Business Centre

Sauna

Banks

Babysitting services

Jacuzzi

Tourist office

Services for Meetings Customers

Services for Leisure Travelers

Services for Business Travelers

Sweet Sleeper Bed

Recreation and other facilities

Airport Facilities

Services for Business Travelers

Body Clock Cuisine

A Transit Survival Kit

Day Break Service

Extended Laundry Service

While staying at a Sheraton, guests can ski the slopes of Colorado, cruise the Nile, enjoy a challenge on the Arizona links or ride the waves of Australia's Great Barrier Reef. Sheraton Resorts offer a wide variety of on-site activities for the entire family, ranging from golf and tennis to snow-skiing, water sports, pampering spas and more.

Sheraton treats kids very warmly. Kids stay free at Sheraton Hotels around the world as long as they are staying with an adult and using existing bedding. Babysitting Services are also provided through the hotel staff or a bonded service.

Sheraton Hotel offers a choice of venues for meetings, incentives or social events for groups of all sizes, from small executive board meetings to an annual convention of thousands. Online search capability is based on a range of individual specifications, as well as complete meeting room layouts and measurements. Planners can even e-mail proposal requests for a quick response without having to pick up the phone. The hotel has 5 meeting rooms and a Ballroom and Winter Garden to accommodate all types of conferences, meetings, seminars, workshops and product launchers. Additional Services include-

Palash, 33 pax U-shape style

Top of the Park for 40 people dining

Pool Terrace for 150 people dining

Outside catering on request

Shimul, 33 pax U-shape style

Palash, 33 pax U-shape style

Top of the Park for 40 people dining

Pool Terrace for 150 people dining

Outside catering on request

Sheraton Hotel has Airport Hospitality Counter, which is located at the Arrival Lounge; their airport representatives offer the best of comfort to the arriving passengers. They have a VIP Lounge for the departing passengers holding First Class and Business Class air tickets of the airlines that have service agreement with Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

Sheraton offers outdoor swimming pool, squash court, fully equipped health club with finest exercise equipment, Jacuzzi, Sauna and Steam bath, two floodlit tennis courts and table tennis, jogging facility in the adjoining Ramna Park. Besides these, Dhaka Sheraton also offers a wide variety of facilities towards their valued customers.

The Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed is a custom designed plush top mattress set, a cozy fleece blanket, a plump duvet and five cushy pillows.

Dhaka Sheraton, as mentioned before is situated in the heart of Dhaka city. No doubt, Dhaka Sheraton provides a significant presence in the top. High class customer care service and facilities made possible for Sheraton to achieve the top position of the market. Some of the high class services that Dhaka Sheraton provides towards their valued customers are 24 Hour Front desk, Business centre/ services, Childrens program, Concierge service, Internet service with high speed, Secretarial service, Babysitting service, Copy/ printing service, Computer rental, Dry cleaning service, Doorman, Shopping adjacent in hotel, Tour service, Barber/ beauty salon, Car rental service, Room service, Travel service, Gymnasium and outdoor pool, etc. Dhaka Sheraton offers good and high class security.

Organizational Scale of Ranking:

Sheraton believes that their scale will contribute to lowering their customers cost of operations through purchasing economies areas such as insurance, energy, telecommunications, technology, employee benefits, food and beverage, furniture, fixtures and equipment and operating supplies.

Diversification of Cash Flow and Assets:

Management of Dhaka Sheraton believes that the diversity of their market segments served, revenue sources and geographic location provides a broad base from which to enhance revenue and profits and to strengthen their global presence.

Competition:
Competition is generally based on quality and consistency of room, restaurant and meeting facilities and services, attractiveness of locations, availability of a global distribution system, price, the ability to earn and redeem loyalty program points and other factors. Their principal competitors include other hotels and national and international hotel brands.

Seasonality and Diversification:

The periods during which Dhaka Sheratons properties experience higher revenue activities vary from property to property and depend principally upon location. Generally, their revenues and operating income remains higher in the first quarter and it grows gradually up in the second, third and fourth quarters.

In addition, the following days off also appliesWorking on a holiday (Festival) = 2 days C/off Working on a holiday (Closed) = 1 day C/off Working on a D/off = 1 day C/off Overtime duty 4 hours = 1 day C/off Overtime duty 8 hours = 2 days C/off

Helping an employee to take leave:

An employee is to take this form from Time Keeping Office. After completing this form and taking signature from his own departmental head, an employee must submit the form to Time Keeping Office. Then, The Time Keepers send it to the Human Resources Department after entering it in Register books. For this the Time Keepers open Scaled Software (HRM) in computer and click the Report Box. Then, the Time Keepers find leave Attendance Diagram after checking Monthly Attendance and Leave Box and Daily

Overtime Report Thus, the Time Keepers find out the employees attendance file by checking the Preview Box.

Checking Employees Daily Attendance:

The Time Keepers check Daily Attendance Form of each employee after every month. For this reason, Time Keepers check the report of this Attendance Form and that of the two Register Books and Computer.

Solving the Problem of an employee in Time Card Punching:

If an employee forgets the card punching In Time or Out Time, he will show a filled up Time Card Punching Adjustment Form (Showed bellow) with the signature of his own departmental head.

Keeping the list of employees:

The Time Keepers also keep the list of the Contract and Casual Associates in computer. Showing the Human Resources Department the Daily Attendance in Time of the Associates at Sheraton and Balaka (if necessary).

Management believes that the diversity of their brands, market segments served, and revenue sources and geographic locations provide a broad base from which to enhance revenue and profits and to strengthen their global brands. This diversity limits their exposure to any particular lodging or vacation ownership asset, brand or geographic region. Sheratons brands cater to a diverse group of sub-markets within this market. They derive their cash flow from multiple sources within their hotel and vacation ownership segments, including owned hotels activity and management and franchise fees, and is geographically diverse with operations around the world.

Continuing to expand our role as a third-party manager of hotels and resorts. Franchising the Sheraton, Westin, Four Points by Sheraton and Luxury Collection brands to selected third-party operators and licensing the Westin, W and St. Regis brand names to selected third parties in connection with luxury residential condominiums. Expanding our internet presence and sales capabilities. Continuing to grow our frequent guest program.

10

Enhancing our marketing efforts by integrating our proprietary customer databases. Optimizing our use of our real estate assets. Continuing to build the "W" hotel brand. Innovations such as the Heavenly Bed and Heavenly Bath, the Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed, the Sheraton Service Promise, and the Four Points by Sheraton Four Comfort Bed.

Competitive Factor:
At Sheraton, all the departments report to the purchase request department (PRD) for all the necessary things those are needed. Then the PRD sends to the store depending on the item. There are basically three different types of stores. These are: food store, engineering store and general store. All these stores work in an integrated manner. In case of the distribution channel, raw materials come from both the local and international market. The suppliers supply all the materials and they act as middle man in the whole distribution channel. While, Sheraton has its two major competitors, which are: Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel and Hotel Radisson. Among these two, Radisson is just newly built and thus there is a chance that it would be in a direct competition with Sheraton.

Physical & Environmental:

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel is the first renowned international five-star hotel in Bangladesh. Dhaka Sheraton Hotel stands proudly in the citys most prestigious location. Through their modern facilities and friendly, personalized service, they have become the first-choice hotel for most international business and leisure travelers visiting Dhaka. Their 288 guest rooms and suites range from convenient to deluxe, premium deluxe, and ECF (executive club floor) facilities with five categories of suites. Five different restaurants allow customers to savor the best of local and international cuisine in Dhaka. Whether for business or pleasure, the charming Dhaka Sheraton Hotel offers a warm welcome and a genuine home away from home, where every stay is rewarding experience.

Financial & Technological:

Sheraton has monthly target to fulfill. If they cannot achieve the target in a given month, they try to adjust it in the following month. That is, there is always a target ahead of them. If they cannot reach their targeted profit margin in one month, they try to exceed their target in the following month. The main source of financing is the mother company Starwood. Again if there is any shortage of fund, the government banks provide them the necessary funding. Sheraton has high technological setup all over its different departments. They have different high-tech machineries. They have wireless internet, access card

11

room, password protected safe-box, computerized check-in and check out system and mega freeze room.

Socio- Cultural:
The foods and beverages are served by maintaining the different cultural issues. That is, the foods are socially accepted. They have got room service as per order by individuals. Again they have buffet offerings. As Sheraton has international feedback, they are aware of the different cultural issues. Thus they are always conscious about the socio cultural factors.

Unstable Economy:
Sheraton purchases some raw materials from local market. Thus if the price of the raw materials go up, the price of the foods also go up at Sheraton. But as it is an international hotel and most of the customers are foreigners, the increase of price does not matter most of the time.

Legal and Political:

The legal aspects of Sheraton are tightly controlled. The internal rules and regulations are termed as house rule. As our country is not politically stable, any change in the political situation might affect the Sheraton management. Their business might get affected. Again their management might also change because of the change of the government in power.

Sheraton follows the polycentric approach as they hire local people for their countrywise operation. Dhaka Sheraton hotel believes that host country managers ever really understands the culture and behavior of the host country market; therefore the foreign subsidiary should be managed by local people.

Sheraton had proven so popular and had become such a relied-upon brand that it was the first hotel chain to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. One of the leading hotel companies in the world, Starwood's other brands include Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, Luxury Collection, Le Meridian, W Hotels, and Westin Hotels & Resorts.

12

GM AGM i

DOHR

DOC

DOR

DOM

DOFB

FC

The management team is headed by General Manager. The decision is made at the top executive level. In the absence of GM, the AGM takes part in the decision making process and take the control of his lead. The other executives like DOHR, DOC, DOM work under the AGM and they have less decision making authority. The GM or AGM sits for a meeting along with the directors of other departments almost everyday in the morning during the tea-break time. There the top management decides what to do for the whole day, and the directors just share their opinions and views. So they have a little participation in the whole process.

Orientation Program:
New employees will be formally oriented with the hotel by Human Resource Director in a formal meeting followed by ground orientation & refreshment. They will no doubt develop a great pride being a part of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Management in their role as an employee of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel and they will through their individual effort and their willingness to cooperate with others contribute directly to their continued success as well as their own. Every employee, as a member of the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel family will represent hospitality, which will be offered to their guests at the hotel.

13

Top Management Criteria:

As per the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Management policy General Manager will be responsible for the successful operation of the hotel. He will have the authority to make decisions that will maintain efficiency in operations and public relations. Whenever necessary he will be assisted by experienced consultants from Governing body in such areas as Finance, Food, Beverage & Interior Decoration, Maintenance, Personnel Administration, Purchasing, Sales and Training.

Basic salary scale (9000tk): Per day (8 hours) = 300tk. Per hour = 37.50tk.

Over Time scale: P Per hour = (37.50 * 2) = 75.00tk. Total 15 hours = (75.00 *15) = 1125.00tk.

That means per hour over time amount is double to per hour Basic salary scale.

Luxury and upscale hotels and resorts in major metropolitan areas and business centers. Major tourist hotels, destination resorts or conference centers that have favorable demographic trends and are located in markets with significant barriers to entry or with major room demand generators such as office or retail complexes, airports, tourist attractions or universities.

14

Undervalued hotels whose performance can be increased by re-branding to one of our hotel brands, the introduction of better and more efficient management techniques and practices and/or the injection of capital for renovating, expanding or repositioning the property. Hotels or brands which would enable us to provide a wider range of amenities and services to customers. Portfolios of hotels or hotel companies that exhibit some or all of the criteria listed above, where the purchase of several hotels in one transaction enables us to obtain favorable pricing or obtain attractive assets that would otherwise not be available or realize cost reductions on operating the hotels by incorporating them into the Star wood system.

At Sheraton there are highly paid labors. They also hire highly trained labors form outside. In the technical sector like kitchen work they hire well trained labors. Again potential candidates from outside, who studies hotel management, are always preferable candidates for Sheraton.

The management style is not very flexible at Sheraton. There are different functions of different departments. One department which can be mentioned in this regard is the time keeping department. They help employees to take leave. The Time Keepers keep the document on daily Attendance or departure reconciliation (Scaled Software Program) of Computer. They also keep the list of employees. The Time Keepers also keep the list of the Contract and Casual Associates in computer. Thus it can be seen that the employees have to follow a rigid management style inside Sheraton.

Employees of Dhaka Sheraton are covered by various collective bargaining agreements providing, generally, for basic pay rates, working hours, other conditions of employment and orderly settlement of labor disputes. Generally, labor relations have been maintained in a normal and satisfactory manner, and management of Dhaka Sheraton believes that their employee relations are good.

15

The recruitment policy and practice rarely match each other in Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. They are just so different in the real field. In most cases either the recruitment procedure is eye wash or traditional. HR department follows all the procedure step by step before recruitment but during the selection its no use. Usually the top level executives pre-select the candidates as of their choice. Sometimes it is the Union also does the same practice. Market demand is huge and there is very less competitor. Now the situation is changed. More and more competitor is there and some more are in pipeline. Market is getting intensely competitive. Its the time to play. The occupancy is falling down every day and it is now 37% on an average from 80-90 %, 6 months back. The real challenge is here to compete efficiently with this current situation. The company is lacking proper strategy in all aspects. Competency went down so much than the other potential competitors. This group of people is failing to create customer based brand loyalty. They failed to recognize potential employees and eventually failed to retain the potential employees. They failed to make a potential use of employee development investment.

16

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel is the first renowned International five-star hotel in Bangladesh. Sheraton has proven itself popular through modern facilities and friendly, personalized service, for which they have become the first choice hotel for most International business and leisure travelers visiting Dhaka and also got listed on New York Stock Exchange. However, due to managements lack of knowledge and vision and as more and more competitors stand in the pipeline, Sheratons market share fell to 37% from 80-90%. Moreover, the countrys political instability changes the management every time as a new government comes to power. Sheratons Polycentric Approach keeps management policy and operations very rigid and centralized. In addition, in most cases the recruitment procedure is eye washed or traditional where either top executives or unions pre-select the candidates as of their choice. The company is lacking proper strategy in all aspects and hence competency and customer based brand loyalty is going down. Sheraton has also failed to recognize and retain the potential employees in the right place and right time and hence they are not operating at full capacity which negatively impacts their revenues and operating income on each fiscal year.

17

How can Sheraton Hotel retain its occupancy rate in the booming Hotel Industry overcoming tough competition from the new challenging competitors and implement a proper and flexible strategy in all aspects of the organization developing again the customer based brand loyalty via investments in employee development?

18

Below the diagram summarizes in a tabular format the HRP Model. The Oval bullet Points outlines the existence of the Consideration and/or Techniques of Forecasting Demand or Forecasting Supply as per the case.

HR planning model

19

Strengths:

The only five star corporate hotel in Bangladesh to offer guests Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points

Dhaka Sheraton, is the only five star corporate hotel in Bangladesh to offer guests Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) points, the worlds best and the most exciting frequent guest program. The members of the SPG programs can earn points and redeem awards at all Sheraton Hotels & Resorts and other Starwood brands. There are no blackout dates, no expiration of points and is the fastest way to a free night and the easiest way to a free flight.

Through the SPG program, Sheraton is portraying loyalty to its customers. In order to gain a competitive advantage for providing services, the service providing company needs to gain trust and build up its brand loyalty. One way of doing this is by providing exclusive offers and facilities to its customers. This will make the customers more attached to the service and in return make them loyal to Sheraton. So the SPG program is undoubtedly one of the best ways to achieve that.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Technology under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because the modern SPG provides instant technologically advanced services like no blackout dates or expiration dates, so there can always be a free night and a free flight. Maintaining this hi-tech check will require a thorough human resource planning since any shortage of employees on handling these matters will lead to immediate recruitment to balance the supply and demand of HR.

20

Offers the best recreation options towards their valued customers

Dhaka Sheraton offers the best recreation options towards their valued customers. They offer outdoor swimming pool, squash court, fully equipped health club with finest exercise equipment, Jacuzzi, Sauna and Steam bath, two floodlit tennis courts and table tennis, jogging facility in the adjoining Ramna Park.

A five star hotel should be a place of fun, entertainment and recreation for its customers. People come to stay in a hotel for many reasons, starting from travelling a place to an important business tour. Amidst all these hectic schedules, they do need rest and refreshments in the place they are dwelling. They want to feel at home. And from a five star international hotel like Sheraton the expectation goes much higher. Through providing all the above services Dhaka Sheraton is ensuring STAY as fun refreshing.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Product and Service Demand via Trend Analysis under Forecasting Demand- Consideration & Technique.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because since Sheraton has always been the first choice for foreigners for years now it is very much evident that the Service of this Hotel is desirable by all outsiders and insiders both overseas and at home. Therefore, there is a clear demand of Sheratons service in the marketplace and also the fact that Sheraton is aware of the different cultural issues and provides foods that are socially acceptable shows that each year they do analyze their change of trend in customer habits and behavior to correctly gauge the differences and fill in the gap if any as required by their foreign and local customers. Through this they would require adequate market analysts in their company and will have to mend any shortages of market research personnel in their hotel to balance the supply and demand of the HRP planning.

21

Time Keeping Department a unique outlet of HR department

To enjoy leave, an employee needs to take a form from the Time Keeping Department. Upon completion of the form it is sent back to the Time Keeping Department, who sends it to the Human Resources Department after entering the data into the register books. Through this the department is actually keeping records of attendance and leave of employees, overtime report so that the whole leave process can be carried out clearly.

In order to provide continuous service, Dhaka Sheraton will need all of its employees at hand. One absence of the employee might transform the whole designed process into a complete mess. In order to ensure smooth running, leave should be granted rotationally through strict checking so that it can have employees whenever needed for service. The Time keeping Department is performing just that, ensuring that Sheraton provides efficient and effective service without being affected by the leave of the employees.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Technology under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because it is the first one of a kind service provided by Sheraton Hotel in Bangladesh. It shows a sophisticated network of system when an employee needs to take leave, or check the daily attendance, solve problems in Time Card punching or keep the list of employees in a proper and systematic organization. This entire works are performed in a very refined manner through the HRD department via Scaled Software (HRM) in computer. The use of Technology is really availed in this kind of hi-tech services provided by Sheraton to its customers. A proper HRP is also conducted by the time keeping department to balance the supply and demand of human resources in Sheraton Hotel.

22

Weaknesses:

Inconsistency between recruitment policy and practice

The recruitment policy and practice rarely match each other in Dhaka Sheraton Hotel. HR department follows all the procedure step by step before recruitment but during selection its of no use. The top-level executives and the Union usually pre-select the candidates who turn out to be relatives in most cases. Sometimes Union gets to decide between two potential candidates.

To maintain a strong workforce, employees need to be recruited and selected appropriately. Priority should be given to ability and quality rather than face value or links. Otherwise the overall performance will be poor. And for a service sector brand like Sheraton, it is a must that they maintain a highly skilled and capable workforce. Because quality service can only be provided through strong manpower and to ensure this strong manpower proper recruitment and selection is necessary.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Education of the Workforce under Forecasting Supply- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because most of the time in Sheraton Hotel the recruitment procedure is eye washed or traditional. Usually the top level executives or unions pre-select the candidates as of their choice and hence the company fails to recognize the deserving employees and eventually fail to retain the potential employees. Due to the inconsistency that is caused by this policy the Education of the workforce at Sheraton greatly suffers since a houseman is promoted as a senior cashier without any background or even a steward is promoted as an assistant manager, etc. All this signifies that there needs to be demotions or retirements to get deserving candidates recruited in the posts most appropriate for them and hence by this a proper balance between supply and demand of HR will be achieved.

23

Appropriate employees are not being appointed to appropriate posts

A houseman is promoted as a senior cashier without any background. Only some training and no background is going to work in that extent. A steward is promoted as an assistant manager, marketing. Questions do arise about his potential too.

To ensure service and most importantly quality service in order to satisfy the customers, an organization needs to appoint the right person at the right time at the right place with the right type of task. Otherwise a serious blunder in work coordination will take place as specific people are specialized for specific tasks. If that is maintained, successful outcome should not be expected. And this not different for Dhaka Sheraton as well. What knowledge does a steward has about marketing? And what qualification does a houseman possess to be a cashier?

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Labor Mobility via Skills Inventories under Forecasting Supply- Consideration & Technique.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because Labor Mobility is considered as an external factor since it impacts the organizations HR Planning Process. Sheraton first decides who is going to do what and after seeing the mobility within the labors of the Hotel the top organization decides on the need of the labor supply. However, Sheraton does not facilitate a proper recruitment and selection process by which their Skills Inventory is suffering because there is no investments in employee development as mentioned in the case therefore they have surplus of many non-deserving candidates many of whom needs to be demoted or terminated to balance the supply and demand of HRP.

24

The management style is not very flexible thus affecting executive attitude

The management style is not very flexible at Hotel Sheraton. It is kind of rigid in many aspects. If an executive or associate enjoys more leave than the fixed limit, then he or she has to pay for that from the salary perform extra duty.

Human beings are not machines so that they will work continuous. Continuous performing of the same task without any change in schedule brings about monotony and boredom and results in slow employee performance. This hampers the overall performance of the organization. Hotel Sheraton Dhaka is a service based company which is done by human labor. To ensure they perform effectively and efficiently they need breaks and rest so that they can get time off to start refreshed with energy.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Management Philosophy under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because management of Sheraton follows a Polycentric Approach because the Hotel believes that host country managers really understands the culture and behavior of the host country market so the foreign subsidiary should be managed by the local people. This makes the management very centralized and rigid. Moreover, it is a policy at Sheraton that if an executive or associate enjoys more leave than fixed then he/she will have to pay for that from the salary. This management philosophy of Sheraton in terms of organizational approach and pay leads to shortages of employees and hence another round of eye-washed recruitment to balance the demand with supply of human resources in the Hotel.

25

Opportunities:

Franchising and licensing the Hotel Sheraton Dhaka to selected third parties

Franchising the Hotel Sheraton Dhaka to selected third-party operators and licensing the brand name to selected third parties in connection with luxury residential condominiums, thereby expanding the market presence, enhancing the exposure of its hotel brands and providing additional income through franchise and license fees.

Franchising and licensing the brand name to selected third parties would ensure growth as the franchisees are from Bangladesh which makes them very much aware of the local market situation. Their expertise would help the market penetrate easily through the market. Additionally the benefits provided by the third parties for example luxury residential condominiums would attract more customers.

Integration with the HRP Model: The aforementioned opportunity can be integrated with the models Organizational Growth under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because Sheraton has evolved itself and got itself diversified by either taking over or acquiring another hotel around the world. Franchising and licensing will be another opportunity for Sheraton to avail and hence achieve further Organizational growth. It has been mentioned in the case that brand diversity, market segments served and geographic locations provide a broad base from which Sheraton is able to strengthen its global presence. Increasing awareness means achieving further growth in the marketplace and thereby considering the above mentioned expansion strategies Sheraton will be able to recruit more employees this time from diverse origins to balance the supply and demand of HR.

26

Continuation of Sheratons role as a third-party manager of hotels and resorts.

Undervalued hotels whose performance can be increased by re-branding to one of our hotel brands, the introduction of better and more efficient management techniques and practices and/or the injection of capital for renovating, expanding or repositioning the property.

This allows them to expand the presence of its lodging brands and gain additional cash flow generally with modest capital equipment. They will acquire hotels or brands which would enable them to provide a wider range of amenities and services to customers. In the process they will acquire hotels and resorts located in major metropolitan areas and business centers which attract customers resulting in extra cash flow.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Product and Service Demand and Organizational Growth under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because Sheraton has always been the first choice for foreigners visiting or touring Dhaka for the first time. Moreover it was the first 5 star Hotel in Bangladesh. Sheraton still is preferred by many tourists and visitors round the world which clearly shows that Sheraton has its service still demanded. Sheraton is able to achieve growth by its brand diversification and internationalization. Moreover acting like the third- party manager for hotels and resorts gives the hotel multiple sources from which to derive their cash flow, income and profit. Hence through this they are able to forecast their demand for further employees and recruit if needed to bring the supply and demand of HR to equilibrium.

27

Continuing growth of the frequent guest programs as part of the marketing efforts

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel should continue to grow its frequent guest program, thereby increasing occupancy rates while providing the customers with benefits based upon loyalty to Sheraton. This enhances the marketing efforts by integrating the proprietary customer databases, so as to sell additional products and services to existing customers, improve occupancy rates and create additional marketing opportunities.

In order to hold on to the customer base permanently, service companies like Sheraton Hotel should provide extra benefits thus creating a sense of loyalty among its customers. This will make the customers more attached to the hotel and increase positive word-of-mouth which in turn will attract more customer base. Through this Sheraton will also be able to sell its extra products and services.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Organizational Growth under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because Sheraton is again securing its occupancy rate in the market and thereby creating customer based brand loyalty. Growth is also facilitated for Sheraton since through this the proprietary customer databases will be integrated and hence additional marketing opportunities will be created. This internal consideration will lead to reconsidering the need of employees to work for Sheraton and hence a better and proper recruitment can be facilitated to balance the supply and demand of HRP for the Hotel Chain.

28

Threats:

Managements lack of knowledge and vision

The Balaka Restaurant & Bar used to work as a competency for the hotel. There was around 11% change for selecting hotel for the next trip because it was an extra facility for the outgoing Sheraton guests and Sheraton had monopoly in this business. Now for Managements lack of knowledge and vision and inefficient strategy Pan Pacific got a chance & took around 30% of the business including other hotels taking a chunk.

If this lack of knowledge and vision by the management continues, then it will give birth to more wrong decision being taken thus leading to inefficient strategies. Due to this they Sheraton will lose their competitive edge as it happened with Balaka. From a monopoly business it is losing share to its competitors. In the future more of their unique businesses will be on the way to be threatened if correct actions are taken.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Management Philosophy under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because it is the top management executives or Unions who most of the time pre-selects a candidate as of their choice in the recruitment and selection process which then leads to lack of proper strategy in all aspects of the organization because the potential employees are not recognized and hence they cannot be retained which is making Sheraton lose out its market shares against the new emerging competitors like Radisson, Westin, or Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel. This Management Philosophy needs to be changed so that a proper demand for employees can be forecasted and a balance of proper supply and demand of HR can be achieved at Sheraton Hotel to uphold its presence in the market.

29

High competition due to ownership and management of other hotels and resorts

While some of the competitors are private management firms, several are large national and international chains that own and operate their own hotels, as well as manage hotels for third-party and develop and sell VOIs, under a variety of brands that compete directly with our brands.

Brands directly competing with Sheraton possess as a strong threat because any time they might get an upper-hand on the hotel business. Especially the ones which are internationally owned is a direct threat because they come in with the same expertise and facilities. These international ownerships are transferring their expertise skills to the third parties and making them equally competitive as the original franchisees.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Product/Service Demand under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because the Hotel Industry in Bangladesh is recently flourishing a lot and due to that many new challenging competitors are popping up in the market which are either private management firms or national/ international chains. This shows that there is a Demand for Hotel Services. Sheraton needs to buckle up before the other hotels come in with the same expertise and facilities. Sheraton does have the first mover advantage and also provides distinctive services which are still valued by the customers, hence in order to deliver competitive services Sheraton will have to re Forecast its demand for potential employees and hence balance the Supply and Demand of HR in their Hotel.

30

Attendance of unwanted non-guests during big occasions

Dhaka Sheraton offers a good and high class security which includes guards at the entrances, searching under cars, and scanning people entering and also checking their bags as well. But despite all these, the risk factor is that there are often functions being held here so a large number of non-guests can be found in and around the hotel at these times.

Intrusion of non-guests at big places like Dhaka Sheraton possesses a big threat to the security to the people present there as well as to the hotel. Too much crowded place is always a target for mishaps and international standard venues like Dhaka Sheraton becomes a prime target if safety is not taken beforehand. These non-guests might not be people with good intentions as a result they may tarnish the name of Dhaka Sheraton.

Integration with the HRP Model: This relates to the area of HRP model where they show Technology under Forecasting Demand- Consideration.

Justification of Integration: This area is related to the model because Sheraton does not use technologically advanced equipments to check on guests during big occasions. Being such a big hotel they just have security guards at the entrances to search under the cars, scan people or check bags. So its just the same casual scanner they use every time which then provides the risks of catering to uninvited guests around the hotel at times. Therefore a proper forecast of demand for guards will identify the shortages in the number of guards and hence perhaps with more recruitment of guards full time, Sheraton can eliminate this problem if not at once go hi-tech which will then eventually balance supply and demand of Employees in the Hotel.

31

Below we have diagrammatically summarized Sheratons SWOT Analysis in a Nutshell for a quick overview.

32

One of the major challenges is to ensure the effectiveness of orientation program directed towards new employees in order to motivate them:
The existing orientation program at Hotel Sheraton is conducted by HRD director and GM in a formal meeting followed by ground orientation and refreshment. The goal of orientation program is to welcome the new employees, motivate them by giving motivating speech, making them feel as a member of Sheraton Hotel and answer the questions that most likely interest the employees. It has always been assumed that the new employees standard will always be high and they should have educated experience and personality to expand the situation. But unfortunately, the standard of all new employees are not equal due to some existing bad HR practice at Sheraton during recruitment and selection and not every employee have same understanding capability. The HRD director and GM must keep this in mind while conducting orientation program and giving motivational speech but they usually wrongly assume all employees have same understanding capability. So it becomes a high challenge for HR department to ensure the effectiveness of orientation program to lower the newness anxiety and motivate each and every employee.

The decision making process by top management is highly centralized that does not allow empowerment of employees thus demotivating them:
The General Manager is wholly responsible for successful operation of the hotel. He has the authority to make decisions that will maintain the efficiency in operations and public relations. Whenever necessary, he is assisted by other department heads. The decision making authority at Sheraton regarding operation is highly centralized and the department heads have limited authority. The top management usually instructs the employees on dress codes, guidelines of personal hygiene and behavior such as what to avoid, what to refrain, advance salary rules, meals and leave policies. The management expects employees to follow all the rules by the book and at the same time delight the customer in any way possible by strictly following the rules. The existing employees are thus demotivated because they are expected to delight each and every customer but are not given the proper opportunity as the employees are not empowered properly for which the employees fail to satisfy customer in any possible way.

33

It is important to ensure that Dhaka Sheratons technological sales stuff are highly trained in order to provide best service to customer in any possible way to achieve success:
The on site sales stuff and convention stuffs are highly dependent on technology in order to provide superior customer service. The time keepers also rely on the time keeping software to maintain effective and efficient operations. Technological up gradation and renovation takes place in Sheraton from time to time. There is no proper training and development program present at Sheraton to train the on site sales force and time keepers after technological up gradation which is a major challenge for HR department as lack of proper training and development can hamper Sheratons competitive position and operations.

Lack of proper HR planning to anticipate labor movement and attract specialized Hotel management personnel which is quite expensive as well:
During renovation and technological up gradation, Sheraton cannot perform at its optimal capacity. Moreover, many employees leave due to these changes as they are resistant to change. This further hampers Sheratons operation as employees leave. There is no proper HR planning to forecast labor movements and hence Sheraton loses its valuable employees to competitors. Moreover due to lack of proper HR planning, Sheraton fails to attract Specialized Hotel management personnel as well. This might be a major problem in the long run.

Strict management style that exists in Sheraton demotivate employees and affects Executives attitudes:
Strict management style exists at Sheraton. Employees have to follow strict rules by the book and if they fail to follow them, they are penalized severely. The time keepers have to follow the management style of doing things. This can be quite demotivating for them, lowering their job satisfaction and productivity in near future. In case of compensation, it is quite rigid regarding overtime issues, leave policies. So focus is needed to make management policies flexible to maintain competitive advantage and this is not going to be easy task.

34

Lack of proper recruitment and selection process (an eyewash) and staffing complexity:
The traditional HR recruitment and selection process is just eyewash. They usually follow each step by step guideline before recruitment but during selection, candidates are pre selected by executives and unions. Candidates are selected on the basis of preference by a certain executive and if the candidate is relative of union. HR director has limited authority during selection process. Moreover, Sheraton follows polycentric approach but they are looking for workers who worked at hotels in other countries and Hotel management specialist as they are highly preferable. So they are not giving any equal employment opportunity to local people. So one of the main challenges is to come up with a proper recruitment and selection process, ensure its proper application and minimize staffing complexity.

Unions and executives play a vital role in selecting candidates limiting the power of HR director for which inappropriate people are selected for inappropriate positions:
The unions and executive select employees based on their relation with the candidate and their preferences. The entire selection process is biased. As a result, a stewardess is given the position of an assistant marketing manager. So Sheraton is filled with inappropriate people in inappropriate position that might threaten its existence in long run because it does not seem that Sheraton has a qualified, talented workforce to face the increasing competition.

The top management must be trained effectively to make important decisions regarding internal developments:
The top management at Sheraton focuses mostly on day to day operations. They does not focus on long term decisions regarding internal development and hence has a lack of vision on how to face the future completion and maintain its competitive position. In order to take proper decision regarding internal developments, it is important to ensure that top management is properly trained.

35

ALTERNATIVE 1: DO NOTHING
Dhaka Sheraton Hotel is the first renowned international five-star hotel in Bangladesh who is also the proud recipient of the prestigious Outstanding American Company in Bangladesh award for its excellence in the hospitality industry. It has gained competitive advantage by maintaining up the scale strategy and provided superior customer service all these years. Dhaka Hotel Sheraton can continue its operation in the same way as it has been doing all these years since it first started.

Pros of Alternative 1: Do Nothing

Saves Money:

Dhaka Sheraton Hotel can continue its existing operations in the same working environment that existed since its inception without incurring any further costs. This helps Byzid to save money that can be invested in the future.

Saves Time: By following the alternative of Do Nothing Dhaka Sheraton Hotel can focus on its existing operation maintaining its operations efficiency, workflow. This will allow Dhaka Sheraton Hotel to save time.

Saves Effort

Making changes in an existing organization requires a lot of effort so that the people in the organization can adapt to the change and improve their performance. Some people show resistance to changes and become dissatisfied. If Dhaka Sheraton Hotel follows the strategy of Do Nothing, it does not have to put in extra effort and still can maintain its operations efficiency and effectiveness.

36

Cons of Alternative 1: Do Nothing

Existing Recruitment & Selection program fails to attract right people with right skills in right position at right time:

The existing recruitment and selection process is just eyewash. They usually follow each step by step guideline before recruitment but during selection, candidates are pre selected by executives and unions. Candidates are selected on the basis of preference by a certain executive and if the candidate is relative of union. HR director has limited authority during selection process. So the existing recruitment and selection process fails to attract right people with right skills in right position at right time. Inappropriate people with no adequate knowledge, skills and abilities are selected. It is seen that stewardess is given the position of assistant marketing manager. If this continues, then Sheraton would fail to develop a talented work pool which is detrimental to its survival against increasing competition.

Improper Orientation program fails to motivate people and lack of proper, specific Training and Development program leads to a less efficient, effective sales task force and time keepers and hence failure to maintain up scale strategy:

The existing orientation program is not effective enough to fully motivate the new employees and reduce their newness anxiety as well as answer their questions effectively. One of the reasons is because the General Manager and HRD department assumes that all the newly hired employees have very high standard but it is not true due to some bad HR practices during recruitment and Selection and not all new employees have same understanding capability. Moreover, Dhaka Sheraton Hotel upgrades its technology from time to time but does not provide training program to the existing and new employees regarding the technological change. This might hamper the workflow and operation efficiency as employees are not properly trained, cannot cope up with the change, which in turn demotivates them, reducing their productivity, satisfaction and increasing absenteeism and turnover. This will eventually lead to lower profits, market share and loss of potential customers.

Lack of proper, flexible compensation package will be detrimental to organizations success as it lowers employees morale and productivity, increasing turnover: A proper compensation package helps to lift the employees morale. At Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, executives are dissatisfied with existing rigid compensation package that only focuses on salary, overtime and leave policy. It does not include any benefits such as annual bonus, health insurance, transport allowances etc. and incentive plans

37

such as profit sharing. If nothing is done about this, then employees productivity as well as job satisfaction will deteriorate which will ultimately lead to increased absenteeism and turnover. This will eventually cause disturbance in maintaining the current workflow and Dhaka Sheraton Hotel might fail to delight its customer through providing superior customer services

Lack of proper HR planning will face labor shortages and in periods of renovations and up gradation, Sheraton will not able to perform at full capacity to satisfy its customers:

Due to continuous renovation and technological up gradation at Dhaka Sheraton which cannot operate at optimal level, existing employees that are resistant to change leaves the job that further disturbs the work flow. As there is no proper HR planning and forecast on labor movements, Dhaka Sheraton faces problem in finding a proper replacement quickly. If nothing is done about this, Sheratons operation efficiency will decline during renovation and technological up gradation and will lower customer service quality which in turn will result in lower customer satisfaction and will threaten Sheratons survival in long run.

If top management are not trained regarding internal development decisions now, then they will fail to expand properly in future:

The top management at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel mostly focuses on day to day operations. They are not much concerned about the long term strategic plan. Moreover, there is no proper training and development program to train the top management regarding internal development decisions that will allow rapid growth of Sheraton. If nothing is done about this, there is a high chance that Sheraton will not be able to face the incoming competition and will be unable to maintain its competitive advantage as it fails to expand properly.

If management policies are not made flexible and decision making authority are not decentralized along with empowerment of departments head and accountability will threaten Sheratons competitive advantage:

The decision making authority regarding operations is highly centralized and only General Manager takes it. The other department heads have limited authority and assist the General Manager in decision making whenever needed. Empowering the other department heads in decision making regarding the activities in their own department and empowering the employees by making flexible management policies will help Sheraton to expand and motivate employees as well. But this is not so in the current situation and Sheraton is focusing mostly on survival against increasing

38

competition. If nothing is done, Dhaka Sheraton will fail to expand and hence lose its competitive advantage.

Lose customers, market share and suffer losses:

As mentioned in the case, Dhaka Sheraton has lost occupancy rate by 53% and market share by 15%. Moreover, Director Marketing could not come up with proper strategy. If nothing is done at this moment, Dhaka Sheraton will further lose its market share, suffer losses and also lose potential customers due to poor service quality compared to its competitor Pan Pacific Sonargaon. This threatens Sheratons existence.

ALTERNATIVE 2: THE HR DEPARTMENT MUST BE DECENTRALIZED, INTEGRATED WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS AND EMPOWER THE HR DIRECTOR ALONG WITH RESTRUCTURING OF TRADITIONAL HR PRACTICES AND MAKING MANAGEMENT POLICIES MORE FLEXIBLE
The employees at Hotel Sheraton is dissatisfied with the existing management policies and existing HR practices of recruitment, selection process, compensation package and lack of training and development program needed for an employees growth. So it is quite necessary that the top management makes a review as well as complete restructuring of its existing HR department, upgrade its HR policies, practices and ensures that the new HR practices are properly implemented in order to achieve success and growth in the near future. The main focus of Sheraton is on HR planning, recruitment, selection, training, development, managing employeremployee relationship. In order to ensure proper implementation of HR practices, the HR Director must be empowered and given authority regarding decisions in HR practices. Moreover, to improve operation efficiency, customer service, the HR Department must be integrated properly with other departments.

Pros of Alternative 2: The HR Department must be decentralized, integrated with other departments and empower the HR Director along with restructuring of traditional HR practices and making management policies more flexible:

The HR manager should be empowered so that he can make effective recruitment and selection process to acquire the right people with right skills at the right time. This reduces chances of interference by union members and executives and is crucial to Sheratons success:

39

The HR Director, when empowered, will ensure the proper implementation of recruitment and selection. The HR Director can hire the proper candidate with adequate skills, knowledge, abilities, experience, qualifications through proper screening. This lowers the chances of interferences by executive and unions and hence eliminates the selection of inappropriate candidates. As a result, hiring the right people with right skills in right position at right time will help Dhaka Sheratongain competitive advantage over its competitors.

The HR manager can follow Geocentric approach instead of polycentric approach and give equal employment opportunities to both local, home and host countries employees:

If Dhaka Sheraton follows geocentric approach instead of polycentric approach, then it can attract and hire qualified individuals as well as hotel management specialists from around the world. Following Geocentric approach has certain advantages. One can attract talented people from large number of multiple sources and select the best people at affordable price. Moreover, this will reduce the existing staffing problem and ensure both local and international employees get equal employment opportunities as focus is to choose only the best people.

The compensation package must be made flexible to include incentive plans such as annual bonus, profit sharing plans and custom fitted benefits such as medical allowances, transport allowances, health insurance, gym membership to positively influence executives attitude:

Dhaka Sheraton must review its current compensation package and make necessary changes to ensure the compensation package meets both internal and external equity and is a flexible one. Dhaka Sheraton can make its overtime, leave policy more flexible and take into account of important factors such as cost of living adjustments and the benefits included in the compensation package must be custom fitted to meet each individuals specific needs. It can include annual bonuses, health care and incentive plans such as profit sharing plans. This will help to lift the employees morale, motivating them to perform better.

Proper HR planning will help to forecast mobility of labor force and by ensuring this with the help of transitional matrix, Sheraton can meet its customers demand at all times even when Sheraton are not working on its full capacity due to renovation and up gradation of technology:

The use of transitional matrix tool will allow to forecast future labor movements in the hotel industry and other industry and with use of proper HR planning, Dhaka

40

Sheraton can replace its vacant position quickly with qualified, experienced employees from outside, attract and recruit more capable employees. This will allow Dhaka Sheraton to meet its customer demands efficiently and effectivelyeven when Sheraton does not operate at its optimal level during renovation and technological up gradation.

Proper Orientation program designed by HR department will help to reduce newness anxiety, answer the questions of new employees, make them understand what organization expects from them, get them on right track and give them a positive experience for first few days:

An effective orientation program will allow to reduce the newness anxiety of new employees, will answer their questions effectively, will make the employees first few days a positive experience, will get them on the right track with positive attitude and make them feel as a member of Sheraton Hotel, motivating them increasing their job productivity, satisfaction and organizational commitment that will help Sheraton earn more profits in the long run.

Proper training and development program will help time keepers and sales task force to operate effectively and efficiently even when renovation and technology up gradation takes place from time to time:

A separate, efficient and effective training and development program must be designed for time keepers and on site sales task force who are heavily dependent on technology after technological change and up gradation takes place at Dhaka Sheraton from time to time. This will help both the new and existing employees acquire the required the knowledge, skills and abilities which will help them improve their performance and maintain the workflow, operation efficiency at Sheraton which will result in higher job productivity, higher satisfaction, lower absenteeism and lower turnover which in turn will lead to increased profits, greater customer satisfaction achieved through superior service and hence more market share. Cons of Alternative 2: The HR Department must be decentralized, integrated with other departments and empower the HR Director along with restructuring of traditional HR practices and making management policies more flexible:

It is very time consuming:

Making necessary changes in HR practices requires a lot of time as HR managers has to conduct job analysis thoroughly, conduct pay surveys, devote more time in proper screening and selecting of individuals, designing effective and efficient training and development program for all level of employees and designing proper, flexible

41

compensation package which includes custom fitted benefits, incentive plans for all employees. Moreover, forecasting labor movement using transitional matrix and proper HR planning also requires a lot of time.

It takes a lot of effort:

Making changes in an existing organization requires a lot of effort. The HR department first has to review the existing HR policies, identify the loop holes by conducting thorough analysis which requires a lot of effort than usual to design a perfect HR practice system that is consistent with Dhaka Sheraton Hotels goals and mission

Some of the existing employees will be resistant to technological change and will not want to participate in T&D plan because they will feel that they are discriminated compared to higher performers:

Some employees might not want to participate in training and development program and can show resistance to change in their current work setting. This might demotivate them as they will feel discriminated being underperformer, thus causing them to leave their jobs.

The executive and union can retaliate against the HR director once empowered, because union and executive cannot appoint their preferred person to jobs. Moreover, other department head may not appreciate that more responsibility and authority is given only to HR head:

Since only HR Director is given more authority, the executive and union cannot choose their preferred candidates. This increases the chances of retaliation by the union members and executives and retaliation can be in the form of theft, breaking of equipments etc. Further, the other directors can envy the HR director since he has been given more authority over them which are demotivating for other directors and this might cause serious conflicts regarding day to day operations.

It will add additional cost by making compensation package more flexible, conducting more forecasting of labor movement and analysis and also specific, separate, specialized training program directed to each group: Time keepers, sales force and other department such as catering, banquet etc.:

42

If Dhaka Sheraton makes a review of its HR practices and make necessary changes, it will incur additional costs. For example, conducting pay surveys, forecasting labor movements and then designing a flexible compensation package that is highly attractive and includes benefits such as annual bonus, health care and incentive plans such as profit sharing plans can be costly. Moreover, designing specific, separate T and D plan for each level of employees starting from time keepers, on site sales force and for employees in other departments and also designing a proper recruitment and selection process can add to the extra cost as well. Hiring specialist and trainers to design T and D program can also be expensive.

ALTERNATIVE 3: THE DECISION MAKING PROCESS REGARDING FUNCTIONAL AND BUSINESS LEVEL IN EACH OF THE DEPARTMENTS MUST BE DECENTRALIZED THAT IS MADE BY THE DEPARTMENTS THEMSELVES TO PURSUE ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS, THUS ALLOWING THE TOP MANAGEMENT TO FOCUS ON OTHER IMPORTANT DECISIONS REGARDING EXPANSIONS, FUTURE COMPETITIONS AND INTERNAL DEVELOPMENT
Dhaka Hotel Sheraton can follow a decentralized decision making process regarding operations. The existing General Manager can delegate more responsibilities to each of the departments head, giving them more authority to run their own department in the way them seem fit to achieve organizational goal. As all directors are given same power, they can integrate effectively and efficiently with other department to get the job done. However, each head of department is still accountable to the General Manager. So the General Manager still holds the ultimate power. Empowering department heads with more responsibility and authority allows them to focus and pay more attention to each problem and with the help of each employees participation will result in better resolution of problems and effective results. In this way, each director work in their own way can help in a more effective and efficient manner to achieve organizational goals. Moreover, this gives the General Manager more time to focus on long term strategic decision regarding expansion, internal development, dealing with upcoming competition and each department head can assist the General Manager more effectively and efficiently than was possible in a centralized decision making system.

Pros of Alternative 3:The decision making process regarding functional and business level in each of the departments must be decentralized that is made by departments themselves in order to pursue organizations goal, thus giving the top management to focus on other important decisions regarding expansions, future competition and internal developments.

43

Sheraton can take advantage of FRANCHISING AND LICENSING THE BRAND TO SELECTED 3RD PARTIES:

Once the entire decision making process regarding operations of each department is decentralized, Hotel Sheraton can take advantage of opportunities such as licensing or franchising its brand to third parties. This will help Sheraton to expand quickly by lowering its cost of operations as well as this allows Sheraton for greater market penetration, increasing its customers base and earn more profits as Sheraton will get certain benefits such as royalties, license fees that can be ploughed back in business for internal development and maintain its competitive advantage in long run. They can continue as 3RD PARTY MANAGER FOR OTHER HOTELS AND RESORTS: Working as a 3rd party Manager for other Hotels give Sheraton exposure to new customer base and using its experience, it can earn more revenues and cash inflows. This will further allow Sheraton to try and test new concept and see whether they are effective. Working with employees of other Hotels, Sheraton can get exposure to new ideas and access to more resources that will be beneficial for Sheraton in the upcoming future.

The employees in the marketing department are empowered to participate and give ideas regarding development of FREQUENT PROGRAMS and can also carry out promotional activities to clear misperception of local people as well as religious ones and increase market shares and profits:

Empowering the employees in marketing department allows Sheraton to conduct extensive market research and then focus on creating differentiated, high quality customer service to gain competitive advantage, new customer base, create, build and maintain long term relationship with its new and existing customers. Hotel Sheraton has not focused much on the local people and religious group who has misperception about Sheraton. But now the marketing department employees can target the local and religious people, provide differentiated, high quality service and conduct promotion to clear misperception and hence increase customer base, market share and earn more profits.

44

Each departments employees are given opportunities to perform and achieve goals in any way they want, increasing their morale:

Empowering employees give employees more opportunities to satisfy customer in any way they want and as they are empowered to achieve goals in their own way increases their morale, job productivity, satisfaction, organizational commitment, lowering absenteeism, turnover and increase profits.

The Director of Rooms, Catering and Banquet, Food and Beverage, HR and Finance controller are empowered to make decision regarding their department goals and are accountable to general manager:

Empowering the HR director ensures creating proper HR practices (HR planning, recruitment, selection, compensation, training, development, succession planning and maintaining employer-employee relationship) and its proper implementation that will lead to a talented workforce which will help Sheraton gain and maintain competitive advantage. Empowering all the directors of other department allows each director to pay more attention to each department and their problems. The Director of each department can work together with its employees to provide novel solution to each problem, motivating all the employees to outperform and maintain its competitive advantage in long run. This also help Sheraton to achieve economies of scale in providing services that its competitors cannot match and launch new, high quality service as well. Making all the directors accountable to General Manager lowers the risk of the director to pursue their own interest as General Manager still has ultimate power.

The top management can now focus in long term decision making process regarding expansion, internal development in order to decide how to deal with increasing competition and handle goals:

The top management can now devote more time, effort in long term decision making of Sheraton than was possible before. The General Manager along with all the directors jointly participates in long term strategic decision making regarding expansion, internal development. This allows them to understand whether a certain strategy is feasible in all aspects and whether Sheraton has the required resources, funds and if not, how can Sheraton get the resources and whether the strategy will help them attain their desired goals.

45

Cons of Alternative 3: The decision making process regarding functional and business level in each of the departments must be decentralized that is made by departments themselves in order to pursue organizations goal, thus giving the top management to focus on other important decisions regarding expansions, future competition and internal developments.

It is very time consuming, takes a lot of effort and is costly: Changing a Dhaka Sheratons decision making process from centralized to decentralized decision making process regarding operation takes a lot of effort. All the head of directors and employees will have to put in extra effort to achieve goals and embrace, adapt to the change in order to maintain operation efficiency and succeed. This also might take a lot of time because change is not easy and takes time to overcome resistance to change and show positive results. Moreover, changing into a decentralized decision making system will require changes in the existing management policies which have to be reviewed for loop holes first and then modified which is costly, time consuming and takes in a lot of effort.

The Directors can deviate from organization goals and pursue their own interest:

The directors can misuse their power and pursue their own interest instead of organizational goals which will create conflict with other department and threaten organizations survival in long run. Even though, the directors are accountable to General Manager for their action, there are chances that directors can do something that is non-consistent with organizations goal and might cause damage to Sheraton Hotel before the General Manager can stop them. This might hurt Sheratons brand image, causing it to lose its potential customer, lower market share and suffer losses.

Empowering employees in Bangladesh can cause a set back because of union activities, misuse of power by union employees

Sometimes empowering employees in Bangladesh can be a setback due to union activities. Unions can misuse their power and pursue their self interest. If anyone tries to stop them, they retaliate in a fierce manner, hampering workflow that is detrimental to any organizations success.

46

ALTERNATIVE 4: OVERALL REVAMPING THE SERVICE SYSTEM OF SHERATON AND MAXIMIZE CUSTOMER SATISFACTION
Dhaka Sheraton Hotel has always maintained up the scale strategy to gain its competitive advantage by providing superior customer service such as providing recreation and other facilities ranging from outdoor swimming pool, sauna, steam bath, Jacuzzi, squash and tennis court, table tennis, salon, travel agents, banks, airport facilities, high quality restaurant, lounges, varieties of services for business and leisure customers and innovative services such as sweet sleeper bed. Sheraton can still hold its competitive position and face the direct competition by revamping the entire service system for better scope of improvement in order to delight its customer. It can target different market segment and provide innovative services to the rich, local and religious group. Moreover, it can conduct research and then introduce differentiated, innovative service and gain fast mover advantage over its competitors by coming up with new kind of service not available in Bangladesh hotel industry.

Pros of Alternative 4: overall revamping the service sector of Sheraton and maximize customer service.

Increase customer loyalty:

Reviewing the entire service system for better scope of improvement and restricting it along with introduction of new kind of services will definitely increase customer loyalty as they will be delighted.

Increase brand awareness:

By introducing new kind of services and newly improved existing services will help Dhaka Sheraton gain first mover advantage in services unknown to Bangladesh Hotel industry and hence increase more brand awareness of Sheraton, increasing the occupancy rate and hence gain market share as well as earn profit.

Achieve growth:

Restructuring service system of Sheraton for improvement will allow Sheraton to tap into market niche and help for better market penetration through new, innovative service and achieve long term growth and increased revenues.

47

Cons of Alternative 4: overall revamping the service sector of Sheraton and maximize customer service.

It will take time to implement:

Reviewing the entire existing service system for better scope of improvement and conducting research, market survey and design new innovative kind of service is time consuming.

It will take a lot of effort:

A lot of effort needs to be put in to conduct research, market survey to ensure customers demand for new services, design and develop new service and train employees to provide the new service efficiently as well as effectively. Moreover, reviewing the entire existing service system for better scope of improvement also requires effort.

It is costly:

Moreover, introducing new services and improving existing services after extensive review is quite expensive. This is because Hotel Sheraton Dhaka has to invest a lot of money in research and development for new kind of service, conduct extensive market survey and also review and make improved changes in existing service system. Designing training of employees and providing employees training to better provide new service can require hiring a specialist to design a proper training and development program which can be costly as well.

48

We recommend Alternative 3 as a probable solution. Our alternative 3 was The decision making process regarding functional and business level in each of the departments must be decentralized that is made by departments themselves in order to pursue organizations goal, thus giving the top management to focus on other important decisions regarding expansions, future competition and internal developments. Once the entire decision making process regarding operations of each department is decentralized, Hotel Sheraton can take advantage of opportunities such as licensing or franchising its brand to third parties. This will help Sheraton to expand quickly by lowering its cost of operations as well as this allows Sheraton for greater market penetration, increasing its customers base and earn more profits as Sheraton will get certain benefits such as royalties, license fees that can be ploughed back in business for internal development and maintain its competitive advantage in long run.

The reason we chose Alternative 3 is because by changing into a decentralized decision making system and empowering the head of directors of each department will eventually result in a diversified talented workforce, where each employees will be motivated to participate in decision making regarding operations in their own department and joint working with their department head to provide novel solutions to existing problems, thus increasing employees productivity, job satisfaction, organizations commitment, reducing absenteeism and turnover. A motivated workforce acquired through proper application of HR practices will increase more revenues, customer satisfaction and gain more market share through greater market penetration. In addition to this, Alternative 3 solves most of the existing problems at Sheraton and if followed correctly will lead to more growth and profits than the rest.

The reason for not choosing Alternative 1 is because an incompetent, demoralized workforce due to existing bad HR practices will lower customer satisfaction, profits, lose market share, customer to competitors and lower existing level of service.

Alternative 2 and 4 are not chosen because they are time consuming, expensive, require a lot of effort and only solve problems that exist in a particular department instead of entire organization. Alternative 2 focuses mostly in HR department, restructuring of its practices and its integration with other department. It will only help Sheraton to deal with current problems. Moreover there are chances of retaliation by executive and unions as their preferred candidate are not chosen and T and D plan can backfire. Alternative 4 focuses on improving existing service and introducing new service to gain market share in longer term but does not deal fully with current problems that might occur due to existing bad HR practices.

49

Now, after recommending the best alternative, its time for us to explore the implementation phase of this recommendation. No recommendation can be decided as fruitful until it has been implemented. Because, this is only through proper implementation, we can achieve the desired results. If the desired result is not achieved, then at least it will reveal the lapses which caused the problems so that these loopholes can be rectified in the future or we can go for the next alternative and go through the same process of implementation.

We will go through two phases of implementation for Dhaka Sheraton hotel according to the following diagram:

Phase1 Phase 2

General Implementation

Functional Implementation.

The General Implementation in Phase1 will be the overall implementation process and Functional Implementation in Phase2 will consist of: Marketing Implementation Financial Implementation Operational Implementation Human Resource Implementation

50

Dhaka Sheraton, one of the brand hotels of the Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc. is the only five star corporate hotel in Bangladesh to offer guests SPG points (Starwood Preferred Guest), the worlds best and the most exciting frequent guest program. Sheraton Hotel is uniquely qualified to welcome their customers and make them feel right at home, whether they are staying with them for business or leisure. Dhaka Sheraton also offers a wide variety of facilities towards their valued customers. They offer gift, handicraft and painting, photography, book shop, beauty and barber salon. Their activity is fully based on service. So it is very crucial for Hotel Sheraton to do a very through and in-depth implementation process for the desired result.

To maintain the service level like an international one, the decision making process regarding in each of the departments must be decentralized that is made by the departments themselves thus giving the top management to focus on other important decisions regarding expansions, future competitions and internal development. Dhaka Sheraton Hotel is doing excellence in Hospitality industry in Bangladesh. The hotel business in Bangladesh is an emerging business in this country now a day. The best trend in the service providing organization is to satisfy their customers in any way. If the customers are not happy with the organization or the company then the country is surely going to lose the way of doing business and the organization will not be able to do anything good in regards to their business. So Sheraton has to review their departmental policy as the management executives are the ones who make all the decisions regarding what to do, what to avoid. But they need to empower their employees also. Each departments employees should have the opportunities to perform and achieve goals in any way they want, increasing their morale.

They should also maintain proper recruitment and selection process with proper training and evaluation. The union and the management executives should avoid the pre select policy. They should also maintain upscale marketing strategy through providing superior customer service.

Sheraton Hotel should also maintain a congenial and supportive relationship whit other existing hotels in Dhaka city.

Finally they should use their facilities effectively to earn revenues. They should have their financial backup from the parent company to earn more revenue and minimize risk exposure

51

The hospitality industry in this country is the fascinating one and only the hotel service is Sheraton. It is the unique place to enjoy the innovative hospitality service and the Sheraton Hotel of Dhaka only provides that. Main thing a service organization do is to satisfy their customers and the main thing now a day is happening in the modern day of organization is the post purchase commitment. If any company manufacturing or servicing is aiming to attract the concentration on their customers by giving them gift by reminding them that they are with their customers and they will be. It will create a good impression and the organization will not be any position to lose their customers and the customer will be loyal.

So to do their marketing properly, the first thing they need to ensure is service quality. They need to implement a good marketing policy. They need to come up with some new marketing strategy by hiring some fresher who are skilled and experienced. Producers will also have to improve efficiency, reduce lead-time and improve handling capacity.

Develop Integrating Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan

To build an Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Plan Sheraton Hotel must follow the following development steps:
Review of marketing plan Analysis of promotional program Budget determination Develop integrated marketing communication program Implement marketing communication programs Monitor, evaluate and control the program

52

Positioning
Organizational growth narrates the organizations position, which is changeable based on the situation. Organization can reach its introduction, peak, trough, and declining consecutively. First organization pass through introduction face then comes the growth stage. Growth stage organization increases rapidly and it indicates that when it will reach to its maturity stage. When the growth is good then the organization will forecast that the demand will be higher in the future. If the growth is bad then the organization will be searching for new strategy. So in the components of positioning strategy we have also added the new attributes generated from the department by providing superior services to match the customer demand. This positioning strategy would also carry Sheratons expertise and knowledge in producing high quality products and create a clear image on the customers mind.

The financial condition of a firm indicates how the firm is performing in the competitive market forces. The financial condition of the firm determines the external condition surrounding the firm. And the financial condition actually reflects the firms performance in the external environment and also its internal productivity. Sheraton has monthly target to fulfill. If they cannot achieve the target in a given month, they try to adjust it in the following month. That is, there is always a target ahead of them. If they cannot reach their targeted profit margin in one month, they try to exceed their target in the following month. They have their backup from parent company. The main source of financing is the mother company, Starwood.

So they need to invest carefully in internal development. They need to take more care to their departmental employees by providing empowerment to all the departments and proper implementation of this empowerment with accountability, so that the top management can feel safe to think about other issues.

Management of Dhaka Sheraton believes that the diversity of their market segments served, revenue sources and geographic location provides a broad base from which to enhance revenue and profits and to strengthen their global presence. Dhaka Sheraton derive their cash flow from multiple sources within their hotel and vacation ownership segments, including owned hotels activity and management and franchise fees, and is geographically diverse with operations around the world. And this diversify asset will limit their risk exposure.

53

The finance controller with careful planning would then use the fund obtained from diversified asset and bear the cost needed in restructuring HR practices (compensation, recruitment and selection, T and D plan) and empowering all other departments so that they can obtain their goals.

Dhaka Sheratons luxury and upscale services made them well positioned over all the hotels in Bangladesh. Dhaka Sheraton, as mentioned before is situated in the heart of Dhaka city. No doubt, Dhaka Sheraton provides a significant presence in the top. It is in the top along with other hotels: Pan Paicific Sonargaon Hotel and Radisson Hotel, which is built recently. So in order to sustain in this competitive market, they have to maintain their superior service for their customers. And which will help them in the near future as their loyal customers will provide positive word of mouth.

As per the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel Management policy General Manager will be responsible for the successful operation of the hotel. He will have the authority to make decisions that will maintain efficiency in operations and public relations. But the employees do not any empowerment to make any kind of decisions. So they need to have an effective chain of communication where employees can share their views with the employers and the management executives.

At Sheraton there are highly paid labors. Potential candidates from outside, who studies hotel management, are always preferable candidates for Sheraton. They are always preferred to be hired. On the other hand, as hotel industry is not well established in our country, thus some potential candidates might not be interested to work here. So Sheraton need to authorize right person at the right place.

Strategic human resource management or SHRM is like the heart for the company since it is the department which would be searching and employing those skilled and qualified people who are going to make a company successful.

In the case of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel, the company also needs to give high attention on its SHRM. Because a successful entry is not the ultimate success of business, it is the sustainability of business that counts. So Dhaka Sheraton Hotel should carry out an

54

effective Human Resource implementation system to bring out the desired result from the recommendation.

To bring about the desired result from the strategic human resource implementation, Dhaka Sheraton Hotel would be a shown a systematic building block which they can restructure the HR department. The following diagrammatic representation summarizes the process blocks for the HR implementation for Dhaka Sheraton Hotel:

Obtain the required employees & workers

Improve skills & qualifications & performance evaluation

Compensation and benefit management

Manage employment related issues

Now we will go through a detailed analysis of the above building blocks in the following pages.

Block 1: Obtained the required employees & workers

For empowering all the departments regarding department wise decision making, professional personals is needed. They will be the ones drawing up the plans and find ways to implement them to give Hotel Sheraton Dhaka a proper sound department functions. There will be a departmental head, who will think of the plans and policies for Sheraton on his/her own judgment and get those plans approved by the top level management. Then there will be a stand-in HR head or more precisely a deputy to the departmental head who will carry out the plans further for implementation. At the last stage will be the departmental executives who will be actually on the field that is they will carry out the instructions of the departments.

If seen from a point-of-view of a communication bridge, the departmental head will act as a liaison between the top management and the middle level employees; the

55

deputy to the departmental head will act as a liaison between the departmental head and the departmental executives; and lastly the departmental executives will act as a liaison between the middle level departmental deputy and the service workers.

To understand the fruits of their efforts and planning, a pool of workers should be present on whom; the plans are actually going to be implemented. They will be the source of feedbacks for whether the restructuring of the entire department has been a wise decision or not.

Certain activities that need to be carried out are:

Job Analysis: This involves identifying the skills and expertise required to perform the work, which clarifies hiring and promotion standards. Job Description: This is the written summary of a job, including responsibilities, qualifications and relationships. The job description provides a wide picture of the job.

Recruitment & selection: This involves constructing an employment planning; supply of candidates from inside sources; supply of candidates from outside sources; using selection tools and building a pool of appropriate candidates.

A diagrammatic summary in the next page will give the whole picture of the plan.

56

57

Block 2: Improved Skills & Qualification and Evaluation of Performance

After changing the hierarchical structure, it is necessary to make these employees perfect at their workplace. There is no use of a restructured department if the employees of the department themselves are inefficient are ineffective to perform their designated tasks. Desired results are within the grasp only and only if the employees are skilled and qualified enough and when an effective evaluation is in place.

Effective evaluation will give the employees feedback about their work and output. It will keep them on a regular check. The employees will understand areas to develop on and areas on which they are good but should work hard to be better. Evaluation will also help the authorities to decide whom to keep and whom to fire.

The activities that need to be carried out for the effective improvement of skills and qualifications and evaluating performance are:

Orientation Program: The existing and new employees will be given an orientation program so that they can a get a clear picture of the whole new departmental system and learn their respective roles quickly. Technological training: Employee working in the online sales should be rgular trained. This is because technology is always changing. New one comes in and the old ones go away. So to keep the employees updated, regular technological training is necessary. This also applies for the new employees too. Time keeping: The time keeping department keeps all tracks of employee attendance and holidays, overtimes and compensation for it. They are always four types for this. So for this multi entry task training is important so the employees can perform faster. Newsletters: To keep the departmental heads informed about employee progress, newsletters will be issued to them which will provide them with the detailed analysis of each employees performance. This task will be carried

58

out by the supervisors committee as they will be keeping an eye on the day to day progress. Meetings: Regular meetings should be held with managers and administrators, for providing everyone with the updates of the progress. Any sort of loopholes will be discussed and steps taken to correct it will be sorted out. The following flow chart will summarize the whole process more specifically:

59

Block 3: Compensation & Benefit Management

After carrying out the necessary evaluation techniques and methods it is now time to reward those employees according to the results of the evaluation. Compensation and benefits are the most influential motivators for the employees to strive for success. A person carries out his or her work in the hope the he or she will be rewarded appropriately. The way the person is being rewarded whether monetarily or nonmonetarily will determine whether that person will give the same level of performance in the future or change the level of performance. This is both in the case for positive and negative views.

In order to make sure that the departments use their empowerments wisely, effectively and efficiently, a combination different set of compensation and benefit packages need to be introduced for different set of employees. The division will be accordingly: Head of the departments, Deputy, Executives.

For the Head of the departments, following benefits will be provided: Profit sharing, Pension incentives, Payments for holidays, Expatriate benefits, Employment insurance, Annual bonus, Health and transport Facilities.

For the deputies, following benefits will be provided: Health and transport incentives, Profit sharing, Pension incentives, Expatriate benefits.

For the executives, following benefits will be provided: Health insurance, individual bonuses. Department wise profit sharing program, annual bonus, Expatriate benefits, Transport.

All the above benefits and packages will be determined based on the Cost Of Living Adjustments (COLA). This will ensure the employees that Sheraton is keeping of its employees needs and is trying to fulfill it accordingly. This will motivate the employees to choose the right strategy for their empowerment.

60

Other sort of compensation and benefits for all level of employees can be: motivational strategy, career counseling, and career specific information & employment opportunities.

All of the above can be represented in the following ways;

61

Block 4: Manage employment related issues

Lobbying: The departments should be able to handle the issues and problems related to union involvement. They should look into the fact that undeserving candidates do not find their way into the company through lobbying or power of the unions.

Consulting: The departments should always arrange discussions and meetings in order to consult the issues of employee management. This will help Sheraton as a whole to manage a balanced employee base. These consultations will look into every aspects and therefore will try to look for loopholes and rectify the employee management system.

Diversity management: As Dhaka Sheraton is an international level hotel, so its obvious that there will be employees of different nationalities working under different departments. In this case the departments have major role to play so that an effective and efficient diversity management takes place so that the employees whether local or international can work side by side to offer superior service.

Global employee relations issues: All the departments should focus on the issues related to global employee relations. o Should align the departmental practices with the global standard o Should ensure equal employment opportunities o Should maintain global standard in monitoring health, safety and security conditions of employees. Repatriation: The departments should focus on the repatriation issues because Dhaka Sheraton recruits a good number of foreigners for its different tasks to run the hotel. So in respect to that, the departments must give attention to the following aspects: Change in compensation and park of the expatriate Change in status in the home country organization

62

 Change in culture and self attribution Problem of adjusting with the people and self culture

The above mentioned core activities for managing employee related issues can be summarized by the following ways:

63

64