Task 1: Organizational and Leadership Analysis

Devyang R. Patel
000526627
Sherrie Fields
December 25, 2015

Table of Content
Organization Overview3
Organization Description.3
Leadership Practices3
Relationship Between Leadership and Organizational Culture...4
SWOT Analysis...5
Leadership Evaluation.6
Leadership Strengths7
Leadership Weaknesses...8
Recommendations for Leadership Development.....9
References......11

Organization
Augusta Hospitality Management Group (AHMG) is a management company that
oversees 10 individually branded limited service hotels. The objective of the organization is to
provide exceptional guest services at the budget friendly prices to leisure travelers as well as
business travelers.

Description
Dr. Ravinder Jareth OBGYN formed AHMG in 1999 as a limited liability corporation in
City of Augusta, Ga. The hotels are located many parts of the city along the interstate I-20
corridor. While Dr. Jerath serves as CEO; Nand Verma serves as Director of Operations. Mr.
Verma oversees the day day operations of all the properties with the help of General Managers
assigned to each property. General Managers for each property have staffs consisting of
Housekeeping, Breakfast, Maintenance, Laundry and Front Desk. The number of staff on each
property vary to the size of the hotel.

Leadership Practices
Nand Verma is actively involved with day to day operations of all 10 hotels. He uses
accounting reports from each hotel computer system to help with budgeting and forecasting.
These reports are than given to the General managers with ideas as to where there can be
improvements. These reports are used as a way to show to each manager, fiscally, what his
vision is for the property as well as the organization. Also with all the information the managers
can input their own projections to achieve company goals.

Nand Verma also uses rewards as method of achieving organizational goals. By offering
rewards for fiscal and service performances, he makes it known to all employee company wide
that the company values their hard work. Another way he encourages hard work is to make sure
they know that the company values their opinions as well as encouraging them to learn from
their mistakes.
Nand incorporates an open door policy for all the employees of the company. Many
employees may have job related issues and might need someone to listen to their problems. If
employees cant reach him, Nand encourages every manager to implement it at their own
property. Also this offers employees a chance to address situations that might be happening in
their personal life with someone as well. He wants to understand every employee and make sure
they know that someone cares.

Leadership and Culture

The organization is a top down classical hierarchy. The main emphasis the company
puts forward for its employees is empowerment. As to the day to day functions of each property
is a function of each general managers with is individual employees. The schedules are made by
the general managers taken into account request of days off from employees. This shows the
employees that work life balance is a great importance. This also fostered the notion the
company tries to instill of collaboration between different levels of employees.
All employees are told on the first day of work that performance of job duties will equate
to how far you can rise in company. Hard work is rewarded aggressively and laziness is
thwarted quickly. Managers are trained by Nand in their own way to take advantage of each
employees strengths and weakness. By doing so, the general manager can maximum output as
well as the quality of work improves. Someone that might have history doing manual labor

might be equipped to work the maintenance department, and students in college are able to
communicate more effectively with guest as well as answer phones so they are assigned to the
position of front desk clerk. This leads to higher job satisfaction and helps keep the mood of the
employees upbeat. Each Department is also given goals to meet along with feedback from guest
are taken into account when setting up training with their general managers.

Swot Analysis
A strength of the organization is that it is essentially a small business. Since it is a small
business, everyone from the owner to hourly employees of all the hotels live locally. The
business is able to interact with other businesss as well as local guests to build a repertoire for
hotel services. Another strength of the organization is that they are able to take advantage of the
number of hotels in the organization. If a guest comes to one hotel and finds that they are not are
satisfied with the room they had booked online. The employees at that hotel are able to go ahead
and refer them to another hotel under the company. By doing this, the company is able to show
the guest that their satisfaction is very important. Also they are able to make sure that they dont
loose out on the potential revenue.
The leadership in the company is a source of weakness. There is rampant nepotism
through out the company especially in the upper ranks of management. Of the 10 hotels with the
company portfolio, five of the general managers and the director of operations are relatives of the
owner. This creates a source of resentment among the general managers of the other hotels.
When asking for supplies or maintenance orders to be fulfilled, properties that have managers
with family ties seem to get things dont a lot quicker. Another source of weakness for the
company is that condition of hotel rooms. The company keeps one flagship hotel which is
operating with profits while the other nine are currently hemorrhaging money. They are not
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willing to put money in other hotels but rather keep the flagship hotel in great condition. These
decisions seem short sighted to the overall health of the company.
There are many opportunities for the company to increase revenue at each hotel. Putting
money into all the hotels will be able to clean up the hotel rooms. By getting rid of worn out
furniture and getting new items across the hotel rooms, the company can charge a higher rate for
each room. Another opportunity for the company is investing in better employees. The company
pays the line employee such as front desk staff to housekeeping staff, minimum wage. Without
paying for quality employees, the first instant a customer gets to look at the company isnt an
enticing one. Employees arent as courteous and dont go the extra yard for the guest. They are
at work simply for the paycheck and not for the experience to work themselves up the ladder in
the hospitality industry.
Hyatt, Sheraton, and Holiday Inn are all hotels that pose a large threat to the AHMG.
They are large service hotels that offer many amenities that budget friendly hotels cannot
compete. They offer a full breakfast spreads, indoor swimming pools to access to free internet.
By offering this amenities, guest is willing to pay a higher price for the added comfort. Another
threat posed to the company is that more management positions are being incorporated to
increase visibility in the business world. Sales and Marketing position are now found within
newer and bigger franchised hotels. With these positions within a hotels leadership, they are able
to extract more of a customer base with specialized attention. Smaller hotels cannot compete
with this new trend since they are already operating on razor thin operating income.

Leadership Evaluation
The director of operations, Nand Verma, will be evaluated on his leadership. He worked his way
up from front desk staff to his current position. He has gained various perspectives by holding

different positions and uses them daily into this leadership style. His approach is a wait and see
or outcome based leadership. He likes to communicate with all his managerial employees and
instructs them to carry the organizational mission forward. As Daft (2014) states Transactional
leaders clarify the role and task requirements of subordinates, initiate structure, provide
appropriate rewards, and try to be considerate and meet the social needs of subordinates.
(Chapter 15, pg 41)

Strengths
Nand Verma is man who knows what works and what does not work. When taking in
consideration history of the organization, he makes it known to the employees what is acceptable
outcomes for a particular situation or event. As Biscontini (2015) postulates transactional
leaders focus on punishments for breaking rules or submitting substandard work. Employees
that do not perform up to par are immediately let go and new employees are hired. Rewards are
handed to employees that pass expectations and their worth to the organization is acknowledged.
Mr. Verma knows how to motivate employees to make sure the job is done.
Where day to day activities vary greatly, Nand makes it a point where the status quo stays
the same. This ensures that actions arent taken that hurts the hotel. In the hotel industry
changes in daily operation guidelines can hurt the bottom line. He makes sure that procedures
are there for any sort of event that the employees can handle it as quickly and respectful as
possible. This follows Daft (2014) where it is stated transactional leaders take pride in keeping
things running smoothly and efficiently. (Chapter 15, pg 41).
Moman (2012) proposes that transactional leaders provide clear goals and objectives with
a short-term scope. Nands ability to focus on the short term allows the company to met the goals
they desire. By being concise about the company goals for the short term for all employees, they

are able to understand where the company is going. Employees dont have to worry about if they
are part of the companys long term plans and are able to fully concentrate their time on learning
the short term objectives. Positive results are achieved largely in due to not having to learning a
large amount of information. More often than not this increases employee morale and
confidence.

Weakness
Nand weakness as a leader can be attributed self awareness. Turmel (2012) says it best
when he states that: Gaining self-awareness in either area is equally challenging, but both are
necessary for driving leadership success. The first is professional self-awareness. It calls for
individuals to know their strengths and weaknesses. When great leaders say that they surround
themselves with people who are smarter than they are, its not fully true. Leaders know what
kinds of specific smarts they need to hire: the kind they dont have themselves. The second type
of self-awareness is emotional self-awareness. This one is tough. This is your ability to hit curve
balls and herd butterflies. Emotional self-awareness is about adaptabilityaltering behaviors and
being effective even in situations where you dont think you fit. Its about being calm when you
are mad or being engaged when you are ready to move on to the next topic. (p. 53) Nand has a
problem with employees who do not buy in attaining goals that are preset for the organization.
He feels as though he is an expert and the past results speak for themselves. Keeping with this
mindset, he is missing out on the collaborative approach with subordinates. This can result in
missing out of many great ideas. Ultimately this can hurt the organization by not addressing
issues guests have raised with employees.
Motivating subordinates is also a short coming of Mr. Verma. As Tia Benjamin (2015)
states: The transactional model of leadership assumes a very simplistic view of motivation,

which fails to account for individual differences. Transactional leadership is based on the
premise that employees will perform an action for a simple reward or to avoid punishment. A
transactional leader does not typically recognize or praise employees who meet expectations.
Nand offers a reward or a bonus for an employee who exceeds job expectations. He does not
believe in acknowledging the contributions with other employees and fails to use it to motivate
other employees who lack the inspiration. This creates a situation where employees feel they are
not valued and may not put forth an earnest effort. This can keep the morale of the company low
and hinder productivity company wide.
Nand also shows a weakness for personability. He does not care to build relationships
between himself and any subordinate. He believes there is a hierarchy in place and by conversing
with employees outside work situations, he feels as though the division is broken. He fails to see
that knowing a subordinate personally, it can lead to being able to get the best out of them.

Recommendations for Leadership Development

Nand has several good leadership characteristics and traits. He understands that hierarchy
in an organization is put in place so there isnt a confusion in what roles employees play in an
organization. This creates a atmosphere for personal responsibility and competition for a
successful career in the organization. With all the leadership skills Nand brings to the table, he
has room for improvement to be a better a leader.
Daft (2014) states an interactive leadership style is characterized by values such as
inclusion, collaboration, relationship building, and caring (Chpt. 15, pg10). I believe this practice
would make Nand a more effective leader and instill trust between himself and subordinates. He
will be able to show the employees that he is open to ideas and is willing be honest with himself
about the best direction for the organization. By following an interactive leadership style, Nand
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would be accommodate the hotel guests with better acumen. Front desk agents, housekeeping,
and breakfast attendant would relay information that guest have shared as well as improvement
ideas to Nand. Nand staying honest to himself would turn recommendations and suggestions
into practice that elevates his hotels over others. This shows that their hotels care truly about
inclusion in formulating winning ideas.
Empathy is an another leadership practice that could elevate the transactional leadership
that Nand employs. Conveying empathic emotion is defined as the ability to understand what
others are feeling (Duan, 2000; Duan & Hill, 1996; Goleman, 2006). Relating to employees will
help Nand understand how to better communicate to his employees. When looking at it from the
employees point of view, it shows them that Nand is listening and understands their
frustrations/fears/joys/successes. When putting this practice in action, it will create a closer bond
between the employee and Nand. This will help create a more nurturing workplace.
Lastly Nands leadership should be adaptable to the varying amount of skill a subordinate
brings to the table. The situational model of leadership will help him better develop a better
program for coaching employees through out the company instead of leaving it for general
managers. If certain employees need more training than others, he should spend more time with
them to make sure they are competent in the skills that are required for the job. This might create
the self confidence in the subordinate needed to provide the highest level of service to guest, no
matter what situation might arise. This will create an employee that is more effective and
efficient as their job.

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