Oral Video Presentation of

Entrepreneurial Action Research Project

Project Title

An agile and pragmatic solution

to increase Food & Beverage (F&B) profitability in Hotels.

Degree – MBA
Researcher –
SID -
 Table of Content

Action Research Experience Slide 3

Limitations of the research Slide 4

Things went well Slide 5

Things did not go well Slide 6

What will be done differently next time Slide 7

Transferrable Learnings Slide 8

Personal Development SWOT analysis Slide 9

Personal Development Action Plan Slide 10

What’s next Slide 11

 Action Research Experience

• Despite having 20 years of experience in the hotel industry, this project has still been an eye-opener.

• It provided the opportunity to step back and look at things as an outsider or a new person who wants to
know about the food & beverage delivery in the hotel industry.

• There was plenty of research done to show the importance of the Food & Beverage department in the
hotels but very little to accept that F&B has become a liability in recent years.

• In the same way enough research is done to discuss the impact of superfood & celebrity chef culture , the
impact of food delivery apps & people becoming more health-conscious but nothing to combine these
research.

• Not enough data available to show growth in the travel industry not resulting to the growth of F&B.

• Learned a lot about the challenges of people working in this industry and the impact of covid overall on the
F&B industry.
 Limitations of the Research

• A very short period of time to do such an extensive research.

• As it was a secondary research, it was limited to what is available in the books and journals available.

• Personal experience and vast industry contacts could not be used for the insights as the project is based on
secondary research.

• The offering of the industry are the basic items of human survival (Food & Drink), these items can not be
changed so the entrepreneurial ideas are limited to the new form of delivery and operational efficiency.

• There is reluctance among the staff as it shows in previous researches to do things differently which made
the availability of entrepreneurial data very difficult to find.
 Things went well

• It was easy to understand how all the departments are interrelated and the impact of one department’s
actions on the other one.

• Research provided wonderful insight on new trends and how they serve as a wake-up call to the hotel
industry.

• Solution ‘Flow’ covered not only profitability issue but also addressed the issue of guest satisfaction, staff
satisfaction, and waste control

• Considering the low pay wages and odd working hours, it was encouraging to suggest monetary rewards for
high performers.

• It was recognised that extensive training must be provided to the entire for the successful implementation
of the solution.
 Things didn’t go well

• There wasn’t enough time to research the different type of hotels and their F&B offerings, hence a typical
urban hotel with one restaurant and one bar was considered for this research.

• In some hotels conferencing and banqueting can be a source of high revenue however very minimal time
was spent in understanding their challenges separately.

• As the solution ‘Flow’ will require minimum of 2 to 3 departments to work together , the research could not
identify the owners of ‘Flow’ in relevant departments based on the technological competency level.

• It was assumed that human resources will be able to convince the entire team to work in different outlets
based on the requirement of the business which may not be the case when ‘Flow’ will get implemented.

• Covid 19 created new challenges for the hospitality and travel industry, it is difficult to anticipate the new
reality of the hospitality business when things will return to normal.
 What will be done differently next time ?

• Better understanding of change management to be achieved to prepare for employee’s reaction to the new
way of working.

• More emphasis on supplier relations as they may also see the change in buying patterns.

• Revenue management and Business Intelligence team will be involved right from the beginning to make
sure historical data is input in ‘Flow’ if possible and then regular reporting can be achieved.

• Next time research will explore the idea of linking ‘Flow’ with delivery apps like Uber eats and open another
revenue stream for the hotel.
 Transferrable Learnings

Research clearly showed that maintaining the status quo is a liability in today’s fast-paced environment and
industries offering basic items can be the victim of this, so main learning –

• The importance of agility.

• Effective communication is the key to make any solution work.

• A committed and flexible team’s performance should be rewarded accordingly.

• Timeline should be set at the beginning of every project and every effort to be made to
achieve it, just like ‘Gantt Chart’ for this project.
 Personal Development
Part One – SWOT Analysis
A SWOT analysis was performed to identify individual qualities and what will one require to make a project like
‘Flow’ successful. The findings were -
Strengths Weakness
 Agile and flexible  Paperwork organisation skills
 Number skills  Technical skills about developing an app
 Vision & strategist to achieve that  Analysis Paralysis
 Good in selling idea to stakeholders  Not too good in anticipating staff’s reaction to
 Customer oriented new way of working – Change Management
 Innovative and Entrepreneurial
 Always have view of the big picture
 Always approachable by team members

Opportunity Threats
 Ideal opportunity to rethink entire F&B  Colleagues competing for same position – more
business model ‘post Covid’ & implement so due to Covid
 Join growth phase of F&B and secure a better
position in the industry by using this knowledge 
Technical skills updating after regular intervals
and MBA certification  
 Personal Development
Part 2 – Action Plan

Based on SWOT analysis , following areas requiring attention were identified :-`
Development Required Benefit of the development How to achieve Deadline
Paperwork Organisational Better record keeping &  Start allocating separate cabinet space to each department. Quarter 1
skills availability of data to check  Start filing paperwork immediately or allocate last half hour of the 2021
  how project unfolded. day to filing.
 Start asking people to send pdf attachments.

Technical skills about In order to have basic  Identify and complete a small course to gain basic understanding. Quarter 3
developing an app understanding of projects  Start asking about the benefits of IT equipment, write, file and refer 2021
related to IT. back to this information.

Analysis Paralysis To overcome the fear of  Involve experts and staff at early stage of the project and move fast. Quarter 1
getting things wrong.  Develop the habit of learning from experience rather than books 2021

Change Management To understand stakeholder’s  Start asking what motivates people and how to provide it. Quarter 1
reaction  Allocate time, money and energy for the stakeholders those will 2021
oppose the project.
 What’s next..

This research enforced the requirement to read some of the fine material available out there. It opened up the
mind to think outside the box, come up with an idea, imagine it working at my current place of work, identify
the opportunities and challenges of the project.

This entrepreneurial idea has it’s limitations as it is based on secondary research and some of the critical
decisions are based on what is available to read. The researcher would very much like to see ‘Flow’ in action
and make it part of Ph.D.. thesis if an opportunity arise.
Thank You