QUALITY IMPROVEMENT REPORT: A CASE STUDY OF THE KNOSSOS

BOUTIQUE HOTEL.

Executive Summary

Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited has worked with Knossos Boutique Hotel for the
past 6months in order to examine the various operational and financial procedures of the
hotel especially in relation to the food and beverages department. To achieve the above,
the consultant applied the European Foundation Quality Management Business
Excellence Model (EFQM framework) and was able to obtain credible information in the
departments five aspect of leadership, policy, people, procedures and resources and
processes and systems.

Knossos Boutique Hotel has been operating within the context of different environment.
Therefore, the consultant at Safar Kasongo Limited conducted an environmental scan
and this done through conducting the SWOT and PESTEL analysis to understand the
environment upon which the hotel was operating. The report from the consultants also
gives a clue of vital information of the hotel provided from their account from April 2019
to March 2020. The collection of all these information has helped in formulating this
report so as to improve the foods and beverages department at Knossos Boutique Hotel.

Knossos Boutique Hotel leadership has changed over the past six months and this has
detrimental impact on the performances of the department and the hotel at large. Miss.
Boleyn has been appointed as the new General Manager for the hotel. She admits that
she’s not fluent in Greek but is slowly learning. Miss. Boleyn acknowledged that there
was management and financial challenges at the hotel notably; poor financial
performance, heads of department lack financial integrity to make the hotel breakeven,
and the hotel’s running costs were reportedly high, and had vowed to turn things around.

This report developed by Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited thus recommends that
Knossos Boutique Hotel should adopt a new Total Quality Management as a yardstick to
improve financial, workplace culture and performances. Managers should harmonise the
critical success factors and key performance indicators so as the new culture is
translated to the rest of the staff in a manner that is easier to understand and this is
intended to increase sales, revenue and staff motivations hence leading to more profits
realised.

Moreover, the report recommends the Ishikawa Diagram as an important tool to identify
the major challenges facing the department and provide corrective measures where
necessary because it causes great harm and havoc to the department. The report finally
suggest that management should ponder on implementing the standards of the investors
in people award especially in the food and beverages department as a driver for more
investment in to Knossos Boutique Hotel as a whole. This would in the long term
improve the public image of Knossos Boutique Hotel leading to improved Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR).

During the process, the consultants found out that there was general lack of Standard
Operating Procedures (SoPs) at the hotel. The SoPs are down for inspection yet
covered with dusts. Much as the GM was aware of the challenge, she is adamant to
work upon it may be because it was developed by the previous manager.

The report thus recommends new mission and value statements to the department”

The Mission Statement

To create memorable experiences for everyone.

Values of the organisation

  Trust

 Quality

 Communication

 Customer- Focused

 Innovation

 Fun

From the above core values, this will help in developing and new culture in the
workplace. This report also recommends that the hotel should create formal staff training
records and development plans also putting in consideration the health and safety
issues. Also, there should be periodic weekly, monthly internal and external audit as a
resource and management tool.

There should be keen attention on records and this should be maintained to satisfy the
needs. Also, due attention should be given to all paper works and care should be taken
to ensure people have operated in clean and safe environment. This should cover every
aspect up to the delivery of the final product and this should also be recorded (Collins,
2012).

Poor facilities management is a challenge facing the hotel. Within the hotel, there is one-
part time and full time porters and it was found out that the man responsible for the
maintenance is close to his retirement and he is no longer interested in delivering quality
service since in most cases, he sintered in his beloved fishing boat and he is not
collaborative when asked about the hotel’s maintenance services. He also seems to be
overworked and fatigued. The report recommends that there should recruitment of more
staffs to help these two and replace the one nearing his retirement.
The report recommends that management should implement the FMEA framework. This
would apply to all new procedures to account for every possible failure. The benefits of
that would be that it would reduce and minimise risks and identify failures. It was also
found out that there were no methods of gaining Customer feedback at Knossos
Boutique Hotel. Therefore, it is recommended that comment cards, an online survey and
form of nonverbal feedback are introduced to ensure that they obtain opinion and views
on what customer needs.

The report recommends that; they should create an effective housekeeping strategy
implying that they need increase the number of people they employ per shifts and
creating a checklist for them to follow to ensure that cleaning standards are met. They
should also change the beds, dust all surfaces, clean surfaces and the floor and sanitise
and dust the electrical especially that there is COVID-19 pandemic.

Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited has a more focus of increasing the staff morale and
to motivate them and the belief is that when employees are satisfied, they would be
more efficient at the places of work. From the report, this forms majority component of
our recommendations and should also play vital role in revised aims and objectives for
Knossos Boutique and Hotel especially the food and beverages department. The aim of
this consultancy is to ensure that Knossos Boutique and Hotel make afresh and bold
start and to move forward and to better and improved services that would lead to high
sales, delivery and profitability index.
1. Introduction
1.1 The Current Business Situation at Knossos Boutique Hotel
1.2 The EFQM
2. Analysis
2.1 PESTEL
2.2 SWOT
2.3 EFQM
2.31 Leadership
2.32 Policy and Strategy
2.33 People
2.34 Partnerships and Resources
2.35 Processes and Systems
2.36 Customer
2.4 Finance Analysis
3. Recommendations
3.1 Leadership
3.2 Policy and strategy
3.3 People
3.4 Partnerships and Resources
3.5 Processes and Systems
3.6 Customer
4. Conclusion

1.

Safari Kasongo Consultancy firm is a well-known firm that specialises in helping and
refining hospitality and especially the food and catering services. The firm was recruited
by Knossos Boutique and Hotel management Mr. Burke to design action plans that will
help them improve them in food and beverages distribution services. The senior and
lead consultant of Safari Kasongo has for past 5 months been conducting serious
evaluation on operation and financial procedures and quality performances for the food
and beverages departments at Knossos Boutique Hotel. This report will discuss
evaluation and use the findings to produce vital action plan for Knossos Boutique Hotel
to break even.

To achieve that, the consultant will utilise the European Foundation Quality Management
Business Excellence Model (EFQM framework). This is to obtain maximum detail
regarding operations in each section of the department at Knossos Boutique and Hotel.
At the onset, it was evident that problems faced at the department was deeply rooted
and entrenched within the department.

Consultants at Safari Kasongo believes that when employees are satisfied, they will be
in position to deliver quality work. Therefore, in order to maintain the high standards
which Knossos Boutique Hotel pride themselves on, all members of staff need to feel
valued and should have clear direction. Hence, recommendations will embed these
goals throughout to ensure that employees are empowered and valued.

The information and recommendations compiled in this report are for the direct attention
of the Chief Executive Mr. Burke, the newly appointed General Manager Miss. Boleyn
and other managers within the departments.

1.1

From the observation, it was found out that the declining quality of services at the food
and beverages department has made the department the focus of criticism over the past
6 months hence the need to take sections.
1.2
The report also adopted and designed the EFQM as a way of implementing Total Quality
Management for Knossos Boutique Hotel (see Appendix A). The framework has been
widely utilised in various organisations. It is used in various environment to improve
quality and ensure continuous improvements. According to Belvedere et al. (2016), it is
a model which is designed to help in structuring and reviewing of quality management
within an organisation.

The consultancy from Safari Kasongo adopted the EFQM framework in order to obtain
wider knowledge on what action’s plans the food and beverages department at Knossos
Boutique Hotel are undertaking aimed at identifying which areas of the department
needs more improvement and support.

2.

This report section will analyse the vital information which were obtained by the
consultants from Safari Kasongo Limited in the past 6 months. The consultants worked
alongside the top management and the line management so as to seek reliable data vital
for the improvement of the food and catering department at Knossos Boutique Hotel.
There were various tools and models used to obtain the information such as the
PESTEL analysis that examined and scanned the external environment which the hotel
is operating, the SWOT analysis that examined the internal working of Knossos Boutique
Hotel as a whole entity and the EFQM framework that was used to seek information
regarding the operational procedures of the department of food and beverages at
Knossos Boutique Hotel. In the final part of the report, there was a financial analysis
done to determine the profit and losses incurred by the department from March 2019 to
April 2020.
2.1

The PESTEL analysis is in Appendix C and the references for the PESTEL analysis will
be made throughout the initial analysis. This detail will help in providing future
recommendations which will be made further in the report.

2.2

The SWOT analysis for the hotel is included in Appendix D.

2.3
In the EFQM framework, leadership is the first important component. Leadership id
crucial because decisions that are made by top management directly affects the
productivity of the entire department and the frontline staff in specific therefore should be
highly considered.

2.31
In the food and beverages department at Knossos Boutique Hotel, management have
been changed over the past 6 months and through discussion with the top management
of the hotel especially the General Manager, this has changed the whole departmental
culture and the way in which things are done. Also, the SoPs are in place but little
attention given to it by the new GM may be because it was developed by the previous
GM. The SoPs have not been followed and this has affected quality of services
delivered. This was witnessed especially due to the limited amount of money that was
allocated for training as indicated in the financial account in Appendix E.
During her speech, the GM Miss Boleyn blamed the previous general manager was
responsible for the decline of product and service quality. Also, the old and nearly
retiring officers have been given too much freedom and they became complacent in their
work. Little or no time was given to the new staffs and even no trainings.

In the next phase of the EFQM, it aimed at examining the organisation’s formerly written
SoPs especially in the food and beverages department. It’s of great significance to the
department due to the fact that, the government has maintained strict adherence to it
and helps in guiding staffs, ensuring that all tasks are completed safely and with the
highest level of standards and quality.
2.32
During the consultancy works, consultants found out that there was limited or no policy
framework to guide an efficient and effective operation at the department. In this repot,
recommendations will be offered to guide and support the new management of the
department so as to focus on efficiency and effectiveness in the food and beverages
department at Knossos Boutique Hotel.

During the process, the consultant and team found limited evidence of any formal
policy/procedure and strategy (SoPs) at work place. The departmental mission
statement was meaningless and had no connotation with the current work demands of
the food and catering department had it has not been updated for the last 5 years.

Also, we found out that there was lack of all documentation of ethical and environmental
policy despite its significant role it plays, strategic planning to outcompete its competitors
and improve performances were lacking and no renewal of polices. We also found out
that there was limited formal records of customer care training for front of house staff or
due diligence from the kitchen team no reference to critical success factors and finally,
no hazard analysis conducted at the department.
However, the kitchen hygiene was standard. We found out that the breakfast services
were of top quality. The moment a guest arrives at the restaurant for breakfast which
normally started at 8:10 am, they find hot food being served. The guests cup of coffee
and sit while observing the services. There are plenty of choices for what is served
especially three cereals, two breads, two preserves and selection of cold sliced means
and cheese.

Also, it was found out that the Hot ban Marie dishes had fried eggs, vegetarian sausages
and deep fried new potatoes. The same experience was applied in the luncheon were
the services were quick and fast on of top quality. However, the experiences were not
the same with dinner. The services were poor and there was too much delays. You
calculate that you must walk 42 metres, from your own table, to the nearest food counter
and during the dinner you have to make five visits . For every food counter you visits, you
have to wait several minutes for other guests to be served before you are also served,
this makes the experience a stressful one.

2.33
The consultants were able to spot that there was high staff turnover rate in the hotel.
This was evident in the housekeeping (50%) and food and beverages department
(70%). It was due to many reasons; firstly, recruitment was not done on merit and was
done by the word of mouth, secondly, once an employee was made aware the he/she
was recruited, they would start work immediately; thirdly, there was limited or no training
done, with just one training session conducted for all front house staff and others and
finally, poor reward and pay systems. The report recommends that; management should
conduct research on why employees were leaving; develop an effective recruitment,
employment interviewing and orientation for new staffs, establish an effective
socialisation, training and career path development and maintain a competitive pay
scales.
2.34
The report also found out that there were poor customer feedback systems in place. For
example, the social media page is in place but has been poorly and actively managed,
the book platform sites exist but the marketing department at the hotel are not
responding to the comments from the clients and that has been for the past 6 weeks
now and generally, the hotel has no online presence. The report recommends that; the
hotel should send automated feedback surveys to get views of the clients using their
services, respond to the different views of the guest even when they are positive, and
schedule time to respond frequently to the comments generated on their online
platforms, they should also stay active on social media platforms and finally focus on
digital marketing.

2.35
The consultants also found out that there was generally poor housekeeping at the hotel.
Much as the bedrooms were spacious and airy, the report showed that the décor and
furnishing are outdated now. Also, even if the bathrooms are spacious, there is only one
small and large towels for use yet with only one mini bottle of hair shampoo. Worse still,
you find hair is stuck on the floor and the sink. The picture frames are very dusty and
there are cobwebs on the ceiling boards. There are finger marks on the paintwork near
the bedroom around the light switches and finally, there are no bottled water provided to
guest despite them having a complimentary drinks fridge.

The next section of the report will include an in-depth analysis of the financial
performance of the business taking information from the P&L account provided by
Knossos Boutique Hotel.
2.4
In the report, the financial analysis is indicated in Appendix E.
3.

This report will use the SMART goals as basis to provide recommendations for Knossos
Boutique Hotel.

Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited has adopted this framework to develop focused
and achievable recommendations that will be supported by the Quality tools to guide
management of the hotel in decision making and for improvements and quality control.

3.1

The first recommendation is adopting Total Quality Management (TQM) as a basis for
the development of a new workplace culture. A number of research have indicated that
organisations that are focus on customer satisfaction have to ensure that quality is vital
and should consider TQM as key workplace culture. A number of benefits will result
such as empowerment, pride, teamwork and motivation from TQM. In this report, it is a
top priority to ensure a more efficient and productive workplace.

According to Heitschol et al. (2014), in order to achieve TQM, there should be first the
identification and acknowledgment of the critical success factors of the department.
These are combinations of activities sand processes within the organisation and its
external environment should be measured and mange in order to achieve efficiency and
effectiveness and overall organisation success and progress. The four key CSF which
will applicable are; cost control, customer satisfaction, advertising and product
differentiation.

According to Marais et al. (2017), enhancing customer experience, ability to efficiently

allocate resources, improving quality, sustainability, increased revenue and success are
all benefits of using CSF as a strategy for quality management. Therefore, management
can develop Key Performance Indicators (KPI) which’re significant to achieving CSF,
therefore overall profitability. According to Kala (2014), KPI are important in enabling
managers to control and utilise resources productively to achieve the main objective,
and ensure maximisation of profits.

Safari Kasongo Consultancy recommends management implement the Ishikawa

Diagram (for example and definition see Appendix F.) as a structure for departmental
evaluations. It will require time, effort and expertise knowledge from management. There
are numerous benefits of using it like it will enable management to identify the root
causes of a problem and act quickly to rectify this before the problem has significant
effect on operational or financial performance of the department.

3.2
It is vital to develop new mission and value of a new workplace culture. These are the
purpose and values upon which the organisation works and operates. It is a permanent
improvement for the immediate attention of FM and GM, who should consider and
include input from staff to ensure satisfaction and compliance within the entire
department.

Examples:

Mission

To create memorable experiences for everyone.

Values

 Trust

 Quality

 Communication
  Customer- Focused

 Innovation

 Fun

In order to adhere to the company’s standards and regulations, there should be creation
and maintenance of accurate staff training records and programmes. Formal staff
training and development is the factor that needs most immediate attention and should
be implemented as soon as possible.

Again, job specifications should be tightened and expectations made clearer to

encourage staff motivation. There should be new staff induction and refers trainings
provided to inculcate the new culture of the organisation in to them and make them
aware of what is expected out of them and what they should deliver.

To effectively monitor and improve staff development, internal and external audits are
recommended. According to Owen and Law (2005), an audit is an independent
examination of, and the subsequent expression of opinion on the financial statements.

3.3

Another very important recommendation for the department is meetings. This is to be

introduced ASAP. The management meetings such as; FM, GM, Head chef and
supervisors should take place weekly and meetings with the FSO’s and kitchen team
should happen once a month. And, one-to-one meetings and appraisals for every
member of staff will be conducted quarterly.
Another recommended management strategy is benchmarking. Initial benchmarks
should be introduced by management immediately; progress should be monitored with
revisions of benchmarks every 2 months.
The company can develop internal benchmark using standards highlighted in ISO 9000
(International Organisation for Standardisation). This will be used as targets for staff and
when reached, will increase staff motivation. Also, setting and achieving goals is key for
the aim of the report.

3.4

The report suggests that a large investment in the refurbishment of the bedroom and
bathroom and purchase of new bathroom/bedroom equipment which would benefit the
organisation through satisfying all of the CSF. It will also lead to increasing productivity
through motivated staff and new opportunities. There are problems that have been
identified across the board and Safari Kasongo Consultancy feel a completely new
beginning is necessary to move away from the previous culture.

Generally, the consultants recommend that management should implement the FMEA
framework. This will be new policies to account for all possible failures in the department.
With a clear sense of the risks applied to each policy, the department will benefit from
being able to implement controls to minimise the risk. It will also and identify failures
before they have negative implications on the business operations.

According to Stamatis (2003), FMEA is a specific methodology for evaluating processes

and the possible ways in which problems, errors, risks, concerns can occur. FMEA is
rigorous and requires an in-depth knowledge of the operating business and the policies
being implemented.

3.6

To stay in line with the above mentioned TQM culture, it is prudent that management
works upon customer feedback methods in the department. The aim is to obtain
knowledge of customer expectation, perception and satisfaction. Safari Kasongo
techniques: Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited identified the following best suited
techniques:

 There should readily available comment card at the department

 Survey should be run on internet
 Non-verbal feedback with ranking of best – worst experience (1-5)

These should all be monitored by the supervisors on daily basis and if there are serious
issues, they are reported to the Head Chef and the General Manager.

4.

To conclude, the main failings of the food and beverages department at Knossos
Boutique Hotel were identified aa follows;

 Low staff motivation and cooperation

 Poor reputation of the hotel
 Poor organisation work culture
 No staff training and development
 Limited or no online presence
 High employee turnover rates
 Limited staff capacity management

Through the use of the EFQM framework, the report has shown these and identified the
best recommendations to improve customer relations, staff development, better
organisation culture and mutual respect for all at workplace amongst others. If these are
not introduced the operation is likely to fail. Therefore, an entire new strategy will have to
be implemented.

But, from the various techniques being employed like customer feedback, engagements,
staffs training and other recommendations above, Knossos Boutique Hotel will witness
dramatic increase in customers and staff motivation hence profits will be realised.

Safari Kasongo Consultancy Limited appreciated the time they spent with Knossos
Boutique Hotel Uganda and will continue to support the department in all proposed
improvements with access to all our resources available at our disposal.

Appendix A.

The EFQM framework

Appendix B.

According to Benavides-Velasco (2014), Total Quality Management is a recognised

management philosophy which emphasises the significance of constant progress in
organisation in order to achieve and meet customer need and expectations hence
leading to improved profitability and efficiency.
Political  The Brexit new had much impact on customers from UK
 Government holds extensive powers over hotels
 Travel bans during COVID-19 affected hotel sector
Economical  Declining GDP of the country
 Restaurants and mobile food services to grow to 62.9 USD by 2022
(Statista 2019)
 According to Statista (2019), contract catering outlets has grown
yearly since 2016 and expected to continue up to 2020
Social  Consumers want cheaper hotels
 Increasing demands for variety of options
 Change in social factors impact demand for the hotels services and
products

Technological  Introduction of in digital payments like mobile money

 Introduction of delivery and pre-ordering services
 Development of automated technologies like robots
Environmental  Weather may affect the hotel
 Growing need to introduce new technology to lower energy use
 Natural hazard such as earth quakes affect sales
Legal  The changes in health regulations
 Living wage increases
 Food standards
 Environmental Health
Appendix C.
 PESTEL analysis is a tool that offers a summary of the questions to ask about key
forces at work in the macro- environment of an organisation (Johnson and Scholes,
2002).
Appendix D.

According to Dyson (2004), SWOT analysis identifies the strengths and weaknesses of
an organisation and the opportunities and threats in the environment.

Strengths  High profit margin

 Best location in the city centre
 Famous brand
 Contributes to local economy
Weaknesses  No clear SoPs followed
 No online presence
 High staff turnover rates
 Limited staff trainings
 Outdated services and no renovation
Opportunities  Increased profits
 Tax holidays
 Expansion and growth
Threats  Growing competitors
 Pandemic like COVID-19
Appendix E.

Profit and Loss trading account The Knossos April 2019 - March 2020
  Budget Actual Var %
Euro
  Euro (000) Euro (000) (000)  
Revenue        
-
Rooms 1606 949 -657 41%
-
Restaurant food 1138 569 -569 50%
-
Bar and snacks 730 365 -365 50%
-
Meetings and events 200 150 -50 25%
-
Total revenue 3674 2033 -1641 45%
         
Cost of materials        
-
Rooms 321 95 -226 70%
-
Restaurant 455 199 -256 56%
-
Bar and Snacks 146 73 -73 50%
-
Meetings and events 40 30 -10 25%
-
Sub Total 962 397 -565 59%
-
Gross Profit 2712 1636 -1076 40%
GP % 74% 80% 6%  
         
Undistributed op expenses        
-
Labour 978 615 -363 37%
Telephone 1 1 0 0%
Other expenses 5 5 0 0%
 -
Marketing 58 10 -48 83%
Administration 214 236 22 10%
Prop. Equip, furnishings & -
Maint. 235 128 -107 46%
-
Utilities 55 45 -10 18%
-
Training and development 107 10 -97 91%
-
U'd op expenses Sub Total 1653 1050 -603 36%
         
Fixed expenses        
Lease & property tax 133 133 0 0%
Council tax / building rates 83 83 0 0%
Insurance 35 35 0 0%
Reserve for equip -
replacement 250 40 -210 84%
-
Sub Total Fixed expenses 501 291 -210 42%
-
Net Profit 558 295 -263 47%
Net profit % 15% 15% -0.7%  

Rooms 50 twin/double        
Room Rate with Breakfast 100 Euros per /night    

From the profit and loss account of the hotel, in terms of revenue, the hotel witnessed
decline with variance of -1641. This was due to poor rooms renovation especially the
bedroom and bathrooms, restaurant food services were poor due to delays especially
during dinner and bar and snacks services were also being poor. The account also
showed that marketing was poor at the hotel with a variance of -48. Also, there were
limited or no training for new staffs among others.
Appendix F.

The Ishikawa Diagram

According Luca (2017), an Ishikawa Diagram is a simple graphical instrument that are
used to understand the causes that produce quality weaknesses and is used to analyse
the relation between a problem and its possible causes.
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