Introduction

At an individual level, many a times have we set goals to achieve small or important
objectives. Either learning to drive a car, flying a jet, or accomplishing a specific task for
an enterprise, individuals are motivated or simply not. One perceives motivation out of
the tenacity, the zeal or how much focused a person becomes towards reaching his
objectives (Kispál-Vitai, 2016). For organizations with the aim of making profit while
continuously adapting to changes, their success solely relies on employees and how
motivated they are to perform tasks. Motivation at its root signifies a driving force that
intrinsically or extrinsically propels an employee to achieve his purpose. My post seeks
to analyze Cambridge Suites, Halifax case study to derive major problems and
elaborate alternative solutions while considering stakeholder’s motivation.

Identification of the root problem and causes

1- Paul Stackhouse feared the risk of global tourism to impact negatively Cambridge
Suite Halifax competitiveness.
2- With his 17 years of experience and having worked in Halifax hotels, Paul identified
the growth cycle of 10 years Halifax hotels and their impact on hotels (Ross, 2012).
3- Paul foresees that next change might cause Cambridge Suite to lose its position in
the market.

Possible alternatives available to partners and Evaluation of solutions

1- The first option could be doing nothing and no adjustments carried out. That results
in failing to anticipate on foreseen challenges that Paul was awakened to. Cambridge
Suite would then react as the challenges happen. It is a responsive strategy that would
require much management efforts and resources to fight back. As a consequence, it
might lead to the hotel losing its competitive advantage. In this case there will be no
changes that might have altered employees’ conditions of work and therefore their
motivation.
2- The second option is to improve hotel services and efficiency
In this quest, Paul envisaged a Total Quality Management with a phased approach. To
implement the plan in 1994 when Paul initiated a pilot project to apply Continuous
Quality Improvement (CQI) for a sustainable profit and efficiency, the hotel was
performing well with 85% of room occupancy leading the Halifax market (Ross, 1995).
All motivational factors to ignite this change are present knowing how the market
performs changes and a good understanding of quality management principles (Ross,
1995). To obtain first results to get the support of executives and employees, the pilot
project to cut down energy consumption and number of paper used per month has
been phenomenal. Results of 125% for energy reduction and 57% of paper reduction
per month achieved over 3 months of pilot project. The plan used was good to give
such a result but did not include all employees and the restaurant service processes to
determine any level success later on.

Importance and relevance of the case to business

1- Total Quality Management is a framework that aims at improving all processes

including those involved in the production of services and goods. It helps drive
efficiency and quality service delivery to customers (Barone, 2023). Cutting unnecessary
processes and replacing them by adequate and efficient ones generate more profits for
an organization.
2- At a deeper level, employee motivation is at the heart of TQM projects to determine
project success and overall company performance. The more motivated team
members are the more results they provide. In the case, employees are paid project
attendance fees separately form their salary for the effectiveness of the targets to
achieve. Money is an important element and an extrinsic motivational factor that
contribute to employee satisfaction (Senyucel, 2006, p.23). In addition, some
employees got motivated just participating in the pilot project signifying that the nature
of project was a source of motivation (job satisfaction) (Senyucel, 2006, p.23). Likewise,
others were motivated to seat at the same table with hotel executives to meet their
social needs (Senyucel, 2006, p.23).
3- Third and most importantly, the case shows also how the project emphasis on
employee empowerment through offered training which also contributes to
performance results achieved.

Conclusion

The case study depicts a pragmatic approach to total quality management infused with
employee motivation in hospitality business. Demonstration of employee
empowerment, motivation and teamwork have been greatly used in the project. Paul is
a visionary leader to have understood that the game changer would be the use of
quality management for completive advantage for Cambridge Suite Halifax. The phase
approach using a pilot has given tangible results for him to get adherence of all
stakeholders to embracing total Quality Management vision across the business.
References

Barone, A. (2023, June 07). What Is Total Quality Management (TQM) and Why Is It
Important? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/t/total-quality-management-tqm.asp

Senyucel, Z. (2009). Managing the human resource in the 21st century. Bookboon.com.

Kispál-Vitai, Z. (2016, July). Comparative analysis of motivation theories. International

Journal of Engineering and Management Sciences (IJEMS) Vol. 1. (2016). No. 1. DOI:
10.21791/IJEMS.2016.1.25. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/
306041772_Comparative_analysis_of_motivation_theories