Final Edition - Practical Placement Report

Practical Placement Report
Intercontinental Madrid
Assignment: Written report of my Practical Placement to Mw. M.P. Appel

Details: Work placement from 19 January to 9 August 2009.
DATE | 10-05-2009
PREPARED BY | Marcus Hakansson (573114)
PREPARED FOR | Mw. M.P. Appel

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS..........................................................................................2
CHAPTER 1. My Placement..................................................................................4
Background....................................................................................................................4
Description.....................................................................................................................4
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................4
Chapter 2: My Company.......................................................................................6
2.1 General...........................................................................................................6
2.1.1 Brief History.........................................................................................................6
2.1.3 Legal form............................................................................................................6
2.1.4 Organisational Structure.......................................................................................6
2.2 Vision and mission statement.......................................................................7
2.2.1 Vision and mission statement...............................................................................7
2.2.2 Evaluate the mission statement.............................................................................7
2.2.3 Mission statement in practice...............................................................................8
2.3 Market segments...........................................................................................9
2.3.1 What market segments does my hotel focus on?..................................................9
2.3.2 The different characteristics of the market segments...........................................9
2.4 Market segments and mission statement..................................................10
2.4.1 Mission statement reflection in the market segments.........................................10
Chapter 3: My Department.................................................................................12
3.2 Food & Beverages........................................................................................12
3.2.1 Standard Operating Procedures .........................................................................12
3.2.2 Organisation of the Department.........................................................................12
3.2.3 Leadership in the F&B Department....................................................................14
3.2.4 Guest Satisfaction...............................................................................................14
3.2.5 Problems, Complaints and Solutions..................................................................15
3.2.6 Departmental Revenue.......................................................................................16
3.2.7 Business Processes.............................................................................................17
3.2.8 Interview with my manager................................................................................18
Chapter 4: A La Carte – In Depth.......................................................................20
4.3 Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility ..............................20
4.3.1 Ethical dilemmas:...............................................................................................20
4.3.2 CSR.....................................................................................................................21
4.6 Competition..................................................................................................23
4.6.1 Competitors........................................................................................................23
4.6.2 Target markets....................................................................................................24
4.6.3 Marketing performance......................................................................................26
CHAPTER 5: My Performance............................................................................28
5.1 Learning goals.......................................................................................................28
5.1.1.............................................................................................................................28
5.1.2.............................................................................................................................28
5.1.3.............................................................................................................................29
5.1.4.............................................................................................................................29
5.2 Critical incident.....................................................................................................29
5.3 Cross cultural.........................................................................................................30
5.3.1 Theory.................................................................................................................30
5.3.2 Problems.............................................................................................................30
5.3.3 Personal discovery..............................................................................................31
2
Chapter 6: Impressions for future trainees.......................................................32
Works cited & works consulted........................................................................33
Appendix 1 – Organizational Structure.............................................................35
Appendix 2 – Employee Survey..........................................................................35
Appendix 3 – Guest Survey................................................................................38
Appendix 4 – Market Segments.........................................................................39
Appendix 5 – Example of a SOP.........................................................................40
Appendix 6 – Room Service Process.................................................................41
Appendix 7 – Organisation chart of F&B Department......................................42
Appendix 8 – Guest Satisfaction Result............................................................43
Appendix 9 – Financial Information...................................................................44
Appendix 10 – Process order special bottle.....................................................45
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CHAPTER 1. My Placement
Background
The main-reason for why I arrived to this decision to put my work placement at Intercontinental
Madrid is because Intercontinental is a world-famous and prestigious hotel-chain and I thought
that I could gain a lot of information as well as skills by having worked for them. Moreover, I
have also a great desire for Spain as a country and since I already had quite many friends upon
arrival living in Madrid made my decision somewhat easy.
Description
My placement at Intercontinental Madrid could somehow be called; all-round since I have
changed different outlets within the Food & Beverage Department during my time at the hotel.
My supervisor told me on my first day that I will change different outlets and I will be maximum
working at an outlet for 6-7 weeks before I will change with exception for the kitchen. Those
outlets I have been working at are; Bar 49, Restaurant ‘El Jardin’, Banqueting, Room
Service/Minibar, Club Lounge and the Kitchen. My duties at all of these outlets have mainly
been; Mice en place, taking orders, serving guests, clean and maintain equipment and
premises, maintain hygienic standards and procedures.
Acknowledgements
My Hotelschool Placement tutor has been Mw. M.P. Appel and she has been a former student
of Hotelschool the Hague. Mw. M.P. Appel started her career as a F&B Manager at the Music
Theatre in Amsterdam after she had graduated. After been working there she started to work at
the Hotelschool the Hague in 2001 as a F&B Controller.
The department as I have been working at in Intercontinental Madrid is the F&B department and
I have been working at the bar, the restaurant (El Jardin), Banqueting, Intercontinental
Executive Club, Room Service/Minibar and in the kitchen.
My supervisor has always been Oliver Clemencon and he was the Assistant F&B Manager at
the hotel. However, I have always had other supervisors who have been in charge over the
distribution of tasks at each outlet I have been working at. But it has always been Olivier
Clemencon who has been my supervisor and explained how and when I would change the
outlets and in which turn.
4
5
Chapter 2: My Company
2.1 General
2.1.1 Brief History

Intercontinental Hotels & Resorts was founded by Pan American World Airways which was
following the vision of ‘mass civilian international business and leisure air travel’, and was
founded on 4 April 1946 but a year later changed their name to Intercontinental Hotels
Corporation. Intercontinental was the first truly international hotel brand in the world and their
symbol represents glamour, sophistication and glamour. They opened their first hotel in 1949 in
Belem Brazil and today have over 150 hotels in 65 countries1. Intercontinental Madrid has 307
rooms, a restaurant called; El Jardin, a casual café, a bar called; Bar 49 and a fully-equipped
fitness room. The hotel is inspired by an 18th-century palace and is located on one of the most
famous streets in Madrid – Paseo de la Castellana – in a cultural/business district2.
Intercontinental is a member of the IHG – Intercontinental Hotels Group – together with six other
international hotel chains namely; Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express,
Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites3.
2.1.2 Ownership
The General Manager for Intercontinental Madrid is Christophe Laure, and he is originally
French and has been studying at Lausanne in Switzerland. Christophe Laure has also been
working as a General Manager for Intercontinental Malta, Gran Hotel in Paris, Intercontinental
Hotel Alexandria in Egypt and in Ammam in Jordanian4. Morgan Stanley is the owner of the
establishment and Intercontinental Madrid has a management contract with IHG.
2.1.3 Legal form

Intercontinental Madrid is a private company called; Hotelera El Carmen S.L.5
2.1.4 Organisational Structure

As you can see in appendix 1, Intercontinental Madrid is making use of a centralised structure
with a quite high hierarchy. By looking at the organisational structure, you can easily see that
there are many managers at different levels. Intercontinental Madrid have had up to 350
employees for just a little bit more than one year ago but after the financial crisis in 2008 the
hotel had to cut down on the amount of employees and today they have 268 employees . The
distribution of the employees over the Departments is following6;
1
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/about-us/our-history
2
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/madrid
3
http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=23
4
http://www.cotizalia.com/cache/2008/04/11/52_hotel_intercontinental_madrid_nombra_christo
phe_laure.html
5
Daniel Turner, Revenue Department
6
Juan Charlos Alonso, Human Resource Department
6
F&B Department; 114 employees
Rooms Division; 87 employees
Maintenance Department; 19 employees
Finance & Business Department; 16 employees
Sales&Marketing Department; 15 employees
Sales%Marketing F&B Department; 6 employees
Revenue Department; 6 employees
Human Resources Department; 5 employees
2.2 Vision and mission statement
2.2.1 Vision and mission statement

Intercontinental Hotels Group vision is; ‘To become the world’s leading hospitality owner’7.
Intercontinental Hotels Group mission statement is the same as their strategy which is; ‘To build
the hotel industry’s strongest operating system focused on the biggest markets and segments
where scale really counts’8.
2.2.2 Evaluate the mission statement

A mission statement is ‘‘a statement of an organisation’s fundamental reason for existence’’
(Rollinson 432). And during the course Exploring & Structuring during Phase 1 at Hotelschool
the Hague, we were taught by Mr. A. Bakker that a mission statement should include three
things namely; ‘’should provide a vision & direction for the company for the next twenty year, it is
a statement of an organization’s fundamental reason for existence and it should address all
stakeholders.
If we read Intercontinental’s mission statement, we can immediately agree that it definitely

covers how Rollinson describes a mission statement that it should express the fundamental
reason for its existence because the mission statement begins with; to build the hotel industry’s
strongest operating system. By this, all of the employees who are working within Intercontinental
know what the company is struggling after and it makes it somewhat quite easy for them when
they read the end of the statement; ‘’focused on the biggest markets and segments where scale
really counts’’, because with this it becomes clear for them what kind of market the target. On
the other hand, for some employees it might sound quite abstract and cliché because of course
do most of the hotel chains all around the world want to become the top leading hotel chain. But
all in all, by going into depth of the beginning of the mission statement with the words ‘’industry’s
strongest’’ do not necessarily mean that they want to have a lot of power and influence on the
market but maybe also a loyal relationship with their guests, so it will last for a long time. The
last thing mentioned with loyal relationship could be reinforced with one of their guest promises
that they are promising; promise to show genuine interest9.
Moreover, in the course; Checking in @ the industry we were taught that the three main
stakeholder are; the owner, the guest and the employee. The question that follows is; does
Intercontinental mission statement take all of these three stakeholders into account? If we look
first at the owner, we can say with ease that they take the owner into account indeed. Because
in the mission statement, Intercontinental states that they want to be the ‘’the hotel industry’s
7
http://www.northcote.co.uk/company_links/by_Index.asp?SIT=1&IID=FTSE
%20350&SDL=NI01493
8
9
7
strongest operating system’’ and by this we can easily read and figure that they want to be a top
leading hotel chain in the world on the market. So they really do take themselves into account in
the mission statement since they are focused and struggling after a very high aim. If we look at
the next stakeholder who is the guest, I would like to say that they do take the guest into
account but at the same time not. They look after their guest in that perspective that they are
struggling after to be ‘’strongest operating system’’, and being a market leader of hotels give a
certain standard and also loyalty to the guests who are staying at their hotels because if you are
a market leader and have the strongest operating system, you have to maintain a high and
competitive standard compared to the other alternatives. However, if we look from another
angle, Intercontinental does not directly look after their guests in the mission statement because
the guest is not even mentioned. To reinforce my example I want to compare Intercontinental’s
mission statement with Westin Hotels & Resorts mission statement which is; ‘’to consistently
exceed our guests’ expectations in terms of the products and services we provide to our
business and leisure travellers’’10. By reading Westin’s mission statement, it becomes extremely
obvious for whoever is reading it that the guest is the most important factor and this is
something that really attracts many guests because they want the hotel to put most interest in
them and not in the hotel chain itself as it could be interpreted for some people when reading
Intercontinental’s mission statement.
I must say that Intercontinental’s mission statement indeed take the third main stakeholder into
account which is the employee. Because when you are reading their mission statement you
really get a feeling and understanding that this company wants to be the strongest and is
targeting after the biggest segments on the market and this equals with big hotels in most of the
world’s corner and undoubtedly lots of employee possibilities.
All in all, I feel that Intercontinental’s mission statement is well edited and well-written but it feels
like that they have forgotten their third stakeholder slightly since the guest is not even
mentioned in the mission statement nor in the vision statement. Westin Hotels & Resorts which
is a leading hotel-chain in the world has more or less only written about their guest in their
statement and the Scandinavian hotel chain - Scandic hotels has their vision really targeted to
their guests since their vision statement is; ‘’Creating value by being the place and inspiration
for conscious people in a better world’’11. These other two hotel-chains have their vision and
mission statements really focused for the guest and I personally think it is important because it
is the guests who bring the money to the company and all of the hotel chains all around the
world are competing with each other all the time to attract and hopefully retain the guests.
In my eyes, Intercontinental’s vision- and mission statement would have been superb if they had
just put some more concentration for their guests because whenever I am reading there mission
statement, it feels like the guests are not there and the guests are not the primary objective for
the hotel. But as already mentioned, it is important to differ your hotel-chain from your
competitors but also to do it in a way where you put the guest in the centre.
2.2.3 Mission statement in practice

As we already know, Intercontinental’s mission statement is; ‘To build the hotel industry’s
strongest operating system focused on the biggest markets and segments where scale really
counts’, and Intercontinental Madrid is situated in the business area in Madrid and within easy
reach of their four major competitors which are; Westin Palace Hotel, Gran Melia Fenix, Hotel
Ritz Madrid and Eurostar Hotels (El curso Acogida General, seguridad, Salud y Prevencion de
Riesgos).
I would like to state that Intercontinental Madrid has indeed managed with their location so they
have overcome one of the important aspects in becoming the strongest hotel, and to reinforce
this statement there are other positive things with their location namely;
- They are situated in the business- and cosmopolitan area in Madrid
10
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/legal/privacy.html
11
http://www.scandichotels.com/About-Us/Corporate-information/
8
- Within easy reach of the other major hotels in Madrid
- Situated on probably the most famous street in Madrid which goes through the whole city
namely; Pasea de la Castellana
As you can see in appendix 2, you find the result from an employee survey conducted at
Intercontinental Madrid 2008 and there you see that 88% of the employees are proud to work at
the hotel and 89% plan to work for the company for the next two years and this could be
Interpreted as the employees are happy and proud of working at Intercontinental Madrid so the
mission statement is most likely correct since the employees feel that the mission statement is
more or less reflected of the hotel because otherwise it would not probably be such high
satisfaction among the employees because all in all, most of the human beings do want to work
for a well-known, prestigious and leading establishment.
The guests at Intercontinental Madrid would most likely agree with Intercontinental’s mission
statement basically because the overall satisfaction for the guests who stayed at
Intercontinental Madrid during March 2009 was almost 90% which can be seen in appendix 3 of
a overall guest occupancy for March 74.46%12.
2.3 Market segments
2.3.1 What market segments does my hotel

focus on?
Intercontinental Madrid has five major different market segments and those are following;
- Business
- Leisure
- Group Tour
- Meeting/Conference
- Air Crew
As you can see in appendix 4, the major market segments of them all are; Business and
Leisure.
2.3.2 The different characteristics of the market

segments
The characteristics for the first market segment – business, has basically to do with guest(s)
who stay at hotel where work is related. For example, a guest who is living on the other side of
Spain and is going to have a meeting early in the morning next day in Madrid needs to stay at a
hotel in order to show up on the meeting on time and then he/she needs to stay at a hotel. As
you can see in appendix 4 the business segment was the second largest in March 2008 for the
hotel.
On the contrary to the business segment we find the biggest segment for Intercontinental
Madrid in March 2008 namely; leisure. These guests who are within this segment are only
staying at the hotel because they are there for pleasure. Most likely they are in Madrid for a
weekend-trip or holiday and since Intercontinental Hotels Group is a world-famous hotel-chain it
makes it easier for the hotel to have guests from all around the world and the booking can be
easily made via Internet.
12
Stanislas Lazarski, Assistant Rooms Division Department
9
The two market segments Group Tour and Meeting/Conference can be seen as one market
segment since Intercontinental Madrid has counted it as one market segment in the evaluation
as you can see in appendix 4. But to make a brief distinction between these two market
segments counted as one you could say that group tours are trips or events that usually is
organized by a company and individuals as well as groups can join these trips.
Meeting/Conference is somewhat rather obvious but at Intercontinental Madrid this market
segment can be seen daily during the week due to the fact that there are meetings and
conferences running continually in one or more of the 19 conference-rooms Intercontinental
Madrid has.
The last market segment is Air Crew and it is not that vast in relation with the other segments.
But this market segment involves staff who is staying at the hotel with the airline they are
working for. The staff are usually stewards and stewardesses but obviously pilots as well. After
have been working at Room-Service where I have had access to the guest-lists where all the
names and details have been written on a sheet of paper I could see that the three main airlines
Intercontinental is working with are; Qatar Airway, American Airlines and Emirates.
The mutual relationship within all of these market segments could be seen as; Leisure and
Group Tour have a strong relationship since both segments involve pleasure and no work, while
Business, Meeting/Conference and Air Crew segments have all a relationship with work.
However, since I am having a friend who is working as a steward for Emirates and also seen the
guests from the Air Crew segmentation staying at the hotel, these guests are staying at the
hotel for pleasure and just waiting till they have to get back to the airport and start to work on
another flight. So in my eyes, I would not see the Air Crew segmentation having a strong
relationship to business because many of these guests including my friend enjoying the time
they have in the city during the few days they are staying at the hotel.
Something else to keep in mind is that the figures for the market segmentations can be slightly
misleading because once I met a Swedish peer at the Breakfast buffet and he explained for me
that he was staying at the hotel for one week together with his mother and she was there with
her work while he just had the days free and could enjoy the hotel’s amenities and what Madrid
offers.
2.4 Market segments and mission

statement
2.4.1 Mission statement reflection in the market

segments
I strongly think that Intercontinental Madrid is heavily trying to accomplish the hotel chain’s
mission statement, strongly because their market segments are really vast and because of that
they are trying to focus on the biggest market segments where scale really counts. For their
market segments Business, Leisure and Meeting/Conference I would say are the best and
biggest market segments which can be seen in appendix 4. This is clearly notable inside the
hotel because there are continually running meetings and conferences in some of the many
different conference rooms at the hotel. This is also usually beneficial for more than just one
Department at the hotel because of course is the Banqueting Department always occupied and
need to be to assist for a meeting but also the F&B Department since they need to prepare food
or snacks for the guests in the meeting. And if there would be a company with employees from
another country or the distance to their headquarters is quite far away holding a meeting at the
hotel, they might let the people sleep at the hotel and then the Rooms Division Department
need to be to assist as well.
10
I often feel when I am working that Intercontinental Madrid is trying to go after the ‘biggest
markets where scale really counts’ because I often see meeting being held from representatives
from major companies in the world such as; Sony, Vodafone, Betfair, Iberia airline, Emirates etc.
By hosting these companies give a lot of publicity and credit to Intercontinental and it reflects
very good to other companies which might not be as big as these major companies because
obviously do other companies want to hold meetings at the hotel when these major companies
are making use of Intercontinental’s facilities.
11
Chapter 3: My Department
3.2 Food & Beverages
3.2.1 Standard Operating Procedures
Standard Operating Procedures are used within the Food and Beverage Department at
Intercontinental Madrid but not within all of the outlets. The SOPs that exist within the F&B
Department is a paper with a picture and instructions what and how it is suppose to be
performed and a picture of a common SOP can be found in appendix 5.
The example of a SOP in appendix 5 is taken from Room Service, and it is in detail which items
as well as how and where in the room it is supposed to be set at including a picture.
I have never been told or asked about the SOPs existing within the F&B Department when I
have been working but since my Spanish skills is rather weak and I have sometimes (especially
in the beginning) not managed to make myself understood for either guests or colleagues, I
have taken help from either the text or the pictures from the SOPs. Something that could be
vastly improved is the SOPs in the kitchen. There are quite many SOPs in the kitchen where
there are pictures of how example a plate of a special cheese is supposed to be decorated
according to or a plate of salmon. In the beginning when colleague wanted me to prepare a
plate of salmon for a guest for the first time, I went first to the board with all of the SOPs to see
how you were suppose to decorate it. After I was done, my colleague changed the whole
decoration and said that I had done it wrong but when I referred to the SOP I had used he just
did not care so much and explained that next time I am working with him I should do the way he
had re-done the plate with salmon. I think that it would be better if everybody had to do the
decorations of the different food according to the SOPs that exist because that would make the
work for the beginners much easier. But my experience after I have been working in the kitchen
is that different people want you to decorate things differently, so you need to know who you are
working with and who asks you to prepare something so you know how to do it right on the first
time.
The process of a room service order in detail can be found in appendix 6.
3.2.2 Organisation of the Department

The Food and Beverage Department at Intercontinental Madrid has currently 114 employees13
whereas some of them are only temporarily hired. As you can in appendix 7, the hierarchy might
not look that tall but after have been working within the F&B Department you have got more
insight in it and can thereafter see it from another angle. At first when I started to work at
Intercontinental Madrid I thought that the Assistant F&B Manager and only the manager above
him were my supervisors but I was totally wrong because each outlet has their own supervisor
while the Assistant F&B Manager and the F&B Manager are supervisors for all of the outlets
within the F&B Department.
Obviously the F&B Manager has the power over the whole Department and it is only the
General Manager who can raise his voice against him, and the F&B Manager has also his
13
Human Resources Manager, Juan Charlos Alonso
12
private secretary. The Assistant F&B Manager (my boss) works very close together with the
F&B Manager but do not always have the leverage to do whatever he wants to do since the
F&B Manager has the highest voice but still does the Assistant F&B Manager have a lot of
leverage.
The Banqueting Manager is in charge over the Banqueting Department but he continually
consults with both the F&B Manager and the Assistant F&B Manager to know which bookings
they have for the week and how and where the bookings are going to be like. There are 31
employees working within the Banqueting Department but many employees out of these 31 are
temporarily hired due to the fact that there are different banqueting events for each week.
There are in total 26 people working full-time in the kitchen whereas one person is the executive
chef and two persons are sous-chefs, and the rest of the employees in the kitchen are
assistants and have to do whatever the executive chef or the sous-chefs want them to do.
Normally, the executive chef is having a very close relationship with the F&B Manager and the
Assistant F&B Manager so he knows what is needed and expected for each event. However,
the executive chef often give advices and tips for what might be suitable for the specific events
to the F&B Managers since he has a lot of experience in the kitchen. The sous-chefs have much
leverage over the assistants in the kitchen and the executive chef always tell and show the
sous-chefs how exactly he would like to have the plates decorated for the big orders.
Intercontinental Madrid has two major kitchens where one of them is only for the restaurant ‘El
Jardin’ and the other one is only for the events and Room Service. The executive chef and the
two sous-chefs are more or less always working in the major kitchen which is the kitchen where
all of the food for the events is being made.
The hotel has a vast stewarding area in the basement which is next situated to the major
kitchen but also two minor stewarding areas in the two different kitchens. There is one chief
over the stewarding area and he has 11 people working for him.
There are three Restaurant Managers and they are managers for the Restaurant ‘El Jardin’, the
Executive Club, Bar 49, the Café and the Minibar/Room Service and there are 39 more
waiters/waitresses working for them. The Restaurant Managers are running in between these
different outlets during a normal working day and control that everything goes smoothly. The
Restaurant Managers are continually having contact with the F&B Managers in case they would
have a lot of guests in the restaurant and are lack of staff or if they are having problems with the
distribution of tasks to the employees etc.
The main staffing challenge within the F&B Department at Intercontinental Madrid is that the
Assistant F&B Manager is having a daily contact with all of the supervisors for each outlet so he
can quickly get an update about the flow of work at each outlet. In case the Assistant F&B
Manager would receive negative information from a supervisor regarding an employee, he
would invite the employee to his office to have a small talk with him to see that everything is all
right with the involved employee and what they can do together to improve the performance of
him/her.
The office to the Assistant F&B Manager is situated next to the kitchen and the staff-canteen
and his door is usually on ajar to show his employees that his door is always open in case they
would have any inquiries or want to talk about something. The Assistant F&B Manager said
once; ‘we are all human beings and for a Manager it is important to understand that and also in
they way you treat them, that is why I want my door to be open for all of my employees in case
they would have any difficulties or questions’.
The Assistant F%B Manager is also trying – as often as he can – greet most of his employees in
the morning by walking around to the different outlets and ask them how they are. However,
since he is generally occupied with lots of work it does not happen that often but at least is he
trying to do this so there will be a good and smooth communication between him and the rest of
the employees within the Department.
13
3.2.3 Leadership in the F&B Department
The F&B Manager at Intercontinental Madrid name is; Pedro Caña and he has his own personal
secretary and at the same time the face outwards for the whole Department. He is having little
contact with the employees because he needs to speak and listen to other Departments and
also the General Manager to know what is coming up and also what is expected by the F&B
Department. Mr. Caña and his secretary are also working with some administrative work. The
Assistant F&B Manager name is; Olivier Clemencon and is the person who is more close to the
employees within the F&B Department and he has more time to speak and listen to the
employees than Mr. Caña.
Underneath the F&B Managers there are supervisors working for each outlet and these
supervisors are the employees’ first-contact with the Management in case they would have any
problem or questions since they are working together with the supervisors and the F&B
Managers are not always available for the employees regarding work- or personal issues.
Something that exists which have an aim to improve both the performance and motivation
among the employees within the F&B Department but also for the whole hotel is; the best
employee of the month. In order to receive this award the employee must have done something
significant for the hotel but when an employee becomes the ‘the best employee of the month’
he/she will dine lunch together with the General Manager and also get photographed together
with him including a small goblet.
The best advice I can give my hotel so the motivation among the employees of my team in my
department would be improved, would be; more straightforward and clear instructions of how to
perform tasks.
I give this advice to the hotel based on several decisions from what I experienced at the hotel
and the most obvious one is that the staffs in my team was from several different countries
namely; Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Philippines,
Indonesia and Spain. All these people had different upbringings and not always shared same
values so for them were it important to always know into deep detail how to perform the different
tasks given by the supervisors, so different employees would not perform in their own way only
because the orders from the supervisor(s) were vague or not enough.
3.2.4 Guest Satisfaction

Intercontinental Madrid is making use of the same system in evaluating guest satisfaction as the
other hotel members within Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG) which is that the computer at
the reception selects when guests check-in whether the guest should be offered a feedback
form or not. The computer at the reception makes sure that the guests who are offered a
feedback form do not have any personal, working-related etc involvement with the hotel so the
result will be as just as possible and reflect a fair and personal opinion from the guests who are
filling out the feedback form.
The results (the feedback from the guests) are in the end of the month summarised by the
computer and transformed into graphs, so staff and other people of interest can take a look at it.
On top of that, every quarter of a year is the feedback summarised so the information can reflect
a wider picture of the guest satisfaction and after that sent to the Intercontinental’s headquarters
in London14.
The results from the guest satisfaction of Intercontinental Madrid is continually displayed on a
wall close to the staff-entrance where the employees are passing by every single time they want
to go out or inside the hotel with exception if they drive their car and park at the underground
garage in the hotel building. The results are regularly changed as soon as a new month has
started and new guest satisfaction has been measured. The Managers for each Department are
14
14
also reading trough and studying the information from the measured guest satisfaction so they
how the previous month was for their guests in their Department, in this way they can see
whether they need to improve something that has been low satisfied among their guests or
need to maintain a certain level of something15.
3.2.5 Problems, Complaints and Solutions

As you can see in appendix 8, those complaints the F&B Department at Intercontinental Madrid
has to deal with are; restaurant service, staff service/attitude and quality of food for March 2009.
The complaints from the guests are not that many since there are only 11% for restaurant
service and staff service/attitude while quality of food is at 3.7%.
The Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at Intercontinental Madrid; Olivier Clemencon says
that the main-internal problem is employees who are sick for 1-2 days and he needs to fill up
their positions within an extremely short time and during busy times at the hotel (normally during
spring and autumn) it can be almost impossible to find a substitute. Furthermore, another
internal-problem his Department is facing is the control of critical points. He states that it was
even worse before he started at Intercontinental because they daily had to throw food due to
wrong temperatures in the refrigerators/freezers but also because many items were stocked at
the wrong storerooms together with products that were not possible to be stored together.
From my point of view, the reason for why there are fairly many complaints within the restaurant
service and staff service/attitude is because the lack of full and enough communication both
from the supervisors to the employees and also between the employees themselves. Because
there are rarely sufficient explanations about how to perform tasks and duties but also the ways
of how to perform the tasks usually vary depending on who is your supervisor or your
colleagues because everybody has their own ways and ideas of how a task should be
performed.
All in all, my advice to the managers within the F&B Department would be that they reinforce
standard routines of how to perform tasks to all of the supervisors and employees so there will
not be any confusion or adaptability of how to perform tasks depending on who is your
supervisor or colleague. Because when you at first need to make sure who is your supervisor or
colleague to know how he/she wants how the different tasks should be performed, it makes you
slightly uncomfortable and confused because there is never one standard right way to perform
them. By having one way to perform tasks make you more self-confident in your performance
and at the same time more accurate in your duties. Moreover, I also think that by reinforcing one
way to perform tasks raise the confidence among the employees because they can feel more
assure when they know how to perform different tasks and they do not always need to speak
with their supervisor or colleague before acting. On the other hand, of course is it difficult to
always have one way of how to perform tasks but the general guidelines should always be the
same because a person can easy follow that and maybe just change some of the minor steps
depending on occasion or activity. But when they general guidelines of how to perform tasks will
always be the same will for sure decline the miscommunication and also raise the confidence
among employees and also in the same run increase the accuracy of the different
performances.
15
15
3.2.6 Departmental Revenue
The only financial information from the Food and Beverage Department that employees had
access to and was only given by the Assistant F&B Manager was the daily displayed budget on
a board which also can be seen in appendix 9. As you can see in the appendix, the F&B key
performances were displayed and changed daily to raise the motivation among the employees
to reach and hopefully exceed the estimated budget for each month. The F&B key
performances clearly show the data for each outlet within the F&B Department and also the
Month –To-Date (MTD) budget.
MTD is a ratio which shows the beginning of a period of time till the actual date when it is
displayed and it also explains the performance of an activity and in this case the sum of all the
outlets within the F&B Department16. As we can see in appendix 9 on the picture from 7 April
2009, the total sales from 1 April to 7 April 2009 was 157.239€ and the budget for April was set
at 518.160€ so at this date, there was missing 360.921€ in order to reach the estimated budget
for the month.
The different F&B outlets has their own expected budget as well and that can easily be seen at
the lower part of the picture. There we can see that each outlet still had quite much money to
generate in order to reach the expected sum of money for the outlet.
When we look at the other picture in the appendix 9 from the last date in April which was 30
April 2009, we can see the final money generated from each outlet and if each outlet has
generated as much money as expected and the whole F&B Department has raised enough
money or not. By looking at the data from 30 April we can see that the F&B Department did not
manage to raise enough money to the hotel as expected because they did not meet the
expected budget. However, on the good side we can see that all of the outlets performed fairly
well especially the Banqueting Department who almost generated twice as much money but the
profit in the restaurant during lunch was to low and did not meet the budget.
Something that Intercontinental Madrid has recently done in order to cut the costs within the
F&B Department but also to get an idea about where and exactly how come the costs for the
F&B Department are at the current level, they have hired the UK’s leading Stocktake and Audit
Company; Venners which is working in the Hospitality and Leisure Industry17. Two employees
from Venners had earlier worked at Intercontinental Cologne and they managed to cut the costs
within the F&B Department with 7000€ annually18.
I think that the idea from the Assistant F&B Manager is very good indeed to daily display the
data for how each outlet within the F&B Department is perform ring and how close they are to
reach the expected budget for each outlet and as a whole Department. However, since the
employees with exception for the managers are not having access to some other information –
mainly costs for the Department – it makes it slightly difficult to figure out why the budget is set
at that specific amount each month. Obviously, is it necessary to have some secured
information and not everything can be official to the public but when the employees only have
access to the estimated goals and settings from the management, it can be difficult to
understand why it is just like that. If there would be some costs and reasons for why the
expected budget is set at that specific amount, it would have been easier for the employees to
understand but also raise the motivation among them since they can feel that they are following
the way of thinking from the management as well as contributing to reach or exceed the budget
altogether.
16
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Month-To-Date
17
Olivier Clemencon, Assistant F&B Manager
18
John, employee from Venners
16
3.2.7 Business Processes
The Point of sale (POS) Intercontinental Madrid is making use of is the American; Micros. In
order to cope and run the enterprise as efficient and smooth as possible, Micros is interfaced
with Delphi because it especially enables the hotel to have an extreme high accuracy with
booking systems for groups.
Any information that touches the F&B Department has to be shared with other Departments and
there are many different kind of meetings where the exchange of information is possible. For
example, every morning there is a meeting with the General Manager and there are also
continually running pre-meetings with customers and other services. There are also monthly
reunions for both the employees and supervisors/managers where the information within the
different Departments is shared for everyone’s information19.
One business process that was commonly performed when working in the bar – especially in
the evening - was orders for special wines or champagnes that cannot be find at regular bars or
restaurants. In appendix 10 can you find a flowchart of the processes that had to be performed
before the ordered bottle could be served to the guest(s).
The first process is that the guest(s) arrive to the bar and take a seat at a table. As soon as you
become aware of that a new guest(s) have arrived to the bar, you had to give them some time
for consideration before approaching the table. Once you step to the table and ask if they would
like to order anything from the bar there could be two scenarios, either they placed their order
straight away or they would need some more time before they could arrive at a decision. If they
ordered when you talked with them for the first time, you had to write down their order and
return to the bar and search after the correct bottle. The other scenario could be that they would
need some more time before arriving at a decision and then you had to keep in mind to return to
the table once you got contact with them later or you felt that they were ready to place their
order.
Once you had taken their order and written it down and returned to the bar to search after the
bottle it often happened that the ordered bottle was not stored in the bar due to the size of the
bar and the immense selection of special bottles. Then you had to go to the storeroom for
bottles which was situated around the corner of the bar and look after it there. But if you had
luck and the ordered bottle was stored in the bar, you could immediately start with preparing to
serve it. Otherwise you had to search after the bottle in the storeroom and once you found it
there, you had to return to the bar and start with the preparation slightly later. The preparation of
serving a special wine or champagne unless it was not a red wine was to fill an ice bucket with
ice and some dashes of water and put the bottle in there. You also had to serve them the daily
appetizer together with the special bottle which normally was croquettes or small tapas. On top
of that, you always had to give them napkins and cutleries if it was needed together with the
appetizer.
By the time you were done with the preparation of serving the bottle, you always had to bring
everything on a tray and there were different sizes of trays in the bar depending on how big and
how many items you had to bring to the customer(s).
19
Olivier Clemencon, Assistant F&B Manager
17
3.2.8 Interview with my manager
Olivier Clemencon is working as the Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at Intercontinental
Madrid and he is originally French. O. Clemencon has taken a 3 year Technical Degree in
Marketing Hospitality from a school in Paris in France. After his graduation 1995 O. Clemencon
decided to study some courses on distance from Cornell University in USA. However, when he
was only a few courses away from receiving a MBA in Hospitality & Management he was too
eager to start to work so he moved to London in England and started to work for the luxurious
Hotel Savoy. O. Clemencon worked at this hotel as a supervisor in the restaurant for a couple of
years before he decided to move on in his career and his next workplace was Disneyworld Hotel
in Orlando in USA where he worked as an operational supervisor. He stayed in USA and
worked for Disneyworld Hotel for a couple of years as well before he went back to Europe and
landed in Monte Carlo and started to work at the Cosmos Hotel.
He did not stay in Monte Carlo and worked for Cosmos Hotel for as long as he had been
working in England and USA because he wanted to gain better skills in the Spanish language
so he went to Madrid and started to work for Westin Palace for one year in the Rooms Division
Department. His next hotel was also situated in Madrid namely Hilton Madrid Airport where he
was the Project Manager.
When he could master the Spanish language and did not have any difficulties with it, he decided
to return to his country France where he was given the opportunity to work for Intercontinental
Paris for five years. At Intercontinental Paris did O. Clemencon work as both a Project Manager
and also within restaurant of sales. When he had almost worked for five years, did he bump into
the current General Manager Christophe Laure on the streets in Paris. They talked and took
some coffees with each other during a couple of days before C. Laure had to return to
Intercontinental Madrid. Two weeks later received O. Clemencon an email from C.Laure where
he offered him a job opportunity as an Assistant Food and Beverage Manager at
Intercontinental Madrid which he took. By now O. Clemencon has been working as the Assistant
F&B Manager for more than 9 months.
O. Clemencon states that his main-task is to divide and distribute the tasks for the almost 120
employees working within the F&B Department. One of the biggest challenges for him is to have
a smooth operational control for the biggest outlet within the F&B Department which also
generates most money namely; banqueting. Another big responsibility O. Clemencon is carrying
is the financial aspect in the F&B Department because he is always trying to manage to go with
profit with all of the projects and since the competition is big and Intercontinental Madrid is
competing with many other major hotels in Madrid, it is a tough job to always go with profit,
especially now when the financial crisis is sweeping over.
In order to be better than the competitors to Intercontinental Madrid, O. Clemencon emphasizes

that creativeness and gastronomically menus and themes are necessary and vital in order to
continue to attract regular and new customers to the hotel’s restaurant so that is a tough
responsibility he is weekly busy with. As many other hotel’s in the same size as Intercontinental
Madrid, critical points is a problem that he needs to keep an eye on continually because there
had been occasions where they have had to throw many items due to wrong storage and bad
delivered products from the supplier.
O. Clemencon emphasizes that he has a very good contact with the supervisors for the different
outlets within the F&B Department and that is to great help for him. Because without the good
communication with the supervisors, he says that he would have had loads of more work to do
because then he would have needed to control all the outlets but since the communication is so
good with the supervisors, O. Clemencon can get a quick insight in what is happening and how
the work is going in the different outlets by only sacrificing 10 to 15 minutes with a supervisor for
an outlet instead of an hour. Moreover, he also states that he has good cost control of the
Department but he wants to grant the supervisors for the outlets for this once again because
since the communication is so good with the supervisors, make it easy for him to control and
analyze more things into depth.
18
In O. Clemencon’s eyes, he thinks that the area of improvement in his Department and also with
his employees is to have a higher bottom-level because he figures that once the employees in
the F&B Department are not perfomering well, it is really low compared to their normal capacity.
So he would like to see a higher consistency in his employees’ performances, because if it
would become truth O. Clemencon strongly thinks that the negative feedback from some of the
guests of the F&B outlets would decrease drastically. O. Clemencon thinks that the best way to
overturn the low bottom-level and have a higher consistency among the employees would be to
motivate them more so they would like what they are working more interesting and stimulating.
When O. Clemencon looks into future and anticipating what he will be doing, he says that if he
would continue to work for Intercontinental Madrid for some more years he would expect to be
the F&B Manager. However, he is also explaining that he has always wanted to create his own
business one day and he is hinting about opening his own small boutique hotel in the middle of
nowhere, preferably on an island. He ends his words by saying that he has always been
cautious about the environment and in these days it has even escalated his worries about the
future.
19
Chapter 4: A La Carte – In Depth
4.3 Business Ethics and Corporate

Social Responsibility
4.3.1 Ethical dilemmas:

The most frequent and visible ethical dilemma that was continually happening was employees
who were drinking alcoholic beverages and smoking cigarettes in the changing room. One
afternoon in the middle of my placement when I went to the lockers for the employees at the
hotel to put on my uniform and start my shift, I saw one of my supervisors drinking a bottle of
beer inside the changing room.
My initial feeling when I saw my supervisor breaking one of the regulations in this way by
drinking alcohol at work was extremely awkward. Since I was working at the hotel as a practical
trainee and suppose to get taught and experience necessary things that will be beneficial for my
future career, I did not want to destroy it and start badly on my first placement so I never said
anything to my real boss who also was the; Assistant F&B Manager. However, whenever I was
working for this supervisor at the hotel after this incident I had a feeling of disrespect for his
position and also whenever I heard him giving orders or wanted either you or another employee
to perform something.
The stakeholders included in the incident that happened in the locker-room are; Me, my
supervisor, my colleagues, other supervisors, my boss, the Manager for the F&B Department
and the General Manager. The reason for why there are so many stakeholders included in this
incident is because the supervisor is representing a leader-position and he has fairly many
employees working underneath him so he cannot represent a negative picture and absolutely
not break regulations in the way he did. Managers and the General Manager are included since
they have granted the supervisor his position and they could be related negatively to this
supervisor in having giving him this position.
Since I never mentioned anything about this occurrence for my Manager nor other supervisors
because I feared what would have been the outcome of it – e.g. being treated badly of other
colleagues or even dismissal for being a backstabber – I just left it out and kept my mouth shut.
If we would see from the Justice and Care issues regarding this incident, it would be following;
Justice
• Regulations that have been set and existing within the company should never be
tampered with, thus, I should have let my real boss – the Assistant F&B Manager –
aware of what I saw
• I have a certain loyalty towards my boss as well as other colleagues and thus should I
have let people above the supervisor aware of my observation
• Breaking Intercontinental’s policy is never acceptable and in the same it was not right of
me to hide this information on other staff-members.
• You could say that I was accomplice of the breaking of the rule since I kept my mouth
shut regarding my observation
Care
20
• If I would have said anything to my boss regarding my observation, I could have
received negative comments and criticism from other colleagues, so I did the best in
saving my first step into the hospitality industry on the work floor.
• Loyalty to an employee who I am working much with is more important than loyalty to
the company.
• I was only a practical trainee at the hotel and if I would have raised my voice against a
supervisor who had been working there for at least 10years, people would have thought
that I was incorrect about the observation and taken the supervisor in favor.
4.3.2 CSR
Intercontinental’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) statement is; ‘Our actions are guided
by our values – the Winning Ways. These are explained to everyone who works for IHG. They
define the character of the Group and are, above all, the things that set us apart as a
business’.20
The five different winning ways are;21
• Do the right thing

We aim to do what we believe is right and have the courage and conviction to put it into
practice. We are honest and straightforward and see our decisions through.
• Show we care
We want to be a company that understands people’s needs better than anyone else in
our industry. This means being sensitive to others, noticing the things that matter and
taking responsibility for getting things right.
• Aim higher
We aim to be acknowledged industry leaders, and have built a team of talented people
who have a will to be the best. We strive for success and we value individuals who are
always looking for better ways to do things.
• Celebrate difference
We believe it is the knowledge of our people that brings our brands to life. We do not
impose a rigid, uniform view of the world. Our global strength comes from celebrating
local differences, while knowing some things should be the same.
• Work better together

We are at our best when we collaborate to form a powerful team. We listen to each
other and combine our expertise to create a strong, focused, supportive and trusted
team of people.
The CSR is taken from the company’s official website and is on the whole, strongly emphasized
for their own values and how they differ themselves from their competitors with help of the
employees after have taught them the Winning Ways. This is mainly because the statement
starts with; ‘Our actions are guided by our values – the Winning Ways’, and is followed with;
‘these are explained to everyone who works for IHG’, and with the last words clearly explained
that they differ themselves from their competitors; ‘the things that set us apart as a business’.
By reading the statement for the first time, it is clear and easy to understand the values
Intercontinental has as a company. It can also with ease be understood that the area of
employees is clearly taken into account. The stakeholders are also taken into account since the
last sentence in the CSR it is written; ‘the things that set us apart as a business’, and by this can
the stakeholders know that Intercontinental is unique in its kind when they have their own values
which are taught to all of the employees who work for the chain called; ‘the Winning Ways’.
20
http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=43
21
http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=22
21
During my time at the F&B Department at Intercontinental Madrid, I continually felt the presence
of the emphasize of ‘the Winning Ways’, because many supervisors including employees had
badges which represented one out of these five; Winning Ways. As written earlier in this report,
the Assistant F&B Manager had a white board out of his office where he wrote the daily
performance and always on the same paper was he emphasizing one of these five ‘Winning
Ways’ as a reason for why the performance had been positive or negative. Two months after my
commence at Intercontinental, I also had a two-days course together with the rest of the
practical trainees at Intercontinental where one of the employees from the Human Resources
Department explained into deep detail about their CSR but also about the whole hotel-chain
itself and other useful information to know about a company you are working for. There were
also many posters in the staff-canteen, in the hallway and also in the hotel itself on many floors
where one ‘Winning Ways’ was written so both employees as well as guests could know our
values and how the company was operating.
Something that could be seen as a minor bottleneck from Intercontinental Madrid’s side in
regards to their CSR, is that the supervisors and managers always thought that all of the
outcomes depended or was caused by the five different winning ways. I hereby give an example
when I felt during many occasions at many different outlets that my colleagues worked toward
the opposite of one of the; winning ways’ namely; Work better together
Whenever I was working in the bar or the restaurant at my hotel, and other colleagues of mine
had picked up or cleaned tables they always put the tray with all of the items – glasses, bottles,
plates etc – close to the stewarding area but never in the stewarding area where it belonged
and should have been. The reason for why my colleagues did this – especially whenever
working in the bar – was because they always assumed that I should take care of the tray as
soon as I was available, and the main-reason for why I would like to use this as an example of
not working toward one of the winning ways; Working together, is because it happened fairly
many times that I was the only employee who was busy while the others were not, but still it
happened that they just went to clean a table and not put the tray in the stewarding area and
waited for me to be free of duties so I could take care of it. Neither was it nice when I saw them
putting the tray with the items on it just away from the guests and went to another colleague to
continue to talk about social things and waited for me to come back to the bar and clean after
them when they also had the same position as me. On the other hand, as I stated in the
beginning of this paragraph, this is a minor bottleneck in regards of the CSR and I always kept
in mind as the placement office explained during the preparation-lessons for the practical
placement; I do this work for 4months, while my colleagues could have done it for 20years.
As earlier explained, the visibility by posters hanging on the walls both in front of the house as
well as back of the house with Intercontinental’s CSR and primarily their; Winning ways, made it
easy for guests and employees to be aware of the values, beliefs and what the company was
working after. However, a tip of advice to Intercontinental Madrid would be that the mutual
consent was missing in teaching and explaining these ‘winning ways’ into deep detail so they
could be understood to its very deep detail. All of the practical trainees at the hotel received a
2days course where this including lots of other information was explained by a person from the
Human Resources department but when I asked some colleagues to check whether they had
had received similar training they, had not.
One main-competitor to Intercontinental Madrid is; Westin Palace Madrid22. Westin Palace
Madrid is part of; Starwood Hotels and Resorts and they have Company Values which could
been seen in one way similar to Intercontinental’s CSR and Winning Ways.
Starwood Hotels and Resorts Values23
• Go the extra step

22
23
http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/company_values.html
22
By taking actions that build lasting connections and loyalty
• Play as a Team
By working globally and across all teams in the company
• Do the Right Thing

By using good judgment, respecting our communities, associates, owners, partners and
the environment.
One of Starwood’s values is exactly the same as one of Intercontinental’s – Do the right thing -
but only differ in the explanation of it. All in all, when you read Starwood’s values you can
quickly understand that the values are very precise and direct by their explanations but still
taken the most important stakeholders into account namely; employees in the second value and
in the third value are all the other major stakeholders written down in the explanation of the
value. Starwood’s values in relation with Intercontinetal’s are similar with the difference that
Intercontinental have two more values and might give a more comprehensive picture of a
company’s values especially when Intercontinental has for instance; Aim higher which shows
that the sympathy might be slightly higher in theory at Intercontinental. However, my experience
after I have been working at Intercontinental Madrid is that in theory and on the paper it might
look good and sound promising but in practice, everything might not result and be received as it
is stated or have been promised.
4.6 Competition
4.6.1 Competitors
Two of the main competitors to Intercontinental Madrid are; Westin Palace Madrid and Hotel
Ritz Madrid24 whereas all of hotels situated in the business area in Madrid. According to Philip
Kotler25, the marketing mix consists of;
• Price = Cost to Customer

• Product = Customer Benefits
• Place = Convenience
• Promotion = Communications
The rack rate for a standard double room for two persons including breakfast during a weekday
is following26;
Intercontinental Madrid Westin Palace Madrid Hotel Ritz Madrid

€259 €239 €572
The hotel rooms include the usual and common facilities such as; satellite television, minibar, air
conditioning, electronic safe, color TV, bathroom with shower etc. The reason for why it is a
significant difference in price at Hotel Ritz compared with the other two hotels is mainly because
of the well established name it has but also on Ritz website do they emphasize regarding their;
embroidered linen sheets in the bed, exclusive hand woven carpets, marble bathrooms and
these facilities do not the other two hotels have in the standard rooms27.
24
25
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingmix/
26
http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/rates.jsp
https://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/search/ratelist.html
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/rate-selection/madrid?roomTypeCode=CSTG
27
http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/guest_services.jsp
23
All three hotels are situated within easy reach of each other and also in the business area of
Madrid. The hotels are in possession of 5stars and serve facilities such as; gymnasium, SPA,
restaurants, bars, beauty salon, gift shop. What are the significant differences between the three
hotels in customer benefits are namely;
Intercontinental Madrid Westin Palace Madrid Hotel Ritz Madrid

- 302 rooms in total - 468 rooms in total - 167 rooms in total
- 33 suites - 48 suites - 30 suites
- 1 restaurant - 2 restaurants - 1 restaurant
- 1 bar - 1 bar - 1 bar
As already stated all of the hotels are situated in the business area of Madrid called;
Castellana/Retiro. However, Westin Palace Madrid and Hotel Ritz are within close proximity of
each other and Intercontinental Madrid is situated at around 2kilometers away from them. All of
the hotels have easy access to all the famous and major sights such as; the Prado museum,
Thyssen-Bornemisza museum, the Real Madrid museum, the elegant Serrano shopping street,
the Royal Palace of Madrid and the biggest park in Madrid El Retiro.
Regarding the fourth P – Promotion, all of these hotels have a good word-of-mouth but
obviously has Hotel Ritz Madrid an extremely elegant one since Ritz ‘has long provided the
Spanish capital’s most elegant and exclusive entertainment’28. However, Intercontinental is a
well recognized hotel chain in the whole world, thus, do they host many celebrities and
international guests. Europa Press which is one of the major distributors of news in Spain has
their weekly conference at Intercontinental Madrid. Westin Palace Madrid is known in Madrid for
having the most counted, and biggest conference rooms in Madrid29 .
4.6.2 Target markets

As written in chapter 2, two of Intercontinental’s segments are; Business and
Meeting/Conference and the hotel itself have 17 meeting rooms. Moreover, they have an
executive club whereas inside of the club there is a special conference room with a capacity of
15 people and that room can be booked upon request of a person who has access to this
executive club. Intercontinental Madrid has following major facilities30;
• Health & Fitness Centre

• Beauty Salon, florist & Gift Shop
• Offering multiple Business Services such as; Copying, Courier Service, Secretarial
Services, Wireless Data Connection etc.
• Business Centre
• Day Care and & Children’s Activities
• Housekeeping & Laundry
• Public Space Data Services
Westin Palace Madrid is situated in the business area in Madrid along with Intercontinental and
Hotel Ritz and has 468 guest rooms and suites. It has 15 meeting and banqueting rooms with a
capacity to accommodate up to 1000 people. The hotel has an immense amount of various
facilities offered for its guests and some of them are31;
28
http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/hotel_ritz_introduction.jsp
29
http://www.westinpalacemadrid.com/?lang=212
30
http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/hotel-features/amenities-
services/madrid
31
http://www.hotels.co.uk/hotel/details.html?roomno=1&departureDate=29-09-
2009&destinationId=457987&rooms[0].numberOfAdults=2&tab=photos&arrivalDate=28-09-
24
• Babysitting or Child Care
• Airport transportation (surcharge)
• Hair Salon
• Health & Fitness Centre
• Laundry Facilities
• Parking Garage
• Wedding services
• Offering multiple Business Services such as; Banquet Facilities, Business Centre,
Computer Rental etc.
• Soundproofed Rooms
• Electronic Check-Out
Hotel Ritz Madrid was built according to the wishes of King Alfonso Xlll in 1910 and all of the
167 guestrooms at the hotel have been individually designed, with antique furniture and
handmade carpets. The hotel has five different meeting rooms which can hold up to 500people.
Banqueting facilities and a state-of-art business centre are available for the guests at the hotel.
Hotel Ritz Madrid has an equal amount of facilities offered to the guests as Intercontinental
Madrid but value high preciseness in everything. Some of the facilities offered are32;
• Concierge Desk
• Full-Service Health Spa
• Limo or Town Car Service Available
• Security Guard
• Offering various Business Services such as; Event Catering, Translation Services,
Audio-Visual Equipment, Computer Rental etc.
• Designer Toiletries
• Soundproofed Rooms
It has already been written in chapter 2 which markets Intercontinental is targeting -Business,
Leisure, Group Tour, Meeting/Conference, Air Crew – but of the brief information that have been
written about; Westin Palace Madrid and Hotel Ritz Madrid, we can anticipate that they are
targeting similar markets with few exceptions namely;
Since the immense capacity to accommodate up to 1000people in the 15 different meeting and
conference rooms at Westin Palace Madrid, we can draw the conclusion that two major market
segments are; Business and Meeting/Conference. Furthermore, since the hotel is located in the
very heart of Madrid and have 468 guestrooms we can also assume that they are targeting the
Leisure segment. Due to the fact that they have extremely many facilities offered at the hotel,
there are many potential guests who are willing to stay at this hotel.
Only Hotel Ritz Madrid says a lot in peoples’ ears, since it is a reputable and extremely
luxurious hotel chain worldwide. Therefore, we know that the hotel accommodate many
celebrities and this can also be reinforced in their description of the hotel. Due to the high rack
rate for their hotel rooms we can also conclude that people with an average income cannot
afford to stay at this hotel. Also, in their description of the facilities offered and also the focus for
preciseness in everything entitle Hotel Ritz Madrid to be a superior over the hotels in Madrid.
The market segments Hotel Ritz Madrid are targeting according to their description of the hotel,
location, price-range and preciseness in everything is the upper-scale market with people who
have money. However, they are probably targeting the business segment for companies who
need to make business with other companies and there is a lot of money involved, upon and we
cannot we forget all the affluent people who want to indulge themselves to maximum holiday or
city-break.
2009&hotelId=141159#description
32
http://www.hotels.co.uk/hotel/details.html?roomno=1&departureDate=29-09-
http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/hotel_ritz_introduction.jsp
25
4.6.3 Marketing performance
Price
Since both Intercontinental Madrid and Westin Palace Madrid are on the whole equal with each
regarding the price for B&B €259 versus €239 and there is a significant level up to Hotel Ritz
Madrid with €572 B&B, Westin Palace Madrid is the winner regarding the price. Basically
because all of these hotels are in possession of 5stars but Westin Palace is a way bigger hotel
in relation with the rest of them and on top of that, the facilities the hotel offers are immense and
more than the other hotels. Finally €239 for B&B is a high price for one night and there is no
reason to stay at a more expensive hotel when the hotel’s themselves are similar except for
Ritz. If you are a normal guest and want to stay at a luxurious hotel, Westin Palace is a perfect
solution for that and the differences between the hotels is slight.
Product
In all of the hotels given, breakfast is included and the facilities between the hotels are similar.
What is different in the products given to the guests is probably the deliverance and service of
the employees at Hotel Ritz Madrid. As already stated, Ritz emphasize preciseness in
everything and thus, is the product – hotel room, facilities etc. – best at Hotel Ritz Madrid
Place
All of the hotels are in close proximity of each other in the business area in Madrid and the
longest distance from one to another is 3.1km. The distance between Hotel Ritz and Westin
Palace is 0.2km and these two hotels are in better situation than Intercontinental Madrid since
they are within easy reach of everything in Madrid and also the famous park; Retiro. However,
the best situated hotel is Ritz since it is closer to this park and also the main-road.
Promotion
The fourth P in the marketing mix is promotion and according to an article,33 promotion
describes publicity and word-of-mouth and then it is obvious that Ritz is the winner since it is the
most famous hotel in Madrid among people and also a world-famous hotel for luxury.
The winner between these three hotels is Westin Palace Madrid because you get the most of
everything and also what you pay for. All of the hotels have high service since they all have
5stars and Ritz has probably the best but the difference cannot be that immense since all of
them have reached the 5stars level of service and paying more twice as much for one night –
Westin vs. Ritz – is not worth it because all of the hotels offer many facilities as well but Westin
wins since the hotel is bigger than the others and offer more.
Westin offers the greatest value for the money spent for one night B&B because of its location,
price and facilities. For sure is Westin Palace a winner against Intercontinental regarding
everything above mentioned and since celebrities and royalties constitute to a small extent,
Westin Palace Madrid is the winner for its overall and price.
33
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingmix/
26
27
CHAPTER 5: My Performance
5.1 Learning goals
5.1.1
My first technical learning goal was that I wanted to increase my independence and now
afterwards I strongly think that I have. Mainly because I had to move to a country where I have
never been living before where I had to get use to a new way of life, adapt myself and also a
new way of working at the hotel.
My second technical learning goal was that I wanted to increase my speed when I serve guests
and after having worked at a hotel as a waiter for over 6 months, I feel secure in my answer
when I say; I have increased my speed to serve guests during my placement. To perform similar
tasks over half a year teaches you tricks which way is better and more efficient to do.
The third technical learning goal was to learn more about specific food types/dishes and
beverages and working at a 5stars hotel is a very good way to learn more regarding this area.
You are constantly affected by rare and uncommon food types/dishes and beverages at the
different outlets within the F&B Department.
My first social/communication goal was to feel more comfortable in dealing with them and
shortly after my commence at Intercontinental communicating with guests became my daily life
and in the same run, did I step by step feel more comfortable in dealing with them since it was
my daily life.
My second social/communication goal was to improve my communication with my colleagues

and supervisors and you more time I spent at the hotel, you better it became. This is solely
based on my language because in the beginning was my Spanish-skills low but I improved and
learnt more Spanish for each week spent in Madrid and in the same way did my interaction with
my colleagues and supervisors improve.
My third social/communication goal was to become better to use different communication media
such as fax, telephone, cash machine. Since I was a practical trainee at the hotel and they were
not allowed to use the cash machine nor fax I was only able to be better with for instance the
switchboard on the phone.
My first personal goal was to be better in Spanish and after my 6months in Madrid; I can speak
about almost everything. However, my grammar in Spanish is weak and that is my flaw in the
language but I have improved my Spanish a lot during my time in Madrid.
My second personal goal was to improve my personal time-keeping and that is still an area I
need to improve on because I did improve it but not as much as I intended to do upon arrival.
5.1.2
Personally I feel that I managed to achieve all of my learning goals except for two namely; the
use of communication media and my personal time-keeping. The reason for why I did not
directly improve my use of communication media was because I was not allowed by the hotel to
use it since I was a practical trainee. The reason for why I did not improve my personal time-
keeping as much as intended was probably because it happened so many times that I was not
28
as motivated as I wanted to be in order to improve it because it was rare that my colleagues
were interested in doing mice en places whenever we were not that busy and your colleagues
have a big impact on you when you are working underneath all of them.
5.1.3
The goal I have when I start my leadership at the school is that I will always keep in mind how it
was for me when I worked at the different outlets during my first- and second semester. The
reason for why I have that as a goal is because during my time at Intercontinental, I think that
some of the supervisors and managers were not fully aware of how the life and what it was like
to work a waiter at the hotel and it is the same for those people in the first- and second
semester at school. It is not the most interesting to perform all the duties all the time and I am
going to remember how it was for me because in that way, I will hopefully make it slightly more
fun for the people who are going to work underneath me.
5.1.4
Since Intercontinental Madrid is a business hotel, I realized that if I would decide to work with
hotels in the future I do not want to work at business hotels but at leisure hotels. I have arrived
at this decision because the guests at business hotels are in general very serious all the time
and whenever I think about hospitality and hotels, I see a link to holidays. I personally prefer to
work with guests who are staying at a hotel because they are staying at the hotel because they
are there on holiday rather than doing their job.
Right now, I am in this phase of my life where my preference regarding which work field I want
to pursue is continually fluctuating. After my practical placement I still think and feel that working
with hotels is fun and interesting but I am still too young to know now where and what I would
like to work with after my hopeful graduation from school.
5.2 Critical incident

The best example of a critical incident that happened during my time at my hotel was when I
was working in the Banqueting Department. The supervisor for the banqueting and I were once
preparing a small conference room for guests who would shortly show up and start having the
conference, when the supervisor told me that I should go to the entrance of the conference
room and wait for the guests who would shortly show up, while he should go and collect more
water bottles.
I went next to the entrance of the door to the conference room and prepared myself for greeting
the guests who could pop up at any second when my boss – the Assistant F&B Manager –
appears behind my back. Without barely having eye-contact with me he says to me quickly in
Spanish; If I ever see you here again doing nothing and just staring on the walls, I will let the
General Manager know about your input and your time here will be finished. After he had said
that and I was still shocked by this comment he just went away as quickly as he had showed up.
I continued to work that day till I had finished my shift but I could never really understand what
had happened but when I came back home to my flat, I spoke with both of my parents regarding
this incident and also asked them what I should do but my parents said that the best thing would
maybe be to send my boss an email where I explained the reason for why I was standing
outside the conference room because I had been instructed to do that of my supervisor. I never
did that because I had a strong feeling that my boss would not believe or take me seriously so in
the end, I sent an email to my coach and the placement office where I explained the whole
situation for them. The placement office sent an email to my boss where they explained that I
29
was a practical trainee and I could not get treated badly or in the same way as normal
employees because the main-purpose of working for the hotel was to learn and being taught
things. After the placement office had sent the email to my boss, he calmed down a little bit and
also changed his behaviour towards me.
From this incident I learnt that all people are human beings but also that some managers tend to
exceed the use of power in a bad way. By that I mean that if a manager dislikes an employee or
somebody else who works underneath him or her, they can make life difficult for that person. So
it is up to each manager to know that they have limits as well even though they might be
managers and they cannot make use of it. Now after this incident when I have started to reflect
everything I am in a way glad that I experienced this because now I know how you should not
behave if you were a manager or you are having people working underneath you.
5.3 Cross cultural
5.3.1 Theory
Richard D. Lewis writes in his book ‘When cultures collide’34 the motivation factor among
Spaniards. He explains that ‘they do not like being rushed and confusing mañana behaviour
with laziness’.
During my time at Intercontinental Madrid I must say that I agree with this to its full extent
because my colleagues in general always waited to the last minute to perform something and
sometimes they even did not bother to do it if they did not want to. In the beginning, I just
thought they had a bad day or was not that motivated that day but when it just continued to be
the same, week after week I realized that it was the way of work and the way they were.
However, some of them were not as lazy and unmotivated as many others but the majority of
them were not as motivated to work as I was used to since I am from Sweden where hardwork
is in favor.
5.3.2 Problems
The biggest challenge that I was facing at Intercontinental Madrid was the strong commitment
for the hierarchy all the time. With this I mean that all of the employees, supervisors and
managers were most of the time focused for the hierarchy and you were not always allowed to
behave in a certain way or to perform something only because you had a lower position in the
hierarchy and the person above you had always right.
Something that I learnt from my time spent at the hotel in Madrid was that you should never
question or argue with somebody who has a higher position than you and in my case; all other
employees had a higher position than me since I was a practical trainee. Nobody never listened
to me nor took my advices in how to perform duties differently, and I also think that it not only
was because I had a lower position but also because I was a foreigner and could not master the
Spanish language.
In the beginning, I continued to give advices and other ways in how to perform things differently
but quite shortly did I realize that nobody really took it in or was willing to change, so I just
stopped with it.
34
Richard D. Lewis – When Cultures Collide – Third Edition – page. 272
30
5.3.3 Personal discovery
The most interesting intercultural discovery I made during my time at Intercontinental Madrid
was the repeating disorganisation at all of the outlets I worked at. I come from Sweden where
people in general have organisation and place facts before ideas etc. But regarding this area at
the hotel in Madrid, was it completely opposite to what I could ever imagine and I could never
really understand how it could be like that at a 5stars international hotel in the capital of Spain.
This disorganisation at the hotel made me not only confused but also irritated very often
because you had to run up and down for nothing so many times. Yes, confusion and occasional
disorganisation belong at hotels because all the days are different in terms of occupancy,
guests etc. However, I always had this feeling that there was never any order or real and proper
organisation at the hotel and it makes me feel now afterwards that I have hard to see myself
working in Spain in the future.
An example of this disorganisation that I am explaining is the restaurant at Intercontinental

Madrid. At the restaurant – El Jardin – all the waiters are responsible for all the tables, and there
is not one waiter who is responsible for let’s say; 2 tables because everybody has to run
everywhere and pay attention to all of the tables at the same time. The supervisors in the
restaurant are paying attention that all of the guests have what they should but there is not a
system like I am use to that one waiter is responsible for certain tables.
31
Chapter 6: Impressions for future
trainees
My hotel was Intercontinental Madrid and is part of; Intercontinental Hotels Groups (IHG)
together with 6 other hotel chains. I worked at all the different outlets within the Food and
Beverage Department. My duties at all of these outlets were basically; Mice en place, taking
orders, serving guests, clean and maintain equipment and premises, maintain hygienic
standards and procedures.
I have learnt different things at the different outlets but I want to point out that it is very much up
to you to take the initiative and to be pro-active during your placement because your colleagues
will not teach you as long as you do not show interest in learning. I have now after my
placement learnt most of the basic in serving, catering and everything else that exist within the
F&B Department and I feel much more relaxed and secure whenever I need to perform
something.
Something that is important to bear in mind when you go on your placement is that you need to
be flexible, open-minded and adaptable to the new country you are going to. Also expect that if
you have been to the country you are going to work at before on holiday, it will for sure be very
different on the work floor.
At my hotel there were many other practical trainees from various hotel schools in the world and
I had a kind of community together with these in terms of socializing outside of the hotel as well
as speaking with them at the hotel because all of were in the same boat. It was good to
exchange information with each other and make connections because it will only generate
positively on you later in your career.
Living in Madrid is to one extent very different compared to what it is like in Holland because
people are more relaxed and do not care so much about certain things. However, keep in mind
that some areas can be dangerous at night in Madrid but as long as you have common sense
and know how to behave there is no need to fear but some people in certain areas can be
dangerous.
My advice to future trainees who go to Madrid would be that you should early upon arrival try to
make Spanish friends because you will improve your Spanish language immensely and so more
quickly than just using the Spanish language at the hotel, supermarket, on the street etc.
Moreover, they will also show you the way of life Spaniards have and hopefully also go to not so
tourist areas.
Finally I can say that even though working with Spaniards with a continuous disorganisation, it is
a nice experience to have worked with them because it is fun most of the time mainly because
of their laid back mentality and way of life.
32
Works cited & works consulted
Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/about-us/our-history). –
Information taken 24 April 2009
Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/madrid - Information

taken 24 April 2009
Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=23 – Information taken 24 April 2009
Website;
http://www.cotizalia.com/cache/2008/04/11/52_hotel_intercontinental_madrid_nombra_christop
he_laure.html - Information taken 26 April 2009
Spoken with the Assistant Revenue Manager Daniel Turner on the 28 April 2009
Spoken with the Manager of Human Resources Juan Charlos Alonso on the 28 April 2009
Website; http://www.northcote.co.uk/company_links/by_Index.asp?SIT=1&IID=FTSE
%20350&SDL=NI01493 – Information taken 28 April 2009-05-10
Book; Derek Rollinson, ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS AN INTEGRATED

APPROACH, third edition – Information taken 29 April 2009
Website; http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/legal/privacy.html - Information taken 29 April

2009
Website; http://www.scandichotels.com/About-Us/Corporate-information/) – Information taken

29 April 2009
Had a 2-days course with the HR Manager Juan Charlos Alonso on the date; 17 – 18 February
2009
Spoken with the Manager of Human Resources Juan Charlos Alonso on the 28 April 2009
Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=43 – Information taken

7 September 2009
Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=22 – Information taken

12 September 2009
2009
Website; http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/company_values.html - Information taken 12

September 2009
2009
Website; http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingmix/ - Information taken 12

September 2009
Website; http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/rates.jsp - Information taken 12 September 2009
33
Website; http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/rates.jsp - Information taken 12 September 2009
Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/rate-selection/madrid?
roomTypeCode=CSTG – Information taken 12 September 2009
Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/hotel-
features/amenities-services/madrid - Information taken 12 September 2009
Website; http://www.hotels.co.uk/hotel/details.html?roomno=1&departureDate=29-09-
2009&hotelId=141159#description – Information taken 12 September 2009
Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/hotel-
features/amenities-services/madrid - Information taken 12 September 2009
2009&hotelId=141159#description - Information taken 12 September 2009
http://www.ritzmadrid.com/web/orit/hotel_ritz_introduction.jsp – Information taken 12 September
2009
Book: Richard D. Lewis – When Cultures Collide – Third Edition – page. 272
34
Appendix 1 – Organizational Structure
G M
G M S e c r e ta r y
M a in t e n a n c e R e v e n u e R o o m s D i v i Ss i ao &lne s S a &l e s F in &a n c e

F&B D e p a r t m e n t H R D e p a r t m B e u ns t i n e s s
D e p a r tm e n t D e p a r t m e n t D e p a r t m eM n at r k&Be t in g F M a r k e t i n g
D e p a r t m e nD t e p a r t m e n t D e p a r tm e n t
F&B M a n a g Re r e venu e M an ag er S a &Ml e sa r k e t i n H g R M a n a g e r

A s s is t a n t A s s is t a n t A s s is t a n t A s s i s t a n t F i n &Ba n uc se i n e s s
S e c re ta ry
M a in t Be an. Mn aq a nn Rac gees r t a Ru r ae n st e rHv ao tu i os ne k eD e u p t yi n Rg e c e pC t ioo nn c ie rC g ae t e r Cin og n &Sv e an l tei os n P u r c h a s in g

H R T r aI Ti n iMn ga n a g e r
M a n a g e r s M a n a gMe r a n a gM e ar n a gM e ar n a gM e a r n a gM e a r n a g Me ra n a g eM r a n a g e r M anager
M anager
C h i e f S St e o-Cw u ahs r de i fns g H o u s e k e e p Rin eg c -Ne pi gt ioh tn

A s s is t a n t M a n a g e r
G e n e rF a i nl a n c Cia r l e d i t
A c c o u An ct ac on tu nM t a n ta g e r
L i n -Rn eo noH mo u s e k e e p i n g
I n s t a n t SF eO r vS icu ep e r v is o r s
S u p e r Sv i us op re r Cv i se on rt se r S u p e r v i s o r
Appendix 2 – Employee Survey
35
36
37
Appendix 3 – Guest Survey
38
Appendix 4 – Market Segments
39
Appendix 5 – Example of a SOP
40
Appendix 6 – Room Service Process
Guest Waiter Kitchen PT CT
Guest phones to the

15sec 20sec
Room Service and
orders ; Meat dish
with a glass of wine
The waiter takes

the order and say 5sec 8sec
it will take 15-
20min .
The waiter
prints a receipt 10sec 15sec
The waiter tells

the kitchen that a 5sec 10sec
guest wants a
meat dish
The current chef
reply that he will 5sec 10sec
start
The waiter prepares a
table with wheels with
a cloth , cutleries ,
napkins , salt %pepper 35sec 60sec
etc.
The chef is
finished with the 620 sec 700 sec
meal dish
The waiter takes a

bottle of wine , the
meat dish and put 70sec 90sec
it on the table and
go to the room
The waiter knocks on

the door and wait for
a reply
27sec 35sec
Guest opens the Guest calls to

door come in
The waiter opens

The waiter goes in
the door with the
and present
key and present
everything and 210 sec 230 sec
everything and
pour a glass of
pour a glass of
wine and get a
wine and get a
signature on the
signature on the
receipt
receipt
END END
Total in sec 1002 1178
41
Appendix 7 – Organisation chart of
F&B Department
F&B Manager
F&B Manager
Secretary
Assistant F &B
Manager
Restaurant Banqueting Chief Executive Chef

Manager Manager Stewarding Kitchen
Executive Bar49 Restaurant - Minibar/Room Three Stewarding

Sous-Chefs
Club El Jardin Service areas
Kitchen Assistans
42
Appendix 8 – Guest Satisfaction Result
43
Appendix 9 – Financial Information
7 April 2009
30 April 2009
44
Appendix 10 – Process order special
bottle
Guest Waiter Storeroom PT CT
Guest takes a seat

in the bar and
20 sec 25 sec
looks in the menu
Ask if the guest is ready

to order 10 sec 15 sec
Yes No
Takes the order Gives the

of special wine guest more
or champagne time to think 35 sec
15 sec
Write down the

order from the
guest
40 sec 60 sec
Searching after
the bottle in the
bar
30 sec 40 sec
Is the bottle
available in the
bar
Yes No
Go to the
storeroom
Collect the
right bottle 70 sec 85 sec
Prepare to Prepare to serve

serve the bottle the bottle 70 sec 100 sec
Deliver the Deliver the

bottle to the bottle to the 25 sec 35 sec
guest guest
END
Total in sec 280 395
45

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Practical Placement Report

Assignment: Written report of my Practical Placement to Mw. M.P. Appel

PREPARED FOR | Mw. M.P. Appel

2.1.1 Brief History

2.1.3 Legal form

2.1.4 Organisational Structure

2.2 Vision and mission statement

2.2.1 Vision and mission statement

2.2.2 Evaluate the mission statement

If we read Intercontinental’s mission statement, we can immediately agree that it definitely

2.2.3 Mission statement in practice

2.3 Market segments

2.3.1 What market segments does my hotel

2.3.2 The different characteristics of the market

2.4 Market segments and mission

2.4.1 Mission statement reflection in the market

3.2 Food & Beverages

3.2.1 Standard Operating Procedures

The process of a room service order in detail can be found in appendix 6.

3.2.2 Organisation of the Department

3.2.4 Guest Satisfaction

3.2.5 Problems, Complaints and Solutions

In order to be better than the competitors to Intercontinental Madrid, O. Clemencon emphasizes

4.3 Business Ethics and Corporate

4.3.1 Ethical dilemmas:

The five different winning ways are;21

• Do the right thing

• Work better together

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Values23

• Go the extra step

• Do the Right Thing

• Price = Cost to Customer

Intercontinental Madrid Westin Palace Madrid Hotel Ritz Madrid

Intercontinental Madrid Westin Palace Madrid Hotel Ritz Madrid

4.6.2 Target markets

• Health & Fitness Centre

5.1 Learning goals

My second social/communication goal was to improve my communication with my colleagues

5.2 Critical incident

5.3 Cross cultural

An example of this disorganisation that I am explaining is the restaurant at Intercontinental

Website; http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/intercontinental/en/gb/locations/madrid - Information

Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=23 – Information taken 24 April 2009

Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=43 – Information taken 28 April 2009

Book; Derek Rollinson, ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR AND ANALYSIS AN INTEGRATED

Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/index.asp?pageid=579 – Information taken 29 April 2009

Website; http://www.starwoodhotels.com/westin/legal/privacy.html - Information taken 29 April

Website; http://www.scandichotels.com/About-Us/Corporate-information/) – Information taken

Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=43 – Information taken

Website; http://www.ihgplc.com/files/reports/arv2006/index.asp?pageid=22 – Information taken

Website; http://www.starwoodhotels.com/corporate/company_values.html - Information taken 12

Website; http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingmix/ - Information taken 12

M a in t e n a n c e R e v e n u e R o o m s D i v i Ss i ao &lne s S a &l e s F in &a n c e

F&B M a n a g Re r e venu e M an ag er S a &Ml e sa r k e t i n H g R M a n a g e r

M a in t Be an. Mn aq a nn Rac gees r t a Ru r ae n st e rHv ao tu i os ne k eD e u p t yi n Rg e c e pC t ioo nn c ie rC g ae t e r Cin og n &Sv e an l tei os n P u r c h a s in g

C h i e f S St e o-Cw u ahs r de i fns g H o u s e k e e p Rin eg c -Ne pi gt ioh tn

Appendix 2 – Employee Survey

Guest phones to the

The waiter takes

The waiter tells

The waiter takes a

The waiter knocks on

Guest opens the Guest calls to

The waiter opens