The concept of quality management in hospitality industry is very important. The hospitality industry is one of the most important industries in the world that has been growing at unprecedented rate owing to the increased rate of globalization. The increased activities in tourism industry and increased international trade are among the factors that have led to increased growth of the hospitality industry. There has been increased trend towards standardization of services in the hospitality industry and this is being driven by the need for enhancement of quality of services. As the level of competition increase in the industry, the competitive advantage has been created through provision of high quality services. In order to understand the trend in enhancement of quality of services in the industry, this paper will review a number of studies on the subject.
Literature review
In their article The importance of total quality management in hospitality: The case of Croatia, Pavlic and Raguz (2009) discusses how total quality management has been used in Croatia in enhance of quality in the hospitality industry. In this article, authors acknowledge that total quality management is a concept that has gained increased use in the hospitality industry. In recognition of the importance of quality management in the hospitality industry, the authors acknowledge that ISO 9000 has been an important step in setting standards for the implementation of total quality management in the industry. Enhancement of quality in the hospitality industry is cited to increase the level of customer satisfaction, increased sales and better profits for business in the hospitality industry.
The authors show the case of Croatia. The country has been undergoing a number of changes in the recent past which have been caused by transition. In Croatia, quality enhancement has been seen in different industries but most importance changes have been experienced in the hospitality industry. Pavlic and Raguz (2009) shows that transformational business strategy has been achieve in the hospitality industry through quality control of their products and services offered. There are already two hotels in the country which have already achieved ISO 9002 and are already applying total quality management in their organizations. These hotels have already put in place a quality system that has greatly improved quality of products and services. This study shows the importance of reinforcing quality management to enhanced quality in hospitality industry.
The above concept of total quality management is also reinforced in other studies. In their study on Total Quality Management in the Hospitality Industry, Saunders and Graham (2008) the concept has achieved a great deal of success in the hospitality industry. Total Quality Management (TQM) is however sometimes difficult to implement in hospitality industry owing to the difficult in identifying some of the most appropriate quality measures. This study identified the need to use the quality triangle in hospitality industry including focus on customers, team work approach to unify goals, and use of scientific approach in decision making. Through comparing TQM in manufacturing and hospitality industry, the study gives …