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INTERNSHIP REPORT ON FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL

PREPARED BY

ZUNAIRA SHAFIQUE

BBA-FA06-044

BBA (Hons.)

SEMESTER: 8TH

SESSION: 2006-2010

MAJOR IN MARKETING

DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

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The University Of Faisalabad

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the name of Almighty Allah who is most merciful, and who give me strength to write this internship report in a different way.

I extend my heartiest thanks to my seniors, colleagues and subordinates who assist me on every occasion to enable me to write this report.

My parents, classmates and friends come next in the list of those whom I have to thank.

I pay special homage to the following persons:

Mr. Junaid Ashraf General Manager Faisalabad Serena Hotel.

Mr. Mohammad Shahbaz Toor Chief Engineer Faisalabad Serena Hotel.

Ms. Javeria Zafar HR Officer Faisalabad Serena Hotel.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS:-Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………..

Introduction To Faisalabad Serena Hotel…………………………………………………

Brief History……………………………………………………………..

The Company………………………………………..................................

Location Of Faisalabad Serena Hotel……………………………………………………

Serena Mission Statement……………………………………………………………….

Serena Vision Statement…………………………………………………………………

Corporate Environmental Mission Statement……………………………………………

Faisalabad Serena Hotel Facilities……………………………………………………….

Corporate Social Responsibility…………………………………………………………

Sustainable Development……………………………………………….

The Eco-View At Fsh……………………………………………………………………

Serena’s Objectives Over Next Five Years………………………………………………

Serena Corporate Management Philosophy……………………………………,,……....

Departments In Faisalabad Serena Hotel…………………………………………………

Product Offering………………………………………………………………………….

Conference Packages Of Serena…………………………………………………………..

Optional Activities At Faisalabad Serena Hotel…………………………………………..

Structural Dimensions Of Faisalabad Serena Hotel……………………………………….

Formalization…………………………………………………………….

Specialization…………………………………………………………….

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Hierarchy Of Authority……………………………………………………

Centralization………………………………………………………………

Professionalism……………………………………………………………..

Personnel Ratio……………………………………………………………….

Organizational Hierarchy Of Faisalabad Serena Hotel……………………………………..

Organizational Hierarchy Of Needs For Fsh……………………………………………….

What I Learned During My Training At Faisalabad Serena Hotel In The Marketing Department……………………………………………………………..

Development Of Marketing Goals And Strategy……………………………………..........

Vip Task Manager…………………………………………………………………………..

Marketing Planning…………………………………………………………………………

Tracking Marketing Tactics…………………………………………………………………

Use Of Vip Task Manager In Tracking……………………………………………………...

Reporting And Analyzing Marketing Plan………………………………………………….

Use Of Vip Task Manager In Reporting……………………………………………………..

Early Bird Report, Action Plan And Event Order……………………………………………

Conductinf Marketing Researches And

Monitoring Customer Needs………………………………………………………………….

Advertising And Promotion……………………………………………………………………

Creating Advertising & Promotion Plan………………………………………………………..

Keeping The Advertising & Promotions Plan Under Control…………………………………..

Serena’s Pricing Strategy………………………………………………………………………..

Major Policy Statements…………………………………………………………………………

Proposed Strategy……………………………………………………………………………….

Growth Strategy…………………………………………………………………………………

Strategic Plan…………………………………………………………………………………….

Measuring The Hotel Business Plan,

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The Hotel Management Balanced Scorecard…………………………………………….Swot Analysis Of Faisalabad Serena Hotel……………………………………………….Concusion…………………………………………………………………………………Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………References…………………………………………………………………………………

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This report is the practical part of the most vital practice of our BBA (Hons.) -Marketing program. The sole objective is to get a practical manipulation of a business organization. This report has been written to know how big organizations like Serena Hotels manage their teams to achieve their common goals.

In the first phase of the report there is the general introduction about the company, then the mission, vision, values, objectives and philosophy of the company are described. After that the various departments , product offerings and structural dimensions of the organization have been explained.

In the next phase the organizational hierarchy is shown and the most important my experience while working in Serena Hotel Faisalabad as internee is explained, about the sales and marketing department, the reporting system and various promotional activities being adopted and strategies being used.

In the next part pricing strategy, policy statements, strategic plan and SWOT analysis of Serena Hotel Faisalabad has been done by the help of which it is identified that what are the strong areas of the organization and where it lacks so that it can improve, and in the end summing up with some conclusions and recommendations.

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INTRODUCTION TO FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL

BRIEF HISTORY :

Faisalabad city, formerly Lyallpur, with a population of over five million, the city is located in the North East of Pakistan, in a cotton and wheat growing area. The city is known as Manchester of Pakistan for its rich Textile industry.

Faisalabad Serena Hotel was inaugurated in 1987 by the President of Pakistan General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. Faisalabad and Quetta Serena hotels have been designed and built according to the Serena standard, incorporating the local architectural characteristics of the Region. Islamabad, Swat and Gilgit Serena hotels are located amidst the most scenic areas of Pakistan and cater mostly to the leisure travelers.

THE COMPANY :

Tourism Promotion Services (Pakistan) Limited was incorporated in Pakistan on 19th March 1969 and is a public limited company (unlisted) registered under the Companies Ordinance, 1984. Serena Group Of Hotels is a part of this company.

The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development S.A., Switzerland (AKFED) holds majority of the shareholding i.e. 92%, followed by 6% holding by the Industrial Promotion Services (Pakistan) Limited, another project of AKFED and the remaining 2% by Government of Pakistan through Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation and Ministry of Tourism, Government of Pakistan.

The Company owns and manages hotels in Islamabad, Faisalabad, Quetta, Swat, Gilgit and Hunza. The expansion plan of the company includes development of hotels in northern and the southern regions of Pakistan. The company is committed to work hand in hand with the Government of Pakistan in developing tourism in Pakistan.

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The Corporate Office and the Hotels are being managed by a team of professionals. They are committed to provide full support to their associates for delivering the best possible, efficient and personalized services to their guests.

In addition to Pakistan, over 20 Serena Hotels and Inns are being run professionally in Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mozambique, Uganda, Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

The Faislabad Serena Hotel has 144 rooms all decorated to reflect the vibrant colors of the Punjabi people and culture of Faislabad. Besides all the living amenities through guest rooms, the Hotel also provides conference rooms, health club, business centre and the restaurants, which offer Continental, Chinese Pakistani and Bar-Be-Que cuisine.

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LOCATION OF FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL:

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SERENA MISSION STATEMENT

“Our mission is to create buildings of outstanding ethnic design offering the highest standards of service and product, providing management and our team members with an environment which enables all of us to deliver operating standards beyond the level of our guests’ expectations, resulting in satisfactory returns to our stakeholders.”

Faisalabad Serena Hotel is a place where the genuine care and comfort of the guest is their mission. They pledge to provide the finest personal services and facilities to their guests who will always enjoy a warm, relaxed, yet refined ambiance.

Motto at Faisalabad Serena Hotel is “Together we strive to become what we were meant to be”.

Faisalabad Serena Hotel will reflect the image of trendsetter in service and standard through professional training and personal development, which will mean genuine caring approach toward its guests.

Faisalabad Serena Hotel will continue to be perceived as a hotel that cares for the development of social and cultural activities in the area where it’s located.

Faisalabad Serena Hotel in collaboration with appropriate national and international organization will ensure the widest possible awareness and observance of the initiative and practice they promote.

Faisalabad Serena Hotel will regularly arrange training of staff internally and in national institutions to have professional and motivated staff.

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SERENA VISION STATEMENT

“The Goal of our organization is to meet and exceed guest’s expectations.”

CORPORATE ENVIRONMENTAL MISSION STATEMENT

Serena’s corporate environmental mission statement contains the following parts:

We are committed to developing projects, which pay the highest regard to environmental concerns in design, planning, construction and operation.

We will be sensitive towards the monitoring of the interests of the local population including their traditions, culture and future development.

We will practice a responsible attitude towards energy conservation; reducing and recycling waste; control of sewage disposal, air – emission and pollutants; reduce use of unfriendly products such as Chloro Floro Carbon’s (CFC’s), pesticides and other toxic substances; reduce noise and visual pollution.

We will be sensitive to the conservation of environmentally protected or threatened areas, species and scenic aesthetics and to achieving landscape enhancement where possible, with indigenous plant material reinforcement.

We must conserve rather than exploit nature.

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FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL FACILITIES

There are diverse varieties of facilities provided by FSH which includes:-

144 guest Rooms and Suites Complimentary Airport Shuttle Service Rent-a-car Concierge Multilingual staff Laundry Shop The Executive Floor and Jasmine Floor offer additional facilities for our

guests such as a Private Lounge area, Business Center, Meeting Room and Butler Service.

Lyallpur Coffee Shop Fine-dining Restaurant serving Pakistani, Continental cuisine and Hi Tea

with live music. Xuelian Restaurant with Chinese, Japanese and Thai specialty Cuisines. Jharoka, Café and Ice Cream Parlour. The Seasonal Barbeque at the Basant Court featuring traditional provincial

food with live music Lobby Lounge serves tea, coffee and light snacks. Health Club Swimming pool and sun-deck Pool Bar Tennis Court Squash Court Gymnasium Shopping Arcade Baby-sitting, additional beds/cots, children’s meals Conference/Events Centre 24-hour Business Centre WI-FI Internet access Flat screen TV with a variety of Channels 24-hour Forex Room Service, Valet Parking, In House Laundry and Dry Cleaning same day service 24-hour doctor on call Power (240V/ 3 pin square- plugs/shaver sockets)

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Special dietary needs available with advance notice Faisalabad Serena Hotel pays particular care and attention towards the

security and well-being of hotel guests. There has been an increase in security checks, up-gradation of equipment, with a revised Crisis Management Plan in place so as to tackle any unforeseen incident.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Sustainable Development

The CSR Programme at Serena is inspired and derived from His Highness Aga Khan’s vision of “Holistic development where organizations play an essential role in the provision of social services”. The CSR Programme at Serena is known as SEED (Serena Environmental and Educational Development Programme).

This Programme underpins a broad CSR response in the areas of Culture, Environment, Governance and Society. This programme follows the concept of an organization being a social enterprise where the business needs are synergized with the social outcomes. Serena encourages open and transparent business practices that are based on ethical values and respect for its employees, communities and the environment.

The social, developmental and operational activities of Serena are designed in such a manner that these activities deliver sustainable value to the society at large, as well as to shareholders. At Serena corporate social responsibility goes far beyond the old concepts of philanthropy of the past which was just donating money to good causes at the end of the financial year - and is instead an all year round responsibility that Serena accepts for the environment around it, for the best working practices, for the engagement in the local communities and for the recognition that brand names depend not only on quality, price and uniqueness but on how, cumulatively, Serena interacts with companies’ workforce, community and environment. Now we are moving towards a challenging feature of our corporate responsibility, where at Serena the results are judged not just by the input but by the outcomes: the change we bring along in this world in which we live through our foot prints, and the contribution we make to reduce the sufferings around us.

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THE ECO-VIEW AT FSH

SERENA’S OBJECTIVES OVER NEXT FIVE YEARS:-

In general the main purpose of setting the objectives is to state that what is to be

accomplished in future within the specific period of time. The main reason for

setting-up the long term objectives is to set a target or challenge to work for that

and to some extent impress the shareholders and other stakeholders.

F ive Y ears O bjectives: When we talk about Islamabad Serena hotel their next five years objectives include

the following:

1. T o I ncrease P rofitability: Faisalabad Serena hotel has planned to increase their earnings by 15% annually

and to reach at least 40% increase over the next five years.

2. T o I ncrease M arket S hare: Serena hotel has an objective over the next five years to increase their market share

from Internet sources and through alliances with airlines and to give more

attractive packages to their customers.

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3. D elivering S hareholder V alue: They are being committed to be growing company. Their success will result in

investment returns that are consistently among the best hotel industry. Their

primary business objective is to maximize current returns to the shareholders by

increasing cash flow available to pay distributions and provide long-term total

returns to shareholders.

4. B eing t he B est: Faisalabad Serena hotel has an objective to become an innovative leader in the

hotel industry and to continuously improve their products and services. They will

seek from their supplier highest quality of product and services at the best value.

5. W orking T ogether a s C olleagues: They emphasize on sharing responsibility, accountability and recognition through a

climate of teamwork, because this thing will ultimately help to improve their

overall efficiency, as the employees will be motivated.

6. P roviding a C limate o f E nthusiasm: They are committed to every one at Serena hotel by providing a caring and

motivating, and rewarding environment. As an industry leader, they have an

objective over the next five years to bringing out the best people though effective

training and meaning full carrier and personal development and by encouraging

individuality and initiative.

7. C ontribute T o N ational G rowth: Tourism is a sector of Pakistan's economy that has significant potential and a

country can increase the foreign earnings with the help of tourism. Operating under

the “Serena” brand name, Tourism Promotion Services owns and manages fifteen

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hotels in East Africa and Asia. Besides earning foreign exchange and increasing

employment and manpower development, tourism can contribute to national

growth in more qualitative ways. So now their main objective over the next five

years is to satisfy the wants and needs of tourism businesses and hotels as well as

consumers in the 21st century.

8. M aintain H igh S tandards: Now they have an objective to keep the same high standards regarding the quality

of their goods and services and to make improvements in those areas where they

are lacking behind.

9. T o C reate A n A lliances: Increase business from Internet sources and through partnerships. So in order to

capture or increase the market share now the objective of the Serena hotel is to

create an alliance with airlines so that all the staff and passenger stay in Serena

hotel, which will definitely brings a huge amount of revenues on regular basis.

SERENA CORPORATE MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY

SERENA HOTEL

_________________

OUR TEAM

OUR PRODUCT

OUR GUEST

OUR OWNER

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DEPARTMENTS IN FAISALABAD SERENA HOTELAt FSH there are seven major departments and each department has its own style

of working and at the same time it is connected with the rest of the network. These

departments are as follows:-

1) Accounts department

2) Sales and marketing department

3) House keeping

4) Human resource department

5) F&B department

6) Production

7) Engineering

8) IT department

1. ACCOUNTS DEPARTMENT:

This department is considered as the backbone of the hotel operations. It looks into

all the matters related with the finance and cost control. The department is headed

by Financial Controller.He has the full authority and control over the department

and his decisions in this regard are final with the approval of General Manager.

This department is responsible

To support other operational departments.

To maximize hotel profitability.

To be accurate in bookkeeping system. It should ensure effective

Management Information System and implementation of controls &

procedures.

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The underlying areas of functioning for the accounts department are:

2. SALES AND MARKETING DEPARTMENT:

This department plays a vital role in attracting customers and runs promotional campaigns.

3. HOUSE KEEPING:

This department is responsible for establishing and maintaining high standards of cleanliness, for both our external customers (Guests) and internal customers (employees).The scope of the house keeping responsibilities and duties involve the following activities :-

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AUDITING

CASHIERING

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

F&B CONTROLS

PURCHASING

RECEIVING

ACCOUNTING

STORES

1. Housekeeping control desk 4.Minibar 7.Linen2. Front of the house 5.Laundry 8.Flower Room3. Back of the house 6.Uniform 9.Pest control 10.Lost&Found

4. HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT:

Human Resource Department is one of the most important parts of the Faisalabad

Serena Hotel back of the house management team. It serves to handle all the

matters regarding attracting, retaining and compensating the employees. It

overlooks all the matters that help to develop smooth employment relations all

over the Hotel to achieve maximum output from the employees. It functions like a

bridge in between the workers and management. There is Human Resource

Manager who manages the whole department and its functioning along with the

assistant HR-Manager and HR-Officer

The sub departments or sections HR-Dept looks into are as follows:

Time Office

Staff Cafeteria Satoon

5. F&B DEPARTMENT:The word F&B stands for Food and Beverages. This department is headed by F&B

director. The main duties assigned are:-

Provision of quality food to the guests

Serving and related matters

Maintenance of food items

6. PRODUCTION:The Food & Beverages department when comprised of the production division involves the kitchen having the specialized production area and wide range of cooking equipment that helps for cooking of different types of meals. The key objectives of F & B ( Kitchen) is to enhance the dining experience of the guests

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and to create the cuisine which is beyond customer expectations by providing modern creative yet authentic food and maintaining high hygiene standards

. It starts from the purchase of food items and ends with the production. Following

are the sub departments comes under the Kitchen

Butchery Garde Mangér Patisserie Banquets Coffee Shop And Room Service Pakistani, Thai, Chinese Staff Canteen Kitchen Stewarding

7. ENGINEERING:The Engineering department is responsible for the maintenance of various mechanical sections of the organization and operational readiness of all engineering services. It also strives to achieve declining routine complaints and minimum down time on machineries and equipment. It includes the following systems under its supervision :-

Plants/Equipments on Board/Location1. Power Generation / Distribution2. Heating / Air-conditioning System3. Hot water system4. Elevators5. Sewage Treatment system6. Water Treatment system

Fire and Safety1. Water Ring main system2. Smoke and Heat detectors3. Fire Alarm Panel4. Fire Fighting Extinguishers

Horticulture

Responsible for maintaining landscaping and indoor and outdoor plants.

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8. IT DEPARTMENT:

The Information Technology Department is responsible to design such

technologies for the Hotel that will work efficiently along with the cost control.

Following are the technologies that are used in Faisalabad Serena Hotel:

FOH( Front of the House): Fox Pro DOS(2.6)

BOH ( Back of the House):Accounts & Purchase MIS Plan

ACT Technology for Sales & Banqueting: Oracle(8)

Online Guest Comments: Data base periodically

2 Domains: way of communication

2 work groups : Experiences of guests through C-Net # Technology almost

300 computers are connected

FTB: Fire Transfer Protocol

75 Personal Computers connected with in the offices

Digital Exchange 4400 BA & BX made by Alcatel

Digital Computerized Exchange

Self-Developed Software: EI(Exchange Interface)

Working on Prestige Club Management System

Multimedia and sound system controls in the Events

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PRODUCT OFFERING Faisalabad Serena Hotel offers a wide variety of products in packages:

Serena Suites (Floor 1) Serena Vacation Package

Serena Executive Floor (Floor 1) Serena Summer Package

Serena Jasmine Floor (Floor 1) Serena Wedding Package

CONFERENCE PACKAGES OF SERENA

Serena Conference (A) Well appointed rooms

Buffet breakfast

Buffet lunch (2 main courses )

Buffet dinner (3 main courses)

2 tea breaks with cookies / snacks

Meeting room with available audiovisual aids

Up-gradation of rooms to Jasmine Floor

Spouse stay free (room only)

Free use of internet / email in business center

Airport pickup and drop

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Group photograph

Newspaper in every room

Baggage service

Welcome drink on arrival

Free use of recreational facilities

Multimedia on nominal charges

Minimum size 25 and above Room Nights

Single Room Rs. 7,000 + Tax Double Room Rs. 8,500 + Tax

Triple Room Rs. 9,500 + Tax

Serena Conference (B) Well appointed rooms

Buffet breakfast

Buffet lunch (2 main courses )

Buffet dinner (3 main courses)

2 tea breaks with cookies / snacks

Meeting room with available audiovisual aids

Up-gradation of rooms to Jasmine Floor

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Airport pickup and drop

Group photograph

Newspaper in every room

Baggage service

Welcome drink on arrival

Free use of recreational facilities

Multimedia on nominal charges

Minimum size 50 and above room nights

Single Room Rs. 7,000 + Tax Double Room Rs. 8,500 + Tax

Triple Room Rs. 9,500 + Tax

Serena Conference (C) Well appointed rooms

Buffet breakfast

Buffet lunch (2 main courses )

Buffet dinner (3 main courses)

2 tea breaks with cookies / snacks

Meeting room with available audiovisual aids

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Up-gradation of rooms to Jasmine Floor

Airport pickup and drop

Group photograph

Newspaper in every room

Baggage service

Welcome drink on arrival

Free use of recreational facilities

Multimedia on nominal charges

Minimum size 100 and above room nights Single Room Rs. 6,500 + Tax Double Room Rs. 7,500 + TaxTriple Room Rs. 8,500 + Tax

Special Theme dinners can be arranged on additional charges

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Optional Activities At Faisalabad Serena Hotel

A- Theme Dinner

Mughlai Dinner

Punjabi Dinner

Balochi Dinner

Jungle Night

Mexican Theme Night

B- Excursions

Excursion to River Chenab, visit of historic “Havelly”

Kalar Kahar

Shopping Trip

Khewra Salt Mines

Gutwala Park

C- Sports

Floodlight Cricket Match

Basant Mela

Swimming Competition

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Structural Dimensions of Faisalabad Serena Hotel

1. Formalization:

There is a formalized system of the departmentalization at FSH. The company is divided into formalized departments. These are

1. Front Office2. Room division3. House Keeping4. Engineering 5. Purchase 6. Stewarding7. Food & Beverages(Kitchen)8. Food & Beverages(Service)9. Food & Beverages(Banqueting)10.Prestige Club11.Public Relations

12.Sales & Marketing13.Human Resource Department14. Accounts15.Information Technology

2. Specialization:

All departments have been assigned a specialized division of labor. They are responsible for performing their respective tasks and duties when working together. They share their duties but they are responsible on their own.

3. Hierarchy of Authority:

Top –Bottom Approach:

The hierarchal structure practicing in FSH is Top-Bottom approach. Final authority lies in General Manager or Director Operations that is delegated to the lower level of management.

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General Manager/Director Operations Head of the Department Asst. Head of the department Section Head Supervisor

4. Centralization:

Being the multinational company it is working under standard operational procedures. Such procedures pre determine the set of activities the individual departments can perform. The General Manager controls the department in the way that no department could involve into such activities that is out of their SOPs. The basic concept of centralization in FSH is to control the activities of the departments in a favorable manner.

5. Professionalism:

In multinational company, the expectations of the clients regarding services are very high in order to meet and exceed the expectations of the clients; the companies require a professional work force in order to achieve optimum results.

In Faisalabad Serena Hotel the company hires and trains their workforce to make them highly professional ion their respective fields to get the maximum satisfaction from the guests and high profits.

Personnel Ratio:

The details of personnel ratio of the Faisalabad Manning process is given below:

DEPARTMENT Total %Age

ACCOUNTS 15 4.53%

PERMIT ROOM 3 0.91%

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Total 18 5.44%

HOUSEKEEPING 29 8.76%

LAUNDRY 17 5.14%

Total 46 13.90%

F&B ADMIN. 13 3.93%

F&B SERVICE 45 13.60%

F&B BANQUET 16 4.83%

F&B STEWARDING 22 6.65%

F&B KITCHEN 54 16.31%

Total 150 45.32%

HUMAN RESOURCE 7 2.11%

SECURITY 2 0.60%

STAFF CAFETERIA 5 1.51%

STAFF LOCKERS 2 0.60%

Total 16 4.83%

SALES & MARKETING 4 1.21%

SPORTS & REC. 7 2.11%

Total 11 3.32%

FRONT OFFICE 35 10.57%

T&T 6 1.81%

PURCHASE 4 1.21%

A&G 4 1.21%

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ENGINEERING 39 11.78%

PUBLIC RELATIONS 1 0.30%

PRESTIGE CLUB 1 0.30%

Total 90 27.19%

G.TOTAL: 331 100.00%

ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY OF FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL

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GENERAL MANAGER

FINANCIAL CONTROLLER

AAST. FINANCE CONTROL

LER

PURCHASE MANAGER

F&B COST CONTROLER

CHIEF ENGINEER

ASST. CHIEF

ENGINEER

REPAIR & MAINTAINE

NCE ENGINEER

SHIFT ENGINEER

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGER

HR OFFICERS

SECURITY SUPERVISOR

CAFETERIA SUPERVISOR

ROOM DIVISION

MANAGER

EXECUTIVE HOUSE KEEPER

FRONT OFFICE

MANAGER

DIRECTOR F&B

F&B MANAGER

EXECUTIVE CHEF

CHIEF STEWARD

DIRECTOR SALES &

MARKETING

SALES &MARKETING

MANAGER

ASST. SALES MANAGER

SALES COORDINATOR

PUBLIC RELATION MANAGE

R

PRESTIGE CLUB

MANAGER

EXECUTIVE SECRETARY

ORGANIZATIONAL HIERARCHY OF NEEDS FOR FSH

Faisalabad Serena Hotel has developed and positioned itself in the society as a

highly esteemed place and to maintain its position it follows a hierarchy of needs

which increases the organization’s financial stability from step to step as the

organization increases and maintains its path towards excellence.

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WHAT I LEARNED DURING MY TRAINING AT FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL IN THE MARKETING

DEPARTMENTThe workflow of marketing department is defined by its functions. Most

organizations have marketing division responsible for marketing strategy,

researching, promoting, conducting customer surveys, branding, public relations

and creating of corporate style. All these responsibilities can be gathered in several

main functions of the marketing department. These functions are as follows:-

1) Development of marketing goals and strategy.

2) Conducting marketing researches and monitoring customer needs.

3) Promotion and advertisements.

1)DEVELOPMENT OF MARKETING GOALS AND STRATEGY:-

One of the most important functions of the marketing department is to design a set

of written goals, objectives and strategies for marketing activities of the

organization. This means establishing rules and business concept of how the

organization will conduct itself on the market, what marketing instruments will be

used, what goals will be set and what strategies should be applied to attaining

effective advertising campaigns. The marketing department develops a market

based business strategy that provides unique value to the customers on all services

and products of the organization.

The strategy establishes the workflow in the marketing department so that each

process within the workflow can be continually evaluated, measured and improved

until the marketing goals are successfully achieved.

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VIP TASK MANAGER: VIP Task Manager allows to design and share

marketing goals and strategy in Task List view and build marketing department

workflow. By using this software marketing director can create a structure in Task

Tree view for coordinating all marketing processes toward the attainment of

organizational goals.

MARKETING PLANNING:-

Marketing planning is sequence of activities leading to the establishing of strategic

planning goals for an organization, and the statement of strategic plans for

attaining them. Basically it is a process for defining what a business should

become and how it can efficiently achieve these goals.

The process of marketing planning is a part of marketing strategy. This process

assists the organization in development of marketing plans based on the market

insights and gained from market segmentation and market mapping. By using VIP

Task Manager, the strategic marketing planning process can be improved and

optimized. VIP Task Managers’ users will find that they are able to manage

marketing plans more efficiently and perform tasks within deadlines and without

delays to carry out marketing tactics. The manager of the marketing department

will be able to make better decisions about assigning tasks and allocating

resources.

FOR EXAMPLE, “Marketing Director can use Task Tree View to

breakdown marketing plan into stages, and Calendar View to create a schedule for

daily/weekly/monthly activities. In Task Tree View there can be created to-do lists

for marketing specialists and managers.”

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TRACKING MARKETING TACTICS:-

It is essential that with any implemented marketing plan the marketing department

should take the time to track its success. If not tracking and evaluating the

execution of marketing plan, the organization can not define which marketing

tactics brought the best outcomes for the business and which should or should not

be repeated next time. If done regularly the tracking of the marketing tactics will

save valuable time and resources and will ensure the implemented tactics are best

suited to maintain and grow the organization.

USE OF VIP TASK MANAGER IN TRACKING:-

In VIP Task Manger each task and process can be tracked and evaluated by the

managers. Marketing Director can ,

Watch to-do lists of the employees.

Track what tasks are being performed at the moment.

Prioritize procrastinated tasks.

Leave comments on what an employee should do to complete a task in time

and according to schedule.

REPORTING AND ANALYZING MARKETING PLAN:-

Before implementing a new marketing plan next time, the marketing department

considers what results should be achieved. Once the plan is implemented. The

department can compare actual results with the ones it estimated to see if the plan

was successful. The actual results should be reported to the Marketing Director so

that it will be possible to conduct analysis of the marketing tactics and determine

whether they were successful. Every reporting period ( a week, a month, a quarter)

it is a good idea to keep track of whether the business is meeting sales forecasts, so

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that if necessary, the marketing department can amend current expenses or

implement additional marketing tactics to ensure the business reached sales and

marketing goals.

USE OF VIP TASK MANAGER IN REPORTING:-

In VIP Task Manager the Marketing Director can get task report from the

employees in text or HTML view. A task report may chow current progress, due

dates, assignments, managers’ comments and other. The report may include

custom fields.

CUSTOM FIELDS: They allow to build various measures and KPIs for evaluating marketing activities.

EARLY BIRD REPORT, ACTION PLAN AND EVENT ORDER:-

The following pages will show what I learned during my training program and

what kind of reports were made and analyzed by the sales office.

The Early Bird Report shows the company’s budgets and the details of F&B

discounts on prestige cards.

An Action Plan is developed and distributed in all the major departments

whenever an event is going to take place at the hotel e.g. an action plan is

developed for TOMBOLA NIGHT , in which all the actions required by a specific

department are listed, and every department then acts upon it .

Event order is also distributed in each and every department which describes the

date, time and location of the event at Faisalabad Serena Hotel. I used to learn,

analyze and distribute all these reports during my training program at FSH.

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2)CONDUCTING MARKETING RESEARCHES AND MONITORING CUSTOMER NEEDS:-

To introduce products and services into a market and create a value in the mind

of the customers, the managers of the marketing department need clear and

appropriate information. The marketing research provides the facts and directions

that the managers can use to make their important decisions for marketing and

competitive activities.

USE OF VIP TASK MANAGER IN MARKETING RESEARCH AND MONITORING:-

To organize the workflow for managing market research and monitoring

customer needs, the marketing department can use VIP Task Manager. By using

this software, each marketing research can be created as a project with

appropriate stages and to-do lists. In Calendar View the managers can create

schedules for marketing researches and set due dates per task.

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3)ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION:- Finding new customers is the key challenge for every business.  Through creative

advertising and promotion a business can attract new customers and gain more

revenue.  The marketing department is responsible for providing product/service

advertising and promotion. The function of advertising and promotion is especially

important when the organization launches a new brand and it should be promoted

by informing the customers of the brand’s features and advantages.

USE OF VIP TASK MANAGER IN ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION:-

By using VIP Task Manager, the marketing department can arrange advertising

campaigns and manage promotion activities. The software allows to break down a

campaign into stages and tasks with possibility to track each step of the involved

employees and measure the campaign outcome. VIP Task Manager is convenient

tool for brand and product management.

CREATING ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION PLAN:-The advertising and promotion function of the marketing department describes

how the unique selling proposition will be delivered to the prospective customers.

The advertising and promotion plan offers a range of advertising and promotional

opportunities that will allow to address the advertising message and the product

concept to the target audiences throughout the market. While there are many

different promotion methods available to the department, what distinguishes an

effective advertising and promotion plan from an inefficient one is a focus that the

unique selling proposition provides. The advertising and promotion plan may

consist of the following parts:-

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ADVERTISING:-

This part is oriented towards selection of mass media that will be most effective in

achieving the target market. The marketing department makes decisions about how

mush of advertising budget will be spent on each mass medium.

SALES PROMOTION:-

If it is appropriate to the business, the marketing department can arrange

incorporate sales promotion activities into advertising and promotion plan by such

measures as:

Free samples

Coupons

Product demonstrations

Purchase discounts

Discount cards (e.g. PRESTIGE CLUB CARD of Serena)

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ADVERTISING

SALES PROMOTION

MARKETING MATERIALS

PUBLICITY

TRADESHOWS

MARKETING MATERIALS:-

Each business includes some of these materials in their promotion plans. The most

common marketing materials are:-

Business cards

Brochures

Leaflets

Service sheets

Serena Hotel uses all of these marketing materials.

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PUBLICITY:-

Another part of advertising and promotion plan is publicity. This assumes

arrangement of such measures as :-

Product launches

Special events

Events including community engagement( e.g. EID, and Basant Festivals etc

at Serena Hotels)

Writing articles

Receiving and using customer testimonials

TRADESHOWS:-42

This is not obligatory part of the plan. However it can be incredibly effective

promotion and sales opportunities.

In the task group "Advertising and Promotion Plan" there can be created subgroups

"Advertising", "Sales Promotions", "Marketing Materials", "Publicity", and

"Tradeshows". In each of the subgroups the brand manager and product manager

can add tasks and to-do lists and then assign them to the staff of the marketing

department.

KEEPING THE ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION PLAN UNDER CONTROL:-

Control over the implementation of the advertising and promotion plan is kept by

the marketing department, often in cooperation with PR department. The

department tracks and monitors the course of advertising campaigns and controls

tasks performance of promotion specialists, sales agents, marketing researchers,

and advertising copywriters. As a coordinator of advertising campaigns and

promotion activities, the brand and product manager should be informed about

current campaign progress and outstanding issues the employees face in their

work. For example, it is necessary to check whether the campaign is running

according to the plan. In VIP Task Manager the coordinator can use Filter Bar to

track the campaign status by columns "Status". Tasks can be grouped and filtered

by columns "Due date" and "Complete" so that the coordinator could see

uncompleted tasks. Besides, the coordinator can get notifications on task changes.

BUILDING TASK REPORTS:-

At the end of promotion and advertising activities the marketing department

creates reports on the tasks and activities that have been done. If you plan sponsor

a community event, or conduct an email campaign, you'll want to include it in your

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advertising and promotion plan. The reports include task progress and attempts to

promote the product so that marketing director or the coordinator can analyze

achievements and failures of undertaken campaigns. The reports are also a great

opportunity to accumulate knowledge and experience. It will be applied to

planning a sequence of next promotion activities and advertising campaigns which

will help to communicate with potential customers.

SERENA’S PRICING STRATEGY:-Too often Serena’s pricing specialists treat pricing as a tactical problem in

financial analysis of sales management. Pricing products and services is a strategic

problem that requires coordination of many functional areas. The ability to manage

effective pricing affects a company’s growth and profitability more quickly and

directly than any other strategic decision.

To be able to reach at a right decision, they need to do the following:

Change customer’s price perceptions to capture more value.

Evaluate the real financial implications of pricing decisions.

Use pricing strategically to guide our business to long-term profitability rather

than reactively to solve short-term problems.

Determine which value added alternatives to price competition are appropriate

for us.

The above facts and their inflationary impacts are taken into consideration, while

increasing the prices, both for Rooms and F & B to be able to retain the customers

and at the same time maximize the profitability.

PRICING STRATEGY THROUGH DISCOUNT OFFERS:

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MAJOR POLICY STATEMENTSSometimes it may happen that the gap exists between the planned and achieved

objectives. So when such a gap occurs management either has to change the

strategy to improve performance or to set the objectives more realistic, so a

constant review of objectives is always needed.

In simple words we can say that corporate policy provide broad guidance for

decision making throughout the organization and such guidelines actually link

strategy formulation and implementation. Now on the basis of above objectives we

suggested the following policy statements:

1. Must protect, preserve and play to our strengths:

Strong corporate culture

High quality service

Training and development program

Competent staff

Credit worthiness

Brand recognition

2. Not to give emphasize on cost reduction if the quality of their service is

affected.

3. Not to emphasize on market share at the expense of profitability, as it is

basically meant for business-class people.

4. More emphasize on tourism and review of the overall transport

infrastructure so that more and more people comer for tourism purpose.

5. Emphasize to increase profits through Internet.

6. To create synergies among all business units.

7. Maintaining our tariff rates, we would plan to keep our image as:

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“Exclusively customer oriented”

8. Employees need to discharge duties and obligations honestly, professionally

and diligently so that it helps to improve the overall efficiency level and is

essential for economic growth.

9. Emphasize the following features:

Relationship Marketing

Price bundling / Product bundling

Added benefit to the customer

10.To require its employees to discharge its duties dedicatedly towards the

business and not to engage in any activity, which is against the hotel

business by doing this Serena, will maintain its high standards.

11.Emphasize on an open-door policy so that anyone with a good skills or who

had the ability to fit with in that culture can apply which really helps to

create an enthusiastic environment and leads towards competition among

employees.

12.To work on TQM (total quality management) so that they can satisfy their

customer and can get operational efficiency.

13.Alliances and teamwork are required between the AKFED and government

in order to boost tourism and for national growth.

14.All rates or booking will be subject to availability and may change without

notice.

15.All rates are subject to government applicable taxes.

16.Giving three months training at the start to every newly hired employee, so

that he gets familiar with the culture.

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PROPOSED STRATEGY:As we all know that hotel industry is highly attractive market because of increasing

trend of tourism, and Faisalabad Serena has a strong competitive position so we

suggested them to opt for growth strategies.

Competitive Position

Strong Average Weak

High

Growth via vertical

integration

Islamabad Serena

Hotel

Growth via

horizontal

integration

Retrenchment

Turnaround

Medium Stability

Growth via

horizontal

integration

Retrenchment

Sell out

Low

Growth

Concentric

diversification

Growth

Conglomerate

diversification

Retrenchment

Liquidation

G ROWTH S TRATEGY: In simple words we can say that corporate strategy provide a strategic platform to

handle the business with a common set of strategic capabilities and it really helps

by stating how the company will achieve its mission and objectives.

Vertical integration is really beneficial for Serena hotel, and it gives Islamabad

Serena hotel the following advantages:

Cost can be controlled by eliminating the steps

Can create synergy

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Avoid time consuming tasks like Serena hotel is advertising through public

relations with the media people, through magazines, through Pakistan

tourism and in flight advertisement etc.

Through vertical integration they can differentiate its product and services,

like they are providing their customer with the facility of limousine.

In general we can say that Serena hotel is following the differentiation

strategy as they are providing unique and superior value to their customers

in term of their product quality and services.

Serena hotel is targeting the limited market, which is the upper class or business

class so keeping in view the highly attractive industry they can open a new hotel

for middle class with relatively lower prices. The hotel may start under the same

brand name or with a new name.

S TRATEGIC P LAN: Work with American Airline to develop alliance to reduce their marketing

cost and to increase market share.

Within one-year initiate a program to analyze and review the overall

transport infrastructure so that more and more people come up for tourism

purpose.

In addition to attracting new visitors, it is important to broaden the current

tourism base, both in terms of time and geography. In order for this effort to

be effective, Serena must work with regional organizations and statewide

industry associations that are already successfully promoting tourism, and

encourage and support regional groups to expand their capacity to promote

tourism.

Geographically expanding the firm activities by going into other major cities

and acquire market share.

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Strengthen the climate of support that exists for the tourism industry by

communicating the economic benefits of responsible tourism development

to the general public as well as to the state and local government

representatives.

MEASURING THE HOTEL BUSINESS PLAN

The Hotel Management Balanced Scorecard

Motivating managers and measuring their performance are key challenges of any

organization. Financial results are typically the basis for gauging management’s

effectiveness, however, the drivers of financial results are management’s

performance in the areas of marketing effectiveness, sales, revenue management,

sound labor relations, quality assurance systems and financial systems, hygiene

and control, amongst other things.

The Hotel Management Balanced Scorecard measure the Hotel’s management

performance in implementing the four areas of the Business Plan (Marketing,

Quality, Staff and Finance).

It also recognizes that, at any stage, the four focus areas may not be of equal

critical importance to the Hotel, in periods of high, sustainable occupancies,

marketing may be of lesser importance than maintaining GUEST service and

quality. Each ‘plan’ has an adjustable ‘weighting’ factor.

The measurement of achieved results against goals set in all four weighted areas

constitutes the measurement methodology of the Hotel Management Balanced

Scorecard, giving an overall performance score for the Hotel, as a whole, plus

scoring each contributing focus area (Marketing, Quality, Staff and Finance).

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SWOT ANALYSIS OF FAISALABAD SERENA HOTEL

STRENGTHS WEAKNESSESSerena Hotel is one of the Best Chain of hotels in Pakistan. They have five branches in Pakistan and 20 branches outside Pakistan and it is the first five star hotels in Islamabad. Following are the strengths of Islamabad Serena hotel:

.A good and well-reputed organization should overcome its weaknesses, in this way company can achieve its goals. So within the context of Serena hotel we come to know the following weaknesses:

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STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES1.L ocation & B est P roperty: Their main strength is that they have the best location and property in Faisalabad as compare to others.

1.H igh C ost: Serena Hotel is expensive because basically it was made only for high-class people. Majority of people of Pakistan cannot enjoy its services because of high rates. The main reason of Serena’s high prices is that, its cost is really high which includes all like HR cost, services, training, technological advancements etc.

2.S trong C ulture: As we know Pakistan is a country of many different traditions and magnificent background. Its people come from a variety of ethnic groups and religions. So the philosophy of Serena Hotels is to protect these people and their environment whilst ensuring hotel guests have a memorable stay in the group’s exclusive hotels.

2.A ggressive L eadership: Their leadership style is aggressive they are new because they have just started their business is Islamabad. They are fail to handle or expected customers. They don’t have any suggestion box system so the employees and guests cannot express their feelings and ideas in written form; it has to be done verbally.

3.H igh Q uality S ervices: Serena hotel provide different services like

Airport pick-up and drop by Hotel Limousine,

Providing services like Free local calls / faxes / Internet, fruit basket, daily newspaper, laundry/pressing/dry-cleaning

Small boardrooms and meeting facilities are available as well.

The hotel features 24-hour Room Service, ladies and gents’ hair salon, shopping arcade, travel desk, and in-house doctor.

3.N o B ranch i n O ther M ajor C ities:

Serena don’t have its branches in big cities of Pakistan like Lahore and Karachi. If they establish their branches in Lahore and Karachi They can gain more goodwill and benefits.

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STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES4.R ecreation and H ealth :

The Health Club of the Islamabad Serena hotel, features an outdoor heated pool. Well-equipped ladies and gents’ gym, minutes away from the hotel are, golf, tennis and horse riding facilities and walking tracks around the hotel are easily accessible.

4.L imited T arget M arket: One of the biggest weaknesses of the Serena hotel is that they have a limited target market. Their basic approach is the only high class or the business class and the middle class cannot afford to stay in that five star hotel.

5.T raining and D evelopment P rogram:

They have training and development program for their employees and their primary purpose of training is to assist the employee in improving professional competence, skills, knowledge and overall abilities so that the personal growth is enhanced and also the needs of the business are met in an appropriate and organized manner

5.H igh T ariff R ates:

The other weakness of the Serena hotel is that

have high tariff rate due to which their

services are the most expensive in Islamabad.

6.C ompetent S taff: One of the biggest strength of Serena hotel is that they have competent and skilled employees who are available at the proper time and performing the tasks that meet the needs of the Hotel.

6.N o A lliances w ith A irlines:

Another weakness of Serena Hotel is that they don’t have any alliance with multinationals companies .For example Marriott Hotel have alliance with British Air Ways, all the staff and passenger stay in Marriott Hotel which brings huge amount of revenues on regular basis.

7.C redit W orthiness: The credit worthiness of Serena hotel is very high because everyone is well familiar with the Aha Khan Fund For Economic Development so if they want to get loan they can easily get it

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OPPORTUNITIES THREATSOpportunity means an area in environments that, if exploited, may generate high performance. Within the context of Serena Hotel they have the following opportunities:

Organizational threats means an area in environments that increases the difficulty of an organization’s achieving high performance. So when we talk about threats to Serena hotel we can say that they are facing the following threats:

1. T rend to T ourism: Operating under the “Serena” brand name, Tourism Promotion Services owns and manages fifteen hotels in East Africa and Asia. Besides earning foreign exchange and increasing employment and manpower development, tourism can contribute to national growth in more qualitative ways. So Serena hotel has an opportunity to introduce more attractive packages because the tourism trend is continuously increasing and as the Islamabad Serena hotel is on its growing stage so they have to lower their prices to gain more and more share in the market. By doing this they can keep hold on to their old customers and can attract new tourists.

1.O pening of S heraton H otel Sheraton Hotel is going to open its branch in Islamabad and it is big threat for Serena Hotel. Since Sheraton Hotel is very established hotel in Karachi and many people are familiar with the services of Sheraton Hotel so it is a rumor that Sheraton hotel will be started within next two years in Islamabad, and then in Faisalabad ,which is a main threat for the Faisalabad Serena Hotel.

2.E stablish N ew B ranches: Serena Hotel has a great opportunity to establish their branches in major cities of Pakistan like Lahore and Karachi. Because Karachi is corporate city in Pakistan there is also seaport and International airport in Karachi and most of the business class come from that side.

2.E xisting C ompetitors: The existing threats for Serena Hotel are Marriott Hotel, Holiday inn, Pearl Continental. Basically we can say that there is no as such threat they are facing, because there are no such competitors, who are so much financially strong and multinationals, but to some extent we can say that their competitors like Marriott

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and Pearl Continental are threats for the Faisalabad Serena hotel because if they start lowering their prices or offer more attractive packages then it may possible that their customers move to them.

3.Alliance w ith A irlines & S hipping C orporation:

Serena hotel has a great opportunity to create an alliance with airlines because it really helps them to increase their revenues as well as will boost the tourism so they have a great opportunity to get maximum revenue out of it.

3.C hanging G overnment R egulations:

The changing government rules regarding tax and holding to the food industry is also a big threat for Faisalabad Serena hotel, because if the regulations or policies are not stick then they will fail to stabilize their prices and packages and ultimately the customers will suffer.

4.C onstruction o f M akran C ostal, I ndus H ighway :

The construction of Makran costal and Indus highway give more opportunities regarding tourism and ultimately will be beneficial for the Serena hotel as well.

4.S trong C ompetition: Strong completion among the existing competitors is also a big threat for Faisalabad Serena hotel because the switching cost of the customer from one hotel to an other is very low so it may possible that if the customer is not satisfied with any particular service of Serena hotel he then move to Marriott or Pearl continental.

Conclusion:

For Faisalabad Serena Hotel projects are an investment on which resources are

used to create assets that will produce benefits over an expanded period of time. It

is a unique process, consisting of a set of coordinated and controlled activities with

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start and finish dates, undertaken to achieve an objective conforming to specific

requirements, including the constraints of time, cost and resources.

To sum up Faisalabad Serena Hotel has many competitors and its main competitor

in the market is Pearl Continental hotel. But PC has not stepped completely into

the market yet.So in this situation it is compulsory for Faisalabad Serena Hotel to

organize their projects and packages accordingly, so that they can maintain their

position in the market. New strategies must also be adopted.

RECOMMENDATIONS: There is an award given as supervisor and employee of the month, the prize

money is not sufficient to balance the performance of the winner.

The compensation policy is required to be revised. The starting salary is not

good enough to attract the competitive candidate. we have lost very good

candidates just because we are unable to attract them through our compensation

practices

The training period is too long. Once the employee completed the training of an

year he left the job because of some better opportunity so the money and time

effort spend on the trainee is wasted all over

There are issues regarding taking the employee on contract to the permanent

vacancy. Employees get demotivated to work for many years on contract some

times not on the contract even just on the casual basis.

The females when not married are given the medical allowances just for their

personal use. they have their immediate families who also should be given the

medical facility

The telemarketers working in the Prestige club are just working without any

basic pay and not given the rights as per given to the permanent employees.

They are working form last 5-6 years. They are the one who attract and

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maintain the hotel prestige club members should be given due privileges

Some competitive strategies are needed to implement to increase the sales

keeping in view of the tough competition in the banqueting sector. That sector

can generate revenues if tackle with competent strategies.

In the services department skilled permanent work force is required in case of

banqueting services required in the events

The event management is an essential part of the F & B and this department is

required to hire competent people to make a team that can handle all sort of

events in an appropriate way.

The hiring practices are also in sort of some steps. Advertising is helpful to

acquire competent pool of candidates. And we are unable to get a pool of

candidates that suits our job requirements.

The turnover rate is getting higher managers need to figure out the root cause

and solve all the issues to retain the good employees

The training need analysis should be formally take place to ensure what are the

areas needs training to achieve optimum results. These can be in-house and out-

house training schedules.

References:

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

o A systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling by Harold Kerzner,

PhD

http://www.wikipedia.com

http://www.serenahotels.com.pk

http://www.google

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