Six of the 27 Record Sheets made comments relating to the set up of rooms (the furniture requirements and their arrangement in the room): the amount of information provided with regard to this; how accurately the instructions reflected the needs of the client; and whether the prescribed set up was appropriate for the room being used.
There were two occasions where there was an error with the name of the function. In one case the function name was incorrect and in the other it was not actually provided. Again this was not a problem with the design of the Event Order but rather an error in completing the information on it.
The Banquet Kitchen did not report any problems as a result of the information contained on the Event Order. However the Banquet Chef did note that there were problems experienced quite often, but that they were not directly related to the Event Order form.
The most interesting consequence of the study was the effect of the recording on the Catering Office staff who are responsible for completing the Event Orders.
Some members of the Catering staff commented that as the Record Sheets were being deposited in their office and could be perused by them, it provided them with a feedback line of communication with the people they gave the Event Orders to. This gave them the opportunity to focus on any problems that the other sections were facing and to take these into consideration. They thus had an increased awareness of some of the problems encountered by the other departments.
The Banquet Beverage staff also mentioned that they believed that the sheets provided a useful method of feedback to the Catering Office.
This is not to suggest that there is not normally any communication between the departments--they do meet on a regular basis to discuss the forthcoming events and sometimes comment on aspects of the past functions-however often many details are missed on these occasions. The point made was that although in general there is a good flow of information between the different sections, every one is very busy and they simply forget to mention things that could have been valuable had they been passed on to the other department. Therefore the members of the Catering department and the Banquet Beverage section considered the opportunity to gain some feedback as a result of this formal channel to be most useful.
This study suggests that the Event Orders are well designed and except for some relatively minor errors in the completion of the forms, they cater well for the needs of their users. It has also shown that the use of rapid written feedback has the potential to further improve the Function process.
6. Conclusions
The major difficulty for service organizations in implementing TQM is determining measurements that provide quantifiable data. This study has shown how, by focusing on processes and identifying appropriate quality measures, it is possible to obtain such data.
Once a service organization identifies measurement techniques they should not experience any difficulties other than those faced in the manufacturing sector.
While the techniques described here will require further development and adaptation to different service environments, it is clear that the 'Scientific Method' corner of the Quality Triangle is as applicable to the Hospitality industry as to other industries.
Acknowledgements
This work formed part of MAG's Masters of Commerce thesis at Bond University. The generous support of Sheraton International and the Total Quality Management Institute of Australasia, and the willing cooperation of staff at the Sheraton Brisbane Hotel and Towers is gratefully acknowledged.
[*] New position: Professor of Quality Manager, Key Centre in Strategic Management, Queensland University of Technology, 2 George Street, G.P.O. Box 2434, Brisbane Q4001, Australia.
Table 1. Some possible measurements
