Operational Management In Tourism Industry: A Case Study Of CQuest Marine Laboratory

Business Model of CQuest Marine Laboratory

Question:

Disucss about the Case Study of CQuest Marine Laboratory.

The part of the business organisation that is responsible for the production of goods or services is called the operation management. Production of goods requires the involvement of the raw materials, parts of the machine or any other related work for the completion of the particular project (Falkowski et al., 2014). At many times, it is also found that a particular organisation is found to redesign their business operation in the production of goods or services when they find it necessary (Pinson, 2013). The aim of the entire operation management plan is to ensure that the business operations are efficient in terms of conservation of resources as well as meeting the requirement of the prospected group of consumers. The idea is to manage the process of manufacturing the product or providing the service in order to the consumers (Jacobs & Chase, 2013). The idea is to be responsible enough to ensure that the particular business operation is efficient and that the inputs can be easily converted to outputs without the loss of material, labour and energy.

The aim of this report is to carry out a case study analysis of the CQuest Marine Laboratory that is a floating platform along the coral Cay. A detailed analysis of the operational management activities undertaken by this laboratory shall be taken into consideration in order to evaluate the case. Based on the findings, certain recommendations can be made that would help to improve the business activity of the Quest Marine Laboratory.

CQuest Marine Laboratory is a floating platform that is permanently anchored along the coral Cay started as a marine laboratory. The laboratory has been privately owned by Douglas and Amy Patterson. Later, this laboratory was converted into a business venture that was opened for the tourists (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2014). Doug and Amy are well known for their business activities and ventures related to tourism and this is reflected from the fact that they have received international tourism award in 2017. In terms of operational activities there needs to be certain activities to be changed in the present business model (Heizer, 2016). Primarily, in order to create unique tourism experience, the place needs to be fixed and amended in order create a place that will be a better place for the tourists to visit. There needs to appoint a number of persons who shall be responsible for taking care of the overall activities of serving and hospitality. The demand of the particular business depends on the seasonal activities. For example, the demand increases during the holidays in the northern and southern continents (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2014). The complete process also needed a huge amount of investment because there needs to be a change in the traditional form of tourism activity. The idea of the business is to give such an experience to the visitors that they could not find it anywhere else (Slack, 2015). Ultimately, all these operations require recruiting a person who shall be responsible for taking care of the entire activity. Considering all the aspects of the operation management, the particular business idea has been found to be successful enough. However, it has been also observed that in terms of using the particular place for the tourism activities, it has also been found to degrade the renowned aspect of the particular place declining the geographic and the physical beauty of the particular place(Brown, Bessant & Lamming, 2013). Thus, this has created a challenge in terms of sustainability of the business.

Operation Management Theory and Principle for CQuest Marine Laboratory

According to the operation management principle, there are certain ways of creating an optimal output from various inputs. The idea is similar in case of both products and services. The Operation Management Principles that are linked with the particular case study can be mentioned below:

Principle of organisation: According to this concept, there should remain coherence in all the activities of the manufacturing or service that directly contribute towards the profitability of the organisation. The idea is to build the organisation that it would support the demand of the market (Peppard & Ward, 2016). Therefore, the expenditure that has been made in improving the condition of business is justified enough because it has also helped in accommodating a larger number of tourists.

Principle of fundamental and accountability: The organisation should be responsible enough to adhere to the principles of maintaining the records and principles of the business. For instance, the idea behind the business model of the CQML was that it would come up with the approach of building a place to stay for the tourists looking into the factor that the demand of hotels is high in that region (Annarelli & Nonino, 2016). Thus, when the tourists will be given a better option for their stay.

Process management: Another aspect of the operation management is the process management. The idea is to transform the expenses and other things as input into the output that would provide the required output (Brown, Bessant & Lamming, 2013). Primarily, the idea of the operation management is to come up with high quality labour because in order to carry out the various activities of the particular business (Galliers & Leidner, 2014). If the particular case study it has been found that since the business is related to the hospitality sector, it is important to hire that particular individual who shall be taking care of the overall activities of the business. Thus, investing on the labour is a wise and just decision.

Just in time: In order to provide the service to the visitors it is also important to undertake the just in time service approach that would help the organisation to come up with better ideas that would serve the consumers in a better way by offering them new form of leisure and entertainment activities (Jacobs & Chase, 2013).

The theories of operation management that can be discussed according to the implementation of the particular business are the Total Quality Management and the Theory of Constraints.

Conclusion

Theory of Constraints: According to this theory, the idea of the business is to identify the important factors that are systematically improved until certain limiting factors are put into existence. The idea is to improve the existing and the complex business idea and to bring profit in the shortest possible time. According to the particular case study, it has been found that Doug and Amy came up with a unique idea of providing the best quality service to the tourists or the visitors. In order to do this, the primary step undertaken is to provide the best quality service to the visitors (Brown, Bessant & Lamming, 2013). Considering the increased demand, it has also been found that better approach has been made on designing the particular place that it would be liked by all and would effectively work as a particular business model (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2014). In addition to this, it has been found that considering the increasing impact of the global warming, the business model has also focused on creating a new idea that would be welcome for the tourists or the visitors.

Theory of Total Quality Management: The idea of business concept and the management approach that is carried on through the customer satisfaction process is called the total quality management. In the recent time when the competition in the market is very high, it is important to become customer focused and provide all the necessary elements that would create better opportunity for the customers and serve them in the right way (Oakland, 2014). The total quality management also involves others activities as well. For example, it required continuous monitoring of the process as well. In fact, when it comes to the quality management of the hospitality business, it was important to consider the internal and external factors that would affect the business. Thus, it is important to carry out a detailed market research in order to understand the market demand and framing the organisational strategies in the similar way (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2014).

Six Sigma model: This model is based on the fact that there is the need of continuous improvement in the process of business. In order to do so, there should be improvement in the quality and system of the particular product or service. The Six Sigma process involves a number of approaches as well. Primarily, it is important to design the model keeping the needs of the consumers into consideration (Jackson, Schuler & Jiang, 2014). For the tourism activity, it is important to consider the changing demand of the consumers when it comes to tourism activity. Thus, designing the particular spot according to the choice of the consumers is the first important criterion. In doing so, it is equally important to consider the sustainability approach of the entire business process (Mir & Pinnington, 2014). It has been found that the particular design of the tourism activity does not comply by the sustainability of the environment.

Understanding the market demand: As kit has been observed that the demand of the particular hospitality sector varies according to the demand, it is important to carry out a detailed market survey. This would include the internal and external demand analysis of the market according to the changing scenario of the tourism activities (McFarlin & Sweeney, 2014).

Considering continual improvement in the business: As it has been found that the business model is based on the nature and the tourism activities, it is important to keep a continual improvement of the particular business model. Keeping pace with the changing demand of the consumers should be the major motive of the business. In addition to this, improvement related to the activities of the tourism would add prosperity to the business (Zurich, 2017).

Strategic and systematic approach: There is no particular business mission and vision that has been found to be followed in this particular business model. Thus, it has to be recommended that there should be a strategic and systematic approach towards the particular business model (Jeston & Nelis, 2014). The mission of the business could be to serve the visitors and take them to the lap of the nature in order to give them an experience that they never had. It is equally important to carry on a systematic approach that would follow the business model.

Building business model towards sustainability: Sustainability should be the primary concern when it comes to a business activity related to the nature and tourism. From the business model, it has been clearly evident that there is no concept of sustainability that has been applied in this particular business model (Schaltegger & Burritt, 2014). Thus, it is highly recommended that certain sustainable approach to save the environment should be undertaken by Doug and Amy.

Conclusion:

By the end of the findings, it can be concluded that the business approach that has been undertaken based on the tourism and hospitality can be a good idea of the business because of the uniqueness of the business. This particular place offers a different kind of enjoyment to the visitors as the idea is unique. It has been found that the considering the fluctuating demand of the tourism activity at different season and time of the year, there should be different opportunities of carrying out the business operation. Different types of operational management theories and models have been used for understanding the business model and concept. It has been found that designing the business accordingly keeping the aspects like profitability and sustainability into consideration. Based on the findings, certain recommendations have also been made. It is very important to understand the market demand and then shaping the business activity likewise. In doing so, conducting the market analysis is important. Undertaking a systematic and strategic approach of the business is the primary requisite apart from designing and building a particular business model. It is expected that the unique business idea will be effective and fruitful enough to attract more numbers of tourists and visitors to this particular place.

References:

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