Strengths And Weaknesses Of Research Methodology Essay.

Literature Review

Discuss about the Strengths And Weaknesses Of Research Methodology.

As a member of a consultancy team dedicated to identify the environmental hazards of the Sheraton hotel it can be observed that the management of the hotel is facing some issues regarding water waste energy waste recycling and the food waste which is causing significant harms to the environment and reducing the reputation of the business organisation in their market of operation. It has been observed that hotel business is currently a very lucrative business as it generates immense profitability and tourism for the hospitality business sector as well as for the Nations tourism. However the hospitality business is plagued with some issues regarding its harmful effects to the environment which is invoking in some concerns in the top administrative level of numerous countries across the world. This particular hotel business named Sheraton Hotel, located in Melbourne Australia which is being audited has been seen that is facing major issues as their operations are harming the environment and that had least a few issues in the political level and therefore the management of the organisation need to take proper action in order to lower the harmful effects.

It is a matter of fact that the management of the Sheraton hotel should emphasize on how wastes of the foods which were disposed are harming the environmental balance in a significant rate. It has been seen that the food waste represents a cost to the hospitality business sector of 318 millions of US dollars that includes procurement utilities labour and waste management costs and not only that it is seen that each year more than 300000 tons of food wastes are generated by the hotel organisations across the world. In most of the times the food waste gets generated when the food get spoilt or while preparing dishes when the vegetables and the meets gets filled and trimmed and apart from that various kitchen areas can generate food waste and the bones coffee Grounds and the leaves of the vegetables also generate significant food waste which can harm the balance of the environment significantly (Robin,Pedroche and Astorga 2017). Therefore in order to measure and reduce the food wastes the management of Sheraton hotel should track and measure the amount of their food waste and subsequently develop an effective action plan in order to reduce food waste by utilising the information collected from the waste management team and they should also be maintaining time scales to improving the capabilities of the kitchen staffs (Weaver et al. 2016).  The management of Sheraton Hotel should review the progress each month and can introduce reward and recognition system for the kitchen staffs in order to encourage them to effectively reduce the food wastes in order to regain the reputation of the company and also to reduce the costs that the company is currently wearing each financial year.

Food waste

It is a matter of fact that Sheraton hotel can effectively recycle a large amount of materials that can potentially reduce their waste management costs it can save space and improve the environmental credential of the company and also can have a reduced impact on the environment that has been causing various problems for this particular hotel business. In this regard it can be said that the management of Sheraton hotel can recycle materials like plastic bottles cardboards can soft drinks and foods electrical goods glass bottles and jars and many more (Robin,Pedroche and Astorga 2017). It can be said that the management of the hotel can effectively set up a recycling scheme for the company where there will be dedicated employees of the organisation who will identify the materials which can be recycled for the hotel and will take proper actions in order to recycle those materials for the best interests of the company. The management of Sheraton hotel has the ability to recycle a few materials of the organisations which could have been wasted that can encourage and give a significant boost to the economy of the organisation as they will be able to save a significant proportion of money which they could not save earlier by their operational strategies (Baker, Davis and Weaver 2014). For this the management of Sheraton hotel may have to seek help of the latest technologies and that can cost the management of a significant amount of money but that will eventually lower the recurring cost of the management and eventually the management will gain from this action.

It has been observed that in recent times the hotel industry is played with numerous issues and one of the major issues can be addressed as the energy waste as it contributes to the depletion of various sources of energy. It has been audited that for Sheraton hotel Management costs can increase up to 3 to 7% of the overall operating costs due to energy waste and if the management somehow gains the ability to reduce this energy cost it give a boost to the finance of the company significantly and subsequently the management will be able to utilise the savings for other developmental purposes from which they can experience much more productivity along with profitability in the market of operation (Leonidou et al. 2015). Apart from that, the energy waste can cause significant harm to the environment because of the crude oil impacts adversely on the environment and not only that it invokes various problems related to a decrease in the fossil fuels and various other environmental impacts. It can be said that if the management of Sheraton hotel can use sustainable energy for the operations of the hotel it can significantly contribute to the sustainable program or the CSR activity of the organisation that can on the management a significant recognition and reputation in their market of operation which can subsequently contribute to the profitability of the company (Yi, Li and Jai 2016).

Recycling

Water scarcity is a recognised global issue and the demand for water has been projected to exceed up to 40% by the year of 2030 and it has also been seen from various secondary sources of information that half of the worlds current population will be leaving in areas where the water stress will be on the higher end (Yucedag, Kaya and Cetin 2018). It has been seen that the hotel industry is known for gallons of water waste each year which is not at all beneficial for the environment and it is actually disrupting the balance of the environment and that is why the management of the Sheraton hotel should look after to track the water waste and make an effective plan to reduce water waste for the best interest of the environment and mankind. For this particular Hotel, the management of the organisation should carry out a water audit to identify the major water costs and where they can make some useful savings and not only that the management should calculate the water used for guest per night by dividing the total consumed water in the guest rooms by the number of guests for a particular month. The management of Sheraton hotel can also introduce the latest technologies in order to recycle the wasted water so that it can be utilised again and reduce water waste (Kasliwal and Agarwal 2016).

According to Flick (2015) methodology of the research is a systematic procedure that is helpful for conducting the research in a practical manner. It defines different concepts associated with the research along with the structure of the research. This chapter includes the research philosophy, research approach, data collection process, data analysis process, sampling relevant to research the environmental hazards that are causing by the operations of Sheraton Hotel and how to effectively manage the situation for the benefit of the management of the hotel itself and as well as for the environment.

The research philosophers provide the fundamental knowledge and dimension of the entire study. It provides the basic knowledge concepts and facts that are necessary while conducting the study. There are three kinds of research philosophies namely positivism post-positivism and realism research philosophy. The positivism research philosophy helps the individual in evaluating several philosophical approaches of the study by utilising real philosophical approaches. On the other hand the realism research philosophy helps the researcher to deal with the objective reality of a topic whereas the post positivism philosophy helps to deal with various research studies that has been analysed before. For this research post-positivism research philosophy has been chosen for completing the entire research study with the help of cross checked data. This philosophy will also be helpful to deal with advanced aspects of the study.

Energy waste

There are two kinds of research approaches deducted and inductive. The inductive approach of research aims in generating new models and theories based on the collected information where as the deductive research approach focuses on testing the previous models and theories of the specific research topic (Flick 2015). For this research deducted research approach has chosen as this study will be based on the previous models and theories related to the specific field of research. Therefore the entire study will be conducted by using the previous theories while fulfilling the research objectives and aims.

There are three kinds of research purposes: descriptive, explanatory and exploratory. For this research, descriptive research purpose has been utilized to explore the topic with the help of additional information to identify the issues faced by the management of Sheraton hotel and how to effectively fight the situation.

This research will be conducted with the help of survey procedure. Necessary information and data will be collected with the help of this strategy for investigating the research study.

Various kinds of data should be gathered for conducting a research procedure. There are two sources of data namely the secondary and primary sources. The primary data is collected from the conducted survey interviews or questionnaire process. On the other hand the secondary data refers to different kinds of published information such as books websites journals articles blogs etc (Choy 2014). For this research primary data will be collected from frequent individual employees and managers of Sheraton, Melbourne hotel. The secondary data will be collected from the annual report of the company along with published articles journals and books. For collecting the primary data postal questionnaires will be sent to the Employees and managers of the organisation.

There are two techniques for analysing the collected data namely the qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques. For this research quantitative data analysis has been used to analyse the gathered information.

There are two kinds of sampling techniques non Probability and probability that are mostly utilised for research purposes (McCusker and Gunaydin 2015). Birthday research probability sampling technique has been used for selecting the employees of Sheraton, Melbourne Hotel.

The sample size of the research is 50 including 40 employees and 10 managers of the Sheraton, Melbourne hotel. Apart from that secondary data will be collected from numerous sources like websites, magazines, journals, and books regarding 4 environments problems which are food wastage, recycling, energy wastage, and water wastage which are invoking various challenges for Sheraton Hotel.

Before conducting the service prior consent has been taken from the respondents and service sheet has been signed duly. Privacy of this data has been maintained and it has only been used for academic purpose.

References

Baker, M.A., Davis, E.A. and Weaver, P.A., 2014. Eco-friendly attitudes, barriers to participation, and differences in behavior at green hotels. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 55(1), pp.89-99.

Choy, L.T., 2014. The strengths and weaknesses of research methodology: Comparison and complimentary between qualitative and quantitative approaches. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 19(4), pp.99-104.

Flick, U., 2015. Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research project. Sage.

Kasliwal, N. and Agarwal, S., 2016. Green Marketing Initiatives and Sustainable Issues in Hotel Industry.In Handbook of Research on Promotional Strategies and Consumer Influence in the Service Sector (pp. 197-214).IGI Global.

Ledford, J.R. and Gast, D.L., 2018. Single case research methodology: Applications in special education and behavioral sciences. Routledge.

Leonidou, L.C., Leonidou, C.N., Fotiadis, T.A. and Aykol, B., 2015. Dynamic capabilities driving an eco-based advantage and performance in global hotel chains: The moderating effect of international strategy. Tourism Management, 50, pp.268-280.

Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.

Lewis, S., 2015. Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Health promotion practice, 16(4), pp.473-475.

McCusker, K. and Gunaydin, S., 2015. Research using qualitative, quantitative or mixed methods and choice based on the research. Perfusion, 30(7), pp.537-542.

Robin, C.F., Pedroche, M.S.C. and Astorga, P.S., 2017. Revisiting green practices in the hotel industry: A comparison between mature and emerging destinations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, pp.1415-1428.

Taylor, S.J., Bogdan, R. and DeVault, M., 2015. Introduction to qualitative research methods: A guidebook and resource. John Wiley & Sons.

Weaver, D., Davidson, E.M., Lawton, L., Patiar, A., Reid, S. and Johnston, N., 2016. Sustainability Practices in the Asia-Pacific Hotel Sector: Award Applicant Segmentation by Urban and Other Setting.

Yi, S., Li, X. and Jai, T.M., 2016. Hotel guests’ perception of best green practices: A content analysis of online reviews. Tourism and Hospitality Research, p.1467358416637251.

Yucedag, C., Kaya, L.G. and Cetin, M., 2018. Identifying and assessing environmental awareness of hotel and restaurant employees’ attitudes in the Amasra District of Bartin. Environmental monitoring and assessment, 190(2), p.60.