1. Ana Chavaria, Front Office Manager, and Lorraine Desants, Director of Marketing and Sales, recently attended a computer conference where they explored the latest Property Management System for hotels. Ana is eager to update and implement front office applications such as Reservations, Registration, Room status, Posting, Call Accounting, Checkout, and Night Audit. Lorraine believes that the marketing and sales applications will greatly enhance efficiency in her department.
Both Ana and Lorraine understand the expenses associated with acquiring a module for a Property Management System (PMS). They are considering discussing the possibility of purchasing a PMS with Ms. Margret Chu, the General Manager of Times Hotel. Ana and Lorraine are contemplating the next steps they should take. They are also considering who should be involved in developing an adoption plan for the PMS and why it is necessary to include them. In addition, they are determining which areas they should investigate. The Computer team at Times Hotel is currently in the process of updating a computer needs analysis and is prepared to make decisions regarding which new modules should be implemented.
Ana Chavaria, Front Office Manager and chair of the committee, is trying to reach a consensus on whether the team should recommend purchasing a POS module for the restaurant operation or a Guest History module for the marketing and sales department. Eric Jones, the Food and Beverage Manager, argues that the POS module will quickly generate enough revenue to cover its cost as guests currently leave the hotel before their breakfast charges are posted to their folios. On the other hand, Lorraine Desants, Director of marketing and sales, believes that investing in the Guest History Module will boost business by 25% in the first year. Due to budget limitations, only one module can be purchased.
What recommendations do you have for the team to break the stalemate? It is important to explain the necessity of the F&B module and marketing management module. Additionally, you can suggest a general management module that integrates all the modules together or an application customized according to the specific needs of the hotel. The owner of an independent full-service lodging property has reviewed your proposal for a PMS. While the proposal is comprehensive, the owner states that due to current economic conditions, they can only purchase five out of the eleven modules mentioned in the proposal.
Please provide a rationale for selecting one of the suggested eleven modules: Reservation, Revenue Management, Registration, Room Status, Posting, Call accounting, Night Audit, Back office, Housekeeping, Marketing and sales. (Note: This establishment primarily focuses on lodging; the impact of food and beverage is secondary.) It is worth noting that Applebee’s is the largest casual dining chain globally with 1970 branches in the United States and almost 20 other nations. Their menu features a wide range of choices including beef, chicken, pork, burgers, pasta and seafood.
The CEO of Applebee’s aims to enhance profitability by creating menus that are more appealing and encompass a higher number of desired items for customers to purchase, despite increasing costs for gasoline and agricultural products. Information systems can aid management in executing this strategy by assisting in the collection of necessary data. The data required by Applebee’s would include information captured through recipe management, menu management software, and cost management systems. Consequently, management would benefit from various reports that provide insights on how to optimize menus and profitability.
