PRS305 Communications and Public Relations Assignment
Answer:
Introduction
Marketing and communication in tourism industry is essentially about facilitating access to information for all potential clients across the region targeted. Public relation helps the companies uphold their brand before the customers. It educates them about the scopes and options available for travel. Promotion and marketing in business is essentially about the 4 Ps - product, place, price and promotion (Dogra, 2010; Berry and Kaul, 2014). Product aspect in tourism business refers to customers’ understand of the potential business and its various aspects. This dimension helps in understanding the unique selling points and level of standards in service desired. A tourism company needs to consistently allocate resources to improve and create new products. This will help them sustain business. ‘Place’ relates to channels and distribution networks (Andersson and Tell, 2009). These networks contain retail travel agents, wholesalers and other tour operators. The ‘place’ dimension helps to decide the prices. As online consumers are increasing the significance of geographical boundaries in such businesses are fading as well. Australia holds a lot of appeal as a tourism destination. Investment is required to help it grow and sustain its attraction. Right pricing often involve addressing competition and needs of time. Only when prices are reasonable and cover the operating costs well enough, the business can sustain properly (Mason, 2015). Commissions play a strong role in distribution networks and pricing of travel services. Lastly, there is the most important aspect, promotion. This component helps connect the buyers and sellers and can be done both above (promotions via television, radio, newspapers, magazines, etc) and below the line (social media, web listings, etc) (Ray, 2015). Market research could be an important part of such promotional activities. John's Outback Adventures Tours operates in Australia, especially in Sydney. Its administration department answers queries from potential clients and prepares corporate communications & advertising material. This department does the normal administrative tasks. There is also a team of tour guides. The training program which deals in corporate communication and PR would focus on conflict management and effective team communication.
Conflict Management
Significance of conflict management
Managing people always involves conflicts in some form or other. Managers often deal with conflicts among or within their team members, with clients or with higher authorities. The idea of managing conflicts is to subdue the negative effects of the same. But conflicts cannot be avoided (Carson, 2003; Hills and Hultman, 2013). Tourism sectors, like other service based industries have high chances of conflicts in daily business activities. Whether between the sales and operations team, or between marketing and administration departments, conflicts could be part of everyday life (Oetzel and Getz, 2012; Robbins, 1996). When the clients visit the office and talks to the front desk for quick information, there could be expectations which might not be addressed after the client is assigned to a tour operator. Again the appeal by the advertisements might not match with the reality faced by clients when they visit the company and pay for the service (Bradley, Anderson, Baur and Klotz, 2015; Singh et al, 2013). This might in turn create problems between the departments when a client accuses of bad service. Since all departments are usually linked, it is a share responsibility to make a client happy.
Conflict often reduces quality time which could be spent in attending customers. It can even lead to attrition, group cohesion, workplace bullying etc. Problem solving techniques lead to bullying (Baillien, Bollen, Euwema, & Witte, 2013). Among the positives, a conflict might lead to adoption of right decision. Conflicts might arise due to multiple reasons – it could occur due to ideological differences, differences in goals and power imbalances. For small businesses like the company studied in this paper, manpower is less and hence success which might rest upon few people (Singh et al, 2013; Kelly,1970). Hence they become vulnerable. Once the problem is enhanced, there is loss of trust and productivity. This in turn brings about death of the business itself.
The five conflict management strategies are important for a tourism firm like John's Outback Adventures Tours. These are: accommodating, avoiding, collaborating, compromising and competing. In case of accommodating, the idea is to grant some part of what is demanded by opposition (Sadri and Flammia, 2011). For instance if the employees demand permission for wearing informal dress, the company might introduce a casual Friday policy instead of changing the core regulation about attire. Avoiding strategies involve simply trying to put away the demand or problem. The one who avoids wants to solve it without confrontation. This might cause when people are demanding higher salaries of incentives and the company could not grant the same in one year. The management can simply say, “we will see next year” to an employee instead of pointing out the actual cause. Before the next year that employee might be replaced tactfully. Collaborating mainly helps when there is a conflict of ideas (Deutsch, 1994). Integrating ideas of different people and finding collaborative creative solutions helps resolve some conflict situations. Also an owner might find the manager difficult to handle. If he decides to sit down and talk to the managers about the problems and also decides to be flexible about accepting their suggestions. Compromising takes place when both sides agree to give up some elements of their demands and agrees to a common solution. Compromise is applicable usually when contracts are negotiated between two parties (Sorenson, 1999). This is mostly applicable between two businesses. For instance the company might setup a deal with a hotel in order to accommodate a client. In the process both might need to adjust their expectations regarding pricing and commissions.
These are crisis situations and all the strategies might not be applicable to one situation. Selecting the right strategies depends on the decision making ability of the manager. The most common problem is loss of productive time due to conflicts. Conflicts might be related to tasks and goals. However every person in the organization should work towards the common organizational goals. There should be no conflicting personal motive or objective of any individual. Personality traits decide how people resolve conflicts.
Implementation:
Training session might be carried out as per the following outline:
Contents-
- Description of the definition/anatomy of conflicts
- Positive and negative effects of Conflicts
- Reasons of Conflict
- Some possibilities of conflicts
- Four stages in the Life Cycle of Conflicts
- Signs of Escalation of conflicts
- Tips on De-Escalating Conflicts
- Individual Self-Assessment
- Group Activity
- Handling Conflicts
- Anger Management Tips
- How to respond to such conflict resolution approaches When Used On You
Tools used will include interactive sessions using scenarios, group discussions, presentation and individual self-assessment. Tom Baum will inaugurate the workshop. He is a professor from HR Management department in Strathclyde Business School at Glasgow (William ANGLISS Institute 2017). He has specialized in the study of employment, education and training in context of tourism industry. With 35 years of experience in vocational and higher education, specialization in workforce planning, curriculum designing etc and having published 10 books and 175papers in training and vocational education, he is the right candidate for our guest trainer.
Through interactions, role plays and group discussions conflict scenarios could be simulated. After this workshop or training session of five days, feedbacks will be collected from the participants after about one month. Every participant’s response would express whether and how the program helped them address conflict management better than before. In case they express further clarification or need for more training that can be arranged on basis of customization.
Effective Team Communication
Significance of team communication
The role of communication is the core of effectiveness in a working unit. Effective communication between team members ensures coordination of skills of different members, smooth flow of work within the team, and exchange of views and ideas (Leonard, Graham and Bonacum, 2004). In order to work in a cohesive manner, it is the responsibility of the team manager to establish strong communication rules so that goals can be accomplished with equal effort from every member. When there is strong communication between team members, best ideas can come forward and accordingly appropriate strategies can be implement for the fulfillment of the tasks assigned to the concerned team. Effective team communication can also lead to a healthy relationship between team members leading to a strong professional development. Strong communication can also help members to come forward with issues that they have against one another and thus can help toward conflict management. According to Yi (2016, p.39), “communication competence and teamwork should be used as one component of job performance evaluation”. Communication is defined as a procedure by which information and other matters are exchanged between more than one people where the subject matter is important for at least one of the persons involved. Communication also means that one or more persons absorb the meaning and theme of the matter that has been shared based on certain patterns of interpretations that have followed. Therefore, during the course of a communication a team it is required to understand the kind of behavior that needs to be followed or avoided. In tourism industry, group communication gives birth to creative ideas to induce visitors to certain places.
For a good team, it is not enough that many people come together. There needs to be a common purpose and commitment in every member to fulfill that purpose. For this, it is needed that team meetings are held on regular basis since meetings can act as platform where people can share their views, maintain contact with each other, and make decisions that are mutually agreeable. It is also important that skills and knowledge of every member be properly utilized. Focus should be such that junior members do not feel ignored which is often the case in any team since their opinions are ignored during any crisis. It is important that every member should be allowed to feel as important part of the team as this will reduce boredom and absenteeism among members of a team. Proper coordination and communication between team members can ensure effectiveness of group performance like completing tasks before deadline so that the goals can be achieved. Finally, in any team there is possibility of conflicts regarding tasks and delegation of responsibilities. Only with efficient conflict management it is possible to induce satisfaction among the team members that can ensure accuracy and creativity in the performance of the team. Communication plays a significant role in “establishing effective intergroup relationships and, ultimately, project success” (Pinto, 1990, p.208).
A team can have members from socially and culturally diverse backgrounds. As such each member will have their own unique perspective and approach towards accomplishment of tasks. As a leader of any team one must focus on maintaining coordination between each member and encourage them to consider each other’s views and opinions before deciding a common approach towards goal accomplishment (Meyer,1997). Team leader needs to teach team members to keep in mind that although they have come from different backgrounds, as a team they have a common mission which they need to accomplish through proper coordination of individual skills and knowledge. Leenders et al. (2003) have emphasized on right kind of communication as both high and low density communication can hinder skill performance of team members.
Implementation:
Tim Baum will be responsible for team communication management so as to ensure effective communication between team members so as to bring out the best results from coordinated efforts from the members.
Regular meetings – since communication means sharing of ideas and views therefore it is important that the members of a team are encouraged to come together at regular intervals in a formal setting so that there is a proper and effective flow of communication. In this context, regular meetings can be held so that members can exchange views and come up with different options for fulfillment of tasks in the most efficient manner. Meetings can also encourage members to bring forward their best ideas. It will be task of Tim Baum to ensure that every member of the team gets the chance to communicate so that no member can feel neglected or overpowered by other members who have more skills than others. In order to maintain an order in communication and induce members to speak to the point and deviate from the topic of conversation it is important to set a time limit for the meeting, for instance one hour or 45 minutes. This will encourage members to know the value and how to put forward their views with a designated time limit.
All member participation – Tim Baum needs to ensure that every member of the team gets equal opportunity to participate in the assigned project based on each member’s skill. For this, effective communication is important so that team members can share their strengths and weaknesses with each other. This will help them to coordinate their work accordingly. If there is smooth communication between the members then there will be minimum obstruction in the work process as each member will be aware of the progress of the members’ contribution. This will prevent wastage of time and repetition of any task that can happen if any member does not communicate their level of output in the entire working process of the team.
Clear and transparent – It is important that communication between team members remain clear and transparent so that there is no confusion in understanding what each member has to say. Often ambiguity can lead to misunderstanding and this can lead to future conflicts resulting in poor performance and delay of project completion. Therefore if any member fails to understand anything then it is imperative that the member poses his query during the course of any communication. Therefore, Tim Baum needs to encourage team members to voice their views in as much clear and transparent manner as possible. Each member can have different communication styles and this may hinder the smooth functioning of team; therefore communication management has become paramount for effective team performance (Leonard et al., 2004).
Respect between members – every team member is vital to a project which is the reason why he or she is included in the team. Therefore, it is very important that during meetings or any other communication between team members there is mutual respect irrespective of age and position in the team (Sundstrom, DeMeuse and Futrell, 1990). Since it is true some member may be more skilled than the others, therefore Tim Baum needs to ensure that less skilled people do not feel neglected and they are given equal scope to come up with new ideas. At the end of the day, among the various ideas presented by team members it is only through effective communication in regular meetings that the best idea will be chosen that will help in attaining the team’s goal in the most cost effective manner.
Conclusion
In order to make successful team projects in any organization, the primary factor is to know and comprehend the attitude of the team members having different skill levels and approach. More often the team members need to forego their own distinct personal behaviors to adopt a more practical approach when communicating with other team members. The presence of trained and experienced team manager is becoming increasingly important. Management of teams, whether small or big, although has a common framework of policies nevertheless is constrained by variables like skills and experience.
References
Andersson, S. and Tell, J., 2009. “The relationship between the manager and growth in small firms”, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 16(4), pp. 586-598.
Berry, H., and Kaul, A., 2014. Global sourcing and knowledge seeking. Management Science, 61(5), pp.1052-1071.
Bradley, B. H., Anderson, H. J., Baur, J. E. and Klotz, A. C., 2015. When conflict helps: Integrating evidence for beneficial conflict in groups and teams under three perspectives. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 19(4), pp.243-272
Baillien, E., Bollen , K., Euwema, M and Witte, H. D., 2013. Conflicts and conflict management styles as precursors of workplace bullying: A two-wave longitudinal study, European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 23(4), Available at: <https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1359432X.2012.752899> [Accessedon3April, 2017]
Carson, D., 2003. “Marketing for small-to-medium enterprises”, in Baker, J. (Ed.), The Marketing Book, 5th ed., Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, pp. 757-776.
Deutsch, M., 1994. Constructive Conflict Resolutions: Principles Training and Research. Journal of Social Issues, 50(1), p. 18.
Dogra, B., 2010. Rural Marketing, New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education
Hills, G.E. and Hultman, C., 2013. “Entrepreneurial marketing: conceptual and empirical research opportunities”, Entrepreneurship Research Journal, 3 (4), pp. 437-448.
Leenders, et al., 2003. Virtuality, communication, and new product team creativity: a social network perspective. Journal of engineering and technology management, 20(1), pp.69-92
Leonard, M., Graham, S, & Bonacum, D., 2004. The human factor: the critical importance of effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. Quality and Safety in Health Care, 13, pp.185-190
Pinto, M.B. & Pinto, J.K. 1990. Project team communication and cross-functional cooperation in new program development. Journal of product innovation management, 7(3), pp.200-212
Ray, N. 2015. Emerging Innovative Marketing Strategies in the Tourism Industry, Hershey: IGI Global
Kelly, J. 1970. Making Conflict Work for You. Harvard Business Review, July-August, (48), 104-114.
Leonard M, Graham S, Bonacum D., 2004. The human factor: the critical importance of effective teamwork and communication in providing safe care. Qual Saf Health Care, 13(Suppl 1): i85–90.
Meyer, H., 1997. Tearing Down Walls. Journal of Business Strategy, November-December (10), 6, 24-29.
Mason, P., 2015. Tourism Impacts, Planning and Management, London: Routledge
MDIS, 2017. Conflict Management Skills. Available at: <https://www.mdis.edu.sg/corporate-training/programmes/professional-development-workshops/communication--general/conflict-management-skills> [Accessed 3 April, 2017]
Oetzel, J., and Getz, K., 2012. Why and how firms might respond to strategically violent conflict? Journal of International Business Studies, Feb/Mar, (43)2, pp.166-186.
Robbins, S. P., 1996. Conflict Management and Conflict Resolution Are Not Synonymous Terms. California Management Review, (21), pp.67-75.
Singh, et al., 2013. Perception differential between employers and instructors on the importance of employability skills. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 90, pp.616-625
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Sadri, H.A and Flammia, M., 2011. Intercultural Communication, A&C Black
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Yi, Y.J., 2016. Effects of team-building on communication and teamwork among nursing students. International Nursing Review, 63, pp.33-40
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