Developing Tech-Savvy Accommodation Services in Universities - Essay Sample

Chapter 1: Project Plan for Research

Summary of the Problem

Brown & Bradwell (2018a) explain that every industry is undergoing some form of transformation that is technology-driven. The accommodation and hospitality sector in universities are no exception. Despite the myriad of challenges that technology has brought, they are there to enhance and make more effective service delivery. Introducing technology in an organization comes with its challenges to management. In the current business environment, which is characterized by unpredictability and instability, organizations' success relies on their capability to manage changes and adapt to the new environment. Therefore for organizations to achieve long-term corporate success, they should harbor a culture that embraces innovation and creativity. Innovation has become essential for the survival of organizations. Creativity is regarded as the cornerstone of change. The management plays a significant role in making the rest of the employees creative (Dutta, 2018a). Since organizational management is the key to employee creativity, supervisory and administration functions are critical.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

Changing the management in any organization is emotive and challenging for the ones who are involved. It is, therefore, important that the process is managed carefully to make the change successful. Companies and organizations need great leaders who will act as agents of change. The change process begins with the development of good habits and practices. Organizations must become realistic about the kind of change they want to deliver. If the change is too big, it will be difficult to achieve, and it will negatively affect an organization. It is, therefore, crucial that the right people are involved at every level from the beginning to establish what is possible to achieve and when it can be completed (Brown & Bradwell, 2018b). It is equally essential that change is introduced from the top going downwards.

Therefore before a change manager is recruited, there should be a focus on the business strategy, planning, and organizational design. All these should be aimed at delivering enhanced operational competitiveness and flexibility. The results must be tangible and clear too. Newcastle University is recognized for its reputation based on the kind of programs it offers and the quality graduates it churns out. The university is ranked position 146 in the world ranking. It went an arduous process and achieved ISO 14001 status. However, the accommodation and hospitality unit of the university has not achieved this status. The problem has been linked to its existing structures and processes. The current management is complacent and is not ready to have a change in culture to integrate new technologies that will make the department more effective. It is, therefore, imperative that a unique team of administrators is introduced to have a culture shift and introduce new ways of doing things so that the unit can be useful in serving the students. (Brown & Bradwell, 2018c). Besides, the team will lead the group towards achieving the ISO 14001 status.

Change is continually evolving, and it is the only way that institutions like universities can ensure that their visions are realized. The university should be aware of the fact that it is introducing strategic changes in a challenging task more e, especially with the institutions that already have management teams that are established. It is even more complicated if the employees are used to certain long-held structures. The managers to manage the changes should be the ones who have specialist management skills and have a proven track record in managing change (Brown & Bradwell, 2018d). The institution needs to have a team that can encourage the employees to participate in the organization's future by owning the means through which change can be introduced.

The top management should have a deep understanding of the organization's culture and its impact on performance. If an organization has a culture whereby the team members are not encouraged to be creative, then the organization will remain static and not competitive in the market. The culture of an organization should be aligned with the performance objectives. For an organization to be competitive, it should define its non-negotiable. Before introducing a culture change, the current culture should be analyzed and decide on the aspects to change and the ones who should remain (Dutta, 2018b). It will be more comfortable when certain good aspects of culture and retained and others which are not helpful are eradicated.

Application of the Findings

The findings from this research will be utilized in both corporate organizations and educational institutions. Although they will be from an educational institution of higher learning, they can be tailor-made to be used by other organizations. The basic principles on change management are the same irrespective of the organization, only that a few adjustments need to be made to fit the unique environment of an organization. At the University of Newcastle and other universities, they will be used to implement culture shift and change management. Since according to the model on accepting technology, accepting technology depends on the perception, it should be used to bring in a new team that can transform the accommodation and hospitality unit of the university. The change will make it attain the highest status, like other departments of the University (Brown& Bradwell, 2018e).

Hypothesis: There is a close connection between culture shift and technological processes.

Topic: Achieving a Positive Culture Shift In Relation To New Technological Processes within the Accommodation and Hospitality Unit of the Newcastle University Estate Support Service (Dutta, 2018c).

Hypothesis, Research Questions, or Goals of the Project

The goal of the project is to determine the relationship between culture shift and technological processes using the technology acceptance model. The hypothesis is that there is a relationship between the shift in culture and the acceptance of technology at their places of worth. The findings will be the basis for change management. The following are the research questions to be addressed:

1. What is the relationship between change management and the management success of the unit?
2. What assistance did the employees receive as part of change management?
3. Does change management bring about a shift in culture?
4. What significant impact did the change management have on the individual and group duties of employees?
5. Did the integration of information technology improve the operations at the accommodation and hospitality unit? (Brown& Bradwell, 2018f).

Background and Significance

This study aims at looking at the models of change management and culture shift and assesses their effectiveness in an accommodation and hospitality unit at the University of Newcastle. Any change in control without getting valuable input from the affected employees will bring devastating adverse effects to the organization. Without involving the employees, it would be difficult to change their behavior, and the changes in resistance are very significant (Dutta, 2018d). The model used in the change of management and the shift of culture can guide the employees, especially the junior ones, to be actively engaged in all the stages of implementing the system upgrade.

Research Method, Design and Statistical Analysis

This is a case study of a unit in university therefore; the qualitative method of study will be employed. The questionnaires and interviews will be conducted on the students who use the accommodation and hospitality services and have been using the facilities for more than one semester. The employees must have worked at the unit for more than one year. Therefore, the forms and interviews will be conducted on only the ones who are eligible. Although the collection of data is qualitative, the analysis will use quantitative research methods. After the collection of data, it was stored in a server that was very safe. The purpose of this storage was to ensure that the information contained in the data was very safe. The data was released on aggregate to further protect the confidentially and privacy of the participants (Guetterman, 2020a). The data were analyzed using the latest statistical tools, such as the SPSS statistical data tool analysis.

Research Protocol

The students and the employees who will be issued with the forms will remain anonymous throughout the process. They will not be required to reveal any personal information about themselves. The forms will be given unique numbers so that the participants can feel safe as they give information. Before the participants took part in the case study, they were informed that their privacy and confidentiality would be of paramount importance, and therefore at no cost will the information leak (Guetterman, 2020b).

Potential Risks

Since the research strictly sticks to the research guidelines on ethics, the participants can't lose their confidentiality. The carefully generated unique numbers will only identify them. To reduce the risk further, the data obtained will be stored on a very secure server, and only the aggregate data will be released. Therefore, there is no risk that the participants are exposed to (Guetterman, 2020c). The higher the risk the low the willingness of the participants to take place in the study

Potential Benefits

The study will provide a clear and deep understanding as to why some management teams do not embrace technology at their places of work. It will further provide insight into how change management is supposed to be conducted in this competitive world (Guetterman, 2020d).

The Project Work Plan

Main Idea & Objectives

This study will be in the area of a culture shift in relation to technological processes where the researcher will try to investigate how the change in culture will lead to the integration of technology in accommodation and hospitality unit of the University of Newcastle. It is the only unit that has not integrated technology, and the problem is thought to be the management. The results obtained will be useful in instating change management at the university so that a team that is well committed and focused can be put in place to manage the changes needed. The other departments in the university have attained the ISO 14001 status, and the goal of the management is to ensure that this unit attains that status too (Finch, 2012a). Therefore the research will endeavour to find out the relationship between culture shift and the integration of technology which will necessitate the change of the management.

Important Dates

The dates shown on the table below are guidelines on how the thesis project will be completed, and therefore, they are important milestones for the completion of this project. The researcher will try as much as he can to adhere to them strictly

July 20-22 Work on the preliminary thesis topic

July 23 Start working on the work plan

July 24 Send the work plan for approval

July 25 Revise the work plan

July 26 Fine-tune the research topic

July 27 Identify the literature review materials

July 28 Start working on the literature review

July 29 Makes notes from the literature review

July 30 Recruit the research assistants

July 31 Midterm presentations

August 1 Hold seminars

August 2 Fine-tune the literature review...